Page:Miscellaneous Plays 1.pdf/355

Rh

Ah, gentle friend! I do no more command! But this distresses thee. Well, gen'rous man, Here, by thy friendly side, I'll give my heart a little breathing space; For oh! the gen'rous love of these brave men, Holding thus nobly to my sinking fate, Presses it sorely. From thee nor from myself can I conceal The hopeless state in which I am beset. No foreign prince a brother's hand extends In this mine hour of need; no christian state Sends forth its zealous armies to defend This our begirded cross: within our walls, Tho' with th' addition of our later friends, I cannot number soldiers ev'n sufficient To hold a petty town 'gainst such vast odds. I needs must smile and wear a brow of hope, But with thee, gentle Othus, I put off All form and seeming; I am what I am, A weak and heart-rent man.—Wilt thou forgive me? For I in truth must weep.

Yes, unrestrained weep, thou valiant soul With many a wave o’er-ridden! Thou striv'st nobly