A fudden palfy feiz'd his turning head;
His loose teeth chatter'd, and his colour fled :
The panting warriours seize him as he stands,
And with unmanly tears his life demands.
O spare my youth, and for the breath I owe,
Large gifts of price my father shall bestow.
Vaft heaps of brass shall in your ships be told,
And steel well-temper'd, and refulgent gold.
To whom Ulyffes made this wife reply; Who'er thou art, be bold, nor fear to die.
What moves thee, fay, when fleep has clos'd the fight,
To roam the filent fields in dead of night?
Cam'ft thou the fecrets of our camp to find,
By Hector prompted, or thy daring mind?
Or art fome wretch by hopes of plunder led
Through heaps of carnage to defpoil the dead?
Then thus pale Dolon with a fearful look,
(Still as he spoke, his limbs with horrour shook)
Hither I came, by Hector's words deceiv'd;
Much did he promife, rafhly I believ'd:
No less a bribe than great Achilles' car,
And those swift steeds that sweep the ranks of war,
Urg'd me, unwilling, this attempt to make;
To learn what counsels, what resolves you take:
If, now fubdued, you fix your hopes on flight,
And, tir'd with toils, neglect the watch of night? 470
Bold was thy aim, and glorious was the prize!
with a scornful smile, replies)
ers thofe proud steeds demand,
guidance of a vulgar hand ;
Ev'n great Achilles fcarce their rage can tame,
Achilles, fprung from an immortal dame.
But fay, be faithful, and the truth recite!
Where lies encamp'd the Trojan chief to-night ?
Where stand his courfers? in what quarter fleep
Their other princes? tell what watch they keep: 486
Say, fince their conqueft, what their counfels are;
Or here to combat, from their city far,
Or back to Ilion's walls transfer the war.
Ulyffes thus, and thus Eumedes' fon :
What Dolon knows, his faithful tongue shall own. 485 Hector, the peers affembling in his tent,
A council holds at Ilus' monument.
No certain guards the nightly watch partake;
Where-e'er yon fires afcend, the Trojans wake:
Anxious for Troy, the guard the natives keep;
Safe in their cares, th' auxiliar forces fleep,
Whofe wives and infants, from the danger far,
Discharge their fouls of half the fears of war.
Then fleep thofe aids among the Trojan train, (Enquir'd the chief) or scatter'd o'er the plain?
To whom the fpy: Their powers they thus difpofe: The Pæons, dreadful with their bended bows, The Carians, Caucons, the Pelafgian hoft, And Leleges, encamp along the coaft. Not diftant far, lie higher on the land
The Lycian, Myfian, and Mæonian band,
And Phrygia's horse, by Thymbras' ancient wall
The Thracians utmost, and apart from all.
These Troy but lately to her fuccour won,
Led on by Rhefus, great Eioneus' fon :
I faw his courfers in proud triumph go,
Swift as the wind, and white as winter fnow :
Rich filver plates his fhining car infold;
His folid arms, refulgent, flame with gold;
No mortal fhoulders fuit the glorious load,
Celestial Panoply, to grace a God!
Let me, unhappy, to your fleet be borne,
Or leave me here, a captive's fate to mourn,
In cruel chains; till your return reveal,
The truth or falfehood of the news I tell.
To this Tydides, with a gloomy frown:
Think not to live, though all the truth be shown:
Shall we difmifs thee, in fome future ftrife 蓝
To risk more bravely thy now forfeit life?
Or that again our camps thou may'st explore!
No-once a traitor, thou betray'st no more.
Sternly he spoke, and as the wretch prepar'd With humble blandifhment to ftroke his beard, Like lightning fwift the wrathful faulchion flew, Divides the neck, and cuts the nerves in two; One inftant snatch'd his trembling foul to hell,
The head, yet fpeaking, mutter'd as it fell.
The furry helmet from his brow they tear,
The wolf's grey hide, th' unbended bow and spear;
These great Ulysses lifting to the skies,
To favouring Pallas dedicates the prize:
Great Queen of arms! receive this hostile spoil, And let the Thracian steeds reward our toil:
Crft of all the heavenly host we praise ;
- labours, and direct our ways!
This faid, the fpoils with dropping gore defac'd,
High on a spreading tamarisk he plac'd ;
Then heap'd with reeds and gather'd boughs the plain, To guide their footsteps to the place again.
Through the still night they cross the devious fields Slippery with blood, o'er arms and heaps of fhields, Arriving where the Thracian squadrons lay, And eas'd in fleep the labours of the day. Rang'd in three lines they view the proftrate band: The horses yok'd beside each warriour stand; Their arms in order on the ground reclin'd,
Through the brown fhade the fulgid weapons shin'd; Amidst lay Rhefus, ftretch'd in fleep profound,
And the white fteeds behind his chariot bound..
The welcome fight Ulyffes first descries,
And points to Diomed the tempting prize.
The man, the courfers, and the car behold!
Describ'd by Dolon, with the arms of gold.
Now, brave Tydides! now thy courage try,
Approach the chariot, and the steeds untie
Or if thy foul afpire to fiercer deeds,
Urge thou the flaughter, while I feize the feeds.
Pallas (this faid) her hero's bofom warms,
Breath'd in his heart, and strung his nervous arms;
Where-e'er he pass'd, a purple stream pursued
His thirsty faulchion, fat with hostile blood;
Bath'd all his footsteps, dy'd the fields with gore,
And a low groan remurmur'd through the shore.
So the grim lion, from his nightly den,
O'erleaps the fences, and invades the pen
On sheep or goats, refiftlefs in his way,
He falls, and foaming rends the guardlefs prey.
Nor ftopp'd the fury of his vengeful hand,
Till twelve lay breathlefs of the Thracian band.
Ulyffes following, as his partner flew,
Back by the foot each flaughter'd warriour drew;
The milk-white courfers ftudious to convey
Safe to the fhips, he wifely clear'd the way;
Left the fierce fsteeds, not yet to battles bred,
Should start, and tremble at the heaps of dead.
Now twelve dispatch'd, the monarch last they found;
Tydides' faulchion fix'd him to the ground.
Just then a deathful dream Minerva fent ;
A warlike form appear'd before his tent,
Whofe vifionary fteel his bofom tore:
So dream'd the monarch, and awak'd no more.
Ulyffes now the fnowy steeds detains,
And leads them, fasten'd by the filver reins
These, with his bow unbent, he lash'd along ;
(The fcourge forgot, on Rhesus' chariot hung.)
Then gave his friend the fignal to retire;
But him, new dangers, new atchievements fire:
Doubtful he ftood, or with his reeking blade
To fend more heroes to th' infernal shade,
Drag off the car where Rhefus' armour lay,
Or heave with manly force, and lift away.
While unrefolv'd the fon of Tydeus slands,
Pallas appears, and thus her chief commands :
Enough, my fon; from farther flaughter ceafe,
Regard thy fafety, and depart in peace;
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