THE
Thirteenth Book
OF THE
METAMORPHOSES
OF
OVID.
The princes sate; the common troops in crowds
Circled them round; when Ajax in the midst,
Lord of the seven-fold shield, arose, with rage
Uncurb'd. Sigæum's shores he fiercely view'd;
And ship-clad beach, while with extended arms,
“O, Jupiter!” he cry'd, “before this fleet
“Must then our cause be try'd? With me contends
“Ulysses? He who yielded all a prey
“To Hector's fires; whom I alone repell'd?
“Fires which I from that fleet drove far? More safe
“'Tis sure with artful language to contend,
“Than battle hand to hand. Hard 'tis for me
“To speak; for him 'tis no less hard to fight.
“And much as I in keen-urg'd blows excel,
“And arduous contest, such in words is he.
“My deeds, O Grecians! to rehearse what need?
“Have you not seen them? Let Ulysses tell
“His actions, feats without a witness done;
“Night only privy. Mighty is the prize,
“I own; but Ajax' glory suffers much,
“Striving with such a rival. Granted, great
“Its value; where the boast to have obtain'd
“What this Ulysses hop'd for? He ev'n now
“Enjoys th' advantage of the contest. Foil'd,
“His pride will be to boast with me he strove.
“But I, if doubtful is my valor deem'd,
“Have claims most potent in my noble race:
“Sprung from great Telamon, who Troy's proud town,
“'Neath brave Alcides captur'd; and explor'd
“The shores of Colchis in th' Hæmonian bark.
“His sire was Æäcus, who equal law
“Dispenses 'mid the silent shades; where toils
“Æölian Sisyphus beneath his stone.
“Well mighty Jove knows Æäcus, and owns
“Him son. Thus Ajax ranks but third from Jove.
“Nor yet, O, Greeks! should this descent my cause
“Assist, save that Achilles claim'd the same.
“Of brothers born, a kinsman's right I ask.
“Why should one sprung of Sisyphæan blood,
“Like his progenitor in theft and fraud,
“Ingraft an alien name upon the stock
“Of Æäcus? Am I the arms refus'd
“That first I join'd the warriors? join'd your host
“Betray'd not by informers? Worthier he,
“That last his arms he took? with madness feign'd
“Shunning the warfare; till more crafty came
“Naupliades, though luckless for himself;—
“Who shew'd his coward soul's devices plain;
“And hither dragg'd him to the hated wars?
“Now let him arms most glorious take, who arms
“To wear refus'd. Let me unhonor'd go,
“Robb'd of my kindred right, who first arriv'd
“To face the perils. Would, ye gods! that true,
“Or thought so, his insanity had been.
“Then, counsellor of cruel deeds, he ne'er
“Had join'd our camp before the Phrygian walls.
“Then thou, O Pæän's son! had Lemnos ne'er
“Known—to our shame abandon'd on the shore.
“Thou now, so fame reports, in woody caves
“Shelter'd, ev'n rocks mov'st with thy rending groans;
“Pray'st that Laërtes' son his justest meeds
“May gain. Ye gods! ye gods! grant ye his prayers
“A favoring ear! Now he, by oath combin'd
“With us in war;—O, heavens! a leader too!
“Heir to employ Alcides' faithful darts,
“Sinks both by famine and disease opprest:
“By birds sustain'd, and cloth'd by birds, he spends
“Upon his feather'd prey, the darts design'd
“To end the fate of Troy. Yet still he lives:
“For here he never with Ulysses came.
“Content had hapless Palamedes been
“Deserted so. Life might he have enjoy'd
“Perchance; and blameless sure to death had sunk.
“He whom this wretch, too mindful of the time
“His counterfeited madness was expos'd,
“Feign'd had betray'd the Greeks; and prov'd the crime
“By forg'd assistance: shewing forth the gold
“First bury'd by himself. Thus he destroys
“The strength of Greece, by exile or by death.
“Thus fights Ulysses; thus must he be fear'd
“Who, though old faithful Nestor he surpass'd
“In eloquence, not all would e'er avail,
“To prove deserting Nestor was no shame:
“Who press'd with age, and with a wounded horse
“Delay'd, Ulysses' aid besought: behind
“His coward comrade left him. Well, this deed
“Tydides can declare, by me not feign'd,
“Who oft him reprimanded by his name,
“And curs'd the flying of his trembling friend.
“Gods with just eyes all mortal actions view.
“Lo! he who aid would give not, aid requires!
“Who Nestor left, deserted was himself:
“Himself prescrib'd the treatment which he found.
“Loud call'd he to his friends. I come, I see,
“Pale trembling, where he lies, with dread to view
“Impending death. My mighty shield I fling;
“Beneath it shade him, and his coward breast
“(My smallest claim to glory) I protect.
“If still persisting, thou the strife wilt urge,
“Thither again return. Recal the foe;
“Thy wound; thy wonted terror; and lie hid
“Beneath my shield. 'Neath that with me contend.
“Lo! him I snatch'd from death, whose wounds refus'd
“Ev'n power to stand; retarded not by wounds,
“In agile flight sped on. Now Hector comes,
“Whom in the fight the deities attend.
“Where'er he swept, not thou Ulysses sole
“Wast struck with dread; the bravest of our host
“Shrunk, such the terror which then fill'd the field.
“When hand to hand engag'd, him prone I laid,
“Proud of his slaughter, on th' ensanguin'd plain,
“With a huge stone. I singly him oppos'd,
“All single challeng'd; all the Greeks to me
“Pray'd for the lot: nor vain your prayers were found.
“Enquire ye, what the fortune of the fight?
“I stood, by him unconquer'd, when all Troy
“Rush'd on the fleet of Greece, with fire, with sword,
“And aiding Jove: Where was Ulysses then?
“The eloquent Ulysses? I alone,
“A thousand ships, the hopes of your return,
“Defended with my breast: this crowd of ships
“Deserves those arms. Nay, if with truth to speak
“You grant, those arms more glory gain from me
“Than I from them; our honor is conjoin'd.
“Ajax the arms demand, not Ajax arms.
“Let Ithacus compare his Rhæsus slain;
“And slain unwarlike Dolon; and trepann'd
“Helenus, Priam's son; and Pallas' form.
“In open day nought done, and nought perform'd,
“Save Diomed' assisted. Grant for once,
“Such paltry service could the armour claim;
“Divide the prize, and lo! the largest share
“Tydides must demand. But why this prize
“Seeks Ithacus? who all his deeds performs
“In private; traversing unarm'd; the foe,
“While unsuspecting, conquering by deceit.
“This helmet's radiance from the glittering gold
“Darting, would shew his plots, and open lay
“The latent spy. But his Dulichian head,
“Cas'd in Achilles' casque, the weight would 'whelm,
“And for his languid arms, the Pelian spear
“Too weighty would be found. That shield engrav'd,
“With all earth's various scenes, but ill would grace
“His arm, for stealthy deeds alone design'd.
“Presumptuous fool! to seek a prize, which gain'd
“Would only mar thy power. By erring votes
“Of Grecians giv'n to thee, cause would it be
“The foe would strip thee; not thy prowess fear.
“And flight, in which, O trembler! erst alone
“Thou all surpass'd, slow would'st thou then pursue;
“Such ponderous armor dragging. Those, thy shield
“Which bears so rare the brunt of battle, shines
“Yet whole: a new successor mine demands,
“Which gash'd by weapons, shews a thousand rents.
“To end, what need of words? let actions shew
“Each one's deserts. Amid the foe be thrown
“The valiant warrior's arms. Thence bid us bring
“The prize;—who brings it, let him wear the spoil.”
So spake the Telamonian warrior; round
A murmur follow'd from the circling crowd.
Till up the chief of Ithaca arose;
His eyes (awhile cast down) rais'd from the earth;
The chiefs with anxious look'd-for sounds address'd:
Nor grace was wanting to persuasive words.
“O Grecians! had your prayers and mine been heard,
“Owner of what such cause of strife affords
“Were now not dubious: thou, Pelides, still
“These arms possessing, we possessing thee.
“But since unpitying fate, to you, to me,
“Denies him”—(here as weeping, o'er his eyes
His hand he draws)—“who with so just a right
“Can great Achilles now succeed, as he
“Who great Achilles brought the Greeks to join?
“Let it not aid his cause, that fool he seems,
“Or stupid is indeed; nor aught let harm
“The ingenuity I claim, to mine:
“Which, O, ye Argives! still has aided you.
“Let not my eloquence, if such I boast,
“And words, whose 'vantage often you have prov'd,
“Now for their author, move invidious thoughts:
“Nor what each claims his proper gift, refuse.
“Scarce can we call our ancestry, our race,
“Or deeds by them perform'd, merits our own:
“Yet since of grandsire Jove this Ajax boasts,
“I too, can boast him author of my line:
“Nor more degrees remov'd. My sire was nam'd
“Laërtes; his Arcesius; and from Jove
“Arcesius came direct: nor in this line,
“E'er any exil'd or condemn'd appear'd.
“Cyllenius too, his noble lineage adds
“Through my maternal stock. Each parent boasts
“A god-descended race. Yet claim I not
“The arms contested, merely that I spring
“Maternally more noble; nor them claim
“That from a brother's blood my sire is free:
“By merits solely you the cause adjudge.
“These only none to Ajax, that his sire,
“And Peleus brethren were, e'er grant. The prize
“Desert, and not propinquity of blood,
“Should gain. If kindred, then the hero's heir
“Demands it: Peleus still survives, his sire;
“And Pyrrhus is his son. Where Ajax' right?
“To Phthia, or to Scyros be it borne.
“Nor less is Teucer cousin than himself;
“Yet does he ask, or does he hope the arms?
“But since the obvious contest is by deeds
“Perform'd, though mine outnumber far what words
“Can easy compass; yet will I relate
| “In order some:— | |
| “The Nereïd mother knew |
“The wrongs of one through every Grecian breast
“Spread wide; a thousand ships th' Eubœan port
“Of Aulis fill'd. The long-expected gales
“Or came not, or blew adverse to the fleet.
“The rigid oracle Atrides bade
“His guiltless daughter sacrifice to calm
“Ruthless Diana. Stern the sire deny'd,
“And rag'd against the gods: the sovereign all
“Lost in the father. I with soothing words
“The parent's bosom mollify'd, and turn'd
“To thoughts of public good. Still, I confess,
“(And such confession will the king excuse;)
“An arduous cause I pleaded, where my judge
“Was by affection warp'd. The people's weal,
“His brother, and the lofty rank he held
“Mov'd him at length; and glory with his blood
“He bought. Then to the mother was I sent,
“Where reasoning had no force, but subtle craft.
“There had you sent the son of Telamon,
“Still had jour sails the needful breezes lack'd.
“Sent was I also to the Ilian towers,
“A daring envoy. Troy's fam'd court I saw;
“Troy's court I enter'd, then with heroes fill'd.
“There undismay'd, I pleaded all that Greece
“Bade for their common cause; Paris accus'd;
“Helen demanded, and the stolen spoil;
“And Priam and Antenor both convinc'd.
“But Paris, Paris' brethren, and the crowd
“Who aided in the rape, their impious hands
“Could scarce withhold. (Thou, Menelaüs, know'st,
“Who then with me the dawning of the war
“Didst prove in danger.) Long the tale, to speak
“Of all my deeds have done, the public cause
“To aid; since first the lengthen'd war began:
“By counsel or by valor. Wag'd the first
“Rough skirmish, long our foes within their walls
“Protected lay; no scope for open war:
“But in the tenth year now we fight again.
“In all that period what hast thou, who know'st
“But fighting, done? Where was thy service then?
“I, if my deeds thou seek'st, the foe betray'd
“By subtilty; girt us with trenches round;
“Inspirited our soldiers; made them bear,
“With mind unmurmuring, all the tedious war;
“Taught where to find the means to gain supplies
“Of food and arms; wherever need me call'd,
“There always was I sent. Lo! when the king,
“From Jove's deceptive dream, gave word to quit
“Th' unfinish'd war, he might the deed defend
“Through him who bade. But Ajax disapproves
“The flight; insists Troy shall in ruins lie,
“Asserts our power may do it! No! our troops
“Embarking, he not stay'd. Why seiz'd he not
“His arms? Why somewhat to the wavering crowd
“Said not, to fix? no weighty task to him
“Who ne'er harangues, except on mighty themes.
“Why? but that Ajax fled himself! I saw,
“But blush'd to see thee, when thy back thou turn'dst
“Hasting, thy coward sails to hoist; I spoke
“Instant—O fellow soldiers! whither now?
“What voice insane now urges you to leave
“Already-captur'd Troy? What will you bear
“Homeward, a lengthen'd ten years' shame besides?—
“With words like these back from the flying fleet
“I brought them; eloquence had sorrow's aid.
“Atrides call'd the council, all with dread
“Trembling were dumb; nor there dar'd Ajax gape:
“But there Thersites durst with galling words
“The king provoke; vengeance he met from me.
“I rose, our panic-stricken friends, once more
“Rous'd 'gainst the foe: I, by my words recall'd
“Departed valor. Hence, whoever boasts
“Since then of valiant deeds, those deeds are mine,
“Who back recall'd him, as he turn'd for flight.
“Last, tell me which of all the Greeks applauds,
“Or as a comrade seeks thee. All his acts
“With me Tydides shares, allows me praise:
“Ulysses still his confidential friend.
“Sure from such thousands of the Argive ranks
“By Diomed' selected, I may boast.
“Nor lot me bade to go, when void of fear,
“Through double danger of the foe and night,
“I went; and Phrygian Dolon slew, who dar'd
“On our adventure come; but slew him not
“Till made to utter all; the wiles betray
“Perfidious Troy intended. All I learnt;
“Nor ought for further search remain'd. Now I,
“The camp with fame sufficient might have gain'd;
“But not content, for Rhesus' tents I push;
“Him, and his guard surrounding, in his camp
“I slay. Victorious so, possess'd of all
“My hopes design'd, the car I mount, and proud
“A glad triumpher ride. Now me deny
“The arms of him, whose steeds the spy had hop'd
“Meed of his bold excursion. Ajax say
“More worthy. Why Sarpedon's Lycian troop
“Vanquish'd, should I with boastful tongue relate?
“I vanquish'd Ceranos, Iphitus' son;
“Alastor, Chromius, and Alcander stout;
“Halius, Noëmon, Prytanis, with crowds
“Slaughter'd beside. Thoön to hell I sent,
“Chersidamas, and Charops; and to fates
“Unpitying, Ennomus dispatch'd: with these
“Beneath yon' walls whole heaps of meaner rank
“This hand has slain. And, fellow soldiers, lo!
“My wounds are honorable all in place:
“Believe not empty words, yourselves behold.”—
Then stript his robe, exclaiming—“Here the breast
“Still for your good employ'd. No drop of blood
“Has Ajax shed since first our host he join'd:
“In all these years, his body still remains
“Unwounded. Yet on this why should I dwell,
“If he must boast, that for the Argive fleet
“He fought alone 'gainst Jupiter and Troy?
“He fought, I grant it; no malignant spite
“Shall move detraction from his valiant deeds.
“But let him not the common rites of more
“Monopolize; let him to each allow
“The honor which they claim. Patroclus, fear'd
“In great Pelides' semblance, backward drove
“All Troy and Troy's protector from the ships,
“Then burning. Next his vanity would boast
“He only in the field of Mars durst strive
“With Hector; of the king, the chiefs, and me
“Forgetful; in the list the ninth alone,
“Solely by lot preferr'd. Yet, warrior brave,
“What was the issue of this daring fight?
“Hector unwounded left you. Mournful theme!
“With what deep sorrow I the time recal,
“When, bulwark of the Greeks, Achilles fell!
“Nor tears, vain lamentations, nor pale fear
“Me check'd; the prostrate body from the ground
“I rais'd. Upon those shoulders—yes, I swear,
“These very shoulders, I Pelides bore,
“With all his arms. The arms I now require.
“Strength I must have to bear with such a load:
“As sure your votes will meet a grateful mind.
“Was it because the bright celestial gift
“Might clothe the limbs of one without a soul,
“Stupidly dull, that all her anxious care
“The green-hair'd mother on her son employ'd;
“Arms wrought with art so great? Knows he the least
“The shield's engravings? Ocean, or the land:
“The lofty sky; the planets; Pleiäds bright;
“Hyäds; the bear, ne'er plung'd beneath the main;
“Orion's glittering sword, or various towns?
“Arms he demands he cannot understand.
“But how asserts he I the toils of war
“Evaded; joining late the fighting host,
“Nor sees he scandalizes too the fame
“Of great Pelides? If indeed a crime
“Dissembling must be call'd,—dissembled both.
“If faulty all delay, the first I came.
“A tender wife me kept; a tender tie,
“A mother, kept Achilles. Our life's spring
“To them was given, the rest reserv'd for you.
“Nor should I fear, even were this crime, I share
“With such a man, of all defence deny'd.
“Yet his disguise Ulysses' cunning found:
“Ajax ne'er found Ulysses. Needs surprize
“To hear th' abusing of his booby tongue,
“When with like guilt he stigmatizes you?
“Shames most that I this Palamedes brought,
“Falsely accus'd your sentence to receive,
“Or that you doom'd him so accus'd to die?
“But Nauplius' son not ev'n defence could urge,
“So plain his crime appear'd; nor did you trust
“The accusation heard: obvious you saw
“The bribe for which you doom'd him. Nor of blame
“Deserve I ought, that Philoctetes stays
“In Vulcan's Lemnos. You the deed excuse:
“All to the deed assented. Yet my voice,
“Persuasive, will I not deny, I us'd;
“That spar'd from travel, and from war's fatigue,
“In rest he might his cruel pains assuage:
“He lik'd my words, and lives. My counsel here
“Not merely faithful (though our faith the whole
“Our promise can insure) but happy prov'd.
“His presence since the seers prophetic ask
“T' atchieve the fall of Troy, dispatch not me;
“Ajax will better go, will better soothe
“With eloquence of tongue, a man who burns
“With raging choler, and with smarting pains:
“Or with some stratagem him thence allure.
“But Simoïs' stream shall sooner backward flow;
“Ida unwooded stand: Achaïa aid
“The Trojan power, than Ajax' stupid soul
“Shall help the Greeks, when first my anxious mind
“Striving to aid you, has been found to fail.
“O, stubborn Philoctetes! though enrag'd
“Against thy comrades, 'gainst the king, and me;
“Though thou may'st curse me, and my head devote
“Through endless days; though in thy grief thou ask'st
“To meet me, and to glut thee with my blood,
“Still will I try thee, and if fortune smiles,
“So will I gain thy arrows, as I gain'd
“The Trojan prophet, whom I captive made;
“As I the oracles of heaven laid ope;
“And all the fate of Troy: as from its room
“Close-hidden, I the form of Pallas brought,
“The charm of Troy, through ranks of hostile foes.
“Mates Ajax here with me? Fate had deny'd
“Of Troy the capture till that prize obtain'd.
“Where then the mighty Ajax? Where the boasts
“Of this brave hero? Why this risk evade?
“Why dar'd Ulysses through the watchful guards
“Steal 'mid the darkling night? and find his way,
“Not merely past the Trojan walls, but high
“Through raging swords their loftiest turrets scale;
“Bear off the goddess from her sacred fane,
“And with the prize again repass the foe?
“This deed not done, Ajax had bore in vain
“On his huge arm the sevenfold oxen hide.
“From that night's deeds I Ilium's conquest share.
“Then Troy I conquer'd, when the fact was done,
“Which made Troy vincible. Cease thou to mark
“With looks and mutterings Diomed' my friend;
“His share in all was glorious. Nor wast thou
“Single, when with thy buckler thou didst guard
“The general fleet; crowds aided, I was one.
“He, but he knows too well that less esteem
“Valor demands than wisdom; that the prize,
“A mere unconquer'd arm not justly claims,
“Had also sought: thy milder namesake too;
“Or fierce Eurypilus; or Thoas, son
“Of bold Andræmon. Equal right to hope,
“Idomeneus, Meriones, might boast,
“Each Cretan born; and who the sovereign king
“His brother claims; but all their valorous breasts
“(Nor does their martial prowess stoop to thine)
“Yield to my wisdom. In the fight thy arm
“Is mighty; prudence boast I, which that arm
“Directs. To thee a force immense is given,
“Without a brain; foresight is given to me.
“Well, thou canst wage the war; the time that war
“To wage, Atrides oft with me resolves.
“Thou aidest with thy body, I with mind:
“And as the guider of the ship transcends
“Him who but plies the oar: as soars above
“The soldier, he who leads him, so must I
“Thee far surpass; for far the mental powers
“In me surpass the merits of my arm:
“In mind my vigor lies. Ye nobles, speak;
“Give to your watchful guardian this reward,
“For the long annual care with anxious mind
“He gave you. This reward at length bestow,
“To his deserts but due: his labor done.
“Th' obstructing destinies by me remov'd,
“High Troy by me is captur'd; since by me
“The means high Troy to overthrow are given.
“Now beg I by our hopes conjoin'd; the walls
“Of Troy already tottering; by the gods
“Gain'd from the foe so lately; by what more
“Through wisdom may be done, if aught remains;
“Or aught of boldness, which through peril sought,
“Wanting, you still may deem to fill Troy's fate.
“If mindful of my merits you would rest,
“The arms award to this, if not to me:”
And pointed to Minerva's fateful form.
Mov'd were the band of nobles. Plainly shewn
What eloquence could do:—persuasion gain'd
The valiant warrior's arms. Then he who stood
'Gainst steel, and fire, and the whole force of Jove,
So oft, his own vexation now o'ercame:
Grief conquer'd his unconquerable soul.
He seiz'd his sword,—“And surely this”—he cry'd—
“Still is my own! or claims Ulysses this?
“Against myself this steel must now be us'd:
“This stain'd so oft with Phrygian blood, be stain'd
“With his who owns it; lest another hand
“Than Ajax' own should Ajax overcome.”—
No more; but where his breast unguarded lay,
Pervious at length to wounds, his deadly blade
He plung'd, nor could his hand the blade withdraw;
The gushing blood expell'd it. Straight there sprung
Through the green turf, form'd by the blood-soak'd earth,
A purple flower, like that which sprung before
From Hyäcinthus' wound. Amid the leaves
Of each the self-same letters are inscrib'd;
The boy's complainings, and the hero's name.
Victorious Ithacus his sails unfurls,
To seek the land Hypsipylé once rul'd,
And Thoäs fam'd. An isle of old disgrac'd
By slaughter of its males, to bring the darts,
The weapons of Tyrinthius. These obtain'd
To Greece, and with their owner brought, at length
The furious war was finish'd. Priam falls
With Troy; and Priam's more unhappy spouse,
To crown her losses, loses human shape;
With new-heard barkings shaking foreign climes.
Where the long Hellespont's contracted bounds
Are seen, Troy blaz'd: nor yet the fires were quench'd.
The scanty drops of blood Jove's altar soak'd,
Which flow'd from aged Priam. By her locks
Dragg'd on, Apollo's priestess vainly stretch'd
To lofty heaven her arms. The victor Greeks
Tear off the Trojan mothers as they clasp
Their country's imag'd gods; and as they cling
To flaming temples—an invidious prey.
Astyänax is from those turrets flung,
Whence erst he wont to view his sire, whose arm
Him guarding, and his ancestorial realm
In fight, his mother shew'd. And Boreas now
Departure urg'd. Swol'n by a favoring breeze
The rattling canvas warn'd the sailor crew.
“O, Troy! farewel!”—The Trojan matrons cry—
“Hence are we borne.”—They kiss their natal soil;
And leave the smoking ruins of their domes.
Last—mournful object! Hecuba, descry'd
Amid her children's graves, the bark ascends.
Ulysses' hand her dragg'd, as close she grasp'd
Their tombs, and kiss'd their bones which still remain'd.
Yet snatch'd she hastily, and bore away
Of Hector's ashes some, and in her breast
Hugg'd them; and on the top of Hector's tomb
Left her grey hairs; her hairs, and flowing tears.
Oblation fruitless to his last remains.
Oppos'd to Phrygia, where Troy once was seen,
A country stands, where live Bistonia's race:
Where Polymnestor, wealthy monarch, rul'd,
To whom, O, Polydore! thy cautious sire
Thee sent; from Iliüm's battles far remov'd,
For safe protection. Wisdom sway'd the king;
Save that he sent him store of treasure too,
Reward of wickedness; and tempting much
His greedy soul. Soon as Troy's fortune sank,
Impious the Thracian monarch plung'd his sword
In his young charge's throat: as if his crime
And body from his sight at once 'twere given
To move, he flung him in the dashing main.
Now on the Thracian coast, Atrides moor'd
His fleet, till placid were the waves again,
And favoring more, the winds. Achilles here,
Out from the earth, by sudden rupture rent,
Appear'd in 'semblance of his living form:
Threatening his brow appear'd, as when so fierce
He Agamemnon with rebellious sword
Sought to assail.—“Depart ye then, O, Greeks!”
He cry'd—“of me unmindful? Is the fame
“Of all my yaliant acts with me interr'd?
“Treat me not thus. That honors due my tomb
“May want not, let Polyxena be given
“In sacrifice to soothe Achilles' ghost.”
He said; his fellows with the ruthless shade
Complying, from the mother's bosom tore
Her whom she sole had left to cherish. Brave
Than female more, the hapless maid was led
To the dire tomb in sacrificial pomp.
She, of her state still mindful, when before
The cruel altar brought; when all prepar'd
The savage-urg'd oblation of herself
She saw; and Neoptolemus beheld
There stand, the steel there grasping; on his face
Her eyes firm-fixing, spoke.—“My noble blood
“This instant spill. Delay not—plunge thy blade
“Or in my throat, or bosom;”—and her throat
And bosom, as she spoke she bar'd—“for ne'er
“Polyxena, a slavish life had borne.
“Yet grateful is this victim to no god!
“My only wish, that from my mother dear
“May be my death conceal'd: my mother clogs
“My final passage; damps the joys of death.
“Yet should she wail my death not, but my life.
“But distant stand ye all, that to the shades
“Inviolate I sink; if what I ask
“Be just, let every hand of man avoid
“A virgin's touch. Whoe'er your steel prepares
“To move propitiatory with my blood,
“A victim quite untainted best must please.
“And should the final accents that I speak,
“(King Priam's daughter, not a captive sues)
“My corse unransom'd to my mother give.
“Let her not buy the sad sepulchral rites
“With gold, but tears. Yet time has been, with gold
“I might have been redeem'd.”—The princess ceas'd,
And save her own no cheek unwet was seen.
And ev'n the priest reluctant, and in tears,
Op'd by a sudden plunge the offer'd breast.
She, to earth sinking, 'neath her tottering limbs,
Wore to the last a face unmov'd; ev'n then
Her final care was in her fall to veil
Limbs that a veil demanded, as she sank;
And decent pride of modesty preserve.