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91 Virgil, by making the boaster vanquished, has drawn a better moral
from this episode than Homer. The following lines deserve
comparison:--
"The haughty Dares in the lists appears:
Walking he strides, his head erected bears:
His nervous arms the weighty gauntlet wield,
And loud applauses echo through the field.
*
*
*
*
Such Dares was, and such he strode along,
And drew the wonder of the gazing throng
His brawny breast and ample chest he shows;
His lifted arms around his head he throws,
And deals in whistling air his empty blows.
His match is sought, but, through the trembling band,
No one dares answer to the proud demand.
Presuming of his force, with sparkling eyes,
Already he devours the promised prize.
*
*
*
*
If none my matchless valour dares oppose,
How long shall Dares wait his dastard foes?"
Dryden's Virgil, v. 486, seq.
292 "The gauntlet-fight thus ended, from the shore
974
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