Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/321

A feast for dogs and all the fowls of air.
On my command if any Lycian wait,
Hence let him march, and give up Troy to fate.
Did such a spirit as the gods impart
Impel one Trojan hand, or Trojan heart,
Such as should burn in every soul that draws
The sword for glory, and his country's cause,
E'en yet our mutual arms we might employ,
And drag yon carcass to the walls of Troy.
Oh! were Patroclus ours, we might obtain
Sarpedon's arms, and honoured corse, again!
Greece with Achilles' friend should be repaid,
And thus due honours purchased to his shade.
But words are vain. Let Ajax once appear,
And Hector trembles and recedes with fear;
Thou dar'st not meet the terrors of his eye;
And, lo! already thou prepar'st to fly."
⁠The Trojan chief with fierce resentment eyed
The Lycian leader, and sedate replied:
⁠"Say, is it just, my friend, that Hector's ear
From such a warrior such a speech should hear?
I deemed thee once the wisest of thy kind,
But ill this insult suits a prudent mind.
I shun great Ajax? I desert my train?
'Tis mine to prove the rash assertion vain;
I joy to mingle where the battle bleeds,
And hear the thunder of the sounding steeds.
But Jove's high will is ever uncontrolled,
The strong he withers, and confounds the bold:
Now crowns with fame the mighty man, and now
Strikes the fresh garland from the victor's brow.
Come, through yon squadrons let us hew the way,
And thou be witness if I fear to-day;
If yet a Greek the sight of Hector dread,
Or yet their hero dare defend the dead."
⁠Then, turning to the martial hosts, he cries,
"Ye Trojans, Dardans, Lycians, and allies!
Be men, my friends, in action as in name,
And yet be mindful of your ancient fame;
Hector in proud Achilles' arms shall shine,
Torn from his friend, by right of conquest mine."
⁠He strode along the field as thus he said;
The sable plumage nodded o'er his head:
Swift through the spacious plain he sent a look;
One instant saw, one instant overtook
The distant band, that on the sandy shore
The radiant spoils to sacred Ilion bore.
There his own mail unbraced the field bestrewed;

His train to Troy conveyed the massy load.