B. X.]

DEATH OF RHESUS.

Arriving where the Thracian squadrons lay,

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And eas'd in sleep the labours of the day.

Ranged in three lines they view the prostrate band:
The horses yok'd beside each warrior stand;
Their arms in order on the ground reclin'd,

Through the brown shade the fulgid weapons shin'd;
Amidst, lay Rhesus, stretch'd in sleep profound,
And the white steeds behind his chariot bound.'
The welcome sight Ulysses first descries,
And points to Diomed the tempting prize:
The man, the coursers, and the car behold!
'Describ'd by Dolon with the arms of gold.
Now, brave Tydides! now thy courage try,
Approach the chariot, and the steeds untie;
Or if thy soul aspire to fiercer deeds,

'Urge thou the slaughter, while I seize the steeds.'
Pallas (this said) her hero's bosom warms,
Breath'd in his heart, and strung his nervous arms;
Where'er he pass'd, a purple stream pursued;
His thirsty faulchion, fat with hostile blood,
Bath'd all his footsteps, dy'd the fields with gore,
And a low groan remurmur'd through the shore.
So the grim lion, from his nightly den,
O'erleaps the fences, and invades the pen ;
On sheep or goats, resistless in his way,

He falls, and foaming rends the guardless prey.
Nor stopp'd the fury of his vengeful hand,
Till twelve lay breathless of the Thracian band.
Ulysses following as his partner slew,

Back by the foot each slaughter'd warrior drew;
The milk-white coursers studious to convey
Safe to the ships, he wisely clear'd the way;

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Lest the fierce steeds, not yet to battles bred,

Should start and tremble at the heaps of dead.

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Now twelve despatch'd, the monarch last they found;

Tydides' faulchion fix'd him to the ground.

Just then a dreadful dream Minerva sent;

A warlike form appear'd before his tent,
Whose visionary steel his bosom tore:

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So dream'd the monarch, and awak’d no more.
Ulysses now the snowy steeds detains,
And leads them fasten'd by the silver reins;
These, with his bow unbent, he lash'd along;
(The scourge, forgot, on Rhesus' chariot hung.)
Then gave his friend the signal to retire ;
But him new dangers, new achievements, fire:

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Doubtful he stood, or with his reeking blade
To send more heroes to th' infernal shade,
Drag off the car where Rhesus' armour lay,
Or heave with manly force, and lift away.
While unresolv'd the son of Tydeus stands,
Pallas appears, and thus her chief commands:

Enough, my son; from farther slaughter cease,
Regard thy safety, and depart in peace;
'Haste to the ships, the gotten spoils enjoy,
'Nor tempt too far the hostile gods of Troy.'

The voice divine confess'd the martial maid; In haste he mounted, and her word obey'd; The coursers fly before Ulysses' bow,

Swift as the wind, and white as winter snow.

Not unobserv'd they pass'd: the god of light

Saw Tydeus' son with heavenly succour bless'd,

Had watch'd his Troy, and mark'd Minerva's flight,

And vengeful anger fill'd his sacred breast.
Swift to the Trojan camp descends the power,
And wakes Hippocoon in the morning hour,
(On Rhesus' side accustom'd to attend,
A faithful kinsman and instructive friend.)
He rose, and saw the field deform'd with blood,
An empty space where late the coursers stood,
The yet warm Thracians panting on the coast;
For each he wept, but for his Rhesus most.
Now, while on Rhesus' name he calls in vain,
The gathering tumult spreads o'er all the plain;
On heaps the Trojans rush, with wild affright,
And wondering view the slaughter of the night.

Meanwhile the chiefs arriving at the shade
Where late the spoils of Hector's spy were laid,
Ulysses stopp'd; to him Tydides bore

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The trophy, dropping yet with Dolon's gore:

Then mounts again; again their nimble feet

The coursers ply, and thunder towards the fleet.

Old Nestor first perceiv'd th' approaching sound,

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Bespeaking thus the Grecian peers around:
Methinks the noise of trampling steeds I hear,
"Thickening this way, and gathering on my ear;
Perhaps some horses of the Trojan breed'
'(So may, ye gods! my pious hopes succeed)
The great Tydides and Ulysses bear,
'Return'd triumphant with this prize of war.
'Yet much I fear (ah may that fear be vain!)
The chiefs outnumber'd by the Trojan train;

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B. X.]

ULYSSES AND DIOMED RETURN.

'Perhaps, e'en now pursued, they seek the shore; 'Or, oh! perhaps those heroes are no more.'

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Scarce had he spoke, when lo! the chiefs appear, And spring to earth; the Greeks dismiss their fear: With words of friendship and extended hands

They greet the kings; and Nestor first demands:
Say thou, whose praises all our host proclaim,

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'Thou living glory of the Grecian name!

Say, whence these coursers? by what chance bestow'd,
The spoil of foes, or present of a god?

'Not those fair steeds so radiant and so gay,

'That draw the burning chariot of the day. 'Old as I am, to age I scorn to yield,

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• And daily mingle in the martial field;

'But sure till now no coursers struck my sight

'Like these, conspicuous through the ranks of fight.
'Some god, I deem, conferr'd the glorious prize,
'Bless'd as ye are, and favourites of the skies:

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'The care of him who bids the thunder roar,

And her, whose fury bathes the world with gore.' Father! not so: (sage Ithacus rejoin'd,) 'The gifts of heaven are of a nobler kind. 'Of Thracian lineage are the steeds ye view, "Whose hostile king the brave Tydides slew; 'Sleeping he died, with all his guards around, And twelve beside lay gasping on the ground. These other spoils from conquer'd Dolon came, 'A wretch, whose swiftness was his only fame; 'By Hector sent our forces to explore,

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'He now lies headless on the sandy shore.'

Then o'er the trench the bounding coursers flew ;

The joyful Greeks with loud acclaim pursue.

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Straight to Tydides' high pavilion borne,

The matchless steeds his ample stalls adorn :

The neighing coursers their new fellows greet,

And the full racks are heap'd with generous wheat.

Then in the polish'd bath, refresh'd from toil,
Their joints they supple with dissolving oil,

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They sit rejoicing in her aid divine,

And the crown'd goblet foams with floods of wine.

• Minerva.

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