The Athenaid: Volume I: Book The Fourth Poem by Richard Glover

The Persian host in readiness was held
Ere dawn; Aurora sees the signal given;
Now trumpets, clarions, timbrels mix their sounds;
Harsh dissonance of accents, in the shouts
Of nations gather'd from a hundred realms,
Distract the sky. The king his march renews
In all his state, collected to descend
Precipitate on Athens; like the bird
Of Jove, who rising to the utmost soar
Of his strong pinions, on the prey beneath
Directs his pond'rous fall. Five thousand horse,
Caparison'd in streak'd or spotted skins
Of tygers, pards, and panthers, form'd the van;
In quilted vests of cotton, azure dyed,
With silver spangles deck'd, the tawny youth
Of Indus rode; white quivers loosely cross'd
Their shoulders; not ungraceful in their hands
Were bows of glist'ning cane; the ostrich lent
His snowy plumage to the tissued gold
Which bound their temples. Next a thousand steeds
Of sable hue on argent trappings bore
A thousand Persians, all select; in gold,
Shap'd as pomegranates, rose their steely points
Above the truncheons; gilded were the shields,
Of silver'd scales the corselets; wrought with gems
Of price, high-plum'd tiaras danc'd in light.
In equal number, in resembling guise,
A squadron follow'd; save their mail was gold,
And thick with beryls edg'd their silver shields.


In order next the Magi solemn trod.
Pre-eminent was Mirzes; snowy white
Their vestments flow'd, majestically pure,
Rejecting splendour; hymning as they mov'd,
They sung of Cyrus, glorious in his rule
O'er Sardis rich, and Babylon the proud;
Cambyses victor of Ægyptian Nile,
Darius fortune-thron'd; but flatt'ry tun'd
Their swelling voice to magnify his son,
The living monarch, whose stupendous piles
Combin'd the Orient and Hesperian worlds,
Who pierc'd mount Athos, and o'erpower'd in sight
Leonidas of Sparta. Then succeed
Ten coursers whiter than their native snows
On wintry Media's fields; Nicæan breed,
In shape to want no trappings, none they wore
To veil their beauty; docile they by chords
Of silk were led, the consecrated steeds
Of Horomazes, Sacred too a car,
Constructed new of spoils from Grecian fanes,
In splendour dazzling as the noontide throne
Of cloudless Mithra, follow'd; link'd in reins,
In traces brilliant overlaid with gems,
Eight horses more of that surpassing race
The precious burden drew; the drivers walk'd,
None might ascend th' inviolable seat;
On either side five hundred nobles march'd
Uncover'd. Now th' imperial standard wav'd;
Of Sanders wood the pedestal, inscrib'd
With characters of magic, which the charms
Of Indian wizards wrought in orient pearl,
Vain talisman of safety, was upheld
By twelve illustrious youths of Persian blood.
Then came the king; in majesty of form,
In beauty first of men, as first in pow'r,
Contemplating the glory from his throne
Diffus'd to millions round, himself he deem'd
Not less than Mithra who illumes the world.
The sons of satraps with inverted spears
His chariot wheels attend; in state their sires,
The potentates of Asia, rode behind;
Mardonius absent, of the gorgeous train
Argestes tower'd the foremost; following march'd
A square battalion of a thousand spears,
By Mithridates led, his eldest born;
Him the lascivious father had depriv'd
Of Amarantha; dangerous the flames
Of vengeance darted from his youthful eye.
Th' immortal guard succeeded; in their van
Masistius, paragon of Asia's peers,
In beauteous figure second to the king,
Among the brave pre-eminent, more good
Than brave or beauteous; to Mardonius dear,
His counsellor and friend, in Xerxes' court
Left by that gen'ral, while in Thrace remote,
To counterpoise Argestes. Tried in arms,
In manners soft, though fearless on the plain,
Of tend'rest feelings, Mindarus, to love
A destin'd captive, near Masistius rank'd;
Ariobarzanes next, whose barb'rous mien
Exemplified his fierceness. Last of horse,
With Midias, pow'rful satrap, at their head,
A chosen myriad clos'd the long array.
From these were kept three hundred paces void;
Promiscuous nations held their distant march
Beyond that limit; numberless they roll'd,
In tumult like the fluctuating sands,
Disturb'd and buoyant on the whirling breath
Of hurricanes, which rend the Libyan wastes.


To Thebes descending, soon Mardonius learn'd
That pioneers, with multitudes light-arm'd,
Detach'd before the army, bent their course
To Athens. On he speeds, rejecting food,
Disdaining rest; till midnight Cynthia shews
A vaulted hollow in a mountain's side;
There in his clanging arms Mardonius throws
His limbs for slight refreshment; by him lies
Argestes' son; to pasture springing nigh,
The troop dismiss'd their steeds, and slept around.


To superstition prone from early age
Was Gobryas' son; o'erheated now by toil,
Yet more by thirst unsated of renown,
His soul partakes not with her wearied clay
In sleep repose; the cavern to her view
Appears in vast dimension to enlarge,
The sides retire, th' ascending roof expands,
All chang'd to crystal, where pellucid walls
Expose to sight the universe around.
Thus did a dream invade the mighty breast
Of that long matchless conqueror, who gave
Italia's clime a spoil to Punic Mars,
When on the margin of Iberus lay
The slumb'ring chief, and eagerly to birth
The vast conception of his pregnant mind
Was struggling. Now Mardonius to himself
Seems roving o'er the metamorphos'd cave;
Orbicular above, an op'ning broad
Admits a flood of light, and gentlest breath
Of odorif'rous winds; amid the blaze,
Full on the center of a pavement, spread
Beyond whate'er portentous Ægypt saw
In Thebes or Memphis, Fame, presiding there,
Gigantic shape, an amethyst entire,
Sits on a throne of adamant. On strength
Of pillars, each a topaz, leans the dome;
The silver pavement's intervening space
Between the circling colonnade and wall
With pedestals of diamond is fill'd;
The crystal circuit is comparted all
In niches verg'd with rubies. From that scene
The gloom of night for ever to expel,
Imagination's wanton skill in chains
Of pearl throughout the visionary hall
Suspends carbuncles, gems of native light,
Emitting splendour, such as tales portray,
Where Fancy, winning sorceress, deludes
Th' enchanted mind, rejecting reason's clue,
To wander wild through fiction's pleasing maze.
The oriental hero in his dream
Feels wonder waking; at his presence life
Pervades the statue; Fame, slow-rising, sounds
Her trumpet loud; a hundred golden gates
Spontaneous fly abroad; the shapes divine,
In ev'ry age, in ev'ry climate sprung,
Of all the worthies since recorded time,
Ascend the lucid hall. Again she sounds
A measure sweeter than the Dorian flute
Of Pan, or lyre of Phoebus; each assumes
His place allotted, there transform'd is fix'd
An adamantine statue; yet unfill'd
One niche remains. To Asia's gazing chief
The goddess then: That vacancy for thee,
Illustrious son of Gobryas, I reserve.


He thus exults: Bright being, dost thou grant
To Persia triumphs through my conqu'ring spear?


He said: that moment through the sever'd earth
She sinks; the spacious fabric is dissolv'd;
When he, upstarting in the narrow cave,
Delivers quick these accents: Be renown
My lot! O Fortune, unconcern'd I leave
The rest to thee. Thus dauntless, ere his sleep
Was quite dispers'd; but waken'd soon he feels
Th' imperfect vision heavy on his mind
In dubious gloom; then lightly with his foot
Moves Artamanes; up he springs; the troop
Prepare the steeds; all mount; Aurora dawns.


The swift forerunners of th' imperial camp
Ere long Mardonius joins, where Athens lifts
Her tow'rs in prospect. Unexpected seen,
Their mighty chief with gen'ral, cordial shouts
They greet; their multitude, their transport, clear
His heart from trouble. Soon Barbarian throngs
With shading standards through Cephissus wade,
Who, had his fam'd divinity been true,
His shallow stream in torrents would have swoln
Awhile, to save the capital of Greece,
Superb in structure, long-disputed prize
Between Minerva and the god of seas,
Of eloquence the parent, source of arts,
Fair seat of freedom! Open are the gates,
The dwellings mute, all desolate the streets,
Save that domestic animals forlorn,
In cries awak'ning pity, seem to call
Their masters home; while shrieking beaks of prey,
Or birds obscene of night with heavy wings,
The melancholy solitude affright.


Is this the city whose presumption dar'd
Invade the lord of Asia? sternly said
Mardonius ent'ring; whither now are fled
Th' audacious train, whose firebrands Sardis felt?
Where'er you lurk, Athenians, if in sight,
Soon shall you view your citadel in flames;
Or, if retreated to a distant land,
No distant land of refuge shall you find
Against avenging Xerxes: yet I swear
By Horomazes, if thy gallant race
Have sacrific'd their country to contend
With mightier efforts on a future day,
Them I will honour, though by honour forc'd
I must destroy. Companions, now advance;
Unnumber'd hands to overturn these walls
Employ; not Xerxes through a common gate
Shall enter Athens; lay the ruins smooth,
That this offending city may admit,
In all his state, her master with his host
In full array. His order is obey'd.


Through smooth Ismenus, and Asopus clear,
The royal host in slow procession led,
Their first encampment on a district lodge,
Platæa's neighbour; that renown'd abode
Of noblest Greeks was desert. In his tent
The king by night requested audience grants
To Leontiades, that colleague base
Of Anaxander, traitor like himself
To Sparta's hero. Xerxes thus he warns:


Now be the king reminded of the rage
Against his father, which Platæa bore
At Marathon; that recently she brav'd
Himself in Oeta's pass; nor Thespia fought
With less distinguish'd rancour: be inform'd,
The first is near, the other not remote;
Thy vengeance both deserve. Destroy their fields,
Consume their dwellings; thy o'erflowing camp
May spare a large detachment; I will go
Their willing guide. Masistius present spake:


O monarch, live for ever in the hearts
Of conquer'd nations, as of subjects born;
Associate clemency with pow'r, and all
Must yield obedience: thou art master here,
Treat thy new vassals kindly.-In a frown
Argestes: Shall the king with kindness treat
Invet'rate foes and zealous friends alike?
Shall undeserving Thespians, shall the race
Of fell Platæa, unprovok'd who stain'd,
On Attic fields, her spear with Persian blood,
To help detested Athens, shall they share
The clemency of Xerxes, in despite
Of this our Theban host, who faithful gives
Such wholesome counsel? Sov'reign, when I brought
Thy condescension late to Sparta's king,
Among the grim assembly in his tent
Diomedon, Demophilus, I saw,
With Dithyrambus, men preferring death
To amity with thee, commanders all
Of these malignant cities.-Xerxes here:


Approving, Leontiades, thy words
I hear; Masistius, thee my servant loves,
Mardonius, always victor in my name;
Yet learn at last, O satrap! who dost wear
The fullest honours, to partake with me,
What I inherit from Darius, hate
Inflexible, inexpiable hate
To Athens, hate to her confed'rates all.
Go, Theban, chuse what nations of our host
Thou dost prefer; thyself appoint their chief.


I chuse the Caspians, Sacians; name for chief
Brave Mithridates, great Argestes' heir,
Rejoins the traitor. These ferocious most
He best approv'd, and Mithridates chose,
Among the youth most vigorous and fell
In acts of blood. To hear Mardonius prais'd,
Argestes, dreading his return, conceiv'd
A pain, yet temper'd by a secret joy
He felt arise; who, rival of his son,
Long wish'd him distant from the guarded roof
Where Timon's daughter was confin'd. Dismiss'd
To rest, all separate. They renew their march
By day-spring; Leontiades, to wreak
On hapless Thespia and Platæa's walls
The hate implacable of Thebes; the king,
With equal rage, to spoil Minerva's reign.


Her olive groves now Attica disclos'd,
The fields where Ceres first her gifts bestow'd,
The rocks whose marble crevices the bees
With sweetness stor'd; unparallel'd in art
Rose structures, growing on the stranger's eye,
Where'er it roam'd delighted. On like Death,
From his pale courser scatt'ring waste around,
The regal homicide of nations pass'd,
Unchaining all the furies of revenge
On this devoted country. Near the banks
Of desolate Cephissus halting sat
The king; retarding night's affrighted steeds,
The conflagration wide of crumbling tow'rs,
Of ruin'd temples, of the crackling groves,
Of villages and towns, he thence enjoy'd,
Thence on the manes of Darius call'd:


Son of Hystaspes! if the dead can heat,
Thou didst command thy servants to remind
Thy anger daily of th' Athenian race,
Who insolently plough'd the eastern waves,
Thy shores affronted with their hostile beaks,
And burnt thy town of Sardis; at my call,
Ghost of my father! lift thy awful brow;
Rememb'ring now th' Athenians, see thy son
On their presumptuous heads retaliate flames:
Depriv'd of burial, shall their bodies leave
Pale spectres here to wail their city fall'n,
And wander through its ruins.-Closing here
His barb'rous lips, the tyrant sought his couch.
Thy summits now, Pentelicus, and thine,
Haunt of sonorous bees, Hymettus sweet!
Are ting'd with orient light. The Persian host
Renew their progress; Athens soon receives
Their floating banners and extended ranks
Smooth o'er the fosse, by mural ruins fill'd.
As from a course of ravage, in her den
Of high Cithæron plung'd the monster Sphinx
Her multifarious form, preparing still
For havoc new her fangs and talons dire;
Till her enigma Laius' son resolv'd,
Whence desperation cast her headlong down
The rocky steep; so, after thy carcer
Of devastation, Xerxes, rest awhile
Secure in Athens, meditating there
Fresh woes to men. Than Oedipus more wise,
Th' interpreter of oracles is nigh;
Soon will the son of Neocles expel
Thee from thy hold, by policy too deep
For thy barbarian council to explore.


Before the Prytanæum stops the car.
Now savage bands inclose that rev'rend seat
Of judgment; there Mardonius waits. The king,
Pleas'd with his care, salutes him: Thou hast long
Sweat under harness in th' eternal snows
Of Macedon and Thracia, hast my name
There dress'd in ample trophies; but thy speed,
Preventing my arrival, is unknown
To wings of eagles, or the feet of stags.


Mardonius answers: Ever live the king
To find his servant's zeal outstrip in speed
The swiftest eagle, or the fleetest stag!
Descend, thou lord of Athens! destin'd soon
To universal sway.-They climb the steps;
Alone Argestes follows. In the hall
These words of high import Mardonius spake:


My liege, the season calls for quick resolves;
By thee entrusted with supreme command,
When thou art absent, to Phaleron's port,
Late arsenal of Athens, all the ships
I order'd from Euboea; they below
Lie well equipp'd and shelter'd, nor remote
The whole united armament of Greece
At Salamis. With Ariabignes great,
Thy royal brother, and for merit nam'd
Thy ruling admiral, the kings of Tyre,
Of Sidon, Caria's princess, and the rest,
I held a council; they concurr'd to fight,
And by one effort terminate the war,
All but the queen, from whose ingenuous mouth
Will I, though differing, faithfully relate
Each argument, each word-'Mardonius, tell
'The king,' she said, 'what peril I foresee
'From this attempt; his ships defeated leave
'His host endanger'd; ever bold, the Greeks
'Are desp'rate now; the want of sustenance
'Will soon disperse them to their sev'ral homes;
'The sea's entire dominion to the king
'Will then be left; whole armies then embark'd
'Through inlets free may pour on Pelops' Isle,
'Whose coast I newly have explor'd with care.
'Mardonius, thou art eager; do not trust
'In multitude; full many in the fleet
'Are false, are cowards. Let our sov'reign shun
'Precipitation; short delay at least
'Is safe; a naval combat lost, is bane.'


A greater bane delay, Argestes here;
Who reading artful in the royal eye
Determination for a naval fight,
His malice thus on Artemisia vents:


My liege forgets that Caria's queen derives
Her blood from Grecian fountains; is it strange
She should confine thy formidable hand,
And so preserve her kindred?-Stern the king:


Though I reject her counsel to forbear
The fight, none better will that fight sustain
Than she, whose zeal, fidelity approv'd,
And valour, none can equal but the son
Of Gobryas. Go, Mardonius, see the fleet
Prepar'd by morning; let Argestes burn
The citadel and temples; I confer
On him that office.-Utt'ring this, he turn'd
Apart; forlorn Argestes hence presag'd
Decline of regal favour, cent'ring all
In Gobrya's son, who fiercely thus pursued:


Thou hear'st the king; now hear a soldier's tone:
Of old I know thee slanderer of worth;
And I, distinguish'd by a late success,
To envious eyes no welcome guest return.
Thou canst traduce the absent, whom thy tongue
Would flatter present. Not in Susa's court,
Amid the soft security of peace,
We languish now; great Xerxes on the stage
Of glorious war, amid the din of arms,
Can hear thy coz'ning artifice no more.
Oh that he ne'er had listen'd! Asia's lord,
When to a Tyrian trafficker demean'd,
He barter'd for his glory. By my sword,
Leonidas, preferring fame to sway
O'er proffer'd Greece, was noble! What thy part,
Who tamely proff'ring wast with scorn dismiss'd?
Go, burn the fanes! Destruction is thy joy.


He said, departing swiftly; on his way
Meets Artamanes, meritorious youth,
Who, not resembling an unworthy sire,
Had fix'd th' esteem of that illustrious man.
To him Mardonius: Brave Autarctus greet
In words like these-Exalted to the bed
Of bright Sandauce, sister of thy king,
Now is the season to approve thy worth.
Collect ten thousand warriors on the strand
Which faces Salamis; an island near,
Psyttalia nam'd, possess; ere long the foes
Against her craggy border may be driven;
Let spoils and captives signalize thy zeal.
Thou, Artamanes, must attend him there,
Nor let me want intelligence. Farewel!


This mandate giv'n, the active chief proceeds
With steps impatient to Phaleron's port.


\End of the Fourth Book