Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/140

138 His mane dishevelled o'er his shoulders flies;

He snuffs the females in the distant plain,

And springs, exulting, to his fields again.

With equal triumph, sprightly, bold, and gay,

In arms refulgent as the god of day,

The son of Priam, glorying in his might,

Rushed forth with Hector to the fields of fight.

And now the warriors passing on the way,

The graceful Paris first excused his stay.

To whom the noble Hector thus replied:

"O chief! in blood, and now in arms, allied!

Thy power in war with justice none contest;

Known is thy courage, and thy strength confessed.

What pity sloth should seize a soul so brave,

Or godlike Paris live a woman's slave!

My heart weeps blood at what the Trojans say,

And hopes thy deeds shall wipe the stain away.

Haste then, in all their glorious labours share;

For much they suffer, for thy sake, in war.

These ills shall cease, whene'er by Jove's decree

We crown the bowl to Heaven and Liberty:

While the proud foe his frustrate triumphs mourns,

And Greece indignant through her seas returns."