Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/355

170—218 With strong repast to hearten every band;

But let the presents to Achilles made,

In full assembly of all Greece be laid.

The king of men shall rise in public sight,

And solemn swear, observant of the rite,

That, spotless as she came, the maid removes,

Pure irom his arms, and guiltless of his loves.

That done, a sumptuous banquet shall be made,

And the full price of injured honour paid.

Stretch not henceforth, O prince! thy sovereign might,

Beyond the bounds of reason and of right;

'Tis the chief praise that e'er to kings belonged,

To right with justice whom with power they wronged."

To him the monarch: "Just is thy decree,

Thy words give joy, and wisdom breathes in thee.

Each due atonement gladly I prepare;

And, heaven regard me, as I justly swear!

Here then awhile let Greece assembled stay,

Nor great Achilles grudge this short delay;

Till from the fleet our presents be conveyed,

And, Jove attesting, the firm compact made.

A train of noble youth the charge shall bear;

These to select, Ulysses, be thy care;

In order ranked let all our gifts appear,

And the fair train of captives close the rear:

Talthybius shall the victim boar convey,

Sacred to Jove, and yon bright orb of day."

"For this," the stern ^acides replies,

"Some less important season may suffice,

When the stern fury of the war is o'er,

And wrath extinguished burns my breast no more.

By Hector slain, their faces to the sky,

All grim with gaping wounds our heroes lie:

Those call to war I and, might my voice incite,

Now, now this instant, should commence the fight.

Then, when the day's complete, let generous bowls,

And copious banquets, glad your weary souls.

Let not my palate know the taste of food,

Till my insatiate rage be cloyed with blood:

Pale lies my friend, with wounds disfigured o'er,

And his cold feet are pointed to the door.

Revenge is all my soul I no meaner care,

Interest, or thought, has room to harbour there;

Destruction be my feast, and mortal wounds,

And scenes of blood, and agonizing sounds."

"O first of Greeks!" Ulysses thus rejoined,

"The best and bravest of the warrior-kind!

Thy praise it is in dreadful camps to shine,

But old experience and calm wisdom, mine.