Descends Minerva in her guardian care,
A heavenly witness of the wrongs I bear
From Atreus' son! then let those eyes that view
The daring crime, behold the vengeance too.

Forbear! (the progeny of Jove replies)
To calm thy fury I forsake the skies:
Let great Achilles, to the gods resign'd,
To reason yield the empire o'er his mind.
By awful Juno this command is given;
The king and you are both the care of heaven.
The force of keen reproaches let him feel,
But sheath, obedient, thy revenging steel.
For I pronounce (and trust a heavenly power)
Thy injured honour has its fated hour,
When the proud monarch shall thy arms implore,
And bribe thy friendship with a boundless store.
Then let revenge no longer bear the sway,
Command thy passions, and the gods obey.
To her Pelides: With regardful ear
"Tis just, O goddess! I thy dictates hear.
Hard as it is, my vengeance I suppress
Those who revere the gods, the gods will bless.
He said, observant of the blue-eyed maid;
Then in the sheath return'd the shining blade.
The goddess swift to high Olympus flies,
And joins the sacred senate of the skies.

Nor yet the rage his boiling breast forsook,
Which thus redoubling on Atrides broke:
O monster! mix'd of insolence and fear,
Thou dog in forehead, but in heart a deer!
When wert thou known in ambush'd fights to dare,
Or nobly face the horrid front of war?

"Tis ours the chance of fighting fields to try,
Thine to look on, and bid the valiant die.
So much 'tis safer through the camp to go,
And rob a subject, than despoil a foe.
Scourge of thy people, violent and base!
Sent in Jove's anger on a slavish race,
Who, lost to sense of generous freedom past,
Are tamed to wrongs, or this had been thy last.
Now by this sacred sceptre hear me swear,
Which never more shall leaves or blossoms bear,
Which sever'd from the trunk (as I from thee)
On the bare mountains left its parent tree;
This sceptre, form'd by temper'd steel to prove
An ensign of the delegates of Jove,

From whom the power of laws and justice springs
(Tremendous oath inviolate to kings):
By this I swear, when bleeding Greece again
Shall call Achilles, she shall call in vain.

If in my youth e'en these esteem'd me wise, 270 Do you, young warriors, hear my age advise. Atrides, seize not on the beauteous slave; That prize the Greeks by common suffrage gave: Nor thou, Achilles, treat our prince with pride; Let kings be just, and sovereign power preside. 275 Thee, the first honours of the war adorn,

285

Like gods in strength, and of a goddess born;
Him awful majesty exalts above
The powers of earth, and scepter'd sons of Jove.
Let both unite, with well-consenting mind,

280 So shall authority with strength be join'd.
Leave me, O king! to calm Achilles' rage;
Rule thou thyself, as more advanced in age.
Forbid it, gods! Achilles should be lost,
The pride of Greece, and bulwark of our host.
This said, he ceased. The king of men replies:
Thy years are awful, and thy words are wise:
But that imperious, that unconquer'd soul,
No laws can limit, no respect control.
Before his pride must his superiors fall,
290 His word the law, and he the lord of all?

360

365

370

875

380

Him must our hosts, our chiefs, ourselves obey?
What king can bear a rival in his sway?
Grant that the gods his matchless force have given;
Has foul reproach a privilege from heaven?

385

295

300

Here on the monarch's speech Achilles broke
And furious thus, and interrupting, spoke:
Tyrant! I well deserved thy galling chain,
To live thy slave, and still to serve in vain,
Should I submit to each unjust decree:
Command thy vassals, but command not me.
Seize on Briseïs, whom the Grecians doom'd
My prize of war, yet tamely see resumed:
And seize secure; no more Achilles draws
His conquering sword in any woman's cause
305 The gods command me to forgive the past;
But let this first invasion be the last:
For know, thy blood, when next thou darest invade,
Shall stream in vengeance on my reeking blade.
At this they ceased: the stern debate expired:

310 The chiefs in sullen majesty retired.
Achilles with Patroclus took his way,
Where near his tents his hollow vessels lay.
Meantime Atrides launch'd with numerous oars
A well-rigg'd ship for Chrysa's sacred shores:
315 High on the deck was fair Chryseïs placed,
And sage Ulysses with the conduct graced :
Safe in her sides the hecatomb they stow'd,
Then swiftly sailing, cut the liquid road.

320

When, flush'd with slaughter, Hector comes to spread
The purpled shore with mountains of the dead,
Then shalt thou mourn the affront thy madness gave,
Forced to deplore, when impotent to save:
Then rage'in bitterness of soul, to know
This act has made the bravest Greek thy foe.

He spoke; and furious huri'd against the ground
His sceptre starr'd with golden studs around.
Then sternly silent sat. With like disdain
The raging king return'd his frowns again.

To calm their passions with the words of age,
Slow from his seat arose the Pylian sage,
Experienced Nestor, in persuasion skill'd,
Words sweet as honey from his lips distill'd;
Two generations now had pass'd away,
Wise by his rules, and happy by his sway;
Two ages o'er his native realm he reign'd,
And now the example of the third remain'd.
All view'd with awe the venerable man;
Who thus with mild benevolence began;

What shame, what woe is this to Greece! what joy
To Troy's proud monarch, and the friends of Troy!
That adverse gods commit to stern debate
The best, the bravest of the Grecian state.
Young as ye are, this youthful heat restrain,
Nor think your Nestor's years and wisdom vain.
A godlike race of heroes once I knew,
Such as no more these aged eyes shall view!
Lives there a chief to match Pirithous' fame,
Dryas the bold, or Ceneus' deathless name;
Theseus' endued with more than mortal might.
Or Polyphemus, like the gods in fight?
With these of old to toils of battle bred,
In early youth my hardy days I led;
Fired with the thirst which virtuous envy breeds,
And amit with love of honourable deeds.
Strongest of men, they pierced the mountain boar,
Ranged the wild deserts red with monsters' gore.
And from their hills the shaggy Centaurs tore.
Yet these with soft persuasive arts I sway'd;
when Nestor spoke, they listen'd and obey'd.

The host to expiate, next the king prepares,
With pure lustrations, and with solemn prayers.
Wash'd by the briny wave, the pious train
Are cleansed, and cast the ablutions in the main.
Along the shore whole hecatombs were laid,
And bulls and goats to Phoebus' altars paid.
325 The sable fumes in curling spires arise,
And waft their grateful odours to the skies.
The army thus in sacred rites engaged,
Atrides still with deep resentment raged.
To wait his will two sacred heralds stood,
330 Talthybius and Eurybates the good.

390

396

400

405

410

415

420

With gloomy aspect, on his arm reclined.
At awful distance long they silent stand,
Loath to advance, or speak their hard command;
Decent confusion! This the godlike man
Perceived, and thus with accent mild began:
With leave and honour enter our abodes,
Ye sacred ministers of men and gods!
345 I know your message; by constraint you came;
Not you, but your imperious lord I blame.
Patroclus, haste, the fair Briseïs bring;
Conduct my captive to the haughty king.
But witness, heralds, and proclaim my vow,
350 Witness to gods above, and men below!

430

Pass'd silent, as the heralds held her hand,
And oft look'd back, slow moving o'er the strand.
Not so his loss the fierce Achilles bore;
But sad retiring to the sounding shore,
O'er the wild margin of the deep he hung,
That kindred deep from whence his mother sprung;
There, bathed in tears of anger and disdain,
Thus loud lamented to the stormy main:

O parent goddess! since in early bloom
Thy son must fall, by too severe a doom;
Sure, to so short a race of glory born,
Great Jove in justice should this span adorn
Honour and fame at least the Thunderer owed,
And ill he pays the promise of a god;
If yon proud monarch thus thy son defies,
Obscures my glories, and resumes my prize.
Far in the deep recesses of the main,
Where aged Ocean holds his watery reign,
The goddess-mother heard. The waves divide:
And like a mist she rose above the tide;
Beheld him mourning on the naked shores,
And thus the sorrows of his soul explores:
Why grieves my son? Thy anguish let me share,
Reveal the cause, and trust a parent's care.

He, deeply sighing, said: To tell my woe,
Is but to mention what too well you know.
From Thebè, sacred to Apollo's name
(Aëtion's realm), our conquering army came,
With treasure loaded and triumphant spoils,
Whose just division crown'd the soldier's toils;
But bright Chryseïs, heavenly prize! was led,
By vote selected, to the general's bed.

The priest of Phoebus sought by gifts to gain
His beauteous daughter from the victor's chain;
The fleet he reach'd, and lowly bending down,
Held forth the sceptre and the laurel crown,
Entreating all but chief implored for grace
The brother-kings of Atreus' royal race:
The generous Greeks their joint consent declare,
The priest to reverence, and release the fair.
Not so Atrides: he, with wonted pride,
The sire insulted, and his gifts denied.
The insulted sire (his god's peculiar care)

Unhappy son! (fair Thetis thus replies,
While tears celestial trickle from her eyes)
Why have I born thee with a mother's throes,
455 To fates averse, and nursed for future woes?
So short a space the light of heaven to view!
So short a space! and fill'd with sorrow too!
O might a parent's careful wish prevail,
Far, far from Ilion should thy vessels sail!

460 And thou, from camps remote, the danger shun,
Which now, alas ! too nearly threats my son.
Yet (what I can) to move thy suit I'll go
To great Olympus crown'd with fleecy snow.
Meantime, secure within thy ships, from far
465 Behold the field, nor mingle in the war.

The sire of gods and all the ethereal train,
On the warm limits of the farthest main,
Now mix with mortals, nor disdain to grace
The feasts of Ethiopia's blameless race;

540

545

550

555

470 Twelve days the powers indulge the genial rite,
Returning with the twelfth revolving light.
Then will I mount the brazen dome, and move
The high tribunal of immortal Jove.

560

The goddess spoke: the rolling waves unclose:

565

475 Then down the deep she plunged from whence she rose,
And left him sorrowing on the lonely coast,
In wild resentment for the fair he lost.
In Chrysa's port now sage Ulysses rode;
Beneath the deck the destined victims stow'd;

480 The sails they furl'd, they lash'd the mast aside,
And dropp'd their anchors, and the pinnace tied.
Next on the shore their hecatomb they land,
Chryseïs last descending on the strand.
Her, thus returning from the furrow'd main,

485 Ulysses led to Phoebus' sacred fane;

Where at his solemn altar, as the maid
He gave to Chryses, thus the hero said:

Hail, reverend priest! To Phoebus' awful dome
A suppliant I from great Atrides come:
490 Unransom'd here receive the spotless fair;
Accept the hecatomb the Greeks prepare;
And may thy god who scatters darts around,
Atoned by sacrifice, desist to wound

510

570

575

580

500

505

At this, the sire embraced the maid again,
495 So sadly lost, so lately sought in vain.
Then near the altar of the darting king,
Disposed in rank their hecatomb they bring:
With water purify their hands, and take
The sacred offering of the salted cake;
While thus with arms devoutly raised in air,
And solemn voice, the priest directs his prayer:
God of the silver bow, thy ear incline,
Whose power encircles Cilla the divine;
Whose sacred eye thy Tenedos surveys,
And gilds fair Chrysa with distinguish'd rays!
If, fired to vengeance at thy priest's request,
Thy direful darts inflict the raging pest;
Once more attend! avert the wasteful woe,
And smile propitious, and unbend thy bow.
So Chryses pray'd. Apollo heard his prayer:
And now the Greeks their hecatomb prepare;
Between their horns the salted barley threw,
And with their heads to heaven the victims slew:
The limbs they sever from the enclosing hide;
515 The thighs, selected to the gods, divide:

585

590

595

600

520

525

On these, in double cauls involved with art,
The choicest morsels lay from every part.
The priest himself before his altar stands,
And burns the offering with his holy hands,
Pours the black wine, and sees the flames aspire;
The youths with instruments surround the fire:
The thighs thus sacrificed, and entrails dress'd,
The assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest :
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his seat, and each receives his share.
When now the rage of hunger was repress'd,
With pure libations they conclude the feast;
The youths with wine the copious goblets crown'd,
And pleas'd dispense the flowing bowls around.
530 With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends,

605

610

615

To Phoebus pray'd, and Phoebus heard the prayer:
A dreadful plague ensues; the avenging darts
Incessant fly, and pierce the Grecian hearts.
A prophet then, inspired by heaven, arose,
And points the crime, and thence derives the woes.
Myself the first the assembled chiefs incline
To avert the vengeance of the power divine;
Then rising in his wrath, the monarch storm'd;
Incensed he threaten'd, and his threats perform'd:
The fair Chryseïs to her sire was sent,
With offer'd gifts to make the god relent;
But now he seized Briseis' heavenly charms,
And of my valour's prize defrauds my arms,
Defrauds the votes of all the Grecian train;
And service, faith, and justice, plead in vain.
But, goddess! thou thy suppliant son attend,
To high Olympus' shining court ascend,
Urge all the ties to former service owed,
And sue for vengeance to the thundering god.
Oft hast thou triumph'd in the glorious boast,
That thou stood'st forth of all the ethereal host,
When bold rebellion shook the realms above,
The undaunted guard of cloud-compelling Jove.
When the bright partner of his awful reign,
The warlike maid, and monarch of the main,
The traitor gods, by mad ambition driven,
Durst threat with chains the Omnipotence of heaven,
Then call'd by thee, the monster Titan came
(Whom gods Briareus, men Egeon name),
Through wondering skies enormous stalk'd along;
Not he that shakes the solid earth so strong *:
With giant-pride at Jove's high throne he stands,
And brandish'd round him all his hundred hands;
The affrighted gods confess'd their awful lord,
They dropp'd the fetters, trembled, and adored.
This, goddess, this to his remembrance call,
Embrace his kness, at his tribunal fall;
Conjure him far to drive the Grecian train,
To hurl them headlong to their fleet and main,
To heap the shores with copious death, and bring
The Greeks to know the curse of such a king:
Let Agamemnon lift his haughty head
O'er all his wide dominion of the dead,.
And mourn in blood, that e'er he durst disgrace
The boldest warrior of the Grecian race.

* Neptune.

The Pæans lengthen'd till the sun descends;
The Greeks, restored, the grateful notes prolong;
Apollo listens, and approves the song.
"Twas night; the chiefs beside their vessel lie,
535 Till rosy morn had purpled o'er the sky:

Then launch, and hoist the mast; indulgent gales,
Supplied by Phoebus, fill the swelling sails;
The milk-white canvass bellying as they blow,
The parted ocean foams and roars below:
Above the bounding billows swift they flew,
Till now the Grecian camp appear'd in view.

620

625

639

No force can shake: what is, what ought to be.
Goddess, submit, nor dare our will withstand,
But dread the power of this avenging hand;
The united strength of all the gods above
In vain resist the omnipotence of Jove.
The Thunderer spoke, nor durst the queen reply;

735

645 A reverend horror silenced all the sky.
The feast disturb'd, with sorrow Vulcan saw
His mother menaced, and the gods in awe;
Peace at his heart, and pleasure his design,
Thus interposed the architect divine :
The wretched quarrels of the mortal state
Are far unworthy, gods! of your debate:
Let men their days in senseless strife employ;
We, in eternal peace and constant joy.
Thou, goddess-mother, with our sire comply,
655 Nor break the sacred union of the sky;

650

Twelve days were past, and now the dawning light
The gods had summon'd to the Olympian height;
Jove first ascending from the watery bowers,
Leads the long order of ethereal powers.
When like the morning mist in early day,
Rose from the flood the daughter of the sea;
And to the seats divine her flight address'd.
There, far apart, and high above the rest,
The Thunderer sat; where old Olympus shrouds
His hundred heads in heaven, and props the clouds.
Suppliant the goddess stood: one hand she placed
Beneath his beard, and one his knees einbraced.
If e'er, O father of the gods! (she said,)
My words could please thee, or my actions aid;
Some marks of honour on my son bestow,
And pay in glory what in life you owe.
Fame is at least by heavenly promise due
To life so short, and now dishonour'd too.
Avenge this wrong, oh ever just and wise!
Let Greece be humbled, and the Trojans rise;
Till the proud king, and all the Achaian race,
Shall heap with honours him they now disgrace.
Thus Thetis spoke; but Jove in silence held,
The sacred counsels of his breast conceal'd.
Not so repulsed, the goddess closer press'd,

660

Lest, roused to rage, he shake the blest abodes,
Launch the red lightning, and dethrone the gods.
If you submit, the Thunderer stands appeased;
The gracious power is willing to be pleased.
Thus Vulcan spoke; and rising with a bound,
The double bowl with sparkling nectar crown'd,
Which held to Juno in a cheerful way,
Goddess (he cried) be patient and obey:
Dear as you are, if Jove his arm extend,

Still grasp'd his knees, and urged the dear request. 655 I can but grieve, unable to defend.

O sire of gods and men; thy suppliant hear;
Refuse, or grant; for what has Jove to fear?
Or, oh! declare, of all the powers above,

Is wretched Thetis least the care of Jove?
She said and sighing thus the god replies,
Who rolls the thunder o'er the vaulted skies:

740

745

750

755

What god so daring in your aid to move,
Or lift his hand against the force of Jove?
Once in your cause I felt his matchless might

760

670

Hurl'd headlong downward from the ethereal height;
Toss'd all the day in rapid circles round;
Nor till the sun descended, touch'd the ground:
Breathless I fell, in giddy motion lost;

What hast thou ask'd? Ah why should Jove engage

In foreign contests, and domestic rage,

The gods' complaints, and Junc's fierce alarms,
While I, too partial, aid the Trojan arms?
Go, lest the haughty partner of my sway
With jealous eyes thy close access survey;
But part in peace, secure thy prayer is sped:
Witness the sacred honours of our head,
The nod that ratifies the will divine,
The faithful, fix'd, irrevocable sign;
This seals thy suit, and this fulfils thy vows-
He spoke, and awful bends his sable brows;
Shakes his ambrosial curls, and gives the nod;
The stamp of fate, and sanction of the god:
High heaven with trembling the dread signal took,
And all Olympus to the centre shook.

680

The Sinthians raised me on the Lemnian coast.
He said, and to her hands the goblet heaved

675 Which, with a smile, the white-arm'd queen received
Then to the rest he fill'd; and in his turn,
Each to his lips applied the nectar'd urn.
Vulcan with awkward grace his office plies,
And undistinguish'd laughter shakes the skies.
Thus the blest gods the genial day prolong,
In feasts ambrosial, and celestial song.
Apollo tuned the lyre; the Muses round
With voice alternate aid the silver sound.
Meantime the radiant sun, to mortal sight
Descending swift, roll'd down the rapid light.
Then to their starry domes the gods depart,
The shining monuments of Vulcan's art:
Jove on his couch reclined his awful head,
And Juno slumber'd on the golden bed.

685

765

770

775

780

Jupiter in pursuance of the request of Thetis, sends a deceitful vision to Agamemnon, persuading him to lead the army to battle; in order to make the Greeks sensible of their want of Achilles. The general who is deluded with the hopes of taking Troy without his assistance, but fears the army was discouraged by his absence and the late plague, as well as by the length of time, contrives to make trial of their disposition by a stratagem. He first communicates his design to the princes in council, that he would propose return to the soldiers. and that they should put a stop to them if the proposal was embraced. Then he assembles the whole host, and upon moving for a return to Greece, they unanimously agree to it, and run to prepare the ships. They are detained by the management of Ulysses, who chastises the

insolence of Thersites. The assembly is recalled,, several speeches made on the occasion, and at length the advice of Nestor followed, which was to make a general muster of the troops, and to divide them into their several nations, before they proceeded to battle. This gives occasion to the poet to enumerate all the forces of the Greeks and Trojans, in a large catalogue. The time employed in this book consists not entirely of one day. The scene lies in the Grecian camp, and upon the sea-shore; toward the end, it removes to Troy.

BOOK II.

Now pleasing sleep had seal'd each mortal eye,

Stretch'd in the tents the Grecian leaders lie,
The immortals slumber'd on their thrones above;
All, but the ever-waketul eyes of Jove.
To honour Thetis' son he bends his care,
And plunge the Greeks in all the woes of war:
Then bids an empty phantom rise to sight,
And thus commands the Vision of the night:

Fly hence, deluding Dream! and light as air,
To Agamemnon's ample tent repair.

Bid him in arms draw forth the embattled train,
Lead all his Grecians to the dusty plain.
Declare, e'en now 'tis given him to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the gods with fate contend,
At Juno's suit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits the impending fall.
Swift as the word the vain illusion fled,
Descends, and hovers o'er Atrides' head;
Clothed in the figure of the Pylian sage,
Renown'd for wisdom, and revered for age;
Around his temples spreads his golden wing,
And thus the flattering Dream deceives the king:
Canst thou, with all a monarch's cares oppress'd,
Oh Atreus' son! canst thou indulge thy rest?
Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war presides,
To whom its safety a whole people owes,
To waste long nights in indolent repose.
Monarch, awake! 'tis Jove's command I bear,
Thou, and thy glory, claim his heavenly care.
In just array draw forth the embattled train,
Lead all thy Grecians to the dusty plain;
E'en now, O king! 'tis given thee to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the gods with fate contend
At Juno's suit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits th' impending fall.
Awake, but waking, this advice approve,
And trust the vision that descends from Jove.

The phantom said; then vanish'd from his sight,
Resolves to air, and mixes with the night.

A thousand schemes the monarch's mind employ;
Elate in thought, he sacks untaken Troy:
Vain as he was, and to the future blind;

Nor saw what Jove and secret fate design'd;
What mighty toils to either host remain,
What scenes of grief, and numbers of the slain !
Eager he rises, and in fancy hears
The voice celestial murmuring in his ears.
First on his limbs a slender vest he drew,
Around him next the regal mantle threw,
The embroider'd sandals on his feet were tied :
The starry faulchion glitter'd at his side;
And last his arm the massy sceptre loads,
Unstain'd, immortal, and the gift of gods.
Now rosy morn ascends the court of Jove,
Lifts up her light, and open3 day above.
The king dispatch'd his heralds with commands
To range the camp and summon all the bands:
The gathering hosts the monarch's word obey;
While to the fleet Atrides bends his way.
In his black ship the Pylian prince he found;
There calls a senate of the peers around:
The assembly placed, the king of men express'd
The counsels labouring in his artful breast.

Friends and confederates! with attentive ear
Receive my words, and credit what you hear.
Late as I slumber'd in the shades of night,
A dream divine appear'd before my sight;
Whose visionary form like Nestor came,
The same in habit, and in mien the same,

my head,
The heavenly phantom hover'd o'er
And, dost thou sleep, oh Atreus' son? (he said);
Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war presides,
To whom its safety a whole people owes,
To waste long nights in indolent repose.
Monarch, awake! 'tis Jove's command I bear,
Thou and thy glory claim his heavenly care.
In just array draw forth the embattled train,
And lead the Grecians to the dusty plain;
E'en now, O king! 'tis given thee to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the gods with fate contend,
At Juno's suit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits the impending fall.
This hear observant, and the gods obey!
The vision spoke, and pass'd in air away.
Now, valiant chiefs! since heaven itself alarms,
Unite, and rouse the sons of Greece to arms
But first with caution try what yet they dare,
Worn with nine years of unsuccessful war

5 To move the troops to measure back the main,
Be mine; and yours the province to detain.
He spoke, and sat; when Nestor rising said
(Nestor, whom Pylos' sandy realms obey'd):
Princes of Greece, your faithful ears incline,
10 Nor doubt the vision of the powers divine;
Sent by great Jove to him who rules the host,-
Forbid it heaven! this warning should be lost!
Then let us haste, obey the god's alarms,
And join to rouse the sons of Greece to arms.
Thus spoke the sage. The kings without delay
Dissolve the council, and their chief obey:
The sceptred rulers lead: the following host,
Pour'd forth by thousands, darkens all the coast.
As from some rocky cliff the shepherd sees
20 Clustering in heaps on heaps the driving bees,
Rolling, and blackening, swarms succeeding swarms,
With deeper murmurs and more hoarse alarms;
Dusky they spread, a close embodied crowd,
And o'er the vale descends the living cloud.

15

15

105.

25 So, from the tents and ships, a lengthening train
Spreads all the beach, and wide o'ershades the plain :
Along the region runs a deafening sound:
Beneath their footsteps groans the trembling ground:
Fame flies before, the messenger of Jove,

30 And shining soars, and claps her wings above.
Nine sacred heralds now, proclaiming loud
The monarch's will, suspend the listening crowd.
Soon as the throngs in order ranged appear,
And fainter murmurs died upon the ear,

125

35 The king of kings his awful figure raised;
High in his hand the golden sceptre blazed:
The golden sceptre, of celestial frame,
By Vulcan form'd, from Jove to Hermes came :
To Pelops he the immortal gift resign'd;
40 The immortal gift great Pelops left behind,

45

In Atreus' hand, which not with Atreus ends,
To rich Thyestes next the prize descends;
And now the mark of Agamemnon's reign
Subjects all Argos, and controls the main.
On this bright sceptre now the king reclined,
And artful thus pronounced the speech design'd:
Ye sons of Mars! partake your leader's care,
Heroes of Greece, and brothers of the war!
Of partial Jove with Justice I complain,

130

135

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50 And heavenly oracles believed in vain.
A safe return was promised to our toils,
Renown'd, triumphant, and enrich'd with spoils;
Now shameful flight alone can save the host,
Our blood, our treasure, and our glory lost.
55 So Jove decrees, resistless lord of all!
At whose command whole empires rise or fall:
He shakes the feeble props of human trust,
And towns and armies humble to the dust,
What shame to Greece a fruitless war to wage.
60 Oh lasting shame in every future age!

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Once great in arins, the common scorn we grow,
Repulsed and baffled by a feeble foe.

So small their number, that if wars were ceased,
And Greece triumphant held a general feast,
65 All rank'd by tens; whole decads when they dine
Must want a Trojan slave to pour the wine.
But other forces have our hopes o'erthrown,
And Troy prevails by armies not her own.
Now nine long years of mighty Jove are run,
70 Since first the labours of this war begun.

Our cordage torn, decay'd our vessels lie,
And scarce ensure the wretched power to fly.
Haste then, for ever leave the Trojan wall!
Our weeping wives, our tender children call:

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!

Love, duty, safety, summon us away,
"Tis nature's voice, and nature we obey.
Our shatter'd barks may yet transport us o'er,
Safe and inglorious, to our native shore.
Fly, Grecians, fly, your sails and oars employ,
And dream no more of heaven-defended Troy.
His deep design unknown, the hosts approve
Atrides' speech. The mighty numbers move.
So roll the billows to the Icarian shore,
From east and south where winds begin to roar,
Burst their dark mansions in the clouds, and sweep
The whitening surface of the ruffled deep.
And as on corn when western gusts descend,
Before the blast the lofty harvests bend;
Thus o'er the field the moving host appears,"
With nodding plumes and groves of waving spears.
The gathering murmur spreads, their trampling feet
Beat the loose sands, and thicken to the fleet.
With long-resounding cries they urge the train
To fit the ships, and launch into the main,
They toil, they sweat, thick clouds of dust arise,
The doubling clamours echo to the skies.
E'en then the Greeks had left the hostile plain,
And fate decreed the fall of Troy in vain;
But Jove's imperial queen their flight survey'd,
And sighing thus bespoke the blue-eyed maid:
Shall then the Grecians fly? O dire disgrace!
And leave unpunish'd this perfidious race?
Shall Troy, shall Priam, and the adulterous spouse,
In peace enjoy the fruits of broken vows?
And bravest chiefs, in Helen's quarrel slain,
Lie unrevenged on yon detested plain?
No: let my Greeks, unmoved by vain alarms,
Once more refulgent shine in brazen arms.
Haste, goddess, haste! the flying host detain,
Nor let one sail be hoisted on the main.

Pallas obeys, and from Olympus' height,
Swift to the ships precipitates her flight,
Ulysses, first in public cares, she found,
For prudent council like the gods renown'd:
Oppress'd with generous grief the hero stood,
Nor drew his sable vessels to the flood:
And is it thus, divine Laërtes' son!
Thus fly the Greeks (the martial maid begun)
Thus to their country bear their own disgrace,
And fame eternal leave to Priam's race?
Shall beauteous Helen still remain unfreed,
Still unrevenged a thousand heroes bleed?
Haste, generous Ithacus ! prevent the shame,
Recall your armies, and your chiefs reclaim.
Your own resistless eloquence employ,
And to the immortals trust the fall of Troy.
The voice divine confess'd the warlike maid,
Ulysses heard, not uninspired obey'd:
Then meeting first Atrides, from his hand
Received the imperial sceptre of command.
Thus graced, attention and respect to gain,
He runs, he flies through all the Grecian train,
Each prince of name, or chief in arms approved,
He fired with praise; or with persuasion moved:
Warriors like you, with strength and wisdom blest,
By brave examples should confirm the rest.
The monarch's will not yet reveal'd appears;
He tries our courage, but resents our fears.
The unwary Greeks his fury may provoke;
Not thus the king in secret council spoke.
Jove loves our chief, from Jove his honour springs;
Beware! for dreadful is the wrath of kings.
But if a clamorous vile Plebeian rose,
Him with reproof he check'd, or tamed with blows.
Be still, thou slave, and to thy betters yield!
Unknown alike in council and in field!

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With witty malice studious to defame;
Scorn all his joy, and laughter all his aim.
But chief he gloried with licentious style,
170 To lash the great, and monarchs to revile.
His figure such as might his soul proclaim;
One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame:
His mountain-shoulders half his breast o'erspread,
Thin hairs bestrew'd his long mis-shapen head
Spleen to mankind his envious heart possess'd,
And much he hated all, but most the best.
Ulysses or Achilles still his theme;

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But royal scandal his delight supreme.
Long had he lived the scorn of every Greek.
Vext when he spoke, yet still they heard him speak,
Sharp was his voice; which, in the shrillest tone
Thus with injurious taunts attack'd the throne:
Amidst the glories of so bright a reign,
What moves the great Atrides to complain?
"Tis thine whate'er the warrior's breast inflames,
The golden spoil, and thine the lovely dames.
With all the wealth our wars and blood bestow
Thy tents are crowded, and thy chests o'erflow.
Thus at full ease in heaps of riches roll'd,
190 What grieves the monarch? Is it thirst for gold?
Say, shall we march with our unconquer'd powers
(The Greeks and I), to Iliad's hostile towers,
And bring the race of royal bastards here
For Troy to ransom at a price too dear?

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195 But safer plunder thy own host supplies;

Say, wouldst thou seize some valiant leader's prize?
Or, if thy heart to generous love be led,
Some captive fair, to bless thy kingly bed?
Whate'er our master craves, submit we must,

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200 Plagued with his pride, or punish'd for his lust,
Oh women of Achaia! men no more!
Hence let us fly, and let him waste his store
In loves and pleasures on the Phrygian shore.
We may be wanted on some busy day,

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205 When Hector comes: so great Achilles may:
From him he forced the prize we jointly gave,
From him the fierce, the fearless, and the brave:
And durst he, as he ought, resent that wrong,
This mighty tyrant were no tyrant long.
Fierce from his seat at this Ulysses springs,
In generous vengeance of the king of kings.
With indignation sparkling in his eyes,
He views the wretch, and sternly thus replies:
Peace, factious monster, born to vex the state,
With wrangling talents form'd for foul debate:
Curb that impetuous tongue, nor rashly vain
And singly mad, asperse the sovereign reign.
Have we not known thee, slave! of all our host,
The man who acts the least, upbraids the most?

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220 Think not the Greeks to shameful flight to bring,
Nor let those lips profane the name of king.
For our return we trust the heavenly powers;
Be that their care; to fight like men be ours.
But grant the host with wealth the general load,
Except detraction, what hast thou bestow'd?
Suppose some hero should his spoils resign,
Art thou that hero? could those spoils be thine?
Gods! let me perish on this hateful shore,
And let these eyes behold my son no more,
230 If, on thy next offence, this hand forbear
To strip those arms thou ill deservest to wear,
Expel the council where our princes meet,
And send thee scourged and howling through the fleet.
He said, and cowering as the dastard bends,
The weighty sceptre on his back descends:
On the round bunch the bloody tumours rise;
The tears spring starting from his haggard eyes:
Trembling he sat, and shrunk in abject fears,
From his vile visage wiped the scalding tears.
While to his neighbour each express'd his thought:
Ye gods! what wonders has Ulysses wrought!
What fruits his conduct and his courage yield;
Great in the council, glorious in the field!
Generous he rises in the crown's defence,
To curb the factious tongue of insolence.
Such just examples on offenders shewn,
Sedition silence, and assert the throne.

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With words like these the troops Ulysses rul'd;
The loudest silenced, and the fiercest cool'd.
Back to the assembly roll the thronging train,
Desert the ships, and pour upon the plain.
Murmuring they move, as when old Ocean roars,
And heaves huge surges to the trembling shores:
The groaning banks are burst with bellowing sound,
The rocks remurmur and the deeps rebound.
At length the tumult sinks, the noises cease,
And a still silence lulls the camp to peace.
Thersites only clamour'd in the throng,
Loquacious, loud, and turbulent of tongue:
Awed by no shame, by no respect controll'd
In scandal busy, in reproaches bold: