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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