Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/407

For such a warrior Thetis aids their woe,
Melts their strong hearts, and bids their eyes to flow;
But chief, Pelides; thick-succeeding sighs
Burst from his heart, and torrents from his eyes:
His slaughtering hands, yet red with blood, he laid
On his dead friend's cold breast, and thus he said:
⁠"All hail, Patroclus! let thy honoured ghost,
Hear and rejoice on Pluto's dreary coast;
Behold! Achilles' promise is complete;
The bloody Hector stretched before thy feet.
Lo! to the dogs his carcass I resign;.
And twelve sad victims of the Trojan line,
Sacred to vengeance, instant shall expire,
Their lives effused around thy funeral pyre."
⁠Gloomy he said, and, horrible to view,
Before the bier the bleeding Hector threw,
Prone on the dust. The Myrmidons around
Unbraced their armour, and the steeds unbound.
All to Achilles' sable ship repair,
Frequent and full, the genial feast to share.
Now from the well-fed swine black smokes aspire,
The bristly victims hissing o'er the fire;
The huge ox bellowing falls; with feebler cries
Expires the goat; the sheep In silence dies.
Around the hero's prostrate body flowed,
In one promiscuous stream, the reeking blood.
And now a band of Argive monarchs brings
The glorious victor to the king of kings.
From his dead friend the pensive warrior went,
With steps unwilling, to the regal tent.
The attending heralds, as by office bound,
With kindled flames the tripod-vase surround;
To cleanse his conquering hands from hostile gore,
They urged in vain; the chief refused, and swore:
⁠"No drop shall touch me, by almighty Jove!
The first and greatest of the gods above!
Till on the pyre I place thee; till I rear
The grassy mound, and clip thy sacred hair.
Some ease at least those pious rites may give,
And soothe my sorrows, while I bear to live.
Howe'er, reluctant as I am, I stay,
And share your feast; but, with the dawn of day,
O king of men! it claims thy royal care,
That Greece the warrior's funeral pile prepare,
And bid the forests fall; such rites are paid
To heroes slumbering in eternal shade.
Then, when his earthly part shall mount in fire,
Let the leagued squadrons to their posts retire."

⁠He spoke: they hear him, and the word obey;