_King_. Ye stars! 'tis well, Were thy last hour to come, This moment had been it; [1] yet by thy shroud I'll pull thee backward, squeeze thee to a bladder, Till thou dost groan thy nothingness away. Thou fly'st! 'Tis well. [_Ghost retires_. [2] I thought what was the courage of a ghost! Yet, dare not, on thy life--Why say I that, Since life thou hast not?--Dare not walk again Within these walls, on pain of the Red Sea. For, if henceforth I ever find thee here, As sure, sure as a gun, I'll have thee laid-- [Footnote 1: I'll pull thee backwards by thy shroud to light, Or else I'll squeeze thee, like a bladder, there, And make thee groan thyself away to air. --_Conquest of Granada_. Snatch me, ye gods, this moment into nothing. --_Cyrus the Great_. ] [Footnote 2: So, art thou gone? Thou canst no conquest boast. I thought what was the courage of a ghost. --_Conquest of Granada_. King Arthur seems to be as brave a fellow as Almanzor, who says most heroically, In spite of ghosts I'll on. ] _Ghost_. Were the Red Sea a sea of Hollands gin, The liquor (when alive) whose very smell I did detest--did loathe--yet, for the sake Of Thomas Thumb, I would be laid therein. _King_. Ha! said you? _Ghost_. Yes, my liege, I said Tom Thumb, Whose father's ghost I am--once not unknown To mighty Arthur. But, I see, 'tis true, The dearest friend, when dead, we all forget. _King_. 'Tis he--it is the honest Gaffer Thumb. Oh! let me press thee in my eager arms, Thou best of ghosts! thou something more than ghost! _Ghost_. Would I were something more, that we again Might feel each other in the warm embrace. But now I have th' advantage of my king, [1] For I feel thee, whilst thou dost not feel me. [Footnote 1: The ghost of Lausaria, in Cyrus, is a plain copy of this, and is therefore worth reading: Ah, Cyrus! Thou may'st as well grasp water, or fleet air, As think of touching my immortal shade. --_Cyrus the Great_. ] _King_. But say, [1] thou dearest air, oh! say what dread, Important business sends thee back to earth? [Footnote 1: Thou better part of heavenly air. --_Conquest of Granada,_. ] _Ghost_. Oh! then prepare to hear--which but to hear Is full enough to send thy spirit hence. Thy subjects up in arms, by Grizzle led, Will, ere the rosy-finger'd morn shall ope The shutters of the sky, before the gate Of this thy royal palace, swarming spread. [1] So have I seen the bees in clusters swarm, So have I seen the stars in frosty nights, So have I seen the sand in windy days, So have I seen the ghosts on Pluto's shore, So have I seen the flowers in spring arise, So have I seen the leaves in autumn fall, So have I seen the fruits in summer smile, So have I seen the snow in winter frown.