'Twas thus the genera voice the hero prais'd, 340

Who, rifing high, th' imperial fceptre rais'd:
The blue-ey'd Pallas, his celeftial friend,
(In form a herald) bade the crowds attend.
Th' expecting crowds in ftill attention hung,
To hear the wifdom of his heavenly tongue, 345
Then deeply thoughtful, paufing ere he spoke,
His filence thus the prudent hero broke:

350

Unhappy monarch! whom the Grecian race, With fhame deferting, heap with vile difgrace. Not fuch at Argos was their generous vow, Once all their voice, but, ah ! forgotten now : Ne'er to return, was then the common cry, Till Troy's proud ftru&tures fhould in afhes lie. Behold them weeping for their native fhore ! What could their wives or helpless children more? 355

What heart but melts to leave the tender train,
And, one fhort month, endure the wintery main?
Few leagues remov'd, we with our peaceful feat,
When the ship toffes, and the tempests beat :
Then well may this long stay provoke their tears,
360

The tedious length of nine revolving years.
Not for their grief the Grecian hoft I blame;
But vanquish'd! baffled! oh, eternal fhame!
Expect the time to Troy's deftruction given,
And try the faith of Chalcas and of Heaven. 365
What pafs'd at Aulis, Greece can witnefs bear,
And all who live to breathe this Phrygian air.
Befide a fountain's facred brink we rais'd
Our verdant altars, and the victims blaz'd;
(Twas where the plane-tree fpreads its fhades
around)
370
The altars heav'd; and from the crumbling ground
A mighty dragon fhot, of din. portent ;
From Jove himfelf the dreadful fign was fent.
Strait to the tree his fanguine fpire he roll'd,
And curl'd around in many a winding fold.
The topmost branch a mother-bird poffeft;
Eight callow infants fill'd the moffy neft;
Herfelf the ninth: the ferpent, as he hung,
Stretch'd his black jaws, and ci afh'd the crying

young;

375

395

Full of his God, the reverend Chalcas eried, 390
Ye Grecian warriors! lay your fears afide.
This wonderous fignal Jove himself displays,
Of long, long labours, but eternal praife.
As many birds as by the fnake were flain,
So many years the toils of Greece remain,
But wait the tenth, for Ilion's fate decreed;
Thus fpoke the prophet, thus the fates fucceed.
Obey, ye Grecians! with fubmiffion wait,
Nor let your flight avert the Trojan fate.
He faid: the fhores with loud applauses found,
400

The hollow fhips each deafening fhout rebound.
Then Neftor thus-Thefe vain debates forbear,
Ye talk like children, not like heroes dare."
Where now are all your high refolves at last?
Your leagues concluded, your engagements paft ?

40g

Vow'd with libations and with victims then,
Now vanish'd like their smoke: the faith of men!
While ufelefs words confume th' unactive hours,
No wonder Troy fo long refifts our powers.
Rife, great Atrides ! and with courage fway ; 410
We march to war, if thou direct the way.
But leave the few that dare refift thy laws,
The mean deferters of the Grecian cause,
To grudge the conquefts mighty Jove prepares,
And view with envy our fuccefsful wars.
On that great day when first the martial train,
Big with the fate of Hlion, plow'd the main,
Jove on the right, a profperous fignal fent,
And thunder rolling fhook the firmament.
Encourag'd hence, maintain the glorious ftrife,

415

420

Till every foldier grafp a Phrygian wife,
Till Helen's woes at full reveng'd appear,
And Troy's proud matrons render tear for tear.
Before that day, if any Greek invite
His country's troops to bafe, inglorious flight ; 425
Stand forth that Greek! and hoift his fail to fly,
And die the daftard first, who dreads to die.
But now, O monarch! all thy chiefs advife:
Nor what they offer, thou thy felf defpife.
Among thore councils, let not mine be vain; 43
In tribes and nations to divide thy train;
His feparate troops let every leader call,
Each ftrengthen each, and all encourage all.
What chief, or foldier, of the numerous band,
Or bravely fights, or ill obeys command, 435
When thus diftin&t they war, shall foon be known,
And what the caufe of Ilion not o'er-thrown ;
If fate refifts, or if our arms are flow,

If Gods above prevent, or men below.

To him the king: How much thy years excel

440

In arts of council, and in fpeaking well

O would the Gods, in love to Greece, decree
But ten fuch fages as they grant in thee;
Such wisdom foon fhould Priam's force destroy,
And foon should fall the haughty towers of Troy!
445

But Jove forbids, who plunges those he hates
In fierce contention and in vain debates.
Now great Achilles from our aid withdraws,
By me provok'd; a captive maid the cause :

450

455

If e'er as friends we join, the Trojan wall
Muft fhake, and heavy will the vengeance fall!
But now, ye warriours, take a fhort repast:
And, well-refresh'd, to bloody conflict haste.
His fharpen'd fpear let every Grecian wield,
And every Grecian fix his brazen shield:
Let all excite the fiery fteeds of war,
And all for combat fit the rattling car.
This day, this dreadful day, let each contend;
No reft, no refpite, till the fhades defcend;
Till darkness, or till death, fhall cover all :
Let the war bleed, and let the mighty fall!
Till bath'd in sweat be every manly breast,
With the huge fhield each brawny arm depreft,
Each aching nerve refufe the lance to throw,
And each spent courfer at the chariot blow.
Who dares, inglorious, in his fhips to stay,
Who dares to tremble on this fignal day;
That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power,
The birds fhall mangle, and the dogs devour.

460

465

The monarch spoke; and ftrait a murmur rafe,

470

Loud as the furges when the tempeft blows,
That dafh'd on broken rocks tumultuous roar,
And foam and thunder on the ftony shore.
Straight to the tents the troops difperfing bend,
The fires are kindled, and the smokes afcend ; 475
With hafty feast they facrifice, and pray,
Tavert the dangers of the doubtful day.

A fteer of five years' age, large limb'd, and fed,
To Jove's high altars Agamemnon led:
There bade the nobleft of the Grecian peers; 480
And Nestor first, as most advanc'd in years.
Next came Idomeneus, and Tydeus' fon,
Ajax the lefs, and Ajax Telamon;

485

Then wife Ulyffes in his rank was plac'd; And Menelaus came unbid, the last.

The chiefs furround the deftin'd beaft, and take

495

500

Supreme of Gods! unbounded and alone!
Hear! and before the burning fun defcends,
Before the night her gloomy veil extends,
Low in the duft be laid yon hoftile fpires,
Be Priam's palace funk in Grecian fires,
In Hector's breast be plung'd this fhining fword,
And slaughter'd heroes groan around their lord!
Thus pray'd the chief; his unavailing prayer
Great Jove refus'd, and toft in empty air:
The God averfe, while yet the fumes arofe,
Prepar'd new toils, and doubled woes on woes.
Their prayers perform'd, the chiefs the rite purfue,
The barley fprinkled, and the victim flew,
The limbs they fever from th' inclosing hide,
The thighs, felected to the Gods, divide.
On the fe, in double cauls involv'd with art,
The choiceft morfels lie from every part.
From the cleft wood the crackling flames afpire,
While the fat victim feed, the facred fire.
The thighs thus facrific'd, and entrails dreft, 510
Th' affiftants part, transfix, and roast the rest;
Then fpread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his feat, and each receives his share.

505

Soon as the rage of hunger was fuppreft,
The generous Neftor thus the prince addreft: 515
Now bid thy heralds found the loud alarms,
And call the fquadrons fheath'd in brazen arms:
Now feize th' occafion, now the troops furvey,
And lead to war when Heaven directs the way.

He faid; the monarch iffued his commands; 520
Straight the loud heralds call the gathering bands.
The chiefs inclose their king: the hoft divide,
In tribes and nations rank'd on either fide.
High in the midft the blue-eyed Virgin flies;
From rank to rank the darts her ardent eyes: 525
The dreadful ægis, Jove's immortal shield,
Blaz'd on her arm, and lighten'd all the field :
Round the vaft orb an hundred ferpents roll'd,
Form'd the bright fringe, and feem'd to burn in
gold.

With this each Grecian's manly breast she warms,

No more they figh, inglorious, to return,
But breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.

As on fome mountain, through the lofty grove,
The crackling flames afcend, and blaze above; 535
The fires expanding as the winds arise,
Shoot their long beams, and kindle half the skies:
So from the polish'd arms, and brazen shields,
A gleamy fplendour flash'd along the fields.
Not lefs their number than th' embody'd cranes, 540
Or milk-white fwans in Afius' watery plains,
That o'er the windings of Cäyfter's fprings,
Stretch their long necks, and clap their ruftling
wings,

Now tower aloft, and course in airy rounds;
Now light with noife; with noife the field refounds.
545

Thus numerous and confus'd, extending wide,
The legions crowd Scamander's flowery fide;
With rufhing troops the plains are covered o'er,
And thundering footsteps fhake the founding fhore.
Along the river's level meads they stand, 550
Thick as in fpring the flowers adorn the land,
Or leaves the trees; or thick as infects play,
The wandering nation of a summer's day,
That, drawn by milky fteams, at evening hours,
In gather'd fwarms furround the rural bowers; 555
From pail to pail with bufy murmur run
The gilded legions, glittering in the fun.
So throng'd, to clofe, the Grecian squadrons stood
In radiant arms, and thirst for Trojan blood.
Each leader now his fcattered force conjoins 560
In clofe array, and forms the deepening lines.
Not with more eafe, the skilful fhepherd swain
ollects his flocks from thousands on the plain.
The King of Kings, majestically tall,
Towers o'er his armies, and outfhines them all;
595

Like fome proud bull that round the pastures leads
His fubject-herds, the monarch of the meads.
Great as the Gods, th' exalted chief was feen,
His ftrength like Neptune, and like Mars his mien
Jove o'er his eyes celeftial glories fpread,
And dawning conqueft play'd around his head.
Say, Virgins, feated round the throne divine,
All-knowing Goddeffes! immortal nine!

57

Since earth's wide regions, heaven's unmeafur'd height,

And hell's abyfs, hide nothing from your fight. 575
(We wretched mortals! loft in doubts below,
But guefs by rumour, and but boast we know)
Oh, fay what heroes, fir'd by thirst of fame,
Or urg'd by wrongs, to Troy's deftruction came?
To count them all, demands a thousand tongues,

580

A throat of brafs, and adamantine lungs.
Daughters of Jove, affift! infpir'd by you
The mighty labour dauntless I purfue:
What crowed armies, from what climes they bring,
Their names, their numbers, and their chiefs, I
fing.

THE CATALOGUE OF THE SHIPS.
The hardy warriours whom Boeotia bred,
Penelius, Leitus, Prothoënor led:
With thefe Arcefilaus and Clonius ftand,
Equal in arms, and equal in command.
Thefe head the troops that rocky Aulis yields, 590
And Eteon's hills, and Hyrie's watery fields,
And Schoenos, Scholos, Græa near the main,
And Mycal: ffia's ample piny plain.
Thofe who on Peteon or Ilefion dwell,
Or Harma where Apollo's prophet fall;
Heleon and Hyle, which the fprings o'erflow;
And Medeon lofty, and Ocalea low;

595

бсо

Or in the meads of Haliartus ftray,
Or Thefpia facred to the God of Day.
Oncheftus, Neptune's celebrated groves;
Cope, and Thifbè, fam'd for filver doves,
For flocks Erythræ, Gliffa for the vine;
Platea green, and Nyfa the divine.
And they whom Thebe's well-built walls enclofe,
Where Myde, Eutrefus, Coroné rofe;
And Arne rich, with purple harvests crown'd;
And Anthedon, Boeotia's utmost bound.
Full fifty fhips they fend, and each conveys
Twice fixty warriours through the foaming feas.

To thefe fucceed Afpledon's martial train, 610
Who plow the spacious Orchomenian plain.
Two valiant brothers rule th' undaunted throng,
Jälmen and Afcalaphus the strong :
Sons of Aftyoche, the heavenly fair,
Whofe Virgin charms fubdued the God of War

615

620

(In Actor's court as the retir'd to rest,
The ftrength of Mars the blufhing maid compreft).
Their troops in thirty fable veffels sweep
With equal oars the hoarfe-refounding deep.
The Phocians next in forty barks repair,
Epistrophus and Schedius head the war.
From those rich regions where Cephiffus leads
His filver current through the flowery meads;
From Panopea, Chryfa the divine,
Where Anemoria's ftately turrets fhine,
Where Pytho, Daulis, Cypariffus stood,
And fair Lilæa views the rifing flood.
Thefe rang'd in order on the floating tide,
Clofe on the left, the bold Boeotians fide.

Fierce Ajax led the Locrian fquadrons on, 63@

Ajax the lefs, Oileus' valiant fon;
Skill'd to direct the flying dart aright;
Swift in purfuit and active in the fight;

Him, as their chief, the chosen troops attend, Which Befla, Thronus, and rich Cynos fend: 635 Opus, Calliarus, and Scarphe's bands,

And those who dwell where pleafing Augia stands,

640

And where Boägrius floats the lowly lands,
Or in fair Taphe's fylvan feats refide:
In forty veffels cut the liquid tide.
Euboea next her martial fons prepares,
And fends the brave Abantes to the wars:
Breathing revenge, in arms they take their way
From Chalcis' walls, and ftrong Eretria;
Th' Ifteian field for generous vines renown'd, 645
The fair Cariftos, and the Styrian ground;
Where Dios from her towers o'erlooks the plain,
And high Cerinthus views the neighbouring main.
Down their broad fhoulders falls a length of hair;
Their hands difmifs not the long lance in air; 650
But with protended fpears in fighting fields,
Pierce the tough corfelets and the brazen shields,
Twice twenty fhips tranfport the warlike bands,
Which bold Elphenor, fierce in arms, commands.

660

Full fifty more from Athens ftem the main, 655
Led by Meneftheus through the liquid plain,
(Athens the fair, where great Erectheus fway'd,
That ow'd his nurture to the blue-eyed Maid,
But from the teeming furrow took his birth,
The mighty offspring of the foodful earth.
Him Pallas plac'd amidst her wealthy fane,
Ador'd with facrifice and oxen flain;
Where, as the years revolve, her altars blaze,
And all the tribes refound the Goddefs' praife)
No chief like thee, Meneftheus! Greece could
yield,

To marshal armies in the dufty field,
Th' extended wings of battle to difplay,
Or close th' embody'd hoft in firm array.
Neftor alone, improv'd by length of days,
For martial conduct bore an equal praise.

665

670

With thefe appear the Salaminian bands, Whom the gigantic Telamon commands; In twelve black fhips to Troy they fteer their course,

}

680

And with the great Athenians join their force.
Next move to war the generous Argive train,
From high Træezenè, and Mafeta's plain,
And fair Ægina circled by the main :
Whom ftrong Tyrinthè's lofty walls furround,
And Epidaur with viny harvests crown'd;
And where fair Afinen and Hermion show
Their cliffs above, and ample bay below.
Thefe by the brave Euryalus were led,
Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed,
But chief Tydides bore the fovereign fway;
In four-fcore barks they plow the watery way. 685
The proud Mycenè arms her martial powers,
Cleone, Corinth, with imperial towers,

Fair Aræthyrea, Ornia's fruitful plain,
And Ægeon, and Adraftus' ancient reign;
And thofe who dwell along the fandy fhore, 690
And where Pellenè yields her fleecy store,
Where Helice and Hyperefia lie,

And Gonoëffa's fpires falute the sky.
Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band,
A hundred veffels in long order ftand,
And crowded nations wait his dread command.,

695

His brother follows, and to vengeance warms The hardy Spartans exercis'd in arms; Phares and Bryfia's valiant troops, and those Whom Lacedæmon's lofty hills inclose :

710

Or Meffe's towers for filver doves renown'd, 705
Amyclæ, Laäs, Augia's happy ground,
And thofe whom Oetylos' low walls contain,
And Helos, on the margin of the main :
These, o'er the bending ocean, Helen's caufe,
In fixty fhips, with Menelaus draws:
Eager and loud from man to man he flies,
Revenge and fury flaming in his eyes;
While, vainly fond, in fancy oft he hears
The fair-one's grief, and fees her falling tears.
In ninety fail, from 'Pylos' fandy coast,
Neftor the fage conducts his chofen hoft:
From Amphigenia's ever fruitful land;
Where Epy high, and little Pteleon stand;
Where beauteous Arenè her ftructures fhows,
And Thryon's walls Alpheus' ftreams inclose :
720

715

And Dorion, fam'd for Thamyris' difgrace,
Superior once of all the tuneful race,
Till, vain of mortals empty praise, he strove
To match the feed of cloud-compelling Jove!
Too daring bard! whofe unfuccefsful pride 725
Th' immortal Mufes in their art defy'd.
Th' avenging Mufes of the light of day
Depriv'd his eyes, and fnatch'd his voice away;
No more his heavenly voice was heard to fing,
His hand no more awak'd the filver ftring.

730

Where under high Cyllenè, crown'd with wood, The fhaded tomb of old Ægyptus stood; From Ripè, Stratie, Tegea's bordering towns, The Phenean fields, and Orchomenian downs, Where the fat herds in plenteous pasture rove;

The first to battle on th' appointed plain, But new to all the dangers of the main.

740

745

Thofe, where fair Elis and Buprafium join ; Whom Hyrmin, here, and Myrfinus confine, And bounded there where o'er the valleys rofe Th' Olenian rock; and where Alifium flows; 750 Beneath four chiefs (a numerous army) came : The ftrength and glory of th' Epean name, In feparate fquadrons these their train divide, Each leads ten veffels through the yielding tide. One was Amphimachus, and Thalphius one 755 (Eurytus' this, and that Teätus fon); Diores fprung from Amarynceus' line; And great Polyxenus, of force divine.

In forty veffels under Meges move,

Begot by Phyleus the belov'd of Jove.

To ftrong Dulichium from his fire he fled,
And thence to Troy his hardy warriors led.
Ulyffes follow'd through the watery road, 765
A chief, in wifdom equal to a God.
With those who Cephalenia's ifle inclos'd,
Or till their fields along the coaft oppos'd;
Or where fair Ithaca o'erlooks the floods,
Where high Neritos shakes his waving woods, 770
Where Ægilipa's rugged fides are seen,
Crocylia rocky, and Zacynthus green.
These in twelve galleys with vermillion prores,
Beneath his conduct fought the Phrygian fhores.
Thoas came next, Andræmon's valiant fon, 775
From Pleuron's walls, and chalky Calydon,
And rough Pylenè, and th' Olenian steep,
And Chalcis beaten by the rolling deep.
He led the warriours from th' Ætolian fhore,
For now the fons of Oeneus were no more! 780
The glories of the mighty race were fled !
Oeneus himself, and Meleager dead!

To Thoas care now trust the martial train,
His forty veffels follow through the main.

Next eighty barks the Cretan king commands,

785

Of Gnoffus, Ly&tus, and Gortyna's bands,
And thofe who dwell where Rhytion's domes arise,
Or white Lycaftus glitters to the skies,
Or where by Phoeftus filver Jardan runs;
Crete's hundred cities pour forth all her fons. 790
These march'd, Idomeneus, beneath thy care,
And Merion, dreadful as the God of war.

Tlepolemus, the fon of Hercules,

Led nine fwift veffels through the foamy feas;
From Rhodes with everlasting funshine bright, 795
Jalyffus, Lindus, and Camirus white.
His captive mother fierce Alcides bore,
From Ephyr's walls, and Selle's winding shore,
Where mighty towns in ruins fpread the plain,
And faw their blooming warriours early flain. 800
The hero, when to manly years he grew,
Alcides' uncle, old Licymnius, flew;
For this, conftrain'd to quit his native place,
And fhun the vengeance of the Herculean race,
A fleet he built, and with a numerous train 805.
Of willing exiles, wander'd o'er the main ;
Where, many feas and many sufferings past,
On happy Rhodes the chief arriv'd at last:
There in three tribes divides his native band,
And rules them peaceful in a foreign land;
Encreas'd and prosper'd in their new abodes,
By mighty Jove, the fire of men and Gods;
With joy they faw the growing empire rife,
And fhowers of wealth defcending from the skies.
Three fhips with Nireus fought the Trojan

fhore,

810

Nireus, whom Agläe to Charopus bore,
Nireus, in faultlefs fhape and blooming grace,
The lovelieft youth of all the Grecian race;
Pelides only match'd his early charms;
But few his troops, and small his strength in arms.
820