While to his neighbours 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 shown,
Sedition silence, and assert the throne."
'Twas thus the general voice the hero prais'd,
Who, rising high, th' imperial sceptre rais'd:
The blue-ey'd Pallas, his celestial friend,
(In form a herald) bade the crowds attend.
Th' expecting crowds in still attention hung,
To hear the wisdom of his heavenly tongue.
Then deeply thoughtful, pausing ere he spoke,
His silence thus the prudent hero broke:
"Unhappy monarch! whom the Grecian race,
With shame deserting, heap with vile disgrace.
Not such at Argos was their generous vow,
Once all their voice, but, ah! forgotten now:
Ne'er to return, was then the common cry,
Till Troy's proud structures should in ashes lie.
Behold them weeping for their native shore!
What could their wives or helpless children more?
What heart but melts to leave the tender train,
And, one short month, endure the wintery main?
Few leagues remov'd, we wish our peaceful seat,
When the ship tosses, and the tempests beat:
Then well may this long stay provoke their tears,
The tedious length of nine revolving years.
Not for their grief the Grecian host I blame;
But vanquish'd! baffled! oh, eternal shame!
Expect the time to Troy's destruction given,
And try the faith of Chalcas and of Heaven.
What pass'd at Aulis, Greece can witness bear,
And all who live to breathe this Phrygian air.
"Beside a fountain's sacred brink we rais'd
Our verdant altars, and the victims blaz'd;
('Twas there the plane-tree spreads its shades
around)
The altars heav'd; and from the crumbling ground
A mighty dragon shot, of dire portent;
From Jove himself the dreadful sign was sent.
Straight to the tree his sanguine spire he roll'd,
And curl'd around in many a winding fold.
The topmost branch a mother-bird possest;
Eight callow infants fill'd the mossy nest:
Herself the ninth; the serpent, as he hung,
Stretch'd his black jaws, and crash'd the crying
young;
While hovering near, with miserable moan,
The drooping mother wail'd her children gone.
The mother last, as round the nest she flew,
Seiz'd by the beating wing, the monster slew :
Nor long surviv'd; to marble turn'd, he stands
A lasting prodigy on Aulis' sands.
Such was the will of Jove; and hence we dare
Trust in his omen, and support the war.
For while around we gaze with wondering eyes,
And trembling sought the powers with sacrifice,
Full of his god, the reverend Chalcas cried,
'Ye Grecian warriours! lay your fears aside.
This wonderous signal Jove himself displays
Of long, long labours, but eternal praise.
As many birds as by the snakes were slain,
So many years the toils of Greece remain;
But wait the tenth, for Ilion's fall decreed :'
Thus spoke the prophet, thus the fates succeed.
Obey, ye Grecians! with submission wait,
Nor let your flight avert the Trojan fate."
He said the shores with loud applauses sound,
The hollow ships each deafening shout rebound.
Then Nestor thus-" These vain debates forbear,
Ye talk like children, not like heroes dare.
Where now are all your high resolves at last?
Your leagues concluded, your engagements past?
Vow'd with libations and with victims then,
Now vanish'd like their smoke: the faith of men!
While useless words consume th' unactive hours,
No wonder Troy so long resists our powers.
Rise, great Atrides! and with courage sway;
We march to war, if thou direct the way.
But leave the few that dare resist thy laws,
The mean deserters of the Grecian cause,
To grudge the conquests mighty Jove prepares,
And view with envy our successful wars.
On that great day when first the martial train,
Big with the fate of Ilion, plough'd the main,
Jove on the right, a prosperous signal sent,
And thunder rolling shook the firmament.
Encourag'd hence, maintain the glorious strife,
Till every soldier grasp a Phrygian wife,
Till Helen's woes at full reveng'd appear,
And Troy's proud matrons render tear for tear.
Before that day if any Greek invite
His country's troops to base inglorious flight;
Stand forth that Greek! and hoist his sail to fly,
And die the dastard first, who dreads to die.
But now, O monarch! all thy chiefs advise:
Nor what they offer, thou thyself despise.
Among those councils, let not mine be vain,
In tribes and nations to divide thy train;
His separate troops let every leader call,
Each strengthen each, and all encourage all.
What chief, or soldier, of the numerous band,
Or bravely fights, or ill obeys command,
When thus distinct they war, shall soon be known,
And what the cause of Ilion not o'erthrown;
If fate resists, or if our arms are slow,
If gods above prevent, or men below."
To him the king: "How much thy years excel
In arts of council, and in speaking well?
O would the gods, in love to Greece, decree
But ten such sages as they grant in thee;
Such wisdom soon should Priam's force destroy,
And soon shall fall the haughty towers of Troy !
But Jove forbids, who plunges those he hates
In fierce contention and in vain debates.
Now great Achilles from our aid withdraws,
By me provok'd; a captiv: maid the cause
If e'er as friends we join, the Trojan wall
Must shake, and heavy will the vengeance fall:
But now, ye warriors, take a short repast:
And, well-refresh'd, to bloody conflict haste.
His sharpen'd spear let every Grecian wield,
And every Grecian fix his brazen shield;
Let all excite the fiery steeds of war,
And all for combat fit the rattling car.
This day, this dreadful day, let each contend;
No rest, no respite, till the shades descend;
Till darkness, or till death, shall cover all:
Let the war bleed, and let the mighty fall!
Till bath'd in sweat be every manly breast,
With the huge shield cach brawny arm deprest,
Each aching nerve refuse the lance to throw,
And each spent courser at the chariot blow.
Who dares inglorious, in his ships to stay,
Who dares to tremble on this signal day;
That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power,
The birds shall mangle, and the dogs devour."
The monarch spoke; and straight a murmur rose,
Load as the surges when the tempest blows,
That dash'd on broken rocks tumultuous roar,
And foam and thunder on the stony shore.
Straight to the tents the troops dispersing bend,
The fires are kindled, and the smokes ascend
With hasty feast they sacrifice, and pray
T'avert the dangers of the doubtful day.
A steer of five years' age, large limb'd, and fed,
To Jove's high altars Agamemnon led :
There bade the noblest of the Grecian peers;
And Nestor first, as most advanc'd in years.
Next came Idomeneus, and Tydeus' son,
Ajax the less, and Ajax Telamon;
Then wise Ulysses in his rank was plac'd ;
And Menelaus came unbid, the last.
The chiefs surround the destin'd beast, and take
The sacred offering of the salted cake.
When thus the king prefers his solemn prayer:
"On thou! whose thunder rends the clouded air,
Who in the Heaven of Heavens has fix'd thy throne,
Supreme of gods! unbounded and alone!
Hear! and before the burning Sun descends,
Before the Night her gloomy veil extends,
Low in the dust be laid yon hostile spires,
Be Priam's palace sunk in Grecian fires,
In Hector's breast be plung'd this shining sword,
And slaughter'd heroes groan around their lord !”
Thus pray'd the chief; his unavailing prayer
Great Jove refus'd, and tost in empty air:
The god averse, while yet the fumes arose,
Prepar'd new toils, and doubled woes on woes.
Their prayers perform'd, the chiefs the rite pursue,
The barley sprinkled, and the victim slew,
The limbs they sever from th' enclosing hide,
The thighs, selected to the gods, divide.
On these, in double cauls involv'd with art,
The choicest morsels lie from every part.
From the cleft wood the crackling flames aspire,
While the fat victim feeds the sacred fire.
The thighs thus sacrific'd, and entrails drest,
Ta' assistants part, transfix, and roast the rest;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his seat, and each receives his share.
Soon as the rage of hunger was supprest,
The generous Nestor thus the prince addrest:
"Now bid thy heralds sound the loud alarms, And call the squadrons sheath'd in brazen arms: Now seize th' occasion, now the troops survey, And lead to war when Heaven directs the way."
He said; the monarch issued his commands; Straight the loud heralds call the gathering bands. The chiefs enclose their king: the host divide, La tribes and nations rank'd on either side. High in the midst the blue-ey'd virgin flies; From rank to rank she darts her ardent eyes: The dreadful ægis, Jove's immortal shield, Blaz'd on her arm, and lighten'd all the field: Round the vast orb an hundred serpents roll'd, Form'd the bright fringe, and seem'd to burn in gold. With this each Grecian's manly breast she warms, Swells their bold hearts, and strings their nervous No more they sigh, inglorious, to return, [arms; But breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.
As on some mountain, through the lofty grove, The crackling flames ascend, and blaze above; The fires expanding as the winds arise, Shoot their long beams, and kindle half the skies: So from the polish'd arms, and brazen shields, A gleamy splendour flash'd along the fields.
Not less their number than th' embody'd cranes,
Or milk-white swans in Asia's watery plains,
That o'er the windings of Cäyster's springs,
Stretch their long necks, and clap their rustling
Now tower aloft, and course in airy rounds; [wings;
Now light with noise; with noise the field resounds.
Thus numerons and confus'd, extending wide,
The legions crowd Scamander's flowery side;
With rushing troops the plains are cover'd o'er,
And thundering footsteps shake the sounding shore.
Along the river's level meads they stand,
Thick as in spring the flowers adorn the land,
Or leaves the trees; or thick as insects play,
The wandering nation of a summer's day,
That, drawn by milky steams, at evening hours,
In gather'd swarms surround the rural bowers;
From pail to pail with busy murmur run
The gilded legions, glittering in the Sun.
So throng'd, so close, the Grecian squadrons stopd
In radiant arms, and thirst for Trojan blood.
Each leader now his scattered force conjoins
In close array, and forms the deepening lines.
Not with more ease, the skilful shepherd swain
Collects his flocks from thousands on the plain.
The king of kings, majestically tall,
Towers o'er his armies, and outshines them all;
Like some proud bull that round the pastures leads
His subject-herds, the monarch of the meads.
Great as the gods, th' exalted chief was seen,
His strength like Neptune, and like Mars his mien,
Jove o'er his eyes celestial glories spread,
And dawning conquest play'd around his head.
Say, virgins, seated round the throne divine,
All-knowing goddesses! immortal nine! [height,
Since Earth's wide regions, Heaven's unmeasur'd
And Hell's abyss, hide nothing from your sight,
We, wretched mortals! lost in doubts below,
But guess by rumour, and but boast we know)
Oh, say what heroes, fir'd by thirst of fame,
Or urg'd by wrongs, to Troy's destruction came ?
To count them all, demands a thousand tongues,
A throat of brass, and adamantine lungs.
Daughters of Jove, assist! inspir'd by you
The mighty labour dauntless I pursue :
What crowded armies, from what climes they bring,
Their names, their numbers, and their chiefs, I stng.
THE CATALOGUE OP THE SHIPS.
The hardy warriors whom Baotia bred, Penelius, Leitus, Prothoënor led: With these Arcesilaus and Clonius stand, Equal in arms, and equal in command. These head the troops that rocky Aulis yields, And Etcon's hills, and Hyrie's watery fields, And Schoenos, Scholos, Græa near the main, And Mycalessia's ample piny plain. Those who on Peteon or Ilesion dwell, Or Harma where Apollo's prophet fell; Heleon and Hyle, which the springs o'erflow; And Medeon lofty, and Ocalea low; Or in the meads of Haliartus stray, Or Thespis sacred to the god of day. Onchestus, Neptune's celebrated groves; Copæ, and Thisbè, fam'd for silver doves, For flocks Erythræ, Glissa for the vine; Platea green, and Nysa the divine. And they whom Thebe's well-built walls enclose, Where Mydè, Eutresus, Corone rose; And Arnè rich, with purple harvests crown'd; And Anthedon, Boeotia's utmost bound.
Full fifty ships they send, and each conveys
Twice sixty warriors through the foaming seas.
To these succeed Aspledon's martial train,
Who plough the spacious Orchomenian plain.
Two valiant brothers rule th' undaunted throng,
Jälmen and Ascalaphus the strong:
Sons of Astyochè, the heavenly fair,
Whose virgin charms subdued the god of war
(In Actor's court as she retir'd to rest,
The strength of Mars the blushing maid comprest).
Their troops in thirty sable vessels sweep,
With equal oars, the hoarse-resounding deep.
The Phocians next in forty barks repair,
Epistrophus and Schedius head the war.
From those rich regions where Cephissus leads
His silver current through the flowery meads;
From Panopea, Chrysa the divine,
Where Anemoria's stately turrets shine,
Where Pytho, Daulis, Cyparissus stood,
And fair Lilæa views the rising flood.
These, rang'd in order on the floating tide,
Close on the left, the bold Boeotians' side.
Fierce Ajax led the Locrian squadrons on,
Ajax the less, Oïleus' valiant son;
Skill'd to direct the flying dart aright;
Swift in pursuit, and active in the fight;
Him, as their chief, the chosen troops attend,
Which Bessa, Thronus, and rich Cynos send :
Opus, Calliarus, and Scarphe's bands
And those who dwell where pleasing Augia stands,
And where Boägrius floats the lowly lands,
Or in fair Taphe's sylvan seats reside:
In forty vessels cut the liquid tide.
Euboea next her martial sons prepares,
And sends the brave Abantes to the wars:
Breathing revenge, in arms they take their way
From Chalcis' walls, and strong Eretria;
Th' Isteian fields for generous vines renown'd,
The fair Carystos, and the Styrian ground;
Where Dios from her towers o'erlooks the plain,
And high Cerinthus views the neighbouring main.
Down their broad shoulders falls a length of hair;
Their hands dismiss not the long lance in air;
But with protended spears in fighting fields,
Pierce the tough corselets and the brazen shields:
Twice twenty ships transport the warlike bands,
Which bold Elphenor, fierce in arms, commands.
Full fifty more from Athens stem the main,
Led by Mnestheus through the liquid plain.
(Athens the fair, where great Erectheus sway'd,
That ow'd his nature to the blue-ey'd maid,
But from the teeming furrow took his birth,
The mighty offspring of the foodful Earth.
Him Pallas plac'd amidst her wealthy fane,
Ador'd with sacrifice and oxen slain;
Where, as the years revolve, her altars blaze,
And all the tribes resound the goddess' praise)
No chief like thee, Mnestheus! Greece could yield,
To marshal armies in the dusty field,
Th' extended wings of battle to display,
Or close th' embody'd host in firm array.
Nestor alone, improv'd by length of days,
For martial conduct bore an equal praise.
With these appear the Salaminian bands,
Whom the gigantic Telamon commands;
In twelve black ships to Troy they steer their course,
And with the great Athenians join their force.
Next move to war the generous Argive train,
From high Træzenè, and Maseta's plain,
And fair Ægina circled by the main :
Whom strong Tyrinthès' lofty walls surround,
And Epidaur with viny harvests crown'd;
And where fair Asinen and Hermion show
Their cliffs above, and ample bay below.
These by the brave Euryalus were led,
Great Sthenelus, and greater Diomed,
But chief Tydides bore the sovereign sway;
In four-score barks they plough the watery way,
The proud Mycenè arms her martial powers,
Cleonè, Corinth, with imperial towers,
Fair Aræthyrea, Ornia's fruitful plain,
And Egeon, and Adrastus' ancient reign;
And those who dwell along the sandy shore,
And where Pellenè yields her fleecy store,
Where Helice and Hyperesia lie,
And Gonoëssa's spires salute the sky.
Great Agamemnon rules the numerous band,
A hundred vessels in long order stand,
And crowded nations wait his dread command.
High on the deck the king of men appears,
And his refulgent arms in triumph wears;
Proud of his host, unrivall'd in his reign,
In silent pomp he moves along the main.
His brother follows, and to vengeance warms
The hardy Spartans exercis'd in arms;
Phares and Brysia's valiant troops, and those
Whom Lacedæmon's lofty hills enclose:
Or Messe's towers for silver doves renown'd,
Amyciæ, Laäs, Augia's happy ground,
And those whom Oetylos' low walls contain,
And Helos, on the margin of the main :
These, o'er the bending ocean, Helen's cause,
In sixty ships with Menelaus draws:
Eager and loud from man to man he flies,
Revenge and fury flaming in his eyes;
While vainly fond, in fancy oft he hears
The fair one's grief, and sees her falling tears.
In ninety sail, from Pylos' sandy coast,
Nestor the sage conducts his chosen host:
From Amphigenia's ever fruitful land;
Where Epy high, and little Pteleon stand;
Where beauteous Arenè her structures shows,
And Thryon's walls Alpheus' streams enclose:
And Dorion, fam'd for Thamyris' disgrace,
Superior once of all the tuneful race,
Till, vain of mortals empty praise, he strove
To match the seed of cloud-compelling Jove!
Too daring bard! whose unsuccessful pride
Th' immortal Muses in their art defy'd.
Th' avenging Muses of the light of day
Depriv'd his eyes, and snatch'd his voice away;
No more his heavenly voice was heard to sing,
His hand no more awak'd the silver string.
Where under high Cyllenè, crown'd with wood, The shaded tomb of old Egyptus stood; From Ripè, Stratie, Tegea's bordering towns, The Phenean fields, and Orchomenian downs, Where the fat herds in plenteous pasture rove; And Stymphalus with her surrounding grove, Parrhasia, on her snowy cliffs reclin'd, And high Enispè shook by wintery wind, And fair Mantinea's ever-pleasing site; In sixty sail th' Arcadian bands unite. Bold Agapenor, glorious at their head, (Ancæus' son) the mighty squadron led. Their ships supply'd by Agamemnon's care, Through roaring seas the wondering warriors
The first to battle on th' appointed plain, But new to all the dangers of the main.
Those, where fair Elis and Buprasium join;
Whom Hyrmin, here, and Myrsinus confine,
And bounded there where o'er the vallies rose
The Olenian rock; and where Alisium flows;
Beneath four chiefs (a numerous army) came:
The strength and glory of th' Epean name.
In separate squadrons these their train divide,
Each leads ten vessels through the yielding tide.
One was Amphimachus, and Thalphius one
(Earytus' this, and that Teätus' son);
Diores sprung from Amarynceus' line;
And great Polyxenus, of force divine.
But those who view fair Elis o'er the seas
From the blest islands of th' Echinades,
In forty vessels under Meges move,
Begot by Phyleus the belov'd of Jove.
To strong Dulichium from his sire he fled,
And thence to Troy his hardy warriors led.
Ulysses followed through the watery road,
A chief, in wisdom equal to a god.
With those who Cephalenia's isle enclos'd,
Or till their fields along the coast oppos'd;
Or where fair Ithaca o'erlooks the floods,
Where high Neritos shakes his waving woods,
Where Agilipa's ragged sides are seen,
Crocylia rocky, and Zacynthus green.
These in twelve galleys with vermillion prores,
Beneath his conduct sought the Phrygian shores.
Thoas came next, Andræmon's valiant son,
From Pleuron's walls, and chalky Calydon,
And rough Pylenè, and th' Olenian steep,
And Chalcis beaten by the rolling deep.
He led the warriors from th' Etolian shore,
For now the sons of Oeneus were no more!,
The glories of the mighty race were fled!
Oeneus himself, and Meleager dead!
To Thoas' care now trust the martial train,
His forty vessels follow through the main.
Next eighty barks the Cretan king commands, Of Gnossus, Lyctus, and Gortyna's bands, And those who dwell where Rhytion's domes arise, Or white Lycastus glitters to the skies, Or where by Phostus silver Jardan runs ; Crete's hundred cities pour forth all her sons. These march'd, Idomeneus, beneath thy care, And Merion, dreadful as the god of war.
Tlepolemus, the son of Hercules,
Led nine swift vessels through the foamy seas;
From Rhodes with everlasting sunshine bright,
Jalyssus, Lindus, and Camirus white.
His captive mother fierce Alcides bore,
From Ephyr's walls, and Selle's winding shore,
Where mighty towns in ruins spread the plain,
And saw their blooming warriors early slain.
The hero, when to manly years he grew,
Akides' uncle, old Licymnius, slew;
For this, constrain'd to quit his native place,
And shun the vengeance of the Herculean race,
A fleet he built, and with a numerous train
Of willing exiles, wander'd o'er the main ;
Where, many seas and many sufferings past,
On happy Rhodes the chief arriv'd at last :
There in three tribes divides his native band,
And rules them peaceful in a foreign land;
Increas'd and prosper'd in their new abodes,
By mighty Jove, the sire of men and gods;
With joy they saw the growing empire rise,
And showers of wealth descending from the skies.
Three ships with Nireus sought the Trojan shore,
Nireus, whom Aglaë to Charopus bore,
Nireus, in faultless shape and blooming grace,
The loveliest youth of all the Grecian race ›
Pelides only match'd his early charms;
But few his troops, and small his strength in arms.
Next thirty galleys cleave the liquid plain,
Of those Calydna's sea-girt isles contain;
With them the youth of Nysyrus repair,
Casus the strong, and Carpathus the fair;
Cos, where Eurypylus possest the sway,
Till great Alcides made the realms obey:
These Antiphus and bold Phidippus bring,
Sprung from the god by Thessalus the king.
Now, Muse, recount Pelasgic Argos' powers,
From Ales, Alopè, and Trechin's towers;
From Phthia's spacious vales; and Heila, blest
With female beauty far beyond the rest.
Full fifty ships beneath Achilles' care,
Th' Achaians, Myrmidons, Hellenians bear;
Thessalians all, though various in their name;
The same their nation, and their chief the same.
But now, inglorious, stretch'd along the shore,
They hear the brazen voice of war no more;
No more the foe they face in dire array;
Close in his fleet the angry leader lay;
Since fair Briseis from his arms was torn,
The noblest spoil from sack'd Lyrnessus borne,
Then, when the chief the Theban walls o'erthrew,
And the bold sons of great Evenus slew.
There mourn'd Achilles, plung'd in depth of care,
But soon to rise in slaughter, blood, and war.
To these the youth of Phylacè succeed,
Itona, famous for her fleecy breed,
And grassy Pteleon deck'd with cheerful greens,
The bowers of Ceres, and the sylvan scenes,
Sweet Pyrrhasus, with blooming flowrets crown'd,
And Antron's watery dens, and cavern'd ground.
These own'd as chief Protesilas the brave,
Who now lay silent in the gloomy grave:
The first who boldly touch'd the Trojan shore,
And dy'd a Phrygian lance with Grecian gore;
There lies, far distant from his native plain;
Unfinish'd, his proud palaces remain,
And his sad consort beats her breast in vain.
His troops in forty ships Podarces led,
Iphiclus' son, and brother to the dead ;
Nor he unworthy to command the host;
Yet still they mourn'd their ancient leader lost.
The men who Glaphrya's fair toil partake,
Where hills encircle Babe's lowly lake,
Where Phare hears the neighbouring waters fall,
Or proud Iölcus lifts her airy wall,
In ten black ships embark'd for Ilion's shore,
With bold Eumylus, whom Alcestè bore:
All Pelias' race Alcestè far outshin'd,
The grace and glory of the beauteous kind.
The troops Methonè or Thaumachia yields,
Olizon's rocks, or Meliboa's fields,
With Philoctetes sail'd, whose matchless art,
From the tough bow directs the feather'd dart
Seven were his ships; each vessel fifty row,
Skill'd in his science of the dart and bow.
But he lay raging on the Lemnian ground,
A poisonous Hydra gave the burning wound;
There groan'd the chief in agonizing pain,
Whom Greece at length shall wish, nor wish in
His forces Medeon led from Lemnos' shore, Oileus' son, whom beauteous Rhena bore.
Th' Echalian race, in those high towers contain'd, Where once Eurytus in proud triumph reign'd,
Or where her humbler turrets Tricca rears,
Or where Ithomè, rough with rocks, appears ;
In thirty sail the sparkling waves divide,
Which Podalirius and Machaon guide.
To these his skill their parent-god1 imparts,
Divine professors of the healing arts.
The bold Ormenian and Asterian bands
In forty barks Eurypylus commands,
Where Titan hides his hoary head in snow,
And where Hyperia's silver fountains flow.
Thy troops, Argissa, Polypates leads,
And Eleon, shelter'd by Olympus' shades,
Gyrtone's warriors; and where Orthè lies,
And Oleosson's chalky cliffs arise.
Sprung from Pirithous of immortal race,
The fruit of fair Hippodamè's embrace,
Where Typhon, prest beneath the burning load,
Still feels the fury of th' avenging God.
But various Iris, Jove's commands to bear,
Speeds on the wings of winds through liquid air;
In Priam's porch the Trojan chiefs she found,
The old consulting, and the youths around.
Polites' shape, the monarch's son, she chose,
Who from Esetes' tomb observ'd the foes,
High on the mound; from whence in prospect lay
The fields, the tents, the navy, and the bay.
In this dissembled form, she hastes to bring
Th' unwelcome message to the Phrygian king:
"Cease to consult, the time for action calls,
War, horrid war, approaches to your walls!
Assembled armies oft have I beheld;
But ne'er till now such numbers charg'd the field,
(That day when, hurl'd from Pelion's cloudy head, Thick as autumnal leaves or driving sand,
To distant dens the shaggy Centaurs fled)
With Polypoetes join'd in equal sway
Leontes leads, and forty ships obey.
In twenty sail the bold Perrhæbians came
From Cyphus, Guneus was their leader's name.
With these the Enians join'd, and those who freeze
Where cold Dodona lifts her holy trees;
Or where the pleasing Titaresius glides,
And into Peneus rolls his easy tides;
Yet o'er the silver surface pure they flow,
The sacred stream unmix'd with streams below,
Sacred and awful! From the dark abodes
Styx pours them forth, the dreadful oath of gods!
Last under Prothous the Magnesiaus stood,
Prothous the swift, of old Tenthredron's blood;
Who dwell where Pelion, crown'd with piny boughs,
Obscures the glade, and nods his shaggy brows;
Or where through flowery Tempè Peneus stray'd,
(The region stretch'd beneath his mighty shade)
In forty sable barks they stemm'd the main ;
Such were the chiefs, and such the Grecian train.
Say next, O Muse! of all Achaia breeds,
Who bravest fought, or rein'd the noblest steeds?
Eumeleus' mares were foremost in the chase,
As eagles fleet, and of Pheretian race :
Bred where Pieria's fruitful fountains flow,
And train'd by him who bears the silver bow.
Fierce in the fight their nostrils breathe a flame,
Their height, their colour, and their age the same;
O'er fields of death they whirl the rapid car,
And break the ranks, and thunder through the war.
Ajax in arms the first renown acquir'd,
While stern Achilles in his wrath retir'd
(His was the strength that mortal might exceeds,
And his, th' unrivall'd race of heavenly steeds).
But Thetis' son now shines in arms no more;
His troops, neglected on the sandy shore,
In empty air their sportive javelins throw,
Or whirl the disk, or bend an idle bow:
Unstain'd with blood his cover'd chariots stand;
Th' immortal coursers graze along the strand;
But the brave chiefs th' inglorious life deplor'd,
And wandering o'er the camp, requir'd their lord.
Now, like a deluge, covering all around,
The shining armies swept along the ground:
Swift as a flood of fire, when storms arise,
Floats the wide field, and blazes to the skies.
Earth groan'd beneath them, as when angry Jove
Hurls down the forky lightning from above,
On Arime when he the thunder throws,
And fires Typhæus with redoubled blows,
The moving squadrons blacken all the strand.
Thou, godlike Hector! all thy force employ,
Assemble all th' united bands of Troy;
In just array let every leader call
The foreign troops: this day demands them all.
The voice divine the mighty chief alarms;
The council breaks, the warriors rush to arms.
The gates unfolding pour forth all their train,
Nations on nations fill the dusky plain. [ground;
Men, steeds, and chariots, shake the trembling
The tumult thickens, and the skies resound.
Amidst the plain in sight of Ilion stands
A rising mount, the work of human hands;
(This for Myrinne's tomb th' immortals know,
Though call'd Batiëa in the world below)
Beneath their chiefs in martial order here,
Th' auxiliar troops and Trojan hosts appear.
The godlike Hector, high above the rest,
Shakes his huge spear, and nods his plumy crest:
In throngs around his native bands repair,
And groves of lances glitter in the air.
Divine Æneas brings the Dardan race, Anchises' son by Venus' stol'n embrace, Born in the shades of Ida's secret grove, (A mortal mixing with the queen of love) : Archilochus and Acama divide The warrior's toils and combat by his side. Who fair Zeleia's wealthy valleys till, Fast by the foot of Ida's sacred hill, Or drink, Esepus, of thy sable flood, Were led by Pandarus, of royal blood; To whom his art Apollo deign'd to show, Grac'd with the presents of his shafts and bow. From rich Apæsus' and Adrestia's towers, High Teree's summits, and Pityea's bowers; From these the congregated troops obey Young Amphius' and Adrastus' equal sway: Old Merops' sons; whom, skill'd in fates to come, The sire forewarn'd, and prophesy'd their doom: Fate urg'd them on! the sire forewarn'd in vain, They rush'd to war, and perish'd on the plain.
From Practius' stream, Percote's pasture lands, And Sestos and Abydos' neighbouring strands, From great Arisba's walls and Selle's coast, Asius Hyrtacides conducts his host: High on his car he shakes the flowing reins, His fiery coursers thunder o'er the plains.
The fierce Pelasgi next, in war renown'd,
March from Larissa's ever-fertile ground:
In equal arms their brother leaders shine
Hippothous bold, and Pyleus the divine.
Next Acamus an! Pyrous lead their hosts,
In dread array, from Thracia's wintery coasts;
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