His lance Atrides next prepares to throw ;
Poises it long, and meditates the blow:
Then, from his hand dismissed with happier aim,
Thund'ring against the Theban shield it came;
Where wreath'd around a mimic serpent twin'd,
With plates of polish'd silver lightly join'd:
Thence turn'd with course oblique it drove along,
And spent its fury on the vulgar throng.
Leophron straight his flaming falchion drew,
And at his foe, with eager fury, flew:
As stooping from above, an eagle springs
To snatch his prey, and shoots upon his wings.
The Spartan warior dreads impending fate;
And, turning, meditates a quick retreat.
As when a shepherd swain, in desert shades,
The blood-nurs'd offspring of the wolf invades ;
If, from the opening of some thicket near,
With rage inflam'd, the angry dam appear,
With darts at first, and threat'ning shouts he The war again, in all its fury, burn'd.

By conscious guilt subdu'd the youth ap-
pear'd ;

As when a rock by forceful engines thrown,
Where hostile arms invest a frontier town,
Threat'ning destruction, rolls along the skies;
And war itself stands wond'ring as it flies:
Falls on some turret's top, the structure bends
Beneath the tempest, and at once descends
With hideous crash; thus, stooping to the ground,
Atrides sunk; his silver arms resound.
But Pallas, mixing in the dire debate,
A life to rescue yet not due to fate,

Had o'er his head her cloudy buckler held;
And half the fury of the blow repell'd.
The son of Creon rush'd to seize his prize,
The hero's spoils; and thus exulting cries:
"Warriors of Thebes! your labours soon shall
cease,

And final victory restore your peace;
For great Atrides, by my valour slain,
A lifeless corse, lies stretch'd upon the plain.
Only be men! and make the Argive bands
Dread in succeeding times your mighty hands;
That foes no more, when mad ambition calls,
With dire alarms may shake your peaceful walls."
Exulting thus, the hero rush'd along;

And kindled with his shouts, the vulgar throng.
Resolv'd and firm the Spartan warriors stand
Around their king, a formidable band.
Their spears, protended thick, the foe restrain'd;
Their bucklers join'd, the weighty war sustain'd.
But as a mountain wolf, from famine bold,
On prey intent, surveys the midnight fold;
Where, in the shelter of some arching rock,
At ev'n the careful shepherd pens his flock;
On spoil and ravage bent, he stalks around,
And meditates to spring the lofty mound:
Impatient thus the Theban chief survey'd
The close-compacted ranks on ev'ry side;
To find where least the serred orb could bear
The strong impression of a pointed war.
Him Menelaus saw, with anguish stung;
And, from amidst his armed warriors, sprung
With wrath inflam'd; as starting from a brake,
Against some trav'ller, darts some crested snake.
His rage in vain the Theban ranks withstand;
The bravest warriors sink beneath his hand.
Ciytander, Iphitus, Palemon, fam'd

For chariots rul'd and fiery coursers tam'd;
And Iphialtes, like the god of light,
Whose pointed arrows thinn'd the lines of fight:
These the first transports of his fury feel.
Against Leophron now he lifts his steel,
And speeds to vengeance; but, in full career,
He stood arrested by a vulgar spear.
Fix'd in his thigh the barbed weapon hung,
Pelax'd the muscles, and the nerves unstrung.
The Spartan warriors to his succour flew;
Against the darts their ample shields they
threw,
[war,
Which storm'd around; and, from the rage of
Convey'd the wounded hero to his car.

With fierce impatience Creon's son beheld
The Spartan warriors still dispute the field.
Before their leader fall'n the heroes stood;
Their spears erected, like the sacred wood
Which round some altar rises on the plain,
The mystic rites to hide from eyes profane.
Thither his native bands the hero turn'd;
Drawn to a wedge, again the combat burn'd,

Through all the air a storm of jar'lins sung;
With sounding blows each hollow buckler rung.
First Enopans felt a deadly wound,
Who in Amycle till'd the fruitful ground;
To great Andremon's spear he yields his breath,
And starts and quivers in the grasp of death.
Next Hegesippus press'd th' ensanguin'd plain;
Leophron's jav'lin mix'd him with the slain.
On Malea's cliffs he fed his fleecy store,
Along the windings of the craggy shore.
He vow'd to Phœbus, for a safe return,
An hundred victims on his hearth to burn. -
In vain! the god, in justice, had decreed,
His gifts contemn'd, the offerer to bleed:
For violence augmented still his store;
And, unreliev'd, the stranger left his door.
Prone on the bloody ground the warrior fell,
His soul indignant sought the shades of Hell.
Next Arcas, Cleon, valiant Chromius dy'd;
With Dares, to the Spartan chiefs ally'd.
And Phomius, whom the gods in early youth
Had form'd for virtue and the love of truth;
His gen'rous soul to noble deeds they turn'd,
And love to mankind in his bosom burn'd:
Cold thro' his throat the hissing weapon glides,
And on his neck the waving locks divides.
His fate the Graces mourn'd. The gods above,
Who sit around the starry throne of Jove,
On high Olympus bending from the skies,
His fate beheld with sorrow-streaming eyes.
Pallas alone, unalter'd and serene,

With secret triumph saw the mournful scene:
Not hard of heart: for none of all the pow'rs,
In earth or ocean, or th' Olympian tow'rs,
Holds equal sympathy with human grief,
Or with a freer hand bestows relief:
But conscious that a mind by virtue steel'd
To no impression of distress will yield;
That, still unconquer'd, in its awful hour
O'er death it triumphs with immortal pow'r.

Now Thebes prevailing, Sparta's host retreats;
As falls some rampart where the ocean beats:
Unable to resist its stormy way,
[way;

Mounds heap'd on mounds, and bars of rock give
With inundation wide the deluge reigns, [plains.
Drowns the deep valleys, and o'erspreads the
Thus o'er the field, by great Leophron led,
Their foes repuls'd, the Theban squadrons spread.
The hero, stooping where Atrides lay,

Rent from his head the golden casque away;
His mail unlock'd; and loos'd the golden chains,
The zone which by his side the sword sustains.
The monarch now amid the vulgar dead,
For wheels to crush and armed hoofs to tread,
Defenceless lay. But stern Leophron's hate
Retriev'd him, thus expos'd, from certain fate.
In semblance dead, he purpos'd to convey
The body naked to some public way;
Where dogs obscene, and all the rav'nous race,
With wounds unsightly, might his limbs disgrace.
Straight he commands; and to a neighb'ring

grove,

His warriors charg'd, the Spartan chief remove,
On their broad shields they bore him from the

plain,

To sense a corse, and number'd with the slain.
His fixed eyes in hov'ring shades were drown'd;
His mighty limbs in death-like fetters bound.

THE

EPIGONIAD.

BOOK III.

THE Spartan bands, with thirst of vengeance
fir'd,
[spir'd.
The fight maintain'd; nor from their toils re-
Before the hero fall'n the warriors stand,
Firm as the chains of rock which guard the strand;
Whose rooted strength the angry ocean braves,
And bounds the fury of his bursting waves.
So Sparta stood; their serred bucklers bar
The Theban phalanx, and exclude the war.
While from the field, upon their shoulders laid,
His warriors sad the Argive prince convey'd;
Leophron saw, with indignation fir'd,
And, with his shouts, the ling'ring war inspir'd.
Again the rigour of the shock returns;
The slaughter rages, and the combat burns ;
Till, push'd and yielding to superior sway,
In slow retreat the Spartan ranks gave way.
As, in some channel pent, entangled wood
Reluctant stirs before the angry flood;
Which, on its loaded current, slowly heaves
The spoils of forests mix'd with harvest sheaves.
Pallas observ'd, and from the Olympian height
Precipitated swift her downward flight.
Like Cleon's valiant son, the goddess came;
The same ber stature, and her arms the same.
Descending from his chariot to the ground,
The son of Tydeus, 'midst his bands, she found;
His steeds unrul'd; for stretch'd before the
wheel,

Lay the bold driver pierc'd with Theban steel.
On the high car her mighty hand she laid;
And thus address'd the valiant Diomed: [fight,
"The Spartan warriors, prince! renounce the
O'ermatch'd by numbers and superior might:
While adverse fate their valiant chief restrains,
Who dead or wounded with the foe remains;
Hegialus lies lifeless on the earth,
Brother to her from whom you claim your birth:
The great Atrides, as he press'd to save,
Leophron's jav'lin mark'd him for the
Jo vengeance haste; and, ere it is too late,
With speedy succour stop impending fate:
For stern Leophron, like the rage of flame,
With ruin threatens all the Spartan name.'
The goddess thus: Tydides thus replies:
"How partial are the counsels of the skies!
For vulgar mer t oft the gods with care
Honour and peace and happiness prepare;
While worth, distinguish'd, by their partial hate,
Submits to all the injuries of fate.

grave.

"

Adrastus thus, with justice, may complain
His daughters widow'd, sons in battle slain.
In the devoted line myself I stand;
And here must perish by some hostile hand:
Yet not, for this, I shun the works of war,
Nor sculk inglorious when I ought to dare.
And now I'll meet yon terrour of the plain;
To crown his conquests, or avenge the slain.
But wish some valiant youth, to rule my car
And push the horses through the shock of war,
Were present; for, extended in his gore,
The brave Speusippus knows his charge no more."
Thus as the hero spoke, Cassandra-heard,
And present, to assume the charge, appear'd.

By love inspir'd, she sought the fields of war;
Her hero's safety was her only care.

A polish'd casque her lovely temples bound,
With flow'rs of gold and various plumage crown'd;
Confus'dly gay, the peacock's changeful train,
With gaudy colours mix'd of ev'ry grain;
The virgin white, the yellow's golden hue,
The regal purple, and the shining blue,
With female skill compos'd. The shield she bore
With flow'rs of gold was mark'd and spangled
o'er:

Light and of slend'rest make, she held a lance:
Like some mock warrior armed for the dance,
When spring's return and music's cheerful strain
The youth invite to frolic on the plain.

"Illustrious chief," the armed virgin said,
"To rule your steeds on me the task be laid;
Skill'd to direct their course with steady rein
To wake their fiery mettle, or restrain;
To stop, to turn, the various arts I know;
To push them on direct, or shun the foe.
With ready hand your voice I shall obey;
And urge their fury where you point the way."
The virgin thus: and thus Tydides said:
"Your zeal I honour, but reject your aid.
Fierce are my steeds; their fury to restrain
The strongest hand requires and stiffest rein:
For oft, their mettle rous'd, they rush along;
Nor feel the biting curb, or sounding thong.
Oft have I seen you brave the toils of fight,
With dauntless courage but unequal might,
Small is your force; and, from your arm un-
strung,

The harmless lance is impotently flung.
Yet not for this you shun the martial strife,
Patient of wounds and prodigal of life.
Where'er I combat, faithful to my side,
No danger awes you, and no toils divide.
Yet grudge not that your service I decline;
Homocleon's better hand shall guide the rein:
His manly voice my horses will obey,
And move submissive to his firmer sway."

Th' Etolian warrior thus; and, with a bound,
Rose to his lofty chariot from the ground.
The goddess to the driver's seat proceeds;
Assumes the reins, and winds the willing steeds.
On their smooth sides the sounding lash she plies;
And through the fight the smoking chariot flies.
Th' Athenians soon they pass'd; and Phocians
strong,

Who from fair Crissa led their martial throng.
Th' Arcadians next from Alpheus' silver flood,
And hardy Eleans, grim with dust and blood,
In order rang'd. As when some pilot spies
The rocky cliffs in long succession rise,
When near the land his galley scours the shores,
By prosp'rous winds impell'd and speeding oars:
So, hastening to the figlit, the hero flew.
And now the Spartan host appears in view:
By wounds subdu'd, their bravest warriors lay;
Others, by shameful flight, their fear obey;
The rest, in slow retreat, forsake the field,
O'ermatch'd by numbers,and constrain'd to yield.
Th' Etolian hero saw, and rais'd his voice,
Loud as the silver trumpet's martial noise;
And rush'd to fight: through all the field it flew;
The host at once the happy signal knew;
And joy'd, as they who, from the found'ring slip
Escap'd, had struggled long amid the deep:

Faint from despair, when hope and vigour fail,
If, hast'ning to their aid, appears a sail;
With force renew'd their weary limbs they strain,
And climb the slipp'ry ridges of the main.
So joy'd the Spartans to repulse the foe;
With hope restor'd, their gen'rous bosoms glow:
While Thebes, suspended 'midst her conquest,
stands;

And feels a sudden check through all her bands.
Leophron only, far before the rest,
Tydides waited with a dauntless breast.
Firm and unaw'd the hardy warrior stood;
Like some fierce boar amid his native wood,
When armed swains his gloomy haunts invade,
And trace his footsteps through the lonely shade;
Resolv'd he hears approach the hostile sound,
Grinds his white teeth, and threat'ning glares
around:

So stood Leophron trusting in his might,
And shook his armour, eager for the fight.
Tydides saw; and, springing from his car,
Thus brav'd the hero, as he rush'd to war:
"O son unhappy, of a sire accurst !
The plague of all, and fated to the worst!
The injuries of Greece demand thy breath;
See, in my hand, the instrument of death.
legialus's ghost shall less deplore
His fate untimely on the Stygian shore,
When banish'd from the light, your shade shall
To mingle with the dark infernal gloom." [come
Tydides thus and Creon's son replies:
"Your fear in vain, by boasting, you disguise;
Such vulgar art a novice oft confounds,
To scenes of battle new and martial sounds;
Though lost on me, who dwell amid alarms,
And never met a greater yet in arms."

Thus as the warrior spoke, his lance with care
He aim'd, and sent it hissing through the air.
On Diomed's broad shield the weapon fell;
Loud rung the echoing brass with stunning knell:
But the strong orb, by Vulcan's labour bound,
Repell'd, and sent it blunted to the ground.
Tydides next his pond'rous jav'lin threw :
With force impell'd, it brighten'd as it flew;
And pierc'd the border of the Theban shield,"
Where, wreath'd around, a serpent guards the
field;

Through the close mail an easy passage found,
And mark'd his thigh, in passing, with a wound.
Now in close fight the angry chiefs engage;
Like two fell griffins rous'd to equal rage;
Pois'd on their rolling trains they fiercely rise,
With blood-bespotted crests and burning eyes;
With poison fraught they aim their deadly stings,
Clasp their sharp fangs, and mix their rattling
wings.

In combat thus, the ardent warriors clos'd,
With shield to shield, and foot to foot oppos'd.
First at his fue Leophron aim'd a stroke;
But, on his polish'd casque, the falchion broke:
From the smooth steel the shiver'd weapon
sprung;

Aloft in air its hissing splinters sung.
Not so, Tydides, did thy weapon fail;
With force impell'd it pierc'd the silver mail,
Whose sliding plates the warrior's neck surround:
A tide of gore came rushing from the wound.
Stagg'ring to earth he sunk with head declin'd;
And life in long couvulsive throbs resign'd,

Nor stopp'd Tydides to despoil the slain ;
The warrior goddess led him cross the plain,
Towards the grove where great Atrides lay;
Th' immortal spear she stretch'd, and mark'd the
way.

Thither amid surrounding foes they haste;
Who shun'd them, still retreating, as they pass'd;
And ent'ring found the Spartan hero laid
On the green sward, beneath the bow'ring shade.
The guard secure, lay stretch'd upon the ground;
Their shields resign'd, their lances pitch'd
One only near a winding riv'let stood, [around:
Which turn'd its wandring current through the
wood;

His helmet fill'd with both his hands he rear'd,
In act to drink; when in the grove appear'd
Th' Etolian prince. His armour's fiery blaze
The dark recess illumin'd with its rays.
Amaz'd the Theban stood; and, from his hand,
The helmet slipp'd, and roll'd upon the sand.
Not more afraid the wond'ring swain descries,
'Midst night's thick gloom, a flaming meteor
rise ;

Sent by the furies, as he deems, to sow
Death and diseases on the Earth below. [cry'd.

Tydides comes!" with fault'ring voice he
And straight to flight his willing limbs apply'd.
With sudden dread surpris'd the guards retire;"
As shepherd swains avoid a lion's ire,
Who roams the heights and plains, from famine
bold,

The stall to ravage or assault the fold.

Now, lifeless as he lay, the martial maid
Atrides, with a pitying eye, survey'd ;
And, with her spear revers'd, the hero shook:
The touch divine his iron slumber broke:
As when his drowsy mate the shepherd swain
Stirs with his crook, and calls him to the plain;
When in the east he sees the morning rise,
And redd'ning o'er his head the colour'd skies.
When from the ground his head the hero rais'd,
In full divinity the goddess blaz'd ;
Her left, reveal'd, the dreadful ægis rears,
Whose ample field the snaky Gorgon bears;
Th' immortal lance stood flaming in the right,
Which scatters and confounds the ranks of fight,
Speechless the chiefs remain'd; amazement
strong,

In mute suspence and silence, held them long.
And thus the goddess: "Atreus' son! arise,
Confess the partial favour of the skies.
For thee I leave the thund'rer's lofty seat,
To wake thee slumb'ring on the verge of fate;
To you let Diomed his arms resign;
Unequal were your force to govern mine;
His stronger arm shall bear this pond'rous shield;
His better hand the weighty jav'lin wield.
Arise! be sudden, for your foes draw near;
Assur'd to conquer when the gods appear."

The goddess thus; and, mixing with the wind,
Left in a heap her shining arms behind
Upon the field; with loud harmonious peal,
Th' immortal buckler rung, and golden mail.
And thus Atrides, rising from the ground:
"In this approv'd is hoar tradition found ;
That oft, descending from th' ethereal tow'rs,
To mix with mortals, come the heav'nly pow'rs 2
But ne'er till now I saw a god appear,
Or more than human voice did ever hear.