Her and her Daughters thence the Greeks remove,
While Tydeus ftrives th' Advantage to improve.
Go, hope for Peace, and the just Fight delay,
Till the more prudent Foe commence the Fray.
Say, could
thus the Work of Death adjourn,
And wait for the commiffion'd Queen's Return.
He spoke, and to his Comrades high display'd,
(A Signal of the Charge) his naked Blade.
On either Side now Wrath and Vengeance rise,
And one vaft Shout groans upward to the Skies.
No martial Laws obfery'd, nor Order known,
The Soldiers with their Captains mix, nor own
Superior Rank: Horse, Foot and ratling Cars
Form one dire Chaos.Urg'd by furious Mars,
Headlong they rush, no Leisure giv'n to shew
Themselves, or from the Foe their Comrades know.
. This Mode of Fight the clofing Armies bore.
The Trumpets, Horns and Clarions now no more, 920
As whilom, in the marching Van appear,
But with the Standards join'd, bring up the Rear.
Such rofe the Conflict from few Drops of Blood,
And to an Ocean fwell'd the purple Flood,
As Winds at firft make Trial of their Force
On Leaves and Trees, then bolder in their Course,
7.905. Go, hope for Peace] Our Author feems in this Place to have had an Eye to the ironical Scoff of Turnus upon the Latians in the 11th Book of the Eneid, as may be feen from the præceps tempore Tydeus utitur, which is an Imitation of arrepto tempore Turnus. Imo, ait, O cives, arrepto tempore Turnus,
Cogite concilium, & pacem laudate fedentes, &c.
v. 925. As Winds at firft] This Simile is borrowed from Virgil.
So Winds, while yet unfledg'd in Woods they lie,
In Whispers first their tender Voices try:
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O'erturn the Forefts, bear the Groves away,
And lay whole Mountains open to the Day.
Ye Muses, now record your Country's Hofts,
And fing the Wars that vex'd your native Coafts, 930
For dwelling near the Blood-mark'd Seat of Fight,
The War's whole Art was obvious to your Sight,
What Time th' Aonian Lyre's mellifluous Sound
Was in the louder Blast of Trumpets drown'd.
The Horse of Pterelas, unus'd to Arms,
And new to all the Battle's dire Alarms,
Soon as his wearied Hand had broke the Reins.
Transports his Master to the diftant Plains,
The Spear of Tydeus through his Shoulder flies,
Then glancing down, tranfpierces both his Thighs, 940
And nails him to the Seat: th' affrighted Steed,
Fix'd to his Rider, bounds along the Mead,
And bears him on, tho' now he wields no more
His Arms and Bridle ting'd with reeking Gore.
The Centaur thus (his Life in Part retain❜d)
Hangs from the Courfer which he lately rein'd.
The Conflict glows. Menaceus vents his Rage
On Periphas.
In adverse Arms engage
Hippomedon and Sybaris, while near
Rash Itys, and th' Arcadian Prince appear.
A Sword, O Sybaris, fupprefs'd thy Breath;
Young Itys from a Shaft receiv'd his Death,
Then iffue on the Main with bellowing Rage, And Storms to trembling Mariners prefage. Dryden's Æn. 941. Ye Mufes, now record your Countrys] See Note on the 41ft Line of the 4th Book, and 541ft of the 8th..
v. 957. The Centaur thus, &c.] A Poet is not confined in his Comparifons to Things that really have an Existence in Nature: he may derive them as well from thofe that have only a Place in the Creation of Fancy, and World of Imagination. Of this latter Sort is
While Periphas beneath a Javelin bled.
The Steel of Hamon lops away the Head
Of Grecian Caneus, whofe wide-yawning Eyes
Explore the fever'd Trunk that bleeding lies.
This Abas faw, and rufh'd to fpoil the Foe;
When lo! an Arrow from an Argive Bow
Prevents his Aim,-expiring with a Groan,
He quits the hoftile Buckler and his own.
Eunaus, thee what Dæmon could perfuade
To leave thy rofy Patron's hallow'd Shade,
That Shade, to which thou should't have been confin'd,
For War's tumultuous Fury ill-refign'd?
Ah! hope not thou to fcatter wild Affright
Whofe fine-wove Shield (a poor Defence in Fight)
With Ivy-Wreaths, on Nyfa cull'd, is crown'd,
And whofe white Stole, defcending on the Ground,
Difplays its filken Fringe.-Beneath his Hair
Each Shoulder lies conceal'd with artful Care.
The tender Down his florid Cheeks o'erfpreads;
While his weak Cuirafs fhines with purple Threads.
A Woman's Bracelets on his Arms he bears,
And on his Feet embroider'd Sandals wears.
A Jafper-Button, fet in pureft Gold
Clafp'd his Robes, grac'd with many a rustling Fold.
A Quiver, which a Lynx's Hide furrounds,
And polish'd Bow-Cafe on his Back refounds.
the Simile before us, which admirably well illuftrates the Look and Pofture of the dying Warrior, and is as strong and expreffive, as it
v. 965. Ah! hope not thou] It may be observed, that thofe Priests and Minifters of the Gods, who bear a Part in the Theban War, are diftinguished from other Leaders by the Splendor and Richness of their Habits. -Our Poet feems to have had in View the Chloreus of Virgil at the Time he wrote this.
Full of the raging God, the Warrior hies
Amid the Prefs, and thus loud-vaunting cries,
Restrain your Rage.-Thefe Walls Apollo fhew'd
To Cadmus, for his high Deserts bestow'd;
These Walls to build (if we may credit Fame)
The willing Rocks, an happy Omen, came.
Our Nation, facred to the Pow'rs above,
Alliance claims with Mars and greater Jové :
Nor feign we this to be the native Earth
Of Hercules, and Place of Bacchus' Birth.
Fierce Capaneus towards the Boafter steers
His Course, and brandishes two beamy Spears.
As when the King of Beasts at early Dawn
Springs from his Thicket to the dewy Lawn,
And views a Deer that bounds along the Green,
Or Calf, whose budding Horns are fcarcely feen,
Tho' the ftern Swains a dreadful Circle form,
And darted Javelins rain a fteely Storm,
Fearless, regardless, he purfues his Way,
And unappall'd with Wounds, invades the Prey.
v. 991. As when, &c.] This Simile is borrowed from Homer.
Ὥσε λέων ἐχάρη μεγάλω ἐπὶ σώματι κύρσας,
Εὑρὼν ἢ ἔλαφον κεραόν, ἢ ἄγριον αἶγα,
Πεινάων μάλα γάρ τε κατεσθίει, ἅπερ ἂν αὐτὸν
Σεύωνται ταχέες τε κύνες, θαλεροίτ' αίζησιο
As Virgil has copied it too, I fhall give the Reader an Opportunity of comparing the two Imitations with the Original.
Impaftus ftabula alta Leo ceu fæpe peragrans,
(Suadet enim vefana fames) fi forte fugacem
Confpexit capream, aut furgentem in cornua cervum,
Gaudet hians immane, comafque arrexit & hæret
Vifceribus fuper accumbens; lavat improba teter
Thus Capaneus, exulting o'er the Foe,
With his pois'd Javelin meditates a Blow,
But ere the pond'rous Weight of Death defcends,
With Blafphemy Reproaches thus he blends.
Why doft thou, doom'd to bleed beneath my Spear
With Shrieks unmanly strike our Hofts with Fear?
In wordy Wars with Tyrian Dames engage,
But where's the vaunted Author of thy Rage?
Would he were present! ere he scarce had said,
Unknowing of Repulfe, the Weapon fled,
And faintly tinkled on the glittʼring Shield;
Whofe folded Hides a speedy Paffage yield.
Forth wells the Blood, his Armour knocks the Ground,
And with long Sobs the Plates of Gold refound.
He dies, he dies, the rash Boy-Warrior dies,
And wept and honour'd by his Patron lies
Him drunken Ifmaros (the Thyrfus broke)
And Timolus, long reluctant to the Yoke,
Him Nyfa, and Thefean Naxos mourn,
And Ganges, to discharge his Orgies fworn.
Nor was Eteocles in Combat flow;
Lefs oft his milder Brother aims a Blow.
Confpicuous in his Car the Prophet fate:
His Steeds, as prescient of their hast'ning Fate,
1020. Lefs oft his milder Brother] The Poet here pays a great Compliment to Polynices. He tells the Reader, that while Eteocles is wading through Blood and Carnage to the Crown, and making Havock among the Grecians, Polynices was checked in his Conqueft by the tender Impulfes of Humanity, and Regard to his Coun
V. 1021. Confpicuous in his Car, &c.] We find Jupiter in the seventeenth Book of the Iliad, beftowing the fame Honours on Hector, and dignifying his Exit with a Blaze of Glory, as Mr, Pope expresses it.
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