William Cowper- Collected Poetical Works

by William Cowper

  In the addition of notes I have availed myself of the learning of various commentators (Pope, Coleridge, Müller, etc.) and covet no higher praise than the approval of my judgment in the selection.

  Those bearing the signature E.P.P., were furnished by my friend Miss Peabody, of Boston. I would also acknowledge my obligations to C.C. Felton, Eliot Professor of Greek in Harvard University. It should be observed, that the remarks upon the language of the poem refer to it in the original.

  For a definite treatment of the character of each deity introduced in the Iliad, and for the fable of the Judgment of Paris, which was the primary cause of the Trojan war, the reader is referred to “Grecian and Roman Mythology.”

  It is intended that this edition of the Iliad shall be followed by a similar one of the Odyssey, provided sufficient encouragement is given by the demand for the present volume.

  ARGUMENT OF THE FIRST BOOK.

  The book opens with an account of a pestilence that prevailed in the Grecian camp, and the cause of it is assigned. A council is called, in which fierce altercation takes place between Agamemnon and Achilles. The latter solemnly renounces the field. Agamemnon, by his heralds, demands Brisëis, and Achilles resigns her. He makes his complaint to Thetis, who undertakes to plead his cause with Jupiter. She pleads it, and prevails. The book concludes with an account of what passed in Heaven on that occasion.

  [The reader will please observe, that by Achaians, Argives, Danaï, are signified Grecians. Homer himself having found these various appellatives both graceful and convenient, it seemed unreasonable that a Translator of him should be denied the same advantage. — Tr.]

  BOOK I.

  Achilles sing, O Goddess! Peleus’ son;

  His wrath pernicious, who ten thousand woes

  Caused to Achaia’s host, sent many a soul

  Illustrious into Ades premature,

  And Heroes gave (so stood the will of Jove) 5

  To dogs and to all ravening fowls a prey,

  When fierce dispute had separated once

  The noble Chief Achilles from the son

  Of Atreus, Agamemnon, King of men.

  Who them to strife impell’d? What power divine? 10

  Latona’s son and Jove’s. For he, incensed

  004 Against the King, a foul contagion raised

  In all the host, and multitudes destroy’d,

  For that the son of Atreus had his priest

  Dishonored, Chryses. To the fleet he came 15

  Bearing rich ransom glorious to redeem

  His daughter, and his hands charged with the wreath

  And golden sceptre of the God shaft-arm’d.

  His supplication was at large to all

  The host of Greece, but most of all to two, 20

  The sons of Atreus, highest in command.

  Ye gallant Chiefs, and ye their gallant host,

  (So may the Gods who in Olympus dwell

  Give Priam’s treasures to you for a spoil

  And ye return in safety,) take my gifts 25

  And loose my child, in honor of the son

  Of Jove, Apollo, archer of the skies.

  At once the voice of all was to respect

  The priest, and to accept the bounteous price;

  But so it pleased not Atreus’ mighty son, 30

  Who with rude threatenings stern him thence dismiss’d.

  Beware, old man! that at these hollow barks

  I find thee not now lingering, or henceforth

  Returning, lest the garland of thy God

  005 And his bright sceptre should avail thee nought. 35

  I will not loose thy daughter, till old age

  Steal on her. From her native country far,

  In Argos, in my palace, she shall ply

  The loom, and shall be partner of my bed.

  Move me no more. Begone; hence while thou may’st. 40

  He spake, the old priest trembled and obey’d.

  Forlorn he roamed the ocean’s sounding shore,

  And, solitary, with much prayer his King

  Bright-hair’d Latona’s son, Phœbus, implored.

  God of the silver bow, who with thy power 45

  Encirclest Chrysa, and who reign’st supreme

  In Tenedos and Cilla the divine,

  Sminthian Apollo! If I e’er adorned

  Thy beauteous fane, or on the altar burn’d

  The fat acceptable of bulls or goats, 50

  Grant my petition. With thy shafts avenge

  On the Achaian host thy servant’s tears.

  Such prayer he made, and it was heard. The God,

  Down from Olympus with his radiant bow

  006 And his full quiver o’er his shoulder slung, 55

  Marched in his anger; shaken as he moved

  His rattling arrows told of his approach.

  Gloomy he came as night; sat from the ships

  Apart, and sent an arrow. Clang’d the cord

  Dread-sounding, bounding on the silver bow. 60

  Mules first and dogs he struck, but at themselves

  Dispatching soon his bitter arrows keen,

  Smote them. Death-piles on all sides always blazed.

  Nine days throughout the camp his arrows flew;

  The tenth, Achilles from all parts convened 65

  The host in council. Juno the white-armed

  Moved at the sight of Grecians all around

  Dying, imparted to his mind the thought.

  The full assembly, therefore, now convened,

  Uprose Achilles ardent, and began. 70

  007 Atrides! Now, it seems, no course remains

  For us, but that the seas roaming again,

  We hence return; at least if we survive;

  But haste, consult we quick some prophet here

  Or priest, or even interpreter of dreams, 75

  (For dreams are also of Jove,) that we may learn

  By what crime we have thus incensed Apollo,

  What broken vow, what hecatomb unpaid

  He charges on us, and if soothed with steam

  Of lambs or goats unblemish’d, he may yet 80

  Be won to spare us, and avert the plague.

  He spake and sat, when Thestor’s son arose

  Calchas, an augur foremost in his art,

  Who all things, present, past, and future knew,

  And whom his skill in prophecy, a gift 85

  Conferred by Phœbus on him, had advanced

  To be conductor of the fleet to Troy;

  He, prudent, them admonishing, replied.

  Jove-loved Achilles! Wouldst thou learn from me

  What cause hath moved Apollo to this wrath, 90

  The shaft-arm’d King? I shall divulge the cause.

  But thou, swear first and covenant on thy part

  That speaking, acting, thou wilt stand prepared

  To give me succor; for I judge amiss,

  Or he who rules the Argives, the supreme 95

  O’er all Achaia’s host, will be incensed.

  Wo to the man who shall provoke the King

  For if, to-day, he smother close his wrath,

  He harbors still the vengeance, and in time

  Performs it. Answer, therefore, wilt thou save me? 100

  To whom Achilles, swiftest of the swift.

  What thou hast learn’d in secret from the God

  That speak, and boldly. By the son of Jove,

  Apollo, whom thou, Calchas, seek’st in prayer

  008 Made for the Danaï, and who thy soul 105

  Fills with futurity, in all the host

  The Grecian lives not, who while I shall breathe,

  And see the light of day, shall in this camp

  Oppress thee; no, not even if thou name

  Him, Agamemnon, sovereign o’er us all. 110

  Then was the seer embolden’d, and he spake.

  Nor vow nor hecatomb unpaid on us

  He charges, but the wrong done to his priest

&n
bsp; Whom Agamemnon slighted when he sought

  His daughter’s freedom, and his gifts refused. 115

  He is the cause. Apollo for his sake

  Afflicts and will afflict us, neither end

  Nor intermission of his heavy scourge

  Granting, ‘till unredeem’d, no price required,

  The black-eyed maid be to her father sent, 120

  And a whole hecatomb in Chrysa bleed.

  Then, not before, the God may be appeased.

  He spake and sat; when Atreus’ son arose,

  The Hero Agamemnon, throned supreme.

  Tempests of black resentment overcharged 125

  His heart, and indignation fired his eyes.

  On Calchas lowering, him he first address’d.

  Prophet of mischief! from whose tongue no note

  Of grateful sound to me, was ever heard;

  Ill tidings are thy joy, and tidings glad 130

  Thou tell’st not, or thy words come not to pass.

  And now among the Danaï thy dreams

  Divulging, thou pretend’st the Archer-God

  For his priest’s sake, our enemy, because

  I scorn’d his offer’d ransom of the maid 135

  Chrysëis, more desirous far to bear

  Her to my home, for that she charms me more

  Than Clytemnestra, my own first espoused,

  With whom, in disposition, feature, form,

  Accomplishments, she may be well compared. 140

  Yet, being such, I will return her hence

  If that she go be best. Perish myself —

  009 But let the people of my charge be saved

  Prepare ye, therefore, a reward for me,

  And seek it instant. It were much unmeet 145

  That I alone of all the Argive host

  Should want due recompense, whose former prize

  Is elsewhere destined, as ye all perceive.

  To whom Achilles, matchless in the race.

  Atrides, glorious above all in rank, 150

  And as intent on gain as thou art great,

  Whence shall the Grecians give a prize to thee?

  The general stock is poor; the spoil of towns

  Which we have taken, hath already passed

  In distribution, and it were unjust 155

  To gather it from all the Greeks again.

  But send thou back this Virgin to her God,

  And when Jove’s favor shall have given us Troy,

  A threefold, fourfold share shall then be thine.

  To whom the Sovereign of the host replied. 160

  Godlike Achilles, valiant as thou art,

  Wouldst thou be subtle too? But me no fraud

  Shall overreach, or art persuade, of thine.

  Wouldst thou, that thou be recompensed, and I

  Sit meekly down, defrauded of my due? 165

  And didst thou bid me yield her? Let the bold

  Achaians give me competent amends,

  Such as may please me, and it shall be well.

  Else, if they give me none, I will command

  Thy prize, the prize of Ajax, or the prize 170

  It may be of Ulysses to my tent,

  And let the loser chafe. But this concern

  Shall be adjusted at convenient time.

  Come — launch we now into the sacred deep

  A bark with lusty rowers well supplied; 175

  Then put on board Chrysëis, and with her

  The sacrifice required. Go also one

  High in authority, some counsellor,

  Idomeneus, or Ajax, or thyself,

  Thou most untractable of all mankind; 180

  010 And seek by rites of sacrifice and prayer

  To appease Apollo on our host’s behalf.

  Achilles eyed him with a frown, and spake.

  Ah! clothed with impudence as with a cloak,

  And full of subtlety, who, thinkest thou — 185

  What Grecian here will serve thee, or for thee

  Wage covert war, or open? Me thou know’st,

  Troy never wronged; I came not to avenge

  Harm done to me; no Trojan ever drove

  My pastures, steeds or oxen took of mine, 190

  Or plunder’d of their fruits the golden fields

  Of Phthia the deep-soil’d. She lies remote,

  And obstacles are numerous interposed,

  Vale-darkening mountains, and the dashing sea.

  No, Shameless Wolf! For thy good pleasure’s sake 195

  We came, and, Face of flint! to avenge the wrongs

  By Menelaus and thyself sustain’d,

  On the offending Trojan — service kind,

  But lost on thee, regardless of it all.

  And now — What now? Thy threatening is to seize 200

  Thyself, the just requital of my toils,

  My prize hard-earn’d, by common suffrage mine.

  I never gain, what Trojan town soe’er

  We ransack, half thy booty. The swift march

  And furious onset — these I largely reap, 205

  But, distribution made, thy lot exceeds

  Mine far; while I, with any pittance pleased,

  Bear to my ships the little that I win

  After long battle, and account it much.

  But I am gone, I and my sable barks 210

  (My wiser course) to Phthia, and I judge,

  011 Scorn’d as I am, that thou shalt hardly glean

  Without me, more than thou shalt soon consume.

  He ceased, and Agamemnon thus replied

  Fly, and fly now; if in thy soul thou feel 215

  Such ardor of desire to go — begone!

  I woo thee not to stay; stay not an hour

  On my behalf, for I have others here

  Who will respect me more, and above all

  All-judging Jove. There is not in the host 220

  King or commander whom I hate as thee,

  For all thy pleasure is in strife and blood,

  And at all times; yet valor is no ground

  Whereon to boast, it is the gift of Heaven

  Go, get ye back to Phthia, thou and thine! 225

  There rule thy Myrmidons. I need not thee,

  Nor heed thy wrath a jot. But this I say,

  Sure as Apollo takes my lovely prize

  Chrysëis, and I shall return her home

  In mine own bark, and with my proper crew, 230

  So sure the fair Brisëis shall be mine.

  I shall demand her even at thy tent.

  So shalt thou well be taught, how high in power

  I soar above thy pitch, and none shall dare

  Attempt, thenceforth, comparison with me. 235

  He ended, and the big, disdainful heart

  Throbbed of Achilles; racking doubt ensued

  And sore perplex’d him, whether forcing wide

  A passage through them, with his blade unsheathed

  To lay Atrides breathless at his foot, 240

  012 Or to command his stormy spirit down.

  So doubted he, and undecided yet

  Stood drawing forth his falchion huge; when lo!

  Down sent by Juno, to whom both alike

  Were dear, and who alike watched over both, 245

  Pallas descended. At his back she stood

  To none apparent, save himself alone,

  And seized his golden locks. Startled, he turned,

  And instant knew Minerva. Flashed her eyes

  Terrific; whom with accents on the wing 250

  Of haste, incontinent he questioned thus.

  Daughter of Jove, why comest thou? that thyself

  May’st witness these affronts which I endure

  From Agamemnon? Surely as I speak,

  This moment, for his arrogance, he dies. 255

  To whom the blue-eyed Deity. From heaven

  Mine errand is, to sooth, if thou wilt hear,

  Thine anger. Juno the white-arm’d alike


  To him and thee propitious, bade me down:

  Restrain thy wrath. Draw not thy falchion forth. 260

  Retort, and sharply, and let that suffice.

  For I foretell thee true. Thou shalt receive,

  Some future day, thrice told, thy present loss

  For this day’s wrong. Cease, therefore, and be still.

  To whom Achilles. Goddess, although much 265

  Exasperate, I dare not disregard

  Thy word, which to obey is always best.

  Who hears the Gods, the Gods hear also him.

  He said; and on his silver hilt the force

  Of his broad hand impressing, sent the blade 270

  Home to its rest, nor would the counsel scorn

  013 Of Pallas. She to heaven well-pleased return’d,

  And in the mansion of Jove Ægis-armed

  Arriving, mingled with her kindred Gods.

  But though from violence, yet not from words 275

  Abstained Achilles, but with bitter taunt

  Opprobrious, his antagonist reproached.

  Oh charged with wine, in steadfastness of face

  Dog unabashed, and yet at heart a deer!

  Thou never, when the troops have taken arms, 280

  Hast dared to take thine also; never thou

  Associate with Achaia’s Chiefs, to form

  The secret ambush. No. The sound of war

  Is as the voice of destiny to thee.

  Doubtless the course is safer far, to range 285

  Our numerous host, and if a man have dared

  Dispute thy will, to rob him of his prize.

  King! over whom? Women and spiritless —

  Whom therefore thou devourest; else themselves

  Would stop that mouth that it should scoff no more. 290

  But hearken. I shall swear a solemn oath.

  By this same sceptre, which shall never bud,

  Nor boughs bring forth as once, which having left

  Its stock on the high mountains, at what time

  The woodman’s axe lopped off its foliage green, 295

  And stript its bark, shall never grow again;

  Which now the judges of Achaia bear,

  014 Who under Jove, stand guardians of the laws,

  By this I swear (mark thou the sacred oath)

  Time shall be, when Achilles shall be missed; 300

  When all shall want him, and thyself the power