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Home  »  Parnassus  »  William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

Ralph Waldo Emerson, comp. (1803–1882). Parnassus: An Anthology of Poetry. 1880.

Nestor to Hector

William Shakespeare (1564–1616)

(See full text.)

Nestor.—I have, thou gallant Trojan, seen thee oft,

Laboring for destiny, make cruel way

Through ranks of Greekish youth: and I have seen thee,

As hot as Perseus, spur thy Phrygian steed,

Despising many forfeits and subduements,

When thou hast hung thy advanced sword i’ the air,

Not letting it decline on the declined:

That I have said to some my standers-by,

Lo, Jupiter is yonder, dealing life!

And I have seen thee pause, and take thy breath

When that a ring of Greeks have hemmed thee in,

Like an Olympian wrestling: This have I seen

But this thy countenance, still locked in steel,

I never saw till now.

Let an old man embrace thee:

And, worthy warrior, welcome to our tents.