The Athenaid

Ere thus each augur in the diff'rent camps Unmann'd the soldier by religious dread, Euboea's coast Sicinus had regain'd. That peopled island's force of ships and arms Themistocles had muster'd. Oreus held The ready chief, expecting weighty news From Aristides, which Sicinus swift Imparts. To him Themistocles: My friend, I ask no more; the assembled host of Greece Hath fix'd Mardonius on th' Asopian verge; A hasty conflict Aristides shuns; Then shall the blow, I meditate, be struck, Ere thy reverted passage can transmit To him my greetings. Stay and see my oars For infamous Thessalia dash the waves; Her Aleuadian race of tyrants foul, Friends to Barbarians, traitors to the Greeks, Shall feel my scourge. Her plenty I will bar Against Mardonius; famine shall invade His tents, and force him to unequal fight.

He gives command; the signal is uprear'd For embarkation. All Euboea pours Her sons aboard, and loads the groaning decks. From his Cleora Hyacinthus parts, Brave Haliartus from his new-espous'd Acanthè. Lo! each female seeks the beach, Spectatress eager of th' alluring man, Whose artful eye could summon ev'ry grace To fascinate both sexes, and his wiles Arm with enchantment. Beauteous and august Like Cybelè, prime goddess, turret-crown'd, Source of th' ethereal race, his consort lifts Above the rest her countenance sublime. By her own offspring, and the pledges dear Of Aristides, which her hand receiv'd At Salamis, and cherish'd like her own, She stands encircled, her embarking lord Accosting thus: Unfavourable winds, Or fortune's frown I fear not. All the gods Of earth and ocean, who delighted view The virtuous brave, contending for their laws With lawless tyrants, will combine to bless Themistocles and Aristides link'd In harmony of counsels. See, dear lord, His and thy children interweave their hands; Thy sure success I augur from their smiles.

I from Timothea's, gallantly replies The parting chief. This union is thy work; Thine be the praise from thankful Greece preserv'd.

He said, and lightly to his vessel pass'd; While ev'ry sail was op'ning to the wind.

Euboea, where she fronts the Malian shore, Beneath a promontory's quiet lee Protects the fleet benighted. Here the son Of Neocles aboard his galley calls His pupil Hyacinthus, whom he thus Instructs: Young hero, since Cleora's love Could not detain thee from the lists of fame, Fame thou shalt win. Thessalia's nearest bounds I from Spercheos in Trachiniae's bay Mean to invade. Nicanor and thyself With your Carystian force, Nearchus brave With his Chalcidians, must a distant course To Potidaea take, whose valiant race The winter siege of great Masistius foil'd. Forewarn'd by due intelligence from me, They will augment your numbers. Through the mouth Of fam'd Enipeus Potidaean zeal Will guide your helms to rich Larissa's walls, Thessalia's helpless capital, whose youth Attend Mardonius. Land, and burn th' abode Of Aleuadian Thorax, who conducts The foe through Greece. O'er all the region spread; Where'er thou seest an Aleuadian roof, The residence of traitors hurl to earth; The flocks and herds from ev'ry pasture sweep, From ev'ry store th' accumulated grain, Support of Asia's myriads. O! recall Thy late achievements on the bloody fields Of Chalcis, and of Oreus. They, who brav'd Thy native coast, of Demonax the friends, Now in their own Thessalia lie thy spoil; On their wide ruins build thee trophies new.

Commission'd thus, the animated youth With each Carystian, each Chalcidic prow, By morning sails. Three days the Attic chief, Skreen'd in a harbour nigh Cenaeum's point, Rests on his anchors. So, by thickets hid In fell Hyrcania, nurse of rav'nous broods, The tiger lurks, and meditates unseen A sudden sally on his heedless prey.

The fourth gay dawn with fresh'ning breezes curls The Malian waters. In Barbaric flags The wily chief apparelling his masts Fallacious, ere the horizontal sun Couch'd on the ocean, fills with hostile prows The wide Sperchean mouth. Along the vales Innumerable carriages display The plenty huge for Asia's camp amass'd. Th' encircling mountains all their echoes blend In one continu'd sound with bleating flocks, With bellowing herds, and dissonant uproar Of their conductors; whom Thessalia sent, Whom all the extent of Thracia, and the realm Of Amarantha's lord. Th' affrighted hinds Desert their charge. Trachiniae's neighb'ring gates With fugitives are throng'd. Lo! Cleon plants His bold Eretrian banners on the strand; The Styrians form; Eudemus bounds ashore, Geraestians follow; then auxiliars new, The subjects late of Demonax; the troops Of Locrian Medon, Delphian Timon land, Themistocles the last; whose chosen guard Of fifty Attic, fifty Spartan youths, Still sedulous and faithful close the rear.

They reach'd in order'd march Trachinian walls, Whose gates unclos'd. Majestical advanc'd A form rever'd by universal Greece, Prais'd by each tongue, by ev'ry eye admir'd, The Oïlean priestess of th' immortal Nine, The goddess-like Melissa. Medon swift, With Haliartus, met her sacred step. Her name divulg'd from ev'ry station call'd The gazing chiefs, Themistocles the first; Whom, by her brother pointed out to view, She thus address'd: Themistocles, give ear, And thou, O Medon, whom, a stranger long To my desiring eyes, they see restor'd. Well may you wonder, that a hostile fort Melissa's hand delivers to your pow'r. There is a Persian worthy to be rank'd Among the first of Grecians. Just, humane, Thy captive, Medon, amply hath discharg'd His price of ransom. Nine revolving moons Beheld Masistius guardian of my hill In purity of rev'rence to my fane, My person, my dependents. I forsook At Amarantha's suit my old abode; A virtuous princess from a sickly couch My care hath rais'd, Sandaucè, in those walls Long resident with me. Two days are past Since Artamanes, governing these tracts, Heard of a navy on Thessalia's coast, And with his force, though slender, took the field To guard Larissa. Your descent unmans The few remaining Persians in the fort; All with Saudaucè and her children flew To my protection; mercy to obtain Became my charge; her terrors will disperse, Soon as she knows, Themistocles is nigh.

The army halts. Trachiniae's gates admit Cecropia's hero, Medon, and the son Of Lygdamis. Sandaucè they approach, Sandaucè late in convalescent charms Fresh, as a May-blown rose, by pallid fear Now languid, as a lily beat with rain, Till she discovers with transported looks Her Salaminian guardian; then the warmth Of gratitude, redoubling all her bloom, Before him throws her prostrate. To him ran The recollecting children, who embrace Their benefactor's knees. She thus unfolds Her lips, whose tuneful exclamation charms:

O, my protector—Interposing swift, His ready hand uplifts her from the ground.

Do not disgrace me, thou excelling fair, He said; to leave such beauty thus depress'd Would derogate from manhood. She replies:

Forbear to think my present captive lot Hath humbled thus Sandaucè. No, the weight Of obligation past, my rescu'd babes In Salamis, myself from horror sav'd, Have bent my thankful knee. No fears debase My bosom now; Themistocles I see, In him a known preserver. Melting by, Melissa, Medon, Haliartus, shed The tend'rest dews of sympathy. In look Compassionate, but calm, the chief rejoins:

Suggest thy wishes, princess, and command My full compliance. She these accents sighs:

Ye gen'rous men, what pity is not due To eastern women! Prize, ye Grecian dames, Your envy'd state. When your intrepid lords In arms contend with danger on the plain, You in domestic peace are left behind Among your letter'd progeny, to form Their ductile minds, and exercise your skill In arts of elegance and use. Alas! Our wretched race, in ignorance and sloth By Asia nurtur'd, like a captive train, In wheeling dungeons with our infants clos'd, Must wait th' event of some tremendous hour, Which, unpropitious, leaves us on the field A spoil of war. What myriads of my sex From Greece to distant Hellespont bestrew The ways, and whiten with their bleaching bones The Thracian wilds! Spercheos views the tomb Of Ariana, hapless sister, laid In foreign mold! My portion of distress You know, benignant guardians, who asswag'd My suff'rings. Then to quit the diresul scene, Revisiting my native soil, to rest Among my children, and instruct their youth, As kind Melissa hath instructed mine, Were sure no wish immoderate or vague. But Artamanes—Blushing, trembling, here She paus'd. Melissa takes the word: Sweet friend, Let vice, not virtue blush. Cecropian chief, Her soft attention well that youth deserves, She all his constancy and care. Their hands Are pledg'd; th' assent of Asia's king alone Is wanting, which Mardonius hath assur'd To Artamanes, flow'r of Asia's peers. Him, with unequal force, to battle march'd Against thy ranks, which never have been foil'd, She knows, and trembles. Artfully replies Themistocles: Sandaucè may prevent This danger. Let her messenger convey A kind injunction, that the noble youth, Whose merit I have treasur'd in my breast, May sheath his fruitless weapons, and, return'd To her, aboard my well-appointed keel With her embarking, seek their native soil.

The princess hears, and joyfully provides A messenger of trust. Assembling now His captains, thus Themistocles ordains:

Friends of Euboea, soon as Phoebus dawns Your progress bend to Larissaean tow'rs; Your chief is Cleon. Hyacinthus join; To your united force the foe must yield. Save Artamanes; bring him captive back, But not with less humanity than care. Accomplish'd Medon, Haliartus, vers'd In Oeta's neighb'ring wilds, your Locrians plant Among the passes; once secur'd, they leave Us at our leisure to contrive and act. Thee, honour'd seer of Delphi, at my side In this Trachinian station I retain.

By op'ning day each leader on his charge Proceeds. Themistocles inspects the vale, Constrains the peasants from unnumber'd cars Aboard his fleet to lade the golden grain.

Before Thermopylae the Locrian files Appear. From Oeta's topmast peak, behold, O'er Medon's head a vulture wings his flight, Whom to a cross beside the public way Th' Oïlean hero's curious eye pursues.

Oh! stay thy rav'nous beak, in anguish loud Cries Haliartus. Shudder while thou hear'st, Son of Oïleus; on that hideous pile The bones of great Leonidas are hung.

Then Medon's cool, delib'rate mind was shook By agitation to his nature strange. His spear and buckler to the ground he hurl'd; Before th' illustrious ruins on his knee He sunk, and thus in agony exclaim'd:

Should this flagitious profanation pass Unpunish'd still, th' existence of the gods Were but a dream. O, long-enduring Jove! Thy own Herculean offspring canst thou see Defac'd by vultures, and the parching wind, Yet wield resistless thunder—But thy ways Are awfully mysterious; to arraign Thy heaviest doom is blasphemy. Thy will For me reserv'd the merit to redeem These precious reliques; penitent I own My rashness; thankful I accept the task.

O mighty spirit! who didst late inform With ev'ry virtue that disfigur'd frame, With ev'ry kind affection prov'd by me, The last distinguish'd object of thy care, When it forbad me to partake thy fate, The life, thy friendship sav'd, I here devote To vindicate thy manes. Not the wrongs Of gen'ral Greece, not Locris giv'n to flames, Not the subversion of my father's house, E'er with such keen resentment stung my heart, As this indignity to thee. He said, And, with the aid of Haliartus, free'd The sacred bones; Leonteus, and the prime Of Locris, frame with substituted shields Th' extemporeanous bier. Again the chief:

Leonteus, Haliartus, rest behind; Achieve th' important service, which the son Of Neocles enjoins. The pious charge Be mine of rend'ring to Melissa's care These honour'd reliques. Now in measur'd pace The warlike bearers tread; their manly breasts Not long withhold the tribute of their sighs Ingenuous; tears accompany their steps. His sister in Trachiniae Medon soon Approaches; glad she hears him, and replies.

Hail! brother, hail! thou chosen by the gods From longer shame to rescue these remains, Which once contain'd whate'er is good and great Among the sons of men. Majestic shade! By unrelenting laws of Dis forbid To enter, where thy ancestors reside; Who, seed of Jove, to their Elysian joys Expect thee, most illustrious of the race. Amidst thy wand'rings on the banks of Styx, Dost thou recall Melissa's dirge of praise O'er thee, preparing by a glorious death To save thy country? O! unbury'd still, Did not Melissa promise to thy dust Peace in her temple? An atrocious king Hath barr'd awhile th' accomplishment; thy friend, Thy soldier, now will ratify my word. Soon to Lycurgus shall thy spirit pass, To Orpheus, Homer, and th' Ascraean sage, Who shall contend to praise thee in their bow'rs Of amaranth and myrtle, ever young Like thy renown. In Oeta's fane these bones, Dear to the Muses, shall repose, till Greece, Amid her future triumphs, hath decreed A tomb and temple to her saviour's fame.

This high oblation of pathetic praise, Paid by her holy friend, Sandaucè notes Attentive; seldom from Melissa's eye Was she remote. Her eunuchs she deputes To bring a coffer large of od'rous wood Inlaid with pearl, repository due To such divine remains. In time appears Th' Athenian gen'ral to applaud the deed, While thus the mighty manes he invokes:

Hear, thou preserver of thy country, hear! Lo! in his palms of Salamis the son Of Neocles salutes thee. From a hand, Which hath already half aveng'd thy death, Accept of decent rites. Thy virtue sav'd A nation; they hereafter shall complete Thy fun'ral honours, and surround thy tomb With trophies equal to thy deathless name.

He ceas'd. Her mantle on the solemn scene Night from her car in dusky folds outspread.

Three mornings pass. Anon Sperchēan banks Re-echo shouts of triumph, while the vales Are clad in arms. Lo! Cleon is return'd, Uplifting bloodless ensigns of success, And thus accosts Themistocles: Thy prize, This Persian lord receive; our hasty march O'ertook his rear. From Larissaean tow'rs, A recent conquest, Hyacinthus, join'd By Potidaeans, and Olynthian spears, Was then in sight. The herald I detach'd With fair Sandaucè's message, and thy terms Of peace and safety; Artamanes found Resistance vain, and yielded. From the van Now stepp'd the Persian graceful, and bespake Themistocles: Accept a second time Thy captive, gen'rous Grecian; nor impute To want of prowess, or to fond excess Of acquiescence to Sandaucè's will, My unreserv'd surrender. To have stain'd By fruitless contest thy triumphant wreaths With blood, and spurn'd the bounty of thy hand, Had prov'd ingratitude in me. These words Cecropia's chief return'd: Receive my hand, Thy pledge of freedom here not less secure, Than heretofore at Salamis, thy pledge Of bliss yet more endearing. Soon my keel Shall place thee happy on thy native coast, Thee and thy princess; that in future days You may at least of all the Asian breed Report my kindness, and forget my sword.

Amidst his words a soft complaining trill Of Philomela interrupts their sound. The youthful satrap then: That pensive bird, Sandaucè's warbling summoner, is wont In evening shade on Ariana's tomb To sit and sing; my princess there devotes In melancholy solitude this hour To meditation, which dissolves in tears.

Then greet her, said th' Athenian; thy return Will sooth her tender breast. My promise add, That on the first fair whisper of the winds, She shall revisit her maternal soil.

This said, they parted. At her sister's grave The satrap join'd his princess. He began:

I have obey'd thy summons. No disgrace Was my surrender to the conqu'ring sword, Which Persia long hath felt. Thy servant comes No more a captive, but to thee by choice; Themistocles all bounteous and humane, As heretofore, I find. Forbear to check That rising birth of smiles; in perfect light Those half-illuminated eyes attire; Enough the tribute of their tears hath lav'd These precious tombs. Prepare thee to embark; Themistocles hath promis'd thou shalt leave A land, whose soaring genius hath depress'd The languid plumes of Asia. Lift thy head In pleasing hope to clasp thy mother's knees, To change thy weeds of mourning, and receive A royal brother's gift, this faithful hand.

Nigh Ariana's clay Autarctus slept. Divine Sandaucè on her husband's tomb, With marble pomp constructed by the care Of Artamanes, fix'd a pensive look In silence. Sudden from the cluster'd shrubs, O'erhanging round it, tuneful all and blithe A flight of feather'd warblers, which abound Through each Thessalian vale, in carrol sweet Perch on the awful monument. The sun Streaks with a parting, but unsully'd ray Their lively change of plumage, and each rill Is soften'd by their melody. Accept, Accept this omen, Artamanes cries; Autarctus favours, Horomazes smiles, Whose choir of songsters not unprompted seem Our nuptial hymn preluding. She replies:

I want no omen to confirm thy truth. Dust of my sister, of my lord, farewell; Secure in Grecian piety remain. Still in his offspring will Sandaucè love

I have obey'd thy summons. No disgrace Was my surrender to the conqu'ring sword, Which Persia long hath felt. Thy servant comes No more a captive, but to thee by choice; Themistocles all bounteous and humane, As heretofore, I find. Forbear to check That rising birth of smiles; in perfect light Those half-illuminated eyes attire; Enough the tribute of their tears hath lav'd These precious tombs. Prepare thee to embark; Themistocles hath promis'd thou shalt leave A land, whose soaring genius hath depress'd The languid plumes of Asia. Lift thy head In pleasing hope to clasp thy mother's knees, To change thy weeds of mourning, and receive A royal brother's gift, this faithful hand.

Nigh Ariana's clay Autarctus slept. Divine Sandaucè on her husband's tomb, With marble pomp constructed by the care Of Artamanes, fix'd a pensive look In silence. Sudden from the cluster'd shrubs, O'erhanging round it, tuneful all and blithe A flight of feather'd warblers, which abound Through each Thessalian vale, in carrol sweet Perch on the awful monument. The sun Streaks with a parting, but unsully'd ray Their lively change of plumage, and each rill Is soften'd by their melody. Accept, Accept this omen, Artamanes cries; Autarctus favours, Horomazes smiles, Whose choir of songsters not unprompted seem Our nuptial hymn preluding. She replies:

I want no omen to confirm thy truth. Dust of my sister, of my lord, farewell; Secure in Grecian piety remain. Still in his offspring will Sandaucè love That husband, thou, my Artamanes, still Revere that friend. She said, and dropp'd her hand, Press'd by the youth. With purity their guide, They o'er the mead Sperchēan slowly seek Trachinian portals. Phoebe on their heads Lets fall a spotless canopy of light.