MUNGO PARK.
[Note: Mungo Park. Born in Selkirkshire in 1771; set out on his first African exploration in 1795. His object was to explore the Niger; and this he had done to a great extent when he was murdered (as is supposed) by the natives in 1805.]
* * * * *
REST FROM BATTLE.
Now deep
in ocean sunk the lamp of light,
And drew
behind the cloudy veil of night;
The conquering
Trojans mourn his beams decayed;
The Greeks
rejoicing bless the friendly shade.
The victors
keep the field: and Hector calls
A martial
council near the navy walls:
These to
Scamander’s bank apart he led,
Where thinly
scattered lay the heaps of dead.
The assembled
chiefs, descending on the ground,
Attend his
order, and their prince surround.
A massy
spear he bore of mighty strength,
Of full
ten cubits was the lance’s length;
The point
was brass, refulgent to behold,
Fixed to
the wood with circling rings of gold:
The noble
Hector on his lance reclined,
And bending
forward, thus revealed his mind:
“Ye
valiant Trojans, with attention hear!
Ye Dardan
bands, and generous aids, give ear!
This day,
we hoped, would wrap in conquering flame
Greece with
her ships, and crown our toils with fame.
But darkness
now, to save the cowards, falls,
And guards
them trembling in their wooden walls.
Obey the
night, and use her peaceful hours,
Our steeds
to forage, and refresh our powers.
Straight
from the town be sheep and oxen sought,
And strengthening
bread and generous wine be brought.
Wide o’er
the field, high blazing to the sky,
Let numerous
fires the absent sun supply,
The flaming
piles with plenteous fuel raise,
Till the
bright morn her purple beam displays;
Lest, in
the silence and the shades of night,
Greece on
her sable ships attempt her flight.
Not unmolested
let the wretches gain
Their lofty
decks, or safely cleave the main:
Some hostile
wound let every dart bestow,
Some lasting
token of the Phrygian foe:
Wounds,