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Long did he range amid the shady trees,

And drave the silly beasts before his face,

When suddenly from out a thorny bush,

A dreadful Archer with his bow ybent,

Wounded the Lion with a dismal shaft.

So he him stroke that it drew forth the blood,

And filled his furious heart with fretting ire;

But all in vain he threatened teeth and paws,

And sparkleth fire from forth his flaming eyes,

For the sharp shaft gave him a mortal wound.

So valiant Brute, the terror of the world,

Whose only looks did scare his enemies,

The Archer death brought to his latest end.

Oh what may long abide above this ground,

In state of bliss and healthful happiness.

[Exit.]

ACT I. SCENE I.

Enter Brutus carried in a chair, Locrine, Camber, Albanact,

Corineius, Gwendoline, Assarachus, Debon, Thrasimachus.

BRUTUS.

Most loyal Lords and faithful followers,

That have with me, unworthy General,

Passed the greedy gulf of Ocean,

Leaving the confines of fair Italy,

Behold, your Brutus draweth nigh his end,

And I must leave you, though against my will.

My sinews shrunk, my numbed senses fail,

A chilling cold possesseth all my bones;

Black ugly death, with visage pale and wan,

Presents himself before my dazzled eyes,

And with his dart prepared is to strike.

These arms my Lords, these never daunted arms,

That oft have quelled the courage of my foes,

And eke dismay'd my neighbours arrogancy,

Now yield to death, o'erlaid with crooked age,

Devoid of strength and of their proper force,

Even as the lusty cedar worn with years,

That far abroad her dainty odor throws,

Mongst all the daughters of proud Lebanon.

This heart, my Lords, this near appalled heart,

That was a terror to the bordering lands,

A doeful scourge unto my neighbor Kings,

Now by the weapons of unpartial death,

Is clove asunder and bereft of life,

As when the sacred oak with thunderbolts,

Sent from the fiery circuit of the heavens,

Sliding along the air's celestial vaults,

Is rent and cloven to the very roots.

In vain, therefore, I strangle with this foe;

Then welcome death, since God will have it so.

ASSARACHUS.

Alas, my Lord, we sorrow at your case,

And grieve to see your person vexed thus;

But what so ere the fates determined have,

It lieth not in us to disannul,

And he that would annihilate his mind,

Soaring with Icarus too near the sun,

May catch a fall with young Bellerophon.

For when the fatal sisters have decreed

To separate us from this earthly mould,

No mortal force can countermand their minds:

Then, worthy Lord, since there's no way but one,

Cease your laments, and leave your grievous moan.

CORINEIUS.

Your highness knows how many victories,

How many trophies I erected have

Triumphantly in every place we came.

The Grecian Monarch, warlike Pandrassus,

And all the crew of the Molossians;

Goffarius, the arm strong King of Gauls,

And all the borders of great Aquitaine,

Have felt the force of our victorious arms,

And to their cost beheld our chivalry.

Where ere Aurora, handmaid of the Sun,

Where ere the Sun, bright guardiant of the day,

Where ere the joyful day with cheerful light,

Where ere the light illuminates the world,

The Trojan's glory flies with golden wings,

Wings that do soar beyond fell ennui's flight.

The fame of Brutus and his followers

Pierceth the skies, and with the skies the throne

Of mighty Jove, Commander of the world.

Then worthy Brutus, leave these sad laments;

Comfort your self with this your great renown,

And fear not death though he seem terrible.

BRUTUS.

Nay, Corineius, you mistake my mind

In construing wrong the cause of my complaints.

I feared to yield my self to fatal death!

God knows it was the least of all my thoughts;

A greater care torments my very bones,

And makes me tremble at the thought of it,

And in you, Lordings, doth the substance lie.

THRASI.

Most noble Lord, if ought your loyal peers

Accomplish may, to ease your lingering grief,

I, in the name of all, protest to you,

That we will boldly enterprise the same,

Were