Troilus and Cressida (Quarto 1, 1609)
Peer Reviewed
of Troylus and Cresseida.
525Should with a bond of ayre strong as the Axel-tree,
¶(On which heauen rides) knit all the Greekish eares
¶To his experienc't tongue, yet let it please both
¶Troy yet vpon his bases had beene downe,
¶The specialtie of rule hath beene neglected,
¶And looke how many Grecian tents do stand,
¶Hollow vpon this plaine, so many hollow factions,
540When that the generall is not like the hiue,
¶To whom the forragers shall all repaire,
¶What honey is expccted? Degree being visarded
¶The heauens them-selues, the plannets and this center
545Obserue degree, prioritie and place,
¶Office and custome, in all line of order.
¶And therefore is the glorious planet Sol,
¶In noble eminence enthron'd and spherd,
¶Corrects the influence of euill Planets,
¶And posts like the Commandment of a King,
¶Sans check to good and bad. But when the Planets,
¶In euill mixture to disorder wander,
555What plagues, and what portents, what mutinie?
¶Commotion in the winds, frights, changes, horrors
¶Diuert and crack, rend and deracinate,
¶The vnitie and married calme of states
560Quite from their fixure: O when degree is shakt,
¶Which is the ladder of all high designes,
¶Degrees in schooles, and brother-hoods in Citties,
¶Peacefull commerce from deuidable shores,
565The primogenitie and due of birth,
¶Prerogatiue of age, crownes, scepters, lawrels,
But
