So flood Idomeneus, his javelin shook, And met the Trojan with a lowering look. Antilochus, Deipyrus, were near,

Now, where in duft the breathlefs hero lay, For flain Afcalaphus conmenc'd the fray. Deiphobus to feize his helmet flies,

665

The vouthful offspring of the God of war,
Merion, and Apha, eus, in field renown'd:
To these the warriour fent his voice around :'
Fellows in arms! your timely aid unite;
Lo, great Æneas rushes to the fight:
Sprung from a God, and more than mortal bold;
610

He fresh in youth, and I in arms grown old.
Elfe fhould this hand, this hour, decide the ftrife,
The great difpute, of glory, or of life.

615

620

He fpoke; and all as with one foul obey'd; Their lifted bucklers caft a dreadful fhade Around the chief. Ancas too demands Th' affifting forces of his native lands: Paris, Deiphobus, Agenor join; (Co-aids and captains of the Trojan line) In order follow all th' embodied train; Like Ida's flocks proceeding o'er the plain; Before his fleecy care, erect and boid, Stalks the proud ram, the father of the fold: With joy the fwain furveys ther, as he leads To the cool fountains, through the well-known meads,

So joys Æneas, as his native band

Moves on in rank, and ftretches o'er the land.

Round dead Alcathoüs now the battle rofe;
On every fide the iteely circle grows;
Now batter'd breaft-plates and hack'd helmets
ring,

And o'er their heads unheeded javelins fing. 631
Above the rest two towering chiefs appear,
There great Idomeneus, Æneas here.
Like Gods of war, difpenfing fate, they stood,
And burn'd to diench the ground with mutual
blood.

The Trojan weapon whizz'd along in air,

640

645

650

The Cretan faw, and fhunn'd the brazen spear:
Sent from an arm fo ftrong, the miffive wood
Stuck deep in earth, and quiver'd where it stood.
But Oenomas receiv'd the Cretan's stroke,
The forceful fpear his hollow corfelet broke,
It ripp'd his belly with a ghaily wound,
And roll'd the imoaking entrails to the ground.
Stretch'd on the plain, he fobs away his breath,
And furious graips the bloody duft in death.
The victor from his breaft the weapon tears;
(His fpoils he could not, for the shower of fpears.)
Though now unfit an active war to wage,
Heavy with camberous arms, Riff with cold age,
His liftlefs limbs unable for the courfe;
In ftanding fight he yet maintains his force:
Till, faint with labour, and by foes repell'd,
His tir'd flow steps he drags from off the field.
Deiphobus beheld him as he past,
And, fir'd with hate, a parting javelin caft:
The javelin err'd, but held its courfe along,
And pierc'd Afcalaphus, the brave and young:
The fon of Mars fell gafping on the ground,
And gnafh'd the duft all bloody with his wound.
Nor knew the furious father of his fall;
High-thron'd amidst the great Olympian hall,
On golden clouds th' immortal fynod fate;
Detain'd from bloody war by Jove and Fate,

655

660

675

And on his loaded arm difcharg'd his spear:
He drops the weight, difabled with the pain; 670
The hollow helmet rings against the plain.
Swift as the vulture leaping on his prey,
From his torn arm the Grecian rent away
The reeking javelin, and rejoin'd his friends.
His wounded brother good Polites tends;
Around his waift his pious arms he threw,
And from the rage of combat gently drew:
Him his fwift courfers, on his fplendid car,
Rapt from the leffening thunder of the war;
To Troy they drove him, groaning from the fhore,
And fprinkling, as he pafs'd, the fands with gore.
Meanwhile fresh flaughter bathes the fanguine
ground,

Heaps fall on heaps, and heaven and earth refound.

Bold Aphareus by great Æneas bled;

690

As toward the chief he turn'd his daring head, 685
He pierc'd his throat; the bending head, depreft
Beneath his helmet, nods upon his breast;
His thield revers'd o'er the fall'n warriour lies;
And everlasting flumber feals his eyes.
Antilochus, as Thoön turn'd him round,
Tranfpierc'd his back with a dishonest wound:
The hollow vein that to the neck extends
Along the chine, his eager javelin rends:
Supine he falls, and to his focial train
Spreads his imploring arms, but spreads in vain,

695

705

Th' exulting victor, leaping where he lay,
From his broad fhoulders tore the fpoils away;
His time obferv'd; for, clos'd by foes around,
On a'l fides thick, the peals of arms refound.
His fhield, embofs'd, the ringing storm sustains,
700
But he impervious and untouch'd remains.
(Great Neptune's care preferv'd from hoftile rage
This youth, the joy of Neftor's glorious age)
In arms intrepid, with the first he fought,
Fac'd every foe, and every danger fought;
His winged lance, refiftlefs as the wind,
Obeys each motion of the mafter's mind,
Reflets it flies, impatient to be free,
And meditates the diftant enemy.
The fon of Afius, Adamas, drew near,
And ftruck his target with the brazen spear,
Fierce in his front: bur Neptune wards the blow,
And blunts the javelin of th' eluded foe.
In the broad buckler half the weapon ftood;
Splinter'd on earth flew half the broken wood.
715

710

Difarm'd, he mingled in the Trojan crew;
But Merion's fpear o'ertook him as he flew,
Deep in the belly's rim an entrance found,
Where sharp the pang, and mortal is the wound.
Bending, he fell, and doubled to the ground, 720
Lay panting. Thus an ox, in fetters ty'd,
While death's ftrong pangs diftend his labouring

fide,

But good Agenor gently from the wound
The fpear folicits, and the bandage bound,
A fling's foft wool, fnatch'd from a foldier's fide,
At once the tent and ligature fupply'd.

755

Behold! Pifander, urg'd by Fate's decree, Springs through the ranks to fall, and fall by thee, Great Menelaus! to enhance thy fame; High-towering in the front, the warriour came." First the fharp lance was by Atrides thrown, The lance far diftant by the winds was blown. Nor pierc'd Pifander through Atrides' shield; Pifander's fpear fell fhiver'd on the field. Not fo difcourag'd, to the future blind, Vain dreams of conqueft fwell his haughty mind; Dauntless he rushes where the Spartan lord Like lightning brandifh'd his far beaming-fword. His left arm high oppos'd the fhining fhield:

760

765

His right, beneath, the cover'd pole-ax held
(An olive's cloudy grain the handle made,
Diftinet with ftuds; and brazen was the blade);
This on the helm difcharg'd a nob!: blow;
The plume dropt nodding to the plain below, 770
Shorn from the creft. Atrides way'd his fteel:
Deep through his front the weighty falchion fell:
The crashing bones before its force gave way;
la duft and blood the groaning hero lay;
Forc'd from their ghaftly orbs, and spouting gore,
775

The clotted eye-balls tumble on the fhore.
The fierce Atrides fpurn'd him as he bled,
Tore off his arms, and, loud exulting, faid:

Sleep's balmy bleffing, love's endearing joy ;
The feaft, the dance; whate'er mankind defire,
Ev'n the fweet charms of facred numbers tire.
But Troy for ever reaps a dire delight
In thirit of flaughter, and in luft of fight

800

805

This faid, he feiz'd (while yet the carcass heav'd) The bloody armour, which his train receiv'd: Then fudden mix'd among the warring crew, And the bold fon of Pylæmenes flew, Harpalion had through Afia travel'd far, Following his martial father to the war; Through filial love he left his native fhore, Never, ah never, to behold it more! His unfuccefsful fpear he chanc'd to fling Againft the target of the Spartan king; Thus of his lance difaim'd, from death he flies, And turns around his apprenenfive eyes. Him, through the hip tranpiercing as he fled, The shaft of Merion migled with the dead. Beneath the bone the glancing point de cends, 815 And, driving down, the fwelling bladder rends: Sunk in his fad companions arms he lay, And in thort pantings fobb'd his foul away; (Like fome vile worm extended on the ground) While life's red torrent gufh'd from out the wound. Him on the car the Paphlagonian train In flow proceffion bore from off the plain. The penfive father, father now no more! Attends the mournful poop along the shore; And unavailing tears profufely thed; And, unreveng'd, deplor'd his offspring dead. Paris from far the moving fight beheld, With pity foften'd, and with fury fwell'd; His honour'd hoft, a youth of matchlefs grace, And lov'd of all the Paphlagonian race; With his full frength he bent his angry bow, And wing'd the feather'd vengeance at the foe. A chief there was, the brave Euchenor nam'd, For riches much, and more for virtue fam'd, Who held his feat in Corinth's stately town; 835 Polydus' fon, a feer of old renown.

825

830

Cit had the father told his early doom,
By arms abroad, or flow difeafe at home:
He climb'd his veffel, prodigal of breath,
And chofe the certain, glorious path to death. 84a

Beneath his ear the pointed arrow went ;
His foul came iffuing at the narrow vent,
His limbs, unnerv'd, drop ufelefs on the ground,
And everlasting darkness fhades him round.
Nor knew great Hector how his legions yield
845

(Wrapt in the cloud and tumult of the field);
Wide on the left the force of Greece commands,
And conqueft hovers o'er th' Achaian bands:
With fuch a tide fuperiour virtue sway'd,
And he that shakes the folid earth gave aid. 850
But in the center Hector fix'd remain'd,
Where first the gates were forc'd and bulwarks
gain'd;

There, on the margin of the hoary deep,
(Their naval ftation where th' Ajaces keep,
And where low walls confine the beating tides,

855 Whose humble barrier scarce the foe divides; Where late in fight, both foot and horfe engag'd, And all the thunder of the cattle rag'd) There join'd, the whole Boeotian strength remains,

The proud Ionians with their sweeping trains,

860

865

Locrians and Phthians, and th' Epean force;
But, join'd, repel not Hector's fiery course.
The flower of Athens, Stichius, Phidas led,
Bias and great Menestheus at their head.
Meges the strong the Epeian bands control'd,
And Dracius prudent, and Amphion bold;
The Phthians Medon, fam'd for martial might,
And brave Podarces, active in the fight.
This drew from Phylacus his noble line;
Iphiclus' fon and that (Oileus) thine:
(Young Ajax' brother, by a ftol'n embrace;
He dwelt far diftant from his native place,
By his fierce ftepdame from his father's reign
Expell'd and exil'd for her brother flain.)
These rule the Phthians, and their arms employ

870

875

Join'd to one yoke, the stubborn earth they tear, And trace large furrows with the fhining thare; O'er their huge limbs the foam defcends in fnow,

And ftreams of fweat down their four foreheads flow.

A train of heroes follow'd through the field, 885
Who bore by turns great Ajax' seven-fold shield;
Whene'er he breath'd, remiffive of his might,
Tir'd with inceffant flaughters of the fight.
No following troops his brave affociate grace:
In clofe engagement an unpractis'd race,
The Locrian fquadrons nor the javelin wield,
Nor bear the helm, nor lift the moony fhield;
But skill'd from far the flying shaft to wing,
Or whirl the founding pebble from the fling;

* Neptune

890

Dextrous with thefe they aim a certain wound,

895

Or fell the diftant warriour to the ground.
Thus in the van, the Telamonian train
Throng'd in bright arms, a preffing fight main-
tain;

Far in the rear the Locrian archers lie,
Whose stones and arrows intercept the sky, 900
The mingled tempeft on the foes they pour;
Troy's feattering orders open to the shower.

905

915

Now had the Greeks eternal fame acquir'd, And the gall'd Ilians to their walls retir'd; But fage Polydamas, difcreetly brave, Addrefs'd great Hector, and this counsel gave: Though great in all, thou seem'ft averse to lend Impartial audience to a faithful friend; To Gods and men thy matchlefs worth is known, And every art of glorious war thy own; But in cool thought and counfel to excel, How widely differs this from warring well? Content with what the bounteous Gods have given, Seek not alone t' engross the gifts of Heaven. To fome the powers of bloody war belong, To some, sweet mufick, and the charm of fong; To few, and wondrous few, has Jove affign'd A wife, extenfive, all-confidering mind; Their guardians thefe, the nations round confefs, And towns and empires for their fafety blefs. 920 If Heaven have lodg'd this virtue in my breast, Attend, O Hector, what I judge the best: See, as thou mov'ft, on dangers dangers spread, And war's whole fury burns around thy head. Behold! diftrefs'd within yon hostile wall, How many Trojans yield, difperfe, or fall? What troops, out-number'd, fcarce the war maintain?

925

away.

955

But round the battlements, and round the plain, For many a chief he look'd, but look'd in vain ; Deiphobus, nor Helenus the feer, Nor Afius' fon, nor Afius felf appear. For thefe were pierc'd with many a ghaftly wound, Some cold in death, fome groaning on the ground: Some low in duft (a mournful object) lay; High on the wall fome breath'd their fouls 960 Far on the left, amid the throng he found (Cheering the troops, and dealing deaths around) The graceful Paris; whom, with fury mov'd, Opprobrious, thus, th' impatient chief reprov'd: Ill-fated Paris! flave to woman-kind, 965 As fmooth of face as fraudulent of mind! Where is Deiphobus, where Afius gone? The godlike father, and th' intrepid fon? The force of Helenus, difpenfing fate; And great Othryoneus, fo lear'd of late? Black fate hangs o'er thee from th' avenging Gods, Imperial Troy from her foundations nods; Whelm'd in thy country's ruins fhalt thou fall, And one devouring vengeance swallow all. When Paris thus: My brother and my friend, 975 Thy warm impatience makes thy tongue offend. In other battles I deferv'd thy blame, Though then not deedlefs, nor unknown to

fame:

But fince you rampart by thy arms lay low,
Ifcatter'd flaughter from my fatal bow.
The chiefs you feck on yonder fhore lie flain;
Of all thofe heroes two alone remain;
Deiphobus, and Helenus the feer:
Fach now difabled by a hostile spear.

970

980

Go then, fuccefsful, where thy foul infpires: 985 This heart and hand fhall fecond all thy fires: What with this arm I can, prepare to know, Till death for death be paid, and blow for blow. But, 'tis not ours, with forces not our own To combat ; ftrength is of the Gods alone.

990

995

Thefe words the hero's angry mind affuage:
Then fierce they mingle where the thickest rage.
Around Polydamas, diftain'd with blood.
Cebrion, Phalces, ftern Orthæus ftood.
Palmus, with Polypates the divine,
And two bold brothers of Hippotion's line:
(Who reach'd fair Ilion, from Afcania far,
The former day; the next engag'd in war.)
As when from gloomy clouds a whirlwind fprings,
That bears Jove's thunder on its dreadful wings,
1000

Wide o'er the blafted fields the tempeft sweeps;
Then, gather'd, fettles on the hoary deeps:
Th' afflicted deeps tumultuous mix and roar;"
The waves behind impel the waves before,
Wide-rolling, foaming high, and tumbling (
1005
to the fhore;
Thus rank on rank the thick battallions throng,
Chief urg'd on chief, and man drove man along.
VOL VI.

1020

1025

1035

As thus he spoke, behold, in open view, On founding wings a dexter eagle flew. To Jove's glad omen all the Grecians rife, 1040 And hail, with fhouts, his progrefs through the

fkies:

Far-echoing clamours bound from fide to fide: They ceas'd; and thus the chief of Troy reply'd :

1050

From whence this menace, this infulting ftrain? Enormous boaster; doom'd to vaunt in vain, 1045 So may the Gods on Hector life beftow, (Not that fhort life which mortals lead below, But fuch as thofe of Jove's high lineage born,, The blue-ey'd Maid, or He that gilds the morn.) As this decitive day fhall end the fame Of Greece, and Argos be no more a name. And thou, imperious! if thy madness wait The lance of Hector, thou shalt meet thy fate: That giant corpfe, extended on the shore, Shall largely feed the fowls with fat and gore. 1055 He faid, and like a lion stalk'd along : With fhouts inceffant earth and ocean rung, Sent from his following host; the Grecian train With answering thunders fill'd the echoing plain; A fhout that tore Heaven's concave, and above 1060

Shook the fix'd fplendors of the throne of Jove.

P