But now he feiz'd Brifeïs heav'nly charms,
And of my valour's prize defrauds my arms,
Defrauds the votes of all the Grecian train;
And fervice, faith, and juftice plead in vain.
But, Goddefs! thou thy fuppliant fon attend, 510
To high Olympus' fhining court afcend,
Urge all the ties to former fervice ow'd,
And fue for vengeance to the thundering God.
Oft haft thou triumph'd in the glorious boaft,
That thou flood'it forth of all th' æthereal host,

515

When bold rebellion fhook the realms above,
Th' undaunted guard of cloud-compelling Jove.
When the bright partner of his awful reign,
The warlike maid, the monarch of the main,
The traitor-gods, by mad ambition driven, 520
Durft threat with chains th' omnipotence of Hea-

ven.

Then call'd by thee, the monster Titan came, (Whom Gods Briareus, Men Ægeon name) Through wondering fkies enormous falk'd along;

Not * he _that_shakes the folid earth so strong: 525

With giant-pride at Jove's high throne he ftands,
And brandish'd round him all his hundred hands;
Th' affrighted Gods confefs'd their awful lord,
They dropt the fctters, trembled, and ador'd.
This, Goddefs, this to his remembrance call, 530
Embrace his knees, at his tribunal fall ;
Conjure him far to drive the Grecian train,
To hurl them headlong to their fleet and main,
To heap the shores with copiou, death, and bring
The Greeks to know the curfe of fuch a king:

540

550

Unhappy fon! (fair Thetis thus replies, While tears celestial trickle from her eyes) Why have I borne thee with a mother's throes, To fates averfe, and murs'd for future woes? So fhort a space the light of Heaven to view! So fhort a space! and fill'd with forrow too! 545 O might a parent's careful wifh prevail, Far, far from Ilion fhould thy veffels fail, And thou, from camps remote, the danger fhun, Which now, alas! too nearly threats my fon. Yet (what I can) to move thy feit I'll go To great Olympus crown'd with fleecy fnow. Mean time, fecure within thy fhips, from far Behold the field, nor mingle in the war. The fire of Gods and all th' æthereal train, On the warm lin its of the fartheft main, Now mix with mortals, nor difdan to grace The feats of Ethiopia's blameless race; Twelve days the powers indulge the genial rite, Retorning with the twelfth revolving light. Then will I mount the brazen dome, and move 560

The high tribunal of immortal Jove.

* Neptune.

555

A fuppliant I from great Atrides come :
Unranfom'd here receive the fpotless fair;
Accept the hecatombs the Greeks prepare;
And may thy God, who fcatters darts around, 580
Aton'd by facrifice, defift to wound.

At this, the fire embrac'd the maid again,
So tadly loft, fo lately fought in vain.
Then near the alter of the darting king,
Difpos'd in rank their hecatomb they bring: 585
With water purify their hands, and take
The facred offering of the falted cake;
While thus with arms devoutly rais'd in air,
And folemn voice, the priest directs his prayer:
God of the filver bow, thy ear incline,
Whofe power incircles Cilla the divine;
Whofe facred eye thy Tenedos furveys,
And gilds fair Chryfa with diftinguith'd rays!
If, fir'd to vengeance at thy priest's request,
Thy direful darts inflict the raging peft;
Once more attend! avert the wafteful woe,
And fmile propitious, and unbend thy bow.

590

595

So Chryfes pray'd, Apollo heard his prayer: And now the Greeks their hecatomb prepare; Between their horns the falted barley threw, 600 And with their heads to Heaven the victims flew :

605

The limbs they fever from th' inclosing hide;
The thighs, felected to the Gods, divide:
On thefe, in double cawls involv'd with art,
The choiceft morfels lay from every part.
The priest hinfelf before his altar ftands,
And burns the offering with his holy hands;
Pours the black wine, and fees the flames af-
pire;

The youth with inftruments furround the fire;
The thighs thus facrific'd, and entrails dreft, 610
Th' aflitants part, transfix, and roaft the rest:
Then spread the tables, the repaft prepare,
Each takes his feat, and each receives his share.
When now the rage of hunger was repreft,
With pure libations they conclude the feast; 615
The youths with wine the copious goblets
crown'd,

And, pleas'd, difpenfe the flowing bowls around.
With hynins divine the joyous banquet ends,
The Pans lengthen'd till the fun defcends:

The Greeks, reftor'd, the grateful notes prolong;

Apollo liftens, and approves the fong.

620

'Twas night; the chiefs befide their veffel lie, Till rofy morn had purpled o'er the fky: Then launch, and hoift the mast; indulgent gales, Supply'd by Phoebus, fill the fwelling fails; 625 The milk-white canvas bellying as they blow, The parted ocean foams and roars below: Above the bounding billows fwift they flew, Till now the Grecian camp appear'd in view. Far on the beach they haul their bark to land 630 (The crooked keel divides the yellow fand) : Then part, where ftretch'd along the winding bay

635

The fhips and rents in mingled profpects lay.
But raging ftill, amidst his navy fate
The ftern Achilles, ftedfaft in his hate;
Nor mix'd in combat, nor in council join'd ;
But wafting cares lay heavy on his mind :
In his black thoughts revenge and flaughter roll,
And scenes of blood rife dreadful in his foul.
Twelve days were past, and now the dawning
light

640

655

Beneath his beard, and one his knee embrac'd:
If e'er, O Father of the Gods! the said,
My words could please thee, or my actions aid;
Some marks of honour on my fon bestow,
And pay in glory what in life you owe.
Fame is at least by heavenly promife due
To life fo fhort, and now difhonour'd too.
Avenge this wrong, oh ever just and wife!
Let Greece be humbled, and the Trojans rife ;
Till the proud king, and all the Achaian race,
660

Shall heap with honour him they now difgrace.
Thus Thetis fpoke, but Jove in filence held
The facred councils of his breaft conceal'd.
Not fo repuls'd, the Goddefs clofer prest,
Still grafp'd his knees, and urg'd the dear re-
quest:
665

O fire of Gods and men! thy fuppliant hear;
Refufe, or grant; for what has Jove to fear?
Or, oh declare, of all the powers above,
Is wretched Thetis leaft the care of Jove?
She faid, and fighing thus the God replies, 670
Who roils the thunder o'er the vaulted skies?

What haft thou afk'd? Ah why should Jove en'gage

In foreign contests, and domeftic rage,
The Gods complaints, and Juno's fierce alarms,
While I, too partial, aid the Trojan arms?

675

680

Go, left the haughty partner of my fway
With jealous eyes thy clofe access survey;
But part in peace, fecure thy prayer is fped:
Witnefs the facred honours of our head,
The nod that ratifies the will divine
The faithful, fix'd, irrevocable fign,
This feals thy fuit, and this fulfills thy vows-
He spoke, and awful bends his fable brows;
Shakes his ambrofial curls, and gives the nod;
The ftamp of fate, and fanction of the God: 685
High heaven with trembling the dread fignal
took,

And all Olympus to the centre fhook.

Swift to the feas profound the Goddess flies, Jove to his ftarry manfion in the skies. The fhining fynod of th' immortals wait

690

The coming God, and from their thrones of state
Arifing filent, wrapt in holy fear,
Before the majefty of heaven appear..
Trembling they stand, while Jove affumes the

throne,

709

All, but the God's imperious queen alone: 695
Late had the view'd the filver-footed dame,
And all her paffions kindled into flame.
Say, artful manager of heaven (the cries)
Who now partakes the fecrets of the skies?
Thy Juno knows not the decrees of fate,
In vain the partner of imperial state.
What favourite Goddess then thofe cares divides,
Which Jo e in prudence from his confort hides?
To this the Thunderer; Seek not thou to find
The facred counfels of Almighty mind:
involv'd in dark nefs lies the great decree,
Nor can the depths of fate be pierc'd by thee.
What fits thy knowledge, thou the firft fhalt
know

705

Full on the fire the Goddess of the skies Roll'd the large orbs of her majestic eyes, And thus return'd: Austere Saturnius, fay From whence this wrath, or who controls thy fway?

715

720

Thy boundlefs will, for me, remains in force,
And all thy counfels take the deftin'd course.
But 'tis for Greece I fear: for late was feon
In close confult the Silver-footed Queen.
Jove to his Thetis nothing could deny,
Nor was the fignal vain that fhook the sky.
What fatal favour has the Goddess won,
To grace her fierce, inexorable fon?
Perhaps in Grecian blood to drench the plain,
And glut his vengeance with my people flain. 725
Then thus the God: Oh reftlefs fate of pride,
That ftrives to learn what heaven refolves to hide
Vain is the fearch, prefumptuous and abhorr'd,
Anxious to thee, and odious to thy lord.
Let this fuffice; th' immutable decrse
No force can fhake: what is, that ought to be..
Goddefs, fubmit, nor dare our will with tand,
But dread th power of this avenging hand;
Th' united strength of all the Gods above
In vain refifts th' omnipotence of Jove.

730

733

Of partial Jove with juftice I complain,
And heavenly oracles believ'd in vain.
A fafe return was promis'd to our toils,
Renown'd, triumphant, and enrich'd with spoils.
Now fhameful flight alone can fave the hoft, 145
Our blood, our treafure, and our glory loft.
So Jove decrees, refiftless lord of all !
At whofe command whole empires rife or fall:
He shakes the feeble props of human trust,
And towns and armies humbles to the duft.
What fhame to Greece a fruitlefs war to wage,
Oh, lafting shame in every future age!
Once great in arms the common fcorn we grow,
Repuls'd and baffled by a feeble foe :

150

So fmall their number, that if wars were ceas'd 155 And Greece triumphant held a general feast, And rank'd by tens, whole decads when they d:ne

Muft want a Trojan slave to pour the wine.

But other forces have our hopes o'erthrown,
And Troy prevails by armies not her own. 160
Now nine long years of mighty Jove are sun,
Since firft the labours of this war begun :
Our cordage torn, decay'd our vessels lie,
And scarce enfure the wretched power to fly.
Hafte then, for ever leave the Trojan wall! 165
Our weeping wives, our tender children call:
Love, duty, fafety, fummon usaway,
'Tis nature's voice, and nature we obey,
Our fhatter'd barks may yet transport us o'er,
Safe and inglorious, to our native shore.
Fly, Grecians, fly, your fails and oars employ,
And dream no more of Heaven-defended Troy.

170

His deep defign unknown, the hosts approve Atrides' fpeech. The mighty numbers move. So roll the billows to th' Icarian shore, 175 From Eaft and South when winds begin to roar, Burft their dark manfions in the clouds, and sweep

180

The whitening furface of the ruffled deep,
And as on corn when western gufts descend,
Before the blaft the lofty harvests bend:
Thus o'er the field the moving hoft appears,
With nodding plumes, and groves of waving

Pallas obeys, and from Olympus' height Swift to the ships precipitates her flight; Ulyffes, first in public cares, the found, For prudent counfel like the Gods renown'd: Opprefs'd with gen'rous grief the hero stood, Nor drew his fable veffels to the flood. And is it thus, divine Laërtes' fon! Thus fly the Greeks (the martial maid begun)