They hear, they run; and, gathering at his call,
Raife fcaling-engines, and afcend the wall:
Around the works a wood of glittering spears
Shoots up, and all the rifing hoft appears.
A ponderous stone bold Hector heav'd to throw,
Pointed above, and rough and gross below:
Not two ftrong men th' enormous weight could raise, Such men as live in thefe degenerate days;
Yet this, as eafy as a fwain could bear
The fnowy fleece, he tofs'd, and shook in air:
For Jove upheld, and lighten'd of its load
Th' unwieldy rock, the labour of a God.
Thus arm'd, before the folded gates he came,
Of maffy fubftance, and stupendous frame;
With iron bars and brazen hinges ftrong,
On lofty beams of solid timber hung:
Then, thundering through the planks with forceful fway,
Drives the sharp rock; the folid beams give way, 550
The folds are fhatter'd; from the crackling door
Leap the refounding bars, the flying hinges roar.
Now rushing in, the furious chief appears,
Gloomy as night! and shakes two shining spears:
A dreadful gleam from his bright armour came,
And from his eye-balls flash'd the living flame.
He moves a God, refiftless in his course,
And seems a match for more than mortal force.
Then pouring after, through the gaping space,
A tide of Trojans flows, and fills the place;
The Greeks behold, they tremble, and they fly;
The shore is heap'd with death, and tumult rends the sky.