She dropt the silver goblet on the ground;
The fragrant liquor drench'd the pavement
round,

And thus Tydides with a frown address'd :
Thy art is useless, and the truth confess'd;,
Nor can that fair disguise of martial arms
And male attire, conceal thy fatal charme,
Those eyes I see, whose soft enchantment stole
My peace, and stirr'd a tempest in my soul:
By their mild sight, in innocence array'd,
To guilty madness was my heart betray'd.
Deiphobus is dead; his mournful ghost,
Lamenting, wanders on the Stygian coast;
And blames my wrath. Oh! that the Sun, which

gave

Light to thy birth, had set upon thy grave;
And he had liv'd! now lifeless on the plain
A corse he lies, and number'd with the slain."
The hero ended thus; with melting eye,
The virgin turn'd, unable to reply.
In sorrow graceful, as the queen of love
Who mourn'd Adonis in the Syrian grove,
Confounded and abash'd, she left the tent,
And thro' the host in silent anguish went,
Far to the left; where, in a lonely wood,
To Ceres built, a rural temple stood;

By swains frequented once, but now the place
Unsightly shrubs o'erspread and weeds dis grace.
Thither Cassandra went; and at the shrine,
With suppliant voice address'd the power divine:
"Hear me, dread genius of this sacred grove!
Let my complaints thy sov'reign pity move.
To seek the friendly shelter of thy dome,
With heart unstain'd, and guiltless hands, I come:
Love is my crime; and, in thy rural seat,
From infamy I seek a safe retreat.
By blame unmerited, and cold neglect,
Banish'd I come; receive me and protect!"
She pray'd, and ent'ring, 'gainst a pillar, staid
Her lance; and on the floor her armour laid.
Then falling prostrate pour'd a flood of tears,
With present ills oppress'd and future fears.

'Twas then the herald of the queen of love,
Zelotypé, descended in the grove,
By Venus sent; but still her counsels fail'd;
And Pallas with superior sway prevail'd:
The phantom enter'd, and assum'd a form,
Pale as the Moon appearing thro' a storm;
In Amyclea's shape disguis'd she came ;
The same her aspect, and her voice the ame.
Cassandra saw; a sudden horrour froze
Her veins ; erect her parted locks arose,
Stirr'd from the root: impatient thus the maid,
With trembling lips, in falt'ring accents, said:
"My lov'd, my honour'd parent! have my groans,
From death's deep slumber, rous'd thy sacred
bones:

I hop'd that nothing could your peace molest ;
Nor mortal cares disturb eternal rest;
That safe for ever on th' Elysian shore,
You heard of human misery no more.

Cassandra thus; and thus the Paphian maid: "Your gen'rous love, my child, is ill repaid; Your griefs I feel, and bear a parent's part; Tho' blood no more returns to warm my heart; And that, which first your mortal being bred, To dust lies mould'ring in its earthy bed. To Calydon, my child, with speed return; Your father grieves; your gay companions mourn;

He deems you lost, and desp'rate of his state,
By grief subdu'd invokes his lingʼring fate :
Incessant tears bedew his wrinkled face,
And ashes foul his hoary locks disgrace.
Return, return! nor let misjudging pride,
With further errours, strive the past to hide.
Return, once more to bless his aged eyes,
Or, by your guilty stay a parent dies."

She ended thus. Her arms Cassandra spread
To fold, in close embrace, the parting shade;
In vain; for, starting from her grasp, it flew,
And, gliding thro' the shady walks, withdrew.
The virgin now awaits the rising morn,
With purpose fix'd impatient to return:
And when, thro' broken clouds, a glimm'ring ray
Of early dawn foretold approaching day;
The spear she grasp'd, and on her temples plac'd
The golden casque, with various plumage grac'd;
Tydides' gift; when in the ranks of fight
The brave Clytander sunk beneath his might.
The gods she call'd; and, bending to the ground,
Their aid invok'd with reverence profound.
Then left the dome; and where Ismenus strays,
Winding thro' thickest woods his wat'ry maze,
Her way pursu'd: a hostile band drew near;
Their tread she heard, and saw their armour
clear;

Chief of the Theban youth; the herds they drove,
And flocks collected from the hills above.
For thus the Paphian goddess had betray'd,
To hands of cruel foes, the guiltless maid.

By sudden terrour check'd, at first she stood:
Then turn'd, and sought the covert of the wood;
Nor so escap'd: her glitt'ring armour shone,
The starry helmet and the lofty cone,
Full to the glowing east; its golden rays
Her winding fight betray'd thro' all its maze.
The Thebans saw; and, rushing 'midst the shade
With shouts of triumph, seiz'd the trembling
Amaz'd and pale, before the hostile band, [maid.
She stood; and dropt the jav'lin from her hand.
"O spare my life!" she cry'd, "nor wealth, nor
To purchase in the works of war, I came. [fame
No hate to you I bear, or Creon's sway,
Whose sov'reign will the sons of Thebes obey:
Me hapless friendship hither led, to share,
With Diomed, the dangers of the war.
I now return and quit the martial strife,
My sire to succour on the verge of life;
Who crush'd beneath a load of sorrow bends,
And to the grave, with painful steps, descends.
But if the plea of pity you reject,

The stronger ties of equity respect:
A truce we swore; Jove witnesses the deed;
On him who breaks it, vengeance will succeed."
Thus as the virgin spoke, Phericles ey'd
The arms she wore; and sternly thus reply'd:
"Ill-fated wretch! that panoply to wear;
The same my brother once in fight did bear;
Whom fierce Tydides, with superior might,
O'erthrew and vanquish'd in the ranks of fight.
If with his foe my brother's spoils you shar'd,
A mark of love, or merited reward;
Prepare to yield them and resign thy breath;
To vengeance due: Clytander claims thy death."
Frowning he spoke, and drew his shining blade;
Beneath the lifted steel, th' unhappy maid
Confounded stoop'd: Mencetius caught the stroke
On his broad shield; and interposing spoke:

sound.

His naine, achievements, and descent to bear.
Thither let this devoted youth be led,
An off'ring grateful to the hero's shade:
Nor shall Clytander less the deed approve;
Or friendly zeal applaud, and feel our love;
When fame shall tell, in Pluto's gloomy reign,
How stern Tydides mourns this warriour slain."
Thus ignorantly they; nor knew the peace
Of happy patriots, when their labors cease;
That fell revenge and life-consuming hate
Find no admittance, to molest their state.

And now they led the captive cross the plain; Scarce could her trembling knees their load sustain;

Thrice had her falt'ring tongue her sex reveal'd, But conscious shame oppos'd it and conceal'd. Their monarch at the Cadinean gate they found, In mournful state, with all his peers around. Oblations to Leophron's mighty shade,

In honey, milk, and fragrant wines they paid. And thus Lycaon's son address'd the king:

86

A grateful off ring to your rites we bring. This youth, the friend of Diomed, we found Clad in the armour which Clytander own'd; My brother's spoils, by Diomed possest, When his keen jav'lin pierc'd the hero's breast. Soon had my rage the hostile deed repaid, With vengeance grateful to his kindred shade; But public griefs the first atonements claim, And heroes of a more distinguish'd name. Leophron, once his country's pride and boast; Andremon too, the bulwark of the host,

His blood demands; for when their souls shall know

The sweet revenge, in Pluto's shades below,
Pleas'd with our zeal, will each illustrious ghost,
With lighter footsteps, press th' Elysian coast."
He spoke; the princes all at once incline;
The rest, with shouts, applaud the dire design.
An altar soon of flow'ry turf they raise:
On ev'ry side the sacred torches blaze:
The bowls, in shining order, plac'd around;
The fatal knife was whetted for the wound.
Decreed to perish, stood the helpless fair;
Like some soft fawn, when, in the hunter's snare
Involv'd, she sees him from his seat arise, [cries:
His brandish'd truncheon dreads, and hears his
Silent she stands, to barb'rous force resign'd,
In anguish soft, dissolv'd her tender mind.
The priests in order ev'ry rite prepar'd;
Her neck and bosom, for the blow, they bar'd;
The helmet loos'd, the buckled mail unbound,
Whose shining circles fenc'd her neck around.
Down sunk the fair disguise; and full to sight
The virgin stood, with charms divinely bright.
The comely ringlets of her flowing hair,
Such as the wood-nymphs wear, and Naiades fair
Hung loose; her middle by a zone embrac'd,
Which fix'd the floating garment round her waist.
Venus herself divine effulgence shed
O'er all her stature, and her lovely head;
Such as in spring the colour'd blossoms show,
When on their op'ning leaves the zephyrs blow:
Amazement seiz'd the chiefs; and all around

Most vote to spare: the angry monarch cries:
"Ye ministers, proceed; the captive dies.
Shall any here, by weak compassion mov'd,
A captive spare by stern Tydides lov'd? [hand
The scourge of Thebes, whose wide-destroying
Has thinn'd our armies in their native land,
And slain my son: by all the gods I swear,
Whose names, to cite in vain, the nations fear,
That none,
he loves, shall ever 'scape my rage:
The vulgar plea I scorn, of sex, or age,
Ev'n she, who now appears with ev'ry grace
Adorn'd, each charm of stature and of face:
Ev'n though from Venus she could claim the prize,
Her life to vengeance forfeited, she dies."

Sternly the monarch ended. All were still,
With mute submission to the sov'reign will:
Lycaon's valiant son except; alone

His gen'rous ardour thus oppos'd the throne:
"Dread sov'reign! listen with a patient ear,
And what I now shall offer, deign to hear.
When first by force we seiz'd this captive maid,
The truce was vi'lated, our faith betray'd;
And justice, which, in war and peace, prevails
Alike, and weighs their deeds with equal scales,
Her freedom claims, with presents to atone
For what our rage perfidiously has done:
Let us not, now, to further wrongs proceed;
But fear the curse for perjury decreed."

Phericles thus: and, with a stern regard,
His indignation thus the king declar'd:
"Vain giddy youth! forbear with factious breath,
To rouse my justice to pronounce thy death:
In opposition, first of all you move,

While others hear in silence, and approve.
Your bold presumption check, and learn to dread
My vengeance thunder'd on your wretched head."

Frowning he ended thus: his threats defy'd,
With gen'rous heat Phericles thus reply'd:
"Princes! attend, and trust my words sincere;
The king I honour, and his will revere,
When truth gives sanction to his just commands,
No common right in opposition stands:
Yet gen'rous minds a principle retain,
Which promises and threats attempt in vain,
Which claims dominion, by the gods imprest,
The love of justice in the human breast:
By this inspir'd, against superior might,
I rise undaunted in the cause of right.
And now, by all th' avenging gods, I swear,
Whose names, to cite in vain, the nations fear;
That no bold warrior of the Theban bands,
This maid shall violate with hostile hands; [wield,
While these my arms have force the lance to
And lift in her defence this pond'rous shield,
Not ev'n the king himself, whose sov'reign sway
The martial sons of sacred Thebes obey."

He said; and, by his bold example fir'd, Twelve warriors rose, with equal zeal inspir'd. With shining steel the altar they surround, The fire now flaming, and the victim crown'd. On ev'ry side in wild disorder move The thick compacted crouds: as when a grove, Rock'd by a sudden whirlwind, bends and strains From right to left, along the woodland plains: Fell discord soon had rag'd, in civil blood, With wide destruction not to be withstood; For from his seat the angry monarch sprung,

And lifted, for the blow, the sceptre hung:
But 'midst the tumult Clytophon appear'd,
Approv'd for wisdom, and with rev'rence heard.
Straight, by the robe, the furious chief he seiz'd,
And thus, with sage advice, his wrath appeas'd:
"Hear,mighty prince! respect the words of age,
And calm the wasteful tempest of thy rage;
The public welfare to revenge prefer,

For nations suffer when their sov'reigns err.
It ill becomes us now, when hostile pow'rs
With strictest siege invest our stait'ned tow'rs!
It ill becomes us thus, with civil arms,
To wound the state, and aggravate our harms.
Hear, all ye princes! what to me appears
A prudent counsel, worthy of your ears:
Let us inquire, if in our hands we hold
A life esteem'd by Diomed the bold:
If, in his breast, those tender passions reign,
Which charms like these must kindle and main-
Our mandates freely to his tent we send, [tain;
For to our will his haughty soul must bend:
Nor dares he, while the Theban walis enclose
A pledge so dear, invade us or oppose;
But must submit, whenever we require,
Or with his pow'rs to aid us, or retire."

He said; the monarch painfully supprest
His burning rage, and lock'd it in his breast.
He thus reply'd: "Thy prudent words inspire
Pacific councils, and subdue mine ire:
But if in peace I rul'd the Theban state,
Nor hostile armies thunder'd at ny gate;
They had not dar'd, with insolence and spite,
My purpose to oppose and scorn my might."
He said, and to his seat again retir'd;
While sudden transport ev'ry breast inspir'd;
As swains rejoice, when, from the troubled skies,
By breezes swept, a gather'd tempest flies;
With wish'd return the Sun exerts his beams
To cheer the woods and gild the shining streams.
Mean while the son of Tydeus, through the
plain,

With wishing eyes, Cassandrá sought in vain;
At ev'ry leader of the bands inquic'd;
Then, sad and hopeless, to his tent retir'd.
'Twas then his grief the bounds of silence broke,
And thus in secret to himself he spoke:
"Me sure, of all men's sons, the gods have curst
With their chief plagues, the greatest and the
worst;

Doom'd to disasters, from my earliest hour;
Not wise to shun nor patient to endure.
From me the source, unnumber'd ills proceed
To all my friends; Deiphobus is dead!
His soul excluded seeks the nether skies,
And wrong'd Cassandra from my presence flies.
Me surely, at my birth, the gods design'd
Their rod of wrath, to scourge the human kind;
For slaughter form'd, with brutal fury brave,
Prompt to destroy, but impotent to save.
How could my madness blame thee, gen'rous
maid!

And, with my crime, thy innocence upbraid?
Deiphobus is fall'n! but not by thee;
Thy only fault, alas! was love to me;
For this, in plated steel thy limbs were dress'd,
A weighty shield thy tender arm oppress'd :
For this, thou didst to hostile fields repair,
And court such objects as distract the fair;

To mountain wolves expos'd, a helpless prey,
And men unjust more terrible than they.
Save her, ye gods! and let me stand the aim
Of Jove's all-dreaded bolt,and scorching flame.”
Thus plain'd the hero till the setting ray
Withdrew, and ev'ning shades expell'd the day;
Then in his tent, before his lofty seat,
Appear'd a herald from the Theban state;
The hero's knees, with trembling hands, he
press'd,

And with his message thus the chief address'd:
"Hear, mighty prince! the tidings which I bring,
From Thebes assembled, and the Theban king.
An armed warriour of your native train,
At early dawn, was seiz'd upon the plain.
What others did, forgive, if I relate;
Creon commands me and the Theban state.
A fairer youth, in martial arms, ne'er came
To court bright honour in the fields of fame.
A casque of polish'd steel his temples press'd,
The golden cone with various plumage dress'd;
A silver mail embrac'd his body round,
And greaves of brass his slender ancles bound:
To Thebes well known the panoply he wore,
The same, which once, renown'd Clytander
bore.

Our warriors dragg'd him to the Cadmean gate,
Where Creon, with the rulers of the state,
Assembled sat; the trembling captive stood,
With arms surrounded, and th' insulting crowd.
'O spare my life!' he cry'd, nor wealth, nor
To purchase in the works of war, I came. [fame
No hate to you I bear, or Creon's sway,
Whose sov'reign will the sons of Thebes obey.
Me luckless friendship hither led, to share,
With Diomed, the dangers of the war.
I now return, and quit the martial strife,
My sire to succour on the verge of life;
Whose feeble age the present aid demands,
And kind assistance of my filial hands.',
His words inclin'd the wisest and the best,
And some their gen'rous sympathy exprest:
But others, nothing mov'd, his guiltless head
With threats demanded, to avenge the dead:
And thus the king: My countrymen, attend!
In this, let all your loud contention end:
If Diomed, to save this valu'd life,
The field abandons and the martial strife;
The captive safe, with presents, I'll restore,
Of brass, and steel, and gold's refulgent ore:
But if these terms the haughty chief shall slight,
| And for the Argives still exert his might;
Before our hero's tombs, this youth shall bleed,
To please the living, and avenge the dead.'
His sentence all approv'd; and to your ear,
As public herald, I the message bear;
And must your answer crave, without delay;
Creon and Thebes already blame my stay."

Thus as he spoke, contending passions strove, With force oppos'd, the hero's soul to move; As shifting winds impel the ocean's tide, And sway the recling waves from side to side: Rage dictated revenge; but tender fear, From love and pity, waru'd him to forbear:

Till, like a lion, fiercer from his pain,
These words broke forth in wrath and high dis-
dain:

"Go, tell your tyrant, that he tempts a soul
Which presents cannot win, nor threats control:
Not form'd, like his, to mock at ev'ry tie;
With perjury to sport, and Heav'n defy.
A common league the Argive warriors swore,
And seal'd the sacred tie with wine and gore;
My faith was plighted then, and ne'er shall fail,
Nor Creon's arts, to change me, aught avail.
But tell him loud, that all the host may hear,
And Thebes through all her warriors learn to
fear,

If any, from himself, or by command,
The captive violates with hostile hand;
That all shall quickly rue the guilty deed,
When, to requite it, multitudes shall bleed."
Sternly the hero ended, and resign'd,
To fierce disorder, all his mighty mind.
Already in his thoughts, with vengeful hands,
He dealt destruction 'midst the Theban bands,
In fancy saw the tott'ring turrets fall,
And led his warriors o'er the level'd wall.
Rous'd with the thought, from his high seat he
sprung;

And grasp'd the sword, which on a column hung;
The shining blade he balanc'd thrice in air;
His lances next he view'd, and armour fair.
When, hanging 'midst the costly panoply,
A scarf embroider'd met the hero's eye,
Which fair Cassandra's skilful hands had wrought,
A present for her lord, in secret brought,
That day, when first he led his martial train
In arms, to combat on the Theban plain. [pose,
As some strong charm, which magic sounds com-
Suspends a downward torrent as it flows;
Checks in the precipice its headlong course,
And calls it trembling upwards to its source:
Such seem'd the robe, which, to the hero's eyes,
Made the fair artist in her charins to rise.
His rage, suspended in its full career,
To love resigns, to grief and tender fear.
Glad would he now his former words revoke,
And change the purpose which in wrath he spoke;
From hostile hands his captive fair to gain,
From fate to save her, or the servile chain :
But pride, and shame, the fond design supprest;
Silent he stood, and lock'd it in his breast.
Yet had the wary Theban well divin'd,
By symptoms sure, each motion of his mind:
With joy he saw the heat of rage suppress'd;
And thus again his artful words address'd. [ear,
"Illustrious prince! with patience bend thine
And what I now shall offer, deign to hear.
Of all the griefs, distressful mortals prove,
The woes of friendship most my pity move.
You much I pity, and the youth regret,
Whom you too rigidly resign to fate;
Expos'd alone, no hope of comfort near,
The scorn and cruelty of foes to bear.
O that my timely counsel might avail,
For love, and sympathy, to turn the scale!
That Thebes releas'd from thy devouring sword,
The captive honor'd, and with gifts restor❜d,
We yet might hope for peace, and you again
Enjoy the blessings of your native reign."

Insinuating thus, the herald try'd
His aim to compass; and the chief reply'd:
VOL. XVI.

"In vain you strive to sway my constant mind;
I'll not depart while Theseus stays behind:
Me nothing e'er, to change my faith, shall move,
By men attested, and the gods above:
But since your lawless tyrant has detain'd
A valu'd hostage, treacherously gain'd;
And dire injustice only will restore
When force compels, or proffer'd gifts implore:
A truce I grant, till the revolving Sun,
Twice ten full circuits of his journey run,
From the red ocean, points the morning ray,
And on the steps of darkness pours the day:
Till then, from fight and council I abstain,
Nor lead my pow'rs to combat on the plain :
For this, your monarch to my tent shall send
The captive, and from injuries defend.
This proffer is my last; in vain will prove
All your attempts my fixed mind to move:
If Thebes accepts it, let a sign declare,
A flaming torch, display'd aloft in air,
From that high tow'r, whose airy top is known
By trav'lers from afar, and marks the town;
The fane of Jove: but if they shall reject
The terms I send, nor equity respect,
They soon shall feel the fury of mine ire,
In wasteful havoc, and the rage of fire."

The hero thus; and round his shoulders flung
A shaggy cloak, with vulgar trappings hung;
And on his head a leathern helmet plac'd,
A boar's rough front with grisly terrours grac'd;
A spear he next assum'd, and pond'rous shield,
And led the Theban, issuing to the field.
Amid surrounding guards they pass'd unseen,
For night had stretch'd her friendly shade be-
tween;
[knew ;

Till nearer, through the gloom, the gate they
The herald enter'd, and the chief withdrew :
But turning oft to Thebes his eager eyes,
The signal, on the tow'r, at last he spies;
A flaming torch, upon the top, expos'd,
Its ray at once his troubled mind compos'd:
Such joy he felt, as when a watch-tow'r's light,
Seen through the gloom of some tempestuous
Glads the wet mariner, a star to guide [night,
His lab'ring vessel, through the stormy tide.

THE

EPIGONIAD.

BOOK II.

Now silent night the middle space possest,
Of Heav'n, or journey'd downwards to the west 3
But Creon, still with thirst of vengeance fir'd,
Repose declin'd, nor from his toils respir'd;
But held his peers in council to debate
Plans for revenge, suggested by his hate.
Before the king Dienices appear'd;
To speak his tidings sad, the hero fear'd;
Return'd from Oeta; thither sent to call
Alcides to protect his native wall.

And Creon thus: "Dienices! explain
Your, sorrow; are our hopes of aid in vain ?
Does Hercules neglect his native soil;
While strangers reap the harvest of his toil?
We from your silence cannot hope success;
But further ills your falling tears confess :

M

Cleon my son is dead; his fate you mourn;
I must not hope to see his safe return.
Sure, if he liv'd, he had not come the last;
But found his father with a filial haste.

His fate, at once, declare, you need not fear,
With any tale of grief, to wound mine ear,
Proof to misfortune: for the man, who knows
The whole variety of human woes,

Can stand unmov'd though loads of sorrow press;
Practis'd to bear, familiar with distress."

The monarch question'd thus: and thus the youth:

"Too well thy boding fear has found the truth. Cleon is dead; the hero's ashes lie

Where Pelion's lofty head ascends the sky.
For as, on Oeta's top, he vainly strove
To win the arrows of the son of Jove;
Compelling Philoctetes to resign,
The friend of Hercules, his arms divine;
The insult to repel, an arrow flew,
And from his heart the vital current drew:
Prostrate he sunk; and welling from the wound,
A flood of gore impurpled all the ground."

Thus spoke Dienices. The king supprest
His big distress, and lock'd it in his breast:
Sighing he thus reply'd: "The cause declare,
Which holds the great Alcides from the war;
And why another now, the bow commands
And arrows, sacred from his mighty hands.
Nor fear my valiant son's untimely fate,
With all its weight of sorrow, to relate:
All I can bear. Against my naked head,
I see the vengeance of the gods decreed;
With hostile arms beset my tott'ring reign;
The people wasted, and my children slain.
Attempts prove fruitless; ev'ry hope deceives;
Success in prospect, disappointment gives:
With swift approach, I see destruction come;
But with a mind unmov'd, I'll meet my doom;
Nor stain this war-worn visage with a tear,
Since all that Heav'n has purpos'd, I can bear."
The monarch thus his rising grief suppress'd;
And thus the peers Dienices address'd :

Princes of Thebes! and thou, whose sov'reign hand

[hear.

Sways the dread sceptre of supreme command!
To what I offer, lend an equal ear;
The truth I'll speak, and judge me when you
If Cleon, by my fault, no more returns,
For whom, her second hope, his country mourns;
No doom I deprecate, no torture fly,
Which justice can denounce, or rage supply:
But if my innocence appears, I claim
Your censure to escape, and public blame.
"From Marathon by night our course we steer'd,
And pass'd Gerastus when the day appear'd;
Andros we saw, with promontories steep,
Ascend; and Delos level with the deep.
A circuit wide; for where Euripus roars
Between Euboea and the Theban shores,
The Argives had dispos'd their naval train;
And prudence taught to shun the hostile plain.
Four days we sail'd; the fifth our voyage ends,
Where Oeta, sloping to the sea, descends.
The vales I search'd, and woody heights above,
Guided by fame, to find the son of Jove;
With Cleon only: for we charg'd the band
To stay, and guard our vessel on the strand.
In vain we search'd; but when the lamp of day
Approach'd the ocean with its setting ray,

A cave appear'd, which from a mountain steep,
Through a low valley, look'd into the deep.
Thither we turn'd our weary steps, and found
The cavern hung with savage spoils around;
The wolf's grey fur, the wild boar's shaggy hide,
The lion's mane, the panther's speckled pride:
These signs we mark'd; and knew the rocky scat,
Some solitary hunter's wild retreat.
Farther invited by a glimm'ring ray,.
Which through the darkness shed uncertain day,
In the recesses of the cave we found
The club of Hercules; and wrapt around,
Which, seen before, we knew, the lion's spoils,
The mantle which he wore in all his toils.
Amaz'd we stood; in silence, each his mind
To fear and hope alternately resign'd:
With joy we hop'd to find the hero near;
The club and mantle found, dispos'd to fear.
His force invincible in tight we knew,
Which nought of mortal kind could e'er subdue,
But fear'd Apollo's might, or his who heaves
The solid earth, and rules the stormy waves.

"Pond'ring we stood; when on the roof above, The tread of feet descending thro' the grove Which crown'd the hollow cliff, amaz'd we heard And straight before the cave a youth appear'd. A bleeding buck across his shoulders flung, Ty'd with a rope of twisted rushes, bung. He dropt his burden in the gate, and plac'd, Against the pillar'd cliff, his bow unbrac'd. 'Twas then our footsteps in the cave he heard, And thro' the gloom our shining arms appear'd. His bow he bent; and backwards from the rock Retir'd, and, of our purpose quest'ning, spoke ; Say who you are, who seek this wild abode, Thro' desert paths, by mortals rarely trod ? If just, and with a fair intent you come, Friendship expect, and safety in my dome: But if for violence, your danger learn, And trust my admonition when I warn: Certain as fate, where'er this arrow flies, The hapless wretch, who meets its fury, dies: No buckler to resist its point avails, [fails; The hammer'd cuirass yields, the breast-plate And where it once has drawn the purple gore, No charm can cure, no med'cine health restore.' "With threats he question'd thus; and Cleon

said:

We come to call Alcides to our aid;
By us the senators of Thebes entreat
The hero, to protect his native state:
For hostile arms invest the Theban tow'rs:
Famine within, without the sword, devours.
If you have learn'd where Hercules remains,
In mountain caves, or hamlets on the plains,
Our way direct; for, led by genʼral fame,
To find him in these desert wilds we came.'

"He spoke; and Philoctetes thus again : 'May Jove, for Thebes, some other aid ordain; For Hercules no more exerts his might, Against oppressive force, for injur'd right: Retir'd, among the gods, he sits serene, And views, beneath him far, this mortal scene: But enter now this grotto, and partake What I can offer, for the hero's sake: With you from sacred Thebes he claim'd his birth,

For god-like virtue fam'd thro' all the Earth;
Thebes therefore and her people still shall be
Like fair Trachines and her sons to me.