 | Timoleon |  |
59
Scene II.
—The Market-place in Corinth.[Enter Citizens.
1st Citizen.
Neighbour, good speed! Whence come you?
2nd Citizen.
From Lechæum.
1st Citizen.
Is aught there rumoured of the expedition?
2nd Citizen.
The air is rife with floating hearsay tales
Of such diverse complexions as to match
The tints and tissues of men's hopes and fears—
Frail threads by each from native fancy spun,
And dyed with his heart's colour. In one morn
I have heard news should make one drunk with tears,
And mad with exultation: first, our ships
Are sunk or taken, and Timoleon slain;
Next, by a storm they're scattered; now, 'tis sure
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And lets them from the passage; and, once more,
These have been wonderfully put to flight,
And Syracuse delivered, in less time
Than had sufficed the speed of Argo's prow
To dance us back the tidings.
1st Citizen.
Holds that news
Of the Leontine tyrant, Hiketas?
'Tis said he hath joined Carthage, and broke off
Our friendship on some hollow vain pretence.
2nd Citizen.
Yea, shall the oppressor strike for liberty?
Or shall a snake's lip kiss thee, and not sting?
His mouth dropped sweetness, that fond Syracuse
Might suck the sugared venom, and himself
Devouring the vile pest she groans beneath,
And greeted as deliverer, might therewith
Be taken to her heart and so strike home.
Countryman.
Ha! therefore crew this cock his challenge-note
So loudly, and clapped wings till all the roost
'Gan wonder, that himself anon might strut
The Dionysian dunghill!
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'Tis a quest
Of wild adventure and nigh desperate hope,
Timoleon is embarked on.
Countryman.
Well, I know not;
Such fair occasion is a savoury mess
For your king-killer, but withal served up
Too hot for the eating: little blame, say I,
Our generals feared to scald their hands in it.
1st Citizen.
Against such odds 'twill be a miracle
If e'er they dint the sands of Sicily;
So may the gods befriend them!
Woman.
Yea, 'tis like
All gods will aid the murderer of his kin,
And cursed by his own mother, or give strength
Of battle to the hands that strike with his.
2nd Citizen.
Good dame, bethink thee; were the deed undone,
Which thou reprov'st so sharply, Corinth now
Were even as Syracuse, and all we here
Either sad exiles, or mewed up in chains
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Free mother of a freeman's sons no more,
From thy slave's bosom giving suck to slaves.
1st Citizen.
Women are mothers first, then citizens.
Woman.
And men turn monsters, being citizens.
What! was there none to pull the despot down,
But—heaven defend us from such citizens!—
A man must knife his brother? I tell you still,
The high gods will avenge it, both on him
And us and on all Corinth; for by that stain
We and the cause we fight for are accursed.
And so farewell, fair citizens.
[Exit.
Countryman.
Good lack!
She lows so loudly for a neighbour's calf,
Pray heaven her own 'scape slaughtering, or methinks
Her horns will clear a passage. Were I lord
Timoleon, in good sooth I'd rather meet
Whole hosts of tyrants than a fly-stung herd
Of gadding wives.
1st Citizen.
Soft-hearted is sharp-tongued:
But men think deep what women talk abroad.
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Timoleon's, and, let victory light on him,
His only and for ever; but if he fail,
There are who hold 'twere better he should rot
In Syracusan dungeons, than come home
To face his friends in Corinth.
2nd Citizen.
Thou sayest well:
For dogs are dogs, and to be torn of beasts
No cleanly death; but 'twere the viler fate,
If choice were given, to be devoured of those
One's hand has saved and fostered.
[Enter a Soothsayer.
Soothsayer.
Masters all,
What moody business sets your brows afrown?
Out on such ominous eyes! this is a time
Of joyful expectation.
2nd Citizen.
By thy looks
Thou art of those who from strange mysteries
Of earth and heaven, or in the heart of beasts,
Can pluck divine foreknowledge, and by the light
Of an enthusiast mind have power to read
Dark regions of the unexplored ‘to be.’
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Whether foreboding of our hopes or fears,
Delay not to unfold.
Soothsayer.
I can but speak
What all the world has heard, though some have scoffed,
Deeming them idle tales, how that the gods,
By solemn portents and peculiar signs,
Unequalled in our age, surpassed in none,
Vouchsafed to smile on our departing arms,
And shower their favours on Timoleon.
2nd Citizen.
Something we heard—no constant clear report,
But such vague rumour as, from mouth to mouth
Bandied, and buzzed into the credulous ear
Of idle multitudes, breeds monstrous forms,
Ten thousand in a moment: but if aught
Thou holdst for certain, or thyself hast seen,
Say on, thou shalt have eager audience.
Countryman.
Ay, speak; I warrant 'tis a wondrous tale.
Soothsayer.
Know then, ere yet our musters were equipped,
While Corinth rang with warlike gathering,
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Made pilgrimage; nor ever entered there
Within the secret of its dim recess
A head more holy, a heart more reverent,
Of each due ordinance and solemn rite
A more devout observer. As wont is,
After prayer said and sacrifices done,
His feet drew nigh that ancient chasm profound
Fast by the earth's firm centre, whence exhaled,
The ascending vapour impregnates the brain
Of the throned priestess, till her frantic lips
In riddles hard of labyrinthine speech
Utter the gods' oracular response.
Thither he came, the dread prophetic voice
Attending, in that shrine whose awful air
Simmers with secrets from the eternal deep,
If haply its dark bosom might illume,
As thunder-clouds flash on the murk of night,
The far-off issue of his great emprise.
But as he stooped to enter, and bowed down
Prostrate in adoration, lo! a wreath
Of conquest, broidered with triumphal crowns
And images of victory, from the wall
Down-fluttering fell, and, 'lighting as he rose,
Circled the breadth of his heroic brow.
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I never heard the like!
2nd Citizen.
Such signs as these
Portend momentous issues, do they not?
And greatness, and a man beloved of heaven?
Soothsayer.
Ay, if the sacred art diviners use
Err not, and heaven be true. But have ye heard
That dream the priestess of Persephone
Dreamed ere they put to sea? For as she slept,
In the first watch when slumber is most deep,
Lo! at her side the goddess! a pale form
Shrouded in shadowy mist, whose floating folds
Caught glory from the moonlight! There she stood
Silent, one hand upon her brow, and one
Pointing to seaward; and she fixed on her
The yearning of those eyes whose rapt regard
Rules Erebus, remembering Sicily.
Then in no earthly accent, with like voice
To subterranean thunder she began—
“I am Persephone, that have uprisen
From the dread couch of Dis, and for awhile
Resigned my seat of gloomy sovereignty,
To visit the bright fields I loved on earth,
To visit and avenge them. Lo! to-night
Over the pearl path that the moonbeams make,
A twofold godhead with your fleet shall glide,
Demeter and Persephone: we will give
Clear tokens of our presence; and doubt not
But in all conflicts we will guard the head
And nerve the hand that strikes for Sicily.”
Err not, and heaven be true. But have ye heard
That dream the priestess of Persephone
Dreamed ere they put to sea? For as she slept,
In the first watch when slumber is most deep,
Lo! at her side the goddess! a pale form
Shrouded in shadowy mist, whose floating folds
Caught glory from the moonlight! There she stood
Silent, one hand upon her brow, and one
Pointing to seaward; and she fixed on her
The yearning of those eyes whose rapt regard
Rules Erebus, remembering Sicily.
Then in no earthly accent, with like voice
To subterranean thunder she began—
“I am Persephone, that have uprisen
From the dread couch of Dis, and for awhile
Resigned my seat of gloomy sovereignty,
To visit the bright fields I loved on earth,
To visit and avenge them. Lo! to-night
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A twofold godhead with your fleet shall glide,
Demeter and Persephone: we will give
Clear tokens of our presence; and doubt not
But in all conflicts we will guard the head
And nerve the hand that strikes for Sicily.”
So spake she, nor withheld the promised sign;
For at the dead and darkest of the night
With freshening breeze our ships stood out to sea
Past Elis and Zakynthus, when behold!
The heavens were rent asunder, and bright flame
Shot from the zenith down, a meteor-sheaf
Of splendours, that took shape, and streamed and spread,
And in the semblance of a sacred torch
Blazed high above them on toward Italy.
For at the dead and darkest of the night
With freshening breeze our ships stood out to sea
Past Elis and Zakynthus, when behold!
The heavens were rent asunder, and bright flame
Shot from the zenith down, a meteor-sheaf
Of splendours, that took shape, and streamed and spread,
And in the semblance of a sacred torch
Blazed high above them on toward Italy.
2nd Citizen.
Whence learned ye this great wonder?
Soothsayer.
From the lips
Of certain islanders—a coasting-crew—
Leucadians, who thus far upon their way
Convoyed them, and returned to tell the tale.
1st Citizen.
Are ye so sure it burned not angerly,
Charged hot with baleful menace, for a sign
Terrific, not triumphant?
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Hear that shout!
2nd Citizen.
What is't they cry? Corinth! Timoleon!
Some stirring news is toward! I see a crowd
Panting and straining in the hopeless track
Of a swift runner who is hard at hand.
[Enter a Herald.
All.
What tidings, herald, of Timoleon?
Herald.
For them that love him not bad news enow.
Soothsayer.
The gods be thanked!
1st Citizen.
Nay, boast not till ye know.
Marked you the phrase? no word of Corinth yet;
Good news belike for them that love not her.
2nd Citizen.
Nay, for this message is indeed the breath
And very heart-beat of my hope; but thou—
Countryman.
Wast born to croak in Syracusan fens,
Foul skies or fine. Come, honest messenger,
Give, an breath serve, a sample of thy news.
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For all your jars, good hap from first to last,
Luck and fair deeds and favourable gods
My tidings tell. In brief, our General hath,
Despite all disadvantage—time, and place,
Cross currents of opposing circumstance,
And treacherous friendship, and designing foe—
Ay, worse than all, grazed by the rankling tooth
Of sidelong hate and harsh opinion—
Though matched with all these odds, hath none the less
From fortune's bough plucked off the topmost wreath.
And first, arrived at Rhegium, we were hailed
By Carthaginian envoys with cold words
From Hiketas—“His arms had ta'en the town,
Franked up the tyrant in his citadel,
And well-nigh ended at one stroke the war.
Our ships, no longer serviceable, might,
Nay must, all shadow of offence apart,
Sail homeward”—which to enforce, a Punic fleet
Of twice our strength lay ready. Timoleon heard,
Feigning a forced content: nor urged he aught,
Save that in public they set forth the terms
Before the Rhegian elders. Hereupon
The assembly met; the city-gates were barred;
And thus, with Rhegium's eloquence to aid,
Whose mimic zeal still fanned the mock debate,
Outwitting once the sly Phœnician,
We seized the hour, stole forth, and one by one,
Timoleon last, the more to cloak his wile,
Regained our ships, and so to Sicily.
Luck and fair deeds and favourable gods
My tidings tell. In brief, our General hath,
Despite all disadvantage—time, and place,
Cross currents of opposing circumstance,
And treacherous friendship, and designing foe—
Ay, worse than all, grazed by the rankling tooth
Of sidelong hate and harsh opinion—
Though matched with all these odds, hath none the less
From fortune's bough plucked off the topmost wreath.
And first, arrived at Rhegium, we were hailed
By Carthaginian envoys with cold words
From Hiketas—“His arms had ta'en the town,
Franked up the tyrant in his citadel,
And well-nigh ended at one stroke the war.
Our ships, no longer serviceable, might,
Nay must, all shadow of offence apart,
Sail homeward”—which to enforce, a Punic fleet
Of twice our strength lay ready. Timoleon heard,
Feigning a forced content: nor urged he aught,
Save that in public they set forth the terms
Before the Rhegian elders. Hereupon
The assembly met; the city-gates were barred;
And thus, with Rhegium's eloquence to aid,
Whose mimic zeal still fanned the mock debate,
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We seized the hour, stole forth, and one by one,
Timoleon last, the more to cloak his wile,
Regained our ships, and so to Sicily.
There entertained us Tauromenium's lord,
Andromachus; whence, after two days' rest,
On to Adranum by forced march till night;
For faction there waxed clamorous, and men stood
Half for Timoleon, half for Hiketas.
Nine hours we toiled afoot; the fierce sun smote
Sore on our armèd heads till darkness fell;
Then onward still through darkness! but at length,
Some score of furlongs from the town, our van
Halted, beholding in the plain far off
Torch-lights and bivouac-fires, and on the wind
Hearing the hum and murmur of a host,
That 'mid the tumult of encampment keeps
Slack ward, and recks not of a coming foe.
Andromachus; whence, after two days' rest,
On to Adranum by forced march till night;
For faction there waxed clamorous, and men stood
Half for Timoleon, half for Hiketas.
Nine hours we toiled afoot; the fierce sun smote
Sore on our armèd heads till darkness fell;
Then onward still through darkness! but at length,
Some score of furlongs from the town, our van
Halted, beholding in the plain far off
Torch-lights and bivouac-fires, and on the wind
Hearing the hum and murmur of a host,
That 'mid the tumult of encampment keeps
Slack ward, and recks not of a coming foe.
Here those that led took counsel, and the most
Bade halt till morning, and repose our strengths,
Faint with long fast and travel: but the chief
Cried out, “On! on! One brave brief effort more
Flings you with tenfold vantage on a foe
To-morrow thrice your power, to-night your prey
Cumbered with half-pitched tents, amid their stuff
Caught unawares and feasting.” With that word
He seized his buckler, and strode on before,
Nor durst a man gainsay him: but as he spake
So it befell; for ere the moon was risen,
With a great shout we burst upon their flank,
Down-bearing all before us: fast they fled—
As from Parnassus the sonorous north
Shrieks down the mountain hollows to break with power
On Delphi, and takes her forests by the hair,
And drives the leaves in a whirlwind—so sped they,
Swept with a sudden horror of shadowy forms
From forth the howling darkness, the strewn ranks
Of Hiketas: some we surprised in sleep,
Some feasting, all of war's alarm
Secure and heedless; so the camp, the town,
Great store of captives, and much spoil was ours.
Bade halt till morning, and repose our strengths,
Faint with long fast and travel: but the chief
Cried out, “On! on! One brave brief effort more
Flings you with tenfold vantage on a foe
To-morrow thrice your power, to-night your prey
Cumbered with half-pitched tents, amid their stuff
Caught unawares and feasting.” With that word
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Nor durst a man gainsay him: but as he spake
So it befell; for ere the moon was risen,
With a great shout we burst upon their flank,
Down-bearing all before us: fast they fled—
As from Parnassus the sonorous north
Shrieks down the mountain hollows to break with power
On Delphi, and takes her forests by the hair,
And drives the leaves in a whirlwind—so sped they,
Swept with a sudden horror of shadowy forms
From forth the howling darkness, the strewn ranks
Of Hiketas: some we surprised in sleep,
Some feasting, all of war's alarm
Secure and heedless; so the camp, the town,
Great store of captives, and much spoil was ours.
2nd Citizen.
Where be the tongues of his accusers now?
As mute in mouth as safe in sheath the swords
They lacked the heart to draw. 'Tis the best news
Our age hath heard.
Herald.
A better crowns that best;
For at the point of onset, when our shout
First slew the silence, lo! the temple-doors
Oped of the god Adranus, and his spear
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Started and trickled from his stony pores
Down to the pavement, while stark horror seized
The priestess wondering what these things should mean.
But, after, no man doubted (for his name
'Gan to be noised more loudly, and what signs
Had erst foretold him famous) that hereby
The god gave token of his grace, and hailed
Timoleon as deliverer. From that day
The terror of his arm filled Sicily,
That many sought our friendship, chief of these
Mamercus, lord of Catana, beside
A score of lesser townships: but the top
And pinnacle of fortune 's yet to tell;
For Dionysius in the Ortygian hold
Shut fast, and now nigh hopeless to unbind
The girdle of his threefold enemy,
Corinthian, Carthaginian, Leontine,
Heard of Adranum's victory, and sent,
Scorning the yoke of conquered Hiketas,
An embassage to meet us, there and then
Surrendering unsolicited himself,
Treasure and fortress, arms and equipage
Into Timoleon's hand: nor asked he more
Than transport safe to Corinth, there to live
Henceforth unchallenged of his liberty.
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Which proffered terms were taken?
Herald.
Ere I loosed
From shore, four hundred veterans of our host
Watched from Ortygia's bastion, having stole
Safe through the leaguer's lines; and he whose wrath
Was a volcano kindled, and whose breath
Blew deadlier from his nostrils than the blast
Of pestilence on Syracuse, even he,
This monster-despot in one hour become
A sign for lips to shoot at, and a mark
For folly's outthrust finger, shall be seen
Walking in Corinth's streets, weak, poor, despised,
Unkinged, and no man trembling at his frown.
1st Citizen.
These are great tidings, herald, but methinks,
Though praise still weds the prosperous, rightly judged,
More due to feats of fortune than of war;
Yet time may mend that verdict: howsoe'er,
It boots not him to triumph, who through some trick
And slippery practice of his nimbler wit
Hath tried one happy fall: the worst is yet
To cope with, when, fast-locked, with equal grip
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The sinewy foeman's ever-tightening strain,
And plies the shift that serves no second turn.
2nd Citizen.
Sir, sir, I like not your philosophy:
O'erwise is one with foolish. Pray you, cease:
'Tis sage-like, doubtless, with judicial frown
And air-poised chin, on dexterous finger-tip
To weigh the world's experience—but we prate
Idly: vouchsafe us, herald, of our friends
Some further news—where lies Timoleon's power?
Whom doth Ortygia's garrison obey?
Herald.
Neon is captain in the Citadel
With thrice eight hundred men—the more part those
Who yielded with the despot—and there lies
Blockaded, for the Carthaginian fleet
Fills the great harbour; and the city itself,
Tycha, Neapolis, Epipolæ,
And Acradina and all the fens are held
By Hiketas and Mago. For the rest,
Timoleon hath led back the main array,
And tarries at Adranum, till the State
Grant him some increase of his power, for which
He prays your willing voices.
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He shall have them;
Yea, and hath earned them well.
1st Citizen
(aside).
Ay, go your ways,
Light straw-chips blown round corners of the streets,
Till some thwart current cross ye! shout his name,
Swear by Timoleon, sweat and die for him.
No more of fratricide! 'tis patriot now,
Tyrannicide, deliverer! Well, let be:
Go, help him win! send all your succours forth;
Be flattered, fooled; then rid you as ye may
Of your deliverer, gaping to behold
Tyrannicide turned tyrant.
Soothsayer.
Ye do well
To laud this man, who is worthy of your loves,
Being pure and perfect-hearted, toward all men
Reproveless, and for mastery of his hand
Strong, and a mighty leader. Let who will
Go forth with him and conquer; for the proud
Beneath his feet are stubble, but him all gods
Prosper, and make his counsel to prevail.
| Timoleon | |