The dart, diverted from its destin'd course,
His shoulder graz'd, and spent in air its force. 770 A fate so near him chills his soul with dread; At once his fortitude and vigour fled:
No more he dares prolong th' unequal fight, But even sickens at the hero's sight.
Thus, when some hunter's spear has drawn the gore From the tough forehead of a bristled boar, But lightly raz'd the skin, nor reach'd the brain; The daunted savage wheels around with pain, Grinding his tusks, or stands aloof thro' fear, Nor tempts again the fury of his spear. Long had brave Prothous with unerring hand Deait out his shafts, and gall'd the Grecian band: This Tydeus saw, and rushing at the foe And his gay courser, aim'd a double blow. On him, as prone he tumbles on the plains, Falls the pierc'd steed, and, while he seeks the reins, Stamps on the helm, till by his feet comprest On his lord's face, it crush'd his shielded breast; Then spouting out amidst a purple tide The bit, expir'd recumbent at his side. Thus often on the eloud-supporting crown
Of Gaurus, vine and elm are both o'erthrown, A double damage to the swain: but most Th' uxorious elm bewails his consort lost; Nor groans so much for his own hapless fate, As for the grapes he presses with his weight. Chorobus, comrade of the nine, forsook His native mount, and the Castalian brook; Though oft Urania from th' inspected stars Forewarn'd his death, and bade him shun the wars: Heedless he mixes with the daring throng, And, while he meditates the future song, Becomes himself a theme of public praise; The sisters weep, forgetful of their lays. Swoll'n with ambitious hopes, young Atys came From Phocian Cyrrha to the field of fame, To fair Ismena from his tender age Espous'd; nor did her father's impious rage, Or the neglected beauties of her face, The idol fair one in his eyes disgrace. Nor in her turn the damsel disapproves His faultless person; mutual were their loves. But war forbids their nuptials; hence arose The champion's hatred to his Argive foes. He shines the foremost in the deathful scene, Aud, lab'ring to be notic'd by his queen, Now wars on foot, and now with loosen'd reins, And foaming horses pours along the plains. His doating mother deck'd his am'rous breast And graceful shoulders with a purple vest. His arms and trappings were emboss'd with gold, Lest he should seem less glorious to behold Than his fair spouse.-On these the chief rely'd, And the stern Greeks to single fight defy'd; The weakest of his enemies subdu'd, And none attack'd, who were not first pursu'd. Trembling he bears their trophies to his train, And with his troops, inglorious, herds again.
827. He bears their trophies] This passage, gives us an insight into the ancient method of fighting. We see the leaders advancing before their troops, and making an excursion, and as soon as they had obtained the spoils of the vanquished, returning to them again. If this passage is attended to, it will clear up many things in Homer, and his imitators, which would otherwise seem very absurd.Atys would have made a good hero
Thus the young lion in the Caspian shade, (No length of mane terrific yet display'd) Yet innocent of slaughter'd bull or ram, If chance he lights upon a straggling lamb Without the fold, in absence of the swain, Riots in blood, and glories in the slain. On Tydeus then unknown he casts his eyes, And measuring his valour by his size, Proudly presumes to make an easy prey Of the slain chief, and bear his arms away. He now had levell'd many a distant blow, Ere the brave prince perceiv'd his puny foe: 840 At length contemptuously he view'd the man, And forinidably smiling, thus began : "I see, vain fop, too prodigal of breath, Thou seekest honour from a glorious death." He paus'd; nor deigning to discharge a blow With sword or spear on such a worthless foe, His arm scarcee rais'd, a slender javelin threw, With fatal certainty the weapon flew ; And, as if driven with his utmost force, Deep in his groin infix'd, there stopp'd its course. The chief of life thus seemingly bereft, The gen'rous victor passes on, and left His arms untouch'd, and thus jocosely said, "These suit not Mars, nor thee, O fav'ring maid: What man of courage would not blush to wear Such gaudy trifles?-Nay, I scarce would dare Present them, by my consort to be borne, Lest she reject them with indignant scorn." Thus spake Oenides, fir'd with lust of fame, And sallies forth in quest of nobler game. Thus, when the lion roams, where heifers feed, And lowing beeves expatiate o'er the mead, The royal savage traversing the plain In sullen majesty, and sour disdain,
in a romance. He was one of those gentlemen who go to war only to please the ladies, and mix the beau with the hero, two characters the most inconsistent in nature, though often united in practice. Whilst, however, we are pitying the rash and ill-timed gallantry of this young man, we cannot but applaud the rough soldier-like behaviour of Tydeus, and the blunt wit he shows on this occasion. I shall only observe farther, that this character is admirably well supported, and is a sufficient proof of our author's vein for satire. The former part of this note belongs to Barthius.
861. Thus, when the lion] In order to obviate any objection that may arise to the frequent repetition of similes drawn from the same object, I shall transcribe Mr. Pope's defence of Homer on that point. "Is it not more reasonable to compare the same man always to the same animal, than to see him sometimes a sun, sometimes a tree, and sometimes a river? Though Homer speaks of the same creature, he so diversifies the circumstances and accidents of the comparison, that they always appear quite different. And to say truth, it is not so much the animal or the thing, as the action or posture of them that employs our imagination: two different animals in the same action are more like each other than one and the same animal is to himself in two different actions. And those who, in reading Homer, are shocked that 'tis always a lion, may as well be angry that it is always a man." See Essay on Homer's Battles.
Spares the weak herd, and culling out their head, Some lordly bull, arrests and lays him dead. Menæceus, list'ning to the dying cries, Of Atys, swiftly to his rescue flies; And lest his steeds should flag, deserts his car, And bounds impetuous thro' the ranks of war. 870 Th' Arcadian youths advanc'd to strip the slain; Nor did the Thebans labour to restrain,
Till brave Menæceus thus :-" O foul disgrace To boasted Cadmus! O degen'rate race! Shall foreign Atys gain deserv'd applause By nobly bleeding in another's cause, While we decline the danger of the day, And children, wives, and all that's dear betray?" Fach tender care reviv'd, the troops arise, Shame in their breasts, and anger in their eyes. 880 Meanwhile the Theban princesses, a pair Alike in manners, and supremely fair, Retiring to their chambers, give a vent To mutual grief, and mutual discontent: Nor do they weep the present ills of fate, But from the earliest æra of their state Seek matter of complaint; one mourns her sire, And one the mother-queen's incestuous fire; This weeps her absent brother's baneful stars, The monarch that, but both detest the wars. 890 Their vows suspended by an equal love, They fondly pity whom they can't approve, And doubt, whom they had rather have prevail: At length the favour'd exile sinks the scale. Thus Pandionian birds, when they regain Their native clime in winter's dreary reign, Perch'd on their nests, in plaintive accents tell, And hear what various accidents befel
873. O foul disgrace] This little exhortation of Menæceus to his soldiers is at once concise and pithy. A longer speech at this juncture would have been very absurd. He has said all that was wanted, and nothing but what he ought. It is something like that comprehensive harangue of the great Gustavus, "Look ye at those fellows; either fell them, or they'll fell you." It is remarked of Homer, that his longest orations are such as were delivered in the heat of battle, a fault which none can accuse our author of without manifest injustice.
891. Their vows suspended] This recals to my remembrance four beautiful lines from Seneca the tragedian, who, in his Thebais, introduces Jocasta speaking as follows:
Utramque quamvis diligam affectu pari, Quo causa melior sorsque deterior tradit, Inclinat animus, semper infirmo favens Miseros magis fortuna conciliat suis.
Though, by the by, the poet seems to contradict what he said before, viz. that Antigone preferred Polynices in her esteem.
895. Thus Pandionian birds, when] Statius is not the first poet who has likened the chattering of women to the chirping of birds. Virgil in his Eneid compares the loquacious Juturna to one of
Nigra velut magnas domini cum divitis ædes Pervolat, et pennis alta atria lustrat hirundo, Pabula parva legens, nidisque loquacibus escas: Et nunc porticibus vacuis, nunc humida circum Stagna sonat. Lib. 12. ver. 473.
Each other absent, and by turns rejoice In notes that emulate the human voice. Tears making way, the chaste Ismene broke Her silence first, and thus, exclaiming, spoke: "O sister! what deluding errours blind And mock the easy faith of human kind!hi When images, in dreams returning, play Before our eyes, distinct as in the day; And sleep is mark'd by care; for yesternight My fancy labour'd with the sudden sight Of nuptials, which in peace were never sought, Nor enter'd in my most unguarded thought. 910 The bridegroom too among the rest was shown, Scarce known in person; once indeed I own I saw him, when my marriage was propos'd, At court-But soon the glitt'ring scene was clos'd. The fires extinguish'd suddenly I view'd, And omens and prognostics dire ensu❜d. My mother follow'd then, with fury fir'd, And Atys at my hands with shouts requir'd... What mean these dark portents of death obscured I fear not, while our house is thus secure, While the foe stands aloof, and hope remains, Fraternal concord may reward our pains." While thus each other's sorrows they report, IA A sudden tumult fills the spacious court; -- »»» Ju And Atys enters (moving scene of woe) (4) pdf By toil and sweat recover'd from the foe. 5 l Life's ebbing stream ran trickling on the ground, One feeble hand reclin'd upon the wound, rit And his loose hairs his bloodless face conceal'd, His languid neck dependent on the shield.a Jocasta first the killing object ey'd," And trembling call'd his fair intended bride. » This he requests, that with his dying voice And last farewell he may confirm his choice. Her name alone, a pleasing sound, lotig bang On his pale lips, and trembling on his tongue. The servants shriek, the virgin with her hands ??! Conceals her blushes: modesty commands.”* 1/*! The queen, indulgent to th' entreating chief,!! * Constrains her to impart this last relief. Thrice at her name he lifts his drooping head," And thrice sinks back, his vital spirits fled. On her, the light of Heav'n no more enjoy'd He feasts his eyes, admiring and uncloy'd. No parents near to rear the sacred pyre, Nor frantic mother, or desponding sire;* To her th' ungrateful office they assign, To tend his obsequies and rites divine. There, no one, present, o'er the corse she sighs Closes each wound, and seals her lover's eyes, 950 Meanwhile Bellona wak'd anew the fray, And turn'd the doubtful fortune of the day: She chang'd her torch, and other serpents wore Heap'd slain on slain, and swell'd thestream of gore, As if the toil of fight was scarce begun, Much work of death remaining to be done.
distress of the two lovers is beyond all the enco 923. While thus] This description of the Ismene on this occasion is not so outrageous, as miums that can be given it; though the grief of if she had not been prepared for it by a previous dream. The dying warrior is very artfully intro duced, his condition and appearances are very picturesque, and the effects of his violent passion finely imagined, though at the same time very natural.
But Tydeus shines the most; tho', sure to wound, | A grateful shelter to the coward king. Parthenopæus deals his shafts around, Tho' fierce Hippomedon impels his horse
As when the shepherds, gath'ring in a ring, Attempt to drive the nightly wolf away;
Thro' the gor'd war, and crushes many a corse, 960 The prowling savage, heedful of his prey, And Capaneus' javelin wings its flight, Alar distinguish'd in the ranks of fight, His was the day before him trembling flies The Theban herd, as thus aloud he cries:
Why this retreat, when unreveng'd remain Your valiant comrades, late in ambush slain? Behold the man, by whom alone they bled: Behold, and wreak on his devoted head Your wrath collected.-Can ye thus forego The chance of war, and spare the present foe? 970 Is there a man whom this wide-wasting steel Has wrong'd, for vengeance let him here appeal. Now by my soul it grieves me, that content With fifty deaths, my course I backward bent To fair Mycenæ.-Fly then, but this day The proud usurper for your flight shall pay." Scarce had he spoke, when on the left he spy'd The king conspicuous for his plumy pride, Rallying his routed forces.At the view The kindling hero to th' encounter flew, As on a swan the royal eagle springs With swift descent, and shades him with his wings. Then thus.-" O monarch, studious of the right, Meet we thus fairly by Apollo's light? Or hadst thou rather trust thy worthless life To night and ambuscades, than open strife?" To this the sullen tyrant nought replies, But at the foe a spear loud whizzing flies, Charg'd with an answer. Rapid was its force; But towards the period of its furious course Oenides beat it off, and whirls his own With strength and vigour until then unknown. Swift rush'd the lance, and promis'd in its flight To put an end to the destructive fight. The fav'ring gods of either party bent ***Their eyes towards it, anxious for th' event; But for his brother the fell fiend preserv'd Eteocles. Aside the jav'lin swerv'd
Pursues that only, nor attacks his foes, Whose clubs and stones annoy him as he goes. Thus Tydeus disregards th' inferior crowd,
And vengeance on their guilty monarch vow'd. 1013 - Yet, scorning opposition in the chace, He struck the daring Thoas in his face ; A well-aim'd dart Deilochus arrests,
And left its point deep-buried in his breasts: Pierc'd in the side, then Clonius bit the ground, And stern Hippotades, from whose wide wound The bowels gush'd.-Full helmets oft he skims In air, and to the trunk restores his limbs. And now the prince, unweary'd yet with toils, Block'd himself up with carcases and spoils: 1020 With him alone the circling hosts engage, The single object of their missile rage. Part glitter on the surface of his skin, Part frustrate fall, and part are lodg'd within: Some Patlas plucks away. His targe appears 980 An iron grove, thick set with gleamy spears. No crest is extant; thro' the bristling hide His naked back and shoulders are descry'd: And Mars, which on his casque depictur'd sate, Fell off, a joyless omen of his fate. The shiver'd brass into his body pent, Wrought him such pain as might have made re- The bravest heart, when lo! a stroke descends, And from the gums his gnashing grinders rends. His breast is delug'd with a tide of gore, With dust embrown'd, while each dilated pore In copious drops perspires.-Pleas'd he survey'd His bands applauding, and the martial maid, Who o'er her eyes the spreading ægis threw, As to her sire in his behalf she flew. But see, an ashen jav'lin cuts the wind, And leaves, with anger charg'd, the clouds behind. Long was the author of the deed unknown, Great Menalippus, for he durst not own : At length the foe's untimely joy display'd The warrior, herding in his troop, betray'd.
< To Phlegyas, his squire, where 'midst the press He toil'd with equal honour and success. 1000 Now fiercer grown, th' Ætolian draws his sword, And rushes, but the Theban arms afford
957. But Tydeus shines the most] The pic ture of Tydeus in the following lines is very elaborately drawn. As his fate is near at hand, the poet endeavours to make him quit the stage with honour, and immortalize him in his verses. Accordingly, this being the last scene he is to appear in, he is ushered in with the greatest pomp; and lest there should be any doubt of his superiority, after having been compared to the king of beasts, he is represented by the eagle, king of birds. The poet, by this accumulation of similes, raises our ideas of his hero much higher than any simple description can reach.
981. As on a swan] This comparison is very minutely copied from Homer, as may be seen from the circumstance of the shadowing of the eagle's wings.
So the strong eagle from his airy height,. Who marks the swans' or cranes' embodied flight, Stoops down impetuous, as they light for food, And stooping, darkens with his wings the flood. Pope's Iliad. YOL. XX.
1019. And now the prince] The magnanimous Scæva is in much the same plight in the sixth book of Lucan's Pharsalia.
Illum tota premit moles, illum omnia tela.
-Fortis crebris sonat ictibus umbo, Et galeæ fragmenta cava compressa perurunt Tempora: nec quicquam nudis vitalibus obstat Jam pater stantes in summis ossibus hastas.
-Stat non fragilis pro Cæsare murus, Pompe umque tenet: jam pectora non tegit armis: Ac veritus credi clypeo, lævaque vacasse, Aut culpa vixisse sua non vulnera belli Solus obit, densamque ferens in pectore sylvam, Tum gradibus fessis, in quem cadet, eligit hostem. 1041. But see, an ashen jav'lin] These verses are imitated from Virgil.
Has inter voces, media inter talia verba, Ecce viro stridens alis allapsa sagitta est: Incertum quâ pulsa manu, quo turbine adacta; Quis tantam Rutulis laudem, casusne, Deusne, Attulerit pressa est insignis gloria facti, Nec sese Æneæ jactavit vulnere quisquam.
Eneid, Lib. 12. ver. 323.
For the pierc'd hero, now no longer steel'd Against the growing anguish, loos'd his shield, And bent beneath the wound. This seen, the Greeks
Rush to his aid with groans, nor manly shrieks: The sons of Cadmus, smiling at their grief, 1051 With shouts triumphant intercept relief. The chief, inspecting close the adverse side, The marksman, lurking in the crowd, espy'd, Collects his whole remains of life and strength, And throws a weapon of enormous length, Which neighb'ring Hopleusgave, nor gave in vain: Forth spouts the blood, extorted by the strain. By force his sad companions drag him thence, (While yet unconscious of his impotence) Then bear him to the margin of the field, His sides supported in a double shield; And promise, he shall quickly re-engage, When strength shall second his undaunted rage. But he himself perceives his failing breath, And shudd'ring the chilling hand of death, Reclines on earth, and cries,-" I die in peace; But pity me, O sons of fertile Greece!
I ask you not these relics to convey To Argos, or the seat of regal sway, Regardless of my body's future doom, Nor anxious for the honours of the tomb. Curst are the brittle limbs, which thus desert The soul, when most their strength they should All I solicit farther is the head
While he remarks the restless balls of sight, That sought and shunn'd alternately the light. Contented now, his wrath began to cease, And the fierce warrior had expir'd in peace; But the fell fiend a thought of vengeance bred, Unworthy of himself, and of the dead. Mean while, her sire unmov'd, Tritonia came, To crown her hero with immortal fame; But, when she saw his jaws besprinkled o'er With spatter'd brains, and ting'd with living gore; Whilst his imploring friends attempt in vain To calm his fury, and his rage restrain: Again, recoiling from the loathsome view, The sculptur'd target o'er her face she threw; And, her affection chang'd to sudden hate, Resign'd Oenides to the will of fate: But, ere she join'd the senate of the skies, Purg'd in llyssos her unhallow'd eyes.
1070 The Thebans, spirited up by Eteocles to revenge the insult offered to Menalippus's body, renew the fight with great ardour, Polynices, almost that remarkable action of Tydeus which so much offended Mr. Pope, that, in vindicating a passare of Homer, where Achilles wishes he could eat the flesh of Hector, he says, "However, this is much more tolerable than a passage in the The baid of Statius, where Tydeus, in the very pang of death, is represented as gnawing the head of his enemy." But, with deference to the memo T of that great man, I must beg leave to ofer something in my author's defence, which I shall leave the reader to consider.
Of Menalippus; for my jav'li sped, And stretch'd, I trust, the dastard on the plains: Then haste, Hippomedon, if aught remains Of Argive blood; and thou, Arcadian youth, In praise of whom fame e'en detracts from truth Go, valiant Capaneus, thy country's boast, 1081 And now the greatest of th' Argolic host." All mov'd; but Capaneus arrives the first, Where breathing yet he lay, deform'd with dust, And took him on his shoulders. Down his back Flows the warm blood, and leaves a crimson track, Such look'd Aicides, when in times of yore He enter'd Argos with the captive boar. O'ercome with joy and anger, Tydeus tries To rais himself, and meets with eager eye 1090 The deathful object, pleas'd as he survey'd His own condition in his foe's pourtray'd. The sever'd head impatient he demands, And grasps with fervour in his trembling hands,
1062. His sides] The ancients were wont to carry their generals who fell in battle on a shield; as we learn from Virgil, book 10.
-At socii multo gemitu, lacrymisque, Impositum scuto referunt Pallanta frequentes. Again, book 10.
At Lausum socii exanimum super arma ferebant. The losing a shield in combat was looked upon as the greatest disgrace that could befall a man: Tecum Philippos et celerem fugam Sensi, relictâ non bene parmulâ,
says Horace hence the famous saying of the Spartan lady, when she gave her son a shield; Aut cum illo, aut in illo; i. e. "Either return with it, or upon it."-Part of this note belongs to Bernartius.
1093. The sever'd head] We are now come to
First, With respect to the fact taken absolutely, and in itself, the poet does not recite it as worthy of imitation, or praise his hero for the perpetra tion of it; but expresses his abhorrence of it, and informs us, that Tisiphone suggested it to Tydens, and that Pallas herself, his stanch patroness, was so disgusted as utterly to desert him: these are circumstances that sufficiently absolve the poet from the censure of making his favourite character so monstrously brutish and inhuman.
Secondly, If we consider it comparatively, we must observe, that the will and intention, which only render moral actions culpable, were the same both in Achilles and Tydeus. The former wishes he could eat his enemy's flesh, the latter does it; so that the only difference is, that Ty deus had a better appetite, and less aversion to human flesh than Achilles.
Lastly, If it is really a fault, the commission of it was owing to the extravagant veneration that Statius had for Homer, as it is evidently imitated from the above-mentioned passage the Iliad so that the original thought will stil be chargeable on that great author.
1112. Ilyssos] Is a river of Elysium, which the poet terms guiltless, because it makes guiltless, i. e. purifies, It is opposed to Styx, 1 stream of Hell; and called in Greek H from Avis, that is to say, solution, because salis, after the solution of their corporeal bonds, der scend to those fields,
overcome with grief for the death of Tydeus, | Yet truly they the prophet's end bemoan,
laments very pathetically over him. Hippome. don opposes the enemy's onset with unparal- leled fortitude. Lycus wounds him. He is assisted by Alcon, and kills Mopsus, Polites, and many others of note. The fury Tisiphone draws him off from attacking the Thebans by a false insinuation of Adrastus's being taken prisoner. In the mean time the Grecians are worsted, and the body of Tydeus is wrested from them: Hippomedon returns to the com- bat, pursues them into the river, and after a great slaughter of them, is opposed by the god of the stream himself, and being cast on shore, is overpowered by their numbers, and slain, notwithstanding Juno's interposition with Jupi- ter in his behalf. Parthenopaus then signalizes himself by his feats of archery, and is pre- sented by Diana with a set of poisoned arrows. She solicits Apollo in his favour, but to no pur- pose. He is near being slain by Amphion, but the goddess and Dorceus rescue him. At length Dryas, at the instigation of Mars, slays him, and is killed himself by an invisible agent, sup- posed to be Diana herself. The young Arca- | dian, just at the point of death, gives his last commands to Dorceus, with which the book concludes.
THE brutal rage of bloody Tydeus fires His foes, and th' ardour of revenge inspires. E'en his own Grecians less deplore his fate, And blame his fury and excess of hate. Mars too, severest on th' embattled mead, Fame represents disgusted at the deed, What time, a vig'rous agent in the war, O'er hills of slain he drove his rattling car, So dire a scene the god could not survey,
But turn'd his steeds, and measur'd back the way. To punish, then, the injury sustain'd By Menalippus, on his corse prophan'd The Theban youth with wrath rekindled rise. From man to man th' infectious vengeance flies, As if some foe their sires should disintomb, And their remains a prey to monsters doom. The monarch fans the fire, and thus bespeaks: "Who now will favour, and account the Greeks As men?-Behold, with arms supply'd no more They ply their teeth, and lap the Theban gore. 20 Say, do we not with Lybian lions fight, With human art opposing savage might? See Tydeus, as a lenitive in death, Feeding on hostile Resh resigns his breath, With fire and sword contented we engage; Their want of weapons is supply'd by rage. Refining cruelty, full in the view
Of Jove, this impious track may they pursue.
And curse the land for mischiefs not its own." 30 In words like these the king harangu'd aloud, And vainly stalk'd before th' obsequious crowd. In all an equal fury burns, to gain The spoils and hated corse of Tydeus slain. Thus fowls obscene hang o'er the liquid way, When from afar the wafting gales convey The scent of bodies that unburied lie, And taint the thick'ning ether. As they fly, With flapping pinions all the skies resound: The lesser birds retire, and quit their ground. 40 Fame flies from man to man, from band to band, And spreads vague murmurs o'er the Theban land; More swift than wont she plies her sable wings, When woefu! tidings to some wretch she brings. To trembling Polynices now she bears The dismal news, and thunders in his ears. His tears congeal'd, all petrified with grief He stands, and for a time withholds belief, For his superior valour, so well known, Forbids him to believe the chief o'erthrown : But when a fresh report pronounc'd him dead, A cloud of grief his eyes and mind o'erspread; All circulation ceasing in his veins, He faints, he falls; his arms bestrew the plains. His tears now gush forth at the last effort, And the bright greaves his falling shield support.. Lonely he waiks amidst a circling throng, And scarcely drags his falt'ring knees along, And cumbrous spear, as though he was deprest With countless wounds, and pain'd above the rest. The breathless hero by his comrades shown, 61 Who the sad prince attend with many a groan, He groveis o'er the corse, (while from his eyes The tears run copious) and desponding cries: "O Tydeus, hope of all my warlike toils, Prop of my cause, and partner of my spoils! Is this the recompense I should bestow, Are these the thanks which to my friend I owe, That in my sight I suffer thee to lie Unwept and bare beneath a foreign sky? In exile now far worse than death I rove, Depriv'd in thee of more than brother's love. Nor seek I now the crown by lot decreed, And sullied throne to which I should succeed: Little I prize the badges of command, And sceptre, which I take not from thy hand.
35. Thus fowls obscene] Milton has a noble simile conceived in the genuine spirit of this author:
Of rav'nous fowl, though many a league remote, Against the day of battle, to a field Where armies lie incamp'd, come flying, lur'd With scent of living carcases, design'd For death the following day, in bloody fight.
Par, Lost, book 10. v. 273.
1. The brutal rage] The poet, foreseeing as it were, that he should offend the delicacy of the critics by this narrative, seems in this passage to 65. O Tydeus] These reflections of Polynices have endeavoured to obviate the censure, and as- on the death of Tydeus are very manly and pasure the reader, that he did not propose this thetic; they display a dignity of soul, a disinaction of his hero as worthy of imitation, but terestedness of friendship, and an overflowing of quite the reverse:—with a view to this, he re-gratitude, that is rarely to be found in the breast presents Mars expressing his abhorrence of it in the strongest manner, and introduces Eteocles taking advantage of this act of brutality, to rally the Thebans to the charge,
of the ambitious; and I doubt not, but readers of the same delicate mould as the speaker here seems to be, will meet with a great deal of enter tainment in the perusal of this masterly oration.
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