Thus Priam spoke, and Hermes thus replied:

'You tempt me, Father, and with pity touch:

On this sad subject you inquire too much. Oft have these eyes the godlike Hector view'd

In glorious fight, with Grecian blood imbrued:

480 I saw him, when, like Jove, his flames he toss'd

On thousand ships, and wither'd half a host:

I saw, but help'd not, stern Achilles' ire Forbade assistance, and enjoy'd the fire. For him I serve, of Myrmidonian race; One ship convey'd us from our native place;

Polyctor is my sire, an honour'd name, Old, like thyself, and not unknown to fame;

Of sev'n his sons, by whom the lot was cast To serve our Prince, it fell on me the last.

490

549

And o'er the trenches led the rolling cars. Unseen, thro' all the hostile camp they went,

And now approach'd Pelides' lofty tent.
Of fir the roof was rais'd, and cover'd o'er
With reeds collected from the marshy
shore;

And, fenc'd with palisades, a hall of state (The work of soldiers), where the hero sat. Large was the door, whose well-compacted strength

A solid pine-tree barr'd of wondrous length; Scarce three strong Greeks could lift its mighty weight,

But great Achilles singly closed the gate. 560 This Hermes (such the power of Gods) set wide;

Then swift alighted the celestial guide, And thus, reveal'd: 'Hear, Prince! and understand

Thou ow'st thy guidance to no mortal haud;
Hermes I am, descended from above,
The King of Arts, the Messenger of Jove.
Farewell: to shun Achilles' sight I fly;
Uncommon are such favours of the sky,
Nor stand confess'd to frail mortality.
Now fearless enter, and prefer thy
prayers;

570

Adjure him by his father's silver hairs,
His son, his mother! urge him to bestow
Whatever pity that stern heart can know.'
Thus having said, he vanish'd from his
eyes,

And in a moment shot into the skies:
The King, confirm'd from Heav'n, alighted
there,

And left his aged herald on the car.

Satiate at length with unavailing woes, From the high throne divine Achilles rose; The rev'rend Monarch by the hand he rais'd;

On his white beard and form majestic gazed,

650

Not unrelenting: then serene began With words to soothe the miserable man: 'Alas ! what weight of anguish hast thou known,

Unhappy Prince! thus guardless and alone To pass thro' foes, and thus undaunted face The man whose fury has destroy'd thy race!

Heav'n sure has arm'd thee with a heart of steel,

A strength proportion'd to the woes you feel.

Rise then: let reason mitigate our care:
To mourn avails not: man is born to bear.
Such is, alas! the Gods' severe decree; 561
They, only they, are blest, and only free.
Two urns by Jove's high throne have ever
stood,

The source of evil one, and one of good; From thence the cup of mortal man he fills,

Blessings to these, to those distributes ills; To most he mingles both: the wretch decreed

To taste the bad, unmix'd, is curs'd in

Extended Phrygia own'd thy ample reign,
And all fair Lesbos' blissful seats contain,
And all wide Hellespont's unmeasured
main.

But since the God his hand has pleas'd to turn,

And fill thy measure from his bitter urn, What sees the sun, but hapless heroes' falls? War, and the blood of men, surround thy walls! 691

What must be, must be. Bear thy lot, nor shed

These unavailing sorrows o'er the dead; Thou canst not call him from the Stygian shore,

Put thou, alas! may'st live to suffer more!' To whom the King: ‘O favour'd of the skies!

Here let me grow to earth! since Hector

The rock for ever lasts, the tears for ever flow.

Such griefs, O King! have other parents known: 780 Remember theirs, and mitigate thy own. The care of Heav'n thy Hector has appear'd;

Nor shall he lie unwept, and uninterr’d; Soon may thy aged cheeks in tears be drown'd,

And all the eyes of Ilion stream around.'

He said, and, rising, chose the victim ewe With silver fleece, which his attendants slew.

The limbs they sever from the reeking hide,

With skill prepare them, and in parts divide: 789