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The reconciler-bowl went round the board, Which, emptied, the rude fkinker still reftor'd. Loud fits of laughter feiz'd the guests to see 806 The limping god fo deft at his new ministry. The feaft continued till declining light:

They drank, they laugh'd, they lov'd, and then 'twas night.

Nor wanted tuneful harp, nor vocal quire; 810
The Mufes fung; Apollo touch'd the lyre.
Drunken at last, and drowsy they depart,

Each to his houfe; adorn'd with labour'd art
Of the lame architect: the thundering god
Ev'n he withdrew to reft, and had his load. 815
His fwimming head to needful sleep apply'd ;
And Juno lay unheeded by his fide.

THE LAST PARTING OF

HECTOR AND ANDROMACHE:

FROM THE

SIXTH BOOK OF THE ILIAD.

THE ARGUMENT.

Hector returning from the field of battle, to vifit Helen his fifter-in-law, and his brother Paris, who had fought unfuccessfully hand to hand with Menelaus, from thence goes to his own palace to fee his wife Andromache, and his infant fon Aftyanar. The defcription of that interview is the fubject of this tranflation.

THUS having faid, brave Hector went to

fee

His virtuous wife, the fair Andromache.

He found her not at home; for fhe was gone,
Attended by her maid and infant fon,
To climb the steepy tower of Ilion:

From whence, with heavy heart, she might sur

vey

The bloody business of the dreadful day.
Her mournful eyes fhe caft around the plain,
And fought the lord of her defires in vain.

11

15

But he, who thought his peopled palace bare, When the, his only comfort, was not there, Stood in the gate, and afk'd of every one, Which way she took, and whither she was gone: If to the court, or, with his mother's train, In long proceffion to Minerva's fane? The fervants anfwer'd, Neither to the court, Where Priam's fons and daughters did refort, Nor to the temple was fhe gone, to move With prayers the blue ey'd progeny of Jove; But more folicitous for him alone, Than all their fafety, to the tower was gone, There to furvey the labours of the field, Where the Greeks conquer, and the Trojans yield;

20

Swiftly the pafs'd, with fear and fury wild ;
The nurse went lagging after with the child. 25
This heard, the noble Hector made no ftay;
The admiring throng divide to give him way;
He pafs'd through every ftreet, by which he

came,

And at the gate he met the mournful dame.

His wife beheld him, and with eager pace so Flew to his arms, to meet a dear embrace :

His wife, who brought in dower Cilicia's crown,
And in herself a greater dower alone:
Aetion's heir, who on the woody plain
Of Hippoplacus did in Thebe reign.
Breathless the flew, with joy and paffion wild;
The nurse came lagging after with the child.

35

The royal babe upon her breast was laid; Who, like the morning ftar, his beams display'd. Scamandrius was his name, which Hector gave, From that fair flood which Ilion's wall did

lave :

But him Aftyanax the Trojans call,

From his great father, who defends the wall.

Hector beheld him with a fileut fmile:

41

His tender wife ftood weeping by the while: 45 Prefs'd in her own, his warlike hand fhe took, Then figh'd, and thus prophetically spoke.

50

Thy dauntless heart (which I foresee too late)
Too daring man, will urge thee to thy fate:
Nor doft thou pity, with a parent's mind,
This helpless orphan, whom thou leav'st behind;
Nor me, the unhappy partner of thy bed;
Who must in triumph by the Greeks be led:
They feek thy life, and, in unequal fight
With many, will opprefs thy fingle might:
Better it were for miserable me

To die, before the fate which I foresee.
For ah! what comfort can the world bequeath
To Hector's widow, after Hector's death?

55

Eternal forrow and perpetual tears

60

Began my youth, and will conclude my years : I have no parents, friends, nor brothers left; By ftern Achilles all of life bereft.

65

Then when the walls of Thebes he overthrew, His fatal hand my royal father flew ; He flew Aetion, but defpoil'd him not; Nor in his hate the funeral rites forgot; Arm'd as he was he fent him whole below, And reverenc'd thus the manes of his foe: A tomb he rais'd; the mountain nymphs around Inclos'd with planted elms the holy ground. 71 My seven brave brothers in one fatal day To death's dark manfions took the mournful

.. way;

Slain by the fame Achilles, while they keep The bellowing oxen and the bleating sheep. 75 My mother, who the royal fceptre sway'd, Was captive to the cruel victor made, And hither led; but, hence redeem'd with gold, Her native country did again behold, And but beheld: for foon Diana's dart, In an unhappy chace, transfix'd her heart. But thou, my Hector, art thyfelf alone My parents, brothers, and my lord in one.

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Ver. 82. But thou,] In the interview between Hector and Andromache, both Pope and Dryden have omitted an epithet which they perhaps looked on as otiofum epitheton. I will cite the Greek paffage:

̓Αλλ' Εκλορ σύ μοι ἐσσὶ πατὴρ, καὶ πόλεια μήτηρ,
Ἠδὲ κασίγνητος, σὺ δέ μοι θαλερός παρακοίλης,

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