Regard in time, O prince divinely brave!
Those wholesome counsels which thy father gave.
When Peleus in his aged arms embrac'd
His parting son, these accents were his last :
My child with strength, with glory and success,
Thy arms may Juno and Minerva bless!
Trust that to Heaven: but thou, thy cares engage
To calm thy passions, and subdue thy rage:
From gentler manners let thy glory grow,
And shun contention, the sure source of woe;
That young and old may in thy praise combine,
The virtues of humanity be thine-
This now despis'd advice, thy father gave;
Ah, check thy anger, and be truly brave.
If thou wilt yield to great Atrides' prayers,
Gifts worthy thee his royal hand prepares;
If not-but hear me, while I number o'er
The proffer'd presents, an exhaustless store:
Ten weighty talents of the purest gold,
And twice ten vases of refulgent mould;
Seven sacred tripods, whose unsully'd frame
Yet knows no office, nor has felt the flame:
Twelve steeds unmatch'd in fleetness and in force,
And still victorious in the dusty course;
(Rich were the man whose ample stores exceed
The prizes purchas'd by their winged speed).
Seven lovely captives of the Lesbian line,
Skill'd in each art, unmatch'd, in form divine;
The same he chose for more than vulgar charms,
When Lesbos sunk beneath thy conquering arms.
All these, to buy thy friendship, shall be paid,
And, join'd with these, the long-contested maid;
With all her charms, Briseis he'll resign,

And solemn swear those charms were only thine;
Untouch'd she stay'd, uninjur'd she removes,
Pure from his arms, and guiltless of his loves.
These, instant, shall be thine; and if the powers
Give to our arms proud Ilion's hostile towers,
Then shalt thou store (when Greece the spoil divides)
With gold and brass thy loaded navy's sides.
Besides, full twenty nymphs of Trojan race,
With copious love, shall crown thy warm embrace;
Such as thyself shall choose; who yield to none,
Or yield to Helen's heavenly charms alone.
Yet hear me farther: when our wars are o'er,
If safe we land on Argos' fruitful-shore,

There shalt thou live his son, his honours share,
And with Orestes' self divide his care.
Yet more-three daughters in his court are bred,
And each well worthy of a royal bed;
Laodicè and Iphigenia fair,

And bright Chrysothemis with golden hair;

Her shalt thou wed whom most thy eyes approve :
He asks no presents, no reward for love:
Himself will give the dower: so vast a store
As never father gave a child before.
Seven ample cities shall confess thy sway,
Thee Enope, and Phere thee obey,
Cardamyle with ample turrets crown'd,
And sacred Pedasus, for vines renown'd:
Epea fair, the pastures Hira yields,
And rich Antheia with her flowery fields:
The whole extent to Pylos' sandy plain,
Along the verdant margin of the main.
There heifers graze, and labouring oxen toil;
Bold are the men, and generous is the soil.
There shalt thou reign with power and justice
And rule the tributary realms around.
Such are the proffers which this day we bring,
Such the repentance of a suppliant king;

[crown'd,

But if all this, relentless, thou disdain,
If honour, and if interest, plead in vain ;
Yet some redress to suppliant Greece afford,
And be, amongst her guardian gods, ador'd.
If no regard thy suffering country claim,
Hear thy own glory, and the voice of fame:
For know that chief, whose unresisted ire
Made nations tremble, and whole hosts retire,
Proud Hector, now, th' unequal fight demands,
And only triumphs to deserve thy hands."

Then thus the goddess-born:" Ulysses, hear A faithful speech, that knows nor art, nor fear; What in my secret soul is understood,

My tongue shall utter, and my deeds make good.
Let Greece then know, my purpose I retain:
Nor with new treaties vex my peace in vain.
Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My heart detests him as the gates of Hell.

"Then thus, in short, my fixt resolves attend,
Which nor Atrides, nor his Greeks, can bend;
Long toils, long perils, in their cause I bore,
But now th' unfruitful glories charm no more.
Fight or fight not, a like reward we claim,
The wretch and hero find their prize the same;
Alike regretted in the dust he lies,
Who yields ignobly, or who bravely dies.
Of all my dangers, all my glorious pains,
A life of labours, lo! what fruit remains?
As the bold bird her helpless young attends,
From danger guards them, and from want defends:
In search of prey she wings the spacious air,
And with th' untasted food supplies her care:
For thankless Greece such hardships have I brav'd,
Her wives, her infants, by my labours sav'd;
Long sleepless nights in heavy arms I stood,
And sweat laborious days in dust and blood.
I sack'd twelve ample cities on the main,
And twelve lay smoking on the Trojan plain :
Then at Atrides' haughty feet were laid
The wealth I gather'd, and the spoils I made.
Your mighty monarch these in peace possest;
Some few my soldiers had, himself the rest.
Some present too to every prince was paid;
And every prince enjoys the gift he made;
I only must refund, of all his train;
See what pre-eminence our merits gain!
My spoil alone his greedy soul delights:
My spouse alone must bless his lustful nights:
The woman, let him (as he may) enjoy;
But what's the quarrel then of Greece to Troy?
What to these shores th' assembled nations draws,
What calls for vengeance but a woman's cause?
Are fair endowments, and a beauteous face,
Belov'd by none but those of Atreus' race?
The wife whom choice and passion both approve,
Sare every wise and worthy man will love.
Nor did my fair-one less distinction claim;
Slave as she was, my soul alor'd the daine.
Wrong'd in my love, all proffers I disdain;
Deceiv'd for once, I trust not kings again.
Ye have my answer-what remains to do,
Your king, Ulysses, may consult with you.
What needs he the defence this arm can make?
Has he not walls no human force can shake?
Has he not tene'd his guarded navy round,
With piles, with ramparts, and a trenca profound?
And will not these (the wonders he has done)
Repel the rage of Priain's single son?
There was a time ('twas when for Greece I fought)
When Hector's prowess no such wonders wrought:

He kept the verge of Troy, nor dar'd to wait
Achilles' fury at the Scaan gate;

He try'd it once, and scarce was sav'd by fate.
But now those ancient enmities are o'er;
Tomorrow we the favouring gods implore;
Then shall you see our parting vessels crown'd,
And hear with oars the Hellespont resound.
The third day hence, shall Pthia greet our sails,
If mighty Neptune send propitious gales;
Pthia to her Achilles shall restore

The wealth he left for this detested shore:
Thither the spoils of this long war shall pass,
The ruddy gold, the steel, and shining brass;
My beauteous captives thither I'll convey,
And all that rests of my unravish'd prey.
One only valued gift your tyrant gave,
And that resum'd, the fair Lyrnessian slave.
Then tell him, loud, that all the Greeks may hear,
And learn to scorn the wretch they basely fear;
(For, arm'd in impudence, mankind he braves,
And meditates new cheats on all his slaves;
Though shameless as he is, to face these eyes
Is what he dares not; if he dares, he dies)
Tell him, all terms, all commerce, I decline,
Nor share his council, nor his battle join:
For once deceiv'd, was his; but twice, were mine.
No-let the stupid prince, whom Jove deprives
Of sense and justice, run where frenzy drives;
His gifts are hateful: kings of such a kind
Stand but as slaves before a noble mind.
Not though he proffer'd all himself possest,
And all his rapine could from others wrest;
Not all the golden tides of wealth that crown
The many-peopled Orchomenian town;
Not all proud Thebes' unrivall❜d walls contain,
The world's great empress on th' Ægyptian plain,
(That spreads her conquests o'er a thousand states,
And pours her heroes through a hundred gates,
Two hundred horsemen, and two hundred cars,
From each wide portal issuing to the wars)
Tho' bribes were heap'd on bribes, in number more
Than dust in fields, or sands along the shore;
Should all these offers for my friendship call;
'Tis he that offers, and I scorn them all.
Atrides' daughter never shall be led
(An ill-match'd consort) to Achilles' bed;
Like golden Venus though she charm'd the heart,
And vy'd with Pallas in the works of art.
Some greater Greek let those high nuptials grace,
1 hate alliance with a tyrant's race.
If Heaven restore me to ny realms with life,
The reverend Peleus shall elect my wife.
Thessalian nymphs there are, of form divine,
And kings that sue to mix their blood with mine.
Blest in kind love my years shall glide away,
Content with just hereditary sway;
There, deaf for ever to the martial strife,
Enjoy the dear prerogative of life.
Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold;
Not all Apollo's Pythian treasures hold,

Or Troy once held, in peace and pride of sway,
Can bribe the poor possession of a day!
Lost herds and treasures we by arms regain,
And steeds unrivall'd on the dusty plain:
But from our lips the vital spirit fled,
Returns no more to wake the silent dead.
My fates long since by Thetis were disclos'd,
And each alternate, life or fame, propos'd;
Here, if I stay, before the Trojan town,
Short is my date, but deathless my renown;

If I return, I quit immortal praise

For years on years, and long-extended days.
Convinc'd, though late, I find my fond mistake,
And warn the Greeks the wiser choice to make:
To quit these shores, their native seats enjoy,
Nor hope the fall of heaven-defended Troy.
Jove's arm display'd asserts her from the skies;
Her hearts are strengthen'd, and her glories rise.
Go then, to Greece report our fix'd design;
Bid all your counsels, all your armies join,
Let all your forces, all your arts conspire,
To save the ships, the troops, the chiefs, from fire.
One stratagem has fail'd, and others will:
Ye find, Achilles is unconquer'd still.
Go then-digest my message as ye may-
But here this night let reverend Phoenix stay:
His tedious toils and hoary hairs demand
A peaceful death in Pthia's friendly land.
But whether he remain, or sail with me,
His age be sacred, and his will be free."

The son of Peleus ceas'd: the chiefs around
In silence wrapt, in consternation drown'd,
Attend the stern reply. Then Phoenix rose;
(Down his white beard a stream of sorrow flows)
And while the fate of suffering Greece he mourn'd,
With accent weak these tender words return'd:
"Divine Achilles! wilt thou then retire,
And leave our hosts in blood, our fleets on fire?
If wrath so dreadful fill thy ruthless mind,
How shall thy friend, thy Phoenix, stay behind?
The royal Peleus, when from Pthia's coast
He sent thee early to th' Achaian host;
Thy youth, as then in sage debates unskill'd,
And new to perils of the direful field:

He bade me teach thee all the ways of war;
To shine in councils, and in camps to dare.
Never, ah! never let me leave thy side!
No time shall part us, and no fate divide.
Not tho' the god, that breath'd my life, restore
The bloom I boasted, and the port I bore,
When Greece of old beheld my youthful flames,
(Delightful Greece, the land of lovely dames!)
My father, faithless to my mother's arms,
Old as he was, ador'd a stranger's charms.
I try'd what youth could do (at her desire).
To win the damsel, and prevent my sire.
My sire with curses loads my hated head,
And cries, Ye furies! barren be his bed.'
Infernal Jove, the vengeful fiends below,
And ruthless Proserpine, confirm'd his vow.
Despair and grief distract my labouring mind!
Gods! what a crime my impious heart design'd!
I thought (but some kind god that thought sup-

prest)

To plunge the poniard in my father's breast,
Then meditate my flight; my friends in vain
With prayers entreat me, and with force detain.
On fat of rams, black bulls, and brawny swine,
They daily feast, with draughts of fragrant wine:
Strong guards they plac'd, and watch'd nine nights

entire ;

The roofs and porches flam'd with constant fire.
The tenth, I forc'd the gates unseen of all;
And, favour'd by the night, o'erleap'd the wall.
My travels thence through spacious Greece extend;
In Pthia's court at last may labours end.
Your sire receiv'd me, as his son caress'd,
With gifts enrich'd, and with possessions bless'd.
The strong Dolopians thenceforth own'd my reign,
And all the coast that runs along the main.

Stern and unpitying! if a brother bleed,
On just atonement, we remit the deed;
A sire the slaughter of his son forgives;
The price of blood discharg'd, the murderer lives:
The haughtiest hearts at length their rage resign,
And gifts can conquer every soul but thine.
The gods that unrelenting breast have steel'd,
And curs'd thee with a mind that cannot yield.
One woman-slave was ravish'd from thy arms:
Lo, seven are offer'd, and of equal charms.
Then hear, Achiles! be of better mind;
Revere thy roof, and to thy guests be kind;
And know the men, of all the Grecian host,
Who honour worth, and prize thy valour most."
"Oh soul of battles, and thy people's guide!"
(To Ajax thus the first of Greeks reply'd)
"Well hast thou spoke; but at the tyrant's name
My rage rekindles, and my soul's on flame:
"Tis just resentment, and becomes the brave;
Disgrac'd, dishonour'd, like the vilest slave!
Return then, heroes! and our answer bear,
The glorious combat is no more my care;
Not till, amidst you sinking navy slain,
The blood of Greeks shall dye the sable main;
Not till the flames, by Hector's fury thrown,
Consume your vessels, and approach my own;
Just there, th' impetuous homicide shall stand,
There cease his battle, and there feel our hand."
This said, each prince a double goblet crown'd,
And cast a large libation on the ground;
Then to their vessels, through the gloomy shades,
The chiefs return; divine Ulysses leads.
Meantime Achilles' slaves prepar'd a bed,
With fleeces, carpets, and soft linen spread :
There, till the sacred morn restor❜d the day,
In slumber sweet the reverend Phonix lay.
But in his inner tent, on ampler space,
Achilles slept; and in his warm einbrace
Fair Diomede of the Lesbian race.
Last, for Patroclus was the couch prepar'd,
Whose nightly joys the beauteous Iphis shar'd;
Achilles to his friend consign'd her charms,
When Scyros fell before his conquering arms.
And now th' elected chiefs, whon Greece had sent,
Pass'd through the hosts, and reach'd the royal tent.
Then rising all, with goblets in their hands,
The peers and leaders of the Achaian bands,
Hail'd their return. Atrides first begun :

44

Say what success? divine Laertes' son; Achilles' high resolves declare to all; Returns the chief, or must our navy fall?"

"Great king of nations!" (Ithacus reply'd) "Fix'd is his wrath, unconquer'd is his pride; He slights thy friendship, thy proposals scorns, And, thus implor'd, with fiercer fury burns: To save our army, and our fleets, to free, Is not his care; but left to Greece and thee. Your eyes shall view, when morning paints the sky,

Beneath his oars the whitening billows fly,
U's too he bids or oars and sails employ,
Nor hope the fall of heaven-protected Troy;
For Jove o'ershades her with his arm divine,
Inspires her war, and bids her glory shine.
Such was his word: what farther he declar'd,
These sacred heralds and great Ajax heard.
But Phoenix in his tent the chief retains,
Safe to transport him to his native plains,
When morning dawns: if other he decree,
His age is sacred, and his choice is free."

Ulysses ceas'd: the great Achaian host, With sorrow seiz'd, in consternation lost, Attend the stern reply. Tydides broke The general silence, and undaunted spoke:

66

Why should we gifts to proud Achilles send? Or strive with prayers his haughty soul to bend His country's woes he glories to deride, And prayers will burst that swelling heart with pride. Be the fierce impulse of his rage obey'd; Our battles let him, or desert, or aid; Then let him arm when Jove or he think fit; That, to his madness, or to Heaven commit: What for ourselves we can, is always ours; This night, let due repast refresh our powers (For strength consists in spirits and in blood, And those arc ow'd to generous wine and food); But when the rosy messenger of day Strikes the blue mountains with her golden ray, Rang'd at the ships, let all our squadrons shine, In flaming arms, a long extended line: In the dread front let great Atrides stand, The first in danger, as in high command."

Shouts of acclaim the listening heroes raise, Then each to Heaven the due libations pays; Till sleep, descending o'er the tents, bestows The grateful blessings of desir'd repose.

THE ILIAD.

BOOK X.

ARGUMENT.

THE NIGHT ADVENTURE OF DIOMED AND ULYSSES.

UPON the refusal of Achilles to return to the army, the distress of Agamemnon is described in the most lively manner. He takes no rest that night, but passes through the camp, awaking the leaders, and contriving all possible methods for the public safety. Menelaus, Nestor, Ulysses, and Diomed, are employed in raising the rest of the captains. They call a council of war, and determine to send scouts into the enemy's camp, to learn their posture, and discover their intentions, Diomed undertakes this hazardous enterprize, and makes choice of Ulysses for his companion. In their passage they surprize Dolon, whom Hector had sent on a like design to the camp of the Grecians. From him they are informed of the situation of the Trojan and auxiliary forces, and particularly of Rhesus, and the Thracians, who were lately arrived. They pass on with success; kill Rhesus, with several of his officers, and seize the famous horses of that prince, with which they return in triumph to the camp.

The same night continues; the scene lies in the two camps.

ALL night the chiefs before their vessels lay,
And lost in sleep the labours of the day:
All but the king; with various thoughts opprest,
His country's cares lay rolling in his breast.

As when, by lightnings, Jove's etherial power Foretels the rattling hail, or weighty shower, Or sends soft snows to whiten all the shore, Or bids the brazen throat of war to roar; By fits one flash succeeds as one expires, And heaven flames thick with momentary fires. So bursting frequent from Atrides' breast, Sighs following sighs his inward fears confest. Now o'er the field, dejected, he surveys From thousand Trojan fires the mounting blaze; Hears in the passing wind their music blow, And marks distinct the voices of the foe. Now looking backwards to the fleet and coast, Anxious he sorrows for th' endanger'd host. He rends his hairs in sacrifice to Jove, And sues to him that ever lives above: laly he groans; while glory and despair Divide his heart, and wage a doubtful war.

A thousand cares his labouring breast revolves;
To seek sage Nestor now the chief resolves,
With him, in wholesome counsels, to debate
What yet remains to save th' afflicted state.
He rose, and first he cast his mantle round,
Next on his feet the shining sandals bound;
A hon's yellow spoils his back conceal'd;
His warlike hand a pointed javelin held.
Meanwhile his brother, prest with equal woes,
Alike deny'd the gifts of soft repose,

Laments for Greece; that in his cause before
So much had suffer'd and must suffer more.
A leopard's spotted hide his shoulders spread;
A brazen helmet glitter'd on his head:
Thus (with a javelin in his hand) he went
To wake Atrides in the royal tent.
Already wak'd, Atrides he descry'd,
His armour buckling at his vessel's side.
Joyful they met; the Spartan thus begun :
Why puts my brother his bright armour on ?
Sends he some spy, amidst these silent hours,
To try yon camp, and watch the Trojan powers?
But say, what hero shall sustain that task?
Such bold exploits uncommon courage ask;
Guideless, alone, through night's dark shade to
go,

And 'midst a hostile camp explore the foe!"
To whom the king: "In such distress we stand,
No vulgar counsels our affairs demand;
Greece to preserve, is now no easy part,
But asks high wisdom, deep design, and art:
For Jore averse our humble prayer denies,
And bows his head to Hector's sacrifice.
What eye has witness'd, or what ear believ'd,
In one great day, by one great arm achiev'd,
Sach wondrous deeds as Hector's hand has done,
And we bebeld, the last revolving Sun?
What honours the belov'd of Jove adorn!
Sprung from no god, and of no goddess born,
Yet such his acts, as Greeks unborn shall tell,
And curse the battle where their fathers fell.

"Now speed thy hasty course along the fleet, There call great Ajax, and the prince of Crete; Ourself to hoary Nestor will repair;

To keep the guards on duty, be his care; (For Nestor's influence best that quarter guides, Whose son with Merion o'er the watch presides.)" To whom the Spartan: "These thy orders borne, Say, shall I stay, or with dispatch return?" **There shalt thou stay,” (the king of men reply'd) **Else may we miss to meet, without a guide, The paths so many, and the camp so wide.

Still, with your voice, the slothful soldiers raise, Urge, by their father's fame, their future praise. Forget we now our state and lofty birth;

Not titles here, but works, must prove our worth.
To labour is the lot of man below;

And when Jove gave us life, he gave us woe."
This said, each parted to his several cares;
The king to Nestor's sable ship repairs;
The sage protector of the Greeks he found
Stretch'd in his bed with all his arms around;
The various-colour'd scarf, the shi id, he rears,
The shining helmet, and the pointed spears:
The dreadful weapons of the warrior's rage,
That, old in arms, disdain'd the peace of age.
Then, leaning on his hand his watchful head,
The hoary monarch rais'd his eyes, and said:
"What art thou, speak, that on designs unknown,
While others sleep thus range the camp alone?
Seck'st thou some friend, or nightly centinel?
Stand off, approach not, but thy purpose tell."

"O son of Neleus" (thus the king rejoin'd)
"Pride of the Greeks, and glory of thy kind!
Lo here the wretched Agamemnon stands,
Th' unhappy general of the Grecian bands;
Whom Jove decrees with daily cares to bend,
And woes, that only with his life shall end!
Scarce can my knees these trembing limbs sustain,
And scarce my heart support its load of pain.
No taste of sleep these heavy eyes have-known;
Confus'd, and sad, I wander thus alone,
With fears distracted, with no fix'd design;
And all my people's miscries are mine.

If aught of use thy waking thoughts suggest,
(Since cares, like mine, deprive thy soul of rest)
Impart thy counsel, and assist thy friend;
Now let us jointly to the trench descend,
At every gate the fainting guard excite,
Tir'd with the toils of day and watch of night:
Else may the sudden foe our works invade,
So near, and favour'd by the gloomy shade."

To him thus Nestor: "Trust the powers above,
Nor think proud Hector's hopes confirm'd by Jove:
How ill agree the views of vain mankind,
And the wise counsels of th' Eternal Mind!
Audacious Hector! if the gods ordain
That great Achilles rise and rage again,
What toils attend thee, and what woes remain !
Lo faithful Nestor thy command obeys;
The care is next our other chiefs to raise :
Ulysses, Diomed, we chiefly need;
Meges for strength, Oileus fam'd for speed.
Some other be dispatch'd of nimbler feet,
To those tall ships, remotest of the fleet,
Where lie great Ajax, and the king of Crete.
To rouse the Spartan I myself decree;
Dear as he is to us, and dear to thee,
Yet must I tax his sloth, that claims no share
With his great brother in his martial care:
Him it behov'd to every chief to sue,
Preventing every part perforin'd by you;
For strong necessity our toils demands,
Claims all our hearts, and urges all our hands.”
To whom the king: "With reverence we allow
Thy just rebukes, yet learn to spare them now.
My generous brother is of gentle kind,
He seems remiss, but bears a valiant mind;
Through too much deference to our sovereign sway,
[Content to follow when we lead the way.
But now, our ills industrious to prevent,
Long ere the rest, he rose, and sought my tent.