Mature in years, for sober wisdom famed, Moved by the speech, Alethes here exclaim'd: "Ye parent Gods! who rule the fate of Troy, Still dwells the Dardan spirit in the boy; When minds like these in striplings thus ye raise, Yours is the god-like act, be yours the praise; And, quivering, strain'd them to his aged With tears the burning cheek of each dew'd. And, sobbing, thus his first discourse renew'd : Without thy aid no glory shall be mine, In war my bulwark, and in peace my joy* To him Euryalus: "No day shall shame "What gift, my countrymen, what martial prize Can we bestow, which you may not despise? | Doubtless, await such young exalted worth; By gloomy Night, and thy right hand, I vow now. Do thou, my prince, her failing age sustait, My sire secured them on that fatal day, An ancient cup which Tyrian Dido gave, Nor this alone, but many a gift beside; If thou shouldst fall, on her shall be Thus spoke the weeping Prince, then forth A gleaming falchion from the sheath he prepare, The reeking weapon bears alternate stains; Thro' wine and blood, commingling as they flow, Now, where Messapus dwelt they bend The feeble spirit seeks the shades below. Whose fires emit a faint and trembling ray; their way, Unwatch'd, unheeded, on the herbage feed; There unconfined behold each grazing steed, Too flush'd with carnage, and with conBrave Nisus here arrests his comrade's arm, quest warm : With me the conquest and the labour share; is past, I'll carve our passage through the heedless Full foes enough, to-night, have breathed foe, blow." their last; And clear thy road, with many a deadly Soon will the day those eastern clouds His whispering accents then the youth represt, And pierced proud Rhamnes through his panting breast; Stretch'd at his ease, th' incautious king reposed, Debauch,and not fatigue,his eyes had closed; To Turnus dear, a prophet and a prince, His omens more than augur's skill evince, But he, who thus foretold the fate of all, Could not avert his own untimely fall. Next Remus' armour-bearer, hapless, fell, And three unhappy slaves the carnage swell: The charioteer along his courser's sides Expires, the steel his sever'd neck divides; And,last,his Lord is number'd with the dead, Bounding convulsive, flies the gasping head; From the swollen veins the blackening torrents pour, Stain'd is the couch and earth with clotting gore. Young Lamyrus and Lamus next expire, And gay Serranus, fill'd with youthful fire; Half the long night in childish games was past, Lull'd by the potent grape, he slept at last; Ah! happier far, had he the morn survey'd, And, till Aurora's dawn, his skill display'd. In slaughter'd folds, the keepers lost in sleep, His hungry fangs a Lion thus may steep; 'Mid the sad flock,at dead of night, he prowls, With murder glutted, and in carnage rolls; Insatiate still, through teeming herds he roams, In seas of gore the lordly tyrant foams. adorn, Now let us speed, nor tempt the rising morn.” What silver arms, with various arts emboss'd, They leave regardless! yet, one glittering prize What bowls and mantles, in confusion toss'd, Attracts the younger hero's wandering eyes; The gilded harness Rhamnes' coursers felt, The gems which stud the monarch's golden belt; This from the pallid corse was quickly torn, Th' exulting boy the studded girdle wears, Once by a line of former chieftains worn. Messapus' helm his head, in triumph, bears ; Then from the tents their cautious steps they bend, To seek the vale, where safer paths extend. Mature in years. for sober wisdom famed, Without thy aid no glory shall be mi Moved by the speech. Alethes here exclaim'd: Without thy dear advice no great de "Ye parent Gods! who rule the fate of Troy, Alike, through life esteem`d, thou god Still dwells the Dardan spirit in the boy; boy, When minds like these in striplings thus In war my bulwark, and in peace my ye raise. Yours is the god-like act, be yours the praise; And, quivering, strain'd them to his aged With tears the burning cheek of each be dew'd. And, sobbing, thus his first discourse renew'd : “What gift, my countrymen, what martial Can we bestow, which you may not despise? Doubtless, await such young exalted worth; To him Euryalus: “No day shall By gloomy Night, and thy right ha now. Do thou, my prince, her failing a In thee her much-loved child mayl Her dying hours with pious cont Assist her wants, relieve her fon So dear a hope must all my soul To rise in glory, or to fall in fi o'er-Struck with a filial care, so dee In tears at once the Trojan wart Faster than all, Iulus' eyes o'erf Such love was his,and such had be "All thou hast ask'd, receive," My sire secured them on that fatal day, An ancient cup which Tyrian Dido gave, wave: But, when the hostile chiefs at length Are thine; no envious lot shall then be cast, The labours of to-night shall well repay. Are near my own, whose worth my heart reveres, Henceforth, affection sweetly thus begun, My native soil! beloved before, RANSLATION FROM THE MEDEA OF Ne'er may I quit thy rocky shore, EURIPIDES. VHEN fierce conflicting passions urge But if affection gently thrills But never from thy golden bow May I beneath the shaft expire, Whose creeping venom, sure and slow, A hapless, banish'd wretch to roam; This very day, this very hour, May I resign this fleeting breath, Nor quit my silent, humble bower; A doom, to me, far worse than death. Have I not heard the exile's sigh? And seen the exile's silent tear? Through distant climes condemn'd to fly, A pensive, weary wanderer here; Ah! hapless dame! no sire bewails, No friend thy wretched fate deplores, No kindred voice with rapture hails Thy steps, within a stranger's doors. Perish the fiend! whose iron heart, To fair affection's truth unknown, Bids her he fondly loved depart, Unpitied, helpless, and alone; Who ne'er unlocks, with silver key, The milder treasures of his soul; May such a friend be far from me, And Ocean's storms between us roll! FUGITIVE PIECES. THOUGHTS SUGGESTED BY A COL-1 LEGE EXAMINATION. HIGH in the midst,surrounded by his peers, MAGNUS his ample front sublime uprears; Placed on his chair of state, he seems a God, While Sophs and Freshmen tremble at his nod; As all around sit wrapt in speechless gloom, His voice, in thunder, shakes the sounding dome, Denouncing dire reproach to luckless fools, Unskill'd to plod in mathematic rules. Happy the youth! in Euclid's axioms tried, Though little versed in any art beside; Who, scarcely skill'd an English line to pen, Scans Attic metres with a critic's ken. What! though he knows not how his fathers bled, When civil discord piled the fields with dead; When Edward bade his conquering bands advance, Or Henry trampled on the crest of France; Though, marv'ling at the name of Magna Charta, Yet, well he recollects the laws of Sparta; Can tell what edicts sage Lycurgus made, "Stand, stragglers! stand! why early thus | He sobs, he dies,-the troop, in wild amaze, Unconscious whence the death, with horror in arms? From whence? to whom?" ile meets with no reply, Trusting the covert of the night, they fly; The thicket's depth, with hurried pace, they tread, While round the wood the hostile squadron spread. With brakes entangled, scarce a path between, Dreary and dark appears the sylvan scene; Euryalus his heavy spoils impede, The boughs and winding turns his steps mislead; But Nisus scours along the forest's maze, To where Latinus' steeds in safety graze, Then backward o'er the plain his eyes extend, On every side they seek his absent friend. "O God! my boy," he cries, "of me bereft, In what impending perils art thou left!" Listening he runs-above the waving trees, Tumultuous voices swell the passing breeze; The war-cry rises, thundering hoofs around Wake the dark echoes of the trembling ground; Again he turns-of footsteps hears the noise, The sound elates the sight his hope destroys; The hapless boy a ruffian train surround, While lengthening shades his weary way confound; Him, with loud shouts, the furious knights pursue, Struggling in vain, a captive to the crew What can his friend 'gainst thronging numbers dare? Ah! must he rush,his comrade's fate to share! On Luna's orb he cast his phrenzied eye: to rove; gaze; While pale they stare, thro' Tagus' temples riven, A second shaft with equal force is driven; Fierce Volscens rolls around his lowering eyes, Veil'd by the night, secure the Trojan lies Burning with wrath, he view'd his soldien fall; "Thou youth accurst! thy life shall pay for all." Quick from the sheath his flaming glave he drew And, raging, on the boy defenceless few Nisus no more the blackening shade conceals, Forth, forth he starts, and all his love reveals; Aghast, confused, his fears to madness rise, And pour these accents, shrieking as he flies: "Me, me, your vengeance hurl on me alone, Here sheathe the steel, my blood is all your own; Ye starry Spheres! thou conscious Heaven attest! He could not-durst not-lo! the guile confest! All, all was mine—his early fate suspend, He only loved too well his hapless friend; Spare, spare, ye chiefs! from him your rage remove. His fault was friendship, all his crime wa love." He pray'd in vain, the dark assassin's sword Pierced the fair side, the snowy bosom gored, Lowly to earth inclines his plume-clad crest, And sanguine torrents mantle o'er his breast: As some young rose, whose blossom scents the air. Languid in death, expires beneath the share; Or crimson poppy, sinking with the shower, Declining gently, falls a fading flower; Thus, sweetly drooping, bends his lovely head, And lingering Beauty hovers round the dead. But fiery Nisus stems the battle's tide. Revenge his leader, and Despair his guide, Volscens he seeks, amidst the gathering bost, Volscens must soon appease his comrade's ghost; Steel, flashing, pours on steel, foe crowd on foe, blow; If e'er myself or sire have sought to grace Rage nerves his arm, Fate gleams in every ing crowd, bleeds, heeds; To free my friend, and scatter far the proud." Nor wounds, nor death, distracted Nisus In viewless circles wheel'd his falchion flies, Nor quits the Hero's grasp, till Volscens dies Deep in his throat its end the weapon found, The tyrant's soul fled groaning through the wound. |