Oh dear as life! did I for this agree The folemn truce, a fatal truce to thee! Wert thou expos'd to all the hostile train, To fight for Greece, and conquer to be slain? The race of Trojans in thy ruin join, 190 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 those oaths we swore, 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.

200

205

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'it 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 lost,
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!

210

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 defendi
Now feek fome fkilful hand, whofe powerful art
May ftaunch th' effufion, and extract the dart.
Herald, be fwift, 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 fwift Talthybius flies;
Through the thick files he darts his fearching eyes,
And finds Machäon, where fublime he ftands
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 standing firm he found,
And all the chiefs in deep concern around.
Where to the steely point the reed was join'd,
The fhaft 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 rush tumultuous to the war;
Once more they glitter in refulgent arms,
Once more the fields are fill'd with dire alarms.

253

265

270

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 stay'd, 260
Or prefs'd the car with polifh'd brass inlaid :
But left Eurymedon the reins to guide;
The fiery courfers fnorted at his fide.
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 fwift 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 warriours 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 ye 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 fhall chace,
To fave a trembling, heartlefs, daftard race? 285
This faid, he ftalk'd with ample strides along,
To Crete's brave monarch and his martial throng;

275

420

With ours, thy care and ardour are the fame,
Nor need I to command, nor ought to blame.
Sage as thou art, and learn'd in human kind,
Forgive the transport of a martial mind.
Hafte to the fight, fecure of just amends;
The Gods that make, fhall keep the worthy friends.
He faid, and país'd where great Tydides lay,
His fteeds and chariots wedg'd in firm array:
(The warlike Sthenelus attends his fide)
To whom with stern reproach the monarch cry'd ;
Oh fon of Tydeus! (he, whofe ftrength could tame
The bounding steed, in arms á mighty name)
Can't thou, remote, the mingling hosts descry,
With hands unactive, and a carelefs eve?
Not thus thy fine the fierce encounter fear'd;
Still firft in front the matchless prince appear'd ;
What glorious toils, what wonders they recite,
Who view'd him labouring through the ranks of
fight!

425

I faw him once, when, gathering martial power, 430

A peaceful gueft, he saw Mycenæ's tower ;
Armies he afk d, and armies had been given,
Not we deny'd, but Jove forbade from heaven;
While dreadful comets glaring from afar
Forewarn'd the horrours of the Theban war. 435
Next, fent by Greece from where Afopus flows,
A fearless envoy, ne approached the foes;
Thebes' hoftile walls, unguarded and alone,
Dauntless he enters, and demands the throne.
The tyrant feafting with his chiefs he found, 440
And dar'd to combat all thofe chiefs around;
Dar'd and fubdued, before their haughty lord;
For Pallas ftrung his arm, and edg'd his fword.
Stung with the fhame, within the winding way,
To bar his paffage fifty warriors lay;
Two heroes led the fecret fquadron on,
Mæon the fierce, and hardy Lycophon;
Those fifty flaughter'd in the gloomy vale,
He fpar'd but one to bear the dreadful tale.
Such Tydeus was, and fuch his martial fire.
Gods! how the fon degenerates from he fire!
No words the god-like Diomed return'd,
But heard refpectful, and in fecret burn'd:
Not fo fierce Capaneus' undaunted fon,
Stern as his fire, the boafter thus begun :

445

450

455

What needs, Ó Monarch, this invidious praite, Ourfelves to leffen, while our fires you raife? Dare to be juft, Atrides! and confefs Our valour equal, though our fury lefs. With fewer troops we ftorm'd the Theban wall, 460

And happier faw the fevenfold ci y fall.
In impious acts the guilty fathers dy'd ;
The fons fubdu'd, for heaven was on their fide.
Far more than heirs of all our parents fame,
Our glories darken their diminish'd name.

465

To him Tydides thus: My friend, forbear, Supprefs thy paffion, and the king revere: His high concern may well excufe this rage, Whofe caufe we follow, and whofe war we wage; His the first praife, were lion's towers o'erthrown, And, if we fail, the chief difgrace his own. Let him the Greeks to hardy toils excite, 'Tis ours to labour in the glorious fight.

He spoke, and ardent on the trembling ground Sprung from his car; his ringing arms refound.

475

480

Dire was the clang, and dreadful from afar,
Of arm'd Tydides rufhing to the war.
As when the winds, afcending by degrees,
First move the whitening furface of the feas,
The billows float in order to the fhore,
The wave behind rolls on the wave before;
Till, with the growing storm, the deeps arise,
Foam o'er the rocks, and thunder to the skies.
So to the fight the thick battalions throng,
Shields urg'd on fhields, and men drove men along.
Sedate and filent move the numerous bands;
No found, no whisper, but the chief's commands,
Thofe only heard; with awe the rest obey,
As if fome God had fnatch'd their voice away.
Not fo the Trojans; from their hoft afcends 499
A general fhout that all the region rends.
As when the fleecy flocks unnumber'd stand
In wealthy folds, and wait the milker's hand;
The hollow vales inceffant bleating fills,
The lambs reply from all the neighbouring hills:

495.

Such clamours rofe from various nations round,
Mix'd was the murmur, and confus'd the found.
Each hoft now joins, and each a God inspires,
Thefe Mars incites, and thofe Minerva fires.
Pale flight around, and dreadful Terrour reign; 500
And Difcord raging bathes the purple plain;
Difcord! dire fifter of the flaughtering power,
Small at her birth, but rifing every hour:
While fcarce the fkies her horrid head can bound,
She stalks on earth, and shakes the world around;

505 The nations bleed, where'er her fteps fhe turns, The groan still deepens, and the combat burns. Now fhield with fhield, with helmet helmet

clos'd,

To armour armour, lance to lance oppos'd,
Hoft against host with shadow y fquadrons drew,510
The founding darts in iron tempefts flew,
Victors and vanquish'd join promifcuous cries,
And thrilling fhouts and dying groans arife;
With ftreaming blood the flippery fields are dy'd,
And flaughter'd heroes fwell the dreadful tide. 515
As to rents rell, increas'd by numerous rills,
With rage impetuous down their echoing hills;
Rufh to the vales, and, pour'd along the plain,
Roar through a thoufand channels to the main;
The diftant thepherd trembling hears the found:
520

So mix both hofts, and fo their cries rebound.
The bold Antilochus the flaughter led,
The first who ftruck a valiant Trojan dead :
At great Echepolus the lance arrives ;
Raz'd his high creft, and through his helmet drives;
Warm'd in the brain the brazen weapon lies,
And thades eternal fettle o'er his eyes.
So finks a tower, that long affaults had ftood
Of force and fire; its walls befmear'd with blood.
Him, the bold leader of th' Abantian throng 530
Seiz'd to defpoil, and dragg'd the corpfe along :

* Elphenor.

But while he ftrove to tug th' inferted dait,
Agenor's javelin reach'd the hero's heart.
His flank unguarded by his ample shield,
Admits the lance: he falls, and fpurns the field;
535

The nerves, unbrac'd, fupport his limbs no more;
The foul comes floating in a tide of gore.
Trojans and Greeks now gather round the flain;
The war renews, the warriours bleed again ;
As o'er their prey rapacious wolves eng ge, 540
Man dies on man, and all is blood and rage.
In blooming youth fair Simoifius fell,
Sent by great Ajax to the fhades of hell:
Fair Simoïfius, whom his mother bore,
Amid the flocks on filver Simois' shore;
The nymph defcending from the hills of Ide,
To feek her parents on his flowery fide,
Brought forth the babe, their common care and
joy,

545

550

And thence from Simois nam'd the lovely boy.
Short was his date! by dreadful Ajax flain
He falls, and renders all their cares in vain!
So falls a poplar, that in watery ground
Rais'd high the head, with stately branches crown'd,
(Fell'd by fome artift with his fhining steel,
To fh pe the circle of the bending wheel)

555

Cut down it lies, tall, fmooth, and largely fpread,
With all its beauteous honours on its head;
There, left a fubject to the wind and rain,
And fcorch'd by funs, it withers on the plain.
Thus pierc'd by Ajax, Simoïfius l'es

560

565

Stretch'd on the fhore, and thus neg'ected dies.
At Ajax Antiphus his javelin threw ;
The pointed lance with erring fury flew,
And Leucus, lov'd by wife Ulyffes, flew.
He drops the corpfe of Simoïfius flain,
And finks a breathlefs carcafe on the plain.
This faw Ulyffes, and with grief enrag'd
Strode where the foremost of the foes engag'd;
Arm'd with his fpear, he meditates the wound,
In act to throw; but, cautious, look'd around. 570
Struck at his fight the Trojans backward drew,
And trembling heard the javelin as it flew.
A chief ftood nigh, who from Abydos came,
Old Priam's fon, Democoon was his name ;
The weapon enter'd close above his ear,
Cold through his temples glides the whizzing spear;
With piercing fhricks the youth refigns his breath,
His eye-balls darken with the fhades of death;
Ponderous he falls; his clanging arms refound;
And his broad buckler rings against the ground.

575

580

Seiz'd with affright the boldeft foes appear; Ev'n god-like Hector feems himself to fear; Slow he gave way, the reft tumultuous fled; The Greeks with fhouts prefs on, and fpoil the dead:

But Phœbus now from Ilion's towering height 585 Shines forth reveal'd, and animates the fight. Trojans, be bold, and force with force oppofe ; Your feaming steeds urge headlong on the foes! No are their bodies rocks, nor ribb'd with steel; Your weapons enter, and yo.r ftrokes they feel.

590

Have ye forgot what feem'd your dread before?
The great, the fierce Achilles fights no more.
Apollo thus from Ilion's lofty towers
Array'd in terrors, rouz'd the Trojan powers:
While War's fierce Goddefs fires the Grecian foe,
595

And fhouts and thunders in the fields below.
Then great Diores fell, by doom divine,
In vain his valour, and illuftrious line.
A broken rock the force of Pirus threw
(Who from cold Anus led the Thracian crew);
600

Full on his ankle dropt the ponderous stone,
Burft the strong nerves, and crafh'd the folid bone.
Supinc he tumbles on the crimson fands,
Before his helplefs friends and native bands,

The foe ruth'd furious as he pants for breath, And through his navel drove the pointed death: His gufhing entrails fmok'd upon the ground, And the warm life came iffuing from the wound.

His lance bold Thoas at the conqueror fent, 610 Deep in his breast above the pap it went. Amid the lungs was fix'd the winged wood, And quivering in his heaving bofum stood: Till from the dying chief, approaching near, Th' Ætolian warriour tugg'd his weighty fpear: 615

625

Then fudden wav'd his flaming faulchion round,
And gafh'd his belly with a ghaftly wound,
The corpfe now breathlefs on the bloody plain,
To fpoil his arms the victor ftrove in vain;
The Thracian bands against the victor preft; 620
A grove of lances glitter'd at his breast.
Stern Thoas, gl ring with revengeful eyes,
In fullen fury flowly quits the prize.
Thus fell two heroes; one the pride of Thrace,
And one the leader of th' Epeian race:
Death's fable fhade at once o'ercaft their eyes,
In duft the vanquish'd, and the victor lies.
With copious flaughter all the fields are red,
And heap'd with growing mountains of the dead.
Had fome brave chief this martial scene beheld,
By Pallas guarded through the dreadful field;
Might darts be bid to turn their points away,
And fwords around him innocently play ;
The war's whole art with wonder had he seen,
And counted heroes where he counted men. 635

to fought each hoft with thirst of glory fir'd, And crowds on crowds triumphantly expir'd.