Lodged in thy slaughtered arms some base groom dies.
And Rome, that hath admired thy name so long,
Shall blot thy death with scandal from my tongue.
Lucrece.
Jove guard my innocence!
Sextus.
Lucrece, thou’rt mine,
In spite of Jove and all the powers divine.
[He bears her out.
Enter aServing-man.
Serving-man.
What’s o’clock, trow? my lord bade me be early ready with my gelding, for he would ride betimes in the morning: now had I rather be up an hour before my time than a minute after, for my lord will be so infinitely angry if I but oversleep myself a moment that I had better be out of my life than in his displeasure: but soft, some of my Lord Collatine’s men lie in the next chamber; I care not if I call them up, for it grows towards day. What, Pompey, Pompey!
EnterClown.
Clown.
Who is that calls?
Serving-man.
’Tis I.
Clown.
Who’s that, my Lord Sextus his man?—what a pox make you up before day?
Serving-man.
I would have the key of the gate to come at my lord’s horse in the stable.
Clown.
I would my Lord Sextus and you were both in the hay-loft, for Pompey can take none of his natural rest among you; here’s e’en “Ostler, rise, and give my horse another peck of hay.â€
Serving-man.
Nay, good Pompey, help me to the key of the stable.
Clown.
Well, Pompey was born to do Rome good in being so kind to the young prince’s gelding, but if for my kindness in giving him pease and oats he should kick me, I should scarce say “God-a-mercy, horse.†But come, I’ll go with thee to the stable.
[Exeunt.
SextusandLucrecediscovered.
Sextus.
Nay, weep not, sweet, what’s done is past recall.
Call not thy name in question, by this sorrow,
Which is yet without blemish; what hath passed
Is hid from the world’s eye, and only private
’Twixt us. Fair Lucrece, pull not on my head
The wrath of Rome; if I have done thee wrong,
Love was the cause; thy fame is without blot,
And thou in Sextus hast a true friend got.
Nay, sweet, look up; thou only hast my heart;
I must be gone, Lucrece; a kiss and part.
Lucrece.
Oh! [She flings from him and exit.
Sextus.
No? Peevish dame, farewell! then be the bruiter
Of thy own shame, which Tarquin would conceal;
I am armed ’gainst all can come; let mischief frown,
With all his terror, armed with ominous fate;
To all their spleens a welcome I’ll afford,
With this bold heart, strong hand and my good sword. [Exit.
EnterBrutus, Valerius, Horatius, Aruns, Scevola,andCollatine.
Brutus.
What, so early, Valerius, and your voice not up yet? thou wast wont to be my lark, and raise me with thy early notes.
Valerius.
I was never so hard set yet, my lord, but I had ever a fit of mirth for my friend.
Brutus.
Prithee, let’s hear it then while we may, for I divine thy music and my madness are both short-lived; we shall have somewhat else to do ere long, we hope, Valerius.
Horatius.
Jove send it!
Valerius.
[Sings.] Pack, clouds, away, and welcome, day!
With night we banish sorrow;
Sweet air, blow soft; mount, lark, aloft,
To give my love good-morrow.
Wings from the wind, to please her mind,
Notes from the lark I’ll borrow;
Bird, prune thy wing, nightingale, sing,
To give my love good-morrow.
To give my love good-morrow,
Notes from them all I’ll borrow.
Wake from thy nest, robin red-breast;
Sing, birds, in every furrow,
And from each bill let music shrill
Give my fair love good-morrow;
Blackbird and thrush, in every bush,
Stare,[62]linnet, and cock-sparrow,
You pretty elves, amongst yourselves,
Sing my fair love good-morrow.
To give my love good-morrow,
Sing, birds, in every furrow.
Brutus.
Methinks our wars go not well forwards, Horatius: we have greater enemies to bustle with than the Ardeans, if we durst but front them.
Horatius.
Would it were come to fronting!
Brutus.
Then we married men should have the advantage of the bachelors, Horatius, especially such as have revelling wives, those that can caper in the city while their husbands are in the camp. Collatine, why are you so sad? the thought of this should not trouble you, having a Lucrece to your bedfellow.
Collatine.
My lord, I know no cause of discontent, yet cannot I be merry.
Scevola.
Come, come, make him merry; let’s have a song in praise of his Lucrece.
Valerius.
Content.
[Sings.] On two white columns arched she stands;
Some snow would think them, sure,
Some crystal, other lilies stripped,
But none of those so pure.
This beauty when I contemplate,
What riches I behold!
’Tis roofed within with virtuous thoughts,
Without, ’tis thatched with gold.
Two doors there are to enter at:
The one I’ll not inquire,
Because concealed; the other seen,
Whose sight inflames desire.
Whether the porch be coral clear,
Or with rich crimson lined,
Or rose-leaves, lasting all the year,
It is not yet divined.
Her eyes not made of purest glass,
Or crystal, but transpareth;
The life of diamonds they surpass,
Their very sight ensnareth.
That which without we rough-cast call,
To stand ’gainst wind and weather,
For its rare beauty equals all
That I have named together.
For, were it not by modest art
Kept from the sight of skies,
It would strike dim the sun itself,
And daze the gazer’s eyes.
The case so rich, how may we praise
The jewel lodged within?
To draw their praise I were unwise,
To wrong them it were sin.
Aruns.
I should be frolic if my brother were but returned to the camp.
Horatius.
And, in good time, behold Prince Sextus.
EnterSextus.
All.
Health to our general.
Sextus.
Thank you.
Brutus.
Will you survey your forces, and give order for a present assault? Your soldiers long to be tugging with the Ardeans.
Sextus.
No.
Collatine.
Have you seen Lucretia, my lord? how fares she?
Sextus.
Well; I’ll to my tent.
Aruns.
Why, how now! what’s the matter, brother?
[ExeuntArunsandSextus.
Brutus.
“Thank you.†“No.†“Well; I’ll to my tent.†Get thee to thy tent, and a coward go with thee, if thou hast no more spirit to a speedy encounter.
Valerius.
Shall I go after him, and know the cause of his discontent?
Scevola.
Or I, my lord?
Brutus.
Neither; to pursue a fool in his humour is the next way to make him more humorous. I’ll not be guilty of his folly; thank you, no! Before I wish him health again when he is sick of the sullens, may I die, not like a Roman, but like a runagate!
Scevola.
Perhaps he’s not well.
Brutus.
Well, then, let him be ill.
Valerius.
Nay, if he be dying, as I could wish he were, I’ll ring out his funeral peal; and this it is.
Come, list and hark;
The bell doth toll,
For some but now
Departing soul.
And was not that
Some ominous fowl,
The bat, the night-
Crow, or screech-owl?
To these I hear
The wild wolf howl
In this black night
That seems to scowl.
All these my black-
Book shall enroll,
For hark! still, still
The bell doth toll
For some but now
Departing soul.
Scevola.
Excellent, Valerius. But is not that Collatine’s man?
EnterClown.
Valerius.
The news with this hasty post?
Clown.
Did nobody see my lord Collatine? Oh! my lady commends her to you; here’s a letter.
Collatine.
Give it me.
Clown.
Fie upon’t! never was poor Pompey so overlaboured as I have been. I think I have spurred my horse such a question, that he is scarce able to wig or wag his tail for an answer; but my lady bade me spare for no horse-flesh, and I think I have made him run his race.
Brutus.
Cousin Collatine, the news at Rome?
Collatine.
Nothing but what you all may well partake.
Read here, my lord, [Brutusreads the letter.
“Dear lord, if ever thou wilt see thy Lucrece,
Choose of the friends which thou affectest best,
And, all important business set apart,
Repair to Rome. Commend me to Lord Brutus,
Valerius, Mutius, and Horatius;
Say I entreat their presence, where my father
Lucretius shall attend them. Farewell, sweet!
The affairs are great, then do not fail to meet.â€
Brutus.
I’ll thither as I live. [Exit.
Collatine.
I though I die. [Exit.
Scevola.
To Rome with expeditious wings we’ll fly. [Exit.
Horatius.
The news, the news? if it have any shape
Of sadness, if some prodigy have chanced
That may beget revenge, I’ll cease to chafe,
Vex, martyr, grieve, torture, torment myself,
And tune my humour to strange strains of mirth.
My soul divines some happiness: speak, speak;
I know thou hast some news that will create me
Merry and musical, for I would laugh,
Be new transhaped. I prithee sing, Valerius,
That I may air with thee.
Valerius.
[Sings.]—
I’d think myself as proud in shackles
As doth the ship in all her tackles;
The wise man boasts no more his brains
Than I’d insult in gyves and chains;
As creditors would use their debtors,
So could I toss and shake my fetters;
But not confess: my thoughts should be
In durance fast as those kept me.
And could, when spite their hearts environs,
Then dance to the music of my irons.
Now tell us what’s the project of thy message?
Clown.
My lords, the princely Sextus has been at home, but what he hath done there I may partly mistrust, but cannot altogether resolve you: besides, my lady swore me that whatsoever I suspected I should say nothing.
Valerius.
If thou wilt not say thy mind, I prithee sing thy mind, and then thou mayst save thine oath.
Clown.
Indeed, I was not sworn to that; I may either laugh out my news or sing ’em, and so I may save mine oath to my lady.
Horatius.
How’s all at Rome, that with such sad presage
Disturbèd Collatine and noble Brutus
Are hurried from the camp with Scevola,
And we with expedition ’mongst the rest,
Are charged to Rome? Speak, what did Sextus there
With thy fair mistress?
Valerius.
Second me, my lord, and we’ll urge him to disclose it.
Catch.[63]
Valerius.
Did he take fair Lucrece by the toe, man?
Horatius.
Toe, man?
Valerius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha ha, man!
Horatius.
And further did he strive to go, man?
Clown.
Go, man?
Horatius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man, fa derry derry down, ha fa derry dino!
Valerius.
Did he take fair Lucrece by the heel, man?
Clown.
Heel, man?
Valerius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man!
Horatius.
And did he further strive to feel, man?
Clown.
Feel, man?
Horatius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man, ha fa derry, &c.
Valerius.
Did he take the lady by the shin, man?
Clown.
Shin, man?
Valerius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man!
Horatius.
Further too would he have been, man?
Clown.
Been, man?
Horatius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man, ha fa derry, &c.
Valerius.
Did he take the lady by the knee, man?
Clown.
Knee, man?
Valerius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man!
Horatius.
Farther than that would he be, man?
Clown.
Be, man?
Horatius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man, hey fa derry, &c.
Valerius.
Did he take the lady by the thigh, man?
Clown.
Thigh, man?
Valerius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man!
Horatius.
And now he came it somewhat nigh, man.
Clown.
Nigh, man?
Horatius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man, hey fa derry, &c.
Valerius.
But did he do the tother thing, man?
Clown.
Thing, man?
Valerius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man!
Horatius.
And at the same had he a fling, man?
Clown.
Fling, man?
Horatius.
Ay, man.
Clown.
Ha ha ha ha, man, hey fa derry, &c.
[Exeunt.
A table and a chair covered with black. EnterLucreceand herMaid.
Lucrece.
Mirable.
Maid.
Madam.
Lucrece.
Is not my father, old Lucretius, come yet?
Maid.
Not yet.
Lucrece.
Nor any from the camp?
Maid.
Neither, madam.
Lucrece.
Go, begone,
And leave me to the truest grief of heart
That ever entered any matron’s breast:
Oh!
Maid.
Why weep you, lady? alas! why do you stain
Your modest cheeks with these offensive tears?
Lucrece.
Nothing, nay, nothing. O you powerful gods,
That should have angels guardants on your throne,
To protect innocence and chastity! oh, why
Suffer you such inhuman massacre
On harmless virtue? wherefore take you charge
On sinless souls, to see them wounded thus
With rape or violence? or give white innocence
Armour of proof ’gainst sin, or by oppression
Kill virtue quite, and guerdon base transgression.
Is it my fate above all other women,
Or is my sin more heinous than the rest,
That amongst thousands, millions, infinites,
I, only I, should to this shame be born,
To be a stain to women, nature’s scorn?
Oh!
Maid.
What ails you, madam? truth, you make me weep
To see you shed salt tears: what hath oppressed you?
Why is your chamber hung with mourning black,
Your habit sable, and your eyes thus swollen
With ominous tears? Alas! what troubles you?
Lucrece.
I am not sad; thou didst deceive thyself;
I did not weep, there’s nothing troubles me;
But wherefore dost thou blush?
Maid.
Madam, not I.
Lucrece.
Indeed thou didst,
And in that blush my guilt thou didst betray.
How cam’st thou by the notice of my sin?
Maid.
What sin?
Lucrece.
My blot, my scandal, and my shame.
O Tarquin, thou my honour didst betray;
Disgrace no time, no age can wipe away!
Oh!
Maid.
Sweet lady, cheer yourself; I’ll fetch my viol,
And see if I can sing you fast asleep;
A little rest would wear away this passion.
Lucrece.
Do what thou wilt, I can command no more.
Being no more a woman, I am now
Devote to death, and an inhabitant
Of the other world: these eyes must ever weep
Till fate hath closed them with eternal sleep.
EnterBrutus, Collatinus, Horatius, Scevola,andValeriuson one side,Lucretiuson the other.
Lucretius.
Brutus!
Brutus.
Lucretius!
Lucrece.
Father!
Collatine.
Lucrece!
Lucrece.
Collatine!
Brutus.
How cheer you, madam? how is’t with you, cousin?
Why is your eye deject and drowned in sorrow?
Why is this funeral black, and ornaments
Of widowhood? resolve me, cousin Lucrece.
Horatius.
How fare you, lady?
Lucretius.
What’s the matter, girl?
Collatine.
Why, how is’t with you, Lucrece? tell me, sweet,
Why dost thou hide thy face, and with thy hand
Darken those eyes that were my suns of joy,
To make my pleasures flourish in the spring?
Lucrece.
O me!
Valerius.
Whence are these sighs and tears?
Scevola.
How grows this passion?
Brutus.
Speak, lady; you are hemmed in with your friends.
Girt in a pale of safety, and environed
And circled in a fortress of your kindred.
Let not those drops fall fruitless to the ground,
Nor let your sighs add to the senseless wind.
Speak, who hath wronged you?
Lucrece.
Ere I speak my woe,
Swear you’ll revenge poor Lucrece on her foe.
Brutus.
Be his head arched with gold.
Horatius.
Be his hand armed
With an imperial sceptre.
Lucretius.
Be he great
As Tarquin, throned in an imperial seat.
Brutus.
Be he no more than mortal, he shall feel
The vengeful edge of this victorious steel.
Lucrece.
Then seat you, lords, whilst I express my wrong.
Father, dear husband, and my kinsmen lords,
Hear me; I am dishonoured and disgraced,
My reputation mangled, my renown
Disparaged,—but my body, oh, my body!
Collatine.
What, Lucrece?
Lucrece.
Stained, polluted, and defiled.
Strange steps are found in my adulterate bed,
And, though my thoughts be white as innocence,
Yet is my body soiled with lust-burnt sin,
And by a stranger I am strumpeted,
Ravished, enforced, and am no more to rank
Among the Roman matrons.
Brutus.
Yet cheer you, lady, and restrain these tears.
If you were forced the sin concerns not you;
A woman’s born but with a woman’s strength.
Who was the ravisher?
Horatius.
Ay, name him, lady:
Our love to you shall only thus appear,
In the revenge that we will take on him.
Lucrece.
I hope so, lords. ’Twas Sextus, the king’s son.
All.
How! Sextus Tarquin!
Lucrece.
That unprincely prince,
Who guest-wise entered with my husband’s ring.
This ring, O Collatine! this ring you sent
Is cause of all my woe, your discontent.
I feasted him, then lodged him, and bestowed
My choicest welcome; but in dead of night
My traitorous guest came armed unto my bed,
Frighted my silent sleep, threatened, and prayed
For entertainment: I despisèd both.
Which hearing, his sharp-pointed scimitar
The tyrant bent against my naked breast.
Alas! I begged my death; but note his tyranny:
He brought with him a torment worse than death,
For, having murdered me, he swore to kill
One of my basest grooms, and lodge him dead
In my dead arms, then call in testimony
Of my adultery, to make me hated,
Even in my death, of husband, father, friends,
Of Rome, and all the world. This, this, O princes,
Ravished and killed me at once.
Collatine.
Yet comfort, lady;
I quit thy guilt, for what could Lucrece do
More than a woman? hadst thou died polluted
By this base scandal, thou hadst wronged thy fame:
And hindered us of a most just revenge.
All.
What shall we do, lords?
Brutus.
Lay your resolute hands
Upon the sword of Brutus; vow and swear,
As you hope meed for merit from the gods,
Or fear reward for sin from devils below,
As you are Romans, and esteem your fame
More than your lives, all humorous toys set off,
Of madding, singing, smiling, and what else,
Revive your native valours, be yourselves,
And join with Brutus in the just revenge
Of this chaste ravished lady;—swear!
All.
We do.
Lucrece.
Then with your humours here my grief ends too:
My stain I thus wipe off, call in my sighs,
And in the hope of this revenge, forbear
Even to my death to fall[64]one passionate tear;
Yet, lords, that you may crown my innocence
With your best thoughts, that you may henceforth know
We are the same in heart we seem in show,
And though I quit my soul of all such sin, [TheLordswhisper.
I’ll not debar my body punishment.
Let all the world learn of a Roman dame,
To prize her life less than her honoured fame. [Stabs herself.
Lucretius.
Lucrece!
Collatine.
Wife!
Brutus.
Lady!
Scevola.
She hath slain herself.
Valerius.
Oh, see yet, lords, if there be hope of life.
Brutus.
She’s dead: then turn your funeral tears to fire
And indignation; let us now redeem
Our misspent time, and overtake our sloth
With hostile expedition. This, great lords,
This bloody knife, on which her chaste blood flowed,
Shall not from Brutus till some strange revenge
Fall on the heads of Tarquins.
Horatius.
Now’s the time
To call their pride to count. Brutus, lead on;
We’ll follow thee to their confusion.
Valerius.
By Jove, we will! the sprightful youth of Rome,
Tricked up in plumèd harness, shall attend
The march of Brutus, whom we here create
Our general against the Tarquins.
Scevola.
Be it so.
Brutus.
We embrace it. Now, to stir the wrath of Rome,
You, Collatine and good Lucretius,
With eyes yet drowned in tears, bear that chaste body
Into the market-place; that horrid object
Shall kindle them with a most just revenge.
Horatius.
To see the father and the husband mourn
O’er this chaste dame, that have so well deserved
Of Rome and them; then to infer the pride,
The wrongs and the perpetual tyranny
Of all the Tarquins, Servius Tullius’ death,
And his unnatural usage by that monster
Tullia, the queen; all these shall well concur
In a combined revenge.
Brutus.
Lucrece, thy death we’ll mourn in glittering arms
And plumèd casques. Some bear that reverend load
Unto the Forum, where our force shall meet
To set upon the palace, and expel
This viperous brood from Rome: I know the people
Will gladly embrace our fortunes. Scevola,
Go you and muster powers in Brutus’ name.
Valerius, you assist him instantly,
And to the ’mazèd people speak
The cause of this concourse.
Valerius.
We go.
[ExeuntValeriusandScevola.
Brutus.
And you, dear lords, whose speechless grief is boundless,
Turn all your tears, with ours, to wrath and rage.
The hearts of all the Tarquins shall weep blood
Upon the funeral hearse, with whose chaste body
Honour your arms, and to the assembled people
Disclose her innocent wounds. Gramercies, lords!
[A great shout and a flourish with drums and trumpets within.]
That universal shout tells me their words
Are gracious with the people, and their troops
Are ready embattled, and expect but us
To lead them on. Jove give our fortunes speed!
We’ll murder murder, and base rape shall bleed.
[Exeunt.
Alarum. EnterTarquinandTulliaflying, pursued byBrutusand theRomanswith drums and colours.Porsenna, ArunsandSextusmeet and join withTarquinandTullia. Brutusand theRomansadvance; they make a stand.
Brutus.
Even thus far, tyrant, have we dogged thy steps,
Frighting thy queen and thee with horrid steel.
Tarquin.
Lodged in the safety of Porsenna’s arms,
Now, traitor Brutus, we dare front thy pride.
Horatius.
Porsenna, thou’rt unworthy of a sceptre,
To shelter pride, lust, rape, and tyranny,
In that proud prince and his confederate peers.
Sextus.
Traitors to Heaven, to Tarquin, Rome and us!
Treason to kings doth stretch even to the gods,
And those high gods that take great Rome in charge
Shall punish your rebellion.
Collatine.
O devil Sextus, speak not thou of gods,
Nor cast those false and feignèd eyes to Heaven,
Whose rape the furies must torment in hell
Of Lucrece—Lucrece!
Scevola.
Her chaste blood still cries
For vengeance to the ethereal deities.
Lucretius.
Oh, ’twas a foul deed, Sextus!
Valerius.
And thy shame
Shall be eternal and outlive her fame.
Aruns.
Say Sextus loved her, was she not a woman?
Ay, and perhaps was willing to be forced.
Must you, being private subjects, dare to ring
War’s loud alarum ’gainst your potent king?
Porsenna.
Brutus, therein thou dost forget thyself,
And wrong’st the glory of thine ancestors,
Staining thy blood with treason.
Brutus.
Tuscan, know
The Consul Brutus is their powerful foe.
Tarquin, Tullia, &c.
Consul!
Horatius.
Ay, Consul; and the powerful hand of Rome
Grasps his imperial sword: the name of king
The tyrant Tarquins have made odious
Unto this nation, and the general knee
Of this our warlike people now low bends
To royal Brutus, where the king’s name ends.
Brutus.
Now, Sextus, where’s the oracle? when I kissed
My mother earth it plainly did foretell
My noble virtues did thy sin exceed,
Brutus should sway, and lust-burnt Tarquin bleed.
Valerius.
Now shall the blood of Servius fall as heavy
As a huge mountain on your tyrant heads,
O’erwhelming all your glory.
Horatius.
Tullia’s guilt
Shall be by us revenged, that, in her pride,
In blood paternal her rough coach-wheels dyed.
Lucretius.
Your tyrannies—
Scevola.
Pride—
Collatine.
And my Lucrece’ fate,
Shall all be swallowed in this hostile hate.
Sextus.
O Romulus! thou that first reared yon walls
In sight of which we stand, in thy soft bosom
Is hanged the nest in which the Tarquins build;
Within the branches of thy lofty spires
Tarquin shall perch, or where he once hath stood
His high built aery shall be drowned in blood.
Alarum then! Brutus, by Heaven I vow
My sword shall prove thou ne’er wast mad till now.
Brutus.
Sextus, my madness with your lives expires;
Thy sensual eyes are fixed upon that wall
Thou ne’er shalt enter; Rome confines you all.
Porsenna.
A charge then!
Tarquin.
Jove and Tarquin!
Horatius.
But we cry a Brutus!
Brutus.
Lucrece, fame, and victory!
[Exeunt.
Alarum. TheRomansare beaten off. EnterBrutus, Horatius, Valerius, Scevola, LucretiusandCollatine.
Brutus.
Thou Jovial hand, hold up thy sceptre high,
And let not justice be oppressed with pride!
O you Penates; leave not Rome and us
Grasped in the purple hands of death and ruin!
The Tarquins have the best.
Horatius.
Yet stand; my foot is fixed upon this bridge.
Tiber, thy archèd streams shall be changed crimson
With Roman blood before I budge from hence.
Scevola.
Brutus, retire; for if thou enter Rome
We are all lost. Stand not on valour now,
But save thy people; let’s survive this day,
To try the fortunes of another field.
Valerius.
Break down the bridge, lest the pursuing enemy
Enter with us and take the spoil of Rome.
Horatius.
Then break behind me; for, by Heaven, I’ll grow
And root my foot as deep as to the centre,
Before I leave this passage!
Lucretius.
Come, you’re mad.
Collatine.
The foe comes on, and we in trifling here,
Hazard ourself and people.
Horatius.
Save them all;
To make Rome stand, Horatius here will fall.
Brutus.
We would not lose thee; do not breast thyself
’Gainst thousands; if thou front’st them thou art ringed
With million swords and darts, and we behind
Must break the bridge of Tiber to save Rome.
Before thee infinite[65]gaze on thy face
And menace death; the raging streams of Tiber
Are at thy back to swallow thee.
Horatius.
Retire;
To make Rome live, ’tis death that I desire.
Brutus.
Then farewell, dead Horatius! think in us
The universal arm of potent Rome
Takes his last leave of thee in this embrace.
[All embrace him.
Horatius.
Farewell!
All.
Farewell!
Brutus.
These arches all must down
To interdict their passage through the town.
[Exeunt all exceptHoratius.
Alarum. EnterTarquin, Porsenna,andAruns,with their pikes and targeters.
All.
Enter, enter, enter.
[A noise of knocking down the bridge, within.
Horatius.
Soft, Tarquin! see a bulwark to the bridge,
You first must pass; the man that enters here
Must make his passage through Horatius’ breast;
See, with this target do I buckler[66]Rome,
And with this sword defy the puissant army
Of two great kings.
Porsenna.
One man to face an host!
Charge, soldiers! of full forty thousand Romans
There’s but one daring hand against your host,
To keep you from the sack or spoil of Rome.
Charge, charge!
Aruns.
Upon them, soldiers!
[Alarum.
EnterSextusandValeriusabove, at opposite sides.
Sextus.
O cowards, slaves, and vassals! what, not enter!
Was it for this you placed my regiment
Upon a hill, to be the sad spectator
Of such a general cowardice? Tarquin, Aruns,
Porsenna, soldiers, pass Horatius quickly,
For they behind him will devolve the bridge,
And raging Tiber, that’s impassable,
Your host must swim before you conquer Rome.
Valerius.
Yet stand, Horatius; bear but one brunt more;
The archèd bridge shall sink upon his piles,
And in his fall lift thy renown to Heaven.
Sextus.
Yet enter!
Valerius.
Dear Horatius, yet stand,
And save a million by one powerful hand.
[Alarum; the bridge falls.
All.
Charge, charge, charge!
Sextus.
Degenerate slaves! the bridge is fallen, Rome’s lost.
Valerius.
Horatius, thou art stronger than their host;
Thy strength is valour, theirs are idle braves,
Now save thyself, and leap into the waves.
Horatius.
Porsenna, Tarquin, now wade past your depths
And enter Rome. I feel my body sink
Beneath my ponderous weight; Rome is preserved,
And now farewell; for he that follows me
Must search the bottom of this raging stream.
Fame, with thy golden wings renown my crest!
And, Tiber, take me on thy silver breast! [Exit.
Porsenna.
He’s leapt off from the bridge and drowned himself.
Sextus.
You are deceived; his spirit soars too high
To be choked in with the base element
Of water; lo! he swims, armed as he is,
Whilst all the army have discharged their arrows,
Of which the shield upon his back sticks full. [Shout and flourish.
And hark, the shout of all the multitude
Now welcomes him a-land! Horatius’ fame
Hath checked our armies with a general shame.
But come, to-morrow’s fortune must restore
This scandal, which I of the gods implore.
Porsenna.
Then we must find another time, fair prince,
To scourge these people, and revenge your wrongs.
For this night I’ll betake me to my tent. [Exit.
Tarquin.
And we to ours; to-morrow we’ll renown