by Homer
So dead thou struck'st thy charge, O king, through all war's thickets, so
Thou look'dst, and swiftly found'st thy man exhorting 'gainst the foe,
And heart'ning his plied men to blows used in the war's left wing;
To whom thou saidst: " Thou god-loved man, come here, and hear a thing
Which I wish never were to hear. I think even thy eye sees
What a destruction God hath laid upon the sons of Greece,
And what a conquest he gives Troy, in which the best of men,
Patroclus, lies exanimate, whose person passing fain
The Greeks would rescue and bear home; and therefore give thy speed
To his great friend, to prove if he will do so good a deed
To fetch the naked person off, for Hector's shoulders wear
His prized arms.'' Antilochus was highly grieved to hear
This heavy news, and stood surprised with stupid silence long,
His fair eyes standing full of tears, his voice, so sweet and strong,
Stuck in his bosom; yet all this wrought in him no neglect
Of what Atrides gave in charge, but for that quick effect
He gave Laodocus his arms (his friend that had the guide
Of his swift horse) and then his knees were speedily applied
In his sad message, which his eyes told all the way in tears.
Nor would thy generous heart assist his sore-charged soldiers,
O Menelaus, in mean time, though left in much distress,
Thou sent'st them godlike Thrasymede, and mad'st thy kind regress
Back to Patroclus, where arrived, half breathless thou didst say
To both th' Ajaces this : " I have sent this messenger away
To swift Achilles, who, I fear, will hardly help us now,
Though mad with Hector; without arms he cannot fight, ye know.
Let us then think of some best mean both how we may remove
The body, and get off ourselves from this vociferous drove
And fate of Trojans." " Bravely spoke at all parts," Ajax said,
“O glorious son of Atreus. Take thou then straight the dead,
And thou, Meriones; we two, of one mind as one name,
Will back ye soundly, and on us receive the wild-fire flame
That Hector's rage breathes after you before it come at you."
This said, they took into their arms the body, all the show,
That might be, made to those of Troy, at arm's end bearing it.
Out shrieked the Trojans when they saw the body borne to fleet,
And rushed on. As at any boar, gashed with the hunter's wounds,
A kennel of the sharpest set and sorest bitten hounds
Before their youthful huntsmen haste, and eagerly a while
Pursue, as if they were assured of their affected spoil;
But when the savage, in his strength as confident as they,
Turns head amongst them, back they fly, and every one his way;
So troop-meal Troy pursued a while, laying on with swords and darts;
But when th' Ajaces turned on them and made their stand, their hearts
Drunk from their faces all their bloods, and not a man sustained
The forechace, nor the after-fight. And thus Greece nobly gained
The person towards home. But thus, the changing war was racked
Out to a passing bloody length; for as, once put in act,
A fire, invading city roofs, is suddenly engrost
And made a wondrous mighty flame, in which is quickly lost
A house long building, all the while a boist'rous gust of wind
Lumb'ring amongst it; so the Greeks, in bearing of their friend,
More and more foes drew, at their heels a tumult thund'ring still
Of horse and foot. Yet as mules, in haling from a hill
A beam or mast, through foul deep way, well clapped and heartened, close
Lie to their labour, tug and sweat, and passing hard it goes,
Urged by their drivers to all haste; so dragged they on the corse,
Still both th' Ajaces at their backs, who back still turned the force,
Though after it grew still the more. Yet as a sylvan hill
Thrusts back a torrent that hath kept a narrow channel still,
Till at his oaken breast it beats, but there a check it takes
That sends it over all the vale, with all the stir it makes,
Nor can with all the confluence break through his rooty sides;
In no less firm and brave repulse th' Ajaces curbed the prides
Of all the Trojans; yet all held the pursuit in his strength,
Their chiefs being Hector, and the son of Yenus, who at length
Put all the youth of Greece besides in most atnazeful rout,
Forgetting all their fortitudes, distraught, and shrieking out;
A number of their rich arms lost, fallen from them here and there
About and in the dike; and yet, the war concludes not here.
BOOK XVIII.
ARGUMENT.
Achilles mourns, told of Fairoclui end
When Thetis doth from forth the sea ascend
And comfort him, advising to abstain
From any fight till her request could gain
Fit arms of Vulcan. Juno yet commands
To show himself. And at the dike he stands
In sight of th'' enemy, who with his sight
Flies; and a number perish in the flight.
Patroclus' person (safe brought from the wars)
His soldiers wash. Vulcan the arms prepares.
ANOTHER ARGUMENT.
Sigma continues the alarms,
And fashions the renowned arms.
THEY fought still like the rage of fire. And now Antilochus
Came.to Aeacides, whose mind was much solicitous
For that which, as he feared, was fall'n. He found him near the fleet
With upright sail-yards, uttering this to his heroic conceit:
“Ah me! Why see the Greeks themselves thus beaten from the field,
And routed headlong to their fleet? O let not heaven yield
Effect to what my sad soul fears, that, as I was foretold,
The strongest Myrmidon next me, when I should still behold
The sun's fair light, must part with it. Past doubt Menoetius' son
Is he on whom that fate is wrought. O wretch, to leave undone
What I commanded, that the fleet once freed of hostile fire,
Not meeting Hector, instantly he should his pow'rs retire."
As thus his troubled mind discoursed, Antilochus appeared,
And told with tears the sad news thus : " My lord, that must be heard
Which would to heaven I might not tell! Menoetius' son lies dead,
And for his naked corse (his arms already forfeited,
And worn hy Hector) the debate is now most vehement."
This said, grief darkened all his pow'rs. With both his hands he rent
The black mould from the forced earth, and poured it on his head,
Smeared all his lovely face; his weeds, divinely fashioned,
All filed and mangled; and himself he threw upon the shore,
Lay, as laid out for funeral, then tumbled round, and tore
His gracious curls. His ecstasy he did so far extend,
That all the ladies won by him and his now slaughtered friend,
Afflicted strangely for his plight, came shrieking from the tents,
And fell about him, beat their breasts, their tender lineaments
Dissolved with sorrow. And with'them wept Nestor's warlike son,
Fell by him, holding his fair hands, in fear he would have done
His person violence; his heart extremely straitened, burned,
Beat, swelled, and sighed as it would burst. So terribly he mourned,
That Thetis, sitting in the deeps of her old father's seas,
&
nbsp; Heard, and lamented. To her plaints the bright Nereides
Flocked all, how many those dark gulfs soever comprehend.
There Glauce, and Cymodoce, and Spio, did attend,
Nessea, and Cymothoe, and calm Amphithoe,
Thalia, Thoa, Panope, and swift Dynamene,
Actaea, and Limnoria, and Halia the fair,
Famed for the beauty of her eyes, Amathia for her hair,
Isera, Proto, Clymene, and curled Dexamene, -
Pherusa, Doris, and with these the smooth Amphinome,
Chaste Galatea so renowned, and Callianira, came,
With Doto and Orythia, to cheer the mournful dame.
Apseudes likewise visited, and Callianassa gave
Her kind attendance, and with her Agave graced the cave,
Nemertes, Msera, followed, Melita, Ianesse,
With Ianira, and the rest of those Nereides
That in the deep seas make abode; all which together beat
Their dewy bosoms, and to all thus Thetis did repeat
Her cause of mourning: " Sisters, hear how much the sorrows weigh
Whose cries now called ye. Hapless I brought forth unhappily
The best of all the sons of men, who, like a well-set plant
In best soils, grew and flourished, and when his spirit did want
Employment for his youth and strength, I sent him with a fleet
To fight at Ilion; from whence his fate-confined feet
Pass all my deity to retire. The court of his high birth,
The glorious court of Peleus, must entertain his worth
Never hereafter. All the life he hath to live with me
Must waste in sorrows. And this son I now am bent to see,
Being now afflicted with some grief not usually grave,
Whose knowledge and recure I seek." This said, she left her cave,
Which all left with her; swimming forth, the green waves, as they sworn,
Cleft with their bosoms, curled, and gave quick way to Troy. Being come,
They all ascended, two and two, and trod the honoured shore,
Till where the fleet of Myrmidons, drawn up in heaps, it bore.
There stayed they at Achilles' ship, and there did Thetis lay
Her fair hand on her son's curled head, sighed, wept, and bade him say
What grief drew from his eyes those tears? " Conceal it not," said she,
“Till this hour thy uplifted hands have all things granted thee.
The Greeks, all thrust up at their sterns, have poured out tears enow,
And in them seen how much they miss remission of thy vow."
He said: " 'Tis true, Olympius hath done me all that grace,
But what joy have I of it all when thus thrusts in the place,
Loss of my whole self in my friend? Whom, when his foe had slain,
He spoiled of those profaned arms that Peleus did obtain
From heaven's high Pow'rs, solemnizing thy sacred nuptial bands,
As th' only present of them all, and fitted well their hands,
Being lovely, radiant, marvellous. O would to heaven thy throne,
With these fair Deities of the sea, thou still hadst sat upon,
And Peleus had a mortal wife, since by his means is done
So much wrong to thy grieved mind, my death being set so soon,
And never suffering my return to grace of Peleus' court;
Nor do I wish it; nor to live in any man's resort,
But only that the crying blood for vengeance of my friend
Mangled by Hector may be stilled; his foe's death paying his end."
She, weeping, said : " That hour is near, and thy death's hour then nigh;
Which in thy wish served of thy foe succeedeth instantly."
"And instantly it shall succeed," he answered, "since my fate
Allowed not to my will a pow'r to rescue, ere the date
Of his late slaughter, my true friend. Far from his friends he died,
Whose wrong therein my eyes had light and right to see denied.
Yet now I neither light myself, nor have so spent my light,
That either this friend or the rest (in numbers infinite
Slaughtered by Hpctor) I can help, nor grace with wished repair
To our dear country, but breathe here unprofitable air,
And only live a load to earth with all my strength, though none
Of all the Grecians equal it. In counsel many a one
Is my superior; what I have, no grace gets; what I want
Disgraceth all. How then too soon can hastiest death supplant
My fate-curst life? Her instrument to my indignity
Being that hlack fiend Contention, whom would to God might die
To Gods and men, and Anger too, that kindles tyranny
In men most wise, being much more sweet than liquid honey is
To men of pow'r to satiate their watchful enmities,
And like a pliant fume it spreads through all their breasts, as late
It stole stem passage thorough mine, which he did instigate
That is our General. But the fact so long past, the effect
Must vanish with it, though both grieved; nor must we still respect
Our soothed humours. Need now takes the rule of either's mind.
And when the loser of my friend his death in me shall find,
Let death take all. Send him, ye Gods, I'll give him my embrace;
Not Hercules himself shunned death, though dearest in the grace
Of Jupiter; even him Fate stooped, and Juno's cruelty.
And if such fate expect my life, where death strikes I will lie.
Meantime I wish a good renown, that these deep breasted dames,
Of Ilion and Dardania may, for the extinguished flames
Of their friends' lives, with both their hands wipe miserable tears
From their so curiously-kept cheeks, and be the officers
To execute my sighs on Troy, when (seeing my long retreat
But gathered strength, and gives my charge an answerable heat),
They well may know 'twas I lay still, and that my being away
Presented all their happiness. But any further stay
(Which your much love perhaps may wish) assay not to persuade;
All vows are kept, all prayers heard, now free way for fight is made."
The silver- footed Dame replied : " It fits thee well, my son,
To keep destruction from thy friends, but those fair arms are won
And worn by Hector that should keep thyself in keeping them,
Though their fruition be but short, a long death being near him,
Whose cruel glory they are yet. By all means then forbear
To tread the massacres of war, till I again appear
From Mulciber with fit new arms; which, when thy eye shall see
The sun next rise, shall enter here with his first beams and me."
Thus to her sisters of the sea she turned, and bade them ope
The doors and deeps of Nereus; she in Olympus' top
Must visit Vulcan for new arms to serve her wreakful son,
And bade inform her father so, with all things further done.
This said, they underwent the sea, herself flew up to heaven.
In mean space, to the Hellespont and ships the Greeks were driven
In shameful rout; nor could they yet, from rage of Priam's son,
Secure the dead of new assaults, both horse and men made on
With such impression. Thrice the feet the hands of Hector seized,
And thrice th' Ajaces thumped him off. With whose repulse displeased,
He wreaked his wrath upon the troops, then to the corse again
Made horrid turnings, crying out of his repulsed men,
And would not quit him quite for death. A lion almost sterved
Is not by upland herdsmen driven from urging to be served
With more content
ion, than his strength by those two of a name;
And had perhaps his much-praised will, if th' airy-footed Dame,
Swift Iris, had not stooped in haste, ambassadress from heaven
To Peleus' son, to bid him arm; her message being given
By Juno, kept from all the Gods; she thus excited him :
“Rise, thou most terrible of men, and save the precious limb
Of thy beloved, in whose behalf the conflict now runs high
Before the fleet, the either host fells other mutually,
These .to retain, those to obtain. Amongst whom most of all
Is Hector prompt, he's apt to drag thy friend home, he your pall
Will make his shoulders; his head forced, he'll be most famous; rise,
No more lie idle, set the foe a much more costly prize
Of thy friend's value than let dogs make him a monument,
Where thy name will be graven." He asked, " What Deity hath sent
Thy presence hither? " She replied : " Saturnia, she alone,
Not high Jove knowing, nor one God that doth inhabit on
Snowy Olympus." He again : " How shall I set upon
The work of slaughter when mine arms are worn by Priam's son?
How will my goddess-mother grieve, that bade I should not arm
Till she brought arms from Mulciber! But should I do such harm
To her and duty, who is he, but Ajax, that can vaunt
The fitting my breast with his arms, and he is conversant
Amongst the first in use of his, and rampires of the foe
Slain near Patroclus builds to him 1" " All this," said she, " we know,
And wish thou only wouldst but show thy person to the eyes
Of these hot Ilians, that, afraid of further enterprise,
The Greeks may gain some little breath." She wooed, and he was won;
And straight Minerva honoured him, who Jove's shield clapped upon
His mighty shoulders, and his head girt with a cloud of gold
•That cast beams round about his brows. And as when arms enfold
A city in an isle, from thence a fume at first appears,
Being in the day, but, when the even her cloudy forehead rears,
Thick show the fires, and up they cast their splendour, that men nigh,
Seeing their distress, perhaps may set ships out to their supply;
So, to show such aid, from his head a light rose, scaling heaven,
And forth the wall he stept and stood, nor brake the precept given
By his great mother, mixed in fight, but sent abroad his voice;