The Dynasts : Parts First And Second

THE DYNASTS ACT iv
Worn-out lines lie down where they late stood
staunchly—
Cloaks around them rolled—by the bivouac embers ;• There at dawn to stake in the dynasts death-game Ally till the ending !
SCENE V
THE SAME
DUMB SHOW (continued)
The morning breaks. There is another murderous attempt to dislodge the English from the hill, the assault being pressed with a determination that excites the admiration of the English themselves.
The French are seen descending into the valley, crossing it, and climbing it on the English side under the fire of HILL'S whole division, all to no purpose. In their retreat they leave behind them on the slopes nearly two thousand lying
The day advances to noon, and the air trembles in the intense heat. The combat flags, and is suspended. *
SPIRIT OF THE PITIES
What do I see but thirsty, throbbing bands From these inimic hosts defiling down In homely need towards the prattling stream That parts their enmities, and drinking there / They get to grasping hands across the rill, Sealing their sameness as earths sojourners.— What more could plead the wryness of the times Than such unstudied piteous pantomimes /
SPIRIT IRONIC
It is only that Lifes queer mechanics chance to work out in this grotesque shape *just now. The groping tentativeness of an Immanent Will (as grey old Years