Which beat the echoing pavement of the rock? Reply, nor tempt inevitable fate."
A voice reply'd. "No enemies we come, But crave admittance in an humble tone."
The Spartan answers. "Through the midnight shade
What purpose draws your wand'ring steps abroad?" To whom the stranger. "We are friends to Greece.
Through thy assistance we implore access To Lacedæmon's king." The cautious Greek Stil hesitates; when musically sweet A tender voice his wond'ring ear allures.
"O gen'rous warrior, listen to the pray'r Of one distress'd, whom grief alone hath led Through midnight shades to these victorious tents, A wretched woman, innocent of fraud."
The chief, descending, through th' unfolded gates Upheld a flaming torch. The light disclos'd One first in servile garments. Near his side A woman graceful and majestic stood, Not with an aspect rivalling the pow'r Of fatal Helen, or th' insnaring charms
Of love's soft queen, but such as far surpass'd Whate'er the lily, blending with the rose, Spreads on the cheek of beauty soon to fade; Such as express'd a mind by wisdom rul'd, By sweetness temper'd; virtue's purest light Illumining the countenance divine: Yet could not soften rig'rous Fate, nor charm Malignant Fortune to revere the good; Which oft with anguish reads a spotless heart, And oft associates wisdom with despair. In courteous phrase began the chief humane. "Exalted fair, whose form adorns the night, Forbear to blame the vigilance of war. My slow compliance, to the rigid laws Of Mars impute. In me no longer pause Shall from the presence of our king withhold This thy apparent dignity and worth." Here ending, he conducts her. Of his lov'd brother from his couch arose Leonidas. In wonder he survey'd Th' illustrious virgin, whom his presence aw'd. Her eye submissive to the ground declin'd In veneration of the godlike man.
His mien, his voice her anxious dread dispel, Benevolent and hospitable thus.
"Thy looks, fair stranger, amiable and great, A mind delineate, which from all commands Supreme regard. Relate, thou noble dame, By what relentless destiny compell'd, Thy tender feet the paths of darkness tread; Rehearse th' afflictions, whence thy virtue mourns." On her wan cheek a sudden blush arose Like day, first dawning on the twilight pale; When, wrapt in grief, these words a passage found. "If to be most unhappy, and to know, That hope is irrecoverably fled; If to be great and wretched may deserve Commiseration from the brave: behold, Thou glorious leader of unconquer'd bands, Behold, descended from Darius' loins, Th' afflicted Ariana; and my pray'r Accept with pity, nor my tears disdain. First, that I lov'd the best of human race, Heroic, wise, adorn'd by ev'ry art,
Of shame unconscious doth my heart reveal. This day, in Grecian arms conspicuous clad, He fought, he fell. A passion, long conceal'd,
For me, alas! within my brother's arms His dying breath resigning, he disclos'd. Oh! I will stay my sorrows! will forbid My eyes to stream before thee, and my breast, O'erwhelm'd by anguish, will from sighs restrain! For why should thy humanity be griev'd At my distress, why learn from me to mourn The lot of mortals, doom'd to pain and woe. Hear then, O king, and grant my sole request, To seek his body in the heaps of slain."
Thus to the hero su'd the royal maid, Resembling Ceres in majestic woe, When supplicating Jove from Stygian gloom, And Pluto's black embraces to redeem Her lov'd and lost Proserpina. Awhile On Ariana fixing stedfast eyes These tender thoughts Leonidas recall'd. "Such are thy sorrows, O for ever dear, Who now at Lacedæmon dost deplore My everlasting absence." Then aside He turn'd and sigh'd. Recov'ring, he address'd His brother. "Most beneficent of men, Attend, assist this princess. Night retires Before the purple-winged morn." A band Is call'd. The well-remember'd spot they find, Where Teribazus from his dying hand Dropt in their sight his formidable sword. Soon from beneath a pile of Asian dead They draw the hero, by his armour known.
Then, Ariana, what transcending pangs Were thine! what horrours! In thy tender breast Love still was mightiest. On the bosom cold Of Teribazus, grief-distracted maid, Thy beauteous limbs were thrown. Thy snowy hue The clotted gore disfigur'd. On his wounds Loose flow'd thy hair, and, bubbling from thy eyes, Impetuous sorrow lav'd th' empurpled clay. When forth in groans these lamentations broke. "O torn for ever from these weeping eyes! Thou, who despairing to obtain a heart Which then most lov'd thee, didst untimely yield Thy life to Fate's inevitable dart
For her, who now in agony reveals Her tender passion, who repeats her vows To thy deaf ear, who fondly to her own Unites thy cheek insensible and cold. Alas! do those unmoving, ghastly orbs Perceive my gushing sorrow! Can that heart At my complaint dissolve the ice of death To share my suffrings! Never, never more Shall Ariana bend a list'ning ear
To thy enchanting eloquence, nor feast Her mind on wisdom from thy copious tongue! Oh! bitter, insurmountable distress!"
She could no more. Invincible despair Suppress'd all utt'rance. As a marble form, Fix'd on the solemn sepulchre, inclines The silent head in imitated woe
O'er some dead hero, whom his country lov'd; Entranc'd by anguish, o'er the breathless clay So hung the princess. On the gory breach, Whence life had issu'd by the fatal blow, Mute for a space and motionless she gaz'd; When thus in accents firm. "Imperial pomp, Foe to my quiet, take my last farewell. There is a state, where only virtue holds The rank supreme. My Teribazus there From his high order must descend to mine."
Then with no trembling hand, no change of look, She drew a poniard, which her garment veil'd;
And instant sheathing in her heart the blade, On her slain lover silent sunk in death. The unexpected stroke prevents the care Of Agis, pierc'd by horrour and distress Like one, who, standing on a stormy beach, Beholds a found'ring vessel, by the deep At once engulf'd; his pity feels and mourns, Depriv'd of pow'r to save: so Agis view'd The prostrate pair. He dropp'd a tear and thus. "Oh! much lamented! Heavy on your heads Hath evil fall'n, which o'er your pale remains Commands this sorrow from a stranger's eye. Illustrious ruins! May the grave impart That peace, which life deny'd! And now receive This pious office from a hand unknown."
He spake, unclasping from his shoulders broad His ample robe. He strew'd the waving folds O'er each wan visage; turning then, address'd The slave, in mute dejection standing near.
"Thou, who attendant on this hapless fair, Hast view'd this dreadful spectacle, return. These bleeding relics bear to Persia's king, Thou with four captives, whom I free from bonds." "Art thou a Spartan," interrupts the slave? "Dost thou command me to return, and pine In climes unbless'd by liberty, or laws? Grant me to see Leonidas. Alone Let him decide, if wretched, as I seem, I may not claim protection from this camp." "Whoe'er thou art," rejoins the chief, amaz'd, But not offended, "thy ignoble garb Conceal'd a spirit, which I now revere. Thy countenance demands a better lot Than I, a stranger to thy hidden worth, Unconscious offer'd. Freedom dwells in Greece, Humanity and justice. Thou shalt see Leonidas their guardian." To the king He leads him straight, presents him in these words. "In mind superior to the base attire, [comes, Which marks his limbs with shame, a stranger Who thy protection claims." The slave subjoins. "I stand thy suppliant now. Thou soon shalt If I deserve thy favour. I request To meet th' assembled chieftains of this host. Oh! I am fraught with tidings, which import The weal of ev'ry Grecian." Agis swift, Appointed by Leonidas, convenes The diff'rent leaders. To the tent they speed. Before them call'd, the stranger thus began.
"O Alpheus! Maron! Hither turn your sight, And know your brother." From their seats they From either breaks in ecstasy the name [start, Of Polydorus. To his dear embrace Each fondly strives to rush; but he withstands: While down his cheek a flood of anguish pours From his dejected eyes, in torture bent On that vile garb, dishonouring his form. At length these accents, intermix'd with groans, A passage found, while mute attention gaz'd. "You first should know, if this unhappy slave Yet merits your embraces." Then approach'd Leonidas. Before him all recede,
Ev'n Alpheus' self, and yields his brother's hand, Which in his own the regal hero press'd. Still Polydorus on his gloomy front Repugnance stern to consolation bore; When thus the king with majesty benign. "Lo! ev'ry heart is open to thy worth. Injurious fortune, and enfeebling time, By servitude and grief severely try
A lib'ral spirit. Try'd, but not subdu'd, Do thou appear. Whatever be our lot Is Heav'n's appointment. Patience best becomes The citizen and soldier. Let the sight
Of friends and brethren dissipate thy gloom." Of men the gentlest, Agis too advanc'd, Who with increas'd humanity began.
"Now in thy native liberty secure, Smile on thy pass'd affliction, and relate, What chance restores thy merit to the arms Of friends and kindred." Polydorus then.
"I was a Spartan. When my tender prime On manhood border'd, from Laconia's shores, Snatch'd by Phoenician pirates, I was sold A slave, by Hyperanthes bought and giv'n To Ariana. Gracious was her hand. But I remain'd a bondman, still estrang'd From Lacedæmon. Demaratus oft In friendly sorrow would my lot deplore; Nor less his own ill-fated virtue mourn'd, Lost to his country in a servile court, The centre of corruption; where in smiles Are painted envy, treachery, and hate With rankling malice; where alone sincere The dissolute seek no disguise; where those, Possessing all a monarch can bestow,
Are far less happy than the meanest heir To freedom, far more groveling than the slave Who serves their cruel pride. Yet here the Sun Ten times his yearly circle hath renew'd, Since Polydorus hath in bondage groan'd. My bloom is pass'd, or, pining in despair, Untimely wither'd. I at last return A messenger of fate, who tidings bear Of desolation." Here he paus'd in grief Redoubled; when Leonidas. "Proceed. Should from thy lips inevitable death To all be threatened, thon art heard by none, Whose dauntless hearts can entertain a thought, But how to fall the noblest." Thus the king. The rest in speechless expectation wait. Such was the solemn silence, which o'erspread The shrine of Ammon, or Dodona's shades, When anxious mortals from the mouth of Jove Their doom explor'd. Nor Polydorus long Suspends the counsel, but resumes his tale.
As I this night accompany'd the steps Of Ariana, near the pass we saw A restless form, now traversing the way, Now, as a statue, rivetted by doubt, Then on a sudden starting to renew An eager pace. As nearer we approach'd, He by the Moon, which glimmer'd on our heads, Descry'd us. Straight advancing, whither bent Our midnight course, he ask'd. I knew the voice Of Demaratus. To my breast I clasp'd The venerable exile, and reply'd. 'Laconia's camp we seek. Demand no more. Farewell.' He wept. 'Be Heav'n thy guide,' he Thrice happy Polydorus. Thou again [said, Mayst visit Sparta, to these eyes deny'd. Soon as arriv'd at those triumphant tents, Say to the Spartans from their exil'd king, Although their blind credulity depriv'd The wretched Demaratus of his home; From ev'ry joy secluded, from his wife, His offspring torn, his countrymen and friends, Him from his virtue they could ne'er divide. Say, that ev'n here, where all are kings or slaves, Amid the riot of flagitious courts
Not quite extinct his Spartan spirit glows, Though grief hath dimm'd its fires. Rememb'ring Report, that newly to the Persian host Return'd a Maliau, Epialtes nam'd,
Who, as a spy, the Grecian tents had sought. He to the monarch magnify'd his art, Which by delusive eloquence had wrought The Greeks to such despair, that ev'ry band
To Persia's sov❜reign standard would have bow'd, Had not the spirit of a single chief,
By fear unconquer'd, and on death resolv'd, Restor'd their valour: therefore would the king Trust to his guidance a selected force,
They soon should pierce th' unguarded bounds of Greece
Through a neglected aperture above, Where no Leonidas should bar their way: Meantime by him the treach'rous Thebans sent Assurance of their aid. Th' assenting prince At once decreed two myriads to advance With Hyperanthes. Ev'ry lord besides, Whom youth, or courage, or ambition warm, Rous'd by the traitor's eloquence, attend From all the nations with a rival zeal To enter Greece the foremost.' In a sigh He clos'd-like me." Tremendous from his seat Uprose Diomedon. His eyes were flames. When swift on trembling Anaxander broke These ireful accents from his livid lips.
"Yet ere we fall, O traitor, shall this arm To Hell's avenging furies sink thy head."
All now is tumult. Ev'ry bosom swells With wrath untam'd and vengeance. Half unsheath'd,
Th' impetuous falchion of Platæa flames. But, as the Colchian sorceress, renown'd In legends old, or Circé, when they fram'd A potent spell, to smoothness charm'd the main, And lull'd Folian rage by mystic song; Till not a billow heav'd against the shore, Nor ev'n the wanton-winged Zephyr breath'd The lightest whisper through the magic air: So, when thy voice, Leonidas, is heard, Confusion listens; ire in silent awe Subsides. "Withhold this rashness," cries the king. "To proof of guilt let punishment succeed. Not yet barbarian shouts our camp alarm. We still have time for vengeance, time to know, If menac'd ruin we may yet repell, Or how most glorious perish." Next arose Dioneces, and thus th' experienc'd man.
"Ere they surmount our fences, Xerxes' troops Must learn to conquer, and the Greeks to fly. The spears of Phocis guard that secret pass. To them let instant messengers depart, And note the hostile progress." Alpheus here. "Leonidas, behold, my willing feet Shall to the Phocians bear thy high commands; Shall climb the hill to watch th' approaching foe." "Thou active son of valour," quick returns The chief of Lacedæmon, "in my thoughts For ever present, when the public weal Requires the swift, the vigilant, and bold. Go, climb, surmount the rock's aerial height. Observe the hostile march. A Spartan band, Dioneces, provide. Thyself conduct Their speedy succour to our Phocian friends." The council rises. For his course prepar'd, While day, declining, prompts his eager feet, "O Polydorus," Alpheus thus in haste, VOL. XVIL
"Long lost, and late recover'd, we must part Again, perhaps for ever. Thou return To kiss the sacred soil which gave thee birth, And calls thee back to freedom. Brother dear, I should have sighs to give thee-but farewell. My country chides me, loit'ring in thy arms," This said, he darts along, nor looks behind, When Polydorus answers. Alpheus, no.
I have the marks of bondage to erase. My blood must wash the shameful stain away.' "We have a father," Maron interpos'd. "Thy unexpected presence will revive His heavy age, now childless and forlorn."
To him the brother with a gloomy frown. "Ill should I comfort others. View these eyes. Faint is their light; and vanish'd was my bloom Before its hour of ripeness. In my breast Grief will retain a mansion, nor by time
Be dispossess'd. Unceasing shall my soul Brood o'er the black remembrance of my youth, In slavery exhausted. Life to me Hath lost its savour."
Then in sullen woe His head declines. His brother pleads in vain. Now in his view Dieneces appear'd. With Sparta's band. Immoveable his eyes On them he fix'd, revolving these dark thoughts. "I too like them from Lacedæmon spring, Like them instructed once to poise the spear, To lift the pond'rous shield. Ill-destin'd wretch! Thy arm is grown enervate, and would sink Beneath a buckler's weight. Malignant Fates! Who have compell'd my freeborn hand to change 'The warrior's arms for ignominious bonds; Would you compensate for my chains, my shame, My ten years anguish, and the fell despair Which on my youth have prey'd; relenting once, Grant I may bear my buckler to the field, And, known a Spartan, seek the shades below." "Why, to be known a Spartan, must thou seek The shades below?" impatient Maron spake. 'Live, and be known a Spartan by thy deeds. Live, and enjoy thy dignity of birth. Live, and perform the duties which become A citizen of Sparta. Still thy brow Frowns gloomy, still unyielding. He, who leads Our band, all fathers of a noble race, Will ne'er permit thy barren day to close Without an offspring to uphold the state."
"He will," replies the brother in a glow, Prevailing o'er the paleness of his cheek, "He will permit me to complete by death The measure of my duty; will permit Me to achieve a service, which no hand But mine can render, to adorn his fall With double lustre, strike the barb'rous foe With endless terrour, and avenge the shame Of an enslav'd Laconian." Closing here His words mysterious, quick he turn'd away To find the tent of Agis. There his hand In grateful sorrow minister'd her aid; While the humane, the hospitable care Of Agis, gently by her lover's corse On one sad bier the pallid beauties laid Of Ariana. He from bondage freed
Four eastern captives, whom his gen'rous arm That day had spar'd in battle; then began This solemn charge. "You, Persians, whom my
Acquir'd in war, unransom'd shall depart. To you I render freedom, which you sought
To wrest from me. One recompense I ask, And one alone. Transport to Asia's camp This bleeding princess. Bid the Persian king Weep o'er this flow'r, untimely cut in bloom. Then say, th' all-judging pow'rs have thus ordain'd. Thou, whose ambition o'er the groaning Earth Leads desolation; o'er the nations spreads Calamity and tears; thou first shalt mourn, And through thy house destruction first shall range." 'Dismiss'd, they gain the rampart, where on guard
Was Dithyrambus posted. He perceiv'd The mournful bier approach. To him the fate Of Ariana was already told.
He met the captives, with a moisten'd eye, Full bent on Teribazus, sigh'd and spake.
"O that, assuming with those Grecian arms A Grecian spirit, thou in scorn hadst look'd On princes! Worth like thing, from slavish courts Withdrawn, had ne'er been wasted to support A king's injustice. Then a gentler lot Had bless'd thy life, or, dying, thou hadst known How sweet is death for liberty. A Greek Affords these friendly wishes, though his head Had lost the honours gather'd from thy fall, When fortune favour'd, or propitious Jove Smil'd on the better cause. Ill-fated pair, Whom in compassion's purest dew I lave, But that my hand infix'd the deathful wound, And must be grievous to your loathing shades, From all the neighb'ring valleys would I cull Their fairest growth to strew your hearse with flow'rs.
Yet, O accept these tears and pious pray'rs ! May peace surround your ashes! May your shades Pass o'er the silent pool to happier seats!" He ceas'd in tears. The captives leave the wall, And slowly down Thermopyla proceed.
arrive at Thermopylæ the next morning; upon which Leonidas offers to send away all the troops except his three hundred Spartans; but Diomedon, Demophilus, Dithyrambus, and Megistias refuse to depart: then to relieve the perplexity of Medon on this occasion, he transfers to him the supreme command, dismisses Argestes, orders the companions of his own fate to be ready in arms by sunset, and retires to his pavilion.
THE Grecian leaders, from the counsel ris'n, Among the troops dispersing, by their words, Their looks undaunted, warm the coldest heart Against new dangers threat'ning. To his tent The Locrian captains Medon swift convenes, Exhorting thus. "O long-approv'd my friends, You, who have seen my father in the field Triumphant, bold assistants of my arm In labours not inglorious, who this day Have rais'd fresh trophies, be prepar'd. If help Be further wanted in the Phocian camp, You will the next be summon'd. Locris lies To ravage first expos'd. Your ancient fane, Your goddesses, your priestess half-ador'd, The daughter of Oïleus, from your swords Protection claim against an impious foe."
All anxious for Melissa, he dismiss'd Th' applauding vet'rans; to the sacred cave Then hasten'd. Under Heav'n's night-shaded cope He mus'd. Melissa in her holy place How to approach with inauspicious steps, How to accost, his pensive mind revolv'd: When Mycon, pious vassal of the fane, Descending through the cavern, at the sight Of Medon stopp'd, and thus. "Thy presence, lord, The priestess calls. To Lacedæmon's king I bear a message, suff'ring no delay."
He quits the chief, whose rapid feet ascend, Soon ent'ring where the pedestal displays Thy form, Calliopè sublime. The lyre, Whose accents immortality confer, Thy fingers seem to wake. On either side, The snowy gloss of Parian marble shows Four of thy sisters through surrounding shade. Before each image is a virgin plac'd. Before each virgin dimly burns a lamp, Whose livid spires just temper with a gleam The dead obscurity of night. Apart The priestess thoughtful sits. Thus Medon breaks "Anxious for thy state, The solemn silence. Without a summons to thy pure abode I was approaching. Deities, who know The present, pass'd, and future, let my lips, Unblam'd, have utt'rance. Thou, my sister, hear. Thy breast let wisdom strengthen. Impious foes Through Eta now are passing." She replies.
Medon convenes the Locrian commanders, and harangues them; repairs at midnight to his sister Melissa in the temple, and receives from her the first intelligence, that the Persians were in actual possession of the upper straits, which had been abandoned by the Phocians. Melibus brings her tidings of her father's death. She strictly enjoins her brother to preserve his life by a timely retreat, and recommends the enforce- ment of her advice to the prudence and zeal of Melibus. In the morning the bodies of Teri- bazus and Ariana are brought into the presence A dire narration hear. of Xerxes, soon after a report had reached the camp, that great part of his navy was ship- A favour'd goat, conductor of my herd, wrecked. The Persian monarch, quite dispirit- Stray'd to a dale, whose outlet is the post ed, is persuaded by Argestes to send an ambas-To Phocians left, and penetrates to Greece. sador to the Spartan king. Argestes himself is deputed, who, after revealing his embassy in secret to Leonidas, is by him led before the whole army, and there receives his answer. Alpheus returns, and declares, that the enemy was master of the passages in the hills, and would
"Are passing, brother! They, alas! are pass'd, Are in possession of the upper strait. Hear in thy turn.
Him Mycon following, by a hostile band, Light-arm'd forerunners of a num'rous host, Was seiz'd. By fear of menac'd torments forc'd, He show'd a passage up that mountain's side, Whose length of wood o'ershades the Phocian land. To dry and sapless trunks in diff'rent parts
Fire, by the Persians artfully apply'd, Soon grew to flames. This done, the troop return'd, Detaining Mycon. Now the mountain blaz'd.
The Phocians, ill-commanded, left their post, Alarm'd, confus'd. More distant ground they chose. In blind delusion forming there, they spread Their ineffectual banners to repell Imagin'd peril from those fraudful lights, By stratagem prepar'd. A real foe Meantime secur'd the undefended pass. This Mycon saw. Escaping thence to me, He by my orders hastens to inform Leonidas." She paus'd. Like one who sees The forked light'ning into shivers rive A knotted oak, or erumble tow'rs to dust, Aghast was Medon; then, recov'ring, spake. "Thou boasted glory of th' Oïlean house, If e'er thy brother bow'd in rev'rence due To thy superior virtues, let his voice
Be now regarded. From th' endanger'd fane, My sister, fly. Whatever be my lot, A troop select of Locrians shall transport Thy sacred person where thy will ordains." "Think not of me," returns the dame. Greece
By zeal for Greece, transported by his joy To entertain Leonidas, refus'd
Due rest. Old age his ardour had forgot, To his last waking moment with his guest In rapturous talk redundant. He at last, Compos'd and smiling in th' embrace of sleep, To Pan's protection at the island fane Was left. He wak'd no more. The fatal news, To you discover'd, from the chiefs I hide." Melissa heard, inclin'd her forehead low Before th' insculptur'd deities. A sigh Broke from her heart, these accents from her lips. "The full of days and honours through the gate Of painless slumber is retir'd, His tomb "To Shall stand among his fathers in the shade Of his own trophies. Placid were his days, Which flow'd through blessings. As a river pure, Whose sides are flow'ry, and whose meadows fair, Meets in his course a subterranean void; There dips his silver head, again to rise, And, rising, glide through flow'rs and meadows news So shall Oileus in those happier fields, Where never tempests roar, nor humid clouds In mists dissolve, nor white-descending flakes Of winter violate th' eternal green; Where never gloom of trouble shades the mind, Nor gust of passion heaves the quiet breast, Nor dews of grief are sprinkled. Thou art gone Host of divine Leonidas on Earth,
Direct thy zeal. My peasants are conven'd, That by their labour, when the fatal hour Requires, with massy fragments I may bar That cave to human entrance. Best belov'd Of brothers, now a serious ear incline. Awhile in Greece to Fortune's wanton gale His golden banner shall the Persian king, Deluded, wave. Leonidas, by death Preserving Sparta, will his spirit leave To blast the glitt'ring pageant. Medon, live To share that glory. Thee to perish here No law, no oracle enjoins. To die, Uncall'd, is blameful. Let thy pious hand Secure Oïleus from barbarian force. To Sparta, mindful of her noble host, Entrust his rev'rend head." Th' assembled hinds, Youths, maidens, wives with nurselings at their breasts,
Around her now in consternation stood, The women weeping, mute, aghast the men. To them she turns. "You never, faithful race, Your priestess shall forsake. Melissa here, Despairing never of the public weal, For better days in solitude shall wait, Shall cheer your sadness. My prophetic soul Sees through time's cloud the liberty of Greece More stable, more effulgent. In his blood Leonidas cements th' unshaken base Of that strong tow'r, which Athens shall exalt To cast a shadow o'er the eastern world."
This utter'd, tow'rd the temple's inmost seat Of sanctity her solemn step she bends, Devout, enraptur'd. In their dark'ning lamps The pallid flames are fainting. Dim through mists The morning peeps. An awful silence reigns. While Medon pensive from the fane descends, But instant reappears. Behind him close Treads Melibeas, through the cavern's mouth Ascending pale in aspect, not unlike What legends tell of spectres, by the force Of necromantic sorcery constrain'd; Through Earth's dark bowels, which the spell dis- They from Death's mansion in reluctant sloth Rose to divulge the secrets of their graves, Or mysteries of Fate. His cheerful brow,
Art gone before him to prepare the feast, Immortalizing virtue." Silent here, Around her head she wraps her hallow'd pall. Her prudent virgins interpose a hymu, Not in a plaintive, but majestic flow,
To which their fingers, sweeping o'er the chords, The lyre's full tone attemper. She unveils, Then with a voice, a countenance compos'd.
"Go, Medon, pillar of th' Oïlean house, New cares, new duties claim thy precious life. Perform the pious obsequies. Let tears, Let groans be absent from the sacred dust, Which Heav'n in life so favour'd, more in death. A term of righteous days, an envy'd urn Like his, for Medon is Melissa's pray'r. Thou, Melibus, cordial, high in rank Among the prudent, warn and watch thy lord. My benediction shall reward thy zeal."
Sooth'd by the blessings of such perfect lips, They both depart. And now the climbing Sun To Xerxes' tent discover'd from áfar
The Persian captives with their mournful load. Before them Rumour through her sable trump Breathes lamentation. Horrour lends his voice To spread the tidings of disastrous fate Along Spercheos. As a vapour black, Which, from the distant, horizontal verge Ascending, nearer still and nearer bends To higher lands its progress, there condens'd Throws darkness o'er the valleys, while the face Of Nature saddens round; so step by step, In motion slow th' advancing bier diffus'd
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