Impetuous sorrow 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 most lov'd thee, didst untimely yield Thy life to fate's inevitable dart

For her, who now in agony reveals

Her tender passion, who repeats her vows
To thy deaf ear, who fondly to her own
Unites thy cheek insensible and cold.
Alas! do those unmoving, ghastly, orbs
Perceive my gushing sorrow? Can that heart
At my complaint dissolve the ice of death,
To share my suff'rings? Never, never more
Shall Ariana bend a listening ear

To thy enchanting eloquence, nor feast

Her mind on wisdom from thy copious tongue! Oh! bitter, insurmountable distress!'

She could no more.

Suppress'd all utt'rance.

Invincible despair

As a marble form,

Fix'd on the solemn sepulchre, inclines

The silent head, in imitated wo,

O'er some dead hero whom his country lov'd,

Entranc'd by anguish, o'er the breathless clay

So hung the princess. On the gory breach,
Whence life had issu❜d by the fatal blow,
Mute for a space, and motionless, she gaz'd;
When thus in accents firm. Imperial pomp,
Foe to my quiet, take my last farewell!
There is a state where only virtue holds
The rank supreme. My Teribazus there
From his high order must descend to mine.'

Then, with no trembling hand, no change of look, She drew a poniard, which her garment veil'd; And, instant sheathing in her heart the blade, On her slain lover silent sunk in death! The unexpected stroke prevents the care Of Agis, pierc'd by horror and distress, Like one who, standing on a stormy beach, Beholds a found'ring vessel by the deep At once engulph'd, his pity feels and mourns, Depriv'd of pow'r to save; so Agis view'd The prostrate pair.

THE

PERSIAN EMBASSY TO LEONIDAS.

[IBID.]

THE king uprises from his seat, and bids
The Persian follow. He, amaz'd, attends,
Surrounded soon by each assembling band:
When thus at length the godlike Spartan spake-
Here, Persian, tell thy embassy. Repeat
That, to obtain my friendship, Asia's prince
To me hath proffer'd sov'reignty o'er Greece.
Then view these bands, whose valour shall preserve
That Greece unconquer'd which your king bestows;
Shall strew your bodies on her crimson'd plains.
The indignation, painted on their looks,

Their gen'rous scorn, may answer for their chief.
Yet from Leonidas, thou wretch inur'd

To vassalage and baseness, hear. The pomp,
The arts of pleasure in despotic courts,
I spurn, abhorrent! In a spotless heart
I look for pleasure. I from righteous deeds
Derive my splendour. No adoring crowd,
No purpled slaves, no mercenary spears,
My state embarrass. I in Sparta rule
By laws, my rulers, with a guard unknown

To Xerxes, public confidence and love.
No pale suspicion of th' empoison'd bowl,
Th' assassin's poniard, or provok'd revolt,
Chase from my decent couch the

peace deny'd To his resplendent canopy. Thy king,

Who hath profan'd by proffer'd bribes my ear,

Dares not to meet my arm. Thee, trembling slave Whose embassy was treason, I despise,

And therefore spare.

THE COMBAT

OF

LEONIDAS AND HYPERANTHES.

[IBID.]

BUT Hyperanthes from the trembling ranks

Of Asia tow'rs, inflexibly resolv'd

The Persian glory to redeem, or fall.

The Spartan, worn by toil, his languid arm
Uplifts once more. He waits the dauntless prince.
The heroes now stand adverse. Each, awhile
Restrains his valour, each admiring views
His godlike foe. At length their brandish'd points

Provoke the contest, fated soon to close
The long continued horrors of the day.
Fix'd in amaze and fear, the Asian throng,
Unmov'd and silent, on their bucklers pause.
Thus on the wastes of India, while the earth
Beneath him groans, the elephant is seen,
His huge proboscis writhing, to defy
The strong rhinoceros, whose pond'rous horn
Is newly whetted on a rock. Anon

Each hideous bulk encounters. Earth her groan

Redoubles.

Trembling, from their covert gaze
The savage inmates of surrounding woods
In distant terror. By the varied art
Of either chief the dubious combat long
Its great event retarded. Now his lance
Far through the hostile shield Laconia's king
Impell'd. Aside the Persian swung his arm.
Beneath it pass'd the weapon, which his targe
Encumber'd. Hopes of conquest and renown
Elate his courage.
Sudden he directs

His rapid javelin to the Spartan's throat.

But he his wary buckler upward rais'd,

Which o'er his shoulder turn'd the glancing steel; For one last effort then his scatter'd strength Collecting, levell'd with resistless force

The massive orb, and dash'd its brazen verge