Page:Homer - Iliad, translation Pope, 1909.djvu/62

No rest, no respite, till the shades descend;
Till darkness, or till death shall cover all,
Let the war bleed, and let the mighty fall;
Till bathed in sweat be every manly breast,
With the huge shield each brawny arm depressed,
Each aching nerve refuse the lance to throw,
And each spent courser at the chariot blow.
Who dares, inglorious, in his ships to stay,
Who dares to tremble on this signal day,
That wretch, too mean to fall by martial power,
The birds shall mangle and the dogs devour."
The monarch spoke: and straight a murmur rose,
Loud as the surges when the tempest blows,
That dashed on broken rocks tumultuous roar,
And foam and thunder on the stony shore.
Straight to the tents the troops dispersing bend,
The fires are kindled, and the smokes ascend;
With hasty feasts they sacrifice, and pray
To avert the dangers of the doubtful day.
A steer of five years' age, large limbed, and fed,
To Jove's high altars Agamemnon led:
There bade the noblest of the Grecian peers,
And Nestor first, as most advanced in years.
Next came Idomeneus and Tydeus' son,
Ajax the less, and Ajax Telamon;
Then wise Ulysses in his rank was placed;
And Menelaüs came unbid, the last.
The chiefs surround the destined beast, and take
The sacred offering of the salted cake:
When thus the king prefers his solemn prayer:
"O thou! whose thunder rends the clouded air,
Who in the heaven of heavens hast fixed thy throne,
Supreme of gods! unbounded and alone!
Hear! and before the burning sun descends,
Before the night her gloomy veil extends,
Low in the dust be laid yon hostile spires,
Be Priam's palace sunk in Grecian fires,
In Hector's breast be plunged this shining sword,
And slaughtered heroes groan around their lord!"
Thus prayed the chief: his unavailing prayer
Great Jove refused, and tossed in empty air:
The god, averse, while yet the fumes arose,
Prepared new toils, and doubled woes on woes.
Their prayers performed, the chiefs the rites pursue,
The barley sprinkled, and the victim slew;
The limbs they sever from the enclosing hide,
The thighs, selected to the gods, divide;
On these, in double cauls involved with art,
The choicest morsels lie from every part.