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Why on those shores are we with joy survey'd,

Admired as heroes, and as Gods obey'd Unless great acts superior merit prove, And vindicate the bounteous Powers above? 380

'Tis ours, the dignity they give to grace; The first in valour, as the first in place: That when, with wond'ring eyes, our mar tial bands

Behold our deeds transcending our commands,

Such, they may cry, deserve the sov'reign state,

Whom those that envy dare not imitate!
Could all our care elude the gloomy grave,
Which claims no less the fearful than the
brave,

For lust of fame I should not vainly dare
In fighting fields, nor urge thy soul to war
But since, alas! ignoble age must come, 391
Disease, and death's inexorable doom;
The life which others pay, let us bestow,
And give to Fame what we to Nature owe;

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And Ajax sends his jav'lin at the foe: Fix'd in his belt the feather'd weapon stood,

And thro' his buckler drove the trembling wood;

But Jove was present in the dire debate, To shield his offspring, and avert his fate. The Prince gave back, not meditating flight, But urging vengeance and severer fight; Then, rais'd with hope, and fired with glory's charms,

His fainting squadrons to new fury warms: O where, ye Lycians! is the strength you boast?

Your former fame, and ancient virtue lost! The breach lies open, but your Chief in vain

Attempts alone the guarded pass to gain:

501

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As on the confines of adjoining grounds, Two stubborn swains with blows dispute their bounds;

They tug, they sweat: but neither gain, nor yield,

One foot, one inch, of the contended field: Thus obstinate to death, they fight, they fall:

Nor these can keep, nor those can win, the wall.

Their manly breasts are pierc'd with many a wound,

Loud strokes are heard, and rattling arms resound;

The copious slaughter covers all the shore, And the high ramparts drop with human

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of the Ajaces), assumes the shape of Calchas, and inspires those heroes to oppose him; then, in the form of one of the generals, encourages the other Greeks who had retired to their vessels. The Ajaces form their troops into a close phalanx, and put a stop to Hector and the Trojans. Several deeds of valour are performed; Meriones, losing his spear in the encounter, repairs to seek another at the tent of Idomeneus: this oecasions a conversation between these two warriors, who return together to the battle. Idomeneus signalizes his courage above the rest; he kills Othryonens, Asius, and Aleathous Deiphobus and Æneas march against him, and at length Idomeneus retires. Menelaus wounds Helenus, and kills Pi sander. The Trojans are repulsed in the left wing. Hector still keeps his ground against the Ajaces, till, being galled by the Locrian slingers and archers, Polydamas advises to call a council of war: Hector approves his advice, but goes first to rally the Trojans; upbraids Paris, rejoins Polydamas, meets Ajax again, and renews the attack. The eight-and-twentieth day still continues. The scene is between the Grecian wall and the sea-shore.

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