But bold of foul, when headlong fury fir'd,
You wrong'd the man, by men and Gods admir'd:
Now feek fome means his fatal wrath to end,
With prayers to move him, or with gifts to bend.
To whom the king; With juftice haft thou shown A prince's faults, and I with reafon own.
That happy man, whom Jove still honours most,
Is more than armies, and himself an host.
Bleft in his love, this wondrous hero ftands;
Heaven fights his war, and humbles all our bands.
Fain would my heart, which err'd through frantic rage,
The wrathful chief and angry Gods affuage.
If gifts immenfe his mighty foul can bow,
Hear, all ye Greeks, and witness what I vow:
Ten weighty talents of the pureft gold,
And twice ten vases of refulgent mold;
Seven facred tripods, whofe unfully'd frame
Yet knows no office, nor has felt the flame :
Twelve steeds unmatch'd in fleetness and in force,
And ftill victorious in the dufty course;
(Rich were the man whose ample stores exceed The prizes purchas'd by their winged speed). Seven lovely captives of the Lesbian line,
Skill'd in each art, unmatch'd, in form divine;
The fame I chofe for more than vulgar charms,
When Lefbos funk beneath the hero's arms:
All these, to buy his friendship, shall be paid,
And, join'd with thefe, the long-contested maid; 170
With all her charms, Brifeïs I refign,
And folemn fwear thofe charms were never mine;
Untouch'd the ftay'd, uninjur'd the removes,
Pure from my arms, and guiltless of my loves.
These, instant, shall be his; and if the Powers
Give to our arms proud Ilion's hostile towers,
Then shall he store (when Greece the spoil divides)
With gold and brass his loaded navy's fides.
Besides, full twenty nymphs of Trojan race
With copious love shall crown his warm embrace; 180
Such as himself will choose; who yield to none,
Or yield to Helen's heavenly charms alone.
Yet hear me farther: when our wars are o'er,
If fafe we land on Argos' fruitful shore,
There fhall he live my fon, our honours share,
And with Oreftes' felf divide my care.
Yet more-three daughters in my court are bred,
And each well worthy of a royal bed;
Laodicé and Iphigenia fair,
And bright Chryfothemis with golden hair;
Her let him choose, whom most his eyes approve;
I ask no prefents, no reward for love :
Myfelf will give the dower; fo vast a store
As never father gave a child before.
Seven ample cities shall confess his sway,
Him Enopé, and Phære him obey,
Cardamylé with ample turrets crown'd,
And facred Pedafus for vines renown'd;
pea fair, the paftures Hira yields,
And rich Antheia with her flowery fields:
The whole extent to Pylos' fandy plain,
Along the verdant margin of the main.
There heifers graze, and labouring oxen toil;
Bold are the men, and generous is the soil ;
There shall he reign with power and justice crown'd,
And rule the tributary realms around.
All this I give, his vengeance to control,
And fure all this may move his mighty foul.
Pluto, the grisly God, who never spares,
Who feels no mercy, and who hears no prayers,
Lives dark and dreadful in deep hell's abodes,
And mortals hate him, as the worft of Gods.
Great though he be, it fits him to obey ;
Since more than his my years, and more my sway.
The monarch thus. The reverend Nestor then : 215
Great Agamemnon! glorious king of men !
Such are thy offers as a prince may take,
And fuch as fits a generous king to make.-
Let chofen delegates this hour be sent,
(Myself will name them) to Pelides' tent
Let Phoenix lead, rever'd for hoary age,
Great Ajax next, and Ithacus the fage.
Yet more to fan&tify the word you send,
Let Hodius and Eurybates attend.
Now pray to Jove to grant what Greece demands; 225
Pray, in deep filence, and with pureft hands.
He said, and all approv'd. The heralds bring
The cleansing water from the living spring.
The youth with wine the facred goblets crown'd,
And large libations drench'd the fands around.
The rite perform'd, the chiefs their thirst allay,
Then from the royal tent they take 'their way-;-
Wife Neftor turns on each his careful eye,
Forbids t' offend, instructs them to apply:
Much he advis'd them all, Ulyffes moft,
To deprecate the chief, and fave the host.
Through the ftill night they march, and hear the roar
Of murmuring billows on the founding shore.
To Neptune, ruler of the seas profound,
Whose liquid arms the mighty globe surround,
They pour
forth vows, their embassy to bless,
And calm the rage of stern Æacides.
And now, arriv'd where on the fandy bay
The Myrmidonian tents and veffels lay,
Amus'd at ease, the god-like man they found,
Pleas'd with the folemn harp's harmonious found:
(The well-wrought harp from conquer'd Thebe came, Of polish'd filver was its coftly frame) :
With this he fooths his angry foul, and fings
Th' immortal deeds of heroes and of kings.
Patroclus only of the royal train,
Plac'd in his tent, attends the lofty strain ::
Full oppofite he fate, and liften'd long,
In filence waiting till he ceas'd the fong..
Unfeen the Grecian embaffy proceeds
To his high tent; the great Ulysses leads.
Achilles, farting, as the chiefs he spy'd,
Leap'd from his feat, and laid the harp aside..
With like furprize arofe Mencetius' fon :
Pelides grafp'd their hands, and thus begun :
Princes, all hail! whatever brought you here,
Or ftrong neceffity, or urgent fear;
T
Welcome, though Greeks! for not as foes ye came; To me more dear than all that bear the name.
With that, the chiefs beneath his roof he led, And plae'd in feats with purple carpets spread, 'Then thus-Patroclus, crown a larger bowl, Mix purer wine, and open every foul.
Of all the warriours yonder host can send,
Thy friend most honours these, and these thy friend. 270
He faid; Patroclus, o'er the blazing fire,
Heaps in a brazen vase three chines entiic;
The brazen vafe Automedon fuftains,
Which flesh of porket, sheep, and goat, contains:
Achilles at the genial feaft prefides,
The parts transfixes, and with skill divides.
Meanwhile Patroclus fweats the fire to raise;
The tent is brighten'd with the rising blaze:
Then, when the languid flames at length subside,
He ftrows a bed of glowing embers wide,
Above the coals the fmoaking fragments turns,
And sprinkles facred falt from lifted urns;
With bread the glittering cannisters they load,
Which round the board Mencetius' fon bestow'd;
Himfelf, oppos'd t' Ulyffes full in fight,
Each portion parts, and orders every rite.
The first fat offerings, to th' Immortals due,
Amidst the greedy flames Patroclus threw ;
Then each, indulging in the focial feast,
His thirst and hunger foberly represt.
That done, to Phoenix Ajax gave the fign;
Not unperceiv'd; Ulyffes crown'd with wine
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