 | Pyrrhus King of Epirus |  |
11
Act II.
Enter Antigonus, Demetrius, Aristeon, Martius.Antig.
Is Pyrrhus then invincible, and does the Fortune
Of Alexander wholly wait on him?
He marches as securely on to Battels,
As others do to Triumphs, and he wins them,
As sure as if he were a God, exalted
Above the Chance of War.
Dem.
He is the Darling of it,
The best-lov'd Son of Mars; our Macedonians
That once knew how to conquer, fly from him
As Persians did from them.
Mart.
My two best Legions
Are lost entirely, and the rest so shatter'd,
They are not serviceable. Imperial Rome,
In the wide Progress of her spreading Arms,
Has never met such stops as now she finds,
When e'r she encounters Epirus's King.
Antig.
All his Success is wonderful, himself
Does things prodigious, and beyond belief:
An Army led by such a King, so daring,
That goes the foremost on, and fights the first,
With his own Sword, opening the way to Victory,
Must needs prevail.
Arist.
I sought him in the Battel,
And found him to my Cost; his second Blow
Struck me to Earth, so weightily, that I fansy'd
All Heav'n was fall'n upon me.
Dem.
I saw him then,
When he rode swiftly through your Argive Troops,
As fatal as the Lightning, and as fast,
And distributing Deaths like Jove himself.
Antig.
Now we lie here besieg'd, shut up in Walls,
And have not Forces left to take the Field,
'Tis doubtful if these Ramparts can withstand him,
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Arist.
Argos to him
Will be as Oxydrate to Alexander;
Yet Victor as he is, we will resist him,
And put the War on the extremest Proof,
When he dare try it.
Dem.
That will be to Night;
For I am told he swore to interr his Son
In the Goddess Juno's Temple.
Mart.
No doubt he'll act
As boldly as he vows.
Antig.
'Tis almost certain
He will assault us here this very Night.
The Trumpet that we sent him is return'd;
But Truce is only granted till the Night,
And that speaks something.
Dem.
The Gates are open'd,
And the glad Argives walk about in Fields,
Where an hour since it had been Death to tread;
Already they begin to taste the breath
Of the refreshing Peace.
Mart.
Soldiers on either side,
That very lately fought with mortal hatred,
Now join in friendly Meetings.
Arist.
Yonder I think,
Two of a nobler Aspect than the rest,
Seem to come strait to us; I know their Arms,
The same the Prince and General wore in Battel.
Antig.
When you are met, I charge you to be careful
How you observe the Peace; let nothing break it.
No Words inrage you, and no Rage transport you
To violate our Truce; but when it ends,
Appear your selves again, resume your Fury
Fiercer than ever; Summon all your Forces
For one great blow to crown the dreadful Upshot.
Prepare th'extremest Chance of War to try,
Resolve to conquer, or resolve to die.
[Exit Antigonus.
Enter Helenus, Dion.
Dem.
Much sweeter are the looks of gentle Peace
Than those of horrid War.
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One of them
Looks like some Beauty in her best attire,
With all her richest Ornaments upon her;
The other like some rough and unhewn Warriour,
Clad in hard Iron.
Mart.
Not long since it was dangerous for the best of us
To meet so near: We now may join our hands,
And clasp each others warlike Arms unhurt;
Which was not so this Morning.
Dion.
And will not be this Night.
Arist.
Short as you please, we are ready to receive you.
Dem.
Till then all Peace, hush'd as the Sea becalm'd;
For so should we look now: No angry Frown
On our smooth Brows, no Fury in our Eyes,
Nothing of Enemy in us.
Hel.
By Mars I am pleas'd
That we meet thus.
Arist.
The Conquerors may be pleas'd,
And proud on't too, and chiefly such as take it
A kind of Triumph to them.
Dion.
We take it not as such,
Although we are the Conquerors.
Arist.
When you've won all, you may.
Hel.
And all is Ours
To very little.
Dem.
Less than that little we have,
Has oftentimes been known to bring back all.
Arist.
Argos is ours, a formidable City,
The Walls are large, and high, and Men within them
That dare defend them.
Hel.
And there are those without
As daring to assault them.
Dion.
And you have prov'd,
They are not to be scorn'd; this day is witness
To the great Fall of Thirty thousand Soldiers
Of Argos, Rome, and Macedon, and they lie yet
Unburied in these Fields.
Dem.
Heav'n was against us:
But the next time Fortune may smile on our side,
And lop a greater number of your Armies
Than we lost from ours.
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to Helenus.]
And Prince I tell you,
Whilst I wear this, and whilst these hands can wield it,
You shall not be a Conqu'rour.
Hel.
'Tis a large Promise
More than a single Sword can e'er perform.
I saw yours drawn to day with thousand others
As able as it self; yet through them all
We found the way to Victory.
Arist.
Yet there is a Quarrel
We must decide our selves, when not an Eye
Is by to see us, nor a hand to hinder,
There thou shalt not be Victor;
Hel.
Name it to me,
And be assured thou shalt be met.
Arist.
Antigone.
Hel.
Ha! what of her?
Arist.
She never shall be yours.
Hel.
Who shall hinder?
Arist.
I will.
Hel.
You cannot, dare not do't.
Arist.
By Heav'n, I can and dare; nay more I will.
Think where she is, in Argos, in a Place
Where I have Pow'r, where thou shalt never come;
And now despair.
Hel.
Were Argos Walls as high
As huge Olympus top, their tow'ring Battlements
Hid in the Clouds, and reaching up to Heav'n,
A Love like mine would find a speedy way
How to surmount them.
Arist.
I laugh at thee.
Hel.
Thou darest not,
Not for thy Life: Oh! Love.
Arist.
You see I do.
Hel.
But thou shalt end it with thy Love and Life,
[Both Draw.
All three destroy'd at once.
[Arist. wounded.
Dion.
Ha, Sirs, in time of Truce, is this like brave Men?
Help to disarm them. Prince is this the Honour
You do your Father's Name? When he makes Peace,
Are you the first to break it?
Hel.
Had he been by,
Or Jove with all his Thunder in his hand,
I had acted as I did.
15
Both of the Kings are disobey'd alike
By both the Princes; but no more of this,
Suspend your Fury only till the Night,
And you may then discharge it all with Honour
Each on his Foe.
Dion.
And I promise, Prince of Argos,
Helenus shall not then decline the Combat,
Although he ought not to pursue it now.
Hel.
By Heav'n I'll seek thee in the mouth of Death,
On top of all those Ramparts, which thou said'st
I ne'er shou'd climb, and hurl thee down as Jove
Did Giants from the Skies.
Arist.
Remember this.
Hel.
I will, or curse me Gods; make me the Scorn
And Sport of every Coward, if I not seek thee,
And carefully as Fate, that surely finds:
In War and Love may I be never blest,
And may she loath me whom I love the best.
[Exeunt Demetrius, Aristeon.
Manent Helenus, Dion.
Hel.
'Tis yet some Comfort that I know my Rival;
Which known he dies. I'll after him, and end him:
Too certainly he loves her, and perhaps
She may love him; she may, she is a Woman,
A Sex that may be false: The impious Thought
Almost distracts me: I'll go learn the Truth.
General, farewel.
Dion.
Ha! Whither go you, Prince?
That is the way to Argos.
Hel.
I go to Argos.
Dion.
What, to a City in an Enemy's hands?
Beleagur'd by our Selves, a Hostile Town
That wou'd be greedy of so rich a Prey,
And sure to keep you Prisoner. Come, by Heav'n,
You shall not go.
Hel.
By Heav'n, you shall not hinder,
And therefore let me pass.
Dion.
I barr you thus,
And will not give you way.
Hel.
Say not again you will not;
For I will have it.
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I were mad my self
If I gave way to Mad-men.
Hel.
Old stubborn Man, as impotent as envious,
Were not thy Vigour gone, thy Veins grown dry,
And every drop of sprightly Blood exhausted,
And can'st not meet my Arms with equal Forces,
I would punish thee for this.
Dion.
Oh! that thou wert not Son to God-like Pyrrhus,
The Man I love of all the World the best,
And even above it all, and next to Heav'n,
This aged Arm, and withered as it is,
Could I make crush the Man that dares to tempt it.
Hel.
Do you know me?
Dion.
Aye, better than you do your self,
And love you more.
Hel.
You seem not to do either.
Remember I'm Heir to the Epiran Crown:
Long may my Father wear it; but when he dies,
If I survive, 'tis mine, and thou esteem'd
No other than a Traytor.
Dion.
Thou'rt worse,
A Traytor to thy Father, and thy King;
And Ruine to thy self.
Hel.
Yet let me pass.
Dion.
Your Actions have enraged me so of late,
That what you do, does not concern me now.
Go where you please; for I will to the King,
And tell him all.
Hel.
Tell what thy Malice can,
Perverse old Dotard, past the Years of Manhood.
Dion.
Thy Father shall know what thou art. I'll tell him
How you first broke the Truce; how in the Battel,
When I had singled out the King of Macedon,
And held my Sword advanc'd above his head
Ready to strike, and put a happy end
To the Long War,
You rush'd betwixt, and stopp'd my falling Arm,
And cry'd out, Spare the King.
Hel.
In that I did
Nothing, but what was due to Royal Blood;
Kings are too sacred, and too dear to Heav'n
To fall by impious hands.
17
You lov'd the Daughter,
And therefore sav'd the Father. Curs'd Love,
The bane of gallant Deeds and gallant Men:
Good Gods! that any one so form'd for Greatness
As this most excellent, but unhappy Prince,
Design'd by Heav'n for all imperial Dignities,
Cast in the noblest Mold, and stamp'd divine,
No Fault through all his Frame, the best of Princes,
And bravest Soldier, should be lost by Love.
Remember but your Brother Ptolemy,
Your Royal Father wish'd you were like him,
And oh! I beg of all the Gods you were.
Would he do this, would he forsake his Honour,
And leave a conqu'ring Army for a Woman!
O think what pains I took to instruct your Youth
In the great Trade of War, and how I joy'd
To see the noble Art improv'd in you;
Then call the old Man, Dotard, past his Manhood,
Thank me in Terms like these.
Hel.
Forgive me, General,
Shame and Distraction seize me both at once.
I know not what to say; alas, I know not
What I resolv'd to do, you've held a Mirror,
And shewn me to my self, and I am foul
As She I love is fair.
Dion.
Return with me
Back to our Camp, and all again is well;
Where you shall meet in Triumph all the Chiefs
Shining in Golden Arms, the Prancing Steeds
Bearing with Pride their Riders on their Backs,
And neighing to the sound of Warlike Trumpets,
Whilst all the joyful Soldiers loudly answer
In Songs of Io Pæan.
Hel.
How little shall I share the general Joy,
That have the Foe within me. Do but view me,
And think that when a Conqueror grieves as I do,
Even whilst his Arms are on him, and his Sword
Still stain'd with Blood, nothing but Love cou'd cause it.
Dion.
I see it plain you love her too, too well:
But Glory us'd to be the charming Mistress,
And most admir'd by Princes; slight not that
For any other Idol.
18
Heav'n can witness,
That tho' I love her more, far more than Life,
Yet I love Honour better than them both.
Dion.
Why did you then go to throw that away,
Even when you were not certain of the other,
And rashly run to Dangers which had cost you
Your Life and all?
Hel.
O do not press me thus;
My guilty Soul wou'd lose the black Remembrance,
But you take care to keep it still alive.
Dion.
No, it shall die for me; and since I see you
So sensible of Honour, so nice of that,
In heighth of Love I will my self instruct you
To farther your Designs.
Hel.
Oh tell me how,
My good General, tell me, and your Prince
Shall bless those aged lips that gave the Counsel.
Dion.
See her no more.
Hel.
Again you dash me
Down from the top of my aspiring hopes
Into the lowest Valley of Despair.
Dion.
Nay, hear me out; not see her till the Night:
To Night, when your great Father bids us arm,
And march to mount yon Walls; then you shall go
The foremost on, to seize your lovely Prize,
Revenge your Brother, and receive Antigone.
Hel.
Oh! you have fired me; by the Gods, I wish
The Night already come: Fall down thou Sun
From Heav'ns high Battlements, to Seas beneath;
And the kind Heav'ns draw all your darkest Curtains
Around your shining Orbs, and shut in day;
For I will do such most amazing Deeds,
As are not fit for your bright eyes to view.
Yon Argos shall be levell'd in the Dust,
Flames in her Tow'rs, and Murder in her Streets,
Death in all Forms, and horrid in them all;
Only my Love be free, in general Ruine,
Whom I will bear safe through th'wondring Flames,
Whilst the scorch'd Dæmons of the Air shall beg
For such a Champion to relieve themselves.
Dion.
Prince, I dare trust you farther yet than this;
I know you truly noble; only swear,
19
As you may do disguis'd in time of Truce,
Swear to return when the first Trumpets call,
And the Alarm is heard; not lose your Part
In the great Action, swear by something sacred,
And you have leave to go.
Hel.
By all that's sacred,
By her I love, I swear I will return,
Though from the clasping Arms of her I love.
Dion.
Remember only this, and then farewel:
Behold yon Ramparts higher than the rest;
'Tis there your Father storms, be sure be there.
Hel.
Doubt not I will, only till then adieu.
I go with none but lambent Fires to love;
But will return with burning heat to Battel,
And all my rising Spirits turn'd for Glory.
Glory and Love usurp my ravish'd Soul,
They have my heart, and they possess it whole.
[Exit.
Dion.
I let him go, and yet Heav'n knows how loth;
But had I not, his noble Heart had broke.
He is brave, and worthy of his Royal Birth;
And were it not for Love, the most accomplish'd,
And nearest to a God, of any Mortal,
Penurious Heav'n, and ye so timorous Deities,
That dare not suffer this one gallant Youth
To be completely perfect, lest he draw
Your Adoration from you; no, you dare not
Grant your Assent, that ought of Humane Race
Shou'd ev'ry ways be happy; then alas
He were too like your selves; What other blemish,
But that of Love has tainted him? Woman, Woman,
Whence comes your Empire over us? Whence the Power
That chains us all your Slaves? Sure we at first
Were meant the Masters; but by some strange turn,
Some most prodigious Whirl of unfix'd Fate,
The subtil Sex has chang'd the Laws of Heav'n.
Heav'n, when it made them, meant them to obey,
Design'd them Slaves, who now have learnt to sway:
To them the Hero's of the Earth fall down,
Pleas'd when they smile, but dying if they frown:
To them we offer up our frequent Prayers;
They move above our Heads in higher Spheres,
And the large Rule of all the World is theirs.
[Exit.
| Pyrrhus King of Epirus | |