Page:Metamorphoses (Ovid, 1567).djvu/349

 Amen,) I will as well have thee and eeke thyne arrowes, as I have the Trojane prophet whoo by mee surprysed was, Or as I did the Oracles and Trojane fates disclose, Or as I from her chappell through the thickest of her foes The Phrygian Pallads image fetcht: and yit dooth Ajax still Compare himself with mee. Yee knowe it was the destinyes will That Troy should never taken bee by any force, untill This Image first were got. And where was then our valeant knight Sir Ajax? Where the stately woordes of such a hardy wyght? Why feareth hee? Why dares Ulysses ventring through the watch Commit his persone to the nyght his buysnesse to dispatch? And through the pykes not only for to passe the garded wall But also for to enter to the strongest towre of all And for to take the Idoll from her Chappell and her shryne And beare her thence amid his foes? For had this deede of myne Beene left undoone, in vayne his sheeld of Oxen hydes seven fold Should yit the Sonne of Telamon have in his left hand hold. That nyght subdewed I Troy towne. That nyght did I it win, And opened it for you likewyse with ease to enter in. Cease to upbrayd mee by theis lookes and mumbling woordes of thyne With Diomed: his prayse is in this fact as well as myne. And thou thy selfe when for our shippes thou diddest in reskew stand, Wart not alone: the multitude were helping thee at hand. I had but only one with mee. Whoo (if he had not thought A wyseman better than a strong, and that preferment ought Not alway followe force of hand) would now himself have sought This Armour. So would toother Ajax better stayed doo, And feerce Ewrypyle, and the sonne of hault Andremon too. No lesse myght eeke Idominey, and eeke Meriones, His countryman, and Menelay. For every one of these Are valeant men of hand, and not inferior unto thee In martiall feates. And yit they are contented rulde to bee By myne advyce. Thou hast a hand that serveth well in fyght. Thou hast a wit that stands in neede of my direction ryght. Thy force is witlesse. I have care of that that may ensew. Thou well canst fyght: the king dooth choose the tymes for fyghting dew By myne advyce. Thou only with thy body canst avayle.