The glittering terrors from his brow unbound,
And placed the beaming helmet on the ground,
Then kissed the child, and, lifting high in air,
Thus to the gods preferred a father's prayer :

'O thou! whose glory fills the ethereal throne,
And all ye deathless powers, protect my son !
Grant him, like me, to purchase just renown,
To guard the Trojans, to defend the crown,
Against his country's foes the war to wage,
And rise the Hector of the future age!
So when triumphant from successful toils
Of heroes slain he bears the reeking spoils,
Whole hosts may hail him with deserved acclaim,
And say,
"This chief transcends his father's fame;
While pleased, amidst the general shouts of Troy,
His mother's conscious heart o'erflows with joy.'

He spoke, and fondly gazing on her charms,
Restored the pleasing burden to her arms :
Soft on her fragrant breast the babe she laid,
Hushed to repose, and with a smile surveyed.
The troubled pleasure soon chastised by fear,
She mingled with the smile a tender tear.
The softened chief with kind compassion viewed,
And dried the falling drops, and thus pursued :
'Andromache! my soul's far better part !
Why with untimely sorrows heaves thy heart ?
No hostile hand can antedate my doom,
Till fate condemns me to the silent tomb.
Fixed is the term to all the race of earth;
And such the hard condition of our birth.
No force can then resist, no flight can save ;
All sink alike, the fearful and the brave.
No more-but hasten to thy tasks at home,
There guide the spindle, and direct the loom :

Me glory summons to the martial scene;
The field of combat is the sphere for men :
Where heroes war, the foremost place I claim,
The first in danger, as the first in fame.'

Thus having said, the glorious chief resumes
His towery helmet, black with shading plumes.
His princess parts with a prophetic sigh,
Unwilling parts, and oft reverts her eye,
That streamed at every look: then, moving slow,
Sought her own palace, and indulged her woe.
There, while her tears deplored the godlike man,
Through all her train the soft infection ran,
The pious maids their mingled sorrows shed,
And mourn the living Hector as the dead.

Hector and Paris together return to the field of battle, and many deeds of valour are done. Hector, incited by the gods, stepped to the forefront of the strife, and challenged the bravest Greek to single combat. Hesitating at first to meet the bold Trojan, none of the Achæans covet the honour, till Nestor reproaches them on their degeneracy in comparison with their forefathers, when, stung with this gibe, nine chieftains spring forward, and the lot falls upon Ajax. The duel is long and fierce, but without decisive result, for the heralds interpose as night comes on, and a truce is agreed upon that the two armies may each burn or bury their dead. A council of the Trojans is

held next day, and seeing that they had had the worst of the preceding day's battle-brought about by the treachery of the archer Pandarus-it is proposed to return Helen and her treasures to the Greeks. Paris, however, will not consent to this proposal so far as Helen is concerned, though indifferent in regard to the treasures, and consequently there is an indignant spurning of their offer by the Greeks. During the continuance of the truce Agamemnon causes a fortification to be built round the shore, to form a bulwark for their ships, and fence their camping ground'-a labour of the crested Grecians which highly incenses Neptune, who complains to Jupiter of this encroachment upon the sea-shore.

The almighty Thunderer with a frown replies,

That clouds the world, and blackens half the skies :
'Strong god of ocean! thou, whose rage can make
The solid earth's eternal basis shake!

What cause of fear from mortal works could move
The meanest subject of our realms above?
Where'er the sun's refulgent rays are cast,

Thy power is honoured, and thy fame shall last :
But yon proud work no future age shall view,
No trace remain where once the glory grew.

The sapped foundations by thy force shall fall,
And, whelmed beneath thy waves, drop the huge

wall :

Vast drifts of sand shall change the former shore;
The ruin vanished, and the name no more.'

Their rampart built, the Grecians spend the night in feasting; meanwhile a council of the gods is being held upon Olympus, and Jupiter declares against any more personal interference of the gods in the war, and decides further that for a time the fortunes of the Trojans shall be in the ascendant. In accordance with the supreme decision, when the battle is renewed the Trojans have the mastery and drive the Greeks before them to the shore, Jupiter assisting the former with his thunderbolts. At the fortification the routed Grecians are rallied by Agamemnon and Menelaus, and again sally forth to repel the Trojans; Ajax and his brother Teucer-the archer of the Greeks-doing great execution among the enemy, till Teucer at last, after having twice failed in his shots at Hector, is disabled by a boulder flung by him in revenge for the death of his charioteer. The Greeks are at length wholly driven within their trenches, while the victorious Trojans keep the field and bivouac by the sea-shore, to prevent their foes stealing away to the ships.

The troops exulting sat in order round, And beaming fires illumined all the ground.

As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night!
O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light,
When not a breath disturbs the deep serene,
And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene;
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And stars unnumbered gild the glowing pole,
O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,
And tip with silver every mountain's head;
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies;
The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight,
Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.
So many flames before proud Ilion blaze,
And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays;
The long reflections of the distant fires
Gleam on the walls, and tremble on the spires.

A thousand piles the dusky horrors gild,
And shoot a shady lustre o'er the field.

Full fifty guards each flaming pile attend,

Whose umbered arms, by fits, thick flashes send;
Loud neigh the coursers o'er their heaps of corn,
And ardent warriors wait the rising morn.

Sorely dismayed at his defeat, Agamemnon calls a council of the chiefs, and the question is seriously raised by the king on this occasion as to whether it would not be better to relinquish the war and return to Greece. Diomede of all the chiefs will not listen to the proposal, while Nestor advises the king to make peace with Achilles, and bring back that hero to his aid against the Trojans. After some hesitation,