Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/344

342 High on a bed of state extended laid,

And decent covered with a linen shade;

Last o'er the dead the milk-white veil they threw;

That done, their sorrows and their sighs renew.

Meanwhile to Juno, in the realms above,

His wife and sister, spoke almighty Jove:

"At last thy will prevails: great Peleus' son

Rises in arms: such grace thy Greeks have won.

Say, for I know not, is their race divine,

And thou the mother of that martial line?"

"What words are these?" the imperial dame replies,

While anger flashed from her majestic eyes;

"Succour like this a mortal man might lend,

And such success mere human wit attend:

And shall not I, the second power above,

Heaven's queen, and consort of the thundering Jove,

Say, shall not I one nation's fate command,

Not wreak my vengeance on one guilty land?"

So they. Meanwhile the silver-footed dame

Reached the Vulcanian dome, eternal frame,

High-eminent amid the works divine,

Where heaven's far-beaming brazen mansions shine.

There the lame architect the goddess found,

Obscure in smoke, his forges flaming round,

While bathed in sweat from fire to fire he flew,

And, puffing loud, the roaring bellows blew.

That day no common task his labour claimed:

Full twenty tripods for his hall he framed,

That, placed on living wheels of massy gold—

Wondrous to tell—instinct with spirit rolled

From place to place, around the blest abodes,

Self-moved, obedient to the beck of gods:

For their fair handles now, o'erwrought with flowers,

In moulds prepared, the glowing ore he pours.

Just as, responsive to his thought, the frame

Stood prompt to move, the azure goddess came:

Charis, his spouse, a grace divinely fair,

With purple fillets round her braided hair,

Observed her entering; her soft hand she pressed,

And, smiling, thus the watery queen addressed:

"What, goddess, this unusual favour draws?

All hail, and welcome, whatsoe'er the cause:

Till now a stranger, in a happy hour

Approach, and taste the dainties of the bower."

High on a throne, with stars of silver graced,

And various artifice, the queen she placed;

A footstool at her feet : then, calling, said,

"Vulcan, draw near, 'tis Thetis asks your aid."

"Thetis," replied the god, "our powers may claim.