Egypt_ ah! thou know'st
How I behau'd me fighting for thy kinge,
When I regainde him his rebellious Realme.
Against his foes in battaile shewing force,
And after fight in victorie remorse.
Yet if to bring my glorie to the ground,
Fortune had made me ouerthrowne by one
Of greater force, of better skill then I;
One of those Captaines feared so of olde,
_Camill_, _Marcellus_, worthy _Scipio_,
This late great _Caesar_, honor of our state,
Or that great _Pompei_ aged growne in armes;
That after haruest of a world of men
Made in a hundred battailes, fights, assaults,
My bodie thorow pearst with push of pike
Had vomited my bloud, in bloud my life,
In midd'st of millions felowes in my fall:
The lesse hir wrong, the lesse should my woe:
Nor she should paine, nor I complain me so.
No, no, wheras I should haue died in armes,
And vanquisht oft new armies should haue arm'd,
New battailes giuen, and rather lost with me
All this whole world submitted vnto me:
A man who neuer saw enlaced pikes
With bristled pointes against his stomake bent,
Who feares the field, and hides him cowardly
Dead at the verie noise the souldiors make.
His vertue, fraude, deceit, malicious guile,
His armes the arts that false _Vlisses_ vs'de,
Knowne at Modena, wher the _Consuls_ both
Death-wounded were, and wounded by his men
To gett their armie, warre with it to make
Against his faith, against his countrie soile.
Of _Lepidus_, which to his succours came,
To honor whome he was by dutie bounde;
The Empire he vsurpt: corrupting first
With baites and bribes the most part of his men.
Yet me hath ouercome, and made his pray,
And state of _Rome_, with me hath ouercome.
Strange! one disordred act at _Actium_
The earth subdu'de, my glorie hath obscur'd.
For since, as one whome heauens wrath attaints,
With furie caught, and more then furious
Vex'd with my euills, I neuer more had care
My armies lost, or lost name to repaire:
I did no more resist.
_Lu._ All warres affaires,
But battailes most, daily haue their successe
Now good, now ill: and though that fortune haue
Great force and power in euery worldlie thing,
Rule all, do all, haue all things fast enchaind
Vnto the circle of hir turning wheele:
Yet seemes it more then any practise else
She doth frequent _Ballonas_ bloudie trade:
And that hir fauour, wauering as the wind,
Hi
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