But in the chase of that devouring wolf
On thee relies Themistocles for help,
Undaunted chief of Trozen." He replies:
"Should I withhold it, by th' immortal gods,
The titles both of soldier and of friend
Were mine no longer." Ariphilia then,
Sweet as a vernal flow'r in early prime,
A Grace in manner, Hebè in her form:

"Say, gentle sage, of Delphi's rev'rend priest, Of Haliartus, and Oïleus' son,

Kind guests of mine, no tidings dost thou bear?"
He answers: "Them in Atalantè's isle
The turbulent Euripus yet confines;
They soon, fair matron, to thy lord and mine
Will add their strength, and level from its base
The tyrant's hold." Amid this converse sweet
The warrior-poet Eschylus appears,
A grateful visitant to all. He spake :

"Fair dame, admit me, introducing men
Who saw thy gallant consort yester morn
Erecting trophies; men themselves renown'd,
Oïlean Medon, and Apollo's priest
Long lost, whom I, unknowing of their fate,
Have clasp'd in transport, as Laertes' son,
When he review'd his metamorphos'd friends
In Circe's island to their pristine forms
Uprising by her charms." Timothea glad
Salutes the ent'ring heroes, Medon known
Before, Leonteus, Delphi's holy seer
With Artemisia's brother, strangers all,
But of deportment to command regard.

Then spake the Locrian: "First of matrons,
hail!

On Salaminian sands we parted last.
I have been long in Atalantè's isle
Sequester'd; but, determin'd to attend

The fun'ral honours which the morning pays
To brave Athenians slain, an hour serene
To cross the strait Euripus I embrac'd
For Chalcis. There thy consort fresh I found
In gather'd palms from Demonax, o'erthrown
That day in battle. Hear the glorious tale,
Which from Themistocles himself I learn'd.
He, well-inform'd, the chiefs in either host
Distinctly told, their history, their names,
Their birth, and deeds, on Hyacinthus most,
As most esteem'd, enlarg'd. That hapless youth
Was husband to Cleora; daughter she
Of Demonax was poison'd by her sire.
Survey this tablet, which before my sight
Thy hero took, with readiness of skill
Delineating the fight. Show this,' he said,
To my Timothea, friendly thou explain.
This part is Chalcis, this a champaign wide;
Here flows the sea, there winds a quarry dark.'
"Conceive a river by impetuous floods
O'erswol'n, and spread irregular, and wild,
Beyond its bounds; tumultuous thus the foes
At first appear'd. Expecting to surprise,
Themselves surpris'd at unexpected bands,
Through open'd portals issuing to the plain,
Are forc'd, dishearten'd by a toilsome march,
To range their numbers for immediate fight.
The wary son of Neocles suspends

Th' attack, till bursting drifts of southern clouds
Bent on the faces of his harass'd foes
A storm of blinding sleet; then rushes down
In three deep columns. Of th' Orean line
The right, which Mindarus conducting wheels
Along the sea's flat margin, sore is gall'd

By unremitted show'rs from bows and slings On well-rang'd vessels. Lamachus commands The left. Nearchus from the quarry pours An ambush'd force, and breaks the hostile flank. Compact of vet'rans, cull'd from ev'ry state, That wedge of war, whose bristly front display'd Athenian spears and Spartan mingling beams, (Themistocles the leader) slow but sure Bears down the centre. At a second breach The line gives way to Cleon, at a third To swift Carystians. Not a life is spar'd By wrong'd, incens'd Eretrians, not a life By Hyacinthus, boiling with revenge For his Cleora; while her cruel sire Exerts a desp'rate valour to revive Hope in an army spiritless by toil, By sudden onset broken, at the name And sight of thy Themistocles abash'd. The rout is gen'ral. In the bloody chase Five thousand slain the conquerors despoil. Thy husband, prudent in success, preserves Two thousand heads, all Persian, to redeem Eretrian captives from the tyrant's bonds. He, thus defeated, not subdu'd, retir'd To Oreus. Pow'rful remnants of his host He draws within her circuit; furnish'd well From boundless treasure, threatens there to hold A firm defence, till, summon'd by the spring, Mardonius quit Thessalia, and employ The whole confederated pow'r of Greece." "That threat Themistocles will render vain," Exults Timothea; "he unfinish'd leaves No toil begun." Again the Locrian chief: "Now my first duty is discharg'd; the next To Ariphilia from her guest is due. O soft in virtue, elegantly fair, Cleander's favour'd paranymph retains Thy hospitable kindness ever dear; Thine too, my gallant host, by Neptune bless'd In his own priestess, and with brightest fame On his own floods adorn'd." The pleasing hours All spend in mutual gratulation sweet, Till for the morn's solemnity they part.

Below th' Ægalean mountain, where the king Of humbled Asia on his golden throne Was seated late, spectator of his shame

At Salamis, a level space extends

To Neptune's border. Green Psittalia there
Full opposite exhibits, high and large,
A new erected trophy. Twenty masts
Appear, the tallest of Phoenician pines,
In circular position. Round their base
Are massive anchors, rudders, yards, and oars,
Irregularly pil'd, with beaks of brass,
And naval sculpture from barbarian sterns,
Stupendous by confusion. Crested helms
Above, bright mail, habergeons scal'd in gold,
Aud figur'd shields along the spiry wood
Up to th' aërial heads in order wind,
Tremendous emblems of gigantic Mars.
Spears, bristling through the intervals, uprear
Their points obliquely; gilded staves project
Embroider'd colours; darts and arrows hang
In glitt'ring clusters. On the topmost height
Th' imperial standard broad, from Asia won,
Blaz'd in the Sun, and floated in the wind.
Of smooth Pentelic marble on the beach,
Where flow'd the brine of Salamis, a tomb
Insculptur'd rose. Achievements of that day
When Asia's navy fell, in swelling forms

Fill'd on three sides the monument. The fourth, Unfinish'd, open'd to th' interior grave.

Now, through Minerva's populace, who kept Religious silence, first white-vested maids, Who from the strand of Salamis had seen The patriots slain, their sepulchre approach With wreaths and garlands; then of chosen youths A troop, whose valour had the fight surviv'd. The younger matrons, husbands ripe in age, Nor less in fame, succeed. Of either sex The elders follow. Kindred of the dead Come next, their wives, their children. Urns, which The sacred ashes, are in open cars Discover'd. One close chariot is reserv'd

[hold

For them, whose bodies fate from search conceal'd.
Last Aristides, in his civil robe,
Attracts the gazing multitude; his wheels,
Myronides, Xanthippus, Cimon great,
Aminias, Eschylus, and ev'ry chief

For prowess known attend. Around the tomb
Are plac'd the children; roses in the bud
Entwine their brows; their little grasp upholds
Green sprigs of myrtle; well instructed, all
Refrain from weeping o'er paternal dust,
Deposited by glory in the grave.
A high tribunal Aristides mounts;
Near him, on ev'ry side, are seats assign'd
To strangers held in honour. Medon there,
Leonteus, Timon, and the brother known
Of Caria's queen, Cleander, numbers more
From states ennobled in their names are seen.
The godlike man uprises; on the tomb
His eyes he fixes first; their lustre mild
He then diffuses o'er th' assembly vast,
Where not a tongue is heard, nor gesture seen.
So through unclouded skies the argent lamp
Of Dian visits with her light benign

A surface broad of water, where no breeze
Excites a swell, nor sighs among the reeds.
"Your fathers, wise and lib'ral," he began,
"Appointed public obsequies to all
Who die in battle for the public good,
Ye men of Athens. Not a groan, or tear
Must violate their ashes. These have gain'd
What all should envy; these, by virtuous death,
The height of human excellence have reach'd,
Have found the surest path to endless joy
With demigods and heroes in those fields,
Which tyrants ne'er can enter to molest
The blissful region; but are far remov'd
To realms of horrour, and from righteous Jove
Endure the pains they merit from mankind.
There, if retaining, as they surely must,
The memory of things belov'd on Earth,
It will enhance their happiness to know
Their offspring cherish'd, and their wives rever'd
By grateful Athens, whom their glorious fall
Exalts, whose daughters they preserv'd from shame,
Whose sons from bonds. This bliss benignant Jove,
Who loves the patriot, never can withhold
From them, who little would deserve that name,
Unless those sweetest charities they feel,
Paternal cares, and conjugal esteem,
The props of public and domestic weal.
Them to defend, Athenians, to maintain
Iuviolate your altars, tombs, and laws,
Let contemplation of the present rites
Give principle new strength. Behold a foc,
Who hath profan'd your ancestors in dust.
Lo on a cross Leonidas affix'd,

His patriot bones expos'd to bleaching winds
By that barbarian, Xerxes. Tyrants fell,
Obtuse of mind, illiberal, the brutes
Of human nature, can devise and act
Barbarities like these. But such a foe
Leagues Heav'n against him. Nemesis will join
With Grecian Mars, and all her furies plant
His foot on Asia's boundaries, to shake
An impious tyrant on his native throne.
Then of the patriot dead, whose swords prepar'd
Your way to glory, and achiev'd their own,
This recent tomb, when dress'd in eastern spoils,
Will best delight their manes, and proclaim
To gods and men your gratitude and arms."

He paus'd. Egalcos echo'd to the sound
Of acclamation; Salamis reply'd.
But as the Sun, when casual clouds before
His intercepted light have pass'd away,
Renews his splendour, so the righteous man
In eloquence and counsel thus again
Breaks forth: " Xanthippus, in the gales of spring,
To brave the coast barbaric you decree;
While, on Boeotia's plains, your phalanx meets
Mardonian ranks. Now hear of wondrous acts
To you unknown, unpromis'd, just perform'd
By an Athenian. Winter hath not slept
Inactive; your Themistocles hath rous'd
That sluggish season by the clang of war;
A force creating by his matchless art,
He hath o'erthrown fierce Demonax, and coop'd
Within his fort. Delib'rate swift, my friends,
How to assist your hero: Justice calls
On ev'ry tongue ingenuous so to style
Themistocles; who wants but slender help.
Your skill, Athenians, in surmounting walls
Excels in Greece. Select experienc'd bands;
An instantaneous effort may o'erwhelm
Beneath the ruins of his last retreat
Euboea's scourge, whose prevalence might shut
That granary of Athens, and transfer
To Asia's num'rous camp your needful stores."
All in applauding admiration hear
Disinterested virtue, which exalts

A rival's merit. But thy gen'rous breast,
To all superior in sensation, high,
Divine Timothea, entertains a warmth
Of grateful rapture in thy lord's behalf,
Which shines confess'd. Sicinus, at her side,
Condemns his lord, who nothing would request
Of Aristides; him, who grants unask'd,
His soul adores. Aminias, rising, spake;
A fearless warrior, brother to the bard,
Like him sincere, less polish'd, learn'd and wise,
By right intention more than conduct sway'd:
"Who can for all deliberate so well,
As Aristides singly? Let us fight;
But with sole pow'r of counsel and command,
Throughout this war's duration, by a law
Invest him uncontrollable." Up starts
The interrupting patriot, nor permits
The people's confidence in him to grow

In wild excess: "Ne'er yet th' almighty Sire
Created man of purity to hold

A trust like this. Athenians, mark my words;

I am your legal military chief;

If your immediate safety should require

An use of pow'r, unwarranted by laws,

I will exert it, not accept as law;

The censure or acquittal of my act
With you shall rest. At present I advise,

That from Phaleron, Eschylus transport
Two thousand skilful vet'rans. Him the seed
Of Neocles approves; not less in arms
Than arts excelling, him your warriors prize.
Them, ere two monthly periods of the Sun,
You cannot want. Thick verdure must invest
The meadows, earth her foodful stores mature,
Before Mardonius can his numbers lead
From Thessaly remote. Ere then, my friends,
Themistocles will conquer, and erect
Cecropia's standard on Orëan walls;
Your timely aid he timely will restore
To fill the army of united Greece."

The gen'ral voice assents, and all retire,
While to her home Timothea brings her guests.
To her Sicinus prudent: "Not an hour,
Till I rejoin thy consort, should be lost."
She then: "Most faithful, from my arm receive
This bracelet rich in gems, barbaric spoil;
Bear this to Chalcis, to Acanthè give;
Say, how I prize her elevated mind,
Enabling my Themistocles to quell
The hateful breed of tyrants. Further say,
The man engaging her connubial hand
I should esteem the favourite of gods.
Stay; Haliartus shall the present bear.
Thou to my lord a messenger of love
Shalt go, Sicinus; words to thee I leave;

My heart thou know'st. One fervent wish impart,
That he in private, as in public ties,
With Aristides may at last unite.”
So spake the first of women. Træezen's chief
Subjoin'd: "Sicinus, wait till morn; embark
With these our friends of Atalantè's isle
Aboard my squadron; soon will southern gales
My succour waft, and jointly we proclaim
Brave Eschylus to follow. Let us greet
Him, who our valour into action calls
For ev'ry chief to envy; him to clasp
My bosom pants, a hero, who surmounts
The sloth of winter while so many brave
Hang up their weapons." Ariphilia heard,
Sat mute and sad. To her Timothea thus:
"We, who are wives of soldiers, will remain
Together, cheerful watch for tidings dear
Of their achievements, and rejoice at home."

BOOK XVIII.

THREE days transport Cleander and his friends;
Timoxenus admits such welcome guests,
Who brings new succours. From Chalcidic walls
Th' Athenian chief was absent. With a pace
Unstable yet, a calm, but languid mien,
To grace her father's board Acanthè leaves
Her chamber; pale, but fragrant as the rose,
Which bears the hue of lilies, she descends.
Her soon the Carian, mindful of his charge,
Thus with Timothea's salution greets:

"A costly bracelet, from her beauteous arm
Th' espous'd of great Themistocles unclasp'd
On my departure, and in words like these,
Of gracious tone, deliver'd to my care:
Bear this to Chalcis, to Acanthè give;
Say how I prize her elevated mind,
Enabling my Themistocles to quell

The hateful breed of tyrants. Further say,

The man engaging her connubial hand
I should esteem the favourite of gods'."

Timoxenus is pleas'd; Acanthè's cheeks
A burning blush of perturbation feel.
Not soon recov'ring from a start of thought
At the first mention of Timothea's name,
She took, she kiss'd the present, and disguis'd
Her conscious trouble under busy care
To fix the bracelet in its lovely seat.

The guests are plac'd around; her presence charms

The banquet. Though the lustre of her eyes
Grief had eclips'd and sickness, though her mouth
Had lost the ruby tinct and pleasing flow,
By melancholy silence long confin'd,
Her gestures speak the graces of her soul.

Trazene's captain, lively as the lark
Whose trill preludes to Nature's various voice,
Begins discourse: "Perhaps, accomplish'd fair,
Thou dost not know the messenger, who brought
Timothea's present, Haliartus styl'd;

Ile is deriv'd from Lygdamis, a name
Ionia boasts. His daughter, Caria's queen,
Fam'd Arteinisia, heroine of Mars,
Calls Haliartus brother; but from Greece
Could never alienate his truth. His sword
From violation, in his first essay
Against barbarian multitudes, preserv'd
Bright Amarantha, consort to the king
Of Macedon, more noble. in her sire,
Who sits beside thee, Timon, Delphi's priest."
Then Medon: "How unwilling do I check
Our social converse. Generous host, no tongue
Can duly praise thy hospitable roof;

Yet we must leave its pleasures; time forbids
Our longer stay. Two thousand Locrian spears,
Three hundred Delphians Atalantè holds;
Them schylus arriving will expect

To find in Chalcis."-" Gladly shall I hail,"
Timoxenus rejoins, your quick return,

To guard these walls. Themistocles is march'd To conquer Ega, rather to redeem

[hand."

Her state aggriev'd, which courts his guardian Sicinus here: "Illustrious men, farewell;

In Ægæ soon Themistocles shall know

Of your arrival." Instant he began,

All night pursu'd his course, and saw the morn
Shine on that city yielded to his lord.
To him Sicinus counts the pow'rful aids
Expected, large of Aristides speaks,
Large of Timothea; in a rapt'rous style
Dwells on her wish for amity to bind
The two Cecropian heroes. Glad replies
Themistocles: "On every new event
She rises lovelier, more endear'd; her worth
Shall meliorate her husband. I obey,
Content on this wide universe to see
Myself the second, Aristides first;
For still he tow'rs above me.
Cleander, Medon, were already come,
That Eschylus was coming? All their force
I want, Sicinus; listen to my tale.

Didst thou say,

"Last night an ancient personage, unknown, In length of beard most awful, not unlike Tisander, ask'd an audience, and obtain'd My private ear. Themistocles,' he said, If I deliver tidings, which import Thy present safety, and thy future weal, I shall exact thy promise in the name Of all the gods and goddesses to ware

He grasp'd, receding to the Orëan wall;
Where, under vaulted sheets of missive arms
Whirl'd on his fierce pursuers, through the gates
He rush'd to shelter. Thus a mighty boar,
Of Calydonian strength, long held at bay,
The hunter's point evading, and the fangs
Of stanchest hounds, with undiminish'd ire
Red in his eyes, and foaming from his jaws,
Impetuous plunges in accustom'd woods.

Th' Athenian chief, who sees th' incessant storms
Of darts and arrows from the rampart's height,
Retreats; but swift his numbers, now enlarg'd
By yielding thousands of Eubœan race,
Distributes round th' invested town to guard
Each avenue and station. From the sea
Cleander threatens. In his evening tent

The gen'ral views the captives; frowns condemn
The sev'n Geræstians to their former chains.
The hero smiles on Lamachus, the prize
Of Haliartus, and familiar thus:

"Again, my Tyrian trafficker in slaves,
I greet thee: son of Lygdamis, what praise
To thy distinguish'd efforts is not due?
This precious head to my disposal yield."
He then proceeds to Lamachus apart:

"Now take thy freedom, villain; to my use
See thou employ it, else expect to die.
Your land, remember, and your sea are mine;
Soon on the head of Demonax this arm
Shall dash yon bulwarks; what I speak is fate.
Thou hast thy option, go. Sicinus hear;
This man is free; conduct him through the camp."
Now from his friends sequester'd, on a couch,
Which never care disturbs, he slept till dawn,
When, rous'd by heralds from the town, again
The leaders he conven'd. Before them came
Arbactus, fierce barbarian, who began:

"Themistocles of Athens, in the name
Of Mindarus the Persian, I defy
Thy arm to combat in the listed field;
The same defiance to thy boldest chiefs
Ariobarzanes sends. If you prevail,
The royal host shall quit Eubœa's isle,
Which shall submit to Xerxes if you fall."
Up Hyacinthus, Haliartus, start
Indignant. First the young Carystian spake :
"Are they so gross in ignorance, to hope
Themistocles will stoop to single fight
With twice-o'erthrown barbarians, who, unsafe
Behind a rampart, tremble at his pow'r?
But if the Persian Mindarus would try
A Grecian's single valour, O permit,

Themistocles, thy soldier to assert

The Grecian fame." The friend of Medon next:
"The same permission I implore, O chief,
Invincible thyself; that all this host
May witness my fidelity to Greece.

Themistocles subjoins: "Barbarian, go,
Provide thy champions; ours thou seest prepar'd
For honour, not decision of the doom
Reserv'd for Demonax; whose final lot
Lies in my breast alone." The herald back
To Oreus speeds. The prudent chief pursues:
"My Hyacinthus, all thy wrongs I feel;
But, if resentment can afford the grace
I ask thee, lend to policy thy arm:
Take Mindarus thy captive. From thy proofs
Of might and firmness, Haliartus brave,
My wish is lifted high in hope to see
Ariobarzanes gasping at thy feet."

He rises. Straight embattled on the plain, His army shows a formidable gleam To Demonax. Still num'rous for defence Barbarian warriors, and Thessalian, throng The battlements of Oreus. Through the gates, In solemn pace and slow, a herald train Precede their champions. Heralds from the camp Produce th' illustrious Haliartus clad In richest arms, the gift of Caria's queen; A twig of slend'rest laurel, twisted round A shepherd's crook, in portraiture adorn'd His modest buckler. Grim his foe advanc'd In mail blood-colour'd, with a targe of gold, Ariobarzanes. Hyacinthus next Appears in tried habiliments of war, Which on his dearest patron Mars had seen In Marathonian fields. A plumage black, Denoting grief, he carries; on his shield A female image, and the form of Death, Who blasts her graces. Mindarus approach'd In armour studded bright with orient gems; His buckler too a shape of beauty pale, Stretch'd on a fun'ral pyre, exhibits sad; Of pearl her limbs, of rubics were the flames. Ere they engage, the Persian warrior thus:

"Since my encounter, whether through disdain Or policy I know not, is refus'd

By your commander, not through fear I know,
Do thou in courtesy disclose thy name,
Thy rank in Grecian armies. May'st thou prove
In lustre such as Mindarus would choose
To be th' opponent of a satrap's arm."

"Then tremble, satrap, at my name, the name Of Hyacinthus," fierce the youth returns; "Cleora's husband, whom thy barb'rous love Hath wrong'd, whom hell-born Demonax hath damn'd

To ever-during torment, shakes this lance, By vengeance pointed and invet'rate hate." "Young man," rejoins the Persian,

grief

on thy

I drop a pitying tear, while thou dost wrong
Me clear of wrong to thee. No barb'rous love
Was mine; unconscious of your nuptial tie,
Till she confess'd it to her savage sire,
My flame was holy; not a thought impure
To violate a right could taint my breast.
But that I lov'd her, Hyacinthus, sure
He, who her dear perfections knew so well,
Must wave his wonder; that her fate o'erwhelms
My spirit, never to revive, I feel;

That my disastrous passion caus'd her doom,

Blame both our fortunes, not my guiltless heart.

If

yet thy anguish can a moment look

Compassionate on me-but I forgive

Unjust reproaches from a grief like thine,

Which should, which must exceed my own, my own Exceeding after thine all other woe.

Now Hyacinthus melted, but observ'd,
That during this sad interview the spear
Of Haliartus at his feet had laid
Ariobarzanes dead. Heart-stung by shame
At his inaction, with so many chiefs,
With such an army, and the godlike son
Of Neocles spectators, he begins

The fight, but recollects that friend's request.
The Persian more effeminate desponds

At past defeats, and present grief renew'd,
Whose weight, though lighter, he less firmly bore,
Than did the hardy Greek his heavier share