Possess the gates, the passes, and the streets, 320
And these the sword o'ertakes, and those it meets.
The guard nor fights nor flies; their fate so near,
At once suspends their courage and their fear."
Thus by the gods, and by Atrides' words
Inspir'd, I make my way thro' fire, thro' swords,
Where noises, tumults, outcries, and alarms, 326
I heard. First Iphitus, renown'd for arms,
We meet who knew us; (for the moon did shine)
Then Ripheus, Hypanis, and Dymas join
Their force, and young Chorœbus, Mygdon's son,
Who by the love of fair Cassandra won,
Arriv'd but lately in her father's aid;
Unhappy, whom the threats could not dissuade
Whom when I saw, yet daring to maintain
The fight, I said, Brave spirits! (but in vain)
Are you resolv'd to follow one who dares
Tempt all extremes? The state of our affairs
You see: the gods have left us, by whose aid
Our empire stood; nor can the flame be stay'd: 340
Then let us fall amidst our foes. This one
Relief the vanquish'd have, to hope for none.
Then reinforc'd, as in a stormy night
Wolves, urged by their raging appetite,
Forage for prey, which their neglected young 345
With greedy jaws expect, ev'n so among
Foes, fire, and swords, t' assured death we pass
Darkness our guide, Despair our leader was.
Who can relate that ev'ning's woes and spoils,
Or can his tears proportion to our toils?
The city which so long had flourish'd, falls;
Death triumphs o'er the houses, temples, walls.
Nor only on the Trojans fell this doom;
Their hearts at last the vanquish'd re-assume,
And now the victors fall: on all sides fears,
Groans, and pale Death, in all her shapes appears.
Androgeus first with his whole troop was cast
Upon us, with civility misplac'd,
Thus greeting us ; "You lose, by your delay,
"Your share both of the honour and the prey :
"Others the spoils of burning Troy convey 361
"Back to those ships which you but now forsake."
We making no return, his sad mistake
Too late he finds as when an unseen snake
A traveller's unwary foot hath prest,
Who trembling starts, when the snake's azure crest,
Swoln with his rising anger, he espies,
So from our view surpris'd Androgeus flies :
But here an easy victory we meet ;
Fear binds their hands, and ignorance their feet. 370
Whilst fortune our first enterprise did aid,
Encourag'd with success, Chorœbus said,
" O friends! we now by better Fates are led,
" And the fair path they lead us let us tread.
"First change your arms, and their distinctions bear; "The same in foes deceit and virtue are."
Then of his arins Androgeus he divests,
His sword, his shield, he takes, and plumed crests;
Then Ripheus, Dymas, and the rest: all glad
Of the occasion, in fresh spoils are clad.
Thus mix'd with Greeks, as if their fortune still
Follow'd their swords, we fight, pursue, and kill.
Some re-ascend the horse, and he whose sides
Let forth the valiant, now the coward hides.
Some to their safer guard, their ships, retire; 385
But vain's that hope 'gainst which the gods conspire.
Behold the royal virgin, the divine
Cassandra, from Minerva's fatal shrine
Dragg'd by the hair, casting t'wards heav'n, in vain,
Her eyes; for cords her tender hands did strain :
Chorœbus at the spectacle enrag'd
Flies in amidst the foes: we thus engag'd
To second him, among the thickest ran :
Here first our ruin from our friends began,
Who from the temple's battlements a shower
Of darts and arrows on our heads did pour :
They us for Greeks, and now the Greeks (who knew
Cassandra's rescue) us for Trojans slew.
Then from all parts Ulysses, Ajax then,
And then th' Atridæ, rally all their men;
As winds that meet from sev'ral coasts contest,
Their prisons being broke, the south and west,
And Eurus on his winged coursers borne,
Triumphing in their speed, the woods are torn,
And chasing Nereus with his trident throws
The billows from their bottom: then all those
Who in the dark our fury did escape
Returning, know our borrow'd arms and shape,
And diff'ring dialect: then their numbers swell
And grow upon us. First Chorœbus fell
Before Minerva's altar; next did bleed
Just Ripheus, whom no Trojan did exceed
In virtue, yet the gods his fate decreed.
Then Hypanis and Dymas, wounded by
Their friends: nor thee, Pantheus! thy piety 415
Nor consecrated mitre from the same
Ill fate could save. My country's fun'ral flame,
And Troy's cold ashes, I attest and call
To witness for myself, that in their fall
No foes, no death, nor danger, I declin'd,
Did and deserv'd no less my fate to find.
Now Iphitus with me, and Pelias,
Slowly retire; the one retarded was
By feeble age, the other by a wound.
To court the cry directs us, where we found 425
Th' assault so hot, as if 'twere only there,
And all the rest secure from foes or fear :
The Greeks the gates approach'd, their targets cast Over their heads; some scaling ladders plac'd
Against the walls, the rest the steps ascend,
And with their shields on their left arms defend.
Arrows and darts, and with their right hold fast
The battlement on them the Trojans cast
Stones, rafters, pillars, beams; such arms as these,
Now hopeless, for their last defence they seize. 435
The gilded roofs, the marks of ancient state,
They tumble down; and now against the gate
Of th' inner court their growing force they bring:
Now was our last effort to save the king,
Relieve the fainting, and succeed the dead,
A private gallery 'twixt th' apartments led,
Not to the foe yet known, or not observ'd:
(The way for Hector's hapless wife reserv'd,
When to the aged king her little son
She would present) thro' this we pass, and run 445 Up to the highest battlement from whence
The Trojans threw their darts without offence,
A tow'r so high, it seem'd to reach the sky,
Stood on the roof from whence we could descry
All Ilium-both the camps, the Grecian fleet: 450
This, where the beams upon the columns meet,
We loosen; which like thunder froin the cloud
Breaks on their heads, as sudden and as loud;
But others still succeed.
Nor any kind of weapons cease.
Before the gate in gilded armour shone
Young Pyrrhus, like a snake, his skin new grown,
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