They braced their belts about them,

They cross'd in ships the sea,
They sought and found six feet of ground,
And there they died for me.

A. E. Housman.

132

Eve to Adam

With thee conversing I forget all time, All seasons and their change, all please alike. Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet, With charm of earliest Birds ; pleasant the Sun When first on this delightful Land he spreads His orient Beams, on herb, tree, fruit, and flower, Glistering with dew ; fragrant the fertile earth After soft showers ; and sweet the coming on Of grateful Evening mild ; then silent Night With this her solemn Bird and this fair Moon, And these the Gems of Heav'n, her starry train. But neither breath of Morn when she ascends With charm of earliest Birds, nor rising Sun On this delightful land, nor herb, fruit, flower, Glistering with dew, nor fragrance after showers, Nor grateful Evening mild, nor silent Night With this her solemn Bird, nor walk by Moon, Or glittering Star-light without thee is sweet.

Milton.

133

When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear time's waste :

sessions] judicial sittings, holding a privy session with myself.

K

Then can I drown an eye, unused to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night,
And weep afresh love's long since cancell'd woe,
And moan the

expense of many a vanish'd sight :
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.

But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
All losses are restored and sorrows end.

Shakespeare.
134
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with

my

bootless cries And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessid, Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee,—and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate ;

For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings, That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Shakespeare.

135

From Christabel' *

Alas ! they had been friends in youth;
But whispering tongues can poison truth;
And constancy lives in realms above ;

And life is thorny; and youth is vain; foregone] that have gone by.

And to be wroth with one we love
Doth work like madness in the brain.
And thus it chanced, as I divine,
With Roland and Sir Leoline.
Each spake words of high disdain
And insult to his heart's best brother :
They parted—ne'er to meet again!
But never either found another
To free the hollow heart from paining-
They stood aloof, the scars remaining,
Like cliffs that had been rent asunder ;
A dreary sea now flows between ;-
But neither heat, nor frost, nor thunder,
Shall wholly do away, I ween,
The marks of that which once hath been. .

Coleridge.

136

Brutus and Cassius

From Julius Cæsar, Act IV.

SCENE III. BRUTUS' TENT

Enter BRUTUS and CASSIUS. Cas. That you have wrong'd me doth appear in this : You have condemn'd and noted Lucius Pella For taking bribes here of the Sardians ; Wherein my letters, praying on his side, Because I knew the man, were slighted off.

Bru. You wrong'd yourself to write in such a case.

Cas.

I an itching palm !
You know that you are Brutus that speaks this,
Or, by the gods, this speech were else your last.

BRU. The name of Cassius honours this corruption,
And chastisement doth therefore hide his head.

Cas. Chastisement !
Bru. Remember March, the ides of March re-

member :
Did not great Julius bleed for justice' sake ?
What villain touch'd his body, that did stab,
And not for justice ? What, shall one of us,
That struck the foremost man of all this world
But for supporting robbers, shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes,
And sell the mighty space of our large honours
For so much trash as may be grasped thus ?
I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon,
Than such a Roman.
Cas.

Brutus, bay not me ;
I'll not endure it : you forget yourself,
To hedge me in; I am a soldier, I,
Older in practice, abler than yourself
To make conditions.
BRU.

Go to ; you are not, Cassius.
Cas. I am.
Bru. I say you are not.

Cas. Urge me no more, I shall forget myself;
Have mind upon your health, tempt me no farther.

BRU. Away, slight man !
Cas. Is 't possible ?
BRU.

Hear me, for I will speak.
Must I give way and room to your rash choler ?
Shall I be frighted when a madman stares ?

Cas. O ye gods, ye gods! must I endure all this?
Bru. All this ? ay, more : fret till your proud heart

Go show

your

slaves how choleric you are, And make your bondmen tremble. Must I budge ? Must I observe you ? must I stand and crouch Under your testy humour ? By the gods, You shall digest the venom of your spleen, Though it do split you ; for, from this day forth, I'll use you for my mirth, yea, for my laughter, When you are waspish. Cas.

Is it come to this ? Bru. You say you are a better soldier : Let it appear so; make your vaunting true, And it shall please me well : for mine own part, I shall be glad to learn of noble men. Cas. You wrong me every way ; you wrong me,

Brutus ; I said, an elder soldier, not a better : Did I say, better?

If you did, I care not. Cas. When Cæsar lived, he durst not thus have moved

BRU.

me.

BRU.

Bru. Peace, peace ! you durst not so have tempted

him.
Cas. I durst not!
BRU. No.
CAS. What! durst not tempt him !

For
your
life
you

durst not. Cas. Do not presume too much upon my love ; I may do that I shall be

sorry

for. BRU. You have done that you

should be

sorry

for. There is no terror, Cassius, in

threats ;
For I am arm's so strong in honesty
That they pass by me as the idle wind,
Which I respect not. I did send to you
For certain sums of gold, which you denied me :
For I can raise no money by vile means :