Part 57 (1/2)
One fate the warrior and the friend shall strike, And Troy's black sands must drink our blood alike: Me too a wretched ed father never see me more!
Yet, my Patroclus! yet a space I stay, Then swift pursue thee on the darksorave are laid, Shall Hector's head be offer'd to thy shade; That, with his ar before thy shrine; And twelve, the noblest of the Trojan line, Sacred to vengeance, by this hand expire; Their lives effused around thy fla pyre
Thus let me lie till then! thus, closely press'd, Bathe thy cold face, and sob upon thy breast!
While Trojan captives here thy ht and mur wide, Our swords kept time, and conquer'd side by side”
He spoke, and bade the sad attendants round Cleanse the pale corse, and wash each honour'd wound
A ht, and placed it o'er the rising flahted wood; the flame divides Beneath the vase, and climbs around the sides: In its o water bubbles to the brim
The body then they bathe with pious toil, Eh on a bed of state extended laid, And decent cover'd with a linen shade; Last o'er the dead the milk-white veil they threw; That done, their sorrows and their sighs renew
Meanwhile to Juno, in the realhty Jove
”At last thy will prevails: great Peleus' son Rises in arrace thy Greeks have won
Say (for I know not), is their race divine, And thou the mother of that martial line?”
”What words are these? (the ier flash'd froht lend, And such success mere human wit attend: And shall not I, the second power above, Heaven's queen, and consort of the thundering Jove, Say, shall not I one nation's fate couilty land?”
[Illustration: TRIPOD]
TRIPOD
So they Meanwhile the silver-footed dah-e brazen mansions shi+ne
There the laes fla round, While bathed in sweat fro billows blew
That day no common task his labour claim'd: Full twenty tripods for his hall he fraold, (Wondrous to tell,) instinct with spirit roll'd From place to place, around the bless'd abodes Self-moved, obedient to the beck of Gods: For their fair handles now, o'erwrought with flowers, Inore he pours
Just as responsive to his thought the frame Stood prorace divinely fair, (With purple fillets round her braided hair,) Observed her entering; her soft hand she press'd, And, s, thus the watery queen address'd:
”What, Goddess! this unusual favour draws?
All hail, and welcoer, in a happy hour Approach, and taste the dainties of the bower”
[Illustration: THETIS AND EURYNOME RECEIVING THE INFANT VULCAN]
THETIS AND EURYNOME RECEIVING THE INFANT VULCAN
High on a throne, with stars of silver graced, And various artifice, the queen she placed; A footstool at her feet: then calling, said, ”Vulcan, draw near, 'tis Thetis asks your aid”
”Thetis (replied the God) our powers may claim, An ever-dear, an ever-honour'd name!
When my proud mother hurl'd me from the sky, (My aard forriefs redress'd, And soft received me on their silver breast
Even then these arts eht: Chains, bracelets, pendants, all their toys, I wrought
Nine years kept secret in the dark abode, Secure I lay, conceal'd from man and God: Deep in a cavern'd rockocean lads our mansion, say, For such desert what service can I pay?
Vouchsafe, O Thetis! at our board to share The genial rites, and hospitable fare; While I the labours of the forge forego, And bid the roaring bellows cease to blow”
Then fros oblique he goes, And stills the bellows, and (in order laid) Locks in their chests his instrue the sooty workman dress'd His brawny arraced, and red attire, Can of the fire: The monarch's steps two feold; To as voice, and sense, and science given Of works divine (such wonders are in heaven!) On these supported, with unequal gait, He reach'd the throne where pensive Thetis sate; There placed beside her on the shi+ning frame, He thus address'd the silver-footed dame:
”Thee, welcoer) to these honour'd walls?
'Tis thine, fair Thetis, the command to lay, And Vulcan's joy and duty to obey”