395

Then hear me, chief! nor let the morrow's light
Awake thy fquadrons to new toils of fight:
Some space at leaft permit the war to breathe,
While we to flames our flaughter'd friends be-
queath.

From the red field their scatter'd bodies bear; 400
And nigh the fleet a funeral ftructure rear;
So decent urns their fnowy bones may keep,
And pious children o'er their afhes weep.
Here, where on one promifcuous pile they blaz'd,
High o'er them all a general tomb be rais'd; 405
Next, to fecure our camp, and naval powers,
Raife an embattled wall, with lofty towers;
From space to space be ample gates around,
For paffing chariots; and a trench profound,
So Greece to combat thall in fafety go,
Nor fear the fierce incurfions of the foe.
'Twas thus the fage his wholesome counfe! mov'd;
The fceptred kings of Greece his words approv'd.
Meanwhile, conven'd at Priam's pa ace gate,
The Trojan peers in nightly council fate;
A fenate void of order, as of choice;
Their hearts were fearful, and confus'd their
voice.

410

415

But found ungrateful in a warriour's ears:
Old man, if, void of fallacy or art,
Thy words exprefs the purpofe of thy heart,
Thou, in thy time, more found advice haft given,
But wifdoin has its date, affign'd by Heaven. 435
Then hear me, prine s of the Trojan name!
Their treasures I'll restore, but not the dame;
My treafures too, for peace, I with refign;
But be this bright poffeffion ever mine.
'Twas then, the groaning difcord to compofe,

Slow from his feat the reverend Priam rofe; VOL. VI.

440

His god-like afpect deep attention drew: He paus'd, and these pacific words enfue;

Ye Tro ans, Dardans, and auxiliar bands! Now take refrethment as the hour demands: 445 Guard well the walls, relieve the watch of night, Till the new fun reftore the chearful light: Then fhall our heraid to th' Atrides fent, Before their fhips proclaim my fon's intent. Next let a truce Fe aik'd, that Troy may burn 450

Her flaughter'd heroes, and their bones inurn; That done, once more the fate of war be try'd, And whofe the conqueft, mighty Jove decide! The monarch fpoke! the warriours fnatch'ẻ with hafte

455

(Each at his poft in arms) a fhort repast. Soon as the rofy morn had wak'd the day, To the black fhips Idæus bent his way; There, to the fons of Mars, in council found, He rais'd his voice; the hoft ftood liftening round:

Ye fons of Atreus, and ye Greeks, give ear! 460 The words of Troy and Troy's great monarch hear,

Pleas'd may ye hear (fo Heaven fucceed my prayers)

What Paris, author of the war, declares.
The fpoils and treasures he to Ilion bore,
(Oh, had he perish'd ere they touch'd our shore!)
465

He proffers injur'd Greece; with large increafe
Of added Trojan wealth, to buy the peace.
But to restore the beauteous bride again,
This Greece demands, and Troy requests in vain.
Next, O ye chiefs! we ask a truce, to burn 470
Our laughter'd heroes, and their bones inurn.
That done, once more the fate of war be try'd,
And whofe the conqueft, mighty Jove decide!
The Greeks gave ear, but none the filence
broke:
475

At length Tydides rofe, and rifing spoke:
Oh, take not, friends! defrauded of your fame,
Their proffer'd wealth, nor ev'n the Spartan

dame.

Let conqueft make them ours: fate fhakes their wall,

And Troy already totters to her fall.

Th' admiring chiefs, and all the Grecian name,

480

With general shouts return'd him loud acclaim.
Then thus the King of Kings rejects the peace:
Herald! in him thou hear it the voice of Greece.
For what remains; let funeral flames be fed
With heroes corpfe; I war not with the dead:
485

Go fearch your flaughter'd chiefs on yonder plain,
And gratify the manes of the flain:
Be witnels, Jove, whofe thunder rolls on high!
He faid, and rear'd his fceptre to the sky.

To acred Troy, where all her prices lay 490
To wait th' event, the herald bent his way.
He came, and standing in the midft, explain'd
The peace rejected, but the truce obtain'd.
Straight to their feveral cares the Trojans move;
Some fearch the plains, fome fell the founding
grove:

Scarce could the friend his flaughter'd friend explore,

With duft dishonour'd, and deform'd with gore. 505 The wounds they wafh'd, their pious tears they fhed,

And, laid along their cars, deplor'd the dead;
Sage Priam check'd their grief: with filent hafte
The bodies decent on their piles were plac'd:
With melting hearts the cold remains they burn'd;
510

And fadly flow to facred Troy return'd.
Nor lefs the Greeks their pious forrows shed,
And decent on the pile difpofe the dead;
The cold remains confume with equal care;
And, flowly, fadly, to their fleet repair.
Now, ere the morn had streak'd with reddening
light

515

Shall, raz'd and loft, in long oblivion fleep.
Thus fpoke the hoary monarch of the deep.

Th' Almighty Thunderer with a frown replies, That clouds the world, and blackens half the skies: Strong God of Ocean! thou, whose rage can make 545

The folid Earth's eternal bafis shake:
What cause of fear from mortal works could

move

The meaneft fubject of our realms above?
Where'er the fun's refulgent rays are caft,
Thy power is honour'd, and thy fame fhall last.
550

But yon proud work no future age shall view,
No trace remain where once the glory grew,
The fapp'd foundations by thy force fhall fall,
And, whelm'd beneath thy waves, drop the hug●
wall:

Vaft drifts of fand shall change the former shore;
555
The ruin vanifh'd, and the name no more.
Thus they in heaven: while o'er the Grecian ́
train,

The rolling fun defcending to the main

Beheld the finish'd work. Their bulls they flew : Black from the tents the favoury vapours flew.

560

And now the fleet, arriv'd from Lemnos' ftands, With Bacchus' bleffings cheer'd the generous

For fuch I reign, unbounded and above;
And fuch are men and Gods, compar'd to Jove.
Th' Almighty spoke, nor durft the Powers re-
ply,

35

A reverend horror filenc'd all the fky; Trembling they stood before their Sovereign's look ;

At length his best-lov'd, the Power of Wisdom, fpoke:

Oh firit and greatest! Cod, by Gods ador'd! We own thy might, our Father and our Lord! 40 But ah! permit to pity human state; If not to help, at leaft lament their fate. From fields forbidden we fubmifs refrain, With arms unaiding mou our A: gives flain; Yet grant my counfels ftill their breafts may move,

Or all must perish in the wrath of Jove.

45

The cloud-compelling God her fuit approv'd,
And fmil'd fuperiour on his best-belov'd.
Then call'd his courfers, and his chariot took ;
The Redfaft firmament beneath him thook:
Rapt by the ethereal steeds the chariot roll'd;
Brats were their hoofs, their curling manes of
gold.

Of heaven's undroffy gold the God's array
Refulgent, afh'd intolerable day.

50

High on the throne he fhines: his courfers fly 55
Between th' extended earth and starry sky.
But when to Ida's topmoft height he came,
(Fair nurfe of fountains, and of favage game)
Where, o'er her pointed fummits proudly rais'd,
His fane breath'd odours, and his altars blaz'd: 60
There, from his radiant car the tacred Sire
Of Gods and men releas'd the fteeds of fire:
Blue ambient mits th' immortal steeds embrac'd;
High on the cloudy point his feat he plac'd ;
Thence his broad eye the fubject world furveys, 65
The town, and tents, and navigable feas.

70

Now had the Grecians fnatch'd a fhort repaft,
And buckled on their thining arms with hatte.
Troy rouz'd as foon; for on this dreadful day
The fate of fathers, wives, and infants, lay.
The gates unfolding pour forth all their train;
Squadrons en íquadrons cloud the dufky plain:
Men, feeds, and chariots, thake the trembling
ground;

The tumult thickens, and the fkies refound.
And now with fhouts the fhocking armies clos'd,

75

80

To lances lances, fhield: to fhields oppos'd,
Hoft against hoft with fhadowy legions drew,
The founding darts in iron tempef's flow,
Victors 2nd vanquifh'd join provifcuous cries,
Triumphant fouts and dying groans arife;
With ftreaming blood the fli pory fields are dy'd,
And flaughter'hero's fwell the dreadful tide.
Long as the morning beams encreafing bright,
O'er heaven's clear azure fpread tc facred light;
Commutual death the late of war confounds,
Each adverse battle gorld with equal wounds.
But when the fun the height of bea, en afcends;
The Sire of Gods his golden fcales inipends,
With equal hand: in thefe explor'd the fate
Of Greece and Troy, and pois'd the mighty
weight.

85

Prefs'd with its load, the Grecian balance lies Low funk on earth, the Trojan ftrikes the skies, Then Jove from Ida's top his horrours spreads; The clouds burst dreadful o'er the Grecian heads: Thick lightnings flash; the muttering thunder rolls;

100

Their ftrength he withers, and unmans their fouls.
Before his wrath the trembling hofts retire,
The God in terrors, and the ikies on fire.
Nor great domenens that fight could bear,
Nor each ftern Ajax, thunderbolts of war:
Nor he, the king of men, th' alarm sustain'd;
Neftor alone amidst the storm remain’d.
Unwilling he remain'd, for Paris' dart
Had pierc'd his courfer in a mortal part:
Fix'd in the forehead where the fpringing mane
105
Curl'd o'er the brow, it ftung him to the brain:
Mad with his anguifh, he begins to rear,
Paw with his hoofs aloft, and lath the air.
Scarce had his faulchion cut the reins, and freed
Th' encumber'd chariot from the dying ftced, 110
When dreadful Hector, thundering through the

war,

115

Pour'd to the tumult on his whirling car.
That day had Aretch'd beneath his matchlefs hand
The hoary monarch of the Pylian band:
But Diomed beheld: from forth the croud
He ruth'd, and on Ulyffes call'd aloud.
Whither, oh whither coes Ulves run?
Oh flight unworthy great Laertes' fon!
Mix'd with the vulgar fhall thy fate be found,
Pierc'd in the back, a vile, cifhoneft wound? 120
O turn and fave from Hector's direful rage
The glory of the Greeks, the Pylian fage.
His fruitless words are loft unheard in air,
Ulyffes feeks the ships, and fhelters there.
But hold Tydides to the refcue goes,
A fingle warriour 'midit a host of foes;
Before the courfers with a fudden fpring
He leap'd, and anxious thus bespoke the king:
Great perils, father! wait th' unequal fight;
Thefe younger champions will opprefs thy might.
130

Thy veins no more with ancient vigour glow;
Weak is thy fervant, and thy courfers flow.
Then hafte, afcend my feat, and from the car
Obferve the steeds of Tros, renown'd in war,
Practis'd alike to turn, to Rop, to chace,
To dare the fight, or urge the rapid race:
Thefe late obey'd Encas' guiding rein:
Leave thou thy chariot to our faithfultain;
With thefe against yon Trojans will we go,
Nor inall great Hector want an equal foe;
Fierce as he is, ev'n he may learn to fear
The thi. fty fury of my flying fpear.

125

135

140

Thus faid the chief; and Neftor, fkili'd in war, Approves his counfel, and afcends the car. The fteeds he left, their trufty fervants hold;

99

150

The fpear with erring hafte mistook its way,
But plung'd in Eniopeus' bofom lay..
His opening hand in death forfakes the rein;
The fleeds fly back: he falls, and fpurns the
plain.

155

Great Hector forrows for his fervant kill'd,
Yet unreveng'd permits to prefs the field;
Till to fupply his place and rule the car,
Rofe Archeptolemus, the fierce in war.
And now had death and horror cover'd all ;
Like timorous flocks the Trojans in their wall
160

Inclos'd had bled: but Jove with awful found
Roll'd the big thunder o'er the vast profound :
Full in Tydides' face the lightning flew ;
The ground before him flam'd with fulphur blue;
The quivering fteeds fell proftrate at the fight;
165
And Neftor's trembling hand confefs'd his fright;
He dropt the reins; and, fhook with facred
dread,

Now fears diffuade him, and now hopes in

vite,

.

To stop hi courfers, and to ftand the fight; 205
Thrice turn'd the chief, and thrice imperial Jove
On Ida's fummits thunder'd from above:
Great Hector heard; he faw the flashing light,
(The fign of conqueft) and thus urg'd the fight:
Hear, every Trojan, Lycian, Dardan band, 210
All fam'd in war, and dreadful hand to hand.
Be mindful of the wreaths your arms have w
won,
Your great forefathers' glories, and your own."
Heard ye the voice of Jove? Succefs and fame
Await on Troy, on Greece eternal thame.
215
In vain they skulk behind their boafted wall,
Weak bulwarks! deftin'd by this arm to fall.
High o'er their flighted trench our fteeds fhall
bound;

And pafs victorious o'er the level'd mound.
Soon as before yon hollow fhips we ftand,
Fight each with flames, and tofs the blazing

brand;

220

Till, their proud navy wrapt in smoke and fires, All Greece, encompafs'd, in one blaze expires. Furious he faid; then, bending o'er the yoke, Encorag'd his proud steeds, while thus he spoke:

225 Now, Xanthus, Athon, Lampus! urge the shace, And, thou, Podargus! prove thy generous race: Be fleet, be fearlefs, this important day, And all your mafter's well-spent care repay. For this, high-fed in plenteous ftalls ye ftand,

230 Serv'd with pure wheat, and by a princefs' hand;. For this my spouse, of great Aëtion's line, So oft has fteep'd the ftrengthening grain in wine.

Now fwift pu fue, now thunder uncontroul'd;
Give me to feize rich Neftor's shield of gold; 235
From Tydeus' fhoulders trip the coftly load,
Vulcanian arms, the labour of a God:
Thefe if we gain, then victory, ye powers!
This night; this glorious night, the fleet is ours.
That heard, deep anguish stung Saturnia's foul;