By warlike Medon, from Oïleus sprung. Leonidas to them his anxious mind Was thus disclosing. "Medon, Maron, hear. From this low rampart my exploring eye But half commands the action, yet hath mark'd Enough for caution. Yon barbarian camp, Immense, exhaustless, deluging the ground With myriads, still o'erflowing, may consume By endless numbers and unceasing toil
The Grecian strength. Not marble is our flesh, Nor adamant our, sinews. Sylvan pow'rs, Who dwell on Eta, your superior aid We must solicit. Your stupendous cliffs
In those loose rocks, and branchless trunks, contain More fell annoyance than the arm of man." "Virtuous king, He ended; when Megistias. Melissa, priestess of the tuneful Nine, By their behests invites thy honour'd feet To her chaste dwelling, seated on that hill. To conference of high import she calls Thee, first of Grecians." Medon interpos'd. "She is my sister. Justice rules her ways With piety and wisdom. To her voice The Muses breathe The nations round give ear. Their inspiration through her spotless soul, Which borders on divinity. She calls On thee. O truly styl'd the first of Greeks, Regard her call. Yon cliff's projecting head To thy discernment will afford a scope More full, more certain; thence thy skilful eye Will best direct the fight." Melissa's sire Was ever present to the king in thought, "Lead, Oïleus' son. Who thus to Medon. Before the daughter of Oïleus place My willing feet." They hasten to the cave. Megistias, Maron follow. Through the rock Leonidas, ascending to the fane,
Rose like the god of Morning from the cell Of Night, when, shedding cheerfulness and day On hill and vale emblaz'd with dewy gems, He gladdens Nature. Lacedæmon's king, Majestically graceful and serene, Dispels the rigour in that solemn seat Of holy sequestration. On the face Of pensive-ey'd Religion rapture glows In admiration of the godlike man. Advanc'd Melissa. He her proffer'd hand In hue, in purity like snow, receiv'd. A heav'n-illumin'd dignity of look On him she fix'd. Rever'd by all, she spake. "Hail! chief of men, selected by the gods For purer fame than Hercules acquir'd. This hour allows no pause." She leads the king With Medon, Marou, and Megistias down A slope, declining to the mossy verge, Which terminates the mountain. While they pass, "These marble masses view, She thus proceeds. Which lie dispers'd around you. They were hewn From yonder quarry. Note those pond'rous beams, With these The sylvan offspring of that hill.
At my request th' Amphictyons from their seat Of gen'ral council piously decreed To raise a dome, the ornament of Greece.
He to accomplish, what thy wisdom plans, Hath amplest means supply'd. Go, Medon, bring The thousand peasants from th' Oïlean vale Detach'd. Their leader Melibus bring. Fly, Maron. Ev'ry instrument provide To fell the trees, to drag the massy beams, To lift the broad-hewn fragments.'
For sacred use reserv'd?" Megistias said. "Can these be wielded by the hand of Mars Without pollution?" In a solemn tone The priestess answer'd. "Rev'rend man, who bearst Pontific wreaths, and thou, great captain, hear. Forbear to think, that my unprompted mind, Calm and sequester'd in religion's peace, Could have devis'd a stratagem of war; Or, unpermitted, could resign to Mars These rich materials, gather'd to restore In strength and splendour yon decrepit walls, And that time-shaken roof. Rejecting sleep, Last night I lay contriving swift revenge On these barbarians, whose career profane O'erturns the Grecian temples, and devotes Their holy bow'rs to flames. I left my couch, Long ere the Sun his orient gates unbarr'd. Beneath yon beach my pensive head reclin'd. The rivulets, the fountains, warbling round, Attracted slumber. In a dream I saw Calliope. Her sisters, all with harps, Were rang'd around her; as their Parian forms 'Dost thou sleep?' she said; Show in the temple. 'Melissa, dost thou sleep? The barb'rous host Approaches Greece. The first of Grecians comes By death to vanquish. Priestess, let him hurl These marble heaps, these consecrated beams, Our fane itself, to crush the impious ranks. The hero summon to our sacred hill. All is due Reveal the promis'd succour. To liberty against a tyrant's pride.' She struck her shell. In concert full reply'd The sister lyres. Leonidas they sung
In ev'ry note and dialect yet known,
In measures new, in language yet to come.'
She finish'd. Then Megistias. "Dear to Heav'n, By nations honour'd, and in tow'ring thought O'er either sex pre-eminent, thy words To me a soldier and a priest suffico.
I hesitate no longer." But the king, Wrapt in ecstatic contemplation stood, Revolving deep an answer, which might suit His dignity and hers. At length he spake. "Not Lacedæmon's whole collected state Of senate, people, ephori, and kings, Not the Amphictyons, whose convention holds The universal majesty of Greece, E'er drew such rev'rence as thy single form, O all-surpassing woman, worthy child Of time-renown'd Oileus. In thy voice I hear the goddess Liberty. I see In thy sublimity of look and port That daughter bright of Eleutherian Jove. Me thou hast prais'd. My conscious spirit feels, That not to triumph in thy virtuous praise
Observe those wither'd firs, those mould'ring oaks, Were want of virtue. Yet, illustrious dame,
Down that declivity, half-rooted, bent, Inviting human force-Then look below. There lies Thermopyla."—" I see," exclaims "I recall The high-conceiving hero.
Thy father's words and forecast. He presag'd, I should not find his daughter's counsel vain.
Were I assur'd, that oracles delude; That, unavailing, I should spill my blood; That all the Muses of subjected Greece Hereafter would be silent, and my name Be ne'er transmitted to recording times There is in virtue, for her sake alone,
What should uphold my resolution firm. My country's laws I never would survive." Mov'd at his words, reflecting on his fate, She had relax'd her dignity of mind, Had sunk in sadness; but her brother's helm Before her beams. Relumining her night, He through the cave like Hesperus ascends, Th' Oilean hinds conducting to achieve 'The enterprise she counsels. Now her ear
Is pierc'd by notes, shrill sounding from the vault. Up starts a diff'rent band, alert and light, Athenian sailors. Long and sep'rate files Of lusty shoulders, eas'd by union, bear Thick, well-compacted cables, wont to heave The restiff anchor. To a naval pipe, As if one soul invigorated all,
And all compos'd one body, they had trod In equal paces, mazy, yet unbroke Throughout their passage. So the spinal strength Of some portentous serpent, whom the heats Of Libya breed, indissolubly knit, But flexible, across the sandy plain, Or up the mountain draws his spotted length, Or where a winding excavation leads Through rocks abrupt and wild. Of stature large, In arms which show'd simplicity of strength, No decoration of redundant art,
With sable horse-hair, floating down his back, A warrior moves behind. Compos'd in gait, Austerely grave and thoughtful, on his shield The democratic majesty he bore Of Athens. Carv'd in emblematic brass, Her image stood with Pallas by her side, And trampled under each victorious foot A regal crown, one Persian, one usurp'd By her own tyrants, on the well-fought plain Of Marathon confounded. He commands These future guardians of their country's weal, Of gen'ral Greece the bulwarks. Their high deeds From Artemisium, from th' empurpled shores Of Salamis renown shall echo wide; Shall tell posterity in latest times, That naval fortitude controls the world. Swift Maron, following, brings a vig'rous band Of Helots. Ev'ry instrument they wield To delve, to hew, to heave; and active last Bounds Melibus, vigilant to urge The tardy forward. To Laconia's king Advanc'd th' Athenian leader, and began. "Thou godlike ruler of Eurotas, hail! Thee by my voice Themistocles salutes, The admiral of Athens. I conduct
By public choice the squadron of my tribe, And Eschylus am call'd. Our chief hath giv'n Three days to glory on Euboea's coast, Whose promontories almost rise to meet Thy ken from Eta's cliffs. This morning saw The worsted foe, from Artemisium driv'n, Leave their disabled ships, and floating wrecks, For Grecian trophies. When the fight was clos'd, I was detach'd to bring th' auspicious news, To bid thee welcome. Fortunate my keel Hath swiftly borne me. Joyful I concur In thy attempt. Appris'd by yonder chiefs, Who met me landing, instant from the ships A thousand gallant mariners I drew, Who till the setting Sun shall lend their toil." "Themistocles and thou accept my heart," Leonidas reply'd, and closely strain'd The brave, the learn'd Athenian to his breast.
"To envy is ignoble, to admire Th' activity of Athens will become
A king of Sparta, who like thee condemn'd His country's sloth. But Sparta now is arm'd. Thou shalt commend. Behold me station'd here To watch the wild vicissitudes of war, Direct the course of slaughter. To this post By that superior woman I was call'd.
By long protracted fight lest fainting Greece Should yield, outnumber'd, my enlighten'd soul Through her, whom Heav'n enlightens, hath devis'd To whelm the num'rous, persevering foe In hideous death, and signalize the day With horrours new to war. The Muses prompt The bright achievement. Lo! from Athens smiles Minerva too. Her swift, auspicious aid
In thee we find, and these, an ancient race, By her and Neptune cherish'd." Straight he meets The gallant train, majestic with his arms Outstretch'd, in this applauding strain he spake.
"O lib'ral people, earliest arm'd to shield Not your own Athens more than gen'ral Greece, You best deserve her gratitude. Her praise Will rank you foremost on the rolls of Fame.'
They hear, they gaze, revering and rever'd. Fresh numbers muster, rushing from the hills, The thickets round. Melissa, pointing, spake. "I am their leader. Natives of the hills Are these, the rural worshippers of Pan, Who breathes an ardour through their humble minds To join you warriors. Vassals these, not mine, But of the Muses, and their hallow'd laws Administer'd by me. Their patient hands Make culture smile, where Nature seems to chide; Nor wanting my instructions, or my pray❜rs, Fertility they scatter by their toil Around this aged temple's wild domain. Is Melibæus here! Thou fence secure To old Oïleus from the cares of time, Thrice art thou welcome. Useful, wise, belov'd, Where'er thou sojournest, on Eta known, As oft the bounty of a father's love Thou on Melissa's solitude dost pour, Be thou director of these mountain hinds." Th' important labour to inspiring airs From flutes and harps in symphony with hymns Of holy virgins, ardent all perform,
In bands divided under diff'rent chiefs. Huge timbers, blocks of marble, to remove They first attempted; then assembled stones Loose in their beds, and wither'd trunks, uptorn By tempests; next dismember'd from the rock Broad, rugged fragments; from the mountains hew'd Their venerable firs, and aged oaks,
Which, of their branches by the lightning bar'd, Presented still against the blasting flame Their hoary pride unshaken. These the Greeks, But chief th' Athenian mariners, to force Uniting skill, with massy leavers heave, With strong-knit cables drag: till, now dispos'd, Where great Leonidas appoints, the piles Nod o'er the straits. This new and sudden scene Might lift imagination to belief,
That Orpheus and Amphion from their beds Of ever-blooming asphodel had heard The Muses call; had brought their fabled harps, At whose mellifluent charm once more the trees Had burst their fibrous bands, and marbles leap'd In rapid motion from the quarry's womb, That day to follow harmony in aid
Of gen'rous valour. Fancy might discern Cerulean Tethys, from her coral grot Emerging, seated on her pearly car, With Nereids floating on the surge below, To view in wonder from the Malian bay The attic sons of Neptune; who forsook Their wooden walls to range th' Etcan crags, To rend the forests, and disjoin the rocks. Meantime a hundred sheep are slain. Their fimbs From burning piles fume grateful. Bounty spreads A decent board. Simplicity attends. Then spake the priestess. "Long-enduring chiefs, Your efforts, now accomplish'd, may admit Refection due to this hard-labour'd train, Due to yourselves." Her hospitable smile Wins her well-chosen guests, Laconia's king, Her brother, Maron, Eschylus divine With Acarnania's priest. Her first commands To Melibaus sedulous and blithe Distribute plenty through the toiling crowd, Then, skreen'd beneath close umbrage of an oak, Each care-divested chief the banquet shares.
Cool breezes, whisp'ring, flutter in the leaves, Whose verdure, pendent in an arch, repel The west'ring Sun's hot glare. Favonius bland His breath impregnates with exhaling sweets From flow'ry beds, whose scented clusters deck The gleaming pool in view. Fast by, a brook In limpid lapses over native steps Attunes his cadence to sonorous strings, And liquid accents of Melissa's maids. The floating air in melody respires. A rapture mingles in the calm repast. Uprises Eschylus. A goblet full
He grasps. "To those divinities, who dwell In yonder temple, this libation first,
To thee, benignant hostess, next I pour, Then to thy fame, Leonidas." He said.
His breast, with growing heat distended, prompts His eager hand, to whose expressive sign One of the virgins cedes her sacred lyre. Their choral song complacency restrains. The soul of music, bursting from his touch, At once gives birth to sentiment sublime.
"O Hercules and Perseus," he began, "Star-spangled twins of Leda, and the rest Of Jove's immediate seed, your splendid acts Mankind protected, while the race was rude; While o'er the Earth's unciviliz'd extent The savage monster, and the ruffian sway'd, More savage still. No policy nor laws Had fram'd societies. By single strength A single ruffian, or a monster fell. The legislator rose. Three lights in Greece, Lycurgus, Solon, and Zaleucus, blaz'd. Then, substituting wisdom, Jove, profuse Of his own blood no longer, gave us more In discipline and manners, which can form A hero like Leonidas, than all The god-begotten progeny before.
The pupils next of Solon claim the Muse. Sound your hoarse conchs, ye Tritons. You beheld The Atlantean shape of Slaughter wade Through your astonish'd deeps, his purple arm Uplifting high before th' Athenian line. You saw bright Conquest riding on the gale Which swell'd their sails; saw Terrour at their helms To guide their brazen beaks on Asia's pride. Her adamantine grapple from their decks Fate threw, and ruin on the hostile fleet
Inextricably fasten'd. Sound, ye nymphs Of Eta's mountains, of her woods and streams, Who hourly witness to Melissa's worth, Ye Oreads, Dryads, Naiads, sound her praise. Proclaim Zaleucus by his daughter grac'd Like Solon and Lycurgus by their sons."
Laconia's hero and the priestess bow'd Their foreheads grateful to the bard sublime. She, rising, takes the word. "More sweet thy lyre To friendship's ear, than terrible to foes Thy spear in battle, though the keenest point Which ever pierc'd barbarians. Close we here The song and banquet. Hark! a distant din From Asia's camp requires immediate care.”
She leads. Along the rocky verge they pass. In calm delight Leonidas surveys All in the order which he last assign'd; As o'er Thermopylæ beneath he cast A wary look. The mountain's furthest crag Now reach'd, Melissa to the king began.
"Observe that space below, dispers'd in dales, In hollows, winding through dissever'd rocks. The slender outlet, skreen'd by yonder shrubs, Leads to the pass. There stately to my view The martial queen of Caria yester Sun, Descending, show'd. Her loudly I reprov'd. But she, devoted to the Persian king, In ambush there preserv'd his flying host. She last retreated; but, retreating, prov'd Her valour equal to a better cause. Again I see the heroine approach.”
Megistias then. "I see a powerful arm. Sustaining firm the large, emblazon'd shield, Which, fashion'd first in Caria, we have learn'd To imitate in Greece. Sublime her port Bespeaks a mighty spirit. Priestess, look. An act of piety she now performs, Directing those, perhaps her Carian band, To bear dead brethren from the bloody field. Among the horsemen an exalted form Like Demaratus strikes my searching eye. To me, recalling his transcendant rank In Sparta once, he seems a languid sun, Which dimly sinks in exhalations dark, Enveloping his radiance." While he spake, Intent on martial duty Medon views The dang'rous thicket; Lacedæmon's chief, Around the region his consid'rate eye Extending, marks each movement of the foe.
Th' imperial Persian from his lofty car Had in the morning's early conflict seen His vanquish'd army pouring from the straits Back to their tents, and o'er his camp dispers'd In consternation; as a river bursts Impetuous from his fountain, then, enlarg'd, Spreads a dead surface o'er some level marsh. Th' astonish'd king thrice started from his seat; Shame, fear, and indignation rent his breast; As ruin irresistible were near
To overwhelm his millions. "Haste," he call'd To Hyperanthes, "haste and meet the Greeks. Their daring rage, their insolence repel.
From such dishonour vindicate our name."
His royal brother through th' extensive camp Obedient mov'd. Deliberate and brave, Each active prince from ev'ry tent remote, The hardiest troops he summon'd. Caria's queen, To Hyperanthes bound by firm esteem Of worth, unrivall'd in the Persian court, In solemn pace was now returning slow
Before a band, transporting from the field Their slain companions to the sandy beach. She stopp'd, and thus address'd him.
From one, whose wishes on thy merit wait, The only means to bind thy gallant brow In fairest wreaths. To break the Grecian line In vain ye struggle, unarray'd and lax, Depriv'd of union. Try to form one band In order'd ranks, and emulate the foe. Nor to secure a thicket next the pass Forget. Selected numbers station there. Farewell, young hero. May thy fortune prove Unlike to mine. Had Asia's millions spar'd One myriad to sustain me, none had seen
Me quit the dang'rous contest. But the head Of base Argestes on some future day
Abrocomes and Hyperanthes led, Pandates, Mindus. Violent their march Sweeps down the rocky, hollow-sounding pass. So, where th' unequal globe in mountains swells, A torrent rolls his thund'ring surge between The steep-erected cliffs; tumultuous dash The waters, bursting ou the pointed crags: The valley roars; the marble channel foams. Th' undaunted Greeks immoveably withstand The dire encounter. Soon th' impetuous shock Of thousands and of myriads shakes the ground. Stupendous scene of terrour! Under hills, Whose sides, half-arching, o'er the hosts project, The unabating fortitude of Greece
Maintains her line, th' untrain'd barbarians charge In savage fury. With inverted trunks, Or bent obliquely from the shagged ridge,
Shall feel my treasur'd vengeance. From the fleet The sylvan horrours overshade the fight.
I only stay, till burial rites are paid
To these dead Carians. On this fatal strand May Artemisia's grief appease your ghosts, My faithful subjects, sacrific'd in vain."
The hero grateful and respectful heard, What soon his warmth neglected at the sight Of spears, which flam'd innumerable round. Beyond the rest in lustre was a band, The satellites of Xerxes. They forsook Their constant orbit round th' imperial throne At this dread crisis. To a myriad fix'd, From their unchanging number they deriv'd The title of immortals. Light their spears; Set in pomegranates of refulgent gold, Or burnish'd silver, were the slender blades. Magnificent and stately were the ranks. The prince, commanding mute attention, spake. "In two divisions part your number, chiefs. One will I lead to onset. In my ranks Abrocomes, Hydarnes shall advance, Pandates, Mindus, Intaphernes brave, To wrest this short-liv'd victory from Greece. Thou, Abradates, by Sosarmes join'd, Orontes and Mazæus, keep the rest From action. Future succour they must lend, Should envious Fate exhaust our num'rous files. For, O pure Mithra, may thy radiant eye Ne'er see us, yielding to ignoble flight, The Persian name dishonour. May the acts Of our renown'd progenitors, who, led By Cyrus, gave one monarch to the east, In us revive. O think, ye Persian lords, What endless infamy will blast your names; Should Greece, that narrow portion of the Earth, Your pow'r defy: when Babylon hath lower'd Her tow'ring crest, when Lydia's pride is quell'd In Croesus vanquish'd, when her empire lost Ecbatana deplores. Ye chosen guard, Your king's immortal bulwark, O reflect What deeds from your superior swords he claims. You share his largest bounty. To your faith, Your constancy, and prowess, he commits His throne, his person, and this day his fame."
They wave their banners, blazing in the Sun, Who then three hours toward Hesperus had driv'n From his meridian height. Amid their shouts The hoarse-resounding billows are not heard. Of diff'rent nations, and in diff'rent garb, Innumerous and vary'd like the shells By restless Tethys scatter'd on the beach, O'er which they trod, the multitude advanc'd, Straight by Leonidas descry'd. The van
The clanging trump, the crash of mingled spears, The groan of death, and war's discordant shouts, Alarm the Echoes in their neighb'ring caves; Woods, cliffs, and shores return the dreadful sound.
Hyperanthes, discontinuing the fight, while be waits for reinforcements, Teribazus, a Persian remarkable for his merit and learning, and highly beloved by Hyperanthes, but unhappy in his passion for Ariana, a daughter of Darius, advances from the rest of the army to the rescue of a friend in distress, who lay wounded on the field of battle. Teribazus is attacked by Diophantus, the Mantinean, whom he overcomes; then engaging with Dithyrambus, is himself slain. Hyperanthes hastens to his succour. general battle ensues, where Diomedon distinguishes his valour. Hyperanthus and Abrocomes, partly by their own efforts, and partly by the perfidy of the Thebans, who desert the line, being on the point of forcing the Grecians, are repulsed by the Lacedæmonians. Hyperanthes composes a select body out of the Persian standing forces, and, making an improvement in their discipline, renews the attack; upon which Leonidas changes the disposition of his army: Hyperanthes and the ablest Persian generals are driven out of the field, and several thousands of the barbarians, circumvented in the pass, are entirely destroyed.
AMID the van of Persia was a youth, Nam'd Teribazus, not for golden stores, Not for wide pastures, travers'd o'er by herds, By fleece-abounding sheep, or gen'rous steeds, Nor yet for pow'r, nor splendid honours fam'd. Rich was his mind in ev'ry art divine; Through ev'ry path of science had he walk'd, The votary of wisdom. In the years, When tender down invests the ruddy cheek, He with the magi turn'd the hallow'd page: Of Zoroastres. Then his tow'ring thoughts
High on the plumes of contemplation soar'd. He from the lofty Babylonian fane
With learn'd Chaldæans trac'd the heav'nly sphere, There number'd o'er the vivid fires, which gleam On Night's bespangled bosom. Nor unheard Were Indian sages from sequester'd bow'rs, While on the banks of Ganges they disclos'd The pow'rs of Nature, whether in the woods, The fruitful glebe, or flow'r, the healing plant, The limpid waters, or the ambient air,
Or in the purer element of fire.
The realm of old Sesostris next he view'd, Mysterious Egypt with her hidden rites
Of Isis and Osiris. Last he sought
Tinge their black folds with gleams of scatter'd light, Then, swiftly closing, on the brow of Morn Condense their horrours, and in thickest gloom The ruddy beauty veil. They now approach The tow'r of Belus. Hyperanthes leads Through Babylon an army to chastise The crime of Egypt. Teribazus here Parts from his princess, marches bright in steel Beneath his patron's banner, gathers palms On conquer'd Nile. To Susa he returns, To Ariana's residence, and bears Deep in his heart th' immedicable wound. But unreveal'd and silent was his pain; Nor yet in solitary shades he roam'd,
Th' Ionian Greeks, from Athens sprung, nor pass'd Nor shun'd resort: but o'er his sorrows cast Miletus by, which once in rapture heard The tongue of Thales, nor Priene's walls, Where wisdom dwelt with Bias, nor the seat Of Pittacus, rever'd on Lesbian shores.
Th' enlighten'd youth to Susa now return'd, Place of his birth. His merit soon was dear To Hyperanthes. It was now the time, That discontent and murmur on the banks
A sickly dawn of gladness, and in smiles Conceal'd his anguish; while the secret flame Rag'd in his bosom, and its peace consum'd: His soul still brooding o'er these mournful thoughts. "Can I, O Wisdom, find relief in thee, Who dost approve my passion? From the snares Of beauty only thou wouldst guard my heart. But here thyself art charm'd; where softness, grace,
Of Nile were loud and threat'ning. Chembes there And ev'ry virtue diguify desire.
The only faithful stood, a potent lord, Whom Xerxes held by promis'd nuptial ties With his own blood. To this Egyptian prince Bright Ariana was the destin'd spouse, From the same bed with Hyperanthes born. Among her guards was Teribazus nam'd By that fond brother, tender of her weal.
Yet thus to love, despairing to possess, Of all the torments, by relentless Fate On life inflicted, is the most severe. Do I not feel thy warnings in my breast, will go That flight alone can save me? Back to the learn'd Chaldæans, on the banks Of Ganges seek the sages; where to Heav'n
Th' Egyptian boundaries they gain'd. They hear With thee my elevated soul shall tow'r.
Of insurrection, of the Pharian tribes
In arms, and Chembes in the tumult lain. They pitch their tents, at midnight are assail'd, Surpris'd, their leaders massacred, the slaves Of Ariana captives borne away, Her own pavilion forc'd, her person seiz'd By ruffian hands: when timely to redeem' Her and th' invaded camp from further spoil Flies Teribazus with a rally'd band, Swift on her chariot seats the royal fair, Nor waits the dawn. Of all her menial train None but three female slaves are left. Her guide, Her comforter and guardian fate provides In him, distinguish'd by his worth alone, No prince, nor satrap, now the single chief Of her surviving guard. Of regal birth, But with excelling graces in her soul, Unlike an eastern princess she inclines To his consoling, his instructive tongue, An humbled ear. Amid the converse sweet Her charms, her mind, her virtues he explores, Admiring. Soon is admiration chang'd To love; nor loves he sooner than despairs. From morn till eve her passing wheels he guards Back to Euphrates. Often, as she mounts Or quits the car, his arm her weight sustains With trembling pleasure. His assiduous hand From purest fountains wafts the living flood. Nor seldom by the fair-one's soft command Would he repose him, at her feet reclin'd; While o'er his lips her lovely forehead bow'd, Won by his grateful cloquence, which sooth'd With sweet variety the tedious march, Beguiling time. He too would then forget His pains awhile, in raptures vain entranc'd, Delusion all, and fleeting rays of joy, Soon overcast by more intense despair; Like wintry clouds, which, op'ning for a time,
O wretched Teribazus! all conspires Against thy peace. Our mighty lord prepares To overwhelm the Grecians. Ev'ry youth Is call'd to war; and I, who lately pois'd With no inglorious arm the soldier's lance, Who near the side of Hyperanthes fought, Must join the throng. How therefore can I fly From Ariana, who with Asia's queens The splendid camp of Xerxes must adorn? Then be it so. Again I will adore
Her gentle virtues. Her delightful voice, Her gracious sweetness shall again diffuse Resistless magic through my ravish'd heart; Till passion, thus with double rage inflam'd, Swells to distraction in my tortur'd breast, Then-but in vain through darkness do I search My fate-Despair and fortune be my guides.'
The day arriv'd, when Xerxes first advanc'd His arms from Susa's gates. The Persian dames, So were accustom'd all the eastern fair, In sumptuous cars accompany'd his march, A beauteous train, by Ariana grac'd. Her Teribazus follows, on her wheels Attends and pines. Such woes oppress the youth, Oppress, but not enervate. From the van He in this second conflict had withstood The threat'ning frown of adamantine Mars, He singly, while his bravest friends recoil'd. His manly temples no tiara bound. The slender lance of Asia he disdain'd, And her light target.
In Grecian arms the wonder of his foes; Among th' Ionians were his strenuous limbs A fulgent casque Train'd in the gymnic school. Before his face and chest Enclos'd his head.
Down to the knees an ample shield was spread.
A pond'rous spear he shook. The well-aim'd point Sent two Phliasians to the realms of death
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