Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/330

328 High on the chariot at one bound he sprung,

And o'er his seat the bloody trophies hung.

And now Minerva, from the realms of air,

Descends impetuous, and renews the war;

For, pleased at length the Grecian arms to aid,

The lord of thunders sent the blue-eyed Maid.

As when high Jove, denouncing future woe,

O'er the dark clouds extends his purple bow,

In sign of tempests from the troubled air,

Or, from the rage of man, destructive war;

The drooping cattle dread the impending skies,

And from his half-tilled field the labourer flies.

In such a form the goddess round her drew

A livid cloud, and to the battle flew.

Assuming Phœnix' shape, on earth she falls,

And in his well-known voice to Sparta calls:

"And lies Achilles' friend, beloved by all,

A prey to dogs beneath the Trojan wall?

What shame to Greece for future times to tell,

To thee the greatest, in whose cause he fell!"

"O chief! O father!" Atreus' son replies,

"O full of days! by long experience wise!

What more desires my soul, than here, unmoved,

To guard the body of the man I loved?

Ah would Minerva send me strength to rear

This wearied arm, and ward the storm of war!

But Hector, like the rage of fire, we dread,

And Jove's own glories blaze around his head."

Pleased to be first of all the Powers addressed,

She breathes new vigour in her hero's breast,

And fills with keen revenge, with fell despite,

Desire of blood, and rage, and lust of fight.

So burns the vengeful hornet, soul all o'er,

Repulsed in vain, and thirsty still of gore;

Bold son of air and heat, on angry wings

Untamed, untired, he turns, attacks, and stings:

Fired with like ardour fierce Atrides flew,

And sent his soul with every lance he threw.

There stood a Trojan, not unknown to fame,

Eëtion's son, and Podes was his name;

With riches honoured, and with courage blessed,

By Hector loved, his comrade, and his guest;

Through his broad belt the spear a passage found,

And, ponderous as he falls, his arms resound.

Sudden at Hector's side Apollo stood,

Like Phsenops, Asius' son, appeared the god,

Asius the great, who held his wealthy reign

In fair Abydos, by the rolling main.

"O prince," he cried, "oh foremost once in fame!