Bear down the furrows, till their labours meet; Thick falls the heapy harvest at their feet: So Greece and Troy the field of war divide, And falling ranks are ftrow'd on every fide, None ftoop'd a thought to bafe inglorious flight; 95
But horfe to horfe, and man to man, they fight. Not rabid wolves more fierce contest their prey; Each wounds, each bleeds, but none refign the day.
Difcord with joy the scene of death defcries, And drinks large flaughter at her fanguine eyes:
Difcord alone, of all th' immortal train, Swells the red horrours of this direful plain: The Gods in peace their golden manfions fill, Rang'd in bright order on th' Olympian hill; Bit general murmurs told their griefs above, And each accus'd the partial will of Jove. Meanwhile apart, fuperior, and alone, Th' eternal monarch on his awful throne, Wrapt in the blaze of boundless glory fate; And, fix'd, fulfill'd the juft decrees of fate, On earth he turn'd his all-confidering eyes, And mark'd the fpot where Ilion's towers arife; The fea with fhips, the field with armies spread, The victor's rage, the dying and the dead. Thus while the morning-beams increafing bright 115
O'er heaven's pure azure fpread the growing light,
Commutual death the fate of war confounds, Each adverse battle gor'd with equal wounds. But now (what time in fome fequefter'd vale The weary woodman spreads his sparing meal,
When his tir'd arms refufe the axe to rear, And claim a refpite from the fylvan war; But not till half the proftrate forest lay Stretch'd in long ruin, and expos'd to day) Then, nor till then, the Greeks' impulfive might 125
Pierc'd the black phalanx, and let in the light. Great Agamemnon then the flaughter led, And flew Bienor at his people's head: Whofe fquire Oileus, with a fudden spring, Leap'd from the chariot to revenge his king; 130 But in his front he felt the fatal wound,
Which pierc'd his brain, and stretch'd him on the ground
Atrides fpoil'd, and left him on the plain : Vain was their youth, their glittering armour vain:
Now foil'd with duft, and naked to the fky, Their inowy limbs and beauteous bodies lie. Two fons of Priam next to battle move, The product one of marriage, one of love!
In the fame car the brother warriours ride, This took the charge to combat, that to guide: 140
Far other task, than when they wont to keep, On Ida's tops, their father's fleecy theep! Thefe on the mountains once Achilles found, And captive led, with pliant ofiers bound; Then to their fire for ample fums reftor'd; 146 But now to perifh by Atrides' fword; Pierc'd in the breaft the bafc-born Ifus bleeds: Cleft through the head, his brother's fate fuc- ceeds.
Swift to the spoil the hafty victor falls, And ftript, their features to his mind recalls. 150
The Trojans fee the youths untimely die, But helpless tremble for themselves, and fly. So when a lion, ranging o'er the lawns, Finds, on fome graffy lair, the couching fawns, Their bones he cracks, their reeking vitals draws, 155 And grinds the quivering flesh with bloody jaws; The frighted hind beholds, and dares not stay, But fwift through rustling thickets bursts her
Now ftorms the victor at the Trojan wall; 235 Surveys the towers, and meditates their fall. But Jove defcending, fhook th' Idæan hills, And down their fummits pour'd a hundred rills: Th' unkindled lightnings in his hand he took, And thus the many-colour'd Maid befpoke: 240 Iris, with hafte thy golden wings display, To god-like Hector this our word conveyWhile Agamemnon wastes the ranks around, Fights in the front, and bathes with blood the ground,
Bid him give way; but iffue forth commands, 245
And truft the war to lefs important hands:
But when, or wounded by the fpear or dart, That chief fha'l mount his chariot, and depart: Then Jove thall ftring his arm, and fire his breaft,
Then to her fhips fhall flying Greece be prefs'd, 250
Till to the main the burning fun defcend, And facred night her awful thade extend. He fpoke, and Iris at his word obey'd! On wings of winds defcends the various Maid, The chief the found amidft the ranks of war; 255
Clofe to the bulwarks, on his glittering car. The Goddess then; O fon of Priam, hear! From Jove I come, and his high mandate bear- While Agamemnon waftes the ranks around, Fights in the front, and bathes with blood the ground,
Abftain from fight; yet iffue forth commands, And truft the war to lefs important hands. But when, or wounded by the fpear or dart, The chief fhall mount his chariot, and depart: Then Jove fhall ftring thy arm, and fire thy breaft, 265 Then to her fhips fhall flying Greece be preft, Till to the main the burning fun defcend, And facred night her awful thade extend.
She faid, and vanish'd: Hector, with a bound, Springs from his chariot on the trembling ground, 270
In clanging arms; he grafps in either hand A pointed lance, and speeds from band to band; Revives their ardour, turns their fteps from flight,
And wakes anew the dying flames of fight. They stand to arms: the Greeks their onfet dare,
275 Condense their powers, and wait the coming war. New force, new fpirit, to each breaft returns: The fight renew'd, with fiercer fury burns: The king leads on; all fix on him their eye, And learn from him to conquer, or to die.
Ye facred Nine, celeftial Mufes ! tell, Who fac'd him firft, and by his prowess fell! The great Iphidamas, the bold and young, From fage Antenor and Theano fprung; Whom from his youth his grandfire Ciffeus bred,
No more the youth fhall join his confort's fide, At once a virgin, and at once a bride! No more with prefents her embraces meet, Or lay the fpoils of conqueft at her feet, On whom his paffion, lavish of his store, Beftow'd fo much, and vainly promis'd more! Unwept, uncover'd, on the plain he lay, While the proud victor bore his arms away. 320 Coon, Antenor's eldeft hope, was nigh: Tears, at the fight, came ftarting from his eye, While pierc'd with grief the much-lov'd youth he view'd,
And the pa'e features, now deform'd with blood, Then with his fear, unfeen, his time he took, 325
Aim'd at the king, and near his elbow ftrook. The thrilling feel tranfpierc'd the brawny part, And through his arm stood forth the barbed dart. Surpriz'd the monarch feels, yet void of fear On Coon rufhes with his lifted fpear: His brother's corpfe the pious Trojan draws, And calls his country to affert his caufe, Defends him breathlefs on the fanguine field, And o'er the body spreads his amp e shield. Atrides, marking an unguarded part, Transfix'd the warriour with a brazen dart; Prone on his brother's bleeding breast he lay, The monarch's faulchion lopp'd his head away: The focial fhades the fame dark journey go, And join each other in the realms below.
His fainting hoft, and every bofom warms. As the bold hunter chears his hounds, to tear The brindled lion, or the tufky bear; With voice and hand provokes their doubting heart,
And springs the foremaft with his lifted dart : 380
So god-like Hector prompts his troops to dare; Nor prompts alone, but leads himself the war. On the black body of the foes he pours; As from the cloud's deep bofom, fwell'd with fhowers,
A fudden storm the purple ocean sweeps, Drives the wild waves, and toffes all the deeps. Say, Mufe when Jove the Trojans' glory crown'd,
Beneath his arm what heroes bit the ground? Affæus, Dolops, and Antonous dy'd,
Opheltius, Orus, funk to endless night : Efymnus, Agelaus; all chiefs of name; The rest were vulgar deaths, unknown to fame, As when a western whirlwind, charg'd with ftorms, 395
Difpels the gather'd clouds that Notus forms; The guft continued, violent, and strong, Rolls fable clouds in heaps on heaps along ; Now to the fkies the foaming billows rears, Now breaks the furge, and wide the bottom bares;
Thus raging Hector, with refiftlefs hands, O'erturns, confounds, and scatters all their bands. Now the laft ruin the whole host appalls; Now Greece had trembled in her wooden walls; But wife Ulyffes call'd Tydides forth, His foul rekindled, and awak'd his worth. And stand we deedlefs, O eternal shame! Till Hector's arm involve the fhips in flame? Hafte, let us join, and combat fide by fide. The warriour thus: and thus the friend reply'd: 410
No martial toil I fhun, no danger fear; Let Hector come; I wait his fury here
But Jove with conqueft crowns the Trojan train; And, Jove our foe, all human force is vain. He figh'd; but, fighing, rais'd his vengeful fteel, 415
And from his car the proud Thymbræus fell : Molion, the charioteer, purfued his lord, His death ennobled by Ulyffes' fword. There flain, they left them in eternal night, Then plung'd amidst the thickest ranks of fight: 420
So two wild boars outstrip the following hounds, Then swift revert, and wounds return for wounds. Stern Hector's conquests in the middle plain Stood check'd awhile, and Greece refpir'd again, The fons of Merops fhone amidst the war; Towering they rode in one refulgent car: In deep prophetic arts their father skill'd, Had warn'd his children from the Trojan field; Fate urg'd them on; the father warn'd in vain, They rufh'd to fight, and perifh'd on the plain! 430
Their breasts no more the vital spirit warms; The ftern Tydides ftrips their fhining arms. Hypirochus by great Ulyffes dies, And rich Hippodamus becomes his prize; Great Jove from Ide with flaughter fills his fight,
And level hangs the doubtful scale of fight, By Tydeus' lance Agaftrophus was flain, The far-fam'd hero of Pæonian ftrain; Wing'd with his fears, on foot he trove to fly, His fteeds too diftant, and the foe too nigh; 440 Through broken orders, swifter than the wind He fied, but flying left his life behind. This Hector fees, as his experienc'd eyes Traverse the files, and to the rescue flies; Shouts, as he past, the crystal regions rend, And moving armies on his march attend. Great Diomed himself was seiz'd with fear, And thus bespoke his brother of the war: Mark how this way yon bending fquadrons yield!
Thou shalt not long the death deferv'd withstand' If any God aflift Tydides' hand.
Fly then, inglorious! but thy flight, this day, Whole hecatombs of Trojan ghosts shall pay.
Him, while he triumph'd, Paris ey'd from far (The fpoufe of Helen, the fair caufe of war) Around the fields his feather'd fhafts he fent, 479 From ancient Ilus' ruin'd monument: Behind the column plac'd, he bent his bow, And wing'd an arrow at th' unwary foe; Juft as he stoop'd Agaftrophus's crest To feize, and draw the corfelet from his breast, 480
The bow-ftring twang'd; nor flew the fhaft in vain,
But pierc'd his foot, and nail'd it to the plain. The laughing Trojan, with a joyful spring, Leaps from his ambush, and infults the king. He bleeds! (he cries) fome God has fped my dart;
Would the fame God had fixt it in his heart! So Troy, reliev'd from that wide-wafting hand, Should breathe from flaughter, and in combat
Steeps earth in purple, gluts the birds of air, And leaves fuch objects as diftra&t the fair. Ulyffes haftens with a trembling heart, Before him steps, and bending draws the dart: Forth flows the blood; an eager pang fucceeds; Tydides mounts, and to the navy speeds. Now on the field Ulyffes ftands alone,
The Greeks all fled, the Trojans pouring on: 510 But ftands collected in himself and whole, And questions thus his own unconquer'd foul : What farther fubterfuge, what hopes remain? What shame, inglorious, if I quit the plain? What danger, fingly if I ftand the ground, My friends all fcatter'd, all the foes around? Yet wherefore doubtful? let this truth fuffice; The brave meets danger, and the coward files: To die or conquer, proves a hero's heart; And knowing this, I know a foldier's part. 520
Such thoughts revolving in his careful breast, Near, and more near, the fhady cohorts preft; Thefe, in the warriour, their own fate inclose: And round him deep the steely circle grows. So fares a boar, whom all the troop furrounds 525
Of shouting huntímen, and of clamorous hounds
He grinds his ivory tufks; he foams with ire; His fanguine eye-balls glare with living fire; By thefe, by thofe, on every part is ply'd ; And the red flaughter fpreads on every fide. 530 Pierc'd through the fhoulder, firft Deiopis fell; Next Ennomus and Theon funk to hell; Cherfidamus, beneath the navel thrust, Falls prone to earth, and grafps the bloody duft, Charops, the fon of Hippafus, was near; Ulyffes reach'd him with the fatal fpear; But to his aid his brother Socus flies,
Socus, the brave, the generous, and the wife: Near as he drew, the warriour thus began: O great Ulyffes, much-enduring man! Not deeper fkill'd in every martial fleight, Than worn to toils, and active in the fight! This day two brothers fhall thy conqueft grace, And end at once the great Hippafian race, Or thou beneath this lance muft prefs the field
545 He faid, and forceful pierc'd his fpacious fhield: Through the strong brafs the ringing javelin thrown,
Plough'd half his fide, and bar'd it to the bone. By Pallas' care, the fpear, though deep infix'd, Stopt fhort of life, nor with his entrails mix'd.
550 The wound not mortal wife Ulyffes knew, Then furious thus (but first some steps withdrew): Unhappy man! whofe death our hands fhall grace!
Fate calls thee hence, and finish'd is thy race. No longer check my conquests on the foe; 5557 But, pierc'd by this, to endless darknefs go, And add one fpectre to the realms below!
He fpoke; while Socus, feiz'd with fudden fright,
Trembling gave way, and turn'd his back to flight;
Between his fhoulders pierc'd the following dart,
And held its paffage through the panting heart. Wide in his breait appear'd the grizly wound; He falls; his armour rings against the ground. Then thus Ulyffes, gazing on the flain: Fam'd fon of Hippafus! there prefs the plain; 565 There ends thy narrow fpan affign'd by Fate, Heaven owes Ulyffes yet a longer date. Ah, wretch! no father fhall thy corpfe compofe, Thy dying eyes no tender mother clofe; But hungry birds fhali tear thofe balls away, 570 And hovering vultures fcream around their prey. Me Greece fhall honour, when I meet my doom, With folemn funerals and a lafting tomb.
Then, raging with intolerable fmart,
He writhes his body, and extracts the dart. 575 The dart a tide of spouting gore pursued, And gladden'd Troy with fight of hoftile blood. Now troops on troops the fainting chief invade, Forc'd he recedes, and loudly calls for aid. Thrice to its pitch his lofty voice he rears; The well-known voice thrice Menelaus hears: Alarm'd, to Ajax Telamon he cry'd, Who fhares his labours, and defends his fide: O friend Ulyffes' fhouts invade my ear; Diftiefs'd he feems, and no affiftance near:
Strong as he is; yet, one oppos'd to all, Opprefs'd by multitudes, the best may fail. Greece, robb'd of him, must bid her hofts defpair,
And fall a lofs, not ages can repair.
Then, where the cry directs, his course he bends; Great Ajax, like the God of War, attends. The prudent chief in fore distress they found, With bands of furious Trojans compafs'd round. As when fome huntfman, with a flying fpear, From the blind thicket wounds a stately deer;
And pines and oaks, from their foundations torn, A country's ruins! to the feas are borne: Fierce Ajax thus o'erwhelms the yielding throng; Men, steeds, and chariots, roll in heaps along.
But Hector, from this fcene of laughter far, Rag'd on the left, and rul'd the tide of war: Loud groans proclaim his progress through the plain,
And deep Scamander fwells with heaps of flain. There Neftor and Idomeneus oppofe The warriour's fury, there the battle glows; 625 There fierce on foot, or from the chariot's height, His fword deforms the beauteous ranks of fight. The fpoufe of Helen, dealing darts around, Had pierc'd Machaon with a diftant wound: In his right fhoulder the broad fhaft appear'd, 630 And trembling Greece for her phyfician fear'd. To Neftor then Idomeneus begun: Glory of Greece, old Neleus' valiant fon! Afcend thy chariot, hafte with speed away, And great Machaon to the fhips convey. A wife phyfician, fkill'd our wounds to heal, Is more than armies to the public weal. Old Neftor mounts the feat: befide him rode The wounded offspring of the healing God. He lends the lash; the steeds with founding feet 640 Shake the dry field, and thunder tow'rd the fleet. But now Cebriones, from Hector's car, Survey'd the various fortune of the war.
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