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475

The queen of love her favour'd champion shrouds
(For Gods can all things) in a veil of clouds.
Rais'd from the field the panting youth fhe led,
And gently laid him on the bridal bed,
With pleafing sweets his fainting fenfe renews,
And all the dome perfumes with heavenly dews.
Meantime the brightest of the female kind,
The matchless Helen, o'er the walls reclin'd;
To her, befet with Trojan beauties, came
In borrow'd form the laughter-loving dame,
(She feem'd an ancient maid, well-fkill'd to cull
The fnowy fleece, and wind the twisted wool.)
The Goddess foftly fhook her filken veft,
480
That shed perfumes, and whispering thus addreft:
Hafte, happy nymph! for thee thy Paris calls,
Safe from the fight, in yonder lofty walls,
Fair as a God! with odours round him fpread
He lies, and waits thee on the well-known bed:
Not like a warrior parted from the foe,
But fome gay dancer in the public show.

She fpoke, and Helen's fecret foul was mov'd ;
She fcorn'd the champion, but the man the lov'd.
Fair Venus' neck, her eyes hat fpa kled fire,
And breast, reveal'd the Queen of foft defire. 490
Struck with her prefence, Itraight the lively red
Forfook her cheek; and, trembling, thus fhe
faid:

Then is it ftill thy pleasure to deceive?
And woman's frailty always to believe?
Say, to new nations must I cross the main,
Or carry wars to fome foft Afian plain?
For whom muft Helen break her fecond vow?
What other Paris is thy darling now?
Left to Atrides (victor in the strife)
An odious conqueft, and a captive wife,
Hence let me fail: and if thy Paris bear
My abfence ill, let Venus eafe his care.
A hand-maid Goddess at his fide to wait,
Renounce the glories of thy heavenly state,
Be fix'd for ever to the Trojan fhore,

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525

At this, the fairest of her sex obey'd,
And veil'd her bluthes in a filken fhade;
Unfeen, and filent, from the train she moves,
Led by the Goddess of the Smiles and Loves.
Arriv'd, and enter'd at the palace-gate,
The maids officious round their mistress wait;
Then all, difperfing, various tasks attend;
The queen and Goddess to the prince afcend.
Fu'l in her Paris' fight, the Queen of Love
Had plac'd the beauteous progeny of Jove; 530
Where as he view'd her charms, the turn'd
away

Her glowing eyes, and thus began to fay:

Is this the chief, who, loft to fenfe of shame,
Late fled the field, and yet furvives his fame?
535
Oh hadft thou dy'd beneath the righteous sword

Of that brave man whom once I call'd my lord!
The boafter Paris oft defir'd the day
With Spare's king to meet in fingle fray:
Go now, once more thy rival's rage excite,
Provoke Atrides, and renew the fight:
Yet Helen bids thee stay, left thou unfkill'd
Should't fall an eafy conqueft on the field.

540

500

The prince replies: Ah ceafe, divinely fair,
This day the foe prevail'd by Pallas's power; 545
Nor add reproaches to the wound I bear;
We yet may vanquish in a happier hour:
There want not Gods to favour us above;
But let the bufinefs of our life be love:
These fofter moments let delight employ,
And kind embraces fnatch the hasty joy.
Not thus I lov'd thee, when from Sparta's fhore,
My forc'd, my willing, heavenly prize I bore,
When firft entranc'd in Cranae's ifle I lay,
Mix'd with thy foul, and all diffolv'd away
555
Thus having fpoke, th' enamour'd Phrygian boy

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His fpoufe, or flave; and mount the fkies no

more.

For me, to lawless love no longer led,
I fcorn the coward, and deteft his bed;
Elfe fhould I merit everlasting shame,

And keen reproach, from every Phrygian dame :

510

Ill fuits it now the joys of love to know,
Too deep my anguish, and too wild my woe.
Then, thus incens'd, the Paphian queen re-
plies;

Obey the power from whom thy glories rife:
Should Venus leave thee, every charm must fly,

515

Fade from thy cheek, and languish in thy eye.
Ceafe to provoke me, left I make thee more
The world's averfion, than their love before;
Now the bright prize for which mankind engage,
Then the fad victim of the public rage.

520

Rufh'd to the bed, impatient for the joy.
Him Helen follow'd flow with bashful charms,
And clafp'd the blooming hero in her arms.

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While thefe to love's delicious rapture yield,
The ftern Atrides rages round the field :
So fome fell lion, whom the woods obey,
Roars through the defart, and demands his prey.
Paris he feeks, impatient to destroy,
But feeks in vain along the troops of Troy ;
Ev'n thofe had yielded to a foe fo brave
The recreant warriour, hateful as the grave.
Then fpeaking thus, the king of kings arofe!
Ye Trojans, Dardans, all our generous foes!
Hear, and atteft! from heaven with conqueft

crown'd,

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570 Our brother's arms the juft fuccefs have found:

Be therefore now the Spartan wealth restor'd,
Let Argive Helen own her lawful lord;
Th' appointed fine let Ilion justly pay,
And age to age record this fignal day.

He ceas'd; his army's loud applaufes rife, 575
And the long fhout runs echoing through the

fkies.

* Venus.

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THE Gods deliberate in council concerning the Trojan war: they agree upon the continuation of it, and Jupiter fends down Minerva to break the truce. perfwades Pandarus to aim an arrow at Menelaus, who is wounded, but cured by Machaon. In the mean time fome of the Trojan troops attack the Greeks. Agamemnon is diftinguished in all the parts of a good general; he reviews the troops, and exhorts the leaders, fome by praifes, and others by reproofs. Neftor is particularly celebrated for his military difcipline. The battle joins, and great numbers are flain on both fides.

The fame day continues through this, as through the last book (as it does alfo through the two following, and almost to the end of the feventh book.)—The Scene is wholly in the field before Troy.

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Yet, would the Gods for human good provide,
Atrides foon might gain his beauteous bride,
Still Priam's walls in peaceful honcurs grow, 25
And through his gates the crowding nations
flow.

Thus while he spoke, the Queen of Heaven
enrag'd,

And Queen of War in clofe confult engag'd :
Apart they fit, their deep defigns employ,
And meditate the future woes of Troy.
Though fecret anger fwell'd Minerva's breast,
The prudent Goddefs yet her wrath fuppreft;
But Juno, impotent of paffion, broke
Her fullen filence, and with fury spoke:

30

Shall then, O tyrant of th' a thereal reign!
My schemes, my labours, and my hopes, be
vain ?

Have I, for this, thook Ilion with alarms,
Affembled nations, fet two worlds in arms?
To spread the war, I flew from fhore to thore ;
Th' immortal courfeis fcarce the labour bore. 40
At length ripe vengeance o'er their heads im-
pends,

But jove himfelf the faithlefs race defends :
Lotli as thou art to punish lawless luft,
Not all the Gods are partial and unjust,

The Sire whofe thunder shakes the cloudy skies 45

Sighs from his inmost soul, and thus replies:
Oh lafting rancour! oh infatiate hate

To Phrygia's monarch, and the Phrygian ftate!
What high offence has fir'd the wife of Jove,
Can wretched mortals harm the powers above? 50
That Troy and Troy's whole race thou would'it
con found.

And yon fair structures level with the ground?
Hafte, leave the skies, fulfil thy ftern defire,
Burft all her gates, and wrap her walls in fire!
Let Priam bleed! If yet thou thirst for more, 55
Bleed all his fons, and Ilion float with gore,
To boundless vengeance the wide realm be given,
Till vast destruction glut the Queen of Heaven!
So let it be, and Jove his peace enjoy,

When Heaven no longer hears the name of Troy: 60

But fhould this arm prepare to wreak our hate
On thy lov'd realms, whofe guilt demands their fate,
Prefume not thou the lifted bolt to stay ;
Remember Troy, and give the vengeance way.
For know, of all the numerous towns that rife 65
Beneath the rolling fun and starry skies,
Which Gods have rais'd, or earth-born men enjoy,
None ftands fo dear to Jove as facred Troy.
No mortals merit more diftinguish'd grace
Than God-like Priam, or than Priam's race,
Still to our name their hecatombs expire,
And altars blaze with unextinguish'd fire.

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85

At this the Goddefs roll'd her radiant eyes, Then on the Thunderer fix'd them, and replies: Three towns are Juno's on the Grecian plains, 75 More dear than all th' extended earth contains, Mycæne, Argos, and the Spartan wall ; These thou may'ft raze, nor I forbid their fall: 'Tis not in me the vengeance to remove; The crime's fufficient, that they share my love. So Of power fuperiour why should I complain? Refent I mav, but muft refent in vain. Yet fome diftinction Juno might require, Sprung with thy felf from one celeftial fire, A Goddess born to share the realms above, And ftyl'd the confort of the thundering Jove; Nor thou a wife and fifter's right deny; Let both confent, and both by turns comply; So fhall the Gods our joint decrees obey, And Heaven fhall act as we direct the way. See ready Pallas waits thy high commands, To raise in arms the Greek and Phrygian bands Their fudden friendship by her arts may cease, And the proud Trojans first infringe the peace. The Sire f men and Monarch of the fky, - Th' advice approv'd, and bade Minerva fly, Diffolve the league, and all her arts employ To make the breach the faithlefs act of Troy. Fir'd with the charge, the headlong urg'd her flight,

90

;

95

And fhot like lightning from Olympus' height. 100
As the red comet, from Saturnius fent
To fright the nations with a dire portent
(A fatal fign to armies on the plain,
Or trembling failors on the wintery main)
With fweeping glories glides along in air,
And thakes the sparkles from its blazing hair :

Between both armies thus, in open fight,
Shot the bright Goddess in a trail of light.
With eyes erect the gazing hosts admire
The power defcending, and the heavens on fire!

110

The Gods (they cried) the Gods this signal fent, And fate now labours with fome vast event: Jove feals the league, or bloodier fcenes prepares ; Jove the great arbiter of peace and wars!

They faid, while Pallas through the Trojan throng

(In fhape a mortal) pafs'd difguis'd along.
Like bold Laödocus, her course the bent,
Who from Antenor trac'd his high defcent.
Amidft the ranks Lycaon's fon the found,
The warlike Pandarus, for ftrength renown'd; 120
Whofe fquadrons, led from black fepus' flood,
With flaming fhields in martial circle flood.
To him the Goddefs: Phrygian! can't thou hear
A well-tim'd counfel with a willing ear?
What praise were thine, could'ft thou direct thy
dart,

Amidst his triumph, to the Spartan's heart! What gifts from Troy, from Paris would'st thou gain,

Thy country's foe, the Grecian glory flain!
Then feize th' occafion, dare the mighty deed,
Aim at his breaft, and may that aim succeed! 130
But first, to speed thy fhaft, address thy vow
To Lycian Phoebus with the filver bow,
And fwear the firftlings of thy flock to pay
On Zelia's altars, to the God of Day.

He heard, and madly, at the motion pleas'd, 135 His polifh'd bow with hafty rafhnefs teiz'd. 'Twas form'd of horn, and fmooth'd with artful

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Juft where his belt with golden buckles join'd,
Where linen folds the double corflet lin'd,
She turn'd the shaft, which hiffing from above,
Pafs'd the broad belt, and through the corflet
drove :

The folds it pierc'd, the plaited linen tore,
And raz'd the fkin, and drew the purple gore.
As when fome ftately trappings are decreed 170
To grace a monarch on his bounding steed,
A nymph, in Caria, or Monia bred,
Stains the pure ivory with a lively red:
With equal luftre various colours vie,

The thining whitenefs, and the Tyrian die: 175
So, great Atrides! fhow'd thy facred blood,
As down thy fnowy thigh dift.ll'd the ftreaming
flood.

With horror feiz'd, the king of men defcried
The shaft infix'd, and faw the gufhing tide:
Nor lefs the Spartan fear'd, before he found 180
The fhining barb appear'd above the wound.
Then, with a figh, that heav'd his manly breast,
The royal brother thus his grief expreft,
And grafp'd his hands; while all the Greeks
around

With answering fighs return'd the plaintive found:

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190

Oh dear as life! did I for this agree The folemn truce, a fatal truce to thee! Wert thou expos'd to all the hoftile train, To fight for Greece, and conquer to be flain? The race of Trojans in thy ruin join, And faith is fcorn'd by all the perjur'd line. Not thus our vows, confirm'd with wine and gore, Thofe hands we plighted, and thofe oaths we fwore, Shall all be vain when Heaven's revenge is flow, Jove but prepares to strike the fiercer blow. 195 The day thall come, that great avenging day, Which Troy's proud glories in the duft fhall lay. When Priam's powers and Priam's felf fhall fall, And one prodigious ruin fwallow all.

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I fee the God, already, from the pole
Bare his red arm, and bid the thunder roll;
I fee th' Eternal all his fury fhed,
And thake his Ægis o'er their guilty head.
Such mighty woes on perjur'd princes wait:
But thou, alas! deferv'ft a happier fate.
Still must I mourn the period of thy days,
And only mourn, without my fhare of praise ?
Depriv'd of thee, the heartless Greeks no more
Shall dream of conquefts on the hoftile fhore ;
Troy feiz'd of Helen, and our glory loft,
Thy bones fhall moulder on a foreign coaft:
While fome proud Trojan thus infulting cries,
(And fpurns the duft where Menelaus lies)
"Such are the trophies Greece from Ilion brings,
"And fuch the conquefts of her King of Kings!
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210

"Lo his proud veffels fcatter'd o'er the main, "And unreveng'd his mighty brother flain." Oh! ere that dire difgrace thail blaft my fame, O'erwhelm me, earth! and hide a monarch's

fhame.

He faid: a leader's and a brother's fears 220 Poffefs his foul, which thus the Spartan chears: Let not thy words the warmth of Greece abate; The feeble dart is guiltlefs of my fate:

Stiff with the rich embroider'd work around, My varied belt repell'd the flying wound.

225

To whom the King: My brother and my friend, Thus, always thus, may Heaven thy life defend Now feek fome fkilful hand, whofe powerful art May ftaunch th' effufion, and extract the dart. Herald, be swift, and bid Machäon bring 230 His fpeedy fuccour to the Spartan king; Pierc'd with a winged fhaft, (the deed of Troy) The Grecian's forrow, and the Dardan's joy.

With hafty zeal the fwif Talthybius flies; Through the thick files he darts his fearching eyes, And finds Machäon, where fublime he stands In arms encircled with his native bands. Then thus: Machäon, to the king repair, His wounded brother claims thy timely care; Pierc'd by fome Lycian or Dardanian bow, 240 A grief to us, a triumph to the foe.

245

The heavy tidings griev'd the god-like man: Swift to his fuccour through the ranks he ran; The dauntless king yet ftanding firm he found, And all the chiefs in deep concern around. Where to the fteelv point the reed was join'd, The shaft he drew, but left the head behind. Straight the broad belt with gay embroidery grac'd, He loos'd: the corflet from his breast unbrac'd; Then fuck'd the blood, and fovereign balm infus'd, Which Chiron gave, and Æfculapius us'd. While round the prince the Greeks employ

their care,

The Trojans ruth tumultuous to the war;
Once more they glitter in refulgent arms,
Once more the fields are fill'd with dire alarms.
255

Nor had you feen the king of men appear
Confus'd, unactive, or furpriz'd with fear;
But fond of glory with fevere delight,
His beating bofom claim'd the rifing fight,
No longer with his warlike steeds he ftay'd, 260
Or prefs'd the car with polifh'd brafs inlaid :
But left Eurymedon the reins to guide;
The fiery courfers fnorted at his fide.

265

270

275

On foot through all the martial ranks he moves,
And thefe encourages, and those reproves.
Brave men! he cries (to fuch who boldly dare
Urge their swift fteeds to face the coming war)
Your ancient valour on the foes approve;
Jove is with Greece, and let us truft in Jove.
Tis not for us, but guilty Troy to dread,
Whofe crimes fit heavy on her perjur'd head;
Her fons and matrons Greece fhall lead in chains,
And her dead warriors ftrow the mournful plains.
Thus with new ardour he the brave infpires;
Or thus the fearful with reproaches fires :
Shame to your country, fcandal of your kind!
Born to the fate ve well deferve to find!
Why ftand ye gazing round the dreadful plain,
Prepar'd for flight, but doom'd to fly in vain?
Confus'd and panting thus, the hunted deer 280
Falls as he flies, a victim to his fear.
Still muft ye wait the foes, and still retire,
Till yon tall veffels blaze with Trojan fire ?
Or truft ye, Jove a valiant foe shall chace,
To fave a trembling, heartless, daftard race? 285
This faid, he ftalk'd with ample ftrides along,
To Crete's brave monarch and his martial throng;-

The charge once made, no warriour turn the rein,
350

290

295

High at their head he faw the chief appear,
And bold Meriones excite the rear.
At this the king his generous joy exprest,
And clafp'd the warriour to his armed breaft:
Divine Idomeneus! what thanks we owe
To worth like thine! what praise fhall we bestow?
To thee the foremost honours are decreed,
First in the fight, and every graceful deed.
For this, in banquets, when the generous bowls
Reftore our blood, and raife the warriours fouls,
Though all the rest with stated rules we bound,
Unmix'd, unmeafur'd, are thy goblets crown'd.
Be ftill thyself; in arms a mighty name;
Maintain thy honours, and enlarge thy fame.
To whom the Cretan thus his speech addreft:
Secure of me, O king! exhort the rest:
Fix'd to thy fide, in every toil I share,
Thy firm affociate in the day of war.
But let the fignal be this moment given;
To mix in fight is all I afk of Heaven.
The field fhall prove how perjuries fucceed,
And chains or death avenge their impious deed.
Charm'd with this heat, the king his courfe
pursues,

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305

315

And next the troops of either Ajax views:
In one firm orb the bands were rang'd around,
A cloud of heroes blacken'd all the ground.
Thus from the lofty promontory's brow
A fwain furveys the gathering ftorm below;
Slow from the main the heavy vapours rife,
Spread in dim streams, and fail along the skies,
Till black at night the fwelling tempeft fhows,
The cloud condenfing as the Weft-wind blows:
He dreads th' impending storm, and drives his
flock

To the close covert of an arching rock.

Such, and fo thick, th' embattled fquadrons
stood,

With fpears erect, a moving iron wood ;
A fhady light was shot from glimmering fhields,
And their brown arms obscur'd the dusky fields.
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335

O heroes! worthy fuch a dauntless train,
Whose God-like virtue we but urge in vain,
(Exclaimed the king) who raise your eager bands
With great examples, more than loud commands:
Ah, would the Gods but breathe in all the reft 330
Such fouls as burn in your exalted breaft:
Soon fhould our arms with juft fuccefs be crown'd,
And Troy's proud walls lie fmoak ing on the ground.
Then to the next the general bends his course
(His heart exults, and glories in his force);
There reverend Neftor ranks his Pylian bands,
And with infpiring eloquence commands;
With ftrictest order fets his train in arms,
The chiefs advises, and the foldiers warms,
Alaftor, Chromius, Hæmon round him wait, 340
Bias the good, and Pelagon the great.
The horse and chariots to the front affign'd,
The foot (the strength of war) he rang'd behind;
The middle space fufpected troops fupply,
Inclos'd by both, nor left the power to fly;
He gives command to curb the fiery steed,
Nor caufe confufion, nor the ranks exceed ;
Before the reft let none too rafhly ride;
No strength nor skill, but just in time, be try'd:
VOL. VI.

355

But fight, or fall; a firm embody'd train.
He whom the fortune of the field fhall caft
From forth his chariot, mount the next in hafte;
Nor feek unpractis'd to direct the car,
Content with javelins to provoke the war.
Our great forefathers held this prudent courfe,
Thus rul'd their ardour, thus preferv'd their force,
By laws like these immortal conquefts made,
And earth's proud tyrants low in afhes laid.
360
So fpoke the master of the martial art,
And touch'd with transport great Atrides' heart!
Oh! had'st thou ftrength to match thy brave defires,
And nerves to fecond what thy foul infpires!
But wafting years, that wither human race,
365
Exhauft thy fpirits, and thy arms unbrace.
What once thou wert, oh ever might'st thou be!
And age the lot of any chief but thee.

Thus to th' experienc'd prince Atrides cry'd ;
He shook his hoary locks and thus reply'd:
Well might I wish, could mortal with renew, 370
That ftrength which once in boiling youth I knew;
Such as I was, when Ereuthalion flain
Beneath this arm fell proftrate on the plain.
But Heaven its gifts not all at once beftows,
Thefe years with wifdom crowns, with action those;
The field of combat fits the young and bold,
The folemn council beft becomes the old :
To you the glorious conflict I refign,
Let fage advice, the palm of age, be mine.
He faid. With joy the monarch march'd before,

380

And found Meneftheus on the dusty shore,
With whom the firm Athenian phalanx ftands,
And next Ulyffes with his fubject bands.
Remote their forces lay, nor knew so far
The peace infring'd, nor heard the found of war;
385
The tumult late begun, they stood intent
To watch the motion, dubious of th' event.
The king, who faw their squadrons yet unmov'd,
With hafty ardour thus the chiefs reprov'd:

Can Peteus' fon forget a warriour's part, 390
And fears Ulyffes, fkill'd in every art?
Why ftand you diftant, and the reft expect
To mix in combat which yourselves neglect?
From you 'twas hop'd among the first to dare
The fhock of armies, and commence the war. 395
For this your names are call'd before the rest,
To share the pleasures of the genial feast:
And can you, chiefs! without a blufh furvey
Whole troops before you labouring in the fray?
Say, is it thus thofe honours you requite:
The first in banquets, but the last in fight?

400

Ulyffes heard the hero's warmth o'erfpread
His cheek with blushes: and fevere, he said:
Take back th' unjust reproach! Behold, we ftand
Sheath'd in bright arms, and but expect command.
If glorious deeds afford thy foul delight,
Behold me plunging in the thickest fight.
345 Then give thy warriour-chief a warriour's due,
Who dares to act whate'er thou dar'ft to view.
Struck with his generous wrath the king re-
410

plies;

Oh great in action, and in council wife!

F

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