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Dio. Whose was it? Cres. By all Diana's waiting-women1 yond,2 And by herself, I will not tell you whose.

Dio. To-morrow will I wear it on my helm; And grieve his spirit that dares not challenge it. Tro. Wert thou the devil, and wor'st it on thy horn,

It should be challeng'd.

Cres. Well, well, 't is done, 't is past;—and yet it is not;

I will not keep my word.

Dio. Why, then, farewell; Thou never shalt mock Diomed again. Cres. You shall not go:-one cannot speak a word,

But it straight starts you.

Dio.

100

I do not like this fooling.

Ther. Nor I, by Pluto: but that that likes not you pleases me best.

Dio. What, shall I come? the hour?
Cres. Ay, come:-O Jove!-do come:-I
shall be plagu'd.

Dio. Farewell till then.
Cres.

Good night: I prithee, come.
[Exit Diomedes.

Troilus, farewell! one eye yet looks on thee;
But with my heart the other eye doth see.
Ah, poor our sex!3 this fault in us I find,
The error of our eye directs our mind:
[What error leads must err; O, then conclude
Mind sway'd by eyes are full of turpitude.]

110

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140

Tro. This she? no, this is Diomed's Cressida: If beauty have a soul, this is not she; If souls guide vows, if vows be sanctimonies, If sanctimony be the gods' delight, If there be rule in unity itself, This is not she. [O madness of discourse, That cause sets up with and against itself! Bi-fold authority! where reason can revolt Without perdition, and loss assume all reason Without revolt:] this is, and is not, Cressid! Within my soul there doth conduce a fight Of this strange nature, that a thing inseparate Divides more wider than the sky and earth; [And yet the spacious breadth of this division Admits no orifex for a point, as subtle As Ariachne's broken woof, to enter.] Instance, O instance! strong as Pluto's gates; Cressid is mine, tied with the bonds of heaven:

4 Taste, suggestion in it.

151)

Swagger himself, &c. = persuade himself he never saw. Orifex, orifice.

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Cres. You shall not have it, Diomed; faith,

you shall not;

I'll give you something else.

Dio. I will have this: whose was it? Cres.

89

"T is no matter. Dio. Come, tell me whose it was. Cres. "T was one's that lov'd me better than you will. But, now you have it, take it. Dio. Whose was it? Cres. By all Diana's waiting-women1 yond,2 And by herself, I will not tell you whose.

Dio. To-morrow will I wear it on my helm; And grieve his spirit that dares not challenge it. Tro. Wert thou the devil, and wor'st it on thy horn,

It should be challeng'd.

Cres. Well, well, 't is done, 't is past;-and yet it is not;

I will not keep my word.

Dio. Why, then, farewell; Thou never shalt mock Diomed again. Cres. You shall not go:-one cannot speak a word,

But it straight starts you.

Dio.

100

I do not like this fooling.

Ther. Nor I, by Pluto: but that that likes

not you pleases me best.

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Tro. Let it not be believ'd for womanhood! Think, we had mothers; do not give advantage To stubborn critics,-apt, without a theme, For depravation,-to square the general sex By Cressid's rule: rather think this not Cressid. Ulyss. What hath she done, prince, that can soil our mothers?

Tro. Nothing at all, unless that this were she. Ther. Will he swagger himself out on 's own eyes?5

Tro. This she? no, this is Diomed's Cressida: If beauty have a soul, this is not she;

140

If souls guide vows, if vows be sanctimonies,
If sanctimony be the gods' delight,
If there be rule in unity itself,
This is not she. [O madness of discourse,
That cause sets up with and against itself!
Bi-fold authority! where reason can revolt
Without perdition, and loss assume all reason
Without revolt:] this is, and is not, Cressid!
Within my soul there doth conduce a fight
Of this strange nature, that a thing inseparate
Divides more wider than the sky and earth;
[And yet the spacious breadth of this division
Admits no orifex for a point, as subtle
As Ariachne's broken woof, to enter.]
Instance, O instance! strong as Pluto's gates;
Cressid is mine, tied with the bonds of heaven:

4 Taste, suggestion in it.

151)

5 Swagger himself, &c. = persuade himself he never saw. 6 Orifex, orifice.

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