Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 1.djvu/195

Rh Rous'd by their call, nor court again repose;

The pair, buoy'd up on Hope's exulting wing,

Their stations leave, and speed to seek the king.

Now, o'er the earth a solemn stillness ran,

And lull'd alike the cares of brute and man;

Save where the Dardan leaders, nightly, hold

Alternate converse, and their plans unfold.

On one great point the council are agreed,

An instant message to their prince decreed;

Each lean'd upon the lance he well could wield,

And pois'd with easy arm his ancient shield;

When Nisus and his friend their leave request,

To offer something to their high behest.

With anxious tremors, yet unaw'd by fear,

The faithful pair before the throne appear;

Iulus greets them; at his kind command,

The elder, first, address'd the hoary band.

"With patience" (thus Hyrtacides began)

"Attend, nor judge, from youth, our humble plan,

Where yonder beacons half-expiring beam,

Our slumbering foes of future conquest dream,

Nor heed that we a secret path have trac'd,

Between the ocean and the portal plac'd;

Beneath the covert of the blackening smoke,

Whose shade, securely, our design will cloak!