Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/351



as Aurora heaved her orient head

Above the waves that blushed with early red,

With new-born day to gladden mortal sight,

And gild the courts of heaven with sacred light,

The immortal arms the goddess-mother bears

Swift to her son: her son she finds in tears,

Stretched o'er Patroclus' corse, while all the rest

Their sovereign's sorrows in their own expressed.

A ray divine her heavenly presence shed,

And thus, his hand soft touching, Thetis said:

"Suppress, my son, this rage of grief, and know

It was not man, but heaven, that gave the blow:

Behold what arms by Vulcan are bestowed,

Arms worthy thee, or fit to grace a god."

Then drops the radiant burden on the ground;

Clang the strong arms, and ring the shores around;

Back shrink the Myrmidons with dread surprise,

And from the broad effulgence turn their eyes.

Unmoved, the hero kindles at the show,

And feels with rage divine his bosom glow;

From his fierce eyeballs living flames expire,

And flash incessant like a stream of fire: