Beneath his ear the pointed arrow went ;
His foul came iffuing at the narrow vent,
His limbs, unnerv'd, drop useless on the ground,
And everlasting darkness fhades him round.
Nor knew great Hector how his legions yield
845
(Wrapt in the cloud and tumult of the field);
Wide on the left the force of Greece commands,
And conqueft hovers o'er th' Achaian bands:
With fuch a tide fuperiour virtue sway'd,
And he that shakes the folid earth gave aid. 850
But in the center Hector fix'd remain'd,
Where firft the gates were forc'd and bulwarks
gain'd;
There, on the margin of the hoary deep,
(Their naval station where th' Ajaces keep,
And where low walls confine the beating tides,
Whofe humble barrier scarce the foe divides;
Where late in fight, both foot and horfe engag'd,
And all the thunder of the cattle rag'd)
There join'd, the whole Baotian ftrength re-
mains,
The proud Ionians with their sweeping trains, 860
Locrians and Phthians, and th' Epean force;
But, join'd, repel not Hector's fiery course.
The flower of Athens, Stichius, Phidas led,
Bias and great Meneftheus at their head.
Meges the strong the Epeian bands control'd,
And Dracius prudent, and Amphion bold;
The Phthians Medon, fam'd for martial might,
And brave Podarces, active in the fight.
This drew from Phylacus his noble line;
Iphiclus' fon: and that (Oileus) thine:
(Young Ajax' brother, by a ftol'n embrace;
He dwelt far diftant from his native place,
By his fierce ftepdame from his father's reign
Expell'd and exil'd for her brother flain.)
Thefe rule the Phthians, and their arms employ
Mixt with Boeotians, on the fhores of Troy.
Now fide by fide, with like unweary'd care, Each Ajax labour'd through the field of war: So when two lordly bulls, with equal toil, Force the bright plowfhare through the fallow foil,
Join'd to one yoke, the stubborn earth they tear, And trace large furrows with the fhining fhare; O'er their huge limbs the foam defcends in fnow,
And ftreams of fweat down their four foreheads flow.
A train of heroes follow'd through the field, 885
Who bore by turns great Ajax' seven-fold fhield;
Whene'er he breath'd, remiffive of his might,
Tir'd with inceffant naughters of the fight.
No following troops his brave affociate grace:
In clofe engagement an unpractis'd race,
The Locrian fquadrons nor the javelin wield,
Nor bear the helm, nor lift the moony fhield;
But skill'd from far the flying fhaft to wing,
Or whirl the founding pebble from the fling;
Far in the rear the Locrian archers lie,
Whofe ftones and arrows intercept the fky, 900
The mingled tempeft on the foes they pour;
Troy's fcattering orders open to the shower.
Now had the Greeks eternal fame acquir'd, And the gall'd Ilians to their walls retir'd; But fage Polydamas, difcreetly brave, Addrefs'd great Hector, and this counfel gave: Though great in all, thou feem'st averfe to lend Impartial audience to a faithful friend; To Gods and men thy matchlefs worth is known, And every art of glorious war thy own; But in cool thought and counsel to excel, How widely differs this from warring well? Content with what the bounteous Gods have given, Seek not alone t' engrofs the gifts of Heaven. To fome the powers of bloody war belong, 915 To fome, fweet mufick, and the charm of fong; To few, and wondrous few, has Jove affign'd A wife, extenfive, all-confidering mind; Their guardians thefe, the nations round confefs, And towns and empires for their fafety blefs. 920 If Heaven have lodg'd this virtue in my breast, Attend, O Hector, what I judge the best: See, as thou mov't, on dangers dangers spread, And war's whole fury burns around thy head. Behold! diftrefs'd within yon hoftile wall, How many Trojans yield, difperfe, or fall? What troops, out-number'd, scarce the war maintain?
Eat round the battlements, and round the plain,
For many a chief he look'd, but lock'd in vain ;
Deiphobus, nor Helenus the feer,
955
Nor Afius' fon, nor Afius felf appear.
For these were pierc'd with many a ghaftly wound,
Some cold in death, fome groaning on the ground:
Some low in duft (a mournful object) lay;
High on the wall fome breath'd their foul
960
Far on the left, amid the throng he found
(Cheering the troops, and dealing deaths around)
The graceful Paris; whom, with fury mcv'd,
Opprobrious, thus, th' impatient chief reprov'd:
Il-fated Paris! flave to woman-kind,
As fmooth of face as fraudulent of mind!
Where is Deiphobus, where Afius gone?
The godlike father, and th' intrepid fon?
The force of Heienus, difpenfing fate;
And great Othryoneus, fo fear'd of lare?
Black fate hangs o'er thee from th' avenging
Imperial Troy from her foundations nods;
Whelm'd in thy country's ruins halt thou fall,
And one devouring vengeance (wallow all.
When Paris thus: My brother and my friend,
975
Thy warm impatience makes thy tongue offend.
In other battles I deferv'd thy blame,
Though then not deedlefs, nor unknown to
fame :
But Ince you rampart by thy arms lay low,
Ifcatter'd flaughter from my fatal bow.
The chiefs you feck on yonder fhore lie flain;
Of all thofe heroes two alone remain;
Deiphobus, and Helenus the feer;,
Each now difabled by a hoftile spear.
Go then, fuccefsful, where thy foul infpires: 985
This heart and hand shall second all thy fires:
What with this arm I can, prepare to know,
Till death for death be paid, and blow for blow.
But, 'tis not ours, with forces not our own
To combat; ftrength is of the Gods alone.
Thefe words the hero's angry mind affuage:
Then fierce they mingle where the thickest rage.
Around Polydamas, diftain'd with blood.
Cebrion, Phalces, ftern Orthæus stood.
Palmus, with Polypates the divine,
And two bold brothers of Hippotion's line :
(Who reach'd fair Ilioh, from Afcania far,
The former day; the next engag'd in war.)
As when from gloomy clouds a whirlwind fprings,
That bears Jove's thunder on its dreadful wings,
1000
Wide o'er the blafted fields the tempest sweeps;
Then, gather'd, fettles on the hoary deeps:
Th'afflicted deeps tumultuous mix and roar;"
The waves behind impel the waves before,
Wide-rolling, foaming high, and tumbling
to the fhore:
Thus rank on rank the thick battallions throng, Chief urg'd on chief, and man drøve man along. VOL VI.
Vain are the hopes that haughty mind imparts, To force our fleet: the Greeks have hands, and hearts.
Long e'er in flames our lofty navy fall,
Your boafted city and your god-built wall
Shall fink beneath us, fimoking on the ground;
1030
And spread a long, unmeafur'd ruin round,
The time thall come, when, chas'd along the plain,
Ev'n thou shalt call on Jove, and call in vain ;
Ev'n thou fhalt with, to aid thy defperate course,
The wings of falcons for thy flying horfe;
Shalt run, forgetful of a warrior's fame,
While clouds of friendly duft conceal thy fhame.
As thus he spoke, behold, in open view, On founding wings a dexter eagle flew. To Jove's glad omien all the Grecians rife, 1045 And hail, with fhouts, his progrefs through the
Far-echoing clamours bound from fide to fide:
They ceas'd; and thus the chief of Troy reply'd;
From whence this menace, this infulting ftrain?
Enormous boafter; doom'd to vaunt in vain. 1045
So may the Gods on Hector life bestow,
(Not that fhort life which mortals lead below,
But fuch as thofe of Jove's high lineage born,
The blue-ey'd Maid, or He that gilds the morn.),
As this decifive day shall end the fame
Of Greece, and Argos be no more a name.
And thou, imperious! if thy madness wait
The lance of Hector, thou fhalt meet thy fate:
That giant corpfe, extended on the shore,
Shall largely feed the fowls with fat and gore. 1055
He faid, and like a lion stalk'd along :
Wich fhouts inceffant earth and ocean rung,
Sent from his following hoft; the Grecian train
With anfwering thunders fill'd the echoing plain;
A fhout that tore Heaven's concave, and above
1060
Shook the fix'd fplendors of the throne of Jove.
P
BOOK XIV.
THE ARGUMENT.
Juno deceives Jupiter by the Girdle of Venus.
Neftor, fitting at the table with Machaon, is alarmed with the increafing clamour of the war and beßions to Agamemnon on his way be meets that prince with Diomed and Ulyffes, whom be informs of the extremity of the danger. Agamemnon propofes to make their efcape by night, which Ulyffes withflands; to which Dicmed adds bis advice, that, wounded as they were, they should go forth and encourage the army with their prefence; which advice is pursued. Juno fecing the partiality of Jupiter to the Trojans, forms e dejign to over-reach him; fbe fets off her charms with the utmost care, and (the more furely to enchant bim) obtains the magic circle of Venus. She then applies herself to the God of Sleep, and, with fome difficulty, perfuades bim to feal the eyes of Jupiter; this done, foe goes to Mount Ida, where the God, at firf fight, is ravifbed with ber beauty, finks in her embraces, and is laid afleep. Neptune takes advantage of bis fumber, and fuccours the Greeks: Hector is fruck to the ground with a prodigious flone by Ajax, and carried off from the batile. Several actions fuccied; till the Trojans, much distressed, are obliged to give way: the leffer Ajax fignalizes bimself in a particular manner.
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UT nor the genial feast, nor flowing bowl,
Could charm the cares of Neftor's watchful foul;
His ftartled ears th' encreasing cries attend:
Then thus, impatient, to his wounded friend :
What new alarm, divine Machaon, fay,
What mixt events attend this mighty day?
Hark! how the fhouts divide, and how they meet,
And now come full, and thicken to the fleet!
Here, with the cordial draught, dispel thy care,
Let Hecamede the ftrengthening bath prepare, 10
Refresh thy wound, and cleanse the clotted gore;
While I th' adventures of the day explore.
He faid and feizing Thrafymedes' fhield,
(His valiant offspring) haften'd to the field;
(That day, the fon his father's buckler bore)
Then fnatch'd a lance, and iffued from the door.
Soon as the profpect open'd to his view,
His wounded eyes the scene of forrow knew;
Dre difarray! the tumult of the fight,
The wall in ruins, and the Greeks in flight.
As when old Ocean's filent furface fleeps,
The waves juft heaving on the purple deeps;
While yet th' expected tempest hangs on high,
Weighs down the clould, and blackens in the sky,
The mass of waters will no wind obey;
Jove fends one guft, and bids them roll away.
While wavering counfels thus his mind engage,
Fluctuates in doubtful thought the Pylian fage,
To join the hoft, or to the gencral haste;
Debating long, he fixes on the laft;
Yet, as he moves, the fight his bolom warms;
The field rings dreadful with the clang of arms;
The gleaming faulchions fiath, the javelins fly;
Blows echo blows, and all or kill or die.
Him, in his march, the wounded princes meet, 35
By tardy fteps afcending from the fleet:
The king of men, Ulyffes the divine,
And who to Tydeus owes his noble line.
(Their ships at distance from the battle ftand,
In lines advanc'd along the shelving strand:
Whole bay, the fleet unable to contain
At length; befide the margin of the main,
Rank above rank, the crouded hips they moor:
Who landed first lay highest on the shore.)
Supported on their fpears, they took their way, 45
Unfit to fight, but anxious for the day.
Neftor's approach alarm'd each Grecian breaft,
Whom thus the general of the host addrest:
O grace and glory of th' Achaian name!
What drives thee, Neftor, from the field of fame?
Shall then proud Hector fee his boaft fulfill'd,
Our fleets in afhes, and our heroes kill'd?
Such was his threat, ah now too soon made good,
On many a Grecian befom writ in blood.
Is every heart inflain'd with equal rage
Against your king, nor will one chief engage?
And have 1 liv'd to fee with urnful eyes
In every Greek a new Achilles rife ?
Gerenian Neftor then: So Fate has will'd;
And all-confirming time has fate fulfill'd.
Not he that thunders from th' aërial bower,
Not Jove himfelf, upon the past has power.
The wall, our late inviolable bound,
And best defence, fies fmoking on the ground:
Ev'n to the ships their conquering arms extend,
To him the monarch: That our army bends,
That Troy triumphant our high fleet afcends,
And that the rampart, late our furest trust,
And beft defence, lies fmoking in the dust :
All this from Jove's afflictive hand we bear,
Who, far from Argos, wills our ruin here.
Paft are the days when happier Greece was bleft,
And all his favour, all his aid confest;
Now Heaven, averfe, our hands from battle ties,
And lifts the Trojan glory to the fkics.
Ceafe we at length to waste our blood in vain,
And launch what ships lie nearest to the main ;
Leave thefe at anchor till the coming night:
Then, if impetuous Troy forbear the fight,
Bring all to fea, and hoift each fail for flight. 85,
Better from evils, well forefeen, to run,
Than perish in the danger we may fhun.
Thus he. The fage Ulyffes thus replies,
While anger flash'd from his difdainful eyes:
What shameful words (unkingly as thou art) 90
Fall from that trembling tongue, and timorous
heart.
In fuch bafe fentence if thou couch thy fear,
Speak it in whifpers, left a Greek should hear.
Lives there a man fo dead to fame, who dares
To think fuch meannefs, or the thought declares?
And comes it ev'n from him whose fovereign fway
The bandied legions of all Greece obey? 105
Is this a general's voice that calls to flight,
While war hangs doubtful, while his foldiers fight?
What more could Troy? What yet their fate de-
nies,
Thou giv'ft the foe: all Greece becomes their prize.
No more the troops (our hoifted fails in view, 110
Themselves abandon'd) fhall the fight purfue;
But thy fhips flying, with defpair fhall fee;
And owe deftruction to a prince like thee.
Thy juft reproofs (Atrides calm replies)
Like arrows pierce nie, (for thy words are
Unwilling as I am to lose the hoft,
1 force not Greece to leave this hateful coaft,
Glad I fubmit, whoe'er, or young or old,
Aught, more conducive to our weal unfold,
Tydides cut him fhort, and thus began :
Such counfel if you feek, behold the man
Who boldly gives it; and what he thall fay,
Young though he be, disdain not to obey :
A youth, who from the mighty Tydeus fprings,
May speak to councils and affembled kings.
Hear then in me the great Qenides' fon,
Whofe honour'd duft (his race of glory run)
Lies whelm'd in ruins of the Theban wall;
Brave in his life, and glorious in his fall;
With three bold fons was generous Prothoüs bleft,
Who Pleuron's walls and Calydon poffeft;
Melas and Agrius, but (who far surpast
The reft in courage) Oeneus was the laft
From him, my Sire. From Calydon expell'd,
He pafs'd to Argos, and in exile dwell'd';
The monarch's daughter there (fo Jove ordain'd)
He won, and flourish'd where Adraftus reign'd;
There, rich in fortune's gifts, his acres till'd,
Beheld his vines their liquid harvest yield, [140)
And numerous flocks that whiten'd all the field.
Such Tydeus was, the foremost once in fame!
Nor lives in Greece a ftranger to his name.
Then, what for common good my thoughts infpire,
Attend; and in the fon, refpect the fire:
Though fore of battle, though with wounds op-
preft,
Let each go forth, and animate the rest,
Advance the glory which he cannot share,
Though not partaker, witness of the war.
But left new wounds on wounds o'erpower us
Beyond the miffile javelin's founding flight,
Safe let us ftand; and from the tumult far,
Inspire the ranks, and rule the diftant war.
He added not: the liftening kings obey,
Slow moving on; Atrides leads the way.
The God of Ocean (to inflame their rage)
Appears a warrior furrow'd o'er with age;
He fpoke, then ruth'd amid the warrior crew; And sent his voice before him as he flew, Loud, as the fhout encountering armies yield, When twice ten thoufand thake the labouring field; Such was the voice, and fuch the thundering found 175
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Of him, whofe trident rends the folid ground.
Each Argive bofom beats to meet the fight,
And grily war appears a pleafing fight.
Mean time Saturnia from Olympus' brow,
High thron din gold, beheld the fields below; 180
With joy the glorious conflict the furvey'd,
Where her great brother gave the Grecians acid.
But plac'd aloft, on Ida's fhady height
She fees her Jove, and tremble at the fight
Jove to deceive, what methods thall the try, 135
What arts, to blind his all-beholding eye?
At length the trufts her power; refolv'd to prove
The old, yet ftill fuccefsful, cheat of love;
Against his wifdom to oppose her charms,
And lull the Lord of thunders in her arms.
Swift to her brigh; apartment the repairs,
Sacred to drefs, and beauty's pleating cares :
With skill divine had Vulcan form'd the bower,
Safe from accefs of each intruding power.
Touch'd with her fecret key, the doors unfold: 195
Self-clos'd, behind her faut the valves of gold.
Here first the bathes; and round her body pours
soft oils of fragrance, and ambrofial flowers :
The winds. perfum', the balmy gale convey
Through heaven, through earth, and all th' serial
way;
Spirit divine! whofe exhalation greets
The fenfe of Gods with more than mortal fweets.
Thus while fhe breath'd of heaven, with decent
Her artful hands the radiant treffes ty’d;
Part on her head in fhining ringlets roli'a,
Part o'er her shoulders wav'd like melted gold
Around her next a heavenly mantle flow'd,
That rich with Pallas' labour'd colours glow'd:
Large clafps of gold the foldings gather'd round,
A golden zone her fwelling bofum bound.
Far-beaming pendants tremble in her ear,
Each gem illumin'd with a triple star.
Then o'er her head the cafts a veil more white
Then new fail'n fnow, and Jazzling as the light.
Laft her fair feet celeftial fans grace.
Thus iffuing radiart with majestic pace,
Forth from the dome th' imperial God efs moves,
And calls the Mother of the Smiles and Loves
How long (to Venus thus apart he cried
Shall human ftrife celeftial minds divide?
Ah yet, will Venus aid Saturnia's joy, And fet afide the cause of Greece and Troy?
What time, deferting Ilion's wafted plain,'
His conquering fon, Alcides, plough'd the main.
When lo! the deeps arife, the tempefts roar,
And drive the hero to the Coan fhore;
Let Heaven's dread emprefs (Cytherea faid)
Speak her requeft, and decun her will obey'à.
Then grant me (faid the Queen) thofe conquer-Great Jove awaking, fhook the blefl abodes
225 That power, which mortals and immortals warms, That love, which melts mankind in fierce delires, And burns the fons of Heaven with facred fires! For lo, I hafte to thofe remote abodes, Where the great parent-(facred fource of Gods!) 230 Ocean and Tethys their old empire keep, On the laft limits of the land and deep. In their kind arms my tender years were paft; What time old Saturn, from Olympus caft, Of upper heaven to Jove refign'd the reign, 235 Whelm'd under the huge mafs of earth and main. For ftrife, I hear, has made the union cease, Which held fo long that ancient pair in peace. What honour, and what love, fhall I obtain, If I compofe those fatal feuds again; Once more their minds in mutual ties engage, And what my youth has ow'd, repay their rage? She faid. With awe divine the Queen of Love Obey'd the fifter and the wife of Jove: And from her fragrant breast the zone unbrac'd,245 With various skill, and high embroidery grac'd. In this was every art and every charm, To win the wifeft, and the coldest warm: Fond love, the gentle vow, the gay defire, The kind deceit, the ftill reviving fire, Perfuafive fpeech, and more perfuafive fighs, Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes. This, on her hand, the Cyprian Goddess laid; Take this, and with it all thy with, fhe faid.. Wil: fmile he took the charm; and fmiling preft 255 The powerful ceftus to her fnowy breast.
O Power of Slumbers! hear, and favour still:
Shed thy foft dews on Jove's immortal eyes,
While funk in love's entrancing joys he lies.
A fplendid footstool, and a throne, that shine
With gold unfading, Somnus, fhall be thine;
The work of Vulcan; to indulge thy eafe,
When wine and feafts thy golden humours pleafe. 275
Imperial Dame (the balmy power replies)
Great Saturn's heir, and empress of the skies!
O'er other Gods I fpread my easy chain :
The fire of all, old Ocean, owns my reign,
And his hufh'd waves lie filent on the main, 280,
But how, unbidden, fhall I dare to steep
Jove's awful temples in the dew of fleep?
Long fince, too venturous at thy bold command,
On thofe eternal lids I laid my hand;
With riling wrath, and tumbled Gods on Gods; 290
Me chief he fought, and from the realms on high
Had hurl'd indignant to the nether iky,
But gentle Night, to whom I fled for aid
The friend of earth and heaven) her wings dif
play'd;
Impower'd the wrath of gods and men to tame, 295
Ev'n Jove rever'd the venerable dame.
Vain are thy fears (the Queen of Heaven replies And, fpeaking, rolls her large majestic eyes) Think'st thou that Troy has Jove's high favour
Swear then (he faid) by those tremendous floods That roar through hell, and bind th' invoking Gods:
Let the great parent Earth one hand sustain,
And stretch'd the other o'er the facred main.
Call the black Titans, that with Chronos dwell,
To hear and witnefs from the depths of hell; 310
That the, my lov'd one, fhall be ever mine,
The youngest Grace, Pafithae the divine,
The queen affents; and from th' infernal bowers Invokes the fable fubtartarean Powers, And those who rule th' inviolable floods, Whom mortals name the dread Titanian Gods. Then swift as wind, o'er Lemnos fmoky ifle, They wing their way, and Imbrus' fea-beat foil, Through air unfeen, involv'd in darkness glide, And light on Lectos, on the point of Ide (Mother of favages, whofe echoing hills Are heard refounding with a hundred rills ;) Fair Ida trembles underneath the God; Hufh'd are her mountains, and her forests nod; There on a fir, whofe fpiry branches rife To join its fummit to the neighbouring fkies; Dark in embowering fhade, conceal'd from fight, Sat Sleep, in likeness of the bird of Night. (Chalcis his name by those of heavenly birth, But call'd Cymidis by the race of earth.) To Ida's top fuccefsful Juno flics; Great Jove furveys her with defiring eyes: The God, whose lightning sets the heavens on fire,
Through all his bofom feels the fierce defire;
Fierce as when firft by ftealth he feiz'd her charms,
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