Then bids an empty phantom rife to fight,
And thus commands the vision of the night :
Fly hence, delusive dream, and, light as air,
To Agamemnon's royal tent repair;
Bid him in arms draw forth th' embattled train,
March all his legions to the dusty plain.
Now tell the King 'tis given him to destroy
Declare ev'n now
The lofty walls of wide-extended Troy;
For now no more the Gods with Fate contend;
At Juno's fuit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hovers o'er yon devoted wall,
hangs
And nodding Ilium waits th' impending fall.
Invocation to the Catalogue of Ships.
Say, Virgins, feated round the throne divine,
All-knowing Goddeffes! immortal Nine!
Since earth's wide regions, heaven's unmeasur'd
height,
And hell's abyfs, hide nothing from your fight,
(We, wretched mortals! lost in doubts below,
But guess by rumour, and but boast we know)
Oh fay what heroes, fir'd by thirst of fame,
Or urg'd by wrongs, to Troy's deftruction came!
To count them all, demands a thousand tongues,
A throat of brafs and adamantine lungs.
Now, Virgin Goddeffes, immortal Nine!
That round Olympus' heavenly fummit fhine,
Who fee through heaven and earth, and hell profound,
And all things know, and all things can refound;
Relate what armies fought the Trojan land,
What nations follow'd, and what chiefs command;
(For doubtful Fame distracts mankind below,
And nothing can we tell, and nothing know)
Without your aid, to count th' unnumber'd train,
A thousand mouths, a thousand tongues were vain.
But Pallas now Tydides' foul infpires, Fills with her force, and warms with all her fires: Above the Greeks his deathless fame to raise, And crown her hero with distinguish'd praise, High on his helm celeftial lightnings play, His beamy shield emits a living ray; Th' unwearied blaze inceffant ftreams fupplies, Like the red ftar that fires th' autumnal skies.
But Pallas now Tydides' foul infpires,
Fills with her rage, and warms with all her fires ;
O'er all the Greeks decrees his fame to raise,
Above the Greeks her warrior's fame to raise, his deathlefs
And crown her hero with immortal praise ;
Bright from his beamy creft the lightnings play,
From his broad buckler flash'd the living ray,
High on his helm celeftial lightnings play,
His beamy fhield emits a living ray.
The Goddess with her breath the flame supplies,
Bright as the ftar whofe fires in Autumn rife;
Her breath divine thick ftreaming flames fupplies,
Bright as the ftar that fires th' autumnal skies:
Th' unwearied blaze inceffant ftreams fupplies,
Like the red ftar that fires th' autumnal skies.
When first he rears his radiant orb to fight, And bath'd in ocean fhoots a keener light. Such glories Pallas on the chief beftow'd, Such from his arms the fierce effulgence flow'd; Onward fhe drives him furious to engage, Where the fight burns, and where the thickest rage.
When fresh he rears his radiant orb to fight,
And gilds old Ocean with a blaze of light,
Bright as the ftar that fires th' autumnal skies,
Fresh from the deep, and gilds the feas and skies,
Such glories Pallas on her chief bestow'd,
Such sparkling rays from his bright armour flow'd.
Such from his arms the fierce effulgence flow'd.
Onward the drives him headlong to engage,
Where the war bleeds, and where the fierceft rage. fight burns thickeft
The fons of Dares firft the combat fought,
A wealthy priest, but rich without a fault;
In Vulcan's fane the father's days were led,
The fons to toils of glorious battle bred;
There liv'd a Trojan-Dares was his name,
The prieft of Vulcan, rich, yet void of blame;
The fons of Dares firft the combat fought,
A wealthy priest, but rich without a fault,
Conclufion of Book VIII. v. 687.
As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night,
O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her facred light;
When not a breath disturbs the deep ferene,
And not a cloud o'ercafts the folemn fcene;
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And ftars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole :
O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,
And tip with filver every mountain's head;
Then fhine the vales-the rocks in profpect rife,
A flood of glory bursts from all the fkies ;
The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight,
Eye the blue vault, and blefs the useful light,
So many flames before proud Ilion blaze,
And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays;
The long reflexion of the diftant fires
Gleam on the walls, and tremble on the spires;
A thousand piles the dusky horrors gild,
And shoot a fhady luftre o'er the field;
Full fifty guards each flaming pile attend,
Whofe umber'd arms by fits thick flashes fend;
Loud neigh the courfers o'er their heaps of corn,
And ardent warriors wait the rifing morn.
As when in ftillnefs of the filent night,
As when the moon in all her luftre bright,
As when the moon refulgent lamp of night,
O'er heaven's clear azure sheds her filver light;
pure fpreads facred
As ftill in air the trembling luftre stood,
And o'er its golden border shoots a flood;
When no loose gale difturbs the deep ferene,
not a breath
And no dim cloud o'ercafts the folemn fcene;
not a
Around her filver throne the planets glow,
And ftars unnumber'd trembling beams beftow;
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And ftars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole :
Clear gleams of light o'er the dark trees are seen,
o'er the dark trees a yellow fheds,
O'er the dark trees a yellower green they fhed,
And tip with filver all the mountain heads :
And tip with filver every mountain's head.
The vallies open, and the forefts rise,
The vales appear, the rocks in prospect rise,
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,
All Nature ftands reveal'd before our eyes;
A flood of glory burfts from all the skies.
The confcious fhepherd, joyful at the fight,
Eyes the blue vault, and numbers every light.
The confcious fwains rejoicing at the fight,
fhepherds gazing with delight
Eye the blue vault, and blefs the vivid light,
So many flames before the navy blaze,
And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays,
Wide o'er the fields to Troy extend the gleams,
And tip the diftant fpires with fainter beams;
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