I will accept." The monarch to his cheek
A shew of laughter calls; awhile is mute;
Then, breaking silence, to Mardonius points.
"They shall receive th' atonement they deserve
From him: thou hear'st, Mardonius." Then, with
looks
Of scorn and menace: "Yes," the Spartan said,
"Thee I accept my victim to appease
Leonidas;" disdainful then his foot
He turns away, nor fears th' unnumber'd guard.
Meantime the royal progeny is brought
To Artemisia; urgent time requires,
Their father's fears the embarkation press
For Ephesus that night. Them down the beach
Mardonius follows, and the Carian queen
In secret thus addresses: "Didst thou mark
That Spartan's threat'ning words and haughty mien?
An oracle suggested this demand,
Strange and mysterious. On the martial field
Him I can single from Laconian ranks,
Audacious challenger! but something more
Behind the veil of Destiny may lurk
Unseen by me." "Mardonius," she replied;
Look only where no mystery can lurk,
On ev'ry manly duty; nothing dark
O'ershades the track of Virtue; plain her path;
But Superstition chosen for a guide,
Misleads the best and wisest.
Think no more
Of this, an object like that passing cloud
Before the Moon, who shortly will unfold
Her wonted brightness. Prudent thy design
To gain th' Athenians; to that noble race
Be large in proffers, in performance true;
Purchase but their neutrality, thy sword
Will, in despite of oracles, reduce
The rest of Greece." This utter'd, she embarks.
He seeks his tent, and finds Masistius there,
Whose honour, mindful of a promise pledg'd,
Requests protection for Melissa's fane.
Him in his arms the son of Gobrias clasp'd,
Thus fervent answ'ring: "Xerxes will renew
His rapid march to morrow; pow'r supreme
He leaves with me, which instant shall be urg'd
To render firm the promise of my friend.
Now lend thy counsel on the copious roll
Of Asia's host; assist me to select
Arty myriads giv'n to my command."
I
sat till day-spring; then the camp is
mov'd;
Inen Amarantha, from her husband's tent
Ascends a car, and traverses the vale,
By fluent crystal of Spercheos lav'd,
To join Sandauce. On her way she meets
Artuchus, guardian of the Persian fair;
The satrap gazes, Courtesy entranc'd
Forgets awhile her function. Thus, at length,
He greets the queen: " Fair stranger, who dost rise
A second day-spring to th' astonish'd eye,
Accept my service; whither tends thy course?
Whom dost thou seek? and gracious tell thy name."
In rosy blushes, like Aurora still,
She graceful thus: "Of Macedonia's king
I am th' espous'd; my patroness I seek,
Sandauce, issue of th' imperial house."
Artachus answer'd: "Yesternoon beheld
Her languid steps approach this vale of woe.
Thou, beauteous princess, to Sandauce known,
Thou must have heard of Ariana's fate;
Sandauce now is mourning at her tomb,
A grave preparing for Autarctus slain.
Mayst thou suspend despair! Not distant flows
The Fount of Sorrow, so we styl'd the place,
Frequented oft by Ariana's grief;
There oft her head disconsolate she hung
To feed incessant anguish, ne'er disclos'd
Unless in sighing whispers to the stream;
Her last abode is there. The myrtles shed
Their odours round, the virgin roses bloom;
I there have caus'd a monument to rise,
That passing strangers may her name revere,
And weep her fortune; from her early grave
May learn, how Heav'n is jealous of its boons,
Not long to flourish, where they most excel.
A marble mansion new erected nigh
Her faithful slaves inhabit; who attune
To thrilling lutes a daily fun'ral song."
He leads, he stops. On gently-moving air
Sweet measures glide; this melancholy dirge,
To melting chords, by sorrow touch'd, is heard.
"Cropp'd is the rose of beauty in her bud,
Bright virtue's purest mansion is defac'd;
Like Mithra's beams her silken tresses shone
In lustre gentle as a vernal morn;
Her eye reveal'd the beauties of her mind;
The slave, the captive, in her light rejoic'd.
"Lament, ye daughters of Choaspes, wail, Ye Cissian maids, your paragon is lost!
"Once like the fresh-blown lily in the vale, In Susa fair, in radiancy of bloom
Like summer glowing, till consuming love
Deform'd her graces; then her hue she chang'd
To lilies pining in decay, but kept
The smile of kindness on her wasted cheek.
"Lament, ye daughters of Choaspes, wail,
Ye Cissian maids, your paragon is lost!
"O ray of wisdom, eye of virtue, form'd
To spread superior light, the dazzling brand
Of love malign obscur'd thy eagle sight;
Thy vital flames are vanish'd, ours remain,
As lamps to endless mourning in thy tomb,
Till we rejoin thee in a land of bliss.
"Lament, ye daughters of Choaspes, wail, Ye Cissian maids, your paragon is lost!"
The song concludes. Sandauce from a bank Of turf uprises, resting on her slaves; A pallid visage, and a fainting step, She brings before the sepulchre, and spake: "O Ariana! listen from thy tomb, To me in woe thy sister, as in blood! By diff'rent fortunes both were doom'd to waste An early bloom in sorrow; O admit Autarctus first a neighbour to thy clay, Me next, who feel my vital thread unwind. O Heav'n! my humble spirit would subinit To thy afflicting hand-but ev'ry fount Of health is dry'd; my frame enfeebled sinks Beneath its trial. When the inhuman priest Condemn'd my children to his cruel knife, The freezing sheers of Fate that moment cut My heartstrings; never have they heal'd again; Decay'd and wither'd in the flower of life, My strength deserts my patience: tender friends Provide another grave."-" For whoin?" bursts
Emathia's queen, and threw her clasping arms
Around the princess; whose discolour'd hue
In warm affection flushes at the sight
Of Amarantha, as a languid rose,
Shrunk by the rigour of nocturnal frosts,
Awhile reviving at the tepid rays
Of wintry Phoebus, glows." For me," she sigh'd, | Of ruddy fruitage; now the loaden vine
"For me, that bed of endless rest is made.
Com'st thou, neglectful of thy nuptial bliss,
To poor Sandauce's burial! soon the hour,
When of the Sun these sickly eyes must take
Their last farewell, may call thy friendly hand
To close their curtains in eternal night!"
These words the Grecian fair, in sorrow try'd,
In constancy unshaken, swift return'd:
"Thou shalt not die, avoid this mournful spot,
Thou hast accomplish'd all thy duty here;
Let other duties, wak'ning in thy breast,
Strive with despair; transported in my arms,
To Alexander's capital resort.
Thou shalt not die; returning health, allur'd
By Amarantha's love and tender care,
Again shall bless her patroness, renew
Her youth in bloom, in vigour, ne'er to leave
Her infants doubly orphans." At their name
The princess faints, too sensitive a plant,
Which on the lightest touch contracts the leaves,
And seems to wither in the fold of death.
Her lovely weight Artuchus to his tent
Conveys; a litter gentle, as it moves,
Receives her soon; her children by her side,
In Macedonian chariots are dispos'd,
Her female slaves and eunuchs.
Emathia's prince to guard his matchless bride;
In arms complete, resembling Mars, he rules
The fiery courser.
Artamanes swift
This royal mandate to Artuchus bears:
"The king, O satrap, hath begun his march;
Delay not thine with all thy precious charge."
To Artamanes then, the Grecian queen :
"Let me request thee in Sandauce's name
To visit yonder fount, of sorrow call'd,
There see th' unfinish'd obsequies perform'd,
To great Antarctus due. Her languid head
With me awhile at Ega will repose,
My consort's royal seat; and, gentle youth,
If justice whisper to thy feeling heart,
That well I sav'd my innocence and fame,
Thou wilt be welcome to the Ægæan hall."
This said, she mounts her chariot; not unpleas'd,
He to accomplish her command proceeds.
Artuchus now conducts the female train,
Unhappy victims of ambition! These,
A prey to famine, to congealing blasts
From cold Olympus, from Bisaltic hills,
And Rhodope, snow-vested, were condemn'd,
With that innumerable host in flight
Unform'd, unfurnish'd, scatter'd, to partake
Of miseries surpassing Nature's help.
On Earth's unwholsome lap their tender limbs
To couch, to feed on grass, on bitter leaves,
On noisome bark of trees, and swell the scene
Between Spercheos and the distant shores
Of Hellespontine Sestos: real scene
Of death, beyond the massacre denounc'd
By that stern angel in the prophet's dream,
When were assembled ev'ry fowl of prey
From all the regions of the peopled air,
At Heavn's dread call, to banquet on the flesh
Of princes, captains, and of mighty men.
Now is the season, when Vertumnus leads
Pomona's glowing charms through ripen'd groves
Invites the gath'ring hand, which treasures joy
For hoary Winter in his turn to smile.
An eastern course before autumnal gales
To Ephesus the Carian gallies bend;
While Medon coasts by Locris, and deplores
Her state of thraldom. Thrice Aurora shows
Her placid face; devourer of mankind,
The
sea, curls lightly in fallacious calms;
To Medon then the wary master thus:
"My chief, the dang'rous equinox is near,
Whose stormy breath each prudent sailor shuns,
Secure in harbour; turbulent these straits
Between Euboea and the Locrian shore;
Fate lurks in eddies, threatens from the rocks;
The continent is hostile; we must stretch
Across the passage to Eubœa's isle,
There wait in safety till the season rude
Its wonted violence hath spent." The chief
Replies: "An island, Atalanté nam'd,
Possess'd by Locrians, rises in thy view;
There first thy shelter seek; perhaps the foe
Hath left that fragment of my native state
Yet undestroy'd." Th' obedient rodder guides,
The oars impel the well-directed keel
Safe through an inlet op'ning to a cove
Fenc'd round by rising land. At once the sight,
Caught by a lucid aperture of rock,
Strays up the island; whence a living stream,
Profuse and swift beneath a native arch,
Repels encumb'ring sands. A slender skiff,
Lanch'd from the ship, pervades the sounding vault;
With his companions Medon bounds ashore,
Addressing Timon: "Delphian guest, these steps,
Rude hewn, attain the summit of this rock;
Thence o'er the island may our wary ken,
By some sure sign, discover if we tread
A friendly soil, or hostile." They ascend.
The topmost peak was chisell'd to display
Marine Palamon, colossean form,
In art not specious. Melicertes once,
Him Ino, flying from th' infuriate sword
Of Athamas her husband, down a cliff,
Distracted mother with herself immers'd
In ocean's salt-abyss. Their mortal state
Neptunian pity to immortal chang'd;
From Ino she became Leucothea, chief
Among the nymphs of Tethys; he that god
Benign, presiding o'er the tranquil port,
Palæmon, yielding refuge to the toils
Of mariners sea-worn. One mighty palm
Lean'd on a rudder, high the other held
A globe of light, far shooting through the dark,
In rays auspicious to nocturnal keels,
Which plough the vex'd Euripus.
Her cap of verdure Atalanté spreads,
Small as a region, as a pasture large,
In gentle hollows vary'd, gentle swells,
All intersected by unnumber'd tufts
Of trees fruit-laden. Bord'ring on the straits,
Rich Locris, wide Boeotia, lift their woods,
Their hills by Ceres lov'd, and cities fam'd;
Here Opus, there Tanagra; Delium shows
Her proud Phœbean edifice, her port
Capacious Aulis, wheuce a thousand barks
With Agamemnon sail'd; a lengthen'd range
Euboea's rival opulence oppos'd,
Queen of that frith; superb the structures rise
Of Oreus, Chalcis, and the ruins vast
Of sad Eretria, by Darius crush'd.
The Locrian chief salutes the figur'd god :
"Still dost thou stand, Palæmon, to proclaim
Oilean hospitality of old,
Which carv'd thee here conspicuous, to befriend
The sailor night-perplex'd? Thou only sign
Left of Oïlean greatness! wrapp'd in woe
Is that distinguish'd house! barbarians fill
Her inmost chambers! O propitious god!
If yet some remnant of the Locrian state
Thou dost protect on Atalanté's shore,
Before I leave her shall thy image smoke
With fattest victims!" Timon quick subjoins:
"I see no hostile traces; numerous hinds
Along the meadows tend their flocks and herds;
Let us, descending, and the crested helm,
The spear, and shield, committing to our train,
In peaceful guise salute a peaceful land.”
They hear, approving; lightly back they speed;
Disarm'd, they follow an inviting path,
Which cuts a shelving green. In sportive laugh,
Before the threshold of a dwelling nigh,
Appear young children; quickning then his pace,
"O Haliartus," Medon cries, "I see
My brother's offspring!" They their uncle knew,
Around him flock'd, announcing his approach
In screams of joy: their sire, Leonteus, came.
As Leda's mortal son in Pluto's vale
Receiv'd his brother Pollux, who, from Jove
Deriv'd, immortal, left the realms of day,
And half his own divinity resign'd,
His dear-lov'd Castor to redeem from death;
So rush'd Leonteus into Medon's arms,
Thus utt'ring loud his transport: "Dost thou come
To me and these a saviour! When that cloud
Of dire invasion overcast our land,
For sev'n defenceless infants what remain'd?
What for a tender inother? Instant flight
Preserv'd us; still we unmolested breathe
In Atalanté; others like ourselves
Resorted hither; barren winter soon
Will blast the scanty produce of this isle,
Pale famine waste our numbers; or, by want
Compell'd, this precious remnant of thy friends,
These rising pillars of th' Oïlean house
Must yield to Xerxes-but the gods have sent
In thee a guardian."-" Summon all our friends,"
Elated Medon answers; "ev'ry want
Shall be supply'd, their valour in return
Is all I claim." Meantime, like watchful bees
To guard th' invaded hive, from ev'ry part
The islanders assemble; but the name
Of Medon, once divulg'd, suppresses fear,
And wond'ring gladness to his presence brings
Their numbers. He, rememb'ring such a scene
Late in Calauria, where afflicted throngs
Around his righteous friend of Athens press'd;
Now in that tender circumstance himself
Among his Locrians, conscious too of means
To mitigate their suff'rings, melts in tears
Of joy. "O countrymen belov'd!" he cries,
"I now applaud my forecast, which secur'd
The whole Oilean treasures; safe they lie
At Lacedæmon, whence expect relief
In full abundance on your wants to flow.
Amid his country's ruins Medon still
May bless the gods; by your auspicious aid,
Beyond my hopes discover'd, I may bring
No feeble standard to the Grecian camp,
When Athens, now triumphant o'er the waves,
With her deep phalanx in the field completes
VOL. XVII.
The overthrow of Asia, and restores
Dejected Locris." So to Israel's sons,
Their little ones and wives, by deathful thirst
Amid the parching wilderness oppress'd,
Their legislator, with his lifted rod,
Consoling spake, who, Heav'n entrusted, knew
One stroke would open watry veins of rock,
And preservation from a flinty bed
Draw copious down. "Leonteus, lead the way,"
Resum'd his brother: "vers'd in arms, my youth,
My prime, are strangers to the nuptial tie;
Yet, in thy bliss delighting, I would greet
A sister, auth'ress of this blooming troop."
With all the clust'ring children at his side
He pass'd the threshold, and their mother hail'd.
Now o'er their heads the equinoctial gusts
Begin to chase the clouds; by tempests torn,
The hoarse Euripus sends a distant sound.
Twelve days are spent in sweet domestic joy;
Serenity returns. The master warns;
Departing Medon reascends the bark,
Whose rudder stems the celebrated frith,
Where twice sev'n times the Sun and stars behold
Reciprocating floods. Three days are pass'd
When Sunium, Attic promontory, shades
The resting sail; Belbina thence they seek
By morn's new glance, and reach at dewy eve.
Athenian too Belbina yields a port
To night-o'ertaken sailors in their course
Between Cecropia and Trozene's walls.
A squadron there is moor'd; Cleander there,
Now ev'ry public duty well discharg'd
Dismiss'd him glorious to his native roof,
Was disembark'd. Contemplating in thought
His Ariphilia, for the day's return
He languish'd; ev'ry Nereid he invok'd
To speed his keel. Him Medon, landing, greets;
To whom Cleander: "On Caluria first
We interchang'd embraces; now accept
A salutation doubly warm, O chief!
By Aristides priz'd, his second bold
In high exploits, which signalize an isle
Obscure before, Psyttalia; be my guest
This night at least." He said; they pass'd aboard
With Haliartus and the Delphian seer.
A gen'rous meal concluded. Medon spake :
"Trazenian chief, now give the mind repast;
I have been absent long; when first the flight
Of Asia's host and shatter'd fleet was known,
From Salamis I hoisted sail. To hear
Of Aristides and the laurell'd son
Of Neocles, to hear of all the brave,
Whose high achievements consecrate that day,
From thy narration would delight my soul." ·
Cleander then began: "To council call'd
By Eurybiades, the leading Greeks
Awhile debated, if their fleet combin'd
Should sail to break the Hellespontine bridge?
This he oppos'd; I readily had join'd
Th' Athenian people, eager by themselves
Without auxiliar Grecians, to pursue
The arrogant invader; but the tribes,
In form assembled, with dissuasive words
Themistocles thus cool'd. I oft have seen,
Have oftner heard, that vanquish'd men, constrain'd
By desperation, have their loss repair'd
In fight renew'd. Repelling such a cloud
Of enemies from Greece, contented rest;
The pow'r of gods and heroes, not our own,
Achiev'd the deed; pursue not those who fly.
Resort to Athens; in their old abodes
Replace your women, such obsequious wives,
Such daughters; reinstate your native walls,
Rebuild your ruin'd mansions; sow your fields,
Prevent a dearth; by early spring unfurl
Your active sails, then shake the eastern shores.'
He last propos'd, that exiles be recall'd.
"Loud acclamations rose; the honour'd name Of Aristides thunder'd on the beach."
"O wise Athenians!" Medon cordial here: "O happy man, whose happiness is plac'd In virtuous actions! happiest now a scope Is giv'n unbounded to thy hand and heart! Proceed Cleander." He his tale renews:
"Th' Athenians lanch their gallies, all embark
With Aristides, chosen to that charge.
I set my ready canvass to perform
The last kind office, from Calauria's isle
And Trozen's walls to waft their wives and race,
Left in our trust. Meantime the diffrent chiefs
Meet on the isthmus, summon'd to decide
Who best had serv'd the public, who might claim
The highest honours. Every leader names
Himself the first, but all concurrent own
Themistocles the second. Envy still
Prevails; without decision they disperse,
Each to his home. Themistocles, incens'd,
In eager quest of honours justly due,
Withheld unjustly, not to Athens bends
His hast'ning step, but Sparta."-Medon here:
"Not so would Aristides-but forgive
My interrupting voice." The youth pursues:
"In Athens him I join'd, a people found,
Whom Fortune never by her frown depress'd,
Nor satisfied with favour. Active all,
Laborious, cheerful, they persist in toil,
To heave the hills of ruin from their streets,
Without repining at their present loss,
Intent on future greatness, to be rais'd
On persevering fortitude: the word
Of Aristides guides. Amidst a scene
Of desolation, decency provides
The fan'ral pomp for those illustrious slain
At Salamis; th' insculptur❜d tomb I saw
Preparing; they already have ordain'd
A distant day to solemnize the rites;
The mouth of Aristides they decree
To celebrate the valiant, who have died
For Athens. While Themistocles accepts
A foreign praise in Sparta, olive crowns,
A car selected from the public store,
A guard, three hundred citizens high-rank'd,
Him through their tracts are chosen to attend,
Excess of rev'rence, by that rigid state
Ne'er shown before. To small Træzene's walls
To morrow I return with less renown,
With less desert, perhaps to purer bliss.
My Ariphilia calls her soldier home
To give her nuptial hand. My welcome guest
You I invite; the season rude of Mars
Is clos'd; new combats will the spring supply;
Th' autumnal remnant, winter hov'ring near,
Let us possess in peace." Then Timon spake :
"Young chief, I praise thee; be a husband soon,
Be soon a parent; thou wilt bear thy shield
With constancy redoubled. If defence
Of our forefathers, sleeping in their tombs,
So oft unsheaths our swords, more strongly sure
Th' endearing, living objects of our love
Must animate the gen'rous, good, and brave.”
"I am unworthy of that praise," in smiles Subjoins the Locrian; "but thou know'st, my friend,
I have a brother, of a copious stream
The source, he, call'd to battle, shall maintain
Oïlean fame. Cleander, I am bound
To Lacedæmon; treasure there I left,
Which, well exchang'd for Nature's foodful gifts,
I would transport to Atalanté's shore,
Seat of that brother, who, Leonteus nam'd,
With brave companions there in refuge lies,
A future aid to Greece." A list'ning ear
Cleander yields, while Medon's lips unwind
The varied series of events befall'n
Himself and Timon, Amarantha fair,
The Carian queen, and Melibœus chang'd
To Haliartus. "By th' immortal gods
We will not sep'rate," fervent cries the youth s
"My Ariphilia, who is wise and good,
Will entertain society like yours,
As Æthiopia, in Mæonian song,
Receives to pure and hospitable roofs
Her visitants from Heav'n. Let youth advise,
Not inexperienc'd, but o'er land and sea
To early action train'd; retaining all
Your narrative heart-piercing, I perceive
Your wants, and feel impatience to befriend;
My lightest keel to Salamis shall bear
Thy orders, Timon, for the Delphian barks,
There left behind you, in Træzene's port
To join you straight." His counsel they accept.
The Moon is rising, Salamis not far;
The will of Timon to his Delphian train
Is swiftly borne. The squadron next proceeds,
Passing Træzene by, whose gen'rous chief
Accompanies to shore his Locrian guest
At Cynosura. "Spartan is this port,"
He said; "with fifty followers speed thy way;
Commit no treasure to the faithless winds;
By land return to find thy ready barks,
Well-fill'd from Trazen's stores." They part; be
To joyful welcome on his native shores.
When now, unveiling slowly, as she rolls, Her brother's light the Moon reflected full, Auspicious period for connubial rites, From Lacedæmon hast'ning, Medon gains Trazene's ramparts; him Cleander chose His paranymph to lead the bridal steps Of Ariphilia. To Calauria's verge He pass'd; beneath a nuptial chaplet gay He wore his crisped hair; of purest white A tunic wrapp'd his sinewy chest and loins; A glowing mantle, new in Tyrian dye, Fell down his shoulders. Up the shelving lawn The high Neptunian structure he attains, Where with her parents Ariphilia waits Attir'd in roses like her hue, herself As Flora fair, or Venus at her birth, When from the ocean with unrifl'd charms The virgin goddess sprung. Yet, far unlike A maid sequester'd from the public eye, She, early train'd in dignity and state, In sanctity of manners to attract A nation's rev'rence, to the advancing chief In sweet composure unreluctant yields Her bridal hand, who down the vaulted isle, Where Echo joins the hymeneal song, Conducts the fair; before the costly shrine, Perfum'd with incense, and with garlands deck'd, Presents her charms, and thus in manly pray`r:
"My patron god, from Salamis I come,
One of thy naval sons, erecting there
Thy recent trophies; let me hence convey
With thy concurrent smile this precious prize,
Thy sacerdotal virgin. I return
To thee a pious votary, to her
A constant lover; on thy servants pour Thy nuptial blessing. Yet, earth-shaking god, Not bound in sloth thy warrior shall repose, Nor, languishing obscure in sweetest bliss, Desert thy glory. Soon as wintry storms Thy nod controls, and vernal breezes court The unfurling canvass, my unweary'd helm Shall cleave thy floods, till each barbarian coast Acknowledge thy supremacy, and bow To Grecian Neptune." Credulous, the train, Surrounding, in religious rapture see The colossean image of their god Smile on their hero, meriting the smiles Of deities and mortals. Fortune adds Her casual favour; on Cleander's mast To perch, a pair of turtle doves she sends From Neptune's temple. To his vessel, crown'd With Hymen's wreaths, bestrewn with herbs and
Exhaling fragrance, down the slope he guides
His Ariphilia, priestess now no more.
So Hermes, guardian of the Graces, leads
Their chief, Aglaia, o'er th' Olympian hall,
Warn'd by the Muses, in preluding strains,
The dance on Heav'n's bright pavement to begin,
And charm the festive gods. The flood repass'd,
They, as Trazenian institutes require,
The fane of young Hippolytus approach,
That victim pure to chastity, who left
Old Theseus childless. From the youthful heads
Of both their hair is sever'd, on his shrine
Their maiden off'ring laid. They next ascend
An awful structure, sacred to the Fates,
There grateful own that goodness which decreed
Their happy union. To the Graces last
Their vows are paid, divinities benign,
Whom Ariphilia fervent thus invokes:
"O goddesses, who all its sweetness shed
On human life! whate'er is beauteous here,
Illustrious, happy, to your favour owes
Its whole endearment; wanting you, our deeds
Are cold and joyless. In my husband's eye
Preserve me lovely, not in form alone,
But that supreme of graces in my sex,
Complacency of love." She pray'd; her look
Reveal'd, that Heav'n would ratify her pray'r.
Now in her father's dwelling they remain
Till dusky ev'ning. On a bridal car,
Constructed rich, the paranymph then seats
The blooming fair; one side Cleander fills,
The other Medon, she between them rides,
By torches clear preceded. Lively sounds
The ceremonial music; soon they reach
The bridegroom's mansion; there a feast receives
Unnumber'd friends; the nuptial dance and song
Are now concluded. To her fragrant couch
A joyful mother lights the blushing bride;
Cleander follows; in the chamber shut,
He leaves the guests exulting to revive
Their song to Hymen, and renew the dance.
Three days succeeding were to gymnic feats
Devoted; Medon's warlike spear obtains
A second chaplet; Haliartus won
The wrestler's prize; to hurl the massy disk
None match'd the skill of Timon, still robust,
Though rev'rend threads of silver had begun
To streak his locks of sable. Southern gales
Now call on Medon's laden fleet to sail,
Ere Winter frowns. With Timon at his side,
And Haliartus, in this gentle phrase
His noble host and hostess fair he greets:
"May ev'ry joy kind wishes can devise, Or language utter, hospitable pair, Be yours for ever! may a num'rous race In virtue grow by your parental care!— With sev'n dear pledges of connubial love I left a brother, watching my return In Atalanté, small, exhausted isle, Which needs my instant succour. Gen'rous friend, To thee I trust my treasure, thou, discharge The claim of Trozen for th' abundant stores Which load our vessels; for a time farewell, The vernal Sun will see our love renew'd, And swords combin'd against Mardonius bold." He said: the lovely Ariphilia weeps; Cleander sighs, but speeds his parting guests.
TH' unloos'd anchors to the waves resign
The Delphian keels, while Auster's friendly breath,
Their burden light'uing, soon to Sunium shows
The spreading sails. Two vessels, riding there,
Receive embarking warriors. On the beach
Looks Medon stedfast: "By almighty Jove,"
He cries aloud, "Themistocles I see !
O Haliartus, O my holy friend,
We must not leave unvisited a shore
Which holds that living trophy to our view,
The victor-chief at Salamis." The skiff
Is lanch'd; they land. Themistocles begins
The salutation: "Hail! Oïleus' son,
Thou rev'rend host of Athens, Timon, hail!
Your unexpected presence here excites
A pleasing wonder. Whither do ye steer
These well-remember'd vessels, which convey'd
Thee, first of Locrians, with our Attic bard,
To Salamis from Delphi? In that course
Was Timon captive made, whom, freed at last,
My joyful arms embrace." The Locrian here:
"To Atalanté, in Euboean straits,
We steer; another of Oilean race,
Through bounteous Heav'n, a refuge there obtains,
My brother, good Leonteus, with a band
Of gallant Locrians, ready at my call
To lift their bucklers in defence of Greece.
But why, remote from Athens, on the strand
Of naked Sunium, do I see the son
Of Neocles, so recently by me
At Sparta left?" Themistocles replies:
"Forbear inquiry now, O virtuous branch
Of that ennobled stock, th' Oïlean house!
If e'er my conduct merited thy praise,
If thou believ'st me studious of the fame
Which follows manly deeds, forbear to doubt
Th' unwearied further efforts of my limbs,
My heart, my talents: secresy matures,
Time brings the labour of the mind to birth.
Were those first steps reveal'd, which restless
Constructing some vast enterprise, ascends, How wild a wand'rer, Medon, would appear
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