"Solicitude for Persia to excess Misled thee, satrap, to that graven god," Rejoins the Magus, "where, if ought besides The craft of Grecian, mercenary priests, It was the demon Arimanius rul'd. He long hath prompted that Elëan seer, Who blunts thy sword by divination false. What thou dost vision call was empty dream; Imagination heated, and disturb'd,
A texture wild and various, intermix'd With ill-match'd images of things, which last Oppress'd thy mind. Thy own distemper fram'd Th' unreal grot, where Destinies of air In apparition cut thy vital thread; Their act was thine, the oracle thy own, All vague creation of thy erring sleep." Briareus enters. At his tidings glad, Which ostentation sounded, thus exults Mardonius: "Sayst thou, Lacedæmon's chief Was mute, when my defiance shook his ear? Hence to the winds, ye auguries and signs! Ye dreams and mysteries of Greece, avaunt! Thou, Horomazes, not in marble fanes, Nor woods oracular, and caves, doth dwell. It is the pow'r of evil there misguides Insensate mortals, and misguided me. O, Artemisia! now shall Gobryas' son Look only, where no mystery can lurk, On ev'ry manly duty. Nothing dark
The tracks of honour shades." To chiefs select, Greek and barbarian summon'd, he reveals His fix'd resolyes in council. They disperse To execute his wil!. Among the rest Young Alexander, Macedonia's lord, Speeds to his quarters in the solemn bow'r Of Dircè. There Mardonius had decreed A cenotaph of marble, newly-rais'd To his deplor'd Masistius. There the queen Of Macedon, Phoebean Timon's child, Bright Amarantha, like an ev'ning bird, Whose trill delights a melancholy grove, Oft with harmonious skill in Delphian strains, Th' ingenuous practice of her maiden days, Sung of her father, and Masistius good, That friend, that known protector. Was now in cadence with Dircæan rills Attuning. Vocal melody she breath'd, Which at another season might have won Her lord from sadness. Sighing, he her song Thus interrupts: "Ah! consort dear, as fair, I come from Persia's council; where the son Of Gobryas, urg'd by fear of sudden want Through his wide host, nor animated less By Spartan silence at the challenge proud His herald bore, determines to reject The augur's warnings. O'er the stream he means To lead th' embattled nations, and surprise Ere dawn, at least assail the camp of Greece In ev'ry station. If she quits her lines, Then will his num'rous cavalry surround Her heavy phalanx on the level space. O that my ancestor had never left His Grecian home in Argos, nor acquir'd Emathia's crown! I never then, compell'd, Had borne reluctant arms against a race By friendship link'd, affinity, and blood,
With me and mine."-" What horrour!" cries the
"While fear surmises, that my husband's sword May blindly cut my father's vital thread.
But not alone such parricide to shun Should wake thy efforts. Alexander, no; Thou must do more. Our mutual words recall, When thou to Athens by Mardonius sent Didst from thy fruitless embassy rejoin Me in Trachiniæ; whence the barb'rous chief Renew'd his march to lay Cecropian domes In fresh destruction. What a lot is mine?' Thou saidst. If Xerxes triumph, I become A slave in purple. Should the Greeks prevail, Should that Eubœan conqueror, the son Of Neocles, be sent th' Athenian scourge'...... "I interrupted thus: Awhile, dear lord, We must submit to wear the galling mask Necessity imposes. New events
Are daily scatter'd by the restless palm Of Fortune. Some will prove propitious. Wise, To all benignant, Aristides serv'd
By us in season will befriend our state.'
"Behold that season come; let Grecian blood, Which warms thy veins, inspire thy prudent tongue This night th' Athenian hero to apprise Of all these tidings. Thus secure the Greeks Against surprisal; timely thus oblige The first of men, and magnify thy name In Greece for ages." Here the youthful king: Though by oppressive Xerxes forc'd to war, Shall I abuse the confidence repos'd By great Mardonius, qualify'd to win Regard at first, which intercourse augments? I will do all by honour's rules allow'd, Will act a neutral part, withdraw my troops, Ev'n at the hazard of my crown and life, If such my queen's injunction. Ah! forbear To frown; what means this flushing of thy cheek? Must I betray Mardonius to his foes?"
She spake abrupt; he started at her look: "If forc'd obedience to a tyrant binds, If more, than I, Mardonius holds thy heart, Who has thy dearest confidence abus'd, Thou wilt discredit my accusing tongue. Could from this empty monument the shade Of just Masistius rise, his awful voice Would verify a story, till this hour From thee conceal'd. My virgin hand in blood Of one barbarian miscreant once I stain'd; Not to pollute my hymeneal state, Nor lay Mardonius gasping at my feet Like Mithridates in the streets of Thebes, This hateful camp for Delphi I forsook, Fled from a lawless and presumptuous flame, Insulting me, thy queen, who boast descent From holy Timon. While for his behoof Collecting Greeks against their country's cause, Thyself was absent, and Mardonius left My only guardian; scorning every tie, His daring importunity of love Assail'd thy consort's ear. What hope, what trust In such barbarians? All their faith expir'd With good Masistius. Should the Greeks be
How long will Macedon thy realm, how long Will Amarantha be securely held Against a satrap, whose ungovern'd will May covet both? Of this, O prince, be sure, Her part of shame will Amarantha bear, But brief shall be its date. The poniard still, Which once preserv'd my honour, I possess To cut my period of dishonour short." The prince impatient, yet attentive, heard
Her words; when thus the measure of his wrath From his fuil bosom rapidly o'erflow'd.
"O impious breach of hospitable ties! O violation base of rights and laws, Exacting swift revenge from Heav'n and man, From ine the first! Unparallel'd in form, O like the sister of thy Delphian god Immaculate! did sacrilegious hands This pure abode of chastity assail With profanation? Less a friend to Greece, Than foe to false Mardonius, now I go."
He said, and order'd forth his swiftest steed. By moonlight, twinkling on a shaded track, He urg'd his secret way beyond the springs Asopian; whence an outlet short and close Through mount Citharon to th' adjacent line Of Aristides led. Meantime the sound Of steps advancing Amarantha heard: She heard, and saw Mardonius. He his pace Stopp'd short, inclining with obeisance low His stately frame. Through terrour and amaze To earth she rigid grew, of pow'r to fly Depriv'd. He distant spake: "Imperial dame, That he offended once, Mardonius makes A penitent confession, O! that fault To no innate discourtesy impute,
But Eastern manners, not as Grecian pure; The ignorance which err'd, by thee is chang'd To veneration. From my presence here, Which ne'er before intruded on this seat Of thy retirement, do not too severe A new offence interpret; rest assur'd, A solemn cause impels." He silent waits, Nor moves; till, gliding silently away, Like Dian fair and chaste, but less severe, The queen withdrew, and tow'rds a gallant chief, Perhaps by her devices near his fall, Thus far relented; for the private wrong The frank atonement rais'd a gen'rous sigh; Against the public enemy of Greece, Unquenchable she burn'd. Now left alone, Before the cenotaph he kneel'd ..d spake:
"To morrow, O! to morrow let my helm Blaze in thy beams auspicious, spirit bright, Whose name adorns this honorary tomb! The weight of Asia's mighty weal, the weight Of fifty myriads on thy friend augments From hour to hour. Yet purg'd of gloomy thoughts, Clear of ambition, save to win the palm Of victory for Xerxes, I approach Thy suppliant. Thou an intercessor pure For me, deceiv'd by Grecian seers and gods, Before the throne of Horomazes stand, That he may bless my standards, if alone To guard so many worshippers, and spread By their success his celebrated name Through each Hesperian clime. Now grant a sign, Masistius, ere thy faithful friend depart, Fix'd, as he is, to vanquish, or to fall."
He ceas'd. Quick rapture dims his cheated eyes. He sees in thought a canopy of light, Descending o'er the tomb. In joy he speeds To preparation for the destin'd march.
AMONG the Greeks their first nocternal watch Was near its period. From Laconia's wing Return'd, th' Athenian leader thus bepake VOL. XVII.
Sicinus: "Worthy of my trust, give ear. Within six hours the army will decamp To choose a friendlier station; so the chiefs In gen'ral council, as Gargaphia chok'd Withholds her wonted succour, have resolv'd. At Juno's fane, yet undespoil'd, though near Platea's ruins, ev'ry band is charg'd To reassemble."......Suddenly appears A centinel, who speaks: "A stranger, near The trenches waits thee; us in peaceful words Saluting, he importunate requires
Thy instant presence." Aristides hastes; To whom the stranger: "Bulwark of this camp, Hear, credit, weigh, the tidings which I bear. Mardonius, press'd by fear of threat'ning want, At night's fourth watch the fatal stream will pass, Inflexibly determin'd, though forbid By each diviner, to assail your host With all his numbers. I against surprise Am come to warn you; thee alone I trust, My name revealing. I, O man divine!
I, who thus hazard both my realm, and life, Am Alexander, Macedonian friend Of Athens. Kindly on a future day Remember me." He said, and spurr'd his steed Back through the op'ning of Citharon's hill. By Aristides instantly detach'd, Sicinus calls each leader to attend Pausanias. Attica's great captain joins The council full. His tidings he relates, Concluding thus with exhortation sage:
We, destitute of water, had resolv'd To change our station. Now without a pause We must anticipate th' appointed hour For this retreat, nor ling'ring tempt the force Of squadrons swift to intercept our march. All move your standards. Let Mardonius bring A host discourag'd by their augur's voice; Who are forbid to pass the fatal stream, But are compell'd by famine and despair To inauspicious battle. We to Heav'n Obedient, Heav'n's assistance shall obtain. A situation, safeguard to our flanks Against superior and surrounding horse, In sight of burnt Platæa, of her fanes Defac'd, and violated gods, I know; There will assure you conquest." All assent,
At once the diffrent Grecians, who compose The centre, lift their ensigns. O'er the plain First swiftly tow'rds Plataan Juno's dome Speeds Adimantus. In array more slow The rest advance. Cleander guards the rear; Brave youth, whom chance malicious will bereave Of half the laurels to his temples due.
Th' Athenians arm delib'rate; in whose train Illustrious Medon ranks a faithful troop, His hundred Locrians. Haliartus there, There Timon's few but gen'rous Delphians stand, By Aristides all enjoin'd to watch Laconia's host. That sternly-tutor'd race, "To passion cold, he knew in action slow, In consultation torpid. Anxious long He wait, and fears the eyelids of the morn, Too soon unclosing, may too much reveal. Sicinus, hast'ning to Laconia's camp, Finds all confus'd, subordination lost In altercation, wondrous in that breed Of discipline and manners, nor less strange, Than if the laws of Nature in the sky Dissolv'd, should turn the Moon and planets loose
From their accustom'd orbits, to obey The Sun no longer. When his first command Pausanias issu'd for the march, nor thought Of disobedience to disturb his pride; One leader, Amompharetus, whose band Of Pitanè rever'd him, as the first Among the brave, refusal stern oppos'd, Protesting firm, he never would retreat Before barbarians. Aemnestus swift, Callicrates and others, long approv'd In arms, entreat the Spartan to submit, Nor disconcert the salutary plan Of gen'ral council. Sullen he replies:
"Not of that council, I will ne'er disgrace The Spartan name. But all the Greeks withdrawn Expect our junction at Saturnia's dome, Callicrates and Aemnestus plead.
Would'st thou expose thy countrymen to face Unaided yonder multitude of Medes, Untry'd by us in combat?"-" Yes," rejoins The pertinacious man, "ere yield to flight."
His troop applauded. Now contention harsh Resounded high, exhausting precious hours, The Spartan march retarding; when arriv'd Sicinus, witness to the wild debate.
At length Pausanias knit his haughty brow At Amompharetus, and spake: "Weak man, Thou art insane. The chastisement thy due, Our time allows not. Instant march, or stay Behind and perish." In his two-fold grasp The restive Spartan lifting from the ground A pond'rous stone, before the gen'ral's feet Plac'd it, and thus: " Against dishonest flight From strangers vile, I rest my suffrage there, Nor will forsake it." To Sicinus turn'd Pausanias: "Tell the Athenians what thou see'st. I by Citharon's side to Juno's fane
Am hast'ning; charge their phalanx to proceed," Sicinus back to Aristides flies.
His ready phalanx from the lines he draws, Wing'd with his horse and bowmen; yet his course Suspends at Sparta's camp. There sullen, fix'd Like some old oak's deep-rooted, knotted trunk, Which hath endur'd the tempest-breathing months Of thrice a hundred winters, ret remains Unshaken, there amidst his silent troop Sat Amompharetus. To him the sage:
"Unwise, though brave, transgressing all the laws Of discipline, though Spartan born and train'd; Arise, o'ertake thy gen'ral and rejoin. Thy country's mercy by some rare exploit Win to forgive thy capital default,
Excess of courage." Where Pausanias, arm'd With pow'r unlimited in war, where all The Spartan captains in persuasion fail'd, Requir'd not less than Jove himself, or Jove In Aristides to prevail. Uprose The warrior, late inflexible; yet slow, In strictest regularity of march, Led his well-order'd files. Correcting thus The erring Spartan, Aristides swept Across the plain to fill the gen'ral host.
Not yet the twilight, harbinger of morn, Had overcome the stars. The Persian scouts, Who rang'd abroad, observing that no sound Was heard, no watch-word through the Grecian lines,
Adventur'd nigh, and found an empty space. Swift they appris'd Mardonius, who had form'd His whole array. Encircled by his chiefs,
Greek and barbarian, first he gave command, That ev'ry hand provide a blazing torch To magnify his terrours, and with light Facilitate pursuit; then gladsome thus Address'd his friends of Thessaly and Thebes: "Now Larissæan Thorax, and the rest Of Aleuadian race; now Theban lords, Judge of the Spartans justly. Vaunted high For unexampled prowess, them you saw First change their place, imposing on the sons Of Athens twice the formidable task To face my chosen Persians; next they gave To my defiance no reply, and last Are fled before me. Can your augurs show A better omen than a foe dismay'd? But, kind allies, to you my friendly care Shall now be prov'd. These thunderbolts of war, As you esteem them, will Mardonius choose For his opponents. Level your attack Entire against th' Athenians. None I dread; Yet by the Sun less terrible to me
Is that Pausanius, head of Sparta's race, Than Aristides. Him Masistius lov'd; If you o'erthrow, preserve him; in the name Of your own gods I charge you. Mithra, shine On me no longer, if in grateful warmth Confessing ev'ry benefit receiv'd,
I do not clasp that guardian of my friend! Now, Persians, mount your bold Nisæan steeds, Alert your targets grasp, your lances poise; The word is Cyrus. Royal spirit! look On me, deriv'd from thy illustrious blood, Yet not in me illustrious, if this day My hand or courage faint. Look down on these, Sons of thy matchless veterans. The fire, Which at thy breath o'erspread the vanquish'd East, Light in their offspring; that the loud report Of their achievements on Asopian banks, Far as the floods of Ganges may proclaim The western world a vassal to thy throne."
He said, and spurr'd his courser. Through the ford He dashes, follow'd by th' impetuous speed Of tall equestrian bands in armour scal'd With gold, on trappings of embroider'd gloss Superbly seated. Persians next and Medes Advance, an infantry select, whose mail, Bright-gilt or silver'd o'er, augments the light Of sparkling brands, innumerably wav'd By nations, plunging through the turbid flood In tumult rude, emblazing, as they pass, The skies, the waters, and with direst howl Distracting both. Like savage wolves they rush, As with ferocious fangs to rend the Greeks, To gnaw their flesh, and satiate in their blood The greedy thirst of massacre. In chief Here Mindarus commands, by Midias join'd And Tiridates, powerless all to curb, Much more to marshal such barbarian throngs, Which, like a tumbling tide on level strands When new the Moon impels it, soon o'erwhelm'd Th' Asopian mead; or like the mightier surge, When ireful Neptune strikes the ocean's bed Profound. Upheav'd, the bottom lifts and rolls A ridge of liquid mountains o'er th' abodes Of some offending nation; while the Heav'ns With coruscation red his brother Jove Inflames, and rocks with thunder's roar the poles.
Th' auxiliar Greeks compact and silent march In strength five myriads. In arrangement just The foot by Leontiades, the wings
Of horse by Thorax and Emathia's king Were led. Now, long before th' unwieldy mass Of his disorder'd multitude advanc'd, Mardonius, rushing through the vacant lines Of Lacedæmon, tow'rds Citharon bent His swift career. Faint rays began to streak The third clear morning of that fruitful month, The last in summer's train. Immortal day! Which all the Muses consecrate to fame.
O thou! exalted o'er the laurell'd train, High as the sweet Calliopè is thron'd Above her sisters on the tuneful mount, O father, hear! Great Homer, let one ray From thy celestial light an humble son Of thine illuminate; lest Freedom mourn Her chosen race dishonour'd in these strains. Thou too, my eldest brother, who enjoy'st The Paradise thy genius hath portray'd, Propitious smile. Lend vigour to a Muse, Who in her love of freedom equals thine, But to sustain her labours from thy store Must borrow language, sentiment, and verse.
Citharon's ridge, from where Asopus rose, Stretch'd to Platea, with a southern fence Confining one broad level, which the floods From their Hesperian head in eastward flow Meandring parted. O'er the mountain's foot His course Pausanias destin'd, where the soil Abrupt and stony might the dread career Of Persia's cavalry impede. His ranks, Accompany'd by Tegea's faithful breed, Had measur'd now ten furlongs of their march Half o'er the plain to reach the friendly ground; Then halted near an Eleusinian dome Of Ceres; thence they mov'd, but timely first Were join'd by Amompharetus. At length The chosen track was gain'd. Pausanias cast His eyes below first northward, and survey'd Between the river and his empty camp A blaze involving all the plain. The yell Of mouths barbarian, of unnumber'd feet Th' impetuous tread, which crush'd the groaning turf,
The neigh of horses, and their echoing hoofs, Th' insulting clash of shields and sabres, shook The theatre of mountains; hollow-voic'd, Their cavities rebellow'd, and enlarg'd The hideous sound. His eyes the orient dawn Attracted next. Saturnia's roof he view'd, But distant still, around whose sacred walls The first-departed Grecians stood in arms Beneath wide-floating banners, wish'd more nigh. There was the Genius of Platea seen By fancy's ken, a hov'ring mourner seen, O'er his renown'd, but desolated seat, One mass of ruins mountainous. Th' Athenians traversing the meads below In full battalia. Resolute, sedate, Without one shield in disarray, they mov'd To join the gen'ral host. Beyond the stream In prospect rose the battlements of Thebes; Whose sons perfidious, but in battle firm, With phalanges of other hostile Greeks Spread on the bank, and menace to surmount The shallow current for some dire attempt. To Aemnestus, marching by his side, Pausanias turns; the army he commands To halt, while, mast'ring all unmanly fear, His haughty phlegm serenely thus fulfils A leader's function: "Spartan, we in vain
Precipitate our junction with allies
At Juno's distant fane; the hour is past; The Pitanëan mutineer the cause.
Seest thou yon Persian squadrons? They precede The whole barbarian multitude. The storm
Is gath'ring nigh; we sep'rate must abide The heavy weight of this unequal shock, Unless th' Athenians, still in sight, impart A present aid." A herald swift he sends To Aristides, with this weighty charge: "All Greece is now in danger, and the blood Of Hercules in me. Athenian help Is wanted here, their missile-weapon'd force." Last he address'd Tisamenus; "Provide The sacrifice for battle-Warriors, form."
Slain is the victim; but th' inspecting seer Reveals no sign propitious. Now full nigh The foremost Persian horse discharge around Their javelins, darts, and arrows. Sparta's chief In calm respect of inauspicious Heav'n Directs each soldier at his foot to rest The passive shield, submissive to endure Th' assault, and watch a signal from the gods. A second time unfavourable prove The victim's entrails. Unremitted show'rs Of pointed arms distribute wounds and death. Oh! discipline of Sparta! Patient stands The wounded soldier, sees a comrade fall, Yet waits permission from his chief to shield His own, or brother's head. Among the rest Callicrates is pierc'd; a mortal stroke
His throat receives. Him celebrate, O Muse! Him in historic rolls deliver'd down To admiration of remotest climes Through latest ages. These expiring words Beyond Olympian chaplets him exalt, Beyond his palms in battle: "Not to die For Greece, but dying, ere my sword is drawn, Without one action worthy of my name,
I grieve." He said, and fainting on the breast Of Aemnestus, breath'd in spouting blood His last, departing thy attendant meet, Leonidas, in regions of the bless'd.
A second victim bleeds; the gath'ring foes To multitude are grown; the show'rs of death Increase; then melted into flowing grief Pausanian pride. He, tow'rds the fane remote Of Juno lifting his afflicted eyes,
Thus suppliant spake: "O goddess! let my hopes Be not defeated, whether to obtain A victory so glorious, or expire Without dishonour to Herculean blood."
Amidst the pray'r Tegëan Chileus, free From stern control of Lacedæmon's laws, No longer waits inactive; but his band Leads forth, and firmly checks th' insulting foe. The sacrifice is prosp'rous, and the word For gen'ral onset by Pausanias giv'n. Then, as a lion, from his native range Confin'd a captive long, if once his chain He breaks, with mane erect and eyes of fire Asserts his freedom, rushing in his strength Resistless forth; so Sparta's phalanx turns A face tremendous on recoiling swarms Of squadron'd Persians, who to Ceres' fane Are driv'n. But there Mardonius, like the god Of thunders ranging o'er th' ethereal vault Thick clouds on clouds impregnated with storms, His chosen troops embattles. Bows and darts Rejecting, gallantly to combat close
They urge undaunted efforts, and to death Their ground maintain, in courage, or in might Not to the Greeks inferior, but in arms, In discipline, and conduct. Parties small, Or single warriors, here with vigour wield The battle-axe and sabre; others rush Among the spears, to wrench away, or break By strength of hands, the weapons of their foes. But fiercest was the contest, where sublime The son of Gobryas from a snow-white steed Shot terrour. There selected warriors charg'd, A thousand vet'rans, by their fathers train'd, Who shar'd renown with Cyrus. On the right, Close to his gen'ral's side, Briareus grasp'd A studded mace, Pangæus on the left, Nam'd from a Thracian bill. The bristly front Of Sparta's phalanx, with intrepid looks Mardonius fac'd, and thunder'd out these words: "Come, twice-defy'd Pausanias, if thou hear'st; Thy Spartan prowess on Mardonius try."
Pausanias heard; but shunn'd retorting words, In saturnine disdain laconic thus
His men addressing: "Yours the soldiers' part, The gen'ral's mine; advance not, but receive These loose barbarians on your steady points." Not one of Persia's breed, though early train'd, So strong a javelin as Mardonius lanc'd, Or in its aim so true. Three brothers grac'd The foremost line of Sparta, natives all Of sweet Amyclæ, all in age and arms Mature, their splendid lineage from the stock Of Tyndarus deriving. Them on earth Three javelins, whiri'd successive, laid supine, An effort of Mardonius. Three in rank Behind partake the same resistless doom, Three bold companions in the hardy chase Of boars on green Taygetus. Supply'd With weapons new, the phalanx still to gore He perseveres unweary'd, not unlike Some irritated porcupine, of size Portentous, darting his envenom'd quills Through each assailant. In Laconia's front So many warriors and their weapons fail'n, Leave in her triple tire of pointed steel A void for swift impression of her foes. In rush Briareus and Pangæus huge, Whose maces send fresh numbers to the shades. The op'ning widens. On his vaulting steed Mardonius follows, like ensanguin'd Mars By his auxiliars grim, dismay and rage, Preceded. Rivalling the lightning's beams, The hero's sabre bright and rapid wheels Aloft in air. A comet thus inflames The cheek of Night; pale mortals view in dread Th' unwonted lustre, transient though it be, Among the lights of Heav'n. Pausanias rous'd, Advancing, at Briareus points his lance. Meantime six Spartans of the younger class Assail Mardonius. One his bridle grasp'd; The Persian sabre at the shoulder close
Lopp'd off th' audacious arm, Another stoop'd To seize the chieftain's foot, and drag him down; Pois'd on his stirrup, he in sunder smote 'The Spartan's waist. Another yet approach'd, Who at a blow was cloven to the chin. Two more the gen'rous horse, uprearing, dash'd Maim'd and disabled to the ground; the last His teeth disfigur'd, and his weight oppress'd. As some tall-masted ship, on ev'ry side Assail'd by pinnaces and skiffs whose strength
Is number, drives her well-directed prow Through all their feeble clusters; while her chief Elate contemplates from her lofty deck The hostile keels upturn'd, and floating dead, Where'er she steers victorious: so the steed Nisæan tramples on Laconian slain, Triumphant so Mardonius from his seat Looks down. But fate amidst his triumph shows Briareus yielding to a forceful blow
Of stern Pausanias, and Pangæus pierc'd By Amompharetus. Their giant bulks, Thrown prostrate, crash three long-protended rows Of Spartan spears. Wide-branching thus huge oaks, By age decay'd, or twisted from the roots By rending whirlwinds, in their pondrous fall Lay desolate the under shrubs, and trees Of young, unstable growth. More awful still, Another object strikes the satrap's eye; With nodding plumes, and formidable stride, Lo! Aemnestus. Asia's gen'ral feels Emotions now, which trouble, not degrade His gen'rous spirit. Not, as Priam's son On sight of dire Achilles, thoughts of flight Possess Mardonius, but to wait the foe, And if to die, with honour die, if live Enjoy a life of fame. His giant guard Around him close; one levels at the casque
Of Aemnestus; but the weighty mace Slides o'er the Spartan's slanting shield, and spends Its rage in dust. The stooping giant leaves His flank unguarded, and admits a stroke, Which penetrates the entrails. Down he sinks, Another tow'r of Asia's battle strewn
In hideous ruin. Soon a second bleeds, A third, a fourth. The fifth in posture stands To crush the victor with a blow well-aim'd; Him Menalippus at the brawny pit Of his uplifted arm transpiercing deep Disables. Aemnestus struggles long To grapple with his victim, and invokes Leonidas aloud. The active son
Of Gobryas plants throughout the Spartan shield A wood of javelins. His Nisæan horse, Careering, vauiting, with his fangs and hoofs Protects his lord. The guards, who still surviv'd, With faithful zeal their whole united strength Exert unwearied for a lib'ral chief.
Some paces backward Aemnestus forc'd, Impels his heel against a loos'ning stone, Broad, craggy, scarce inferior to the weight Discharg'd by Hector on the massy bars Of Agamemnon's camp. The Spartan quick From his left arm removes the heavy shield, With javelins thick transfix'd. From earth he lifts The casual weapon, and with caution marks The fatal time and distance. O'er the heads Of thy surrounding guard the fragment hurl'd Descends, Mardonius, on thy manly chest, And lays thee o'er thy courser's back supine Without sensation. O, illustrious man, Whose dazzling virtues through thy frailties beam'd! Magnanimous, heroic, gen'rous, pure
In friendship, v arm in gratitude! This doom At once dissolves all interval of pain To mind, or body. Not a moment more Hast thou, ingenuous satrap, to repine, Or grieve. Go, hero, thy Masistius greet, Where no ambition agitates the breast, No gloomy veil of superstition blinds, No friend can die, no battle can be lost!
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