Whate'er it now be); and Rome's earliest cement Be spilt till the choked Tiber be as red Arn. But what have these done, their far Cas. And what had they done, whom the old Romans o'erswept ?-Hark! Arn. They are soldiers singing A reckless roundelay, upon the eve Of many deaths, it may be of their own. 90 Cas. And why should they not sing as well as swans? They are black ones, to be sure. Arn. I see, too? So, you are learned, Cas. In my grammar, certes. I Arn. And wherefore do you not? Cæs. It answers better to resolve the alphabet Philosopher, and what not, they have built 100 The stammering young ones of the flood's dull ooze, 110 Who failed and fled each other. Why? why, marry, They are wiser now, and will not separate Arn. (interrupting him). Oh, thou everlasting sneerer! Be silent! How the soldier's rough strain seems Softened by distance to a hymn-like cadence! Listen! Cas. Yes. I have heard the angels sing. Arn. And demons howl. Cæs. I love all music. 120 1. [Francis the First was taken prisoner at the Battle of Pavia, February 24, 1525.] 2. [Compare The Siege of Corinth, line 752, Poetical Works, 1900, iii. 483. There is a note of tragic irony in the soldiers' vain-glorious prophecy.] Cæs. Up! up with the Lily! And down with the Keys ! Her Tiber all red, Shall clang with our tread. Oh, the Bourbon! the Bourbon !1 Of our song bear the burden! With Spain for the vanguard, Are couched at their mother; Oh, the Bourbon! the Bourbon ! We'll follow the Bourbon, To plunder old Rome. An indifferent song For those within the walls, methinks, to hear. 150 160 170 Arn. Yes, if they keep to their chorus. But here comes The general with his chiefs and men of trust.". A goodly rebel. Enter the Constable BOURBON cum suis," etc., etc. Phil. How now, noble Prince, Why should I be so? You are not cheerful? Bourb. Phil. Upon the eve of conquest, such as ours, Most men would be so. i. The General with his men of confidence.—[MS.] "Calla calla 1. [Brantôme (Memoires, etc., 1722, i. 215) quotes a "chanson" of "Les soldats Espagnols" as they marched Romewards. Julio Cesar, Hannibal, y Scipion! Viva la fama de Bourbon."] Bourb. Were the walls of If I were secure! Phil. Doubt not our soldiers. adamant, They'd crack them. Hunger is a sharp artillery. But now Phil. 180 They are but men who war with mortals. Bourb. True: but those walls have girded in great ages, i. And sent forth mighty spirits. The past earth Phil. So let them! Wilt thou Turn back from shadowy menaces of shadows? 190 Bourb. They do not menace me. I could have faced, Methinks, a Sylla's menace; but they clasp, And raise, and wring their dim and deathlike hands, Fascinate mine. Look there! A guard in sight; they wisely keep below, Bourb. You are blind. Phil. If seeing nothing more than may be seen i. And present phantom of that deathless world.-[MS,] With all their heroes,-the last Cato 1 stands Phil. Then conquer The walls for which he conquered and be greater! Phil. You can not. In such an enterprise to die is rather 210 [Count ARNOLD and CÆSAR advance, Cas. And the mere men-do they, too, sweat beneath The noon of this same ever-scorching glory? Bourb. Ah! Welcome the bitter Hunchback! and his master, Cas. You will find, So please your Highness, no less for yourself. Cæs. You may well say so, For you have seen that back-as general, Placed in the rear in action-but your foes Have never seen it. That's a fair retort, Bourb. Phil. Why so? One half 220 230 1. [When the Uticans decided not to stand a siege, but to send deputies to Cæsar, Cato determined to put an end to his life rather than fall into the hands of the conqueror. Accordingly, after he had retired to rest he stabbed himself under the breast, and when the physician sewed up the wound, he thrust him away, and plucked out his own bowels. Plutarch's Lives, Langhorne's Translation, 1838, P. 553.] |