20

25

Axylus, hofpitable, rich, and good:
In fair Arifbe's walls (his native place)
He held his feat; a friend to human race.
Faft by the road, his ever-open door
Oblig'd the wealthy, and reliev'd the poor.
To ftern Tydides now he falls a prey,
No friend to guard him in the dreadful day!
Breathlefs the good man fell, and by his fide
His faithful fervant, old Calefius, dy'd.
By great Euryalus was Drefus flain,
And next he laid Opheltius on the plain.
Two twins were near, bold, beautiful, and young,
From a fair Naiad and Bucolion fprung:
(Laomedon's white flocks Bucolion fed,
That monarch's firft-born by a foreign bed;
In fecret woods he won the Naiad's grace,
And two fair infants crown'd his strong embrace.)
Here dead they lay in all their youthful charms;
The ruthless victor ftripp'd their fhining arms.
Aftyalus by Polypoetes fell;
Ulyffes' ípear Pydites fent to hell;
By Teucer's fhaft brave Aretaön bled,
And Neftor's fon laid stern Ablerus dead;
Great Agamemnon, leader of the brave,
The mortal wound of rich Elatus gave,
Who held in Pedafus his proud abode,

30

35

55

60

Wide o'er the field, refiftlefs as the wind,
For Troy they fly, and leave their lord behind,
Prone on his face he finks befide the wheel:
Atrides o'er him shakes his vengeful steel;
The fallen chief in fuppliant posture prefs'd
The victor's knees, and thus his prayer addrefs'd:
Oh, fpare my youth! and for the life I owe
Large gifts of price my father shall bestow.
When fame fhall tell, that not in battle flain,
Thy hollow fhips his captive fon detain;
Rich heaps of brafs fhall in thy tent be told,
And steel well temper'd, and perfuafive gold.
He faid: compaffion touch'd the hero's heart;
He stood, fufpended, with the lifted dart :
As pity pleaded for his vanquish'd prize,
65
Stern Agamemnon fwift to vengeance flies,
And furious thus: Oh impotent of mind!
Shall thefe, fhall these Atrides' mercy find?
Well haft thou known proud Troy's perfidious
land,

And well her natives merit at thy hand!
Not one of all the race, nor fex, nor age,
Shall fave a Trojan from our boundless rage:
Ilion fhall perish whole, and bury all;
Her babes, her infants at the breaft, fhall fall.
A dreadful leffon of exampled fate,
To warn the nations, and to curb the great!
The monarch fpoke; the words with warmth
addreft,

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75

To rigid juftice fteel'd his brother's breast.
Fierce from his knees the hapless chief he thruft;
The monarch's javelin ftretch'd him in the dust,

Taught by the Gods that mov'd his facred breaft. Where Hector ftood, with great Eneas join'd, The feer reveal'd the counfels of his mind:

Ye generous chiefs! on whom th' immortals lay

95

The cares and glories of this doubtful day;
On whom your aids, your country's hopes de-
pend;

Wife to confult, and active to defend !
Here, at our gates, your brave efforts unite,
Turn back the routed, and bid the flight; 100
Ere yet their wives' foft arms the cowards gain,
The sport and infult of the hoftile train.

When your commands have hearten'd every band, Ourselves, here fix'd, will make the dangerous ftand;

105

Preft as we are, and fore of former fight,
Thefe ftraits demand our laft remains of might.
Meanwhile, thou, Hector, to the town retire,
And teach our mother what the Gods require:
Direct the queen to lead th' affembled train
Of Troy's chief matrons to Minerva's fane; 110
Unbar the facred gates, and feek the power
With offer'd vows, in Ilion's topmoft tower.
The largest mantle her rich wardrobes hold,
Moft priz'd for art, and labour'd o'er with gold,
Before the Goddefs' honour'd knees be spread; 115
And twelve young heifers to her altar led:
If fo the power, aton'd by fervent prayer,
Our wives, our infants, and our city spare,
And far avert Tydides' wafteful ire,

That mows whole troops, and makes all Troy retire.

Not thus Achilles taught our hosts to dread,
Sprung though he was from more than mortal bed;
Not thus refiftlefs rul'd the stream of fight,
In rage unbounded, and unmatch'd in might.

Hector obedient heard; and with a bound, 125
Leap'd from his trembling chariot to the ground;
Through all his hoft, infpiring force, he flies,
And bids the thunder of the battle rise.
With rage recruited the bold Trojans glow,
And turn the tide of conflict on the foe:
Fierce in the front he shakes two dazzling spears:
All Greece recedes, and 'midit her triumphs fears;
Some God, they thought, who rul'd the fate of
wars,

Shot down avenging, from the vaults of ftars.

130

Then thus, aloud: Ye dauntless Dardans, hear! 135

And you whom diftant nations send to war!
Be mindful of the ftrength your fathers bore;
Be ftill yourfelves, and Hector afks no more.
One hour demands me in the Trojan wall,
To bid our altars flame, and victims fall:
Nor fhall, I truft, the matrons holy train
And reverend elders, feek the Gods in vain.

This faid, with ample ftrides the hero paft;
The thield's large orb behind his fhoulder caft,
His neck o'erthading, to his ancle hung;
And as he march'd, the brazen buckler rung.

140

145

Now paus'd the battle (god-like Hector gone) When daring Glaucus and great Tydeus' fon Between both armies met: the chiefs from far Obferv'd each other, and had mark'd for war. 150 Near as they drew, Tydides thus began:

155

What art thou, boldest of the race of man? Our eyes, till now, that afpećt ne'er beheld, Where fame is reap'd amid th' embattled field; Yet far before the troops thou dar'ft appear, And meet a lance the fierceft heroes fear. Unhappy they, and born of luckless fires, Who tempt our fury when Minerva fires! But if from heaven, celeftial, thou defcend; Know, with Immortals we no more contend. 160 Not long Lycurgus view'd the golden light, That daring man w nix'd with Gods in fight. Bacchas, and Bacchus' votaries, he drove, With brandifh'd steel from Nyffa's facred grove;

Their confecrated fpears lay scatter'd round, 165
With curling vines and twisted ivy bound;
While Bacchus headlong fought the briny flood,
And Thetis' arm receiv'd the trembling God.
Nor fail'd the crime th' immortals wrath to move,
(Th' immortals bleft with endless eafe above) 170
Depriv'd of fight by their avenging doom,
Chearlefs he breath'd, and wander'd in the gloom:
Then funk unpity'd to the dire abodes,

A wretch accurft, and hated by the Gods!
I brave not heaven: but if the fruits of earth 175
Suftain thy life, and human be thy birth;
Bold as thou art, too prodigal of breath,
Approach, and enter the dark gates of death.

What, or from whence I am, or who my fire, (Reply'd the chief) can Tydeus' fon enquire? 180 Like leaves on trees the race of man is found, Now green in youth, now withering on the ground;

Another race the following fpring fupplies;
They fall fucceffive, and fucceffive rife:
So generations in their courfe decay;
So flourish thefe, when those are past away.
But if thou still perfift to fearch my birth,
Then hear a tale that fills the fpacious earth.

185

A city ftands on Argos' utmost bound, (Argos the fair, for warlike fteeds renown'd) 190 Æolian Sifyphus, with wifdom bleft, In ancient time the happy walls poffeft, Then call'd Ephyre: Glaucus was his fon; Great Glaucus, father of Bellerophon, Who o'er the fons of men in beauty fhin'd, 195 Lov'd for that valour which preserves mankind. Then mighty Prætus Argos' fceptres fway'd, Whofe hard command Bellerophon obey`d. With direful jealousy the monarch rag`d, And the brave prince in numerous toils engag'd.

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205

For him Antea burn'd with lawless flame,
And ftrove to tempt him from the paths of fame :
In vain the tempted the relentless youth,
Endued with wifdom, facred fear, and truth.
Fir'd at his fcorn the queen to Prætus fled,
And begg'd revenge for her infulted bed:
Incens'd he heard, refolving on his fate;
But hofpitable laws reftrain'd his hate :
To Lycia the devoted youth he fent,
With tablets feal'd, that told his dire intent.
Now, bleft by every power who guards the good,
The chief arriv'd at Xanthus' filver flood:
There Lycia's monarch paid him honours due,
Nine days he feafted, and nine bulls he flew.
But when the tenth bright morning orient glow'd,
215

210

Then met in arms the Solymaan crew, (Fierceft of men) and those the warriour flew. Next the bold Amazon's whole force defy'd; And conquer'd ftill, for Heaven was on his fide. 230

Nor ended here his toils; his Lycian foes
At his return, a treacherous ambush rose,
With levell'd fpears along the winding fhore;
There fell they breathlefs, and return'd no more.
At length the monarch with repentant grief
235

Confefs'd the Gods, and God-defcended chief;
His daughter gave, the stranger to detain,
With half the honours of his ample reign:
The Lycians grant a chofen space of ground,
With woods, with vineyards, and with harvests
crown'd,

There long the chief his happy lot poffefs'd.
With two brave fons and one fair daughter blefs'd;
(Fair even in heavenly eyes; her fruitful love
Crown'd with Sarpedon's birth th' embrace of
Jovej

But when at laft, distracted in his mind,
Forfook by heaven, forfaking human kind,
Wide o'er th' Alcian field he chose to stray,
A long, forlorn, uncomfortable way!

245

Woes neap'd on woes confum'd his wafted heart;
His beauteous daughter fell by Phoebe's dart; 250
His e.deft-born by raging Mars was flain,
In combat on the Solymaan plain.
Hippolochus furviv'd; from him I came,
The honour'd author of my birth and name;
By his decree I fought the Trojan town,
By his inftructions learn to win renown,
To ftand the first in worth as in command,
To add new honour to my native land,
Before my eyes my mighty fires to place,
And emulate the glories of our race.

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260

He fpoke, and transport fill'd Tydides heart; In earth the generous warriour fix'd his dart, Then friendly, thus, the Lycian prince addreft: Welcome, my brave hereditary guest ! Thus ever let us meet, with kind embrace, Nor ftain the facred friendship of our race. Know, chief, our grandfires have been guests of old;

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300

For husbands, brothers, fons, engag'd in war.
He bids the train in long proceffion go,
And feek the Gods t' avert th' impending woe.
And now to Priam's stately courts he came,
Rais'd on arch'd columns of ftupendous fame; 305
O'er these a range of marble ftructures runs,
The rich pavilions of his fifty fons,

In fifty chambers lodg'd: and rooms of ftate
Oppos'd to thofe, where Priam's daughters fate
Twelve domes for them and their lov'd fpoufes!
fhone,

Of equal beauty, and of polish'd stone.
Hither great Hector pafs'd, nor pafs'd unfeen
Of royal Hecuba, his mother queen
(With her Laodicè, whofe beauteous face

Surpafs'd the nymphs of Troy's illuftrious race :)

315 Long in a strict embrace the held her fon, And prefs'd his hand, and tender thus begun : O Hector! fay, what great occafion calls My fon from fight, when Greece furrounds our walls?

Com'st thou to fupplicate th' Almighty Power, 320
With lifted hands from Ilion's lofty tower?
Stay, till I bring the cup with Bacchus crown'd,
In Jove's high name, to sprinkle on the ground,
And pay due vows to all the Gods around.
Then with a plenteous draught refresh thy soul,

"S

If yet, not loft to all the fenfe of shame,
The recreant warriour hear the voice of fame.
Oh would kind earth the hateful wretch embrace,
That reft of Troy, that ruin of our race!
Deep to the dark abyfs might he defcend,
Troy yet fhould flourish, and my forrows end. 355
This heard, the gave command; and fum-
mon'd came

360

365

370

Each noble mation and i'luftrious dame.
The Phrygian queen to her rich wardrobe went,
Where treafur'd odours breath'd a coftly scent.
There lay the veftures of no vulgar art,
Sidonian maids embroider'd every part,
Whom from feft Sidon youthful Paris bore,
With Helen touching on the Tyrian fhore.
Here as the queen revolv'd with careful eyes
The various textures and the various dyes:
She chofe a veil that fhone fuperiour far,
And glow'd refulgent as the morning far.
Herself with this the long proceffion leads;
'The train majeftically flow proceeds.
Soon as to lion's topmoft tower they come,
And awful reach the high Palladian dome,
Antenor's confort, fair Theano, waits
As Pallas' prieftefs, and unbars the gates,
With hands uplifted and imploring eyes,
They fill the dome with fupplicating cries.
The priestefs then the fhining veil difplays,
Plac'd on Minerva's knees, and thus fhe prays:
Oh awful Goddefs! ever-dreadful maid,
Troy's ftrong defence, unconquer'd Pallas, aid!
Break thou Tydides fpear, and let him fall
Prone on the duft before the Trojan wall,
So twelve young heifers, guiltless of the yoke,
Shall filthy tempie with a grateful smoke.
But thou, aton'd by penitence and prayer,
Curfelves, our infants, and our cicy fpare!
So pray'd the priestess in her holy fane;
So vow'd the matrons, but they vow'd in vain.
While these appear before the Power with
prayers,

Hector to Paris' lofty dome repairs.

375

380

385

395

Imfelf the manfion rais'd, from every part 390
Aflembling architects of matchlefs art.
Near Priam's court and Hector's palace fands
The pompous ftruchire, and the town commands.
A fpear the hero bore of wondrous .trength,
Of full ten cubits was the lance's length,
The feely point with golden ringlets join'd,
Before him bindifh'd, at each netion fhin'd.
Thus entering, in the glittering rooms he found
His brother-chief, whofe ufelefs arms lay round.
His eyes delighting with the splendid thow, 400
Brightening the fhield, and polishing he bow.
Ecfide him Helen with her virgins stands,
Buides their rich labours, and inftructs their
hands.

410

Him thus unactive, with an ardent look The prince beheld, and high refenting spoke. 403 Thy hate to Troy, is this the time to show? (Oh wretch ill-fated, and thy country's foe!) Paris and Greece against us, both confpire; Thy clofe refentment, and their vengeful ire. For thee great Ilion's guardian heroes fall, Till heaps of dead alone defend her wall; For thee the foldier bleeds, the matron mourns, And wasteful war in all its fury burns. Ungrateful man! deferves not this thy care, Our troops to hearten, and our toils to share? 415 Rife, or behold the conquering flames afcend, And all the Phrygian glories at an end.

Brother, 'tis juft (reply'd the generous youth) Thy free remonftrance proves thy worth and truth:

Yet charge my abfence lefs, oh generous chief!

440

The fatal infant to the fowls of air?
Why funk I not beneath the whelming tide,
And 'midft the roarings of the waters died?
Heaven fill'd up all my ills, and I accurft
Bore all, and Paris of thofe ills the worst.
Helen at least a braver spouse might claim,
Warm'd with fome virtue, fome regard of fame?
Now, tir'd with toils, thy fainting limbs recline,
With toils, fuftain'd for Paris' fake and mine: 445
The Gods have link'd our miserable doom,
Our prefent woe and infamy to come :
Wide thall it fpread, and laft through ages long.
Example fad and theme of future fong.
The chief reply'd: this time forbids to reft:

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445

The Trojan bands, by hoftile fury prest,
Demand their Hector, and his arm require;
The combat urges, and my foul's on fire.
Urge thou thy knight to march where glory calls,
And timely join me, ere I leave the walls.
Ere yet I mingle in the direful fray,
My wife, my infant, claim a moment's stay;
This day (perhaps the laft that fees me here)
Demands a parting word, a tender tear :
This day, fome God who hates our Trojan land 460
May vanquith Hector by a Grecian hand,

He faid, and pafs'd with fad prefaging heart To feck his fpoufe, his foul's far dearer part;

At home he fought her, but he fought in vain :
She, with one maid of all her menial train, 455
Had thence retir'd; and with her fecond joy,
The young Aftyanax, the hope of Troy,
Penfive the ftood on Ilion's towery height,
Beheld the war, and ficken'd at the fight;
There her fad eyes in vain her lord explore, 470
Or weep the wounds her bleeding country bore.

But he who found not whom his foul defir'd,
Whofe virtue charm'd him as her beauty fir'd,
Stood in the gates, and afk'd what way the bent
Her parting step? If to the fane fhe went, 475
Where late the mourning matrons made refort;
Or fought her fifters in the Trojan court?
Not to the court, (reply'd th' attendant train)
Nor mix'd with matrons to Minerva's fane:
To Ilion's fteepy tower the bent her way,
To mark the fortunes of the doubtful day.
Troy fled, the heard, before the Grecian fword;
She heard, and trembled for her abfent lord:
Distracted with furprize, the feem'd to fly,
Fear on her cheek, and forrow in her eye.
The nurse attended with her infant boy,
The young Aftyanax, the hope of Troy.

480

485

Hector, this heard, return'd without delay; Swift through the town he trod his former way, Through streets of palaces, and walks of state;

490

495

500

And met the mourner at the Scaan gate.
With hafte to meet him fprung the joyful fair,
His blamelefs wife, Aëtion's wealthy heir;
(Cilician Thebe great Aëtion fway'd,
And Hippoplacus' wide-extend.d fhade)
The nurse stood near, in whofe embraces prest
His only hope hung fmiling at her breast,
Whom each foft charm and early grace adorn,
Fair as the new-born ftar that gilds the morn.
To this lov'd infant Hector gave the name
Scamandrius, from Scamander's honour'd ftream;
Aftyanax the Trojans call'd the boy,
From his great father, the defence of Troy.
Silent the warriour fmil'd, and, pleas'd, refign'd
To tender paffions all his mighty mind:
505
His beauteous princefs caft a mournful lock,
Hung on his hand, and then dejected spoke;
Her bofom labour'd with a boding figh,
And the big tear stood trembling in her eye.
Too daring prince! ah, whither doft thou run?

510

515

520

His radiant arms preferv'd from hoftile fpoil,
And laid him decent on the funeral pile;
Then rais'd a mountain where his bones were
burn'd:

The mountain nymphs the rural tomb adorn'd,
Jove's fylvan daughters bade their elms beftow
A barren fhade, and in his honour grow.

By the fame arm my feven brave brothers fell;
In one fad day beheld the gates of hell;
535
While the fat herds and fnowy florks they fed;
Amid their fields the haple's heroes bied!
My mother liv'd to bear the victor's bands,
The queen of Hippoplacia's fylvan lands:
Redeem'd too late, fhe fcarce beheld again 540
Her pleafing empire and her native plain,
When, ah oppreft by life-confuming woe,
She fell a victim to Diana's bow.

Yet, while my Hector ftill furvives, I fee
My father, mother, brethren, all, in thee: 545
Alas! my parents, brothers, kindred, all
Once more will perish, if my Hector fall.`
Thy wife, thy infant, in thy danger fhare:
Oh prove a husband's and a father's care!

That quarter most the skilful Greeks annoy, 550
Where yon wild fig-trees join the wall of Troy:
Thou from this tower defend th' important poft;
There Agamemnon points his dreadful hoft,
That pafs Tydides, Ajax, ftrive to gain,
And there the vengeful Spartan fires his train.
555

Thrice our bold foes the fierce attack have given,
Or led by hopes, or dictated from Heaven.
Let others in the field their arms employ,
But stay my Hector here, and guard his Troy.
The chief reply'd: That poft be all my care,
Not that alone, but all the works of war.
How would the fons of Troy, in arms renown'd,
And Troy's proud dames, whofe garments sweep
the ground,

Attaint the luftre of my former name,

560

Should Hector bafely quit the field of fame? 565
My early youth was bred to martial pains,
My foul impels me to th' embattled plains:
Let me be foremost to defend the throne,
And guard my father's glories, and my own.

Yet come it will, the day decreed by fates: 570 (ow my heart trembles while my tongue relates !)

575

The day when thou, imperial Troy! muft bend,
And fee thy warriours fall, thy glories end.
And yet no dire prefage fo wounds my mind,
My mother's death, the ruin of my kind,
Not Priam's hoary hairs defil'd with gore,
Not all my brothers gafping on the fhore;
As thine, Andromache! thy griefs I dread;
I fce thee trembling, weeping, captive led!
In Argive looms our battles to defign,
And woes, of which fo large a part was thine!
To bear the victor's hard commands, or bring
The weight of waters from Hyperia's fpring.
There, while you groan beneath the load of life,
They cry, Behold the mighty Hector's wife!

580