Locrine / Mucedorus | Page 7

targets. Then let there come out of an

other door, Phineus, all black in armour, with Aethiopians
after
him, driving in Perseus, and having taken away
Andromeda, let them
depart, Ate remaining, saying:]
ATE.
Regit omnia numen.
When Perseus married fair Andromeda,

The only daughter of king Cepheus,
He thought he had established
well his Crown,
And that his kingdom should for aie endure.
But, lo,
proud Phineus with a band of men,
Contrived of sun-burnt
Aethiopians,
By force of arms the bride he took from him,
And
turned their joy into a flood of tears.
So fares it with young Locrine
and his love,
He thinks this marriage tendeth to his weal;
But this
foul day, this foul accursed day,
Is the beginning of his miseries.

Behold where Humber and his Scithians
Approacheth nigh with all
his warlike train.
I need not, I, the sequel shall declare,
What tragic
chances fall out in this war.

ACT II. SCENE I.
[Enter Humber, Hubba, Estrild, Segar, and their
soldiers.]
HUMBER.
At length the snail doth clime the highest tops,

Ascending up the stately castle walls;
At length the water with
continual drops,
Doth penetrate the hardest marble stone;
At length
we are arrived in Albion.
Nor could the barbarous Dacian sovereign,

Nor yet the ruler of brave Belgia,
Stay us from cutting over to this
Isle,
Whereas I hear a troop of Phrigians
Under the conduct of
Postumius' son,
Have pitched up lordly pavilions,
And hope to
prosper in this lovely Isle.
But I will frustrate all their foolish hope,

And teach them that the Scithian Emperour
Leads fortune tied in a
chain of gold,
Constraining her to yield unto his will,
And grace
him with their regal diadem,
Which I will have mauger their treble
hosts,
And all the power their petty kings can make.
HUBBA.
If she that rules fair Rhamnis' golden gate
Grant us the
honour of the victory,
As hitherto she always favoured us,
Right
noble father, we will rule the land,
Enthronized in seats of Topaz
stones,
That Locrine and his brethren all may know,
None must be
king but Humber and his son.
HUMBER.
Courage, my son, fortune shall favour us,
And yield to
us the coronet of bay,
That decked none but noble conquerours.
But
what saith Estrild to these regions?
How liketh she the temperature
thereof?
Are they not pleasant in her gracious eyes?
ESTRILD.
The plains, my Lord, garnished with Flora's wealth,

And overspread with party colored flowers,
Do yield sweet
contentation to my mind.
The airy hills enclosed with shady groves,

The groves replenished with sweet chirping birds,
The birds
resounding heavenly melody,
Are equal to the groves of Thessaly,

Where Phoebus with the learned Ladies nine,
Delight themselves

with music harmony,
And from the moisture of the mountain tops,

The silent springs dance down with murmuring streams,
And water
all the ground with crystal waves.
The gentle blasts of Eurus, modest
wind,
Moving the pittering leaves of Silvan's woods,
Do equal it
with Temp's paradise;
And thus consorted all to one effect,
Do
make me think these are the happy Isles,
Most fortunate, if Humber
may them win.
HUBBA.
Madam, where resolution leads the way,
And courage
follows with imboldened pace,
Fortune can never use her tyranny;

For valiantness is like unto a rock
That standeth in the waves of
Ocean,
Which though the billows beat on ever side,
And Boreas fell
with his tempestuous storms
Bloweth upon it with a hideous clamour,

Yet it remaineth still unmoveable.
HUMBER.
Kingly resolved, thou glory of thy sire.
But, worthy
Segar, what uncouth novelties
Bringst thou unto our royal majesty?
SEGAR.
My Lord, the youngest of all Brutus' sons,
Stout Albanact,
with millions of men,
Approacheth nigh, and meaneth, ere the morn,

To try your force by dint of fatal sword.
HUMBER.
Tut, let him come with millions of hosts;
He shall find
entertainment good enough.
Yea, fit for those that are our enemies:

For we'll receive them at the lance's points,
And massacre their
bodies with our blades:
Yea, though they were in number infinite,

More than the mighty Babylonian queen,
Semiramis the ruler of the
West,
Brought gainst the Emperour of the Scithians;
Yet would we
not start back one foot from them:
That they might know we are
invincible.
HUBBA.
Now, by great Jove, the supreme king of heaven,
And the
immortal gods that live therein,
When as the morning shows his
cheerful face,

And Lucifer, mounted upon his steed,
Brings in the

chariot of the golden sun,
I'll meet young Albanact in the open field,

And crack my lance upon his burganet,
To try the valour of his
boyish strength.
There will I show such ruthful spectacles
And
cause so great effusion of blood,
That all his boys shall wonder at my
strength:
As when the warlike queen of Amazon,
Penthisilea, armed
with her lance,
Girt with a corslet of bright shining steel,
Couped up
the faintheart Graecians in the camp.
HUMBER.
Spoke like a warlike knight, my noble son;
Nay, like a
prince that seeks his father's joy.
Therefore, tomorrow, ere fair Titan
shine,
And bashful Eos, messenger of light,
Expels the liquid sleep
from out men's eyes,
Thou shalt conduct the right wing of the host;

The left wing shall be under Segar's charge,
The rearward shall be
under me my self.
And lovely Estrild, fair and gracious,
If fortune
favour me in mine attempts,
And make the Queen of lovely Albion,

Come, let us in and muster up our train,
And furnish up our