Slew the dire pair, and gave to funeral flame
The vile affaffin, and adulterous dame.
That day, ere yet the bloody triumphs cease,
Return'd Atrides to the coaft of Greece.
And fafe to Argos' port his navy brought,
With gifts of price and ponderous treasure fraught.
Hence warn'd, my fon, beware! nor idly stand
Too long a stranger to thy native land;
Left heedlefs abfence wear thy wealth away,
While lawless feafters in thy palace sway;
Perhaps may feize thy realm, and thare the
And thou return with difappointed toil, [fpoil;
From thy vain journey, to a rifled ifle.
Howe'er, my friend, indulge one labour more,
And feek Atrides on the Spartan thore.
He, wandering long, a wider circle made,
And many-languag'd nations has furvey'd ;
And meafur'd tracts unknown to other ships
Amid the monstrous wonders of the deeps;
(A length of ocean and unbounded sky,
Which Tcarce the fea-fowl in a year o'erfly).
Go then; to Sparta take the watery way,
Thy thip and failors but for orders stay;
Or, if by land thou choose thy courfe to bend,
My fteeds, my chariors, and my fons attend:
Thee to Atrides they shall fafe convey,
Guides of thy road, companions of thy way.
Urge him with truth to frame his free replies,
And fure he will; for Menelaus is wife,
Thus while he speaks, the ruddy fun defcends,
And twilight grey her evening fhade extends.
Then thus the blue-ey'd Maid: O full of days!
Wife are thy words, and juft are all thy ways.
Now immolate the tongues, and mix the wine,
Sacred to Neptune and the Powers divine.
The lamp of day is quench'd beneath the deep,
And foft approach the balmy hours of fleep:
Nor fits it to prolong the heavenly feast,
Timeless, indecent, but retife to rest.
So fpake Jove's daughter, the celestial Maid.
The fober train attended and obey'd.
The facred heralds on their hands around
Pour'd the full urns; the youths the goblets
crown'd:
From bowl to bowl the holy beverage flows:
While to the final facrifice they rofe.
The tongues they caft upon the fragrant flame,
And pour, above, the confecrated ftream.
And now, their thirst by copious draughts allay'd,
The youthful hero and th' Athenian Maid.
Propole departure from the finish'd rite,
And in their hollow bark to pafs the night:
But this the hofpitable fage deny'd.
Forbid it Jove! and all the Gods! he cry'd,
Thus from my walls the much-lov'd son to send
Of fuch a hero, and of such a friend!
Me, as fome needy peafant, would ye leave,
Whom Heaven denies the blefling to relieve?
Me would you leave, who boast imperial fway,
When beds of royal ftate invite your stay?
No-long as life this mortal fhall inspire,
Or as my children imitate their fire,
Here fhall the wandering ftranger find his home,
And hospitable rites adorn the dome.
Well haft thou spoke, (the blue-ey'd Maid re-
plies)
Belov'd old man! benevolent as wife.
Be the kind dictates of thy heart obey'd,
And let thy words Telemachus perfuade:
He to thy palace fhrall thy fteps purfue;
I to the hip to give the orders due,
Prefcribe directions, and confirm the crew.
For I alone fuftain their navel cares,
Who boaft experience from thefe filver hairs;
All youths the reft, whom to this journey move
Like years, like tempers, and their prince's love.
There in the veel thall I pafs the night;
And foon as morning paints the fields of light,
I go to challenge from the Caucons bold,
A debt, contracted in the days of old.
But this thy gueft, receiv'd with friendly care,
Let thy ftrong courfers fwift to Sparta bear;
Prepare thy chariot at the dawn of day,
And be thy fon companion of his way.
Then turning with the word, Minerva flies,
And foars an eagle through the liquid skies.
Vifion divine! the throng'd fpectators gaze
In holy wonder fix'd, and still amaze.
But chief the reverend fage admir'd; he took
The hand of young Telemachus, and spoke :
Oh, happy youth! and favonr'd of the fkies,
Diftinguifl'd care of guardian Deities!
Whofe early years for future worth engage,
No vulgar manhood, no ignoble age.
For, lo none other of the court above
Than fhe, the daughter of almighty Jove,
Pallas herself, the war-triumphant maid,
Confeft is thine, as once thy father's aid.
So guide me, Goddess! fo propitious fhine
On me, my confort, and my royal line!
A yearling bullock to thy name shall smoke,
Untam'd, unconfcious of the galling yoke,
With ample forehead, and yet tender horns,
Whole budding honours ductile gold adorns.
Submiffive thus the hoary fire preferr'd
His holy vow: the favouring Goddess heard.
Then, flowly rifing, o'er the fandy space
Precedes the father, follow'd by his race,
(A long proceffion) timely marching home
In comely order to the regal dome.
There when arriv'd, on thrones around him plac'd,
His fons and grandfons the wide circle grac'd.
To these the hofpitable fage, in fign
Of focial welcome, mix'd the racy wine
(Late from the mellowing cask restor'd to light,
By ten long years refin'd, and rofy-bright).
To Pallas high the foaming bowl he crown'd,
And sprinkled large libations on the ground.
Each drinks a full oblivion of his cares.
And to the gifts of balmy fleep repairs.
Deep in a rich alcove the prince was laid,
And flept beneath the pompous colonade;
Faft by his fide Pifiitratus lay fpread,
(In age is equal) on a fplendid bed:
But in an inner court, fecurely clos'd,
The reverend Neftor and his queen repos'd.
When now Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
With rofy luftre purpled o'er the lawn;
The old man early rofe, walk'd forth, and fate
On polish'd stone before his palace-gate:
With unguents smooth the lucid marble fhone,
Where ancient Neleus fate, a ruftic throne;
But he defcending to th' infernal flade,
Sage Neftor fill'd it, and the fceptre fway'd.
His fons around him mild obeisance pay,
And duteous take the orders of the day.
First Echephron and Stratius quit their bed:
Then Perfeus, Aretus, and Thrafymed;
The laft Pififtratus arose from rest:
They came, and near him plac'd the stranger-
To these the senior thus declar'd his will: [gueft.
My fons! the dictates of your fire fulfil.
To Pallas, first of Gods, prepare the feast,
Who grac'd our rites, a more than mortal gueft.
Let one, difpatchful, bid fome swain to lead
A well-fed bullock from the graffy mead;
One feek the harbour where the veffels moor,
And bring thy friends, Telemachus! afhore
(Leave only two the galley to attend);
Another to Laerceus muft we send,
Artist divine, whose skilful hands infold
The victim's horn with circumfufile gold.
The reft may here the pious duty fhare,
And bid the handmaids for the feast prepare,
The feats to range, the fragrant wood to bring,
And limpid waters from the living spring.
He faid, and bufy each his care bestow'd:
Already at the gates the bullock low'd,
Already came the Ithacenfian crew,
The dextrous fmith the tools already drew:
His ponderous hammer, and his anvil found,
And the strong tongs to turn the metal round.
Nor was Minerva abfent from the rite,
She view'd her honours, and enjoy'd the fight.
With reverend hand the king presents the gold,
Which round th' intorted horns the gilder
roll'd,
So wrought, as Pallas might with pride behold.
Young Aretus from forth his bridal bower
Brought the full laver, o'er their hands to pour,
And canisters of confecrated flour.
Stratius and Echephron the victim led ;
The axe was held by warlike Thrafymed,
In act to strike: before him Perfeus stood,
The vafe extending to receive the blood.
The king himself initiates to the Power;
Scatters with quivering hand the facred flour,
And the stream fprinkles: from the curling brows
The hair collected in the fire he throws.
Soon as due vows on every part were paid,
And facred wheat upon the victim laid,
Strong Thrafymed discharg'd the speeding blow
Full on his neck, and cut the nerves in two.
Down funk the heavy beaft: the females round,
Maids, wives, and matrons, mix a fhrilling found.
Nor fcorn'd the queen the holy choir to join
(The first-born fhe, of old Clymenus'-line;
In youth by Neftor lov'd, of spotless fame,
And lov'd in age, Eurydice her name).
From earth they rear him, ftruggling now with
death;
And Neftor's youngest stops the vents of breath.
The foul for ever flies: on all fides round
Streams the black blood, and smokes upon the
ground.
The beaft they then divide, and difunite
The ribs and limbs, obfervant of the rite:
On these, in double cawls involv'd with art,
The choiceft morfels lay from every part.
The facred fage before his altar ftands,
Turns the burnt-offering with his holy hands,
And pours the wine, and bids the flames afpire:
The youth with instruments surround the fire,
The thighs now facrific'd, and entrails dreft,
Th' afbitants part, transfix, and broil the rest.
While thefe officious tend the rites divine,
The last fair branch of the Neftorean line,
Sweet Polycafte, took the pleafing toil
To bathe the prince, and pour the fragrant oil.
O'er his fair limbs a flowery veft he threw,
And iffued, like a God, to mortal view.
His former feat beside the king he found
(His people's father with his peers around);
All plac'd at eafe the holy banquet join,
And in the dazzling goblet laughs the wine.
The rage of thirst and hunger now fuppreft,
The monarch turns him to his royal gueft;
And for the promis'd journey bids prepare
The smooth-hair'd horfes, and the rapid car.
Obfervant of his word; the word fearce spoke,
The fons obey, and join them to the yoke.
Then bread and wine a ready handmaid brings,
And prefents, such as fuit the ftate of kings,
The glittering feat Telemachus afcends;
His faithful guide Pififtratus attends;
With hafty hand the ruling reins he drew :
He lafh'd the courfers, and the courfers flew.
Beneath the bounding yoke alike they held
Their equal pace, and fmok'd along the field.
The towers of Pylos fink, its views decay,
Fields after fields fly back, till close of day:
Then funk the fun, and darken'd all the way.
To Phere now, Diocleus' ftately feat
(Of Alpheus' race), the weary youths retreat.
His houfe affords the hofpitable rite,
And pleas'd they fleep (the bleffing of the night).
But when Aurora, daughter of the dawn,
With rofy luftre purpled o'er the lawn;
And from the founding portico they flew.
Again they mount, their journey to renew,
Along the waving fields their way they hold,
The fields receding as the chariot roll'd:
Then flowly funk the ruddy globe of light,
And o'er the shaded landscape rush'd the night.
Telemachus with Pififtratus arriving at Sparta, is hofpitably received by Menelaus, to whom he relates the caufe of his coming, and learns from him many particulars of what befel the Greeks fince the destruction of Troy. He dwells more at large upon the prophecies of Proteus to him in his return; from which he acquaints Telemachus, that Ulyffes is detained in the island of Calypfo. In the mean time the fuitors confult to destroy Telemachus in his voyage horae. Penelope is apprifed of this; but comforted in a dream by Pallas, in the shape of her fifter Ipthima.
AND now proud Sparta with their wheels re
Sparta whole walls a range of hills furrounds:
At the fair dome the rapid labour ends;
Where fate Atrides 'midft his bridal friends,
With double vows invoking Hymen's power,
To blefs his fons and daughters nuptial hour.
That day, to great Achilles' fon refign'd,
Hermione, the fairest of the kind,
Was fent to crown the long-protracted joy;
Elpous'd before the final doom of Troy:
With feeds and gilded cars, a gorgeous train
Attend the nymph to Phthia's diftant reign.
Mean while at home, to Megapenthes' bed
The virgin-choir Alector's daughter led.
Brave Megapenthes, from a ftol'n amour
great Atrides' age his handmaid bore: To Helen's bed the Gods alone affign Hermione, t' extend the regal line; On whom a radiant pomp of Graces wait, Refembling Venus in attractive state. While this gay friendly troop the king furround, With festival and mirth the roofs refound: A bard amid the joyous circle fings High airs, attemper'd to the vocal strings; Whilft, warbling to the varied ftrain, advance Two fprightly youths to form the bounding dance. 'Twas then, that, iffuing through the palace gate, The fplendid car roll'd flow in regal state: On the bright eminence young Neftor fhone, And faft befide him great Ulyffes' fon : Grave Eteoneus faw the pomp appear, And, fpeeding, thus addreft the royal ear: Two youths approach, whose seinblant features prove
Their blood devolving from the fource of Jove. Is due reception deign'd, or muft they bend Their doubtful courfe to feek a diftant friend?
Infenfate! (with a figh the king replies) Too long, misjudging, have I thought thee wife: But fure relentless folly fteels thy breast, Obdurate to reject the ftranger-guest; To thofe dear hofpitable rites a foe, Which in my wanderings oft reliev'd my woe: Fed by the bounty of another's board, Till pitying Jove my native realm reftor'd--Straight be the courfers from the car releast, Conduct the youths to grace the genial feaft. The fenefchal rebuk'd in hafte withdrew; With equal hafte a menial train pursue:
| Part led the courfers, from the car enlarg'd,
Each to a crib with choicest grain furcharg'd;
Part in a portico, profufely grac'd
With rich magnificence, the chariot plac'd :
Then to the dome the friendly pair invite,
Who eye the dazzling roofs with vast delight;
Refplendent as the blaze of summer-noon,
Or the pale radiance of the midnight moon.
From room to room their eager view they bend
Thence to the bath, a beauteous pile, defcend;
Where a bright damfel-train attend the guests
With liquid odours, and embroider'd veits.
Refresh'd, they wait them to the bower of ftate,
Where circled with his peers Atrides fate :
Thron'd next the king, a fair attendant brings
The pureft product of the chrystal springs;
High on a maffy vafe of filver mold,
The burnish'd laver flames with folid gold;
In folid gold the purple vintage flows,
And on the board a second banquet rofe.
When thus the king with hospitable port:---
Accept this welcome to the Spartan court;
The waste of nature let the feaft repair,
Then your high lineage and your names declare:
Say from what fcepter'd ancestry ye claim,
Recorded eminent in deathless fame?
For vulgar parents cannot stamp their race
With fignatures of fuch majestic grace.
Ceafing, benevolent he straight aligns
The royal portion of the choiceft chines
To each accepted friend: with grateful hafte
They are the honours of the rich repast.
Suffic'd, foft-whifpering thus to Neftor's fon,
His head reclin'd, young Ithacus begun :
View'st thou unmov'd, O ever-honour'd most!
Thefe prodigies of art, and wondrous coft!
Above, beneath, around the palace fhines
The fumless treasure of exhaufted mines:
The fpoils of elephants the roofs inlay,
And ftudded amber darts a golden ray:
Such, and not nobler, in the realms above,
My wonder dictates, is the doine of Jove.
The monarch took the word, and grave reply'd: Prefumptuous are the vaunts, and vain the pride Of man, who dares in pomp with Jove conteft, Unchang'd, immortal, and fupremely bleft! With all my affluence, when my woes are weigh'd, Envy will own the purchase dearly paid. For eight flow-circling years by tempelt tost, From Cyprus to the far Phoenician coast
(Sidon the capital), I fretch'd my toil
Through regions fatten'd with the flows of Nile.
Next, Ethiopia's utmoft bound explore,
And the parch'd borders of th' Arabian fhore:
Then warp my voyage on the fouthern gales,
O'er the warm Libyan wave to fpread my fails:
That happy clime! where each revolving year
The teeming ewes a triple offspring bear;
And two fair crefcents of tranilucent horn
The brows of all their young increase adorn:
The Thepherd fwains, with iure abundance bleft,
On the fat flock and rural dainties feaft;
Nor want of herbage makes the dairy fail,
But every feafen fills the foaming pail.
Whilft, heaping unwith'd wealth I diftant roam ;
The beft of brothers, at his natal home,
By the dire fury of a traitreis wife,
Ends the fad evening of a ftormy life:
Whence with inceffant grief my foul annoy'd,
There riches are poffefs'd, but not enjoy'd!
My wars, the copious theme of every tongue,
To you, your fathers have recorded long:
How favouring Heaven repaid my glorious toils
With a fack'd palace, and barbaric spoils.
Oh! had the Gods fo large a boon deny'd,
And life, the juft equivalent, fupply'd
To thofe brave warriors, who, with glory fir'd,
Far from their country in my cause expir'd!
Still in fhort intervals of pleafing woe,
Regardful of the friendly dues I owe,
I to the glorious dead, for ever dear!
Indulge the tribute of a grateful tear.
But, oh! Ulyffes---deeper than the reft
That fad idea wounds my anxious breaft!
My heart bleeds freth with agonizing pain;
The bowl and tasteful viands tempt in vain,
Nor fleep's foft power can clofe my ftreaming eyes,
When imag'd to my foul his forrows rife.
No peril in my caufe he ceas'd to prove,
His labours equal'd only by my love:
And both alike to bitter fortune born,
For him to fuffer, and for me to mourn!
Whether he wanders on fome friendiefs coaft,
Or glides in Stygian gloom a penfive ghoft,
No fame reveais; but, doubtful of his doom,
His good old fire with forrow to the tomb
Declines his trembling fteps; untimely care
Withers the blooming vigour of his heir;
And the chafte partner of his bed and throne
Waftes all her widow'd hours in tender moan.
While thus pathetic to the prince he spoke,
From the brave youth the ftreaming paffion
Studious to veil the grief, in vain represt,
His face he shrouded with his purple veft:
The conscious monarch pierc'd the coy difguife,
And view'd his filial love with vaft furprize:
Dubious to prefs the tender theme, or wait
To hear the youth inquire his father's fate.
In this fafpenfe bright Helen grac'd the room;
Before her breath'd a gale of rich perfume.
So moves, adorn'd with each attractive grace,
The filver-fhafted Goddels of the chace!
The feat of majefty Adrafte brings,
With art illuftrious, for the pomp of kings;
To fpread the pall (beneath the regal chair)
Or lofteft woof, is bright Alcippe's care.
A filver canifler, divinely wrought,
In her foft hands the beauteous Phylo brought ;
To Sparta's queen of old the radiant vale
Alcanita gave, a pledge of royal grace:
For Polybus her lord (whofe fovereign fway
The wealthy tribes of Pharian Thebes obey),
When to that court Atrides came, careft
With vaft munificence th' imperial guest:
Two lavers from the richeft ore refin'd,
With filver tripods, the kind hoft affign'd;
And bounteous from the royal treafure told
Ten equal talents of refulgent gold.
Alcandra, confort of his high command,
A golden diftaff gave to Helen's hand;
And that rich vafe, with living fculpture wrought
Which heap'd with wool the beauteous Phylo
brought:
The filken fleece impurpled for the loom,
Rival'd the hyacinth in vernal bloom.
The fovereign feat then Jove-born Helen prefs'd,
And pleafing thus her fcepter'd lord addrefs'd:
Who grace our palace now, that friendly pair,
Speak they their lineage, or their names declare!
Uncertain of the truth, yet uncontrol'd,
Hear me the bodings of my breast unfold.
With wonder wrapt, on yonder cheek I trace
The feature of the Ulyffean race:
Diffus'd o'er each refembling line appear,
In juft fimilitude, the grace and air
Of young Telemachus! the lovely boy,
Who bleft Ulyffes with a father's joy,
What time the Greeks combin'd their focial arms
T'avenge the ftain of my ill-fated charms!
Juft is thy thought, the king affenting cries,
Methinks Ulyffes firikes my wondering eyes:
Full thines the father in the filial frame,
His port, his features, and his fhape, the fame:
Such quick regards his sparkling eyes bestow:
Such wavy ringlets o'er his fhoulders flow!
And when he heard the long disastrous store
Of cares, which in my caufe Ulyffes bore;
Difmay'd, heart-wounded with paternal woes,
Above restraint the tide of forrow rofe:
Cautious to let the gufhing grief appear,
His purple garment veil'd the falling tear.
See there confeft, Pififtratus replies,
The genuine worth of Ithacus the wife!
Of that heroic firé the youth is fprung,
But modeft awe hath chain'd his timorous tong"
Thy voice, O king! with pleas'd attention heard
Is like the dictates of a God rever'd.
With him at Neftor's high command I came,
Whofe age I honour with a parent's name.
By adverse destiny constrain'd to fue
For counfel and redrefs, he fues to you.
Whatever ill the friendlefs orphan bears,
Bereav'd of parents in his infant years,
Still muft the wrong'd Telemachus fuftain,
If, hopeful of your aid, he hopes in vain:
Affianc'd in your friendly power alone,
The youth would vindicate the vacant throne.
Is Sparta bleft, and thefe defiring eyes
View my friend's fon? (the king exulting cries)
Son of my friend, by glorious toils approv'd,
Whofe fword was facred to the man he lov'd:
Mirror of conftant faith, rever'd, and mourn'd'
When Troy was ruin'd, had the chief return'd,
No Greek an equal space had e'er poffeft, Of dear affection in my grateful breast. I, to confirm the mutual joys we fhar'd, For his abode a capital prepar'd; Argos the feat of fovereign rule I chofe Fair in the plan the future palace rofe, Where my Ulyffes and his race might reign, And portion to his tribes the wide domain. To them my vaffals had refign'd a foil, With teeming plenty to reward their toil. There with commutual zeal we both had ftrove In acts of dear benevolence and love: Brothers in peace, not rivals in command, And death alone diffolv'd the friendly band! Some envious Power the blissful fcene destroys; Vanish'd are all the vifionary joys: The foul of friendship to my hope is loft, Fated to wander from this natal coaft!
He ceas'd; a guft of grief began to rife,
Faft ftreams a tide from beauteous Helen's eyes;
Fait for the fire the filial forrows flow;
The weeping monarch fwells the mighty woe:
Thy cheeks, Pififtratus, the tears bedew,
While pictur'd to thy mind appear'd in view
Thy martial brother: on the Phyrgian plain
Extended pale, by fwarthy Memnon flain !
But filence from the fon of Neftor broke,
And, melting with fraternal pity, spoke :
Frequent, O king, was Nefto; wont, to raise
And charm attention with thy copious praise:
To crown thy various gifts, the fage affign'd
The glory of a firm capacious mind:
With that fuperior attribute control
This unavailing impotence of foul.
Let not your roof with echoing grief refound,
Now for the feaft the friendly bowl is crown'd;
But when, from dewy fhade emerging bright,
Aurora itreaks the fky with orient light,
Let each deplore his deed: the rites of woe
Are ail, alas! the living can beftow:
O'er the cogenial duft injoin'd to fhear
The
graceful curl, and drop the tender tear.
Then, mingling in the mournful pomp with you,
I'll pay my brother's ghoft a warrior's due,
And mourn the brave Antilochus, a name
Not unrecorded in the rolls of Fame :
With ftrength and speed fuperior form'd in fight
To face the foe, or intercept his flight:
Too early fnatch'd by Fate, ere known to me !
I boaft a witness of his worth in thee.
Young and inature! (the monarch thus rejoins.) In thee renew'd the foul of Neftor fhines: Form'd by the care of that confummate fage, In early bloom an oracle of age. Whene'er his influence Jove vouchfafes to fhower To bless the natal, and the nuptial hour; From the great fire tranfmiflive to the race, The boon devolving gives diftinguifl'd grace. Such, happy Neftor! was thy glorious doom; Around thee, full of years, thy offspring bloom, Expert of arms, and prudent in debate; The gifts of heaven to, guard thy hoary state. But now let each becalin his troubled breaft, Wah, and partake ferenc the friendly feat. To move thy fuit, Telemachus, delay, Til Heaven's revolving lamp restores the day. Antiochus,
He said, Afphalion swift the laver brings; Alternate all partake the grateful springs : Then from the rites of purity repair,
And with keen guft the favoury viands fhare.
Mean time, with genial joy to warm the foul,
Bright Helen mix'd a mirth-inspiring bowl:
Temper'd with drugs of fovereign ute, t' auage
The boiling bofom of tumultuous rage;
To clear the cloudy front of wrinkled Care,
And dry the tearful fluices of Despair :
Charm'd with that virtuous draught, th' exalted
All fenfe of woe delivers to the wind. [mind
Though on the blazing pile his parent lay,
Or a lov'd brother groan'd his life away,,
Or darling fon, oppreis'd by ruffian force,
Fell breathlefs at his feet, a mangled corfe;
From morn to eve, impaffive and ferene,
The man entranc'd would view the deathful scene.
Thefe drugs, fo friendly to the joys of life,
Bright Helen learn'd from Thone's imperial wife;
Who fway'd the fceptre, where prolific Nile
With various fimples clothes the fatten'd foil.
With wholesome herbage mix'd, the diretul bane
Of vegetable venom tants the plain;
From Pæon fprung, their patron-god imparts
To all the Pharian race his healing arts.
The beverage now prepar'd t' infpire the feaft,
The circle thus the beauteous queen addreit:
Thron'd in omnipotence, fupremest Jove
Tempers the fates of human race above;
By the firm fanction of his lovereign will,
Alternate are decreed our good and ill.
To feaftful mirth be this white hour affign'd,
And sweet difcourfe, the banquet of the mind.
Myfelf, afifting in the focial joy,
Will tell Ulyffes' bold exploit in Troy :
Sole witnefs of the deed I now declare;
Speak you (who faw) his wonders in the war.
Seam'd o'er with wounds, which his own abre
In the vile habit of a village-flave,
The foe deceiv'd, he pafs'd the tented plain,
In Troy to mingle with the hostile train.
In this attire iecure from fearching eyes,
Till haply piercing through the dark difguife.
The chief I challeng'd; he, whofe practis'd wit
Knew all the ferpent mazes of deceit,
Eludes my fearch: but when his form I view'd
Freih from the bath with fragrant oils renew'd,
His limbs in military purple dreis'd;
Each brightening grace the genuine Greek confels'd.
A previous pledge of facred faith obtain'd,
Till he the lines and Argive fleet regain'd,
To keep his ftay conceal'd; the chief declar'd
The plans of war against the town prepar'd.
Exploring then the fecrets of the ftate,
He learn'd what beft might urge the Dardan fate :
And, fafe returning to the Grecian hoft,
Sent many a fhade to Pluto's dreary coaft.
Loud grief refounded through the towers of Troy,
Bat my pleas'd bofom glow'd with fecret joy:
For then, with dire remorfe and confcious fhame,
I view'd th' effects of that difaftrous flame,
Which, kindled by th' imperious queen of love,
Conftrain'd me from my native realm to rove:
And oft in bitterness of foul deplor'd
My abfent daughter, and my dearer lord;
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