The felf-fame night to both a being gave,
One wife in counfel, one in action brave):

In free debate, my friends, your sentence speak;
For me, I move, before the morning break,
To raise our camp: too dangerous here our poft,
Far from Troy walls, and on a naked coast.
I deem'd not Greece fo dreadful, while, engag'd
In mutual feuds, her king and hero rag'd;
Then, while we hop'd our armies might prevail,
We boldly camp'd befide a thousand fail.
I dread Pelides now: his rage of mind
Not long continues to the hores confin'd,
Nor to the fields, where long in equal fray
Contending nations won and loft the day;
For Troy, for Troy, shall henceforth be the ftrife,
And the hard conteft not for fame, but life.
Hatte then to Ilion, while the favouring night
Detains thofe terrors, keeps that arm from fight;
If but the morrow's fun behold us here,
That arin, thofe terrors, we shall feel, nor fear;
And hearts that now difdain, fhall leap with joy,
If Heaven permit them then to enter Troy.
Let not my fatal prophecy be true,
Nor what I tremble but to think, enfue,
Whatever be our fate, yet let us try
What force of thought and reafon can fupply;
Let us on counsel for our guard depend;
The town, her gates and bulwarks fhall defend :
When morning dawns, our well-appointed

powers,

To their own fense condemn'd, and left to chufe The worst advice, the better to refuse.

While the long night extends her fable reign, Around Patroclus mourn'd the Grecian train. Stern in fuperior grief Pelides stood;

Array'd in arms, fhall line the lofty towers.
Let the fierce hero then, when fury calls,
Vent his mad vengeance on our rocky walls,
Or fetch a thousand circles round the plain,
Till his fpent coursers seek the fleet gain:
So may his rage be tir'd, and labour'd down;
And dogs shall tear him ere he fack the town.
Return? (faid Hector, fir'd with stern disdain)
What! coop whole armies in our walls again?
Was't not enough, ye valiant warriors fay,
Nine years imprison'd in those towers ye lay?
Wide o'er the world was Ilion fam'd of old
For brafs exhauft lefs, and for mines of gold:
But while inglorious in her walls we stay'd,
Sunk were her treasures, and her stores decay'd;
The Phrygians now her fcatter'd spoils enjoy,
And proud Mæonią waftes the fruits of Troy.
Great Jove at length my arms to conqueft calls,
And Luts the Grecians in their wooden walls:
Dar't thou difpirit whom the Gods incite;
Flies any Trojan? I fhall ftop his flight.
To better counsel then attention lend;
Take due refreshment, and the watch attend.
If there be one whofe riches coft him care,
Forth let him bring them for the troops to fhare;
'Tis better generously beftow'd on thofe,
Than left the plunder of our country's foes.
Soon as the morn the purple orient warms,
Fierce on yon navy we will pour our arms;
If great Achilles rife in all his might,
His be the danger. I fhall ftand the fight.
Honour, ye Gods! or let me gain, or give!
And live he glorious, whofoe'er shall live!
Mars is our common lord, alike to all:
And oft the victor triumphs, but to fall.

The houting host in loud applaufes join'd:
So Pallas robb'd the many of their mind;

Thofe flaughtering arms, fo us'd to bathe in blood, Now clafp'd his clay-cold limbs: then gushing start

The tears, and fighs burft from his fwelling heart.
The lion thus, with dreadful anguish stung,
Roars thro' the defert, and demands his young:
When the grim favage, to his rifled den
Too late returning, inuffs the track of men,
And o'er the vales and o'er the foreft bounds;
His clamorous grief the bellowing wood refounds,
So grieves Achilles; and impetuous vents
To all his Myrmidons his loud laments.

In what vain promife, Gods! did I engage.
When, to confole Menatius' feeble age,
I vow'd his much-lov'd offspring to restore,
Charg'd with rich fpoils, to fair Opuntia's fhore?
But mighty Jove cuts fhort, with just disdain,
The long, long views of poor, defigning man!
One fate the warrior and the friend shall strike,
And Troy's black fands muft drink our blood
Me too a wretched mother shall deplore, [alike.
An aged father never fee me more!
Yet, my Patroclus! yet a space I stay,
Then fwift puriue thee on the darktome way.
Ere thy dear relicks in the grave are laid,
Shall Hector's head be offer'd to thy fhade;
That, with his arms, shall hang before thy fhrine;
And twelve the nobleft of the Trojan line,
Sacred to vengeance, by this hand expire;
Their lives effus'd around thy flaming pyre.
Thus let me lie till then! thus, closely preít,
Bathe thy cold face, and fob upon thy breast!
While Trojan captives here thy mourners ftay,
Weep all the night, and murmur all the day:
Spoils of my arms, and thine; when, wafting wide,
Our (words kept time, and conquer'd fide by fide.
He fpoke, and bade the fad attendants round
Cleanfe the pale corpfe, and wath each honour'd
A maffy caldron of ftupendous frame [wound.
They brought, and plac'd it o'er the rifing flame:
Then heap the lighted wood; the flame divides
Beneath the vafe, and climbs around the fides:
In its wide womb they pour the rushing stream:
The boiling water bubbles to the brim.
The body then they bathe with pious toil,
Embalm the wounds, anoint the limbs with oil,
High on a bed of itate extended laid,
And decent cover'd with a linen fhade;
Laft o'er the dead the milk white veil they threw;
That done, their forrows and their fighs renew.

Meun while to Juno, in the realms above, (His wife and fifter) poke almighty Jove: At last thy will prevails: great Peleus' fon Rifes in arms: fuch Grace thy Grecks have won. Say (for I know not) is their race divine, And thou the mother of that martial line?

What words are thefe (th' imperial dame reWhile anger flath'd from her majestic eyes) (plies, Succour like this a mortal arm might lend, And fuch fuccels were human wit attend: And thall not I, the fecond Power above, {Jove, Heaven's Queen, and confort of the thundering

HJ

Say, shall not I, one nation's fate command,
Not wreak my vengeance on one guilty land?

So they. Mean while the Silver-footed Dame
Reach'd the Vulcanian dome, eternal frame!
High-eminent amid the works divine,
Where heaven's far-beaming brazen manfions
fhine.

There the lame architect the Goddess found,
Obfcure in smoke, his forges flaming round,
While bath'd in fweat from fire to fire he flew ;
And puffing loud, the roaring bellows blew.
That day no common task his labour claim'd:
Full twenty tripods for his hall he fram'd,
That, plac'd on living wheels of maffy gold
(Wondrous to tell!) inftinct with spirit roll'd
From place to place, around the bleft abodes,
Self-mov'd, obedient to the beck of Gods:
For their fair handles now, o'erwrought with
flowers,

In molds prepar'd, the glowing ore he pours.
Just as refponfive to his thought the frame
Stood prompt to move, the azure Goddess came:
Charis, his fpoufe, a grace divinely fair
(With purple fillets round her braided hair)
Obferv'd her entering? her foft hand the prefs'd,
And, fmiling, thus the watery Queen addrefs'd:
What, Goddefs! this unusual favour draws?
All hail, and welcome! whatfde'er the cause :
Till now a stranger, in a happy hour
Approach, and taste the dainty of the bower.

High on a throne, with stars of filver grac'd,
And various artifice, the Queen fhe plac'd:
A footstool at her feet; then, calling, faid,
Vulcan, draw near; 'tis Thetis afks your aid.
Thetis (reply'd the God) our powers may claim,
An ever-dear, an ever. honour'd name!
When my proud mother hurl'd me from the sky
(My aukward form, it seems, difpleas'd her eye)
She and Eurynome my griefs redrest,

And foft receiv'd me on their filver breast.
Ev'n then, thefe arts employ'd my infant thought;
Chains, bracelets, pendants, all their toys, I
wrought.

Nine years kept fecret in the dark abode,

Secure I lay, conceal'd from man and God:
Deep in a cavern'd rock my days were led ;
The rushing ocean murmur'd o'er my head.
Now fince her prefence glads our manfion, fay,
For fuch defert what fervice can I pay?
Vouchfafe, O Thetis at our board to share
The genial rites, and hofpitable fare;
While I the labours of the forge forego,
And bid the roaring bellows cease to blow.

Then from his anvil the lame artist rofe;
Wide with distorted legs, oblique he goes,
And ftills the bellows, and (in order laid)
Locks in their chefts his inftruments of trade.
Then with a sponge the footy workman dreft
His brawny arms imbrown'd, and hairy breast,
With his huge fceptre grac'd, and red attire,
Came halting forth the Sovereign of the fire:
The monarch's fteps two female forms uphold,
That mov'd, and breath'd, in animated gold;
To whom was voice, and fenfe, and science given
Of works divine, (fuch wonders are in heaven!)
On thefe fupported, with unequal gait,
He rouch'd the throne where penlive Thetis fate;

There, plac'd befide her on the lining frame,
He thus addrefs'd the Silver-footed Dame:
Thee, welcome Goddeís! what occafion calls
(So long a stranger) to these honour'd walls?
Tis thine, fair Thetis, the command to lay,
And Vulcan's joy and duty to obey.

To whom the mournful mother thus replies
(The crystal drops ftood trembling in her eyes)
Oh, Vulcan! fay, was ever breast divine

So pierc'd with forrows, fo o'erwhelm'd, as mine?”
Of all the Goddeffes, did Jove prepare
For Thetis only fuch a weight of care!
I, only I, of all the watery race,

By force fubjected to a man's embrace,
Who, finking now with age and forrow, pays
The mighty fine impos'd on length of days.
Sprung from my bed, a godlike hero came,
The braveft fure that ever bore the name;
Like fome fair plant, beneath my careful hand,
He grew, he flourish'd, and he grac'd the land:
To Troy I sent him! but his native shore
Never, ah never, fhall receive him more;
(Ev'n while he lives, he wastes with secret woe)
Nor I, a Goddess, can retard the blow!
Robb'd of the prize the Grecian fuffrage gave,
The king of nations forc'd his royal flave:
For this he griev'd; and, till the Greeks oppreft
Requir'd his arm, he forrow'd unredreft.
Large gifts they promife, and their elders fend;
In vain--- he arms not, but permits his friend
His arms, his steeds, his forces, to employ ;
He marches, combats, almost conquers Troy.
Then, flain by Phoebus (Hector had the name)
At once refigns his armour, life, and fame.
But thou, in pity, by my prayer be won :
Grace with immortal arms this thort-liv'd fon,
And to the field in martial pomp restore,
To fhine with glory, till he fhines no more!

To her the Artitt-god: Thy griefs refign,
Secure, what Vulcan can, is ever thine.
O could I hide him from the Fates as well,
Or with these hands the cruel stroke repel,
As I shall forge most envy'd arms, the gaze
Of wondering ages, and the world's amaze !
Thus having faid, the Father of the fires
To the black labours of his forge retires.
Soon as he bade them blow, the bellows turn'd
Their iron mouths; and where the furnace burn's
Refounding breath'd; at once the blast expires,
And twenty forges catch at onee the fires;
Juft as the God directs, now loud, now low,
They raise a tempeft, or they gently blow.
In hiffing flames huge filver bars are roll'd.
And ftubborn brafs, and tin, and folid gold:
Before, deep fix'd, th' eternal anvils ftand;
The ponderous hammer loads his better hand,
His left with tongs turns the vex'd metal round,
And thick, ftrong ftrokes, the doubling vaults re
bound.

Then first he form'd th' immenfe and folid iel Rich various artifice emblaz'd the field; Its utmoft verge a threefold circle bound; A filver chain fufpends the maffy round; Five ample plates the broad expande compose, And godlike labours on the furtace role. There fhone the image of the maiter-mind: There earth, there heaven, there ocean, he deSgn

Th' unwearied fun, the moon completely round; The ftarry lights that heaven's high convex crown'd;

The Pleiads, Hyads, with the northern team;
And great Orion's more refulgent beam;
To which, around the axle of the sky,
The Bear revolving points his golden eye,
Still thines exalted on th' æthereal plain,
Nor bathes his blazing forehead in the main.
Two cities radiant on the shield appear,
The image one of peace, and one of war.
Here facred pomp and genial feaft delight,
And folemn dance, and Hymenæal rite;
Along the freet the new-made brides are led,
With torches flaming, to the nuptial bed:
The youthful dancers in a circle bound
To the foft flute, and cittern's filver found:
Through the fair streets, the matrons in a row
Stand in their porches, and enjoy the show.

There, in the forum fwarm a numerous train,
The fubject of debate, a townsman slain:
One pleads the fine discharg'd, which one deny'd,
And bade the public and the laws decide:
The witness is produc'd on either hand:
For this, or that, the partial people stand:
Th' appointed heralds still the noify bands,
And form a ring, with fceptres in their hands
On feats of ftone, within the facred place,
The reverend elders nodded o'er the cafe;
Alternate, each th' attesting sceptre took,
And rifing, folemn, each his fentence spoke.
Two golden talents lay amidft, in fight,
The prize of him who beft adjudg'd the right.
Another part (a profpect differing far)
Glow'd with refulgent arms, and horrid war.
Two mighty hofts a leaguer'd town embrace,
And one would pillage, one would burn the place.
Mean time the townfmen, arm'd with filent care,
A fecret ambush on the foe prepare:
Their wives, their children, and the watchful
Of trembling parents, on the turrets stand.
They march, by Pallas and by Mars made bold:
Gold were the Gods, their radiant garments gold,
And gold their armour: these the fquadron led,
Auguft, divine, fuperior by the head!

[band

A place for ambush fit, they found, and stood
Cover'd with fhields, befide a filver food.
Two fpies at diftance lurk, and watchful feem
If theep or oxen feek the winding stream.
Soon the white flocks proceeded o'er the plains,
And steers flow moving, and two fhepherd fwains;
Behind them, piping on their reeds, they go,
Nor fear an ambush, nor fufpect a foe.
In arms the glittering squadron rifing round,
Ruth fudden; hills of flaughter heap the ground;
Whole flocks and herds lie bleeding on the plains,
And, all amidst them, dead, the fhepherd fwains!
The bellowing oxen the befiegers hear; [war;
They rife, take horse, approach, and meet the
They fight, they fall, befide the filver flood;
The waving filver feem'd to blush with blood.
There tumult, there contention, stood confeft;:
One rear'd a dagger at a captive's breast;
One held a living foe, that freshly bled
With new-made wounds; another dragg'd a
Now here, now there, the carcafes they tore :
Fate ftalk'd amidst them, grim with human gore.

[dead.

And the whole war came out, and met the eye; And each bold figure seem'd to live, or die.

A field deep-furrow'd, next, the God defign'd, The third time labour'd by the fweating hind; The fhining shares full many ploughmen guide, And turn their crooked yokes on every fide: Still as at either end they wheel around, The master meets them with his goblet crown'd; The hearty draught rewards, renews their toil, Then back the turning plough-shares cleave the Behind, the rifing earth in ridges roll'd: [foil: And fable look'd, though form'd of molten goldAnother field rofe high with waving grain; With bended fickles ftand the reaper-train : Here, stretch'd in ranks, the level'd fwarths are found, [ground. Sheaves heap'd on fheaves here thicken up the With fweeping ftroke the mowers ftrow the lands;

[corn.

The gatherers follow, and collect in bands;
And laft the children, in whofe arms are borne
(Too short to gripe them) the brown sheaves of
The ruftic monarch of the field defcries,
With filent glee, the heaps around him rise.
A ready banquet on the turf is laid,
Beneath an ample oak's expanded shade.
The victim ox the sturdy youth prepare ;
The reaper's due repaft, the womens' care.

Next, ripe in yellow gold, a vineyard lines,
Bent with the ponderous harvest of its vines;
A deeper dye the dangling clusters show,
And, curl'd on filver props, in order glow:
A darker metal mixt, intrench'd the place;
And pales of glittering tin th' enclosure grace.
To this, one path way gently-winding leads,
Where march a train with baskets on their heads
(Fair maids, and blooming youths) that smiling

bear

The purple product of th' autumnal year.
To thefe a youth awakes the warbling strings,
Whose tender lay the fate of Linus fings;
In meafur'd dance behind him move the train,
Tune soft the voice, and answer to the strain.

Here herds of oxen march, erect and bold,
Rear high their horns, and seem to low in gold,
And speed to meadows, on whose founding fhores
A rapid torrent through the, ruthes roars:
Four golden herdsmen as their guardians ftand,
And nine four dogs complete the ruftic band.
Two lions rufhing from the wood appear'd,
And feiz'd a bull, the master of the herd:
He roar'd: in vain the dogs, the men, withstood:
They tore his flesh, and drank the fable blood.
The dogs (oft cheer'd in vain) defert the prey,
Dread the grim terrors, and at diftance bay.

Next this, the eye the art of Vulcan leads Deep through fair forefts, and a length of meads; And ftalls, and folds, and fcatter'd cots between; And fleecy flocks, that whiten all the scene.

A figur'd dance fucceeds: fuch once was seen In lofty Gnoffus, for the Cretan queen, Form'd by Dedalean art: a comely band Of youths and maidens, bounding hand in hand The maids in foft cymars of linen dreft; The youths all graceful in the gloffy veft: Of those the locks with flowery wreaths inroll'de Of these the fides adorn'd with fwords of gold,

That, glittering gay, from filver belts depend.
Now all at once they rife, at once defcend
With well-taught feet: now shape, in oblique

ways,

Confus'dly regular, the moving maze:
Now forth at once, too fwift for fight, they fpring,
And undiftinguifh'd blend the flying ring:
So whirls a wheel, in giddy circle toft,
And rapid as it runs, the fingle fpokes are loft.
The gazing multitudes admire around,
Two active tumblers in the centre bound;
Now high, now low, their pliant limbs they bend:
And general fongs the sprightly revel end.

Thus the broad shield complete the artist crown'd

With his laft hand, and pour'd the ocean round: In living filver feem'd the waves to roll, [whole. And beat the buckler's verge, and bound the

This done, whate'er a warrior's ufe requires, He forg'd; the cuirafs that outfhines the fires. The greaves of ductile tin, the helm impreft With various fculpture, and the golden creft. At Thetis' feet the finish'd labour lay: She, as a falcon, cuts th' aerial way, Swift from Olympus' fnowy fummit flies, And bears the blazing prefent through the skies.

Soon as Aurora heav'd her orient head
Above the waves, that blufh'd with early red
(With new-born day to gladden mortal fight,
And gild the courts of heaven with facred light)
Th' immortal arms the Goddefs-mother bears
Swift to her fon: her fon fhe finds in tears
Stretch'd o'er Patrocins' corpfe; while all the reft
Their fovereign's forrows in their own expreft.
A ray divine her heavenly prefence shed,
And thus, his hand foft-touching, Thetis faid:

Supprefs (my fon) this rage of grief, and know It was not man, but Heaven, that gave the blow; Behold what arms by Vulcan are beftow'd? Arms worthy thee, or fit to grace a God.

Then drops the radiant burden on the ground; Clang the strong arms, and ring the fhores around:

Back fhrink the Myrmidons with dread furprife,
And from the broad effulgence turn'd their eyes.
Unmov'd, the hero kindles at the show,
And fels with rage divine his bofom glow;
From his fierce eye-balis living flames expire,
A fath inceffant like a stream of fire:
He turns the radiant gift, and feeds his mind
On all th' immortal artift had defign'd.

Goddefs! (he cry'd) thefe glorious arms that

thine

With matchlefs art, confefs the hand divine.
Now to the bloody battle let me bend:
But ah the relicks of my flaughter'd friend!

Shall flies and worms obfcene pollute the dead?
That unavailing care be laid afide,
(The azure Goddess to her fon reply'd)
Whole years untouch'd, uninjur'd, fhall remain,
Frefl as in life, the carcafe of the flain.
But go, Achilles (as affairs require)

Before the Grecian peers renounce thine ire;
Then uncontroll'd in boundless war engage,
And Heaven with ftrength fupply the mighty
rage!

Then in the noftrils of the flain the pour'd
Nectareous drops, and rich ambrofia fhower'd
O'er all the corpfe. The flics forbid their prey,
Untouch'd it refts, and facred from decay.
Achilles to the ftrand obedient went:
The fhores refounded with the voice he fent.
The heroes heard, and all the naval train
That tend the hips, or guide them o'er the main
Alarm'd, tranfported, at the well-known found,
Frequent and full, the great affembly crown'd;
Studious to fee that terror of the plain,
Long loft to battle, fhine in arms again.
Tydides and Ulyffes first appear,
Lame with their wounds, and leaning on the
Thefe on the facred feats of council plac'd,
The king of men, Atrides, came the last:
He too fore wounded by Agenor's fon.
Achilles (rifing in the midft) begun :

[[pear;

Oh monarch! better far had been the fate Of thee, of me, of all the Grecian state, If, (ere the day when by mad paffion fway'd, Rafh we contended for the black-ey'd maid) Preventing Dian had dispatch'd her dart, And fhot the fhining mischief to the heart: Then many a hero had not press'd the fhore, Not Troy's glad fields been fatten'd with our gore: [wail,

Long, long fhall Greece the woes we caus'd be-
And fad pofterity repeat the tale.

But this, no more the fubject of debate,
Is paft, forgotten, and refign'd to fate:
Why should, alas! a mortal man, as I,
Burn with a fury that can never die?
Here then my anger ends; let war fucceed,
And ev'n as Greece has bled, let Ilion bleed.
Now call the hofts, and try, if in our fight
Troy yet fhall dare to camp a fecond night?
I deem their mightieft, when this arm he knows,
Shall 'fcape with transport, and with joy repofe.
He faid: his finish'd wrath with loud acclaim
The Greeks accept, and shout Pelides' name.
When thus, not rifing from his lofty throne,
In ftate unmov'd, the king of men begun :
Hear me, ye fons of Greece! with filence
hear!

And graut your monarch an impartial ear;
A while your loud, untimely joy fufpend,
And let your rath, injurious clamours end:
Unruly murmurs, or ill-tim'd applaufe
Wrong the beft fpeaker, and the justest cause.
Nor charge on me, ye Greeks, the dire debate:
Know, angry Jove, and all-compelling Fate,
With fell Erinnys, urg'd my wrath that day
When from Achilles' aims I forc'd the prey.
What then could I against the will of Heaven?
Not by myself, but vengeful Até driven;
She, Jove's dread daughter, fated to infest
The wrath of mortals, enter'd in my breast.
Not on the ground that haughty Fury treads,
But prints her lofty footfteps on the heads
Of mighty men; inflicting as the goes
Long feftering wounds, inextricable woes!
Of old, the stalk'd amid the bright abodes;
And Jove himself, the Sire of men and Gods,
The world's great ruler, felt her venom'd dart ;
Deceiv'd by Juno's wiles, and female art.
For when Alcmena's nine long months were

run,

And Jove expected his immortal.fon:
To Gods and Goddeffes th' unruly joy
He fhow'd, and vaunted of his matchless boy:
From us (he faid) this day an infant springs,
Fated to rule, and born a king of kings.
Saturnia afk'd an oath, to vouch the truth,
And fix'd dominion on the favour'd youth.
The Thunderer, unfufpicious of the fraud,
Pronounc'd thofe folemn words that bind a God.
The joyful Goddels from Olympus' height,
Swift to Achaian Argos bent her flight;
Scarce feven moons gone, lay Sthenelus's wife;
She puth'd her lingering infant into life;
Her charms Alcmena's coming labours flay,
And ftop the babe, juft iffuing to the day.
Then bids Saturnius bear his oath in mind;

"Is this day born: from Sthenelus he springs,
"And claims thy promife to be king of kings
Grief feiz'd the Thunderer, by his oath engag'd;
Stung to the foul, he forrow'd, and he rag'd.
From his ambrofial head, where perch'd the fate,
He fnatch'd the Fury-Goddess of debate,,
The dread, th' irrevocable oath he swore,
Th' immortal feats fhould ne'er behold her more;
And whirl'd her headlong down, for ever driven
From bright Olympus and the ftarry heaven:
Thence on the nether world the Fury fell;
Ordain'd with man's contentious race to dwell.
Full oft the God his fon's hard toils bemoan'd,
Curs'd the dire Fury, and in fecret groan'd.
Ev'n this, like Jove himself, was I misled,
While raging Hector heap'd our camps with
dead.

What can the errors of my rage atone?
My martial troops, my treasures, are thy own:
This inftant from the navy fhall be fent
Whate'er Ulyfies promis'd at thy tent:
But thou! appeas'd, propitious to our prayer,
Refume thy arms, and thine again in war.

O king of nations! whofe fuperior sway
(Returns Achilles) all our hofts obey!
To keep or fend the prefents, be thy care;
To us, 'tis equal: all we afk is war.
While yet we talk, or but an instant shun
The fight, our glorious work remains undone.
Let every Greek, who fees my fpear confound
The Trojan ranks, and deai deftruction round,
With emulation what I act furvey,
And learn from thence the bufinefs of the day.

The fon of Peleus thus: and thus replies
The great in councils, Ithacus the wife:
Though, godlike, thou art by no toils oppreft,
At least our armies claim repast and rest:
Long and laborious muft the combat be,
When by the Gods infpir'd, and led by thee.
Strength is deriv'd from fpirits and from blood,
And thofe augment by generous wine and food:
What boastful fon of war, without that stay,
Can laft a hero through a fingle day?
Courage may prompt; but, ebbing out his ftrength
Mere unfupported man must yield at length;
Shrunk with dry famine, and with toils declin'd,
The drooping body will defert the mind:
But built anew with ftrength-conferring fare,
With limbs and foul untam'd, he tires a war.
Difmifs the people then, and give command
With strong repaft to hearten every band;
But let the prefents to Achilles made
In full affembly of all Greece be laid.
The king of men fhall rife in public fight,
And folemn fwear (obfervant of the rite)
That, fpotlefs as flie came, the maid removes,
Pure from his arms, and guiltlefs of his loves.
That done, a fumptuous banquet shall be made,
And the full price of injur'd honour paid.
Stretch not henceforth, O prince! thy fovereign

might

Beyond the bounds of reafon and of right;
'Tis the chief praife that e'er to kings belong'd,
To right with juftice whom with power they
wrong'd.

To him the monarch: Juft is thy decree,
Thy words give joy, and wifdom breathes in thee,