Classic Poem

Oh! was I as erst in my youthful day,
In vigour and strength the same,
When we and the Eleans about a prey
Of cattle to combat came;
When by my hand Itymones fell
To the rescue rushing on;
(Of Hypirochos who was wont to dwell
In Elis, gallant son.)

In the foremost line as he guarded his kine,
I stretcht him amid the dead;
While with fear and amaze did the wild troops gaze
Whom he from his farm-lands led
Fifty flocks of goats, as many sheep,
And fifty drove of swine;
Fifty lowing herds at one night's sweep
I drove from the plain as mine.

And thrice fifty mares of yellow mane
And with them many a foal,
And we drove them to Neleus who held his reign
In those olden times o'er the Pylian plain;
And rejoiced was he in his soul
That to me so young in first essay
Should so rich a booty fall;
And by heralds at dawn of the breaking day,
It was proclaimed to all.

To whom debt was due all Elis thro
Should meet in the spoils to share;
And together the Pylian chieftains drew
And made a division fair;
For many a score of ancient date
Was to poor Pylos owed
For we were reduced to low estate
By the strength of a demigod.

For Heracles came in years gone by
And by him were our best men slain;
Twelve gallant sons had Neleus, and I
Did then the last remain;
The Epeians, therefore, thought they might dare
In their haughty meanness strong;
To a people so weak they refused to spare
Insults of deed or tongue.

A lowing herd and a fleecy flock,
In number of hundreds three,
As his share with the shepherds old Neleus took,
For the heaviest claim had he.
For horses famed for glories won
When contending for the prize,
As for a tripod they went to run,
Were seized in a shameful wise.

King Augias stopt them travelling on,
And back the driver came,
His race not run, his coursers gone,
With anger filled and shame.
Large, therefore, the share might my father choose;
To the people he gave the rest,
That none might his fairness in doling accuse
To divide as it pleased him best.

And now our various labours done,
Due sacrificial cheer
We offered the gods outside the town,
Free from the pressing fear;
But on the third morn, of foot and horse
A mighty gathering came;
The Molians armed them with the force,
Tho but boys unknown to fame.

A distant town Thryoessa stands
Where Alpheus' waters sweep
At the edge remote of Pylos' sands,
Percht on the rocky steep.
This far-off town they sought to gain,
And to use it at their need;
But when they had traverst all the plain
Athene came with speed.

By night, and the Pylians to arms she bid,
And they answered with delight;
But my steeds of war old Neleus hid
To keep me from the fight.
He said I knew not the works of war,
And yet to the field I sped,
Where I fought, tho on foot, the horsemen near,
By Athene's orders led.

Close by Arene the Minyas flows
And falls into the sea,
Where the Pylian horsemen, till morning rose,
Awaited our infantry.
Then full of force our armour shine,
By Alpheus' banks we stood,
And we sacrificed there to the powers divine,
And first to the Olympian God.

To Alpheus a steer—to Poseidon a steer,
And a heifer all unbroke
To Pallas—and then our festal cheer
Throughout the ranks we took
And the livelong night in our arms we lay,
Close by the rushing tide,
While to Pylos the Epeians made their way,
Camping its walls beside.

And soon as morning's dawn was seen,
Scattering its light around,
Praying to Zeus and Wisdom's Queen,
We for the fight were bound;
When we fairly joined us in the fray,
By me was the first man slain;
No horses longer I needed that day,
And my father's scheme was vain.

Brave Moleus whom I made to bleed
Had chosen as a bride
King Augias' daughter, fair Agamede,
By whom the virtues of plant and weed,
Wherever grown, were tried.
And I slew him there with my brazen spear,
And as in the dust he rolled,
In his chariot I drove in hot career
To the foremost warriors bold.

And hither and thither the Epeians fled,
When they saw that warrior fall,
Their horse to the fight who had always led,
And was foremost in valour's call,
But on I rusht, like a darksome blast,
And from fifty chariots soon,
To bite the dust two riders were cast,
By my right arm alone.

And the Molian twins I there had slain
But for the pitchy cloud
In which their father who rules the main
Did them from danger shroud.
Then Zeus assisting across the field,
We made the Epeians fly;
The men we slay, and their corses yield
Of armour a rich supply.

Till we came to Buprasion rich in wheat,
Our horse conquering still,
Under Olenia's rocky retreat
And Alikion's distant hill.
And there their last man low I laid;
And much honour we lavisht free
First 'mong the gods to Zeus they paid,
'Mong mankind first to me.