There is no malice in this burning coal; Hub. But with my breath I can revive it, boy. Snatch at his master that doth tarre him on. you That mercy which fierce fire and iron extends, Hub. Well, see to live: I will not touch thine eyes, For all the treasure that thine uncle owes : * Yet am I sworn, and I did purpose, boy, With this same very iron to burn them out. Arth. O, now you look like Hubert! all this while You were disguised. Hub. Peace! no more. Adieu! Your uncle must not know but you are dead: Arth. O heaven! I thank you, Hubert. Hub. Silence; no more. Go closely in with me, Much danger do I undergo for thee. HORATIUS. LARS PORSENA of Clusium East and west and south and north Who lingers in his home, Is on the march for Rome. The horsemen and the footmen From many a stately market-place; From many a lonely hamlet, Which, hid by beech and pine, Like an eagle's nest, hangs on the crest Of purple Apennine. Tall are the oaks whose acorns Fat are the stags that champ the boughs Is to the herdsman dear; But now no stroke of woodman Grazes the milk-white steer: The harvests of Arretium, This year, old men shall reap; This year, young boys in Umbro This year, the must shall foam Round the white feet of laughing girls, Whose sires have march'd to Rome. Have spread the Tuscan bands; Nor house, nor fence, nor dovecote, In Crustumerium stands. Verbenna down to Ostia Hath wasted all the plain; Astur hath storm'd Janiculum, And the stout guards are slain. I wis, in all the Senate, There was no heart so bold, But sore it ached, and fast it beat, In haste they girded up their gowns, They held a council standing, Before the River-gate; Short time was there, ye well may guess, "The bridge must straight go down; For, since Janiculum is lost, Nought else can save the town." Just then a scout came flying, All wild with haste and fear: On the low hills to westward And saw the swarthy storm of dust And nearer fast and nearer Doth the red whirlwind come; And louder still and still more loud, From underneath that rolling cloud, Is heard the trumpet's war-note proud, The trampling and the hum. And plainly and more plainly Now through the gloom appears, Far to left and far to right, F In broken gleams of dark-blue light, * [Here Horatius, Lartius, and Herminius undertake to keep back the enemy from passing the bridge till it can be hewn down.] Meanwhile the Tuscan army, Came flashing back the noonday light, As that great host, with measured tread, The Three stood calm and silent, From all the vanguard rose: And forth three chiefs came spurring Before that mighty mass; To earth they sprang, their swords they drew, To win the narrow pass. [Several of the Tuscan chiefs try to force the passage, but are slain by Horatius and his companions.] |