150

Let me be deem'd the hateful cause of all,
And fuffer, rather than my people fall.
The prize, the beauteous prize, I will refign,
So dearly valued, and so justly mine.
But fince for common good I yield the fair,
My private lofs let grateful Greece repair;
Nor unrewarded let your prince complain,
That he alone has fought and bled in v un.
Infatiate king (Achilles thus replies)
Fond of the power, but fonder of the prize!
Would't thou the Greeks their lawful prey fhould
yield,

155

160

The due reward of many a well-fought field?
The fpoils of cities raz', and warriours flain,
We fhare with justice, as with toil we gain :
But to refume whate'er thy avarice craves
(That trick of tyrants) may be borne by flaves.
Yet if our chief for plunder only fight,
The fpoils of Ilion fhall thy lofs requite,
Whene'er by Jove's decree our conquering powers 165
Shall humble to the duft her lofty towers.

170

180

Is this the pay our blood and toils deferve;
Difgrac'd and injur'd by the man we serve?
And dar'ft thou threat to fnatch my prize away,
Due to the deeds of many a dreadful day?

A prize as fmall, O tyrant! match'd with thine, 215
As thy own actions if compar'd to mine.
Thine in each conqueft is the wealthy prey,
Though mine the fweat and danger of the day.
Some trivial prefents to my fhips I bear,

220

Or barren praises pay the wounds of war.
But know, proud monarch, I'm thy flave no more;
My fleet fhall waft me to Theffalia's fh. re.
Left by Achilles on the Trojan plain,
What fpoils, what conquests, fhall Atrides gain?
To this the king: Fly, mighty warriour! fly, 225
Thy aid we need not, and thy threats defy.
There want not chiefs in fuch a caufe to fight,
And Jove himself shall guard a monarch's right.
Of all the kings (the God's diftinguish'd care)
To power fuperior none fuch hatred bear:
Strife and debate thy reflefs foul employ,
And wars and horrors are thy favage joy;

230

If thou haft ftrength, 'twas heaven that ftrength beftow'd,

For know, vain man! thy valour is from God.
Hafte, launch thy veffels, fly with speed away, 235
Rule thy own realms with arbitrary fway:

I heed thee not, but prize at equal rate
Thy fhort-liv'd friendship, and thy groundless hate.
Go, threat thy earth-born Myrmidons; but here
'Tis mine to threaten, prince, and thine to fear. 240
Know, if the God the beauteous dame demand,
My bark fhall waft her to her native land;
But then prepare, imperious prince! prepare,
Fierce as thou art, to yield thy captive fair:
Ev'n in thy tent I'll feize the blooming prize,
Thy lov'd Brifeis with the radiant eyes.

245

Hence fhalt thou prove my might, and curfe the hour. Thou flood'ft a rival of imperial power;

Achilles heard, with grief and rage oppreft,

185

And hence to all our host it shall be known,

That kings are fubjects to the Gods alone.

250

190

His heart fwell'd high, and labour'd in his breast.
Diftracting thoughts by turns his bofom rul'd,
Now fir'd by wrath, and now by reafon cool'd:
That prompts his hand to draw his deadly fword, 255
Force through the Greeks, and pierce their haughty

Then thus the king. Shall I my prize refign With tame content, and thou poffeit of thine? Great as thou art, and like a God in fight, Think not to rot me of a foldier's right. At thy demand fhall I restore the maid? First let the juft equivalent be paid; Such as a king might afk; and let it be A treasure worthy her, and worthy me. Or grant me this, or with a monarch's chim, This hand fhall feize fome other captive dame; The mighty Ajax shall his prize resign, Ulyffes' fpoils, or ev'n thy own be mine. The man who fuffers, loudly may complain; And rage he may, but he shall rage in vain. But this when time requires-It now remains We launch a bark to plow the watery plains, And waft the facrifice to Chryfa's fhores, With chofen pilots, and with labouring oars. Soon fhall the fair the fable fhip afcend, And fome deputed prince the charge attend : This Creta's king, or Ajax fhall fulfill, Or wife Ulyffes fee perform'd our will; Or, if our royal pleasure shall ordain, Achilles' felf conduct her o'er the main; Let fierce Achilles, dreadful in his rage, The God propitiate, and the pest assuage. At this Pelides, frowning itern, reply'd : O tyrant, arm'd with infolence and pride! Inglorious flave to intereft, ever join'd With fraud, unworthy of a royal mind! Whar generous Greek, obedient to thy wor, Shall form an ambush, or fhall lift the fword? What cause have I to war at thy decree? The diftant Trojans never injur'd me: To Phthia's realms no hoftile troops they led, Safe in her vales my warlike courfers fed; Far hence remov'd, the hoarfe-r.founding main, And walls of rocks, fecure my native reign, Whofe fruitful foil luxuriant harvests grace, Rich in her fruits, and in her martial race. Hither we fail'd, a voluntary throng, Tavenge a private, not a public wrong: What else to Troy th' assembled nations draw, But thine, ungrateful, and thy brother's cause? 210 VOL. VI.

lord:

This whispers foft, his vengeance to controul, And calm the rifing tempest of his foul.

195

Just as in anguish of fufpence he stay'd,

While half unfheath'd appear'd the glittering blade,

Forbear! (the progeny of Jove replies) To calm thy fury I forfake the fkies: Let great Achilles, to the Gods refign'd, To reafon yield the empire o'er his mind. By awful Juno this command is given ; The king and you are both the care of heaven. The force of keen reproaches fet him feel, But fheath, obedient, thy revenging steel. For I pronounce (and trust a heavenly po wer) Thy injur'd honour has its fated hour, When the proud monach fhall thy arms implore, And bribe thy friendship with a boundless store. Then let revenge no longer bear the sway, Command thy paffions, and the Gods obey. To her Pelides. With regardful ear 'Tis juft, O Goddefs! I thy d &tates hear. Hard as it is, my vengeance I fupprefs:

275

280

285

Those who revere the Gods, the Gods will blefs. 290
He faid, obfervant of the blue-ey'd maid;
Then in the fheath return'd the fhining blade.
The Goddess swift to high Olympus flies,
And joins the facred fenate of the fkies.

295

300

Nor yet the rage his boiling breast forfook, Which thus redoubling on Atrides broke. O monster mix'd of infolence and fear, Thou dog in forehead, but in heart a deer! When wert thou known in ambush'd fights to dare, Or nobly face the horrid front of war? "Tis ours, the chance of fighting fields to try, Thine to look on, and bid the valiant die, So much 'tis fafer through the camp to go, And rob a fubject, than defpoila foe. Scourge of thy people, violent and base! Sent by Jove's anger on a flavifh race, Who, loft to fenfe of generous freedom paft, Are tam'd to wrongs, or this had been thy last. Now by this facred fcepter hear me fwear, Which never more fhall leaves or bloffoms bear, 310

305

Which fever'd from the trunk (as I from thee) On the bare mountains left its parent tree; This fceptre, form'd by temper'd steel to prove An enfign of the delegates of Jove,

From whom the power of laws and juftice fprings

315

(Tremendous bath! inviolate to kings): By this I fpear, when bleeding Greece again Shall call Achilles, the fhall call in vain. When, flush'd with flaughter, Hector comes to fpread

The purpled fhore with mountains of the dead,

320

Then fhalt thou mourn th' affront thy madness

Two generations now had pass'd away,
Wife by his rules, and happy by his fway;
Two ages o'er his native realm he reign'd, 335
And now th' example of the third remain'd.
All view'd with awe the venerable man;
Who thus with mild benevolence began :

What fhame, what woe is this to Greece! what joy

To Troy's proud monarch, and the friends of

Troy !

That adverfe Gods commit to ftern debate
The beft, the braveft of the Grecian ftate.
Young as you are, this youthful head restrain,
Nor think your Neftor's years and wisdom

vain.

345

A Godlike race of heroes once I knew,
Such, as no more these aged eyes shall view!
Lives there a chief to match Pirithous' fame,
Dryas the bold, or Ceneus' deathless name;
Thefeus, endued with more than mortal might,
Or Polyphemus, like the Gods in fight?
With thefe of old to toils of battle bred,
In early youth my hardy days I led:

Fir'd with the thirst which virtuous envy breeds,
And fmit with love of honourable deeds.
Strongest of men, thy pierc'd the mountain
boar,

Rang'd the wild defarts red with monsters

And from their hills the fhaggy Centaurs tore.
Yet thefe with foft, perfuafive arts I fway'd;
When eftor fpoke, they liften'd and obey'd.
If in my youth, ev'n thefe efteem'd me wife; 360
Do you, young warriours, hear my age advise.
Atrides, feize not on the beauteous flave;
That prize the Greeks by common fuffrage gave:
Nor thou, Achilles, treat our prince with pride;
Let kings be juft, and fovereign power prefide.
363

Thee, the first honours of the war adorn,
Like Gods in ftrength, and of a Goddess born;
Him, awful majesty exalts above

This faid, he ceas'd: the king of men replies:
Thy years are awful, and thy words are wife.
But that imperious, that unconquer'd foul,
No laws can limit, no refpect controul.
Before his pride muft his fuperiours fall,
His word the law, and he the lord of ail?

Him muft our hofts, our chiefs, ourselves obey?
What king can bear a rival in his fway ?
Grant that the Gods his matchlefs force hath
given;

Has foul reproach a privilege from Heaven? 385
Fere on the monarch's speech Achilles broke,
And furious, thus, and interrupting spoke :
Tyrant, I well deferv'd thy galling chain,
To live thy flave, and still to ferve in vain ;

415

With pure luftrations, and with folemn prayers.
Wash'd by the briny wave, the pious train
Are cleans'd, and caft th' ablutions in the main.
Along the fhore whole hecacombs were laid,
And bulls and goats to Phoebus altars paid,
The fable fumes in curling ipires arife,
And wait their grateful odours to the skies.
The army thus in facred rites engag'd,
Atrides ftill with deep refentment rag'd.
To wait his will, two facred heralds stood,
Talthybius and Eurybates the good.
Hafte to the fierce Achilles' tent (he cries)
Thence bear Brifeis as our royal prize:
Submit he muft; or, if they will not part,
Ourself in arms fhall tear her from his heart. 425
Th' unwilling heralds act their lord's com-
mands;

420

430

435

Penfive they walk along the barren fands:
Arriv'd, the hero in his tent they find,
With gloomy afpect, on his arm reclin'd.
At awful distance long they filent stand,
Loth to advance, or speak their hard command;
D cent confufion! This the godlike man
Perceiv'd, and thus with accent mild began:
With leave and honour enter our abodes,
Ye tacred minifters of men and Gods !
I know your meffage; by constraint you came;
Not you, but your imperious lord I blame,
Patroclus hafte, the fair Briseïs bring;
Conduct my captive to the haughty king.
But witness, heralds, and proclaim my vow, 440
Witness to Gods above, and men below!
But first, and loudeft to your prince declare,
That lawlefs tyrant whofe commands you bear;
Unmov'd as death Achilles fhall remain,
Though proftrate Greece fhould bleed at ev'ry

Not fo his lofs the fierce Achilles bore;
But fad retiring to the founding fhore,
O'er the wild margin of the deep he hung,
That kindred deep from whence his mother
fprung:

There, bath'd in tears of anger and difdain,
Thus loud lamented to the ftormy main :

460

465

O parent Goddefs! fince in early bloom
Thy fou must fall, by too fevere a doom;
Sure, to fo fhort a race of glory born,
Great Jove in Juftice should this span adorn :
Honour and fame at least the Thunderer ow'd,
And ill he pays the promise of a God;
If yon proud monarch thus thy fon defies,
Obfcures my glories, and refumes my prize.
Far from the deep receffes of the main,
Where aged Ocean holds his watery reign,
The Goddefs-mother heard. The waves divide;
470

And like a mist fhe rose above the tide ;
Beheld him mourning on the naked fhores,
And thus the forrows of his foul explores.
Why grieves my fon? Thy anguish let me share,
Reveal the cause, and trust a parent's care.

475

He deeply fighing faid: To tell my woe, Is but to mention what too well you know, From Thebe facred to Apollo's name, (Action's realm) our conquering army came, With treafure loaded and triumphant fpoils; 480 Whofe juft divifions crown'd the foldier's toils; But bright Chryfeis, heavenly prize! was led, By vote felected, to the general's bed. The priest of Phoebus fought by gifts to gain His beauteous daughter f.om the victor's chain;

Myfelf the first th' assembled chiefs incline
T'avert the avengeance of the power divine;
Then rifing in his wrath, the mona ch fterm'd;
Incens'd he threaten'd, and his threats per-
form'd:

The fair Chryfeïs to her fire was fent,
With offer'd gifts to make the God relent; 505

But now he feiz'd Brifeis heav'nly charms,
And of my valour's prize detrauds my arms,
Defrauds the votes of all the Grecian train ;
And fervice, faith, and jeftice plead in vain.
But, Goddefs! thou thy fuppliant fon attend, 510
To high Olympus' thining court afcend,
Urge all the ties to former fervice ow'd,
And fue for vengeance to the thundering God,
Oft haft thou triumph'd in the glorious boast,
That thou ftood'it forth of all th' æthereal hoft,

515

When bold rebellion fhook the realms above,
Th' undaunted guard of cloud-compelling Jove.
When the bright partner of his awful reign,
The warlike maid, the monarch of the main,
The traitor -gods, by mad anbition driven, 520
Durft threat with chains th' omnipotence of Hea-

ven.

Then call'd by thee, the monfter Titan came, (Whom Gods Briareus, Men Egeon name) Through wondering fkies enormous ftalk'd along:

Not he that fhakes the folid earth fo ftrong:

525

With giant-pride at Jove's high throne he stands,
And brandith'd round him all his hundred hands ;
Th' affrighted Gods confefs'd their awful lord,
They dropt the fetters, trembled, and ador'd.
This. Goddefs, this to his remembrance call, 530
Embrace his knees, at his tribunal fall ;
Conjure him far to drive the Grecian train,
To hurl them headlong to their flect and main,
To heap the thores with copious death, and bring
The Greeks to know the curfe of fuch a king:

535

540

Let Agamemnon lift his haughty head
O'er all his wide dominion of the dead,
And mourn in blood, that e'er he durft difgrace
The boldeft warrior of the Grecian race.
Unhappy fon! (fair Thetis thus replies,
While tears celeftial trickle from her eyes)
Why have I borne thee with a mother's throes,
To fates averfe, and nurs'd for future woes?
So thort a fpace the light of Heaven to view !
So fhort a fpace ! and ill'd with forrow too ! 545
might a parent's careful wifh prevail,
Far, far from Ilion flould thy veffels fail,
And thou, from camps remote, the danger fhun,
Which now, alas! too nearly threats my fon.
Yet (what I can) to move thy fuit I'll go
To great Olympus crown'd with fleecy fnow.
Mean time, fecure within thy fhips, from far
Behold the field, nor mingle in the war.
The fire of Gods and all th' æthereal train,
On the warm limits of the farthest main,
Now mix with mortals, nor difdain to grace
The fearts of Ethiopia's blameless race;
Twelve days the powers indulge the genial rite,
Returning with the twelfth revolving light.
Then will I mount the brazen dome, and move
560

The high tribunal of immortal Jove.

550

555

A fuppliant I from great Atrides come:
Unranfom'd here receive the spotlefs fair;
Accept the hecatombs the Greeks prepare;
And may thy God, who scatters darts around, 580
Aton'd by facrifice, defift to wound.

At this, the fire embrac'd the maid again,
So fadly loft, fo lately fought in vain.
Then near the alter of the darting king,
Difpos'd in rank their hecatomb they bring: 585
With water purify their hands, and take
The facred offering of the falted cake;
While thus with arms devoutly rais'd in air,
And folemn voice, the priest directs his prayer:
God of the filver bow, thy ear incline,
Whose power incircles Cilla the divine;
Whofe facred eye thy Tenedos furveys,
And gilds fair Chryfa with diftinguith'd rays!
If, fir'd to vengeance at thy priet's request,
Thy direful darts inflict the raging pest;
Once more attend! avert the wasteful woe,
And fimile propitious, and unbend thy bow.

590

595

So Chryfes pray'd, Apollo heard his prayer: And now the Greeks their hecatomb prepare; Between their horns the falted barley threw, 600 And with their heads to Heaven the victims flew :

605

The limbs they fever from th' inclofing hide ;
The thighs, felected to the Gods, divide:
On thefe, in double cawls involv'd with art,
The choiceft morfels lay from every part.
The priest bimfelf before his altar ftands,
And burns the offering with his holy hands;
Pours the black wine, and fees the flanies af-
pire ;

The youth with inftruments furround the fire;
The thighs thus facrific'd, and entrails drest, 610
Th' aliftants part, transfix, and roast the rest:
Then spread the tables, the repast prepare,
Each takes his feat, and each receives his thare.
When now the rage of hunger was repreft,
With pure libations they conclude the feast; 615
The youths with wine the copious goblets
crown'd,

And, pleas'd, difpenfe the flowing bowls around.
With hymns divine the joyous banquet ends,
The Pans lengthen'd till the fun defcends:

* Neptune.

The Greeks, reftor'd, the grateful notes prolong;

Apollo liftens, and approves the fong.

620

Twas night; the chiefs befide their veffel lie, Till rofy morn had purpled o'er the fky: Then launch, and hoift the maft; indulgent gales, Supply'd by Phobus, fill the fwelling fails; 625 The milk-white canvas bellying as they blow, The parted ocean foams and roars below: Above the bounding billows fwift they flew, Till now the Grecian camp appear'd in view. Far on the beach they haul their bark to land 630

(The crooked keel divides the yellow fand) : Then part, where stretch'd along the winding bay

635

The ships and tents in mingled profpects lay.
But raging ftill, amidst his navy fate
The ftern Achilles, ftedfaft in his hate;
Nor mix'd in combat, nor in council join'd;
But wafting cares lay heavy on his mind :
In his black thoughts revenge and flaughter roll,
And fcenes of blood rife dreadful in his foul.
Twelve days were paft, and now the dawning
light

640
The Gods had fummon'd to th' Olympian height:
Jove firft afcending from the watery bowers,
Leads the long order of æthereal powers.
When like the morning mist in early day,

680

Go, left the haughty partner of my fway
With jealous eyes thy clofe access survey;
But part in peace, fecure thy prayer is fped :
Witnefs the facred honours of our head,
The nod that ratifies the will divine
The faithful, fix'd, irrevocable fign,
This feals thy fuit, and this fulfills thy vows-
He poke, and aw ful bends his fable brows;
Shakes his ambrofial curls, and gives the nod ;
The ftamp of fate, and fanction of the God: 685
High heaven with trembling the dread fignal
took,

And all Olympus to the centre shook.

690

Swift to the feas profound the Goddess flies, Jove to his ftarry manfion in the fkies. The fhining fynod of th' immortals wait The coming God, and from their thrones of state Arifing filent, wrapt in holy fear, Before the majefty of heaven appear. Trembling they ftand, while Jove affumes the

And to the feats divine her flight addreft.
There, far apart, and high above the rest,
The Thunderer fat; where old Olympus shrouds
His hundred heads in heaven, and props the
clouds.

Suppliant the Goddess stood: one hand she plac'd 650

655

Beneath his beard, and one his knee embrac'd :
If e'er, O Father of the Gods! the faid,
My words could please thee, or my actions aid;
Some marks of honour on my fon bestow,
And pay in glory what in life you owe.
Fame is at least by heavenly promife due
To life fo fhort, and now dithonour'd too.
Avenge this wrong, oh ever just and wife!
Let Greece be humbled, and the Trojans rife ;
Till the proud kind, and all the Achaian race,

To this the Thunderer; Seek not thou to find The facred counfels of Almighty mind: involv'd in dark nefs lies the great decree, Nor can the depths of fate be pierc'd by thee. What fits thy knowledge, thou the first shalt

705

know

fway?

715

720

Thy boundless will, for me, remains in force,
And all thy counfels take the deftin'd course.
But 'tis for Greece I fear: for late was feen
In close confult the Silver-footed Queen,
Jove to his Thetis nothing could deny,
Nor was the fignal vain that shook the sky.
What fatal favour has the Goddess won,
To grace her fierce, inexorable fon?
Perhaps in Grecian blood to drench the plain,
And glut his vengeance with my people flain. 725
Then thus the God: Oh reftlefs fate of pride,
That ftrives to learn what heaven refolves tohide;
Vain is the fearch, prefumptuous and abhorr'd,
Anxious to thee, and odious to thy lord.
Let this fuffice; th' immutable decree
No force can fhake: what is, that ought to be.
Goddefs, fubmit, nor dare our will with tand,
But dread th power of this avenging hand;
Th' united ftrength of all the Gods above
In vain refifts th' omnipotence of Jove.

730

735