YOUNG MARIUS. O endless course of needy man's avail! What silly thoughts, what simple policies, Make man presume upon this traitorous life! Have I not seen the depth of sorrow once, And then again have kiss'd the queen of chance. O Marius, thou, Tillitius, and thy friends, Hast seen thy foe discomfited in fight: But now the stars have form'd my final harms. My father Marius lately dead in Rome; My foe with honour doth triumph in Rome, My friends are dead and banished from Rome. Ay, Marius, father, friends, more blest than thee! They dead, I live; I thralled, they are free. Here in Praeneste am I cooped up, Amongst a troop of hunger-starved men, Set to prevent false Sylla's fierce approach, But now exempted both of life and all. Well, fortune, since thy fleeting change hath cast Poor Marius from his hopes and true desires, My resolution shall exceed thy power. Thy colour'd wings steeped in purple blood, Thy blinding wreath distain'd in purple blood, Thy royal robes wash'd in my purple blood, Shall witness to the world thy thirst of blood; And when the tyrant Sylla shall expect To see the son of Marius stoop to fear, Then, then, O, then, my mind shall well appear, That scorn my life, and hold mine honour dear. [_Alarum. A retreat_. Hark how these murderous Romans, viper-like, Seek to bewray their fellow-citizens. O wretched world, from whence with speedy flight True love, true zeal, true honour late is fled! SOLDIER. What makes my lord so careless and secure, To leave the breach and here lament alone? YOUNG MARIUS. Not fear, my friend, for I could never fly; But study how with honour for to die. I pray thee, call the chiefest citizens; I must advise them in a weighty cause: Here shall they meet me; and, until they come, I will go view the danger of the breach. [_Exit_ YOUNG MARIUS, _with the Soldiers_. _Enter, with drums and Soldiers_, LUCRETIUS, _with other Romans, as_ TUDITANUS, &c. LUCRETIUS. Say, Tuditanus, didst thou ever see So desperate defence as this hath been. TUDITANUS. As in Numidia, tigers wanting food, Or, as in Lybia, lions full of ire, So fare these Romans on Praeneste walls. LUCRETIUS. Their valour, Tuditanus, and resist, The man-like fight of younger Marius, Makes me amaz'd to see their miseries, And pity them, although they be my foes. What said I? Foes? O Rome, with ruth I see Thy state consum'd through folly and dissension! Well, sound a parley; I will see if words [_Sound a parley_--YOUNG MARIUS _appears upon the walls with the Citizens_. Can make them yield, which will not fly for strokes. YOUNG MARIUS. What seeks this Roman warrior at our hands?