But greater cares fit heavy on our fouls,
Not cas 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
roy and her aids for ready vengeance call:
Their threat'ning tents already thade our wall:
Hear how with fhouts their conqueft they proclaim,
And point at every ship their vengeful flame!
For them the father of the Gods declares,
Theirs are his omnens, 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
He waits but for the morn to fink in flame
The thips, the Greeks, and all the Grecian name.
Heavens! how my country's woes diftra&t my mind,
Left fate accomplish all his rage defign'd.
And muft we, Gods! our heads inglorious lay
In Trojan duft, and this the fatal day?
Return, Achilles ! O return, tho' late,
Thefe inftant shall be thime; and if the pow'rs
Give to our arms proud Ilion's hoftile tow 'rs,
Then fhalt thou ftore (when Greece the spoil di-
vides)
With gold and brafs thy loaded navy's fides.
Befides full twenty nyniphs of Trojan race
With copious love fhall crown thy warm embrace,
Such as thyfelf thall choofe; who yield to nore,
Or vield to Helion's heavenly charms alone.
Yet hear me, further:-When our wars are or,
If fafe we land on Argos' fruitful thore,
There halt thou live his fon, his honours share,
And with Oreftes' felf divide his care.
Yet more-three daughters in his court are bred,
And cach well worthy of a royal bed;
Laodice and Iphigenia fair,
And bright Chryfothemis with golden hair:
Her fhalt thou wed whom moft thy eyes approve,
He asks no prefents, no reward for love:
Hinfelf will give the dow`r; so vast a sture,
As never father gave a child before.
Seven ample citics fhall confefs thy fway,
Thee Enope, and Phere thee obey,
To fave thy Greeks, and stop the courfe of fate. Cardamyle with ample turers crown'd,
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!
Thofe wholefore counfels which thy father gave.
When Peleus in his aged arms embrac'd
His parting fon, thefe accents were his laft:
My child! with ftrength, with glory, and fuccefs,
Thy arms may Juno and Minerva blefs!
Truft that to Heaven: but thou thy cares engage
To calm thy paffions, and fubdue thy rage:
From gentler manners let thy glory grow;
And thun contention, the fure fource or woe;
That young and old may in thy praife 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' pray'rs,
Gifts worthy thee his royal hand prepares;
If not-but hear me, while I number o'er
The proffer'd prefents, and exhaustlefs store.
Ten weighty talents of the pureft gold,
And twice ten vates of refulgent mould;
Seven facred tripods, whofe unfullied frame
Yet knows no office, nor has felt the flame;
Iwelve fteeds, unmatch'd in fleetnefs and in force,
And fill victorious in the dufty courfe
(Rich were the man whofe ample ftores exceed
The prizes purchas'd by their winged fpeed);
Seven lovely captives of the Lefbian line,
And facred Pedafus, for vines renown'd;
Epea fair, the paftures Hira yields,
And rich Antheia with her flow'ry fields:
The whole extent to Pylos' fandy plain
Along the verdant margin of the main.
There heifers graze, and lab'ring oxen toil;
Bold are the men, and gen rous is the foil.
There shalt thou reign with pow'r and justice
crown'd,
Skill'd in each art, unmatch'd in form divine,
The fame he chofe for more than vulgar charms,
When Lefbos funk beneath thy conq'ring arms.
All thefe, to buy thy friendship, fhall be paid,
And, join'd with thefe, the long-contefted maid;
With all her charms, Brifeis he'll refign,
And folemn swear those charms were only thine;
Untouch'd the ftay'd, uninjur'd the removes,
Pure from his arms, and guiltlets of his loves.
And rule the tributary realms around.
Such are the proffers which this day we bring;
Such the repentance of a fuppliant king.
But if all this, relentlets, thou didan,
If honour and if int'reft plead in vain,
Yet fome redress to fuppliant Greece afford,
And be amongst her guardian gods ader`d.
If no regard thy fuff ring country claim,
Hear thy own glory, and the voice of fame:
For now that chief, whofe unrefifted ire
Made nations tremble, and whole bosts retire,
Proud Hector now th' unequal fight demands,
And only triumphs to deferve thy hands.
Then thus the goddefs-bora :-Ulyties, hear
A faithful fpeech, that knows nor art nor feal:
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.
Then thus in fhort my fix'd refolves attend,
Which nor Atrides nor his Greeks can beud:
Long toils, long perils, in their caufe I bore,
But now th' unfruitful glories charm no more.
Fight or not fight, 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 helplefs young attends, From danger guards them, and from want defends;
In fearch of prey the wings the fpacious air,
And with th' untafted food fupplies her care:
For thanklefs Greece fuch hardships have I brav'd,
Her wives, her infants, by my labour fav'd;
Long fleepless nights in heavy arms I ftood,
And fweat laborious days in duft and blood.
I fack'd twelve ample cities on the main,
And twelve lay finoking on the Trojan plain.
Then at Atrides' haughty feet were laid
The wealth I gather'd, and the fpoils I made.
Your mighty monarch thefe in peace poffeft;
Some few my foldiers had, himfelf the reft.
Some prefent too to ev'ry prince was paid,
And ev'ry prince enjoys the gift he made.
1 only muft refund, of all his train:
She what pre-eminence our merits gain!
My spoil alone his greedy foul delights;
My fpoufe alone muft blefs his luftful nights:
The woman, let him (as he may) enjoy;
But what's the quarrel then of Greece to Troy?
What to thefe thores 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 thofe of Atreus' race?
The wife whom choice and paffion both approve,
Surc ev'ry wile 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 fhake?
Has he not fenc'd his guarded navy round
With piles, with ramparts, and a trench pro-
found?
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 Scaan gate;
He tried it once, and scarce was fav'd by fate.
But now those ancient enmities are o'er;
To-morrow we the fav'ring gods implore;
Then fhall you fec our parting veffels crown'd,
And hear with oars the Hellefpont refound.
The third day hence fhall Pthia greet our fails,
If mighty Neptune fend propitious gales ;
Pthia to her Achilles fhall reftore
The wealth he left for this detefted fhore:
Thither the fpoils of this long war fhall pafs,
The ruddy gold, the steel, 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 Grecks 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;
Tho', fhamelefs as he is, to face thefe eyes
Is what he dares not; if he dares, he dies);
Tell him, all terms, all commerce I decline,
Nor fhare 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 phrenzy drives;
His gifts are hateful: kings of fuch a kind
Stand but as flaves before a noble mind.
Not tho' he proffer'd all himself poffefs'd,
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' unrivali 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 thro' a hundred gates;
Two hundred horfemen, and two hundred cars,
From each wide portal iffuing to the wars);
Tho' bribes were heap'd on bribes, in number
Than duft in fields, or fands along the fhore;
Should all thefe offers for my friendthip call,
'Tis he that offers, and I fcorn them all.
Atrides' daughter never fhall be led
(An ill-match'd confort) to Achilles' bed;
Like golden Venus tho' the charm`d the heart,
And vied with Pallas in the works of art.
Some greater Greek let thofe high nuptials grace
I hate alliance with a tyrant's race.
If Heaven reftore me to my realms with life,
The rev'rend Peleus fhall elect my wife;
Theffalian nymphs there are, of form divine,
And kings that fue to mix their blood with mine.
Bleft in kind love, my ycars fhali glide away,
Content with juft hereditary fway;
There, deaf for ever to the martial ftrife,
Enjoy the dear prerogative of life.
Life is not to be bought with heaps of gold;
Not all Apollo's Pythian treasures hold,
Or Troy once held, in peace and pride of sway,
Can bribe the poor poffeffion of a day!
Loft herds and treatures we by arms regain,
And fteeds unrivall'd on the dufty plain:
But from our lips the vital fpirit Bed,
Returns no more to wake the filent dead.
My fates long fince by Thetis were difcles'd,
And each alternate, life or fame, propos'd:
Here if I ftay, before the Trojan town,
Short is my date, but deathlefs my renown:
If I return, I quit immortal praife
For years on years, and long-extended days.
Convinc'd, tho' late, I find my fond mistake,
And warn the Greeks the wifer choice to make:
To quit thefe fhores, their native feats enjoy,
Nor hope the fall of Heaven-defended Troy.
Jove's arm difplay'd afferts her from the skies;
Her hearts are ftrengthen'd, and her glories rife.
Go then, to Greece report our fix'd defign;
Bid all your counfels, all your armies, join;
Let all your forces, all your arts, confpire
To fave the fhips, the troops, the chiefs from fire.
One ftratagem has fail'd, and others will:
Ye find, Achilles is unconquer'd still.
Go then-digeft my meffage as you may;
But here this night let rev'rend Phoenix ftay:
His tedious toils and hoary hairs demand
A peaceful death in Pthia's friendly land.
But, whether he remain or fail with me,
His age be facred, and his will be free.
The fun of Peleus ceas'd: the chiefs around,
In filence wrapt, in confternation drown'd,
Attend the fstern reply. Then Phoenix rofe;
(Down his white beard a stream of forrow flows)
And while the fate of fuff ring Greece he mourn'd,
With accent weak these tender words return'd:
Divine Achilles! wilt thou then retire,
And leave our hofts in blood, our fleets on fire >
If wrath fo dreadful fill thy ruthless mind,
How fhall thy friend, thy Phoenix, stay behind?
The royal Peleus, when from Pthia's coaft
He fent thee early to the Achaian hoft;
Thy youth as then in fage debates unskill'd,
And new to perils of the direful field;
He bade me teach thee all the ways of war;
To thine in councils, and in camps to dare.
Never, ah never, let me leave thy fide!
No time fhall part us, and no fate divide.
Your fire receiv'd me, as his fon carefs'd,
With gifts enrich'd, and with poffeffions blefs'd.
The ftrong Dolopians thenceforth own'd my reign,
And all the coaft that runs along the main.
By love to thee his bounties I repaid,
And early wifdom to thy foul convey'd :
Great as thou art, my leffons made thee brave,
A child I took thee, but a hero gave.
Thy infant breaft a like affection fhew'd;
Still in my arms (an ever-pleafing load),
Or at my knee, by Phoenix wouldst thou ftand;
No food was grateful but from Phoenix' hand.
I país my watchings o'er thy helpless years,
The tender labours, the compliant cares;
The gods (I though) revers'd their hard decree,
And Phoenix felt a father's joys in thee:
Thy growing virtues juftified my cares,
And promis'd comfort to my filver hairs.
Now be thy rage, thy fatal rage, refign'd;
A cruel heart ill fuits a manly mind:
The gods (the only great, and only wife)
Are mov'd by off rings, vows, and facrifice;
Offending man their high compaffion wins,
And daily pray'rs atone for daily fins.
Pray'rs are Jove's daughters, of celeftial race,
Lame are their feet, and wrinkled is their face;
With humble mien, and with dejected eyes,
Conftant they follow, where injustice flies :
Injustice fwift, ercêt, and unconfin'd,
Sweeps the wide earth, and tramples o'er man-
kind;
[behind.
While pray'rs, to heal her wrongs, move flow
Who hears thefe daughters of almighty Jove,
For him they mediate to the throne above:
When man rejects the humble fuit they make,
The fire revenges for the daughters' fake;
From Jove commiffion'd, fierce Injustice then
Defcends, to punish unrelenting men,
O let not headlong paffion bear the fway;
Thefe reconciling goddeffes obey:
Due honours to the feed of Jove belong;
Duc honours calm the fierce, and bend the frong.
Were thefe not paid thee by the terms we bring,
Were rage ftill harbour'd by the haughty king,
Nor Greece, nor all her fortunes, fhould engage
Thy friend to plead against fo just a rage.
But fince what honour asks, the gen'ral sends,
And fends by those whom moft thy heart com-
mends,
The beft and nobleft of the Grecian train;
Permit not these to fue, and fue in vain!
Accept the prefents; draw thy conq'ring fword;
And be amongst our guardians gods ador d.
Thus he. The ftern Achilles thus replied:
My fecond father, and my rev'rend guide,
Thy friend, believe me, no fuch gifts demands,
And asks no honours from a mortal's hands:
Jove honours me, and favours my designs;
His pleasure guides me, and his will confines:
And here I ftay (if fuch his high beheft),
While life's warm fpirit beats within my breaft.
Yet hear one word, and lodge it in thy heart:
No more moleft me on Atrides' part.
Is it for him thefe tears are taught to flow,
For him thefe forrows for my mortal foe?
A gen'rous friendship no cold medium knows,
Burns with one love, with one refentment glows;
One fhould our int'refts and our paffions be;
My friend muft hate the man that injures me.
Do this, my Phoenix, 'tis a gen'rous part,
And share my realms, my honours, and my heart.
Let these return: our voyage, or our stay,
Reft undetermin'd tili the dawning day.
He ceas'd; then order'd for the fage's bed
A warmer couch with num'rous carpets spread.
With that, ftern Ajax his long filence broke;
And thus impatient to Ulyffes fpoke:
Hence let us go-why waste we time in vain ?
See what effect our low fubmiffions gain!
Lik'd or not lik'd, his words we must relate;
The Greeks expect them, and our heroes wait.
Proud as he is, that iron heart retains
Its stubborn purpose, and his friends difdains.
Stern and unpitying! if a brother bleed,
On juft atonement we remit the deed;
A fire the flaughter of his fon forgives;
The price of blood discharg'd, the murd'rer
lives:
The haughtieft hearts at length their rage refign,
And gifts can conquer ev'ry foul but thine.
The gods that unrelenting breast have steel'd,
And curs'd thee with a mind that cannot yield.
One woman flave was ravifh'd from thy arms:
Lo, feven are offer'd, and of equal charms.
Then hear, Achilles, be of better mind;
Revere thy roof, and to thy guests be kind;
And know the men, of all the Grecian hoft,
Who honour worth, and prize thy valour most,
O foul of battles, and thy people's guide!
(To Ajax thus the firft of Greeks replied)
Well haft thou spoke; but at the tyrant's name
My rage rekindles, and my foul's on flame:
'Tis just refentment, and becomes the brave;
Difgrac'd, difhonour'd, like the vileft flave!
Return then, heroes! and our answer bear,
The glorious combat is no more my care;
Not till, amidst yon finking navy flain,
The blood of Greeks fhall dye the fable main;
Not till the flames, by Hector's fury thrown,
Confume your veffels, and approach my own;
Juft there the impetuous homicide shall stand,
There ceafe his battle, and there feel our hand.
52. Conference between Achilles and Hector,
at the Time of that Engagement which proved
fatal to the loft-mentioned Hero.
ENOUGH, O fon of Peleus! Troy has view'd
Her walls thrice circled, and her chief purfued.
But now fome god within me bids me try
Thine or my fate; I kill thec, or I dic.
Yet on the verge of battle let us stay,
And for a moment's fpace fufpend the day;
Let Heaven's high pow'rs be call'd to arbitrate
The juft conditions of this ftern debate
(Eternal witneffes of all below,
And faithful guardians of the treafur'd vow).
To them I fwear; if, victor in the strife,
Jove by thefe hands shall shed thy noble life,
No vile difhonour fhall thy corpfe purfue;
Stript of its arms alone (the conqueror's due)
The reft to Greece uninjur'd I'll restore:
Now plight thy mutual oath, I afk no more.
Talk not of oaths (the dreadful chief replies, While anger flath'd from his difdainful eyes) Detefted as thou art, and ought to be,
Nor oath nor pact Achilles plights with thee:
Such pacts as lambs and rapid wolves combine,
Such leagues as men and furious lions join,
To fuch I call the gods! one constant state
Of lafting rancour and eternai hate:
No thought but rage, and never-ccafing ftrife,
Till death extinguish rage, and thought, and life.
Roufe then thy forces this important hour,
Collect thy foul, and call forth all thy pow'r.
No farther fubterfuge, no farther chance;
'Tis Pallas, Pallas, gives thee to my lance.
Each Grecian ghoft by thee depriv'd of breath,
Now hovers round, and calls thee to thy death.
3. Speeches of Achilles and Hector, after the lafi-mentioned Hero was mortally wounded.
AT laft is Hector ftretch'd upon the plain, Who fear'd no vengeance for Patroclus flain: Then, prince! you should have fear'd what now you feel;
Achilles abfent was Achilles ftill.
Yet a short space the great avenger stay'd, Then low in duft thy ftrength and glory laid. Peaceful he fleeps, with all our rites adorn'd, For ever honour'd, and for ever mourn'd: While, caft to all the rage of hoftile pow'r, Thee birds fhall mangle, and the dogs devour.
Then Hector, fainting at th' approach of death: By thy own foul! by thofe who gave thee breath!
By all the facred prevalence of pray'r;
Ah, leave me not for Grecian dogs to tear!
The common, rites of fepulture beftow,
To foothe a father's and a mother's woe;
Let their large gifts procure an urn at least,
And Hector's athes in his country reft.
No, wretch accurft, relentless he replies, (Flames, as he fpoke, fhot flathing from his eyes) Not thofe who gave me breath fhould bid ine fpare, Nor all the facred prevalence of pray'r. Could I myself the bloody banquet join! No to the dogs that carcafe I refign. Should Troy, to bribe me, bring forth all her store, And giving thoufands, offer thoufands more; Should Dardan Priam, and his weeping dame,
Drain their whole realin to buy one fun'ral flame Their Hector on the pile they fhould not see, Nor rob the vultures of one limb of thee.
Then thus the chief his dying accents drew? Thy rage, implacable! too well I knew: The furies that relentless breast have steel'd, And curft thee with a heart that cannot yield. Yet think, a day will come, when fate's decree, And angry gods, fhall wreak this wrong on thee; Phoebus and Paris fhall avenge my fate,
And stretch thee here before this Scaan gate.
§ 4. Hector and Ajax. Generofity of Courage in thefe Heroes. Dialogue between them. HECTOR! approach my arm, and fingly know
What ftrength thou haft, and what the Gre-
cian foc.
Achilles fhuns the fight; yet fome there are,
Not void of foul, and not unskill'd in war:
Let him, unactive, on the fea-beat shore
Indulge his wrath, and aid our arms no more:
Whole troops of heroes Greece has yet to boast;
And fends thee one, a fample of her hoft;
Such as I am, I come to prove thy might;
No more be fudden, and begin the fight.
O fon of Telamon, thy country's pride!
(To Ajax thus the Trojan prince replied)
Me, as a boy or woman, wouldst thou fright,
New to the field, and trembling at the fight?
Thou meet'ft a chief deferving of thy arms,
To combat born, and bred amidst alarms:
I know to fhift my ground, remount the car,
Turn, charge, and answer ev'ry call of war;
To right, to left, the dext'rous lance I wield,
And bear thick battle on my founding fhield.
But open be our fight, and bold each blow;
I fteal no conqueft from a noble foe.
§ 5. Ajax and Hedor exchange Prefents after their bloody Encounter, and part in Friendship. BUT let us, on this memorable day,
Exchange fome gift; that Greece and Troy may lay,
"Not hate, but glory, made the chiefs contend; "And each brave foe was in his foul a friend."
With that, a fword with, ftars of filver grac'd, The baldric ftudded, and the sheath enchas'd,
He gave the Greek. The gen'rous Greck beftow'd
A radiant belt that rich with purple glow'd.
6. Character of Agamemnon.
THE king of kings, majeftically tall,
Tow'rs o'er his armies, and outfhines them all: Like fome proud bull that round the paftures leads His fubject herds, the monarch of the meads. Great as the gods th' exalted chief was feen, His ftrength like Neptune, and like Mars his mien; Jove o'er his eyes celcftial glories fpread, And dawning conqueft play'd around his head.
$ 7. Agamemnon's Speech to Menelaus, when he was about to spare the Life of a young Trojan. IMPOTENT of mind!
-O
Shall thefe, fhall thefe Atrides mercy find?
Well haft thou known proud Troy's perfidious
land,
And well her natives merit at thy hand!
Not one of all the race, nor fex, nor age,
Shall fave a Trojan from our boundlef's rage:
Ilion fhall perith whole, and bury all;
Her babes, her infants at the breaft, fhall fall.
8. Speech of Ulyffes to Agamennon, when the latter propofed to quit the Phrygian Coaft; in which Agamemnon is accused of Cowardice. THE fage Ulyffes thus replies,
[eyes: While anger flash'd from his difdainful What fhameful words, unkingly as thou art, Fall from that trembling tongue, and tim'rous heart!
O were thy fway the curfe of meaner pow'rs,
And thou the fhame of any host but ours!
A host by Jove endued with martial might,
And taught to conquer, or to fall in fight:
Advent'rous combats and bold wars to wage,
Employ'd our youth, and yet employs our age.
And wilt thou thus defert the Trojan plain?
And have whole ftreams of blood been fpilt in
In fuch bafe fentence if thou couch thy fear,
Speak it in whilpers, left a Greek thould hear.
Lives there a man fo dead to faine, who dares
To think fuch meannefs, or the thought declares?
And comes it even from him whole fovereign fway
The banded legions of all Greece obey?
Is this a gen ral's voice, that calls to fight
While war hangs doubtful, while its foldiers fight?
What more could Troy? What yet their fate
denies
Thou gav'it the foe: all Greece becomes their prize.
No more the troops (our hoifted fails in view, Themfelves abandon'd) shall the fight pursue; Thy fhips firft flying with defpair fhall fee, And owe destruction to a prince like thee,
9. Diomed's Reproach of Agamemnon. WHEN kings advife us to renounce our fame,
Firft let him fpeak who firft has fuffer'd thame. If I oppofe thee, prince, thy wrath withhold, The laws of council bid my tongue be bold. Thou firft, 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 ftood witnefs, all the army heard. The gods, O chief! from whom our honours fpring,
The gods have made thee but by halves a king;
They gave thee sceptres, and a wide command,
They gave dominion o'er the feas and land,
The nobleft pow'r that might the world contioul
They gave thee not-a brave and virtuous foul.
Is this a gen'ral's voice, that would fuggeft
Fears like his own to ev'ry Grecian breast ?
Confiding in our want of worth he stands,
And, if we fly, 'tis what our king commands.
Go, thou inglorious! from th' embattled plain;
Ships thou haft ftore, and nearest to the main.
A nobler care the Grecians fhall employ,
To combat, conquer, and extirpate Troy,
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§ 11. Character of Thefites; bis Speech to for Diffenfions in the army; and Uly Jes's Reply. THERSITES only clamour'd in the throng,
Loquacious, loud, and turbulent of tongue 5 Aw'd by no fhame, by no refpect controul'd, In fcandal bufy, in reproaches bold; With witty malice ftudious to defame; Scorn all his joy, and laughter all his aim. But chief he gloried, with licentious ftyle, To lath the great, and monarchs to revile. His figure fuch as might his foul proclaim: One eye was blinking, and one leg was lame: His mountain-fhoulders half his breast o'erfpread; Thin hairs beftrew'd his long mis-shapen head. Spleen
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