The chief, defcending, through th' unfolded
Upheld a flaming torch. The light difclos'd
One first in fervile garments. Near his fide
A women graceful and majeftic ftood,
Not with an afpe&t, rivalling the pow'r
Of fatal Helen, or th' infnaring charms
Of love's foft queen, but fuch, as far furpafs'd,
Whate'er the lilly, blending, with the rose,
Spreads on the cheek of beauty foon to fade;,
Such, as exprefs'd a mind, by wifdom rul'd,
By sweetness temper'd; virtue's pureft light
Illumining the countenance divine:
Yet could not foften rig'rous fate, nor charm
Malignant fortune to reverre the good;
Which oft with anguifh rends a spotless heart,
And oft affociates-wifdom with defpair.
In courteous phrafe began the chief humane.
Exalted fair, whofe form adorns the night,
Forbear to blame the vigilance of war.
My flow compliance to the rigid laws
Of Mars impute. In me no longer paufe
Shall from the prefence of our king withold.
This thy apparent dignity and worth.
Here ending, he conducts her. At the call
Of his lov'd brother from his couch arofe
Leonidas. In wonder he furvey'd
Th' illuftrious virgin, whom his prefence aw'd.
Her eye fubmiffive to the ground declin'd
In veneration of the godlike man.
His mien, his voice, her anxious dread difpel,
Benevolent in hofpitable thus.
Thy looks, fair ftranger, amiable and great,
A mind delineate, which from all commands
Supreme regard. Relate, thou noble dame,
By what relentless deftiny compell'd,
Thy tender feet the paths of darkness tread;
Rehearse th' affictions, whence thy virtue mourns.
On her wan cheek a fudden blush arofe
Like day, first dawning on the twilight pale;
When, wrapt in grief, thefe words a paffage found.
If to be moft unhappy, and to known,
That hope is irrecoverably, fled;
If to be great and wretched my deferve
Commiferation from the brave: behold,
Thou glorious leader of unconquer'd bands,
Behold, defcended from Darius' loins,
Th' afflicted Ariana; and my pray'r
Accept with pity, nor my tears difdain.
First, that I lov'd the best of human race,
Heroic, wife, adorn'd by ev'ry art,
Of shame unconscious doth my heart reveal.
This day, in Grecian arms confpicuous clad,
He fought, he fell. A paffion, long conceal'd,
For me alas! within my brother's arms
His dying breath refigning he disclos'd.
Oh! I will stay my forrows! will forbid.
My eyes to ftream before thee, and my breast,
O'erwhelm'd by anguifh, will from fighs reftrain!
For why fhould thy humanity be griev'd
At my diftrefs, why learn from me to mourn
The lot of mortals, doom'd to pain and woe.
Hear then, o king, and grant my fole request,
To feek his body in the heaps of flain.
Thus to the hero fu'd the royal maid,
Refembling Ceres in majestic woe,
When fupplicating Jove from Stygian gloom,
And Pluto's black embraces to redeem (
Her lev'd and loft Proferpina. Awhile
On Ariana fixing stedfaft eyes,
Thefe tender thoughts Leonidas recall'd.
Such are thy forrows, o for ever dear,
Who now at Lacedaemon doft deplore
My everlasting abfence. Then aside
He turn'd and figh'd. Recov'ring, he áddress'd
His brother: Moft beneficent of men,
Attend, affift this princess. Night retires
Before purple-winged morn. A band
Is call'd. The well-remember'd spot they find,
Where Teribazus from his dying hand
Dropt in their fight his formidable fword;
Soon from beneath a pile of Asian dead
They draw the hero, by his armour known.
Then, Ariana, what tranfcending pangs
Were thine! what horrors! In thy tender breast
Love ftill was mightieft. On the bofom cold
Of Teribazus, grief-distracted maid,
Thy beauteous limbs were thrown. Thy fnowy
The clotted gore disfigur'd. On his wounds
Loofe flow'd thy hair, and, bubbling from thy
eyes,
Impetuous forrow lav'd th'empurpled clay.
When forth in groans these lamentations broke
O torn for ever from these weeping eyes!
Thou, who despairing to obtain a heart,
Which then moft lov'd thee, didft untimely yield
Thy life to fate's inevitable dart
For her, who now in agony reveals
Her tender paffion, who repeats her vows
To thy deaf car, who fondly to her own
Unites thy cheek infenfible and cold.
Alas! do thofe unmoving, ghaftly orbs
Perceive my gufhing forrow! Can that heart
my complaint diffolve the ice of death
To fhare my fuffrings! Never, never more
Shall Ariana bend a lift'ning ear
To thy enchanting eloquence, nor feast
Her mind on wifdom from thy copious tongue!
Oh! bitter, infurmountable diftrefs!
Supprefs'd all utt'rance. As a marble form,
Fix'd on the folemn fepulcher inclines
The filent head in imitated woe
Glover. O'er fome dead hero, whom his country lov'd;
Entranc'd by anguish, o'er the breathlefs clay
So hung the princefs. On the gory breach,
Whence life had iffu'd by the fatal blow,
Mute for a space and motionless fhe gaz'd;
When thus in accents firm. Imperial pomp,
Foe to my quiet, take my last farewel.
There is a ftate, where only, virtue holds
The rank fupreme. My Teribazus there
From his high order muft defcend to mine
Then with no trembling hand, no change of
look
She drew a poniard which her garment veil'd;
And inftant fheathing in her heart the blade,
On her flain lover filent funk in death.
The unexpected ftroke prevents the care
Of Agis, pierc'd by horror and diftrefs
Like one, who, ftanding on a ftormy beach,
Beholds a found'ring veffel, by the deep
At once engulph'd; his pity feels and mourns,
Depriv'd of paw'r to fave: fo Agis view'd
The proftrate pair. He dropp'd a tear and thus.
Oh! much lamented! Heavy on your heads
Hath evil fall'n, which o'er your pale remains
Commands this forrow from a ftranger's eye.
Illuftrious ruins! May the grave impart
That peace, which life deny'd! And now receive
This pious office from a hand unknown.
Weit unter dem Range des Leonidas sicht die Epi goniade, in neun Büchern, von einem englischen Geißtliz chen, William Wilkie, der auch Fabeln in Versen herz ausgegeben hat! Der Inhalt ist der bekannte Krieg der fogenannten Epigonen oder Abkömmlinge der vor Theben gebliebenen Helden, welche den Tod ihrer Våter am Kreon und an den Thebanern zu rächen suchten. Die Hauptpers sonen und ihre Charaktere sind aus der Iliade entlehnt; obgleich der Dichter sehr willkührlich von der Tradition abgewichen ist, die Lusthatius in seinem Kommentar zum vierten Buche der Iliade, in Ansehung der Namen jener Helden, aufbehalten hat. Auch Kreon, den er zum damas ligen Könige von Theben macht, war damals schon todt. In der Beobachtung des Kostume war dieser Dichter nicht viel sorgfältiger; und bis auf einige glückliche Stellen, ist der Ton seiner Erzählung meistens einförmig und ermüdend. Ueber diese, und mehrere Fehler dieser Epoyde sehe man das Monthly Review, Vol. XVII, p. 228 ff. Hier ist eine der lebhaftesten Schilderungen aus dem achten Buche:
Creon beheld, inrag'd to be withstood,
Like fome fierce lion when he meets a flood
Or trench defenfive, which his rage reftrains
For flocks unguarded, left by carelefs fwains;
O'er all the field he fends his eyes afar,
To mark fit entrance for a pointed wȧr:
Near on the right a narrow space he found,
Where on could fuftain and gain the ground.
Thither the warriors of the Theban hoft,
Whofe martial fkill he priz'd and valor moft,
The monarch fent, Chalcidamus the ftrong,
Who from fair Thefpia led his martial throng,
Where Helicon erects his verdant head,
And crowns the champaign with a lofty fhade:
Beisp. Samml. 5. B.
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