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(Young Ajax' brother, by a stolen embrace :
He dwelt far distant from his native place,
By his fierce stepdame from his father's reign
Expell'd and exiled for her brother slain.)
These rule the Phthians, and their arms employ
Mix'd with Baotians, on the shores of Troy.

Now side by side, with like unwearied care,
Each Ajax labour'd through the field of war:
So when two lordly bulls, with equal toil,
Force the bright ploughshare through the fallow soil,
Join'd to one yoke, the stubborn earth they tear, 881
And trace large furrows with the shining share;
O'er their huge limbs the foam descends in snow,
And streams of sweat down their sour foreheads flow.
A train of heroes follow'd through the field,
Who bore by turns great Ajax' seven-fold shield;
Whene'er he breath'd, remissive of his might,
Tired with the incessant slaughters of the fight.
No following troops his brave associate grace:
In close engagement an unpractised race,
The Locrian squadrons nor the javelin wield,
Nor bear the helm, nor lift the moony shield;
But skill'd from far the flying shaft to wing,
Or whirl the sounding pebble from the sling.
Dexterous with these they aim a certain wound,
Or fell the distant warrior to the ground.
Thus in the van the Telamonian train,
Throng'd in bright arms, a pressing fight maintain;
Far in the rear the Locrian archers lie,
Whose stones and arrows intercept the sky.
The mingled tempest on the foes they pour;
Troy's scattering orders open to the shower.
Now had the Greeks eternal fame acquired,
And the gall'd Ilians to the walls retired;
But sage Polydamas, discreetly brave,
Address'd great Hector, and his counsel gave :
Though great in all, thou seem'st averse to lend
Impartial audience to a faithful friend;

The counsel pleased; and Hector, with a bound,
Leap'd from his chariot on the trembling ground; 940
Swift as he leap'd, his clanging arms resound.
To guard this post (he cried) thy art employ,
And here detain the scatter'd youth of Troy
Where yonder heroes faint, I bend my way,
And hasten back to end the doubtful day.

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This said the towering chief prepares to go,
Shakes his white plumes that to the breezes flow,
And seems a moving mountain topp'd with snow.
Through all his host, inspiring force, he flies,
And bids anew the martial thunder rise.
To Panthus' son, at Hector's high command,
Haste the bold leaders of the Trojan band:
But round the battlements, and round the plain
For many a chief he look'd, but look'd in vain:
Deïphobus, nor Helenus the seer,

Nor Asius' son, nor Asius' self appear.

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For these were pierced with many a ghastly wound,
890 Some cold in death, some groaning on the ground;
Some low in dust (a mournful object) lay;
High on the wall some breathed their souls away.
Far on the left, amid the throng he found
(Cheering his troops, and dealing deaths around)
The graceful Paris; whom, with fury moved,
Opprobrions, thus, the impatient chief reproved :
Ill-fated Paris! slave to women-kind,

As smooth of face es traudulent of mind!
Where is Deiphobus, where Asius gone?
900 The godlike father, and the intrepid son?
The force of Helenus, dispensing fate?
And great Othryoneus, so fear'd of late?
Black fate hangs o'er thee from the avenging gods,
Imperial Troy from her foundations nods;
Whelm'd in thy country's ruins shalt thou fall,
And one devouring vengeance swallow all.

When Paris thus: My brother and my friend,
Thy warm impatience makes thy tongue offend.
In other battles I deserved thy blame,

910 Though then not deedless, nor unknown to fame :
But since yon rampart by thy arms lay low,
I scatter'd slaughter from my fatal bow.
The chiefs you seek on yonder shore lie slain:
Of all these heroes two alone remain;
Deiphobus, and Helenus the seer;
Each now disabled by a hostile spear.
Go then, successful, where thy soul inspires:
This heart and hand shall second all thy fires;
What with this arm I can, prepare to know,

920 Till death for death be paid, and blow for blow.
But 'tis not ours, with forces not our own
To combat; strength is of the gods alone.

To gods and men thy matchless worth is known,
And every art of glorious war thy own;
But in cool thought and counsel to excel,
How widely differs this from warring well?
Content with what the bounteous gods have given
Seek not alone to engross the gifts of heaven.
To some the powers of bloody war belong,
To some, sweet music, and the charm of song;
To few, and wondrous few, has Jove assign'd
A wise, extensive, all-considering mind;
Their guardians these, the nations round confess,
And towns and empires for their safety bless.
If heaven have lodged this virtue in my breast,
Attend, O Hector, what I judge the best.
See, as thou mov'st, on dangers, dangers spread,
And war's whole fury burns around thy head.
Behold! distress'd within yon hostile wall,
How many Trojans yield, disperse, or fall!
What troops, out-number'd scarce the war maintain!
And what brave heroes at the ships lie slain!
Here cease thy fury; and the chiefs and kings
Convoked to council, weigh the sum of things.
Whether (the gods succeeding our desires)
To yon tall ships to bear the Trojan fires;
Or quit the fleet, and pass unhurt away,
Contented with the conquest of the day.
I fear, I fear, lest Greece, not yet undone,
Pay the large debt of last revolving sun;
Achilles, great Achilles, yet remains

On yonder decks, and yet o'erlooks the plains!

These words the hero's angry mind assuage;
Then fierce they mingle where the thickest rage.
Around Polydamas, distain'd with blood,
Cebrion, Phalces, stern Orthæus stood,
Palmus, with Polypætes the divine,
And two bold brothers of Hippotion's line,
(Who reach'd fair Ilion, from Ascania far,
930 The former day; the next engaged in war.)

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Thus rank on rank the thick battalions throng,
Chief urged on chief, and man drove man along.
Far o'er the plains in dreadful order bright,
The brazen arms reflect a beamy light:
Full in the blazing van great Hector shined,
Like Mars commission'd to confound mankind.
Before him flaming, his enormous shield,
Like the broad sun, illumined all the field;
His nodding helm emits a streamy ray;

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His piercing eyes through all the battle stray;
And, while beneath his targe he flash'd along,
Shot terrors round, that wither'd e'en the strong.
Thus stalk'd he, dreadful; death was in his look;
Whole nations fear'd; but not an Argive shook.
The towering Ajax, with an ample stride,
Advanced the first, and thus the chief defied;
Hector! come on; thy empty threats forbear;
'Tis not thy arm, 'tis thundering Jove we fear:
The skill of war to us not idly given,
Lo! Greece is humbled, not by Troy, but Heaven.
Vain are the hopes that haughty mind imparts,
To force our fleet: the Greeks have hands and hearts.
Long ere in flames our lofty navy fall.
Your boasted city and your god-built wall
Shall sink beneath us, smoking on the ground;
And spread a long, unmeasured ruin round.
The time shall come, when, chased along the plain,
E'en thou shalt call on Jove and call in vain:
E'en thou shalt wish, to aid thy desperate course,
The wings of falcons for thy flying horse;
Shalt run, forgetful of a warrior's fame,
While clouds of friendly dust conceal thy shame.
As thus he spoke, behold in open view,

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On sounding wings a dexter eagle flew.
To Jove's glad omen all the Grecians rise,
And hail, with shouts, his progress through the skies;
Far-echoing clamours bound from side to side;
They ceased; and thus the chief of Troy replied:
From whence this menace, this insulting strain?
Enormous boaster! doom'd to vaunt in vain.
So may the gods on Hector life bestow
(Not that short life which mortals lead below,
But such as those of Jove's high lineage born,
The blue-eyed maid, or he that gilds the morn,)
As this decisive day shall end the fame
Of Greece, and Argos be no more a name.
And thou, imperious! if thy madness wait
The lance of Hector, thou shalt meet thy fate:
That giant corpse, extended on the shore,
Shall largely feed the fowls with fat and gore.
He said, and like a lion stalk'd along :
With shouts incessant earth and ocean rung
Sent from his following hosts; the Grecian train
With answering thunders fill'd the echoing plain;
A shout that tore heaven's concave, and above 1060
Shook the fix'd splendours of the throne of Jove.

BOOK XIV.

Diomed adds his advice, that, wounded as they were, they should go forth and encourage the army with their presence; which advice is pursued. Juno, seeing the partiality of Jupiter to the Trojans, forms a design to overreach him: she sets off her charms, with the utmost care, and (the more surely to enchant him) obtains the magic girdle of Venus. She then applies herself to the god of sleep, and, with some difficulty, persuades him to seal the eyes of Jupiter: this done, she goes to mount Ida, where the god, at first sight, is ravished with her beauty, sinks in her embraces, and is laid asleep. Neptune takes advantage of his slumber, and succours the Greeks: Hector is struck to the ground with a prodigious stone by Ajax, and carried off from the battle; several actions succeed; till the Trojans, much distressed, are obliged to give way; the lesser Ajax signalizes himself in a particular manner.

BOOK XIV.

BUT nor the genial feast, nor flowing bowl,
Could charm the cares of Nestor's watchful soul;
His startled ears the increasing cries attend:
Then thus impatient to his wounded friend:

What new alarm, divine Machaon, say,
What mix'd events attend this mighty day!
Hark how the shouts divide, and how they meet,
And now come full, and thicken to the fleet!
Here, with the cordial draught, dispel thy care,
Let Hecamede the strengthening bath prepare,
Refresh thy wound, and cleanse the clotted gore;
While I the adventures of the day explore.

He said: and seizing Thrasymedes' shield
(His valiant offspring) hasten'd to the field;
(That day the son his father's buckler bore :)
Then snatch'd a lance, and issued from the door.
Soon as the prospect open'd to his view,
His wounded eyes the scene of sorrow knew;
Dire disarray! the tumult of the fight,
The wall in ruins, and the Greeks in flight.
As when old Ocean's silent surface sleeps,
The waves just heaving on the purple deeps:
While yet the expected tempest hangs on high,
Weighs down the cloud, and blackens in the sky,
The mass of waters will no wind obey;

Jove sends one gust, and bids them roll away.
1050 While wavering counsels thus his mind engage
Fluctuates in doubtful thought the Pylian sage,
To join the host, or to the general haste;
Debating long, he fixes on the last :

Yet as he moves, the fight his bosom warms;
The field rings dreadful with the clang of arms;
The gleaming falchions flash, the javelins fly,
Blows echo blows, and all or kill or die.

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Him, in his march, the wounded princes meet, By tardy steps ascending from the fleet; The king of men, Ulysses the divine, And who to Tydeus ewes his noble line. (Their ships at distance from the battle stand, In lines advanced along the shelving strand: Whose bay, the fleet unable to contain At length, beside the margin of the main, Rank above rank, the crowded ships they moor: Who landed first, lay highest on the shore.) Supported on their spears, they took their way, Unfit to fight, but anxious for the day. to Agamemnon; on his way he meets that prince with Nestor's approach alarm'd each Grecian breast, Diomed and Ulysses, whom he informs of the extremity Whom thus the general of the host address'd: of the danger. Agamemnon proposes to make their O grace and glory of the Achaian name! escape by night, which Ulysses withstands: to which What drives thee, Nestor, from the field of fame? 50

ARGUMENT.

Juno deceives Jupiter by the girdle of Venus.

Nestor sitting at the table with Machaon, is alarmed

with the increasing clamour of the war, and hastens

Glad I submit, whoe'er, or young, or old,
Aught more conducive to our weal unfold.

Shall then proud Hector see his boast fulfill'd,.
Our fleets in ashes, and our heroes kill'd?
Such was his threat: ah, now too soon made good, Tydides cut him short, and thus began:

On many a Grecian bosom writ in blood.

Is every heart inflamed with equal rage
Against your king, nor will one chief engage?
And have I lived to see, with mournful eyes,
In every Greek a new Achilles rise?

Gerenian Nestor then: So Fate has will'd;
And all-confirming time has fate fulfill'd.
Not he that thunders from the aerial bower,
Not Jove himself, upon the past has power.
The wall, our late inviolable bound,

Such counsel if you seek behold the man
Who boldly gives it; and what he shall say,
Young though he be, disdain not to obey:
A youth, who from the mighty Tydeus springs,
May speak to councils and assembled kings.
Hear then in me the great Enides' son,
60 Whose honour'd dust (his race of glory run)
Lies whelm'd in ruins of the Theban wall;
Brave in his life, and glorious in his fall;

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And best defence, lies smoking on the ground:
E'en to the ships their conquering arms extend,
And groans of slaughter'd Greeks to heaven ascend.
On speedy measures then employ your thought,
In such distress. If council profit aught;
Arms cannot much: though Mars our souls incite;
These gaping wounds withhold us from the fight.
To him the monarch: That our army bends,
That Troy triumphant our high fleet ascends,
And that the rampart, late our surest trust
And best defence, lies smoking in the dust:
All this from Jove's afflictive hand we bear,
Who, far from Argos, wills our ruin here.
Past are the days when happier Greece was bless'd,
And all his favour, all his aid confess'd :
Now heaven averse, our hands from battle ties,
And lifts the Trojan glory to the skies.
Cease we at length to waste our blood in vain,
And launch what ships lie nearest to the main ;
Leave these at anchor till the coming night:
Then, if impetuous Troy forbear the fight,
Bring all to sea, and hoist each sail for flight.
Better from evils, well foreseen, to run,
Than perish in the danger we may shun.
Thus he. The sage Ulysses thus replies,
While anger flash'd from his disdainful eyes:
What shameful words (unkingly as thou art)

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With three bold sons was generous Prothous bless'd,
Who Pluron's walls and Calydon possess'd;
Melas and Agrius, but (who far surpass'd
The rest in courage) Eneus was the last.
From him, my sire. From Calydon expell'd,
He pass'd to Argos, and in exile dwell'd;
The monarch's daughter there (so Jove ordain'd,
He won, and flourish'd where Adrastus reign'd;
There, rich in fortune's gifts, his acres till'd,
Beheld his vines their liquid harvest yield,

And numerous flocks that whiten'd all the field. 140
Such Tydeus was, the foremost once in fame!
Nor lives in Greece a stranger to his name.
Then what for common good my thoughts inspire,
Attend, and in the son respect the sire.

Though sore of battle, though with wounds oppress'd,
Let each go forth, and animate the rest,

80 Advance the glory which he cannot share,
Though not partaker, witness of the war.

90

Fall from that trembling tongue and timorous heart!
Oh were thy sway the curse of meaner powers,
And thou the shame of any host but ours!
A host, by Jove endued with martial might,
And taught to conquer, or to fall in fight:
Adventurous combats and bold wars to wage,
Employ'd our youth, and yet employs our age.
And wilt thou thus desert the Trojan plain?
And have whole streams of blood been spilt in
vain?

But lest new wounds on wounds o'erpower us

quite,

Beyond the missile javelin's sounding flight,
Safe let us stand; and from the tumult far,
Inspire the ranks, and rule the distant war.

He added not the listening kings obey,
Slow moving on: Atrides leads the way.
The god of ocean (to inflame their rage)
Appears a warrior furrowed o'er with age;
Press'd in his own, the general's hand he took,
And thus the venerable hero spoke :

Atrides, lo! with what disdainful eye
Achilles sees his country's forces fly;
Blind impious man! whose anger is his guide,
Who glories in unutterable pride.

So may he perish, so may Jove disclaim

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The wretch relentless, and o'erwhelm with shame!
But heaven forsake not thee; o'er yonder sands
Soon shalt thou view the scatter'd Trojan bands

100 Fly diverse; while proud kings, and chiefs renown'd,
Driven heaps on heaps, with clouds involved around
Of rolling dust, their winged wheels employ
To hide their ignominious heads in Troy.

170

He spoke, then rush'd amid the warrior crew;
And sent his voice before him as he flew,
Loud, as the shout encountering armies yield,
When twice ten thousand shake the labouring field;
Such was the voice, and such the thundering sound
Of him, whose trident rends the solid ground.
110 Each Argive bosom beats to meet the fight,
And grizly war appears a pleasing sight.

In such base sentence if thou couch thy fear,
Speak it in whispers, lest a Greek should hear.
Lives there a man so dead to fame, who dares
To think such meanness, or the thought declares?
And comes it e'en from him whose sovereign sway
The banded legions of all Greece obey?
Is this a general's voice, that calls to flight,
While war hangs doubtful, while his soldiers fight?
What more could Troy? What yet their fate denies
Thou givest the foe: all Greece becomes their prize.
No more the troops (our hoisted sails in view,
Themselves abandon'd) shall the fight pursue;
But thy ships flying, with despair shall see,
And owe destruction to a prince like thee.
Thy just reproofs (Atrides calm replies)
Like arrows pierce me, for thy words are wise.
Unwilling as I am to lose the host,

I force not Greece to leave this hateful coast.

Meantime, Saturnia from Olympus brow,
High throned in gold, beheld the fields below; 180
With joy the glorious conflict she survey'd,
Where her great brother gave the Grecians aid.
But placed aloft, on Ida's shady height

She sees her Jove, and trembles at the sight.

|Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs, Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes. This on her hand the Cyprian goddess laid; Take this, and with it all thy wish, she said. 190 With smiles she took the charm; and smiling press'd The powerful cestus to her snowy breast.

Jove to deceive, what methods shall she try,
What arts to blind his all-beholding eye?
At length she trusts her power; resolved to prove
The old, yet still successful, cheat of love;
Against his wisdom to oppose her charms,
And lull the Lord of Thunders in her arms.
Swift to her bright apartment she repairs,
Sacred to dress and beauty's pleasing cares :
With skill divine had Vulcan formed the bower,
Safe from access of each intruding power.
Touch'd with her secret key, the doors unfold:
Self-closed, behind her shut the valves of gold.
Here first she bathes; and round her body pours
Soft oils of fragrance, and ambrosial showers:
The winds, perfumed, the balmy gale convey
Through heaven, through earth, and all the aerial way:
Spirit divine! whose exhalation greets
201

The sense of gods with more than mortal sweets.
Thus while she breathed of heaven, with decent
pride

Then Venus to the courts of Jove withdrew,
Whilst from Olympus pleased Saturnia flew.
O'er high Pieria thence her course she bore,
O'er fair Emathia's ever-pleasing shore,
O'er Hæmus' hills with snows eternal crown'd;
Nor once her flying foot approach'd the ground.
Then taking wing from Athos' lofty steep,
She speeds to Lemnos o'er the rolling deep,
And seeks the cave of Death's half brother, Sleep.
Sweet pleasing Sleep! (Saturnia thus began)
Who spread'st thy empire o'er each god and man;
If e'er obsequious to thy Juno's will,
O power of slumbers! hear, and favour, still.
Shed thy soft dews on Jove's immortal eyes,
While sunk in love's entrancing joys he lies.
A splendid footstool, and a throne, that shine
With gold unaiding, Somnus, shall be thine,
The work of Vulcan ; to indulge thy ease,
When wine and feasts thy golden humours please.
Imperial dame, (the balmy power replies)
210 Great Saturn's heir, and empress of the skies!
O'er other gods I spread my easy chain;
The sire of all, old Ocean, owns my reign,
And his hush'd waves lie silent on the main.
But how, unbidden, shall I dare to steep
Jove's awful temples in the dew of sleep?
Long since too venturous, at thy bold command,
On those eternal lids I laid my hand;

Her artful hands the radiant tresses tied;
Part on her head in shining ringlets roll'd,
Part o'er her shoulders waved like melted gold.
Around her next a heavenly mantle flow'd,
That rich with Pallas' labour'd colours glow'd:
Large clasps of gold the foldings gather'd round
A golden zone her swelling bosom bound.
Far-beaming pendants tremble in her ear,
Each gem illumined with a triple star.
Then o'er her head she casts a veil more white
Than new-fallen snow, and dazzling as the light.
Last her fair feet celestial sandals grace.
Thus issuing radiant, with majestic pace,
Forth from the dome the imperial goddess moves,
And calls the mother of the Smiles and Loves.

How long (to Venus thus apart she cried)
Shall human strife celestial minds divide?
Ah, yet will Venus aid Saturnia's joy,
And set aside the cause of Greece and Troy?
Let heaven's dread empress (Cytherea said)
Speak her request, and deem her will obey'd.
Then grant me (said the queen) those conquering
charms,

That power, which mortals and immortals warms,
That love, which melts mankind in fierce desires,
And burns the sons of heaven with sacred fires!
For lo! I haste to those remote abodes,

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What time, deserting Ilion's wasted plain,
His conquering son, Alcides, plough'd the main.
220 When lo! the deeps arise, the tempests roar,
As drive the hero to the Coan shore:
Great Jove awaking, shook the bless'd abodes
With rising wrath, and tumbled gods on gods;
Me chief he sought, and from the realms on high
Had hurl'd indignant to the nether sky,
But gentle Night, to whom I fled for aid
(The friend of earth and heaven) her wings display'd;
Empower'd the wrath of gods and men to tame,
E'en Jove revered the venerable dame.

Vain are thy fears, (the queen of heaven replies,

Where the great parents (sacred source of gods!) 230 And speaking rolls her large majestic eyes;)

Ocean and Tethys their old empire keep,
On the last limits of the land and deep.

In their kind arms my tender years were, past;
What time old Saturn from Olympus cast,
Of upper heaven to Jove resign'd the reign,
Whelm'd under the huge mass of earth and main.
For strife, I hear, has made the union cease,
Which held so long that ancient pair in peace.
What honour, and what love shall I obtain,
If I compose those fatal feuds again;
Once more their minds in mutual ties engage,
And what my youth has owed, repay their age!
She said. th awe divine the queen of love
Obey'd the sister and the wife of Jove;
And from her fragrant breast the zone unbraced,
With various skill and high embroidery graced.
In this was every art, and every charm,
To win the wisest, and the coldest warm:
Fond love, the gentle vow, the gay desire,
The kind deceit, the still reviving fire,

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Think'st thou that Troy has Jove's high favour won,
Like great Alcides, his all-conquering son?
Hear, and obey the mistress of the skies,
Nor for the deed expect a vulgar prize;
For know, thy loved one shall be ever thine,
The youngest Grace, Pasitha the divine.

Swear then (he said) by those tremendous floods
That roar through hell, and bind the invoking gods:
Let the great parent earth one hand sustain,
240 And stretch the other o'er the sacred main :
Call the black Titans, that with Chronos dwell,
To hear and witness from the depths of hell;
That she, my loved-one, shall be ever mine,
The youngest Grace, Pasithaë the divine.

The queen assents, and from the infernal bowers
Invokes the sable subtartarean powers,
And those who rule the inviolable floods,
Whom mortals name the dread Titanian gods.

Then swift as wind, o'er Lemnos' smoky Isle, 250 They wing their way, and Imbrus' sea-beat soil,

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Through air unseen, involved in darkness glide,
And light on Lectos, on the point of Ide
(Mother of savages, whose echoing hills
Are heard resounding with a hundred rills.)
Fair Ida trembles underneath the god;
Hush'd are her mountains, and her forests nod.
There on a fir, whose spiry branches rise
To join its summit to the neighbouring skies,
Dark in embowering shade, conceal'd from sight,
Sat Sleep, in likeness of the bird of night.
(Chalcis his name by those of heavenly birth
But call'd Clymindis by the race of earth.)

She ceased; and smiling with superior love, 320 Thus answer'd mild the cloud-compelling Jove: Nor god nor mortal shall our joys behold,

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shaded with clouds, and circumfused in gold; 390
Not e'en the sun, who darts through heaven his rays,
And whose broad eye the extended earth surveys
Gazing he spoke, and kindling at the view,
His eager arms around the goddess threw.
Glad earth perceives, and from her bosom pours
Unbidden herbs and voluntary flowers:
Thick new-born violets a soft carpet spread,
330 And clustering lotos swell the rising bed,
And sudden hyacinths the turf bestow,
And flamy crocus made the mountain glow.
There golden clouds conceal'd the heavenly pair,
Steep'd in soft joys, and circumfused with air;
Celestial dews, descending o'er the ground,
Perfume the mount, and breathe ambrosia round.
At length, with love and sleep's soft power oppress'd,
The panting Thunderer nods, and sinks to rest.
Now to the navy borne on silent wings,
To Neptune's ear soft Sleep this message brings;
Beside him sudden, unperceived, he stood,
And thus with gentle words address'd the god : 410
Now, Neptune! now the important hour employ,
To check awhile the haughty hopes of Troy :
While Jove yet rests, while yet my vapours shed
The golden vision round his sacred head;
For Juno's love, and Somnus' pleasing ties,
Have closed those awful and eternal eyes.

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To Ida s top successful Juno flies;
Great Jove surveys her with desiring eyes :
The god, whose lightning sets the heavens on fire,
Through all his bosom feels the fierce desire;
Fierce as when first by stealth he seized her charms,
Mix'd with her soul, and melted in her arms.
Fix'd on her eyes he fed his eager look,
Then press'd her hand, and thus with transport spoke:
Why comes my goddess from the ethereal sky,
And not her steeds and flaming chariot nigh?
Then she; I haste to those remote abodes
Where the great parents of the deathless gods,
The reverend Ocean and grey Tethys reign,
On the last limits of the land and main.
I visit these, to whose indulgent cares
I owe the nursing of my tender years.
For strife, I hear, has made that union cease,
Which held so long that ancient pair in peace.
The steeds, prepared my chariot to convey
O'er earth and seas, and through the aerial way
Wait under Ide: of thy superior power
To ask consent, I leave the Olympian bower;
Nor seek, unknown to thee, the sacred cells
Deep under seas, where hoary Ocean dwells.

For that (said Jove) suffice another day;
But eager love denies the least delay.
Let softer cares the present hour employ,
And be these moments sacred all to joy.
Ne'er did my soul so strong a passion prove,
Or for an earthly or a heavenly love :
Not when I press'd Ixion's matchless dame,
Whence rose Perithous, like the gods in fame.
Not when fair Danaë felt the shower of gold
Stream into life, whence Perseus brave and bold.
Not thus I burn'd for either Theban dame,
(Bacchus from this, from that Alcides came:)
Nor Phoenix' daughter, beautiful and young,
Whence godlike Rhadamanth and Minos sprung.
Not thus I burn'd for fair Latona'a face,
Nor comelier Ceres' more majestic grace.
Not thus e'en for thyself I felt desire,
As now my veins receive the pleasing fire.
He spoke; the goddess with the charming eyes
Glows with celestial red, and thus replies:
Is this a scene for love? on Ida's height
Exposed to mortal and immortal sight:
Our joys profaned by each familiar eye;
The sport of heaven, and fable of the sky?
How shall I e'er review the bless'd abodes,
Or mix among the senate of the gods?
Shall I not think, that, with disorder'd charms,
All heaven beholds me recent from thy arms?
With skill divine has Vulcan form'd thy bower,
Sacred to love and to the genial hour;
If such thy will, to that recess retire,
And secret there indulge thy soft desire.

Thus having said, the power of slumber flew, 350 On human lids to drop the balmy dew.

Neptune, with zeal increased, renews his care,
And towering in the foremost ranks of war,
Indignant thus-Oh once of martial fame!
O Greeks! if yet ye can deserve the name!
This half-recover'd day, shall Troy obtain?
Shall Hector thunder at your ships again?
Lo, still he vaunts, and threats the fleet with fires,
While stern Achilles in his wrath retires.
One hero's loss too tamely you deplore,

360 Be still yourselves, and ye shall need no more.
Oh yet, if glory any bosom warms,

420

Brace on your firmest helms, and stand to arms : 430
His strongest spear each valiant Grecian wield,
Each valiant Grecian seize his broadest shield;
Let to the weak the lighter arms belong,
The ponderous targe be wielded by the strong.
Thus arm'd, not Hector shall our presence stay:
Myself, ye Greeks! myself will lead the way.
The troops assent; their martial arms they change,
370 The busy chiefs their banded legions range.

The kings, though wounded, and oppress'd with pain,
With helpful hands themselves assist the train, 440
The strong and cumbrous arms the valiant wield,
The weaker warrior takes a lighter shield.
Thus sheath'd in shining brass, in bright array
The legions march, and Neptune leads the way:
His brandish'd falchion flames before their eyes,
Like lightning flashing through the frighted skies.
Clad in his might, the earth-shaking power appears;
380 Pale mortals tremble, and confess their fears.

Troy's great defender stands alone unawed,
Arms his proud host, and dares oppose a god :
And lo! the god and wondrous man appear:
The sea's stern ruler there, and Hector here.
The roaring main, at her great master's call,
Rose in huge ranks, and form'd a watery wall

450

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