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There, mighty Chromis led the Mysian train,
And augur Ennomus, infpir'd in vain,
For ftern Achilles lopt his facred head,
Roll'd down Scamander with the vulgar dead.
Phorcis and brave Afcanius here unite
Th' Afcanian Phrygians, eager for the fight.
Of those who round Mæonia's realms refide,
Or whom the vales in fhades of Tmolus hide,
Meftles and Antiphus the charge partake;
Born on the banks of Gyges' filent lake,

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There, from the fields where wild Meander flows,

High Mycalè, and Latmos' fhady brows,

And proud Miletes, came the Carian throngs,

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With mingled clamours, and with barbarous tongues. Amphimachus and Nauftes guide the train,

Nauftes the bold, Amphimachus the vain,

Who, trick'd with gold, and glittering on his car,

Rode like a woman to the field of war,

Fool that he was! by fierce Achilles flain,
The river fwept him to the briny main :

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There whelm'd with waves the gaudy warriour lies; The valiant victor feiz'd the golden prize.

The forces laft in fair array fucceed,

Which blameless Glaucus and Sarpedon lead;
The warlike bands that distant Lycia yields,
Where gulphy Xanthus foams along the fields.

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THE

THE

THIRD BOOK

O F THE

I L

I A D.

ARGUMEN T.

The Duel of Menelaus and Paris.

The Armies being ready to engage, a fingle combat is agreed upon between Menelaus and Paris (by the intervention of Hector) for the determination of the war. Iris is fent to call Helena to behold the fight. She leads her to the walls of Troy, where Priam fat with his counsellors, obferving the Grecian leaders on the plain below, to whom Helen gives an account of the chief of them. The kings on either part takic the folemn oath for the conditions of the combat. The duel enfues; wherein Paris being overcome, he is fnatched away in a cloud by Venus, and transported to his apartment. She then calls Helen from the walls, and brings the lovers together. Agamemnon, on the part of the Grecians, demands the restoration of Helen, and the performance of the articles.

The three and twentieth day ftill continues throughout this book. The scene is fometimes in the Fields before Troy, and Sometimes in Troy itself.

TH

THE

ILIA D.

воок

III.

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HUS by their leader's care each martial band
Moves into ranks, and ftretches o'er the land.
With fhouts the Trojans rushing from afar,
Proclaim their motions, and provok'd the war;
So when inclement winter vex the plain
With piercing frofts, or thick-defcending rain,
To warmer feas, the Cranes embody'd fly,
With noise, and order, through the mid-way fky,
To pigmy nations wounds and death they bring,
And all the war defcends upon the wing.
But filent, breathing rage, resolv'd and skill'd
By mutual aids to fix a doubtful field,
Swift march the Greeks: the rapid duft around
Darkening arifes from the labour'd ground.
Thus from his flaggy wings when Notus sheds
A night of vapours round the mountain-heads,
Swift gliding mifts the dusky fields invade,
To thieves more grateful than the midnight fhade;
While fcarce the fwains their feeding flocks furvey,
Loft and confus'd amidst the thicken'd day :
So, wrapt in gathering duft, the Grecian train,
A moving cloud, fwept on, and hid the plain

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Now front to front the hoftile armies ftand,
Eager of fight, and only wait command;
When, to the van, before the fons of fame
Whom Troy fent forth, the beauteous Paris came,
In form a God! the panther's fpeckled hide
Flow'd o'er his armour with an easy pride,
His bended bow acrofs his fhoulders flung,
His fword befide him negligently hung,
Two pointed fpears he fhook with gallant grace,
And dar'd the braveft of the Grecian race.

As thus, with glorious air and proud disdain,
He boldly stalk'd, the foremost on the plain,
Him Menelaus, lov'd of Mars, espies,
With heart elated, and with joyful eyes:
So joys a lion, if the branching deer,
Or mountain goat, his bulky prize, appear;
Eager he feizes and devours the flain,
Preft by bold youths and baying dogs in vain.
Thus fond of vengeance, with a furious bound,
In clanging arms he leaps upon the ground
From his high chariot: him, approaching near,
The beauteous champion views with marks of fear;
Smit with a conscious fenfe, retires behind,
And fhuns the fate he well deferv'd to find.

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As when fome fhepherd, from the rustling trees
Shot forth to view, a fcaly ferpent fees;

Trembling and pale, he starts with wild affright,
And all confus'd precipitates his flight :
So from the king the fhining warriour flies,
And plung'd amid the thickest Trojans lies.

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