University of Virginia Library

SCENE IV.

Nearchus
alone.
Great is the task that Thetis has enjoin'd:
I fear each moment may reveal Achilles.
Tis true the force of potent love restrains
His native warmth; but when perchance he hears
The trumpet's sound, or sees a warrior clad
In plate and mail, his genius takes the alarm:
He raves aloud and scorns his feeble dress
Of powerless woman. Should he learn that Troy
Can never fall without his fateful arm;
That now all Greece combin'd require his aid,
What were his feelings then? Forbid it, Heaven,
That any Greek should seek him on this shore—
[looking out.]
O! Gods! am I deceiv'd? Is that Ulysses?
What cause has brought him hither? Not by chance,
He seeks the port of Scyros—What were best?
He knew me once, and knew me at the court
Of aged Peleus, young Achilles' sire.
'Tis true, since then a length of years has pass'd.
At all events I would remain conceal'd,
Nor own myself the same he saw in Greece.
—Ho! stranger! pass no further; first declare
Thy name and lineage: such is here the law,
And such my sovereign's will.