An arduous battle rose around the dead;
By turns the Greeks, by turns the Trojans bled
Fired with revenge, Polydamus drew near,
And at Prothonor shook the trembling spear:
The driving javelin through his shoulder thrust,
He sinks to earth, and grasps the bloody dust.
Lo thus (the victor cries) we rule the field,
And thus their arms the race of Panthus wield: 530
From this unerring hand there flies no dart
But bathes its point within a Grecian heart.
Prompt on that spear to which thou owest thy fall,
Go, guide thy darksome steps to Pluto's dreary hall!
He said, and sorrow touch'd each Argive breast;
The soul of Ajax burn'd above the rest.
As by his side the groaning warrior fell,
470 At the fierce foe he launch'd his piercing steel:
The foe reclining, shunn'd the flying death;
But Fate, Archelochus, demands thy breath:
Thy lofty birth no succour could impart,
The wings of death o'ertook thee on the dart.

Around the ships: seas hanging o'er the shores,
Both armies join: earth thunders, ocean roars.
Not half so loud the bellowing deeps resound,
When stormy winds disclose the dark profound;
Less loud the winds, that from the Eolian hall 459
Roar through the woods, and make whole forests fall;
Less loud the woods, when flames in torrents pour,
Catch the dry mountain, and its shades devour:
With such a rage the meeting hosts are driven,
And such a clamour shakes the sounding heaven.
The first bold javelin urged by Hector's force,
Direct at Ajax' bosom wing'd its course;
But there no pass the crossing belts afford,
(One braced his shield, and one sustain'd his sword.)
Then back the disappointed Trojan drew,
And cursed the lance that unavailing flew;
But 'scaped not Ajax: his tempestuous hand
A ponderous stone up-heaving from the sand,
(Where heaps laid loose beneath the warrior's feet,
Or served to ballast or to prop the fleet,)

Toss'd round and round, the missive marble flings; Swift to perform heaven's fatal will it fled,
On the razed shield the falling ruin rings,

Full on his breast and throat with force descends;
Nor deaden'd there its giddy fury spends,
But whirling on, with many a fiery round,

Full on the juncture of the neck and head,
And took the joint, and cut the nerves in twain:
The dropping head first tumbled to the plain.
So just the stroke, that yet the body stood

Smokes in the dust, and ploughs into the ground. 480 Erect, then roll'd along the sands in blood.

As when the bolt red hissing from above,
Darts on the consecrated plant of Jove,
The mountain-oak in flaming ruin lies,

Black from the blow, and smokes of sulphur rise,
Stiff with amaze the pale beholders stand,
And own the terrors of the almighty hand!
So lies great Hector prostrate on the shore;
His slacken'd hand deserts the lance it bore;
His following shield the fallen chief o'erspread;
Beneath his helmet dropp'd his fainting head;
His load of armour, sinking to the ground,
Clanks on the field; a dead and hollow sound.
Loud shouts of triumph fill the crowded plain;
Greece sees, in hope, Troy's great defender slain :
All spring to seize him; storms of arrows fly;
And thicker javelins intercept the sky.
In vain an iron tempest hisses round;
He lies protected and without a wound.
Polydamas, Agenor the divine,

540

550

Here, proud Polydamas, here turn thy eyes!
(The towering Ajax loud insulting cries :)
Say, is this chief extended on the plain,
A worthy vengeance for Prothonor slain?
Mark well his port; his figure, and his face,
Nor speak him vulgar, nor of vulgar race;
Some lines, methinks, may make his lineage known,
Antenor's brother, or perhaps his son.

He spake, and smiled severe, for well he knew
490 The bleeding youth: Troy sadden'd at the view.
But furious Acamas avenged his cause;
As Promachus his slaughter'd brother draws.
He pierced his heart-Such fate attends you all,
Proud Argives! destined by our arms to fall.
Not Troy alone, but haughty Greece shall share
The toils, the sorrows, and the wounds of war.
Behold your Promachus deprived of breath,
A victim owed to my brave brother's death.
Not unappeased he enters Pluto's gate,
500 Who leaves a brother to revenge his fate.

The pious warrior of Anchises' line,
And each bold leader of the Lycian band,
With covering shields (a friendly circle) stand.
His mournful followers, with assistant care,
The groaning hero to his chariot bear;
His foaming coursers, swifter than the wind,
Speed to the town, and leave the war behind.
When now they touch'd the mead's enamell'd side,
Where gentle Xanthus rolls his easy tide,
With watery drops the chief they sprinkle round,
Placed on the margin of the flowery ground.
Raised on his knees, he now ejects the gore;
Now faints anew, low-sinking on the shore;
By fits he breathes, half views the fleeting skies,
And seals again, by fits, his swimming eyes.

Soon as the Greeks the chief's retreat beheld,
With double fury each invades the field.
Oïlean Ajax first his javelin sped,
Pierced by whose point the son of Enops bled;
(Satnius the brave, whom beauteous Neïs bore
Amidst her flocks, on Satnio's silver shore.)
Struck through the belly's rim, the warrior lies
Supine, and shades eternal veil his eyes.

510

520

560

570

Heart-piercing anguish struck the Grecian host,
But touch'd the breast of bold Peneleus most;
At the proud boaster he directs his course;
The boaster flies, and shuns superior force.
But young Ilioneus received the spear;
llioneus, his father's only care:
(Phorbas the rich, of all the Trojan train
Whom Hermes loved, and taught the arts of gain :)
Full in his eye the weapon chanced to fall,
And from the fibres scoop'd the rooted ball,
Drove through the neck, and hurl'd him to the plain :
He lifts his miserable arms in vain!
Swift his broad falchion fierce Peneleus spread,
And from the spouting shoulders struck his head;
To earth at once the head and helmet fly;

The lance, yet sticking through the bleeding eye,
The victor seized; and as aloft he shook
The gory visage, thus insulting spoke:

Trojans your great Ilioneus behold!
Haste, to his father let the tale be told:
Let his high roofs resound with frantic woe,

580

Such, as the house of Promachus must know; 500

Let doleful tidings greet his mother's ear,
Such, as to Promachus' sad spouse we bear;
When we victorious shall to Greece return,
And the pale matron in our triumphs mourn.
Dreadful he spake, then toss'd the head on high;
The Trojans hear, they tremble, and they fly:
Aghast they gaze around the fleet and wall,
And dread the ruin that impends on all.
Daughters of Jove! that on Olympus shine,
Ye all-beholding, all-recording Nine!

The god beheld him with a pitying look,
And thus, incensed, to fraudful Juno spoke:
O thou, still adverse to the eternal will,
For ever studious in promoting ill!
Thy arts have made the godlike Hector yield,
And driven his conquering squadrons from the
field.

21

Canst thou, unhappy in thy wiles! withstand
Our power immense, and brave the almighty hand?
600 Hast thou forgot, when, bound and fix'd on high,
From the vast concave of the spangled sky,

O say,
when Neptune made proud Ilion yield,
What chief, what hero, first imbued the field?
Of all the Grecians what immortal name,
And whose blest trophies will ye raise to fame?
Thou first, great Ajax! on the ensanguined plain
Laid'st Hyrtius, leader of the Mysian train.
Phalces and Hermer, Nestor's son o'erthrew.
Bold Merion Morys and Hippotion slew..
Strong Periphates and Prothoon bled,
By Teucer's arrows mingled with the dead.
Pierced in the flank by Menelaus' steel,
His people's pastor, Hyperenor fell;
Eternal darkness wrapt the warrior round,

I hung thee trembling in a golden chain,
And all the raging gods opposed in vain?
Headlong I hurl'd them from the Olympian hall,
Stunn'd in the whirl, and breathless with the fall.
For godlike Hercules these deeds were done,
Nor seem'd the vengeance worthy such a son:
When by thy wiles induced, fierce Boreas toss'd
The shipwreck'd hero on the Coan coast,
610 Him through a thousand forms of death I bore,
And sent to Argos, and his native shore.
Hear this, remember, and our fury dread,
Nor pull the unwilling vengeance on thy head:
Lest arts and blandishments successless prove,
Thy soft deceits, and well-dissembled love.

And the fierce soul came rushing through the wound.
But stretch'd in heaps before Oileus' son,
Fall mighty numbers, mighty numbers run;
Ajax the less, of all the Grecian race
Skill'd in pursuit, and swiftest in the chase.

BOOK XV.

ARGUMENT.

.30

The Thunderer spoke: imperial Juno mourn'd, And, trembling, these submissive words return'd: 40 By every oath that powers immortal ties, The foodful earth, and all infolding skies; By thy black waves, tremendous Styx! that flow Through the drear realms of gliding ghosts below; By the dread honours of thy sacred head, And that unbroken vow, our virgin-bed! Not by my arts the ruler of the main The fifth Battle, at the Ships; and the Acts of Ajax. Steeps Troy in blood, and rages round the plain; Jupiter awaking, sees the Trojans repulsed from the By his own ardour, his own pity sway'd, trenches, Hector in a swoon, and Neptune at the head To help his Greeks; he fought and disobey'd: of the Greeks: he is highly incensed at the artifice of Else had thy Juno better counsels given, Juno, who appeases him by her submissions; she is then sent to Iris and Apollo. Juno repairing to the And taught submission to the sire of heaven. assembly of the gods, attempts with extraordinary Think'st thou with me, fair empress of the skies? address to incense them against Jupiter; in particular (The immortal father with a smile replies ;) she touches Mars with a violent resentment: he is Then soon the haughty sea-god shall obey, ready to take arms, but is prevented by Minerva. Iris Nor dare to act, but when we point the way. and Apollo obey the orders of Jupiter; Iris commands If truth inspires thy tongue, proclaim our will Neptune to leave the battle, to which, after much re- To yon bright synod on the Olympian hill : luctance and passion, he consents. Apollo re-inspires Our high decree let various Iris know, Hector with vigour, brings him back to the battle. marches before him with his ægis, and turns the for

tune of the fight. He breaks down great part of the Grecian wall: the Trojans rush in and attempt to fire the first line of the fleet, but are, as yet, repelled by the greater Ajax with a prodigious slaughter.

BOOK XV.

Now in swift flight they pass the trench profound,
And many a chief lay gasping on the ground:
Then stopp'd and panted, where the chariots lie;
Fear on their cheek, and horror in their eye.
Meanwhile, awaken'd from his dream of love,
On Ida's summit sat imperial Jove:
Round the wide fields he cast a careful view,
There saw the Trojans fly, the Greeks pursue:
These proud in arins, those scatter'd o'er the plain;
And, midst the war, the monarch of the main.
Not far, great Hector on the dust he spies
(His sad associates round with weeping eyes,)
Ejecting blood, and panting yet for breath,
His senses wandering to the verge of death.

10

50

60

70

And call the god that bears the silver bow.
Let her descend, and from the embattled plain
Command the sea-god to his watery reign:
While Phoebus hastes great Hector to prepare
To rise afresh, and once more wake the war,
His labouring bosom re-inspire with breath,
And calls his senses from the verge of death.
Greece chased by Troy e'en to Achilles' fleet,
Shall fall by thousands at the hero's feet.
He, not untouch'd with pity, to the plain
Shall send Patroclus, but shall send in vain.
What youths he slaughters under Ilion's walls!
E'en my loved son, divine Sarpedon, falls!
Vanquish'd at last by Hector's lance he lies.
Then, nor till then, shall great Achilles rise:
And lo! that instant godlike Hector dies.
From that great hour the war's whole fortune turns,
Pallas assists, and lofty Ilion burns.
Not till that day shall Jove relax his rage,
Nor one of all the heavenly host engage
In aid of Greece. The promise of a god
I gave, and seal'd it with the almighty nod,

80

90

Achilles' glory to the stars to raise;
Such was our word, and Fate the word obeys.
The trembling queen (the almighty order given)
Swift from the Idæan summit shot to heaven.
As some way-faring man, who wanders o'er
In thought a length of lands he trod before,
Sends forth his active mind from place to place,
Joins hill to dale, and measures space with space,
So swift flew Juno to the blest abodes,
If thought of man can match the speed of gods.
There sat the powers in awful synod placed:
They bow'd, and made obeisance as she pass'd,
Through all the brazen dome: with goblets crown'd,
They hail her queen; the nectar streams around.
Fair Themis first presents the golden bowl,
And anxious asks what cares disturb her soul?
To whom the white-arm'd goddess thus replies:
Enough thou know'st the tyrant of the skies,
Severely bent his purpose to fulfil,
Unmoved his mind, and unrestrain'd his will.
Go thou, the feasts of heaven attend thy call;
Bid the crown'd nectar circle round the hall;
But Jove shall thunder through the ethereal dome,
Such stern decrees, such threaten'd woes to come,
As soon shall freeze mankind with dire surprise,
And damp the eternal banquets of the skies.

The goddess said, and sullen took her place;
Blank horror sadden'd each celestial face:
To see the gathering grudge in every breast,
Smiles on her lips a spleenful joy express'd;
While on her wrinkled front, and eye-brow bent,
Sat steadfast care, and lowering discontent.

100

151

Back to the skies wouldst thou with shame be driver,
And in thy guilt involve the host of heaven?
Ilion and Greece no more shall Jove engage;
The skies would yield an ampler scene of rage,
Guilty and guiltless find an equal fate,
And one vast ruin whelm the Olympian state.
Cease then thy offspring's death unjust to call:
Heroes as great have died, and yet shall fall.
Why should heaven's law with foolish man comply,
Exempted from the race ordain'd to die?

This menace fix'd the warrior to his throne;
Sullen he sat, and curb'd the rising groan.
Then Juno call'd (Jove's orders to obey)
The winged Iris, and the god of day.

Go wait the Thunderer's will (Saturnia cried,)
On yon tall summit of the fountful Ide:
There in the Father's awful presence stand,
Receive, and execute his dread command.

160

170

She said, and sat: the god that gilds the day,
And various Iris, wing their airy way.
Swift as the wind, to Ida's hills they came
(Fair nurse of fountains and of savage game.)
There sat the Eternal: he whose nod controuls
The trembling world, and shakes the steady poles.
Veil'd in a mist of fragrance him they found,
With clouds of gold and purple circled round.
Well-pleased the Thunderer saw their earnest care,
And prompt obedience to the queen of air;
110 Then (while a smile serenes his awful brow)
Commands the goddess of the showery bow:
Iris descend, and what we here ordain,
Report to yon mad tyrant of the main.
Bid him from fight to his own deeps repair,
Or breathe from slaughter in the fields of air.
If he refuse, then let him timely weigh
Our elder birthright, and superior sway.
How shall his rashness stand the dire alarms,
If heaven's omnipotence descend in arms?
120 Strives he with me, by whom his power was given?
And is there equal to the lord of heaven?

Thus she proceeds-Attend, ye powers above!
But know, 'tis madness to contest with Jove:
Supreme he sits: and sees, in pride of sway,
Your vassal godheads grudgingly obey:
Fierce in the majesty of power controuls;
Shakes all the thrones of heaven, and bends the poles.
Submiss immortals! all he wills, obey;
And thou, great Mars, begin and show the way.
Behold Ascalaphus! behold him die,

But dare not murmur, dare not vent a sigh;
Thy own loved boasted offspring lies o'erthrown,
If that loved boasted offspring be thy own.

180

191

The Almighty spoke; the goddess wing'd her flight
To sacred Ilion from the Idaan height.
Swift as the rattling hail, or fleecy snows,
Drives through the skies, when Boreas fiercely blows;
So from the clouds descending Iris falls;

And to blue Neptune thus the goddess calls:
Attend the mandate of the sire above,

In me behold the messenger of Jove:
130 He bids thee from forbidden wars repair

Stern Mars, with anguish for his slaughter'd son,
Smote his rebelling breast, and fierce begun :
Thus then, immortals! thus shall Mars obey;
Forgive me, gods, and yield my vengeance way:
Descending first to yon forbidden plain,
The god of battles dares avenge the slain;
Dares, though the thunder bursting o'er my head,
Should hurl me blazing on those heaps of dead.
With that, he gives command to Fear and Flight
To join his rapid coursers for the fight:
Then, grim in arms, with hasty vengeance flies;
Arms, that reflect a radiance through the skies.
And now had Jove, by bold rebellion driven,
Discharged his wrath on half the host of heaven;
But Pallas, springing through the bright abode,
Starts from her azure throne to calm the god.
Struck for the immortal race with timely fear,
From frantic Mars she snatch'd the shield and spear;
Then the huge helmet lifting from his head,
Thus to the impetuous homicide she said:

140

By what wild passion, furious! art thou toss'd?
Striv'st thou with Jove? thou art already lost.
Shall not the Thunderer's dread command restrain,
And was imperial Juno heard in vain?

200

To thy own deeps, or to the fields of air.
This if refused, he bids thee timely weigh
His elder birthright, and superior sway.
How shall thy rashness stand the dire alarms,
If heaven's omnipotence descend in arms?
Striv'st thou with him, by whom all power is given?
And art thou equal to the lord of heaven?

210

What means the haughty sovereign of the skies?
(The king of ocean thus, incensed, replies :)
Rule as he will his portion'd realm on high;
No vassal god, nor of his train, am I.
Three brother deities from Saturn came,
And ancient Rhea, earth's immortal dame:
Assign'd by lot, our triple rule we know;
Infernal Pluto sways the shades below:
O'er the wide clouds, and o'er the starry plain
Ethereal Jove extends his high domain;
My court beneath the hoary waves I keep,
And hush the roaring of the sacred deep:

The mighty Ajax with a deadly blow
Had almost sunk me to the shades below?
220 E'en yet, methinks, the gliding ghosts I spy,
And hell's black horrors swim before my eye.

230

lympus, and this earth, in common lie:
That claim has here the tyrant of the sky?
ar in the distant clouds let him controul,
nd awe the younger brothers of the pole;
here to his children his commands be given,
he trembling, servile, second race of heaven.
And must I then (said she,) O sire of floods!
ear this fierce answer to the king of gods?
orrect it yet, and change thy rash intent;
noble mind disdains not to repent.
o elder brothers guardian fiends are given,
='o scourge the wretch insulting them and heaven:
Great is the profit (thus the god rejoin'd)
When ministers are bless'd with prudent mind:
Varn'd by thy words, to powerful Jove I yield,
and quit, though angry, the contended field.
Tot but his threats with justice I disclaim,
The same our honours, and our birth the same.
f yet, forgetful of his promise given
To Hermes, Pallas, and the queen of heaven;
To favour Ilion, that perfidious place,
He breaks his faith with half the ethereal race:
Give him to know, unless the Grecian train
Lay yon proud structures level with the plain,
Howe'er the offence by other gods be pass'd,
The wrath of Neptune shall for ever last.

Thus speaking, furious from the field he strode,
And plunged into the bosom of the flood.
The Lord of Thunders from his lofty height
Beheld, and thus bespoke the source of light:

290

300

To him Apollo: Be no more dismay'd;
See, and be strong! the Thunderer sends thee aid.
Behold! thy Phoebus shall his arms employ,
Phoebus, propitious still to thee and Troy.
Inspire thy warriors then with manly force,
And to the ships impel thy rapid horse:
E'en I will make thy fiery coursers way,
And drive the Grecians headlong to the sea.
Thus to bold Hector spoke the son of Jove,
And breathed immortal ardour from above.
As when the pamper'd steed, with reins unbound,
Breaks from his stall, and pours along the ground;
With ample strokes he rushes to the flood,
To bathe his sides, and cool his fiery blood;
His head now freed, he tosses to the skies;
His main dishevell'd o'er his shoulders flies:
He snuffs the females in the well-known plain,
And springs, exulting, to his fields again:
240 Urged by the voice divine, thus Hector flew,
Full of the god; and all his hosts pursue.
As when the force of men and dogs combined,
Invade the mountain-goat, or branching hind;
Far from the hunter's rage secure they lie
Close in the rock (not fated yet to die ;)
When lo! a lion shoots across the way!

250

Behold! the god whose liquid arms are hurl'd
Around the globe, whose earthquakes rock the world,
Desists at length his rebel war to wage,
Seeks his own seas, and trembles at our rage;
Else had my wrath, heaven's thrones all shaking

round,

Burn'd to the bottom of his seas profound;
And all the gods that round old Saturn dwell,
Had heard the thunders to the deeps of hell.
Well was the crime and well the vengeance spared;
E'en power immense had found such battle hard.
Go thou, my son! the trembling Greeks alarm,
Shake thy broad ægis on thy active arm,
Be godlike Hector thy peculiar care,

260

Swell his bold heart, and urge his strength to war:
Let Ilion conquer, till the Achaian train

Fly to their ships and Hellespont again:

310

They fly, at once the chasers and the prey:
So Greece, that late in conquering troops pursued,
And mark'd their progress through the ranks in blood,
Soon as they see the furious chief appear,
Forgot to vanquish, and consent to fear.

320

Thoas with grief observed his dreadful course,
Thoas, the bravest of the Ætolian force;
Skill'd to direct the javelin's distant flight,
And bold to combat in the standing fight;
Not more in councils famed for solid sense,
Than winning words and heavenly eloquence.
Gods! what portent (he cried) these eyes invades !
Lo! Hector rises from the Stygian shades!
We saw him, late, by thundering Ajax kill'd:
What god restores him to the frighted field;
And, not content that half of Greece lie slain,
Pours new destruction on her sons again?
He comes not, Jove! without thy powerful will; 330

Then Greece shall breathe from toils-The godhead Lo! still he lives, pursues, and conquers still!

Again his loved companions meet his eyes;
Jove thinking of his pains, they pass'd away.
To whom the god who gives the golden day:
Why sits great Hector from the field so far?
What grief, what wound, withholds thee from the war?
The fainting hero, as the vision bright
Stood shining o'er him, half unseal'd his sight:
What bless'd immortal, with commanding breath,
Thus wakens Hector from the sleep of death?
Has Fame not told, how, while my trusty sword
Bathed Greece in slaughter, and her battle gored,

280

Yet hear my counsel, and his worst withstand:
The Greeks' main body to the fleet command;
But let the few whom brisker spirits warm,
Stand the first onset, and provoke the storm
Thus point your arms; and when such foes appear,
Fierce as he is, let Hector learn to fear.

The warrior spoke, the listening Greeks obey,
Thickening their ranks, and form a deep array.
Each Ajax, Teucer, Merion, gave command, 340
The valiant leader of the Cretan band,
And Mars-like Meges: these the chiefs excite,
Approach the foe, and meet the coming fight.
Behind, unnumber'd multitudes attend,
To flank the navy, and the shores defend.
Full on the front the pressing Trojans bear,
And Hector first came towering to the war.
Phoebus himself the rushing battle led;
A veil of clouds involved his radiant head:
High-held before him, Jove's enormous shield
Portentous shone, and shaded all the field;

350

Vulcan to Jove the immortal gift consign'd,
To scatter hosts and terrify mankind.
The Greeks expect the shock, the clamours rise
From different parts, and mingle in the skies.
Dire was the hiss of darts, by heroes flung,
And arrows leaping from the bow-string sung;
These drink the life of generous warriors slain;
Those guiltless fall, and thirst for blood in vain.
As long as Phoebus bore unmoved the shield,
Sat doubtful Conquest hovering o'er the field;
But when aloft he shakes it in the skies,
Shouts in their ears, and lightens in their eyes,
Deep horror seizes every Grecian breast,
Their force is humbled, and their fear confess'd.
So flies a herd of oxen, scatter'd wide,

No swain to guard them, and no day to guide,
When two fell lions from the mountain come,
And spread the carnage through the shady gloom.
Impending Phoebus, pours around them fear,
And Troy and Hector thunder in the rear.
Heaps fall on heaps: the slaughter Hector leads;
First great Arcesilas, then Stichius bleeds;
One to the bold Baotians ever dear,

And one Menestheus' friend, and famed compeer.
Medon and läsus, Æneas sped;

360

370

381

This sprung from Phelus, and the Athenians led:
But hapless Medon from Oïleus came;
Him Ajax honour'd with a brother's name,
Though born of lawless love: from home expell'd,
A banish'd man, in Phylacè he dwell'd,
Press'd by the vengeance of an angry wife;
Troy ends, at last, his labours and his life.
Mecystes next, Polydamas o'erthrew ;
And thee, brave Clonius, great Agenor slew.
By Paris, Deiochus inglorious dies,
Pierced through the shoulder as he basely flies.
Polites' arm laid Echius on the plain;

Stretch'd on one heap, the victors spoil the slain.
The Greeks, dismay'd, confused, disperse or fall, 390
Some seek the trench, some skulk behind the wall.
While these fly trembling, others pant for breath,
And o'er the slaughterer stalks gigantic Death.
On rush'd bold Hector, gloomy as the night;
Forbids to plunder, animates the fight,
Points to the fleet: For, by the gods who flies,
Who dares but linger, by this hand he dies:
No weeping sister his cold eye shall close,
No friendly hand his funeral pyre compose.
Who stops to plunder in this signal hour,
The birds shall tear him, and the dogs devour.
Furious he said; the smarting scourge resounds;
The coursers fly; the smoking chariot bounds:
The hosts rush on; loud clamours shake the shore;
The horses thunder, earth and ocean roar !
Apollo, planted at the trench's bound,

400

Thus vanish'd, at thy touch, the towers and walls;
The toil of thousands in a moment falls.

The Grecians gaze around with wild despair,
Confused, and weary all the powers with prayer,
Exhort their men with praises, threats, commands;
And urge the gods with voices, eyes, and hands.
Experienced Nestor chief obtests the skies,
And weeps his country with a father's eyes:
O Jove! if ever, on his native shore,
One Greek enrich'd thy shrine with offer'd gore;
If e'er, in hope our country to behold,
We paid the fattest firstlings of the fold;
If e'er thou sign'st our wishes with thy nod;
Perform the promise of a gracious god!
This day preserve our navies from the flame,
And save the reliques of the Grecian name.

421

430

Thus pray'd the sage: the Eternal gave consent,
And peals of thunder shake the firmament;
Presumptuous Troy mistook the accepting sign,
And catch'd new fury at the voice divine.

As, when black tempests mix the seas and skies, 440
The roaring deeps in watery mountains rise,
Above the sides of some tall ship ascend,
Its womb they deluge, and its ribs they rend:
Thus loudly roaring, and o'erpowering all,
Mount the thick Trojans up the Grecian wall;
Legions on legions from each side arise:

Thick sound the keels; the storm of arrows flies.
Fierce on the ships above, the cars below,
These wield the mace, and those the javelin throw.
While thus the thunder of the battle raged, 450
And labouring armies round the works engaged,
Still in the tent Patroclus sat, to tend
The good Eurypylus, his wounded friend.
He sprinkles healing balms to anguish kind,
And adds discourse, the medicine of the mind.
But when he saw, ascending up the fleet,
Victorious Troy: then, starting from his seat,
With bitter groans his sorrows he express'd,
He wrings his hands, he beats his manly breast.
Though yet thy state requires redress (he cried) 460
Depart I must: what horrors strike mine eyes!
Charg'd with Achilles' high commands I go,
A mournful witness of this scene of woe:

I haste to urge him, by his country's care,
To rise in arms and shine again in war.
Perhaps some favouring god his soul may bend;
The voice is powerful of a faithful friend.

He spoke and speaking, swifter than the wind
Sprang from the tent, and left the war behind.
The embodied Greeks the fierce attack sustain, 470
But strive, though numerous, to repulse in vain!
Nor could the Trojans, through that firm array,
Force to the fleet and tents the impervious way.
As when a shipwright, with Palladian art,

Push'd at the bank: down sunk the enormous mound; Smoothes the rough wood, and levels every part;

Roll'd in the ditch the heapy ruin lay;

410

A sudden road! a long and ample way.
O'er the dread fosse (a late impervious space)
Now steeds, and men, and cars, tumultuous pass.
The wondering crowds the downward level trod;
Before them flamed the shield, and march'd the god.
Then with his hand he shook the mighty wall;
And lo! the turrets nod, the bulwarks fall.
Easy, as when ashore an infant stands,
And draws imagined houses in the sands,
The sportive wanton, pleased with some new play,
Sweeps the slight works and fashion'd domes away.

481

With equal hand he guides his whole design,
By the just rule, and the directing line:
The martial leaders with like skill and care,
Preserved their line, and equal kept the war.
Brave deeds of arms through all the ranks were tried
And every ship sustained an equal tide.
At one proud bark, high towering o'er the fleet,
Ajax the great and godlike Hector meet;
For one bright prize the matchless chiefs contend;
Nor this the ships can fire, nor that defend;
One kept the shore, and one the vessel trod;
That fix'd as Tate, this acted by a god.