only eminence ’twixt earth and heaven, Virtue—which some desert, but none despise— Whether thou art beheld again on earth, Whether a captive or a fugitive; p. 77Miner or galley-slave, depends on me: But he alone who made me what I am Can make me greater, or can make me less. p. 77 Rod. Chance, and chance only, threw me in thy power, Give me my sword again and try my strength. Jul. I tried it in the front of thousands. Rod. Death At least vouchsafe me from a soldier’s hand. Jul. I love to hear thee ask it—now my own Would not be bitter; no, nor immature. Rod. Defy it, say thou rather. Jul. Death itself Shall not be granted thee, unless from God; A dole from his and from no other hand. Thou shalt now hear and own thine infamy— Rod. Chains, dungeons, tortures—but I hear no more. Jul. Silence, thou wretch, live on—aye, live—abhor’d. Thou shalt have tortures, dungeons, chains, enough— p. 78They naturally rise and grow around Monsters like thee, everywhere, and for ever. p. 78 Rod. Insulter of the fallen! must I endure Commands as well as threats? my vassal’s too? Nor breathe from underneath his trampling feet? Jul. Could I speak patiently who speak to thee, I would say more—part of thy punishment It should be, to be taught. Rod. Reserve thy wisdom Until thy patience come, its best allie: I learn no lore, of peace or war, from thee. Jul. No, thou shalt study soon another tongue, And suns more ardent shall mature thy mind. Either the cross thou bearest, and thy knees Among the silent caves of Palestine Wear the sharp flints away with midnight prayer, Or thou shalt keep the fasts of Barbary— Shalt wait amid the crowds that throng the well From sultry noon till the skies fade again, To draw up water and to bring it home p. 79In the crackt gourd of some vile testy knave, Who spurns thee back with bastinaded foot For ignorance or delay of his command. p. 79 Rod. Rather the poison or the bow-string. Jul. Slaves To other’s passions die such deaths as those, Slaves to their own should die—
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