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The conquering Trojans mourn his beams decay'd; The Greeks, rejoicing, blefs the friendly fhade.

The victors keep the field; and Hector calls A martial counsel near the navy walls; These to Scamander's banks apart he led, Where, thinly fcatter'd, lay the heaps of dead. Th' affembled chiefs, defcending on the ground, Attend his order, and their prince surround. A mafly fpear he bore of mighty strength, Of full ten cubits was the lance's length; The point was brafs, refulgent to behold, Fix'd to the wood with circling rings of gold:" The noble Hector on this lance reclin'd, And, bending forward, thus reveal'd his mind Ye valiant Trojans, with attention hear! Ye Dardan bands, and generous aids, give ear! This day, we hop'd, would wrap in conquering flame

:

Greece with her fhips, and crown our toils with
But darkness now, to fave the cowards, falls, [fame.
And guards them trembling in their wooden walls.
Obey the night, and use her peaceful hours
Our feeds to forage, and refresh our powers.
Straight from the town be fheep and oxen fought
And itrengthening bread, and generous wine be
brought.

Wide o'er the field, high blazing to the fky,
Let numerous fires the abfent fun fupply,
The flaming piles with plenteous fuel raise,
Till the bright morn her purple beam difplays;
Left, in the filence and the fhades of night,
Greece on her fable ships attempt her flight.
Not unmolefted let the wretches gain
Their lofty decks, or fafely cleave the main;
Some hoftile wound let every dart bestow,
Some lafting token of the Phrygian foe; [care,
Wounds, that long hence may ask their fpoufes'
And warn their children from a Trojan war.
Now through the circuit of our Ilion wall,
Let facred heralds found the folemn call;
To bid the fires with hoary honours crown'd,
And beardless youths, our battlements furround.
Firm be the guard, while diftant lie our powers,
And let the matrons hang with lights the towers:
Left, under cover of the midnight shade,
Th' infidious foe the naked town invade.
Suffice, to night, thefe orders to obey;
A nobler charge fhall rouze the dawning day.
The Gods, I truft, fhall give to Hector's hand,
From thele detefted foes to free the land,
Who plough'd, with fates averfe, the watery way;
For Trojan vultures a predeftin'd prey.

| Our common fafety must be now the care;
But foon as morning paints the fields of air,
Sheath'd in bright arms let every troop engage,
And the fir'd fleet behold the battle rage,
Then, then fhall Hector and Tydides prove,
Whofe fates are heavieft in the fcales of Jove:
To-morrow's light (oh hafte the glorious morn :)
Shall fee his bloody fpoils in triumph borne;
With this keen javelin shall his breast be gor'd,
And proftrate heroes bleed around their lord.
Certain as this, oh! might my days endure,
From age inglorious, and black death fecure;
So might my life and glory know no bound,
Like Pallas worshipp'd, like the fun renown'd!.
As the next dawn the laft they fhall enjoy,
Shall crush the Greeks, and end the woes of Troy.
The leader fpoke. From all his hoft around.
Shouts of applaufe along the thores refound.
Each from the yoke the fmoking steeds unty'd,
And fix'd their headstalls to his chariot fide.
Fat fheep and oxen from the town are led,
With generous wine, and all-fuftaining bread.
Full hecatcombs lay burning on the shore;
The winds to heaven the curling vapours bore.
Ungrateful offering to th' immortal powers!
Whofe wrath hung heavy o'er the Trojan towers;
Nor Priam nor his fons obtain'd their grace;
Proud Troy they hated, and her guilty race.

The troops exulting fat in order round,
And beaming fires illumin'd all the ground;
As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night!
O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her facred light,
When not a breath disturbs the deep ferene,
And not a cloud o'ercafts the folemn scene;
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And ftars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole;
O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure thed,
And tip with filver every mountains head;
Then fhine the vales, the rocks in profpect rife,
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies:
The confcious fwains, rejoicing in the fight,
Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light:
So many flames before proud Ilion blaze,
And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays:
The long reflections of the diftant fires
Gleam on the walls, and tremble on the spires.
A thoutand piles the dufky horrors gild,
And fhout a fhady luftre o'er the field.
Full fifty guards each flaming pile attend,
Whole umber'd arms, by fits, thick flashes fend;
Loud neigh the couriers o'er their heaps of corn;
And ardent warriors wait the rifing morn.

BOOK IX.

THE ARGUMENT.

The Embay to Achilles.

Agamemnon, after the last day's defeat, propofes to the Greeks to quit the fiege, and return to their country. Diomed oppofes this; and Neftor feconds him, praifing his wifdom and refolution; he orders the guard to be strengthened, and a council fummoned to deliberate what measures are to be followed in this emergency. Agamemnon pursues this advice: and Neftor farther prevails upon

1

him to fend ambaffadors to Achilles, in order to move him to a reconciliation. Ulyffes and Ajax are made choice of, who are accompanied by old Phoenix. They make, each of them, very moving and preffing fpeeches; but are rejected, with roughnefs, by Achilles, who, notwithstanding, retains Phoenix in his tent. The ambaffadors return unsuccessfully to the camp; and the troops betale themselves to fleep.

This book, and the next following, take up the space of one night, which is the twenty-feventh from the beginning of the poem. The fcene lies on the fea-1hore, the station of the Grecian ships.

THUS joyful Troy maintain'd the watch of night;
While fear, pale comrade of inglorious flight,
And heaven-bred horror, on the Grecian part,
Sat on each face, and fadden'd every heart.
As, from its cloudy dungeon iffuing forth,
A double tempeft of the weft and north
Swells o'er the fea, from Thracia's frozen fhore,
Heaps waves on waves, and bids th' Ægean roar;
This way and that, the boiling deeps are toft;
Such various paffions urge the troubled hoft.
Great Agamemnon griev'd above the reft;
Superior forrows fwell'd his royal breast;
Himself his orders to the heralds bears,
To bid to council all the Grecian peers;
But bid in whispers: these furround the chief,
In folemn fadnefs, and majestic grief.
The king amidst the mournful circle rofe;
Down his wan cheek a briny torrent flows:
So filent fountains, from a rock's tall head,
In fable ftreams foft trickling waters fhed.
With more than valgar grief he stood oppreft,
Words, mix'd with fighs, thus bursting from his
breaft;

Ye fons of Greece! partake your leader's care;
Fellows in arms, and princes of the war!
Of partial Jove too juftly we complain,
And heavenly oracles believ'd in vain.
A fafe return was promis'd to our toils,

With conqueft honour'd, and enrich'd with spoils:
Now fhameful flight alone can save the hoft;
Our wealth, our people, and our glory loft.
So Jove decrees. Almighty Lord of all !
Jove, at whofe nod whole empires rife or fall,
Who shakes the feeble props of human trust,
And towers and armies humbles to the duft.
Hafte then, for ever quit these fatal fields,
Hafte to the joys our native country yields;
Spread all your canvas, all your oars employ;
Nor hope the fall of heaven-defended Troy.

He faid; deep filence held the Grecian band,
Silent, unmov'd, in dire difmay they stand,
A penfive scene! till Tydeus' warlike fon
Roll'd on the king his eyes, and thus begun :
When kings advife us to renounce our fame,
Firft let him speak, who first has suffer'd shame.
If I oppose thee, prince, thy wrath with-hold,
The laws of council bid my tongue be bold.
Thou first, and thou alone, in fields of fight,
Durft brand my courage, and defame my might:
Nor from a friend th' unkind reproach appear'd,
The Greeks flood witness, all our army heard.
The Gods, O chief! from whom our honours spring,
The Gods have made thee but by halves a king.
They gave thee fceptres, and a wide command,
They gave dominion o'er the feas and land;
The noblest power that might the world controul
They gave thee not-a brave and virtuous foul.
Is this a general's voice, that would suggest
Fears like his own to every Grecian breaft?

| Confiding in our want of worth he ftands;
And if we fly, 'tis what our king commands.
Go thou, inglorious! from th' embattled plain;
Ships thou haft store, and nearest to the main;
A nobler car the Grecians fhall employ,
To combat, conquer, and extirpate Troy.
Here Greece fhall ftay; or, if all Greece retire,
Myfelf will stay, till Troy or I expire:
Myfelf and Sthenelus will fight for fame;
God bade us fight, and 'twas with God we came.
He ceas'd; the Greeks loud acclamations raise,
And voice to voice refounds Tydides praife.
Wife Neftor then his reverend figure rear'd;
He spoke; the hoft in ftill attention heard:
O truly great! in whom the Gods have join'd
Such ftrength of body with fuch force of mind;
In conduct, as in courage, you excel,

Still firft to act what you advife fo well. [moves,
Thofe whole fome counfels which thy wifdom
Applauding Greece, with common voice approves.
Kings thou canst blame; a bold, but prudent youth;
And blame ev'n kings with praife, because with

truth.

And yet thofe years that fince thy birth have run,
Would hardly ftyle thee Neftor's youngest fon.
Then let me add what yet remains behind,
A thought unfinish'd in that generous mind;
Age bids me fpeak; nor fhall th' advice I bring
Diftafte the people, or offend the king:

Curs'd is the man, and void of law and right,
Unworthy property, unworthy light,
Unfit for public rule, or private care;
That wretch, that monster, who delights in war:
Whofe luft is murder, and whofe horrid joy,
To tear his country, and his kind destroy!
This night, refresh and fortify thy train;
Between the trench and wall let guards remain :
Be that the duty of the young and bold;
But thou, O king, to council call the old :
Great is thy fway, and weighty are thy cares;
Thy high commands muft fpirit all our wars.
With Thracian wines recruit thy honour'd guefts,
For happy counfels flow from fober feasts.
Wife, weighty counfels, aid a ftate diftreft,
And fuch a monarch as can choose the best.
See! what a blaze from hoftile tents afpires,
How near our fleet approach the Trojan fires!
Who can, unmov'd, bold the dreadful light?
What eye beholds them, and can close to-night?
This dreadful interval determines all;
To-morrow, Troy muft flame, or Greece must fall.
Thus fpoke the hoary fage: the rest obey;
Swift through the gates the guards direct their
His fon was firft to pass the lofty mound, [way.
The generous Thrafymed, in arms renown'd:
Next him, Afcalaphus, Taimen, ftood,
The double offspring of the Warrior-God.
Deïpyrus, Apharius, Merion, join,
And Lycomed, of (ron's noble line.

Seven were the leaders of the nightly bands;
And each bold chief a hundred fpears commands.
The fires they light, to fhort repafts they fall;
Some line the trench, and others man the wall.
The king of men on public counfels bent,
Conven'd the princes in his ample tent;
Each feiz'd a portion of the kingly feaft,
But ftaid his hand when thirst and hunger ceas'd.
Then Neftor spoke, for wifdom long approv'd,
And, flowly rifing, thus the council mov'd:

Monarch of nations! whofe fuperior fway
Affembled ftates and lords of earth obey,
The laws and fceptres to thy hand are given,
And millions own the care of thee and Heaven.
O king the counfels of my age attend;
With thee my cares begin, in thee must end;
Thee, prince! it fits alike to speak and hear,
Pronounce with judgment, with regard give ear,
To fee no wholefome motion be withstood,
And ratify the best for public good."
Nor, though a meaner give advice, repine,
But follow it, and make the wifdom thine.
Hear then a thought, not now conceiv'd in hafte,
At once my prefent judgment, and my paft:
When from Pelides' tent you forc'd the maid,
1 first oppos'd, and faithful durft diffuade;
But bold of foul, when headlong fury fir'd,
You wrong'd the man, by men and Gods admir'd:
Now feek fome means his fatal wrath to end,
With prayers to move him, or with gifts to bend.
Towhom the king: With juftice haft thou shown
A prince's faults, and I with reafon own.
That happy man, whom Jove ftill honours most,
Is more than armies, and himself an hott.
Bleft in his love, this wond'rous hero ftands;
Heaven fights his war, and humbles all our bands,
Fain would my heart, which err'd through frantic
rage,

The wrathful chief and angry Gods affuage.
If gifts immenfe his mighty foul can bow,
Hear, all ye Greeks, and witness what I vow:
Ten weighty talents of the purest gold,
And twice ten vafes of refulgent mold;
Seven facred tripods, whofe unfully'd frame
Yet knows no office, nor has felt the flame:
Twelve fteeds unmatch'd in fleetness and in force,
And ftill victorious in the dufty course;
(Rich were the man whofe ample ftores exceed
The prizes purchas'd by their winged speed).
Seven lovely captives of the Lefbian line,
Skill'd in each art, unmatch'd, in form divine;
The fame I chofe for more than vulgar charms,
When Lesbos funk beneath the hero's arms:
All thele, to buy his friendship, thall be paid,
And, join'd with thefe, the long-contefted maid;
With all her charms, Brifes I refign,

And folemn fwear thofe charms were never mine:
Untouch'd fhe ftay'd, uninjur'd fie removes,
Pure from my arms, and guiltless of my loves.
Thefe, inftant, fhall be bis; and if the Powers
Give to our arms proud Ilion's hoftile towers,
Then fhall he tore (when Greece the spoil divides)
With gold and brafs his loaded navy's fides.
Befides, full twenty nymphs of Trojan race
With copious love fhall crown his warm embrace;
Such as himself will choofe; who yield to none,
Or yield to Helen's heavenly charms alone.

Yet hear me farther: when our wars are o'er,
If fafe we land on Argos' fruitful fhore,
There fhall he live my fon, our honours fhare,
And with Oreftes' felf divide my care.
Yet more three daughters in my court are bred,
And each well worthy of a royal bed;
Laodicé and Iphigenia fair,

And bright Chryfothemis with golden hair;
Her let him choose, whom moit his eyes approve ;
I afk no prefents, no reward for love:
Myfelf will give the dower; fo vaft a store
As never father gave a child before.
Seven ample cities fhall confefs his fway,
Him Enopé, and Phære him obey,
Cardamylé with ample turrets crown'd,
And facred Pedafus for vines renown'd;
Epea fair, the pastures Hira yields,
And rich Antheia with her flowery fields:
The whole extent to Pylos' fandy plain,
Along the verdant margin of the main.
There heifers graze, and labouring oxen toil;
Bold are the men, and generous is the foil;
There fhall he reign with power and justice
And rule the tributary realms around. {crown'd
All this I give, his vengeance to controul,
And fure all this may move his mighty foul.
Pluto, the grisly God, who never spares,
Who feels no mercy, and who hears no prayers,
Lives dark and dreadful in deep hell's abodes,
And mortals hate him as the worft of Gods.
Great though he be, it fits him to obey;
Since more than his my years, and more my fway.

The monarch thus. The reverend Neftor then :
Great Agamemnon! glorious king of men!
Such are thy offers as a prince may take,
And fuch as fits a generous king to make.
Let chofen delegates this hour be fent,
(Myfelf will name them) to Pelides' tent;
Let Phoenix lead, rever'd for hoary age,
Great Ajax next, and Ithacus the fage.
Yet more to fanctify the word you send,
Let Hodius and Eurybates attend.
Now pray to Jove to grant what Greece demands;
Pray, in deep filence, and with pureft hands.

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He faid, and all approv'd. The heralds bring The cleanfing water from the living spring. The youth with wine the facred goblets crown'd And large libations drench'd the fands around. The rite perform'd, the chiefs their thirst allay, Then from the royal tent they take their way; Wife Neftor turns on each his careful eye, Forbids t' offend, inftructs them to apply: Much he advis'd them all, Ulyffes moft, To deprecate the chief, and fave the hoft. Through the ftill night they march, and hear the Of murmuring billows on the founding fhore. To Neptune, ruler of the feas profound, Whole liquid arms the mighty globe surround They pour forth vows, their embaffy to blefs, And calm the rage of ftern Æacides. And now, arriv'd where on the fandy bay The Myrmidonian tents and veffels lay, Amus'd at eafe the godlike man they found, Pleas'd with the folemn harp's harmonious found (The well-wrought harp from conquer'd Thet a

came,

Of polish'd filver was its coftly frame);

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With this he foothes his angry foul, and fings
Th'immortal deeds of heroes and of kings.
Patroclus only of the royal train,
Plac'd in his tent, attends the lofty strain:
Full oppofite be fate, and liften'd long,
In filence waiting till he ceas'd the fong.
Unfeen the Grecian embally proceeds
To his high tent; the great Ulyffes leads.
Achilles, ftarting, as the chiefs he spy'd,
Leap'd from his feat, and laid the harp afide.
With like furprize arofe Menoetius' fon:
Pelides grafp'd their hands, and thus begun:
Princes, all hail! whatever brought you here,
Or ftrong neceffity, or urgent fear;
Welcome, though Greeks! for not as foes ye came;
To me more dear than all that bear the name.
With that, the chiefs beneath his roof he led,
And plac'd in feats with purple carpets spread.
Then thus-Patroclus, crown a larger bowl,
Mix purer wine, and open every foul.
Of all the warriors yonder host can send,

Thy friend most honours these, and these thy friend.
He faid; Patroclus o'er the blazing fire,
Heaps in a brazen vafe three chines entire :
The brazen vafe Automedon fuftains,
Which fleth of porket, fheep, and goat, contains :
Achilles at the genial feaft prefides,
The parts transfixes, and with skill divides.
Mean while Patroclus fweats the fire to raife;
The tent is brighten'd with the rifing blaze:
Then, when the languid flames at length fubfide,
He ftraws a bed of glowing embers wide,
Above the coals the fmoking fragments turns,
And fprinkles facred falt from lifted urns;
With bread the glittering cannifters they load,
Which round the board Menoetius' fon beftow'd;
Himfelf, oppos'd t' Ulyffes full in fight,
Each portion parts, and orders every rite.
The firft fat offerings, to th' Immortals due,
Amidft the greedy flames Patroclus threw;
Then each, indulging in the focial feast,
His thirst and hunger feberly repreft.
That done, to Phoenix Ajax gave the fign;
Not unperceiv'd; Ulyffes crown'd with wine
The foaming bowl, and inftant thus began,
His fpeech addreffing to the godlike man:

Health to Achilles! happy are thy guests!
Not thofe more honour'd whom Atrides feafts:
Though generous plenty crown thy loaded boards,
That Agamemnon's regal tent affords,
But greater cares fit heavy on our fouls,
Not eas'd by banquets or by flowing bowls.
What fcenes of flaughter in yon fields appear!
The dead we mourn, and for the living fear;
Greece on the brink of fate all doubtful stands,
And owns no help but from thy faving hands:
Troy, and her aids, for ready vengeance call;
Their threatening tents already fhade our wall:
Hear how with fhouts their conqueft they pro-
claim,

And point at every hip their vengeful flame!
For them the Father of the Gods declares,
Theirs are bis omens, and his thunder theirs.
See, full of Jove, avenging Hector rife!
See, heaven and earth the raging chief defies;
What fury in his breaft, what lightning in his
cyes!

1

He waits but for the môrn, to sink in flame '
The ships, the Greeks, and all the Grecian name.
Heavens! how my country's woesdiftract my mind,
Left fate accomplish all his rage defiga'd.
And muft we, Gods! our heads inglorious lay
In Trojan duft, and this the fatal day?
Return, Achilles! oh return, though late,
To fave thy Greeks, and ftop the course of fate;
If in that heart or grief or courage lies,
Rife to redeem; ah yet, to conquer, rife!
The day may come, when, all our warriors flain,
That heart hall melt, that courage rife in vain.
Regard in time, O prince divinely brave!
Those whole fome counfels which thy father gave.
When Peleus in his aged arms embrac'd
His parting fon, thefe accents were his last:
My child! with strength, with glory and fuccefs,
Thy arms may Juno and Minerva blefs!
Truft that to Heaven: but thou, thy cares engage
To calm thy paflions, and fubdue thy rage:
From gentler manners let thy glory grow,
And thun contention, the fure fource of woe;
That young and old may in thy praise combine,
The virtues of humanity be thine

This, now defpis'd, advice thy father gave;
Ah, check thy anger, and be truly brave.
If thou wilt yield to great Atrides' prayers,
Gifts worthy thee his royal hand prepares;
If not---but hear me, while I number o'er
The proffer'd presents, an exhaustless store:
Ten weighty talents of the pureft gold,
And twice ten vafes of refulgent mould;
Seven facred tripods, whofe unfully'd frame
Yet knows no office, nor has felt the flame:
Twelve steeds unmatch'd in fleetness and in force,
And till victorious in the dusty course;
(Rich were the man whofe ample stores exceed
The prizes purchas'd by their winged fpeed).
Seven lovely captives of the Lesbian line,
Skill'd in each art, unmatch'd, in form divine;
The fame he chofe for more than vulgar charms,
When Lesbos funk beneath thy conquering arms.
All thefe, to buy thy friendship, fhall be paid,
And, join'd with thefe, the long-contefted maid,
With all her charms, Brifeïs he'll refign,
And folemn fwear thofe charms were only thine;
Untouch'd the ftay'd, uninjur'd she removes,
Pure from his arms, and guiltlefs of his loves.
Thefe, inftant, shall be thine; and if the Powers
Give to our arms proud Ilion's hoftile towers,
Then shalt thou ftore (when Greece the fpoil di-
ides)

With gold and brass thy loaded navy's fides.
Befides, full twenty nymphs of Trojan race
With copious love fhall crown thy warm embrace;
Such as thyfelf fhall choofe; who yield to none,
Or yield to Helen's heavenly charms alone.
Yet hear me farther: when our wars are o'er,
If fafe we land on Argos' fruitful fhore,
There fhalt thou live his fon, his honours fhare,
And with Oreftes' felf divide his care.
Yet more---three daughters in his court are bred,
And each well worthy of a royal bed;
Laodicé and Iphigenia fair,

And bright Cryothemis with golden hair ;
Her fhalt thou wed whom moft thy eyes approve ;
He aiks no prefents, no reward for love:

POPE'S

Himself will give the dower; so vast a store
As never father gave a child before.
Seven ample cities fhall confefs thy sway,
Thee Enopé, and Phere thee obey,
Cardamylé with ample turrets crown'd,
And facred Pedafus, for vines renown'd;
Epea fair, the pastures Hira yields,
And rich Antheïa with her flowery fields:
The whole extent to Pylos' fandy plain
Along the verdant margin of the main.
There heifers graze, and labouring oxen toil;
Bold are the men, and generous is the foil.
There, fhalt thou reign with power and justice
crown'd,

And rule the tributary realms around.
Suh are the proffers which this day we bring,
Such the repentance of a fuppliant king,
But if all this, relentlefs, thou difdain,
If honour, and if intereft, plead in vain ;
Yet fome redrefs to fuppliant Greece afford,
And be, amongst her guardian Gods, ador'd.
If no regard thy fuffering country claim,
Hear thy own glory, and the voice of fame :
For know that chief, whofe unrefifted ire
Made nations tremble, and whole hofts retire,
Proud Hector, now, th' unequal fight demands,
And only triumphs to deserve thy hands.

Then thus the Goddefs-born: Ulyffes, hear
A faithful speech, that knows not art, nor fear;
What in my fecret foul is understood,
My tongue fhall utter, and my deeds make good.
Let Greece then know, my purpose I retain:
Nor with new treaties vex my peace in vain.
Who dares think one thing, and another tell,
My heart detefts him as the gates of hell.

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Then thus, in fhort, my fixt refolves attend,
Which nor Atrides, nor his Greeks, can bend;
Long toils, long perils, in their cause I bore,
But now th' unfruitful glories charm no more.
Fight or fight not, a like reward we claim,
The wretch and hero find their prize the fame;
Alike regretted in the duft he lies,
Who yields ignobly, or who bravely dies.
Of all my dangers, all my glorious pains,
A life of labours, lo! what fruit remains?
As the bold bird her helpless young attends,
From danger guards them, and from want defends:
In fearch of prey the wings the spacious air,
And with th' untafted food fupplies her care:
For thanklefs Greece fuch hardships have I brav'd,
Her wives, her infants, by my labours fav'd;
Long fleepless nights in heavy arms 1 ftood,
And sweat laborious days in duft and blood.
I fack'd twelve ample cities on the main,
And twelve lay fmoking on the Trojan plain :
Then at Atrides' haughty feet were laid
The wealth I gather'd, and the spoils I made.
Your mighty monarch thefe in peace poffeft;
Some few my foldiers had, himself the reft.
Some present too to every prince was paid;
And every prince enjoys the gift he made;
I only must refund, of all his train;
See what preeminence our merits gain!
My spoil alone his greedy foul delights;
My spouse alone must blefs his luftful nights:
The woman, let him (as he may) enjoy;
But what's the quarrel, then of Greece to Troy?

HOMER,

What to these fhores th' affembled nations draws,
What calls for vengeance but a woman's caufe ?
Are fair endowments, and a beauteous face,
Belov'd by none but those of Atreus' race?
The wife whom choice and paffion both approve,
Sure every wife and worthy man will love.
Nor did my fair-one lefs diftinction claim;
Slave as he was, my foul ador'd the dame.
Wrong'd in my love, all proffers I difdain;
Deceiv'd for once, I truft not kings again.
Ye have my anfwer---what remains to do,
Your king, Ulyffes, may confult with you.
What needs he the defence this arm can make?
Has he not walls no human force can shake?
Has he not fenc'd his guarded navy round,
With piles, with ramparts, and a trench profound?-
And will not thefe (the wonders he has done)
Repel the rage of Priam's fingle fon?

There was a time ('twas when for Greece I fought)
When Hector's prowefs no fuch wonders wrought:
He kept the verge of Troy, nor dar'd to wait
Achilles fury at the Scæan gate;

He try'd it once, and fcarce was fav'd by fate.
But now those ancient enmities are o'er;
To morrow we the favouring Gods implore;
Then fhall you see our parting vefels crown'd,
And hear with oars the Hellefpont refound.
The third day hence, shall Pthia greet our fails,
If mighty Neptune fend propitious gales;
Phthia to her Achilles fhall restore

The wealth he left for this detefted fhore:
Thither the spoils of this long war thall pass,
The ruddy gold, the fteel, and fhining brass;
My beauteous captives thither I'll convey,
And all that refts of my unravifh'd prey.
One only valued gift your tyrant gave,
And that refum'd, the fair Lyrneffian flave.
Then tell him, loud, that all the Greeks may hear,
And learn to fcorn the wretch they bafely fear;
(For, arm'd in impudence, mankind he braves,
And meditates new cheats on all his flaves;
Though fhameless as he is, to face these eyes
Is what he dares not; if he dares he dies)
Tell him, all terms, all commerce, I decline,
Nor share his council, nor his battle join;
For once deceiv'd, was his; but twice, were mine..
No---let the ftupid prince, whom Jove deprives
Of fenfe and juftice, run where frenzy drives;
Stand but as flaves before a noble mind.
His gifts are hateful: kings of fuch a kind
Not though he proffer'd all himself poffeft,
And all his rapine could from others wreft;
Not all the golden tides of wealth that crown
The many-peopled Orchomenian town;
Not all proud Thebes' unrivall'd walls contain,
The world's great emprefs on th' Ægyptian plain,
(That spreads her conquefts o'er a thousand states,
And pours her heroes through a hundred gates,
Two hundred horsemen, and two hundred cars
From each wide portal iffuing to the wars)
Though bribes were heap'd on bribes, in number

more

Than duft in fields, or fand along the fhore;
Should all thefe offers for my friendship call;
'Tis he that offers, and I fcorn them all.
Atrides' daughter never shall be led
(An ill-match'd confort) to Achilles' bed;

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