Fair liberty purfued, and meant a prey
To lawlels power, here turn'd, and stood at bay. When in that remedy all hope was plac'd, Which was, or fhould have been at least, the last. Here was that charter feal'd, wherein the crown All marks of arbitrary power lays down: Tyrant and flave, thofe names of hate in 1 fear, The happier ftile of king and fubject bear: Happy, when both to the fame center mo72, When kings give liberty, and subjects love. Therefore not long in force this charter stood; Wanting that feal, it must be feal'd in blood. The fubjects arm'd, the more their princes gave, Th' advantage only took, the more to crave: Till kings, by giving give themfelves away, And even that power, that fhould deny, betray, Who gives conftrain'd but his own fear reviles, "Not thank'd, but fcorn'd; nor are they gifts, but fpoils."
Thus kings, by grafping more than they could hold,
First made their fubjects, by oppreffion, bold: And popular fway, by forcing kings to give More than was fit for fubjects to receive, Ran to the fame extremes; and one excefs Made both, by ftriving to be greater, lefs. When a calm river, rais'd with fudden rains, Or nows diffolv'd, o'er flows th' adjoining plains, The hufbandmen with high-rais'd banks fecure Their greedy hopes; and this he can endure. But if with bays and dams they ftrive to force His channel to a new, or narrow courfe; No longer then within his banks he dwells, First to a torrent, then a deluge fwells, Stronger and fiercer by reftraint he roars, And knows no bound, but makes his power his
And all thofe forrows to my fenfe reflore, Whereof none faw fo much, none fuffer'd more: Not the most cruel of our conquering foes So unconcern'dly can relate our woes As not to lend a tear; then how can I Reprefs the horror of my thoughts, which fly The fad remembrance? Now th' expiring night And the declining fars to reft invite; Yet fince 'cis your command, what you fo well Are pleas'd to hear, I cannot grieve to tell. By fate repell'd and with repulfes tir'd, The Greeks, fo many lives and years expir'd, A fabric like a moving mountain frame, Pretending vows for their return; this fame Divulges, then within the heart's valt womb The choice and flower of all their troops entomb; In view the ifle of Tenedos, once high, In fame and wealth, while Troy remain'd, deth lie, (Now but an unfecure and open bay) Thither by fealth the Greeks their fleet convey. We gave them gone, and to Mycena fail'd, And Troy reviv'd, her mourning face unvaii'd; All through th' unguarded gates with joy refort To fee the flighted camp, the vacant port. Here lay Ulyffes, there Achilles; here The battle join'd, the Grecian fleet rode there; But the valt pile th' amazed vulgar views, Till they their reafon in their wonder lofe. And firit Thymates moves (urg'd by the power Of fate or fraud) to place it in the tower; But Capys and the graver fort thought fit The Greeks fufpected prefent to commit To feas or flames, at leaft to fearch and bore The fides, and what that fpace contains t' explore. Th' uncertain multitude with both engag'd, Divided ftands, till from the tower, enrag'd Laccoon ran, whom all the crowd attends, Crying, what defperate frenzy's this, (oh friends) To think them gone? Judge rather their retreat But a defign, their gifts but a deceit; For our deftruction 'twas contriv'd, no doubt, Or from within by fraud, or from without By force; yet know ye not Ulyffes' fhifts? Their fwords lefs danger carry than their gifts. (This faid) against the horse's fide his fpear He throws, which trembles with inclosed fear, Whilft from the hollows of his womb proceed Groans not his own; and had not fate decreed Our ruin, we had fill'd with Grecian blood The place; then Troy and Priam's throne had
Meanwhile a fetter'd prifoner to the king With joyful fhouts the Dardan fhepherds bring, Who to betray us did himself betray,
At once the taker, and at once the prey; Firmly prepar'd, of one event fecur'd, Or of his death or his defign affur'd. The Trojan youth about the captive flock, To wonder, or to pity, or to mock. Now hear the Grecian fraud, and from this one Conjecture all the reft.
Difarm'd, diforder'd, casting round his eyes On all the troops that guarded him, he cries, What land, what fea, for me what fate attends? Caught by my foes, condemned by my friends,
Incensed Troy a wretched captive fecks To facrifice; a fugitive, the Greeks. To pity this complaint our former rage Converts, we now enquire his parentage, What of their counfels or affairs he knew: Then fearless he replies, great king, to you All truth I fhall relate: nor firft can I Myfelf to be of Grecian birth deny; And though my outward ftate misfortune hath Depreft thus low, it cannot reach my faith. You may by chance have heard the famous name Of Palamede, who from old Belus came, Whom, but for voting peace, the Greeks pursue, Accus'd unjustly, then unjustly flew, Yet mourn'd his death. My father was his friend, And me to his commands did recommend, While laws and councils did his throne fupport, I but a youth, yet some efteen and port We then did bear, till by Ulyffes' craft (Things known I fpeak) he was of life bereft : Since in dark forrow I my days did fpend, Till now, difdaining his unworthy end, I could not filence my complaints, but vow'd Revenge, if ever fate or chance allow'd
My wifh'd return to Greece; from hence his hate, From thence my crimes, and all my ills bear date: Old guilt fresh malice gives; the people's ears He fills with rumours, and their hearts with fears, And then the prophet to his party drew. But why do I thefe thankless truths pursue; Or why defer your rage? on me, for all 'The Greeks, let your revenging fury fall. Ulyffes this, th' Atride this defire
At any rate. We ftrait are fet on fire (Unpractis'd in fuch mysteries) to enquire The manner and the caufe, which thus he told, With geftures humble, as his tale was bold. Oft have the Greeks (the fiege detesting) tir'd With tedious war, a stolen retreat defir'd, And would to heaven they'd gone: but still dif- may'd
By feas or fkies, unwillingly they stay'd. Chiefly when this ftupendous pile was rais'd, Strange noifes fill'd the air; we, all amaz'd, Difpatch Eurypylus t' enquire out fates, Who thus the fentence of the gods relates; A virgin's flaughter did the ftorm appease,
The means to my escape, my bonds I brake, Fled from my guards, and in a muddy lake Amongst the fedges all the night lay hid, Till they their fails had hoist (if so they did). And now, alas! no hope remains for me My home, my father, and my fons to fee, Whom they, enrag'd, will kill for my offence, And punish, for my guilt, their innocence. Thofe gods who know the truths I now relate, That faith which yet remains inviolate By mortal men; by these I beg, redress My causeless wrongs, and pity fuch distress: And now true pity in exchange he finds For his falfe tears, his tongue his hands unbinds. Then spake the king, Be ours, whoe'er thou art; Forget the Greeks. But first the truth impart, Why did they raise, or to what use intend This pile? to a war-like, or religious end? Skilful in fraud (his native art), his hands Toward heaven he rais'd, deliver'd now from bands.
Ye pure æthereal flames, ye powers ador'd By mortal men, ye altars, and the sword I fcap'd; ye facred fillets that involv'd My deftin'd head, grant I may stand abfolv'd From all their laws and rights, renounce all name Of faith or love, their fecret thoughts proclaim; Only, O Troy, preferve thy faith to me, If what I fhall relate preferveth thee. From Pallas' favour, all our hopes, and all Counfels and actions took original, Till Diomed (for fuch attempts made fit By dire conjunction with Ulyffes' wit) Affails the facred tower, the guards they flay Defile with bloody hands, and thence convey The fatal image; ftraight with our fuccefs Our hopes fell back, whilft prodigies exprefs Her juft difdain, her flaming eyes did throw Flashes of lightning, from each part did flow A briny fweat, thrice brandifhing her fpear, Her ftatue from the ground itself did rear; Then, that we fhould our facrilege restore, And re-convey their gods from Argos' fhore, Calchas perfuades, till then we urge in vain The fate of Troy. To measure back the main They all confent, but to return again, When reinforc'd with aids of gods and men.
When first towards Troy the Grecians took the Thus Calchas; then, instead of that, this pile
Their fafe retreat another Grecian's blood Muft purchase. All at this confounded flood: Each thinks himfelf the man, the fear on all Of what, the mifchief but on one can fall. Then Calchas (by Ulyffes first infpir'd)
Was urg'd to name whom th' angry gods requir'd; Yet was I warn'd (for many were as well Infpir'd as he, and did my fate foretel) Ten days the prophet in fufpence remain'd, Would no man's fate pronounce; at last, constrain'd By Ithacus, he folemnly defign'd
Me for the facrifice; the people join'd In glad confent, and all their common fear Determine in my fate; the day drew near, The facred rites prepar'd, my temples crown'd With holy wreaths; then 1 confefs I found
To Pallas was defign'd; to reconcile Th' offended power, and expiate our guilt; To this vaft height and monftrous stature built, Left, through your gates receiv'd, it might renew Your vows to her, and her defence to you. But if this facred gift you disesteem, The cruel plagues (which heaven divert on them!) Shall fall on Priam's ftate: but if the horse Your walls afcend, affifted by your force, A league 'gainft Greece all Asia shall contract: Our fons then fuffering what their fires would ac
Thus by his fraud and our own faith o'ercoms, A feigned tear destroys us, again whom Tydides nor Achilles could prevail, Nor ten years conflict, nor a thousand fail. This feconded by a most fad portent, Which credit to the firft impofture lent;
Laocoon, Neptune's prieft, upon the day Devoted to that god, a bull did flay. When two prodigious ferpents were defcry'd, Whofe circling ftrokes the fea's fmooth face divide; Above the deep they raise their fcaly crefts, And ftem the flood with their erected breafts, Their winding tails advance, and fteer their courfe, And 'gainst the fhore the breaking billows force. Now landing, from their brandish'd tongues there
A dreadful hifs, and from their eyes a flame. Amaz'd we fly; directly in a line Laocoon they purfue, and firft entwine
Lach preying upon one) his tender fons; Then him, who armed to their rescue runs, They feiz'd, and with entangling folds embrac'd, His neck twice compaffing, and twice his waist : Their poisonous knots he ftrives to break and tear, While flime and blood his facred wreaths befmear; Then loudly roars, as when th' enraged bull From th' altar flies, and from his wounded fkull Shakes the huge ax; the conquering ferpents fly To cruel Pallas' altar, and there lie Under her feet, within her fhield's extent. We, in our fears, conclude this fate was sent July on him, who ftruck the facred oak With his accurfed lance. Then to invoke The goddess, and let in the fatal horse, We all confent.
A fpacious breach we make, and Troy's proud wall,
Built by the gods, by her own hands doth fall; Thus, all their help to their own ruin give, Some draw with cords, and fome the monster drive With rolls and levers: thus our works it climbs, Eg with our fate; the youth with fongs and rhimes,
Same dance, fome hale the rope; at laft let down It caters with a thundering noise the town.
Troy, the feat of gods, in war renown'd! Three times it ftruck, as oft the clashing found Of arms was heard, yet blinded by the power Of fate, we place it in the facred tower. Cafandra then foretels th' event, but she Flads no belief (fuch was the gods' decree.) The altars with fresh flowers we crown, and wafte In feats that day, which was (alas!) our laft. Now by the revolution of the skies, Night's fable fhadows from the ocean rise, Which heaven and earth, and the Greek frauds involv'd,
The city in fecure repose diffolv'd,
When from the admiral's high poop appears A light, by which the Argive fquadron steers Their filent courfe to Ilium's well-known fhore, When Sinon (fav'd by the gods' partial power) Opens the horse, and through the unlockt doors To the free air the armed freight reftores:
les, Stheneleus, Tifander, flide Down by a rope, Machaon was their guide; Atrides, Pyrrhus, Thoas, Athamas, And Epeus, who the fraud's contriver was: The gates they feize; the guards, with fleep and wine
Oppreft, furprize, and then their forces join.
By his infulting foc; O how transform'd, How much unlike that Hector, who return'd Clad in Achilles' fpoils; when he, among A thoufand fhips, (like Jove) his lightning flung! His horrid beard and knotted trefles flood Stiff with his gore, and all his wounds ran blood: Intranc'd lay, then (weeping) faid, the joy, The hope and ftay of thy declining Troy; What region held thee, whence, fo much defir'd, Art thou reitor'd to us confum'd and tir'd With toils and deaths; but what fad caufe con-
Thy once fair looks, or why appear thofe wounds? Regardless of my words, he no reply Returns, but with a dreadful groan doth cry, Fly from the flame, O goddess-born, cur walls The Greeks poffefs, and Troy confounded falls From all her glories; if it might have flood By any power, by this right hand it fhould. What man could do, by me for Troy was done, Take here her reliques and her gods, to run With them thy fate, with them new walls ex- pect,
Which, toft on feas, thou shalt at laft erect: Then brings old Vefta from her facred quire, Her holy wreaths and her eternal fire. Meanwhile the walls with doubtful cries refound From far (for fhady coverts did furround My father's houfe); approaching ftill more near The clafh of arms, and voice of men we hear : Rouz'd from my bed, I speedily afcend The houses tops, and liftening there attend. As flames roll'd by the winds 'confpiring force, O'er full-ear'd corn, or torrents raging courfe Bears down th' oppofing oaks, the fields deftroys, And mocks the plough-man's toil, th' unlook'd- for noife
From neighbouring hills th' amaz'd fhepherd hears; Such my furprize, and fuch their rage appears. First fell thy houfe, Ucalegon, then thine Deiphobus, Sigaan feas did fhine
Bright with Troy's flames; the trumpets dreadful found
The louder groans of dying men confound; Give me my arms, I cry'd, refolv'd to throw Myfelf 'mong any that oppos'd the foe. Rage, anger, and defpair at once fuggeft, That of all deaths, to die in arms was beft. The first I met was Pantheus, Phoebus' prieft, Who 'fcaping with his gods and reliques fled, And towards the fhore his little grandchild led; Pantheus, what hope remains? what force, what place
Made good? but fighing, he replies, Alas! Trojans we were, and mighty Ilium was; But the laft period, and the fatal hour
Of Troy is come: our glory and our power
Incenfed Jove transfers to Grecian hands; The foe within the burning town commands; And (like a mother'd fire) an unfeen force Breaks from the bowels of the fatal horfe : Infulting Sinon flings about the flame, And thoufands more than e'er from Argos came Poffefs the gates, the paffes, and the firects, And these the fword o'ertakes, and those it meets. The guard nor fights nor flies; their fate so near At once fufpends their courage and their fear. Thus by the gods, and by Atrides' words Infpir'd, I make my way through fire, through fwords.
Where noifes, tumults, outcries and alarms, I heard; first Iphitus, renown'd for arms, We meet, who knew us (fer the moon did fhine); Then Ripheus, Hypanis, and Dymas join Their force, and young Chorobus, Mygdon's fon, Who, by the love of fair Caffandra won, Arriv'd but lately in her father's aid; Unhappy whom the threats could not diffuade Of his prophetic fpoufe;
Whom when I faw, yet daring to maintain The fight, I faid, Brave fpirits (but in vain) Are you refolv'd to follow one who dares Tempt all extremes? the fate of our affairs You fee: the gods have left us, by whofe aid Oar empire ftocd; nor can the flame be ftaid: Then let us fall amidft our foes; this one Relief the vanquish'd have, to hope for none. Then reinforc'd, as in a ftormy night Wolves urged by their raging appetite Forage for prey, which their neglected young With greedy jaws expect, ev'n fo among Foes, fire, and fwords, t' affured death we pafs, Darkness our guide, defpair our leader was. Who can relate that evening's woes and spoils, Or can his tears proportion to our toils? The city, which fo long had flourish'd, falls; Death triumphs o'er the houses, temples, walls. Nor only on the Trojans fell this doom, Their hearts at last the vanquish'd re-affume; And now the victors fall: on all fides fears, Groans and pale death in all her shapes appears: An irogeus first with his whole troop was caft Upon us, with civility mifplac'd;
Thus grecting us, You lofe, by your delay, Your share, both of the honour and the prey; Others the fpoils of burning Troy convey Back to thofe fhips, which you but now forfake. We making no return; his fad mistake Too late he finds: as when an unfeen faake A traveller's unwary foot hath preft, Who trembling farts, when the fnake's azure creft Swoln with his riding anger, he efpies, Sa from our view furpriz'd Androgeus flies. But here an eafy victory we meet :
Feir binds their hands, and ignorance their feet. Whilft fortune our first enterprize did aid, Encourag'd with fuccefs, Chorcbus faid, O friends, we now by better fates are led, And in the fair path they lead us, let us tread. Fuft change your arms, and their diftinctions bear;
The fame, in foes, deceit and virtue are.
Then of his arms Androgens he divests, His fword, his fhield he takes and plumed cres, Then Ripheus, Dymas, and the reft, all glad Of the occafion, in freth fpoils are clad. Thus mixt with Greeks, as if their fortune ftill Follow'd their fwords, we fight, purfue, and kill. Some re-afcend the horse, and he whofe fides Let forth the valiant, now the coward hides. Some to their fafer guard, their ships retire: But vain's that hope, 'gainst which the gods con- fpire;
Behold the royal virgin, the divine Caffandra, from Minerva's fatal fhrine Dragg'd by the hair, cafting towards heaven, in vain,
Her eyes; for cords her tender hands did ftrain; Chorobus, at the spectacle enrag'd, Flies in amidst the foes; we thus engag'd, To fecond him, among the thickest ran; Here firft our ruin from our friends began, Who from the temple's battlements a shower Of darts and arrows on our heads did pour: They us for Creeks, and now the Greeks (who knew
Caffandra's refcue) us for Trojans flew. Then from all parts Ulyffes, Ajax then, And then th' Atrida, rally all their men; As winds that meet from feveral coafts, conteft, Their prifons being broke, the fouth and weft, And Eurus on his winged courfes born, Triumphing in their speed, the woods are torn, And chafing Nereus with his trident throws The billows from the bottom; then all those Who in the dark our fury did escape, Returning, know our borrow'd arms, and shape, And differing dialect. then their numbers fwell And grow upon us; first Chorcbus fell Before Minerva's altar, next did bleed Juft Ripheus, whom no Trojan did exceed In virtue, yet the gods his fate decreed. Then Hypanis and Dymas, wounded by Their friends; nor thee, Pantheus, thy piety, Nor confecrated mitre, from the fame
Ill fate could fave; my country's funeral flame And Troy's cold afhes I atteft, and call To witness for myfelf, that in their fall No foes, no death, nor danger, I declin'd, Did, and deferv'd no lefs, my fate to find. Now Iphitus with me, and Pelias Slowly retire; the one retarded was By feeble age, the other by a wound; To court the cry directs us, where we found Th' affault fo hot, as if 'twere only there, And all the reft fecure from focs or fear: The Grecks the gates approach'd, their targets
Over their heads, fome fcaling-ladders plac'd Against the walls, the reft the steps afcend, And with their fhields on their left arms defend Arrows and darts, and with their right hold fast The battlement; on them the Trojans caft Stones, rafters, pillars, beams; fuch arms as thefe Now hopeless, for their laft defence they seize. The gilded roofs, the marks of ancient state, They tumble down; and now against the gate
Of th' inner court their growing force they bring Now was our laft effort to fave the king, Relieve the fainting, and fucceed the dead. A private gallery 'twixt th' apartments led, Not to the foe yet known, or not obferv'd (The way for Hector's haplefs wife referv'd, When to the aged king, her little fon
She would prefent); through this we pafs, and run Up to the higheft battlement, from whence The Trojans threw their darts without offence, A tower fo high, it feem'd to reach the sky, Stood on the roof, from whence we could defcry All Ilium-both the camps, the Grecian fleet; This where the beams upon the columns meet, We loofen, which like thunder from the cloud Breaks on their heads, as fudden and as loud. But others ftill fucceed: meantime, nor ftones Nor any kind of weapons cease
| There stood an altar open to the view Of heaven, near which an aged laurel grew, Whofe fhady arms the household gods embrac'd; Before whofe fect the queen herself had caft With all her daughters, and the Trojan wives, As doves whom an approaching tempeft drives And frights into one flock; but having spy'd Old Priam clad in youthful arms, she cried, Alas, my wretched husband, what pretence To bear thofe arms, and in them what defence? Such aid fuch times require not, when again If Hector were alive, he liv'd in vain; Or here we shall a fanctuary find,
Before the gate in gilded armour fhone Young Pyrrhus, like a fnake, his fkin new grown, Who fed on poifonous herbs all winter lay Under the ground, and now reviews the day Fresh in his new apparel, proud and young, Rolls up his back, and brandishes his tongue, And lifts his fealy breast against the fun; With him his father's fquire, Automedon, And Periphas who drove his winged steeds, Enter the court; whom all the youth fucceeds Of Scyros' ifle, who flaming firebrands flung Up to the roof, Pyrrhus himself among The foremost with an axe an entrance hews Through beams of folid oak, then freely views The chambers, galleries, and rooms of ftate, Where Priam and the ancient monarchs fate. At the first gate an armed guard appears; But th' inner court with horror, noife, and tears, Confus'dly fill'd the women's fhricks and cries The arched vaults re-echo to the skies; Sad matrons wandering through the fpacious rooms Embrace and kifs the pofts: then Pyrrhus comes Full of his father, neither men nor walls His force fuftain, the torn port-cullis falls, Then from the hinge their ftrokes the gates divorce, And where the way they cannot find, they force. Not with fuch rage a fwelling torrent flows Above his banks, th' oppofing dams o'erthrows, Depopulates the fields, the cattle, fheep, Shepherds and folds, the foaming furges fweep. And now between two fad extremes I ftood, Here Pyrrhus and th' Atride drunk with blood, There th' hapless queen amongft an hundred
AndPriam quenching from his wounds thofeflames Which his own hands had on the altar laid; Then they the fecret cabinets invade, Where stood the fifty nuptial beds, the hopes Of that great race; the golden pofts, whofe tops Old hoftile fpoils adorn'd, demolish'd lay, Or to the foe, or to the fire a prey. Now Priam's fate perhaps you may enquire: Seeing his empire loft, his Troy on fire, And his own palace by the Greeks poffeft, Arms long difus'd his trembling limbs inveft; Thus on his foes he throws himself alone, Not for their fate, but to provoke his own: Vol. II.
Or as in life we fhall in death be join'd. Then weeping, with kind force held and embrac'd, And on the facred fea the king the plac'd. Meanwhile Polites, one of Priam's fons, Flying the rage of bloody Pyrrhus, runs Through foes and fwords, and ranges all the court And empty galleries, amaz'd and hurt; Pyrrhus purfues him, now o'ertakes, now kills, And his laft blood in Priam's prefence fpills. The king (though him fo many deaths inclofe) Nor fear, nor grief, but indignation shows; The gods requite thee (if within the care Of thofe above th' affairs of mortals are) Whofe fury on the fon but loft had been, Had not his parents' eyes his murder feen: Not that Achilles (whom thou feign'ft to be Thy father) fo inhuman was to me;
He blufht, when I the rights of arms implor'd, To me my Hector, me to Troy reftor'd: This faid, his feeble arm a javelin flung, Which on the founding thield, fcarce entering
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