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But I can tell, that in each grace of these
There lurks a still and dumb-discoursive devil,
That tempts most cunningly: 5 but be not tempted.
Cres. Do you think, I will?

Tro. No.

But something may be done, that we will not:
And sometimes we are devils to ourselves,
When we will tempt the frailty of our powers,
Presuming on their changeful potency.

Ene. [within] Nay, good my lord,

Tro.

Come, kiss; and let us part.

Par. [within] Brother Troilus!

Tro.

Good brother, come you hither;

And bring Æneas, and the Grecian, with you.
Cres. My lord, will you be true?

Tro. Who I? alas, it is my vice, my fault:
While others fish with craft for great opinion,
I with great truth catch mere simplicity;6

Whilst some with cunning gild their copper crowns,
With truth and plainness I do wear mine bare.
Fear not my truth; the moral of my wit
Is—plain, and true,7-there's all the reach of it.

Enter ENEAS, PARIS, ANTENOR, DEIPHOBUS, and
DIOMEDES.

Welcome, sir Diomed! here is the lady,
Which for Antenor we deliver you:

At the port, lord, I'll give her to thy hand;

5 There lurks a still and dumb-discoursive devil,

That tempts most cunningly:] This passage may chance to remind the reader of another in Othello;

6

"For here's a young and sweating devil here,

"That commonly rebels." Steevens.

catch mere simplicity;] The meaning, I think, is, while others, by their art, gain high estimation, I, by honesty, obtain a plain simple approbation. Johnson.

the moral of my wit

Is-plain, and true,] Moral, in this instance, has the same meaning as in Much Ado about Nothing, Act III, sc. iv:

"Benedictus! why Benedictus? you have some moral in this Benedictus."

Again, in The Taming of the Shrew, Act IV,

sc. iv:

he has left me here behind to expound the meaning of moral of his signs and tokens." Tollet.

And, by the way, possess thee what she is.
Entreat her fair; and, by my soul, fair Greek,
If e'er thou stand at mercy of my sword,
Name Cressid, and thy life shall be as safe
As Priam is in Ilion.

Dio.

Fair lady Cressid,

So please you, save the thanks this prince expects;
The lustre in your eye, heaven in your cheek,
Pleads your fair usage; and to Diomed

You shall be mistress, and command him wholly.
Tro. Grecian, thou dost not use me courteously,
To shame the zeal of my petition to thee,
In praising her:1 I tell thee, lord of Greece,
She is as far high-soaring o'er thy praises,2
As thou unworthy to be call'd her servant.

At the port,] The port is the gate. So, in King Henry IV, Part II:

"That keeps the ports of slumber open wide." Steevens. possess thee what she is.] I will make thee fully understand. This sense of the word possess is frequent in our author.

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1 To shame the zeal of my petition to thee,

Johnson.

In praising her:] [Old copies-the seal] To shame the seat of a petition is nonsense. Shakspeare wrote:

To shame the zeal.

and the sense is this: Grecian, you use me discourteously; you see I am a passionate lover by my petition to you; and therefore you should not shame the zeal of it, by promising to do what I require of you, for the sake of her beauty: when, if you had good manners, or a sense of a lover's delicacy, you would have promised to do it in compassion to his pangs and sufferings.

Warburton.

Troilus, I suppose, means to say, that Diomede does not use him courteously by addressing himself to Cressida, and assuring her that she shall be well treated for her own sake, and on account of her singular beauty, instead of making a direct answer to that warm request which Troilus had just made to him to "entreat her fair." The subsequent words fully support this interpretation:

"I charge thee, use her well, even for my charge.”

Malone.

2 She is as far high-soaring o'er thy praises,] So, in The Tempest: 66 she will outstrip all praise --. Steevens.

I charge thee, use her well, even for my charge;
For, by the dreadful Pluto, if thou dost not,
Though the great bulk Achilles be thy guard,
I'll cut thy throat.

Dio.

O, be not mov'd, prince Troilus : Let me be privileg'd by my place, and message, To be a speaker free; when I am hence, I'll answer to my lust: 3 And know you, lord, I'll nothing do on charge: To her own worth She shall be priz'd; but that you say-be 't so, I'll speak it in my spirit and honour,-no.

4

Tro. Come, to the port.-I'll tell thee, Diomed,
This brave shall oft make thee to hide thy head.-
Lady, give me your hand; and, as we walk,
To our own selves bend we our needful talk.

3

[Exeunt TRO. CRES. and Dio. Trumpet heard. Par. Hark! Hector's trumpet.

my lust:] List, I think, is right, though both the old copies read lust. Johnson.

Lust is inclination, will. Henley.

So, in Exodus, xv, 9: "I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them."

In many of our ancient writers, lust and list are synonymously employed. So, in Chapman's version of the seventeenth Iliad: Sarpedon, guest and friend

"To thee, (and most deservedly) thou flew'st from in his end,

"And left'st to all the lust of Greece."

I'll answer to my lust, means-I'll follow my inclination.

Steevens.

Lust was used formerly as synonymous to pleasure. So, in The Rape of Lucrece:

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the eyes of men through loopholes thrust,
"Gazing upon the Greeks with little lust." Malone.

4 I'll tell thee,] This phraseology (instead of "I tell thee") occurs almost too frequently in our author to need exemplification. One instance of it, however, shall be given from King John, Act V, sc. vi:

"I'll tell thee, Hubert, half my power this night
"Passing these flats are taken by the tide."

Again, in the first line of King Henry V:

"My lord, I'll tell you, that self bill is urg'd

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Mr. Malone, conceiving this mode of speech to be merely a printer's error, reads, in the former instance-"I tell thee," though, in the two passages just cited, he retains the ancient, and perhaps the true reading. Steevens.

Ene.

How have we spent this morning!

The prince must think me tardy and remiss,

That swore to ride before him to the field.

Par. 'Tis Troilus' fault: Come, come, to field with him.

Dei. Let us make ready straight."

Ene. Yea, with a bridegroom's fresh alacrity,
Let us address to tend on Hector's heels:

The glory of our Troy doth this day lie
On his fair worth, and single chivalry.

SCENE V.

The Grecian Camp. Lists set out.

[Exeunt.

Enter AJAX, armed; AGAMEMNON, ACHILLES, PATROCLUS, MENELAUS, ULYSSES, NESTOR, and Others. Agam. Here art thou in appointment fresh and fair, Anticipating time with starting courage.

5 Dei. Let us make ready straight. &c.] These five lines are not in the quarto, being probably added at the revision. Johnson.

This last speech cannot possibly belong to Diomede, who was a Grecian, and could not have addressed Paris and Æneas, as if they were going on the same party. This is, in truth, a continu ation of the speech of Paris, and the preceding stage direction should run thus: "Exeunt Troilus, Cressida, and Diomed who had the charge of Cressida" M. Mason.

To the first of these lines, "Let us make ready straight," is prefixed in the folio, where alone the passage is found, Dio.

I suspect these five lines were an injudicious addition by the actors, or the sake of concluding the scene with a couplet; to which (if there be no corruption) they were more attentive than to the country of Diomed, or the particular commission he was entrusted with by the Greeks. The line in question, however, as has been suggested, may belong to Deiphobus. From Æneas's first speech, in p. 132, and the stage-direction in the quarto and folio prefixed to the third scene of this Act, Deiphobus appears to be now on the stage; and Dio. and Dei. might have been easily confounded. As this slight change removes the absurdity, I have adopted it. It was undoubtedly intended by Shakspeare that Diomed should make his exit with Troilus and Cressida. Malone. in appointment fresh and fair,] Appointment is preparation. So, in Measure for Measure:

"Therefore your best appointment make with speed.” Again, in King Henry IV, Part I:

What well-appointed leader fronts us here?"

Give with thy trumpet a loud note to Troy,
Thou dreadful Ajax; that the appalled air
May pierce the head of the great combatant,
And hale him hither.

Ajax.

Thou, trumpet, there's my purse. Now crack thy lungs, and split thy brazen pipe: Blow, villain, till thy sphered bias cheek"

Out-swell the colick of puff'd Aquilon:

Come, stretch thy chest, and let thy eyes spout blood; Thou blow'st for Hector.

Ulyss. No trumpet answers.

Achil.

[Trumpet sounds.

'Tis but early days.

Agam. Is not yon Diomed, with Calchas' daughter? Ulyss. 'Tis he, i ken the manner of his gait;

He rises on the toe: that spirit of his

In aspiration lifts him from the earth.

Enter DIOMED, with CRESSIDA. Agam. Is this the lady Cressid?

Dio.

Even she.

Agam. Most dearly welcome to the Greeks, sweet lady.
Nest. Our general doth salute you with a kiss.
Ulyss. Yet is the kindness but particular;

"Twere better, she were kiss'd in general.

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Achil. I'll take that winter from your lips, fair lady: Achilles bids you welcome.

Men. I had good argument for kissing once.
Patr. But that's no argument for kissing now:

For thus popp'd Paris in his hardiment;

And parted thus you and your argument.

Ulyss. O deadly gall, and theme of all our scorns!

i. e. what leader well prepared with arms and accoutrements?

On the other hand, in Hamlet:

7

Steevens.

“Unhousell'd, disappointed, unanneal'd." Malone.
bias cheek -] Swelling out like the bias of a bowl.

So, in Vittoria Corombona, or the White Devil, 1612:

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Johnson.

The idea is taken from the puffy cheeks of the winds, as represented in ancient prints, maps, &c. Steevens.

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