Literature of the English Language: Comprising Representative Selections ...

Freely, and without ransom, be restored
To her beloved father, and with her
A sacred hecatomb to Chrysa sent:
So may we haply pacify the god."

Thus having said, the augur took his seat.
And then the hero-son of Atreus rose,
Wide-ruling Agamemnon, — greatly chafed.
His gloomy heart was full of wrath; his eyes
Sparkled like fire. He fixed a menacing look
Full on the augur Calchas, and began :-

"Prophet of evil, never hadst thou yet
A cheerful word for me. To mark the signs
Of coming mischief is thy great delight.
Good dost thou ne'er foretell, nor bring to pass.
And now thou pratest, in thine auguries
Before the Greeks, how that the archer-god
Afflicts us thus because I would not take
The costly ransom offered to redeem

The virgin-child of Chryses. "'Twas my choice
To keep her with me; for I prize her more
Than Clytemnestra, bride of my young years,
And deem her not less nobly graced than she,
In form and feature, mind, and pleasing arts.
Yet will I give her back if that be best;
For gladly would I see my people saved
From this destruction. Let meet recompense,
Meantime, be ready, that I be not left
Alone of all the Greeks without my prize:
That were not seemly. All of you perceive
That now my share of spoil has passed from me.”

To him the great Achilles, swift of foot,
Replied, "Renowned Atrides, greediest
Of men, where wilt thou that our noble Greeks
Find other spoil for thee, since none is set

Apart, a common store? The trophies brought

From towns which we have sacked have all been shared
Among us; and we could not without shame

Bid every warrior bring his portion back.
Yield, then, the maiden to the god, and we,
The Achaians, freely will appoint for thee
Threefold and fourfold recompense when Jove
Gives up to sack this well-defended Troy."

Then the king Agamemnon answered thus: Nay, use no craft, all valiant as thou art, Godlike Achilles: thou hast not the power To circumvent nor to persuade me thus. Think'st thou, that, while thou keepest safe thy prize, I shall sit idly down, deprived of mine?

Thou bid'st me give the maiden back. 'Tis well

If to my hands the noble Greeks shall bring
The worth of what I lose, and in a shape
That pleases me: else will I come myself,
And seize and bear away thy prize, or that
Of Ajax or Ulysses; leaving him

From whom I take his share to rage at will.
Another time we will confer of this.

Now come, and forth into the great salt sea
Launch a black ship, and muster on the deck

Men skilled to row; and put a hecatomb

On board; and let the fair-cheeked maid embark, —
Chryseis. Send a prince to bear command, -
Ajax, Idomeneus, or the divine

Ulysses, or thyself, Pelides, thou

Most terrible of men, that with due rites
Thou soothe the anger of the archer-god."

Achilles, the swift-footed, with stern look
Thus answered: "Ha! thou mailed in impudence
And bent on lucre! Who of all the Greeks
Can willingly obey thee on the march,
Or bravely battling with the enemy?
I came not to this war because of wrong
Done to me by the valiant sons of Troy.
No feud had I with them: they never took
My beeves or horses; nor in Phthia's realm,
Deep-soiled and populous, spoiled my harvest-fields.
For many a shadowy mount between us lies,
And waters of the wide-resounding sea.

Man unabashed! we follow thee, that thou
Mayst glory in avenging upon Troy

The grudge of Menelaus and thy own.

Thou shameless one! and yet thou hast for this

Nor thanks nor care. Thou threatenest now to take

From me the prize for which I bore long toils

In battle; and the Greeks decreed it mine.

I never take an equal share with thee

Of booty when the Grecian host has sacked

Some populous Trojan town. My hands perform
The harder labors of the fields in all

The tumult of the fight: but, when the spoil
Is shared, the largest share of all is thine;
While I, content with little, see my ships
Weary with combat. I shall now go home
To Phithia: better were it to be there

With my beaked ships. But here, where I am held
In little honor, thou wilt fail, I think,

To gather, in large measure, spoil and wealth."

Him answered Agamemnon, king of men :"Desert, then, if thou wilt: I ask thee not There will be others left

To stay for me.

To do me honor yet; and, best of all,
The all-providing Jove is with me still.
Thee I detest the most of all the men
Ordained by him to govern. Thy delight
Is in contention, war, and bloody frays.
If thou art brave, some deity, no doubt,

Hath thus endowed thee. Hence, then, to thy home,
With all thy ships and men! there domineer
Over thy myrmidons. I heed thee not,
Nor care I for thy fury. Thus, in turn,
I threaten thee: Since Phoebus takes away
Chryseis, I will send her in my ship,

And with my friends; and, coming to thy tent,
Will bear away the fair-cheeked maid, thy prize,
Briseis, that thou learn how far I stand
Above thee, and that other chiefs may fear

To measure strength with me and brave my power."

The rage of Peleus' son, as thus he spake,
Grew fiercer: in that shaggy breast his heart
Took counsel, whether from his thigh to draw
The trenchant sword, and, thrusting back the rest,
Smite down Atrides; or subdue his wrath,
And master his own spirit. While he thus
Debated with himself, and half unsheathed
The ponderous blade, Pallas Athene came,
Sent from on high by Juno the white-armed,
Who loved both warriors, and watched over both.
Behind Pelides, where he stood, she came,
And plucked his yellow hair. The hero turned
In wonder; and at once he knew the look
Of Pallas, and the awful-gleaming eye,
And thus accosted her with wingèd words:-
"Why com'st thou hither, daughter of the god
Who bears the ægis? Art thou here to see
The insolence of Agamemnon, son

Of Atreus? Let me tell thee what I deem
Will be the event. That man may lose his life,
And quickly, too, for arrogance like this."

Book I. 1-267.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW.

BORN FEB. 27, 1807, PORTLAND, ME.

As Professor of Modern Languages and Belles-Lettres in Bowdoin College from 1829 to 1835, and in Harvard University from 1835 to 1854, Mr. Longfellow has done much to refine and polish the literary taste of his time, both as critic and poet. It is superfluous to speak in praise of his numerous literary productions, since they are sought with equal eagerness at home and abroad. A thorough student in the polite literature of all nations, a welcome guest and intelligent observer in American and European society, a poet of purest thought and expression, he ennobles life with so much generous human sympathy in all his writings, that they are read and admired as the thoughts of a cherished friend.

PRINCIPAL PRODUCTIONS.

"Poets

"Outre Mer," 1835; "Hyperion," and "Voices of the Night," 1839; Evangeline," 1847; "The Spanish Student," 1843; "The Golden Legend," 1845; Ballads and Poems," 1841; "Kavanagh." 1848; many minor Poems. and Poetry of Europe," 1845; Belfry of Bruges;" "Seaside and Fireside," 1849; "The Song of Hiawatha," 1855; "The Courtship of Miles Standish," 1858.