Part 9 (1/2)

XIV.

But when Achilles saw the soaring flame, And knew the s.h.i.+ps in peril, suddenly A change upon his wrathful spirit came, Nor will'd he that the Danaans should die: But call'd his Myrmidons, and with a cry They follow'd where, like foam on a sea-wave Patroclus' crest was dancing, white and high, Above the tide that back the Trojans drave.

XV.

But like a rock amid the s.h.i.+fting sands, And changing springs, and tumult of the deep, Sarpedon stood, till 'neath Patroclus' hands, Smitten he fell; then Death and gentle Sleep Bare him from forth the battle to the steep Where s.h.i.+nes his castle o'er the Lycian dell; There hath he burial due, while all folk weep Around the kindly Prince that loved them well.

XVI.

Not unavenged he fell, nor all alone To Hades did his soul indignant fly, For soon was keen Patroclus overthrown By Hector, and the G.o.d of archery; And Hector stripp'd his s.h.i.+ning panoply, Bright arms Achilles lent: ah! naked then, Forgetful wholly of his chivalry, Patroclus lay, nor heard the strife of men.

XVII.

Then Hector from the war a little s.p.a.ce Withdrew, and clad him in Achilles' gear, And braced the gleaming helmet on his face, And donn'd the corslet, and that mighty spear He grasped--the lance that makes the boldest fear; And home his comrades bare his arms of gold, Those Priam once had worn, his father dear, But in his father's arms he waxed not old!

XVIII.

Then round Patroclus' body, like a tide That storms the swollen outlet of a stream When the winds blow, and the rains fall, and wide The river runs, and white the breakers gleam,-- Trojans and Argives battled till the beam Of Helios was sinking to the wave, And now they near'd the s.h.i.+ps: yet few could deem That arms of Argos might the body save.

XIX.

But even then the tidings sore were borne To great Achilles, of Patroclus dead, And all his goodly raiment hath he torn, And cast the dust upon his golden head, And many a tear and bitter did he shed.

Ay; there by his own sword had he been slain, But swift his G.o.ddess-mother, Thetis, sped Forth with her lovely sea-nymphs from the main.

XX.

For, as a mother when her young child calls Hearkens to that, and hath no other care: So Thetis, from her green and windless halls Rose, at the first word of Achilles' prayer, To comfort him, and promise gifts of fair New armour wrought by an immortal hand; Then like a silver cloud she scaled the air, Where bright the dwellings of Olympus stand.

XXI.

But, as a beacon from a 'leaguer'd town Within a sea-girt isle, leaps suddenly, A cloud by day; but when the sun goes down, The tongues of fire flash out, and soar on high, To summon warlike men that dwell thereby And bid them bring a rescue over-seas,-- So now Athene sent a flame to fly From brow and temples of Aeacides.

XXII.

Then all unarm'd he sped, and through the throng, He pa.s.s'd to the d.y.k.e's edge, beyond the wall, Nor leap'd the ranks of fighting men among, But shouted clearer than the clarion's call When foes on a beleaguer'd city fall.

Three times he cried, and terror fell on these That heard him; and the Trojans, one and all, Fled from that shouting of Aeacides.

XXIII.

Backward the Trojans reel'd in headlong flight, Chariots and men, and left their bravest slain; And the sun fell; but Troy through all the night Watch'd by her fires upon the Ilian plain, For Hector did the sacred walls disdain Of Ilios; nor knew that he should stand Ere night return'd, and burial crave in vain, Unarm'd, forsaken, at Achilles' hand.

XXIV.

But all that night within his chamber high Hephaestus made his iron anvils ring; And, ere the dawn, had wrought a panoply, The goodliest ever worn by mortal king.

This to the Argive camp did Thetis bring, And when her child had proved it, like the star That heralds day, he went forth summoning The host Achaean to delight of war.

XXV.