Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 2) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/203

Nor need I wonder, that on me he threw
Such foul Aspersions, when he spares not you:
If Palamede unjustly fell by me,
Your Honour suffer'd in th' unjust Decree:
I but accus'd, you doom'd: And yet he dy'd,
Convinc'd of Treason, and was fairly try'd:
You heard not he was false; your Eyes beheld
The Traytor manifest; the Bribe reveal'd.
That Philoctetes is on Lemnos left,
Wounded, forlorn, of human Aid bereft,
Is not my Crime, or not my Crime alone;
Defend your Justice, for the Fact's your own:
'Tis true th' Advice was mine; that staying there$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$
He might his weary Limbs with Rest repair,
From a long Voyage free, and from a longer War.
He took the Counsel, and he lives at least;
Th' Event declares I counsell'd for the best:
Though Faith is all in Ministers of State;
For who can promise to be fortunate?
Now since his Arrows are the Fate of Troy,
Do not my Wit, or weak Address, employ;
Send Ajax there, with his perswasive Sense,
To mollifie the Man, and draw him thence:
But Xanthus shall run backward; Ida stand
A leafless Mountain; and the Grecian Band
Shall fight for Troy; if, when my Councils fail,
The Wit of heavy Ajax can prevail.
Hard Philoctetes, exercise thy Spleen
Against thy Fellows, and the King of Men;
Curse my devoted Head above the rest,
And wish in Arms to meet me Breast to Breast:
Yet I the dang'rous Task will undertake,
And either die my self, or bring thee back.
Nor doubt the same Success, as when before
The Phrygian Prophet to these Tents I bore,

Surpriz'd