A solemn sadness o'er the camp. A hedge
Of trembling spears on either hand is form❜d.
Tears underneath his iron-pointed cone
The Sacian drops. The Caspian savage feels
His heart transpierc'd, and wonders at the pain.
In Xerxes' presence are the bodies plac'd,
Nor he forbids. His agitated breast
All night had weigh'd against his future hopes
His present losses, his defeated ranks,
By myriads thinn'd, their multitude abash'd,
His fleet thrice worsted, torn by storms, reduc'd
To half its number. When he slept, in dreams
He saw the haggard dead, which floated round
Th' adjoining strands. Disasters new their ghosts
In sullen frowns, in shrill upbraidings bode.
Thus, ere the gory bier approach'd his eyes,
He in dejection had already lost

His kingly pride, the parent of disdain,
And cold indifference to human woes.
Not ev'n beside his sister's nobler corse
Her humble lover could awake his scorn.
The captives told their piercing tale. He heard;
He felt awhile compassion. But ere long
Those traces vanish'd from the tyrant's breast.
His former gloom redoubles. For himself
His anxious bosom heaves, oppress'd by fear
Lest he with all his splendour should be cast
A prey to Fortune. Thoughtful near the throne
Laconia's exile waits, to whom the king.

"O Demaratus, what will Fate ordain?
Lo! Fortune turns against me. What shall check
Her further malice, when her daring stride
Invades my house with ravage, and profanes
The blood of great Darius. I have sent
From my unguarded side the chosen band,
My bravest chiefs, to pass the desert hill;
Have to the conduct of a Malian spy
My hopes entrusted. May not there the Greeks,
In opposition more tremendous still,
More ruinous than yester Sun beheld,
Maintain their post invincible, renew
Their stony thunder in augmented rage,
And send whole quarries down the craggy steeps
Again to crush my army? Oh! unfold
Thy secret thoughts, nor hide the harshest truth.
Say, what remains to hope?" The exile here.

Too well, O monarch, do thy fears presage,
What may befall thy army. If the Greeks,
Arrang'd within Thermopyla, a pass
Accessible and practis'd, could repel
With such destruction their unnumber'd foes;
What scones of havoc may untrodden paths,
Confin'd among the craggy hills, afford?"

Lost in despair, the monarch silent sat.
Not less unmann'd than Xerxes, from his place
Uprose Argestes; but eoncealing fear,
These artful words deliver'd. "If the king
Propitious wills to spare his faithful bands,
Nor spread at large the terrours of his pow'r;
More gentle means of conquest than by arms,
Nor less secure, may artifice supply.
Renown'd Darius, thy immortal sire,
Bright in the spoi! of kingdoms, long in vain
The fields of proud Euphrates with his host
O'erspread. At length, confiding in the wiles
Of Zopyrus, the mighty prince subdu'd
The Babylonian ramparts. Who shall count
The thrones and states, by stratagem o'erturn'd ?
But if Corruption join her pow'rful aid,

Not one can stand. What race of men possess

That probity, that wisdom, which the veil
Of craft shall never blind, nor proffer'd wealth,
Nor splendid pow'r seduce? O Xerxes, born
To more than mortal greatness, canst thou find
Through thy unbounded sway no dazzling gift,
Which may allure Leonidas? Dispel
The cloud of sadness from those sacred eyes.
Great monarch, proffer to Laconia's chief,
What may thy own magnificence declare,
And win his friendship. O'er his native Greece
Invest him sov'reign. Thus procure his sword
For thy succeeding conquests." Xerxes here,
As from a trance awak'ning, swift replies.

"Wise are thy dictates. Fly to Sparta's chief, Argestes, fall before him. Bid him join My arms, and reign o'er ev'ry Grecian state."

He scarce had finish'd, when in haste approach'd
Artuchus. Startled at the ghastly stage
Of death, that guardian of the Persian fair
Thus in a groan. "Thou deity malign,

O Arimanius, what a bitter draught
For my sad lips thy cruelty hath mix'd!
Is this the flow'r of women, to my charge
So lately giv'n? Oh! princess, I have rang'd
The whole Sperchean valley, woods, and caves,
In quest of thee, found here a lifeless corse.
Astonishment and horrour lock my tongue."

Pride now, reviving in the monarch's breast,
Dispell'd his black despondency awhile,
With gall more black effacing from his heart
Each merciful impression. Stern he spake.

"Remove her, satrap, to the female train.
Let them the due solemnities perform.
But never she, by Mithra's light I swear,
Shall sleep in Susa with her kindred dust;
Who by ignoble passions hath debas'd
The blood of Xerxes. Greece beheld her shame;
Let Greece behold her tomb. The low-born slave
Who dar'd to Xerxes' sister lift his hopes,

On some bare crag expose." The Spartan here.
My royal patron, let me speak-and die,
If such thy will. This cold, disfigur'd clay
Was late thy soldier, gallantly who fought,
Who nobly perish'd, long the dearest friend
Of Hyperanthes, hazarding his life
Now in thy cause. O'er Persians thou dost reign;
None more, than Persians, venerate the brave."

"Well hath he spoke," Atruchus firm subjoins. "But if the king his rigour will inflict

On this dead warrior-Heav'n o'erlook the deed,
Nor on our heads accumulate fresh woes!
The shatter'd fleet, th' intimidated camp,
The band select, through Eta's dang'rous wilds
At this dread crisis struggling, must obtain
Support from Heav'n, or Asia's glory falls."
Fell pride, recoiling at these awful words
In Xerxes' frozen bosom, yields to fear,
Resuming there the sway. He grants the corse
To Demaratus. Forth Artuchus moves
Behind the bier, uplifted by his train.

Argestes, parted from his master's side,
Ascends a car; and, speeding o'er the beach,
Sees Artemisia. She the ashes pale
Of slaughter'd Carians, on the pyre consum'd,
Was then collecting for the fun'ral vase
In exclamation thus. "My subjects, lost
On Earth, descend to happier climes below-
The fawning, dastard counsellors, who left
Your worth deserted in the hour of need,
May kites disfigure, may the wolf devour-

"Come, vir

tuous boy,
Let us transport these relics of our friends
To yon tall bark, in pendent sable clad.
They, if her keel be destin'd to return,
Shall in paternal monuments repose.
Let us embark. Till Xerxes shuts his ear
To false Argestes; in her vessel hid,
Shall Artemisia's gratitude lament
Her bounteous sov'reign's fate. Leander, mark.
The Doric virtues are not eastern plants.
Them foster still within thy gen'rous breast,
But keep in covert from the blaze of courts;
Where flatt'ry's guile in oily words profuse,
In action tardy, o'er th' ingenuous tongue,
The arm of valour, and the faithful heart,
Will ever triumph. Yet my soul enjoys
Her own presage, that Destiny reserves
An hour for my revenge." Concluding here,
She gains the fleet. Argestes sweeps along
On rapid wheels from Artemisia's view,
Like Night, protectress foul of heinous deeds,
With treason, rape, and murder at her heel,
Before the eye of Morn retreating swift

To hide her loathsome visage. Soon he reach'd
Thermopyla; descending from his car,
Was led by Dithyrambus to the tent
Of Sparta's ruler. Since the fatal news
By Mycon late deliver'd, he apart
With Polydorus had consulted long
On high attempts; and, now sequester'd, sat
To ruminate on vengeance. At his feet
Prone fell the satrap, and began. "The will
Of Xerxes bends me prostrate to the earth
Before thy presence. Great and matchless chief,
Thus says the lord of Asia. Join my arms;
Thy recompense is Greece. Her fruitful plains,
Her gen'rous steeds, her flocks, her num'rous towns,
Her sons I render to thy sov'reign hand.'
And, O illustrious warrior, heed my words.
Think on the bliss of royalty, the pomp

Of courts, their endless pleasures, trains of slaves,
Who restless watch for thee, and thy delights:
Think on the glories of unrivall'd sway.
Look on th' Ionic, on th' Folian Greeks.
From them their phantom liberty is flown;
While in each province, rais'd by Xerxes' pow'r,
Some favour'd chief presides; exalted state,
Ne'er giv'n by envions freedom. On his head
He bears the gorgeous diadem; he sees
His equals once in adoration stoop
Beneath his footstool. What superior beams
Will from thy temples blaze, when gen'ral Greece,
In noblest states abounding, calls thee lord,
Thee only worthy, How will each rejoice
Around thy throne, and hail th' auspicious day,
When thou, distinguish'd by the Persian king,
Didst in thy sway consenting nations bless,
Didst calm the fury of unsparing war,
Which else had delug'd all with blood and flames."
Leonidas replies not, but commands

The Thespian youth, still watchful near the tent,

To summon all the Grecians. He obeys. The king uprises from his seat, and bids The Persian follow. He, amaz'd, attends, Surrounded soon by each assembling band; When thus at length the godlike Spartan spake. "Here, Persian, tell thy embassy. Repeat, That to obtain my friendship Asia's prince To me hath proffer'd sov'reignty o'er Greece. Then view these bands, whose valour shall preserve That Greece unconquer'd, which your king bestows; Shall strew your bodies on her crimson'd plains: The indignation painted ou their looks, Their gen'rous scorn, may answer for their chief. Yet from Leonidas, thou wretch, inur'd To vassalage and baseness, hear. The pomp, The arts of pleasure in despotic courts I spurn abhorrent. In a spotless heart I look for pleasure. I from righteous deeds Derive my splendour. No adoring crowd, No purpled slaves, no mercenary spears My state embarrass. I in Sparta rule By laws, my rulers, with a guard unknown To Xerxes,-public confidence and love. No pale suspicion of th' empoison'd bowl, Th' assassin's poniard, or provok'd revolt Chase from my decent couch the peace, deny'd To his resplendent canopy. Thy king, Who hath profan'd by proffer'd bribes my ear, Dares not to meet my arm. Thee, trembling slave, Whose embassy was treason, I despise,

And therefore spare." Diomedon subjoins.

"Our marble temples these barbarians waste,
A crime less impious than a bare attempt
Of sacrilege on virtue. Grant my suit,
Thou living temple, where the goddess dwells,
To me consign the caitiff. Soon the winds
Shall parch his limbs on Eta's tallest pine."
Amidst his fury suddenly return'd
The speed of Alpheus. All, suspended, fix'd
On him their eyes impatient. He began.
I am return'd a messenger of ill.
Close to the passage, op'ning into Greece,
That post committed to the Phocian guard,
O'erhangs a bushy cliff. A station there
Behind the shrubs by dead of night I took,
Though not in darkness. Purple was the face
Of Heav'n. Beneath my feet the valleys glow'd.
A range immense of wood-invested hills,
The boundaries of Greece, were clad in flames;
An act of revard chance, or crafty foes
To cast dismay. The crackling pines I heard;
Their branches sparkled, and the thickets blaz'd.
In hillocks embers rose. Embody'd fire,
As from unnumber'd furnaces, I saw
Mount high, through vacant trunks of headless
oaks,

Broad-bas'd, and dry with age. Barbarian helms,
Shields, javelins, sabres, gleaming from below,
Full soon discover'd to my tortur'd sight
The straits in Persia's pow'r. The Phocian chief,
Whate'er the cause, relinquishing his post,
Was to a neighb'ring eminence remov'd;
There, by the foe neglected, or contemn'd,
Remain'd in arms, and neither fled, nor fought.
I stay'd for day-spring. Then the Persians mov'd,
To morrow's sun will see their numbers here."
He said no more. Unutterable fear
In horrid silence wraps the list'ning crowd,
Aghast, confounded. Silent are the chiefs,
Who feel no terrour; yet in wonder fix'd,

Thick-wedg'd, enclose Leonidas around,
Who thus in calmest elocution spake.

"I now behold the oracle fulfill'd.
Then art thou near, thou glorious, sacred hour,
Which shalt my country's liberty secure.
Thrice hail thou solemn period. Thee the tongues
Of virtue, fame, and freedom shall proclaim,
Shall celebrate in ages yet unborn.
Thou godlike offspring of a godlike sire,
To him my kindest greetings, Medon, bear.
Farewell, Megistias, holy friend and brave.
Thou too, experienc'd, venerable chief,
Demophilus, farewell. Farewell to thee,
Invincible Diomedon, to thee,

Unequall'd Dithyrambus, and to all,

Ye other dauntless warriors, who may claim
Praise from my lips, and friendship from my heart.
You, after all the wonders which your swords
Have here accomplish'd, will enrich your names
By fresh renown. Your valour must complete
What ours begins. Here first th' astonish'd foe
On dying Spartans shall with terrour gaze,
And tremble, while he conquers. Then, by Fate
Led from his dreadful victory to meet
United Greece in phalanx o'er the plain,
By your avenging spears himself shall fall."

Forth from the assembly strides Platæa's chief.
"By the twelve gods, enthron'd in Heav'n supreme;
By my fair name, unsully'd yet, I swear,
Thine eye, Leonidas, shall ne'er behold
Diomedon forsake thee. First let strength
Desert my limbs, and fortitude my heart.
Did I not face the Marathonian war?
Have I not seen Thermopyla? What more
Can fame bestow, which I should wait to share?
Where can I, living, purchase brighter praise
Than dying here? What more illustrious tomb
Can I obtain than, bury'd in the heaps
Of Persians, fall'n my victims, on this rock
To lie distinguish'd by a thousand wounds?"
He ended; when Demophilus. "O king
Of Lacedæmon, pride of human race,
Whom none e'er equall'd but the seed of Jove,
Thy own forefather, number'd with the gods,
Lo! I am old. With falt'ring steps I tread
The prone descent of years. My country claim'd
My youth, my ripeness. Feeble age but yields
An empty name of service. What remains
For me, unequal to the winged speed

Thy gen'rous thoughts. Decided is thy choice.
Come then, attendauts on a godlike shade,
When to th' Elysian ancestry of Greece
Descends her great protector, we will show
To Harmatides an illustrious son,

And no unworthy brother. We will link
Our shields together. We will press the ground,
Still undivided in the arms of death.

So if th' attentive traveller we draw

To our cold relics, wond'ring, shall he trace
The diff'rent scene, then pregnant with applause,
'O wise old man,' exclaim, 'the hour of fate
Well didst thou choose; and, O unequall'd youth,
Who for thy country didst thy bloom devote,
May'st thou remain for ever dear to fame!
May time rejoice to name thee! O'er thy urn
May everlasting peace her pinion spread'."

This said, the hero with his lifted shield
His face o'ershades; he drops a secret tear:
Not this a tear of anguish, but deriv'd
From fond affection, grown mature with time,
Awak'd a manly tenderness alone,
Unmix'd with pity, or with vain regret.

A stream of duty, gratitude, and love,
Flow'd from the heart of Harmatides' son,
Addressing straight Leonidas, whose looks
Declar'd unspeakable applause. "O king
Of Lacedæmon, now distribute praise
From thy accustom'd justice, small to me,
To him a portion large. His guardian care,
His kind instruction, his example train'd
My infancy, my youth. From him I learn'd
To live, unspotted. Could I less, than learn
From him to die with honour." Medon hears.
Shook by a whirlwind of contending thoughts
Strong heaves his manly bosom, under awe
Of wise Melissa, torn by friendship, fir'd
By such example high. In dubious state
So rolls a vessel, when th' inflated waves
Her planks assail, and winds her canvass rend;
The rudder labours, and requires a hand
Of firm, delib'rate skill. The gen'rous king
Perceives the hero's struggle, and prepares
To interpose relief; when instant came
Dieneces before them. Short he spake.

"Barbarian myriads through the secret pass Have enter'd Greece. Leonidas, by morn Expect them here. My slender force I spar'd. There to have died was useless. We return

Will render more illustrious to ourselves,

And to the foe more terrible our fall."

66

I have not yet the benefit repaid.

That now the gen'rous Spartans may behold
In me their large beneficence not vain,
Here to their cause I consecrate my breath."
"Not so, Megistias," interpos'd the king.
Thou and thy son retire." Again the seer.
"Forbid it, thou eternally ador'd,
O Jove, confirm my persevering soul !
Nor let me these auspicious moments lose,
When to my bounteous patrons I may show,
That I deserv'd their favour. Thou, my child,