THE

ILIA D.

BOOK IL

NOW pleafing fleep had feal'd each mortal eye,

Stretch'd in the tents the Grecian leaders lie,

Th' Immortals flumber'd on their thrones above;
All, but the ever-wakeful eyes of Jove.

To honour Thetis' fon he bends his care,

And plunge the Greeks in all the woes of war:
Then bids an empty phantom rise to fight,
And thus commands the vifion of the night:

Fly hence, deluding Dream! and light as air,
To Agamemnon's ample tent repair.

Bid him in arms draw forth th' embattled train,
Lead all his Grecians to the dusty plain.
Declare, ev'n now 'tis given him to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the Gods with fate contend,
At Juno's fuit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits th' impending fall.
Swift as the word the vain illusion fled,
Defcends, and hovers o'er Atrides' head ;
Cloath'd in the figure of the Pilian fage,
Renown'd for wisdom, and rever'd for age;
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Around.

;

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Around his temples fpreads his golden wing,
And thus the flattering dream deceives the king:
Canft thou, with all a monarch's cares oppreft, 25
Oh Atreus' fon! canft thou indulge thy rest ♪-
Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war prefides,
To whom its fafety a whole people owes,
To waste long nights in indolent repose.
Monarch, awake! 'tis Jove's command I bear
Thou, and thy glory, claim his heavenly care.
In just array draw forth th' embattled train,
Lead all thy Grecians to the dufty plain;
Ev'n now, O king! 'tis given thee to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the Gods with Fate contend,
At Juno's fuit the heavenly factions end.
Destruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits th' impending fall.
Awake, but waking this advice approve,
And trust the vifion that defcends from Jove.

The phantom faid; then vanish'd from his fight,
Resolves to air, and mixes with the night.

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A thousand schemes the monarch's mind employ; 45. Elate in thought, he facks untaken Troy :

Vain as he was, and to the future blind;

Nor faw what Jove and fecret Fate design'd,

What mighty toils to either hoft remain,

What scenes of grief, and numbers of the flain!
Eager he rifes, and in fancy hears

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The voice celeftial murmuring in his ears.

First on his limbs a flender veft he drew,'
Around him next the regal mantle threw ;
Th' embroider'd fandals on his feet were tied ;
The starry faulchion glitter'd at his fide;
And laft his arm the maffy fceptre loads,
Unftain'd, immortal, and the gift of Gods..
Now rofy morn afcends the court of Jove,
Lifts up her light, and opens day above.
The king dispatch'd his heralds with commands
Το range the camp and fummon all the bands:
The gathering hosts the monarch's word obey;
While to the fleet Atrides bends his way.
In his black ship the Pylian prince he found;
There calls a fenate of the Peers around:
Th' affembly plac'd, the king of men expreft
The counfels labouring in his artful breast:
Friends and confederates! with attentive ear
Receive my words, and credit what you hear.
Late as I flumber'd in the fhades of night,
A dream divine appear'd before my fight;
Whofe vifionary form like Nestor came,
The fame in habit, and in mien the fame.

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Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war presides,
To whom its fafety a whole people owes ;
To wafte long nights in indolent repose.
Monarch, awake! 'tis Jove's command I bear,
Thou and thy glory claim his heavenly care.

The heavenly phantom hover'd o'er my head,
And, doft thou sleep, Oh Atreus' fon? (he faid)

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In just array draw forth th' embattled train,
And lead the Grecians to the dufty plain;
Ev'n now, O king! 'tis given thee to destroy
The lofty towers of wide-extended Troy.
For now no more the Gods with Fate contend,
At Juno's fuit the heavenly factions end.
Deftruction hangs o'er yon devoted wall,
And nodding Ilion waits th' impending fall.
This hear obfervant, and the Gods obey!
The vision spoke, and past in air away.

Now, valiant chiefs! fince Heaven itself alarms;
Unite, and rouze the fons of Greece to arms.
But firft with caution try what yet they dare,
Worn with nine years of unsuccessful war!
To move the troops to measure back the main,
Be mine; and your's the province to detain.

He spoke, and fat; when Neftor rifing faid,
(Neftor, whom Pylos' fandy realms obey'd)
Princes of Greece, your faithful ears incline,
Nor doubt the vifion of the Powers divine;
Sent by great Jove to him who rules the host,
Forbid it Heaven! this warning should be lost !
Then let us hafte, obey the God's alarms,
And join to roufe the fons of Greece to arms.
Thus spoke the fage: the kings without delay
Diffolve the council, and their chief obey:
The fceptred rulers lead; the following hoft
Pour'd forth by thousands, darkens all the coaft.
As from fome rocky cleft the fhepherd fees
Clustering in heaps on heaps the driving bees,

Rolling,

Rolling, and blackening, fwarms fucceeding fwarms,
With deeper murmurs and more hoarfe alarms;
Dusky they spread, a close embody'd crowd,
And o'er the vale descends the living cloud.

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So, from the tents and fhips, a lengthening train
Spreads all the beach, and wide o'erfhades the plain:
Along the region runs a deafening found ;
Beneath their footsteps groans the trembling ground.
Fame flies before, the meffenger of Jove,
And fhining foars, and claps her wings above.
Nine facred heralds now, proclaiming loud

The monarch's will, fufpend the listening crowd.
Soon as the throngs in order rang'd appear,
And fainter murmurs dy'd upon the ear,
The King of Kings his awful figure rais'd;
High in his hand the golden fceptre blaz❜d:
The golden fceptre, of celeftial frame,

By Vulcan form'd, from Jove to Hermes came:
To Pelops he th' immortal gift refign'd;
Th' immortal gift great Pelops left behind,
In Atreus' hand, which not with Atreus ends,
To rich Thyeftes next the prize descends :
And now the mark of Agamemnon's reign,
Subjects all Argos, and controls the main.

On this bright fceptre now the king reclin'd,
And artful thus pronounc'd the fpeech design'd:
Ye fons of Mars! partake your leader's care,
Heroes of Greece, and brothers of the war!
Of partial Jove with juftice I complain,
And heavenly oracles believ'd in vain.

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