Beside the Simoïs; there she brought him forth Upon its banks, and gave her boy the name Of Simoïsius. Unrequited now
Was all the care with which his parents nursed His early years, and short his term of life,- Slain by the hand of Ajax, large of soul.
For, when he saw him coming, Ajax smote
Near the right pap the Trojan's breast; the blade Passed through, and out upon the further side.
He fell among the dust of earth, as falls
A poplar growing in the watery soil
Of some wide marsh, —a fair, smooth bole, with boughs
Only on high, which with his gleaming axe
Some artisan has felled to bend its trunk Into the circle of some chariot-wheel; Withering it lies upon the river's bank.
So did the high-born Ajax spoil the corpse
Of Simoïsius, Anthemion's son.
But Antiphus, the son of Priam, clad
In shining armor, saw, and, taking aim,
Cast his sharp spear at Ajax through the crowd. The weapon struck him not, but pierced the groin Of one who was Ulysses' faithful friend,— Leucus,―as from the spot he dragged the dead;
He fell, the body dropping from his hold. Ulysses, stung with fury at his fall,
Rushed to the van, arrayed in shining brass,
Drew near the foe, and, casting a quick glance
Around him, hurled his glittering spear. The host
Of Trojans, as it left his hand, shrank back
Upon each other. Not in vain it flew, But struck Democoön, the spurious son Of Priam, who, to join the war, had left Abydos, where he tended the swift mares. Ulysses, to revenge his comrade's death, Smote him upon the temple with his spear. Through both the temples passed the brazen point, And darkness gathered o'er his eyes; he fell, His armor clashing round him with his fall. Then did the foremost bands, and Hector's self, Fall back. The Argives shouted, dragging off The slain, and rushing to the ground they won. Then was Apollo angered, looking down From Pergamus, and thus he called aloud:-
"Rally, ye Trojans! tamers of fleet steeds! Yield not the battle to the Greeks. Their limbs
Are not of stone or iron, to withstand
The trenchant steel ye wield. Nor does the son
Of fair-haired Thetis now, Achilles, take Part in the battle, but sits, brooding o'er The choler that devours him, in his ships."
Thus from the city spake the terrible god. Meantime Tritonian Pallas, glorious child Of Jupiter, went through the Grecian ranks Where'er they wavered, and revived their zeal.
Diores, son of Amarynceus, then
Met his hard fate. The fragment of a rock
Was thrown by hand at his right leg, and struck
The ankle. Piroüs, son of Imbrasus,
Who came from Æneus, leading to the war
His Thracian soldiers, flung it; and it crushed
Tendons and bones, and down the warrior fell
In dust, and toward his comrades stretched his hands, And gasped for breath. But he who gave the wound, 660 Pirous, came up and pierced him with his spear.
Forth gushed the entrails, and the eyes grew dark.
But Pirous by Ætolian Thoas fell,
Who met him with his spear and pierced his breast Above the pap. The brazen weapon stood Fixed in the lungs. Then Thoas came and plucked The massive spear away, and drew his sword, And thrusting through him the sharp blade, he took
Yet could he not despoil
The slain man of his armor, for around
His comrades thronged, the Thracians, with their tufts Of streaming hair, and, wielding their long spears, Drove him away. And he, though huge of limb,
And valiant and renowned, was forced to yield To numbers pressing on him, and withdrew. Thus near each other stretched upon the ground Piroüs, the leader of the Thracian band, And he who led the Epeans, brazen-mailed Diores, lay with many others slain.
Then could no man, who near at hand beheld The battle of that day, see cause of blame In aught, although, unwounded and unbruised By weapons, Pallas led him by the hand In safety through the midst, and turned aside The violence of javelins; for that day Saw many a Trojan slain, and many a Greek, Stretched side by side upon the bloody field.
HEN Pallas to Tydides Diomed
Gave strength and courage, that he might appear
Among the Achaians greatly eminent,
And win a glorious name. Upon his head
And shield she caused a constant flame to play,
Like to the autumnal star that shines in heaven Most brightly when new-bathed in ocean tides. Such light she caused to beam upon his crest And shoulders, as she sent the warrior forth Into the thick and tumult of the fight.
Among the Trojans, Dares was the priest Of Vulcan, rich and blameless. His two sons Were Phegeus and Idæus, trained in all
The arts of war. They left the host and came To meet Tydides,—on the chariot they, And he on foot; and now, as they drew near, First Phegeus hurled his massive lance. It flew O'er Diomed's left shoulder and struck not.
« السابقةمتابعة » |