Around his temples fpreads his golden wing,
And thus the flattering dream deceives the king:
Canst thou, with all a monarch's cares opprest,
Oh Atreus' fon! canft thou indulge thy reft?
Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war prefides,
To whom its safety 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.
In just array draw forth th' embattled train,
Lead all thy Grecians to the dusty 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 said; then vanish'd from his fight,
Refolves to air, and mixes with the night.
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 host remain,
What scenes of grief, and numbers of the flain!
Eager he rifes, and in fancy hears
The voice celestial murmuring in his ears.
First on his limbs a slender vest 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 difpatch'd his heralds with commands
To range the camp and fummon all the bands:
The gathering hofts 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 Neftor came,
The fame in habit, and in mien the fame.
The heavenly phantom hover'd o'er my head,
And, doft thou sleep, Oh Atreus' fon ? (he said)
Ill fits a chief who mighty nations guides,
Directs in council, and in war prefides,
To whom its fafety a whole people owes ;
To wafte long nights in indolent repofe.
Monarch, awake! 'tis Jove's command I bear,
Thou and thy glory claim his heavenly care..
In just array draw forth th' embattled train,
And lead the Grecians to the dusty 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.
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 fpoke, 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 hoft,
Forbid it Heaven! this warning fhould be loft!
Then let us hafte, obey the God's alarms,
And join to roufe the fons of Greece to arms.
Thus fpoke the fage: the kings without delay
Diffolve the council, and their chief obey:
The fceptred rulers lead; the following host
Pour'd forth by thousands, darkens all the coaft.
As from fome rocky cleft the shepherd fees
Clustering in heaps on heaps the driving bees,
Rolling, and blackening, fwarms fucceeding fwarms,
With deeper murmurs and more hoarfe alarms;
Dusky they spread, a clofe embody'd crowd,
And o'er the vale defcends the living cloud.
So, from the tents and ships, a lengthening train
Spreads all the beach, and wide o'ershades 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 speech 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.
A fafe return was promis'd to our toils,
Renown'd, triumphant, and enrich'd with spoils.
Now fhameful flight alone can save the hoft,
Our blood, our treasure, and our glory lost.
So Jove decrees, refiftlefs lord of all!
At whofe command whole empires rife or fall:
He shakes the feeble props of human trust,
And towns and armies humbles to the duft.
What fhame to Greece a fruitless war to wage,
Oh lafting shame in
Once great in arms, the common fcorn we grow,
Repuls'd and baffled by a feeble foe.
So fmall their number, that if wars were ceas'd, 153
And Greece triumphant held a general feast,
All rank'd by tens; whole decads when they dine
Must want a Trojan slave to pour the wine.
But other forces have our hopes o'erthrown,
And Troy prevails by armies not her own.
Now nine long years of mighty Jove are run,
Since first the labours of this war begun :
Our cordage torn, decay'd our vessels lie,
And scarce enfure the wretched power to fly.
Hafte then, for ever leave the Trojan wall!
Our weeping wives, our tender children call:
Love, duty, fafety, fummon us away,
'Tis nature's voice, and nature we obey.
Our shatter'd barks may yet transport us o'er,
Safe and inglorious, to our native shore.
Fly, Grecians, fly, your fails and oars employ,
And dream no more of Heaven-defended Troy.
|