In every wound of Caesar, that should move
The stones of Rome to rise and mutiny.
A shepherd's son to dwell with pipe and crook,
And peasant men amid the lowly vales;
Instead of ringing clarions, and bright spears,
And crested knights!-I am of princely race;
And if my father would have heard my suit,
I tell thee, infidel, that long ere now
I should have seen how lances meet and swords
Do the field's work. Moslem!-on the hills,
Around my father's castle, I have heard
The mountain-peasants, as they dressed the vines,
Or drove the goats, by rock and torrent, home,
Singing their ancient songs; and these were all
Of the Cid Campeador; and how his sword,
Tizona, cleared its way through turbaned hosts,
And captured Afric's kings, and how he won
Valencia from the Moors-I will not shame
The blood we draw from him
2.-THREATENING.
Ir they but speak the truth of her,
These hands shall tear her; if they wrong her honor,
The proudest of them shall well hear of it.
Time hath not so dried this blood of mine,
Nor age so eat up my invention,
Nor fortune made such havoc of my means,
Nor my bad life 'reft me so much of friends
But they shall find awaked, in such a kind,
Both strength of limb and policy of mind,
Ability in means, and choice of friends,
To quit me of them thoroughly.
3. LAILA'S ANGER AT THALABA'S SUSPICIONS.
Why dost thou stand and gaze upon me thus?
Aye! watch the features well that threaten thee
With fraud and danger! In the wilderness
They shall avenge me-in the hour of want
Rise on thy view, and make thee feel
How innocent I am:
And this remembered cowardice and insult
With a more painful shame will burn thy check
Than now heats mine with anger.
CXXXIX.-HAMLET'S SOLILOQUY.
1. To be or not to be-that is the question!
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The stings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And, by opposing, end them-To die-to sleep-
No more!-and, by a sleep, to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished.
To sleep?-perchance to dream-aye, there's the rub!
For, in that sleep of death, what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause! There's the respect,
That makes calamity of so long life:
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin?
3. Who would fardels bear,
To groan and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death-
That undiscovered country, from whose bourne
No traveler returns-puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others that we know not of!
4. Thus, conscience does make cowards of us all: And thus, the native hue of resolution
18 sicklied 'er with the pale cast of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry,
And lose the name of action.
! STAY, jailer, stay, and hear my woe!
She is not mad that kneels to thee;
For what I'm now, too well I know,
And what I was, and what should be.
I'll rave no more in proud despair;
My language shall be mild, though sad:
But yet I firmly, truly swear,
I am not mad, I am not mad.
2. My tyrant husband forged the tale
Which chains me in this dismal cell;
My fate unknown my friends bewail-
Oh! jailer, haste that fate to tell:
Oh! haste my father's heart to cheer;
His heart at once 't will grieve and glad
To know, though kept a captive here,
I am not mad, I am not mad.
3. He smiles in scorn, and turns the key;
He quits the grate; I knelt in vain;
His glimmering lamp, still, still I see-
"T is gone! and all is gloom again.
Cold, bitter cold!-No warmth no light!-
Life, all thy comforts once I had;
Yet here I'm chained, this freezing night,
Although not mad; no, no, not mad.
4 T is sure some dream, some vision vain ;
What! I-the child of rank and wealth-
Am I the wretch who clanks this chain,
Bereft of freedom, friends, and health?
Ah! while I dwell on blessings fled,
Which never more my heart must glad,
How aches my heart, how burns my head,
But 't is not mad; no, 't is not mad.
5 Hast thou, my child, forgot, ere this,
A mother's face, a mother's tongue?
She'll ne'er forget your parting kiss,
Nor round her neck how fast you clung;
Nor how with her you sued to stay;
Nor how that suit your sire forbade;
Nor how I'll drive such thoughts away;
They'll make me mad, they 'll make me mad.
6. His rosy lips, how sweet they smiled!
Ilis mild blue eyes, how bright they shone!
None ever bore a lovelier child:
And art thou now forever gone?
And must I never see thee more,
My pretty, pretty, pretty lad?
I will be free! unbar the door!
I am not mad; I am not mad.
7. Oh! hark! what mean those yells and cries?
His chain some furious madman breaks:
He comes-I see his glaring eyes;
Now, now, my dungeon-grate he shakes.
Help! help!—he's gone!-oh! fearful woe,
Such screams to hear, such sights to see'
My brain, my brain-I know, I know,
I am not mad, but soon shall be.
8. Yes, soon; for, lo you!-while I speak-
Mark how yon demon's eyeballs glare!
He sees me; now, with dreadful shriek,
He whirls a serpent high in air.
Horror!—the reptile strikes his tooth
Deep in my heart, so crushed and sad;
Ay, laugh, ye fiends; I feel the truth;
Your task is done-I'm mad! I'm mad!
CXLI.-ROLLA'S ADDRESS TO THE PERUVIANS.
1. My brave associates, partners of my toil, my feelings, and my fame! Can Rolla's words add vigor to the virtuous energies which inspire your hearts? No; you have judged as I have, the foulness of the crafty plea by which these bold invaders would delude you. Your generous spirit has
compared, as mine has, the motives, which, in a war like this, can animate their minds and ours.
2. They, by a strange frenzy driven, fight for power, for plunder, and extended rule; we, for our country, our altars, and our homes. They follow an adventurer whom they fear, and obey a power which they hate; we serve a monarch whom we love, a God, whom we adore. Whene'er they move in anger, desolation marks their progress Whenc'er they pause in amity, affliction mourns their friendship.
3. They boast they come but to improve our state, enlarge our thoughts, and free us from the yoke of error! Yes, they will give enlightened freedom to our minds, who are themselves the slaves of passion, avarice, and pride. They offer us their protection. Yes, such protection as vultures give to lambs-covering and devouring them.
4. They call on us to barter all of good, we have inherited and proved, for the desperate chance of something better, which they promise. Be our plain answer this: The throne we honor is the people's choice; the laws we reverence are our brave fathers' legacy; the faith we follow teaches us to live in bonds of charity with all mankind, and die with hope of bliss beyond the grave. Tell your invaders this, and tell them too, we seek no change; and, least of all, such change as they would bring us.
CXLII.-SOLILOQUY OF THE KING OF DENMARK.
1. On, my offense is rank, it smells to heaven!
It hath the primal eldest curse upon't-
A brother's murder.-Pray, alas! I can not,
Though inclination be as sharp as 't will;
My stronger guilt defeats my strong intent,
And like a man to double business bound,
I stand and pause where I shall first begin,
And both neglect. What if this curs-ed hand
Were thicker than itself with brother's blood,
Is there not rain enough in the sweet heavens
To wash it white as snow?
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