The Iliad Part 27

Juno and Pallas grieving hear the doom, But feast their souls on Ilion's woes to come.

Though secret anger swell'd Minerva's breast, The prudent G.o.ddess yet her wrath repress'd; But Juno, impotent of rage, replies: "What hast thou said, O tyrant of the skies!

Strength and omnipotence invest thy throne; 'Tis thine to punish; ours to grieve alone.

For Greece we grieve, abandon'd by her fate To drink the dregs of thy unmeasured hate.

From fields forbidden we submiss refrain, With arms unaiding see our Argives slain; Yet grant our counsels still their b.r.e.a.s.t.s may move, Lest all should perish in the rage of Jove."

The G.o.ddess thus; and thus the G.o.d replies, Who swells the clouds, and blackens all the skies:

"The morning sun, awaked by loud alarms, Shall see the almighty Thunderer in arms.

What heaps of Argives then shall load the plain, Those radiant eyes shall view, and view in vain.

Nor shall great Hector cease the rage of fight, The navy flaming, and thy Greeks in flight, Even till the day when certain fates ordain That stern Achilles (his Patroclus slain) Shall rise in vengeance, and lay waste the plain.

For such is fate, nor canst thou turn its course With all thy rage, with all thy rebel force.

Fly, if thy wilt, to earth's remotest bound, Where on her utmost verge the seas resound; Where cursed Iapetus and Saturn dwell, Fast by the brink, within the streams of h.e.l.l; No sun e'er gilds the gloomy horrors there; No cheerful gales refresh the lazy air: There arm once more the bold t.i.tanian band; And arm in vain; for what I will, shall stand."

Now deep in ocean sunk the lamp of light, And drew behind the cloudy veil of night: The conquering Trojans mourn his beams decay'd; The Greeks rejoicing bless the friendly shade.

The victors keep the field; and Hector calls A martial council near the navy walls; These to Scamander's bank apart he led, Where thinly scatter'd lay the heaps of dead.

The a.s.sembled chiefs, descending on the ground, Attend his order, and their prince surround.

A ma.s.sy spear he bore of mighty strength, Of full ten cubits was the lance's length; The point was bra.s.s, refulgent to behold, Fix'd to the wood with circling rings of gold: The n.o.ble Hector on his lance reclined, And, bending forward, thus reveal'd his mind:

"Ye valiant Trojans, with attention hear!

Ye Dardan bands, and generous aids, give ear!

This day, we hoped, would wrap in conquering flame Greece with her ships, and crown our toils with fame.

But darkness now, to save the cowards, falls, And guards them trembling in their wooden walls.

Obey the night, and use her peaceful hours Our steeds to forage, and refresh our powers.

Straight from the town be sheep and oxen sought, And strengthening bread and generous wine be brought Wide o'er the field, high blazing to the sky, Let numerous fires the absent sun supply, The flaming piles with plenteous fuel raise, Till the bright morn her purple beam displays; Lest, in the silence and the shades of night, Greece on her sable ships attempt her flight.

Not unmolested let the wretches gain Their lofty decks, or safely cleave the main; Some hostile wound let every dart bestow, Some lasting token of the Phrygian foe, Wounds, that long hence may ask their spouses' care.

And warn their children from a Trojan war.

Now through the circuit of our Ilion wall, Let sacred heralds sound the solemn call; To bid the sires with h.o.a.ry honours crown'd, And beardless youths, our battlements surround.

Firm be the guard, while distant lie our powers, And let the matrons hang with lights the towers; Lest, under covert of the midnight shade, The insidious foe the naked town invade.

Suffice, to-night, these orders to obey; A n.o.bler charge shall rouse the dawning day.

The G.o.ds, I trust, shall give to Hector's hand From these detested foes to free the land, Who plough'd, with fates averse, the watery way: For Trojan vultures a predestined prey.

Our common safety must be now the care; But soon as morning paints the fields of air, Sheathed in bright arms let every troop engage, And the fired fleet behold the battle rage.

Then, then shall Hector and Tydides prove Whose fates are heaviest in the scales of Jove.

To-morrow's light (O haste the glorious morn!) Shall see his b.l.o.o.d.y spoils in triumph borne, With this keen javelin shall his breast be gored, And prostrate heroes bleed around their lord.

Certain as this, oh! might my days endure, From age inglorious, and black death secure; So might my life and glory know no bound, Like Pallas worshipp'd, like the sun renown'd!

As the next dawn, the last they shall enjoy, Shall crush the Greeks, and end the woes of Troy."

The leader spoke. From all his host around Shouts of applause along the sh.o.r.es resound.

Each from the yoke the smoking steeds untied, And fix'd their headstalls to his chariot-side.

Fat sheep and oxen from the town are led, With generous wine, and all-sustaining bread, Full hecatombs lay burning on the sh.o.r.e: The winds to heaven the curling vapours bore.

Ungrateful offering to the immortal powers!(197) Whose wrath hung heavy o'er the Trojan towers: Nor Priam nor his sons obtain'd their grace; Proud Troy they hated, and her guilty race.

The troops exulting sat in order round, And beaming fires illumined all the ground.

As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night,(198) O'er heaven's pure azure spreads her sacred light, When not a breath disturbs the deep serene, And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene, Around her throne the vivid planets roll, And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole, O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed, And tip with silver every mountain's head: Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise, A flood of glory bursts from all the skies: The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight, Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.

So many flames before proud Ilion blaze, And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays.

The long reflections of the distant fires Gleam on the walls, and tremble on the spires.

A thousand piles the dusky horrors gild, And shoot a shady l.u.s.tre o'er the field.

Full fifty guards each flaming pile attend, Whose umber'd arms, by fits, thick flashes send, Loud neigh the coursers o'er their heaps of corn, And ardent warriors wait the rising morn.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES.]

THE SHIELD OF ACHILLES.

BOOK IX.

ARGUMENT.

THE EMBa.s.sY TO ACHILLES.

Agamemnon, after the last day's defeat, proposes to the Greeks to quit the siege, and return to their country. Diomed opposes this, and Nestor seconds him, praising his wisdom and resolution. He orders the guard to be strengthened, and a council summoned to deliberate what measures are to be followed in this emergency. Agamemnon pursues this advice, and Nestor further prevails upon him to send amba.s.sadors to Achilles, in order to move him to a reconciliation. Ulysses and Ajax are made choice of, who are accompanied by old Phoenix. They make, each of them, very moving and pressing speeches, but are rejected with roughness by Achilles, who notwithstanding retains Phoenix in his tent. The amba.s.sadors return unsuccessfully to the camp, and the troops betake themselves to sleep.

This book, and the next following, take up the s.p.a.ce of one night, which is the twenty-seventh from the beginning of the poem. The scene lies on the sea-sh.o.r.e, the station of the Grecian ships.

Thus joyful Troy maintain'd the watch of night; While fear, pale comrade of inglorious flight,(199) And heaven-bred horror, on the Grecian part, Sat on each face, and sadden'd every heart.

As from its cloudy dungeon issuing forth, A double tempest of the west and north Swells o'er the sea, from Thracia's frozen sh.o.r.e, Heaps waves on waves, and bids the aegean roar: This way and that the boiling deeps are toss'd: Such various pa.s.sions urged the troubled host, Great Agamemnon grieved above the rest; Superior sorrows swell'd his royal breast; Himself his orders to the heralds bears, To bid to council all the Grecian peers, But bid in whispers: these surround their chief, In solemn sadness and majestic grief.

The king amidst the mournful circle rose: Down his wan cheek a briny torrent flows.

So silent fountains, from a rock's tall head, In sable streams soft-trickling waters shed.

With more than vulgar grief he stood oppress'd; Words, mix'd with sighs, thus bursting from his breast:

"Ye sons of Greece! partake your leader's care; Fellows in arms and princes of the war!

Of partial Jove too justly we complain, And heavenly oracles believed in vain.

A safe return was promised to our toils, With conquest honour'd and enrich'd with spoils: Now shameful flight alone can save the host; Our wealth, our people, and our glory lost.

So Jove decrees, almighty lord of all!

Jove, at whose nod whole empires rise or fall, Who shakes the feeble props of human trust, And towers and armies humbles to the dust.

Haste then, for ever quit these fatal fields, Haste to the joys our native country yields; Spread all your canvas, all your oars employ, Nor hope the fall of heaven-defended Troy."

He said: deep silence held the Grecian band; Silent, unmov'd in dire dismay they stand; A pensive scene! till Tydeus' warlike son Roll'd on the king his eyes, and thus begun: "When kings advise us to renounce our fame, First let him speak who first has suffer'd shame.

If I oppose thee, prince! thy wrath withhold, The laws of council bid my tongue be bold.

Thou first, and thou alone, in fields of fight, Durst brand my courage, and defame my might: Nor from a friend the unkind reproach appear'd, The Greeks stood witness, all our army heard.

The G.o.ds, O chief! from whom our honours spring, The G.o.ds have made thee but by halves a king: They gave thee sceptres, and a wide command; They gave dominion o'er the seas and land; The n.o.blest power that might the world control They gave thee not--a brave and virtuous soul.

Is this a general's voice, that would suggest Fears like his own to every Grecian breast?

Confiding in our want of worth, he stands; And if we fly, 'tis what our king commands.

Go thou, inglorious! from the embattled plain; Ships thou hast store, and nearest to the main; A n.o.ble care the Grecians shall employ, To combat, conquer, and extirpate Troy.

Here Greece shall stay; or, if all Greece retire, Myself shall stay, till Troy or I expire; Myself, and Sthenelus, will fight for fame; G.o.d bade us fight, and 'twas with G.o.d we came."

He ceased; the Greeks loud acclamations raise, And voice to voice resounds Tydides' praise.

Wise Nestor then his reverend figure rear'd; He spoke: the host in still attention heard:(200)

"O truly great! in whom the G.o.ds have join'd Such strength of body with such force of mind: In conduct, as in courage, you excel, Still first to act what you advise so well.

These wholesome counsels which thy wisdom moves, Applauding Greece with common voice approves.

Kings thou canst blame; a bold but prudent youth: And blame even kings with praise, because with truth.

And yet those years that since thy birth have run Would hardly style thee Nestor's youngest son.

Then let me add what yet remains behind, A thought unfinish'd in that generous mind; Age bids me speak! nor shall the advice I bring Distaste the people, or offend the king: