But Pallas now Tydides' soul inspires, Fills with her rage, and warms with all her fires; force

O'er all the Greeks decrees his fame to raise, Above the Greeks her warrior's fame to raise, his deathless

And crown her hero with immortal praise :

distinguish'd

Bright from his beamy crest the lightnings play,
High on
helm

From his broad buckler flash'd the living ray;
High on his helm celestial lightnings play,
His beamy shield emits a living ray;

The Goddess with her breath the flames supplies,
Bright as the star whose fires in Autumn rise;
Her breath divine thick streaming flames supplies,
Bright as the star that fires th'autumnal skies:
Th' unwearied blaze incessant streams supplies,
Like the red star that fires th' autumnal skies:

When first he rears his radiant orb to sight,
And, bath'd in ocean, shoots a keener light.
Such glories Pallas on the chief bestow'd,
Such from his arms the fierce effulgence flow'd;
Onward she drives him, furious to engage,
Where the fight burns, and where the thickest rage.

When fresh he rears his radiant orb to sight,
And gilds old Ocean with a blaze of light.
Bright as the star that fires th' autumnal skies,
Fresh from the deep, and gilds the seas and skies:
Such glories Pallas on her chief bestow'd,
Such sparkling rays from his bright armour flow'd;
Such from his arms the fierce effulgence flow'd;
Onward she drives him beadlong to engage,

furious

Where the war bleeds, and where the fiercest rage.

fight burns,

thickest

The sons of Dares first the combat sought,
A wealthy priest, but rich without a fault;

In Vulcan's fane the father's days were led,
The sons to toils of glorious battle bred;

There liv'd a Trojan-Dares was his name,
The priest of Vulcan, rich, yet void of blame;
The sons of Dares first the combat sought,
A wealthy priest, but rich without a fault.

Conclusion of Book VIII. v. 687.

As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night,
O'er heaven's clear azure spreads her sacred light.
When not a breath disturbs the deep serene,
And not a cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene;
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole;
O'er the dark trees a yellower verdure shed,
And tip with silver
every mountain's head;
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies;
The conscious swains, rejoicing in the sight,
Eye the blue vault, and bless the useful light.
So many flames before proud Ilion blaze,
And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays;
The long reflections of the distant fires
Gleam on the walls, and tremble on the spires.
A thousand piles the dusky horrors gild,
And shoot a shady lustre o'er the field.
Full fifty guards each flaming pile attend,
Whose umber'd arms by fits thick flashes send;
Loud neigh the coursers o'er their heaps of corn,
And ardent warriors wait the rising morn.

As when in stillness of the silent night,
As when the moon in all her lustre bright;
As when the moon, refulgent lamp of night,
O'er Heaven's clear azure sheds her silver light;
pure spreads sacred

As still in air the trembling lustre stood,
And o'er its golden border shoots a flood;

When no loose gale disturbs the deep serene,

not a breath

And no dim cloud o'ercasts the solemn scene;

not a

Around her silver throne the planets glow,
And stars unnumber'd trembling beams bestow:
Around her throne the vivid planets roll,
And stars unnumber'd gild the glowing pole;
Clear gleams of light o'er the dark trees are seen,

o'er the dark trees a yellow sheds, O'er the dark trees a yellower green they shed,

gleam verdure

And tip with silver every mountain's head.
The vallies open, and the forests rise,
The vales appear, the rocks in prospect rise,
Then shine the vales, the rocks in prospect rise,
All nature stands reveal'd before our eyes;
A flood of glory bursts from all the skies.
The conscious shepherd, joyful at the sight,
Eyes the blue vault, and numbers every light.
The conscious swains, rejoicing at the sight,

shepherds, gazing with delight Eye the blue vault, and bless the vivid light,

glorious
useful

So many flames before the navy blaze,
proud Ilion,

And lighten glimmering Xanthus with their rays;
Wide o'er the fields to Troy extend the gleams,
And tip the distant spires with fainter beams;
The long reflections of the distant fires
Gild the high walls, and tremble on the spires;
Gleam on the walls, and tremble on the spires;
A thousand fires, at distant stations, bright,
Gild the dark prospect, and dispel the night.

Of these specimens every man who has cultivated poetry, or who delights to trace the mind from the rudeness of its first conceptions to the elegance of its last, will naturally desire a greater number; but most

other readers are already tired, and I am not writing only to poets and philosophers.

The "Iliad" was published volume by volume, as the translation proceeded: the four first P books appeared in 1715. The expectation of this work was undoubtedly high, and every man who had connected his name with criticism or poetry was desirous of such intelligence as might enable him to talk upon the popular topick. Halifax, who, by having been first a poet and then a patron of poetry, had acquired the right of being a judge, was willing to hear some books while they were yet unpublished. Of this rehearsal Pope afterwards gave the following account: 4

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"The famous Lord Halifax was rather a pretender "to taste than really possessed of it-When I had "finished the two or three first books of my transla❝tion of the Iliad,' that Lord desired to have the pleasure of hearing them read at his house-Addison, Congreve, and Garth, were there at the reading. "In four or five places, Lord Halifax stopt me very civilly, and with a speech each time of much the same kind, I beg your pardon, Mr. Pope; but "there is something in that passage that does not "quite please me. Be so good as to mark the place, "and consider it a little at your leisure. — I am sure you can give it a little turn.'-I returned from "Lord Halifax's with Dr. Garth, in his chariot ; " and, as we were going along, was saying to the "Doctor, that my Lord had laid me under a great "deal of difficulty by such loose and general obser"vations; that I had been thinking over the passages "almost ever since, and could not guess at what it "was that offended his Lordship in either of them. "Garth laughed heartily at my embarrassment; said, "I had not been long enough acquainted with Lord

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P First four. This vulgar expression has escaped Dr. Johnson's accurate pen. C.

Spence.

"Halifax to know his way yet; that I need not "puzzle myself about looking those places over and 66 over when I got home. All you need do (says "he) is to leave them just as they are; call on Lord "Halifax two or three months hence, thank him for "his kind observations on those passages, and then "read them to him as altered. I have known him "much longer than you have, and will be answerable " for the event.' I followed his advice; waited on "Lord Halifax some time after; said, I hoped he "would find his objections to those passages removed; "read them to him exactly as they were at first; "and his Lordship was extremely pleased with them, "and cried out, Ay, now they are perfectly right; nothing can be better."

It is seldom that the great or the wise suspect that they are despised or cheated. Halifax, thinking this a lucky opportunity of securing immortality, made

you

some advances of favour and some overtures of advantage to Pope, which he seems to have received with sullen coldness. All our knowledge of this transaction is derived from a single letter (Dec. 1, 1714), in which Pope says, "I am obliged to you, both for the "favours you have done me, and those intend me. "I distrust neither your will nor your memory, when "it is to do good; and if I ever become troublesome or solicitous, it must not be out of expectation, but "out of gratitude. Your Lordship may cause me "to live agreeably in the town, or contentedly in the "country, which is really all the difference I set between an easy fortune and a small one. It is indeed

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a high strain of generosity in you to think of mak"ing me easy all my life, only because I have been so "happy as to divert you some few hours; but, if I 66 may have leave to add, it is because you think me "no enemy to my native country, there will appear 66 a better reason; for I must of consequence be very "much (as I sincerely am) yours, &c."