Next thirty gal cleave the liquid plain, Of thofe Calydna's fea-girt ifles contain; With them the youth of Nyfyrus repair, Cafus the ftrong, and Crapathus the fair; Cos, where Eurypylus poffeft the sway, Till great Alcides made the realms obey : Thefe Antiphus and bold Fliidippus bring, Sprung from the God by Theffalus the king.
There groan'd the chief in agonizing pain, 880 Whom Greece at length fhall wish, nor with in vain.
His forces Medon led from Lemnos' fhore, 825 Oileus' fon, whom beauteous Rhena bore. Th' Oechalian race, in those high towers contain'd,
Now, Mufe, recount Pelafgic Argos' powers,
From Alos, Alopè, and Trechin's towers;
From Phthia's fpacious vales; and Hella, blest
With female beauty far beyond the rest.
Full fifty fhips beneath Achilles' care,
Th' Achaians, Myrmidons, Hellenians bear;
Theffalians all, though various in their name ;
835
The fame their nation, and their chief the fame.
But now, inglorious, ftretch'd along the fhore,
They hear the brazen voice of war no more;
No more the foe they face in dire array;
Clofe in his fleet the angry leader lay;
Sinc Fair Brifeis from his arms was torn,
The nobleft fpoil from fack'd Lyrneffus borne,
Then, when the chief the Theban walls o'er-
And the bold fons of great Evenus flew. There mourn'd Achilles, plung'd in depth of 845
But foon to rife in flaughter, blood, and war.
To these the youth of Phylace fucceed,
Itona, famous for her fleecy breed,
And graffy Pteleon deck'd with cheerful greens,
The bowers of Ceres, and the fylvan fcenes, 850
Sweet Pyrrhafus, with blooming flowrets crown'd,
And Antron's watery dens, and cavern'd ground.
These own'd as chief Protefilas the brave,
Who now lay filent in the gloomy grave:
The first who boldly touch'd the Trojan fhore,
855
And dy'd a Phrygian lance with Grecian gore;
There lies, far diftant from his native plain;
Unfinish'd, his proud palaces remain,
And his fad confort beats her breast in vain.
His troops in forty fhips Podarces 1:d,
1phiclus fon, and brother to the dead;
Nor he unworthy to command the host ;
Yet ftill they mourn'd their ancient leader loft.
The men who Glaphyra's fair foil partake,
Where hills encircle Babe's lowly lake.
Where Phare hears the neighbouring waters
fall,
Or proud fölcus lifts her airy wall,
In ten black hips embark'd for Ilion's fhore:
With bod Eumylus, whom Alcette bore:
All Pelias' race Alceftè far outthin'd,
The grace and glory of t e beauteous kind.
The troops Methone, or Thaumachia yields,
Olizon's rocks, or Meliboa's fields,
With Philoctetes fail'd, whofe matchless art
From the tough bow directs the feather'd dart.
875
Seven were his fhips: each vessel fifty row,
Skill'd in his fcience of the dart and bow.
But he lay raging on the Lemnian ground,
A poifonous Hydra gave the burning wound;
Where once Eurytus in proud triumph reign'd, 885
Or where her humbler turrets Tricca rears,,
Or where Ithomè, rough with rocks, appears ;
In thirty fail the fparkling waves divide,
Which Podalirius and Machaon guide.
To thefe his fkill their Parent-God imparts,
Divine profeffors of the healing arts.
The bold Ormenian and Afterian bands
In forty barks Eurypylus commands,
Where Titan hides his hoary head in fnow,
And where Hyperia's filver fountains flow.
Thy troops, Argiffa, Polypotes leads,
And Eleon, fhelter'd by Olympus' fhades,
Gyrtone's warriours; and where Orthè lies,
And Oleoffon's chalky cliffs arise.
Sprung from Pirithous of immortal race,
The fruit of fair Hippodamè's embrace,
(That day when, hurl'd from Pelion's cloudy
head,
To diftant dens the fhaggy Centaurs fled)
With Polypates join'd in equal fway
Leontes leads, and forty fhips obey.
In twenty fail the bold Perrhæbians came From Cyphus, Guneus was their leader's name. With thefe the Enians join'd, and thofe who freeze
Where cold Dodona lifts her boly trees;
Or where the pleafing Titarefius glides
And into Peneus rolls his easy tides;
Yet o'er the filver furface pure they flow,
The facred ftream unmix'd with ftreams below,
Sacred and awful! From the dark abodes
Styx pours them forth, the dreadful oath of
Gods!
Laft under Prothous the Magnesians stood, Prothous the fwift, of old Tenthredron's blood; Who dwell where Pelion, crown'd with piny boughs,
Obfcures the glade, and nods his fhaggy brows; Or where through flowery Tempè Peneus ftray'd, 920
(The region stretch'd beneath his mighty shade) In forty fable barks they stemm'd the main ; Such were the chiefs, and fuch the Grecian train. Say next, O Mufe! of all Achaia breeds, Who braveft fought, or rein'd the nobleft fteeds? 925
Eumelus' mares are foremost in the chace,
As eagles fleet, and of Pheretian race :
Bred where Pieria's faithful fountains flow,
And train'd by him who bears the filver bow.
Fierce in the fight their noirils breath'd a flame,
930
Their height, their colour, and their age the
fame;
O'er fields of death they whirl the rapid car,
And break the ranks, and thunder through the
Ajax in arms the first renown acquir'd,
While ftern Achilles in his wrath retir'd
(His was the strength that mortal might exceeds,
And his, th' unrivall'd race of heavenly steeds).
But Thetis' fon now shines in arms no more;
His troops, neglected on the fandy fhore,
In empty air their sportive javelins throw,
Or whirl the difk, or bend an idle bow:
Unftain'd with blood his cover'd chariots stand;
Th' immortal courfers graze along the ftrand;
But the brave chiefs th' inglorious life deplor'd,
And wandering o'er the camp, requir'd their
lord.
945
In throngs around his native bands repair, 999
And groves of lances glitter in the air.
Divine Eneas brings the Dardan race,
Anchifes' fon by Venus' ftol'n embrace,
Born in the fhades of Ida's fecret grove,
(A mortal mixing with the Queen of Love) 995
Archilochus and Acamas divide
The warriour's toils, and combat by his fide.
Who fair Zeleia's wealthy vallies till,
940 Faft by the foot of Ida's facred hill;
Or drink, fepus, of thy fabie flood:
Were led by Pandarus, of royal blood.
To whom his art Apollo deign'd to fhow,
Grac'd with the prefent of his fhafts and bow.
From rich Apæfus' and Adreftia's towers,
High Teree's funnits, and Pityea's bowers ;
1005
From these the congregated troops obey
Young Amphius' and Adraftus' equal fway:
Old Merops' fons; whom, skill'd in fates to come,
The fire forewarn'd, and prophefy'd their doom;
Fate urg'd them on! the fire forewarn'd in vain,
Now like a deluge, covering all around,
The thining armies fwept along the ground:
Swift as a flood of fire, when storms arife,
Floats the wide field, and blazes to the fkies.
Earth groan'd beneath them; as when angry
Jove
Hurls down the forky lightning from above,
On Arime when he the thunder throws,
And fires Typhæus with redoubled blows,
Where Typhon, preft beneath the burning load,
Still feels the fury of th' avenging God.
But various Iris, Jove's commands to bear,
Speeds on the wings of winds through liquid air;
In Priam's porch the Trojan chiefs the found,
The old confulting, and the youths around.
Polites' shape, the monarch's fon, the chose, 960
Who from Æfetes' tomb obferv'd the foes,
High on the mound; from whence in profpect
lay
The fields, the tents, the navy, and the bay.
In this diffembled form, the haftes to bring
Th' unwelcome meffage to the Phrygian king :
Ceafe to confult, the time for action calls, War, horrid war, approaches to your walls! Affembled armies oft have I beheld;
There mighty Chromis led the Myfian train,
And augur Eunomus, infpir'd in vain,
For ftern Achilles lopt his facred head,
¦ Roll'd down Scamander with the vulgar dead,
THE Armies being ready to engage, a single combat is agreed upon between Menelaus and Paris (by the intervention of Hector) for the determination of the war. Iris is fent to call Helena to behold the fight. She leads her to the walls of Troy, where Priam fat with his counsellors, observing the Grecian leaders on the plain below, to whom Helen gives an account of the chief of them. on either part take the folemn oath for the conditions of the combat. enfues; wherein Paris being overcome, he is fnatched away in a cloud by Venus, and transported to his apartment. She then calls Helen from the walls, and brings the lovers together. Agamemnon, on the part of the Grecians, demands the restoration of Helen, and the performance of the articles.
The three and twentieth day ftill continues throughout this book. The scene is fometimes in the Fields before Troy, and fometimes in Troy itself.
Loft and confus'd amidft the thicken'd day:
So, wrapt in gathering duft, the Grecian train,
A moving cloud, fwept on, and hid the plain.
Now front to front the hoftile armies ftand,
Eager of fight, and only wait command ;
When, to the van, before the fons of fame
25
Whom Troy fent forth, the beauteous Paris
came,
In form a God! the panther's fpeckled hide
Flow'd o'er his armour with an eafy pride,
His bended bow across his fhoulders flung,
His fword befide him negligently hung,
Two pointed fpears he shook with gallant grace,
And dar'd the braveft of the Grecian race.
As thus with glorious air and proud difdain, He boldly stalk'd, the foremost on the plain,
Him Menelaus, lov'd of Mars, espies,
With heart elated, and with joyful eyes:
So joys a lion, if the branching deer,
Or mountain goat, his bulky prize, appear;
Eager he feizes and devours the flain,
Preft by bold youths and baying dogs in vain. 40
Thus fond of vengeance, with a furious bound,
In clanging arms he leaps upon the ground
From his high chariot: him, approaching near,
The beauteous champion views with marks of
fear;
Smit with a confcious fenfe, retires behind,
45
And fhuns the fate he well deferves to find.
As when fome thepherd, from the rustling trees
Shot forth to view, a fcaly ferpent fees;
Trembling and pale, he starts with wild affright,
And all confus'd precipitates his flight:
So from the king the thining warriour flies,
And plung'd amid the thick eft Trojans lies.
As God-like lector fees the prince retreat, He thus upbraids him with a generous heat : Unhappy Paris! but to women brave! So fairly form'd, and only to deceive! Oh, hadft thou died when first thou faw'ft the light,
When Greece beheld thy painted canvass flow, And crowds ftood wondering at the pafling show ;
Say, was it thus, with fuch a baffled mien,
You met th' approaches of the Spartan queen, 70
Thus from her realm convey'd the beauteous
prize,
And both her warlike lords outfhin'd in He-
len's eves?
This deed, thy foes ght, the own difgrace,
Thy father's grief, ruin of thy race;
This deed recalls thee to the proffer'd fight; 75
Or haft thou injur'd whom thou dar'ft not right?
Soon to thy coft the field would make thee know
Thou keep'ft the confort of a braver foe.
Thy graceful form inftilling foft defire,
Thy curling trefles, and thy filver lyre,
Beauty and youth; in vain to these you truft,
When youth and beauty fhall be laid in dust :
Troy yet may wake, and one avenging blow
Crush the dire author of his country's woe.
His filence here, with blushes, Paris breaks; 85
'Tis juft, my brother, what your anger speaks:
But who like thee can boaft a foul fedate,
So firmly proof to all the shocks of fate?
Thy force like steel a temper'd hardness shows,
Still edg'd to wound, and still untir'd with blows.
90
Like ftee', uplifted by fome ftrenuous fwain,
With falling woods to ftrow the wafted plain:
Thy gifts I praife; nor thou defpife the charms
With which a lover golden Venus arms;
Soft moving fpeech, and pleafing outward fhow,
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The Greeks and Trojans feat on either hand;
Then let a midway space our hofts divide,
And on that stage of war the cause be tri'd: 100
By Paris there the Spartan king be fought,
For beauteous Helen and the wealth fhe brought:
And who his rival can in arms fubdue,
His be the fair, and his the treasure too.
Thus with a lafting league your toils may ceafe,
105
And Troy poffefs her fertile fields in peace;
Thus may the Greeks review their native thore,
Much fam'd for generous steeds, for beauty more.
He faid. The challenge Hector heard with
joy,
Then with his fpear reftrain'd the youth of Troy,
Held by the midft, athwart; and near the foe
Advanc'd with steps majestically flow:
While round his dauntless head the Grecians
pour
Or died at least before the nuptial rite!
A better fate than vainly thus to boast,
And fly, the fcandal of the Trojan hoft.
Gods! how the scornful Greeks exult to fee
Their fears of danger undeceiv'd in thee!
Thy figure promis'd with a martial air,
Their ftones and arrows in a mingled shower. Then thus the monarch great Atrides cri'd;
But ill thy foul fupplies a form fo fair.
In former days, in all thy gallant pride
When thy tall fhips triumphant ftemm'd the
tide,
VOL. VI.
A world engages in the toils of fight.
To me the labour of the field defign;
Me Paris injur'd; all the war be mine.
Fall he that muft, beneath his rival's arms;
And live the reft, fecure of future harms.
Two lambs, devoted by your country's rite,
To Earth a fable, to the Sun white,
Prepare, ye Trojans while a third we bring
Select to Jove, th' inviolable king.
Let reverend Priam in the truce engage,
And add the fanction of confiderate age;
His fons are faithlefs, headlong in debate,
And youth itfelf an empty wavering state:
Cool age advances venerably wife,
Turns on all hands its deep-difcerning eyes; 150
Sees what befel, and what may yet befall,
Concludes from both, and best provides for all.
The nations hear, with rifing hopes poffeft,
And peaceful profpects dawn in every breast.
Within the lines they drew their fteeds around,
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The various Goddefs of the rain-bow flies
(Like fair Laodicè in form and face,
The lovelieft nymph of Priam's royal race).
Her in the palace, at her loom the found;
The golden web her own fad ftory crown'd.
The Trojan wars the weav'd (herfelf the prize)
And the dire triumph of her fatal eyes.
To whom the Goddefs of the painted bow;
Approach and view the wondrous fcenes below!
Each hardy Greek, and valiant Trojan knight,
So dreadful late, and furious for the fight,
Now reft their fpears, or lean upon their shields;
Ceas'd is the war, and filent all the fields.
Paris alone and Sparta's king advance,
In fingle fight to tofs the beamy lance;
Each met in arms, the fate of combat tries,
Thy love the motive, and thy charms the prize.
This faid, the many colour'd maid infpires
Her husband's love, and wakes her former fires;
Her country, parents, all that once were dear,
185
Rufh to her thoughts, and force a tender tear.
O'er her fair face a fnowy veil fhe threw,
And, foftly fighing, from the loom withdrew :
Her handmaids Clymenè and Æthra wait
Her filent footsteps to the Scaan gate.
In fummer-days like grafhoppers rejoice,
A bloodless race, that fend a feeble voice.
Thefe, when the Spartan queen approach'd the
tower,
In fecret own'd refiftless beauty's power:
They cried, No wonder fuch celestial charms 205
For nine long years have fet the world in arms;
What winning graces! what majestic mien !
She moves a Goddefs, and the looks a Queen!
Yetence, oh Heaven! convey that fatal face,
And from deftruction fave the Trojan race.
The good old Priam welcom'd her, and cried, Approach, my child, and grace thy father's fide. See on the plain thy Grecian fpoufe appears, The friends and kindred of thy former years. No crime of thine our prefent fufferings draws, 215 Not thou, but Heaven's difpofing will, the caufe; The Gods thefe armies and this force employ, The hoftile Gods confpire the fate of Troy. But lift thy eyes, and fay, what Greek is he (Far as from hence thefe aged orbs can fee) Around whofe brow fuch martial graces thine, So tall, fo awful, and almoft divine! Though fome of larger ftature tread the green, None match his grandeur and exalted mien : He feems a monarch, and his country's pride, 225 Thus ceas'd the king; and thus the fair replied: Before thy prefence, father, I appear With confcious fhame and reverential fear. Ah! had I died, ere to these walls I filed, Falfe to my country and my nuptial bed; My brothers, friends, and daughter left behind, Falfe to them all, to Paris only kind? For this I mourn, till grief or dire difeafe Shall wafte the form, whofe crime it was to please. The king of kings, Atrides, you furvey, 235 Great in the war, and great in arts of fway:
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