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

Soft rose the morn, and still; the azure flood
In gentle volumes, undisturb'd with tides,
But heav'd by zephyrs, glaz'd the pebbled shore;
When Caria's princess, visiting the beach
With Haliartus, and her son belov'd,
Her bosom thus disclos'd: O brother! friend
In danger tried, not yet are Asia's woes
Complete; to Greece new trophies I forbode.
Oh! soon transported o'er these hostile waves,
May Artemisia rest her wearied head
At length in peace, and thou, so late redeem'd,
With her partake the blessing! Ah! thy looks
Reject the proffer-yet some rev'rence bear
To Artemisia, some fraternal love.
How shall I plead? will haughty Greece admit
Thee to her honours, thee in humblest state,
Tho' meriting the highest, known so long?
Halicarnassus, an illustrious town,
Among her noblest citizens will rank
The son avow'd of Lygdamis. O cast
A kindred eye on this my orphan boy!
Who must become his guardian, who supply
My care, should fate precipitate my doom?


Tears down the beard of Haliartus flow'd,
Afflicted, tho' determin'd. On his hand
Leander hung; the captivating mien
Of Meliboeus had at once allur'd
The tender youth to entertain belief
In old Aronces, when he first proclaim'd
The swain true son of Lygdamis. These words
From Haliartus broke: Thy birth, thy name,
Thy virtues, queen, I rev'rence; of thy blood
Acknowledg'd, more ennobled in thy praise,
I feel my elevation; but thy ear
Approving lend. Three suns are now elaps'd
Since gen'rous Medon, by a faithful mouth,
Convey'd his promise to redeem my head,
Exchang'd for splendid captives, by his arm
In fight acquir'd; I hourly watch to hail
His peaceful mast, perhaps yon distant keel
Contains his person. To forsake this friend,
Whose kindness bless'd my former humble state,
Friend of my childhood, youth, and ripen'd years,
Would be an act, O thou of purest fame,
To plunge thy brother in the lowest depth
Of human baseness, baseness of the mind,
Thy long-lost brother, found too soon a stain
To Lygdamis and thee. Concluding here,
He eyes the vessel bounding to the port,
With branches green of olive on her head,
Her poop, and mast; the Carian sailors hail
The fair, pacific signal. On the beach
The warrior leaps, when Haliartus cries,
I see my patron! with expanded arms
Flies to embrace him. Medon stops, and speaks:


In splendid mail is Meliboeus cas'd?
Are these not Persian standards flying round?
Art thou enroll'd an enemy to Greece?


No, interpos'd the queen, behold him free,
To thee, to Greece unchang'd, in arms my gift;
He is my brother, brother to the queen
Of Caria. Medon here: Immortal pow'rs!
Do I survey the wonder of her sex,
That heroine of Asia, who alone,
While now the fate of empire balanc'd hangs,
Contributes virtue to the Persian scale?
My friend to such a sister I resign.


Ah! never, never, Haliartus cried,
Shalt thou resign me; nor th' Oïlean house
Will I forsake; in that belov'd abode
I was too happy for aspiring thoughts.
First to redeem thy Locris I devote
These arms; will perish there before thy foes,
If such my fate, if victor in thy ranks,
Hang in thy mansion my reposing shield,
There make my home. Yet often will I court
Thy welcome, princess, on the Carian shore
To worship still thy virtue, on thy son
Still pour the blessings of parental love.


The Carian queen subjoins: I must approve,
To such clear honour yield; bring Timon, call
The king; Time presses, we must all depart;
A sacred Delphian too from bondage freed
Thou shalt receive, O Medon. Swift the chief
To disembark his captives gave command;
Five was their number; one beyond the rest
In stature tower'd, his armour was unspoil'd,
Though rich in burnish'd gold, emboss'd with gems
Of starry light; his dignity and form
The victors rev'renc'd. Medon to the queen:


These Aristides, at my efforts pleas'd,
Gave to my choice from numbers; an exchange
For Meliboeus and the Delphian priest
These I design'd; my friends thy bounty frees;
Take these unransom'd from a grateful hand.


O lib'ral man! the Carian princess here:
Thou dost produce Masistius; virtuous lord!
How will Mardonius in thy sight rejoice,
How lift his hopes! To her Masistius bow'd,
To Medon spake: O Grecian! if a thought
To die thy debtor could debase my soul,
I should deserve till death all human woes.
Demand, obtain; to Asia I am dear,
Lov'd by Mardonius, honour'd by the king,
I cannot ask what either would refuse
To him who gave me liberty and life.


Thou canst, rejoins the chief, obtain a grace
To me of precious worth, to Xerxes none;
Nor golden stores nor gems attract my eye;
I have a sister, dearer than the mines
Of Ind, or wealth of Susa, who resides
A priestess pure, on that Oetæan ridge
Which overlooks Thermopylæ, her name
Melissa; there an ancient fane is plac'd,
No splendid seat oracular, enrich'd
By proud donations, but a mossy pile,
Where ev'ry Grecian hath from age to age
Ador'd the muses. Lift thy hand to swear,
Thou wilt implore of Xerxes a decree,
Irrevocable like a Median law,
Forbidding all to climb that holy crag.


To him Masistius: Not the Delian isle,
By Persians held inviolate of old,
Shall boast of safety like Melissa's hill;
For my performance, lo! I lift my hand
To Horomazes. Thou, return'd, salute
Athenian Aristides in my name;
From me, his captive in that direful hour
Of carnage round Psyttalia's bloody strand,
Say, that my thankful tongue will never cease
Extolling his beneficence and thine.
To him far more than liberty and life
I owe; in bondage precious were the hours,
With him the hours of converse, who enlarg'd,
Illum'd my heart and mind; his captive freed,
I go a wiser, and a better man.


Now with his consort Macedonia's king,
And Timon were in sight; a sad'ning look
Fair Amarantha mute on Timon fix'd,
On her the father: We must part, he said;
Alas! too many of thy father's days
Captivity hath wasted, sorrow more
Deploring thee, my child, while other Greeks,
Erecting brilliant trophies, have obtain'd
Eternal praise. Thee, Amarantha, found,
Thee wedded, happy in thy choice and mine,
I quit, my tarnish'd honours to retrieve.


She then: In him a husband I avow
Felicity unstain'd; in him ally
To Persia's tyrant I am left unbless'd.
Malignant fortune still pursues thy child;
Before me holds a consort and a sire
In adverse ranks contending. He rejoins:


I know thee, daughter, like the manliest Greek
The wrongs of Greece resenting, but thy heart
Keep in subjection to a tender spouse
Of constancy approv'd, whose house with mine,
From eldest times, by mutual tokens pass'd
In sacred hospitality is link'd.
Thy pow'r of beauty never for thyself
Employ, be all compliance; use that charm,
As kind occasion whispers, in behalf
Of Greece alone; by counsel sweetly breath'd,
Diffuse remembrance of his Grecian blood
Thro' Alexander's heart. While these converse
Apart, the keels are launch'd; now all embark;
Aboard his vessel Medon leads the son
Of Lygdamis with Timon; on her own
Imperial deck th' attentive queen dispos'd
The Macedonian with his beauteous bride,
And Persians freed by Medon, chief of these
Masistius merits her peculiar care;
Confin'd, Argestes trembles at his doom
From Xerxes' ire. Along thy rocky verge,
Thermopylæ, with sails and shrouds relax'd,
Smooth glide the Carian gallies thro' a calm,
Which o'er the Malian surface sleeps unmov'd,
Unless by measur'd strokes of sounding oars,
Or foam-besilver'd prows. A royal guard,
Preceding Xerxes, through that dreaded pass
Were then advancing, not in order'd pomp,
As on his march to Athens; now behind
The regal chariot panic fear impell'd
On its encumber'd wheels disorder'd throngs,
As if Leonidas had ris'n and shook
The snaky shield of Gorgon, or his sword,
Stain'd with Psyttalian havoc, o'er their heads
The living arm of Aristides wav'd.
On sight of Oeta Carian's queen relates
To her illustrious passengers the deeds
Which signaliz'd that rock, nor leaves untold
The fate of Teribazus, nor the wound
Of Ariana, victims both to love.


Now, where Spercheos from his spumy jaws
A tribute large delivers to the bay,
They land; Mardonius, passing tow'rds a tent
Magnificent, erected for the king,
Arriv'd but newly, on his way perceives
Masistius; transport locks his tongue; he flies,
Hangs on his friend, unutterable joy
His tears alone discover. More compos'd,
Though not less cordial, with a close embrace,
First spake the late redeem'd: Receive thy friend,
Whom wreck'd and captive on Psyttalia's isle,
An Attic leader, Aristides nam'd,
Restores unspoil'd, unransom'd, undisgrac'd!


Mardonius quick: Thy unexpected sight,
By an Athenian all unsought restor'd,
Presages all the good my warmest hopes
Could e'er suggest; the omen I enjoy;
For this shall Athens, to my friendship won,
Possess her laws, her freedom, with increase
Of rich dominion. Artemisia then:


Behold, the king of Macedon, his wife
In Amarantha. Wond'ring at her form,
Exclaims the Persian hero; of one crime
I now acquit Argestes and his son;
What ice of virtue could resist that face!


Again the queen: For other crimes my ship
Detains Argestes; him before the king
To charge, immediate audience we demand.


Mardonius guides them to the royal tent.
With half his chiefs the monarch anxious sat,
His swift departure by the break of dawn
Arranging. Amarantha, in her shape
A deity, among them sudden spreads
A blaze of beauty, like the sun at noon
In dazzling state amidst an ether blue
Of torrid climates: admiration loud
Wounds her offended ear. She thus began:


What you admire, ye Persians, O that Heav'n
Had ne'er conferr'd! the cause of woe to me,
Of guilt in others; then a maiden hand
Had ne'er been dipp'd in slaughter, nor these eyes
Survey'd the pavement of Nicæa strewn
With subjects made rebellious by my fate,
Thy subjects, monarch. With a Caspian troop
Argestes forc'd thy castle me to seize,
Th' affianc'd bride of Macedonia's king,
Me, to Sandauce giv'n a royal boon,
Me, then in freedom by the gracious will
Of thy imperial sister. Help, unhop'd
From Artemisia, from my husband came;
Me they preserv'd, Argestes pris'ner bring
To undergo thy justice. Caria's queen
With Macedon's indignant prince confirm
This accusation. On his own retreat
Secure to Susa Xerxes all intent,
Turns to Mardonius: thou be judge, he said;
Take to thyself the forfeits of this crime.


The king commands his servant shall be judge,
Mardonius answer'd; chief among my foes
Hath been Argestes, therefore must not die
By my decree. Let Cyra, fort remote
On Iaxartes hide his banish'd head;
That care to Artemisia I commit;
His satrapy, his treasure and domain
To Artamanes his remaining son,
Thy meritorious vassal, I ordain.


This judgment pass'd, a murmur nigh the tent,
Denouncing an ambassador, is heard;
Ambassador of Sparta. Soon appears
The manly frame of Aemnestus bold,
Surpassing all his countrymen in arms,
An Ephorus in office, function high;
Whose jealous vigilance imprison'd kings
Unjust, or impious, or assuming pow'r
Unwarranted by laws. No train attends;
He asks for Xerxes, when Mardonius stern:


Before the future sov'reign of the world,
With princes round him, single dost thou bring
An embassy from Sparta? Spartans hold
One man with one sufficient in discourse,
Cry'd Aemnestus. Xerxes interpos'd:


Reveal thy errand, stranger: He reply'd.
Admonish'd by an oracle, the state
Of Lacedæmon, and the race divine
There dwelling, sprung from Hercules, demand
Of thee atonement for a slaughter'd king,
Leonidas, whom multitude oppress'd,
While he defended Greece; whate'er thou giv'st
I will accept. The monarch to his cheek
A shew of laughter calls; awhile is mute;
Then, breaking silence, to Mardonius points.


They shall receive th' atonement they deserve
From him: Thou hear'st, Mardonius. Then, with looks
Of scorn and menace: Yes, the Spartan said,
Thee I accept my victim to appease
Leonidas; disdainful then his foot
He turns away, nor fears th' unnumber'd guard.


Meantime the royal progeny is brought
To Artemisia; urgent time requires,
Their Father's fears the embarkation press
For Ephesus that night. Them down the beach
Mardonius follows, and the Carian queen
In secret thus addresses: Didst thou mark
That Spartan's threat'ning words and haughty mien?
An oracle suggested this demand,
Strange and mysterious. On the martial field
Him I can single from Laconian ranks,
Audacious challenger! but something more
Behind the veil of destiny may lurk
Unseen by me. Mardonius, she replied;
Look only where no mystery can lurk,
On ev'ry manly duty; nothing dark
O'ershades the track of virtue; plain her path;
But superstition chosen for a guide,
Misleads the best and wisest. Think no more
Of this, an object like that passing cloud
Before the moon, who shortly will unfold
Her wonted brightness. Prudent thy design
To gain th' Athenians; to that noble race
Be large in proffers, in performance true;
Purchase but their neutrality, thy sword
Will, in despight of oracles, reduce
The rest of Greece. This utter'd, she embarks.


He seeks his tent, and finds Masistius there,
Whose honour, mindful of a promise pledg'd,
Requests protection for Melissa's fane.


Him in his arms the son of Gobrias clasp'd,
Thus fervent answ'ring: Xerxes will renew
His rapid march to-morrow; pow'r supreme
He leaves with me, which instant shall be urg'd
To render firm the promise of my friend.
Now lend thy counsel on the copious roll
Of Asia's host; assist me to select
The thirty myriads giv'n to my command.


They sat till dayspring; then the camp is mov'd;
Then Amarantha, from her husband's tent
Ascends a car, and traverses the vale,
By fluent crystal of Spercheos lav'd,
To join Sandauce. On her way she meets
Artuchus, guardian of the Persian fair;
The satrap gazes, courtesy entranc'd
Forgets awhile her function. Thus, at length,
He greets the queen: Fair stranger, who dost rise
A second dayspring to th' astonish'd eye,
Accept my service; whither tends thy course?
Whom dost thou seek? and gracious tell thy name.


In rosy blushes, like Aurora still,
She graceful thus: Of Macedonia's king
I am th' espous'd; my patroness I seek,
Sandauce, issue of th' imperial house.


Artuchus answer'd: Yesternoon beheld
Her languid steps approach this vale of woe.
Thou, beauteous princess, to Sandauce known,
Thou must have heard of Ariana's fate;
Sandauce now is mourning at her tomb,
A grave preparing for Autarctus slain.
Mayst thou suspend despair! Not distant flows
The fount of sorrow, so we styl'd the place,
Frequented oft by Ariana's grief;
There oft her head disconsolate she hung
To feed incessant anguish, ne'er disclos'd
Unless in sighing whispers to the stream;
Her last abode is there. The myrtles shed
Their odours round, the virgin roses bloom;
I there have caus'd a monument to rise,
That passing strangers may her name revere,
And weep her fortune; from her early grave
May learn, how Heav'n is jealous of its boons,
Not long to flourish, where they most excel.
A marble mansion new erected nigh
Her faithful slaves inhabit; who attune
To thrilling lutes a daily fun'ral song.
He leads, he stops. On gently-moving air
Sweet measures glide; this melancholy dirge,
To melting chords, by sorrow touch'd, is heard.


Cropp'd is the rose of beauty in her bud,
Bright virtue's purest mansion is defac'd;
Like Mithra's beams her silken tresses shone
In lustre gentle as a vernal morn;
Her eye reveal'd the beauties of her mind;
The slave, the captive, in her light rejoic'd.


Lament, ye daughters of Choaspes, wail,
Ye Cissian maids, your paragon is lost!


Once like the fresh-blown lily in the vale,
In Susa fair, in radiancy of bloom
Like summer glowing, till consuming love
Deform'd her graces; then her hue she chang'd
To lilies pining in decay, but kept
The smile of kindness on her wasted cheek.


Lament, ye daughters of Choaspes, wail,
Ye Cissian maids, your paragon is lost!


O ray of wisdom, eye of virtue, form'd
To spread superior light, the dazzling brand
Of love malign obscur'd thy eagle sight;
Thy vital flames are vanish'd, ours remain,
As lamps to endless mourning in thy tomb,
Till we rejoin thee in a land of bliss.


Lament, ye daughters of Choaspes, wail,
Ye Cissian maids, your paragon is lost!


The song concludes. Sandauce from a bank
Of turf uprises, resting on her slaves;
A pallid visage, and a fainting step,
She brings before the sepulchre and spake:


O Ariana! listen from thy tomb,
To me in woe thy sister, as in blood!
By diff'rent fortunes both were doom'd to waste
An early bloom in sorrow; O admit
Autarctus first a neighbour to thy clay,
Me next, who feel my vital thread unwind.
O Heav'n! my humble spirit would submit
To thy afflicting hand-but ev'ry fount
Of health is dry'd; my frame enfeebled sinks
Beneath its trial. When the inhuman priest
Condemn'd my children to his cruel knife,
The freezing sheers of fate that moment cut
My heart-strings; never have they heal'd again;
Decay'd and wither'd in the flower of life,
My strength deserts my patience: tender friends
Provide another grave.-For whom? bursts forth
Emathia's queen, and threw her clasping arms
Around the princess; whose discolour'd hue
In warm affection flushes at the sight
Of Amarantha, as a languid rose,
Shrunk by the rigour of nocturnal frosts,
A while reviving at the tepid rays
Of wintry Phoebus, glows. For me, she sigh'd,
For me, that bed of endless rest is made.
Com'st thou, neglectful of thy nuptial bliss,
To poor Sandauce's burial! soon the hour,
When of the sun these sickly eyes must take
Their last farewel, may call thy friendly hand
To close their curtains in eternal night!


These words the Grecian fair, in sorrow try'd,
In constancy unshaken, swift return'd:


Thou shalt not die, avoid this mournful spot,
Thou hast accomplish'd all thy duty here;
Let other duties, wak'ning in thy breast,
Strive with despair; transported in my arms,
To Alexander's capital resort.
Thou shalt not die; returning health, allur'd
By Amarantha's love and tender care,
Again shall bless her patroness, renew
Her youth in bloom, in vigour, ne'er to leave
Her infants doubly orphans. At their name
The princess faints, too sensitive a plant,
Which on the lightest touch contracts the leaves,
And seems to wither in the fold of death.
Her lovely weight Artuchus to his tent
Conveys; a litter gentle, as it moves,
Receives her soon; her children by her side,
In Macedonian chariots are dispos'd,
Her female slaves and eunuchs. Now appears
Emathia's prince to guard his matchless bride;
In arms complete, resembling Mars, he rules
The fiery courser. Artamanes swift
This royal mandate to Artuchus bears:


The king, O satrap, hath begun his march;
Delay not thine with all thy precious charge.


To Artamanes then, the Grecian queen:
Let me request thee in Sandauce's name
To visit yonder fount, of sorrow call'd,
There see th' unfinish'd obsequies perform'd,
To great Autarctus due. Her languid head
With me a while at Ægæ will repose,
My consort's royal seat; and, gentle youth,
If justice whisper to thy feeling heart,
That well I sav'd my innocence and fame,
Thou wilt be welcome to the Ægæan hall.


This said, she mounts her chariot; not unpleas'd,
He to accomplish her command proceeds.


Artuchus now conducts the female train,
Unhappy victims of ambition! These,
A prey to famine, to congealing blasts
From cold Olympus, from Bisaltic hills,
And Rhodope, snow-vested, were condemn'd,
With that innumerable host in flight
Unform'd, unfurnish'd, scatter'd, to partake
Of miseries surpassing nature's help.
On earth's unwholsome lap their tender limbs
To couch, to feed on grass, on bitter leaves,
On noisome bark of trees, and swell the scene
Between Spercheos and the distant shores
Of Hellespontine Sestos: real scene
Of death, beyond the massacre denounc'd
By that stern angel in the prophet's dream,
When were assembled ev'ry fowl of prey
From all the regions of the peopled air,
At Heav'ns dread call, to banquet on the flesh
Of princes, captains, and of mighty men.

End of the Ninth Book