Leonidas: a poem.

LEONIDAS. BOOK IX.

The argument.

Leonidas and the Grecians penetrate through the Persian camp to the very pavilion of Xerxes, who avoids destruction by flight. The Bar|barians are slaughter'd in great multitudes, and their camp is set on fire. Leonidas conducts his men back to Thermopylae, engages the Persians, who were descended from the hills, and after numberless proofs of superiour strength and valour sinks down cover'd with wounds, and expires the last of all the Grecian commanders.

THE waining moon display'd her gleaming horns, When o'er th' unguarded bound of Asia's camp Now pass'd the Grecians. Through th' unnumber'd tents, Where all was mute and tranquil, they pursue Line 5

Their silent march. The eastern world aroundLine 5 Lay stretch'd in slumber, motionless, and deaf, Wrapt in the dead security of night, Nor mark'd the steps of Fate. The wary Greeks By Polydorus guided still proceed. Ev'n to the center of th' extensive hostLine 10 Unseen they pierc'd, when now th' imperial tent Yet distant rose before them. Wide around The proud pavilion stretch'd an ample space, Where myriads might imbattle. Here a band Of chosen Persians watchful round their kingLine 15 Held their nocturnal station. As the hearts Of anxious nations menac'd with the waste Of meager famine, and the ruthless sword Sink in their frozen bosoms, while despair Sees fear-ingender'd fantoms in the sky,Line 20 Aërial hosts amid the clouds array'd,

Which seem to shake the firmament with war, Portending woe and death; the Persians thus Are smote with consternation, as the moon By her faint beam discover'd from afarLine 25 The glimpse of Grecian arms. With sudden cries They waken Horrour, which to Xerxes' couch, And o'er th' astonish'd host, swift-winged flew Dispelling sleep and silence. All the camp Pours forth its numbers naked, pale, unarm'd,Line 30 Wild with amazement, blinded by dismay, To ev'ry foe obnoxious; when at once Plung'd in ten thousand breasts the Grecian steel Reeks with destruction. Deluges of blood Float o'er the field, and foam around the heapsLine 35 Of wretches slain unconscious of the hand, Which mows them down by legions. From his couch The lord of Asia and of L••bia st••••••••

(Amaze, affright, distraction in his look) And sees in thought united Greece advance.Line 40 Where then was fled the empty pride of kings, The hope of glory, and the lust of pow'r? What then avail'd th' innumerable range Of thy huge camp save only to conceal Thy trembling steps, O Xerxes, while thou fliest.Line 45 Leonidas before the Grecian van Through bleeding thousands hews his dreadful way. Before him Terrour strides. Gigantic Death, And Desolation at his side attend, With all the Furies of insatiate war.Line 50 To Xerxes' tent the hero speeds, nor finds His victim. Ardent throngs of Grecians fill The stately mansion; to the ground are hurl'd The glitt'ring ensigns of imperial pow'r: The diadem, the scepter, late ador'dLine 55

And fear'd by millions, underneath their feet With mingled rage and scorn the Grecians crush, A sacrifice to Freedom. Now return The furious bands. Leonidas exalts For new destruction his resistless spear,Line 60 When sudden night o'ershrouds the spangled heav'ns, And clouds condensing intercept the moon. Black o'er the furrow'd main the raging east In whirlwinds sweeps the surge. Now roars the coast, The crashing forests, and the cavern'd rocks.Line 65 Swift through the camp the hurricane impells Its dire career, when Asia's numbers, veil'd Amid the shelt'ring horrours of the storm, Evade the Spartan lance. The Grecians halt, By great Leonidas restrain'd, and waitLine 70 Near Xerxes' tent their mighty leader's will.

BESIDE the high pavilion from the time, That Xerxes near Thermopylae had drawn His num'rous bands, perpetual fire had shone; Before whose sacred light the Persian lordLine 75 Was wont among his Magi to adore The power of Oromasdes: piles of wood Lay nigh, prepar'd to feed the constant flame. These on the altar by the Greeks are strewn, So wills Laconia's hero; while the windsLine 80 Excite the blaze, his phalanx he divides; Four bands are form'd by Dithyrambus led, By Alpheus, by Diomedon, the last Himself commands. The word is giv'n; the Greeks Press to the fire; soon shrink the burning heaps;Line 85 Destructive flames they brandish, and, injoin'd

To reassemble at the regal tent, By various paths the hostile camp invade.

RESISTLESS desolation now involves The Malian fields, as o'er the eastern tentsLine 90 From diff'rent stations flew ten thousand brands Hurl'd by the Greeks unrespited. The winds With violence redoubled breathing round Tempestuous rage exasperate the blaze. The conflagration, like a sea, expands;Line 95 Collected now from ev'ry part it forms One waving surface of unbounded fire. In ruddy volumes mount the curling flames To heav'n's dark vault, and paint the midnight clouds. So, when the north emits its purpled lights,Line 100 The undulating radiance streaming wide, As with a burning canopy, invests

Th' ethereal concave. Oeta now disclos'd Its forehead glitt'ring with eternal frost, While down the rocks the foamy torrents shone.Line 105 Far o'er the main the pointed rays were thrown; Night snatch'd her mantle from the ocean's breast; The billows glimmer from the distant shores. But where ascends a pillar huge of smoke With wreathing flames incircled, Horrour thereLine 110 And Death on great Leonidas attend. He bade th' exulting Polydorus lead, Where Asia's horse and chariots stood arrang'd; There at his word devouring Vulcan feasts On all the tribute, which Thessalia's meadsLine 115 Yield to the scythe, and riots on the heaps Of Ceres emptied of the ripen'd grain. A flood of fire envelopes all the ground; The cordage bursts of ev'ry blazing tent; Line 120

Down sink the roofs, and overwhelm the throngLine 120 Of wretches panting from the Spartan sword, Close-wedg'd with fear; the Libyan chariot burns, Th' Arabian camel, and the Persian steed Bound through the fiery deluge; wild with pain They shake their singed manes, with madding hoofsLine 125 Dash through the blood of thousands mix'd with flames, That rage augmented by the whirlwind's blast.

MEANTIME the scepter'd lord of half the globe Through the wide tumult, like a guilty slave, From tent to tent precipitates his flight.Line 130 Dispers'd are all his satraps; Pride itself Shuns his dejected brow; Despair alone With pale Confusion, and with frantic Fear Wait on th' imperial fugitive, and shew, As round the camp his eye distracted roves,Line 135

No limits to destruction. Now was seen Aurora mounting from the eastern hills In rosy sandals, and with dewy locks: The winds subside before her, darkness flies, And streams of light proclaim the chearful day.Line 140 When now at Xerxes' tent the Grecian band Was reunited. What could Fortune more To aid the valiant, and to gorge revenge? Lo! Desolation o'er the Persian host Hath emptied all its horrours; ev'n the handLine 145 Of languid slaughter drops its crimson steel; Nor Nature longer can sustain the toil Of ever-during conquest. Yet what pow'r Among the Grecians once again reviv'd Their drooping warmth; new-brac'd their nerves, and call'd Their wearied swords to deeds of brighter fame?Line 151 What, but th' inspiring hope of glorious death

To crown their labour, and th' auspicious look Of their heroic chief, which still unchang'd, Still with superiour majesty declar'dLine 155 No toil had yet relax'd his matchless strength, Nor worn the vigour of his godlike soul. Down to the pass with gentle march he leads Th' imbattled warriors. There behind the shrubs, Which near the verdant feet of Oeta sprung,Line 160 Beside the entrance of the straits the Greeks In ambush lay. The tempest now was calm'd; Soft breezes only from the Malian wave O'er each grim face besmear'd with smoke and gore Their cool refreshment breath'd. The healing galeLine 165 Dispells the languor from their harass'd limbs, Which swell with strength returning. After all Th' incessant labours of the horrid night Through flames and war continu'd, they prepare Line 170

In order'd battle to confront the pow'rsLine 170 Of Hyperanthes, that selected band From Asia's numbers, destin'd with the morn To pass the mountains in triumphant march With strength unwasted, and with souls elate. Not long the Greeks in expectation stoodLine 175 Impatient. Sudden with tumultuous shouts, Like Nile's swift current, where with deafning roar Prone from the steep of Elephantis falls Its sea of waters, Hyperanthes pours His rapid legions o'er the Grecian campLine 180 Down from the hills precipitant. No foe Is found to stop the torrent; on they roll With thund'ring footsteps o'er the sounding pass.

THAT night no sooner had the Theban train Thermopylae forsaken, but their courseLine 185

They bent along the mountains, till they met The pow'rs of Xerxes. Dusky twilight still Prevailing, Persia with misguided rage Assail'd her friends unknown. Th'impetuous spear Of Hyperanthes clove the faithless heartLine 190 Of Anaxander; on, the hero press'd, And spread destruction through their bleeding ranks; Nor check'd his ardent valour, till he heard The name of Thebes in suppliant cries proclaim'd: The Persians then receive them, in the frontLine 195 As guides they place them, and, amaz'd to learn, That daring Greece should Xerxes' camp invade, Haste from the mountains, rush along the pass, And now tumultuous issue from its mouth. At once Laconia's leader gives the sign,Line 200 When, as th' impulsive ram with dreadful sway O'erturns the nodding rampart from its base,

And strews a town with ruin, so the band Of serried heroes down the Malian steep, An hideous depth, the blended numbers sweptLine 205 Of Thebes and Persia. There no waters flow, But horrid rocks present their craggy sides; There dash'd whole legions. From their mangled limbs A tide of blood rolls foaming to the sea. Again thy voice, Leonidas, is heard;Line 210 The Grecians turn; against the op'ning pass They point their wheeling phalanx; on they rush. Astonish'd Persia stops in full career, Ev'n Hyperanthes starts with terrour back. Confusion drives fresh numbers from the shore,Line 215 Whelm'd in the Malian slime. Th' undaunted king Of Lacedaemon enter'd now the straits, And rang'd for battle. Hyperanthes soon Recall'd his chosen warriours from their fear. Line 220

Swift on the great Leonidas was bentLine 220 A grove of darts; th' incount'ring armies clos'd.

WHOM first, whom last, great Spartan, didst thou foil? What rivers heard along their echoing banks Thy name in curses sounded from the lips Of mothers wailing for their slaughter'd sons!Line 225 What towns with empty monuments were fill'd For those, whom thy unconquerable sword This day to vultures cast! First Bessus died, A haughty satrap, whose tyrannic hand Despoil'd Hyrcania of her golden sheaves,Line 230 And laid her forests waste. For him the bees Among the branches interwove their sweets; For him the fig was ripen'd, and the vine With rich profusion o'er the goblet foam'd. Then Dinis bled. On Hermus' side he reign'd,Line 235

And long had sought with unavailing love Great Artemisia fam'd in Xerxes' fleet, The martial queen of Caria. She disdain'd The lover's soft complaint; her dauntless ear Was taught to mark the tempest, while it rag'd;Line 240 Her sight was practic'd from the rolling deck To brave the chafing billows; doom'd to meet That day of horrour, when the weeping eye Of Xerxes saw the blood of nations flow, And to its bottom tinge the briny floodsLine 245 Of Salamis, whence she with Asia fled, She only not inglorious: low reclines Her lover now, on Hermus' banks no more To sound her name, nor tell the vocal groves His fruitless sorrows. Then Madauces fell,Line 250 A Paphlagonian born amid the sound Of dashing surges, and the roar of winds;

Who o'er th' unhospitable Euxine waves Was wont from high Carambis' cliff to watch Th' ill-fated bark, which cut the Pontic stream,Line 255 Then with his dire associates through the deep For spoil and slaughter guide his hostile prow. With these Tithraustes far from Medus fall'n, His native tide, with blooming strength indu'd, And manly grace, Lilaeus, who had leftLine 260 The balmy fragrance of Arabia's fields, And Babylonian Tenagon expir'd. His bravest friends on ev'ry side o'erthrown With indignation Hyperanthes view'd, And in fierce haste his dauntless arm oppos'd.Line 265 To Sparta's hero. Each his lance protends, But thousands rush with interposing shields, Such sacred lives all anxious to defend; Or thither Fortune urg'd the tide of war, Line 270

Their term protracting for augmented fame.Line 270 So, when two gallies lab'ring through the foam Present for battle their destructive beaks, The billows oft, by hurricanes impell'd, With mountainous commotion dash between, And either bark in black'ning tempests veil'dLine 275 Waft from its distant foe. But fiercer burn'd Thy ardour, mighty Spartan, while in blood Thy falchion rag'd unwearied. Now the steeds Of day were climbing their meridian steep, And o'er the Persian camp the shouts of warLine 280 Burst from Thermopylae. Pharnuchus heard, Who from his couch beyond the Malian plain, Rous'd by the tumult in the neighb'ring tents To aid his lord had left Thessalia's fields With Syria, Cholchis, and Armenia's bands,Line 285 Th' Assyrians, and Chaldaeans. Asia's camp

Was still the seat of terrour and despair. As in some fruitful clime, which late hath known The rage of winds and floods, when now the storm Is heard no longer and the deluge fled,Line 290 Still o'er the wasted region Nature mourns In melancholy silence, through the grove With prostrate glories lie the stately oak And elm uprooted, while the plains are spread With fragments swept from villages o'erthrown,Line 295 And round the pastures flocks and herds are cast In weltring heaps of death; so Persia's host In horrour mute one boundless scene displays Of desolation: half devour'd by fire Its tall pavilions, and its warlike carsLine 300 Hide all the field with ruin; here in gore Its princes lie, and nameless thousands there, Here legions bleeding by the Grecian steel,

There Persians slain by Persians still declare The wild confusion of the direful night,Line 305 When wanting signals, and their leaders care They rush'd to mutual slaughter. Xerxes' tent On its exalted summit, when the dawn First streaks the glowing sky, was wont to bear The golden form of Mithra, clos'd betweenLine 310 Two lucid crystals, to the Barb'rous host An awful signal all in arms to leave Their crouded tents, and numberless to wait Their monarch's presence; this Pharnuchus rears High on the proud pavilion: at the sightLine 315 Their consternation is at length dispell'd, And through th' assembling nations hope revives. Pharnuchus then from all the number forms A chosen train; Thermopylae he seeks; Their march in loudest clamours is proclaim'd.Line 320

His phalanx soon Leonidas commands To circle backward from the Malian shore: Their order changes; now half-orb'd they stand By Oeta's mountains guarded from behind With either flank united to the rock.Line 325 As, by th' excelling architect dispos'd To shield some haven, a stupendous mole Fram'd of the grove and quarry's mingled strength In ocean's bosom penetrates afar; There stands the pride of art against the weightLine 330 Of seas, unmov'd, and breaks the whelming surge: So, when Pharnuchus with innum'rous pow'rs Thermopylae had fill'd, th' unyielding Greeks Oppos'd the hostile deluge, and its rage, Unshaken stem'd. Amid the foremost rankLine 335 Leonidas his dreadful station held. Before him soon an horrid void is seen

Through Persia's legions, and the proud remains Of noblest chiefs th' insanguin'd rock bestrew. Pharnuchus glowing with revenge and wrathLine 340 Discharges full at Lacedaemon's chief His iron-studded mace. Aside it glanc'd, Turn'd by the massy shield, and prone to earth The Persian fell. Alcander to the rock Transfix'd the prostrate satrap through the reins,Line 345 Himself receiving in th' unguarded side The lance of Hyperanthes. Low he lies, The only Theban, who by Sparta's king Abode intrepid, and to Greece preserv'd His faith untainted; a physician sage,Line 350 Who from Cithaeron each benignant herb Was wont to gather, and expatiate o'er The Heliconian pastures, where no plant Of poison springs, but such, whose healing juice Line 355

Expells the venom from the viper's toothLine 355 Fill'd with the sweetness of the soil divine: Him all, who languish on the bed of pain, Him most, the wretch, whom want, and sickness spreads On earth's cold breast neglected, shall deplore. On him the brave Artontes sinks in death,Line 360 Renown'd through wide Bithynia now no more The clam'rous rites of Cybele to share, While Echo murmurs through the hollow caves Of Berecynthian Dindymus. The hand Of Alpheus sent him to the shades of night.Line 365 E'er from the dead he disingag'd his spear, Huge Abradates glorying in his strength, Surpassing all of Cissian race, advanc'd To grapple with the victor; near him now His foremost step the Persian plants, his handLine 370 Grasps at the Spartan's shoulder. Alpheus once

At Nemea's games the wrestlers crown obtain'd. His art he summons, and his rapid foot Obliquely strikes against the Persian's heel; He falling seiz'd on Alpheus' neck, and drag'dLine 375 His foe upon him. Streight an hundred darts Of thronging Persia cleave the Grecian's back. To Abradates' breast the weapons pierce, And rivet both in death. This Maron saw, And Polydorus, who with victims fall'nLine 380 Before their vengeance hide their brother's corse. At length the gen'rous blood of Maron warms The lance of Hyperanthes. On the spear Of Polydorus falls the pond'rous ax Of Sacian Mardus; from the yielding woodLine 385 The steely point is sever'd. Undismay'd The Spartan stoops to rear the knotted mace Of slain Pharnuchus; but thy fatal sword,

Abrocomes, that dreadful instant marks To rend his op'ning side: unconquer'd still,Line 390 Swift he discharges on the Sacian's front An horrid wound, that reach'd the bursting brain. Down his own limbs the while a torrent flows Of vital crimson; smiling he surveys His sorrows ending, and his Spartan nameLine 395 Renew its lustre. Sudden to his side Springs Dithyrambus; through th' uplifted arm Of Mindus pointing his impetuous dart Against the bleeding Spartan he impells His steel resistless. Polydorus nowLine 400 Stretch'd his cold hand to Thespia's friendly chief, Then bow'd his head in everlasting peace; And Mindus wasted by his flowing wound Beside him faints and dies. In Ninus old Had his exalted ancestors sustain'dLine 405

Th' Assyrian scepter. Now to Persia's throne A tributary lord he rul'd the vales, Where Tigris swift between the parted hills Of tall Niphátes draws its foaming tide, Impregnating the glebe. At once a croudLine 410 Of ardent Persians seize the conqu'ror's lance: An hundred arms infold it. Thespia's youth With one strong hand maintains the struggling spear, The other bares his falchion. Through his foes With lightning wing'd it scatters wounds and death. Artáphrenes in torture feels his armLine 416 Lopt from the shoulder. Zatis leaves his hand Yet twining round the long-disputed lance. On Pheron's neck descends the pond'rous blade; Down drops the sever'd head; the vital streamLine 420 Spouts from its purple sluices. Mardon strides Across the pointed ash. His weight o'ercomes

The wearied Grecian, who resigns his hold, Yet cleaves th' exulting Persian to the brain. But now the fierce Abrócomes approach'd,Line 425 And louring shakes his dart. The wary Greek With his broad buckler intercepts the stroke, And closes with the Persian. Then what aid Of mortal force, or interposing heav'n Preserv'd the eastern warrior? Lo! the friendLine 430 Of Teribazus eager to avenge His lov'd companion, and at once to guard A brother's life, beneath the sinewy arm That instant rais'd for slaughter plung'd his lance In Dithyrambus' side. The vital stringsLine 435 At once relax; nor Fame, nor Greece demand More from his valour, and supine he lies In glories ripen'd on his blooming head. Him shall the Thespian virgins in their songs Line 440

Record one loveliest of the youthful train,Line 440 The good, the gentle, generous, and brave; Now fall'n his country's grace, and parent's pride: So sinks the cedar, which in verdant bloom High on the top of Libanus had stood The mountain's boast, and glory of the grove;Line 445 Then to adorn the mansions of the great, Or dignify some God's high-vaulted fane Uprooted low'rs its heav'n-aspiring head. Diomedon bursts forward. Round his friend He heaps destruction. What a troop of ghostsLine 450 Attend thy shade, fall'n hero! Long unmatch'd Prevail'd his vengeful arm, and Persia bled; Till four Assyrians on his shelving lance, E'er yet extracted from a prostrate corse, Their pond'rous maces all discharge. It broke.Line 455 Yet with the truncheon of his shatter'd spear

The Greek sustains the contest. Through his eye The shiver'd fragment penetrates the brain Of one bold warriour; there the splintry wood Infix'd remains: the hero then unsheathsLine 460 His falchion broad; a second views aghast His entrails falling, while Plataea's chief From the gash'd belly draws his reeking sword: Prone sinks a third beneath the falchion's weight; Though with the furious stroke the yielding bladeLine 465 Flew from the hilt, and left the Greek disarm'd: The fourth that instant lifts his knotted mace; It falls resistless on the batter'd helm, And low the great Diomedon extends His mighty limbs. So weaken'd by the forceLine 470 Of some tremendous engine, which the hand Of Mars impells, a stately turret spreads Its disuniting ramparts on the plain;

Joy fills th' assailants, while the battle's tide Whelms o'er the widening breach. The Persians thus O'er the late-fear'd Diomedon had rush'd,Line 476 And swept the Greeks before them; when behold Leonidas! At once their ardour froze. He had a while within the orb retir'd, Oppress'd by labour. Now with strength restor'dLine 480 He pours fresh ruin from the Spartan front. As, long retarded by th' unmoving calm, Soon, as a rising gale fresh-breathing curls The surging main, again the vessel bounds With all her op'ning sails; the hero thusLine 485 His buckler huge, and formidable spear Advancing, through the Asian files renews His course of slaughter. Destiny compells The bold Hydarnes to th' unequal fight, Who proudly vaunting left his weeping brideLine 490

To mourn his absence on the distant verge Of Bactrian Ochus. Victory in vain He parting promis'd. Wanton hope no more Round his cold heart delusive sports, nor paints Th' imagin'd pomp of triumphs, gorgeous spoils,Line 495 And trains of shackled Greeks. The Spartan pierc'd His shield, and bursting corselet. From the slain The victor draws his iron-pointed spear Bent, and infeebled with the forceful blow. Meantime within his buckler's verge, unseenLine 500 Amphistreus stealing in th' unguarded flank His poniard struck. With swift effusion gush'd A crimson torrent, but the scaly mail Immediate death repell'd. Th' indignant king Gripes with resistless might the Persian's throat,Line 505 And drags him prostrate. None in Xerxes' court Was more corrupt, with insolence more base,

With rancour more fallacious. Phrygia pin'd Beneath th' oppression of his ruthless sway. Was there a field once fruitful, or a townLine 510 Once populous and rich? The horrid change To want and desolation there declar'd, The curs'd Amphistreus govern'd. As the spear Of Tyrian Cadmus riveted to earth The pois'nous dragon, whose infectious breathLine 515 Had blasted half Boeotia; so the chief Of Lacedaemon trampling on the neck Of fall'n Amphistreus fixes to the rock The gasping tyrant, and his broken lance Leaves in the panting corse. Meanwhile thy woundLine 520 Incessant flows, great hero, and augments The hopes of Persia. Thou unyielding still Sustain'st the contest, while unnumber'd darts Are shiver'd on thy buckler, and thy feet Line 525

With glitt'ring points bestrew; the Cholchian sword,Line 525 And Persian dagger leave their shatter'd hilts; Bent is the Caspian scymetar; in vain The Sacian wheels his falchion, and their mace The strong Chaldaeans and Assyrians raise: Thou stand'st unshaken, like a Thracian hill,Line 530 Like Rhodopé, or Haemus; where in vain The thund'rer plants his livid bolt, in vain The glancing lightning cleaves th' incrusted snow, And Winter beating with eternal war Shakes from his dreery wings discordant storms,Line 535 Chill sleet, and clatt'ring hail. But now advanc'd Abrocomes, and aim'd his deadly spear Against the forehead of Laconia's chief, Not unperceiv'd; the Spartan's active hand His sword opposing upward rears the blade Against the threatning javelin; o'er his crest

Its fury wastes in air, while swift descends The pond'rous falchion on the Persian's knee: At once the bone is sever'd; prone he falls; Crush'd on the ground beneath ten thousand feetLine 545 The gallant warriour breaths the last remains Of tortur'd life. The Spartan thus maintain'd Th' unequal combat with his single sword. But Agis calls Diéneces, alarms Demophilus, Megistias; they from heapsLine 550 Of Allarodian and Sasperian slain Haste to their leader, and before him raise The brazen bulwark of their massy shields. The foremost line of Asia stands and bleeds; The rest recoil: but Hyperanthes stridesLine 555 From rank to rank throughout his various host, Their dying hopes rekindles, in the brave Excites new valour, and the freezing heart

Of Fear revives. Astaspes first obey'd The hero's voice, a fierce Chaldaean lordLine 560 Vain of his birth from antient Belus drawn, Proud of his wealthy stores, and stately domes; But now more proud by conquest, since his might Had foil'd the strong Diomedon. He seeks The front of battle. His victorious maceLine 565 Against the brave Diéneces he bends; The weighty blow bore down th' opposing shield, And crush'd the Spartan's shoulder: idle hangs The buckler now, and loads th' inactive arm Depriv'd of all its functions. Agis baresLine 570 His vengeful blade, and severs from the foe His hand exalted for a second stroke. The dying fingers with convulsive grasp The falling mace infold. A Sacian chief Springs on the victor. Iäxartes' banksLine 575

To this brave savage gave his name and birth. His looks erect, and fierce deportment spoke A bold and gallant spirit, but untam'd, With dreery wilds familiar, and a race Of rude Barbarians horrid as their clime.Line 580 The hostile spear, against his forehead aim'd, Glanc'd upward, and o'erturn'd his iron cone: The blow renew'd his bursting chest divides. Th' undaunted Sacian writhes along the lance, Which griding passes through his breast and back,Line 585 A barbed arrow from his quiver draws, Deep in the streaming pap of Agis hides The deadly steel, then grimly smiles and dies. From him Fate hastens to a nobler prey; For lo! the brave Diéneces presentsLine 590 His breast obnoxious to a thousand darts. The shield deserts his unsustaining arm,

And slides to earth. A grove of javelins rose On his broad bosom. Still for ev'ry wound He hurl'd a Persian to th'infernal gloom;Line 595 But life at length forfook his riven heart, And o'er the rock the gasping hero stretch'd His dying limbs in gore. Who now can stand The torrent of Barbarians? Agis bleeds, His spear is irrecoverably plung'dLine 600 In Iäxartes' body. Low reclines Diéneces in gore. The Spartan chief Himself o'erlabour'd, of his lance disarm'd The rage of Death can exercise no more. One last and glorious effort age performs.Line 605 Demophilus, Megistias join their might, And stem the floods of conquest; while the spear Of slain Diéneces to Sparta's king The fainting Agis bore. The blazing steel Line 610

In that dire hand again for battle rear'dLine 610 Blasts all the Persian valour. Back in heaps They roll confounded, by their leader's voice In vain exhorted longer to endure The ceaseless waste of that unconquer'd arm. So, when the giants from Olympus chas'dLine 625 Th' inferiour Gods, themselves in terrour shun'd Th' incessant streams of lightning, when the hand Of heav'n's great father with eternal might Sustain'd the direful conflict. O'er the field Awhile Bellona stills the rage of war;Line 620 When Thespia's leader, and Megistias drop At either side of Lacedaemon's king. Beneath the weight of years and labour bend The hoary warriours. Not a groan molests Their parting spirits, but in death's calm night,Line 625 All-silent, bows each venerable head:

Like aged oaks, whose deep-descending roots Had pierc'd resistless through the mountain's side, And there for three long centuries had brav'd Each angry gust of Eurus, and the North;Line 630 Till, sapless now by Time's despoiling hand, Without a blast their mossy trunks recline Before their parent hill. By Sparta's chief None now remains but Agis, who implores The last kind office from his godlike friend,Line 635 The Sacian's arrow from his pap to draw. This done, life issues with the sanguine tide. Thy comely features, Agis, now are pale; Cold are thy graceful limbs, and dim thy eyes, Which now no more with placid beams revealLine 640 The native virtues of thy gentle breast. The noble corse Leonidas surveys. Fate yields him one short interval of peace

To know how lovely are the patriot's wounds, And see those honours grace the man, he lov'd.Line 645 But Hyperanthes with his single spear Forth from the trembling ranks of Asia tow'rs His country's glory to redeem, or fall. The Spartan worn by toil his languid arm Once more uplifting waits the dauntless prince.Line 650 The heroes now stood adverse. Each a while Restrain'd his valour, and his godlike foe Admiring view'd. Such majesty and strength To fierce Pelides all incircled round With Trojan dead; and such to Priam's sonLine 655 By struggling virtue, and by manly shame From flight recall'd, great Homer's fancy gave. O thou exalted o'er the laurel'd train High, as the sweet Calliope is thron'd Above each vigin of the tuneful hill;Line 660

Now let one beam of thy celestial light Dart through my lab'ring mind; lest Freedom mourn Her chosen son dishonour'd in these strains!

NOW Hyperanthes, and Laconia's king With brandish'd points, and targets high uprear'dLine 665 Commence the fatal combat, which must close The long-continu'd horrours of the day. Fix'd with amaze and fear, the Asian files Unmov'd and silent on their bucklers pause. Thus o'er th' expanse of India's wilds contendLine 670 The elephant, and horn'd rhinoceros; Earth groans beneath them, as with wrath untam'd Each hideous bulk in dire encounter meets: With distant terrour gaze the savage throng. Prolong'd by varied art, the dubious fightLine 675 The great event suspended. On the foe

His well-aim'd spear at last the Spartan drove, And pierc'd the shield. Inexorable fate That moment hover'd o'er the eastern prince, When with unmatch'd celerity asideLine 680 He swung his buckler; underneath his arm, Unstain'd with blood the hostile javelin pass'd: Meantime, with joy, and ardent hopes elate Of fame and conquest, sudden he impell'd His rapid lance against the Spartan's throat;Line 685 But he with wary skill his target rais'd, And o'er his shoulder turn'd the glancing steel; For one last effort then his scatter'd strength Recall'd, and wheeling with resistless force His massy buckler dash'd the brazen vergeLine 690 Against the Persian's forehead: down he sunk Without a groan expiring, as o'erwhelm'd

Beneath a marble fragment from its seat Heav'd by a whirlwind sweeping o'er the ridge Of some aspiring mansion. Gen'rous prince!Line 695 What could his valour more? His single might He match'd with great Leonidas, and fell Before his native bands. The Spartan chief Now stands alone. In heaps his slaughter'd friends All stretch'd around him lie. The distant foesLine 700 Show'r on his head innumerable darts. From various sluices gush the vital floods, And stain his fainting limbs. Nor yet with pain His brow is clouded, but those beauteous wounds, The sacred pledges of his own renown,Line 705 And Sparta's safety, with serenest joy His closing eye contemplates. Fame can twine No brighter laurels round his glorious head,

His virtue more to labour Fate forbids, And lays him now in honourable restLine 710 To seal his country's liberty in death.

End of the Ninth and Last Book.