The rage of dire Semiramis they bore Beyond the Indus; there defeated, left His blood-stain'd current turbid with their dead. Yet of the chiefs, contemplating this scene, Not one is shaken. Undismay'd they stand; Th' immeasurable camp with fearless eyes They traverse: while in meditation near The treach'rous Malian waits, collecting all His pomp of words to paint the hostile pow'r 't Nor yet with falsehood arms his fraudful tongue To feign a tale of terrour. Truth herself Beyond the reach of fiction to enhance, Now aids his treason, and with cold dismay Might pierce the boldest heart, unless secur'd By dauntless Virtue, which disdains to live, From Liberty divore'd. Requested soon, He breaks his artful silence. "Greeks and friends, Can I behold my native Malian fields, Presenting hostile millions to your sight, And not in grief suppress the horrid tale, Which you exact from these ill-omen'd lips? On Thracia's sca-beat verge I watch'd the foes; Where, joining Europe to the Asian strand, A mighty bridge restrain'd th' outrageous waves, And stemm'd th' impetuous current: while in arms The universal progeny of men
Seem'd trampling o'er the subjugated flood By thousands, by ten thousands. Persians, Medes, Assyrians, Saces, Indians, swarthy files From Ethiopia, Egypt's tawny sons, Arabians, Bactrians, Parthians, all the strength Of Asia, and of Libya. Neptune groan'd Beneath their number, and indignant heav'd His neck against th' incumbent weight. In vain The violence of Eurus and the North, With rage combin'd, against th' unyielding pile Dash'd half the Hellespont. The eastern world Sev'n days and nights uninterrupted pass To cover Thracia's regions. They accept A Persian lord. They range their hardy race Beneath his standards. Macedonia's youth, The brave Thessalian horse, with ev'ry Greek Who dwells beyond Thermopylæ, attend, Assist a foreign tyrant. Sire of gods, Who in a moinent by thy will supreme Canst quell the mighty in their proudest hopes, Canst raise the weak to safety, oh! impart Thy instant succour! Interpose thy arin! [found With lightning blast their standards! Oh! con- With triple-bolted thunder Asia's tents, Whence rushing millions by the morn will pour An inundation to o'erwhelm the Greeks. Resistance else were vain against a host, Which overspreads Thessalia. Far beyond That Malian champaign, stretching wide below, Beyond the utmost measure of the sight From this aspiring cliff, the hostile camp Contains yet mightier numbers; who have drain'd The beds of copious rivers with their thirst, Who with their arrows hide the midday Sun." "Then we shall give them battle in the shade," Dieneces reply'd. Not calmly thus Diomedon. On Persia's camp he bent
His low'ring brow, which frowns had furrow'd o'er, Then fierce exclaim'd. "Bellona, turn and view With joyful eyes that field, the fatal stage, By regal madness for thy rage prepar'd To exercise its horrours. Whet thy teeth, Voracious Death. All Asia is thy prey. Contagion, famine, and the Grecian sword
For thy insatiate hunger will provide Variety of carnage." He concludes; While on the host immense his cloudy brow Is fix'd disdainful, and their strength defies.
Meantime an eastern herald down the pass Was seen, slow-moving tow'rds the Phocian wall. From Asia's monarch delegated, came Tigranes and Phraortes. From the hill Leonidas conducts th' impatient chiefs. By them environ'd, in his tent he sits; Where thus Tigranes their attention calls.
"Ambassadors from Persia's king we stand Before you, Grecians. To display the pow'r Of our great master were a needless task. The name of Xerxes, Asia's mighty lord, Invincible, exalted on a throre Surpassing human lustre, must have reach' To ev'ry clime, and ev'ry heart impress'd With awe, and low submission. Yet I swear By yon refulgent orb, which flames above, The glorious symbol of eternal pow'r, This military throng, this show of war, Well nigh persuade me, you have never heard That name, at whose commanding sound the banks Of Indus tremble, and the Caspian wave, Th' Egyptian flood, the Hellespontic surge Obedient roll. O impotent and rash! Whom yet the large beneficence of Heav'n, And heav'nly Xerxes, merciful and kind, Deign to preserve. Resign your arms. Disperse All to your cities. There let humblest hands With earth and water greet your destin'd lord." As through th' extensive grove, whose leafy boughs,
Entwining, crown some eminence with shade, The tempests rush sonorous, and between The crashing branches roar; by fierce disdain, By indignation thus the Grecians rous'd, In loudest clamour close the Persian's speech : But ev'ry tongue was hush'd, when Sparta's king This brief reply deliver'd from his seat.
"O Persian, when to Xerxes thou return'st, Say, thou hast told the wonders of his pow'r. Then say, thou saw'st a slender band of Greece, Which dares his boasted millions to the field."
He adds no more. Th' ambassadors retire. Them o'er the limits of the Grecian lines Diomedon and Thespia's youth conduct. In slow solemnity they all proceed, And sullen silence; but their looks denote Far more than speech could utter. Wrath contracts The forehead of Diomedon. His teeth Gnash with impatience of delay'd revenge. Disdain, which sprung from conscious merit, flush'ð The cheek of Dithyrambus. On the face Of either Persian arrogance, incens'd By disappointment, lour'd. The utmost strait They now attain'd, which open'd on the tents Of Asia, there discov'ring wide to view Her deep, immense arrangement. Then the heart Of vain Tigranes, swelling at the sight, Thus overflows in loud and haughty phrase. "O Arimanius, origin of ill,
Have we demanded of thy ruthless pow'r Thus with the curse of madness to afflict These wretched men? But since thy dreadful ire To irresistible perdition dooms
The Grecian race, we vainly should oppose. Be thy dire will accomplish'd. Let them fall, Their native soil be fatten'd with their blood."
Enrag'd, the stern Dioinedon replies. "Thou base dependant on a lawless king, Thou purple slave, thou boaster, dost thou know, That I beheld the Marathonian field?" Where, like the Libyan sands before the wind, Your host was scatter'd by Athenian spears; Where thou perhaps by ignominious flight Didst from this arm protect thy shiv'ring limbs. O let me find thee in to morrow's fight! Along this rocky pavement shalt thou lie To dogs a banquet." With uplifted palms Tygranes then. "Omnipotent support Of scepter'd Xerxes, Horomazes, hear! To thee his first victorious fruits of war Thy worshipper devotes, the gory spoils, Which from this Grecian by the rising dawn In sight of either host my strength shall rend.” At length Phraortes, interposing, spake. "I too would find among the Grecian chiefs One, who in battle dares abide my lance."
The gallant youth of Thespia swift reply'd. "Thou look'st on me, O Persian. Worthier far Thou might have singled from the ranks of Greece, Not one more willing to essay thy force. Yes, I will prove before the eye of Mars, How far the prowess of her meanest chief Beyond thy vaunts deserves the palm of fame."
This said, the Persians to their king repair, Back to their camp the Grecians. There they find Each soldier, poising his extended spear, His weighty buckler bracing on his arm In warlike preparation. Through the files Each leader, moving vigilant, by praise, By exhortation aids their native warmth. Alone the Theban Anaxander pin'd, Who thus apart his Malian friend bespake. "What has thy lofty eloquence avail'd, Alas! in vain attempting to confound The Spartan valour? With redoubled fires, See, how their bosoms glow. They wish to die; They wait impatient for th' unequal fight. Too soon th' insuperable foes will spread Promiscuous havoc round, and Thebans share The doom of Spartans. Through the guarded pass Who will adventure Asia's camp to reach In our behalf? That Xerxes may be warn'd To spare his friends amid the gen❜ral wreck; When his high-swoln resentment, like a flood Increas'd by stormy show'rs, shall cover Greece With desolation." Epialtes here.
"Whence, Anaxander, this unjust despair? Is there a path on (Eta's hills unknown To Epialtes? Over trackless rocks, Through mazy woods my secret steps can pass. Farewell. I go. Thy merit shall be told To Persia's king. Thou only watch the hour; When wanted most, thy ready succour lend." Meantime a wary, comprehensive care To ev'ry part Leonidas extends;
As in the human frame through ev'ry vein, And artery minute, the ruling heart Its vital powers disperses. In his tent The prudent chief of Locris he consults; He summons Melibus by the voice Of Agis. In humility not mean, By no unseemly ignorance depress'd,
Th' ingenuous swain, by all th' illustrious house Of Ajax honour'd, bows before the king,
Who gracious spake. "The confidence bestow'd, The praise by sage Oileus might suffice
To verify thy worth. Myself have watch'd, Have found thee skilful, active, and discreet. Thou know'st the region round. With Agis go, The upper straits, the Phocian camp explore.” "O condescension," Melibæus then, "More ornamental to the great, than gems, A purple robe, or diadem! The king Accepts my service. Pleasing is my task, Spare not thy servant. Exercise my zeal. Oileus will rejoice, and, smiling, say,
An humble hand may smooth a hero's path." He leads the way, while Agis, following, spake. "O swain, distinguish'd by a lib'ral mind, Who were thy parents? Where thy place of birth? What chance depriv'd thee of a father's house? Oileus sure thy liberty would grant,
Or Sparta's king solicit for that grace; When in a station equal to thy worth
Thou mayst be rank'd." The prudent hind began, "In diff'rent stations diffrent virtues dwell, All reaping diffrent benefits. The great In dignity and honours meet reward For acts of bounty, and heroic toils. A servant's merit is obedience, truth, Fidelity; his recompense content. Be not offended at my words, O chief. They, who are free, with envy may behold This bondman of Oileus. To his trust, His love exalted, I by Nature's pow'r From his pure model could not fail to mould What thou entitlest lib'ral. Whence I came, Or who my parents, is to me unknown. In childhood seiz'd by robbers, I was sold. They took their price. They hush'd th' atrocious
Dear to Oileus and his race I throve; And whether noble, or ignoble born,
I am contented, studious of their love Alone. Ye sons of Sparta, I admire Your acts, your spirit, but confine my own To their condition, happy in my lord, Himself of men most happy." Agis bland Rejoins. "Q born with talents to become A lot more noble, which, by thee refus'd, Thou dost the more deserve! Laconia's king Discerns thy merit through its modest veil. Consummate prudence in thy words I hear, Long may contentment, justly priz'd, be thine. But should the state demand thee, I foresee Thou wouldst like others in the field excel, Wouldst share in glory." Blithe return'd the swain.
"Not ev'ry service is confin'd to arms. Thou shalt behold me in my present state Not useless. If the charge, Oïleus gave, I can accomplish, meriting his praise, And thy esteem, my glory will be full." Both pleas'd in converse thus pursue their Where (Eta lifts her summits huge to Heav'n In rocks abrupt, pyramidal, or tower'd Like castles. Sudden from a tufted crag, Where goats are browsing, Melibus hears A call of welcome. There his course he stays.
To Xerxes, reign'd in Thessaly. There glow Inviolate the shrubs. There branch the trees, Sons of the forest. Over downy moss
Smooth walks and fragrant, lucid here and broad, There clos'd in myrtle under woodbine roofs, Wind to retreats delectable, to grots, To sylvan structures, bow'rs, and cooling dells, Tigranes and Phraortes repair to Xerxes, whom Enliven'd all and musical with birds they find seated on a throne, surrounded by his Of vocal sweetness, in relucent plumes satraps in a magnificent pavilion; while the Innumerably various. Lulling falls Magi stand before him, and sing a hymn, conOf liquid crystal from perennial founts Attune their pebbled channels. Here the queen, taining the religion of Zoroastres. Xerxes, notwithstanding the arguments of his brothers, Hy- The noble dames of Persia, here the train peranthes and Abrocomes, gives no credit to the Of royal infants, each with eunuch guards, ambassadors, who report, that the Grecians are In rich pavilions, dazzling to the sight, determined to maintain the pass against him; Possess'd, remote from onset and surprise, but by the advice of Artemisia, the queen of A tranquil station. Ariana here, Caria, ascends his chariot to take a view of the Ill-destin'd princess from Darius sprung, Grecians himself, and commands Demaratus, an Hangs, undelighted, o'er melodious rills exiled king of Sparta, to attend him. He Her drooping forehead. Love-afflicted fair! passes through the midst of his army, consisting of All inharmonious are the feather'd choirs From flow'rs, and florid plants, many nations, differing in arms, customs, and To her sad ear. manners. He advances to the entrance of the To her the breezes, wafting fresh perfumes, straits, and, surprised at the behaviour of the Transmit no pleasure. Sedulous in vain, Spartans, demands the reason of it from Dema- Her tender slaves in harmony with lutes ratus; which occasions a conversation between Of soothing sound their warbled voices blend them on the mercenary forces of Persia, and the To charm her sadness. This, the precious part militia of Greece. Demaratus, weeping at the Of Asia's camp, Artuchus holds in charge, sight of his countrymen, is comforted by Hype-A satrap, long experienc'd, who presides ranthes. Xerxes, still incredulous, commands O'er all the regal palaces. High rank'd, Tigranes and Phraortes to bring the Grecians Bold, resolute, and faithful, he commands bound before him the next day, and retires to his The whole Sperchean vale. In prospect rise pavilion. Artemisia remains behind with her The distant navy, dancing on the foam, son, and communicates to Hyperanthes her apTh' unbounded camp, enveloping the plain, prehensions of a defeat at Thermopylæ. She With Xerxes' tent, august in structure plac'd takes an accurate view of the pass, chooses a A central object to attract the eyes convenient place for an ambuscade, and on her Of subject millions. Thither now resort departure to the Persian camp is surprised by a Tigranes and Phraortes. Him they find reproof from a woman of an awful appearance on Enclos'd by princes, by illustrious chiefs, a cliff of mount Eta. The potentates of Asia. Near his side Abrocomes and Hyperanthes wait, His gallant brothers, with Mazæus brave, Pandates, Intaphernes, mighty lords. Their scepter'd master from his radiant seat Looks down imperious. So the stately tow'r Of Belus, mingling its majestic brow With Heav'n's bright azure, from on high survey'd The huge extent of Babylon with all Her sumptuous domes and palaces beneath. This day his banners to unfurl in Greece The monarch's will decides; but first ordains, That grateful hymns should celebrate the name Of Horomazes: so the Persians call'd The world's great author. Rob'd in purest white, The Magi rang'd before th' unfolded tent. Fire blaz'd beside them. Tow'rds the sacred flame They turn'd, and sent their tuneful praise to Heav'n. From Zoroastres was the song deriv'd,
THE plain beyond Thermopyla is girt
Half round by mountains, half by Neptune lav'd. The arduous ridge is broken deep in clefts, . Which open channels to pellucid streams In rapid flow sonorous. Chief in fame, Spercheos, boasting once his poplars tall, Foams down a stony bed. Throughout the face Of this broad champaign numberless are pitch'd Barbarian tents. Along the winding flood To rich Thessalia's confines they extend. They fill the vallies, late profusely bless'd In Nature's vary'd beauties. Hostile spears Now bristle horrid through her languid shrubs. Pale die her flow'rets under barb'rous feet. Embracing ivy from its rock is torn. The lawn, dismantled of its verdure, fades. The poplar groves, uprooted from the banks, Leave desolate the stream. Elab'rate domes, To Heav'n devoted in recesses green, Had felt rude force, insensible and blind To elegance and art. The statues, busts, The figur'd vases, mutilated, lie With chisell'd columns, their engraven frieze, Their architrave and cornice, all disjoin'd.
Yet unpolluted, is a part reserv'd' In this deep vale, a patrimonial spot Of Aleuadian princes, who, allies
Who on the hills of Persia from his cave, By flow'rs environ'd, and melodious founts, Which sooth'd the solemn mansion, had reveal'd, How Horomazes, radiant source of good, Original, immortal, fram'd the globe In fruitfulness and beauty: how with stars By him the Heav'n's were spangled: how the Sun, Refulgent Mithra, purest spring of light, And genial warmth, whence teeming Nature smiles, Burst from the east at his creating voice; When straight beyond the golden verge of day Night show'd the horrours of her distant reign,
Where black and hateful Arimanius frown'd, The author foul of evil: how with shades From his dire mansion he deform'd the works Of Horomazes, turn'd to noxious heat
The solar beam that foodful Earth might parch, That streams, exhaling, might forsake their beds, Whence pestilence and famine: how the pow'r Of Horomazes in the human breast Benevolence and equity infus'd,
Truth, temperance, and wisdom sprung from When Arimanius blacken'd all the soul
With falsehood and injustice, with desires Insatiable, with violence and rage, Malignity and folly. If the hand
Of Horomazes on precarious life
Sheds wealth and pleasure; swift th' infernal god With wild excess, or av'rice blasts the joy. "Thou Horomazes, victory dost give.
By thee with fame the regal head is crown'd. Great Xerxes owns thy succour. When in storms The hate of direful Arimanius swell'd
The Hellespont; thou o'er its chafing breast The destin'd master of the world didst lead, This day his promis'd glories to enjoy: When Greece affrighted to his arms shall bend; Ev'n as at last shall Arimanius fall Before thy might, and evil be no more." The Magi ceas'd their harmony. Behold, From her tall ship between a double row Of naval warriors, while a golden ray Shoots from her standard, Artemisia lands. In ber enrich'd accoutrements of war,
The full-wrought buckler, and high-crested helm, In Caria first devis'd, across the beach Her tow'ring form advances. So the pine, From Taurus hewn mature in spiry pride, Now by the sailor in its canvass wings Voluminous, and dazzling pendants dress'd, On Artemisia's own imperial deck Is seen to rise, and overtop the grove
Of crowded masts surrounding. In her heart Deep scorn of courtly counsellors she bore, Who fill with impious vanity their king; As when he lash'd the Hellespont with rods, Amid the billows cast a golden chain To fetter Neptune. Yet her brow severe Unbent its rigour often, as she glanc'd On her young son, who, pacing near in arms Of Carian guise, proportion'd to his years, Look'd up, and waken'd by repeated smiles Maternal fondness, melting in that eye, Which scowl'd on purpled flatterers. Her seat At the right hand of Xerxes she assumes, Invited; while in adoration bow'd
Tigranes and Phraortes. Prone they lay, Across their foreheads spread their servile palms, As from a present deity, too bright For mortal vision, to conceal their eyes. At length in abject phrase Tigranes thus. "O Xerxes, live for ever! Gracious lord, Who dost permit thy servants to approach Thy awful sight, and prostrate to confess Thy majesty and radiance. May the pow'r Of Horomazes stretch thy regal arm O'er endless nations from the Indian shores To whose wide floods, which beat Iberian strands, From northern Tanais to the source of Nile! Still from thy head may Arimanius bend Against thy foes his malice! Yonder Greeks, Already smit with frenzy by his wrath,
Reject thy proffer'd clemency. They choose To magnify thy glory by their fall."
The monarch, turning to his brothers, spake. "Say, Hyperanthus, can thy soul believe These tidings? Sure these slaves have never dar'd To face the Grecians, but delude our ears With base impostures, which their fear suggests." He frown'd, and Hyperanthes calm reply'd. "O from his servants may the king avert His indignation! Greece was fam'd of old For martial spirit, and a dauntless breed. I once have try'd their valour. To my words Abrocomes can witness. When thy sire And ours, Darius, to Athenian shores With Artaphenes brave and Datis sent Our tender youth; at Marathon we found, How weak the hope, that numbers could dismay A foe, resolv'd on victory or death.
Yet not, as one contemptible, or base, Let me appear before thee. Though the Greeks With such persisting courage be endu'd, Soon as the king shall summon to the field, He shall behold me in the dang'rous van Exalt my spear, and pierce the hostile ranks, Or sink beneath them." Xerxes swift rejoin'd. Why over Asia, and the Libyan soil,
With all their nations doth my potent arm Extend its sceptre? Wherefore do I sweep Across the Earth with millions in my train? Why shade the ocean with unnumber'd sails? Why all this pow'r, unless th' almighty's will Decreed one master to the subject world; Aud that the Earth's extremity alone Should bound my empire? He for this reduc'd The Nile's revolted sons, enlarg'd my sway With sandy Libya, and the sultry clime Of Ethiopia. He for this subdu'd The Hellespontic foam, and taught the sea Obedience to my nod. Then dream no more,' That Heav'n, deserting my imperial cause, With courage, more than human, will inspire Yon despicable Grecians, and expunge
The common fears of nature from their breasts." The monarch ceas'd. Abrocomes began. "The king commands us to reveal our thoughts. Incredulous he hears. But time and truth Not Horomazes can arrest. Thy beams
To instant light'ning, Mithra, mayst thou change For my destruction; may th' offended king Frown on his servant, cast a loathing eye; If the assertion of my lips be false: Our further march those Grecians will oppose." Amid th' encircling peers Argestes sai, A potent prince. O'er Sipylus he reign'd, Whose verdant summits overlook'd the waves Of Hermus and Pactolus. Either stream, Enrich'd by golden sands, a tribute pay'd To this great satrap. Through the servile court Yet none was found more practis'd in the arts Of mean submission; none more skill'd to gain The royal favour; none, who better knew The phrase, the look, the gesture of a slave; None more detesting Artemisia's worth, By her none more despis'd. His master's eye He caught, then spake. "Display thy dazzling state, Thou deity of Asia. Greece will hide Before thy presence her dejected face."
Last Artemisia, rising stein, began. "Why sits the lord of Asia in his tent, Unprofitably wasting precious hours
In vain discussion, whether yonder Greeks, Rang'd in defence of that important pass, Will fight, or fly? A question by the sword To be decided. Still to narrow straits By land, by sea thy council hath confin'd Each enterprise of war. In numbers weak Twice have th' Athenians in Euboea's frith Repuls'd thy navy-But whate'er thy will, Be it enforc'd by vigour. Let the king The diff'rence see, by trial in the field, Between smooth sound and valour. Then dissolve These impotent debates. Ascend thy car. The future stage of war thyself explore, Behind thee leave the vanity of hope, That such a foe to splendour will submit, Whom steel, not gold, must vanquish. Thou provide Thy mail, Argestes. Not in silken robes, Not as in council with an oily tongue, But spear to spear, and clanging shield to shield, Thou soon must grapple on a field of blood."
The king arose-"No more. Prepare my car. The Spartan exile, Demaratus, call. We will ourselves advance to view the foe."
The monarch will'd; and suddenly he heard His trampling horses. High on silver wheels The iv'ry car with azure sapphires shone, Cerulean beryls, and the jasper green, The emerald, the ruby's glowing blush, The flaming topaz with its golden beam, The pearl, th' empurpled amethyst, and all The various gems, which India's mines afford To deck the pomp of kings. In burnish'd gold A sculptur'd eagle from behind display'd His stately neck, and o'er the royal head [steeds, Outstretch'd his dazzling wings. Eight gen'rous Which on the fam'd Nisæan plain were nurs'd In wintry Media, drew the radiant car. Not those of old, to Hercules refus'd By false Laomedon, nor they, which bore The son of Thetis through the scatter'd rear Of Troy's devoted race, with these might vie In strength, or beauty. In obedient pride They hear their lord. Exulting, in the air They toss their foreheads. On their glist'ning chests The silver manes disport. The king ascends. Beside his footstool Demaratus sits. The charioteer now shakes th' effulgent reins, Strong Patiramphes. At the signal bound Th' attentive steeds; the chariot flies: behind, Ten thousand horse in thunder sweep the field. Down to the sea-beat margin, on a plain Of vast expansion, in battalia wait
The eastern bands. To these th' imperial wheels, By princes follow'd in a hundred cars, Proceed. The queen of Caria and her son With Hyperanthes rode. The king's approach Swift through the wide arrangement is proclaim'd. He now draws nigh. Th' innumerable host Roll back by nations, and admit their lord With all his satraps. As from crystal domes, Built underneath an arch of pendent seas, When that stern pow'r, whose trident rules the floods, With each cerulean deity ascends, Thron'd in his pearly chariot, all the deep Divides its bosom to th' emerging god; So Xerxes rode between the Asian world, On either side receding: when, as down Th' immeasurable ranks his sight was lost, A momentary gloom o'ercast his mind, While this reflection fill'd his eyes with tears;
That, soon as time a hundred years had told, Not one among those millions should survive. Whence to obscure thy pride arose that cloud? Was it, that once humanity could touch A tyrant's breast? Or rather did thy soul Repine, O Xerxes, at the bitter thought, That all thy pow'r was mortal? But the veil Of sadness soon forsook his brightning eye, As with adoring awe those millions bow'd, And to his heart relentless pride recall'd. Elate the mingled prospect he surveys Of glittring files unnumber'd, chariots scyth'd, On thund'ring axles roll'd, and haughty steeds, In sumptuous trappings clad, barbaric pomp. While gorgeous banners to the Sun expand Their streaming volumes of relucent gold, Preeminent amidst tiaras gemm'd, Engraven helmets, shields emboss'd, and spears In number equal to the bladed grass, Whose living green in vernal beauty clothes Thessalia's vale. What pow'rs of sounding verse Can to the mind present th' amazing scene? Not thee, whom Rumour's fabling voice delights, Poetic Fancy, to my aid I call;
But thou, historic Truth, support my song, Which shall the various multitude display, Their arms, their manners, and their native seats. The Persians first in scaly corselets shone, A gen'rous nation, worthy to enjoy The liberty their injur'd fathers lost, Whose arms for Cyrus overturn'd the strength Of Babylon and Sardis. Pow'r advanc'd The victor's head above his country's laws. Their tongues were practis'd in the words of truth, Their limbs inur'd to ev'ry manly toil, To brace the bow, to rule th' impetuous steed, To dart the javelin; but, untaught to form The ranks of war, with unconnected force, With ineffectual fortitude they rush'd, As on a fence of adamant, to pierce Th' indissoluble phalanx. Lances short, And osier-woven targets they oppos'd To weighty Grecian spears, and massy shields. On ev'ry head tiaras rose like tow`rs, Impenetrable. With a golden gloss Blaz'd their gay sandals, and the floating reins Of each proud courser. Daggers on their thighs, Well-furnish'd quivers on their shoulders hung, And strongest bows of mighty size they bore. Resembling these in arms, the Medes are seen, The Cissians and Hyrcanians. Media once From her bleak mountains aw'd the subject east. Her kings in cold Ecbatana were thron'd. The Cissians march'd from Susa's regal walls, From sultry fields, o'erspread with branching palms, And white with lilies, water'd by the floods Of fam'd Choaspes. His transparent wave The costly goblet wafts to Persia's kings. All other streams the royal lip disdains. Hyrcania's race forsook their fruitful clime, Dark in the shadows of expanding oaks, To Ceres dear and Bacchus. There the corn, Bent by its foodful burden, sheds, unreap'd, Its plenteous seed, impregnating the soil With future harvests; while in ev'ry wood Their precious labours on the loaden boughs The honey'd swarms pursue. Assyria's sons Display their brazen casques, unskilful work Of rude barbarians. Each sustains a mace, O'erlaid with iron. Near Euphrates' banks
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