Their ancient residence a second time Destroy'd; nor utter'd more than just complaint Of tardy Sparta. When Briareus dire With his gigantic savages o'erturn'd
The recent tomb, which held the glorious slain At Salamis; when scatter'd in the wind They saw that dust rever'd; in solemn rage, Devoid of sound illiberal, or loud,
Each his right hand with sanctity of oaths Pledg'd to his neighbour, and to vengeance full His blood devoted. Aristides look'd, As some incens'd divinity, and spake:
"Persist, ye sons of folly; crush that tomb; The last repose of yon heroic slain Disturb, therein exhibiting your doom From mortals and immortals. Thus your pride By Heav'n, and Grecian valour, shall be crush'd, Your impious host be scatter'd like that dust Which your barbarity profanes. Now, friends, By your appointment I to Sparta sail; You under watchful discipline remain Compos'd and firm; such patience will surmount All obstacle, Athenians; will restore In brighter glories your paternal seats."
This said, the isle he leaves, selecting none But Cimon for associate. In the bark Him Aristides placidly bespake:
"Son of Miltiades the great in arms, Thy early youth was dissolute; thy look Ingenuous still, and frank thy tongue, reveal'd Internal virtue; friendship on my part Succeeded, thence a study to reclaim Thy human frailties. I rejoice in hope, Thou wilt hereafter prove an Attic star, In council wise, triumphant in the field, Humane to strangers, to thy country just, Friend to her laws, to all her Muses kind, Who may record thy actions." Cimon here: "If I have virtues, they proceed from thee; If I attain to glory, I shall owe
To thee my lustre. To deserve thy praise, What have I yet accomplish'd? I have fought At Salamis, what more performing there Than each Athenian?" Aristides then: "True, all were brave; my judgment doth not On one exploit; thy modesty o'erlooks The signs of worth and talents, whence my hopes Have rank'd thee first of Grecians. To acquire, To keep that station, Cimon, be thy choice; Thou hast the means; but this impression hold, Who would excel, must be a moral man."
Thus they exhaust their voyage of a day, When at Trozenè they arrive, and find Renown'd Cleander training for the field His native bands. To Sparta thence they sail. The Ephori assemble, when they hear Of Aristides, who an audience claims; He comes before them, and austerely thus: "Cecropia's race, exterminated twice, Demand of Sparta, whether sloth, or fear, Or Persian gold, her buckler hath unbrac'd. Mardonius proffer'd more than equal terms, Not friendship singly, but enlarg'd domain To Athens, who to eleutherian Jove,
To Greece was faithful, and the lib'ral gift Disdain'd. Your own ambassador pronounc'd Your phalanx ready; for its speedy march His head he pledg'd. Mardonius takes the field, He lays the Athenian territory waste; Where are the Spartans? Adding work to work
For their own sep'rate safety at their wall, Inglorious isthmian wall, while half the Greeks Become your foes, and Athens is betray'd."
Pausanias present proudly thus replied: "Hast thou not heard, the Hyacinthian rites Employ the Spartans? shall the heads of Greece Be question'd, be directed when to act By you Athenians? your inferior state May wait our leisure." Aristides here: "Talk'st thou to me of Hyacinthian games, While rude barbarians riot in our fields, While Athens burns, while sacrilege invades Our temples, while our ancestors we see Torn from the grave? Pausanias, thou disgrace To thy forefather Hercules, whose arm, To friends a bulwark, was a scourge to foes, What hast thou said? But, guardian to the son Of that renown'd Leonidas, who fought Beyond the isthmus, and for Greece expir'd, If thou retain'st no rev'rence for his blood, If thou dost scorn Lycurgus and his laws, If holding liberty an empty name,
Art now in treaty with a lawless king,
No more of words. Athenians have their choice To treat with Xerxes, or to distant climes Expand the sail, resigning to their fate Unfaithful, timid Grecians, who have lost All claim to succour-Yet assume your swords! My love for Greece solicits you in tears. Be thou, Pausanias, general of all; We in that noble warfare will refuse No hardship-Ev'n thy arrogant command I like the meanest soldier will abide."
Then Aëmnestus brief: "O righteous man, I feel thy wrongs! Laconia's shame I feel, Which if delay still blackens, thou shalt lead Me, the due victim of Athenian wrath, Before those injur'd tribes, by me deceiv'd; Where my own sword shall sacrifice the blood I pledg'd for Sparta's faith. Meantime withdraw; I was thy guest in Athens, thou be mine." Not till the day-spring Aëmnestus greets His Attic friend: "Our citizens are march'd; All night my indefatigable toil
Hath urg'd the phalanx on; the various states Within the isthmus will obey our call; Now speed with me, o'ertake, inspect our host." They both depart with Cimon. Sparta's camp, Ere Phoebus couches, Aristides gains; The marshall'd pupils of Lycurgus there He, ever true to equity, applauds, Who their disgraceful sloth in council blam'd. Subordination, silent order held
Each in his place; in look, as virgins, meek, Sedate they listen'd to their chiefs, as youth To learning's voice in academic schools. Thus in some fertile garden well-manur'd, The regularity of plants and trees Enrich'd with produce, on a stable root Stands permanent, by skilful care dispos'd At first, and sedulously watch'd. No vaunt Offends the ear, nor supercilious frown Of confidence the eye. Th' Athenian chief Content returns; on Salamis receiv'd, Cecropia's bands he marshals for the field. The ravage still of Attica detain'd Mardonius. Thorax of Larissa quits His isthmian station; rapid in his course To Gobryas' son these tidings he imparts: "The isle of Pelops musters all her pow'rs;
The isthmus swarms; forsake this rocky land For cavalry unfit; collect thy force To face the Grecians on Cadmëan plains."
"Her sleepy sword at last has Sparta rous'd?" Replies Mardonius. "On Cadmean plains The Persian trump shall sound; Citharon's hill, Asopian banks, shall soon repeat the notes Triumphal." Swift he rushes back to Thebes, Ere Phoebus darted his solstitial beat.
As some hot courser, who from pasture led Replete with food and courage, spurns the ground In confidence and pride, no sooner meets His wonted rider, than admits the rein; Such was Mardonius, when from Theban gates Masistius thus address'd him: "Be inform'd, That Macedonia's sov'reign is arriv'd, With his fair consort. Her to Delphi's walls I guarded, there deliver'd to her lord, Who hath conducted fifty thousand Greeks In arms, auxiliar to thy camp. The queen, Now at a fabric old, to Dircè built, Close by her fountain, and beset with shade, Dwells in retreat, which careful thou avoid. But tell me, son of Gobryas, whither flown Was all my magnanimity, when flames A second time laid stately Athens low? Though disappointed, couldst thou deem a crime Her constancy, refusing to betray
A common cause? Mardonius, thou dost hope To conquer; why a city of renown,
From vine-attir'd Methenè, from the isles, Calauria, Neptune's seat, and Sphæria dear To Pallas, daughter of almighty Jove, Two thousand warriors sends. Cleander pass'd The isthmus first; who manly, from the bed Of Ariphilia rising, vow'd to deck
Her future cradle with a victor's wreath
Of laurel new. Her beauteous image grac'd His four-fold buckler. Twice eight hundred youths From Esculapian Epidaurus march'd,
From mount Cynortius, and the sacred hill, Tittheon, where the mother of that god Medicinal in secret left her fruit Of stolen enjoyment in Apollo's arms; Where in serenity of smiles was found The sweet Phobean child, while lambent flames Play'd round his temples. Clitophon the chief, A serpent green, the symbol of his god, Bore on his silver shield. Four hundred left Leprëum, clear Arenè, and th' impure Anigrian waters, where the centaur, fell Polenor, wounded by Herculean shafts, Dipp'd in the blood of Hydra, purg'd his limbs From putrid gore, envenoming the stream; Their leader Conon. Of Mycena old,
Of Tiryns, built by fam'd Cyclopian toil, Eight hundred shields Polydamus commands. Two thousand gallant youths, with standards bless'd At Hebe's altar, tutelary pow'r
Of Phlius, bold Menander led to war.
Which in her beauty would have grac'd our sway, Himself was young; the blooming goddess shone
Hast thou reduc'd to ashes? Oh! reflect, What fires of stern resistance and revenge This act hath lighted in such gallant hearts. That pow'r eternal, by the hallow'd name Of Horomazes worshipp'd in our clime, Who earth, and seas, and. "mament controls, With all therein, looks dowi. not less on Greece, Than Persia, both his creatures. Just and wise, Intemp'rate deeds in either he resents."
Mardonius answer'd: "By that pow'r I swear, Thou to a Grecian almost art transform'd By intercourse with yon religious hill Of thy admir'd Melissa. Do I blame? Ah! no; too awful art thou to incur My censure. O Masistius, I confess Thy genius purer, more sublime, than mine; I often err, thou never-But, dear friend, I am dejected ever when thou chid'st; Yet thee, my chiding monitor, should fate Snatch from Mardonius, he would rise no more." "I only seek to warn thee, not deject," Rejoins Masistius; "turn to other cares; Greece is in arms; address thee to thy charge." This said, to council they in Thebes proceed.
THE Heliconian records now unfold: Calliope! harmonious thence recite
The names and numbers of the various Greeks, Who in array on fair Boeotian plains,
With gleams of armour streak the twinkling wave Of clear Asopus. Træezen, known to fame, Where Pittheus dwelt, whose blood to Athens gave The hero Theseus, Trozen from her walls In circuit small, from Hylycus her stream, From her Scyllæan promontory high,
Bright on his buckler. Under Lycus brave Hermione, fair city, had enroll'd
Six hundred spears. The impress on his shield Was strong Alcides, dragging from the gates Of Dis their latrant guardian triple-mouth'd Through an abyss in Hermionean land, The fabled wonder of the district shown. Three thousand sail'd from Cephalenia's isle, From Acarnanian, and Epirot shores, With various chieftains. Of Arcadian breed Orchomenus twelve hundred, Tegea sent Three thousand. Chileus, prime in Tegea's camp, Was skill'd in arms, and vaunted high the name, The rank, and prowess of his native state. Ten thousand helms from wealthy Corinth's walls Blaze o'er the champaign; these Alcmæon leads With Adimantus. Neighb'ring Sicyon arm'd Six thousand more; amidst whose splendid files Automedon commanded. Lo! in air A mighty banner! from the hollows green, The wood-crown'd hills in Lacedæmon's rule, Taijgetus, and Menelaian ridge, From Crocean quarries, from Gythëum's port, Therapnè, sweet Amycle on the banks Of fam'd Eurotas, from a hundred towns, A glitt'ring myriad of Laconians show Their just arrangement. Aemnestus there Lifts his tall spear, and rises o'er the ranks In arduous plumes and stature. So his strength And stately foliage of a full-grown oak O'erlooks the undershades, his knotted arms Above their tops extending. Mightier still Callicrates appears, in martial deeds Surpassing ev'ry Grecian. He his fate Foresees not; he, capricious fortune's mark, Must fall untimely, and his gen'rous blood Unprofitably shed. A firmer band Succeeds. Huge Sparta, who for ever scorn'd Defensive walls and battlements, supplied
Five thousand citizens close-mail'd; a train Of sev'n bold Helots exercis'd in arms, Attend each warrior; there Pausanias tow'r'd. In pride the son of Atreus he surpass'd Without his virtues, a superior host Commanding. Never Greece such heroes sent, Nor such a pow'r in multitude to war; For landed recent on the neighb'ring shore Th' Athenian phalanx opens broad in sight Their eleutherian banner. They advance Eight thousand men at arms; an equal force In archers, slingers, missile-weapon'd sons Of terrour follow. Round her naval flag Already four bold myriads from her loins Had Attica enroll'd. What chiefs preside! Themistocles, Xanthippus in remote, But glorious action; Aristides here, Myronides and Cimon, Clinias sire Of Alcibiades, the warrior bard,
Young Pericles, and more than time hath seen Since or before, in arts and arms renown'd. The ancient foe of Athens, yet averse Like her to Xerxes, Megara, enroll'd Six thousand warriors. From Ægina sail'd A thousand. Twice six hundred, phenix-like, Sprung from the ashes of Platæa burnt, With Arimnestus march'd, th' intrepid friend Of him, whose deeds Thermopylæ resounds, Diomedon. From Thespia, who had shar'd Platea's doom, two thousand came unarm'd, Unclad, a want by Attic stores supplied. Alcimedon was chief, of kindred blood To Dithyrambus; whom, his early bloom For Greece devoting, on Melissa's hill The Muses sing and weep. Between the roots Of tall Citharon, and the Asopian floods, The army rang'd. The Spartans on the right One wing compos'd; the men of Tegea claim'd The left in pref'rence to th' Athenian host. Contention rose; Pausanias sat the judge, Callicrates and Aemnestus wise,
His two assessors; thick Laconian ranks A circle form; when Chileus thus asserts
The claim of Tegea: "Spartans, from the time, The early time, that Echemus, our king, In single combat on the Is'ed field O'erthrew the invader Hyllus, and preserv'd Unspoil'd the land of Pelops, we obtain'd From all her sons unanimous this post, Whene'er, united in a common cause,
They march'd to battle. Not with you we strive, Ye men of Sparta, at your choice command In either wing; the other we reclaim From Athens; brave and prosp'rous we have join'd Our banners oft with yours; our deeds you know; To ours superior what can Athens plead Of recent date, or ancient? for what cause Should we our just prerogative resign?"
Then Aristides spake: "Collected here Are half the Grecians to contend in arms With barbarous invaders, not in words Each with the other for precedence vain. From his own volume let the tongue of Time, Not mine, proclain my countrymen's exploits In early ages. In his course he views The varying face of Nature, sea to land, Land turn'd to sea, proud cities sink in dust, The low exalted, men and manners change, From fathers brave degen'rate sons proceed, And virtuous children from ignoble sires.
What we are now, you, Grecians, must decide At this important casis. Judges, fix On Marathon your thoughts, that recent stage Of preservation to the public weal, Where fifty nations, arm'd to conquer Greece, We unassisted foil'd; more fresh, the day Of Salamis recall. Enough of words; No more contention for the name of rank; The bravest stand the foremost in the sight Of gods and mortals. As to you is meet, Determine, Spartans; at your will arrange Th' Athenians; they acknowledge you the chiefs Of this great league, for gen'ral safety fram'd, Wherever plac'd, obedient they will fight."
The sense of all his countrymen he breath'd, Who for the public welfare in this hour Their all relinquish, and their very pride A victim yield to virtue. From his seat, Inspir'd by justice, Aemnestus rose:
"Brave as they are, our friends of Tegea seem To have forgot the Marathonian field, The Salaminian trophies; else this strife Had ne'er alarm'd the congregated host
Of states so various and remote. As brief Callicrates subjoins : "Not less our friends Of Tegea seem forgetful, that their claim Within the isthmus is confin'd, the gift Of part, not binding universal Greece." Athenian moderation had before Won ev'ry Spartan; loud they sound the name Of Athens, Athens, whose pretension just The general confirms, restoring peace. So in a chorus full the manly bass Directs the pow'r of harmony to float On equal pinions, and attune the air.
Now Sparta's wide encampment on the right Was form'd; sedate and silent was the toil, As is the concourse of industrious ants, In mute attention to their public cares. Extending thence, successive states erect Their standards. On the left their num'rous tents Th' Athenians pitch. In labour not unlike The buzzing tenants of sonorous hives, Loquacious they and lively cheer the field, Yet regularly heed each signal giv'n By staid commanders. Underneath a fringe Of wood, projecting from Citharan's side, Ascends the chief pavilion. Seated there Is Aristides at a frugal board,
An aged menial his attendant sole; But from the tribes selected, round him watch An hundred youths, whose captain is the son Of fam'd Miltiades. The neighb'ring bed Of pure Asopus, from Citharon's founts, Refreshment inexhaustible contain'd. His arms th' Athenian patriot in his tent Was now exploring, when he hears the step Of Aemnestus ent'ring, who began: [Greece, "Most wise of men and righteous, whom all Not Athens singly, as her glory claims, Grant me an hour. Laconian laws, thou know'st, Subordination to excess enjoin.
I am obedient to the man, who holds Supreme command by office, rank, and birth, While thee my heart confesses and admits My sole adviser. Haughty and morose, O'er uncommunicated thoughts will brood Our dark Pausanias; I may often want Thy counsel; now instruct me. Is it meet, We cross th' Asopus to assail the foe,
Or wait his coming?"-" Let him come," replies "let bold invaders court The Attic sage; A battle, not th' invaded, who must watch Occasion's favour. Present in thy mind Retain, that Greece is center'd in this host, Which if we hazard lightly were a crime, The offended gods with fetters would chastise: Our Attic flame to sudden ouset points, By me discourag'd." Aemnestus then:
"Know, that with me Callicrates unites; Farewell; thy wisdom shall direct us both." The Sun was set; th' unnumber'd eyes of Heav'n Thin clouds envelop'd; dusky was the veil Of night, not sable; placid was the air; The low-ton'd current of Asopus held No other motion than his native flow, Alluring Aristides in a walk Contemplative to pace the stable verge Attir'd in moss. The hostile camp he views, Which by Masistian vigilance and art With walls of wood and turrets was secur'd. For this the groves of Jupiter supreme On Hypatus were spoil'd, Teumessian brows, Mesabius, Parnes, were uncover'd all. Square was th' enclosure, ev'ry face emblaz'd With order'd lights. Each elevated tent Of princely satraps, and, surmounting all, Mardonius, thine, from coronets of lamps Shot lustre, soft'ning on the distant edge Of wide Platæan fields. A din confus'd Proclaim'd barbarians; silent was the camp Of Greece. These thoughts the spectacle excites thy bound, In Aristides: "Slender
Asopus, long to separate such hosts, Or keep thy silver wave from blood unstain'd. Lord of Olympus! didst thou want the pow'r, Or, boundless pow'r possessing, want the will Thy own created system to secure
From such destruction? Wherefore on this plain Is Europe thus, and adverse Asia met For human carnage? Natural this search, Let me shun Yet but a waste of reason. Unprofitable wand'rings o'er the land Obscure of trackless mystery; to see The path of virtue open is enough. Whate'er the cause of evil, he, who knows Himself not partner in that cause, attains Enough of knowledge; all the rest is dream Of falsely-styl'd philosophy. My task Is to destroy the enemies of Greece; Be active there, my faculties, and lose Nor time, nor thought." Revisiting his tent, Sicinus call'd apart he thus instructs:
"Return, discreet and faithful, to the son Of Neocles; thy own observing eye Will prompt thy tongue; this notice sole I send. We will not hurry to a gen'ral fight. Bless in my name Timothea; bless her sons, Her daughters; nor, good man, o'erlook my own." Six monthly periods of the solar course Were now complete intense the summer glow'd. The patient Greeks for eight successive days Endure the insults of barbarian horse Behind their lines; when eager to his friend The Persian gen'ral; "Best belov'd of men, Impart thy counsel. Lo! this vaunted race Lurk in their trenches, and avoid the plain.”
To him Masistius: "I have mark'd a post Accessible and feeble in their line. To me thy choicest cavalry commit,
I at the hazard of my life will gail, Perhaps may force that quarter."-" Ah! my Mardonius answer'd, "shall thy precious life
Be hazarded? let others take the charge, Briareus, Midias, Tiridates brave,
Or Mindarus; a thousand leaders bold This host affords. Masistius, in the gloom Of midnight from my pillow I discern'd Thy gracious figure on a steed of fire; Who bore thee up to Heav'n, where sudden folds Of radiant vapour wrapp'd thee from my view. At once throughout th' innumerable tents Their hue was chang'd to black; Boeotia's hills And caves with ejulation from the camp Rebellow'd round; the camels, horses, mules, Dissolv'd in tears. Let Mithra's angry beam Pierce this right arm, annihilate my strength, And melt my courage! I will rest content To purchase thus the safety of my friend."
Masistius answer'd: "Son of Gobryas, learn, That he, who makes familiar to his mind The certainty of death, and nobly dares In virtue's clear pursuit, may look serene On boding dreams, and auguries averse. No sign, but honour, he requires; he wants No monitor, but duty. An attempt, My observation hath maturely weigh'd, Belongs to me; to others less inform'd
I will not leave the danger." Quick replies Disturb'd Mardonius, while at friendship's warmt Ambition melts, and honour fills his breast:
"O! worthier far than frail Mardonius, take O'er all the host of Xerxes chief command; Me from temptation, him from danger guard." Again Masistius: "Son of Gobryas, peace; My ear is wounded. Ever dost thou sink Below the level of thy worth with me, With others soar'st too high. What means the word Temptation? what this danger to the king?
O satrap! lifted by his grace so high,
Thou hast o'erwhelm'd Masistius. May the God Of truth and justice strengthen in thy soul The light ingenuous, which so much reveals; That sense of duty may suppress a thought, I dare not clothe in language. Still in mind The parting words of Artemisia bear, Which in its blameless moments oft thy tongue Repeats with admiration. Look,' she said, Look only, where no mystery can lurk, On ev'ry manly duty. Nothing dark O'ershades the track of Virtue; plain her path ; But Superstition, chosen for a guide, Misleads the best and wisest." "Let me add, Worse is the guide Ambition, which misleads To more than errour, to atrocious acts." "I shall despair, Masistius. if thou fall'st," "Must Masistius then Rejoins Mardonius. Consort with women, shut from noble deeds?" "Can thy hand, Subjoins the virtuous Persian. Thy friendly hand, now rivetted in mine, Of my degree, and dignity of birth Deprive me, or obliterate the name With all its lustre, which my fathers left Me to uphold? Or wouldst thou, if impow'r'd, Taint my firm spirit with an eunuch's fear, Among their feeble train my rank confine, My strength unnerve, my fortitude debase? While these subsist with titles, wealth, and state, While, as I pass, the crowding myriads shout,
Here comes Masistius!' what is less requir'd
From him, than deeds to manifest a soul, Which merits such distinction? We again This day will meet, Mardonius-but as none Of human texture can the flight foresee Of that inevitable dart, which soon Or late will strike, I leave these words behind. If, blinded still by superstition's cloud, Thou wilt believe me in this hour the mark Of fate, retain them, as my dying words: Ambition curb; let virtue be thy pride."
They separated sad; Mardonins still Foreboding evil to his noble friend, He at the frailty of Mardonius griev'd.
Masistius, soon collecting round his tent The prime of Persian cavalry, bespake Their captains thus: "Your steeds and arms pre- pare; [shafts; String well your bows, your quivers store with With num'rous javelins each his courser load. I am this day your gen'ral; I rely On your known prowess; and I trust, the hand Of Horomazes will conduct you back Victorious; but remember, that the brave In life, or death, accomplishing their part, Are happy." All, rejoicing in a chief Belov'd, his orders sedulous fulfil.
In arms, more splendid than for Peleus' son Th' immortal artist forg'd, Masistius cas'd His limbs of beauteous frame, and manly grace, To match that hero, whom Scamander saw With Dardan blood imbru'd. In hue of snow His horse, of all Nisæa's breed the choice, Caparison'd in rubies, champs the gold, Which rules his mouth; his animated mane Floats o'er the bridle, form'd of golden braid. His page was nigh, that youth of eastern race, Whom for his merit pure Melissa gave To this benignant satrap. To ascend His gorgeous seat preparing, thus the chief: "If I return a conqueror this day,
To that excelling dame who made thee mine, Who hath enlarg'd whate'er of wise and great, Of just and temp'rate I to nature owe, Refin'd my manners, and my purest thoughts Exalted, I my friendship will prolong
In gratitude and rev'rence; blessing Heav'n, Which thus prefers Masistius to extend Benevolence to virtue. If I fall,
Resume with her the happiest lot my care Can recommend, Statirus. Though no Greek, Her pupil, say, in offices humane
Hath not been tardy; by her light inspir'd, He went more perfect to a noble grave."
WHILE thus Masistius for the field prepar'd, At sacrifice amidst the diff'rent chiefs Pausanias stood, the entrails to consult For Heav'n's direction. Like a god rever'd Among the Spartans, was an augur fam'd, Tisamenus. The Pythian had declar'd Him first of prophets; he the rites performs; The victim open'd he inspects, and thus In solemn tone: "Hear, Grecians, and obey The will of Jove. To pass th' Asopian flood Forbear. With Persian fetters in her hand Ill Fortune seated on that bank I see, On this the laurel'd figure of Success."
The augur ceas'd; when suddenly in view Th' Asopian current, overswelling, foams With eastern squadrons, wading through the fords. Bounds in the van Masistius on a steed, Whose glist'ning hue the brightest of the four Which drew th' irradiate axle of the morn Might scarce outshine. Erect the hero sat, Firm as the son of Danaë by Jove, When his strong pinion'd Pegasus he wheel'd Through Ethiopian air from death to guard Andromeda his love. In rapid haste
A herald greets Pausanias: "From the men Of Megara I come. A post advanc'd, The most obnoxious in the Grecian line To harassing assaults, their daily toil With unabating firmness long has held. Unwonted numbers of barbarian horse Now sweep the field; a reinforcement send, Her standard else will Megara withdraw."
Pausanias then, alike to try the Greeks, And save his Spartans, answer'd: "Chiefs, you hear; Who will be foremost to sustain our friends?"
Through fear the dang'rous service is declin'd By many. Indignation to behold
No Spartans offer'd, but the arduous task Impos'd on others, held Cleander mute; When Aristides: "Herald, swift return, Athenian aid might else prevent thy speed."
The patriot spake, and left the Greeks amaz'd, Well knowing Athens with abhorrence look'd On Megara, her envious, ranc'rous foe Of ancient date, whom now she flies to aid.
Meantime that feeblest station of the camp Th' impetuous Asian cavalry surround. As clouds, impregnated with hail, discharge Their stormy burden on a champaign rich In ripen'd grain, and lay the crackling rows Of Ceres prostrate; under sheets of darts, With arrows barb'd and javelins, thus whole ranks Of Megara, by wounds or death o'erthrown, Gasp on the ground. Alcathöus expires, The blood of Nisus, Megarensian prince In times remote, and fabled to have held His fate dependent on a purple hair Amidst his hoary locks. That vital thread His impious daughter sever'd, blind with love For Minos, Cretan king, her father's foe. Masistius pierc'd him; javelins from his arm Incessant flew; on heaps of nameless dead He laid Evenus, Lysicles, the youth Of Cyparissus, and Cratander's age, Distinguish'd each by office, wealth, or birth, Or martial actions. Beasts of chase and prey, The wolf and boar, the lion and the stag, Within close toils imprison'd, thus become The hunter's mark. The signal of retreat Is now uplifted by the hopeless chiefs; When, as a friendly gale with stiff'ning wings Repels a vessel, driving by the force Of boist'rous currents in a fatal track To bulge on rocks, a voluntary band Of men at arms, and bowmen, Attic all, Restrain the flight of Megara. Expert Their shafts they level at the Persian steeds, Not at the riders. Soon around the plain Th' ungovern'd animals disperse, enrag'd By galling wounds. Olympiodorus, chief Among the light auxiliars, on the lists Of Pisa just Hellanodics had crown'd, The first of Greeks in archery. He stands
« PreviousContinue » |