Page:Masterpieces of Greek Literature (1902).djvu/41

Rh Yet not ingloriously or passively

I die, but first will do some valiant deed,

Of which mankind shall hear in after time."

He spake, and drew the keen-edged sword that hung,

Massive and finely tempered, at his side,

And sprang—as when an eagle high in heaven,

Through the thick cloud, darts downward to the plain

To clutch some tender lamb or timid hare,

So Hector, brandishing that keen-edged sword,

Sprang forward, while Achilles opposite

Leaped toward him, all on fire with savage hate,

And holding his bright buckler, nobly wrought,

Before him. On his shining helmet waved

The four-fold crest; there tossed the golden tufts

With which the hand of Vulcan lavishly

Had decked it. As in the still hours of night

Hesper goes forth among the host of stars,

The fairest light of heaven, so brightly shone,

Brandished in the right hand of Peleus' son,

The spear's keen blade, as, confident to slay

The noble Hector, o'er his glorious form

His quick eye ran, exploring where to plant

The surest wound. The glittering mail of brass

Won from the slain Patroclus guarded well

Each part, save only where the collar-bones

Divide the shoulder and the neck, and there

Appeared the throat, the spot where life is most

In peril. Through that part the noble son

Of Peleus drave his spear; it went quite through

The tender neck, and yet the brazen blade

Cleft not the windpipe, and the power to speak