Ineffable, tremendous in the fight.-
Unmov'd he stood, exulting in his might.
Redoubled courage fill'd his ardent breast;
Redoubled strength his valiant hand possest;
And hope elates his heart, and brightens on his crest. As when the charger of illustrious strain
The battle scents, and paws the sounding plain; In pride of strength, his haughty crest he rears; At ev'ry sound he pricks his watchful ears; O'er his arch'd neck the floating mane is cast; His nostrils broad propel th' impetuous blast; In youthful glory, beautiful and strong, The son of Æson bounded 'mid the throng. Swift, as the lightning, in a wintry night, From pitchy darkness vibrates sudden light, Now here, now there, it glances through the sky, And tells th' affrighted world a storm is nigh; So Jason mov'd his polish'd shield and lance, That, quick and dazzling shot a fiery glance. Now, came that awful conflict big with fate. The band, in order, on their benches sate; By sounding oars, and sinewy arms impell'd, Their course, to reach that field of Mars they held. A space, like those, that goal and barrier part, Where rival charioteers display their art, When prizes are proclaim'd, and lists outspread, To honour some illustrious chieftain dead, And horse and foot the ceremonies grace, With speed contending in the measur'd space, Divides th' imperial seat of Colchian pride, From that domain of Mars the homicide. Eetes with the Colchian race they found.The lofty rocks of Caucasus around The crowd possest; beside the river hoar, The monarch stood, upon the winding shore.
The band with cables made their vessel fast;
And Jason to that arduous trial past.-
His shield and spear he grasp'd, with eager hand;
And from the deck sprang lightly to the land.
The polish'd helmet's shining brass he took,
And in its womb the serpent's teeth he shook.
Nor ponderous mail his active limbs opprest;
Nor scaly cuirass beam'd around his breast.
Unarm'd he stood, half like the God of war,
Half like the lord of the diurnal car,
And golden brand.-His eyes around he threw,
The brazen yoke was laid within his view;
And near the plough with adamantine share,
The crisis bids him for the toil prepare.
The youth approach'd, advancing o'er the ground;
And planted deep the spear with ringlets bound. 1850
Weighty and strong, erect it stood in earth;
Near lay the teeth of that envenom❜d birth,
Within the helmet.-Cover'd by his shield;
To seek the bulls, he march'd along the field.-
When, sudden, from the stalls beneath the ground,
Dark clouds of smoke diffus'd their volumes round.
Seen thro' the blackness, by the lurid glare,
Disgorging fire, uprush'd the fatal pair.
That object struck with fear th' heroic bands;'
To meet the rageful monsters Jason stands,
Standing unmov'd, as rocks within the deep,
When mountain billows break, and torrents sweep.
His shield oppos'd to meet their wrath he bore.
With levell'd horns they came; and furious roar,
In vain their fury the brave youth assail'd;
Nor force immense nor volley'd fire prevail'd.
On the red furnace, where the metals glow,
Thro' many an orifice, as founders blow,
And now the bellows urge the raging fire,
And pausing now th' enfeebled flames retire,
Loud and impetuous roars the blast beneath,
At intervals; the bulls with fiery breath,
Now, pause-and now, the flamy volumes drive,
Quick, noxious, as the cloud when lightnings rive,
With sound tremendous.-But they smote unharm'd
The dauntless youth, with magic influence arm'd.
Now, by the horns, with such commanding might,
He seis'd the bull, that stood upon his right,
Superior force his dangerous captive held,
And to the yoke the struggling beast compell'd. 1880
His foot the brazen hoof, with nimble stroke,
Supplants, and brings him kneeling to the yoke.
An equal fate his fierce companion found;
The youthful hero brought him to the ground.
His ample buckler on the plain he cast;
And firmly striding grasp'd the monsters fast.
Outstretch'd at length, with broad and nervous breast,
The struggling bulls incumbent he opprest.
Smoke wreath'd around him, darted flames were roll'd;
-With hand intrepid he retain❜d his hold.
The savage monarch, with amaze, survey'd
The force and courage, by the youth display'd.
Nor then regardless were the gallant pair,
The sons of Tyndarus and Leda fair.
Appointed service, near the yokes they stand;
They raise from earth; they give to Jason's hand.-
These o'er each monster's neck he firmly brac'd;
Then fair between the brazen pole he plac❜d.
And threw the ring that from th' extreme depends
O'er the sharp hook, that from the yoke extends. 1960
Back, from the noxious glare and scorching heat,
Th' illustrious brothers to their ship retreat.
In haste, from earth the hero caught his shield;
And o'er his shoulders cast its orbed field;
His polish'd helm he seis'd, no common weight,
Replete with dragon's teeth, tremendous freight.
His ponderous javelin by the midst he held.
The biting point th' indignant beasts impell'd;
Like the sharp goad by rustic hands applied;
Deep in their flanks the polish'd brass he dyed. 1910
He guides the plough-tail, with unerring hand,
Compacted firm in adamantine band.-
The toiling monsters roar'd with fruitless ire,
And darted from their mouths redoubled fire.
Loud and impetuous was their stormy breath,
As blasts, that menace mariners with death;
When mountain-high devouring waves prevail,
And fearful hands contract the shivering sail.
Not long they mov'd, obedient to the spear,
Ere the rude earth was open'd in the rere.
The ploughman stout and potent steers combin'd
Ample and broad the furrow trac'd behind.
O dire the crash!-the sound was heard afar,
From all the broken clods, that teem'd with war.
The youth pursuing, with intrepid breast,
And footsteps firm, the path of danger prest.
With hand unsparing, onward as he past,
O'er the plough'd land the dragon's teeth he cast;
And oft he turn'd-oft anxious ey'd the soil;
Lest giant harvests should prevent his toil,
While pressing onward, o'er the stubborn plain,
The brazen footed bulls their toil sustain.
When three full portions of the time were spent,
From dawn of morning to the sun's descent;
And gladsome now their weary task to leave,
The workmen hail the sweet approach of eve;
Th' unwearied ploughman triumph'd in his toil,
O'er all the large allotted space of soil.
Four acres lay upturn'd, the share beneath,
All fully saturate with dragon's teeth.
The fiery monsters from the yoke he freed;
And drove them terrified along the mead.
He gaz'd around.-The furrows still remain
A blank, unpeopled by the giant train.-
The ship he sought, and join'd the gallant crew;
Then, in his helm the cooling beverage drew.
Gladly the youth indulg'd in transient rest;
With words of hope his comrades chear'd his breast.
His heart expanded, with increasing might,
Like the fierce boar impatient for the fight,
Who whets his tusks, and musters all his wrath,
And foaming waits the hunter in his path.
But now the land its horrid harvest brings. A giant arm'd from ev'ry furrow springs: And helms, and shields, and lances, all around, Like bearded corn, rose bristling o'er the ground, The sacred space of Mars, the scourge of man. To Heav'n's high vaults the gleaming splendours ran. When wintry storms, surcharg'd with vapours, flow, And heap along the ground the drifted snow, 1960 The clouds disperse, and thro' the gloom of night, The starry train emerge, in dazzling light; Thus, sudden brightness shot along the land. Admonish'd by the virgin's wise command, A circling stone, of mighty weight and size, A disk for dreadful Mars the youth espies; Scarce could four men th' enormous mass sustain, With ease the hero rais'd it from the plain; Then, rushing forward, with a sudden bound, Aloft in air he hurl'd it, round and round. Distant it fell amid th' embattled field. The youth collected shrunk behind his shield, Yet with intrepid heart.-The Colchians roar, Like billows, when they lash the rocky shore.With mute and blank amaze their king beheld, What force stupendous the huge disk impell'd. In combat loud, as barking dogs engage,
Those earth-born brothers round that discus rage,
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