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:
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 obeyed;
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 are 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 desired repose.
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. takes no rest that night, but passes through the camp awakening the leaders, and contriving all possible methods for the public safety. Menelaus, Nestor, Ulysses, and Diomed, arc employed in raising the rest of the captains. They call a council of war, and determine to send scouts into the ene my's camp, to learn their posture, and discover their inten tions. Diomed undertakes this hazardous enterprise, and makes choice of Ulysses for his companion. In their passage they surprise 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 ethereal power
Foretells 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 fields, dejected, he surveys
Froin 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:
Inly 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 councils 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 lion's yellow spoils his back conceal'd;
His warlike hand a pointed javelin held.
Meanwhile his brother, prest with equal woes,
Alike denied 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 descried,
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 Jove 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 arın achiev'd,
Such wondrous deeds as Hector's hand has done,
And we beheld, the last revolving sun?
What honours the belov'd of Jove adorn!
Sprung from uo Gʊd, 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 despatch return?
Else may we miss to meet, without a guide,
The paths so many, and the camp so wide.
Still, with your vo.ce, the slothful soldiers raise,
Urge, by their fathers' 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 wo.
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 shield he rears,
The shining helmet and the pointed spears:
The dreadful weapon, of the warrior's rage,
That, old in arms, disclain'd the peace of age.
VOL. 1.
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?
Seek'st thou some friend, or nightly sentinel?
Stand off, approach not, but thy purpose tell.
O son of Ne.eus, aus 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 trembling 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 miseries are mine.
If aught of use thy waking thoughts suggest,
(Since cares. like mine, deprive thy soul of rest,)
Impart thy, and assist thy friend;
Now let us .7 to the trench descend,
At every gave. amung 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 the cternal 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 case is next our other chiefs to raise:
Ulysses, Diomed, we chiefly need⚫
Meges for strength Dileus fam'd for speed.
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