Agam.
Princes ^note,
What grief hath set the ^note jaundice on ^note your cheeks?
The ample proposition that hope makes ^note
In all designs begun on earth below
Fails in the promised largeness: checks and disasters
Grow in the veins of actions highest rear'd,
As knots, by the conflux of meeting sap,
Infect ^note the sound pine and divert ^note his grain
Tortive and errant from his course of growth.
Nor, princes, is it matter new to us
That we come short of our suppose so far
That after seven years' siege yet Troy walls stand;
Sith every ^note action that hath gone before,
Whereof we have record, trial did draw
Bias and thwart, not answering the aim
And that unbodied figure of the thought
That gave't surmised shape. Why then, you princes,

Do you with cheeks abash'd behold our works ^note,
And call them shames ^note? which are indeed nought else
But the protractive trials of great Jove
To find persistive constancy in men:
The fineness of which metal is not found
In fortune's love; for then the bold and coward,
The wise and fool, the artist and unread,
The hard and soft, seem all affined and kin:
But in the wind and tempest of her frown,
Distinction with a broad ^note and powerful fan
Puffing at all winnows the light away,
And what hath mass or matter, by itself ^note
Lies rich in virtue and unmingled.

Nest.
With due observance of thy godlike ^note seat,
Great Agamemnon, Nestor shall apply ^note
Thy latest words. In the reproof of chance ^note
Lies the true proof of men: the sea being smooth,
How many shallow bauble boats dare sail
Upon her patient ^note breast, making their way
With those of nobler ^note bulk! ^note
But let the ruffian Boreas once enrage
The gentle Thetis, and anon behold
The strong-ribb'd bark through liquid mountains cut ^note,
Bounding between the two moist elements,
Like Perseus' horse: where's then the saucy boat,
Whose weak untimber'd sides but even now
Co-rivall'd greatness? either to harbour fled,
Or made a toast ^note for Neptune. Even so
Doth valour's show and valour's worth divide

In storms of fortune: for in her ray and brightness ^note
The herd hath more annoyance by the breese ^note
Than by the tiger; but when the splitting wind
Makes ^note flexible the knees of knotted oaks,
And flies fled ^note under shade, why then ^note the thing of courage ^note
As roused with rage with rage doth sympathize,
And with an accent tuned ^note in selfsame key
Retorts ^note to chiding fortune.

Ulyss.
Agamemnon,
Thou great commander, nerve ^note and bone of Greece,
Heart of our numbers, soul and only spirit ^note,
In whom the tempers and the minds of all
Should be shut up, hear what Ulysses speaks.
Besides the applause and approbation
The which, [To Agamemnon ^note] most mighty for thy place and sway ^note, [To Nestor ^note]
And thou most reverend for thy ^note stretch'd-out life,
I give to both your speeches, which were such
As Agamemnon and the hand ^note of Greece
Should hold up high in brass, and such again
As venerable Nestor, hatch'd in silver,
Should with a bond of air ^note, strong as the axletree
On ^note which heaven rides ^note, knit all the Greekish ^note ears

To his experienced tongue, yet ^note let it please ^note both,
Thou ^note great, and wise, to hear Ulysses speak.

Agam.
Speak, Prince of ^note Ithaca; and be't of ^note less ^note expect ^note
That matter needless, of importless burthen,
Divide thy lips, than ^note we are confident,
When rank Thersites opes his mastic ^note jaws,
We shall hear music, wit and oracle.

Ulyss. ^note
Troy, yet upon his ^note basis ^note, had been down,
And the great Hector's sword had lack'd a master,
But for these instances ^note.
The specialty of rule hath been neglected:
And, look, how many Grecian tents do stand
Hollow upon ^note this plain, so many hollow factions ^note.
When that the general is not like the ^note hive
To whom ^note the foragers shall all repair,
What honey is expected? Degree being vizarded,
The unworthiest shows as fairly in the mask. ^note
The heavens themselves, the planets and this centre,
Observe degree, priority and place,
Insisture ^note, course, proportion, season, form,
Office and custom, in all line of order:
And therefore is the glorious planet Sol
In noble eminence enthroned and sphered

Amidst the other ^note; whose medicinable ^note eye
Corrects the ill aspects of planets evil ^note,
And posts like the commandment of a king,
Sans check to good and bad: but when the planets
In evil mixture to disorder wander,
What plagues and what portents, what mutiny,
What raging of the sea, shaking of earth,
Commotion in the winds, frights, changes, horrors,
Divert and crack, rend and deracinate
The unity and married ^note calm of states
Quite from their fixure ^note! O, when ^note degree is shaked ^note,
Which is the ladder to ^note all high designs,
The ^note enterprise is sick! How could communities,
Degrees in schools and brotherhoods in cities,
Peaceful commerce from dividable shores,
The primogenitive ^note and due of birth,
Prerogative of age, crowns, sceptres, laurels,
But by degree, stand in authentic place?
Take but degree away, untune that string,
And, hark, what discord follows! each thing meets ^note
In mere oppugnancy: the bounded waters
Should ^note lift their bosoms higher than the shores,
And make a sop of all this solid globe:
Strength should ^note be lord of imbecility,
And the rude son should ^note strike his father dead:
Force should ^note be right; or rather, right and wrong,
Between whose endless jar justice resides ^{note note},
Should ^note lose their ^note names, and so should ^note justice too.

Then every thing includes ^note itself in power,
Power into will, will into appetite;
And appetite, an universal wolf,
So doubly seconded with will and power,
Must make perforce an universal prey,
And last eat up himself ^note. Great Agamemnon ^note,
This chaos, when degree is suffocate,
Follows the choking. ^note
And this neglection of degree it is ^note
That by a pace goes backward, with ^note a purpose
It hath to climb ^note. The general's disdain'd
By him one step below; he by the next;
That next by him beneath: so every step,
Exampled by the first pace that is sick
Of his superior, grows to an envious fever
Of pale and bloodless emulation:
And 'tis this fever that keeps Troy on foot,
Not her own sinews. To end a tale of length,
Troy in our weakness stands ^note, not in her strength.

Nest.
Most wisely hath Ulysses here discover'd
The fever whereof all our power is sick.

Agam.
The nature of the sickness found, Ulysses,
What is the remedy?

Ulyss.
The great Achilles, whom opinion crowns
The sinew ^note and the forehand of our host,
Having his ear full of his airy fame,
Grows dainty of his worth, and in his tent
Lies mocking our designs: with him, Patroclus,
Upon a lazy bed, the livelong day
Breaks scurril jests ^note;
And with ridiculous and awkward ^note action,
Which, slanderer, he imitation calls,

He pageants us. Sometime ^note, great Agamemnon,
Thy topless ^note deputation he puts on;
And, like a strutting player, whose conceit
Lies in his hamstring, and doth think it rich
To hear the wooden dialogue and sound
'Twixt his stretch'd footing and the scaffoldage ^note,
Such to-be-pitied and o'er-wrested ^note seeming
He acts thy greatness in: and when he speaks,
'Tis like a chime a-mending; with terms unsquared ^note,
Which, from the tongue of roaring Typhon dropp'd,
Would ^note seem ^note hyperboles. At this fusty stuff,
The large Achilles, on his press'd bed ^note lolling,
From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause;
Cries ‘Excellent! 'tis Agamemnon just ^note.
Now play me Nestor; hem ^note, and stroke thy beard,
As he being dress'd ^note to some oration.’
That's done; as near as the extremest ends
Of parallels, as like as ^note Vulcan and his wife:
Yet god ^note Achilles still cries ‘Excellent!
'Tis Nestor right. Now play him me, Patroclus,
Arming to answer in a night alarm.’
And then, forsooth, the faint defects of age
Must be the scene of mirth; to cough and spit,
And, with a palsy fumbling ^note on his gorget,
Shake in and out the rivet: and at ^note this sport
Sir Valour dies; cries ‘O, enough, Patroclus;
Or give me ribs of steel! I shall split ^note all
In pleasure of my spleen.’ And in this fashion,
All our abilities, gifts, natures, shapes,

Severals and generals of grace exact ^note,
Achievements, plots, orders, preventions,
Excitements to the field or speech for truce,
Success or loss, what is or is not, serves
As stuff for these two to make paradoxes ^note.

Nest.
And in the imitation of these twain,
Who ^note, as Ulysses says, opinion crowns
With an imperial voice, many are infect.
Ajax is grown self-will'd and bears his head
In such a rein, in full as proud a place ^note
As broad ^note Achilles; keeps ^note his tent like him;
Makes factious feasts; rails on our state of war
Bold as an oracle, and sets Thersites,
A slave whose gall coins slanders like a mint,
To match us in comparisons with dirt,
To weaken and ^note discredit our exposure,
How rank ^note soever rounded in with danger.

Ulyss.
They tax our policy and call it cowardice,
Count wisdom as no member of the war,
Forestall prescience ^note and esteem no act
But that of hand: the still and mental parts
That do contrive how many hands shall strike
When fitness calls ^note them on, and know by measure
Of their observant toil the enemies' ^note weight ^note—
Why, this hath not a finger's dignity:
They call this bed-work, mappery ^note, closet-war;
So that the ram that batters down the wall,
For the great swing and rudeness of his poise,
They place before his hand that made the engine,

Or those that with the fineness ^note of their souls
By reason guide his ^note execution.

Nest.
Let this be granted, and Achilles' horse
Makes many Thetis' sons. [Tucket. ^note

Agam.
What trumpet? ^note look, Menelaus ^note.

Men.
From Troy. ^noteEnter Æneas. ^note

Agam.
What would you 'fore our tent?

Æne.
Is this great Agamemnon's tent, I pray you?

Agam.
Even this.

Æne.
May one that is a herald and a prince
Do a fair message to his kingly ears ^note?

Agam.
With surety stronger than Achilles' ^note arm
'Fore all the Greekish heads, which with one voice
Call Agamemnon head and general.

Æne.
Fair leave and large security. How may
A stranger to those most imperial looks
Know them from eyes of other mortals?

Agam.
How!

Æne.
Ay: ^note
I ask, that I might waken reverence,
And bid ^note the cheek be ready with a blush
Modest as morning when she coldly eyes
The youthful Phœbus: ^note
Which is that god in office, guiding ^note men?
Which is the high and mighty Agamemnon?

Agam.
This Trojan scorns us; or the men of Troy
Are ceremonious courtiers.

Æne.
Courtiers as free, as debonair, unarm'd,

As bending angels; that's their fame ^note in peace:
But when they would seem soldiers, they have galls,
Good arms, strong joints, true swords; and, Jove's accord ^note,
Nothing ^note so full of heart. But peace, Æneas,
Peace, Trojan; lay thy finger on thy lips!
The worthiness of praise distains his worth,
If that the ^note praised himself bring the praise forth:
But what ^note the repining enemy commends,
That breath fame blows ^note; that praise, sole pure, ^note transcends.

Agam.
Sir, you of Troy, call you yourself Æneas?

Æne.
Ay, Greek, that is my name.

Agam.
What's your affair ^note, I pray you ^note?

Æne.
Sir, pardon; 'tis for Agamemnon's ears.

Agam.
He hears nought ^note privately that comes from Troy ^note.

Æne.
Nor I from Troy come not to whisper him ^note:
I bring a trumpet to awake his ear,
To set his sense on the ^note attentive bent,
And then to speak.

Agam.
Speak frankly as the wind;
It is not Agamemnon's sleeping hour:
That thou shalt know, Trojan, he is awake,
He tells thee so himself.

Æne.
Trumpet, blow loud ^note,
Send thy brass voice through all these lazy tents;
And every Greek of mettle, let him know,

What Troy means fairly shall be spoke aloud. [Trumpet sounds. ^note
We have, great Agamemnon, here in Troy
A prince call'd Hector—Priam is his father—
Who in this ^note dull and long-continued truce
Is rusty ^note grown: he bade me take a trumpet,
And to this purpose speak. Kings, princes, lords!
If there be one among the fair'st of Greece,
That holds his honour higher than his ease,
That seeks ^note his praise more than he fears his peril,
That knows his valour and knows not his fear,
That loves his mistress more than in confession ^note
With truant vows to her own lips he loves,
And dare ^note avow her beauty and her worth
In other arms than hers—to him this challenge.
Hector, in view of Trojans and of Greeks,
Shall make it good, or do his best to do it,
He ^note hath a lady, wiser, fairer, truer,
Than ever Greek did compass ^note in his arms;
And will to-morrow with his trumpet call
Midway between your tents and walls of Troy,
To rouse a Grecian that is true in love:
If any come, Hector shall honour him;
If none, he'll say in Troy when he retires,
The Grecian dames are sunburnt and not worth
The splinter of a lance. Even so much.

Agam.
This shall be told our lovers, Lord Æneas;
If none of them have soul in such a kind,
We ^note left them all at home: but we are soldiers;
And may that soldier a mere recreant prove,
That means not, hath not, or is not in love!
If then one is, or hath, or ^note means to be,

That one meets Hector; if none else ^note, I am ^note he.

Nest.
Tell him of Nestor, one that was a man
When Hector's grandsire suck'd: he is old now;
But if there be not in our Grecian host ^note
One noble man ^note that hath one spark ^note of fire,
To answer for his love, tell him from me
I'll hide my silver beard in a gold beaver
And in my vantbrace ^note put this ^note wither'd ^note brawn ^note,
And meeting him will ^note tell him that my lady
Was fairer than his grandam and as chaste
As may be in the world: his youth in flood ^note,
I'll prove this truth ^note with my three drops of blood.

Æne.
Now heavens forbid ^note such scarcity of youth ^note!

Ulyss.
Amen. ^note

Agam. ^note
Fair Lord Æneas, let me touch your hand ^note;
To our pavilion shall I lead you, sir ^note. ^note
Achilles shall have word of this intent ^note;
So shall each lord of Greece, from tent to tent:
Yourself shall feast with us before you go,
And find the welcome of a noble foe. [Exeunt ^note all but Ulysses and Nestor. ^note

Ulyss.
Nestor!

Nest.
What says Ulysses?

Ulyss.
I have a young conception in my brain;

Be you my time to bring it to some shape.

Nest.
What is't?

Ulyss.
This 'tis ^note:
Blunt wedges rive hard knots: the seeded pride
That hath to this maturity blown ^note up
In rank Achilles must or now be cropp'd,
Or, shedding, breed a nursery of like evil,
To overbulk us all.

Nest.
Well, and how? ^note

Ulyss.
This challenge that the gallant Hector sends,
However it is spread in general name,
Relates in purpose only to Achilles.

Nest.
The purpose ^note is perspicuous even ^note as substance,
Whose grossness little characters sum up:
And, in the publication, make no strain, ^note
But that Achilles, were ^note his brain as barren
As banks of Libya,—though, Apollo knows,
'Tis dry enough ^note—will, with great speed of judgement,
Ay, with celerity, find Hector's purpose
Pointing on him ^note.

Ulyss.
And wake him to the answer, think you?

Nest.
Yes, 'tis ^note most meet: who ^note may you else oppose,
That can from Hector bring his honour ^note off,
If not Achilles? Though't be ^note a sportful combat,
Yet in this ^note trial much opinion dwells;
For here the Trojans taste our dear'st repute
With their finest palate: and ^note trust to me, Ulysses,

Our imputation ^note shall be oddly poised
In this wild ^note action; for the success,
Although particular, shall give ^note a scantling
Of good or bad unto the general;
And in such indexes, although small pricks
To their subsequent volumes, there is seen
The baby figure of the giant mass
Of things to come at large. It is supposed
He that meets Hector issues from our choice:
And choice, being mutual act of all our souls,
Makes merit her election, and doth boil,
As 'twere from forth us all, a man distill'd
Out of our virtues; who miscarrying,
What heart from hence receives the ^note conquering part,
To steel ^note a strong opinion to themselves? ^note
Which entertain'd, limbs are his ^note instruments,
In no less working than are swords and bows
Directive by the limbs ^note.

Ulyss.
Give pardon to my speech;
Therefore 'tis meet ^note Achilles meet not Hector.
Let us, like merchants, show our foulest wares,
And think, perchance, they'll sell; if not, ^note
The lustre of the better ^note yet to show,
Shall show the better ^note. Do not consent ^note
That ever Hector and Achilles meet;
For both our honour and our shame in this
Are dogg'd with two strange followers. ^note

Nest.
I see ^note them not with my old eyes: what are they?

Ulyss.
What glory our Achilles shares ^note from Hector,
Were he not proud, we all should share ^note with him:
But he already is too insolent;
And we were ^note better parch in Afric ^note sun
Than in the pride and salt scorn of his eyes,
Should he 'scape Hector fair ^note: if he were foil'd,
Why then, we did ^note our main opinion crush
In taint of our best man. No, make a lottery;
And by device ^note let blockish Ajax draw
The sort to fight with Hector: among ^note ourselves
Give him allowance for the better ^note man;
For that will physic the great Myrmidon
Who broils in loud applause, and make him fall
His crest that prouder than blue Iris bends.
If the dull brainless Ajax come safe off,
We'll dress him up in voices: if he fail,
Yet go we under our opinion still
That we have better men. But, hit or miss,
Our project's life this shape of sense assumes,
Ajax employ'd plucks down Achilles' plumes.

Nest.
Ulysses,
Now I begin to ^note relish thy advice ^note;
And I will give a taste of it ^note forthwith
To Agamemnon: go we to him straight.
Two curs shall tame each other: pride alone
Must tarre ^note the mastiffs on, as 'twere their bone ^note. [Exeunt.

Previous section