Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/147

261—309 E'en Hector paused; and, with new doubt oppressed,

Felt his great heart suspended in his breast:

'Twas vain to seek retreat, and vain to fear;

Himself had challenged, and the foe drew near.

Stern Telamon behind his ample shield,

As from a brazen tower, o'erlooked the field.

Huge was its orb, with seven thick folds o'ercast

Of tough bull-hides; of solid brass the last;

The work of Tychius, who in Hylè dwelled,

And all in arts of armoury excelled.

This Ajax bore before his manly breast,

And, threatening, thus his adverse chief addressed:

"Hector! approach my arm, and singly know

What strength thou hast, and what the Grecian foe.

Achilles shuns the fight; yet some there are

Not void of soul, and not unskilled in war:

Let him, inactive on the sea-beat shore,

Indulge his wrath, and aid our arms no more;

Whole troops of heroes Greece has yet to boast,

And sends thee one, a sample of her host.

Such as I am, I come to prove thy might;

No morebe sudden, and begin the fight."

"O son of Telamon, thy country's pride!"

To Ajax thus the Trojan prince replied,

"Me, as a boy or woman, wouldst thou fright,

New to the field, and trembling at the fight?

Thou meet'st a chief deserving of thy arms,

To combat born, and bred amidst alarms:

I know to shift my ground, remount the car,

Turn, charge, and answer every call of war:

To right, to left, the dexterous lance I wield,

And bear thick battle on my sounding shield.

But open be our fight, and bold each blow;

I steal no conquest from a noble foe."

He said, and, rising high above the field,

Whirled the long lance against the sevenfold shield

Full on the brass descending from above

Through six bull-hides the furious weapon drove., [sic]

Till in the seventh it fixed. Then Ajax threw;

Through Hector's shield the forceful javelin flew;

His corselet enters, and his garment rends,

And, glancing downwards, near his flank descends.

The wary Trojan shrinks, and, bending low

Beneath his buckler, disappoints the blow.

From their bored shields the chiefs their javelins drew,

Then close impetuous, and the charge renew:

Fierce as the mountain lions bathed in blood,

Or foaming boars, the terror of the wood.

At Ajax, Hector his long lance extends;