Book VIII

Scarce was begun the second watch of night,
When his pavilion Agis left, and sought
The chief of Lacedaemon. Him he found
Spread on his tranquil couch, while, o'er his face
Diffus'd, a glad serenity with smiles
His slumber painted; like an ev'ning sky
Yet streak'd with ruddy light, when summer suns
Have veil'd their beaming foreheads. Transport fill'd
The eye of Agis. Friendship swell'd his heart,
And veneration. On his knee inclin'd
The hero's hand he kiss'd, and thus began.

O THOU with more than human virtues great,
Accept this homage! and may gentle sleep
Yet longer close thy eyelids, that unblam'd
I thus may bow before thee. Thus he spake,
And, prostrate bent, his godlike friend rever'd,
Whose eye the shades of slumber now forsake.
So, when new rising heav'n's resplendent orb
Illumines first the sable skirts of night,
The white-rob'd Magi, or the Indian seers
Are seen from Ganges, or Euphrates' side,
Before th' emerging glory bow'd to hail
The radiant emblem of th' immortal mind.

BOTH heroes rose, and mix'd their friendly arms,
And now to Agis had the Spartan king
Disclos'd his soul; when lo! the Grecian chiefs,
All rous'd, advancing with the sudden gleam
Of armour pierc'd the twilight shade. With joy
Leonidas accosts them. O thrice hail!
My virtuous friends. Approach, and all attend,
While I relate, and you with wonder hear.
This night no sooner sleep oppress'd my brows,
But o'er my head the empyreal form
Of my great sire Alcides seem'd display'd.
I saw his magnitude divine; his voice
I heard, his solemn mandate to arise.
I rose. He bade me follow: I obey'd.
Up to a mountain, whose ethereal brow
Th' involving clouds divided, we ascend.
E'er long we rested, suddenly the howl
Of wolves, and dogs, the vulture's piercing shriek,
The yell of ev'ry beast and fowl of prey,
Within my ears discordant broke. I turn'd.
When lo! a surface all with gore deform'd
Beyond my view illimitable stretch'd,
One vast expanse of horrour. There a corse,
Which with its huge dimensions seem'd to hide
Th' unbounded plain, lay welt'ring, red with wounds
Delv'd in th' enormous limbs, which bleeding gorg'd
The vulture's famine. Wond'ring I beheld,
When from behind I heard a second sound,
Like surges trembling o'er a craggy shore.
Again I turn'd. An ocean there appear'd
With riven keels, and shrouds, and shiver'd oars,
With arms, and mangled carcases bestrewn
Innumerous. The billows foam'd with blood,
And whelm'd a crimson deluge o'er the strand.
But where the waters unobserv'd before
Between two adverse shores contracting roll'd
A stormy tide, upon the beach, forlorn,
One of majestic stature I descried
In ornaments imperial. Oft on me
He bent his clouded eye-balls. On my name
With imprecations oft he call'd aloud,
Then rent his splendid garments, and his head
In rage divested of its graceful hairs.
Impatient now he ey'd a slender skiff,
Which mounted on the curling foam approach'd.
With indignation, and reluctant grief
Once more his sight reverting, he embark'd
Amid the perils of the frowning waves.
O thou, whose virtue rank'd thee with the Gods
(I here exclaim'd) instruct me what produc'd
This desolation; when the God return'd.
Let thy astonish'd eye again review
What thou didst late abhor. I look'd and saw
A land, where Plenty with disporting hand
Pour'd all the fruits of Amalthea's horn;
Where bloom'd the olive, and the clustring vine
With its broad foliage mantled ev'ry hill;
Where Ceres with exuberance inrob'd
The pregnant bosom of the fields in gold;
Where spacious towns, whose circuits proud contain'd
The dazling works of wealth, unnumber'd shone,
The strength and splendour of the peopled land.
Then in a moment clouds obscur'd my sight,
And all was vanish'd from my waking eyes.

THRICE we salute the omen (thus began
The sage Megistias) in thy mystic dream
I see the Grecian victories. The earth,
The deep shall own their triumphs; and the tears
Of Asia, and of Lybia shall bewail
Their offspring cast before the vulture's beak,
And all the monstrous natives of the main.
Those joyous fields of plenty shall be Greece
Enrich'd with conquest, and Barbarian spoils.
And whom thou saw'st in regal vesture clad
Print on the sands his solitary steps,
Is Xerxes foil'd and fugitive from Greece.

MEGISTIAS thus, while ev'ry bosom felt
Enthusiastic rapture, joy beyond
All sense, and all conception but of those,
Who die to save their country. Here again
Leonidas th' exulting chiefs address'd.

SINCE happiness from virtue is deriv'd,
Who for his country dies, that moment proves
Most happy, as most virtuous. Such our lot.
To this the gods shall add eternal fame.
But now go forth, Megistias, and with speed
Prepare the victim, and the sacred flames;
That to the Muses, as the Spartan law
Commands, our pray'rs and off'rings may be paid,
E'er to yon camp our hostile feet we bend.
But, O remember, from the solemn rites
Let ev'ry sound be absent, not the pipe,
Nor ev'n the music-breathing flute be heard.
Meantime, ye leaders, ev'ry band instruct
To move in silence, nor with shouts alarm
The midnight stillness. Mindful of their charge
The chiefs depart. Leonidas provides
His various armour. First the breastplate arms
His ample chest. O'er this the hero spreads
The mailed cuirass from his shoulders hung.
The shining belt infolds his mighty loins.
Next on his stately temples he erects
The plumed helm, then grasps his pond'rous shield;
Where nigh the center on the swelling brass
Th' inimitable artist had imboss'd
The shape of great Alcides, whom to gain
Two Goddesses contended. Pleasure here
Won with soft wiles th' attracted eye, and there
The form of Virtue dignified the scene.
In her majestic sweetness was disclos'd
The mind sublime and happy. From her lips
Seem'd eloquence to flow. With looks serene,
But fix'd intent upon the son of Jove,
She wav'd her hand, where winding to the skies
Her paths ascended. On the summit stood
Fame, and protended her eternal trump,
Incumbent on a trophy near to heav'n.
The youth attentive to her wisdom own'd
The prevalence of Virtue; while his eye
With all the spirit, which redeem'd the world
From tyranny and monsters, ardent flam'd;
Not undescried by Pleasure, where she lay
Stretch'd on a gorgeous carpet, which bespread
The meadow with magnificence. Around
Were flourets strewn, and wantonly in rills
Soft streams maeander'd. All relax'd her limbs:
Nor wanting yet solicitude to gain,
What lost she fear'd, as struggling with despair
She seem'd collecting all her power of charms,
And with excess of sweet allurement smil'd:
In vain; for Virtue sway'd Alcides' mind.
Hence all his labours. Trac'd with various art
They fill'd the surface of the spacious targe.
This portraiture of glory on his arm
Leonidas supports. Then forth he tow'rs
From his pavilion. With their troops array'd
The chiefs attended. Flaming torches blaz'd
In ev'ry hand. And now with silent pace
All to the solemn sacrifice proceed.
First Polydorus with the hallow'd knife,
And barley strew'd with sacred salt advanc'd.
Diomedon beside him, in his grasp
A weighty mace sustaining. Like the rest
All bright in armour with his shield and spear
Megistias follow'd, an unspotted priest,
And dauntless warriour. From on high his helm
With wreaths around the shining crest reveal'd
His sacerdotal honours. By the horns,
Where laurels twin'd, with Alpheus Maron leads
The consecrated ox. And lo! behind
Leonidas approaches. Ne'er before
With such transcending majesty he trod,
Nor his own virtue, as that hour, enjoy'd.
Then venerable moves the Thespian chief,
And great Dieneces. To them the bloom
Of Dithyrambus glowing with the sense
Of future praise succeeds, with graceful steps
The gen'rous Agis next; the Thebans last
Repining and inglorious. Then slow march
The host all mute, nor shake their brazen arms.

NOT from Thermopylae remote the hills
Of Oeta yielding to a fruitful dale
Within their side half-circling had inclos'd
A fair expanse with verdure smooth. The bounds
Were edg'd with wood o'erlook'd by snowy cliffs,
Which from the clouds bent frowning. From a rock
Above the loftiest summit of the groves
A tumbling torrent wore the shagged stone,
Then gleaming through the interwoven shade
The valley water'd. O'er the level shone
Its glassy bosom, and with placid waves
The smiling lawn divided. Near the banks,
Which flow'rs made various, new-erected stood
A rustic altar, which a chosen train,
Appointed by Megistias, rais'd with turf
Cut by their falchions from the verdant mead:
Broad was the surface, high with piles of wood,
The plenteous tribute of th' adjacent groves,
All interspers'd with laurel. Here a vase
Fill'd with the briny waters of the sea,
(More pure than ev'ry stream, or fountain, deem'd)
Was plac'd beside the altar. There with wine
Unmix'd capacious goblets stood arrang'd.
Here is the victim brought. Megistias streight
His helm unloosens. With his hoary head
Uncover'd round the solemn pile he treads,
And with a branch of laurel scatters wide
The sacred moisture of the main. His hand
With mingled salt and barley next bestrews
The altar, and the victim. O'er the horns
Th' inverted goblet foaming with the grape
Diffus'd the rich libation. Now advanc'd
Diomedon. Megistias gave command.
Down sunk the victim with a deathful stroke,
Nor groan'd. Megistias buries in the throat
The hallow'd steel. A crimson deluge flows.
Swift from the limbs the fuming hide is torn,
The flesh dissever'd on the altar heap'd.
Now smoaks the pile, then sudden flames abroad.
A burst of splendour dissipates the dark.
Greece throngs around. Each lifts a sparkling brand
With beaming javelins intermix'd, and shields,
And polish'd helms, which multiply the blaze.
Meantime the great Leonidas drew nigh,
And stood before the altar. There his helm
Unclasp'd to Agis he commits, his shield
And spear to Dithyrambus, then his arms
Extending thus in supplication spoke.

HARMONIOUS daughters of Olympian Jove,
Who on the top of Helicon ador'd,
And high Parnassus, with delighted ears
Bend to the warble of Castalia's wave,
And Aganippe's murmurs, if from thence
We must invoke your presence; or along
The ridge of neighb'ring Pindus if your steps
Now wander through your consecrated bow'rs,
Thence turn, ye Muses, nor for once disdain
Each with her beauteous form these hills to grace,
And stand th' immortal witness of our fate!
But with you bring fair Liberty, whom Jove
And you most honour. Let her sacred eyes
Approve her dying Grecians, let her voice
With exultation tell the earth and heav'ns,
These are her sons; then strike your tuneful shells,
And with our praise bid harmony rejoice.
Record us guardians of our parents age,
Our matrons virtue, and our infants bloom,
And glorious bulwarks of our country's laws,
Who shall enoble the historian's page,
Or on the joyous festival inspire
With loftier strains the virgins choral song.
Then, O celestial maids, on yonder camp
Let night sit heavy, and a sleep, like death,
Weigh down the eye of Asia! O infuse
A cool, untroubled spirit in our breasts,
Which may in silence guide our daring feet
Through all the paths of slaughter, nor affright
The dark with tumult, till the dying groans
Of gasping tyrants into horrour wake
The midnight calm! Then turn Destruction wild.
Bid Terrour and Confusion revel round,
And in one carnage heap the Barb'rous ranks,
Their horse, and chariots. Let the spurning steed
Imbrue his hoofs with blood, and shatter'd cars
Crush with their brazen weight the prostrate necks
Of kings, and purpled chiefs incircled round
By nations fall'n.—You, countrymen and friends,
My last commands attend. Your gen'ral's voice
Once more salutes you, not to rouse the brave,
Or minds resolv'd and dauntless to confirm.
Too well by this expiring blaze I view
Impatient valour flash from ev'ry eye.
But temper well your ardour, and your lips
Close on the rising transport. Lo! how sleep
Hath folded millions in its black embrace.
No sound is wasted from th' unnumber'd foe.
The winds themselves are silent. All conspires
To this great sacrifice, where thousands soon
Shall only wake to die. Perhaps our swords
This night may send ev'n Xerxes' self to lead
Th' innumerable train of Persian ghosts
To Pluto's dreery shade, unless reserv'd
From all this ruin, to lament his shame,
And future flight, when Greece confounds that pow'r,
Which we will shake. But now the second watch
Is verging to its period, and the moon
Prepares to glimmer on our darksome steps.
Let each his head distinguish with a wreath
Of twining laurel, then the goblet crown,
And share the victim. Take your last repast,
For with your fathers, and the heroes old
You next shall banquet in the blest abodes.

WHILE thus the hero, through the thronging files
Presenting round a hideous depth of war
All shook with ardour their erected spears
Thick, as the fruitful growth of lofty pines,
Which from high Pelion's cloud-invested brow
To heav'n's blue vault their stately honours bear.
Megistias soon through all the band divides
The sacred laurel: snatch'd with eager zeal,
By ev'ry hand, and round each helmet wove
It blends its verdure with the floating plumes.
Then is the victim portion'd, while the bowl
Flows with the vine's impurpled stream. Aloof
The Theban train in wan dejection mute
Brood o'er their shame, or cast a frighted eye
On that determin'd virtue, which unmov'd
At fate's approach with chearful lips could taste
The sparkling goblet, and with joy partake
That last and glorious banquet. Ev'n the heart
Of Anaxander now forgets its wiles,
Its fear no more dissembling. Agis here
For ever mindful of his friend's command
Mix'd with the Thebans, and in whispers thus.

LEONIDAS permits you to retire.
While in the rites of sacrifice employ'd
None heed your motions. Separate, and fly
With silent steps. At once the Theban troop
Its ranks dissolving from the Greeks withdraws.
Unseen it moulders from the host, like snow,
Which from the mountains in ten thousand rills,
Soon as the sun exerts his orient beam,
Descends soft-trickling, while the hoary heap
Insensibly decays. The Grecians soon
Conclude the solemn banquet, and their chief
Now reassumes his arms. Before his step
The croud rolls backward. In their gladden'd sight
His crest irradiate with th' uplifted brands
Its purple splendour shakes. The tow'ring oak
Thus from a lofty promontory waves
Its majesty of verdure, while with joy
The sailor marks its heav'n-ascending pride,
Which from afar directs his foamy course
Along the pathless Ocean: so the Greeks
Exulting gaz'd, as down their op'ning ranks
Their chief proceeds; from whose majestic grace
A soul like thine, O Phidias, might conceive
In Parian marble, or effulgent brass,
The form of great Apollo; when the God,
Won by the pray'rs of man's afflicted race,
In arms forsook his lucid throne to pierce
The monster Python in the Delphian vale.
Close by the hero Polydorus waits
To guide destruction through the Asian tents.
As the young eagle near his parent's side
In wanton flight essays his vig'rous wings,
E'er long with her to penetrate the clouds,
To dart impetuous on the fleecy train,
And dye his beak with gore; by Sparta's king
The injur'd Polydorus thus prepares
His arm for death, and feasts his angry soul
With promis'd vengeance: his impatient thoughts
Ev'n now transport him furious to the seat
Of his long sorrows not with shackled hands,
But now once more a Spartan with his shield,
And dreadful spear to lead his country's bands,
And with them vengeance. Nor the rest of Greece
Neglect to form. Their helmets now unite
Their various plumage, as th' intwining boughs
Mix their broad foliage in Dodona's grove;
Or like the cedars on the Syrian hills,
Which with their shady texture, as with night,
The gloomy soil o'ercast. In order'd ranks
While thus they stand, behold a warlike form
In gleaming arms slow-moving through the shade,
Led by a slave, approach'd Laconia's king,
And thus address'd him. O Leonidas,
Thou seest before thee Eurytus, a name
To thee and ev'ry Spartan not unknown.
Thy ruling voice forbade the maim'd to stay;
I, whose dark orbs no longer know the sun,
Immers'd in sudden blindness since our march
From Lacedaemon, with the rest withdrew,
Not to revisit Sparta, but, resolv'd
To meet the Persians, in the public way
I sat; not long, before th' increasing sound
Of trampling feet alarm'd me, which I deem'd
Were Persia's numbers rushing from the hills:
I started upward grasping in my hand
My spear and buckler, by my slave withheld,
Who told me, they were Thebans. Lo! I bear
The tydings of their flight. And now, my chief
And countrymen, farewel. Do you proceed,
With death and terrour fill the hostile camp;
While I the fury of th' exulting foe
Descending from the mountains here await
To yield the last remains of tedious life
Now to my country useless, and to me,
And close these shaded eyes in endless night.

HE ceas'd, when thus Leonidas began.
Then stay, my faithful soldier, and obtain
Not the least honours in this glorious night;
And you, my brave associates, all exult;
One spirit now inspires us; from our band
Doubt, fear, and treason with the Thebans fly:
While all with mutual confidence advance,
And equal fires. This said, once more the king
On the deep phalanx his attentive eye
Reverts, and through the ruddy gleam descries
One face of gladness; but th' illustrious van
He most contemplates: Agis, Alpheus there,
Megistias, Maron, and Plataea's chief,
Dieneces, Demophilus are drawn,
And Dithyrambus. They their fixed sight
On him too bend with inexpressive joy,
With love, and veneration, till they hear
His last command; when instant to the earth
Are cast th' extinguish'd brands. On all around
Drops sudden darkness, on the hills, the woods,
The silver stream, the rocks, and floating main.
It now was midnight. To the hostile camp
With steps compos'd and silent down the pass
The phalanx moves. Each patient bosom hush'd
Its struggling spirit, nor in whispers breath'd
The rapt'rous ardour, virtue then inspir'd;
But all await the moment doom'd to give
The Barb'rous millions to their deathful steel:
So low'ring clouds expanding from the north
A while suspend their horrours, destin'd soon
To blaze in lightnings, and to burst in storms.