Page:Ovid's Metamorphoses (Vol. 2) - tr Garth, Dryden, et. al. (1727).djvu/205

The Cretan King, and his brave Charioteer,
And Menelaus bold with Sword, and Spear:
All these had been my Rivals in the Shield,
And yet all these to my Petensions yield.
Thy boist'rous Hands are then of use, when I
With this directing Head those Hands apply.
Brawn without Brain is thine: My prudent Care
Foresees, provides, administers the War:
Thy Province is to Fight; but when shall be
The time to Fight, the King consults with me:
No dram of Judgement with thy Force is join'd:
Thy Body is of Profit, and my Mind.
By how much more the Ship her Safety owes
To him who steers, than him that only rows,
By how much more the Captain merits Praise,
Than he who fights, and fighting but obeys;
By so much greater is my Worth than thine,
Who canst but excute, what I design.
What gain'st thou, brutal Man, if I confess
Thy Strength superior, when thy Wit is less?
Mind is the Man: I claim my whole Desert,
From the Mind's Vigour, and th' immortal Part.
But you, O Grecian Chiefs, reward my Care,
Be grateful to your Watchman of the War:
For all my Labours in so long a space,
Sure I may plead a Title to your Grace:
Enter the Town; I then unbarr'd the Gates,
When I removed their tutelary Fates.
By all our common Hopes, if Hopes they be
Which I have now reduc'd to Certainty;
By falling Troy, by yonder tott'ring Tow'rs,
And by their taken Gods, which now are ours;
Or if there yet a farther Task remains,
To be perform'd by Prudence, or by Pains;
If yet some desp'rate Action rests behind,
That asks high Conduct, and a dauntless Mind;

If