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Which to resume, were both unjust and base;
Not to be borne but by a servile race.
But this we can: if Saturn's son bestows
The sack of Troy, which he by promise owes
Then shall the conquering Greeks thy loss restore,
And with large interest make th' advantage mure."
To this Atrides answer'd: 66
Though thy boast
Assumes the foremost name of all our host,
Pretend not, mighty man, that what is mine,
Control'd by thee, I tamely should resign.
Shall I release the prize I gain'd by right,
In taken towns, and many a bloody fight,
While thou detain'st Briseis in thy bands,
By priestly glossing on the god's commands?
Resolve on this, (a short alternative)
Quit mine, or, in exchange, another give;
Else 1, assure thy soul, by sovereign right
Will seize thy captive in thy own despight.
Or from stout Ajax, or Ulysses, bear
What other prize my fancy shall prefer:
Then softly murmur, or aloud complain,
Rage as you please, you shall resist in vain.
But more of this, in proper time and place;
To things of greater moment let us pass.
A ship to sail the sacred seas prepare;
Proud in her trim: and put on board the fair,
With sacrifice and gifts, and all the pomp of prayer.
The crew well chosen, the command shall be
la Ajax; or if other I decree,

In Creta's king, or Ithacus, or if I please in thee:
Most fit thyself to see perform'd th' intent
For which my prisoner from my sight is sent;
(Thanks to thy pious care) that Phoebus may

relent."

At this Achilles roll'd his furious eyes,
Fix'd on the king askant; and thus replies:
"O, impudent, regardful of thy own,
Whose thoughts are center'd on thyself alone,
Advanc'd to sovereign sway, for better ends
Than thus like abject siaves to treat thy friends.
What Greek is he, that, urg'd by thy command,
Against the Trojan troops will lift his hand?
Not I: nor such enforc'd respect I owe;
Nor Pergamus I hate, nor Priam is my foe.
What wrong from Troy remote could I sustain,
To leave my fruitful soil and happy reign,
And plough the surges of the stormy main?
Thee, frontless man, we follow'd from afar ;
Thy instruments of death, and tools of war.
Thine is the triumph: ours the toil alone:
We bear thee on our backs, and mount thee on
the throne.

For thee we fall in fight; for thee redress
Thy baffled brother; not the wrongs of Greece.
And now thou threaten'st with unjust decree,
To punish thy affronting Heaven, on me.
To seize the prize which I so dearly bought;
By common suffrage given, confirm'd by lot.
Mean match to thine: for still above the rest
Thy hook'd rapacious hands usurp the best.
Thou.h mine are first in fight, to force the prey;
And last sustain the labours of the day.
Nor grudge I thee the much the Grecians give;
Nor murmuring take the little I receive.
Yet ev'n this little, thou, who wouldst engross
The whole, insatiate, envy'st as thy loss.
Know, then, for Phthia fix'd is my return:
Better at home my ill-paid pains to mourn,
Taan from an equal here sustain the public

scorn."

The king, whose brows with shining gold were bound, [compass'd round, Who saw his throne with scepter'd slaves enThus answer'd stern: "Go, at thy pleasure, go: We need not such à friend, nor fear we such a foe. There will not want to follow me in fight: Jove will assist, and Jove assert my right. But thou of all the kings (his care below) Art least at my command, and most my foe. Debates, dissensions, uproars, are thy joy; Provok'd without offence, and practis'd to destroy. Strength is of brutes, and not thy boast alone; At least 'tis lent from Heaven; and not thy own. Fly then, ill-manner'd, to thy native land, And there thy ant-born myrmidons command. But mark this menace; since I must resign My black-ey'd maid, to please the powers divine: (A well-rigg'd vessel in the port attends, Mann'd at my charge, commanded by my friends,) The ship shall wait her to her wish'd abode, [god. Full fraught with holy bribes to the far-shooting This thus dispatch'd, I owe myself the care, My fame and injur'd honour to repair: From thy own tent, proud man, in thy despight, This hand shall ravish thy pretended right. Briscis shall be mine, and thou shalt see, What odds of awful power I have on thee: That others at thy cost may learn the difference of degree."

At this th' impatient hero sourly smil'd: His heart impetuous in his bosom boil'd.. And, justied by two tides of equal sway, Stood, for a while, suspended in his way. Betwixt his reason, and his rage untam'd; One whisper'd soft, and one aloud reclaim'd: That only counsel'd to the safer side; This to the sword, his ready hand apply'd. Unpanish'd to support th' affront was hard: Nor easy was th' attempt to force the guard. But soon the thirst of vengeance fir'd his blood: Half shone his falchion, and half sheath'd it stood.

In that nice moment, Pallas, from above, Commission'd by th' imperial wife of Jove, Descended swift (the white-arm'd queen was loath The fight should follow; for she favour'd both): Just as in act he stood, in clouds enshrin'd, Her hand she fasten'd on his hair behind: Then backward by his yellow curls she drew; To him, and him alone, confess'd in view. Tam'd by superior force, he turn'd his eyes Aghast at first, and stupid with surprise: But by her sparkling eyes, and ardent look, The virgin-warrior known, he thus bespoke:

"Com'st thou, Celestial, to behold my wrongs? To view the vengeance which to crimes belongs ?" Thus he. The blue-ey'd goddess thus rejoin'd: "I come to calm thy turbulence of mind, If Reason will resume her sovereign sway, And, sent by Juno, her commands obey. Equal she loves you both, and I protect: Then give thy guardian gods their due respect; And cease contention; be thy words severe, Sharp as he merits: but the sword forbear. An hour unhop'd already wings her way, When he his dire affront shall dearly pay: When the proud king shall sue, with treble gain, To quit thy loss, and conquer thy disdain. But thou, secure of my unfailing word, Compose thy swelling soul, and sheath the sword.”

The youth thus answer'd mild: "Auspicious maid,

Heaven's will be mine, and your commands obey'd.
The gods are just, and when, subduing sense,
We serve their powers, provide the recompense."
He said; with surly faith believ'd her word,
And in the sheath, reluctant, plung'd the sword.
Her message done, she mounts the bless'd abodes,
And mix'd among the senate of the gods.

At her departure his disdain returo'd ;
The fire she fann'd, with greater fury burn'd;
Rumbling within, till thus it found a vent:
"Dastard, and drunkard, mean and insolent :
Tongue-valiant hero, vaunter of thy might,
In threats the foremost, but the lag in fight;
When didst thou thrust amid the mingled prease,
Content to bid the war aloof in peace?
Arms are the trade of each plebeian soul;
'Tis death to fight; but kingly to control.
Lord-like at ease, with arbitrary power,
To peel the chiefs, the people to devour.
These, traitor, are thy talents; safer far
Than to contend in fields, and toils of war.

Nor couldst thou thus have dar'd the common hate,
Were not their souls as abject as their state.
But, by this sceptre, solemnly I swear,

But let Pelides in his prize rejoice,
Achiev'd in arms, allow'd by public voice.
Nor thou, brave champion, with his power contend,
Before whose throne, ev'n kings their lower'd
sceptres bend.

The head of action he, and thou the hand,
Matchless thy force; but mightier his command.
Thou first, O king, release the rights of sway;
Power, self-restrain'd, the people best obey.
Sanctions of law from thee derive their source;
Command thyself, whom no commands can force.
The son of Thetis, rampire of our bost,

Is worth our care to keep; nor shall my prayers be lost."

Thus Nestor said, and ceas'd: Atrides broke His silence next; but ponder'd ere he spoke. "Wise are thy words, and glad I would obey, But this proud man affects imperial sway. Controling kings, and trampling on our state, His will is law; and what he wills is fate. [style The gods have given him strength: but whence the Of lawless power assum'd, or licence to revile?" Achilles cut him short; and thus reply'd: "My worth, allow'd in words, is in effect deny'd. For who but a poltron, possess'd with fear, Such haughty insolence can tamely bear?

(Which never more green leaf or growing branch Command thy slaves: my freeborn soul disdains

shall bear,

Torn from the tree, and given by Jove to those
Who laws dispense, and mighty wrongs oppose)
That when the Grecians want my wonted aid,
No gift shall bribe it, and no prayer persuade.
When Hector comes, the homicide, to wield
His conquering arms, with corps to strow the field,
Then shalt thou mourn thy pride; and late confess
My wrong repented, when 'tis past redress."
He said: and with disdain, in open view,
Against the ground his golden sceptre threw ;
Then sate with boiling rage Atrides burn'd,
And foam betwixt his gnashing grinders churn'd.
But from his seat the Pylian prince arose,
With reasoning mild, their madness to compose:
Words, sweet as honey, from his mouth distill'd;
Two centuries already he fulfill'd;

And now began the third; unbroken yet:
Once fam'd for courage; still in council great.
"What worse," he said, "can Argos undergo,
What can more gratify the Phrygian foe,
Than these distemper'd heats? If both the lights
Of Greece their private interest disunites!
Believe a friend, with thrice your years increas'd,
And let these youthful passions be repress'd :
I flourish'd long before your birth; and then
Liv'd equal with a race of braver men
Than these dim eyes shall e'er behold again.
Ceneus and Dryas, and, excelling them,

Great Theseus, and the force of greater Polypheme.
With these I went, a brother of the war,
Their dangers to divide, their fame to share.
Nor idle stood with unassisting hands,

When salvage beasts, and men's more salvage bands,

Their virtuous toil subdu'd yet those I sway'd,
With powerful speech: 1 spoke, and they obey'd.
If such as those my counsels could reclaim,
Think not, young warriors, your diminish'd name
Shall lose of lustre, by subjecting rage
To the cool dictates of experienc'd age.
Thou, king of men, stretch not thy sovereign sway
Beyond the bounds free subjects can obey:

A tyrant's curb; and restiff breaks the reins.
Take this along; that no dispute shall rise
(Though mine the woman) for my ravish'd prize :
But she excepted, as unworthy strife,
Dare not, I charge thee dare not, on thy life,
Touch aught of mine beside, by lot my due,
But stand aloof, and think profane to view :
This falchion, else, not hitherto withstood,
These hostile fields shall fatten with thy blood."

He said; and rose the first: the council broke; And all their grave consults dissolv'd in smoke. The royal youth retir'd, on vengeance bent, Patroclus follow'd silent to his tent.

Meantime, the king with gifts a vessel stores; Supplies the banks with twenty chosen oars: And next, to reconcile the shooter god, Within her hollow sides the sacrifice he stow'd: Chryseis last was set on board; whose hand Ulysses took, intrusted with command: They plow the liquid seas, and leave the lessening land.

Atrides then, his outward zeal to boast, Bade purify the sin-polluted host. With perfect hecatombs the god they grac'd; Whose offer'd entrails in the main were cast. Black bulls and bearded goats on altars lie; And clouds of savory stench involve the sky. These pomps the royal hypocrite design'd For show; but harbour'd vengeance in his mind: Till holy Malice, longing for a vent, At length discover'd his conceal'd intent. Talthybius, and Eurybates the just, Heralds of arms, and ministers of trust, He call'd, and thus bespoke: "Haste hence your And from the goddess-born demand his prey. If yielded, bring the captive: if deny'd, The king (so tell him) shall chastise his pride: And with arm'd multitudes in person come, To vindicate his power, and justify his doom." This hard command unwilling they obey, And o'er the barren shore pursue their way, Where quarter'd in their camp the fierce Thessalians lay.

[way:

Their sovereign seated on his chair, they find;
His pensive cheek upon his hand reclin'd,
And anxious thoughts revolving in his mind.
With gloomy looks he saw them entering in
Without salute: nor durst they first begin,
Fearful of rash offence and death foreseen.
He soon, the cause divining, clear'd his brow;
And thus did liberty of speech allow.

"Interpreters of gods and men, be bold:
Awful your character, and uncontrol'd,
Howe'er unpleasing be the news you bring,
I blame not you, but your imperious king.
You come, I know, my captive to demand;
Patroclus, give her to the herald's hand.
But you, authentic witnesses I bring,
Before the gods, and your ungrateful king,
Of this my manifest: that never more
This hand shall combat on the crooked shore:
No, let the Grecian powers, oppress'd in fight,
Unpity'd perish in their tyrant's sight.
Blind of the future, and by rage misled,

He pulls his crimes upon his people's head:
Fore'd from the field in trenches to contend,
And his insulted camp from foes defend."
He said; and soon obeying his intent,
Patroclus brought Briseis from her tent;
Then to th' intrusted messengers resign'd:
She wept, and often cast her eyes behind:
Fore'd from the man she lov'd: they led her thence,
Along the shore, a prisoner to their prince.

Sole on the barren sands the suffering chief
Roar'd out for anguish, and indulg'd his grief.
Cast on his kindred seas a stormy look,
And his upbraided mother thus bespoke :

"Unhappy parent of a short-liv'd son,
Since Jove in pity by thy prayers was won
To grace my small remains of breath with fame,
Why loads he this imbitter'd life with shame ?
Suffering his king of men to force my slave,
Whom, well deserv'd in war, the Grecians gave."
Set by old Ocean's side the goddess heard;
Then from the sacred deep her head she rear'd:
Rose like a morning-mist; and thus begun
To sooth the sorrows of her plaintive son:
"Why cries my Care, and why conceals his smart?
Let thy afflicted parent share her part."

Then, sighing from the bottom of his breast, To the sea-goddess thus the goddess-born address'd:

"Thou know'st my pain, which telling but recals:
By force of arms we raz'd the Theban walls;
The ransack'd city, taken by our toils,
We left, and hither brought the golden spoils;
Equal we shar'd them; but before the rest,
The proud Prerogative had seiz'd the best.
Chryseis was the greedy tyrant's prize,
Chryseis rosy-cheek'd, with charming eyes.
Her sire, Apollo's priest, arriv'd to buy,
With proffer'd gifts of price, his daughter's liberty.
Suppliant before the Grecian chiefs he stood,
Awful, and arm'd with ensigns of his god:
Bare was his hoary head, one holy hand
Helf forth his laurel-crown, and one, his sceptre
of command.

His suit was common, but above the rest
To both the brother-princes was address'd.
With shouts of loud acclaim the Greeks agree
To take the gifts, to set the prisoner free.
Not so the tyrant, who with scorn the priest
Receiv'd, and with opprobrious words dismiss'd.

The good old man, forlorn of human aid,
For vengeance to his heavenly patron pray'd:
The godhead gave a favourable ear,
And granted all to him he held so dear;
In an ill hour his piercing shafts he sped;
And heaps on heaps of slaughter'd Greeks lay
dead,

While round the camp he rang'd: at length arose
A seer who well divin'd; and durst disclose
The source of all our ills: I took the word;
And urg'd the sacred slave to be restor❜d,
The god appeas'd: the swelling monarch storm'd:
And then the vengeance vow'd, he since perform'd:
The Greeks, 'tis crue, their ruin to prevent,
Have to the royal priest his daughter sent;
But from their haughty king his heralds came,
And seiz'd, by his command, my captive dame,
By common suffrage given; but, thou, be won,
If in thy power, t' avenge thy injur'd son:
Ascend the skies; and supplicating move
Thy just complaints, to cloud-compelling Jove.
If thou by either word or deed hast wrought
A kind remembrance in his grateful thought,
Urge him by that: for often hast thou said
Thy power was once not useless in his aid,
When he, who high above the highest reigns,
Surpriz'd by traitor gods, was bound in chains.
When Juno, Pallas, with ambition fir'd,
And his blue brother of the seas conspir'd,
Thou freed'st the sovereign from unworthy bands,
Thou brought'st Briareus with his hundred hands,
(So call'd in Heaven, but mortal men below
By his terrestrial name Ægeou know:
Twice stronger than his sire, who sat above
Assessor to the throne of thundering Jove.)
The gods, dismay'd at his approach, withdrew,
Nor durst their unaccomplish'd crime pursue.
That action to his grateful mind recal;
Embrace his knees, and at his footstool fall:
That now, if ever, he will aid our foes;
Let Troy's triumphant troops the camp enclos:
Ours beaten to the shore, the siege forsake ;
And what their king deserves, with him partake. '
That the proud tyrant, at his proper cost,
May learn the value of the man he lost."

To whom the mother-goddess thus reply'd,
Sigh'd ere she spoke, and while she spoke she cry'd:
"Ah, wretched me! by Fates averse, decreed,
To bring thee forth with pain, with care to breed!
Did envious Heaven not otherwise ordain,
Safe in thy hollow ships thou shouldst remain;
Nor ever tempt the fatal field again.
But now thy planet sheds his poisonous rays,
And short, and full of sorrow are thy days.
For what remains, to Heaven I will ascend,
And at the Thunderer's throne thy suit commend.
Till then, secure in ships, abstain from fight;
Indulge thy grief in tears, and vent thy spight.
For yesterday the court of Heaven with Jove
Remov'd: 'tis dead vacation now above.
Twelve days the gods their solemn revels keep,
And quaff with blameless Ethiops in the deep.
Return'd from thence, to Heaven my flight I take,
Knock at the brazen gates, and Providence awake.
Embrace his knees, and suppliant to the sire,
Doubt not I will obtain the grant of thy desire."
She said: and parting left him on the place,
Swoln with disdain, resenting his disgrace;
Revengeful thoughts revolving in his mind,
He wept for anger, and for love he pin'd

Meantime with prosperous gales Ulysses brought | Meantime the goddess-born in secret pin'd;
The slave, and ship with sacrifices fraught,

To Chrysa's port: where entering with the tide
He dropp'd his anchors, and his oars he ply'd.
Furl'd every sail, and drawing down the inast,
His vessel moor'd; and made with haulsers fast.
Descending on the plain, ashore they bring
The hecatomb to please the shooter king.
The dame before an altar's holy fire
Ulysses led; and thus bespoke her sire:

"Reverenc'd be thou, and be thy god ador'd:
The king of men thy daughter has restor'd;
And sent by me with presents and with prayer;
He recommends him to thy pious care.
That Phobus at thy suit his wrath may cease,
And give the penitent offenders peace."-

He said, and gave her to her father's hands,
Who glad receiv'd her, free from servile bands.
This done, in order they, with sober grace,
Their gifts around the well-built altar place.
Then wash'd, and took the cakes; while Chryses
stood

With hands upheld, and thus invok'd his god :
"God of the silver bow, whose eyes survey
The sacred Cilla, thou whose awful sway
Chrysa the bless'd, and Tenedos obey:
Now hear, as thou before my prayer hast heard,
Against the Grecians and their prince preferr'd :
Once thou hast honour'd, honour once again
Thy priest; nor let his second vows be vain.
But from th' afflicted host and humbled prince
Avert thy wrath, and cease thy pestilence."
Apollo heard, and, conquering his disdain,
Unbent his bow, and Greece respir'd again.

Now when the solemn rites of prayer were past,
Their salted cakes on crackling flames they cast.
Then, turning back, the sacrifice they sped:
The fatted oxen slew, and flea'd the dead.
Chopp'd off their nervous thighs, and next pre-
par'd

T' involve the lean in cauls, and mend with lard.
Sweet-breads and collops were with skewers prick'd
About the sides; imbibing what they deck'd.
The priest with holy hands was seen to tine
The cloven wood, and pour the ruddy wine.
The youth approach'd the fire, and as it burn'd,
On five sharp broachers rank'd, the roast they
turn'd;

Nor visited the camp, nor in the council join'd,
But, keeping close, his gnawing heart he fed
With hopes of vengeance on the tyrant's head:
And wish'd for bloody wars and mortal wounds,
And of the Greeks oppress'd in fight to hear the
dying sounds.
[race,
Now, when twelve days complete had run their
The gods bethought them of the cares belonging
to their place.

Jove at their head ascending from the sea,
A shoal of puny powers attend his way.
Then Thetis, not unmindful of her son,
Emerging from the deep, to beg her boon,
Pursued their track; and waken'd from his rest,
Before the sovereign stood a morning guest.
Him in the circle, but apart, she found:
The rest at awful distance stood around.
She bow'd, and ere she durst her suit begin,
One hand embrac'd his knees, one prop'd his chin.
Then thus: "If I, celestial sire, in ought
Have serv'd thy will, or gratify'd thy thought,
One glimpse of glory to my issue give;
Grac'd for the little time he has to live.
Dishonour'd by the king of men he stands :
His rightful prize is ravish'd from his hands.
But thou, O father, in my son's defence,
Assume thy power, assert thy providence.
Let Troy prevail, till Greece th' affront has paid
With doubled honours; and redeem'd his aid."

She ceas'd, but the considering god was mute,
Till she, resolv'd to win, renew'd her suit:
Nor loos'd her hold, but fore'd him to reply,
"Or grant me my petition, or deny:
Jove cannot fear: then tell me to my face,
That I, of all the gods, am least in grace.
This 1 can bear." The Cloud-compeller mourn'd,
And, sighing first, this answer he return'd:

"Know'st thou what clamours will disturb my

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This ratifies th' irrevocable doom:

These morsels stay'd their stomachs; then the rest When, nodding to thy suit, he bows the sky.
They cut in legs and fillets for the feast;
Which drawn and serv'd, their hunger they appease
With savory meat, and set their minds at ease.

Now when the rage of eating was repell'd,
The boys with generous wine the goblets fill'd.
The first libations to the gods they pour:
And then with songs indulge the genial hour.
Holy debauch! Till day to night they bring,
With hymns and pæans to the bowyer king.
At sun-set to their ship they make return,
And snore secure on decks, till rosy morn.
The skies with dawning day were purpled o'er;
Awak'd, with labouring oars they leave the shore:
The power appeas'd, with winds suffic'd the sail,
The bellying canvass strutted with the gale;
The waves indignant roar with surly pride,
And press against the sides, and, beaten off, divide.
They cut the foamy way, with force impell'd
Superior, till the Trojan port they held:
Then hauling on the strand their galley moor,
And pitch their tents along the crooked shore.

The sign ordain'd, that what I will shall come :
The stamp of Heaven, and scal of Fate." He said,
And shook the sacred honours of his head.
With terrour trembled Heaven's subsiding hill:
And from his shaken curls ambrosial dews distil
The goddess goes exulting from his sight,
And seeks the seas profound; and leaves the
realms of light.

He moves into his hall: the powers resort,
Each from his house to fill the sovereign's court.
Nor waiting summons, nor expecting stood;
But met with reverence, and receiv'd the god.
He mounts the throne; and Juno took her place:
But sullen Discontent sate lowering on her face.
With jealous eyes, at distance she had seen,
Whispering with Jove, the silver-footed queen;
Then, impotent of tongue (her silence broke)
Thus turbulent in rattling tone she spoke :

"Author of ills, and close contriver Jove,
Which of thy dames, what prostitute of Love,

Has held thy ear so long, and begg'd so hard,
For some old service done, some new reward?
Apart you talk'd, for that's your special care,
The consort never must the council share.

One gracious word is for a wife too much; [such."
Such is a marriage-vow, and Jove's own faith is
Then thus the sire of gods, and men below,
"What I have hidden, hope not thou to know.
Ev'n goddesses are women: and no wife
Has power to regulate her husband's life:
Counsel she may; and I will give thy ear
The knowledge first, of what is fit to hear.
What I transact with others, or alone,
Beware to learn; nor press too near the throne."
To whom the goddess with the charming eyes,
"What hast thou said, O tyrant of the skies!
When did I search the secrets of thy reign,
Though privileg'd to know, but privileg'd in vain ?
But well thou do'st, to hide from common sight
Thy close intrigues, too bad to bear the light.
Nor doubt 1, but the silver-footed dame,
Tripping from sea, on such an errand came,
To grace her issue, at the Grecians' cost,
And for one peevish man destroy an host."

To whom the thunderer made this stern reply;
"My household curse, my lawful plague, the spy
Of Jove's designs, his other squinting eye!
Why this vain prying, and for what avail?
Jove will be master still, and Juno fail.
Should thy suspicious thoughts divine aright,
Thou but becom'st more odious to my sight,
For this attempt: uneasy life to me,
Still watch'd, and importun'd, but worse for thee.
Curb that impetuous tongue, before too late
The gods behold, and tremble at thy fate.
Pitying, but daring not, in thy defence,
To lift a hand against Omnipotence."
This heard, th' imperious queen sate mute with
Nor further durst incense the gloomy thunderer,
Silence was in the court at this rebuke:
Nor could the gods, abash'd, sustain their sove-
reign's look.

[fear:

The limping smith observ'd the sadden'd feast, And hopping here and there, (himself a jest) Put in his word, that neither might offend; To Jove obsequious, yet his mother's friend. "What end in Heaven will be of civil war, If gods of pleasure will for mortals jar? Such discord but disturbs our jovial feast; One grain of bad, embitters all the best. Mother, though wise yourself, my counsel weigh; 'Tis much unsafe my sire to disobey. Not only you provoke him to your cost, But mirth is marr'd, and the good cheer is lost. Tempt not his heavy hand; for he has power To throw you headlong from his heavenly tower. But one submissive word, which you let fall, Will make him in good humour with us all."

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He said no more; but crown'd a bowl, unbid : The laughing nectar overlook'd the lid : Then put it to her hand; and thus pursu'd: "This cursed quarrel be no more renew'd. Be, as becomes a wife, obedient still; Though griev'd, yet subject to her husband's will. I would not see you beaten; yet, afraid Of Jove's superior force, I dare not aid. Too well I know him, since that hapless hour When I and all the gods employ'd our power To break your bonds: me by the heel he drew, And o'er Heaven's battlements with fury threw.

VOL. LX.

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At Vulcan's homely mirth his mother smil'd,
And smiling took the cup the clown had fill'd.
The reconciler-bowl went round the board,
Which empty'd, the rude skinker stili restor'd.
Loud fits of laughter seiz'd the guests, to see
The limping god so deft at his new ministry.
The feast continued till declining light:
They drank, they laugh'd, they lov'd, and then
'twas night.

Nor wanted tuneful harp, nor vocal quire;
The Muses sung; Apollo touch'd the lyre.
Drunken at last, and drowsy they depart,
Each to his house; adorn'd with labour'd art
Of the lame architect: the thundering god
Ev'n he withdrew to rest, and had his load.
His swimming head to needful sleep apply'd;
And Juno lay unheeded by his side.

THE LAST PARTING OF

HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE. FROM THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE ILIAD.

THE ARGUMENT.

Hector, returning from the field of battle, to visit Helen his sister-in-law, and his brother Paris, who had fought unsuccessfully hand in hand with Menelaus, from thence goes to his own palace to see his wife Andromache, and his infant son Astyanax. The description of that interview is the subject of this translation.

THUS having said, brave Hector went to see
His virtuous wife, the fair Andromache.
He found her not at home; for she was gone,
Attended by her maid and infant son,

To climb the steepy tower of Ilion:
From whence, with heavy heart, she might survey
The bloody business of the dreadful day.
Her mournful eyes she cast around the plain,
And sought the lord of her desires in vain.

But he, who thought his peopled palace bare,
When she, his only comfort, was not there,
Stood in the gate, and ask'd of every one,
Which way she took, and whither she was gone;
If to the court, or, with his mother's train,
In long procession to Minerva's fane?
The servants answer'd, "Neither to the court,
Where Priam's sons and daughters did resort,
Nor to the temple was she gone, to move
With prayers the blue-ey'd progeny of Jove;
But, more solicitous for him alone,

Than all their safety, to the tower was gone,
There to survey the labours of the field,
Where the Greeks conquer, and the Trojans yield;
Swiftly she pass'd, with fear and fury wild;
The nurse went lagging after with the child."

This heard, the noble Hector made no stay;
Th' admiring throng divide, to give him way;
He pass'd through every street, by which he came,
And at the gate be met the mournful dame.

L

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