Homeric picture. The husband was not thinking of his wife's beauty. He "caresses her with his hand," and tries to cheer her with the thought that no hero dies until his work is done.
"For, till my day of destiny is come,
No man may take my life; and when it comes,
Nor brave nor coward can escape that day.
But go thou home, and ply thy household cares,
The loom and distaff, and appoint thy maids
Their several tasks; and leave to men of Troy,
And chief of all to me, the toils of war." (D.)
The tender yet half-contemptuous tone in which the iron soldier relegates the woman to her own inferior cares, is true to the spirit of every age in which war is the main business of man's life. Something in the same tone is the charming scene between Hotspur and his lady in Shakspeare's 'Henry IV.'
"Hotspur. Away, you trifler!— Love? I love thee not,—
I care not for thee, Kate; this is no world
To play with mammets and to tilt with lips:
We must have bloody noses and crack't crowns,
And pass them current too.—God's me, my horse!—
What say'st thou, Kate? What wouldst thou have with me?
Lady Percy. Do you not love me? Do you not indeed?
Well,—do not, then; for since you love me not,
I will not love myself.—Do you not love me?
Nay, tell me if you speak in jest, or no.
Hotspur. Come, wilt thou see me ride?
And when I am o' horseback, I will swear
I love thee infinitely. But hark you, Kate:
I must not have you henceforth question me
Whither I go, nor reason whereabout;
Whither I must, I must; and, to conclude,
This evening must I leave you, gentle Kate.
I know you wise; but yet, no further wise
Than Harry Percy's wife: constant you are—
But yet a woman: and for secrecy,
No lady closer: for I well believe
Thou wilt not utter that thou dost not know."
