Through falling fquadrons bear my flaughtering Nor, as ye left Patroclus, leave your lord. [fword, The generous Xanthus, as the words he faid, 451 Seem'd fenfible of woe, and dropp'd his head! Trembling he ftood before the golden wain, And bow'd to duft the honour's of his mane, When,ftrange to tell! (fo Juno will'd) he broke 455 Eternal filence, and portentous spoke. Achilles! yes! this day at least we bear Thy rage in fafety through the files of war: But come it will, the fatal time must come, Nor our's the fault, but God decrees thy doom. 460 Not through our crime, or flownefs in the courfe, Fell thy Patroclus, but by heavenly force;
Jupiter, upon Achilles's return to the battle, calls a council of the Gods, and permits them to afist either party. The terrors of the battle defcribed, when the Deities are engaged. Apolla encourages neas to meet Achilles. After a long converfation, these two beroes encounter: but Æneas is preferved by the affiftance of Neptune. Achilles falls upon the rest of the Trojans, and is upon the point of killing Hector, but Apollo conveys him away in a cloud. Achilles purfies the Trojans with great flaughter. The fame day continues. The feene is in the field before Troy.
In care of human race; ev'n Jove's own eye Sees with regret unhappy mortals die. Far on Olympus' top in fecret state Ourself will fit, and fee the hand of Fate Work out our will. Celestial Powers! defcend, 35 And, as your minds direct, your fuccour lend Te either hot. Troy foon muft lie o'erthrown, If uncontrol'd Achilles Sights alone:
Their troops but lately durft not meet his eyes; What can they now, if in his rage he rife? Afit them, Gods! or Ilion's facred wall 10 May fall this day, though Fate forbids the fall. He faid, and fir'd their heavenly breafts with
Troy's black battalions wake the shock of fight. Then Jove to Themis gives command, to call The Gods to council in the starry hall: Swift o'er Olympus' hundred hills the flies, And fummons all the fenate of the skics. Thefe fhining on, in long proceffion come To Jove's eternal adaniantine dome. Not one was abfent, not a rural Power, That haunts the verdant gloom, or roly bower; Each fair-bair'd Dryad of the thady wood, Each azure Sifter of the filver flood; All but old Ocean, hoary She! who keeps His ancient feat beneath the facred deeps. On marble thrones with lucid colunins crown'd (The work of Vulcan fat the Powers around. Ev'n he whofe trident fways the watery reign, Ficard the loud fummots, and for fook the main, 20 Affum'd his throne amid the bright abodes, And queftion'd thus the Sire of men and Gods: What moves the God who heaven and earth commands,
On adverse parts the warring gods engage. [45 Heaven's awful Queen; and he whole azure round 15 Girds the vast glone; the Maid in arms renown'd; Hermes, of profitable arts the fire;
And Vulcan, the black fovereign of the fire! Thefe to the fleet repair with inftant flight; The veffels tremble as the Gods alight. In aid of Troy, Latona, Phœbus, came, Mars fiery-helm'd, the laughter loving Dame, Xanthus, whofe ftreams in golden currents flow, And the chafte Huntress of the filver bow. Lre yet the Gods their various aid employ, Each Argive bofom fwell'd with manly joy, While great Achilles (terror of the plain) Long lost to battle, fhone in arms again. Dreadful he stood in front of all his hoft; Pale Troy beheld, and feem'd already loft; 60. Her braveft heroes pant with inward fear,
And trembling fee another God of War.
But when the Powers defcending fwell'd the fight,
Then tumult rofe; fierce rage and pale affright Varied each face; then Difcord founds alarms, 65 Earth echoes, and the nations rush to arms. Now through the trembling fhores Minerva calls, And now the thunders from the Grecian walls. Mars, hovering o'er his Troy, his terrors shrouds In gloomy tempefts, and a night of clouds: Now through each Trojan heart he fury pours With voice divine, from Ilion's topmost towers; Now fhouts to Simoïs from her beauteous hill; The mountain fhook, the rapid ftreams flood ftill. Above, the Sire of Gods his thunder rolls, 75 And peals on peals redoubled rend the poles. Beneath, ftern Neptune shakes the folid ground; The forefts wave, the mountains nod around; Through all their fummits tremble Ida's woods, And from their fources boil her hundred floods, 80 Troy's turrets totter on the rocking plain; And the tofs'd navies beat the heaving main. Deep in the difmal regions of the dead, Th' infernal monarch rear'd his hoary head, Leap'd from his throne, left Neptune's arm should His dark dominions open to the day, [lay And pour in light on Pluto's drear abodes, Abhorr'd by men, and dreadful ev'n to Gods. Such war th' immortals wage: fuch horrors rend (tend. 90 The world's 'vaft concave, when the Gods con- Firft filver-fhafted Phoebus took the plain Against blue Neptune, monarch of the main: The God of Arms his giant bulk display'd, Oppos'd to Pallas, War's triumphant Maid. Against Latona march'd the Son of May; The quiver'd Dian, fifter of the Day (Her golden arrows founding at her fide) Saturnia, Majefty of Heaven, defy'd. With fiery Vulcan laft in battle ftands The facred flood that rolls on goiden fands; Xanthus his name with those of heavenly birth, But call'd Scamander by the fous of earth.
While thus the Gods in various league engage, Achilles glow'd with more than mortal rage: Hector he fought; in search of Hector turn'd 105 His eyes around, for Hector only burn'd; And burst like lightning through the ranks, and vow'd
To glut the God of Battles with his blood. Encas was the first who dar'd to stay; Apollo wedg'd him in the warrior's way; But fwell'd his bofom with undaunted might, Half-forc'd, and half-perfuaded, to the fight. Like young Lycaon, of the royal line, In voice and afpect, feem'd the Power divine; And bade the chief reflect, how late with fcorn 115 In diftant threats he brav'd the Goddess-born, Then thus the hero of Anchifes' ftrain;
To meet Pelides, you perfuade in vain: Already have I met, nor void of fear Obferv'd the fury of his flying spear; From Ida's woods he chas'd us to the field, Our force he scatter'd, and our herds he kill'd; Lyrneffus, Podafus, in ashes lay,
But (Jove affifting) I furviv'd the day; Elfe had I funk, oppreft in fatal fight By fierce Achilles and Minerva's might. VOL. VI.
Though strong in battle as a brazen tower. To whom the Son of Jove: That God implore, And be what great Achilles was before. From heavenly Venus thou deriv'st thy strain, And he, but from a Sifter of the Main: An aged Sea-god father of his line, But Jove himself the facred fource of thine. Then lift thy weapon for a noble blow, Nor fear the vaunting of a mortal foe.
This faid, and fpirit breath'd into his breaft, Through the thick troops th' embolden'd hero preft: [vey'd, His venturous act the white-arm'd Queen furAnd thus, affembling all the Powers, fhe faid: 145 Behold an action, Gods! that claim your care; Lo great Æneas rushing to the war; Against Pelides he directs his course, Phoebus impels, and Phœbus gives him force. Reftrain his bold career; at leaft, t' attend Our favour'd hero, let some Power descend, To guard his life, and add to his renown, We, the great armament of heaven, came down. Hereafter let him fall, as Fates defign, That fpun fo fhort his life's illuftrious line: 155 But, left fome adverfe God now cross his way, Give him to know what Powers aflift this day: For how fhall mortal stand the dire alarms, When heaven's refulgent host appear in arms?
Thus fhe; and thus the God whofe force can make
The folid globe's eternal bafis fake: Against the might of man, fo feeble known, Why should celestial Powers exert their own? Suffice, from yonder mount to view the scene, And leave to war the fates of mortal men. But if th' Armipotent, or God of light. Obstruct Achilles, or commence the fight, Thence on the Gods of Troy we swift defcend; Full foon, I doubt not, shall the confli& end; And these in ruin and confufion harl'd, Yield to our conquering arms the lower world. Thus having faid, the Tyrant of the Sea, Cerulean Neptune, rofe, and led the way. Advanc'd upon the field there stood a mound [175 Of earth congefted, wall'd, and trench'd around; In elder times to guard Alcides made (The work of Trojans, with Minerva's aid) What-time a vengeful monster of the main Swept the wide shore, and drove him to the plain.
Here Neptune and the Gods of Greece repair,180 With clouds encompafs'd, and a veil of air: The adverfe powers, around Apollo laid, 120 Crown the fair hills that filver Simoïs fhade. In circle clofe each heavenly party fate : Intent to form the future fcheme of Fate; But mix not yet in fight, though Jove on high Gives the loud fignal, and the heavens reply. Mean while the rufhing armies hide the ground; The trampled centre yields a hollow found:
Steeds cas'd in mail, and chiefs in armour bright, 190 The gleamy champain glows with brazen light, Amid both hofts (a dreadful fpace) appear There, great Achilles; bold Æneas, here. With towering ftrides Æneas, firft advanc'd, The nodding plumage on his helmet danc'd; 195 Spread o'er his breaft the fencing fhield he bore, And, as he mov'd, his javelin flam'd before. Not fo Pelides: furious to engage, He ruth'd impetuous. Such the lion's rage, Who, viewing firft his foes with fcornful eyes, Though all in arms the peopled city rife, Stalks carelefs on, with unregarding pride: Til at the length, by fome brave youth defy'd, To his bold fpear the favage turns alone: He murmurs fury with an hollow groan; He grins, he foams, he rolls his eyes around; Lafh'd by his tail, his heaving fides refound; He calls up all his rage; he grinds his teeth, Refolv'd on vengeance, or refolv'd on death. So, fierce Achilles on Eneas flies; So ftands neas, and his force defies. Ere yet the fern encounter join'd, begun The feed of Thetis thus to Venus' fon. Why comes Ancas through the ranks fo far? Seeks he to meet Achilles' arm in war, In hope the realms of Priam to enjoy, And prove his merits to the throne of Troy? Grant that beneath thy lance Achilles dies, The martial monarch may refuse the prize: Sons he has many; thole thy pride may quell; 220 And 'tis his fault to love thofe fons too well. Or, in reward of thy victorious hand, Has Troy propos'd fome fpacious track of land? An ample forck, or a fair domain, Of hill for vines, and arable for grain? Ev'n this, perhaps, will hardly prove thy lot. But can Achilles be fo foon forgot? Once (as I think) you faw this brandifh'd fpear, And then the great Eneas feem'd to fear. With hearty hafte from Ida's mount he fled, Nor, till he reach'd Lyrneffus, turn'd his head. Her lofty walls not long our progress flaid; Thofe, Pallas, Jove, and we, in ruins laid: In Grecian chains her captive race were caft, 'Tis true, the great Æneas fled too falt. Defrauded of my conqueft once before, What then I loft, the Gods this day reflore. Co; while thou may'ft, avoid the threatening fate;
Fools ftay to feel it, and are wife too late.
To this Auchifes' fon: Such words employ 240 To one that fears thee, fome unwarlike boy; Such we difdain; the best may be defy'd With mean reproaches, and unmanly pride; Unworthy the high race from which we came, Proclaim'd fo loudly by the voice of fame; Each from illur ous fathers draws his line; Each Goddefs born; half human, half divine, Thetis', this day, or Venus' offspring, dies: And tears fhall trickle from celeftial eyes: For when two heroes, thus deriv'd, contend, 'Tis not in words the glorious ftrife can end. If yet thou farther feek to learn my birth (A tale refounded through the fpacious earth) Hear how the glorious origin we prove 11om ancient Dardanus, th; first-from Jove:
Dardania's walls he ra's'd; for Ilior then (The city fince of many-languag'd men) Was not. The natives were content to till The fha dy foot of Ida's fountful hill. From Dardanus, great Erichthonius fprings, The riched, once, of Afa's wealthy kings; Three thouland mares his fpacious paltures bred, Three thousand foals beide their mothers fed. Boreas, enamour'd of the sprightly train, Conceal'd his godhead in a flowing mane, With voice diffembled to his loves he neigh'd, And cours'd the dappled beauties o'er the mead: Hence fprung twelve others of unrival'd kind, Swift as their mother mares, and father wind. Thefe, lightly kimming when they fwept the plain, 270 Nor ply'd the grafs, nor beat the tender grain, And when along the level feas they flew, Scarce on the furface curl'd the briny dew; Such Erichthonius was; from him there came The facred Tres, of whom the Trojan name. 275 Three fous renown'd adorn'd his nuptial bed, Ilus, Affaracus, and Ganymed:
The matchlefs Ganymed, divinely fair, Whom Heaven, enamour'd, fnatch'd to upper air To bear the cup of Jove (ætherial gueft, The grace and glory of the ambrofial feaft). The two remaining fons the line divide: First rofe Laomedon from Ilus' fide; From him Tithonus, now in cares grown old, And Priam (blet with Hector, brave and bold): 285. Clytius and Lampus, ever-honour'd pair;
And Hicetaon, thunderbolt of war.
From great Affaracus fprung Caps, he Begat Anchiles, and Anchifes me.
Such is our race: 'tis Fortune gives us birth,,290 But Jove alone endues the foul with worth: He, fource of power and might! with boundles All human courage gives, or takes away. [íway, Long in the field of words we may contend, Reproach is infinite, and knows no end, 295 Arm'd or with truth or fallehood, right or wrong: (so voluble a weapon is the tongue) Wounded, we wound; and neither fide can fail, For every man has equal ttrength to rail; Women alone, when in the treets they jar, 303 Perhaps excel us in this wordy war; Like us they ftand, encompaf,'d with the crowd, And vent their anger impotent and loud. Ceafe then-Our bufinets in the field of fight Is not to question, but to prove, our might., 305 To all thofe infults thou haft offer'd here, Receive this anfwer: 'tis my flying fpear.
He ipoke With all his force the javelin flung, Fix'd deep, and loudly in the buckler rung. Far on his out-ftretch'd arm Pelides held
There ftuck the lance. Then rifing ere he threw, [ The forceful fpear of great Achilles flew, And pierc'd the Dardan's thield's extremest bound, Where the fhrill brafs return'd a sharper found: Through the thin verge the Pelian weapon glides, And the flight covering of expanded hides. 326 Æneas his contracted body bends, And o'er him high the riven targe extends, Sees through its parting plates, the upper air, And at his back perceives the quivering fpear: 330 A fate fo near him chills his foul with fright; And fwims before his eyes the many-colour'd light. Achilles, rufhing in with dreadful cries, Draws his broad blade, and at Æneas flies: Eneas, roufing as the foe came on (With force collected) heaves a mighty ftone: A mass enormous! which in modern days No two of earth's degenerate fons could raise. But Ocean's God, whofe earthquakes rock the ground,
Saw the distress, and mov'd the Powers around. Lo! on the brink of fate Æneas ftands,, An inftant victim to Achilles' hands; By Phœbus urg'd; but Phoebus has bestow'd His aid in vain: the man o'erpowers the God. And can ye fee this righteous chief atone, With guiltless blood, for vices not his own? To all the Gods his conftaut vows were paid; Sure, though he wars for Troy, he claims our aid! Fate wills not this; nor thus can Jove refign The future Father of the Dardan line; The first great ancestor obtain'd his grace, And still his love defcends on all the race; For Priam now, and Priam's faithless kind, At length are odious to th' all-feeing Mind; On great Encas fhall devolve the reign, 355 And fons fucceeding fons the latting line fuftain, The great Earth-fhaker thus: to whom replies Th'imperial Goddess with the radiant eyes: Good as he is, to immolate or spare
The king of Ocean to the fight defcends, Through all the whistling darts his courfe he bends, Swift interpos'd between the warriors flies, And casts thick darkness o'er Achilles' eyes.. 370 From great Æneas fhield the fpear he drew, And at his master's feet the weapon threw. That done, with force divine he fnatch'd on high The Dardan Prince, and bore him through the tky, Smooth-gliding without step, above the heads 375 Of warring heroes, aud of bounding steeds; Till at the battle's utmoft verge. they light, Where the flow Caucans clofe the rear of fight, The Godhead there (his heavenly form confefs'd) With words like these the panting chief addrefs'd; [380 What power, O prince, with force inferior far, Urg'd thee to meet Achilles' arm in war? Henceforth beware, por antedate thy doom, Defrauding Fate of all thy fame to come. But when the day decreed (for come it must) 385 Stall lay this dreadful hero in the dust,
Let then the furies of that arm be known, Secure, no Grecian force tranfcends thy own With that, he left him, wondering as he lay, Then from Achilles chas'd the mist away: Sudden, returning with the stream of light, The scene of war came rushing on his fight. Then thus amaz'd: What wonders ftrike my mind!
My fpear, that parted on the wings of wind, Laid here before me! and the Dardan lord, 395 That fell this inftant, vanish'd from my fword. I thought alone with mortals to contend, But Powers celeftial fure this foe defend. Great as he is, our arm he fcarce will try, Content, for once, with all his Gods, to fly. 400 Now then let others bleed-This said, aloud He vents his fury, and inflames the crowd, O Greeks (he cries and every rank alarms) Join battle, man to man, and arms to arms! Fis not in me, though favour'd by the Sky, 405 To mow whole troops, and make whole armies No God can fingly fuch a host engage, [by: Not Mars himself, nor great Minerva's rage. But whatfoe'er Achilles can infpire, Whate'er of active force, or acting fire: Whate'er this heart can prompt, or hand obey; All, all Achilles, Greeks! is yours to-day. Through yon wide hoft this arm fhall fcatter fear, And thin the fquadrons with my fingle spear.
He faid; nor lefs elate with martial joy, 415. The godlike Hector warm'd the troops of Troy : Trojans to war! Think Hector leads you on ; Nor dreads the vaunts of Peleus' haughty fon. Deeds must decide our fate. Ev'n thofe with
Infult the brave, who tremble at their swords : 420 The weakest Atheist-wretch all Heaven defies, But fhrinks and hudders when the thunder flies. Nor from yon boaster shali your chief retire, Not though his heart were steel, his hand were fire:
That fire, that feel, your Hector should withftand, 425 And brave that vengeful heart, that dreadful hand. Thus (breathing rage thro' all) the hero faid; A wood of lances rifes round his head, Clamours on clamours tempeft the air, They join, they throng, they thicken to the war. But Phoebus warns him, from high heaven, to shun The fingle fight with Thetis' godlike fon; More tafe to combat in the mingled band, Nor tempt too near the terrors of his hand. He hears obedient to the God of Light, And, plung'd within the ranks, awaits the fight. Then fierce Achilles, fhouting to the skies, On Tray's whole force with boundless fury flies, Fir falls Iphityon, at his army's head; Brave was the chief, and brave the hoft he led; 440 From great Otrynteus he deriv'd his blood, His mother was a Naïs of the flood; Beneath the shades of Tmolus, crown'd with snow, From Hyde's walls he rul'd the lands below. Fierce as he fprings, the fword his head divides;445 The parted vifage falls on equal fides : With loud-refounding arms he ftrikes the plain; While thus Achilles glories o'er the flain:
Lie there, Otryntides! the Trojan earth Receives thee dead, tho'Gyga boast thy birth: 450
Those beauteous fields where Hyllus' waves are, The fpear a fourth time bury'd in the cloud;
And plenteous Hermus fwells with tides of gold, Are thine no more-Th' infulting hero faid, And lef him fleeping in eternal shade. The rolling wheels of Greece the body tore, And cash' their axles with no vulgar gore. Demoleon next, Antenor's offspring, laid Breathiefs in duft, the price of rafhness paid. Th' impatient teel, with full defcending fway, Forc'd through his brazen helm its furious way, 460 Refiftless drove the batter'd fkull before, And dafh'd and mingled all the brains with gore. This fees Hippodamas, and, feiz'd with fright, Deferts his chariot for a swifter flight: The lance arrest him: an ignoble wound The panting Trojan rivets to the ground. He groans away his foul: not louder roars, At Neptune's fhrine on Helicé's high fhores, The victim bull: the rocks rebellow round, And Ocean liftens to the grateful found.
He foams with fury, and exclaims aloud: Wretch thou haft 'fcap'd again, once more thy flight
Has fav'd thee, and the partial God of Light, 520 But long thou shalt not thy juft fate withstand, If any power affift Achilles' hand.
Fly then, inglorious! but thy flight this day Whole hecatombs of Trojan ghosts fhall pay. 525
With that, he gluts his rage on numbers flain : Then Dryops tumbled to th' enfanguin'd plain, Pierc'd thro' the neck: he left him panting there, And ftopp'd Demuchus, great Philetor's heir. Gigantic chief! deep gafh'd th' enormous blade, And for the foul an ample paffage made. 465 Laogonus and Dardanus expire,
Then fell on Polydore his vengeful rage, The youngest hope of Priam's stooping age (Whofe feet for fwiftnefs in the race furpaft): Of all his fons, the dearest and the last. To the forbidden field he takes his flight In the first folly of a youthful knight, To vaunt his swiftnefs wheels around the plain, But vaunts not long, with all his fwiftnefs flain. Struck where the croffing belts unite behind, And golden rings the double back-plate join'd : 480 Forth through the navel burst the thrilling steel: And on his knees with piercing fhrieks he fell ; The rushing entrails pour'd upon the ground His hands collect; and darkness wraps him round. When Hector view'd, all ghaftly in his gore, Thus fadly flain th' unhappy Polydore, A cloud of forrow overcaft his fight; His foul no longer brook'd the diftant fight: Full in Achilles' dreadful front he came, And fhook his javelin like a waving flame. The fon of Peleus fees, with joy poffeft,His heart high-bounding in his rifing breast: And, lo! the man, on whom black fates attend; The man, that flew Achilles, in his friend! No more fhall Hector' and Pelides' spear Turn from each other in the walks of warThen with revengeful eyes he scann'd him o'er: Come, and receive thy fate! He fpake no more. Hector, undaunted, thus: Such words employ To one that dreads thee, fome unwarlike boy: 500 Such we could give, defying and defy'ð, Mean intercourfe of obloquy and pride! I know thy force to mine fuperior far; But Fleaven alone confers fuccefs in war: Mean as I am, the Gods may guide my dart, 505 And give it entrance in a braver heart.
Then parts the lance: but Pallas's heavenly Far from Achilles wafts the winged death, (breath The bidden dart again to Hector flies, And at the feet of its great mafter lies. Achilles clofes with his hated foe,
The valiant fons of an unhappy fire; Both in one inftant from the chariot hurl'd, Sunk in one inftant to the nether world; This difference only their fad faces afford, That one the fpear deftroy'd, and one the fword. Nor lefs unpitied young Alaftor bleeds; In vain his youth, in vain his beauty, pleads: In vain he begs thee with a fuppliant's moan, To fpare a form, an age, fo like thy own! Unhappy boy! no prayer, no moving art, E'er bent that fierce, inexorable heart! While yet he trembled at his knees, and cry'd, The ruthlefs faulchion ope'd his tender fide; The panting liver pours a flood of gore, That drowns his bofom till he pants no more.
Thro' Mulius' head then drove th' impetuous The warrior falls, transfix'd from ear to ear. (spear, Thy life, Echeclus! next the fword bereaves, Deep through the front the ponderous faulchion cleaves;
Warm'd in the brain the fmoking weapon lies, The purple death comes floating o'er his eyes. Then brave Deucalion dy'd: the dart was flung Where the knit nerves the pliant elbow ftrung; He dropt his arm, an unaffifting weight, 555 And food all impotent, expecting fate : Full on his neck the falling faulchion sped, From his broad fhoulders hew'd his crefted head: Forth from the bone the fpinal marrow flies, And funk in duft the corpfe extended lies. Rhigmus, whofe race from fruitful Thracia came, (The fon of Pircus, an illuftrious name) Succeeds to fate: the fpear his belly rends; Prone from his car the thundering chief defcends: The squire, who faw expiring on the ground 565 His proftrate mafter rein'd the feeds around: His back fearce turn'd, the Pelian javelin gor'd, And ftretch'd the fervant o'er the dying lord. As when a flame the winding valley fills, And runs on crackling fhrubs between the hills; Then o'er the ftubble up the mountain flies, Fires the high woods, and blazes to the skies, This way and that the spreading torrent roars; So fweeps the hero through the wafted fhores: Around him wide, immenfe deftruction pours, 575 And carth is delug'd with the fanguine fhowers, As, with autumnal harvests cover'd o'er, And thick beftrown, lies Ceres' facred floor; When round and round with never-weary'd pain, The trampling fters beat out th' unnumber'd
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