Leonidas: a poem.

LEONIDAS. BOOK VII.

The argument.

The bodies of Teribazus and Ariana are brought into the presence of Xerxes, soon after a report had reach'd the camp, that half his navy was shipwreck'd. The Persian monarch, quite dispirited, is persuaded by Argestes, one of the satraps, to send an ambassador to the Spartan king. Argestes himself is deputed, who, after revealing his ambassy to Leonidas in secret, is by him led before the whole army, and there receives his answer. In the mean time Alpheus returns and declares, that the enemies were possess'd of the passages in the hills, and were hastening to Thermopylae, upon which Leonidas offers to send away all the army except his three hundred Spartans; but Diomedon, Demo|philus, Dithyrambus, and Megistias refuse to depart: he then dis|misses Argestes, informs the Grecians of his design to attack the Persian camp in the night, and making all the necessary dispositions retires to his pavilion.

BEFORE the tent of Xerxes now arriv'd The Persian captives. On with solemn pace And slow they move. The monarch from afar Descries their sad demeanour. They approach, Nor he forbids. That morn had Rumour toldLine 5 The loss of half his navy dash'd on rocks By angry blasts, or buried in the surge. Thus, when his bleeding sister met his eyes, Already sunk in sadness, he had lost His kingly pride, the parent of disdain,Line 10 And cold indifference for others woes; Nor ev'n beside his sister's nobler corse Her humble lover now his scorn awak'd. In tears the captive's mournful tale he heard, And then first knew compassion; but e'er longLine 15 Those traces vanish'd from the tyrant's breast:

His former gloom redoubles, for himself His anxious bosom heaves, and now he fears, Lest he with all his numbers should be cast A prey to Fortune. Near the monarch stoodLine 20 The Spartan exile, whom he thus bespake.

O DEMARATUS, what will fate ordain! Lo! Fortune turns against me! Who shall know How far her daring malice may extend, Which rages now so near me, and hath madeLine 25 My house the seat of ruin? I have sent From my unshelter'd side my bravest chiefs, And choicest troops to pass the desart hill, Led by this Malian; may not there the Greeks With opposition more tremendous stillLine 30 And ruinous, than yester sun beheld, Resistless hold their craggy post; renew

Their stony thunder with augmented rage, And send whole quarries down the rocky steep Again to crush my legions? Oh! unfoldLine 35 Thy secret soul, nor hide the harshest truth; Say what remains to hope? The exile here.

IF truth unblam'd may issue from my lips, Too well, imperial Xerxes, you presage What may befal your legions. If the GreeksLine 40 Arrang'd within Thermopylae, a pass Accessible and spacious, could repel With such destruction their unnumber'd foes; What scenes of havoc must th' untrodden paths, Confin'd among the craggy hills, afford?Line 45

IMMERS'D in care the monarch silent sat. Amid th' incircling peers Argestes stood.

A potent prince. On Sipylus he reign'd. Whose lofty summits overlook'd the waves Of Hermus and Pactolus; either streamLine 50 Enrich'd with golden sands its tribute bore To this great satrap: through the servile court Yet was there none more practic'd in the arts Of mean submission; none more skill'd to gain The royal favour; none, who better knewLine 55 The phrase, the looks, and gesture of a slave. In soothing words he thus the king bespake.

IF Xerxes will to spare his faithful bands, And not exert the terrours of his pow'r; More gentle means of conquest than by arms,Line 60 Nor less secure may artifice supply. Renown'd Darius, thy imperial sire Great in the spoil of kingdoms, long in vain

The fields of proud Euphrates with his host O'erspread; at length confiding in the wilesLine 65 Of Zopyrus the mighty king subdu'd The Babylonian tow'rs: but who shall count, What num'rous states by policy have fall'n; And let corruption once her aid impart, Not one shall stand. What race of men possessLine 70 Such probity and wisdom, whom the veil Of craft may blind not, nor corruption's charm Seduce. O Xerxes, thou, whom heav'n hath rais'd To more than mortal greatness, canst thou find Through all thy empire, which from India's shoreLine 75 Shall reach Eurotas soon, no dazzling gift To gain the Grecian leader? O dispel The cloud of sadness from those sacred eyes, And proffer streight to Lacedaemon's chief, What may thy own munificence declare,Line 80

And win his sword to aid thee. Xerxes here, Rous'd from his trance of sorrow, swift replied.

WISE are thy words and counsels. Go, repair, My faithful servant, to the Grecian chief; Fall down before him; bid him join our arms,Line 85 And he shall reign o'er all the Grecian states.

AT once Argestes leaves the monarch's side. He now approaches to the Phocian wall. Thence Dithyrambus leads him to the tent Of Lacedaemon's king. Retreated thereLine 90 Alone the hero meditating sat On future woes to Persia. At his feet Prone bows Argestes, and begun. Thus low Before thy awful presence Xerxes wills, That I should bend me prostrate to the earth,Line 95

And thus accost thee. Great and matchless chief, By fortune favour'd, and belov'd by heav'n, Thus says the lord of Asia; join our arms, And we reward thee with the sov'reign rule O'er all the pow'rful states of haughty Greece.Line 100 And, O illustrious warriour, heed my words. Think on the bliss of royalty, the pomp Of courts, their endless pleasures, trains of slaves, Who restless watch for thee and thy delights, With all the glories of unrivall'd sway.Line 105 Look on th' Ionic and Aeolian Greeks From them their fantom liberty is flown, While in each province, rais'd by Xerxes' hand, Some favour'd chief presides (exalted state, Which envious freedom gives not) on his headLine 110 He bears the gorgeous diadem, and sees His equals once now prostrate at his throne.

Yet how much greater thou, whom gen'ral Greece, That teems with mightiest states, shall call her lord, Thee only worthy. How will Greece rejoiceLine 115 Around thy throne, and hail th' auspicious hour, When thou, selected by the Persian king To bless consenting nations with thy sway, Didst calm the fury of unsparing war, Which else had delug'd all with blood and flames!Line 120

HE said. The chief replies not, but commands The Thespian youth, who near the tent had watch'd, To summon all the Grecians. He obeys. While from his seat the hero mov'd, and bade The Persian follow. He amaz'd attends,Line 125 Surrounded soon by all the Grecian bands; When him the godlike Spartan thus bespake.

HERE, Persian, tell thy ambassy, repeat, That to obtain my friendship Asia's lord Bids me accept the sov'reignty of Greece;Line 130 Then view this band, whose valour shall preserve That Greece unconquer'd, which your king bestows, And strew your bodies on its crimson plains: The indignation painted on their looks, And gen'rous scorn shall answer for their chief.Line 135

THE hero ceas'd, when suddenly return'd The speed of Alpheus; all suspended streight On him direct their sight, who thus began.

E'ER I could join the Phocians, from the hill, Which overhung the close defile, I view'dLine 140 The pow'rs of Persia. Down the narrow strait

No sooner gleam'd th' innumerable spears, But by our angry destiny misled, Or some curst daemon, enemy to Greece, The Phocians quit their station. Through the passLine 145 An inundation of Barbarians pours, The traitor Epialtes is their guide, And to Thermopylae directs their course.

HE here concludes. Unutterable fear In horrid silence wrapt the list'ning throng,Line 150 Aghast, confounded; silent too were those, Who knew no terrour, yet with wonder mute, Thick-wedg'd inclos'd Leonidas around, Who thus with calmest elocution spoke.

I NOW behold my destiny compleat,Line 155 And how at last Leonidas must die.

Here with the Spartans shall I rest behind While you, my faithful, brave allies, retreat. Then art thou near, thou glorious, sacred hour, Which shalt my country's liberty confirm!Line 160 All hail! thou solemn period! thee the tongues Of Virtue, Fame, and Freedom shall record, And celebrate in ages yet unborn. Then O farewel, Megistias wise and brave; Thou too experienc'd, venerable chief,Line 165 Demophilus farewel: farewel to thee Invincible Diomedon, to thee Unequall'd Dithyrambus, and to all, You other dauntless warriours, who may claim Praise from my lips, and friendship from my heart,Line 170 You after all the wonders, which your swords Have here accomplish'd, shall enrich your names With fresh renown. Your valour must compleat,

What we begin. Here first th' astonish'd foe A dying Spartan shall with terrour view,Line 175 And tremble, while he conquers; then, by fate Led from his dreadful victory dismay'd Against the phalanx of united Greece, By your unconquer'd spears himself shall fall.

HERE interpos'd the fierce Plataean chief.Line 180 By the twelve Gods enthron'd in heav'n supreme, By my fair name unsullied yet I swear, Ne'er shall thy eyes, Leonidas, behold Diomedon forsake thee. First let strength Desert my limbs, and valour shun my heart.Line 185 Did I not face the Marathonian war? Have I not seen Thermopylae? O Fame, What more canst thou bestow, or I receive? Where can I living purchase brighter praise, Line 190

Than dying here? A more illustrious tombLine 190 Where can I gain, than underneath the heaps Of Persians fall'n the victims of our sword. He ended, when Demophilus subjoin'd.

O KING of Sparta, pride of human race, Whom none e'er equall'd, but the seed of Jove,Line 195 Thy own forefather number'd with the Gods, Lo! I am old. With faltring steps I tread The prone descent of years. The winged hours By me, as one unequal to their speed, Who can no more their fleeting joys attain,Line 200 Unheeding slide. My youth my country claim'd, My age no more can serve her; what remains? What eligible hope can wisdom form, But to die well? Upon this glorious earth With thee, unrivall'd hero, will I closeLine 205

The eve of life. So spake the hoary chief, When Dithyrambus next. O first of Greeks, Me too think worthy to attend thy fame With this most dear and venerable man For ever honour'd from my tend'rest age,Line 210 Ev'n till on life's extremity we part. Nor too aspiring let my hopes be deem'd; Should the Barbarian in his triumphs mark My youthful limbs among the gory heaps, Thence may his fears be doubled, when againLine 215 He meets in fields hereafter to be known The Grecian standards, trembling at a foe, To whom the flow'r, and blooming joys of life Are less alluring than a noble fate.

TO him Demophilus. Wilt thou too bleed,Line 220 My Dithyrambus?—But I here withhold

All counsel from thee, who art wise, as brave. If then thy magnanimity retain Thee too with great Leonidas to fall, At either's side our limbs shall press the ground,Line 225 And drop together in the arms of Death; So if th' attentive traveller we draw To our cold reliques, wondring shall he trace The diff'rent scene, and pregnant with applause, O wise old man, exclaim, thou well hast choseLine 230 The hour of fate: and O unequall'd youth, Who to thy country didst thy bloom devote, Mayst thou remain for ever dear to Fame! May Time rejoice to name thee! and may Peace With gentlest pinions hover o'er thy urn!Line 230

THIS said, the hero with his lifted shield His face o'ershades, and drops a secret tear;

Not this the tear of anguish, but deriv'd From fond affection grown mature with time; Which in a feebler mind to pain had turn'd,Line 240 But in the Thespian's firm and virtuous breast, Alone a manly tenderness awak'd Unmix'd with pity, or with vain regret.

MEGISTIAS last address'd the Spartan chief. Thou, whom the Gods have chosen to exaltLine 245 Above mankind in virtue and renown, O call not me presumptuous, who implore Among these heroes thy regardful ear! To Lacedaemon I a stranger came. You there preserv'd me, there with honours clad;Line 250 Nor have I yet one benefit repay'd. That now the gen'rous Spartans may behold

In me their high beneficence not vain, Here to their cause I consecrate my breath.

NOT so Megistias (interpos'd the king)Line 255 Thou and thy son retreat. Again the seer.

FORBID it, thou eternally ador'd, O Jove, confirm my persevering soul! Nor let my fear neglect this happy hour To shew the Spartans, I deserv'd their care.Line 260 Thou, Menalippus, hear the king's command, And my paternal tenderness revere. Do thou withdraw thee from me, to my hand Thy arms resigning. Fortune will supply Fresh toil for valour. Vanquish then, or findLine 262 A glorious grave; but spare thy father's eye The bitter anguish to behold thy youth

Untimely bleed before him. Grief suspends His speech, and interchangeably their arms Impart their last embraces. Either wept,Line 270 The hoary parent, and the blooming son. But from his temples the pontific wreath Megistias now unloosens, and resigns His hallow'd vestments; while the youth with tears The helmet buckles o'er his snowy locks,Line 275 And on his breast adjusts the radiant mail.

WHILE such contempt of life, such fervid zeal To die with glory animate the Greeks, Far other thoughts possess Argestes' soul. Amaze with mingled terrour smote his heart;Line 280 Cold drops, distill'd from ev'ry pore, bedew His shiv'ring limbs; his bosom pants; his knees Yield to their burthen; ghastly pale his cheeks,

Pale are his lips and trembling: such the minds Of slaves corrupt, to them the beauteous faceLine 285 Of Virtue turns to horrour. But the chief Of Lacedaemon now the wretch bespake.

RETURN to Xerxes; tell him on this rock The Grecians faithful to their post await His chosen myriads; tell him, thou hast seen,Line 290 How far the lust of empire is below A free-born mind: and tell him, to behold A tyrant humbled, and by virtuous death To seal my country's freedom, is a good Surpassing all, his boasted pow'r can give.Line 295

HE said, the Persian hastens through the pass. But now once more Diomedon arose. Wrath overcasts his forehead, while he spake.

YET more must stay and bleed. Inglorious Thebes Ne'er shall receive her traitors back, but hereLine 300 Shall they attone their perfidy by death Ev'n from their swords, to whom their abject hearts Have sacrific'd their faith. Nor dare to hope, Ye vile deserters of the public weal, Ye coward slaves, that mingled with the heapsLine 305 Of those, who perish in their country's cause, You shall your shame conceal. Whoe'er shall pass Along this field of glorious slain, and trace With veneration ev'ry nobler corse; His soul, though warm with generous applause,Line 310 A while shall curb the transport to repeat Its execrations o'er your impious heads, On whom that fate, which gives to others fame, Is infamy and vengeance. Dreadful thus Line 315

On the pale Thebans sentence he pronounc'd,Line 315 Like Rhadamanthus, from th' infernal throne When with inexorable frowns he doom'd The guilty dead to ever-during pain; While Phlegethon its flaming billows roll'd Before their sight, and ruthless furies shookLine 320 Their hissing serpents. All the Greeks assent With clamours echoing through the concave rock.

FORTH Anaxander in th'assembly stood, And thus began with indignation feign'd. If yet your clamours, Grecians, are allay'd,Line 325 Behold, I stand before you to demand, Why these my brave companions, who alone Of all the Thebans under my command Durst force their passage through dissuading crouds To join your host, should now be traitors deem'd;Line 330

Accus'd by one alone, a banish'd wretch, Whom Lacedaemon in her anger drove Far from her confines; one, who meanly sought A servile court for shelter: has he drawn Such virtues thence, that Sparta, who beforeLine 335 Held him unworthy of his native soil, Should trust him now before auxiliar friends? Injurious Greeks! we scorn the thought of flight. Let Asia bring her millions; unconstrain'd We wait the conflict, and for Greece will die.Line 340

THUS in the garb of virtue he adorn'd Necessity, deluding ev'ry Greek Except Laconia's hero. He perceiv'd Through all its fair disguise the traitor's heart. So, when at first mankind in science rudeLine 345 Rever'd the moon, as bright with native beams,

Some sage, that walk'd with Nature through her works, By Wisdom led, discern'd, the various orb Itself was dark, in foreign splendours clad. Now unexpected with his troop return'dLine 350 Dieneces, and thus to Sparta's king.

I NEED not tell thee, that the Persian pow'rs Have pass'd the secret strait. This night they halt, But with the morning will invade us here. We come to die with thee. United thus,Line 355 Our strength a fiercer contest shall maintain; Whence a more bright example to our friends, And stronger terrour of the Grecian name.

HE said, when thus Leonidas began. O Spartans, hear, and all you other Greeks,Line 360 Whose matchless virtue shall inroll your names

In Time's eternal records, and inhance Your country's lustre; lo! the setting sun Inflames the broad horizon. All retire,Line 365 And in your tents invoke the pow'r of sleep To aid your vigour, and to give your limbs Unwearied patience of continued toil; But when the second watch begins, let all With mutual exhortation rouse to arms:Line 370 For soon, as Cynthia from the vault of heav'n Hath hung her shining lamp, through Asia's host Shall death with horrour and amazement rage. Their camp is open to our swords, depriv'd Of all its chosen warriours. But I chargeLine 375 All, ev'n the Spartans, who are maim'd, or weak, To pain, or toil unequal, from our camp This hour to hasten. You, our brave allies Of Corinth, Phlius, with th' Arcadian bands Line 380

And Mycenaeans must not yet return,Line 380 But here, while we repose, in arms remain; When we our tents abandon, then depart.

HE said, all heard obedient, and dispers'd; While to his tent the godlike chief repairs, And with him Agis, whom he thus bespake.Line 385

O AGIS, hear and mark my last command, With wary skill dispose the nightly guard, That no deserter from the Theban tents May reach the camp of Asia, or ascend To those now halting on the neighb'ring hills:Line 390 Nor yet with us the faithless band must join. Not with such base associates must we trust Our great design. Their perfidy might soon Find means to rouse the unsuspecting foe, Line 395

And all our glorious enterprise confound.Line 395 Then, O my faithful Agis, e'er we move, While on the solemn sacrifice intent, As Lacedaemon's sacred laws ordain, Our pray'rs we offer to the tuneful nine, Do thou in whispers charge the Theban trainLine 400 Slow and in silence to disperse and fly. This said, they parted. On his couch alone Reclines the hero, where he thus revolves.

MY fate is now impending. O my heart! What more auspicious period could I chuseLine 405 For death, than now; when beating high with joy Thou tell'st me, I am happy? If to live, Or die, as Virtue dictates, be to know The purest bliss; if she her charms display Still beauteous, still unfading, still sereneLine 410

To youth, to age, to death; whatever be Those other climes of uncorruptive joy, Which Heav'n in dark futurity conceals, Still here, O Virtue, thou art all our good. Then what a black, unspeakable reverseLine 415 The wretched offspring of Injustice prove? What in the struggle of departing day, When life's last glimpse extinguishing presents Th' unknown, inextricable gloom of death? But can I paint the terrours of a breast,Line 420 Where guilt resides? Leonidas forego The horrible conception, seek again Thy own untroubled heart, and grateful bow To those benignant pow'rs, who fram'd thy mind In crimes unfruitful, never to admitLine 425 The black impression of a guilty thought. Else could I fearless thus relinquish life?

No. Such unshaken calmness from th' unjust Is ever absent. Oft in them the rage Of some prevailing passion for a timeLine 430 Suppresses fear. Oft hurried on they lose The sense of danger, when dominion, pow'r, And purple pomp their dazzled sight enchant. Yet still the joys of life alone they seek. But he, who calmly meets resistless fate,Line 435 When glory only, and the gen'ral good Invite him forward, must possess a soul, Which all content deducing from itself Can by unerring virtue's constant light Discern, when death is worthy of his choice.Line 440 The man thus great and happy, in the scope Of his large mind is stretch'd beyond his date; Ev'n on this shore of being he in thought

Supremely bless'd anticipates the good, Which late posterity from him derives.Line 445

THE hero clos'd his meditation here. The swelling transports of his mind subside In soft oblivion, while the silken plumes Of sleep envelop his extended limbs.

End of the Seventh Book.