Thus, by an arm divine, and mortal spear,
Wounded at once, Patroclus yields to fear,
Retires for fuccour to his focial train, [985
And flies the fate, which Heaven decreed, in vain.
Stern Hector, as the bleeding chief he views,
Breaks through the ranks, and his retreat purfues:
The lance arrefts him with a mortal wound;
He falls, earth thunders, and his arms refound.
With him all Greece was funk; that moment all
Her yet-furviving heroes feem'd to fall. [990
So, fcorch'd with heat, along the defert shore,
The roaming lion meets a briftly boar,
Faft by the fpring; they both difpute the flood,
With flaming eyes, and jaws befmear'd with
blood;

995

1000

At length the fovereign favage wins the ftrife,
And the torn boar refigns his thirst and life.
Patroclus thus, fo many chiefs o'erthrown,
So many lives effus'd, expires his own.
As dying now at Hector's feet he lics,
He flernly views him, and triumphing cries!
Lie there, Patrocius: and with thee, the joy
Thy pride once promis'd, of fubverting Troy;
The fancy'd fcenes of Ilion wrapt in flames, [1005
And thy foft pleafures ferv'd with captive dames!
Unthinking man! I fought, thofe towers to free,
And guard that beauteous race from lords like
But thou a prey to vultures fhalt be made; [thee;
Thy own Achilles cannot lend thee aid;
Though much at parting that great chief might
fay,
1010

And much enjoin thee, this important day.
"Return not, my brave friend perhaps he faid)-
"Without the bloody armis of Hector dead."
He fpoke, Patroclus march'd, and thus he fped.

1015

Supine and wildly gazing on the skies,
With faint, expiring breath, the chief replies:
Vain boafter! ceafe, and know the Powers di-
Jove's and Apollo's is this deed, not'thine; [vine!
To Heaven is ow'd whate'er your own you call,
And Heaven itself difarm'd me ere my fall. 1020
Had twenty mortals, each thy match in might,
Oppos'd me fairly, they had funk in fight ;
By Fate and Phoebus was I firft o'erthrown,
Euphorbus next, the third mean part thy own:
But thou, imperious! hear my latest breath; 1025
The Gods infpire it, and it founds thy death.
Infulting man, thou fhalt be foon as 1; [nigh:
Black fate hangs o'er thee, and thy hour draws
Ev'n now on life's laft verge I see thee stand,
I fee thee fall, and by Achilles' hand.
He faints; the foul unwilling wings her way
(The beauteous body left a load of clay)
Flits to the lone, uncomfortable coaft,
A naked, wandering, melancholy ghost!
Then Hector, paufing, as his eyes he fed 1035
On the pale carcafe, thus addrefs' the dead;

1030

From whence this boding fpeech, the stern decree
Of death denounc'd, or why denounc'd to me?
Why not as well Achilles' fate be given
To Hector's lance? Who knows the will of Hea-
ven?
1040

Penfive he faid; then preffing, as he lay,
His breathiefs bofom, tore the lance away,
And upwards caft the corpfe: the reeking fpear
He fhakes, and charges the bold charioteer.
But fwift Automedon with loofen'd reins
Rapt in the chariot o'er the diftant plains,
Far from his rage th' immortal courfers drove,
Th' immortal courfers were the gift of Jove.

IC45

BOOK XVII.

THE ARGUMENT.

The feventh Battle, for the Body of Patroclus: the Acts of Menelaus.

Menelaus, upon the death of Patroclus, defends bis body from the enemy: Euphorbus, who attempts it, is flain. Hellor advancing, Menelaus retires; but foon returns with Ajax, and drives bim off. This Glaucus objects to Helor as a fight; who thereupon puts on the armour he had won from Patroclus, and renews the battle. The Greeks give way, till Ajax rallies them: Æneas fuflains the Trojans. Æneas and Hector attempt the chariot of Achilles, which is borne off by Automedon. The borfes of Achilles deplore the lofs of Patroclus : Jupiter covers bis body with a thick darkness: the noble prayer of Ajax on that occafion. Menelaus fends Antilochus to Achilles, with the news of Patroclus' death; then returns to the fight; where, though attacked with the utmof fury, be and Meriones, affifted by the Ajaxes, bear off the body to the fbips. The time is the evening of the eight and twentieth day. The scene lies in the fields before Troy.

Ο

N the cold earth divine Patroclus spread,
Lies pierc'd with wounds among the vulgar
dead.

Great Menelaüs, touch'd with generous woe,
Springs to the front, and guards him from the foe:
Thus round her new-fall'n young the heifer moves,
Fruit of her throes, and first-born of her loves, [5
And anxious (helpless as he lies, and bare)
Thurns, and re-turns her, with a mother's care.
Oppos'd to each that near the carcafe came, [10
His broad fhield glimmers, and his lances ́ fame.

155

Falt by his fide the generous Spartan glows
With great revenge, and feeds his inward woes.
But Glaucus, leader of the Lycian aids,
On Hector frowning, thus his flight upbraids:
Where now in Hector fhall we Hector find?
A manly form, without a manly mind!
Is this, O chief! a heroe's boafted fame?
How vain, without the merit, is the name!
Since battle is renounc'd, thy thoughts employ
What other methods may preferve thy Troy; 16c
Tis time to try if Ilion's ftate can stand
By thee alone, nor afk a foreign hand;
Mean, empty boaft! but fhall the Lycians ftake
Their lives for you? thofe Lycians you forfake?
What from thy thanklefs arms can we expect? 165
Thy friend Sarpedon proves thy bafe neglect:
Say, fhall our daughter'd bodies guard your walls,
While unreveng'd the great Sarpedon falls?
Ev'n where he dy'd for Troy, you left him there,
A feaft for dogs, and all the fowls of air. 170
On my command if any Lycian wait,
Hence let him march, and give up Troy to fate.
Did fuch a fpirit as the Gods impart
Impel one Trojan hand, or Trojan heart
(Such, as fhould burn in every foul, that draws 175
The fword for glory, and his country's caufe;)
Ev'n yet our mutual arms we might employ,
And drag yon carcafe to the walls of Troy.
Oh were Patroclus ours, we might obtain
Sarpedon's arms and honour'd corfe again!
Greece with Achilles' friend fhould be repaid,
And thus due honours purchas'd to his fhade.
But words are vain-Let Ajax once appear,
And Hector trembles and recedes with fear;
Thou dar'ft not meet the terrors of his eye;
And lot already thou prepar't to fly.
The Trojan chief with fix'd refentment ey'd
The Lycian leader, and fedate replied:

180

185

Say, is it juft (my friend) that Hector's ear
Frem fuch a warrior fuch a fpeech fhould hear? 190
I deem'd thee once the wifeft of thy kind,
But ill this infult fuits a prudent mind,
1 fhun great Ajax? I defert my train?
Tis mine to prove the rafh affertion vain ;
I joy to mingle where the battle bleeds,
And hear the thunder of the founding fteeds.
But Jove's high will is ever uncontroul'd,
The ftrong he withers, and confounds the bold;
Now crowns with fame the mighty man, and

now

195

Strikes the fresh garland from the victor's brow! 200
Come, through yon fquadron let us hew the way,
And thou be witnefs, if I fear to-day:
If yet a Greek the fight of Hector dread,
Or yet their herp can defend the dead.

Him, proud in triumph, glittering from afar, 225
The God, whofe thunder rends the troubled air,
Beheld with pity, as apart he fate,

And confcious look'd through all the fcene of fate.
He fhook the facred honours of his head;
Olympus trembled, and the Godhead faid:

230

235

240

Ah wretched man! unmindful of thy end!
A moment's glory! and what fates attend!
In heavenly panoply divinely bright
Thou ftand it, and armies tremble at thy fight,
As at Achilles' felf! beneath thy dart!
Lies flain the great Achilles' dearer part:
Thou from the mighty dead thofe arms haft torn,
Which once the greateft of mankind had worn.
Yet live! I give thee one illuftrious day,
A blaze of glory ere thou fad'ft away:
For ah! no more Andromache fhall come,
With joyful tears to welcome He&or home;
No more officious, with endearing charms,
From thy tir'd limbs unbrace Pelides' arms!
Then with his fable brow he gave the nod, 245
That feals his word; the fanction of the God.
The ftubborn arms (by Jove's command difpos'd)
Conform'd fpontaneous, and around him clos'd;
Fill'd with the God, enlarg'd his members grew,
Through all his veins a fudden vigour flew,
The blood in brifker tides began to roll,
And Mars himfelf came rufhing on his foul.
Exhorting loud, through all the field he ftrode,
And look'd, and mov'd, Achilles, or a God.
Now Mufthles, Glaucus, Medon, he infpires: 255
Now Phorcys, Chromius and Hippothoü, fires;
The great Thefilocus like fury found,
Afteropæus kindled at the found,

And Ennomus, in augury renown'd.

250

255

Hear, all ye hofts, and hear, unnumber'd band zoo
Of neighbouring nations, or of diftant fands!
'Twas not for ftate we fummon'd you so far,
To boaft our numbers, and the pomp of war;
Ye came to fight; a violent foe to chafe,
To fave our prefent, and our future race,
For this, our wealth, our products, you enjoy,
And glean the relicks of exhaufted Troy.
Now then to conquer or to die prepare,
To die, or conquer, are the terms of war.
Whatever hand thall win Patrockus flain,
Whoe'er fhall drag him to the Trojan train,

Then, turning to the martial hofts, he cries, 205 With Hector's felf fhall equal honours claim;

Ye Trojans, Dardans, Lycians, and allies!
Be men (my friends) in action as in name,
And yet be mindful of your ancient fame.
Hector in proud Achilles' arms fhall hine,
Torn from his friend, by right of conquest mine, 210
He ftrode along the field, as thus he faid
(The fable plumage nodded o'er his head :)
Swift through the fpacious plain he fent a look;
One inftant faw, one inftant overtook

The diftant band, that on the fandy fhore 215
The radiant fpoils to facred Ilion bore,
YOL. VI.

270

With Hector part the fpoil, and share the fame.
Fir'd by his words, the troops difmifs their
fears,

They join, they thicken,they protend their spears; 275
Full on the Greeks they drive in firm array,
And each from Ajax hopes the glorious prey:
Vain hope! what number hall the field o'er-
fpread,

What victims perifh round the mighty dead!
Great Ajax mark'd the growing ftorm from far, 285
And thus befpoke his brother of the war;

285

290

Ourf atal day! alas! is come (my friend)
And all our wars and glories at an end!
"Tis not this corfe alone we guard in vain,
Condemn'd to vultures on the Trojan plain;
We too muft yield: the fame fad fate muft fall
On thee, on me, perhaps (my friend on all.
See what a tempeft direful Hector spreads,
And lo! it bursts, it thunders on our heads!
Call on our Greeks, if any hear the call,
The braveft Greeks: this hour demands them all.
The warrior rais'd his voice, and wide around
The field re-echoed the diftrefsfui found;
Oh chiefs! oh princes! to whofe hand is given
The rule of men; whofe glory is from Heaven! 295
Whom with due honours both Atrides grace:
Ye guides and guardians of our Argive race! [far,
All whom this well-known voice fhould reach fo
All, whom I fee not through this cloud of war;
Come all! let generous rage your arms employ, 300
And fave Patroclus from the dogs of Troy.

305

Oilean Ajax first the voice obey'd,
Swift was his pace, and ready was his aid;
Next him Idomeneus, more flow with age,
And Merion, burning with a heroe's rage.
And long fucceeding numbers who can name?
But all were Greeks, and eager all for fame.
Fierce to the charge great Hector led the throng;
Whole Troy, embodied, rufh'd with fhouts along.
Thus, when a mountain-billow foanis and raves, 310
Where fome fwoln river difembógues his waves,
Full in the mouth is ftopp'd the rushing tide,
The boiling ocean works from fide to fide,
The river trembles to his utmoft fhore,
And diftant rocks rebellow to the roar.

350

Lamented youth! in life's first bloom he fell,
Sent by great Ajax to the fhades of hell.
Once more at Ajax, Hector's javelin flies;
The Grecian marking, as it cut the skies,
Shunn'd the defcending death; which hiffing on,
Stretch'd in the duft the great Iphitus' fon,
Schedius the brave, of all the Phocian kind
The nobleft warrior, and the nobleft mind: 355
In little Panepe, for ftrength renown'd,
He held his feat, and rul'd the 'realms around.
Plung'd in his throat, the weapon drank his blood,
And deep tranfpiercing through the shoulder food;
In clanging arms the hero fell, and all
The fields refounded with his weighty fall.
Phorcy's, as flain Hippothoüs he defends,
The Telamonian lance his belly rends;
The hollow armour burft before the ftroke, [365
And through the wound the rufhing entrails broke:
In ftrong convulfions panting on the fands
He lies, and grafps the duft with dying hands.

360

Struck at the fight, recede the Trojan train:
The fhouting Argives ftrip the heroes flain. [370
And now had Troy, by Greece compell'd to yield,
Fled to her ramparts, and refign'd the field;
Greece, in her native fortitude elate,
With Jove averfe, had turn'd the fcale of fate :
But Phoebus urg'd Æneas to the fight;
He feem'd like aged Periphas to fight
(A herald in Anchifes' love grown old,
Rever'd for prudence; and with prudence, bold).

375

Thus he-What methods yet, oh chief! remain, To fave your Troy, though Heaven its fall ordain? There have been heroes, who, by virtuous care, 380 315 By valour, numbers, and by art of war,

Nor lefs refolv'd, the firm Achaian band
With brazen fhields in horrid circle ftand:
Jove, pouring darknefs o'er the mingled fight,
Conceals the warriors fhining helms in right:
To him, the chief for whom the hofts contend, 320
Had liv'd not hateful, for he liv'd a friend;
Dead he protects him with fuperior care.
Nor dooms his carcafe to the birds of air.

The first attack the Grecians fcarce fuftain;
Repuls'd, they yield, the Trojans feize the flain: 325
Then fierce they rally, to revenge led on
By the fwift rage of Ajax Telamon
(Ajax, to Peleus's fon the fecond name,
In graceful ftature next, and next in fame)
With headlong force the foremost ranks he tore: 330
So through the thicket burfts the mountain-boar
And rudely fcatters, far to diftance round,
The frighted hunter and the baying hound.
The fon of Lethus, brave Pelafgus' heir,
Hippothoüs,dragg'd the carcafe through the war; 335
The finewy ancles bor'd, the feet he bound
With thongs, inferted through the double wound:
Inevitable late o'ertakes the deed,
Doom'd by great Ajax' vengeful lance to bleed:
It cleft the helmets brazen checks in twain;
The fhatter'd creft and horfe-hair trow the plain:
With nerves relax'd he tumbles to the ground:
The brain comes gufhing through the ghafly
wound:

He drops Fatroclus' foot, and o'er him fpread
Now lies, a fad companion of the dead:
Far from Lariffa lies, his native air,

And ill requites his parent's tender care.

340

345

Have forc'd the Powers to fpare a finking ftate,
And gain'd at length the glorious odds of fate.
But you, when Fortune fmiles, when Jove de-
clares

His partial favour, and affifts your wars,
385
Your fhameful efforts 'gainst yourfelves employ,
And force th' unwilling God to ruin Troy.

390

395

Æneas, through the form affum'd, defcries
The Power conceal'd, and thus to Hector cries!
Oh lafting fhame! to our own fears a prey,
We feek our ramparts, and defert the day!
A God (nor is he lefs my bofom warms,
And tells me, Jove afferts the Trojan arms.
He fpoke, and foremoft to the combat flew :
The bold example all his hoft purfue.
Then firft, Leocritus beneath him bled,
In vain belov'd by valiant Lycomede;
Who view'd his fall, and, grieving at the chance,
Swift to revenge it, fent his angry lance:
The whirling lance, with vigorous force addreft,400
Defcends, and pants in Apifaon's breast ;
From rich Pæonias' vales the warrior came,
Next thee, Afteropeus! in place and fame.
Afteropeus with grief beheld the flain,
And rush'd to combat, but he rush'd in vain: 405
Indiffolubly firm, around the dead,

[food

Rank within rank, or buckler buckler fpread,
And hemm'd with briftled fpears, the Grecian
Abrazen bulwark, and an iron wood.
Great Ajax eyes them with inceffant care,
And in an orb contracts the crowded war,
Clofe in their ranks commands to fight or fall,
And ftands the centre and the foul of all:

410