6

But the harsh king deny'd to do him right, • And drove the trembling prophet from his fight.

Apollo heard his injur'd suppliant's cry, • And dealt his arrows through th' infected sky; • The swift contagion, sent by his.commands, • Swept through the camp,and thinn'd theGrecian bands. • The guilty cause a sacred augur show'd, « And I first mov'd to mitigate the god. • At this the tyrant stormd, and vengeance vow'd; • And now too soon hath made his threatnings good. • Chryseis first with gifts to Chrysa fent, « His heralds came this moment to my tent,

And bore Brisežs thence, my beauteous save, · Th' allotted prize, which the leagu'd Grecians gave.

Thou goddess, then, and thou, I know, hast power,

For thine own fon the might of Jove implore. • Oft in my father's house I 've heard thee tell, • When sudden fears on heaven's great monarch fell, • Thy aid the rebel deities o'ercame,

And fav’d the mighty thunderer from shame. · Pallas, and Neptune, and great Juno, bound • The fire in chains, and hem’d their sovereign round. · Thy voice, 'O goddess, broke their idle bands, . And call'd the giant of the hundred hands, • The prodigy, whom heaven and earth revere, 6 Briareus nam'd above, Ægeon here. • His father Neptune he in strength surpass’d; • At Jove's right hand his hideous form he plac'd, • Proud of his might. The gods with secret dread, * Beheld the huge enormous shape and fled.

6 Remind him then : for well thou know'st the art :
• Go, clasp his knees, and melt his mighty heart.
• Let the driven Argians, hunted o’er the plain,
« Seek the last

verge
of this
tempe

Ituous main :
:« There let them perish, void of all relief,
- My wrongs remember, and enjoy their chief.
• Too late with anguish shall his heart be torn,
« That the first Greek was made the public scorn.'

Then the (with tears her azure eyes ran o’er :) 16 Why bore I thee ! or nourish'd, when I bore! • Bleft, if within thy tent, and free from strife, - Thou might'st poffefs thy poor remains of life. " Thy death approaching now the fates foreshow;

Short is thy destin’d term, and full of woe. « Ill-fated thou ! and oh unhappy I ! • But hence to the celestial courts I fly, "Where, hid in snow, to heaven Olympus swells,

Jove, rejoicing in his thunder, dwells. Meantime, my son, indulge thy just disdain : - Vent all thy rage, and shun the hostile plain, ' Till Jove returns. Last night my waves he cross’d, < And sought the distant Ethiopian coast:

Along the skies his radiant course he steer'd, « Behind him all the train of gods appear'd, . A bright procession. To the holy feast ... Of blameless men he goes a grateful guest. " To heaven he comes, when twice fix days are o'er! .. Then Mall his voice the fire of gods implore, « Then to my lofty mansion will I pass, . Founded on rocks of ever-during brass :

« There

N2

• There wil I clasp his knees with wonted art,
• Nor doubt, my son, but I shall melt his heart."

She ceas'd : and left him lost in doubtful care,
And bent on vengeance for the ravish'd fair.

But, safe arriv'd near Chrysa’s sacred strand,
The sage Ulysses now advanc'd to land.
Along the coast he shoots with swelling gales,
Then lowers the lofty mast, and furls the fails;
Next plies to port with many a well-tim'd oar,
And drops his anchors near the faithful shore.
The bark now fix'd amidst the rolling tide,
Chryseis follows her experienc'd guide:
The gifts to Phæbus from the Grecian host,
A herd of bulls went bellowing a'er the coast.
To the god's fane, high looking o’er the land,
He led, and near the altar took his stand,
Then gave her to the joyful father's hand.

• All hail! Atrides sets thy daughter free, • Sends offerings to thy god, and gifts to thee. • But thou intreat the power, whose dreadful sway • Afflicts his camp, and sweeps his host away.'

He said, and gave her. : The fond father finil?d
With secret rapture, and embrac'd his child.

The victims now they range in chosen bands,
And offer gifts with unpolluted hands :
When with loud voice, and arms up-rear’d in air,
The hoary priest prefer'd this powerful prayer :

« Dread warrior with the silver bow, give ear:
6 Patron of Chrysa and of Cilla, hear.
• About this dome thou walk'st thy constant round:
& Still have my vows thy power propitious found.

Rous'd

}

Rous'd by my prayers ev'n now thy vengeance burns, "And smit by thee, the Grecian army mourns. • Hear me once more; and let the suppliant foe • Avert thy wrath, and lack thy dreadful bow.'

He pray'd : and great Apollo heard his prayer.
The suppliants now their votive rites prepare :
Amid the flames they cast the hallow'd bread,
And heaven-ward turn each victim's destin'd head :
Next slay the fatted bulls, their skins divide,
And from each carcase rend the finoking hide;
On every limb large rolls of fat bestow,
And chosen morsels round-the offerings strow:
Mysterious rites. Then on the fire divine
The great high priest pours forth the ruddy wine;
Himself the offering burns. On either hand
A troop of youths, in decent order, stand,
On flarpen’d forks, obedient to the fire,
They turn the tasteful fragments in the fire,
Adorn the feast, see every dish well-stor’d,-
And serve the plenteous meses to the board.

When now the various feasts had cheard their fouls,
With sparkling wines they crown the generous bowls,
The first libations to Apollo pay,
And solemnize with facred hymns the day :
His praise in Iö Pæans loud they sing,
And sooth the rage of the far-shooting king.
At evening, through the shore dispers'd, they sleep,
Hush'd by the distant roarings of the deep.

When now, ascending from the shades of night, Aurora glow'd in all her rosy light,

The

N 3

The daughter of the dawn : th' awaken'd crew
Back to the Greeks encamp'd their course renew.
The breezes freshen : for with friendly gales
Apollo fwell’d their wide, distended, fails :
Cleft by the rapid prow, the waves divide,
And in hoarse murmurs break on either side.
In safety to the destin’d port they pass’d,
And fix'd their bark with grappling haulsers fast;
Then dragg'd her farther, on the dry-land coast,
Regain'd their tents, and mingled in the host.

But fierce Achilles, still on vengeance bent,
Cherish'd his wrath, and madden'd in his tent.
Th' assembled chiefs he sun'd with high disdain,
A band of kings: nor fought the hostile plain;
But long’d to hear the distant troops engage,
The strife grow doubtful, and the battle rage.

Twelve days were past; and now th' ethereal train,
Jove at their head, to heaven return'd again :
When Thetis, from the deep prepard to rise,
Shot through a big-fwol’n wave, and pierc'd the skies.
At early morn the reach'd the realms above,
The court of gods, the residence of Jove.

On the top-point of high Olympus, crown'd With hills on hills, him far apart she found, Above the rest. The earth beneath display'd (A boundless prospect) his broad eye survey'd. Her left hand grasp'd his knees, her right she rear'd, And touch'd with blandishment his awful beard ; Then, suppliant, with submissive voice implor'd Old Saturn's son, the god by gods ador'd :

"If 5