Do you, my friend, assume these arms divine;
The mortal and inferior shall be mine."
Atrides thus ; and Diomed reply'd :
"To Heav'n obedience must not be deny'd;
Else you yourself th' immortal arms should
wield,

And I with these attend you on the field.
But of the pow'rs above, whose sov'reign sway
The fates of men and mortal things obey,
Pallas, with surest vengeance, still pursues
Such as obedience to her will refuse." [bound,
He said; and straight his shining arins un-
The casque, the mail, the buckler's weighty round;
With secret joy th' immortal helmet took :
High on its crest the waving plumage shook.
This whosoever wears, his sharpen'd eyes
All dangers mock of ambush and surprise ;
Their ray unquench'd, the midnight shade di-
vides;

No cunning covers, and no darkness hides.
The breast-plate next he takes, whose matchless
art

Firm courage fixes in the bounding heart;
The rage of war unmov'd the wearer braves,
And rides serene amid the stormy waves:
The glitt'ring mail a starry baldric bound,
His arm sustain'd the buckler's weighty round;
Impenetrably strong, its orb can bear

And turn, like softest lead, the pointed spear;
Nor yields to aught, in Earth or Heav'n above,
But the dread thunder of almighty Jove.
Th' immortal spear the hero last did wield,
Which fixes conquest, and decides a field;
Nor strength nor numbers can its rage withstand,
Sent by a mortal or immortal hand.

Thus arm'd to meet the foe Tydides mov'd,
And glory'd conscious of his might improv'd;
Like the proud steed rejoicing in his force,
When the shrill trumpet wakes him to the
course;

Fierce and impatient of restraint, he strains
With stiffen'd neck against the galling reins.
Taller he seem'd; as when the morning spread,
With golden lustre, crowns some mountain's

head

In early spring; when, from the meads below, A wreath of vapours binds his rocky brow; In cloudy volumes settling as they rise, They lift the lofty prospect to the skies: So in immortal arms the chief appear'd, His stature broad display'd, and higher rear'd. Now from the field approaching to the grove," Embattl'd thick, the Theban warriors move; Slowly they move, as swains with doubtful steps Approach the thicket where a lion sleeps. Tydides saw; and, rushing from the shade,The Spartan call'd, and to the combat led, Unaw'd the hero met the hostile band; Nor could united force his rage withstand. They wheel'd aloof; as when a dragon springs From his dark den, and rears his pointed wings Against approaching swains, when summer burns, And the fresh lakes to parched deserts turns; They fly dispers'd, nor tempt his fatal ire, His wrath-swoln neck and eyes of living fire; So fled the Thebans, nor escap'd by flight. Amid their squadrons, like a faulcon light, The hero sprung; who, stooping from the skies, Tue feather'd race disperses as he flies.

Still from his hand th' immortal weapon flew;
And ev'ry flight an armed warrior slew.
Andremon first, beneath his mighty hand,
Of life bereft, lay stretch'd upon the sand.
Pherecydes gigantic press'd the plain;
And valiant Fereus sunk amid the slain.
Warriors to these of vulgar names succeed;
And all his path is mark'd with heaps of dead.
As when soin woodman, by incessant strokes,
Bestrews a mountain with its falling oaks;
Fells the thick planes, the hawthorn's flow'ry
shade,

The poplar fair by passing currents fed,
The laurel with unfading verdure crown'd;
Heaps roll'd on heaps, the forest sinks around:
So spreads the slaughter as the chief proceeds;
At ev'ry stroke an armed warrior bleeds.
| Atrides combats by the hero's side,
To share his glory and the toil divide:
Unmov'd amidst the hostile ranks they go;
Before them far retreats the routed foe.

And now the Spartau host appear'd in sight, By toil subdu'd and ling'ring in the fight. Their valiant leader saw, and rais'd his voice, Loud as the silver trumpet's martial noise, With hopes of victory his bands to cheer; It swiftly flew: the distant Spartans hear With glad surprise. Polyctes thus addrest, And rous'd the languid valour of the rest. "Myceneans! Spartans! taught to seek renown From dangers greatly brav'd, and battles won ; With sorrow and regret I see you yield, And Thebes victorious drive you from the field. Atrides calls us; to his aid repair: No foe subdues you but your own despair. He yet survives, beset with hostile bands, And, from your valour, present aid demands." He said. The rigour of the shock returns; The slaughter rages, and the combat burns. As when a reaping train their sickles wield, Where yellow harvest loads some fruitful field; The master's heart, with secret joy, o'erflows; He prompts the work, and counts the length'ning

rows;

So 'midst the war, the pow'r of battles stood, Pleas'd with the carnage and the streams of blood.

Elpenor first lay lifeless on the plain, By stern Plexippus with a jav'lin slain, A grief to Thebes. Euryalus the bold, Rich in his flocks and rich in sums of gold, Beneath the arm of Aristæus fell; Loud rung is silver arms with echoing knell: And like some flow'r, whose painted foliage fair With fragrant breath perfumes the vernal air, If the rude scythe its tender root invades, It falls dishonour'd and its lustre fades, Thus fell Euryalus; whose matchless grace, In youth's full bloom, surpass'd the human race; For Cynthius only could with him compare, In comely features, shape, and flowing hair.

Now o'er the fields the rage of war is spread; And heaps on heaps ascend the hills of dead. Ranks meeting ranks oppose with equal rage: As when the north and stormy south engage, Beneath their strife the troubled ocean roars; And rushing waves o'erwhelm the rocky shores; So rag'd the fight; when bursting from a crowd Of thick oposing fues, the princes stood

ground,

Where flocks and herds for sacrifice abound;
Now fight and conquer; let this signal day
Your tedious toils, with victory, repay;
And, for Hegialus, let thousands dead
With ample vengeance gratify his shade."
As thus the hero spoke, the warriors heard,
And hope rekindling throngh the host appear'd;
With joyful shouts they rent the trembling air,
And bless'd the gods, and own'd Minerva's care.
Now, tow'ring in the midst, Atrides stood,
And call'd his warriors to the fight aloud;
As mariners with joy the Sun descry,
Ascending, in his course, the eastern sky;
Who all night long, by angry tempests tost,
Shunn'd with incessant toil some faithless coast;
So to his wishing friends Atrides came;
Their danger such before, their joy the same.
Again the rigour of the shock returns;
The slaughter rages and the combat burns;
With thirst of vengeance ev'ry bosom glows.
Tydides leads, and rushes on his foes;
Around his head a ray of light'ning shone
From the smooth helmet and the glitt'ring cone;
Like that by ight which streams with fiery
glare,

When some red meteor glides along the air,
Sent by the angry gods with tainted breath,
To sow the seeds of pestilence and death:
From look to look infectious terrour spreads;
And ev'ry wretch th'impending vengeance dreads.
Before the chief the Theban bands retire,
As shepherd swains avoid the lion's ire.
Clytander only by the fates impell'd,
Oppos'd him single and disdain'd to yield;
Lycaon's sou; deceiv'd by glory's charms,
Superior might he brav'd and matchless arms.
Nor was his brother present by his side,
To share the danger and the toil davide;
Himself a youth, and yet by time unsteel'd,
Single he met Tydides in the field.

Against th' immortal shield his lance he flung,
Whose hollow orb with deaf'ning clangour rung:
The tow'rs of Thebes te-echo'd to the sound;
The spear repuls'd fell blunted on the ground.
Tydides next th' immortal jav'lin threw ;
With force impell'à, it brighten'd as it flew ;
And pierc'd the Theban helmet near the cone;
behind his ear the starting weapon shone.
Supine the warrior fell, his spirit fled,
And mix'd with heroes in th' Elysian shade.
To spoil the slain the ardent victor flew
First from the wound the fixed lançe he drew,
The he met loos'd, the costly mail unbound,
And shining shield with sculptur'd figures
crown'd.

These spoils the hero, in his grateful mind,
A present for the gen'rous youth design'd;
Who still in perilous battle sought his side,
And proffer'd late his warlike steeds to guide.
Fatal the gift, the cause of future woe !
But good and ill th' immortals only know.
The arinour to a vulgar hand consign'd,
Again the hero, swifter than the wind,

He thus address'd: "To yonder sphere descend
Bid Phoebus straight his ev'ning charge attend:
For, with reverted eye, he views the war,
And checks the progress of his downward car.
Let him not linger in th' ethereal way,

But lash his steeds, and straight conclude the day;
For, if the gods descend not to her aid,

Or ev'ning interpose with friendly shade,
Thebes now must perish: and the doom of fate,
Anticipated, have an earlier date

Than fate ordains; for, like devouring flame,
Tydides threatens all the Theban name;
Immortal arms his native force improve,
Conferr'd by Pallas, partial in her love.
These to retrieve must be your next essay;
Win them by art, and hither straight convey:
For man with man an equal war shall wage,
Nor with immortal weapons arm his rage."

He said. And Maia's son, with speed, addrest

His flight to Phoebus hor'ring in the west.
Upon a cloud his winged feet he stay'd;
And thus the mandates of his sire convey'd.
"Ruler of light! let now thy car descend,
And silent night her peaceful shade extend,
Else Thebes must perish; and the doom of fate,
Anticipated, have an earlier date

Than fate decrees: for, like devouring flame,
Tydides threatens all the Theban name;
Immortal arms his native force improve,
Conferr'd by Pallas, partial in her love."

The son of Maia thus. The god obey'd;
The sounding lash upon his steeds he lay'd.
Swift to the goal with winged feet they flew ;
The night ascending as the day withdrew.

To Thebes the herald next pursu'd his way; Shot like a meteor with the setting ray. Behind Tydides in the fight he stay'd; And on his head the potent sceptre lay'd; Whose magic pow'r on waking sense prevails; Or, in profoundest sleep, the eye unseals; The struggling ghost unbinds from mortal clay, And drives it down the dark Tartarean way. Subdu'd the hero stood by pow'rful charms, Till Hermes stript bim of th' immortal arms; And, mounting to the starry roofs above, Dispos'd them in the armoury of Jove. And, recollected, thus Tydides spoke : [voke: "Whate'er they give, th' immortals may reI own their favour; that, of mortal line The first, I wore a panoply divine. But if the day were lengthen'd to my will, With light to point my jav'lin where to kill, Thebes now should perish; but the morning ray Shall finish what the ev'ning shades delay.'

And now the night began her silent reign; Ascending, from the deep, th' ethereal plain; O'er both the hosts she stretch'd her ample shade, Their conflict to suspend: the Losts obey'd. The field no more a noisy scene appears, With steeds and chariots throng'd, and glitt'ring

spears ;

But still and silent: like the hoary deep,
When, in their caves, the angry tempests sleep,

Though oft, by parts, for others they ordain,
The arts of sway, the privilege to reign;
In thee their partial favour has combin'd
The highest fortune with the greatest mind."
As thus the sage reply'd, the princely band
By turns presented each his friendly hand,
The sign of peace. For each a sp'endid throne,
Where fring'd with gold the purple cov'ring
shone,

The ready waiters, by command, prepar'd;
There sat the envoys and the banquet shar'd.
On ev'ry side the sparkling vintage flows,
The momentary cure of human woes.
The rage of thirst and hunger thus suppress'd,
To Nestor turning Clytophon address'd.

"Illustrious chief! an honour now I'll claim,
Which not to publish, sure, would merit blame.
Your father's guest, I was; by fortune led,
When from Trinacria's desert shores I fled
With ills beset: but, in his friendly land,
His gen'rous heart I prov'd and lib'ral hand.
A grateful mind excites me to reveal-
His sov'reign bounty, and attempt a tale
Of dear remembrance. But the fond design,
Prudence dissenting, warns me to decline;
For when to public cares your thoughts you bend,
A private story mingled must offend."

The artful Theban thus. The chief reply'd, Whose sov'reign mandates all the host obey'd. "My honour'd guest! proceed; nor aught conceal Which gratitude enjoins you to reveal : For gen'rous deeds, imprudently supprest, Lie unapplauded in the grateful breast: And now the feast, short interval of care, To vocal symphony unbends the ear; Or sweet discourse, which to the soul conveys Sublimer joys than music's tuneful lays." The monarch thus. The prudent sage suppress'd

His inward joy, and thus the peers address'd: Each chief he strove to gain, but Nestor most, Whose wisdom sway'd the councils of the host. "Confed'rate kings! and thou whose sov'reign hand

*

Sways the dread sceptre of supreme command,
Attend and hearken! since you seek to know,
The sad beginnings of a life of woe.

In Rhodes my father once dominion claim'd,
Orsilochus, for deeds of valour fam'd.
The Sporades his sov'reign sceptre own'd,
And Carpathus with waving forests crown'd.
His youngest hope I was, and scarce had seen
The tenth returning summer clothe the green,
When pirates snatch'd me from my native land:
While with my infant equals on the strand
I play'd, of harm secure, and from the deep
With pleasure saw approach the fatal ship;
Pleas'd with the whiteness of the sails we stood,
And the red streamers shining on the flood;
And fearless saw the hostile galley land,
Where from the hills a current seeks the strand.
They climb'd the rocky beach, and far around,
Intent on spoil and rapine, view'd the ground;
If any herd were near, or fleecy store,
Or lonely mansion on the winding shore.
My young companions straight their fear obey.
I, bold and unsuspecting, dar'd to stay.
Me straight they seiz'd; and doom'd to servile
A wretched captive in a foreign soil.

[toil

Struggling in vain, they bore me down the bay,
Where, anchor'd near the beach, their vessel lay;
And plac'd me on the deck. With bitter cries,
To speeding gales I saw the canvass rise;
The boundless ocean far before me spread;
And from my reach the shores at distance fled.
All day I wept; but when the setting light
Retir'd, and yielded to the shades of night,
Sleep stole upon my grief with soft surprise,
Which care ne'er banish'd long from infant eyes.
"Nine days we sail'd; the tenth returning ray
Show'd us Trinacria rising in our way,
Far in the west; where, with his ev'ning beams,
The Sun descending gilds the ocean's streams.
Thither the sailors ply, and blindly run
On hidden dangers which they ought to shun;
For whom the gods distinguish by their hate,
They first confound and then resign to fate.
All day we sail'd; and with the ev'ning hour,
Which calls the shepherd to his rural bow'r,
Approach'd the shore. The forests on the land
We mark'd, and rivers op'ning from the strand.
Then gladness touch'd my heart; the first I knew
Since fate had mix'd me with that lawless crew:
With joy I saw the rising shores appear;
And hop'd to find some kind deliv'rer near;
Some gen'rous lord, to whom I might relate,
Low bending at his knees, my wretched fate.
Vain was the hope; the Cyclopes ne'er know
Compassion, nor to melt at human woe.

"Near on the left, and where the parted tides A promontory's rocky height divides,

A bay they found; and on the fatal strand
Descending, fix'd their vessel to the land.
The valleys straight and mountains they explore,
And the long windings of the desert shore;
And find, of sheep and goats, a mingled flock,
Under the shelter of a cavern'd rock.
The largest and the best the pirate band
Seiz'd, and prepar'd a banquet on the strand.
With joy they feasted; while the goblet, crown'd
With Mithymnean vintage, flow'd around.
Of harm secure they sat; and void of fear
To mirth resign'd; nor knew destruction near.
"Amid them there I meditating sat;
Some god inspir'd me, or the pow'r of fate,
To 'scape their hated hands: and soon I found
The wish'd occasion; when along the ground,
Each where he sat, the ruffians lay supine,
With sleep oppress'd and sense-subduing wine;
Softly I rose, and to a lofty grove,
Which shaded all the mountain tops above,
Ascending, in a rocky cavern lay,
Till darkness fled before the morning ray.
Then from above I saw the pirate band,
In parties, roaming o'er the desert strand;
The mountain goats they drove and fleecy store,
From all the pastures, crowded to the shore.
Me too by name they call'd; and oft, in vain,
Explor'd each grove and thicket on the plain;
While from above I saw, with careless eye,
Them searching round and list'ning for reply.
Some to the ship the bleating spoil convey'd;
While others to prepare a banquet stay'd,
And call'd their mates: to share with full repast
With mirth they came, nor knew it was their
last.

"Then from the rocky summit where I lay, A flock appear'd descending to the bay;

Which through a narrow valley rush'd along, Oven and sheep, an undistinguish'd throng. With these the sloping hills were cover'd o'er, And the long windings of the sandy shore. Behind a Cyclops came; and by degrees, Rose to my view, and tower'd above the trees. His giant stature, like a lofty rock,

:

Appear'd and in his band a knotted oak
Of tallest growth; around his shoulder flung
His bag enormous, by a cable hung.
Panting I lay; as when a lurking deer,
From some close thicket, sees the hunter near.
By dread subdu'd, confounded, and amaz'd,
My fixed eye-balls darken'd as I gaz'd.
Soon from above my wretched mates he knew,
As on the level shore, in open view,
They sat secure, with flow'ry garlands crown'd;
The signs of spoil and ravage scatter'd round.
With indignation, for his wasted flock,
Inam'd, he thus, like distant thunder, spoke.
"Whoe'er these are, who from their native soil
To foreign climates thus, in quest of spoil,
Licentious roam; they soon shall feel my hand,
And rue that e'er they touch'd Trinacria's
strand."

As mutt'ring thus, along the craggy road
He came, the mountain trembled as he trode.
The wretches saw with horrour and affright;
Each limb enfeebled lost the pow'r of flight.
Their cries in vain the monster mov'd to spare;
His club he rear'd and swung it thrice in air,
Then hurl'd it cross the bay: it swiftly drove
O'er the smooth deep, and raz'd the beach
above.

Threat'ning it rush'd along; but, bending low,
Each, where he sat, escap'd the weighty blow.
Beyond them far it pitch'd upon the land, [sand.
Tore the green sward, and heav'd a mount of
Now starting from the ground they strove to fly,
Press'd by despair and strong necessity;
The woody summits of the cliffs to gain,
With fait'ring haste they fled across the plain.
But the impending mountains barr'd their flight,
High and projecting from their airy height;
Back from the slipp'ry arch, in heaps, they fall;
And with imploring cries for mercy call,
In vain. The monster with gigantic strides,
At twenty steps, the spacious bay divides;
Around his knees the whit'ning billows roar,
And his rude voice like thunder shakes the shore.
"There thirty youths he slew; against the

stones

And ragged cliffs, he dash'd their crackling bones.
Twenty his feet and heavy hands pursue,
As to the ocean in despair they flew;
Striving the summit of the beach to gain,
With headlong course to rush into the main :
For there they hop'd a milder fate to have,
And less abhorr'd, beneath the whelming wave.
These too he reach'd; and with his weighty
hand,
[sand.
Their flight oppress'd, and mix'd them with the
Two yet surviv'd; who supplicating strove,
With humble suit, his barb'rous soul to move.
With trembling knees the sandy beach they
press'd;

And, as they came, the monster thus address'd. ""O thou! with whom no mortal can compare For strength resistless, pity now and spare.

O let the blood, already shed, atone
For our provoking guilt, and trespass done!
O spare and pity! sure the gods above,
Who sit around the starry throne of Jove,
Are won by pray'r; and he whose matchless
might

The solid Earth sustains and starry height,
Oft spares the guilty; for his soul approves
Compassion, and the works of mercy loves.
Let sov'reign pity touch thy mighty breast;
And him revere, the greatest and the best;
Who pardons oft, but measures grief and pain
To such as hear the wretched plead in vain.'

"As thus to touch his iron heart they try'd,
The Cyclops smiling, scornful thus reply'd:
'The praise of mercy well your words proclaim;
And vengeance mark, though merited, with blame,
Well have you spoken; therefore, from my hand,
More favour hope than any of your band ;
They, on the desert shore expos'd and bare,
The wolves shall feast and er'ry bird of air;
But ye, preferr'd above the rest, shall have
This body for your monument and grave.'

"He said, and seizing lifts them both on high, With hands and feet extended in the sky : Then dash'd them thrice against the rocky shore; Gnaw'd their warm flesh, and drank their streaming gore.

Oft have I seen the havoc of the plain,
The rage of tempests and the stormy main;
But fate, in such a form, ne'er met my eyes,
And, while I speak, afresh its horrours rise
To chill my veins: nor can the vary'd state
Of sprightly youth, and middle age sedate,
Or life's last stage with all its grief opprest,
Banish the dire impression from my breast.
For still I see the monster, as he stood,
His hairy visage dy'd in human blood:
As the grim lion leaves the wasted plains,
Red from the ravage of the flocks and swains.
"With vengeance pleas'd he view'd the shores
around;

And, riding near the beach, our vessel found :
Her by the mast he seiz'd: and to the land,
With all her anchors, dragg'd along the strand.
Exploring, next the solid deck he tore,
And found, conceal'd below, his fleecy store.
With scornful smiles he saw the theft bewray'd;
And sidelong on the beach the galley laid;
And call'd his flock: to open light they strain,
Through the wide beach, and crowd upon the
plain:

Still, as they pass'd, his weighty hands he laid
On their soft backs, and, stroking gently, said:
"Go now, my flock! enjoy the verdant hills,
The rivers cool, the sweet refreshing rills,
The meads and shady forests, safe from harm;
Your foes lie crush'd beneath your master's

arm."

The giant thus; and next the hold explor'd:
Four jars he found with Lesbian vintage stor❜d.
These first he drain'd; then to his lips apply'd
His flute, which like a quiver by his side,
Of size enormous, hung. Its hollow sound
The woods repeated and the caves around.
Its music such, as when a stormy gale
Roars through a hollow cliff with hideous peal,
Resounding deep, along the level shore;
He play'd, and drove his pasturing flock before.