Stand off, ye warriors, and to me alone
Resign the fight :-the fortune is my own.
No longer now your useless arms employ,
Nor in pursuit of vengeance still destroy.
What greater proof of malice can you give,
Or how can I atone, while I survive,

For my friend's death ?-O king, O conscious night,
Begun with strife, but closing with delight!

Argos, dearest to the gods above,

And short-liv'd wrath, the pledge of lasting love!
Oh! hadst thou (while my life was in thy hand)
Stretch'd me unpity'd on a foreign strand!
Yet more great chief, thou didst adopt my cause,
And, trusting Jove and hospitable laws,
Repair to Thebes, whence none would have return'd
Less brave. So strong the flame of friendship
burn'd.

90

150

Appears, whose prowess Mars might not despise,
Nor Pallas view their skill but with surprise.
Unmov'd Hippomedon the shock withstands,
80 A shield and spear protended in his bands;
As some high cliff, whose bleak and rugged brow
O'erhangs the deeps, nor fears the surge below,
Nor storms above, but stands by both unmov'd,
Their threats defy'd, their utmost fury prov'd.
E'en worsted Neptune shuns th' unequal war,
And shatter'd ships decline it from afar.
Eteocles first ey'd the godlike man,
And, ere he whirl'd his javelin, thus began:
Say, are ye not asham'd to war in sight
Of Heav'n, for one whose deeds disgrace the fight?
Is it such merit, such renown to save
A savage monster's relics for the grave;
Lest unlaniented, uninterr'd he lie,
And his corse rot beneath a foreign sky?
Dismiss your cares; nor beasts nor birds of prey
Will drink his gore, and bear his flesh away; 140
Nay, should his corse to Vulcan's rage be doum'd,
The pious flames would leave it unconsum'd."
He ceas'd, and flung a javelin, which the brass
Forbade beyond the second orb to pass.
Then Pheres, and the vig'rous Lycus threw,
Short of its aim the dart of Pheres flew;
While that of vig'rous Lycus lightly graz'd
The nodding helm with sculptur'd forms imblazil
Cleft by the point, the crests asunder flcd,
And thro' the casque appear'd his naked head, 159
Astounded with the stroke, he dares not fly, 17
Nor on his own defence alone rely;

Fame hath e'en now of Theseus ceas'd to boast,
And Telamon's renown in thine is lost.
How chang'd thy form ah! what a diff'rent air!
But say, what wounds shall first employ my care?
How shall I know the Theban blood from thine?
And in thy death what numbers did combine?
Full well I ween, this envious Jove decreed;
And Mars with all his javelin help'd the deed." 100
He spake, and washes with his tears away
The clots of blood that on the visage lay;
And ev'ry limb compos'd, thus cries anew:
"Could'st thou thus far my just revenge pursue,
And I still breathe?"--This said, with woe distress'd,
He points the naked sceptre to his breast.
His pitying friends restrain'd his daring hands,
While the good king his rashness reprimands,
And soothes his rage, revolving in his mind
The turns of war, and what the fates design'd; 110
Then from the much-lov'd corse, from which arose
Ilis love of death, and bitterness of woes,
He steals the youth, and, whilst his words afford
A sweet delusion, sheathes unseen the sword.
Such o'er th' unfinish'd field (his comrade dead)
The bull inactive with despair, is led:
Part of the yoke on his bent neck he wears,
Aud part the swain, the tears fast streaming, bears.
But see! the flow'r of all the Theban band,
Fir'd with their chief's example and command, 120

77. Stand off, ye warriors] This action, which proves the great courage of Polynices, has been censured in Achilles, as a mark of the utmost rashness and fool-hardiness; yet it is remarkable, that Virgil and Milton, as well as our author, have imitated it from Homer,

At pius neas dextram tendebat inermem
Nudato capite, atque suos clamore vocabat.
Quo ruitis? quæve ista repens discordia surgit!
O cohibete iras: ictum jam fœdus, et omnes
Compositæ leges,, mihi jus concurrere soli;
Me sinite atque auferte metus.-→→→→→→
Eneid, L. 12.

115. Such o'er th' unfinish'd] The hint of this beautiful simile was taken from one in the 13th book of Homer's Iliad :

̓Αλλ' ὡς τ ̓ ἐν νειῶ βόε οἴνοπε τσηκτὸν ἄροτρον
Ἴσον θυμὸν ἔχοντε τιτάνετον, ἀμφὶ δ' ἄρα σφιν
Πρυμνοῖσιν κεράεσσι πολὺς ἀνακηκίει ίδρώς,
Πῶ μὲν τε ζυγὸν οἷον εύξουν ἄμφις ἐέργει

But wheresoe'er he turns the corse he views,
And standing or advancing, still pursues
That for his object, nor to aim a blow,
Desists to watch the motions of the foe.
Not thus, with all a mother's fury stung,
The lowing heifer guards her first-born young, -

121. Whose prowess Mars might not despise] This distinction of skill and prowess cannēt sppear snperfluous to any oue who considers, that valour tempered with prudence was the characteristical property of Pallas, and that mere brutal courage only was attributed to Mars.

125. As some high cliff] Virgil and TassI
haye two comparisons upon this subject.
Ille, velut pelagi rupes immota, resistit:
Ut pelagi rupes, magno veniente fragore,
Quæ sese multis circum latrantibus undis,
Mole tenet: scopuli nequicquam et spumea circum
Saxa fremunt, laterique illisa refunditur alga.
Æn. 7. v. 556.

Ma come alle procelle esposto monte,
Che percosso dai fiutti al mar sovraste,
Sostien firme in se stesso i tuoni, e l'onte
Del ciel irato, e i venti, e l'onde vaste :

The repetition of Pelagi rupes adds greatly to the
merit of Virgil's: Tasso's is too confined to ad-
mit of any heightening circumstances, and cu
author's is spoiled by that unlucky pathos at the
close.

157. Not thus, with all a mother's] This d scription of the contest for the body of Tydens is imitated from that over the body of Patradus in the 17th book of the Iliad, though diversified

Hjejlrw xard Wana, téμvas dé te Téhoov åçágns. V. 706. with many additional circumstances: and this

When the gaunt wolfherstraw-built fortressstorms; | But the fell fury, mindful of her lord,

A circle, wheeling, with her horns she forms, 160
And dauntless foams, not mindful of her sex,
With more than feniale rage the war expects.
At length the cloud of flying javelins o'er,
The weapons to their owners they restore.
First Sicyonian Alcon lent his aid,

elegant comparison is paraphrased from one in Whether on foot or horse he took his way. the beginning of the above-mentioned book:

270

Promiscuous here the brave and tim❜rous stood,
Deeming their hands ennobled with his blood, 260
And to their wives and tender infants show
The weapons, stain'd with carnage of the foe.
Thus when, with force combin'd, the Lybian swains
Have quash'd the stern dispeopler of the plains,
Thro' dread of whom each night the folds were barr'd,
And the sad shepherds form'd a watchful guard,
The fields exult, with shouts the hinds arise,
They pluck his mane, and gaze with wond'ring eyes;
And, while his hideous yawn and bulk engage
Their notice, call to mind his living rage,
Whether upon some rustic's wall he's view'd,
Or decks an ancient daughter of the wood.
But fierce Hippomedon returns again,
Aud, though he clearly sees, he fights in vain,
For the rap'd body lends his useless aid,
And brandishes aloft his fatal blade.
Scarce he selects his comrades from his foes,
Whilst, unresisted, through the war he goes.
But now the ground, with slipp'ry slaughter dy'd,
Arms, dying warriors, cars without a guide, 280
And his left thigh, whose wound he would not own,
Or which in time of conflict was unknown,
Retard the chace, and oft his trembling knees
Refuse their aid.-Hopleus at length he sees,
The squire and comrade of th' Ætolian chief:
Who, bath'd in sorrow, and entranc'd with grief,
On his great master's gen'rous courser sate.
The steed unknowing this last act of fate,
Neighs and curvets (his graceful neck depress'd)
And only grieves at th' interval of rest.
Embolden'd now against th' inferior band
Of infantry, sad Hopleus takes in hand
The reins, and strokes the steed that will not own
Another lord, and bear a load unknown.
Then thus accosts him :-" Why, unhappy steed,
Dost thou desert me at my greatest need,
And, mindless of command, refuse to bear?
No longer regal trappings shalt thou wear,

290

Nor, pamper'd on Ætolia's verdant plain,
In the clear current bathe thy flowing mane. 300
For what remains, avenge thy master's shade,
At least pursue them; nor, a captive made,
Endure the burden of a foe abhorr'd,
Nor after Tydeus take a foreign lord.”
The horse, as sensible of his discourse,
Springs forth resistless as the lightning's force,
Transports him like a torrent o'er the plains,
Nor scorns his equal guidance of the reins.
The centaur thus from Ossa's piny brow
Descends impetuous to the vales below,
Half man, half beast; where'er his course he takes,
The hill, the dale, the grove, the forest shakes.
Collected in one herd, the Theban race
Retires, while headlong he pursues the chase,
And mows them down, ere scarce they feel the
wound;

310

920

The headless trunks fall backward on the ground.
The vanquish'd warriors now in prospect reach
Their native stream, and press to gain the beach;
Above his wonted swell Ismenos rose,
A certain signal of impending woes.
Here from the labours of the longsome way
Respiring they indulge a short delay.
The waves, astonish'd at th' uncouth alarms,
Roll back, and glitter with the blaze of arms,
They plung'd with half the bank into the tide,
While clouds of dust conceal'd the farther side.
He too leaps fearless from the broken steep,
Accoutred as he was, and tempts the deep,
Tenacious of the reins, while heap'd on high,
The hostile billows thick before him fly.
Beside a poplar, that o'erhangs the flood,
On the green turf his darts conspicuous stood.

309. The centaur] This comparison is imitated from Virgil, Eneid 7.

Ceu duo nubigenæ cùm vertice montis ab alto
Descendunt centauri, Omolen, Othrynque nivalem
Linquentes cursu rapido: dat euntibus ingens
Sylva locum, et magno cedunt virgulta fragore,

sublime imagination (says the editor of Pitt's version) are desired to consider this simile: all the circumstances of it are painted with Homeric spirit and magnificence, particularly,

263. Thus when, &c.] This comparison is a fine illustration of what the poet has heretofore said of this hero; and here it may not be mal-a-Those who think Virgil had not a strong and propos to remark, that our author, with a truly becoming spirit, deigns very rarely to tread in the path of his predecessors, and adopt in his works the allusions of others. This the reader must have observed, as I have always confronted him with the original, whenever he does it. are his imitations, like those of Virgil from Homer, a servile copy: a hint is sufficient to him; he only takes the outlines of a picture, and fills them up with masterly traits of his own fancy, which give it an air of originality, and do not less honour to his genius than judgment.

Nor

295. Why, unhappy steed] There is something extremely pathetic in this address, and Statius is not singular in making his heroes accost their horses. Hector, in the 8th book of the Iliad, and Achilles in the 19th, makes a formal speech to these animals. The harangue of Mezentius to his courser in the 10th book of the Eneid is in some respects like this before us.

Aut hodie victor spolia illa cruenta
Et caput Æneæ referes, Lausique dolorum
Utor eris mecum; aut, aperit si nulla viam vis,
Occumbes pariter, neque enim, fortissime, credo
Jussa aliena pati, et dominos diguabere Teucros.

V. 862.

Dat euntibus ingens Sylva locum, et magno cedunt virgulta fragore. To have a just idea of the thing described, says Burmannus, we are to suppose these centaurs half horse and half man, but resembling the horse in the fore-part, and so bearing down with their breast all that stood in their way. Statius Theb. 9. 220. imitates our author in a manner rather bold than just.-Thus far Mr. Warton, from

whose sentence in matters of taste there lies to

appeal. However, I wish he had specified in what our author has not imitated this comparison justly.

325. They plung'd with half the bank into] This battle in the river Ismenos is copied from that of Homer in the 21st Iliad; and I doubt not, but, after an attentive comparison, the reader will find it diversified with equally striking catcumstances, and adorned with all that variety of imagery, which has been so much admired in the original.

420

To the dire walls of Thebes départ alone,-
To thy sad parents henceforth better known.
"Tis well, ye gods, that with her bloody hand
Bellona chang'd the combat from the land
To this same river, since the timid throng
Is by their own Ismenos dragg'd along.
Nor Tydeus' shade shall wail around your fire,
Debarr'd of what his country's rites require,
But earth resolve him to his pristine state;
While you shall prove a far more rig'rous fate,
The fishes' prey." Such taunts he deals around,
And with harsh words embitters ev'ry wound.
Now at the foe the floating darts he throws,
Then with his falchion aims wide slaught'ring
blows."

430

1

Aneid 10.

Stant gemini fratres, fecundæ gloria matris,"
Quos eadem variis genaerunt viscera fatis:
Discrevit mors sæva viros: unumque relictum
Agnorant miseri, sublato errore, parentes..
Pharsalia lib. 3.
447. Ye learned nine] The poet's stopping
abruptly in his relation, and breaking out in this
solemn address to the Muses, alarms the reader,
and greatly raises his attention: but as I have
spoken so openly and so copiously of the nature
and reason of these extraordinary invocations, I
shall take no farther notice of them. See the
note on the 41st and 935th verses of the 4th
book.

153. Crenus] The motive of Ismenos's rage against Hippomedon was the same as that of Xanthus's against Achilles: the former slew Crenaus, and the latter Asteropæus, who were both favourites of the two river gods abovementioned.

451

470

With youthful spirits flush'd, and vig'rous blood,
Rejoic'd to war in his maternal flood.
The bank his cradle, there he first drew breath,
And there, the bank his grave, he found his death,
Presuming, that the furies here employ
Their arts in vain, with more than wonted joy,
He passes now the flatt'ring river 'er,
And fords alternately from shore to shore.
If down, or cross the stream he takes his way,
The waves assist him; nor his progress stay,
When obvious to the driving tide he goes;
But back with him th' obsequious current flows.
Not with more care the circling deeps defeud
The body of their Anthedonian friend:
Thus Triton labours to compose the main,
When to his mother's kind einbrace again
Palamon hastes, and as he moves along,
Strikes the slow dolphin with his sounding thong.
Array'd in golden panoply, he fought,
The Theban story on his target wrought,'
Here (while no fears disturb her tender breast)
Fair to the view the Tyrian damsel press'd
The bull's white back: no more her fingers held
His beauteous horns; in curling billows rotf'd,
The sportive sca her feet, exülting, laves,
You'd think the lover swims and cuts the waves.
The water firms our faith, nor does the stream
Of colour diff'rent from main ocean seem.
Now at Hippomedon he boldly aims
His darts, and with exulting voice exclaims:
"No poisons of Lernæan rankness stain
Our riv'lets, nor Herculean serpents drain.
This violated stream (as thou shalt prove)
Is doubly sacred to the pow'rs above.” ***
Without reply the chief against him goes,
Whilst in his offspring's aid the river rose,
And check'd his hand, which yet discharg'd a

wound;

479

T

The piercing iance life's warm recesses found.
The daring mischief terrified the flood,
And streams of grief distill'd from either wood;
Esch hollow bank with deeper murmurs rung,
While the last sound, that linger'd on his tongut,
Was "Mother, mother."Here he ceas'd: the

rest