100

In fuch bale fentence if thou couch thy fear,
Speak it in whifpers, left a Greek fhould hear.
Lives there a man fo dead to fame, who dares
To think fuch meannefs, or the thought declares?
And comes it ev'n from him whose fovereign fway
The bandied legions of all Greece obey? 105
Is this a general's voice that calls to flight,
While war hangs doubtful, while his foldiers fight?
What more could Troy? What yet their fate de-
nies,

Thou giv't the foe: all Greece becomes their prize.

No more the troops (our hoifted fails in view, 1IO
Themfelves abandon'd) fhall the fight pursue;
But thy fhips flying, with defpair fhall see;
And owe destruction to a prince like thee.
Thy juft reproofs (Atrides calm replies) [115
Like arrows pierce me, (for thy words are wife.
Unwilling as I am to lofe the host,

120

125

[130

I force not Greece to leave this hateful coaft, Glad I fubmit, whoe'er, or young or old, Aught, more conducive to our weal unfold. Tydides cut him short, and thus began: Such counsel if you feek, behold the man Who boldly gives it; and what he shall say, Young though he be, difdain not to obey : A youth, who from the mighty Tydeus fprings, May peak to councils and affembled kings. Hear then in me the great Qenides' fon, Whole honour'd duft (his race of glory run) Lies whelm'd in ruins of the Theban wall; Brave in his life, and glorious in his fall; With three bold fons was generous Prothoüs bleft, Who Pleuron's walls and Calydon poffeft; Melas and Agrius, but (who far furpast The reft in courage) Oeneus was the last From him, my Sire. From Calydon expell'd, He pafs'd to Argos, and in exile dwell'd'; The monarch's daughter there (fo Jove ordain'd) He won, and flourish'd where Adraftus reign'd; There, rich in fortune's gifts, his acres till'd, Beheld his vines their liquid harveft yield, (140 And numerous flocks that whiten'd all the field Such Tydeus was, the foremost once in fame! Nor lives in Greece a stranger to his name. Then, what for common good my thoughts infpire, Attend; and in the fon, refpect the fire: Though fore of battle, though with wounds oppreft,

Let each go forth, and animate the reft, Advance the glory which he cannot share, Though not partaker, witness of the war. But left new wounds on wounds o'erpower us Beyond the miffile javelin's founding flight, Safe let us ftand; and from the tumult far, Infpire the ranks, and rule the diftant war.

He added not: the liftening kings obey, Slow moving on; Atrides leads the way. The God of Ocean (to inflame their rage) Appeare a warrior furrow'd o'er with age;

135

145

quite, 150

355

He fpoke, then rufh'd amid the warrior crew;
And sent his voice before him as he flow,
Loud, as the fhout encountering armies yield.
When twice ten thousand shake the labouring field;
Such was the voice, and fuch the thundering
found

Of him, whofe trident rends the folid ground.
Each Argive bofom beats to meet the fight,
And grifly war appears a pleafing fight.

175

Mean time Saturnia from Olympus' brow, High thron'd in gold, beheld the fields below; 180 With joy the glorious conflict the furvey'd, Where her great brother gave the Grecians acid. But plac'd aloft, on Ida's fhady height She fees her Jove, and trembles at the fight. Jove to deceive, what methods fhall fhe try, 185 What arts, to blind his all-beholding eye? At length the trufts her power; refolv'd to prove The old, yet still fuccefsful, cheat of love; Against his wifdom to oppose her charms, And lull the Lord of thunders in her arms. 190 Swift to her bright apartment fhe repairs, Sacred to drefs, and beauty's pleafing cares: With skill divine had Vulcan form'd the bower, Safe from accefs of each intruding power. Touch'd with her fecret key, the doors unfold: 195 Self-clos'd, behind her shut the valves of gold. Here first the bathes; and round her body pours Soft oils of fragrance, and ambrofial showers: The winds, perfum'd, the balmy gale convey Through heaven, through earth, and all th' aërial

205

210

215

Ah yet, will Venus aid Saturnia's joy, And fet atide the caufe of Greece and Troy?

ing charmis,

240

225 That power, which mortals and immortals warms, That love, which melts mankind in fierce defires, And burns the fons of Heaven with facred fires! For lo, I hafte to those remote abodes, Where the great parents (facred fource of Gods!) 230 Ocean and Tethys their old empire keep, On the laft limits of the land and deep. In their kind arms my tender years were paft; What time old Saturn, from Olympus caft, Of upper heaven to Jove refign'd the reign, 235 Whelm'd under the huge mass of earth and main. For ftrife, I hear, has made the union cease, Which held fo long that ancient pair in peace. What honour, and what love, shall I obtain, If I compose those fatal feuds again; Once more their minds in mutual ties engage, And what my youth has ow'd, repay their rage? She faid. With awe divine the Queen of Love Obey'd the fifter and the wife of Jove: And from her fragrant breast the zone unbrac'd, 245 With various fkill, and high embroidery grac'd. In this was every art and every charm, To win the wifeft, and the coldest warm: Fond love, the gentle vow, the gay defire, The kind deceit, the ftill reviving fire, Perfuafive fpeech, and more perfuafive fighs, Silence that fpoke, and eloquence of eyes. This, on her hand, the Cyprian Goddefs laid; Take this, and with it all thy wish, she said. Wih smile she took the charm; and smiling prest 255 The powerful ceftus to her fnowy breast.

250

}

270

Sweet pleafing Sleep! (Saturnia thus began)
Who fpread' thy empire o'er each god and man;
If e'er obfequious to thy Juno's will,
O Power of Slumbers! hear, and favour still:
Shed thy foft dews on Jove's immortal eyes,
While funk in love's entrancing joys he lies.
A fplendid footstool, and a throne, that fhine
With gold unfading, Somnus, thall be thine;
The work of Vulcan; to indulge thy ease,
When wine and feafts thy golden humours please.275
Imperial Dame (the balmy power replies)
Great Saturn's heir, and emprefs of the skies!
O'er other Gods I fpread my eafy chain :
The fire of all, old Ocean, owns my reign,
And his huth'a waves lie filent on the main, 280
But how, unbidden, shall I dare to fteep
Jove's awful temples in the dew of fleep?
Long fince, too venturous at thy bold command,
On thofe eternal lids I laid my hand:

With rifing wrath, and tumbled Gods on Gods; 290 Me chief he fought, and from the realms on high Had hurl'd indignant to the nether fly, But gentle Night, to whom I fled for aid (The friend of earth and heaven) her wings dif play'd;

Impower'd the wrath of gods and men to tame, 295 Ev'n Jove rever'd the venerable dame.

Vain are thy fears (the Queen of Heaven replies And, fpeaking, rolls her large majestic eyes) Think'st thou that Troy has Jove's high favour

Let the great parent Earth one hand sustain,
And ftretch'd the other o'er the sacred main.
Call the black Titans, that with Chronos dwell,
To hear and witnefs from the depths of hell; 310
That the, my lov'd one, shall be ever mine,
The youngest Grace, Pafithaë the divine,

315

320

The queen affents; and from th' infernal bowers Invokes the fable fubtartarean Powers, And those who rule th' inviolable floods, Whom mortals name the dread Titanian Gods. Then swift as wind, o'er Lemnos fmoky isle, They wing their way, and Imbrus' fea-beat foil, Through air unfeen, involv'd in darkness glide, And light on Lectos, on the point of Ide (Mother of favages, whofe echoing hills Are heard refounding with a hundred rills;) Fair Ida trembles underneath the God; Hufh'd are her mountains, and her forests nod; There on a fir, whofe fpiry branches rife To join its fummit to the neighbouring skies; Dark in embowering fhade, conceal'd from fight, Sat Sleep, in likeness of the bird of Night. (Chalcis his name by thofe of heavenly birth, But call'd Cymidis by the race of earth.) To Ida's top fuccefsful Juno fiies; Great Jove furveys her with defiring eyes: The God, whofe lightning fets the heavens on

fire,

325

330

Through all his bofom feels the fierce defire; Fierce as when first by steaith he seiz'd her charms,

335

Mix'd with her foul, and melted in her arms,
Fix'd on her eyes he fed his eager look,
Then prefs'd her hand, and thus with transport
fpoke:

Why comes my goddefs from th' æthercal sky,
And not her feeds and flaming chariots nigh? 340
Then she haste to thofe remote abodes,
Where the great parents of the deathless gods,
The reverend Ocean and grey Tethys reign,
On the last limits of the land and main,

355

To check a while the haughty hopes of Troy:
While Jove yet refts, while yet my vapours shed
The golden vifion round his facred head;
For Juno's love, and Somnus' pleasing ties,
Have clos'd thofe awful and eternal eyes.

415

I vifit thefe, to whofe indulgent cares
I owe the nurfing of my tender years;
For ftrife, I hear, has made that union cease,
Which held fo long this ancient pair in peace.
The fleeds, prepar'd my chariots to convey
O'er earth and feas, and through th' aërial way 350
Wait under Ide: of thy fuperior power
To ask confent, I leave th' Olympian bower;
Nor feek, unknown to thee, the facred cells
Deep under feas, where hoary Ocean dwells.
For that (faid Jove) fuffice another day;
But eager love denies the leaft delay.
Let fofter cares the prefent hour employ,
And be these moments facred all to joy.
Ne'er did my foul fo firong a paffion prove,
Or for an earthly or a heavenly love:
Not when I prefs'd Ixion's matchlefs dame
Whence rofe Pirithous like the gods in fame.
Not when fair Danaë felt the fhower of gold
Stream into life, when Perfeus brave and bold.
Not thus I burn'd for either Theban dame,
(Bacchus from this, from that Alcides came)
Nor Phoenix' daughter, beautiful and young,
Whence godlike Rhadamanth and Minos fprung.
Not thus I burn'd for fair Latonia's face,
Nor comelier Ceres' more majestic grace.
Not thus ev'n for thyfelf I felt defire,
As now my veins receive the pleafing fire.

365

370

Lo ftill he vaunts, and threats the fleet with

fires,

While ftern Achilles in his wrath retires.

One hero's lofs too tamely you deplore,
Be ftill yourselves, and we shall need no more.
Oh yet, if glory any bofom warms,

425

Glows with celeftial red, and thus replies:

375

380

Is this a fcene for love? On Ida's height
Expos'd to mortal and immortal fight;
Our joy profan'd by each familiar eye,
The fport of heaven, and fable of the sky.
How fhall I e'er review the bleft abodes,
Or mix among the fenate of the Gods?
Shall I not think, that, with disorder'd charms,
All heaven beholds me recent from thy arms?
With skill divine has Vulcan form'd thy bower,
Sacred to love and to the genial hour;
if fuch thy will, to that recefs retire,
And secret there indulge thy foft defire.

385

She ceas'd; and, fmiling with fuperior love, Thus aufwer'd mild the cloud-compelling Jove: Nor god nor mortal fhall our joys behold, Shaded with clouds, and circumfus'd in gold; 390 Not ev'n the Sun, who darts through heaven his

rays,

And whofe broad eye th' extended earth furveys.
Gazing he spoke, and kindling at the view,
His eager arms around the Goddess threw.
Glad earth perceives, and from her bofom pours 395
Unbidden herbs, and voluntary flowers:
Thick new-born violets a foft carpet spread
And clustering lotos fwell'd the rifing bed,
And fudden hyacinths the turf beftrow,
And flamy crocos made the mountain glow,
There golden clouds conceal'd the heavenly pair,
Steep'd in foft joys, and circumfus'd with air;
Celeftial dews, defcending o'er the ground,
Perfume the mount, and breathe ambrofia round.
At length, with Love and Sleep's foft power op-
preft,

The panting Thunderer nods, and finks to reft.
Now to the navy borne on filent wings,
To Neptune's car foft Sleep his meffage brings;

400

405

Myfelf, ye Greeks! myself will lead the way. The troops affent; their martial arms they change,

The bufy chiefs their banded legions range.

The kings, though wounded, and oppreft with

pain,

With helpful hands themselves affift the train. 449
The strong and cumbrous arms the valiant wieid.
The weaker warrior takes a lighter fhield.
Thus fheath'd in faining brafs, in bright array
The legions march, and Neptune leads the way:
His brandish'd faulchion flames before their eyes, 445
Like lightning flashing through the frighted skies.
Clad in his might, th' Earth-fhaking Power ap-

pears;

Pale mortars tremble, and confefs their fears.

Troy's great defender stands alone unaw'd, Arms his proud hoft, and dares oppose a God: 450 And lo! the God and wondrous man appear: The feas ftern Ruler there, and Hector here. The roaring main, at her great mafter's call, Rofe in huge ranks, and form'd a watery wall Around the fhips; feas hanging o'er the fhores, 455 Both armies join: Earth thunders, Ocean roars. Not half fo loud the bellowing deeps refound, When ftormy winds disclose the dark profound; Lefs loud the winds, that from th' Æolian hall Roar through the woods, and make whole forests fall;

470

Then back the disappointed Trojan drew,
And curs'd the lance that unavailing flew :
But 'cap'd not Ajax, his tempeftuous hand
A ponderous stone upheaving from the fand,
(Where heaps, laid loose beneath the warrior's feet,
Or ferv'd to ballaft, or to prop the fleet)
Tofs'd round and round, the miffive marble flings;
475

On the raz'd sheld the falling ruin rings,
Full on his breaft and throat with force defcends;
Nor deaden'd there its giddy fury spends,
But whirling on, with many a fiery round,
Smokes in the duft, and ploughs into the ground.

480

485

As when the bolt, red-hilling from above,
Darts on the confecrated plant of Jove,
The mountain oak in flaming ruin lies,
Black from the blow, and fmokes of fulphur rife;
Stiff with amaze the pale beholder's stand,
And own the terrors of th' Almighty hand!
So lies great Hector proftrate on the fhore;
His flacken'd hand deserts the lance it bore;
His following fhield the fallen chief o'erfpread;
Beneath his helmet dropp'd his fainting head; 490
His load of armour finking to the ground,
Clanks on the field; a dead and hollow found.
Loud fhouts of triumph fill the crowded plain :
Greece fees, in hope, Troy's great defender flain:
All spring to seize him; storms of arrows fly, 495
And thicker javelins intercept the sky.
In vain an iron tempeft hiffes round:
He lies protected, and without a wound.
Polydamas, Agenor the divine,

500

505

The pious warrior of Anchifes' line,
And each bold leader of the Lycian band,
With covering fhields (a friendly circle) ftand.
His mournful followers, with affiftant care,
The groaning hero to his chariot bear :
His foaming courfers, swifter than the wind,
Speed to the town, and leave the war behind.
When now they touch'd the meads enamell'd side,
Where gentle Xanthus rolls his eafy tide,
With watery drops the chief they fprinkle round,
Plac'd on the margin of the flowery ground, 510
Rais'd on his knees, he now ejects the gore;
Now faints anew, low finking on the shore;
By fits he breathes, half views the fleeting skies,
And feals again, by fits, his fwimming eyes.
Soon as the Greeks the chief's retreat beheld, 515
With double fury each invades the field.
Oïlean Ajax first his javelin sped,
Pierc'd by whofe point the fon of Enops bled;
(Satnius the brave, whom beauteous Neïs bore
Amidft her flocks, on Satnio's filver shore)
Struck through the belly's rim, the warrior lies
Supine, and fhades eternal veil his eyes.
An arduous battle rofe around the dead;
By turns the Greeks, by turns the Trojans fled.
Fir'd with revenge, Polydamas drew near, 525
And at Prothonor fhook the trembling (pear;
The driving javelin through his shoulder thrust,
He finks to earth, and grasps the bloody duft.
Lo thus (the victor cries) we rule the field,
And thus their arms the race of Panthus wield: 530
From this unerring hand there flies no dart
But bathes its point within a Grecian heart.

520

Prompt on that spear to which thou ow'ft thy fail Go, guide thy darkfome fteps to Pluto's dreary

hall!

He faid, and forrow touch'd each Argive breaft! 535

The foul of Ajax burn'd above the reft,
As by his fide the groaning warrior fell,
At the fierce foe he launch'd his piercing steel :
The foe reclining, fhunn'd the flying death;
But Fare, Archilochus, demands thy breath: 540
Thy lofty birth no fuccour could inipart,
The wings of death o'ertook thee on the dart.
Swift to perform Heaven's fatal will it fled,
Pull on the juncture of the neck and head,
And took the joint, and cut the nerves in
twain:
545

550

The dropping head first tumbled to the plain.
So just the ftroke, that yet the body stood
Erect, then roll'd along the fands in blood.
Here, proud Polydamas, here turn thy eyes
(The towering Ajax loud infulting cries)
Say, is this chief extended on the plain,
A worthy vengeance for Prothonor flain?
Mark well his port! his figure and his face
Nor fpeak him vulgar, nor of vulgar race;
Some lines, methinks, may make his lineage
known,

Antenor s brother, or perhaps his fon.

555

He fpake and fmil'd fevere, for well he knew The bleeding youth: Troy fadden'd at the view. But furious Acamas aveng'd his caufe,

As Promachus his slaughter'd brother draws, 560
He pierc'd his heart--Such fate attends you all,
Proud Argives! deftin'd by our arms to fall;
Not Troy alone, but haughty Greece fhall fhare
The toils, the forrows, and the wounds of war.
Behold your Promachus depriv'd of breath, 565
A victim ow'd to my brave brother's death.
Not unappeas'd he enters Plato's gate,
Who leaves a brother to revenge his fate.

Heart-piercing anguish struck the Grecian host,
But touch'd the breast of bold Peneleus moft: 570
At the proud boafter he directs his courfe:
The boafter flies, and fhuns fuperior force.
But young lioneus receiv'd the fpear,
Ilioneus, his father's only care.
|(Phorbas the rich, of all the Trojan train
Whom Hermes lov'd, and taught the arts of
gain :)

575