Alexander, William · published 1637 · first performed or written 1607 [1605-1607] (Annals) tragedy T8 Captains, gallants and cheats typicality 0.81 · 486 words · other edition — not in the analysis
Marked words are the most distinguishing words of T8: captain, master, money, gentleman, little, lieutenant, rogue, pray, minos, honest.
Whileas Eumenes fortunately lived, The Ag●raspides to him gave place, Till that for state two of their Captains strived, And his authority would not embrace. Such as that spite of theirs to have him spoiled, That though of valour he rare wonders proved, And oft by force Antigonus had foiled, Yet from their mind it could not be removed, For (by their means allured) the other bands, To get some baggage which they lost again, Did take their Captain, with outrageous hands, Their glory darkening by that odious stain: And though Eumenes trusting to new hopes, By flying laboured succour to have found, He was prevented by his Traitorous Troops, And (like to some base fugitive) was bound. Scarce could his stormy stomach bend to break, Deign to entreat those who had him betrayed, Yet, having hardly purchased leave to speak, He stretched them forth his fettered hands, and said: Lo, what apparel now your General wears, Since with your faith his liberty was lost; Yet he those bands not given by th'enemy bears; No, but by you in whom he trusted most: And must he thus be led, who should you lead? Is this the triumph which I should receive For all my victories, thus to be made Of Captain, Captive; of a Conqueror, slave? How oft (my Soldiers) have ye all of late To me by solemn oaths sworn to be true? But it becomes none in a captives state With lofty words his keepers to pursue; Nor crave I further favour at this hour, Then that ye bathe your weapons in my breast; Let not my life be in mine enemy's power, Lo all that your Commander doth request▪ I know Antigonus doth take no care Who get my body, so he get my head; And he regards not, neither when, nor where, Nor in what sort I die, so I be dead. But if through horror of so vile a deed Your eyes look down, your hair erected stands, Which in your minds this much remorse doth breed, That as your hearts ye will not stain your hands; Then as your Captain, since not force I may, I (as your friend) entreat, that now in time I may but have a Sword myself to stay, You to excuse, whilst partner of your crime. But when he saw that words could not assuage Their barbarous thoughts which nothing could control, Then having turned his Courage all in rage, He thus flamed forth the fury of his soul: O damned rascals who have lost all faith, Whom neither duty, nor yet merit binds! How oft was Alexander moved to wrath By those your mutinous and malicious minds? And, O! what could I at those hands attend, Which yet were smocking with Perdiccas' blood? Of those who by like Treason did intent With old Antipater's to be imbrued. Heaven thunder on you from th'aethereal Rounds,
Other edition — placed after the fit, excluded from the main statistics
Position
nodes 2990–3050 (positions in the processed text, not lines of the printed book) · chunk 47 of 54 in this edition
Length
486 words · 633 tokens
Topic (seed 42)
T8 — Captains, gallants and cheatscross-work theme (confirmed, in the genre comparison) · typicality 0.811 (cosine to the topic centroid) · placed after the fit (approximate_predict), not counted in the topic statistics
Other seeds
seed 43: T11 · seed 44: T14 — topic numbers are assigned independently in each run; equal or different numbers say nothing by themselves
Original spelling (EEBO-TCP, unregularized)
While-as Eumenes fortunately liv'd, The Agraſpides to him gave place, Till that for ſtate two of their Captaines ſtriv'd, And his authoritie would not embrace. Such as that ſpite of theirs to have him ſpoil'd, That though of valour he rare wonders prov'd, And oft by force Antigonus had foil'd, Yet from their mind it could not be remov'd, For (by their meanes allur'd) the other bands, To get ſome baggage which they loſt againe, Did take their Captaine, with outragious hands, Their glory darkning by that odious ſtayne: And though Eumenes truſting to new hopes, By flying labour'd ſuccour to have found, He was prevented by his Trait'rous Troupes, And (like to ſome baſe fugitive) was bound. Scarce could his ſtormy ſtomack bent to breake, Daigne to entreat thoſe who had him betrai'd, Yet, hauing hardly purchas'd leave to ſpeake, He ſtretch'd them forth his fettred hands, and ſayd: Loe, what apparell now your Generall weares, Since with your faith his libertie was loſt; Yet he thoſe bands not given by th'enemie beares; No, but by you in whom he truſted moſt: And muſt he thus be led, who ſhould you lead? Is this the triumph which I ſhould receave For all my victories, thus to be made Of Captaine, Captive; of a Conquerour, ſlave? How oft (my Souldiers) have yee all of late To me by ſolemne oathes ſworne to be true? "But it becomes none in a captives ſtate "With loftie words his keepers to purſue; Nor crave I further favour at this houre, Then that ye bath your weapons in my breſt; Let not my life be in mine enemies pow'r, Loe all that your Commander doth requeſt▪ I know Antigonus doth take no care Who get my bodie, ſo he get my head; And he regards not, neither when, nor where, Nor in what ſort I die, ſo I be dead. But if through horrour of ſo vile a deed Your eyes looke downe, your haire erected ſtands, Which in your mindes this much remorſe doth breed, That as your hearts ye will not ſtaine your hands; Then as your Captaine, ſince not force I may, I (as your friend) entreate, that now in time I may but have a Sword my ſelfe to ſtay, You to excuſe, whilſt partner of your crime. But when he ſaw that words could not aſſwage Their barb'rous thoughts which nothing could controule, Then having turn'd his Courage all in rage, He thus flam'd forth the fury of his ſoule: O damned raſcalls who have loſt all faith, Whom neither duty, nor yet merit bindes! How oft was Alexander mov'd to wrath By thoſe your mut'nous and malitious mindes? And, O! what could I at thoſe hands attend, Which yet were ſmoking with Perdiccas blood? Of thoſe who by like Treaſon did intend With old Antipaters to be imbru'd. Heaven thunder on you from th'aetheriall Rounds,