What then! 'tis kept in safe hands, I suppose.
FIRST CUIRASSIER.
Peace, good sirs, will you come to blows?
Have you a quarrel and squabble to know
If the emperor be our master or no?
'Tis because of our rank, as his soldiers brave,
That we scorn the lot of the herded slave;
And will not be driven from place to place,
As priest or puppies our path may trace.
And, tell me, is't not the sovereign's gain,
If the soldiers their dignity will maintain?
Who but his soldiers give him the state
Of a mighty, wide-ruling potentate?
Make and preserve for him, far and near,
The voice which Christendom quakes to hear?
Well enough they may his yoke-chain bear,
Who feast on his favors, and daily share,
In golden chambers, his sumptuous fare.
We-we of his splendors have no part,
Naught but hard wearying toil and care,
And the pride that lives in a soldier's heart.
SECOND YAGER.
All great tyrants and kings have shown
Their wit, as I take it, in what they've done;
They've trampled all others with stern command,
But the soldier they've led with a gentle hand.
FIRST CUIRASSIER.
The soldier his worth must understand;
Whoe'er doesn't nobly drive the trade,
'Twere best from the business far he'd stayed.
If I cheerily set my life on a throw,
Something still better than life I'll know;
Or I'll stand to be slain for the paltry pelf,
As the Croat still does-and scorn myself.
BOTH PAGERS.
Yes-honor is dearer than life itself.
FIRST CUIRASSIER.
The sword is no plough, nor delving tool,
He, who would till with it, is but a fool.
For us, neither grass nor grain doth grow,
Houseless the soldier is doomed to go,
A changeful wanderer over the earth,
Ne'er knowing the warmth of a home-lit hearth.
The city glances-he halts-not there-
Nor in village meadows, so green and fair;
The vintage and harvest wreath are twined
He sees, but must leave them far behind.
Then, tell me, what hath the soldier left,
If he's once of his self-esteem bereft?
Something he must have his own to call,
Or on slaughter and burnings at once he'll fall.
FIRST ARQUEBUSIER.
God knows, 'tis a wretched life to live!
FIRST CUIRASSIER.
Yet one, which I, for no other would give,
Look ye-far round in the world I've been,
And all of its different service seen.
The Venetian Republic-the Kings of Spain
And Naples I've served, and served in vain.
Fortune still frowned-and merchant and knight,
Craftsmen and Jesuit, have met my sight;
Yet, of all their jackets, not one have I known
To please me like this steel coat of my own.
FIRST ARQUEBUSIER.
Well-that now is what I can scarcely say.
FIRST CUIRASSIER.
In the world, a man who would make his way,
Must plague and bestir himself night and day.
To honor and place if he choose the road,
He must bend his back to the golden load.
And if home-delights should his fancy please,
With children and grandchildren round his knees,
Let him follow an honest trade in peace.
I've no taste for this kind of life-not I!
Free will I live, and as freely die.
No man's spoiler nor heir will I be-
But, throned on my nag, I will smile to see
The coil of the crowd that is under me.
FIRST YAGER.
Bravo!-that's as I've always done.
FIRST ARQUEBUSIER.
In truth, sirs, it may be far better fun
To trample thus over your neighbor's crown.
FIRST CUIRASSIER.
Comrade, the times are bad of late-
The sword and the scales live separate.
But do not then blame that I've preferred,
