Troilus and Cressida (Quarto 1, 1609)
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of Troylus and Cresseida.
¶All. The Troyans trumpet.
¶Agam. Yonder comes the troup.
¶To him that victory commands, or doe you purpose,
¶A victor shalbe knowne, will you the knights
¶Shall to the edge of all extremity
2630By any voice or order of the field, Hector bad aske?
¶Aga. Which way would Hector haue it?
¶Æne. He cares not, heele obay condicions.
2635The knight oppos'd.
¶Achil. If not Achilles nothing:
¶Ene: 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, way 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 Troyan, and halfe Greeke.
¶Achil. A maiden battell then, Oh I perceiue you.
2650Stand by our Aiax. As you and Lord Eneas
¶Consent vpon the order of their fight,
¶So be it, either to the vttermost,
¶Or els a breath, the combatants being kin,
¶His heart and hand both open and both free.
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