misbecomingly

Arcite is gently visaged , yet his eye
Is like an engine bent , or a sharp weapon
In a soft sheath ; mercy and manly courage
Are bedfellows in his visage . Palamon
Has a most menacing aspect ; his brow
Is graved , and seems to bury what it frowns on ;
Yet sometimes ’tis not so , but alters to
The quality of his thoughts . Long time his eye
Will dwell upon his object . Melancholy
Becomes him nobly ; so does Arcite’s mirth ;
But Palamon’s sadness is a kind of mirth ,
So mingled , as if mirth did make him sad
And sadness merry . Those darker humors that
Stick misbecomingly on others , on them
Live in fair dwelling .

Hark how yon spurs to spirit do incite
The princes to their proof ! Arcite may win me ,
And yet may Palamon wound Arcite to
The spoiling of his figure . O , what pity
Enough for such a chance ? If I were by ,
I might do hurt , for they would glance their eyes
Towards my seat , and in that motion might
Omit a ward or forfeit an offense
Which craved that very time .

It is much better
I am not there . O , better never born
Than minister to such harm !



What is the chance ?