Act 5 — Scene V. Another part of the field.
Reading edition
Enter Diomedes and Servant.[2346]
Dio. Go, go, my servant, take thou Troilus' horse;[2347] Present the fair steed to my lady Cressid: Fellow, commend my service to her beauty; Tell her I have chastised the amorous Trojan, And am her knight by proof. Ser. I go, my lord. [Exit. 5
Enter Agamemnon.[2348]
Agam. Renew, renew! The fierce Polydamas[2349] Hath beat down Menon: bastard Margarelon Hath Doreus prisoner,[2350] And stands colossus-wise, waving his beam, Upon the pashed corses of the kings[2351] 10 Epistrophus and Cedius: Polyxenes is slain;[2352] Amphimachus and Thoas deadly hurt;[2353] Patroclus ta'en or slain; and Palamedes Sore hurt and bruised: the dreadful sagittary[2354] Appals our numbers: haste we, Diomed, 15 To reinforcement, or we perish all.
Enter Nestor.
Nest. Go, bear Patroclus' body to Achilles,[2355] And bid the snail-paced Ajax arm for shame. There is a thousand Hectors in the field:[2356] Now here he fights on Galathe his horse, 20 And there lacks work; anon he's there afoot, And there they fly or die, like scaled sculls[2357] Before the belching whale; then is he yonder, And there the strawy Greeks, ripe for his edge,[2358] Fall down before him, like the mower's swath:[2359] 25 Here, there and every where he leaves and takes,[2360] Dexterity so obeying appetite That what he will he does, and does so much[2361] That proof is call'd impossibility.
Enter Ulysses.
Ulyss. O, courage, courage, princes! great Achilles 30 Is arming, weeping, cursing, vowing vengeance: Patroclus' wounds have roused his drowsy blood,[2355] Together with his mangled Myrmidons, That noseless, handless, hack'd and chipp'd, come to him, Crying on Hector. Ajax hath lost a friend, 35 And foams at mouth, and he is arm'd, and at it, Roaring for Troilus; who hath done to-day Mad and fantastic execution, Engaging and redeeming of himself, With such a careless force and forceless care, 40 As if that luck, in very spite of cunning,[2362][2363] Bade him win all.[2362]
Enter Ajax.
Ajax. Troilus! thou coward Troilus! [Exit.[2364] Dio. Ay, there, there. Nest. So, so, we draw together.[2365]
Enter Achilles.