CHORUS 3. Remember thou in virtue serve therefore Thy chaste lady: beware thou do not love, As whilom Venus did the fair Adone, But as Diana lov'd th'Amazon's son; Through whose request the gods to him alone Restor'd new life. The twine that was undone, Was by the sisters twisted up again. The love of virtue in thy lady's looks, The love of virtue in her learned talk; This love yields matter for eternal books. This love enticeth him abroad to walk, There to invent and write new roundelays Of learn'd conceit, her fancies to allure To vain delights: such humours he allays, And sings of virtue and her garments pure. CHORUS 4. Desire not of thy sovereign the thing Whereof shame may ensue by any mean; Nor wish thou aught that may dishonour bring. So whilom did the learned Tuscan[73] serve His fair lady; and glory was their end. Such are the praises lovers done deserve, Whose service doth to virtue and honour tend. FINIS ACTUS IV. COMPOSUIT CH. HAT.[74] ACT V., SCENE 1. RENUCHIO _cometh out of the palace_. RENUCHIO. O cruel fate! O miserable chance! O dire aspect of hateful destinies! O woe may not be told! Suffic'd it not That I should see, and with these eyes behold So foul, so bloody, and so base a deed: But more to aggravate the heavy cares Of my perplexed mind, must only I, Must I alone be made the messenger, That must deliver to her princely ears Such dismal news, as when I shall disclose, I know it cannot but abridge her days? As when the thunder and three-forked fire, Rent through the clouds by Jove's almighty power, Breaks up the bosom of our mother earth, And burns her heart, before the heat be felt. In this distress, whom should I most bewail, My woe, that must be made the messenger Of these unworthy and unwelcome news? Or shall I moan thy death, O noble Earl? Or shall I still lament the heavy hap, That yet, O Queen, attends thy funeral? CHORUS 1. What moans be these? Renuchio, is this Salerne I see? Doth here King Tancred hold the awful crown? Is this the place where civil people be? Or do the savage Scythians here abound? CHORUS 2. What mean these questions? whither tend these words? Resolve us maidens, and release our fears. Whatever news thou bring'st, discover them. Detain us not in this suspicious dread! "The thought whereof is greater than the woe." RENUCHIO. O, whither may I cast my looks? to heaven? Black pitchy clouds from thence rain down revenge. The earth shall I behold, stain'd with the gore Of his heart-blood, that died most innocent? Which way soe'er I turn mine eyes, methinks His butcher'd corpse stands staring in my face. CHORUS 3. We humbly pray thee to forbear these words, So full of terror to our maiden hearts: "The dread of things unknown breeds the suspect Of greater dread, until the worst be known." Tell therefore what hath chanc'd, and whereunto This bloody cup thou holdest in thy hand.