The Iliad of Homer


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But thus upbraids his rival as he flies:  
Go, furious youth! ungenerous and unwise!  
"
Go, but expect not I'll the prize resign;  
Add perjury to fraud, and make it thine--"  
Then to his steeds with all his force he cries,  
"Be swift, be vigorous, and regain the prize!  
Your rivals, destitute of youthful force,  
With fainting knees shall labour in the course,  
And yield the glory yours."--The steeds obey;  
Already at their heels they wing their way,  
And seem already to retrieve the day.  
Meantime the Grecians in a ring beheld  
The coursers bounding o'er the dusty field.  
The first who mark'd them was the Cretan king;  
High on a rising ground, above the ring,  
The monarch sat: from whence with sure survey  
He well observed the chief who led the way,  
And heard from far his animating cries,  
And saw the foremost steed with sharpen'd eyes;  
On whose broad front a blaze of shining white,  
Like the full moon, stood obvious to the sight.  
He saw; and rising, to the Greeks begun:  
"
Are yonder horse discern'd by me alone?  
Or can ye, all, another chief survey,  
And other steeds than lately led the way?  
821  


Page
819 820 821 822 823

Quick Jump
1 245 490 735 980