Adventurous combats and bold wars to wage,
Employ’d our youth, and yet employs our age.
And wilt thou thus desert the Trojan plain?
And have whole streams of blood been spilt in vain?
In such base sentence if thou couch thy fear, 100
Speak it in whispers, lest a Greek should hear.
Lives there a man so dead to fame, who dares
To think such meanness, or the thought declares?
And comes it ev’n from him whose sov’reign sway
The banded legions of all Greece obey? 105
Is this a Gen’ral’s voice, that calls to flight?
While war hangs doubtful, while his soldiers fight?
What more could Troy? What yet their fate denies
Thou giv’st the foe: all Greece becomes their prize.
No more the troops (our hoisted sails in view, 110
Themselves abandon’d) shall the fight pursue;
But thy ships flying with despair shall see,
And owe destruction to a Prince like thee.’
‘Thy just reproofs’ (Atrides calm replies)
‘Like arrows pierce me, for thy words are wise. 115
Unwilling as I am to lose the host,
I force not Greece to quit this hateful coast.
Glad I submit, whoe’er, or young or old,
Aught, more conducive to our weal, unfold.’
Tydides cut him short, and thus began: 120
‘Such counsel if ye seek, behold the man
Who boldly gives it, and what he shall say,
Young tho’ he be, disdain not to obey:
A youth, who from the mighty Tydeus springs,
May speak to councils and assembled Kings. 125
Hear then in me the great Œnides’ son,
Whose honour’d dust (his race of glory run)
Lies whelm’d in ruins of the Theban wall;
Brave in his life, and glorious in his fall.
With three bold, sons was gen’rous Prothous bless’d, 130
Who Pleuron’s walls and Calydon possess’d:
Melas and Agrius, but (who far surpass’d
The rest in courage) Œneus was the last:
From him, my sire. From Calydon expell’d,
He pass’d to Argos, and in exile dwell’d; 135
The Monarch’s daughter there (so Jove ordain’d)
He won, and flourish’d where Adrastus reign’d:
There, rich in fortune’s gifts, his acres till’d,
Beheld his vines their liquid harvest yield,
And numerous flocks that whiten’d all the field. 140
Such Tydeus was, the foremost once in fame!
Nor lives in Greece a stranger to his name.
Then, what for common good my thoughts inspire,
Attend, and in the son respect the sire.
Tho’ sore of battle, tho’ with wounds opprest, 145
Let each go forth, and animate the rest,
Advance the glory which he cannot share,
Tho’ not partaker, witness of the war.
But lest new wounds on wounds o’erpower us quite,
Beyond the missile jav’lin’s sounding flight, 150
Safe let us stand; and, from the tumult far,
Inspire the ranks, and rule the distant war.’
He added not: the list’ning Kings obey,
Slow moving on; Atrides leads the way.
The God of Ocean (to inflame their rage) 155
Appears a warrior furrow’d o’er with age;
Press’d in his own, the Gen’ral’s hand he took,
And thus the venerable hero spoke:
‘Atrides, lo! with what disdainful eye
Achilles sees his country’s forces fly: 160
Blind impious man! whose anger is his guide,
Who glories in unutterable pride.
So may he perish, so may Jove disclaim
The wretch relentless, and o’erwhelm with shame!
But Heav’n forsakes not thee: o’er yonder sands 165
Soon shalt thou view the scatter’d Trojan bands
Fly diverse; while proud Kings, and Chiefs renown’d,
Driv’n heaps on heaps, with clouds involv’d around
Of rolling dust, their winged wheels employ
To hide their ignominious heads in Troy.’ 170
He spoke, then rush’d among the warrior crew:
And sent his voice before him as he flew,
Loud, as the shout encount’ring armies yield,
When twice ten thousand shake the lab’ring field;
Such was the voice, and such the thund’ring sound 175
Of him whose trident rends the solid ground.
Each Argive bosom beats to meet the fight,
And grisly war appears a pleasing sight.
Meantime Saturnia from Olympus’ brow,
High-throned in gold, beheld the fields below; 180
With joy the glorious conflict she survey’d,
Where her great brother gave the Grecians aid.
But placed aloft, on Ida’s shady height
She sees her Jove, and trembles at the sight.
Jove to deceive, what methods shall she try, 185
What arts, to blind his all-beholding eye?
At length she trusts her power; resolv’d to prove
The old, yet still successful, cheat of love;
Against his wisdom to oppose her charms,
And lull the Lord of Thunders in her arms. 190
Swift to her bright apartment she repairs,
Sacred to dress, and beauty’s pleasing cares:
With skill divine had Vulcan form’d the bower,
Safe from access of each intruding power.
Touch’d with her secret key, the doors unfold 195
Self-closed, behind her shut the valves of gold.
Here first she bathes; and round her body pours
Soft oils of fragrance, and ambrosial showers:
The winds, perfumed, the balmy gale convey
Thro’ Heav’n, thro’ earth, and all th’ aërial way; 200
Spirit divine! whose exhalation greets
The sense of Gods with more than mortal sweets.
Thus while she breathed of Heav’n, with decent pride
Her artful hands the radiant tresses tied;
Part on her head in shining ringlets roll’d, 205
Part o’er her shoulders waved like melted gold.
Around her next a heav’nly mantle flow’d,
That rich with Pallas’ labour’d colours glow’d;
Large clasps of gold the foldings gather’d round,
A golden zone her swelling bosom bound. 210
Far-beaming pendants tremble in her ear,
Each gem illumin’d with a triple star.
Then o’er her head she cast a veil more white
Than new-fall’n snow, and dazzling as the light.
Last her fair feet celestial sandals grace. 215
Thus issuing radiant, with majestic pace,
Forth from the dome th’ imperial Goddess moves,
And calls the mother of the smiles and loves.
‘How long’ (to Venus thus apart she cried)
‘Shall human strife celestial minds divide? 220
Ah yet, will Venus aid Saturnia’s joy,
And set aside the cause of Greece and Troy?’
‘Let Heav’n’s dread Empress’ (Cytherea said)
‘Speak her request, and deem her will obey’d.’
‘Then grant me’ (said the Queen) ‘those conquering charms, 225
That Power, which mortals and immortals warms,
That love, which melts mankind in fierce desires,
And burns the sons of Heav’n with sacred fires!
For lo! I haste to those remote abodes,
Where the great parents (sacred source of Gods!) 230
Ocean and Tethys their old empire keep,
In their kind arms my tender years were pass’d;
What time old Saturn, from Olympus cast,
Of upper Heav’n to Jove resign’d the reign, 235
Whelm’d under the huge mass of earth and main.
For strife, I hear, has made the union cease,
Which held so long that ancient pair in peace.
What honour, and what love, shall I obtain,
If I compose those fatal feuds again? 240
Once more their minds in mutual ties engage,
And what my youth has owed, repay their age.’
She said. With awe divine the Queen of Love
Obey’d the sister and the wife of Jove;
And from her fragrant breast the zone unbraced, 245
With various skill and high embroid’ry graced.
In this was ev’ry art, and ev’ry charm,
To win the wisest, and the coldest warm:
Fond love, the gentle vow, the gay desire,
The kind deceit, the still reviving fire; 250
Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs,
Silence that spoke, and eloquence of eyes.
This on her hand the Cyprian Goddess laid;
‘Take this, and with it all thy wish,’ she said:
With smiles she took the charm; and smiling press’d 255
The powerful cestus to her snowy breast.
Then Venus to the courts of Jove withdrew;
Whilst from Olympus pleas’d Saturnia flew.
O’er high Pieria thence her course she bore,
O’er fair Emathia’s ever-pleasing shore, 260
O’er Hæmus’ hills with snows eternal crown’d:
Nor once her flying foot approach’d the ground.
Then taking wing from Athos’ lofty steep,
She speeds to Lemnos o’er the rolling deep,
And seeks the cave of Death’s half-brother, Sleep. 265
‘Sweet pleasing Sleep!’ (Saturnia thus began)
‘Who spread’st thy empire o’er each God and man;
If e’er obsequious to thy Juno’s will,
O Power of Slumbers! hear, and favour still.
Shed thy soft dews on Jove’s immortal eyes, 270
While sunk in love’s entrancing joys he lies.
A splendid footstool, and a throne, that shine
With gold unfading, Somnus, shall be thine;
The work of Vulcan, to indulge thy ease,
When wine and feasts thy golden humours please.’ 275
‘Imperial Dame’ (the balmy Power replies),
‘Great Saturn’s heir, and Empress of the Skies!
O’er other Gods I spread my easy chain;
The sire of all, old Ocean, owns my reign,
And his hush’d waves lie silent on the main. 280
But how, unbidden, shall I dare to steep
Jove’s awful temples in the dew of sleep?
Long since, too venturous, at thy bold command,
On those eternal lids I laid my hand;
What time, deserting Ilion’s wasted plain, 285
His conquering son, Alcides, plough’d the main:
When lo! the deeps arise, the tempests roar,
And drive the hero to the Coan shore;
Great Jove, awaking, shook the bless’d abodes
With rising wrath, and tumbled Gods on Gods; 290
Me chief he sought, and from the realms on high
Had hurl’d indignant to the nether sky,
But gentle Night, to whom I fled for aid
(The friend of Earth and Heav’n), her wings display’d;
Empower’d the wrath of Gods and men to tame, 295
Ev’n Jove revered the venerable dame.’
‘Vain are thy fears’ (the Queen of Heav’n replies,
And, speaking, rolls her large majestic eyes);
‘Think’st thou that Troy has Jove’s high favour won,
Like great Alcides, his all-conquering son? 300
Hear, and obey the Mistress of the Skies,
Nor for the deed expect a vulgar prize:
For know, thy lov’d-one shall be ever thine,
The youngest Grace, Pasithaë the divine.’
‘Swear then’ (he said) ‘by those tremendous floods, 305
That roar thro’ Hell, and bind th’ invoking Gods:
Let the great parent earth one hand sustain,
And stretch the other o’er the sacred main:
Call the black Titans that with Cronos dwell,
To hear and witness from the depths of Hell; 310
That she, my lov’d-one, shall be ever mine,
The youngest Grace, Pasithaë the divine.’
The Queen assents, and from th’ infernal bowers
Invokes the sable subtartarean powers,
And those who rule th’ inviolable floods, 315
Whom mortals name the dread Titanian Gods.
Then, swift as wind, o’er Lemnos’ smoky isle,
They wing their way, and Imbrus’ sea-beat soil,
Thro’ air, unseen, involv’d in darkness glide,
And light on Lectos, on the point of Ide 320
(Mother of savages, whose echoing hills
Are heard resounding with a hundred rills);
Fair Ida trembles underneath the God;
Hush’d are her mountains, and her forests nod.
There, on a fir, whose spiry branches rise 325
To join its summit to the neighb’ring skies,
Dark in embow’ring shade, conceal’d from sight,
Sat Sleep, in likeness of the bird of night
(Chalcis his name with those of heav’nly birth,
But called Cymindis by the race of earth). 330
To Ida’s top successful Juno flies;
Great Jove surveys her with desiring eyes:
The God, whose lightning sets the Heav’ns on fire,
Thro’ all his bosom feels the fierce desire;
Fierce as when first by stealth he seiz’d her charms, 335
Mix’d with her soul, and melted in her arms.
Fix’d on her eyes he fed his eager look,
Then press’d her hand, and then with transport spoke:
‘Why comes my Goddess from th’ ethereal sky,
And not her steeds and flaming chariot nigh!’ 340
Then she—’I haste to those remote abodes,
Where the great parents of the deathless Gods,
The rev’rend Ocean and great Tethys, reign,
On the last limits of the land and main.
I visit these, to whose indulgent cares 345
I owe the nursing of my tender years.
For strife, I hear, has made that union cease,
Which held so long this ancient pair in peace.
The steeds, prepared my chariot to convey
O’er earth and seas, and thro’ th’ aërial way, 350
Wait under Ide: of thy superior power
To ask consent, I leave th’ Olympian bower;
Nor seek, unknown to thee, the sacred cells
Deep under, seas, where hoary Ocean dwells.’
‘For that’ (said Jove) ‘suffice another day; 355
But eager love denies the least delay.
Let softer cares the present hour employ,
And be these moments sacred all to joy.
Ne’er did my soul so strong a passion prove,
Or for an earthly, or a heav’nly love; 360
Not when I press’d Ixion’s matchless dame,
Whence rose Pirithous, like the Gods in fame.
Not when fair Danaë felt the shower of gold
Stream into life, whence Perseus brave and bold.
Not thus I burn’d for either Theban dame 365
(Bacchus from this, from that Alcides came),
Not Phœnix’ daughter, beautiful and young,
Whence Godlike Rhadamanth and Minos sprung;
Not thus I burn’d for fair Latona’s face,
Nor comelier Ceres’ more majestic grace. 370
Not thus ev’n for thyself I felt desire,
As now my veins receive the pleasing fire.’
He spoke; the Goddess with the charming eyes
Glows with celestial red, and thus replies:
‘Is this a scene for love? On Ida’s height, 375
Exposed to mortal and immortal sight;
Our joys profaned by each familiar eye;
The sport of Heav’n, and fable of the sky!
How shall I e’er review the bless’d abodes,
Or mix among the Senate of the Gods? 380
Shall I not think, that, with disorder’d charms,
All Heav’n beholds me recent from thy arms?
With skill divine has Vulcan form’d thy bower,
Sacred to love and to the genial hour;
If such thy will, to that recess retire, 385
And secret there indulge thy soft desire.’
She ceas’d: and smiling with superior love,
Thus answer’d mild the cloud-compelling Jove:
‘Not God nor mortal shall our joys behold,
Shaded with clouds, and circumfused in gold; 390
Not ev’n the sun, who darts thro’ Heav’n his rays,
And whose broad eye th’ extended earth surveys.’
Gazing he spoke, and, kindling at the view,
His eager arms around the Goddess threw.
Glad Earth perceives, and from her bosom pours 395
Unbidden herbs, and voluntary flowers;
Thick new-born violets a soft carpet spread,
And clust’ring lotos swell’d the rising bed,
And sudden hyacinths the turf bestrow,
And flamy crocus made the mountain glow. 400
There golden clouds conceal the heav’nly pair,
Steep’d in soft joys, and circumfused with air;
Celestial dews, descending o’er the ground,
Perfume the mount, and breathe ambrosia round.
At length with Love and Sleep’s soft power oppress’d, 405
The panting Thund’rer nods, and sinks to rest.
Now to the navy borne on silent wings,
To Neptune’s ear soft Sleep his message brings;
Beside him sudden, unperceiv’d he stood,
And thus with gentle words address’d the God: 410
‘Now, Neptune! now, th’ important hour employ,
To check awhile the haughty hopes of Troy:
While Jove yet rests, while yet my vapours shed
The golden vision round his sacred head;
For Juno’s love, and Somnus’ pleasing ties, 415
Have closed those awful and eternal eyes.’
Thus having said, the Power of Slumber flew,
On human lids to drop the balmy dew.
Alexander Pope - Delphi Poets Series Page 96