BRUTUS.
153
Ill Fate assum'd a body thee t' affright,
And wrapp'd itself i' th' terrors of the night:
"I'll meet thee at Philippi," said the sprite;
"I'll meet thee there," saidst thou,
With such a voice, and such a brow,
As put the trembling ghost to sudden flight;
It vanish'd, as a taper's light
Goes out when spirits appear in sight.
One would have thought 't heard the morning crow,
Or seen her well-appointed star
Come marching up the Eastern hill afar.
Nor durst it in Philippi's field appear,
But unseen attack'd thee there:
Had it presum'd in any shape thee to oppose,
Thou shouldst have forc'd it back upon thy foes:
Or slain 't, like Cæsar, though it be
A conqueror and a monarch mightier far than he.
And wrapp'd itself i' th' terrors of the night:
"I'll meet thee at Philippi," said the sprite;
"I'll meet thee there," saidst thou,
With such a voice, and such a brow,
As put the trembling ghost to sudden flight;
It vanish'd, as a taper's light
Goes out when spirits appear in sight.
One would have thought 't heard the morning crow,
Or seen her well-appointed star
Come marching up the Eastern hill afar.
Nor durst it in Philippi's field appear,
But unseen attack'd thee there:
Had it presum'd in any shape thee to oppose,
Thou shouldst have forc'd it back upon thy foes:
Or slain 't, like Cæsar, though it be
A conqueror and a monarch mightier far than he.
What joy can human things to us afford,
When we see perish thus, by odd events,
Ill men, and wretched accidents,
The best cause and best man that ever drew a sword?
When we see
The false Octavius and wild Antony,
God-like Brutus! conquer thee?
What can we say, but thine own tragick word—
That virtue, which had worship'd been by thee
As the most solid Good, and greatest Deity,
By this fatal proof became
An idol only, and a name?
When we see perish thus, by odd events,
Ill men, and wretched accidents,
The best cause and best man that ever drew a sword?
When we see
The false Octavius and wild Antony,
God-like Brutus! conquer thee?
What can we say, but thine own tragick word—
That virtue, which had worship'd been by thee
As the most solid Good, and greatest Deity,
By this fatal proof became
An idol only, and a name?
