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Troilus and Cressida (Folio 1, 1623)

Author: William Shakespeare
Editor: W. L. Godshalk
Peer Reviewed
Troylus and Cressida.
Ulis. Neuer's my day, and then a kisse of you.
Diom. Lady a word, Ile bring you to your Father.
2610Nest. A woman of quicke sence.
Vlis. Fie, fie, vpon her:
Ther's a language in her eye, her cheeke, her lip;
Nay, her foote speakes, her wanton spirites looke out
At euery ioynt, and motiue of her body:
2615Oh these encounterers so glib of tongue,
That giue a coasting welcome ete it comes;
And wide vnclaspe the tables of their thoughts,
To euery tickling reader: set them downe,
For sluttish spoyles of opportunitie;
2620And daughters of the game.
Exennt.
Enter all of Troy, Hector, Paris, Æneas, Helenus
and Attendants. Florish.
All. The Troians Trumpet.
Aga. Yonder comes the troope.
2625Æne. Haile all you state of Greece: what shalbe done
To him that victory commands? or doe you purpose,
A victor shall be knowne: will you the Knights
Shall to the edge of all extremitie
Pursue each other; or shall be diuided
2630By any voyce, or order of the field: Hector bad aske?
Aga. Which way would Hector haue it?
Æne. He cares not, heele obey conditions.
Aga. 'Tis done like Hector, but securely done,
A little proudly, and great deale disprising
2635The Knight oppos'd.
Æne. If not Achilles sir, what is your name?
Achil. If not Achilles, nothing.
Æne. Therefore Achilles: but what ere, know this,
In the extremity of great and little:
2640Valour and pride excell themselues in Hector;
The one almost as infinite as all;
The other blanke as nothing: weigh him well:
And that which lookes like pride, is curtesie:
This Aiax is halfe made of Hectors bloud;
2645In loue whereof, halfe Hector staies at home:
Halfe heart, halfe hand, halfe Hector, comes to seeke
This blended Knight, halfe Troian, and halfe Greeke.
Achil. A maiden battaile then? O I perceiue you.
Aga. Here is sir, Diomed: goe gentle Knight,
2650Stand by our Aiax: as you and Lord Æneas
Consent vpon the order of their fight,
So be it: either to the vttermost,
Or else a breach: the Combatants being kin,
Halfe stints their strife, before their strokes begin.
2655Vlis. They are oppos'd already.
Aga. What Troian is that same that lookes so heauy?
Vlis. The yongest Sonne of Priam;
A true Knight; they call him Troylus;
Not yet mature, yet matchlesse, firme of word,
2660Speaking in deedes, and deedelesse in his tongue;
Not soone prouok't, nor being prouok't, soone calm'd;
His heart and hand both open, and both free:
For what he has, he giues; what thinkes, he shewes;
Yet giues he not till iudgement guide his bounty,
2665Nor dignifies an impaire thought with breath:
Manly as Hector, but more dangerous;
For Hector in his blaze of wrath subscribes
To tender obiects; but he, in heate of action,
Is more vindecatiue then iealous loue.
2670They call him Troylus; and on him erect,
A second hope, as fairely built as Hector.
Thus saies Æneas, one that knowes the youth,
Euen to his inches: and with priuate soule,
Did in great Illion thus translate him to me.
Alarum.
2675Aga. They are in action.
Nest. Now Aiax hold thine owne.
Troy. Hector, thou sleep'st, awake thee.
Aga. His blowes are wel dispos'd there Aiax. trũpets
Diom. You must no more.
2680Æne. Princes enough, so please you.
Aia. I am not warme yet, let vs fight againe.
Diom. As Hector pleases.
Hect. Why then will I no more:
Thou art great Lord, my Fathers sisters Sonne;
2685A cousen german to great Priams seede:
The obligation of our bloud forbids
A gorie emulation 'twixt vs twaine:
Were thy commixion, Greeke and Troian so,
That thou could'st say, this hand is Grecian all,
2690And this is Troian: the sinewes of this Legge,
All Greeke, and this all Troy: my Mothers bloud
Runs on the dexter cheeke, and this sinister
Bounds in my fathers: by Ioue multipotent,
Thou should'st not beare from me a Greekish member
2695Wherein my sword had not impressure made
Of our ranke feud: but the iust gods gainsay,
That any drop thou borrwd'st from thy mother,
My sacred Aunt, should by my mortall Sword
Be drained. Let me embrace thee Aiax:
2700By him that thunders, thou hast lustie Armes;
Hector would haue them fall vpon him thus.
Cozen, all honor to thee.
Aia. I thanke thee Hector:
Thou art too gentle, and too free a man:
2705I came to kill thee Cozen, and beare hence
A great addition, earned in thy death.
Hect. Not Neoptolymus so mirable,
On whose bright crest, fame with her lowd'st (O yes)
Cries, This is he; could'st promise to himselfe,
2710A thought of added honor, torne from Hector.
Æne. There is expectance here from both the sides,
What further you will doe?
Hect. Weele answere it:
The issue is embracement: Aiax, farewell.
2715Aia. If I might in entreaties finde successe,
As seld I haue the chance; I would desire
My famous Cousin to our Grecian Tents.
Diom. 'Tis Agamemnons wish, and great Achilles
Doth long to see vnarm'd the valiant Hector.
2720Hect. Æneas, call my brother Troylus to me:
And signifie this louing enterview
To the expecters of our Troian part:
Desire them home. Giue me thy hand, my Cousin:
I will goe eate with thee, and see your Knights.
2725
Enter Agamemnon and the rest.
Aia. Great Agamemnon comes to meete vs here.
Hect. The worthiest of them, tell me name by name:
But for Achilles, mine owne serching eyes
Shall finde him by his large and portly size.
2730Aga. Worthy of Armes: as welcome as to one
That would be rid of such an enemie.
But that's no welcome: vnderstand more cleere
What's past, and what's to come, is strew'd with huskes,
And formelesse ruine of obliuion:
2735But in this extant moment, faith and troth,
Strain'd purely from all hollow bias drawing:
Bids thee with most diuine integritie,
From heart of very heart, great Hector welcome.
Hect. I thanke thee most imperious Agamemnon.
Aga. My