Such wisdom foon fhould Priam's force destroy.
And foon fhould fall the haughty towers of Troy! 445
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 captive maid the caufe:
If e'er as friends we join, the Trojan wall
Must shake, and heavy will the vengeance fall!
But now, ye warriours, take a short repast:
And, well-refresh'd, to bloody conflict hafte.
His fharpen'd fpear let every Grecian wield,
And every Grecian fix his brazen fhield;
Let all excite the fiery fteeds of war,
And all for combat fit the rattling car.
This day, this dreadful day, let each contend;
No reft, no refpite, 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 each brawny arm depreft,
Each aching nerve refuse the lance to throw,
And each spent courser at the chariot blow.
Who dares, inglorious, in his fhips to stay,
Who dares to tremble on this fignal day;
That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power,
The birds fall mangle, and the dogs devour.
The monarch spoke; and straight a murmur rofe, Loud as the furges when the tempeft blows, That dafh'd on broken rocks tumultuous roar, And foam and thunder on the ftony shore.
Straight to the tents the troops difperfing bend,
The fires are kindled, and the smokes afcend;
With hafty feast they facrifice, and pray
T'avert the dangers of the doubtful day.
A fteer of five years' age, large limb'd, and fed,
To Jove's high altars Agamemnon led;
There bade the nobleft of the Grecian peers;
And Neftor first, as most advanc'd in years.
Next came Idomeneus, and Tydeus' son,
Ajax the less, and Ajax Telamon;
Then wife Ulyffes in his rank was plac'd;
And Menelaus came unbid, the last.
The chiefs furround the deftin'd beast, and take
The facred offering of the falted cake.
When thus the king prefers his folemn prayer:
Oh thou! whofe 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 fun defcends,
Before the night her gloomy veil extends,
Low in the dust be laid yon hoftile fpires,
Be Priam's palace funk in Grecian fires,
In Hector's breast be plung'd this fhining fword,
And flaughter'd heroes groan around their lord!
Thus pray'd the chief: his unavailing prayer
Great Jove refus'd, and toft in empty air:
The God averfe, while yet the fumes arose,
Prepar'd new toils, and doubled woes on woes.
Their prayers perform'd, the chiefs the rite purfue,
The barley fprinkled, and the victim flew.
The limbs they fever from th' inclosing hide,
The thighs, felected to the Gods, divide.
On thefe, in double cauls involv'd with art,
The choiceft morfels lie from every part.
From the cleft wood the crackling flames aspire,
While the fat victim feeds the facred fire.
The thighs thus facrific'd, and entrails dreft,
Th' affiftants part, transfix, and roaft the reft;
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his feat, and each receives his share.
Soon as the rage of hunger was fuppreft,
The generous Neftor thus the prince addrest:
Now bid thy heralds found the loud alarms, And call the fquadrons fheath'd in brazen arms : Now feize th' occafion, now the troops furvey, And lead to war when Heaven directs the way. He faid; the monarch iffued his commands; Straight the loud heralds call the gathering bands. The chiefs inclofe their king: the host divide, In tribes and nations rank'd on either fide. High in the midst the blue-ey'd Virgin flies; From rank to rank fhe 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 ferpents roll'd, Form'd the bright fringe, and feem'd to burn in gold. With this each Grecian's manly breast the warms, 530 Swells their bold hearts, and ftrings their nervous arms; No more they figh, inglorious, to return,
But breathe revenge, and for the combat burn.
As on fome 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 lefs their number than th' embody'd cranes,
Or milk-white fwans in Afius' watery plains,
That o'er the windings of Cäyfter's springs,
Stretch their long necks, and clap their ruftling wings,
Now tower aloft, and course in airy rounds;
Now light with noise; with noise the field resounds.
Thus numerous and confus'd, extending wide,
The legions crowd Scamander's flowery fide;
With rushing troops the plains are cover'd o'er,
And thundering footsteps fhake the founding fhore.
Along the river's level meads they stand,
Thick as in spring the flowers adorn the land,
Or leaves the trees; or thick as infects play,
The wandering nation of a summer's day,
That, drawn by milky fteams, at evening hours,
In gather'd swarms furround the rural bowers;
From pail to pail with busy murmur run
The gilded legions, glittering in the fun.
So throng'd, fo close, the Grecian squadrons stood
In radiant arms, and thirst for Trojan blood.
Each leader now his scatter'd force conjoins
In close array, and forms the deepening lines.
Not with more ease, the skilful fhepherd fwain
Collects his flocks from thousands on the plain.
The King of Kings, majestically tall,
Towers o'er his armies, and outshines them all;
Like fome proud bull that round the pastures leads
His fubject-herds, the monarch of the meads.
Great as the Gods, th' exalted chief was feen,
His ftrength like Neptune, and like Mar's his mien,
Jove o'er his eyes celeftial glories spread,
And dawning conqueft play'd around his head.
Say, Virgins, feated round the throne divine,
All-knowing Goddesses! immortal Nine!
Since earth's wide regions, heaven's unmeafur'd height,
And hell's abyfs, hide nothing from your fight,
(We, wretched mortals! lost in doubts below,
But guess by rumour, and but boast we know)
Oh, fay what heroes, fir'd by thirst of fame,
Or urg'd by wrongs, to Troy's deftruction came?
To count them all, demands a thousand tongues, 580
A throat of brafs and adamantine lungs.
Daughters of Jove, aflift! infpir'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 fing,
THE CATALOGUE OF THE SHIPS.
The hardy warriours whom Boeotia bred,
Penelius, Leitus, Prothoënor led:
With thefe Arcefilaus and Clonius stand,
Equal in arms, and equal in command.
These head the troops that rocky Aulis yields,
And Eteon's hills, and Hyrie's watery fields,
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