William Cowper- Collected Poetical Works

by William Cowper

  The beakers crown’d, and wine from right to left

  Distributed to all. Libation made, 215

  All drank, and in such measure as they chose,

  Then hasted forth from Agamemnon’s tent.

  Gerenian Nestor at their side them oft

  Instructed, each admonishing by looks

  Significant, and motion of his eyes, 220

  But most Ulysses, to omit no means

  By which Achilles likeliest might be won.

  Along the margin of the sounding deep

  They pass’d, to Neptune, compasser of earth,

  Preferring vows ardent with numerous prayers, 225

  That they might sway with ease the mighty mind

  Of fierce Æacides. And now they reach’d

  The station where his Myrmidons abode.

  Him solacing they found his heart with notes

  Struck from his silver-framed harmonious lyre; 230

  214 Among the spoils he found it when he sack’d

  Eëtion’s city; with that lyre his cares

  He sooth’d, and glorious heroes were his theme.

  Patroclus silent sat, and he alone,

  Before him, on Æacides intent, 235

  Expecting still when he should cease to sing.

  The messengers advanced (Ulysses first)

  Into his presence; at the sight, his harp

  Still in his hand, Achilles from his seat

  Started astonish’d; nor with less amaze 240

  Patroclus also, seeing them, arose.

  Achilles seized their hands, and thus he spake.

  215 Hail friends! ye all are welcome. Urgent cause

  Hath doubtless brought you, whom I dearest hold

  (Though angry still) of all Achaia’s host. 245

  So saying, he introduced them, and on seats

  Placed them with purple arras overspread,

  Then thus bespake Patroclus standing nigh.

  Son of Menætius! bring a beaker more

  Capacious, and replenish it with wine 250

  Diluted less; then give to each his cup;

  For dearer friends than these who now arrive

  My roof beneath, or worthier, have I none.

  He ended, and Patroclus quick obey’d,

  Whom much he loved. Achilles, then, himself 255

  Advancing near the fire an ample tray,

  Spread goats’ flesh on it, with the flesh of sheep

  And of a fatted brawn; of each a chine.

  Automedon attending held them fast,

  While with sharp steel Achilles from the bone 260

  Sliced thin the meat, then pierced it with the spits.

  Meantime the godlike Menætiades

  Kindled fierce fire, and when the flame declined,

  Raked wide the embers, laid the meat to roast,

  And taking sacred salt from the hearth-side 265

  Where it was treasured, shower’d it o’er the feast.

  When all was finish’d, and the board set forth,

  216 Patroclus furnish’d it around with bread

  In baskets, and Achilles served the guests.

  Beside the tent-wall, opposite, he sat 270

  To the divine Ulysses; first he bade

  Patroclus make oblation; he consign’d

  The consecrated morsel to the fire,

  And each, at once, his savoury mess assail’d.

  When neither edge of hunger now they felt 275

  Nor thirsted longer, Ajax with a nod

  Made sign to Phœnix, which Ulysses mark’d,

  And charging high his cup, drank to his host.

  Health to Achilles! hospitable cheer

  And well prepared, we want not at the board 280

  Of royal Agamemnon, or at thine,

  For both are nobly spread; but dainties now,

  Or plenteous boards, are little our concern.

  Oh godlike Chief! tremendous ills we sit

  Contemplating with fear, doubtful if life 285

  Or death, with the destruction of our fleet,

  Attend us, unless thou put on thy might.

  For lo! the haughty Trojans, with their friends

  Call’d from afar, at the fleet-side encamp,

  Fast by the wall, where they have kindled fires 290

  Numerous, and threaten that no force of ours

  Shall check their purposed inroad on the ships.

  Jove grants them favorable signs from heaven,

  Bright lightnings; Hector glares revenge, with rage

  Infuriate, and by Jove assisted, heeds 295

  Nor God nor man, but prays the morn to rise

  That he may hew away our vessel-heads,

  Burn all our fleet with fire, and at their sides

  Slay the Achaians struggling in the smoke.

  Horrible are my fears lest these his threats 300

  The Gods accomplish, and it be our doom

  217 To perish here, from Argos far remote.

  Up, therefore! if thou canst, and now at last

  The weary sons of all Achaia save

  From Trojan violence. Regret, but vain, 305

  Shall else be thine hereafter, when no cure

  Of such great ill, once suffer’d, can be found.

  Thou therefore, seasonably kind, devise

  Means to preserve from such disast’rous fate

  The Grecians. Ah, my friend! when Peleus thee 310

  From Phthia sent to Agamemnon’s aid,

  On that same day he gave thee thus in charge.

  “Juno, my son, and Pallas, if they please,

  Can make thee valiant; but thy own big heart

  Thyself restrain. Sweet manners win respect. 315

  Cease from pernicious strife, and young and old

  Throughout the host shall honor thee the more.”

  Such was thy father’s charge, which thou, it seems,

  Remember’st not. Yet even now thy wrath

  Renounce; be reconciled; for princely gifts 320

  Atrides gives thee if thy wrath subside.

  Hear, if thou wilt, and I will tell thee all,

  How vast the gifts which Agamemnon made

  By promise thine, this night within his tent.

  Seven tripods never sullied yet with fire; 325

  Of gold ten talents; twenty cauldrons bright;

  Twelve steeds strong-limb’d, victorious in the race;

  No man possessing prizes such as those

  Which they have won for him, shall feel the want

  Of acquisitions splendid, or of gold. 330

  Seven virtuous female captives he will give,

  Expert in arts domestic, Lesbians all,

  Whom when thou conquer’dst Lesbos, he received

  His chosen portion, passing woman-kind

  In perfect loveliness of face and form. 335

  These will he give, and will with these resign

  Her whom he took, Briseïs, with an oath

  Most solemn, that unconscious as she was

  Of his embraces, such he yields her back.

  218 All these he gives thee now! and if at length 340

  The Gods vouchsafe to us to overturn

  Priam’s great city, thou shalt heap thy ships

  With gold and brass, entering and choosing first,

  When we shall share the spoil; and shalt beside

  Choose twenty from among the maids of Troy, 345

  Helen except, loveliest of all their sex.

  And if once more the rich milk-flowing land

  We reach of Argos, thou shalt there become

  His son-in-law, and shalt enjoy like state

  With him, whom he in all abundance rears, 350

  His only son Orestes. In his house

  He hath three daughters; thou may’st home conduct

  To Phthia, her whom thou shalt most approve.

  Chrysothemis shall be thy bride; or else

  Laodice; or if she please thee more 355

/>   Iphianassa; and from thee he asks

  No dower; himself will such a dower bestow

  As never father on his child before.

  Seven fair well-peopled cities will he give;

  Cardamyle and Enope; and rich 360

  In herbage, Hira; Pheræ stately-built,

  And for her depth of pasturage renown’d,

  Antheia; proud Æpeia’s lofty towers,

  And Pedasus impurpled dark with vines.

  All these are maritime, and on the shore 365

  They stand of Pylus, by a race possess’d

  Most rich in flocks and herds, who tribute large

  And gifts presenting to thy sceptred hand,

  Shall hold thee high in honor as a God.

  These will he give thee, if thy wrath subside. 370

  But should’st thou rather in thine heart the more

  Both Agamemnon and his gifts detest,

  Yet oh compassionate the afflicted host

  Prepared to adore thee. Thou shalt win renown

  Among the Grecians that shall never die. 375

  Now strike at Hector. He is here; — himself

  Provokes thee forth; madness is in his heart,

  219 And in his rage he glories that our ships

  Have hither brought no Grecian brave as he.

  Then thus Achilles matchless in the race. 380

  Laertes’ noble son, for wiles renown’d!

  I must with plainness speak my fixt resolve

  Unalterable; lest I hear from each

  The same long murmur’d melancholy tale.

  For I abhor the man, not more the gates 385

  Of hell itself, whose words belie his heart.

  So shall not mine. My judgment undisguised

  Is this; that neither Agamemnon me

  Nor all the Greeks shall move; for ceaseless toil

  Wins here no thanks; one recompense awaits 390

  The sedentary and the most alert,

  The brave and base in equal honor stand,

  And drones and heroes fall unwept alike.

  I after all my labors, who exposed

  My life continual in the field, have earn’d 395

  No very sumptuous prize. As the poor bird

  Gives to her unfledged brood a morsel gain’d

  After long search, though wanting it herself,

  So I have worn out many sleepless nights,

  And waded deep through many a bloody day 400

  In battle for their wives. I have destroy’d

  Twelve cities with my fleet, and twelve, save one,

  On foot contending in the fields of Troy.

  From all these cities, precious spoils I took

  Abundant, and to Agamemnon’s hand 405

  Gave all the treasure. He within his ships

  Abode the while, and having all received,

  Little distributed, and much retained;

  He gave, however, to the Kings and Chiefs

  A portion, and they keep it. Me alone 410

  Of all the Grecian host he hath despoil’d;

  My bride, my soul’s delight is in his hands,

  And let him, couch’d with her, enjoy his fill

  220 Of dalliance. What sufficient cause, what need

  Have the Achaians to contend with Troy? 415

  Why hath Atrides gather’d such a host,

  And led them hither? Was’t not for the sake

  Of beauteous Helen? And of all mankind

  Can none be found who love their proper wives

  But the Atridæ? There is no good man 420

  Who loves not, guards not, and with care provides

  For his own wife, and, though in battle won,

  I loved the fair Briseïs at my heart.

  But having dispossess’d me of my prize

  So foully, let him not essay me now, 425

  For I am warn’d, and he shall not prevail.

  With thee and with thy peers let him advise,

  Ulysses! how the fleet may likeliest ‘scape

  Yon hostile fires; full many an arduous task

  He hath accomplished without aid of mine; 430

  So hath he now this rampart and the trench

  Which he hath digg’d around it, and with stakes

  Planted contiguous — puny barriers all

  To hero-slaughtering Hector’s force opposed.

  While I the battle waged, present myself 435

  Among the Achaians, Hector never fought

  Far from his walls, but to the Scæan gate

  Advancing and the beech-tree, there remain’d.

  Once, on that spot he met me, and my arm

  Escaped with difficulty even there. 440

  But, since I feel myself not now inclined

  To fight with noble Hector, yielding first

  To Jove due worship, and to all the Gods,

  To-morrow will I launch, and give my ships

  Their lading. Look thou forth at early dawn, 445

  And, if such spectacle delight thee aught,

  Thou shalt behold me cleaving with my prows

  The waves of Hellespont, and all my crews

  Of lusty rowers active in their task.

  So shall I reach (if Ocean’s mighty God 450

  Prosper my passage) Phthia the deep-soil’d

  221 On the third day. I have possessions there,

  Which hither roaming in an evil hour

  I left abundant. I shall also hence

  Convey much treasure, gold and burnish’d brass, 455

  And glittering steel, and women passing fair

  My portion of the spoils. But he, your King,

  The prize he gave, himself resumed,

  And taunted at me. Tell him my reply,

  And tell it him aloud, that other Greeks 460

  May indignation feel like me, if arm’d

  Always in impudence, he seek to wrong

  Them also. Let him not henceforth presume,

  Canine and hard in aspect though he be,

  To look me in the face. I will not share 465

  His counsels, neither will I aid his works.

  Let it suffice him, that he wrong’d me once,

  Deceived me once, henceforth his glozing arts

  Are lost on me. But let him rot in peace

  Crazed as he is, and by the stroke of Jove 470

  Infatuate. I detest his gifts, and him

  So honor as the thing which most I scorn.

  And would he give me twenty times the worth

  Of this his offer, all the treasured heaps

  Which he possesses, or shall yet possess, 475

  All that Orchomenos within her walls,

  And all that opulent Egyptian Thebes

  Receives, the city with a hundred gates,

  Whence twenty thousand chariots rush to war,

  And would he give me riches as the sands, 480

  And as the dust of earth, no gifts from him

  Should soothe me, till my soul were first avenged

  For all the offensive license of his tongue.

  I will not wed the daughter of your Chief,

  Of Agamemnon. Could she vie in charms 485

  With golden Venus, had she all the skill

  Of blue-eyed Pallas, even so endow’d

  She were no bride for me. No. He may choose

  From the Achaians some superior Prince,

  222 One more her equal. Peleus, if the Gods 490

  Preserve me, and I safe arrive at home,

  Himself, ere long, shall mate me with a bride.

  In Hellas and in Phthia may be found

  Fair damsels many, daughters of the Chiefs

  Who guard our cities; I may choose of them, 495

  And make the loveliest of them all my own.

  There, in my country, it hath ever been

  My dearest purpose, wedded to a wife

  Of rank convenient, to enjoy in peace

  Such wealth as ancient Peleus hath acquire
d. 500

  For life, in my account, surpasses far

  In value all the treasures which report

  Ascribed to populous Ilium, ere the Greeks

  Arrived, and while the city yet had peace;

  Those also which Apollo’s marble shrine 505

  In rocky Pytho boasts. Fat flocks and beeves

  May be by force obtain’d, tripods and steeds

  Are bought or won, but if the breath of man

  Once overpass its bounds, no force arrests

  Or may constrain the unbodied spirit back. 510

  Me, as my silver-footed mother speaks

  Thetis, a twofold consummation waits.

  If still with battle I encompass Troy,

  I win immortal glory, but all hope

  Renounce of my return. If I return 515

  To my beloved country, I renounce

  The illustrious meed of glory, but obtain

  Secure and long immunity from death.

  And truly I would recommend to all

  To voyage homeward, for the fall as yet 520

  Ye shall not see of Ilium’s lofty towers,

  For that the Thunderer with uplifted arm

  Protects her, and her courage hath revived.

  Bear ye mine answer back, as is the part

  Of good ambassadors, that they may frame 525

  Some likelier plan, by which both fleet and host

  May be preserved; for, my resentment still

  223 Burning, this project is but premature.

  Let Phœnix stay with us, and sleep this night

  Within my tent, that, if he so incline, 530

  He may to-morrow in my fleet embark,

  And hence attend me; but I leave him free.

  He ended; they astonish’d at his tone

  (For vehement he spake) sat silent all,

  Till Phœnix, aged warrior, at the last 535

  Gush’d into tears (for dread his heart o’erwhelm’d

  Lest the whole fleet should perish) and replied.

  If thou indeed have purposed to return,

  Noble Achilles! and such wrath retain’st

  That thou art altogether fixt to leave 540

  The fleet a prey to desolating fires,

  How then, my son! shall I at Troy abide

  Forlorn of thee? When Peleus, hoary Chief,

  Sent thee to Agamemnon, yet a child,

  Unpractised in destructive fight, nor less 545

  Of councils ignorant, the schools in which

  Great minds are form’d, he bade me to the war

  Attend thee forth, that I might teach thee all,

  Both elocution and address in arms.

  Me therefore shalt thou not with my consent 550

  Leave here, my son! no, not would Jove himself

  Promise me, reaping smooth this silver beard,