Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/129

122—170 Sprung though he was from more than mortal bed;

Not thus resistless ruled the stream of fight,

In rage unbounded, and unmatched in might."

Hector obedient heard, and, with a bound,

Leaped from his trembling chariot to the ground;

Through all his host, inspiring force, he flies,

And bids the thunder of the battle rise.

With rage recruited the bold Trojans glow,

And turn the tide of conflict on the foe:

Fierce in the front he shakes two dazzling spears;

All Greece recedes, and midst her triumph fears:

Some god, they thought, who ruled the fate of wars,

Shot down avenging, from the vault of stars.

Then thus, aloud: "Ye dauntless Dardans, hear!

And you whom distant nations send to war!

Be mindful of the strength your fathers bore;

Be still yourselves, and Hector asks no more.

One hour demands me in the Trojan wall,

To bid our altars flame, and victims fall:

Nor shall, I trust, the matrons' holy train,

And reverend elders, seek the gods in vain."

This said, with ample strides the hero passed:

The shield's large orb behind his shoulder cast,

His neck o'ershading, to his ankle hung;

And as he marched, the brazen buckler rung.

Now paused the battle, godlike Hector gone,

When daring Glaucus and great Tydeus' son

Between both armies met; the chiefs from far

Observed each other, and had marked for war.

Near as they drew, Tydides thus began:

"What art thou, boldest of the race of man?

Our eyes, till now, that aspect ne'er beheld,

Where fame is reaped amid the embattled field;

Yet far before the troops thou darest appear

And meet a lance the fiercest heroes fear.

Unhappy they, and born of luckless sires,

Who tempt our fury when Minerva fires!

But if from heaven celestial thou descend,

Know, with immortals we no more contend.

Not long Lycurgus viewed the golden light,

That daring man who mixed with gods in fight;

Bacchus, and Bacchus' votaries, he drove

With brandished steel from Nyssa's sacred grove;

Their consecrated spears lay scattered round,

With curling vines and twisted ivy bound;

While Bacchus headlong sought the briny flood,

And Thetis' arms received the trembling god.

Nor failed the crime the immortals' wrath to move,

The immortals blessed with endless ease above;