Mars hovers o'er them with his fable fhield,
And adds new horrours to the darken'd field:
Pleas'd with his charge, and ardent to fulfil,
In Troy's defence, Apollo's heavenly will:
Soon as from fight the blue-ey'd Maid retires, 625
Each Trojan bofom with new warmth he fires.
And now the God, from forth his facred fane,
Produc'd Eneas to the fhouting train;
Alive, unharm'd, with al his peers around,
Erect he stood, and vigorons from his wound: 630
Enquiries none they made; the dreadful day
No pause of words admits, no duft delay;
Fierce difcord torms, Apollo loud exclaims,
Fame calls, Mars thunders, and the field's in
flames,

635

640

Stern Diomed with either Ajax ftood, And great Ulyffes, bath'd in hostile blood. Embodied clofe, the labouring Grecian train The fierceft fhock of charging hosts fuftain. Unmov'd and filent, the whole war they wait, Serenely dreadful, and as fix'd as fate. So when th' embattled clouds in dark array, Along the skies their gloomy lines difplay; When now the north his boisterous rage has fpent, And peaceful fleeps the liquid element: The low-hung vapours motionlefs and ftill, Reft on the fummits of the fhaded hill; Till the mafs fcatters as the winds arife, Difpers'd and broken through the ruffled skies. Nor was the general wanting to his train, From troop to troop he toils through all the plain.

645

650

655

Ye Greeks, be men! the charge of battle bear;
Your brave afïociates and yourselves revere !
Let glorious acts more glorious acts infpire,
And catch from breaft to breaft the noble fire!
On valour's fide the odds of combat lie,
The brave live glorious, or lamented die;
The wretch who trembles in the field of fame,
Meets death, and, worfe than death, eternal thame.
Thefe words he feconds with his flying lance,
To meet whofe point was strong Deicoon's chance,

Rush fearless to the plains, and uncontrould
Depopulate the stalls, and waste the fold;
Till pierc'd at diftance from their native den, 685
O'erpower'd they fall beneath the force of men.
Proftrate on earth their beauteous bodies lay,
Like mountain firs, as tall and straight as they.
Great Menelaus views with pitying eyes,
Lifts his bright lance, and at the victor flies; 690
Mars urg'd him on; yet, ruthless in his hate,
The God but urg'd him to provoke his fate.
He thus advancing, Neftor's valiant son
Shakes for his danger, and neglects his own;
Struck with the thought, fhould Helen's lord be
flain,

700

705

And all his country's glorious labours vain.
Already met the threatening heroes ftand;
The fpears already tremble in their hand:
In rush'd Antilochus, his aid to bring,
And fall or conquer by the Spartan king,
Thefe feen, the Dardan backward turn'd his
course,
Brave as he was, and shun'd enequal force,
The breathlefs bodies to the Greeks they drew,
Then mix in combat, and their toils renew.
First Pylæmenes, great in battle, bled,.,
Who fheath'd in brafs the Paphlagonians led.
Atrides mark'd him where fublime he stood;
Fix'd in his throat, the javelin drank his blood.
The faithful Mydon, as he turn'd from fight
His flying courfers, funk to endless night:
A broken rock by Neftor's fon was thrown;
His bended arm receiv'd the falling ftone.
From his numb'd hands the ivory-studded reins,
Dropt in the duft, are trail'd along the plains:
Meanwhile his temples feel a deadly wound: 715
He groans in death, and ponderous finks to ground;
Deep drove his helmet in the fands, and there
The head ftood fix'd, the quivering legs in air,
Till trampled flat beneath the courfer's feet: 720
The youthful victor mounts his empty feat,
And bears the prize in triumph to the fleet.

710

725

Great Hector faw, then raging at the view, Pours on the Greeks; the Trojan troops pursue; He fires his hoft with animating cries, And brings along the furies of the fkies. Mars, ftern destroyer! and Bellona dread, Flame in the front, and thunder at their head: This fwells the tumult and the rage of fight; That shakes a fpear that cafts a dreadful light, Where Hector march'd, the God of battles fhin'd,

730

Now ftorm'd before him, and now rag'd behind.
Tydides paus'd amidst his full career;
Then firft the hero's manly breaft knew fear.
As when fome fimple fwain his cot forfakes,
And wide through fens an unknown journey
takes;

If chance a fwelling brook his passage stay,
And foam impervious cross the wanderer's way,
Confus'd he ftops, a length of country past,
Eye, the rough waves, and, tir'd, returns at last.
Amaz'd no lefs the great Tydides ftands: 740
He stay'd, and, turning, thus addrefs'd his bands:
No wonder, Greeks! that all to Hector yield,
Secure of favouring Gods, he takes the field:

765

Around his head an iron tempeft rain'd;
A wood of fpears his ample field fuftain'd;
Beneath one foot the yet-warm corpfe he preft,
And drew his javelin from the bleeding breast:
He could no more; the fhowering darts deny'd
770

To fpoil his glittering arms and plumy pride.
Now foes on foes came pouring on the field,
With bristling lances, and compacted shields;
Till, in the fteely circle straiten'd round,
Forc'd he gives way, and sternly quits the ground.
While thus they ftrive, Tlepolemus the great,
Urg'd by the force of unrefifted fate,
Burns with defire Sarpedon's ftrength to prove ;
Alcides' offspring meets the fon of Jove.
Sheath'd in bright arms each adverse chief came
780

on,

Jove's great defcendant, and his greater fon.
Prepar'd for combat ere the lance he tofs'd,
The daring Rhodian vents his haughty boast:
What brings this Lycian counsellor so far,
To tremble at our arms, not mix in war? 785
Know thy vain felf; nor let their flattery move,
Who ftyle thee fon of cloud-compelling Jove.
How far unlike thofe chiefs of race divine,
How vaft the difference of their deeds and thine!
Jove got fuch heroes as my fire, whofe foul 790
No fear could daunt, nor earth nor hell controul.
Troy felt his arm, and yon proud ramparts stand
Rais'd on the ruins of his vengeful hand :
With fix fmall fhips, and but a flender train,
He left the town a wide-deferted plain.
But what art thou? who deedlefs look'it around,
While unreveng'd thy Lycians bite the ground:
Small aid to Troy thy feeble force can be ;
But, wert thou greater, thou must yield to me.
Piefc'd by my fpear, to endless dark nefs go! 800
I make this present to the fhades below,

795

The fon of Hercules, the Rhodian guide, Thus haughty spoke. The Lycian king reply'd :

Thy fire, O prince! o'erturn'd the Trojan state,

Whofe perjur'd monarch well deferv'd his fate; 805

Thofe heavenly fteeds the h ro fought fo far,
Falfe he detain'd, the juft reward of war.
Nor fo content, the generous chief defy'd,
With base reproaches and unmanly pride.
But you, unworthy the high race you boaft, 810
Shall raife my glory when thy own is loft:
Now meet thy fate, and, by Sarpedon flain,
Add one more ghost to Pluto's gloomy reign.
He faid: both javelins at an inftant flew ;
Both ftruck, both wounded; but Sarpedon's
new:
815

Full in the boaster's neck the weapon stood.
Transfix'd his throat, and drank the vital blood;
The foul difdainful feeks the caves of night,
And his feal'd eyes for ever lofe the light.

Yet not in vain, Tiepolemus, was thrown 820
Thy angry lance; which, piercing to the bone
Sarpedon's thigh, had robb'd the chief of breath;
But Jove was prefent, and forbade the death.
Born from the conflict by the Lycian throng,
The wounded hero dragg'd the lance along. 825
(His friends, each bufied in his several part,
Through hafte, or danger, had not drawn the
dart.)

The Greeks with flain Tlepolemus retir'd;
Whofe fall Ulyffes view'd, with fury fir'd;
Doubtful if Jove's great fon he should pursue, 830
Or pour his vengeance on the Lycian crew.
But Heaven and Fate the first defign withstand,
Nor this great death must grace Ulyffes' hand.
Minerva drives him on the Lycian train;
Alaftor, Cromius, Helius, ftrow'd the plain, 835
Alcander, Prytanis, Noëmon fell:

And numbers more his fword had fent to hell,
But Hector faw; and, furious at the fight,
Rufh'd terrible amidst the ranks of fight.
With joy Sarpedon view'd the wifh'd relief, 840
And, faint, lamenting, thus implor'd the chief:
Oh fuffer not the foe to bear away
My helpless corpse, an unassisted prey;
If I, unbleft, muft fee my fon no more,
My much-lov'd confort, and my native fhore,

845

Teuthras the great, Oreftes the renown'd For manag'd fteeds, and Trechus prefs'd the ground:

870

Next Oenomaus, and Oenops' off pring dy'd;
Orefbius laft fell groaning at their fide;
Orefbius, in his painted mitre gay,
Ja fat Bootia held his wealthy fway,
Where lakes furround low Hyle's watery plain;
A prince and people ftudious of their gain.

The carnage Juno from the fkies furvey'd,
And, touch'd with grief, befpoke the blue-ey'd
Maid.

Oh fight accurs'd! fhall faithlefs Troy prevail,
And thall our promife to our people fail?
How vain the word to Menelaus given

By Jove's great daughter and the Queen of Hea

A fringe of ferpents hiffing guards the gold:
Here all the terrours of grim War appear,
Here rages Force, here tremble Flight and Fear,
915
Here ftorm'd Contention, and here Fury frown'd,
And the dire orb portentous Gorgon crown`d.
The mafly golden helm the next affumes,
That dreadful nods, with four o'crfhading plumes;
So vaft, the broad circumference contains
A hundred armies on a hundred plains.
The Goddess thus th' imperial car afcends;
Shook by her arm the mighty javelin bends,
Ponderous and huge; that, when her fury burns,
Proud tyrants hunibles, and whole hofts o'erturns.
925

920

Swift at the fcourge th' ethereal courfers fly, While the finooth chariot cuts the liquid fky. Heaven's gates fpontaneous open to the powers; Heaven's golden gates, kept by the winged hours; Commiffion'd in alternate watch they ftand, 930 The fun's bright portals and the fkies command, Involve in clouds th' eternal gates of day, Or the dark barrier roll with eafe away. The founding hinges ring; on either fide The gloomy volumes, pierc'd with light, divide.

935 The chariot mounts, where deep in ambient fkies Confus'd, Olympus' hundred heads arife: Where far apart the Thunderer fills his throne; O'er all the Gods fuperiour and alone. There with her fnowy hand the Queen reftrains 940

The fiery fteeds, and thus to Jove complains:
O Sire! can no refentment touch thy foul?
Can Mars rebel, and does no thunder roll?
What lawless rage on yon forbidden plain,
What rash destruction! and what heroes flain !

950

And drive from fight th' impetuous homicide?
To whom affenting, thus the Thunderer faid: -
Go! and the great Minerva be thy aid.
To tame the monster-god Minerva knows,
And oft afflicts his brutal breaft with woes. 955
He faid; Saturnia, ardent to obey,
Lafh'd her white steeds along th' aerial way.
Swift down the steep of heaven the chariot rolls,
Between th' expanded earth and starry poles.
Far as a shepherd, from fome point on high, 960
O'er the wide main extends his boundless eye;
Through fuch a space of air, with thundering

Thence to relieve the fainting Argive throng,

970

Smooth as the failing doves, they glide along. The best and braveft of the Grecian band (A warlike circle) round Tydides ft..nd: Such was their look as lions bath'd in blood, Or foaming boars, the terrour of the wood. 975 Heaven's emprefs mingles with their mortal crowd,

And fhouts, in Stentor's founding voice, aloud:
Stentor the ftrong, endued with brazen lungs,
Whofe throat furpafs'd the force of fifty tongues.
Inglorious Argives! to your race a fhame, 980
And only men in figure and in name!

Once from the walls your timorous foes engag'd,
While fierce in war divine Achilles rag'd;
Now iffuing fearless they poffefs the plain,
Now win the shores, and fcarce the feas remain.
985

990

Her fpeech new fury to their hearts convey'd ; While near Tydides ftood th' Athenian maid; The king befide his panting steeds the found, O'erfpent with toil, repofing on the ground: To cool his glowing wound he fat apart (The wound inflicted by the Lycian dart); Large drops of fwea: from all his limbs defcend; Beneath his ponderous fhield his finews bend, Whofe ample belt, that o'er his fhoulders lay, He eas'd, and wash'd the clotted gore away. 995 The Goddess leaning o'er the bending yoke, Befide his courfers, thus her filence broke:

Degenerate prince! and not of Tydeus' kind, Whofe little body lodg'd a mighty mind; Foremost he prefs'd in glorious toils to fhare, 1000 And scarce refrain'd when I forbade the war. Alone, unguarded, once he dar'd to go And feast, encircled by the Theban foe; There bray'd, and vanquish'd, many a hardy Knight;

Such nerves I gave him, and fuch force in fight. 1005

Thou too no lefs haft been my constant care;
Thy hands I arm'd, and fent thce forth to war:
But thee or fear deters, or floth detains ;
No drop of all thy father warms thy veins.

The chief thus anfwer'd mild: Immortal maid! I own thy prefence, and confefs thy aid.

Not fear, thou know'ft, withholds me from the plains,

Nor floth hath feiz'd me, but thy word reftrains: From warring Gods thou bad'it me turn my fpear,

1015

And Venus only found refiftance here.
Hence, Goddefs! heedful of thy high commands,
Loth I gave way, and warn'd our Argive bands:
For Mars, the homicide, thefe eyes beheld,
With flaughter red, and raging round the field.
Then thus Minerva. Brave Tydides, hear!

1020

Not Mars himself, nor aught immortal, fear.
Fall on the God impel thy foaming horfe:
Pallas commands, and Pallas lends thee force.
Bath, furious, blind, from these to thofe he flies,
And every fide of wavering combat tries; 1025

53

Large promife makes, and breaks the promise made;

Now gives the Grecians, now the Trojans aid.
She faid, and to the steeds approaching near,
Drew from his feat the martial charioteer,
The vigorous power the trembling car afcends,
1030

Fierce for revenge, and Diomed attends.
The groaning axle bent beneath the load;
So great a Hero, and fo great a God.
She fnatch'd the reins, the lafh'd with all her
force,

And full on Mars impell'd the foaming horfe: 1035
But first to hide her heavenly visage spread
Black Orcus' helmet o'er her radiant head.

Just then gigantic Periphas lay flain,
The ftrongest warrior of th' Etolian train;
The God, who flew him, leaves his proftrate

prize

Stretch'd where he fell, and at Tydides flies.
Now, rufhing fierce, in equal arms appear,
The daring Greek; the dreadful God of war!
Full at the chief, above his courfer's head,
From Mars's arm th' enormous weapon fied: 1045
Pallas oppos'd her hand, and caus'd to glance,
Far from the car, the ftrong immortal lance.
Then threw the force of Tydeus' warlike fon;
The javelin hifs'd; the Goddefs urg'd it on:
Where the broad cincture girt his armour round,

1070