60

His arms refound, the fpirit wings its way.
Thy fate was next, O Phæftus! doom'd to feel
The great Idomeneus' petended steel;
Whom Borus fent (his fon, and only joy)
From fruitful Tarne to the fields of Troy.
The Cretan javelin reach'd him from afar,
And pierc'd his fhoulder as he mounts his car;
Back from the car he tumbles to the ground,
And everlafting fhades his eyes furround.
Then dy'd Scamandrius, expert in the chate, 65
In woods and wilds to wound the favage race:
Diana taught him all her fylvan arts,

70

To bend the bow, and aim unerring darts:
But vainly here Diana's arts he tries,
The fatal lance arrefts him as he flies;
From Menelaus arm the weapon fent,
Through his broad back and heaving bofom went :
Down finks the warriour with a thundering found,
His brazen armour rings against the ground.
Next artful Phereclus untimely fell;
Bold Merion fent him to the realms of hell.
Thy father's fkill, O Phereclus, was thine,
The graceful fabrick and the fair defign;
For, lov'd by Pallas, Pallas did impart

75

85

To him the fhipwright's and the builder's art. 80
Beneath his hand the fleet of Paris rofe,
The fatal caufe of all his country's woes;
But he, the myftick will of Heaven unknown,
Nor faw his country's peril, nor his own.
The hapless artift, while confus'd he fled,
The fpear of Merion mingled with the dead,
Through his right hip with forceful fury caft,
Between the bladder and the bone it paft:
Prone on his knees he falls with fruitless cries,
And death in lafting flumber feals his eyes.
From Meges' force the swift Pedæus fled,
Antenor's offspring from a foreign bed,
Whofe generous fpoufe, Theano, heavenly fair,
Nars'd the young ftranger with a mother's care.
How vain thofe cares! when Meges in the rear

90

Thus toil'd the chiefs, in different parts engag'd,
In every quarter fierce Tydides rag'd,
Amid the Grees, amid the Trojan train,
Rapt through the ranks, he thunders o'er the
plain;

Now here, now there, he darts from place to place,
Pours on the rear, or lightens in their face. 114
Thus from high hills the torrents swift and strong
Deluge whole fields, and fweep the trees along,
Through ruin'd moles the rufhing wave refounds,
O'erwhelm's the bridge, and burfts the lofty bounds.
The vellow harvefts of the ripen'd year,
And flatted vineyards, one fad waste appear!
While Jove defcends in fluicy fheets of rain,
And all the labours of mankind are vain,

120

So rag'd Tydides, boundlefs in his ire, Drove armies back, and made all Troy retire. 125 With grief the leader of the Lycian band Saw the wide wafte of his deftructive hand: His bended bow against the chief he drew; Swift to the mark the thirsty arrow flew,. Whofe forky point the hollow breaft-plate tore, 130 Deep in his fhoulder pierc'd, and drank his gore: The rushing ftream his brazen armour dy'd, While the proud archer thus exulting cry'd:

140

Hither, ye Trojans, hither drive your steeds ' Lo! by our hand the bravest Grecian bleeds. 135 Not long the dreadful dart he can sustain; Or Phoebus urg'd me to thefe fields in vain. So fpoke he, boastful; but the winged dart Stopt fhort of life, and mock'd the fhooter's art. The wounded chief, behind his car retir'd, The helping hand of Sthenelus requir'd ; Swift from his feat he leap'd upon the ground, And tugg'd the weapon from the gufhing wound; When thus the king his guardian power addreft, The purple current wandering o'er his veft: 145 O progeny of Jove! unconquer'd maid! If e'er my god-like Sire deferv'd thy aid, If e'er I felt thee in the fighting field,

Now, Goddefs, now thy facred fuccour yield.

Oh give my lance to reach the Trojan knight, 150 Whole arrow wounds the chief thou guard'st in

fight;

And lay he boafter groveling on the shore,
That vaunts there eyes fhall view the light no more.
Thus pray'd Tydides, and Minerva heard ;
His nerves confirm'd, his languid spirits chear`d,
155
He feels each limb with wonted vigour light;
His beating bofom claims the promis'd fight.
Be bold (the cry'd), in every combat fhine,
War be thy province, thy protection mine;
Rufh to the fight, and every foe controul;
Wake each paternal virtue in thy foul:
Strength fwells thy boiling breast, infus'd by n.c,
And all thy god-like father breathes in thee!
Yet more, from mortal mists I purge thy eyes.
And fet to view the warring Deities.
JS.
These fee thou fhun, through all th' embattled
plain,

Nor rafhly strive where human force is vain.

* Pandarus.

165

If Venus mingle in the martial band,
Her fhalt thou wound: fo Pallas gives command.
With that, the blue-ey'd virgin wing'd her flight;
The hero rush'd impetuous to the fight;
With tenfold ardour now invades the plain,
Wild with delay, and more enrag'd by pain.
As on the fleecy flocks, when hunger calls,
Amidst the field a brindled lion falls;
If chance fome shepherd with a diftant dart
The favage wound, he rouzes at the fmart,
He foams, he roars; the thepherd dares not ftay,
But trembling leaves the fcattering flocks a prey;
Heaps fall on heaps; he bathes with blood the
ground,

175

185

Then leaps victorious o'er the lofty mound.
Not with lefs fury stern Tydides flew ;
And two brave leaders at an inftant flew :
Aftynous breathlefs fell, and by his fide
His people's paftor, good Hypenor, dy'd;
Aftynous' breaft the deadly lance receives,
Hypenor's fhoulder his broad faulchion cleaves.
Thofe flain he left; and sprung with noble rage
Abas and Polvidus to engage;
Sons of Eurydamas, who, wife and old,
Could fates forefee, and myftic dreams unfold;
The youths return'd not from the doubtful plain,
And the fad father try'd his arts in vain ;
No myftic dream could make their fates appear,
Though now determin'd by Tvdides' fpear.

190

195

Young Xanthus next, and Thoon felt his rage; The joy and hope of Phænops' feeble age; Vaft was his wealth, and thefe the only heirs Of all his labours, and a life of cares.

Cold death o'ertakes them in their blooming years,

200

205

And leaves the father unavailing tears:
To strangers now defcends his wealthy ftore,
The race forgotten, and the name no more.
Two fons of Príam in one chariot ride
Glittering in arms, and combat fide by fide.
As when he lordly lion feeks his food
Where grazing heifers range the lonely wood,
He leaps amidst them with a furious bound,
Bends their strong necks, and tears them to the
ground:

So from their feats the brother chiefs are torn, 210
Their steeds and chariot to the navy borne.

215

220

With deep concern divine Æneas view'd The foe prevailing, and his friends pursued, Through the thick storm of finging fpears he flies, Exploring Pandarus with careful eyes, At length he found Lycaon's mighty fon; To whom the chief of Venus' race begun: Where, Pandarus, are all thy honours now, Thy winged arrows and unerring bow, Thy matchlefs fkill, thy yet unrivall'd fame, And boasted glory of the Lycian name? Oh pierce that mortal: if we mortal call That wondrous force by which whole armies fall; Or God incens'd, who quits the distant skies To punith Troy for flighted facrifice; (Which, oh, avert from our unhappy state! For what fo dreadful as celestial ate :) Whoe'er he be, propitiate Jove with prayer; If man destroy; if God, intreat to ipare.

225

To him the Lycian: Whom your eyes behold, 230

235

If right I judge, is Diomed the bold!
Such courfers whirl him o'er the dusty field,
So towers his helmet, and fo flames his fhield.
If 'tis a God, he wears that chief's difguife;
Or if that chief, fome guardian of the skies
Involv'd in clouds, protects him in the fray,
And turns unfeen the fruftrate dart away.
I wing'd an arrow, which not idly fell,
The ftroke had fix'd him to the gates of hell:
And, but fome God, fome angry God withstands,
240

His fate was due to these unerring hands.
Skill'd in the bow, on foot I fought the war,
Nor join'd fwift horfes to the rapid car.
Ten polifh'd chariots I poffefs'd at home,

And ftill they grace Lycaon's princely dome: 245
There veil'd in spacious coverlets they stand;
And twice ten courfers wait their lord's command.
The good old warriour bid me trust to these,
When firft for Troy I fail'd the facred feas;
In fields aloft the whirling car to guide, 250
And through the ranks of death triumphant ride:
But vain with youth, and yet to thrift inclin'd,
I heard his councils with unheedful mind,
And thought the fteeds (your large fupplies un-
known)

Might fail of forage in the ftraiten'd town:
So took my bow and pointed darts in hand,
And left the chariots in my native land.

255

Too late, O friend! my rathness I deplore; These shafts, once fatal, carry death no more. Tydeus' and Atreus' fons their points have found,

260

265

270

And undiffembled gore pursued the wound.
In vain they bled: this unavailing bow
Serves, not to laughter, but provoke the foe.
In evil hour thefe bended horns I ftrung,
nd feiz'd the quiver where it idly hung.
Curs'd be the fate that fent me to the field
Without a warriour's arms, the fpear and fhield;
If e'er with life I quit the Trojan plain,
If e'er I fee my fpoufe and fire again,
This bow, unfaithful to my glorious aims,
Broke by my hand, fhall feed the blazing flames.
To whom the leader of the Dardan race:
Be calm, nor Phœbus' honour'd gift difgrace.
The diftant dart he prais'd, though here we need
The ruthing chariot, and the bounding fteed. 275
Against yon hero let us bend our course,
And hand to hand, encounter force with force.
Now mount my feat, and from the chariot's height
Obferve my father's fteeds, renown'd in fight,
Practis'd alike to turn, to stop, to chace,
To dare the fhock, or urge the rapid race:
Secure with thefe, through fighting fields we go ;
Or fafe to Troy, if Jove affift the foe.
Hafte, feize the whip, and fnatch the guiding

rein;

280

Fix'd on the chief with fcorn; and thus he spoke :

Me dost thou bid to fhun the coming fight?
310
Me would't thou move to bafe, inglorious flight?
Know, 'tis not honeft in my foul to fear,
Nor was Tydides born to tremble here.

I hate the cumbrous chariot's flow advance,
And the long distance of the flying lance;

315

But while my nerves are frong, my force entire,

Thus front the foe, and emulate my fire.
Nor fhall yon steeds that fierce to fight convey
Thofe threatening heroes, bear them both away;
One chief at least beneath this arm fhall die; 320
So Pallas tells me, and forbids to fly.
But if the dooms, and if no God withstand,
That both fhall fall by one victorious hand;
Then heed my words: my horfes here detain,
Fix'd to the chariot by the ftraiten'd rein;
Swift to Eneas' empty feat proceed,
And feize the courfers of ætherial breed:
The race of thofe, which once the thundering
God

325

He faid, then fhook the ponderous lance, and ́ flung;

On his broad fhield the founding weapon rung,
Pierc'd the tough orb, and in his cuirafs hung..
He bleeds! the pride of Greece (the boafter
cries)

Our triumph now the mighty warriour lies!
Miftaken vaunter! Diomed reply'd ;

Thy dart has err'd, and now my spear be try'd:
Ye 'scape not both; one, headlong from his car,
With hoftile blood fhall glut the God of war. 350

He spoke, and rifing hurl'd his forceful dart, Which, driven by Pallas, pierc'd a vital part; Full in his face it enter'd, and betwixt The nofe and eye-ball the proud Lycian fixt; Crafh'd all his jaws, and cleft the tongue within,

375

380

Difcharg'd the ponderous ruin at the foe.
Where to the hip th' inferted thigh unites,
Full on the bone the pointed marble lights;
Through both the tendons broke the rugged stone,
And stripp'd the fkin, and crack'd the folid bone.
Sunk on his knees, and staggering with the pains,
His falling bulk his bended arm sustains;
Loft in a dizzy mift the warriour lies;
A fudden cloud comes fwimming o'er his eyes.
There the brave chief who mighty numbers fway'd,
Oppress'd had funk to death's eternal shade;
But heavenly Venus, mindful of the love
She bore Anchifes in th' Idæan grove,
His danger views with anguifh and despair,
And guards her offspring with a mother's care.
About her much-lov'd fon her arms fhe throws,
Her arms whofe whitenefs match the falling
fnows.

385

Screen'd from the foe behind her fhining veil,
The fwords wave harmless, and the javelins fail:
Safe through the ruthing horfe, and feather'd
flight

Of founding fhafts, the bears him from the fight.
Nor Sthenelus, with unaffifting hands, 396
Remain'd unheedful of his lord's commands:
His panting steeds, remov'd from out the war,
He fix'd with traiten'd traces to the car.

Next rushing to the Dardan fpoil, detains
The heavenly courfers with the flowing manes:

400

Thefe, in proud triumph to the fleet convey'd, No longer now a Trojan lord obey`d, That charge to bold Deipylas he gave, (Whom most he lov'd, as brave men love the brave)

410

Then mounting on his car, refum'd the rein, 415
And follow'd where Tydides fwept the plain.
Meanwhile (his conqueft ravifh'd from his eyes)
The raging chief in chace of Venus flies:
No Goddess fre commiffion'd to the field,
Like Pallas dreadful with her fable shield,
Or fierce Bellona thundering at the wall,
While flames afcend, and mighty ruins fall;
He knew foft combats fuit the tender dame,
New to the field, and ftill a foe to fame.
Through breaking ranks his furious courfe he
bends,

And at the Goddess his broad lance extends;
Through her bright veil the daring weapon drove,
Th' ambrofial veil, which all the Graces wove;
Her fnowy hand the razing steel profan'd,
And the tranfparent fkin with crimson ftain'd,

Tydides thus: The Godde's feiz'd with dread, Confus'd, diftracted, from the conflict fled, 440 To aid her, fwift the winged It is flew, Wrapt in a mist above the warring crew. The Queen of Love with faded charms the found, Pale was her cheek, and livid look'd the wound. To Mars, who fat remote, they bent their way, 445

Far on the left, with clouds involv'd he lay; Befide him ftood his lance, diftain'd with gore, And, rein'd with gold, his foaming fteeds before.

Low at his knee, fhe begg'd, with ftreaming eyes,

Her brother's car, to mount the diftant skies, 450 And fhew'd the wound by fierce Tydides given, A mortal man who dares encounter Heaven. Stern Mars attentive hears the queen complain, And to her hand commits the golden rein;

460

Fed by fair Iris with ambrofial food.
Before her mother, Love's bright Queen appears, ·
O'erwhelm'd with anguifh, and diffolv'd in tears,
She rais'd her in her arms, beheld her bleed,
And afk'd, what God had wrought this guilty
deed?

Then the: This infult from no God I found, 465

An impious mortal gave the daring wound!
Behold the deed of haughty Diomed!
'Twas in the fon's defence the mother bled.
The war with Troy no more the Grecians wage,
But with the Gods (th' immortal Gods) engage.

470

475

Dione then: Thy wrongs with patience bear,
And share thofe gifts inferior powers must share:
Unnumber'd woes mankind from us fuftain,
And men with wees afflict the Gods again.
The mighty Mars in mortal fetters bound,
And lodg'd in brazen dungeons under ground,
Full thirteen moons imprifon'd roar'd in vain;
Otus and Ephialtes held the chain:
Perhaps had perifh'd; had not Hermes' care
Reftor'd the groaning God to upper air.
480
Great Juno's felf has borne her weight of pain,
Th' imperial partner of the heavenly reign;
Amphitryon's fon infix'd the deadly dart,
And fill'd with anguish her immortal heart.
Ev'n hell's grim king Alcides' power confefs'd,
485

The fhaft found entrance in his iron breaft;
To, Jove's high palace for a cure he fled,
Pierc'd in his own dominions of the dead;
Where Pæon, fprinkling heavenly balm around,
Affuag'd the glowing pangs, and clos'd the wound.

Rafh, impious man! to ftain the bleft abodes,
And drench his arrows in the blood of Gods!

490

525

Thus they in heaven: while on the plain below
The fierce Tydides charg'd his Dardan foe,
Flush'd with celeftial blood purfu'd his way,
And fearlefs dar'd the threatening God of day;
Already in his hopes he faw him kill'd,
Through fcreen'd behind Apollo's mighty fhield.
Thrice rufhing furious, at the chief he strook ;
His blazing buckler thrice Apollo fhook : 530
He tri'd the fourth: when, breaking from the
cloud,

A more than mortal voice was heard aloud:
O fon of Tydeus, cease! be wife and fee
How vaft the difference of the Gods and thee;
Distance immenfe ! between the powers that
thine

Above, eternal, deathlefs, and divine,
And mortal man! a wretch of humble birth,
A fhort-liv'd reptile in the dust of earth.

535

540

So fpoke the God who darts celestial fires; He dreads his fury, and fome steps retires. Then Phoebus bore the chief of Venus' race To Troy's high fane, and to his holy place; Latona there and Phoebe heal'd the wound, With vigour arm'd him, and with glory crown'd. This done, the patron of the filver bow 545 A phantom rais'd, the fame in fhape and show With great Æneas; fuch the form he bore, And fuch in fight the radian' arms he wore. Around the spectre bloody wars are wag'd, And Greece and Troy with clafhing fhields engag'd.

Meantime on Ilion's tower Apollo ftood,

And, calling Mars, thus urg'd the raging God. Stern power of arms, by whom the mighty fall; Who bath'ft in blood, and thak ft th' embattled wall,

Rife in thy wrath! to hell's abhorr'd abodes 555 Dipact. yon Greek, and vindicate the Gods. Fuftrofy Venus felt his brutal rage;

Me next he charg'd, and dares all heav'n engage:

The wretch would brave high heaven's immortal
Sire,

His triple thunder, and his bolts of fire.
The God of battle iffues on the plain,
Stirs all the ranks, and fires the Trojan train;
In form like Acamas, the Thracian guide,
Eurag'd to Troy's retiring chiefs he cry'd:

560

How long, ye fons of Priam! will ye fly, 565 And unreveng'd fee Priam's people die? VOL. VI.

Full o'er your towers shell fall, and sweep away 595

Sons, fires, and wives, an undiftinguifh'd prey. Roufe allthy Trojans, urge thy aids to fight; Thefe claim thy thoughts by day, thy watch by night:

With force inceffant the brave Greeks oppofe; Such cares thy friends deferve, and fuch thy foes. 600

Stung to the heart the generous Hector hears, But just reproof with decent filence bears, From his proud car the prince impetuous fprings, On earth he leaps; his brazen armour rings. Two fhining fpears are brandish'd in his hands;