Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/103

24—72 And spent in empty air its erring force.

Not so, Tydides, flew thy lance in vain,

But pierced his breast, and stretched him on the plain.

Seized with unusual fear, Idæus fled,

Left the rich chariot, and his brother dead;

And had not Vulcan lent celestial aid,

He too had sunk to death's eternal shade;

But in a smoky cloud the god of fire

Preserved the son, in pity to the sire.

The steeds and chariot, to the navy led,

Increased the spoils of gallant Diomed.

Struck with amaze and shame, the Trojan crew

Or slain, or fled, the sons of Dares view;

When by the blood-stained hand Minerva pressed

The god of battles, and this speech addressed:

"Stern Power of war! by whom the mighty fall,

Who bathe in blood, and shake the lofty wall!

Let the brave chiefs their glorious toils divide,

And whose the conquest mighty Jove decide:

While we from interdicted fields retire,

Nor tempt the wrath of heaven's avenging sire."

Her words allay the impetuous warrior's heat,

The god of arms and martial Maid retreat;

Removed from fight, on Xanthus' flowery bounds

They sat, and listened to the dying sounds.

Meantime, the Greeks the Trojan race pursue,

And some bold chieftain every leader slew:

First Odius falls and bites the bloody sand,

His death ennobled by Atrides' hand;

As he to flight his wheeling car addressed,

The speedy javelin drove from back to breast.

In dust the mighty Halizonian lay,

His arms resound, the spirit wings its way.

Thy fate was next, O Phæstus, doomed to feel

The great Idomeneus' protended steel;

Whom Borus sent, his son and only joy,

From fruitful Tarnè to the fields of Troy.

The Cretan javelin reached him from afar,

And pierced his shoulder as he mounts his car;

Back from the car he tumbles to the ground,

And everlasting shades his eyes surround.

Then died Scamandrius, expert in the chase,

In woods and wilds to wound the savage race;

Diana taught him all her sylvan arts,

To bend the bow, and aim unerring darts;

But vainly here Diana's arts he tries,

The fatal lance arrests him as he flies;

From Menelaüs' arm the weapon sent,

Through his broad back and heaving bosom went: