Three days transport Cleander and his friends;
Timoxenus admits such welcome guests,
Who bring new succours. From Chalcidic walls
Th' Athenian chief was absent. With a pace
Unstable yet, a calm, but languid mien,
To grace her father's board Acanthè leaves
Her chamber; pale, but fragrant as the rose,
Which bears the hue of lilies, she descends.
Her soon the Carian, mindful of his charge,
Thus with Timothea's salutation greets:
A costly bracelet, from her beauteous arm
Th' espous'd of great Themistocles unclasp'd
On my departure, and in words like these,
Of gracious tone, deliver'd to my care:
'Bear this to Chalcis, to Acanthè give;
'Say how I prize her elevated mind,
'Enabling my Themistocles to quell
'The hateful breed of tyrants. Further say,
'The man engaging her connubial hand
'I should esteem the favourite of gods.'
Timoxenus is pleas'd; Acanthè's cheeks
A burning blush of perturbation feel.
Not soon recov'ring from a start of thought
At the first mention of Timothea's name,
She took, she kiss'd the present, and disguis'd
Her conscious trouble under busy care
To fix the bracelet in its lovely seat.
The guests are plac'd around; her presence charms
The banquet. Though the lustre of her eyes
Grief had eclips'd and sickness, though her mouth
Had lost the ruby tinct and pleasing flow,
By melancholy silence long confin'd,
Her gestures speak the graces of her soul.
Troezene's captain, lively as the lark
Whose trill preludes to nature's various voice,
Begins discourse: Perhaps, accomplish'd fair,
Thou dost not know the messenger, who brought
Timothea's present, Haliartus styl'd;
He is deriv'd from Lygdamis, a name,
Ionia boasts. His daughter, Caria's queen,
Fam'd Artemisia, heroine of Mars,
Calls Haliartus brother; but from Greece
Could never alienate his truth. His sword
From violation, in his first essay
Against Barbarian multitudes, preserv'd
Bright Amarantha, consort to the king
Of Macedon, more noble in her sire,
Who sits beside thee, Timon, Delphi's priest.
Then Medon: How unwilling do I check
Our social converse. Generous host, no tongue
Can duly praise thy hospitable roof;
Yet we must leave its pleasures; Time forbids
Our longer stay. Two thousand Locrian spears,
Three hundred Delphians Atalantè holds;
Them Æschylus arriving will expect
To find in Chalcis. Gladly shall I hail,
Timoxenus rejoins, your quick return,
To guard these walls. Themistocles is march'd
To conquer Ægæ, rather to redeem
Her state aggriev'd, which courts his guardian hand.
Sicinus here: Illustrious men, farewell;
In Ægæ soon Themistocles shall know
Of your arrival. Instant he began,
All night pursu'd his course, and saw the morn
Shine on that city yielded to his lord.
To him Sicinus counts the pow'rful aids
Expected, large of Aristides speaks,
Large of Timothea; in a rapt'rous style
Dwells on her wish for amity to bind
The two Cecropian heroes. Glad replies
Themistocles: On every new event
She rises lovelier, more endear'd; her worth
Shall meliorate her husband. I obey,
Content on this wide universe to see
Myself the second, Aristides first;
For still he tow'rs above me. Didst thou say,
Cleander, Medon, were already come,
That Æschylus was coming? All their force
I want, Sicinus; listen to my tale.
Last night an ancient personage, unknown,
I length of beard most awful, not unlike
Tisander, ask'd an audience, and obtain'd
My private ear. Themistocles, he said,
If I deliver tidings, which import
Thy present safety, and thy future weal,
I shall exact thy promise in the name
Of all the gods and goddesses to wave
Enquiry, whence I come, or who I am.
First know, that Mindarus, the Persian chief
In Oreus, newly for Thessalia's coast
Embark'd, whose neighb'ring Pagasæan cape
Looks on Euboea. He this day return'd,
And reinforcement from Mardonius brought,
Ten thousand spears. Thessalia hath supply'd
Three thousand more. An army huge defends
Th' Orean circuit. Further be inform'd
That sev'n Geræstian homicides are sworn
To thy destruction. By their secret wiles
The house of rich Timoxenus was fir'd;
Them in the field hereafter, all combin'd
Against thy head, their sable arms will shew;
The hideous impress on their shields is death.
Farewell, thou hero; if my parting step
Thou trace, farewell for ever; else be sure
Again to see me in thy greatest need.
In mystery, Sicinus, not of heav'n,
But human art, immers'd is some event,
Which mocks my utmost fathom; but my course
Is plain. In fruitless search I waste no thought,
Who, as my servant, smiling fortune use,
Nor yet am hers, Sicinus, when she frowns.
Now mark: One passage winds among the hills
Encircling Oreus. When the vanquish'd foe
Her bulwarks sought for shelter, I detach'd
Eretrian Cleon, Hyacinthus brave,
And with Carystian bands Nicanor staid,
Who unoppos'd the strong defile secur'd;
There shall my banner, strengthen'd by the youth
Of Ægæ, soon be planted; there shall wait,
Till each auxiliar, thou hast nam'd, arrive,
Then pour on Demonax the storm of war.
Let Troezen's squadron and th' Athenian ride
Before his port, Cleander have the charge.
Speed back to Chalcis; publish these resolves.
They part. Not long Themistocles delay'd
To gain the mountains; nor three days were pass'd
When brave Nearchus, Haliartus bold,
Th' illustrious brothers of Oïlean race,
Great Æschylus and Timon, with their bands
Arriv'd, and join'd him at the strong defile
Which now contain'd his whole collected force.
Thence he descended on a morning fair,
First of that month, which frequent sees the sun
Through vernal show'rs, distill'd from tepid clouds,
Diffuse prolific beams o'er moisten'd earth
To dress her lap, exuberant and fresh,
With flow'rs and verdure. Terrible the bands
Succeeding bands expatiate o'er the fields.
So when an earthquake rives a mountain's side,
Where stagnant water, gather'd and confin'd
Within a deep vacuity of rock,
For centuries hath slept, releas'd, the floods
In roaring cataracts impetuous fall;
They roll before them shepherds and their flocks,
Herds and their keepers; cottage, fold and stall,
Promiscuous ruins floating on the stream,
Are borne to plains remote. Now Oreus lifts
Her stately tow'rs in sight. Three myriads arm'd
Before the walls hath Demonax arrang'd
In proud defiance. So, at first o'erthrown,
Antæus huge, uprising in his might
Fresh and redoubled by his parent earth,
Return'd to combat with Alcmena's seed.
Wide stretch'd th' Orean van; the wary son
Of Neocles to equal that extent
Spread his inferiour number. By a front
Not depth of line the tyrant he deceiv'd;
But of Athenian veterans he form'd
A square battalion, which the martial bard
Rang'd on the sea-beat verge; the other wing
Is Medon's charge, where thirty shields in file
Compose the Locrian column. Ere the word
Is giv'n for onset, thus his wonted guard
Themistocles addresses: If a troop
In sable cuirass, and with shields impress'd
By death's grim figure, at my head should aim,
Let them assail me; be it then your care,
Postponing other duty, to surround,
To seize and bear them captives from the fight.
He march'd; himself the cent'ral phalanx led;
The floating crimson of his plumage known,
Minerva's bird his crest, whose terrors shook
The bloody field of Chalcis, soon proclaim
Themistocles. Now targets clash with shields;
Barbarian sabres with Cecropian swords,
Euboean spears with spears in sudden shock,
Bellona mingles. Medon first o'erthrew
Thessalia's line, his temp'rate mind was stung
By indignation; Timon bath'd his lance
In their perfidious blood; Leonteus gor'd
Their dissipated ranks. A chosen troop
To their assistance Lamachus advanc'd;
Him Haliartus met; his sinewy arm,
Which could have quell'd Lycaon, first of wolves,
The Erymanthian, or Ætolian boar,
Smote to the ground the miscreant's bulk deform'd,
Whose band, recoiling, leave the victor space
To drag him captive. Rout and carnage sweep
That shatter'd wing before th' Oïlean swords;
Not with less vigour Æschylus o'erturn'd
The other. Mindarus in vain oppos'd
Undaunted efforts. Pallas seem'd to fire
Her own Athenians; Neptune, in the shape
Of Æschylus, seem'd landed from his conch
To war, as once on Troy's Sigæan strand;
Or to have arm'd the warrior-poet's grasp
With that strong weapon, which can rock the earth.
Not in the center suddenly prevail'd
Themistocles; the sev'n Geræstians, leagu'd
By hell, combining their assassin points
Against the hero, for a while delay'd
His progress; firmly their united blows
His shield receiv'd. So Hercules endur'd
The sev'nfold stroke of Hydra; but the zeal
Of Iolaüs to assist that god
In his tremendous labour, was surpass'd
By each Athenian, each Laconian guard,
Who never left Themistocles. They watch'd
The fav'ring moment; with a hundred spears
They hedg'd the traitors round, forbade escape,
Clasp'd and convey'd them living from the field.
Still Demonax resists; while near him tow'rs
Ariobarzanes, moving rock of war
In weight and stature. Of Euboeans, forc'd
By savage pow'r to battle, numbers low'r
Surrend'ring banners, some to Cleon, some
To humble Styra's well-conducted sword,
And thine, sad youth, a while by glory taught
To strive with anguish, and suspend despair,
Cleora's husband. Mindarus appears,
Who warns the tyrant timely to retreat,
Ere quite envelop'd by the wheeling files
Of Æschylus and Medon. Lo! in front,
More dang'rous still, amid selected ranks,
Themistocles. The monster gnash'd his teeth;
His impious voice, with execrations hoarse,
Assail'd the heav'nly thrones; his buckler firm
He grasp'd, receding to th' Orean wall;
Where, under vaulted sheets of missive arms
Whirl'd on his fierce pursuers, through the gates
He rush'd to shelter. Thus a mighty boar,
Of Calydonian strength, long held at bay,
The hunter's point evading, and the fangs
Of staunchest hounds, with undiminish'd ire
Red in his eyes, and foaming from his jaws,
Impetuous plunges in accustom'd woods.
Th' Athenian chief, who sees th' incessant storms
Of darts and arrows from the rampart's height,
Retreats; but swift his numbers, now enlarg'd
By yielding thousands of Euboean race,
Distributes round th' invested town to guard
Each avenue and station. From the sea
Cleander threatens. In his evening tent
The gen'ral views the captives; frowns condemn
The sev'n Geræstians to their former chains.
The hero smiles on Lamachus, the prize
Of Haliartus, and familiar thus:
Again, my Tyrian trafficker in slaves,
I greet thee: Son of Lygdamis, what praise
To thy distinguish'd efforts is not due?
This precious head to my disposal yield.
He then proceeds to Lamachus apart:
Now take thy freedom, villain; to my use
See thou employ it, else expect to die.
Your land, remember, and your sea are mine;
Soon on the head of Demonax this arm
Shall dash yon bulwarks; what I speak is fate.
Thou hast thy option, go. Sicinus, hear;
This man is free; conduct him through the camp.
Now from his friends sequester'd, on a couch,
Which never care disturbs, he slept till dawn,
When, rous'd by heralds from the town, again
The leaders he conven'd. Before them came
Arbactus, fierce Barbarian, who began:
Themistocles of Athens, in the name
Of Mindarus the Persian, I defy
Thy arm to combat in the listed field;
The same defiance to thy boldest chiefs
Ariobarzanes sends. If you prevail,
The royal host shall quit Euboea's isle,
Which shall submit to Xerxes if you fall.
Up Hyacinthus, Haliartus, start
Indignant. First the young Carystian spake:
Are they so gross in ignorance to hope,
Themistocles will stoop to single fight
With twice-o'erthrown Barbarians, who, unsafe
Behind a rampart, tremble at his pow'r?
But if the Persian Mindarus would try
A Grecian's single valour, O permit,
Themistocles, thy soldier to assert
The Grecian fame. The friend of Medon next:
The same permission I implore, O chief,
Invincible thyself; that all this host
May witness my fidelity to Greece.
Themistocles subjoins: Barbarian, go,
Provide thy champions; ours thou seest prepar'd
For honour, not decision of the doom
Reserv'd for Demonax; whose final lot
Lies in my breast alone. The herald back
To Oreus speeds. The prudent chief pursues:
My Hyacinthus, all thy wrongs I feel;
But, if resentment can afford the grace
I ask thee, lend to policy thy arm:
Take Mindarus thy captive. From thy proofs
Of might and firmness, Haliartus brave,
My wish is lifted high in hope to see
Ariobarzanes gasping at thy feet.
He rises. Straight embattled on the plain,
His army shews a formidable gleam
To Demonax. Still num'rous for defence
Barbarian warriors, and Thessalian, throng
The battlements of Oreus. Through the gates,
In solemn pace and slow, a herald train
Precede their champions. Heralds from the camp
Produce th' illustrious Haliartus clad
In richest arms, the gift of Caria's queen;
A twig of slend'rest laurel, twisted round
A shepherd's crook, in portraiture adorn'd
His modest buckler. Grim his foe advanc'd
In mail blood-colour'd, with a targe of gold,
Ariobarzanes. Hyacinthus next
Appears in tried habiliments of war,
Which on his dearest patron Mars had seen
In Marathonian fields. A plumage black,
Denoting grief, he carries; on his shield
A female image, and the form of Death,
Who blasts her graces. Mindarus approach'd
In armour studded bright with orient gems;
His buckler too a shape of beauty pale,
Stretch'd on a fun'ral pyre, exhibits sad;
Of pearl her limbs, of rubies were the flames.
Ere they engage, the Persian warrior thus:
Since my encounter, whether through disdain
Or policy I know not, is refus'd
By your commander, not through fear I know,
Do thou in courtesy disclose thy name,
Thy rank in Grecian armies. May'st thou prove
In lustre such as Mindarus would chuse
To be th' opponent of a satrap's arm.
Then tremble, satrap, at my name, the name
Of Hyacinthus, fierce the youth returns;
Cleora's husband, whom thy barb'rous love
Hath wrong'd, whom hell-born Demonax hath damn'd
To ever-during torment, shakes this lance,
By vengeance pointed and invet'rate hate.
Young man, rejoins the Persian, on thy grief
I drop a pitying tear, while thou dost wrong
Me clear of wrong to thee. No barb'rous love
Was mine; unconscious of your nuptial tie,
Till she confess'd it to her savage sire,
My flame was holy; not a thought impure
To violate a right could taint my breast.
But that I lov'd her, Hyacinthus, sure
He, who her dear perfections knew so well,
Must wave his wonder; that her fate o'erwhelms
My spirit, never to revive, I feel;
That my disastrous passion caus'd her doom,
Blame both our fortunes, not my guiltless heart.
If yet thy anguish can a moment look
Compassionate on me-but I forgive
Unjust reproaches from a grief like thine,
Which should, which must exceed my own, my own
Exceeding after thine all other woe.
Now Hyacinthus melted, but observ'd,
That during this sad interview the spear
Of Haliartus at his feet had laid
Ariobarzanes dead. Heart-stung by shame
At his inaction, with so many chiefs,
With such an army, and the godlike son
Of Neocles spectators, he begins
The fight, but recollects that friend's request.
The Persian more effeminate desponds
At past defeats, and present grief renew'd,
Whose weight, though lighter, he less firmly bore,
Than did the hardy Greek his heavier share
Of woe. Yet fearless he maintains the strife
With native force devoid of gymnic skill,
In which confiding Hyacinthus oft
Inverts his spear, and levels bloodless strokes,
Still vigilant to ward the hostile point,
Oft o'er his buckler glancing, though impell'd
By active strength. At last a pond'rous blow
Full on the Persian's front descends; a groan
Is heard throughout the rampart as he falls;
The groan redoubles, as the victor bears
That leader captive to th' investing camp.
To his own tent Themistocles admits
The Persian's batter'd, but unwounded limbs;
He praises Hyacinthus; he consoles
The noble foe, commends to healing rest,
And at returning morn salutes him thus:
If thee unransom'd, Mindarus, I send
To Oreus, canst thou pity her estate
Curs'd in a monster? Canst thou feel the wound
Of thy own glory longer to support
The worst of men, excluded by his crimes
From heav'n's protection, and the laws of faith?
Wilt thou, to spare whole rivulets of blood
Greek and Barbarian, render to my arms
The town, and thus procure thyself a name
To live sor ever, by a righteous act,
Delighting gods and mortals? Thee my ships
Shall land in safety on thy native shore;
The king will praise thee for his army sav'd,
Which shall partake my clemency. Reject
All hope, good Persian, to withstand my arm;
I am Themistocles. The satrap starts
From languor thus: Athenian, I confess
Thy greatness, thy ascendency have felt;
But will endure, whate'er a victor's pow'r
Inflicts on captives, rather than pollute
My loyal faith to Xerxes; from my king
I took my charge, and never will betray.
The crimes of Demonax I know; myself
Have prov'd their horrors in Cleora's fate,
I lov'd, ador'd her excellence; her thread
His impious rage dissever'd; on her tomb
My tears have daily flow'd. Retain me still
Thy captive, never to revisit more
Her father's hateful mansion. Heav'n permit,
By thy vindictive arm, but heav'n forbid,
That ever by disloyalty of mine,
Th' infernal author of her death may fall.
The barbarism of loyalty, which binds
Men to a monarch, but the monarch leaves
Free to his lusts, his cruelty and rage,
Th' enlighten'd Greek despis'd, yet now deplor'd
In one by nature gifted to deserve
A better lot from heav'n. Not less aware
Of democratic jealousy, which hurls
From fortune's summit heroes to the dust,
He press'd no further, cautious not to wound
A gallant mind, whose friendship won he meant
To use in wants, such fortune might create.
He leaves Sicinus near him; while his care
Exhausts the light in traversing the camp
To view the works. His evening orders hold
Each band in arms; while anxious in his tent
He sits deep-musing, whether to attempt
The town that night by storm, or patient wait
For some event less bloody, casual boon
Of time and fortune. Wasteful is delay,
But precious too his soldiers; such brave lives
The full completion of his vast design
Requires. Thus, dubious, till the second watch
Throughout the camp is toll'd, and clouded heav'n
Drops down her sable veil, he sits; when lo!
Before him stands his monitor unknown,
The venerable figure, which he saw
At Ægæ. Staid Sicinus is the guide,
Who swift retires, but watches faithful nigh.
Themistocles, the stranger solemn spake;
Thee I have trusted, thou hast trusted me,
Nor either hath repented. Who I am,
Now learn. By friendship's sacred ties, by blood
To thy best friend Eudora I am bound,
Elephenor am call'd, pontific seer
Of Jupiter in Oreus. Timely warn'd
By her most urgent mandate to repose
All confidence in thee, and lend my aid,
Nor less admonish'd by Tisander sage,
I help'd thee first with counsel; now I bring
Effectual succour. Demonax, though foil'd,
Hath still a pow'rful remnant of his host
To man his walls, and desp'rate will defend.
Select two thousand spears; avoid delay;
A secret passage, known to holy steps
Alone, o'er town and tyrant will complete
Thy bloodless conquest. Swift the Attic chief:
O father! sacred in my ear the sound
Of good Tisander's, great Eudora's names;
Thy former warnings I have prov'd sincere
To merit gratitude and trust. He calls
Sicinus, bids him summon all the chiefs
Of Locris and Carystus; they appear.
To Hyacinthus and Nicanor then
Themistocles: Attend with all your bands
This rev'rend guide; intelligence transmit
As you advance. His orders are perform'd.
Next he exhorts th' Oïlean brethren thus,
Nor passes favour'd Haliartus by:
You with your Locrians follow to support
These friends, lest ambush and deception lurk
Beneath a promise of assur'd success.
This said, himself forth issues to prepare
The gen'ral host for action, ev'n that night,
If fair occasion summons, when he meets
Troezene's leader. Is Cleander here,
Themistocles began? Momentous sure,
The cause which sends thee from thy naval charge.
To him Cleander: Anchor'd as I lay,
A slender skiff, when darkness first prevail'd,
Approach'd my galley. To an earnest suit
For conference I listen'd, and receiv'd
On board a man of Oreus, all in limbs
Deform'd, in lineaments all rude, whose name
Is Lamachus. To render up this night
A sep'rate sort he proffers, which commands
The town and harbour, if thy faith be pledg'd
Him and Thessalia's garrison to land
Safe on her neighb'ring coast. Thy will to learn
I come, he waits. His proffer I accept,
Rejoins th' alert Athenian, and the doom,
I had prepar'd for those degen'rate Greeks,
Postpone. Cleander to his station flies.
Serene th' Athenian in array contains
His army cool, with expectation mute.
So, in deceitful quiet oft the main
Before the glazing light of Dian spreads
A mirrour smooth; the ruler of the winds
Anon from troubled clouds, and ocean's god
From his tempestuous chariot, give the sign
For wild commotion; then the surging brine
Assails the loftiest tops of reeling masts,
Foams on the rocks, and deluges the beach.

End of the Eighteenth Book