Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/301

268—316 But, mindful of the gods, Achilles went

To the rich coffer in his shady tent:

There lay on heaps his various garments rolled,

And costly furs, and carpets stiff with gold,

The presents of the silver-footed dame:

From thence he took a bowl of antique frame,

Which never man had stained with ruddy wine,

Nor raised in offerings to the powers divine,

But Peleus' son; and Peleus' son to none

Had raised in offerings, but to Jove alone.

This, tinged with sulphur, sacred first to flame,

He purged; and washed it in the running stream.

Then cleansed his hands; and, fixing for a space

His eyes on heaven, his feet upon the place

Of sacrifice, the purple draught he poured

Forth in the midst; and thus the god implored:

"Oh thou supreme! high-throned all height above!

Oh great Pelasgic, Dodonean Jove!

Who, 'midst surrounding frosts, and vapours chill,

Presid'st on bleak Dodona's vocal hill,

Whose groves the Selli, race austere, surround,

Their feet unwashed, their slumbers on the ground,

Who hear from rustling oaks thy dark decrees,

And catch the fates low- whispered in the breeze:

Hear, as of old: Thou gavest at Thetis' prayer,

Glory to me, and to the Greeks despair:

Lo, to the dangers of the fighting field

The best, the dearest of my friends, I yield:

Though still determined, to my ships confined,

Patroclus gone, I stay but half behind.

Oh be his guard thy providential care,

Confirm his heart, and string his arm to war;

Pressed by his single force, let Hector see

His fame in arms not owing all to me.

But when the fleets are saved from foes and fire,

Let him with conquest and renown retire;

Preserve his arms, preserve his social train,

And safe return him to these eyes again!"

Great Jove consents to half the chief's request,

But heaven's eternal doom denies the rest:

To free the fleet was granted to his prayer;

His safe return the winds dispersed in air.

Back to his tent the stern Achilles flies,

And waits the combat with impatient eyes.

Meanwhile the troops, beneath Patroclus' care,

Invade the Trojans, and commence the war.

As wasps, provoked by children in their play,

Pour from their mansions by the broad highway,

In swarms the guiltless traveller engage,