++J *0 ^,. \S 6 o^ -o » * L* V* ' • • - .v ^°?r ■5- ^ ,5°^ * V^V V^'V G. NORMAN, PRINTER, MAIDEN LANE, COVENT GARDEN. TO HENRY HALLAM, ESQ. I am induced by the friendship which has subsisted between us near half a century, to inscribe these pages to you, who will fully appreciate any merit they may contain, and be disposed to look kindly on their defects. The historical treatise is the result of the researches I made to collect the materials for the poem, which was begun many years ago, and, having been some time completed, has remained in my desk receiving occasional corrections and additions. It is not without some natural anxiety, that I commit it under your auspices, as a favourite offspring, which has been sedulously educated, to the judgment of those, who will look upon it, not perhaps with greater critical severity than I have applied to it in the process of its correction, but without those feelings of paternal regard, which must have an undue tendency to reconcile me to its faults and deficiencies. I am well aware that my countrymen have lately con- ceived a great distaste for poetry, with which they seem to have been satiated; and perhaps I vainly flatter IV DEDICATION. myself, that the general historical truth of the poem may cause it to be looked upon in a light a little different from mere works of imagination ; and, although I may be disappointed in the hope that it contains passages calculated to direct the emotions of the mind to the true comforts of religion, at least it contains nothing that will not tend to promote the glory of God. The foundation of the pagan empire of Rome was the noble subject of the iEneid. That which I have chosen is the firm establishment of Christianity by the discom- fiture of the mighty attempt of Attila to found a new Antichristian dynasty upon the wreck of the temporal power of Rome, at the end of the term of 1200 years, to which its duration had been limited by the fore- bodings of the heathens. The grandeur of the subject is undeniable, and the deep consolations of Christianity give it an advantage over any heathen materials, how- ever I may have failed in treating it. Believe me ever, Your sincere friend, WILLIAM HERBERT, Spofforth, March 23, 1837. I ATTILA, THE TRIUMPH OF CHRISTIANITY. A POEM. PREFACE. The general course of this poem conforms with historical truth and fabulous traditions. The reappari- tion, however, on the field of Chalons of the deer, which led the Huns into Europe, is not founded on tradition, and Hacon is a fictitious person. The abduction of the wife of Alberon by the Romans is only thus far sup- ported by history, that the bride of some distinguished person, whose nuptials Clodion was celebrating, was carried off by them, and Alberon was perhaps not the bridegroom. The subsequent adventures of the lady are imaginary. The character of Cyprianus is invented, the anecdote attributed to him in Alexandria being however true concerning some person, whose name has not been preserved. The loves of Andages and Mycol- tha are invented, nothing being recorded concerning her, except her parentage and her marriage with Attila on the last night of his life. The termination of the story of Honoria by her forced marriage does not rest upon certain grounds, though I think the expressions of Priscus evidently point to some such impediment to her marriage with Attila having been devised, though it is barely possible that the objection that she had been Vlll PREFACE. given to another man might have reference to her previous incontinence. Her repentance is supplied by me, history being silent concerning the close of her life. The names of Ostorius and Lucilia are fictitious, but not the sacrifice. The history of Hilda is conformable with the accounts given in the Scandinavian and Teu- tonic legends, reconciling their differences. The name of Escam, the daughter and wife of Attila, mentioned in the history of Priscus, is applied to the legends con- cerning the younger Hilda, who was his daughter and wife. The mutiny of the heathens in Rome, quelled by Leo, was not an actual occurrence at the period stated, but such a mutiny broke out with an attempt to reesta- blish paganism a few years before on the advance of the great army of Radagais to Florence, and the same feelings must have been in activity on the approach of Attila. I hope it will be found that I have filled up the outline with nothing repugnant to truth and tradition ; but I am doubtful whether I have not shackled my imagination too much, by the desire to adhere to them as closely as practicable. I trust that nothing I have said concerning the Arians of the fifth century will be misapplied to the Unitarians, whose opinions I look upon as totally distinct from the ribaldry of the Thalia of Arius. I intend nothing polemic towards any person or sect of the present day. CONTENTS. Book First. Field of Chalons. — Apparition of the glamorous deer which first conducted the Huns into Europe. . . 1 Book Second. Visit of Attila to the abode of Aliruna progenitress of the Huns, with her sisters, and the demons they had espoused in the wilderness. — Heathendom arrayed against Christianity. . . . . .21 Book Third. Camp of Attila, and sacrifice of Christians to the Sword- God. — His march upon Trecas (Troyes) and return to Pannonia. ...... 47 Book Fourth. Satan surveys the state of Europe. — Hermitage of Cyprian and his previous adventures. — Satan under his simi- litude tempts Honoria successfully, manifests himself to Aetius, and is rebuked by Leo. — Arian hierarchy. 78 Book Fifth. Court of Attila ; banquet ; adventures of Honoria. . 104 Book Sixth. Siege of Aquileia. — Adventures of Alberon king of Cameracum, and his captive queen. . . . 127 Book Seventh. Progress of the Italian war foreshewn to the sorceress Hilda, the sister and repudiated queen of Attila, on the surface of a subterranean lake in Carnia. . 158 b X CONTENTS. Book Eighth. Villa of A'etius ; his treacherous inactivity. . 178 Book Ninth. Valentinian in Rome. — Mutiny of the pagan party in Rome quelled by Leo. — Interview between Leo and Honoria penitent. . . . . .191 Book Tenth. Attila prepares to advance against Rome. — Embassy from Valentinian. — Vision of St. Paul and St. Peter. — Attila quails before them, and is abandoned by the evil spi- rits. — Pestilence amongst the Huns. — Return of Leo and thanksgivings at Rome. . . . .210 Book Eleventh. Retreat of Attila to the huge circles of Hunniwar. — Ad- ventures of Mycoltha. — Treason of Hilda, and failure of the Burgundian conspirators. — Interview between Satan and Ariel the spirit of Rome. . . . 226 Book Twelfth. Compulsory nuptials of the Christian Mycoltha with Attila. — Death and obsequies of Attila and Hilda, and dissipation of the Antichristian confederacy. . 251 ATTILA. BOOK FIRST. Him terrible I sing, the scourge of heaven, Who, braving the Messiah, with thy sword, Dread Ariman,* outpour'd his Scythian flood, What time the empire of Quirinus old Quaked from the base ; for even then its years 5 Were ended, and the breathless nations look'd For who upon the seven eternal hills Should sit enthroned with might ; and, in God's house Blaspheming the Most High, with impious pomp Display himself as God. Night's shadow sank 10 On Catalaunum,f and the dreary waste Red with the blood of thousands, that confused Lay on its bosom weltering. The sound Of conflict was o'erpast, the shock of all Whom Earth could send from her remotest bounds, 15 Heathen or faithful ; from thy hundred mouths That feed the Caspian with Riphean snows, Huge Volga ! from famed Hypanis, that once Cradled the Hun ; from all the countless realms Between Imaus and that utmost strand, 20 * Ares, or Areimanios, in Latin Mars, the war-god. t Chalons. B "2 ATTILA. Where columns of Herculean rock confront The blown Atlantic ; Roman, Goth, and Hun, And Scythian strength of chivalry, that tread The cold Codanian* shore, or what far lands Inhospitable drink Cimmerian floods, 25 Francs, Saxons, Suevic and Sarmatian chiefs, And who from green Armorica or Spain Flock'd to the work of death. Arduous it were To scan the tribes, different of faith and mien, Upon the waste of Catalaunum heap'd 30 In undistinguish'd wreck. Within his camp Stood Attila unbroken, undismay'd By that disastrous hour, his pagan host Beneath unnumber'd banners mustering, Various and many-tongued ; in this agreed, 35 Firm trust on him their leader, him revered E'en as a God; with courage desperate, That little heeded life, and by reverse Unshaken. O'er that field, where battle's din Had seem'd a voice from Erebus, now reign'd 40 Stern silence ; save where moans of agony Came on the night-breeze, or the howl of wolves From Ardenne gathering to their loathsome feast Made the deep stillness horrible. Around Flamed beacons, lighted by the wary Francs, 45 Whom Meroveus of the flowing hair Marshall'd against the invader. On the south, Flank'd by victorious Goths, the middle post Held princely Sangiban, of dubious faith, With his brave Alans. Sorely had they rued 50 * The Coclani dwelt by the Baltic. There is no trace of the existence of the name Dane there before the reign of Attila. book i. ;3 Their leader's taint, exposed that fatal day In the red front of conflict. On the left. Camping aloof, and 'scaped from that fierce heat, Wherewith Gepidian Arderic had press'd His legions, parted from the central host, 55 Aetius watch'd the slippery tide of war, Lord of Rome's strength. He from thy tottering walls, Aurelia,* dogg'd the Hun, what time thy towers Shook crumbling to the stroke of engines huge, And, in the breach, already swarm'd the foe, 60 And steel met steel, and clashing bucklers broke, And matrons shriek'd : while Anianus stood High on the battlement, in flowing robes Pontifical, and stretch'd his arms to heaven ; When, as he pray'd, a dim and distant cloud 65 Obscured the pale horizon ; on it roll'd Clothing with dust the desolated plain. " The aid of God !" the Christian pontiff cried; " The aid of God !" from every tremulous tongue Rang to the citadel ; and the misty shroud, 70 Thrown backward by the gusty breeze, display'd Rome's eagles, with thy bright auxiliar host, Theodoric, and all the banded South. From that portentous hour the sullen Hun, Sweeping the realms of France, roll'd back the tide 75 Of his fell myriads ; not in rout, or fear, But wary, unappall'd, so to o'erthrow The rash pursuer ; till on Chalons' plain His vaunt was staid. Unscathed Rome's army stands; But where art thou, illustrious Goth, supreme 80 From beautiful Tolosa, that beholds * Aurelia*, Orleans. B 2 ATTILA. Pine-clad Cebennas and the snowy ridge Of Pyrenean hills, to the Roman walls Of Arelas, and Rhone's impetuous wave ! Baptized Theodoric ! whos3 conquering* sire 85 Clombe the Tarpeian, but with alter'd mien Bow'd humbly in Jehovah's shrine. Transfix'd By heathen shafts, and trampled by the hoofs Of thy victorious cavalry, thou liest Upon that field of glory ; but the Hun 90 Treads not upon thy corse, or girds thy spoil. Ranged in fierce order, where the loftier ground Swells gently from the plain, the Gothic power Frowns o'er the silent champaign ; but anon Strange sounds of barbarous music, woful strains, 95 And funeral wail is heard ; like thatf sent up From Hadadrimmon in Megiddo's vale For good Josiah dead. That awful dirge Sends forth the grief of thousands, a whole host Hymning their monarch slain. King of the West, 100 It cannot rouse thee from thy gorgeous bier ! Nerveless is now that arm which shew'd thy Goths The path to glory ; and the eye, that oft Relumed their fainting ardour, dark and seal'd By the long slumber. Thou art as the dust, 105 Which thy foot trampled, when Tolosa's dames Saw thee go forth in bravery to war; Of all thy sire possess'd, or thy sword won, Thou dost inherit nothing, but the urn Where the worm nestles, and the voice of fame 110 Which falls unheeded on the ear of death. The wild lament was hush'd ; and then a shout, < . — * Alaric the Great. t See Zechariah xii. 11. BOOK I. 5 As of applauding millions, rent the sky ; And thousand torches from their flaming locks Cast forth a lurid glare ; a clang of arms 115 With loud acclaim announces to the host The heir of all his glory and estate, Young Torismond, upon his buckler raised, Amidst the bristling ranks of Gothic steel. Thro' Arduenna's woods the echo rang, 120 And blood-stain'd Matrona's polluted wave Ran trembling to the Seine; awhile the blaze Stream'd o'er the field of death ; then all was still, Horror and utter darkness : through the night Deep silence brooded o'er the Gothic camp. 1*25 But not to Attila came soothing rest, Not to the throng of pagan combatants, That wearied, faint, amazed by that day's rout, Presaged worse ruin, desperate overthrow. Breathing revenge, he thro' the midmost ranks 130 Imperious rode; his outstretch'd arm raised high The ponderous falchion, upon Scythia's plain Cast by the fulminating God of war, Itself divine ; as shoots the meteor-stone With hissing speed along its fiery path 135 Precipitate thro' mid air, by mortals deem'd Flung from the moon's Vulcanian hills. So fell The accursed brand, there since by wondering hinds Found on the verdant mead, distain'd with blood Of a pure heifer, midst unnumber'd herds 140 The first, self-offer'd, victim. To that steel Bow'd Hun and Tartar, not by temples graced, Altar or secret shrine, or costly dome Fretted with proud barbaric ornament, 6 ATILLA. But in the barren sod firm-fixt and stark, 145 An horrid Deity ; the type of him Whose might unseen, amid the crash of arms, Wields the blind chance of conquest, flight, and death. By Tanais oft, or Rha's* majestic flood, To that grim idol rose the solemn chaunt 150 Of nightly adoration, while the clang Of armed legions in their bloody rites Rang e'en to Caucasus. Now held aloft Terribly portentous, and to him their prince The badge of heaven-born power, the lurid blade 155 Gleam'd o'er the Painim rout. Silent the bands Adore it ; then thus spoke the king of kings. " Drunken, but not with wine, our foemen shout " Fate-stricken in their camp. Not Caesar's arm, " Not Meroveus, or the Gothic tide 160 44 Push'd back our squadrons, but almighty Powers, 44 Who darkly work their end. Empire is mine " Predestined, and the march of fate is sure. " Low lies the great Theodoric, while-ere " Thy vaunt, Tolosa ! let the Christian dogs 165 " Bay near us, and the spurious Franc afar " Bid cressets blaze ! let Rome's sly chieftain prowl 44 Round our defences ! In his eyrie pent 44 The Hunnish vulture undismay'd and fresh 44 Plumes even now the wing, that shall o'ersail 170 44 The towers of Constantine, and those seven hills 44 Where Rome sits shrined in glory; for this sword 44 E'en on the Capitol erect shall stand 44 Sprinkled with sacrifice, and Christian gore * The ancient name of the Volpfu. BOOK I. " Shall froth upon the hilt. Hear, haughty queen, 175 " The curse of Attila ! and ye, loud mouths " Of martial symphony, defiance breathe, " Pouring the strain, that cheer'd to victory " Stout Rhuas,* and Balamber's iron heart, " And those of older attribute, who made 180 " Far Sericana dread the Tanjoo's arm ! " For not in vain (I deem) our fathers burst " Forth from their oozy lair ; the glamorous deer " Over Mseotis and the swampy brake " Not without fate conducted them." He spoke, 185 And, with that word, an universal blast From thousand instruments of warlike breath Gave note of stern defiance, and rang forth Of stirring music a sonorous peal From gong and cymbal, many a clashing sword 190 Resounding to the buckler's iron orb; And, midst that clang, the multitudinous shout Of all those uncouth nations, that, erewhile Downcast and mute, by those bold words aroused Breathed new confliction, and by hate assured 195 Trampled e'en now, beneath the hoofs of war, Byzantium and the stately halls of Rome. The brazen-tongued triumphal symphony Smote the dark heaven ; all night that ceaseless din Bray'd thro' the Hunnish camp, with confident strain 200 Braving the foe. Nor of secure defence Lack'd what rude means might furnish, chariots, wains, And strength enormous of scythe-armed cars * King Rhuas was uncle to Attila ; Balamber commanded when they entered Europe. b ATTILA. Closing the warlike theatre, and around With intermingling wheels and horrent flanks 205 Making firm fence, to all that Gothic horse Impenetrable, tho' their necks be clothed In thunder, and their course like rushing winds. Within, dread catapults and engines strange ; Strong front of opposition, not untried, 210 Which, as a rock, dash'd back the o'erwhelming wave Of those impetuous squadrons, that yestreen Bore terror on their charge and fiery speed ; But, midst the serried rank of scythed cars, Horseman and horse in bloody overthrow 215 Plunged headlong, and the tide of battle turn'd ; While in mid air, a sound articulate Louder than human (like that fatal voice Which once in Athens broke the awful pause Between heaven's angry bolts, and made each hair 220 Stand bristling on the heads of those who heard, Calling to Hades the incestuous king* Branded by fate) with strange heart-withering dread Appall'd each host ; and some averr'd a face Look'd through the gloomy curtain of the dusk, 225 Upon that bloody field, from heaven's high cope So full of terror, that the stoutest hearts Shrank with dismay, and the tumultuous din With all war's thousands became still as death. Thus the lorn habitants of that famed town 230 Fabled in Araby, which heard her doom Spoken at midnight, when her sons were changed All in the twinkling of an eye to stone. * CEdipus ; see Soph. (Ed. Col. book i. y Sullen drew back the assailant, while the twang Of Hunnish bows behind that muniment 235 Shot arrowy sleet. Within, a gorgeous pile ( Spoils heap'd on spoils, all that of ravaged wealth France yielded) shew'd how pagan hearts would meet Fate's worse alternative. Exalted high Upon that pyramid, with carpets strewn 240 As for a feast, sat all the blooming flower Of Attila's rich harem ; wives and slaves, Children and concubines, from Tyrian silk Breathing perfume Around them incense raised Its precious odours, and bright standards gleam'd, 245 Trophy of days victorious ; in the midst The imperial throne. Below, a trusty band, Stern ministers of death, with ears intent Awaited but the word, to wrap in flame That holocaust of loveliness, fair shapes, 250 Which never insult of invading foe Living shall spoil. Each, in his left a torch, Stood girt for sacrifice, with watchful eye, Guarding the pyre. All night the tapers glared Funereal, and the wail of women rose. 255 Slow struggling thro' the mist, that reek'd to heaven, Day dawn'd on Chalons' plain. Faintly it shew'd Indistinct horror, and the ghastly form Of havoc lingering o'er its bloody work. O for the tongue that told, how once the fiend 260 Over immortal Athens from his wing Scatter'd disease and death ! and, worse than death, The living curse of sunder'd charities, Whereby the fount of feeling and love's pulse Was staid within thro' dread, and, when most lack'd, 2(35 10 ATTILA. The hospitable mansion sternly closed Against a parent's prayer, while corses foul On the barr'd threshold's edge lay uninhumed, Exhaling plague ! O for the voice of him, Who drew the curtain of apocalypse, 270 To man declaring things for man too high, That I may speak the horrors, which broke slow Upon the sight at dawn ! The ample field, Which, but short hours before, was redolent With herbs and healthful odours, now uptorn '275 By thousand hoofs, batter'd beneath the strength Of wheels and horse and man, a barren mass Of dark confusion seem'd ; a trampled waste Without the blush of verdure, but with gore Distain'd, and steep'd in the cold dews of death. 280 Thick strewn, and countless, as those winged tribes, Which clamoring blacken all the grassy mead In sickly autumn, when the wither'd leaves Drift on the moaning gale, lay swords and pikes, Bucklers, and broken cuirasses, and casques, 285 Shower'd by the pelting battle, when it rush'd With such hoarse noise, as doth the foaming surge Upon some rocky ledge, where ^Eolus Bids foul winds blow. But not of arms alone Rent fragments, and the broken orbs of shields 290 Emboss'd with gold, and gorgeous housings, lay Cumbering that fearful waste. The mind shrinks back From the thick-scatter'd carnage, the dread heaps That late were living energy and youth, Hope emulous, and lofty daring ; strength, 295 Which, raised again from that corrupting sod, Thro' Ardenne's desert unto utmost Rhine BOOK I. 11 Might have spread culture ; thousands, whose blythe voice Might yet have caroll'd to the breath of morn, Or joy'd the banquet, or with gifted hand 300 Waked the ecstatic lyre, adorning still With rich diversity of active powers Cottage or palace, the marmorean hall's Proud masonry, with Roman wealth o'erlaid, Or of Sarmatian hut the pastoral hearth, 305 Abode of love, where fond remembrance now Looks sadly over hills and native dales For forms beloved in vain, which far away, Spurn'd by the grazed ox, shall heap the sod Of Chalons' glebe with undistinguish'd clay. 310 Alas ! if erst on that unhallow'd eve When Ramah quaked with dread, the deep lament Of Rachel * moaning for her babes appall'd Utmost Judaea^ and the holy banks Of Jordan unto Syria's frontier bounds, 3 1 5 What ear, save Thine to whom all plaints arise, Might have abided the commingling wail Of matrons widow'd, and of maids that day Bereft of bridal hopes ! like those lorn men Hard by the rock of Rimmon,f when the Lord 320 Smote Benjamin in all his fenced towns, Virgin, and wife, and infant with the sword * Matth. ii. 18. Jerem. xxxi. 15. t When the children of Benjamin were destroyed in Gibcah, 700 men escaped unto the rock of Rimmon, (Judges xx. 47.) and the men of Israel had sworn not to give them their daughters in marriage ; but they seized on 400 maidens at Jabesh-gilcad, and completed the number of their wives by taking the. virgins that were dancing near the vine- yards at the feast in Shiloh. c. xxi. v. 21. 12 ATILLA. Utterly destroying ; and one oath restrain'd Each willing fair in Israel ; yet brides For them still bloom'd in Gilead, and, what time 325 The vintage glow'd, in Shiloh danced with song Ripe for connubial joys. But whence for these Shall ravaged Europe light the nuptial torch, Whose hopes have wither'd as the herbs, that bloom'd Odorous yestermorn on Chalons' plain ! 330 There foes on foes, friends lay with icy cheek Pressing their maim'd companions. On that field The eye might trace all war's vicissitudes Impress'd in fatal characters ; the rush Headlong of flight, and thundering swift pursuit, 335 Rescue and rally, and the struggling front Of hard contention. Strewn on every side Lay dead and dying, like the scatter'd seed Cast by the husbandman, with other thought Of unstain'd harvest ; chariots overthrown, 340 Shields cast behind, and wheels, and sever'd limbs, Rider and steed, and all the merciless shower Of arrows barb'd, strong shafts, and feather'd darts Wing'd with dismay. As when of Alpine snows The secret fount is open'd, and dread sprites, 345 That dwell in those chrystalline solitudes, Have loosed the avalanche, whose deep-thundering moan, Predicting ruin, on his couch death-doom'd The peasant hears ; waters on waters rush Uptearing all impediment ; woods, rocks, 350 Ice rifted from the deep ccerulean glens, Herds striving with the stream, and bleating flocks, The dwellers of the dale, with all of life That made the cottage blithesome ; but erelong BOOK I. 13 The floods o'erpass; the ravaged valley lies 355 Tranquil and mute in ruin. So confused In awful stillness lay the battle's wreck. Here heaps of slain, as by an eddy cast, And hands, which, stiff, still clench'd the ruddy steel, Shew'd rallied strength and life sold dearly. There 360 Equal and mingled havoc, where the tide Doubtful had paused, whether to ebb or flow. Some prone were cast, some headlong, some supine ; Others yet strove with death. The sallow cheek Of the slain Avar press'd the mangled limbs 365 Of yellow-hair'd Sicambrian, whose blue eyes Still swum in agony ; Gelonic steed Lay panting on the cicatrized form Of his grim lord, whose painted brow convulsed Seem'd a ferocious mockery. There, mix'd 370 The Getic archer with the savage Hun, And Dacian lancers lay, and sturdy Goths Pierced by Sarmatian pike. There, once his boast, The Sueve's long-flowing hair with gore besprent, And Alans stout, in Roman tunic clad. 375 Some of apparel stripp'd by coward bands, That, vulture-like, upon the skirts of war Ever hang merciless ; their naked forms In death yet beauteous, tho' the eburnean limbs Blood had defiled. There some, whom thirst all night 380 Had parch'd, too feeble from that fellowship To drag their fever'd heads, aroused at dawn From fearful dreaming to new hope and life, Die rifled by the hands, whose help they crave. Others lie maim'd and torn, too strong to die, 385 Imploring death. O for some friendly aid 14 ATTILA. To staunch their burning wounds, and cool the lip Refresh'd with water from an unstain'd spring ! But that foul troop of plunderers, unrestrain'd, Ply their abhorred trade, of groan or prayer 390 Heedless, destroying whom war's wrath had spared. Some, phrenzied, crawl unto the brook, which late Pellucid rolPd, now choked with slain, and swelPd By the heart's blood of thousands ; gore they quaff For water, to allay the fatal thirst 395 Which only death may quench. And this, great God ! This is the field of glory and of joy To man, the noblest of created forms, In thy pure image moulded ! this the meed For which exalted natures toil and strive, 400 Placed in such high pre-eminence, to be Thine own similitude, in glory next Thine incorporeal ministers ! Long while Upon that loathly scene gazed Attila, Touch'd by no thought of sufferings. His eye 405 Thro' the dull twilight mark'd the distant rear Of the retreating Goths. Amazed he views Their camp deserted, and the dying glare Of their spent watchfires. On the farthest left The Roman station with huge palisades 410 Shew'd double fence, against assault prepared. Him musing, valiant Alberon address'cl. Alberon,* first-born of France, but from his throne Exiled by Rome. He in the Hunnish camp Breathed fratricidal vengeance, stung by hate 415 Of him,f who, girt with foreign livery, wore * King of Cameracum (Cambray), son and rightful heir of Clodion. t Mcroveus. BOOK I. 15 Lutetia's crown : nor less another thought Goaded him, direr than fraternal strife ; How, at the nuptial banquet, ere his lips Had cull'd love's promise, on the easy prey 420 A'etius sudden with his legions fell,* And foemen reap'd his rights. Then flash'd the glaive O'er goblets crown'd by mirth ; and, midst her train Of beauteous handmaids by like wrong despoil'd, Force tore his virgin queen from the first blush 425 Of bridal joys. Amid the clash of swords He saw her streaming locks, the bursting sob Of her bared bosom, to the soldier's gaze Unveil'd, and that chaste form, which was to him All that earth held of bliss, dragg'd forth to mourn 430 Servile dishonour, and adorn with tears Rome's triumph. Still he fought, as to whom death Were victory ; but the merciless tide of war Came booming in between him and his hopes. He sank upon the ashes of his camp, 435 Deserted, faint ; as, from the lonely wreck, Who midst the crash of waters sees in vain The hand he lov'd uplifted, and anon Hears but the sullen and remorseless wave Roar o'er the gulph that swallow'd it. E'er since 440 His bosom glow'd implacable with hate Of Rome and her great captain. To his mind One thought was present ; still before his eyes Stood that dear vision, spotless, undefiled, * Majorian, serving under Aetius, carried oft* from the camp of Clo- dion the bride of some person of high rank at the celebration of the nuptials. See Sidon. Apoll. I have supposed her to have boon the bride of Alberon. 16 ATTILA. Breathing delight ; the sacrilege of force 445 Invading the pure temple of his joys With more than hellish insult ; still in war That image fired him. Mid the hostile ranks With hands upraised in vain, that injured form Seem'd to implore him, and her last wild shriek 450 Came o'er his soul. Thus now, with ardent mind Forejoying vengeance, he gave passion voice. " Attila, they fly ! The Gothic force e'en now " In yon blue distance fades ! Immortal Powers, " At length ye hear my vows, vows daily pour'd 455 " Amidst the bread of bitterness ! The Gods " Give curst Aetius to our vengeful arms, " Or, if he fly too, eagle-wing'd pursuit " Shall ring upon his footsteps ; the gaunt dogs " Of Hesus shall be flesh'd with victory, 460 " And thou, gore-sprinkled maid of Scythia, " Dread Taranis,* shalt see thine altars fume " With Roman blood. Lead on, to glory lead " Thy thousands, mightiest and first of men !" He ceased; but Attila withheld reply, 465 Stretching his sight athwart morn's misty shroud To the hostile hills, so haply to descry Ambush or fraud ; when close before him pass'd, Bounding with nimble step, a beauteous doe, White, as the snowy wreaths on Msenalus 470 Untrodden by the hunter. Such a form, Perfect in symmetry, might well have woo'd * The prevailing notion that Taranis was a male Deity is certainly erroneous. The line Et Taranis Scythicae non mitior ara Dianse in Lucan implies that Taranis was the Tauric Diana ; the construction otherwise given to the line is inconsistent with Latinity. BOOK I. 17 Chaste Dian from her incense-breathing shrine To the lone quest of forests, or allured Unshorn Adonis from the fragrant kiss 475 Of his love-lighted queen. It seem'd not born, Like the rude dwellers of the ferny brake, To crop the dewy lawn ; rather to lie In gentle idling by the mossy grot Of some aerial nymph, there fed with cates 480 Ambrosial, or disport on Flora's lap Light as the breath of Zephyr. Strange it seem'd A thing so meek by nature, form'd to shun Man's walk, and chief such walks, where strife had loosed The dogs of carnage, over heaps of slain 485 Should bound unscared, brushing the bloody dew With unstain'd hoofs. Awe-struck, the Hunnish lords Deem'd it a wondrous omen ; to the Franc It seem'd the wraith of his long-ravish'd queen Bodeful to Rome ; a form of loveliness 490 Amid war's agony. With other mind Stern Attila regarded it, as nigh It stopp'd, and fearless on the Hunnish king Turn'd its full orbs, as if for him alone Its eyes had vision. An unconscious flush 495 Glow'd on his tawny skin. His sight seem'd fix'd, Yet were his thoughts far off, beside the flood Of Cuban, and that demon-guarded marsh, Where dwelt his rude forefathers They, confined By the dark belt of the Maeotian pool, 500 A dreary waste impervious, as they saw Each sun successive in its waters merge, Deem'd it earth's utmost girdle, nor divined Other fair realms, and the huge continent c 18 ATTILA. Far stretching to the blue Atlantic wave 505 Beyond the western ray. Till such a form, Nimblest of forest deer, whether in truth Child of the glen, or* incorporeal shape Sent by malignant spirits, to draw forth A plague on Europe, thro' untrodden swamps 510 Toled the swart leaders of the toilsome chase To the open plain. Nursed in that dismal lair, Amazed they stand upon the margin green Of clear Borysthenes, who winds his flood Amongst ten thousand herds; thence, like a blast 515 From ice-bound Taurus, or Riphaean dens, By Eurus loosed, them from their barren haunts Fierce Ares pour'd, wasting the fruitful prime Of Europe city-crown'd, from Danau's bank To Rhene's far water, and your sunny streams, 520 Liger and Matrona, that lave the Gaul. Now, tranced in thought profound, their monarch view'd That shape, of glory ominous, ere then Oft to his fancy present, that first led His fathers from their wilds, to overthrow 525 The Alipzures in battle, and heap high The shrine of Victory! with captives slain, First fruits of war. Unutterable things Press'd on his mind resistless ; Chalons' field, With all its contiguity of death 530 In thousand hideous shapes, unto his eye Seem'd but the course, o'er which his charger's hoof Must speed unto the goal. His ardent soul Bishop Jornandes was of the latter opinion, t See Jornandes. BOOK I. 19 Pictured the distant wilderness, abode Of his first ancestors, of woman fair 535 Engender'd by foul elves, that haunt unseen Forest and fell, by human kind abhorr'd ; And, as he mark'd with vision fancy-rapt Their wizard messenger, vague thoughts arose, That, amid glens sequester'd, of his race 540 The original mother, with immortal bloom By that abominable union clothed, Might still o'er nature's ever-during laws Hold mastery, and triumph over death. Nor of such meeting had his nightly dreams 545 Never forewarn'd him. Thoughtfully he look'd, Nor of his chiefs mark'd word or motion, till An arrow from the bow of Hacon flew Right to the mark. Sea-rover bold and free, When booty lured him, in the chase, or fight, 550 His arm was never staid. The dart sprang back Harmless and foil'd, as from a hollow shape Of iron or shrill brass, which artful hands Have moulded to the life. As it recoil'd, Unearthly was the sound ; the elfish tone , 555 Rang sweetly tremulous, as breezy harp Of iEolus, or those Memnonian chords, That quiver'd to the dawning touch of day Harmonious. From the rocks, where Maelstrom roars, Came Hacon, never more that bow to draw 560 In forest, or in field. The ruthless king Smote him ; " So perish all, who cross our fates !" Wrathful he cried. With strange irradiance lit His eyes shot fierce command ; their kindling gleam Seem'd of no mortal fire, and his regard 565 c a 20 ATTILA. Was fixt upon the boundless realms above, As if the aspirations of his soul, Inward and strong, were bursting thro' the clay That shackled its bright essence ; and the world With every rich variety and pomp 570 Of nature or of art, mountains and dales, And vallies teeming wealth, and billowy seas Studded with sails, beneath his kingly glance Lay prostrate. Badge of power, the baleful sword Shone in his hand uplifted, as he spoke 575 Words fitting his proud thoughts. " Beings unknown, " From whom we sprang, with no degenerate pride " I greet your messenger ! One boon alone " Vouchsafe me ! Power I ask not, on these brows " By fate decreed to bloom ; nor strength of limb, 580 " Which I inherit ; nor long thread of life " In me spell-guarded by high destinies ; " Nor long predicted empire. Only I crave " In charm'd Engaddi to confront your forms, " Where I was nursed* by spirits, and behold 585 " Things in the womb of time, and all that space " Envelopes in its ample bosom, far " Beyond the ken of man." At those bold words The snow-white forester, that all the while With heedless nostril snuff'd the gory sod, 590 Fix'd him with startled eye ; then, bounding swift, Fled northward, where unmeasured waste of woods, Dark Arduenna, stretch'd beyond the bank Of Meuse and Axona's deep-gurgling stream. * Attila styled himself nourish'd in Engaddi, " a place of palms or vines in the wilderness," near Zoar. See the prophecy of the man- child, Revelations xii. ATTILA. BOOK SECOND. Quick fled the wizard deer; with powerful hand The king of nations curb'd his snow-white steed, Impetuous Grana ; if fame tells aright, Of other breed than spurn with foot untamed Dnieper's luxuriant glebe ; where'er he trod, 5 The blasted earth with sulphurous vapour reek'd ; Nor flower, nor herbage clothed the barren print Of that fell hoof. Proudly the monarch cast To Arderic his signet, and forbade Egression from the camp; then spurr'd the flanks 10 Of that terrific charger. He upright Rear'd furious, shaking from his lip the foam, And started on his gallop ; the torn sod Flies shiver'd into air, and sparks and flame Play round his heel. Beneath his stroke the plain, 15 Echoing each footstep, quakes ; till, far and faint, The thunder of his course in distance dies. Leagues fled behind them ; Attila still kept The chase in view, where wide behind his camp Stretch'd dreary Arduenna. By a rock 20 Stupendous, that o'erbrow'd the pathless brake In that unmeasured solitude, the deer 22 ATTILA. Vanished, ingulph'd in shade. The baffled Hun Uncertain paused; the while his fiery horse Ungovernable paw'd the desert turf, 25 Neighing, and snufF'd the air, and chafed, as if Voices man knew not, sights unseen and strange, To him were manifest. Anon from far The thunderous gallop of ten thousand hoofs And other neighings answer'd, till the rush 30 Of countless legions, heard, but undescried, Came sweeping by. The cheerly morning air Turn'd loathsome, like a blast from charnel vaults, And darkness grew around, as if the sun. Shorn of resplendent shafts, had veil'd his brow 35 In rayless night. With foaming jaws, eyes fix'd, Neck sthTen'd and out-stretch'd, like moulded brass That yields not to the bit, the Hunnish steed, Straining each sinew, over rock and scaur Tears headlong, to outstrip that viewless herd, 40 Nor hears his rider's voice, nor heeds the rein, As if incensed by rivalry of forms That nature own'd not ; now behind them, now Amidst the deafening multitude involved, Now striving with the first, while strong and loud 45 The labouring flanks of that unearthly crew Panted behind. At length dead halt he made, As who had won the goal. How far, how long, And whither borne by that ungovern'd course, The monarch knew not; all his senses reel'd 50 In dizziness amazed. Around him rose Nature's magnificence ; the wildest shapes Of wood, and rock, and torrent waters ; caves Darker than night, and thick groves, mantling round BOOK II. 23 A tranquil amphitheatre, fenced off 55 From the world's cares by those huge battlements. Beneath umbrageous trees, whose giant arms Might have o'ershaded the original source Of earth's primeval streams, the chrystal flood Slept in that stately harbour, fringed with flowers 60 Innumerable, from which the wanton air Drew mingled odours, richer than the breeze From blest Arabia, or that fragrant pyre On which the phoenix dies. Harmonious notes Came floating on the water, with a fall 65 So ravishing, it seem'd the ecstatic close Of some seraphic chorus ; and anon Their warblings kindled into amorous plaints, Voluptuous strains of rapture-breathing hope From strings invisible, and airy harps, 70 Which might have stirr'd with their blithe minstrelsy A heart of adamant. Around, the earth Smiled gaily, carpeted with bloom : nor lack'd Amid that witchery of sound and sight, Lovelier than all, fair shapes and feminine, 75 Fairer than womankind, unzoned, and ripe With every faultless charm. The highest seat Held one, amid that train surpassing bright ; Their queen, if diadem adorning locks That need no gems to grace them, princely port, 80 And stature raised above her comrades, speak Royal preeminence, o'er forms that seem Each perfect. Eloquent of bliss, her eyes Thro' their long lashes beam'd with liquid light, And dark as ebony the ringlets fell 85 Upon her neck and brow. Her fragrant lips 24 ATTILA. Like coral shew'd, on which the humid breath Linger'd, as loth to quit that perfumed seat Of balmy life. O'er all her person glow'd Imperishable charms and stately grace. 90 Near her sat one, past manhood's burning prime, Who seem'd her father. Years had left some trace Of cares upon his brow, not unadorn'd With vigour and the venerable print Of inborn worth. And other forms were nigh, 95 Mirthsome, and blooming with male strength of limb, Fit mates for those rare damsels. She their queen, Upon a couch of beryl, rich with gems, Hung on that elder's neck, as if her eyes Drank life from his ; while thro' her beauteous court 100 Song and sweet interchange of joyous speech Kindled around. Sudden the love-fraught-smile Forsook her startled cheek, scared by the neigh Of Attila's pale war-horse. Gracefully She courteous half uprose, her ivory arm 105 Extending, to designate the high seat For him reserved. Then thus, while glamorous charms Ineffable play'd round her roseate lips, Outbreathing joy. " Hail, glorious child of power, " That bear'st the passport to this vale of bliss, 110 " That spell-born falchion ! Mortal, thou behold'st " Famed *Aliorune, unrivall'd upon earth " For beauty, fragile once and vain, now deck'd * The Huns were said by Bishop Jornandes, who lived in the century following the reign of Attila, to have sprung from certain women called Aliruna; or Aliorunae, who having been expelled by Filimer king of the Goths on account of their sorceries, companied with evil spirits in the wilderness. BOOK II. 25 " With incorruptible unfading youth ; " And these my deathless sisters, of thy race 115 " First source and origin, outcast by force " From this our native Europe, bann'd by men " For lore to them denied, in the obscure waste " That girds Cimmerium's plain, thro' Runic charms, " Gift of our Scanian ancestors, we found 120 " Immortal spousals, amid spirits dread " That make earth quake. Winters have shower'd their snow " Successive o'er the long-forgotten grave " Of olden Filimer, whose ruthless hate " Exiled us, from the dwellings of mankind 125 " Eliminated ; other banners flout " His Gothic halls ; unchanged, unchangeable, " We yet with beauty's freshness are enrobed ; " Power and delight are ours. Thee, king of kings, " Expected long, thee, glory of our line, 130 " Thus thy first mother hails, crowning with bliss " The ambrosial cup, untasted yet by man." " Pour me not wine," he cries, " though it outvie " Falernian grapes, or e'en that wondrous drink, " Jove's nectar, sparkling with immortal strength ! 135 " Wine, and what else earth bears, fairest and best, " Adorn my court, by me untouch'd, unprized, " Toys feminine and vain. Source of my race, " And, as thy presence speaks, fit mother ! I " With other thoughts approach thee, than become 140 " Nerve-softening banquets. If, defying death " Which lords o'er the creation, thou art join'd " By close communion and eternal ties " With bright intelligences, lift the veil " That hangs o'er fate and time !" " Well hast thou said, 145 26 ATTILA. " My son," the fair divinity replies. " There is no time for dalliance to the great, " Who should bestride earth's empire. Spirits of might " Array'd against us shake this nether world, " And its old altars crumble, long bedew'd 150 " With pagan sacrifice. The Holy One " Has seal'd his people, from our kingdom bought " By his own blood. Angels, and Thrones, and Powers, " Descended from the heavenly concave, walk " This earth, our just inheritance. The Breath 155 " Pour'd from the Highest, with no mortal strength " Upholds his flock. Revered full many an age " By the Quirinal senate, on her hearth " Cast headlong the maim'd form of Victory lies. " Saturnian Jove, and all the deathless throng 160 " That peopled huge Olympus, from their fanes " Upon the .sevenfold mount have toppled down " Sore humbled. Still thro' Rome the edict rings, " That stripp'd their godhead, marshalling on high " The fatal cross in hierarchal pomp. 165 " And thou, short-lived survivor, giant-limb'd " Serapis, lord of Egypt, hast beheld " Thy dome, which rivalPd the great Capitol, " With its portentous image overthrown ; " While thy mute worshippers, appall'd, in vain 170 " Look'd for the avenger's lightning, and forethought " Pestilent desolation from the dearth " Of Nile's withholden bounty, who nathless " Abundantly rolls on, dispensing joy. " But power shall still be ours. The heathen war 1 75 " Shall deluge thy fair bosom, Italy ! " Rome, the world's mistress in the iron reign BOOK II. 27 " Of tutelary Mars, unnerved and weak " Shall rue her alter'd worship, bow'd as low " Beneath the Hunnish steel, as once upraised 180 " High on her eagle pinions stretch'd mid-heaven. " Thou, bulwark of the nations, hope and strength " Of heathendom, by all the powers conjured " In darksome league against the Anointed, swear " Unquenchable hatred to the long foretold 185 " In *Jebus, and His reign. So shall thy sway " By aid immortal prosper, still secure " Thro' all mischances ; in triumphal pomp " Thy wheels shall roll through the eternal town, " Red with victorious dew. But, if thine heart 190 " Once waver, if the dread of Him, Supreme " Amid his thunderous host, appall thy soul, " Thou art dissever'd from all hope, and lost, " Flung headlong from the pinnacle of sway " To the abyss. So fell Rome's mightiest foe 195 " Alaric the Goth, enthrall'd, enslaved, baptized, " By whom he conquer'd." " Perish all who quail " Beneath that dread !" the dauntless king replied ; " Nor sue I for the aid of thee or thine " To quell the Roman battle, well assured 200 " Of who against the Christ make head and war ; " But fearless of corrival, and quite pall'd " With earthly pomp, my chafing spirit yearns " To overleap the barriers of the flesh, " Which blinds its sight. Unveil, if power be thine, 205 " The gorgeous face of nature, and bewray " All things that be, disclosing to my view * The ancient heathen name of Jerusalem. 28 ATTILA. u The boundless universe, space, matter, soul, " In all their wondrous amplitude ! If then, " Mother divine, thy son unworthy shrink 210 " From that majestic vision, shent his pride " And broken be his bow !" " Thy haughty speech " More asks, than she or dares or can reveal," That elder answer'd ; " nor behoves it, king, " Scenes of such awful aspect meet thine eye 215 " Initiate, ere the irrevocable oath " Have pass'd thy lips, and thou hast quaff'd that draught, " Powerful to steel the nerves against all ill " Present or future. Dare, and be supreme !" This said, the cup he proffer'd, rich with gold ; 220 And, at his grasp, the liquor hiss'd within, High frothing o'er the brink. A fearful sigh, From nature's secret depths, shook every leaf At that dire bidding. Nought appalld, the Hun Upraised his ponderous falchion, gift of Hell, 225 And by that damned brand, meet instrument For such dread purpose, swore the eternal curse Against Heaven's holiest ; then drain'd the cup, With its thick dregs of bitterness. Earth heard, And shudder'd from her inmost; darkness stole 230 Over her face, as tempest mountain-born Throws slowly its deep shade o'er vale and lake On which the red light glares, while far aloof Each Alpine summit like a furnace glows Through the storm's night. So thick came utter gloom 235 Involving the fair scene, while hellish fire Stream'd round that elder's brow, and demon shapes Metcorous thro' the awful darkness shone. Like storm that gloom o'erpass'd, when heaven relumes BOOK II. 29 Mountain and varied vale, and each red peak 240 Fades in the light. Before him stood confess'd He, erst hurl'd headlong from the etherial cope, Python, as high in glory once, as now Accurst and fallen. By his side, unveiFd In base deformity, lay hideous Sin, 245 Erewhile so seeming fair, married to Hell, Such her vile boast, and deathless as her lord. Around, her sisters, as herself, impure, With bloated visage, brutish in their mien, In spirit worse. Each had her impious mate, 250 Elsewhere in temples or on hills profane With incense worshipp'd by unhallow'd hands, The loathsome flock of him, whom daring pride Dragg'd headlong to perdition, changed in form (So will'd the All-just) from glory. They confused 255 Revell'd in guilt, while thus the Archfiend, " O king, " The draught, which thou hast quaff 'd, no other deem " Than desperation ; not of earthly weal, " For worldly glories shall be thine, thick-reap'd ; " But of His kingdom, cherub-borne who rides 260 " Through the immense, wielding eternal might, " Despair and total abjuration. This " Drain'd to the uttermost, no hope remains, " Save in confliction with that Power, who deems " Himself omnipotent, and this our reign 265 " By Him permitted for wise ends ; yet finds, " And haply still may rue, divided strength " Held here by whom He boasts to have subdued, " Outcast and chain'd. What chains, save those which " wreathed " With fragrance-breathing flowers voluptuous Joy 270 30 ATTILA. " Weaves for her votaries, thou see'st ; and man, " Our slave and Sin's, shall witness, though His Spirit " Strive vainly, wrestling with the thrones of night. " To who has drunk this cup, evil is good, " And Sin in her own form is fair, nor needs 275 " That robe of glamour, spun by her first-born " Hypocrisy, the subtlest elf in hell. " But ne'er before this hour to man earth-born " Hath Sin unveil'd her aspect, else adorn'd " With charms, that take the spirit through the sense, 280 " Delusive blandishment. For thee, king, now " Our comrade, equal in despair and guilt, " The veil of nature is uplifted. Gaze " Upon unbounded regions, and o'erleap " Sight's limitary verge." He ceased, but still 285 Rang through the monarch's ears the fiendish tone. A giddy qualm came o'er him; for, self-poised As who should look from the precipitous point Of Cotopaxi, or the eternal snows Which Himalayan peaks lift nearer heaven, 290 He stood, or deem'd he stood, above the range Of earth's horizon ; and with marvel scann'd The infinite creation. Distance seem'd Annihilate, and each minutest shape As view'd thro' optic lens. So angels see, 295 Whose vision is not blunted by brute clay. Around the fount of light, their untired course With speed, to which the culverin's shot is sloth, He saw the planets wheel, a wondrous choir Each with its starry spirit ; and other globes 300 Eccentric sail, from whose mysterious forms Millions of leagues across the kindling void BOOK II. 31 Stream'd wide the blazing miracle. Beyond Shone other suns, of which an arrow's flight In fifty thousand summers would drop short, 305 Begirt with worlds, of which the least might seem As fair as this, or goodlier : more remote Spheres huge and crowded, to the sage's ken Seen as a nebulous haze, thin strewn afar On the blue firmament; and systems, roll'd 310 In distance unimagined, shew'd distinct As to the All-seeing eye, whose glance surveys His wide dominion at one thought. Aloof A dreary tract and darksome he espied, Where the gigantic* archetype, obscure, 315 Pass'd like a shade before him ; by whose form First fashion'd in perfection, the Allwise In a more humble mould created man After the great original, lest his strength Should scale heaven's star-paved ramparts, and in arms 320 Provoke his Maker. There huge semblances Of worlds unborn, which the Creative word Not yet had moulded into being, slept With shapeless bulk, like huge behemoths ; there The baseless wrecks of times and things long spent, 3*25 Ere Cherubim or Seraphs were, to Him Known only who is First and Last. There wastes Of stagnant frost, where genial light ne'er reach'd Evoking life ; and vast vacuity, Where nothing is, or shadowy forms that seem 330 Nor spirit, nor substance. Nearer in mid space * See the Latin lines of Milton on the idea of Plato concerning the archetype. 32 ATTILA. He saw the city* of transparent gold By jasper walls encompass'd, like a bride With glorious gems adorn'd, and massive gates Of orient pearl : where sorrow never comes, 335 Nor scorching heat of noontide, but serene The changeless glory of the Holiest beams. All nature shone reveal'd, with every power Portentous or beneficent ; thef sprites Unseen, that hover o'er the dewy birth 340 Of rose or lily, tinging the fresh bud With fragrance-breathing blushes, and the shapes Which ride heaven's forked bolt, and howl in storms ; And, mightier far, those angels, which direct Each in its orbit the self-balanced spheres, 345 Weaving their wondrous dance. All these and more (Shapes multiform) he saw, terrible and fair; But strange amazement held him, while his view, Passing those lesser lights and regions clear Of heaven's seraphic satrapies, approach'd 350 The heaven of heavens, unequal to contain Its Maker, but adorn'd to be the throne And inmost dwelling of immortal bliss, Where angels hail His presence, and with hymns That steep in ecstacy each ravish'd sense, 355 Bend round the shrine of might. Beauteous and pure He saw them spread their particolor'd wings, And from the glory of the Holiest draw Wisdom and life ; but further could not pierce * The heavenly Jerusalem. See Revelations xxi. 10, &c. t It was the opinion of the early fathers, that the air is peopled with spirits. See Eusehius Orat. de laud. Constant. Augnstinus Epist. 49. Ilicronimus Not. on St. Paul to the Ephesians. BOOK II, 33 The blaze of light ; for spirits have not power, 360 And least of all such spirits, fallen and foul, To unveil the world's great Author ; nor hath man Beheld his God, nor could behold and live. Him, lost in gazing, thus the Arch-fiend bespoke. " Cease, King, to muse on distant spheres, and seats 365 " Which never may be thine ! Beneath thee stretch'd " Earth lies, thy prize and birthright." As he said, Clouds, dense as Erebus, enclosed that scene, But, robed in verdure, still beneath him stretch'd The earth in full luxuriance. " Close below 370 " Lies charcn'd *Engaddi," (thus the tempter spoke) " Where Siddim's garden bloom'd. There fairy breasts " Thee, from thy cradle ravish'd, fed with milk " Ambrosial, and thro' all thy limbs infused " Vigour invulnerable, gifts of powers 375 " That hover'd o'er thy birth. The flaming brand " Drove man's first parents from the tree of life " Ejected, to subdue the unthankful glebe, " But I and mine, the princes of this world, " Admitted nestle near the flowery site 380 " Of Eden snatch'd from earth, and the swart East " Obeys my bidding. Our blithe revels, held " Near man's old cradle, have defied the host " Angelic, and perchance, while time endures, " Shall brave it still. All eastward, as thou see'st, 385 " Of yon cold range to Sericana's strand " Is mine, untouched by that new creed, which, sprung " From slavish Palestine, has marr'd the Powers " That raised great Rome to glory ; now reversed * Attila styled himself" Nursed in Engaddi." D 34 ATTILA. " To bow beneath the faith of Him, who died 390 " With malefactors on the transverse tree " By stubborn Juda rear'd. To seal His death " I enter'd his betrayer bodily, " And thus incarnate conquer'd. View the mount " Opprobrious, where He bled ! That day I stood 395 " Full opposite Jehovah's shrine, behind " Swift Kidron, on the right of that famed hill,* " Where, deem'd of men the wisest, David's son " Built fanes to Chemos and the idol grim " Of Moloch, f nigh the grove of Sidon's queen, 400 " Night-beaming Ashtoreth. Unseen I gazed " Upon Jerusalem, and Him who left " The glory of his Father, doom'd to walk " In sorrow to the grave, which cast Him forth " Loosed from the bonds of death. That fatal morn 405 " Little of godlike majesty He wore, " Bow'd low beneath his cross, a man of woes, " Insulted by the rabble at His heels " Baying like blood-hounds, and the merciless shout " From those who clamour'd at the judgment-seat 410 " To crucify their Lord ; scourged, crown'd with thorns, w And on His gory back a purple robe " In mockery thrown ! I saw, and fill'd the hearts " Of His revilers with my own fierce joy; " And amply might that triumph overpay 415 " My fall from heaven's bright dwellings, to the abyss " Where on the throne of darkness I abide " With Night and Chaos leagued. When Death prevail'd, * On the right hand of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon, &c. 2 Kings, xxiii. 13. t The highest point of the Mount of Olives. BOOK II. 35 " And it was finish'd, e'en the sun shrunk back " Into primaeval gloom ; the firm earth quaked, . 420 " And prophets starting from their tombs arose, " So mighty was the hour. Mark there the site " Of Jebus, by Messiah's worshippers " Now Salem call'd. Around Jehovah's shrine " Its marble domes stretch'd north of Zion's hill 425 " With gold and porphyry adorn'd ; but He, " Who therein dwelt in glory undescried, " Forsook the seat of mercy, and abroad " Scatter'd his people ; from the shrine exiled, " His angels fled ; then heathendom wax'd strong, 430 " And that proud fabric, wrapt in hostile flames, " Upblazed unto the throne of majesty. " Now, mortal, turn, and nigh that bitter pool " (Where, buried, Admah and Zeboiim lie " With their abolish'd # kindred, water'd once 435 " In Siddim's flowery site with grateful streams, " E'en as an earthly paradise, prepared " For joy and secret orgies, but too near " Their f sister, equal in offence, yet chosen " To be his seat, who f from the Lord in Heaven 440 " Rain'd fire and sulphurous death) the prisons view " By superstition rear'd, to make man's creed " A double curse. Where a § secluded race " (Remnant of that || saved city, from whose lust " Moab and Ammon sprung) dwelt unrenew'd 445 " By woman's fruitful love, and rites perform'd " Abhorr'd of the Almighty, with new faith * Sodom and Gomorrah. t Jerusalem, see Ezekiel xvi. 48 &; 51. t The vengeance of the Father executed by the Son. Genesis xix. '24. § The Essenes. || Zoar, sec Genesis xxiv. 30, &c. J) 2 36 ATTILA. " Thou see'st like abstinence ; monastic seats " Each with its laura* girt, a garden once " Of evergreen delight, but now of cells 450 " An austere girdle. From yon tower-deck'd hill " By Tentyra palm-crown'd and that vast wreck " Of once gigantic Thebes, they stud the plain " Up to Nile's cataracts. There view the walls " First rear'd by famous f Anthony ; not him, 455 " Who, for a faithless and polluted toy, " Lost power and life. That proud one sanctified " In the lone desert amid tombs abode, " While, round him, shapes incorporal throng'd; some sate " With frightful visage propt on either knee 460 " Grinning perdition ; some, like toads obscene, " Crept loathly on his sight ; others less foul " With features feminine ; most power have such, " Alluring soul and body to like end. " An hundred years, and longer, he endured 465 " Amid temptations, which have oft made saints " Howl in their cells. Nigher Pachomius dwelt, * Lauras were evergreen gardens adjoining to sacred buildings. Laura is a Greek word of the highest antiquity, occurring in the Odys- sey, and understood to mean the public street. The thoroughfares in the neighbourhood of pagan temples being planted with the sacred daphne or bay, I apprehend that the Latin name laurus for that tree, was derived from the situation it occupied. Such gardens adjoining the temples of idols, which the deluded heathens worshipped by devo- tional acts of unchastity, were of course the scenes of great licentious- ness, for which the laura of Antioch was particularly celebrated. Women of abandoned character were called in Greek stoichesi-laurai, street- or laura-walkers. t See the engraving from the celebrated picture of the temptations of St. Anthony. He lived above 100 years, if his biographers are correct. BOOK II. 37 " Whose zeal marr'd heaven's best gift, with sterile weeds " Involving woman's loveliness. Next came " Syriac Hilarion, who lay half an age 470 " Immured nigh Gaza's swamp ; Basil, whom wilds " Of savage Pontus held, where twice each sun " His clarion thro' the inmost forest rung " A deep-breathed call to prayer : and he* of Tours " Ambitious, who in rigid garb austere 475 " Sway'd the rude tribes of Gaul. O fonls, to think " That life, and all that makes man's life a gift " And not his curse, were by his Maker given " To wither unenjoy'd, mid torments plann'd " By his own mad invention ! Cast thine eyes 480 " Eastward from Antioch, where high in air, " Yon column towers. Upon its giddy point, " E'en at this instant, in the pangs of death " Lies Simeon,f named from that strange pinnacle, " Where thirty years, like a sepulchral form, 485 " He hath endured the blast and summer heat " Exalted above earth ; nor even thus " Untempted. I, in garb angelic veil'd, " Assay'd his strength, against all suffering proof, " But not its praise. I stood before him clothed 490 " With heaven's transcendent brightness ; on a car " Of fire ethereal, in the silent gloom " Of still cerulean night: and, Mount, (I cried) " With me thro' the expanse, and thou shalt know " The spirit of Elijah, doubly pour'd 495 * St. Martin of Tours. t Simeon the Stylite died the same year the battle of Chalons was fought. Concerning the monkish legend of his death in consequence of stepping into the devil's chariot, see Gibbon's Hist. vol. G. 8vo. 38 ATTILA. " On thine illumined soul ! Chosen of the Highest, " Guide thou the car of Israel, and the steeds " Which bore him on the whirlwind ! — Vain of heart " Into that car of glamour he upraised " His foot to climb : whereat, with power endued 500 " Through his presumptuous pride, I smote his thigh " With such a nauseous wound, as charms or prayer " Could never heal. He lay in life half-dead, " Corrupting in the sun ; but this his hour " Must loose those mortal throes. To such have men 505 " Adjudged the palm of holiness. Insane, " Benighted minds, that deem sweet pleasure sin, " And self-infliction virtue ! Vigils, fasts, " Fanatic stripes, pave their dark road to heaven ; " Yon secret dwellings, like the ardent brass 510 " Of *Phalaris, send forth imprison'd moans " Breathed from their inmost vaults, which well might glut " Ears feller e'en than his. Yet there, e'en there, " Towering Ambition nestles. Wrapt in cowl, " Bare-legg'd, and shorn of locks, his humbled front 515 " He covers with hypocrisy, but pants " To gird the mitre on his brow, emblazed " In hierarchal pomp, and trample kings " With that now naked foot. Behind him Vice " Shall steal into those cells, and soon invade 520 " E'en the pontifical purple. Thou descriest " Yon gorgeous temple, the Christ's tomb and shrine. " An age, and half an age, those walls may yet " Give glory to Jehovah. Then shall come " Another scourge, and the o'erwhelming arms 525 "* Tyrant of Agrigentum, who roasted his victims in a brazen bull. BOOK II. 39 " Of that triumphant worshipper* of fire, " Whom, champing golden bits, to conquest bear " Shebdiz or Barid,f while his banners flaunt " From Antiochia to the fertile plain " Water'd by Nile ; till him Mohammed's X voice, 530 " Predicting strange reverses, shall arrest, " And that strong arm,§ which cast a giant's bulk " Plumb into Sams, from the offensive couch || " Aroused, shall dissipate the golden f spears, " Which threaten'd e'en Byzantium. Then thy power, " Mahound, in heaven foredreaded, shall usurp " The chosen land, and thy vice-gerents raise " Upon the ruin of Jehovah's fane " Domes worthy my abode; while he,** whose might " Victorious from red Nineveh bore back 540 " The cross to Solyma, shall make relapse " To his incestuous chamber, thence evoked " By Caaba's prophet but to work my will." This said, the Arch-fiend paused; while, on his brow Majestically dark, malignant joy 545 Gleam'd terrible ; then glanced his jealous eye * Chosroes, King of Persia. + Shebdiz and Barid were the names of his favourite horses. J Mahomet's pretensions to prophetic inspiration were principally founded on his prediction of the reverses of Chosroes. § The emperor Heraclius, famous for his strength, having thrown a gigantic champion, who defended a bridge across the Sarus, into the river. || Of his niece Maria. 1T The title of the army arrayed by Chosroes against Constantinople. ** Heraclius, after defeating Chosroes at Nineveh, where he is said to have recaptured the original cross that had been carried away from Jerusalem by the Persians, returned to his incestuous connection with Maria. 40 ATTILA. To that far island, stretch'd beyond the Gaul, Old Merlin's famous haunt, where Saxon dukes Were striving with weak Vortigern. He knew That heaven-blest land, first glorious thro' thy pomp, 550 Pendragon's fabled son !* in after times Equal to Rome should stand upon the fields Where freedom crowns the brave, and on the planks Of tempest-beaten vessels ; but by him Most hated, for her love of social rights 555 And faith celestial, which her canvass wings, Fluttering thro' every sky, shall scatter wide To spicy Indus, to where Ganges rolls His seven-fold stream, and the dim hills that rose In the secluded chambers of the west, 560 Where, doom'd to shine on states unnamed, unborn, Bright Hyperion lit primaeval wilds Where then behemoth ruled. O Albion, queen Of the cerulean billows ! since that hour How often has the evil spirit scowl'd 565 Upon thy counsels, with the felon wish To scare thee from the noble eminence, Which thou shouldst win among the sons of earth ! Albion, my country ! thro' what fearful scenes Of civil carnage and tyrannic force, 570 Thro' what dark passages of guilt and blood, Fanatic fires, or base corruption bred In thine heart's core, hast thou emerged to be A beacon to the righteous, a bright hope To holy freedom, wheresoe'er the sun 575 Shines on the opprest ! Thro' what hard trials yet * King Arthur. BOOK II. 41 Lies thine exalted course ! whether assail'd By reckless and irreverent thirst of change Defacing thine old image, or weigh'd down By the heart-numbing taint, gender'd by pride 580 And fastuous love of ease. March on secure To thy great destiny, and ever keep That one unchanging star before thy view, (Whose steady beam shall be thy certain guide To the Hesperian port, where thou shalt pluck 585 The golden branch, for thee and thine reserved, To sprinkle with the dew of happiness The many, by the word of holy truth Made wise, and shelter'd from the wrongs of power) The glory of thy God. To him unmoved 590 The king of nations proudly made reply. " Of honours not mine own, prophetic fiend, " I little reck thy visions. If those realms, " That cradled once the Christ, to me denied, " Await Mohammed's coming, — be great Rome 595 " The guerdon of my toils ! Thou wonderous source " Of empire and of fame, who with the world " Twelve centuries hast striven unsubdued, " Still marching on the outspread wings of Time " To victory and power ! I mark but thee 600 " In all this wide creation, and thy walls, " Which seem entire to scorn the assault of years, " My rival and my hope ! Ye marble halls, " Ye seven bright mountains with your towery crest, " Temples and stately palaces, which gleam 605 " Beneath that azure ever-glowing sky, " And slopes with purple-cluster'd vintage crown'd, " Unblench'd in full-zoned beauty, ye invite 42 ATTILA. The steel-clad ravisher ! On Chalons' field, Proud Rome, I yet must win thee !" " Chalons fight Is done ;" (with bitter smile the tempter spoke Sarcastic, for fiends mock whom best they speed) Its glory, whosesoe'er, e'en now floats down The unconquerable tide, which man or God Hath ne'er roll'd backward. Thou thy march pursue 615 Through bleak Helvetia (hail'd the scourge of God) By Danau to that rude Pannonian town, Which, if thy soul stand firm, shall soon eclipse Rome's splendour. Mark the skirts of that dark host,* Beyond fArtiaca its homeward course 620 Winding towards Tolosa, ne'er again To issue leagued with Rome ! The imperial might Shall melt before thee, like the wintry mist In dewy Arduenna, when the sun Bursts thro' Oarion's f bands. But mark, proud Hun, Thy compact. Thou art sworn to those, who know Nor mercy, nor remorse ; thro' them upheld, By them forsaken, if thy spirit shrink, Thou fall'st ; deep yawns the baseless pool beneath, Where nor thy glories, nor that spell-born sword, 630 Will ought avail. Thou would'st see all and know ; Lo, I am he, whose essence unapproach'd Mid Chaos shrouded, in the cavern dwelt Of lone Eternity, Mahuzzim § call'd Or Demogorgon ; for my secret name, 635 * The Gothic force of Torismond. t Arcis sur Aube, on the way from Chalons to Troyes. t Canst thou loose the bands of Orion ? Job. ^ Sec Daniel xi. 38. BOOK II. 43 ' Worshipp'd in black Gehenna, is* blasphemy, 4 The abomination making desolate, 4 Which, whisper'd, would resolve earth, heaven, and hell, * Into primordial atoms, and disperse 4 The universal wreck thro' barren space, 640 4 Unreach'd and boundless. I am he, whose rites, 1 Once my elect, the Northernf king, sent forth 4 From Antioch victor, in Jehovah's shrine 4 Placed high above the Highest, a stronger power Unknown to his forefathers.^: Duly there 645 6 My shrine was heap'd by those apostate Jews, 6 Who stole the titles of enchanters old 4 Jason § and Menelaus, famed in Greece, 4 Whose ship the serpent steer'd, in after times 4 Devour'd in Egypt, when the Hebrew's wand 650 4 Prevail'd o'er old|| Canopus. To that prince, ' As now to thee, my greatness stood reveal'd, 4 Darkness, not light. To him, exalted high, 4 I gave the glory ; and his strength, which slew 4 The fourscore % thousand in God's Salem, soon 655 4 Should have outstripp'd Rome's empire ; but his heart 4 Quail'd, basely cowering with religious awe ; 4 Whereat I left him, and his putrid limbs ## Stunk, living, to the sun." So falsely spoke The arch-deceiver ; for Jehovah smote 660 » Revel, ii. 1. xix. 12. t Antiochus Epiphanes, see Daniel xi. $ Daniel xi. § 2 Maccabees, ii. & iv. || Canopus or Kaneph the serpent steered the ship of Menelaus, and is the star at the helm in the constellation of the ship Argo. Tiphys, steers- man of the Argo, is from the Greek ophis, a snake, with the article pre- fixed. 11 2 Maccabees v. 14. ** 2 Maccabees ii. 9. 44 ATTILA. Him in his proud career, whose daring rage Polluted e'en the holiest, placing there Antioch's accurst palladium ; and too late He rued, repentant when Heaven's bolt was sped, The diabolical league, while hateful worms 665 Crept thro' the purple and denied his crown. " Thou wouldst see all and know ;" (the fiend resumed) " Disclosed one instant view the sulphurous surge " Which lashes that dread shore, whence souls, that err " Thro' the broad way, to that eternal goal, 670 " Find no return !" This said, with hellish might He rent the pall of darkness, and beneath Tremendous gaped the unfathomable gulph. A momentary vision, and a crash Wherewith heaven's portals rung, reveal'd to man 675 What voice may not unfold, nor mind conceive. Short space, ere darkness follow'd, such as hung Brooding o'er ancient chaos, ere the sound " Let there be light" from Nature's shapeless womb Drew that pure essence, swifter than the word 680 Traversing the immeasurable void, And wafting joy to worlds beyond the vast Empyreal concave. Silent mused the Hun, As reckless of the gloom, not unawares What power beside him stood ; when far aloof 685 Sounded that wizard horn, at midnight oft Known in Hercynian wilds, (the peasant's dread) A strange and thrilling strain. " Thou hear'st the chase " Of once thy proud forefather," darkling spoke The sprite unseen, " Nembrod* renown'd of yore, 690 " A mighty hunter once and tyrant king. * Attila styled himself grandson or defendant of Nembrod or Nimrod. BOOK II. 45 " At stillest hour each night he winds his horn, " Still trooping over moss and forest drear " After the chase ; till him his blood-hounds rend, " Nightly raised up, to feast the insatiate maw 695 " Of that fell pack." He stopp'd, for nigher now Rang the wild huntsman's horn, a fearful call, Whereat each savage in his tangled lair Upstarted, from the wilds of Curdistan Or Ashur-Nineveh to Kiblen's* ridge ; 700 And with Cerberean throats bay'd horribly A thousand elfin dogs. Those sounds, intent, The Hunnish courser knows ; with ears erect, Nostrils distended wide, and eyes like coals Of glowing fire, he snuffs the welcome blast ; 705 And, once more, nothing doubtful, though thick night With raven wing encircles him, renews The ungovernable race. With whoop, and cry, And yells of hellish discord, brake and cliff The ravenous howl reverberate; and oft 710 A lash, more dread than the relentless scourge Of those snake-hair'd avengers, from whose hate The parricide demented flies in vain, Clang'd, echoing thro' the shades. Still onward sprung? Oft as that thong resounded, the pale horse 715 Of Attila, precipitately borne To join the horrid chase, which far before Outstripp'd his speed ; till, half in distance lost, Shrieks of the victim torn by ruthless fangs Came on the fearful breeze ; then all was hush'd. 7*20 Right glad was Attila, when those sounds ceased ; * In Norway. 46 ATTILA. And, issuing from the gloom, he saw the sun Smile on the dewy landscape. Onward straight He pricks across the plain, to that huge camp, Where thousands wait his will, to live or die. 725 ATTILA BOOK THIRD. As when, by darkness shrouded, or awhile Detain'd in mist, from cold Aurora's couch Springs Hyperion like a giant forth Refresh'd with sleep ; his glorious track on high Rejoicing he pursues, while earth, air, sea, 5 Awaken'd hymn his praise with voices sent From each illumined solitude. The Hun, Resplendent so, amidst his army stood ; So welcome to that bold array, which mute Awaited him, their bond of strength and power. 10 Terrific was his semblance, in no mould Of beautiful proportion cast ; his limbs Nothing exalted, but with sinews braced Of Chalybean temper, agile, lithe, And swifter than the roe ; his ample chest 15 Was overbrow'd by a gigantic head, With eyes keen, deeply sunk, and small, that gleam'd Strangely in wrath, as tho' *some spirit unclean * People having godhead within them were anciently held to have a peculiar glare of the eyes, as iEsculapius, Paus. 1, 2. c. 26. Bacchus, Nonn. 1. 9. v. 104. Oghuz, founder of the Tartarean empire, Abul Gazi Khan Hist. Tatur., and in later times wizards, and people sold to the devil, or in commerce with him, have had the same phenomenon ascribed to them. Phil. vit. Apoll. 1. 4. c. 10. 48 ATTILA. Within that corporal tenement install'd, Look'd from its windows, but with temper'd fire 20 Beam'd mildly on the unresisting. Thin His beard and hoary ; his flat nostrils crown'd A cicatrized swart visage ; but withal That questionable shape such glory wore, That mortals quail'd beneath him. On his breast 25 Teraphim fierce, the Charontean *head Of Antioch, in burnish'd metal shone. Elated, he beholds the Christian league Wreck'd in Theodoric fallen, and the words Of hell's fanatic f sisterhood achieved, 30 Who prophesied defeat, but in that loss A gain more worth than victory ; one head Devoted unto death, which should outweigh The blood of slaughter'd thousands. The wide plain Lay open, yielded by the parting Goth ; 35 Rome's hill-camp'd force, too feeble to renew The desperate collision, silent watch'd Suspected J Sangiban ; such dark mistrust Had crept between their counsels : and what front Shall Meroveus muster, to repel 40 * The Charontean head existed still at Antioch in the ninth century, when Johannes Antiochensis described his native city. In the second or third century it was the God of the heretic Marcion. See Prudent. Hamart. 502, who, speaking of the rock of Christ, says, " nee te solida sta- tione movebit ipse Charon mundi numen Marcionis." See also v. 129, et seq. where he identifies Nembrod the hunter with the Charontean head, calling him the God of Marcion. That head was a Gorgon, or snake-hair'd head. t The prophetesses who always accompanied the Hunnish army. X King of the Alans. BOOK III. 49 The Scourge of heaven ! so call'd, what time, his powers From Orleans marching, him the hermit cross'd Stung with prophetic fire, and hail'd him thrice By that dread name, sent forth in vengeful wrath To lash adulterate Europe, and wipe out 45 A generation vicious and condemn'd. E'en as o'er some low province, long defiled By epidemia or the spotted plague, Sheer Aquilon comes rushing, to dispel With gelid wing the unwholesome taint, and purge 50 The stagnant air. Nor he that call disdain'd, Which squared with vast pretensions, though the God He own'd, was darkness, not Jehovah ; like That king accurst *in Antioch, o'er all Himself who magnified, or bow'd to none 55 Save the dire head in Erebus. That name Of malediction Attila emblazed Amidst his glories ; from old -j-Nembrod sprung, And nursed by spirits on the fairy lap Of bright Engaddi, (lovelier than the bowers 60 * Antiochus Epiphanes, see Dan. xi. t Nicolas Olaus, a writer of the 13th century, says that the title of Attila was Nepos Magni Nembrod, in Engaddi nutritus, Dei Gratia Hunnorum, Medorum, Gothorum, Danorum rex, metus orbis, and that he afterwards added flagellum Dei thereto, propter eremitas verba. Calvisius says, Ipse Attila scripsit se regem Hunnorum, Medorum, Gothorum, Danorum, metum orbis, Deique flagellum. Calvis Chronol. This is collateral evidence drawn from a different source, for he would not have omitted the remarkable part of the title, descendant of Nimrod and nursed in Engaddi, if he had seen it. Petrus de Reva says that Attila (Monarch. Hung. p. 827, Ap. Bel. Ser. R. H.) was called alter Nemrod vel similis Nemrod. The nations of the Huns and Magyars were said to be descended from two sons of Nimrod. Thrwocz. Chron. Hung. c. 2. p. 44, &c. E 50 ATT I LA. Where tuneful Circe and Calypso ruled, Or * Amalthea rear'd the rosy God Amid secluded sweets) sole king of Huns, Medes, Goths, and Danes ; the terror of this world, And scourge of God. So ran the haughty style 65 Of Mundiuc's son. Upon his helmed head The kingly bird of retribution sat With diadem crown'd;-}- that ensign wrought in gold Blazed on his standards, and with burnish'd plumes Defied the eagle of majestic Rome. 70 Firmer in pride, in purpose, and in hope, Upheld by dire Gehenna, now he breathes Extermination to the sister thrones Of Christ's great empire ; by their fall secure A kingdom, mightier than the crowns of earth, 75 To build on that apostate creed, which yields Glory to the Evil one invoked from Hell, Ares, or Ariman, or bloody Mars, Pan, Satan, or the blasphemous name untold Of dreaded Demogorgon, or what else 80 The nations, prostrate at his shrine, have calPd Him won by sorcery and appeased by sin, Accuser, adversary, and of this world Libidinous prince, with all his goatish crew, Hair'd ,/Egipans, that revel round their chief 85 * Jupiter Ammon made Amalthea queen of a large valley filled with vines and other fruit trees, where there was perpetual spring, universal health, sweet breezes, running waters, birds of exquisite song and plumage, and rocks of every colour. Every perfume abounded there, never did a flower fade or a leaf fall. When Bacchus was born, he sent him to be nursed in this valley, the mount in the midst of which was called Amalthca's Horn. Diod. Sic. 1. 3. c. 07, G8. t The vulture was the bird of Nemesis. Nonnus, 48. 382. BOOK III. 5! With sport obscene. Nearer the heart of Rome He bids advance his banner with the dawn, Strong in his foemen's disarray ; first held A festive celebration to his God, Scythian Acinaces, whose massive weight, 90 Portentous symbol, in his scabbard hung, Unwrought, untemper'd steel ; from * Babel's wreck Borne erst to Babylon by priests impure, Emblem of fEnyalius ; long since Again reveal'd in Scythia, and preserved 95 Nigh Tauric Dian's J image, where the fane Of dread Enyo and Comana's towers O'erlook the Sarus. Through the ranks forthwith The consecrated trump with summons shrill Re-echoed. At that signal round the pyre, 100 Where piteous mourn'd yestreen, foreboding death, The flower of Eastern beauty, elate and blythe Gather'd the pagan throng. Upon his left, Beloved of Attila, in regal pomp Stood Arderic, counsellor discreet and brave, 105 And over-faithful §to the unrighteous cause. Gloomy the banner, dark was the array Of his Gepidians, with their nation's badge, The raven mantle deck'd. Oft has the shout Of those black legions, like the yell of fiends, 110 * See Josephus. t The Greek name used by Josephus for the war-god Ares or Mars. Enyo was the war-goddess Bellona. J Dion Cassius says that the sword with which Iphigenia sacrificed to the Tauric Diana was preserved and shewn in a temple at Comana ; indeed two temples pretended severally to possess it. See Strabo also. ^ Nimia fidclitas. Jornandes. E 2 52 ATTILA. Scatter'd dismay amid the host of Rome. By these were many a race of Suevic blood, Proud of their knotted curls and unclipt hair, Who worship the all-fruitful Earth ; with them The patient * .ZEstyans, who near the main 1 15 Balsamic amber from its secret fount Exuded reap ; and with huge clubs array'd Secure in battle on their foreheads rear Cybele's guardian seal, the bristling boar : And fierce Semnonians, that with human blood 120 Pollute their public feasts, dragging in pomp With heifers their veil'd Goddess from the grove Misnamed of heathens chaste, a senseless stone To share their gross delights ; then wash the car, The Goddess, in her lake, which may not purge 125 Their guilt, but swallows her devoted slaves Slain in that foul ablution. Call'd to war From their idolatrous shades with bristling steel The Naharvalians gleam'd ; of kindred race With them, more dread, the Arian tribe was seen ; 130 Sable their shields, their skins to blackness stain'd, They seem'd like sons of Erebus and Night Joining in mortal strife ; and most they loved Nocturnal enterprize, where Doubt and Fear Stalk undistinguish'd, and the crash of arms 135 Unseen re-echoes to the slumbering heaven. Three brother kings in scarlet on the right Muster'd their Ostrogoths ; brave Videmir, Most free from guile in all that pagan host, And Valamer the strong, from whom f shall spring 140 * See Tacitus de Mor. Germ. t See Phot. bibl. BOOK III. 53 Royal Theodoric, fore-doom'd to hold Rome's sceptre. Near them with parental pride Theodemir his young Argotta view'd, Whose budding charms, sad Alberon, shall bless Thy couch hereafter, and wipe out the thought 145 Of thy beloved, whom fierce Aetius seized Amidst her bridal, while the virgin blush Yet linger'd on her cheek ; but, true to joys Thus early ravish'd, he the Gothic maid Gloomy regarded not. His weaker arm 150 Upheld the shield, which long-hair'd Clodion bore, Whereon had Salic Pharamond been raised Unto a king's estate. Upon its orb Three toads # in gold, three argent moons were graven, Three lily-headed spears of azure steel. 155 His iron casque was circled with the heads Of spears long used and rough, but won by him And broken from their shafts ; above, his head Environing, the golden aureole seem'd A crown of aether. His equerry held 160 Aloof his war-horse, on whose forehead shone The bull's head wrought in gold, and on its front Glared the full eye of Mithras. On his robe, In purest ore pourtray'd, three hundred bees * Among the principal articles discovered at the exhumation of Chil- deric, at Tournay, were the Mithriac Apis, a golden bull's head with the sun radiated in the centre of his forehead, supposed to have been a covering for his horse's face. Three hundred golden bees, some with eyes and mouths, others blind and mute, supposed to have been a fringe to some part of his accoutrements ; a seal with his name graven on it, a scarabaeus, and a toad, (certainly, by the engraving of it, not a frog as it has been called) &c. 54 ATTILA. Mysterious hung; Essenian* wisdom, fetch'd 165 From far Engaddi ; on his signet shew'd A scarab's graven image, as he grasp'd His sceptre, ending with a mimic hand, Two fingers stretch'd to seize, two closed to hold. Thus dight, and mournful, nigh his future queen 1 70 Stood Alberon, and little then forethought, That from their issue must hereafter spring That great one,f cinctured with imperial might, Whose glorious paladins should raze from earth The bulwarks of the Hun. Beside them stood 175 Andages, boastful to have spoil'd of life Western % Theodoric, by his kindred lance Amidst the flood of victory cut short. His yellow tresses, his pure skin, and cheeks Fresh with the bloom of youth, outvied his garb 180 In brightness ; the red tissue, and the vest Of snowy silk, the trappings rich with gems, And belts of glossy gold. The Bactrian king Not unregarded in that warlike throng Display'd his regal pomp. Him father call'd 185 Mycoltha, whom the Hun, of nuptial joys Ever insatiate, with libidinous glance View'd, doubtful of his purpose, half achieved In later revels ; but Jehovah's arm * The name of the Essenes, the ancient recluses of Engaddi, signifies in Greek a swarm of bees. t Charlemain was the rightful heir of Clodion, being descended from Alberon. t Theodoric was said to have been killed by Andages an Ostrogoth in the army of Attila. His subsequent adventures are fictitious. The dress of a young Goth of rank is described by Sidonius Apollinaris, as well as that of the Goths in general. BOOK III. 55 Cut short his boast. The damsel's tenderest years 190 Had sported in thy vast unpillar'd halls, Bamiyan,* sculptured in the living rock By patriarchal strength, when mortal life, Yet unabridged, might gloriously complete What the bold mind conceived. Oft had she view'd 195 The smile which, radiating at sunrise, lit Thy features, Buddha ! whose colossal form, High towering from the Bactrian glen, stands yet Near thy gigantic consort, and bestrides The porch of thine enormous fane ; and oft 200 Gazing above had seen, where flamed to heaven Abrupt Cophantus,f with his crest of fire By magian rites adored, and, trickling fast From the great ridge of Caf,:f its waters flow'd To Patala, and all that sacred land 205 Where the scorch'd Indian feigns the gates of Hell Far southward. Clad in raiment bright and gay Behind their chiefs were ranged the Eastern Goths, Flower of the battle. Particolour'd plaids, Close fitted to their brawny forms, left bare 210 The arms and vigorous hams ; their surcoats rough * See Asiatic Researches, vol. 6. Balch Bami or Bamiyan was the famous Bactra of Pliny, Strabo, and Diodorus Siculus ; there is cer- tainly no volcanic mountain in the existing Balch Bokhara, situated in an irriguous valley. It is said that the colossal statue of Buddha ap- pears to smile when the first beam of the morning sun shines upon it. t Flagrat in Bactris Cophanti noctibus vertex. Plin. N. H. I. 2. c. 110. Bactra is the city, not the country Bactriana. t The Indus springs from the part of the Caucasian ridge called Paro- pamisus, in which is the wonderful excavation of Bamiyan. lb. 1. 6. c. 20. Patala and the delta of the Indus was the Avernus of the Hindoo poets. 56 ATTILA. Of furry spoils, tight belted round the flank, Hung from the shoulder, whence the cloak of green With purple margin floated to the breeze. The bristly horse-skin round their naked feet 215 Was firmly bound ; their bare arms held on high The missile hatchet, or the hooked spear Which oft had reap'd death's harvest ; round the boss Of tawny metal from their full-orb 'd shields Stream'd the white beam reflected. Prized for speed 220 Bearded Herulians rear'd their gleamy helms, Arm'd with straight swords, and ponderous arrows slung Across their naked backs ; the girdle rude And sandals their sole garb ; stern militants, Inured to hear unmoved the secret moan 225 Of widows, burnt on the funereal pyre Amidst the wail of infants ; like the dames Of Palimbothra in far Orient. Not with vermilion ceil'd or purple clothed, Sat unadorn'd, and simple in his state, 230 The glorious Hun, upon his regal throne Raised, as a God, above his subject kings. Beside him, partner of his loathly couch, Smiled Eskam in luxuriant prime of youth, His daughter and his bride ; sprung from the womb 235 Of Hindarfell's* enchantress, who had brought Virginal beauty and forbidden lore To desecrate a brother's nuptial bed, Hilda, too famous in romance and song, Born for his bane. Far in Burgundian halls 240 Indignant, mute, breathing revenge, she mourns ' Sec the Scandinavian sagas. BOOK III. 57 The double incest, from his bed outcast To be a vassal's mate. She never smiled Upon false Gunther, her Burgundian lord, Wedded by fraud, and of the death-like trance 245 By treason thrown upon her beauteous frame Unconscious, till aroused too late, to know The wrongs inflicted, from his grasp she sprung, The raven tresses o'er her snowy breast Pressing in anguish, while the bright red flush 250 Gave tenfold beauty to that wondrous form, A glory and a curse to who have reap'd Her fatal charms. Nigh shameless Eskam sat His thousand queens. There, once his dearest joy, Light-hearted Regan, amorous and vain ; 255 There Creca, mother of his chosen race, Staid in matronal dignity ; near whom His best-loved Irnach stood, by seers e'en then Foretold to be his throne's successor, strong To bend the Scythian bow, or wield the lance, 260 In unfledged infancy. His earlier hope, Ellac, first-born of Creca, by the pile Had ranged his Acatzires with kingly state Near Attila's own Huns ; their garb the same, Linen o'erlaid with ermine, and soft spoils 265 Of meaner tribes, that rob the golden hoard Of husbandmen, the frugal housewife's dread, Closely compacted furs. Long tale and hard It were, man's wit surpassing, to record The pagan* banners multiform and strange. 270 * Distinguebantur Cimbri tauro, Sclavi dracone, Gepidie navicula, Alani, Burgundi, ac Suevi catto in militaribus signis. Olaus Magnus, lib. 2. c. 25. 58 ATTILA. The Suevic cat, with unrelenting gripe Ready to spring, the Cimbrian rampant bull, The dragon, moulded in Sclavonian brass, And the Gepidian ship, a famous sign In battle, e'er since the sacred keel, first hewn 275 On Dodonean Tmarus, and impell'd By heroes* from the pent Mseotian swamp, Stemm'd the new strait into that midland pool, The stagnant sea of Saturn,f whose dead waves Stretch'd wide and tideless to the Arctic strand ; 280 Till thro' that passage, amid sibilant reeds Borne shouldering down the flood, a wider course The thundering volume rent, and, rolPd amain Beyond the Herculean columns, with sheer weight Submerged J Atlantis, in one night and day 285 Abolish'd from the nations. Not less famed Upon an azure field the lion crown'd Exalts its head above three milk-white mares, The Gothic § ensign. All collected raise Their threatening symbols round the martial pyre. 290 As when the labouring west is charged with clouds Sulphureous, ready from their womb to loose Discordant winds, and bolts of forked fire, That still delay their wrath, while Nature steals For loveliness a respite ere its wreck, 295 And yet the fierce artillery of heaven Is silent ; so portentous, and so mute, The awful gathering of heathen war * The Argonauts. t See Orpheus argon. $ Sec Plato, Tim&cus, and Critius. $ See Olaus Magnus. BOOK III. 59 Hangs round the Hun. Before its ranks advanced, He from his scabbard draws the idol grim, 300 Divine Acinaces. That steel upraised Myriads adore, to Britons known erewhile, What time the phantom monarch they revered, Son of Pendragon hight, whose wizard life Was wedded to Excalibar, that thrice 305 Waved its strange summons o'er the flood, and he Evanish'd ; but still viewless * oft at night, Like that terrific hunter, who first wore The charmed sword in Nineveh, with horns Rousing each savage from his lair, he sweeps 310 The darksome covert, and shakes Albion's cots With midnight awe ; and still, midst iEtna's wilds Precipitous, where blasted Typhon writhes Stretch'd under huge Pelorus, secret rise His fairy halls, embower'd in changeless spring; 315 Where, scaped from Modred's strife, he yearly mourns The recrudescent wound. Nor long, before The venerated falchion, stain'd while-ere With bloody orgies in Comana's fane, Shall arm the spirit of that sainted f fiend, 320 Still England's guardian name, and oft invoked Amid the din of war, whose magic blade, Chalyb, from Cappadocia unto Nile Vex'd God's elect. That sword, whate'er its name, ChalybdicJ, Chalyb, or Excalibar, 325 On Chersonesus, to the hero's § shade, * King Arthur. See the traditions concerning him in Gervas Tilbur. de regn. Brit. + St. George. t So called by Lycophron. § Achilles. See Eurip. Hec. 60 ATTILA. Who rose in golden armour from his tomb Vindictive, slew the lovely * one ; f itself Divine, and long constellated in heaven Beside that mighty hunter,:): call'd in Thrace 330 Candaon and Mamertus, God of strife. Bared for like rites, as bloody, and as foul, Though sixteen ages, unrelenting years Of dark idolatry, have pour'd their rust On the gore-boulter'd symbol, o'er the pile 335 Erect and fixt it glares. No altar stands Blood-sanctified ; no impious shrine conceals The abomination, open and unveiFd ; No hoary priests with wreath or fillet crown'd Attend the victims. Like those fierce § ones, dark, 340 Dread, unapproachable, who danced around Three-headed Hecat and the iron form * Polyxene. t See the splendid eloquence of Prudentius, who was depreciated by Gibbon, because he was a vigorous and unanswerable defender of Christianity. Contempto Principe vitse Perniciem veneratur homo ; colit ipse cruentum Carnificem, gladiique aciem jugulandus adorat. Prud. Hamart. The sword, by which Polyxene was sacrificed, was called Chalybdic by Lycophron, that of St. George was called Chalyb, of Arthur Excalibar. Their identity is evident. It was the sword in the constellation Orion, the Greek name for Nembrod. Lycophron calls it the sword of Candaon, and identifies Candaon with Orion, by calling him three -fathered, with relation to his fabulous birth. Some MSS. of Lycophron have trita- phrou phasganoi Kandaoros, alluding to the bothros tristoichos. Orjm. Argon. Either Lycophron, or the scribe who inserted tritaphrou, must li;i\c been conversant with the cruciform fosse of the Therapnean sacri- fices. See below, book 7. v. 80. t Orion. § See Orpheus Argonautica. BOOK III. 61 Of old Pandora, when the wondrous * bard, Who scaped unhurt from Hades, lull'd to sleep The serpent golden-scaled, and Dian's whelps 345 Before the fratricidal f sorceress fawn'd ; So horrid, near the heap funereal, stood Women, J not women, rather daemon shapes, Children of § Alirune, the bride of Hell. Such ever trooping with the Hunnish war 350 Did the curst work of sacrifice, inspired With murderous phrensy. Loathsome and unsex'd, In snowy vest, cinctured with brass, they stand Barefooted by the pyre ; shamefully skill'd To froth their brazen cauldron with the blood 355 Of each devoted captive, by the knife Slain like a beast ; and not less skill'd to cast The right-hand lopt, like a forbidden thing, To moulder where it falls : then from the trunk Laid bare, and palpitating entrails, draw 360 Strange omens fanciful and wild, to Huns Predicting conquest. At the awful clang Of music, known in solemn feasts of death, They crowd, like hovering vultures, when the trump Of kindling battle brays, foreboding blood. 365 Selected from the herd, a perfect band, One from each hundred, forth the captives move, * Orpheus. + Medea. $ For the details of such Scythian sacrifices, as here represented, see Herodotus, 4. 62. and also Strabo, 7. p. 425. who describes the pro- phetesses by whom the Cumbrians were accompanied in warfare, and their mode of sacrificing the captives. § See Book 1 . and 2. and Jornande* de reb. Get. 62 ATTILA = Fit sacrifice to Mars, a * murderer From the beginning. As in glory first, Foremost in rank, the brave Ostorius comes ; 370 Than whom a nobler form, with grace mature Herculean strength combining, never Rome Sent forth to war. Captive ere Chalon's fight, He mourn'd not liberty, nor glory lost, Nor life thus forfeit ; but a keener pang 375 Assail'd him, while his eye survey'd his bride, In full-zoned loveliness array'd, serene Lucilia, beaming through her golden locks Meek resignation and undying love, Propt by the hope that saves. Not that bright pair 380 Nearest man's archetype and least debased, Ere sin corrupting had abridged his span Of life and stature, fresh midst Eden's joy In undecaying beauty, might excel Their blameless symmetry. Behind them chain'd 385 Came what of Latin youth, or Gothic, sank Chiefest and noblest mid the serried cars, When ebb'd the flood of victory; never more To tread the tented field, ambition's walk, Where glory flings o'er homicidal force 390 Her golden mantle, and builds high in air A deathless name ; in such an hour how vain ! Well pleased the king surveys those gallant forms, Worthy his great oblation ; but his eye Dwells wondering on Lucilia ; marks her brow 395 Angelic, her meek pudency, upheld By glowing faith to suffer, worse than death, * Mars was tried in the Areopagus for the murder of Plalirothius. BOOK III. 63 Abhorr'd exposure in the idolatrous throng, Their omen, and the mangled pledge of hate To the Most High. One glance first turn'd on her, 400 His treasure of this world, Ostorius spoke, Strengthen'd by holy fortitude and trust In Him, who suffers not one hair to fall, But for wise ends and bountiful. " O King, Well needs that I with joy approach this pile, 405 And glorify the Father, who has sent Thee, girt with terror and Abaddon's crew, To scourge his people. I nor ask, nor wish, 6 Remission from this bloody pomp of death, 6 Permitted, not to honour that grim sword 410 ' In vain aspersed by thine idolatries, 6 But for our sinfulness, by Him who gives 6 Power to the Evil one, and, thro' His will, 6 How foul soever, sanctifies the deed. 6 Would, royal Hun, if man may dare to wish 415 6 Ought his Creator wills not, thou and thine 6 Were like as I am, gladder in these bonds 6 To work salvation to my deathless soul, s Than gird the glorious majesty and might, 6 Which thou but wearest for a season. Time 420 ' Will come, when that keen steel, the bruised reed 6 On which thou leanest now, shall pierce thee ; curst ' By who created all things for their good, c Though Powers perverse, who magnify thy pride < Against thy Maker, at their bitter cost 425 * Have marr'd the scheme of His beatitude. 4 Me and my blest companions death, thus sent, 8 Shall purge of earthly sins, and lift from hence To amaranthine bowers, inwreathed with joy, 64 ATTILA. " Which shall be there for ever. Upon me 430 " Thy will, whate'er, be done. One only boon " Ostorius asks his conqueror. This hand, " Betroth'd in spotless purity, was mine, " And is, if ought belong to mortal man " In death's last article ; and, grant it, Heaven, 435 " By some mysterious tie may still be mine, " Where angels neither woo, nor wed ! I ask " No boon of life for this my beauteous one, " Meet offering to her God, who may resume, " Whene'er he wills, his own ; but yield her sex 440 " Immunity from these opprobrious rites ; f " Let nothing that polluteth near her come, " And O ! respect her slain !" He ceased ; a blush Bright as vermilion, o'er Lucilia's cheek, Stain'd the clear ivory with a lovelier hue, 445 Than fresh Aurora from her dewy car Sheds on the opening rose-bud ; her mild eyes With downcast lashes veil'd their modest beam, And met not his ; but softly did her hand Return his pressure, while unspoken thoughts 450 Came full of memory o'er her spirit. " Chief," Replied the king, and ardent look'd the while Pollution on that fair one, " thy bold speech " Deserves a boon, and rightly hast thou craved. " Released, she stands our ornament and joy, 455 " Worthy a monarch's bed : rich tissues, tents " Breathing Sabaean sweets, and equal rights " With these my chosen consorts, shall be hers ; " Pre-eminence in station, as in form " She is excelling bright." A kindling flush 460 Shot sudden o'er her brow, and vanish'd straight ; BOOK III. 65 While, raising on the king her stedfast eye, (As strengthen'd against fear) her beauteous face Serene and pale confronted him. She stood Like some ethereal visitant, so still 465 And unperturb'd. Her spirit, which erewhile Clung to her husband only, now aspired Unto their heavenly Father, and the throne Where peace with glory dwells. That perfect peace, Which dove-like from his innermost abode 470 Descends on God's own people, when the prayer Of patient suffering is by angels raised Up to the heaven of heavens, confirm'd her soul With consolation free from doubt or care, And tranquil thus she spoke. " I marvel not, 475 " Great Attila, for great thou art in power, " And deeds of earthly daring, best undone ; " I marvel not, that thou should' st tender wealth " And sublunary treasures bought by shame " Unto a Christian woman. Thou hast drunk 780 " At other fountains, whose pernicious stream " Curdles thy better thoughts ; the source of life, ", Whence all, who will, drink freely, for thy thirst " Has never well'd. But learn, chief proudly throned " Upon a thousand tributary thrones, 485 " That unto us a Saviour, long foretold " By strains prophetic, while unwilling proof " Flow'd from the voice of sybils and of seers, " Has oped the narrow door, through which who come " To Him for comfort, shall arrive that bourne, 490 " Where all thy transient honours, the frail toys " Thy power could offer, would be counted loss ; " And He alone can close Hell's awful gates, F 66 ATTILA. " And bind and loose for ever. From thy boon " Of mercy I appeal. Willing and glad 495 " I yield me to the sacrificial sword ; " And this weak frame the Lord, who, in the day " Known only to Jehovah, from the dust " Shall raise it to eternal life, adorn'd " With lineaments more like his glorious self, 500 " Now order as he will." Immediate wrath Flamed from the monarch's eye ; instant he gave The fatal sign, whereat a dismal strain The deadly music blew, mysterious notes Attuned melodiously ; and, at their close, 505 Arpad, the bard of Scythia, raised his song. " Sword of the giant,* who up-piled to heaven " His tower stupendous, hail ! Bereft of sight, " Facing the glorious sun, his eagle eyes " Again drank light and power, where first he roused 510 " The chase in Nineveh, before the Highest " A mighty hunter. Near Arcturus now " His deathless f image, with the starry belt " Ethereal, flames ; thy semblance, sword divine, * Nimrod, called by the Greeks Orion. The eyes of Orion having been put out, he is said to have recovered his sight by looking at the sun in the East ; which appears to mean that he recovered kingly authority by removing eastward to Nineveh. See Prudentius Hamart. v. 129, &c. and 520, where he identifies the evil principle or God of the heretic Marcion, with the head of Charon worshipped at Antioch, the hunter Nembrod, and the Sword-god. Hie ille est venator atrox, qui csede frequenti Incautas animas non cessat plectere Nembroth. t The constellation of Orion, who is identical with Nimrod. The river Eridanus, which flowed through the Elysian fields, was fabled to spring from the heel of Orion. 1 BOOK III. 67 " Gleams by his side in heaven. Sole source of power, 515 " In iron majesty to man reveal'd ! " Oft has thy blade to votive slaughter given " Maids fairer than Polyxena, or she " Who fillet-bound distain'd thy Tauric shrine, " Gore-sprinkled Taranis, with rites, herself 520 " Escaped in Aulis. On thee Scythia's shame, " Apostate Scylas, pour'd the stream of death, " What time his domes with Parian sphinxes girt " Blazed thunder-smitten, while he wreathed his crown " With Bacchanalian ivy, and perverse 525 " Join'd in the maddening thiasus, like Greeks " Effeminate ; for which before thy pile " His head* was in Borysthenes struck off, " Just retribution for who died, erewhile " Opposing those vile orgies, piecemeal rent 530 " By his fierce mother on Cithseron's brow. " Three-father'd f mystery ! eternal sword, * Scylas, king of the Scythians, was beheaded in Borysthenes by his subjects for engaging in the Bacchanalian rites, which they abhorred, and his marble palace, built after the Greek fashion, was destroyed by lightning, according to Herodotus- Pentheus was cut to pieces by his mother Agave for obstructing the orgies of Bacchus. t Orion was called Candaon by the Boeotians, and the same was Ares or Mars, as appears from two passages in Lycophron, in which he calls the Thracian God of war Candaon or Candseon and Mamertos, v. 890. and 1370. He calls, v. 328. the sword which slew Polyxene the three-father'd sword of Candaon, Orion having been fabled to be the son of Jupiter, Neptune, and Apollo jointly ; and he transfers the tripaternity to the sword itself, which was considered to be divine and identified with its possessor, as it was in the case of king Arthur, who could not exist a moment without it. Achilles, and after him Neopto- lemus, pretended to have inherited the original sword of Orion, and the pretension of Attila was similar. See Tzetzes on Lycophron, and also Priscus. F 2 68 ATTILA. " Candaon ! brighter than the brand which wheel'd " Eastward of Eden, when our parents fell ; " On earth again apparent, and flung forth 535 " From the empyreal height, auspicious hear ! " Let now the fulness of predestined years " With Europe's subjugation end the strife " First broach'd in old Irawn, when Babel fell " And Troy's Pergamean towers ! Accept the blood 540 " Of these our victims, and uphold our host !" Scarce ceased the mystic strain, when soft and low Arose the hymn of Christians, by the voice Of mild Lucilia led. Pathetic swell'd That dirge of martyrs, like the latest song 545 On smooth Caystrus or the Asian pool Warbled by swans expiring. Peace, hope, joy, Attuned its melody, and exulting faith. It call'd on Him, whose arm is ever nigh, A present help in trouble ; and, as the strain 550 Ascended higher and higher, the pagans stood In silent ravishment ; for voices pure, Celestial warblings, breathed in upper air, Seem'd sweetly to prolong each dying note, As if their * angels, who in joy behold 555 The Father's face, were wafting it to heaven. Upon their lips the hymn yet trembled, when The consecrated trumpet once again Blew the known signal ; and with ruthless speed The cinctured harpies on Ostorius fell. 560 Him unresisting in his chains they dragg'd To their abominable cauldron, stain'd • In heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven. Matth. xviii. 10. BOOK III. 69 With gore of ages. Motionless and pale His silent agony Lucilia saw, And that loved hand, so oft in glory's field 565 The dread of heathens, which her own so late With tenderest pressure clasp'd, now cast in air To be a sign prophetic, and the prey Of Belgic ravens. She beheld, and ere The fierce ones to their second quarry stoop'd, 570 Her heart had ceased to nutter, and her soul Was render'd spotless to its God. Amazed The ministers of murder saw her drop, Whiter than meadow-lily, or a wreath On Thracian Hgemus of untrodden snow, 575 Beside the abhorred pile. Untouch'd they left Her beauteous limbs, as pagan Romans shunn'd The sad bidental smit by fire of heaven. A savage shout those hideous women raised, And, foil'd of their best victim, seized with rage 580 Their meaner prey. Precipitous on three sides The structure rose, built up with leafy spoils From Arduenna's waste ; the glorious oak Superbly spreading, like the shades of Jove Adored in green Epirus ; fragrant lime 585 With clustering blossom, whence the winged tribes Famed in Hymettus drink ambrosial dew ; Aerial ash, and sycamore's broad arms, And rowan with its crest of ruddy gold, Maple, and pensile birch. The other front 590 Rose gradual, easy of access ; above Rear'd on the summit gleam'd with blade erect The iron God. Their work of slaughter done, Four Amazonian furies, drunk with blood, 70 ATTILA. Upheave the cup of sacrifice, and make 595 Ample libation from the frothing brass To the dark king of terrors. Him, aspersed With crimson dew, emblem of right divine, They bear again with reverential awe To royal Attila ; then, fierce and loud, 600 Take up the strain of prophecy. Not she In rocky Phocis, while the laurel grove Self-shaken trembled with the present God, Pour'd deeper note of inspiration, fill'd With powerful breath of Python; when the blast 605 Of * him, who bore his Erechthean bride To frozen Thracia, or the wondrous halls Whence Asian Odin sprang, out-pour'd with might On Casthanaea, at her ominous call O'erthrew the Persian, by his billows dash'd 610 On foaming Sciathus and Pelion's side. Thee, Rome, upon thy seven Hesperian hills, Array*d in f scarlet, and with gems adom'd, Thee they defy, in thy majestic ease Soon to be widow'd, when the kings of earth 615 Shall see thy burning, and the triple curse Of famine, death, and mourning on thee fall. They boast a greater one than thee arisen ; A shout of victory ! whereby aroused The Jews are gathering % to Crete, prepared 620 • Boreas, who carried off Orithyia, daughter of Erechtheus, on which account the Athenians were warned by the oracle to invoke his assist- ance, and the Persian fleet was consequently destroyed by the north wind. Odin is stated in the Edda to have been the son of Bor or Boreas. t See Revelations xvii. 4. and xviii. 8. t Sec Hist treat. ^ 24. and note 10. BOOK III. 71 For Armageddon's field, whene'er the Hun His banner shall uplift on Ida's crest, Expected Antichrist, and plant his might In that idolatrous cradle, where the old * king From Nineveh's fierce hunter sprung, possess'd 625 Great Jove's original empire, the oak woods Of Crete, green navel of the world, between The triple continents. There whilom rang The Corybantine brass in Rhea's grove, And arm'd Curetes danced with lance and shield 630 In shades of changeless verdure, fit retreat For Saturn's son. Thee, Attila, they sung, The man-child f long foretold, with iron rod To rule the nations ; from that mother born, * Cres the son of Orion reigned in Crete, which was called after him. Hesselius in Ennium, p. 324. Cres was the eldest son of Nimrod. Got. Vit. Pantheon, part 3. p. 88. Jupiter was born in Crete. When Saturn would have devoured him, his mother Rhea, having given Saturn a stone in swadding-clothes to swallow, concealed Jupiter in the island where he was educated by the Curetes, who beat the cymbals or Corybantine brass incessantly to prevent his infantine cries from betraying the place of his concealment. t See Revelations xii. 1, &c. The prophecy is supposed to relate to Constantine. It cannot be doubted that in declaring himself nursed in Engaddi, Attila applied it to himself. The overthrow of the dragon would have been more clearly verified in his view by the conquest of Rome, than it was by Constantine's extinguishing the paganism of the empire. The woman has been explained to mean the Church labouring under hardships 300 years, till delivered from them by Constantine, whom the other princes of the empire had sought to destroy. " The prophecy was thought to be so plainly fulfilled by Constantine's ad- vancement to the throne of the empire, that his statue was set over his palace gate, trampling on a wounded dragon : and Constantine himself in his epistle to Eusebius, calls his conquest of Licinius the falling of the dragon." — Pyle. 72 ATTILA. Who, with the sun's eternal glory clothed, 635 Fled thro' the wilderness on eagle wings To a place prepared of God, where thou secure Didst plume thine infant pinions, to o'erthrow Rome's dragon. Fabling so, they snatch'd the wreath Prophetic, twined by Christians round the brow 640 Of Constantine, to deck their monarch grim, Nursed in the palmy solitude, and sent With other arms against the earthly strength Of her Mavortian throne. With loud acclaim The pagans, ravish'd by prophetic strains, 645 Salute their king. The eucharist of hell Thus finish'd, lest the zeal of faithful priests Inhume the relics, when his host at dawn Shall march on Trecas, he bids instant flame Devour the pile and victims ; not so wont 650 In safe Sicambria's hold. Gloomy and slow Smoke wrapp'd the structure, rear'd to be the tomb Of heathen wealth and beauty, now the pyre Of martyr'd Christians : nor less dense above Deep clouds obscured the welkin, while a sound 655 Like storm increased. Anon a flash of steel Illumed the blackening concave, and above A thunderous chariot roll'd, at all points arm'd With bristling scythes, and many a daemon shape Of murderous instruments instinct with life ; 660 Its adamantine wheels were writhing snakes, Its axle burning steel, borne headlong on By Terror and Dismay, twin steeds of Mars, Gore dashing from their curbs in wreaths of foam. Darkness impenetrable wrapp'd the form 665 Which goaded their mad course, but dimly shone BOOK III. 73 Aloft a Head terrific, on whose brow Was graved the name ineffable ; that name* Is blasphemy. The pagans with mute awe Adored the abomination, which soon pass'd 670 Amid the veil of smoke and flame ingulph'd. Each to his quarters, when those rites were done, Withdrew the painim chiefs ; at dawn prepared Their banners to advance. Soft-breathing night, That yields, by heaven's beneficence, alike 675 Calm solace to the just and the unjust, Steep'd the wide camp in slumber. One alone, Mycoltha, loveliest of pagan maids, Waked in that host. Still to her fancy's ear The hymn of Christians, and angelic sounds, 680 Rose on the night; and, with a smile serene, Lucilia, in immortal beauty robed, Seem'd to invite her unto realms of hope, Unknown, unthought before. Whether the charm Of suffering virtue o'er her soul had thrown 685 The bland illusion, or her angel's voice Whisper'd those strains seraphic, to allure The willing soul from darkness to its God ; Then first the day-spring of religion beam'd Upon her tremulous thoughts : all else around 690 Lay steep'd in utter gloom and heedless sleep. The second sun scarce dawn'd upon the waste Of bloody Catalaunum, when a call From thousand instruments commingling roused The universal host ; and howling wolves 695 Gave fierce response from the death-laden plain, * I saw a beast rise out of the sea, &c. and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. Revelations xiii. 1. 74 ATTILA. As throng'd the clamorous legions of the air From Belgia's emptied forest, to dispute Their loathsome banquet. Forth the spacious camp Pour'd Attila's huge army, countless powers 700 Asian and European , from the verge Of Sericana to Germanic Rhine. The sound of that vast movement rose to heaven Like the upbreaking of a world : with speed The strength of heathendom was girt for war, 705 And onward moved bright columns, lengthening files Of squadrons neighing to the orient sun, And phalanxes with firm compacted front, And many an engine, many a thousand wains Heap'dwith the spoils of Gaul. The proud array 710 Sweeps unresisted o'er the level field, Till, full before the van, unarm'd appear The walls and consecrated dome of Troyes. Led by the mitred Lupus, a meek band Of women and of burghers strew the way 715 With flowers pacific ; yet the prelate mild Bows not before his conqueror, but thus Fronting the mighty one ; " Who art thou, Lord, ' That with no human strength bestridest the world ?" * He, who should come," the impious Hun replied, 720 1 Predicted by thy prophets, to lop off < The seven famed heads of Rome, and rive her horns ; ' From green Engaddi midst the burning waste, ' The scourge of heaven." " Then come," the priest rejoin'd, ' Scourge of my God, and be on us achieved 725 ' The ever glorious purpose of his will ! ' His servants kiss the rod." With this he laid BOOK III. 75 His hand upon the bridle rich with gold, And stepp'd bareheaded by the charger's side E'en to the gates of Troyes. The king pass'd on 730 In silent pomp before his gorgeous host, Till prostrate at his feet a widow * flung Herself and her fair daughters, wailing loud For mercy and for aid. " O thou, who comest " An angel from the deep with power to slay, 735 " Smite not the weak ! protect these virgins !" " Rise," Benignant spoke the monarch ; " By my sword '•< I swear to be their saviour. Who e'er came " To Attila for shelter, and found none ? " Or who hath braved his terrors, and not fallen ?" 740 This said, with hand extended, he bade rise The youngest of that timid train, whose shape In the prime bud of beauty, might have shamed The brightest of his court, yet scarce excell'd Her sisters blushing with maturer bloom. 745 A transient hue half lit his sallow cheek, And strange fire glisten'd from his eyes, as wont In some great struggle, when the spirit within Gleam'd thro' the issues of its mortal frame ; For not, from bleak Imaus to Ardennes, 750 So rich a freight of beauty had adorn'd His multinuptial couch, of recent charms Insatiate, and replenish'd oft by power. " Walk, free as fair, thro' all this host," he cried, And o'er her ivory neck a chain of gold 755 He threw; "rest pure amid the wolves of war " Beneath the vulture's wing." Safe by his word * Her name is not recorded. 76 ATTILA. They pass those ranks, of rapine, undefiled; And slowly marshalPd thro' the streets of Troves The pagan army files. With evil eye 760 Stern Giulas marked their beauty, by his king Redeem'd from violation ; and that hour Of clemency requited soon with blood Of sainted Ursula, # and all her train, (A thousand holy virgins done to death 765 At Agrippina, where good Cyriac fell) And that chaste fair one, f o'er her brother's corse Butcher'd in Rheims, who, dying, of his sight Bereaved her lustful murderer ; what time From ravaged Gallia's plain the Hun roll'd back 770 His force unto Pannonia. The main host, Skirting the slope of Vogesus, moves on To those Acronian waters, that behold Sublime Helvetia, and with homeward course Sweeps through the Rhaetian wilds; when, strange to view, A raven from the forest steered its course Direct to Attila, and, hovering, perch'd Secure upon his shoulder ; then wing'd high Its arduous flight to heaven. The monarch hail'd That omen; well he knew what jetty plumes J 780 O'ersail the world, revisiting each day The throne of Odin in Valhalla's dome * The tale of the slaughter of Ursula and 1000 virgins at Cologne by the Huns of Attila is founded on a mistake, (See Hist, treat. § 56.) but the tradition may be used in poetry. t Eutropia sister of the Bishop of Rheims. t The two ravens of Odin. See Helga v. 2565, and the notes thereon. Concerning the Delphic crows see Plutarch. Prudcntius states that it was the crow of Apollo that defended Valerius Corvinus. BOOK III. 77 To tell the deeds of glory. Well he knew What messengers, sent east and west by Jove, Met high in air above the central shrine 785 Of Delphi's laurel shade ; what coal-black wings Flapp'd o'er the Roman's helmet, when his foe Rued sorely the strong beak and talons red With Gallic blood ; nor call'd he last to mind What saviours, upon glossy pinions borne, 790 From Paraatonium, * thro' the perilous waste Led Ammon's offspring to his hidden shrine, When round him desolate the southern blast Shower'd the heart-withering sandstorm. Proud of soul, Thro' Alpine Rhaetia and Norician dales 795 He pour'd his thousands, like the winged plague That darken'd all the fruitful plain, which Nile Yearly inundates, and with sullen rage Thro' fields all red with slaughter, smoking towns, And vales made desert, his triumphal way 800 He wound unto Sicambria ; fatal walls, In vain polluted with a brother's blood ! * See Strabo. Paraetonium is now Berton or Alberton. Urbs Mar- maricse olim episcopalis et prsecipua. Bandraud Lex. Geog. Ammon's offspring, Alexander the Great. ATTILA. BOOK FOURTH. On iEtna's vaporous summit darkling stood The Adversary. Wide his sight he flung Upon the peopled earth, beneath him stretch'd In multitudinous confliction. Dreams Of glory, forfeit by rebellious pride, 5 And hopes perverse, admitted oft, to be As oft annull'd by the event, absorb'd His contemplation in thoughts vast, yet vain. He look'd o'er spacious Europe to the rocks Herculean, nigh the yellow sands that trend 10 To Csesarea, and the Libyan shore From Ptolemais unto Goshen old ; And farther, where Euphrates' holy flood Streams from Armenian hills, the blighted scene Of his first palm ; if palm that be, which gave 15 Sorrow and death to man, but to himself Who sow'd * the wind, and shall the whirlwind reap, Confusion infinite, then doom'd to writhe Beneath the bruizing heel of woman's seed. Yet now with joy, such as beseems the accurst, 20 * Rosea viii. 7. BOOK IV. 79 He gazed on God's creation. The fifth age Was sailing on the ceaseless wings of Time, Since that great expiation, which had pluck'd The sting from death ; but Sin and Discord still, Foul harpies feasting on celestial balm, 25 Polluted e'en Christ's temple ; Simon's # lust To buy and sell the flock ; false doctrine strew'd By various Folly, unfurling, as she march'd, Heretic banners. Fiercer hate,f than e'er From Erymanthus or rough Calydon 30 Sent forth the shaggy desolator, arm'd The sheep against the sheep, in that one fold Which peaceful should have gather'd all and safe From the destroyer. On Rome's sevenfold head The mystic J labarum stood high advanced 35 Above her martial eyrie, yet the crash Nigher and nigher still of pagan arms Resounded, clanging round her giant limbs A deadly knell. Nor less the Vandal's strength Look'd fearless o'er the waters, and forejoy'd 40 Triumphal violation ; the mixt wealth, Christian or heathen, of her stately halls, And spoils from § Salem ravish' d, to adorn The palace of Rome's plunderer. On her coast Scowl'd Punic war from Hippo's || royal towers, 45 * Simon Magus ; see Acts viii. 18. t Ammianus Marcellinus says that no inveteracy of wild beasts against each other could equal that of the different sects of nominal Christians in his time. t The Christian ensign of Constantine used instead of the Eagle. § All about to be carried to Africa from Rome by Genseric in 455. || Hippo regius, whence Boniface invited the Vandals from Spain into Africa. 80 ATTILA. Where, hail'd by treason from the blood-stain'd marge Of * Anas to Abyla, Spain had pour'd Her long-hair'd warriors on the Moorish strand, Which once again, at treason's f second call, Shall vomit back on Guadalquiver's plain 50 The crescent and the scimitar. Elate He saw, where Genseric resistless cheer'd His bloodhounds J on God's people, Arian fangs Flesh'd in fanatic zeal. He saw the pure Torn from the pleasant paths of peace, to lie 55 Mingled in death with Manes' loathsome § crew In Carthage, whose fierce || patriarch shall mourn Sad retribution, on the blazing pyre A Christian sacrifice. There maids devout, Matrons and priests, to glut no pagan rage, 60 Swung pendant, to the shameless gaze exposed ; And Libyan deserts echoed with the groans Of mitred victims, to the burning waste By mitred brethren driven. " March on, where fate " Goads ye demented," spoke the exulting fiend, 65 " Flock worthy your good Shepherd ! who ordain'd " That brother against brother should arise, " Son against parent, and in sooth not peace " Hath left to his disciples, but a sword. " Soon comes my second triumph, which, foredoom'd, 70 " Not e'en the Allwise, with all his flaming troops " Angelic can forefend; glorious as that * The Guadiana, where Genseric overthrew the Suevi just before he entered Africa. t Count Julian's against Roderic the Goth, t Genseric was an Avian. § The Manicheans. || The Arian patriarch of Carthage was burnt alive by the Catholics. BOOK IV. 81 " By blood of Him achieved, whom in the flesh " I to perdition in the flesh betray'd. " O once eternal deem'd, and by the Christ 75 " O'ershadow'd now, in adamantine arms " See thine exterminator, led by fate " From the Hun's bloody lair ! Bow, Christian Rome, " Bow even to barbarians !" Thus the Archfiend, Battening on hopes of that, which might not be, 80 And blinded by much wisdom, worn with pride, And not by truth illumined. Well he knew Rome's utter overthrow decreed on high, And that great sceptre, which enthrall'd the West, Toppling e'en then to its determined fall ; 85 He heard the Scythian angel from the court Of pagan Attila evoking forth The conqueror * predestined ; but God's will Lay hidden deep beyond the reach of pride. Thus unregarded, tho' a Seraph's ken 90 Search'd all the host, glided thy youthful hours, Odoacer, appointed to o'erthrow Caesarean Rome ! nor paused he to descry Oft crackling from thy f limbs, strong Valamer, Sparks of unearthly radiance, which bespoke 95 Supreme dominion to thy Gothic heir Theodoric, ere five summers to be J born Amid the shout of victory. Vain hopes * Odoacer. t See Photius Bibl. The same phenomenon is said to have distin- guished the horse of Tiberius and the ass of Severus. t Theodoric was born, like Alexander the Great, on the day of a great victory. G 82 ATTILA. Enthrall'd his vision ; for, if fiends were wise Unto salvation, even he had stood, 100 Taught by foreknowledge to escape his fall ; But whom God wills to lose, he first obscures, (Mortal or spirit) and the inward light Becomes a lying prophet. Far beyond The Septimontane capital, the Archfiend 105 Look'd to the plains, where gorgeous Danau laved The Hunnish ramparts ; but his jealous eye Glanced on a hermitage, where Savus clear, Fast hurrying to iEmona's short-lived towers, Gushes from Carnian Alps. A grot was hewn 110 In the rock's living core, where long retired To holy musing, underneath the shade Of unpruned branches, far from the haunts of men Old Cyprian dwelt ; but not to those unknown Who thirsted for that holy well, of which 115 He had drunk long and deeply, now erect In green old age, tho' eighty summers sat On his hoar brow, as when in vigour new He travell'd many a rood, from utmost Gaul To Alexandria and the pleasant meads 120 Which Tigris laves, midst each benighted tribe Declaring Christ. Nursed in idolatrous laws, His parents, as their sires, not doubting, served Domestic gods, from the crude marble hewn By mortal hands and senseless. With life's milk 125 He learn'd to kiss the smoke-polluted stone, And murmur praise. His way of glowing youth Was drunk with tales of glory and the fame Of Rome's primeval days, when her rude sons Worshipped the shrine of Victory with blood, 130 BOOK IV. 83 And Stator Jove from the Tarpeian rock Fulmined against the Senones. He heard Her ardent * legate before Caesar's throne Plead for his sacred country, and invoke Her Genius, like a soul, informing still 135 The limbs of her vast empire ; and he thought The spirit of Rome's fortunes even then Was hovering o'er them, and inspired his tongue To strive for their religion, the old rites Hallo w'd by custom and endear'd by years 140 Of conquest and dominion. His thoughts teem'd With ancient augurs, and the spotless train Of Vestal maids, who nursed the undying flame That lit Rome's nascent greatness, and he cursed The Holy One of Israel with his saints, 145 Who marr'd the fates of Rome. Chance led his eye To that poetic f page, where truth display'd Its mirror, to dispel the phantoms vain Of soul-deluding eloquence, and sung The crown of martyrdom, what time the rod, 150 The axe, and fire, of stern Galerius ruled God's people, and scourged X by unrelenting hands The child in anguish lisp'd the name of Christ, Scorning the proffer'd beverage, to cool Death's fever; while his mother, smiling joy, 155 Kiss'd his blood-sprinkled limbs, and cheer'd his soul Half trembling at the gates of glory. Then The spirit of Cyprian was stirr'd ; he felt * Symmachus pleaded pro sacra patria, a.d. 384. t The poetry of Prudentius ; see his answer to the pleading of Sym- machus. t St. Romanus, see Prudentius. G 2 84 ATTILA. His inmost thoughts renew'd, to spurn the Gods Who long had awed him, the adulterous crew 160 Of lewd imaginations deified, Incestuous Jove, and his illicit love In bestial shapes, with all the deeds impure Of those adored as holy. Thus he turn'd Unto that sacred writ, with which compared 165 All earthly wisdom is but foolishness. A pagan so he drank the saving milk From # Saragossa's bard ; and big with zeal Stretch'd eastward to the pleasant vales, that lie Nigh Siloa's brook, and Jordan's flowery marge ; 1 70 And journeying by shadowy Hebron's side Or leafy Carmel, near the Asphaltic plain Fair garden once of Siddim, he arrived Rhinocerura and the humming sedge Of that Sirbonian swamp, whose treacherous pool 175 Flanks Egypt. Fresh from scenes of holy awe, And full of his Redeemer, on he press'd Beyond Pelusium and Tamis green To Alexandria, where stood high enshrined Serapis, lord of the infernal host. 180 There, facing Pharos and Canopus old Named of the serpent, (while the doubtful crowd Cower'd nigh the fane sublime, and popular dread Suspended Caesar's edict,f lest the God, By profanation maim'd, should breathe strange plagues On fertile Egypt) near the mitred pride Of stern Theophilus, the beardless youth * Prudentius, born there, died in 408. t The edict of Theodosius, to destroy idols. BOOK IV. 85 Stood foremost. Snatching from the prelate's guard A ponderous battle-axe, alone he scaled The dread colossus, while each tongue was mute, 190 Profane or faithful, smit with sacred fear ; Lest heaven, earth, sea, into one shapeless mass, At the first daring stroke, together rush Confounded : so seers threaten'd 3 and who least Believed, grew pale with doubt. Nathless unawed 195 To the unveiPd visage of the God he clombe, Waving his weapon high. Swart Egypt gazed By breathless expectation rivetted. He smote the golden cheek ; a long loud clang Rung o'er the silent heads of that still throng, 200 Who listen'd, as its echoes borne away Died slowly, for the thunder-clap of heaven. Serene it shone and tranquil, as when first, Call'd by its Maker's word, the green earth sprang From primal chaos. Then the Christian shout 205 Rose fierce and haughty on the startled air ; Then pikes and axes gleam'd and massive crows, And frequent grew the crash, while crumbling down Temple and idol fell, and gorgeous walls Of solid masonry. Wo worth the hour, 210 That overwhelm'd the letter'd wealth of Time And science in that ruin ! # all the day, Remorseless havoc sack'd the pagan fanes. Before the throne of Theodosius f cast By zealous Cyprian, lay the triple heads 215 Of Egypt's dragon-monster. He to Gaul, * The library destroyed. t Theodosius was in Rome, in 389. 86 ATTILA. Where Martin* preach'd, and the Bituriges Around the bold ascetic bow'd and pray'd, Trod westward. Oft, beneath his lusty stroke Arm'd by the imperial edict, lopt and maim'd 220 Upon their bloody floor the rustic Gods Lay prostrate ; oft the venerated trunk, Sacred to Pan or Sylvan,f bow'd to ground Its votive chaplets and time-honour'd brow; Around which never more the simple throng 225 Shall dance at eve, unto forbidden Powers Outpouring rural prayer. Thus threescore years Strove Cyprianus, reverenced for zeal Still fervent as in youth. On him the Archfiend Gazed long and wistful, teeming with deceit, 230 Till, alter'd at his will, each feature grew To Cyprian's similitude, and his brow With hoary honours crown 'd, benignly calm, Liken'd the holy anchorite. A robe Girt round him by Hypocrisy, conceal'd 235 The angelic pinions, form'd for heavenly flight. Thus fashion'd, from the mountain's snowy peak Facing Pelorus, on the deep expanse He threw his airy shape : the vast blue way Received him, gliding on his pathless track 240 High above either sea ; past Tsenarus, Past Delphi, where, long mute, his laurel grove Still trembled at his coming ; past the rocks * See Sulpicius Severus's account of this daring, ambitious, self-denying man. t The Roman peasants in the time of Pliny dedicated to some God every tree of surpassing size and beauty. Trees were formerly the tem- ples of the Deities. See Pliny Nat. Hist. I. 12. c. 1. BOOK IV. 87 Of Lemnos, where from the ethereal vault Fell Mulciber ; past that Thracian Chersonese, 245 Which saw Leander to his unchaste love Led by no hallow'd fire ; until he reach'd Byzantium, dropping in a vaporous shroud Hard by the holy walls, where nothing loth Pulcheria # for calm prayer and vigils changed 250 Regal magnificence ; beneath whose sway, Mourning her early loves and hope cut short, In those secluded chambers pined unseen Honoriaf fair and young. The stolen bliss Of that voluptuous passion, like a dream, 255 Had fleeted ; but desires, awaken'd once, Still reign'd within her ; she had learnt the voice Which the flesh speaks, and all her tremulous thoughts Were ready for the tempter. He, revered Beneath that garb of sanctity, pass'd on 260 E'en to the secret oratory, where, Pale and dejected, frail Honoria sat With languid eyes, that on the clear blue flood Of Bosporus, and bloomy Orient hills, Gazed wistful ; while a pearl of lustrous dew 265 Beneath their fringes dark unheeded fell, And her unquiet bosom's rise and fall Seem'd struggling, underneath the silken band, For beauty's freedom. Of his end secure A form so lovely, with a heart so vain, 270 The dangerous angel view'd ; for little needs The tempter's art, when full of lustful prime * Sister of Theodosius. t Sister of the Emperor Valentinian. 88 ATTILA. The pulse of youth is throbbing, to his call Responsive. By her side, soft entering, Stood the dark fiend in sacred guise transform'd. 275 Unwelcome on the damsel thus he stole ; But never breathes the flattery of sin More baleful, than when whisper'd from the lips Of seeming holiness. With fatal guile Seductive thus the Evil one began. 280 " Sleep'st thou, Honoria, in this tranquil cell " Oblivious ? Do the joys of earthly bliss " And nature's glory on thy senses pall " Untasted, or half-known ; or deem'st thou such " With lavish hand by their Creator framed 285 " For ends of evil ? Fairest of his works, " Fashion 'd in beauty, an help meet for man " Not form'd to dwell in loneliness, (so spake " His mighty Author) art thou cloy'd with life ? " Or is it sweet thus vacant to recline 290 " Listening celestial hymns, which hourly rise " Here mid secluded vigils, and excel " Earth's music, warbled near the throne of kings ?" Thus he with subtle purpose, for he knew The fever nestling in her heart, and will'd 295 To fan its baneful heat. The damsel's cheek Blush'd deeper than the carmine tint that glows Upon the front of evening, as the sun Sinks glorious to his couch of living gold. Amazement staid her speech ; from the deep store 300 Of unborn hopes and wishes young as morn, Thoughts burning, by the tempter's voice call'd forth, Mantled her ivory brow. Far other sounds From cold Fulcheria and her virgin mates BOOK IV. 89 Had chill'd her joyless ear; while vain desires, 305 Frequent and high, at the heart's prison door Beat fearfully. The holy-seeming fiend Had touch'd their source, and forth the ardent tide Burst sinful. As at Jove's command the * form Fashion'd by Mulciber in beauty's mould 310 To be by Graces zoned, and crown'd with flowers Wreathed by Persuasion's hand, her casket dire Soft-smiling open'd, where sweet Hope alone Sat like a cherub, while the plagues of heaven Flew diverse, over man dispensing wo; 315 So started her unhallow'd thoughts to life. Half fearful, more than half content, she dropt Her eyes, as if abash'd, while thro' the veil Of their long lashes stream'd the light of love, And guileful thus, (O impotent to cheat 320 The Arch-deceiver !) " Deem not, holy man, " That, by the vast beatitude of life " Unmoved, and thankless for the boon of Heaven, " I turn from earthly joy, or that the world " With all its glorious gifts of good and fair 325 " Palls on my bosom ; but, unskill'd to stem " The shoreless waste of its untravell'd tide, " A maiden's dread may fitly choose retreat " In the still gloom of holiness. What wills " My father with his handmaid ?" " Seasons fit 330 " For prayer and vigils, fit there are for deeds," The fallen spirit replied. " Long hours have I " Knelt in seclusion on the damp cold stones, " Wrestling in prayer: but roused, when need required, * Pandora, 90 ATTILA. " I journey'd thro' the wide and troublous world 335 " To do my mission, and proclaim the Christ. " And, lo ! a mightier than He shall now " Sit in the perilous # seat ! The hour is big " With portents of eventful time. Arise, " First of thy sex, upon whose brow must shine 340 " The diadem of glory ! Thou art call'd " To be the highest, as thou art most fair." The tempter ceased ; and full the snow-white orbs Of that proud damsel's bosom throbb'd and heaved With passions manifold ; impatient fires, 345 That, smouldering in retirement, now burst forth ; Vain-glory, flatter'd by insidious praise ; Indomitable thirst of pomp and power. " Speak on, thy daughter heareth," with low voice Tremulous she murmur' d. Sure of purpose he 350 His guile pursued. " The age of promise dawns " Upon the nations : from the cloud-capt brow " Of Cretan Ida have the gathering f Jews " Heard voices strange and holy, such as once " Thunder'd from Sinai, when the law was first 355 " To man reveal'd by Moses. He, foretold " To come hereafter in the mighty spirit " Of that famed legislator, shakes the fanes " Of the great harlot, septimontane Rome. " Honoria, thou art call'd from holy walls 360 " To be that great one's bride, and sit enshrined " In godlike pomp on the Tarpeian. Send " Fast pledges of thy love to him who wields * Concerning the siege perileux, see Hist, treat. §. 73. t See § 24. BOOK IV. 91 " The flail,* wherewith the nations must be purged, " Imperial Attila ; and bid him claim 365 " Half of Rome's having for thy dower. That done, " Wait silent the almighty march of time." This said, his form wax'd glorious ; youth divine Came like a sunbeam o'er his brow, from which Dark hyacinthine tresses waving shook 370 Ambrosial incense, odours breathing love. As whilom, from the bath of Gadara, The f wizard in Decapolis call'd up The blooming Anteros, and sudden he Rose dripping hot, and shook his raven locks 375 Luxuriant, and by Eros golden-hair'd Equal in beauty stood. So look'd the fiend, While the new lustre, which inform'd his eyes, Spoke things unutterable. With fragrant lips Voluptuous, he upon her willing mouth 380 Planted a glowing kiss, from which inhaled * Attila's title flagellum Dei perhaps meant the flail, rather than the scourge, of God. See Matth. hi. 12. " Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor," &c. t Jamblichus, born at Chalcis in Coelosyria, being at the warm baths of Gadara, and a conversation having arisen between him and others who were bathing, he bid them ask the country people how two of the smaller, but more pleasant, founts were named from of old ; they said the one was called Eros, and the other Anteros. He forthwith, handling the water and uttering a few words, called up from the bottom of the first, a boy, who was white, of moderate size, with golden hair, shining back and breast, and looked like one who had been just bathing. He then led the way to the other fount with an air of meditation, and doing the same there, he called up another boy with glossy black hair. They both clung to him and embraced him, as if he had been their natural father — Eunapius Vita Jambl. 9*2 ATTILA. Shot sinful ardours to her inmost soul ; Then, vanishing in one bright stream of light, Soar'd as a meteor over Pindus ; thence Passing Dyrrachium, o'er the Hadrian flood 385 Sail'd like a nebulous wrack, which seen afar Bodes tempest. Lighting from his airy course He floated in a blazing dream of pride Before thine eyes, Aetius, and recall'd Mysterious prophecies of glory, breathed 390 Over thy cradle, which foretold that thou Shouldst be some great one, by the signs e'en then Portended to the nations. The fell Prince With bland deception whisper'd to thine heart Inaction, faithless to thy country's hope, 395 And traitorous counsels (to delude thy lord) Of flight to Gaul, while thou into the seat Of Rome's imperial sway shouldst stride secure, Coiling the purple round thee, and upheld By dark fraternity of pagan arms. 400 Nor long the arch-betrayer there delay'd, Confiding, that his scatter'd seed would spring, In that congenial soil, to ready growth ; But left him to the evil powers, which ay Glided around his couch, Ambition, Pride, 405 And double-tongued Hypocrisy, and Sin Wreathing her brows with beauty counterfeit. Nor long, ere, speeding his angelic course, Before Rome's venerated pontiff stood The fiend, with spiritual glory bright. 410 The marble domes of the great city lay Below them steep'd in silence, and the eye Of thoughtful Leo dwelt on those huge fanes, BOOK IV. 93 Where the Christ's symbol, late exalted, shone ; And care sat heavy on his mitred brow. 415 Then thus the Evil one ; " Thou deemest right, " Sage prelate ! o'er the immortal town e'en now " Unseen, unheard, with dark and noisome wing " The desolation hangs. Hopeless alike " The eagle and the labarum must bow 420 " Before the scourge of fate. New glories dawn, " And other altars, other fanes, must rise " Terrific to the Fearful one. Bow down " And worship, mortal pre-ordain'd by Time " To wield the Dark one's hierarchal sway !" 425 " There is one God, one Saviour, and one Spirit ;" (Replied the pontiff) " to Him Leo's knee " Bends daily, whether o'er the domes beneath " Heaven's angel showers its wrath, or whispers joy. " There is no fearful one to who, upraised 430 " Above earth's fleeting pomp, beholds the throne " Where mercy radiates, and whose God is love." To him the power malign. " If Israel's God " Be merciful, why bend the feeble knee, " Why stretch the suppliant arms to who is love ? 435 " Say, thou eschew'st his law, is good less good, " Mercy less mercy ? can # the goodly tree * For the tenets of the Marcionites expressed in this speech, see Ter- tullian adv. Marc. 1. i. c. 2. Marcion huilt his doctrine that there were two Gods, the Creator whom we worship, and his own evil God, on the words of St. Luke, " A good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit," (\'\. 43.) inferring that evil could not proceed from the good Being ; in answer to which see the express declaration of Isaiah, xlv. 7. " I form the light, and create darkness ; I make peace, and create evil. I the Lord do these things." 94 ATTILA. ' Bear evil fruit ? Are the unchanging thoughts 6 Of infinite perfection turn'd to ill, ' Because man sports in his licentious hour 440 6 Of brief existence ? Man, fit worm to change ( The spirit immutable of Him benign ' Unto its opposite ! Good showers from Him ' Alike upon the just and the unjust, 4 His necessary boon. Weak mortal, bow 445 6 Unto the king of terrors, who hath power, 6 Nor lacks the will, to work thee deadly harm ; 6 Whose blessings are free gifts, and won from hate 4 By service and submission. Warbled hymns 6 May lull the merciful throne, but deeds must soothe 450 6 The fearful one ; dark sacramental rites, ( Which angels dare not look on, fitly deem'd * To them abomination. Seal in blood i The compact, which shall make thee wise and great ! 6 Then, when the Hun thro' these devoted walls 455 < Shall wade knee-deep in blood, exalted thou { Shalt stand in glory next the chosen. Long years, < Unchanging youth, and vigour to enjoy 4 Sensual delights, fresh unexhausted bliss, 6 My power shall yield thee ; and, not least, the mind's 460 ' Triumphal joy, pride gratified and full ; While sacerdotal glories over all Shall throw the robe of sanctity. The day Pre-ordinate in heaven, ere infant Time From the primeval womb of darkness sprang, 465 Comes striding like a giant ; and these domes, Immortal deem'd by men, must like a scroll Be wasted and consume ; while Antichrist Upon the sevenfold hills shall sit reveal'd." BOOK IV. 95 " O trusty guide and sure," (good Leo cried) 470 " To man benighted ! who in heaven's day-beam, " Amid transcendent brightness, couldst not save " Thyself and thy compeers ; but didst exchange " Supreme beatitude for endless wo ! " When in the prophet's mouth thou didst become 475 " A lying spirit, and lead Israel's # king " To fall at Ramoth-gilead, didst thou hear " The rumour, which should turn the f Syrian back, " And see the chariots of unearthly fire " Reveal'd unto his servant by the seer 480 " On Dothan's mountain, and the sons of Baal " Cut short in their idolatries, beside " His bloody fane ? When o'er the saint | in Uz, " Thy spite invoked the heaven-permitted plagues, " Didst thou foreknow, that all thy malice, spent 485 " Upon his patient brow, would but exalt " God's praise, and on his pious forehead pour " A brighter flood of blessedness ? When thou " Didst tempt thy Lord to bow and worship thee, " Didst thou anticipate thine own rebuke, 490 " And to His glory ministering see " Angels descend? When from the firmament " A star, once glorious, headlong thou didst fall, " Had wisdom to thy subtle thoughts foretold " Thy baffled power, unable to confront 495 " The name of Christ? did knowledge to thine eyes " Foreshew the darksome gulph, where thou hast lain " Exiled from heaven ? or hadst thou read amiss " God's oracles, to thine eternal loss? * 1 Kings xx. 21. + Benhadad. J Job. yb ATTILA. " Who now, as clear from error, as from guilt, 500 " Divinest the counsels of the Holiest ! " Weak howsoe'er man's wisdom to unveil " The will almighty, by His word reveal'd " This Leo knows. There are three Powers, yet One, " That bear record in heaven, omnipotent, 505 " The Father, the Redeemer, and the Spirit, " Girt with angelic ministers. Save Him, " There is no God ; darkness and light are His ; " He hath made good * and evil; by His will " Three names, Accuser, Adversary, Prince, 510 " Are written upon one f accursed brow, " Three names of blasphemy. So walk thou still " Pre-eminent, amid the host of sin, " Thrones and dominions, evermore debarr'd " From the Lamb's presence ; free to tread this world 515 " Of trials and temptation, where their wiles " Permitted for a season, shall invade " Man's walk, not unresisted by the Breath " Proceeding from the Highest, able to save " When from the heart invoked with prayer and praise. 520 * Isaiah xlv. 5 — 7. t The faulty translation of the New Testament has given veiy erro- neous notions of that mysterious being. He is one individual, and the word diabolos or devil is never used in the plural. Whenever the plural, devils, occurs in the English, it is not diaboloi in the original, but daimonia, demons ; and demons should in every instance be substituted for devils. What was the exact nature of the demons, who were said to believe and tremble, and to possess themselves of distempered bodies, we are not informed, but they were not that evil individual, who is some- times called Satan or the adversary, sometimes the devil or accuser, and sometimes the prince of this world or of the power of darkness. BOOK IV. 97 " Rome, and her worldly pomp, may pass away " As other empires, and the church be led " Captive to a strange land, like those, whose harps " Beside the Babylonian waters hung " Silentious ; but that edifice, which Christ 525 " Built on a rock, for ever shall endure " One and unchangeable. The gates of Hell " Shall not prevail against it. Great is the worth " In mercy's eye of good, however scant ; u When fire rain'd down from heaven, had ten just men " Found shelter in the cities of the plain, " They might have stood, and Jordan wound his way " Into the bosom of his native earth " As pure and wholesome, as his limpid fount " In Lebanon ; while two or three remain 535 " Still faithful in the church, even * the knees " Which have not bow'd to Baal, the Lord shall be " Amongst them, and the fire-tongued Paraclete " Shall dwell within its everlasting walls. " To Him I turn me ; by that holy aid 540 " I do adjure thee, evil spirit, fly !" He said, and on his brow majestic beam'd The sunshine of his soul. To him in scorn The baffled fiend ; for, thus adjured with might, Deceitful beauty left him, and he stood, 545 Though fierce and unabash'd, of glory shorn, Leprous, deform'd. " Raise orisons," he cried, " To Him who sleepeth, and must needs be roused " To look on His creation ! At noon day " Light tapers, to outshine His glorious sun ! 550 * 1 Kings xix. 18. H 98 ATTILA. " March on, sleek prelates, till your bloated pride " Grasp at the world's dominion, and for gold " Sell, what unpurchased to my slaves I yield, " Indulgence bland, and license to achieve " All the sweet works of sin. The time is nigh, 555 " When neither praise upon these hills, nor prayer, " Shall, uncorrupted, rise to Judah's God. " Hypocrisy, with all the host of Hell, " Shrouded beneath the hierarchal robe " Shall nestle, and the goatish foot tread down 560 " Meek Chastity to earth. Vain priest, survey " Thy native Europe! where the pagan fanes " Lie desolate, e'en now new idols rise. " Meet creed ! meet calendar of men * baptized ! " Saint Hercules defend thee, man of God ! 565 " Say paternosters at the Christian shrine " Of Mars the murderer sanctified ! or him " Hight Cappadocian f George, whose red right hand " Guides, mid the crash of arms, the dragon car " Of thundering Triptolemus ; nor least 570 " To him f of Erin, whose mysterious name " Prepares the way of Antichrist ! The blood, u The very bones of martyrs are grown Gods, " Thronging the star-paved domes, usurping heaven. * The pernicious practice of the eai'ly ages in compounding with the unconverted heathens by sanctifying their tutelary and provincial Gods, and dedicating their temples to martyrs with similar names, as for instance, the temple of the God Belis or Felis to St. Felix, sometimes called St. Felus, at Aquileia, and of Flora to St. Floranus at Brescia, whereby the pagan superstitions were engrafted on Christianity, was a primary cause of the corruption of the church of Rome. t St. George. t St. Patrick. BOOK IV. 99 " Bend, pious suppliant, bend the faithful knee 575 " To hell's best symbol, my own rosy cross, " Type of that antique fosse, where damned shades " Sipp'd nightly, frothing to its brim, the dew " Of human sacrifice ! In cloister'd halls " Beneath pride's panoply secure, strange priests 580 " Forbidding * wedlock, but in private hours " Wedded to all incontinence, shall gorge " The sacrament of sin, by Manes given " To all that darkling worship Erebus " Under the Christ's similitude. For each 585 " A beardless page shall bear his red-cross shield, " A sign from Calvary ; but their inward vest " Broider'd shall hide the chisel, adze, and saw, " Compass and square, and all the various tools " That rear'd the offensive mount on Sennaar's plain. 590 " Pass on, where fate shall lead, my well-beloved, " Than whom more pious worshippers ne'er served " Nature in f Lampsacus ! The Gaul shall foil " Your luxury and pomp ; yet shall ye wait " Veil'd by deception, and in secret dens 595 " Hold close fraternity ; till I and mine " With miracles to battle shall collect, " In J Armageddon, all the kings of earth." While in the just man's ear the angelic voice Yet rang, the Prince had vanish'd; and, as once 600 Upon the bestial herd, which driven amain Plunged headlong mid the Galilean § waves, * Marriage was forbidden by Marcion. See Tertullian adv. Marc. 1. 1. Marcion was a native of Pontus, and son of a Christian bishop. t Famous for its impure idolatries, and worship of Priapus. t Rev. xvi. 14 and IG. § Luke viii. 33. TI 2 100 ATTILA. Fell unresisted on the dark conclave Of Arian bishops. They demented swore Allegiance to the Hun, so to exalt 605 The name of their heresiarch, and leagued With heathendom o'erthrow the goodly fold One and inseparable ; not * call'd of man, Cephas, or Paul, or that sage eloquent, Whose speech drew Corinth's wondering sons astray, 610 Fervent in zeal A polios. Fools ! that took The precious words of everlasting life From mortal man, and named themselves of him, Whoe'er presumptuous wore the impious badge Of knowledge, worse than folly, and more vain, 615 Arius, or Manes, or who raised f the head Of Babel's mighty hunter in the fold, Marcion the accurst ! Alas ! that still Schismatic zeal with various names the flock Leads diverse ! He, who cannot lie, hath said, 620 A kingdom shall not stand, against itself Divided; and thy banners multiform Shew of what kingdom, and what spirit thou art, Conflicting Heresy ! the child of pride, The worm that saps the healthy tree, and gives 625 Occasion to the foe ! Let all to Him, Who hath destroy'd the wisdom of the wise, And brought to nothing the disputer, bow, * See 1 Cor. i. and iii., where disunion in the church of Christ and adherence to the tenets of particular teachers are strenuously reproved. t Prudcntius states that the Charontean head of Nimrod was the evil God of Marcion. See above, v. 450, &c, and the notes thereon. BOOK IV. 101 Sworn to no mortal * leader ! and let all, Child of the virgin womb, be named of Thee, 630 Christ, our salvation ! Plain are thy behests To those who with a sound and humble mind Obey them, nor deluded by such guides, As with presumptuous half-sighted pride Walk in a maze, and wrest the word of truth 635 To their destruction, nor by passion led To lean upon a dead and hollow faith That doth not fructify ; for man is call'd To know himself unworthy, and by sin Encompass'd, from whose toils no issue is, 640 Save thro' that holy aid, which is a light To guide thro' perils all who seek aright The narrow way of life ; to lift due praise To the Almighty, thro' that hallow'd name By which alone salvation is to man, 645 His Saviour and his j udge ; to pray for help, In every trouble, and refreshment sure By that all-healing Spirit, which descends From the high throne of power, on all who seek Comfort from their Creator, and approach 650 The seat of mercy thro' no other name * As the Marcionites, Arians, Manicheans, &c. adhered to the persons from whom they derived their respective denominations. The object of these lines is to assert the excellence of the doctrine of our establishment, (which adheres to the opinions of no earthly teacher, and repudiates every thing- as necessary to salvation, which cannot be proved from Scripture) the unfitness of disagreement amongst its members, of animosity against it on the part of sectarians, and exagge- ration of the differences between the several denominations of the Protestant church. Jo J 102 ATTILA. Than that He hath ordain'd. This to believe, And this to do, and, having done, to stand Obedient, justified thro' righteous faith By Him, whose blood for this benighted world 655 Hath made atonement, is the bread of life, Whereon, who feed, shall never taste of death ; And wo to those, or rather, as most need, Be mercy on their heads, whose worldly pride (Deluding their own hearts, and clothed with zeal, 660 A specious mantle), mid the sons of Christ Upraise dividing banners, beacons new, To separate, amaze, perplex, mankind ! Be mercy upon those, whoever dive Too deeply into dark mysterious paths 665 That do not profit, and with fearful voice Scare the repentant sinner from his God ! And Thou, Almighty Father, to whose throne We have access thro' Christ, unite thy sons, And hasten, Lord, thy kingdom ! Teach all those 670 Who glorify thy name, sincere of heart, By whatsoe'er denomination call'd, That Thou didst never in thy church exalt Man against man ! O teach them to embrace Union of heart and worship ! Give thy sons 675 Humility, of all the beauteous gems, That stud the coronet of Christian faith, The brightest and the best ! with which is link'd That which outweighs all gifts of human wit, Or subtle apprehension of things veil'd 680 In mystery, and hard to be conceived; That which excels all knowledge, and all power That ever by the Spirit was vouchsafed BOOK IV. 103 To thine elect, meek charity, which joins Heart unto heart, links faith with faith, and brings 685 The lowly, justified by Him who died, Under the shadow of Thy mighty wing ! ATTILA BOOK FIFTH. Queen of the subject plain, where Danau's wave Rolls southward, swollen with Carpathian floods, Sicambria, sloping from her airy brow, Lords o'er Pannonia. Red with Bleda's death, And emulous of Rome, her walls had drunk 5 A dire piation of fraternal # gore, Hell's sacrament. With pagan banners bright, And, bristling with defence, their mighty skirts Stretch'd even to the waters, which roll'd by Majestic, wafting to the stately halls 10 Of far Byzantium the big threat of war. There, vex'd by Chalons' strife, the dreaded Hun Whetted his fangs, and, in his lair retired, Couch'd as a lion. Thence on either throne Defiance proud and brief his heralds threw; 15 " Caesar, make smooth the way ! my lord and thine " Comes in his power !" He in Sicambria's hold Girt with Teutonic and Sclavonian kings Kept holyday secure. No marble domes There gorgeous frown'd ; no high triumphal piles 20 With sculptured stone, cornice, or fretted arch, Told, how resistless on Hesperian realms * The brother of Attila, killed by him. BOOK V. 105 The Hunnish deluge, from Aurora's bounds, Came sweeping. Of gigantic timber, roll'd Adown Tibiscus, from the leafy skirts 25 Of Crapak, and Pannonia's utmost glens, Compact the vast metropolis arose, Simple, and huge. Within, the rifled wealth Of Europe vied with Asiatic spoils. There Tyrian purple glow'd, and lustrous robes 30 From orient Sericana ; there outpour'd Sparkled the vintage of Tokayan hills In cups of massive gold ; Burgundian grapes Breathed odoriferous joy. There beauty's ray Half-smiling shone thro' tears ; the virgin flower 35 From many a desolated realm, to deck A Scythian haram, torn ; Albanian locks Of wavy gold ; and radiant eyes, that shamed The blue serene of Persia's summer skies ; Arms whiter than their native Scandian snows, 40 And the dark-kindling glance of amorous Spain, And cheeks soft-blushing, which outvied the rose Of southern Gaul : lips redolent of love Murmur'd delight, and song and music blazed Beneath each echoing roof; while the sweet fume 45 From thousand boards, loaded with precious skill, Solicited the sense. Not he,* who, erst Alike in battle or the banquet's pomp Surpassing Pontic Mithridate, bereaved Each vocal thicket of night's lonely bird, 50 Feasted more daintily. Attired in silk, Caparison'd with gold and jewels rare, * Lucullus. 106 ATTILA. Sapphire or ruby, in his sumptuous stall Each Scythian charger neigh'd forejoying war, And lash'd his shining flank. Amid the blaze 55 Of such luxurious splendour unadorn'd, The Hun abode amongst his subject kings Rejecting ease. A wooden platter bore His simple meal, the flesh of grazed beast ; But mightiest tower'd his palace, flank'd all round 60 With arduous columns, each a stately pine From distant forests hewn ; their glossy trunks Shew'd beauteous, and rich capitals adorn'd Their airy summits, carved with forms grotesque. The walls were polish'd timber, quaintly wrought 65 With deep * insculpture, and relieved by shapes In bold projection by a master's hand Moulded for ornament. Nor humblest rose, Nor least in glory, the majestic halls, Where royal Creca midst her female train 70 Lay on a couch voluptuous ; they the while Upon a gorgeous carpet ranged around Broider'd the silken vest, or tissues rare Of Gallic loom. Hard by the regal towers The baths of Onegese alone display'd 75 A marble front, in Sirmian quarries hewn Far southward. The full glory of the moonf Illumed the opening year, by Huns revered Long since in central Asia, where all night The heaven-born Tanjoo f watch'd its silver orb. 80 Beneath that radiance in Sicambria's halls * Sec Hist, treatise, § 35. t Sec Dcs Guigncs torn. 1. pt. 2. p. 16 & 17. BOOK V. 107 A solemn feast was spread. The awful Hun Severely silent on a throne of wood Sat on the dais exalted. By his side Stood Irnach, leaning on a Scythian bow, 85 The hope of prophecy. With kindlier look Unbending his stern brow, the pensive king Regarded his young limbs and unshorn cheek. Four royal tributaries shared his meal, Valamer the Goth, and his two crown'd compeers, 90 All from the blood of ancient Amal sprung, Robed in their scarlet pomp ; and Arderic, Gepidian king, whose crest of jetty plumes And coal-black mantle were the dread of Rome, Faithful and well-beloved, but doom'd to wrest 95 The sceptre from his issue. Fitly ranged Below the imperial dais, in double row Abundant tables smoked, and gave the eye A lengthen'd view of silver and of gold, Spoil of the western cities, on the board 100 Resplendent. Station'd at the portal wide Two seneschals, whose ministerial garb Norwegian bears and white zibellines gave, Bore golden bowls ; and each successive guest, Entering, from these upon the threshold quaff'd 105 Pannonian wine, and prelibation made Hailing the king of kings ; then took the seat By rank assign'd, four at each smoking board, And sumptuous was the fare. Most honour'd they, Who on the right caroused. The pompous seats 1 10 With linen of fine tissue were o'erlaid, And costliest carpets gave delicious ease, Refulgent with a thousand hues. To each 108 ATTILA. (The precious chalice to his lips just raised) Uprising Attila pledged health and joy; 115 Abstemious he, though wassail shook the hall. Anon to silence hush'd each gleeful sound Died on the lips, as rose the vocal strain Before the couch of Attila. Two bards Successive vied ; in accents wild and sweet 120 First Scandian Eric sang. Thy strength he praised, Immortal Attila ! thy godlike power, By many a mystic title darkly veiFd, Odin, # or Sigurd ! and thy coat of steel With dread teraphim graved, the giant head 125 From Mimer lopt, which gave responses dark ; The wondrous treasures of the serpent slain, And that terrific horse, nigh Bufil's f tarn Gender'd by Sleipner, (on whose mighty flanks, Ethereal, the great sire of Gods and men 130 Rides thundering, and Gladsheim shakes beneath) Pale Grana, thro' bright flames and crackling fire Urged by thy prowess, but to other hands Untamed and breathing death. Great king of Danes, He told thy ways of mightiness, in thee 135 The strength, the pride, the wonders of the north, * Sec Hist, treatise, $ 69 and 70. t Sigurd, (identical in Scandinavian legends with Attila) having gone into the forest to choose a wild horse, was conducted by an old man with a long beard to a lake called Bufil-tiorn, where they drove the herd of horses into the deep water. One alone could swim to the opposite bank, and him they selected. He was grey, young, of great size and strength. The old man told him it was the son of Sleipner, and then vanished. " Sigurd named it Grana, and it proved the best of horses, having been selected by Odin himself." Volsunga saga, r. 22. BOOK v. 109 Concentrated ; then struck a louder string, And sung Valhalla, round the throne of light Where the brave rise to glory, where they join The eternal fight, and clash their radiant arms 140 Of never-fading adamant, or joy The odoriferous drink on thrones of gold. The bard's eye kindled, and his voice, prolong'd In full harmonious ecstacy, swell'd high Unto the vaulted roof. Young Irnach twang'd 145 His Scythian bow, and each chief rising smote The iron buckler with his gleamy brand, A wild accord. Preluding then began Arpad the Scythian, famed for tuneful art. Of olden times he told, of distant realms 1 50 Beyond Maeotis, and the far abode Of those great Tanjoos on the lofty ridge, Whence Amur rushes to the utmost sea Against Saghalien, who on solemn days Descended from their mountains, to adore 155 The sun at morn, the full-orb'd moon by night, In the vast plain of Tartary, supreme From Irtisch to the wave Aurora's beam First brightens. War and sorcery he sang, The clang of battle on the Chinese bounds, 1 60 And those bold Avars overthrown, whose * khan With his intrepid chivalry fell flat Before the Hun's enchantment, tempest dark, Amazing storm, and arrowy shower of sleet, * The Geougen or Avars, whose khan was overthrown by the Huns, believed that the Huns could stir up supernatural tempests by enchant- ment. This was supposed to be effected by the power of a stone called Gczi. See Sherefeddin Ali, Hist. Tim. 1. 12. 110 ATTILA. Raised by that stone miraculous, which draws 165 Darkness and terror from the womb of heaven. Of Buddha's might he told : him oft the swain Hears nightly, on the bleak Riphean ridge . Goading his brazen car, (to earthly wheels A path impracticable) while his steeds 170 Neigh thunder, and toss lightning from their manes ; Or, southward bending, he surmounts thy head, Imaus, crown 'd with everlasting snow, From Siam and the golden Chersonese Snuffing the blood of captives, from the woods 175 Dark and untouch'd of Laos and Gamboge, Assam, and Ava, and lights with lurid fires A thousand altars in Taprobane. Then changed his strain to sing the palmy groves Of sweet Engaddi, Siddim's fairy vale, 1 80 Where glitters on the bough that wondrous # fruit, Which, touch'd, in airy dust evanishes, Form'd for refreshment of the sprites that dwell In that strange wilderness. There nursed in joy He told how infant Attila reclined 185 On his unearthly cradle. They unseen Shower'd fragrance, flowers of amaranthine hue, * Known by the name of Sodom apples, to which Milton alludes Par. Lost, x. 561. Josephus mentions them as dissolving into ashes and smoke at the first touch. Anselm (Descr. ter. sane. p. 1308. ed. Canisii) says, they grow on the ascent of the hill of Engaddi from Segor. Fulcherus Carnotensis saw the fruit at Segor. — Gest. Dei per Franc. Mr. Jolifte described them (Lett. fr. Palest. 1. 130) of a bright yellow, about the size of apricots, growing in clusters on a shrub five or six feet high, about half a mile from the plain of Jericho. They have lately been ascertained not to be really fruit, but oak-apples occasioned by an insect on a species of dwarf oak. BOOK V. Ill Upon his sleeping limbs, immerged with rites Mysterious in that sea, whose sullen flood Hides Admah and her * sisters; hence to man 190 Invulnerable. Long and loud he sang Empire predestined to the wondrous child ; And, big with fate, already seemed to shake Rome's ramparts, and Byzantium's golden halls, Sounding the trump of fate. Next tuned his verse 195 Marullus, f on Calabrian mountains sprung From blood of old % Messapus, near the shades * Gomorrha, Sodom, and Zeboiim. t Marullus the Calabrian, said to have been the most distinguished poet of his age, sung or recited a poem to Attila which excited his in- dignation, not however at his court in Pannonia, but during the Italian campaign. It can scarcely be doubted that he was the same person whose poem called Paraleipomena, being a continuation of the Iliad, has descended to us as written by Quintus the Calabrian, the only distin- guished poet of this period, to which his work is proved by peculiarities of style to be referable. He asserts that he fed Diana's flock at Smyrna, with evident allusion to a line in Hesiod, who says that he fed the lambs of the Muses ; and the Calabrian, in stating that he did so at Smyrna, meant to insinuate that the soul of Homer, the reputed bard of Smyrna, had passed into his body, and the name Quintus was perhaps also assumed with a reference to Quintus Ennius, the more ancient Cala- brian poet born at Kubise, and descended from king Messapus, who pre- tended also to have dreamt that the soul of Homer had passed into his body by a fifth incarnation. Moreri, and the French Encyclopaedists (following him) call the poet, who sung before Attila, Marullus Tacitus, without citing any authority for the latter name, which does not appear in any of the three editions of the historian Callimachus, or in any other work to which I have had access, though it is difficult to believe that Moreri invented it. If it can be authenticated, the name of the author of the Paraleipomena would seem to have been Quintus Marullus Tacitus. t Ennius antiqua Messapi ab origine regis. Rudite genuere vetustce. — Sil. Ital. xii. 393. 112 ATTILA. Of Rudise to the muses dear, but (far From dark * Galesus and the f trickling caves Frequented by rude Pan, the cool resort 200 Once of the coy Oreades) beside Maeonian Meles his unbearded youth Fed Dian's % flock in Smyrna, smit with love Of Jove's immortal maids : and thence emerged To tell of deeds heroic, left unsung * 205 By the blind bard of Greece ; thy blood-stain'd limbs, Mavortian § queen, o'er which Cythera breathed Fresh charms in death, by fierce Achilles stripped, s Who saw too late around her unhelm'd brow The wavy ringlets fall. Marullus sung 210 The ship of ancient days, || which breasted first Cimmerian billows, by the serpent % steer'd, Iolcan pine,** and from its holy keel * Qua niger humectat flaventia culta Galesus. — Virg. G. 4. 126. t Messapiaque arva reliquit, In quibus antra viclet, quae multa nubila sylva Et levibus guttis manantia semicaper Pan Nunc tenet, at quodam tenuerunt tempore Nymphee. Ovid. Met. xiv. 11. \ Quintus Calaber, Lib. xii. 306. § Penthesilea. See the account of her death in Quintus Calaber. || The ship Argo. The Argonautics of Orpheus are also referable to the age of Attila, and have very much the appearance of having been written to amuse the court of a Northern heathen, from the passage which is attributed to the ship thro' the Baltic by a circuitous course to the Mediterranean. 11 The serpent Caneph or Canopus steered the ship Argo, and is the star at its helm in the constellation. Tiphys the pilot, mentioned by Apollonius Rhodius, seems to be a corruption of the Greek Ophis a ser- pent with the article prefixed. ** SeeOrph. Argon. 1155. It was built of Iolcan pine, but the keel was of oak from Dodona, and had the gift of speech and prophecy. Zrtipav AOr/vairi Aujcuvidog typfiotrt tyqyou.—Ap. lihod. 1. 527. BOOK V. 113 Emitted mystic sounds, prophetic strains. He sang its passage thro' the unplough'd seas 215 To outer darkness, where Riphaean snows And # Phlegra, towering with its giant head, Preclude the sun ; beyond the golden sands, Which Arimaspians lave ; beyond the realm Of beauteous Amazons, succinct for war ; 220 And those far-famed Macrobians, who live Twelve thousand years, each wondrous month prolong'd A hundred summers, free from strife or cares, And, stretch'd upon the fragrant meadow, taste Ambrosia dropt from heaven ; serene they shine 225 With equal beauty and unalter'd bloom, And, when death comes at last, in gentle sleep They sink unheeding. Past those realms of bliss Miraculous, thro' deep Cimmerian night Shaping its course, where green Ierne breaks 230 The Atlantic billows, to the columns huge Of Hercules, and fair Hesperia ; past iEolian Cymae, where the Sybil's leaves Were strewn, divine futurities. " E'en now " The last great period of Cymsean song 235 M Comes in its glory. Lo ! a present God ! " A present God !" the nattering Roman cried ; tc Triumphant offspring of Olympic Jove, " Greater than Bacchus, hail ! Shout CEvoe thrice ! " Awake the thiasus, and round his brow 240 " Bind ivy, bind the Dionysian vine !" Him straight the Hun cut short. " Blasphemer,f cease ! * See Orph. Arg. for this and the following traditions, t Most of the writers who have related this anecdote, have stated it as if Attila repudiated divine honours ; in the account of Palladio alone, X 114 ATTILA. " Bear him to death ! Thy song pollutes our ears " With praise of orgies loathed, and the foul Gods " Of Greece and Rome. The Fearful one, ne'er seen, 245 " Who, making darkness his pavilion, dwells " With Chaos # and Eternity, is God ; " Attila his scourge on earth." Sternly he spoke Rejecting adulation, nor endured Similitude with Bacchus ivy-crown'd, 250 By Scythians most abhorr'd, and ever spurn'd False honours, mocking his exalted state ; Though proud to name himself the scourge of Him, Whose spirit, arbiter of mortals, dwelt In his terrific sword. Praise, such as slaves 255 Warbled to Rome's soft Caesars, on his ear Fell hateful, but submission lull'd his wrath. A kindlier sign he made, that fatal doom Suspending, and two motley forms advanced, Natures debased, making unseemly mirth 260 With license, such as greatness yields to fools, When cloy'd with joyless pomp. Of Moorish blood Swart Zeucon, hideous, short, with misshaped limbs, Waked the hoarse laugh, oft mingling shallow jests With horrible contortions. Nor less vain 265 A Scythian of strong limbs, with dexterous sleight, Rude noise, and fearful adjurations, feign'd it appears that the offence was that he celebrated Attila as a descendant of the Gods, meaning undoubtedly the Gods of Greece and Rome. Herodotus tells us that the Scythians put to death their king Scylas for joining in the rites of Bacchus, which they held in abomination. It is remarkable that Palladio calls the poet Attilano Marullo, which seems to imply that he had borne the surname of Attilanus, for the idiom of the language would not allow the use of Attilano so prefixed as an adjective. * See Boccacio Genealog. d. Dei. BOOK V. 115 Power more than human, tho' degraded low Beneath his fellow men. Unmoved the king Hears the hall ring with mixt applause and scorn. 270 The feast was ended; glaring light no more Vied with the silver moonlight ; when toil-worn A muffled eunuch, from Byzantium's court, Admission craved. A ring of precious ray To Attila, and next a scroll he gave 275 Traced by a feminine and skilful hand ; Thus ran its secret style. " In prime of youth " Honoria, daughter of Constantius, greets " The royal Hun ! A brother's wrong withholds " Her birthright, half Rome's empire ; and immured, 280 " A barren victim, in Pulcheria's cell, " Unheard, unpitied, unrevenged, she sighs. " Her hand she tenders, king of men, to thee, " With all that appertaineth. Claim thy bride, " And take her to thy throne of majesty." 285 This read, short space he mused. Honoria's charms Were rare and widely famed, fit to adorn His oft replenish'd harem. The proud claim To half Rome's power, the dowry of his bride, Squared with his high demands, and firm resolve 290 To seize the whole. Courteous assent he gave By princely gifts confirm'd. Then with the dawn Dispatch'd his challenge for the beauteous hand Of that sequester'd damsel, and her rights Without subtraction of one paltry rood, 295 Half of the wide domain Rome's ample sway Held subject ; with the earliest blush of spring Determinate his purpose, to invade Italia's pleasant vales, the fruitful banks i 2 116 ATTILA. Of Tiberis, and snatch the mural crown 300 Twelve hundred summers worn. Meanwhile strange fame Ran thro' Byzantium, murmur'd first, and low, Amongst her holy dames ; then bruited wide, Till, rife upon the tongues of bearded men Thro' all her marble walks, Honoria's guilt 305 Spread fiery indignation and amaze. Pulcheria, who had raised a * husband's strength To share the throne imperial, but denied Marital access to her virgin bed, With angry taunting and reproachful scorn 310 Bespoke the damsel thus. " O Satan's child, " Nurtured in sin, and form'd thus fair perchance " To be thy country's bane ! Have lengthen'd years " Of penance only harden'd thee in ill ? " The leprous taint of thy first guilty love 315 " Clings to thee, working in these holy bowers " Unheard pollution, sin against the Highest ; " Sin unconsummated, but gender'd deep " In thy corrupted heart, which would betray " Thy body, temple of God's holy Spirit, 320 " To Moloch and his chosen upon earth, " Grim Attila. O shame to womankind ! " Sin hath been done ere now, and beauty sunk " Under soft blandishments, by fatal charms " Beguiled to its perdition; but this man 325 " Terrific is in mind and mien deform'd, " Hell's dread vicegerent." Blushing loveliness, With tremulous speech the guilty fair replied. " If it be evil, nor unmoved, nor cold, * Marcian. BOOK V. 117 " To gaze on God's creation ; those green hills, 330 " Where the mild breeze of freedom ever blows, " To me denied; and that majestic sea " Sparkling beneath, which one while, chafed with winds, " Swells as it would o'er-top them ; one while, spread " Like a pure mirror of serenest blue, 335 " Gives back their aspect in smooth peacefulness, " Image of varied life, which Heaven ordain'd " To be the lot of mortals ; if it be ill " To deem His gifts of beautiful or sweet " Created for the use ; Honoria's heart 340 " Hath err'd, responsive to the voice, that speaks " From all His works. Did He, who form'd the eye, " Forbid it to look forth on the fair shapes " Which He has fashion' d, to delight the soul " Thro' that bright inlet ? He, who made the heart, 345 " Deny its pulse to throb ? He, who has breathed " The fresh prolific spring, of power to wake " All nature, with a seraph's ministry, " From the dull couch of winter ! He, who bade " The lavrock carol his o'erflowing bliss 350 " Up to the gates of heaven ! give youthful bloom, " Not unadorn'd with such brief attributes " As charm the sense, to be immured unseen, " Joyless and unenjoy'd, in living death ? " A witness breathes in every genial wind ! 355 " The day, the morn, the dewy fall of night, " Has each its several voice, that utters speech " Gone forth unto the uttermost parts of earth " To do His bounteous bidding ! to declare, " That what He freely showers upon his works 360 " Should, to His glory, be as freely used ! 1 18 ATTILA. " Not grandeur, tho' the blood of Caesar beat " In these full veins, not frail desires have turn'd " My heart to heathendom, but tedious hours, " Nocturnal orisons, and vigils cold, 365 " To which the worst varieties of life " Were as a devious garden, set with thorns, " But breathing joy." " Short joy," the imperial dame Rejoin'd, "and odious. From Ravenna's court " Exiled by Valentinian, thou. didst bring 370 " The tainted rumour of illicit love " A prisoner to Byzantium. Here, received " By me into this cloister, thou hast led " A placid life retired, not without prayer " To who can make the scarlet of thy guilt 375 " Whiter than snow. But thou, to evil sold, " In this pure solitude hast made the word " A stumbling-block for sin. The senate's voice " Hath judged thee, and thy sentence Marcian dooms " Unchangeable. The barque with strutting sails 380 " Rides on the water, which must waft thee back " In riper youth dishonour'd to the shores, " Whence vile dishonour sent thine earlier bloom " Ejected. There in some close dungeon's vault, " Where this vain world, thine idol, never more 385 " Stirring rank thoughts shall dawn upon thee, wake " From this thy carnal dream, and muse in tears " Upon eternity, and that dread trump " Which must arouse thee, from death's narrow housed " Unto thy latest and unchanging doom. 390 There is a tide, which, taken at the flood, Leads man to fortune ; there are moments too, On which no glorious swell of worldly pomp, BOOK V. 119 No earthly promise waits, but mightier far Eternity. A word, an eye-blink oft 395 Has turn'd the most benighted of mankind To orient hopes, and, like a sudden flash In the night-storm, bewray'd the narrow path To his immortal weal. Severe she ceased, But to the chiding of her bitter speech 400 Reply was none ; the damsel stood rebuked, Like man's original mother, when she first Knew she was naked, and the voice of God In paradise upon her startled ear Fell terrible, of that forbidden fruit 405 Demanding, which sore tempted she had pluck'd. So lovely, so abash'd, Honoria heard The judgment; and soon, rudely circled round By armed force, upon the Grecian prow Hopeless she sat, a captive; or, if hope 410 Dawn'd on her heart, it was a distant beam From those blest regions, where her lustful youth Had never bent the soul's deluded eye. Pensive she view'd the deep, whose clear blue waves Heaved beauteous, softly as from Chalcedon came 415 The balmy breeze ; adown Propontis smooth, By Sestos and Abydos, glided slow The lightsome barque with every canvass spread; Seen from Caphareus far beneath the sun, Like a bright sea-mew, on the azure way 420 Threading the Cyclades. Nor long before, Coasting Cythera to the queen of loves Late sacred, they descried the rocky caves Of Tsenarus, where poets feign the gates Of gloomy Dis ; thence bounding o'er the deep 425 120 ATTILA. Ionian to thy shores right opposite, Brundusium, close beneath the leafy brow Of high Garganus steer, and sailing fast Approach Ravenna, near whose stately towers, Eridanus, thine ample torrent chafes 430 The fretful Hadrian. Who, O who, hath view'd, Untouch'd with rapture, those sun-lighted seas, Fancy's primeval cradle ! where each rock, Each hoary headland breasting back their foam, Each mountain's glorious summit, with the voice 435 Of other times, speaks music to the heart ; Waking once more the notes, attuned of old At Elis to the touch of golden lyres, And oft at rocky Pytho, when the bard Of Greece upon the laurel'd victor breathed 440 Immortal inspirations ! Who hath look'd On those bright islands in the iEgean deep, Famed Athens, or thy huge # Cyclopean gate, Mycenae ! nor from each time-honour'd shore Felt breezes redolent of glory blow ! 445 Mournful and mute upon the prow reclined Honoria, gazing with unalter'd brow Upon the glassy billows, as they lay By golden sun-light or serener beams Of silvery night illumed ; but all en r need 450 Her thoughts were in Ravenna's gorgeous halls, Where she had trod on purple, in the spring Of her just budding charms, listening to sighs By infant love unto her willing heart • Kuk\u)7T(a)v Kavovioai 7repi%(i)c$tl(ra MuKrjprj. The nate of Cyclopean blocks of stone without mortar is said to be still standing sit Myccna 1 . BOOK V. 121 Soft whisper'd. Joys, once reap'd in guilt, now came 455 With bitterness o'er her spirit, and the dread Of endless penance, solitary and dark, Treason's just retribution. Soon she treads Once more her native Italy, forlorn, A fetter'd captive, while Placidia's son * 460 Stands far aloof, and fulmines from the throne Eternal condemnation. Black as night The dungeon in Ravenna*s dismal keep, Where thus, secluded from the genial beam And lost in hopeless cogitation, sat 465 The fairest form of Italy, whose smile In early youth exuberant with joy Lit her voluptuous palaces, and gave Distinction with proud thoughts to whomsoe'er Its favours beam'd upon. Two sentinels 470 In iron armour cased, dim torches held Before the portal. On her lily cheek The sullen lustre glared. A fatal draught, Hemlock or atropa, beside her placed Excluded hope ; one hand was on the bowl 475 Irresolute : the other propp'd her brow, From which neglected the bright ringlets stream'd On her white bosom, which heaved strong and slow. Beside her stood in hierarchal robes Ravenna's priest ; two damsels tired in white 480 Seem'd bridemaids, listening for the nuptial vow In that sepulchral chamber. One time-blanch'd, With sunken orbs, that told the visual ray Extinguish'd, nigh the beauteous victim stood, * Her brother, the emperor V&leutinian. 122 ATTILA. And with decrepid hand a bridal ring 485 Held tremulous. A coffin opposite Stood open, deck'd with snow-white silk within, Upon whose upper face the eye might read " Honoria, daughter of Constantius," wrought In characters of gold. A gloomy fosse 490 Yawn'd thro' the floor, where stood two shapes succinct For their funereal labours, and prepared To render dust to dust. No sound disturb'd The awful pause, while with uncertain eye Honoria, sad and motionless, survey'd 495 The terrible alternative. Thus will'd Hard Valentinian, to a sister's guilt Relentless ; instant death, and in that vault Oblivious inhumation ; or the choice Of hymeneal bonds with one abhorr'd, 500 Too feeble o'er the imperial throne to cast Umbrage and fear, or from that fair one claim Connubial rights ; and, after those mock vows, Perpetual durance in Ravenna's cell, A living burial. Despairing thrice 505 The deadly bowl she lifted, and thrice stopp'd Appall'd, and quite unequal to confront The dim and unforeseen futurity. Slowly at length with no consenting will, And eyes averse, she stretch'd her beauteous hand 510 To that detested bridegroom, and received The nuptial blessing, to her anguish'd heart Worse than a malediction. Then burst forth Grief impotent. Grasping the forbidden bowl Frantic she strove for what she late refused, 515 That baneful drink ; and, baffled, cast her limbs BOOK V. 123 Into the loathsome grave, imploring death. What art thou, O relentless visitant, Who, with an earlier or later call, Dost summon every spirit that abides 520 In this our fleshly tabernacle ! Death ! The end of worldly sorrowing and joy, That breakest short the fantasies of youth, The proud man's glory, and the lingering chain Of hopeless destitution ! the dark gate 525 And entrance into that untrodden realm, Where we must all hereafter pass ! Art thou An evil, or a boon ? that some shrink back With shuddering horror from the dreaded marge Of thine unmeasured empire, others plunge 530 Unbidden, goaded by the sense of the ill, Or weariness of being, into the abyss ! And should we call those blest, who journey on Upon this motley theatre, thro' life Successful, unto the allotted term 535 Of threescore years and ten, even so strong, That they exceed it ? or those, who are brought down Before their prime, and, like the winged tribes Ephemeral, children of the vernal beam, Just flutter round the sweets of life and die ? 540 An awful term thou art, and still must be, To all who journey to that bourne, from whence Return is none, and from whose distant shore No rumour has come back of good or ill, Save to the faithful ; and e'en they but view 545 Obscurely things unknown and unconceived, And judge not even, by what sense the bliss, Which they imagine, shall hereafter be 124 ATTILA. Enjoy 'd or apprehended. And shall man Unbidden rush on that mysterious change, 550 Which, whether he believe, or mock the creed Of those who trust, awaits him, and must bring Or good or evil, or annihilate The sense of being, and involve him quite In darkness, upon which no dawn shall break ! 555 Fearful and dreaded must thy bidding be To such as have no light within, vouchsafed From the Most High, no reason for their hope ; But go from this firm world, into the void Where no material body may reside, 560 By fleshly cares polluted, and unmeet For spiritual joy ; and ne'er have known, Or, knowing, have behind them cast the love Of their Redeemer, who thine awful bonds, Grim Potentate, has broken, and made smooth 565 The death-bed of the just thro' faith in Him. How oft, at midnight, have I fix'd my gaze Upon the blue unclouded firmament, With thousand spheres illumined, each perchance The powerful centre of revolving worlds ! 570 Until, by strange excitement stirr'd, the mind Has long'd for dissolution, so it might bring Knowledge, for which the spirit is athirst, Open the darkling stores of hidden time, And shew the marvel of eternal things, 575 Which, in the bosom of immensity, Wheel round the God of nature. Vain desire ! Illusive aspirations ! daring hope ! Worm that I am who told me I should know More than is needful, or hereafter dive 580 BOOK V. 1*25 Into the counsel of the God of worlds ? Or ever, in the cycle unconceived Of wonderous eternity, arrive Beyond the narrow sphere, by Him assign'd To be my dwelling wheresoe'er ? Enough 585 To work in trembling my salvation here, Waiting thy summons, stern mysterious Power, Who to thy silent realm hast call'd away All those, whom nature twined around my heart In my fond infancy, and left me here 590 Denuded of their love ! Where are ye gone, And shall we wake from the long sleep of death, To know each other, conscious of the ties That link'd our souls together, and draw down The secret dew-drop on my cheek, whene'er 595 I turn unto the past ? or will the change That comes to all, renew the alter'd spirit To other thoughts, making the strife or love Of short mortality a shadow past, Equal illusion ? Father, whose strong mind 600 Was my support, whose kindness as the spring Which never tarries ! Mother, of all forms That smiled upon my budding thoughts, most dear ! Brothers ! and thou, mine only sister ! gone To the still grave, making the memory 605 Of all my earliest time, a thing wiped out, Save from the glowing spot, which lives as fresh In my heart's core, as when we last in joy Were gather'd round the blithe paternal board ! Where are ye ? must your kindred spirits sleep 610 For many a thousand years, till by the trump Roused to new being ? Will old affections then 126 ATTILA. Burn inwardly, or all our loves gone by Seem but a speck upon the roll of time, Unworthy our regard? This is too hard 615 For mortals to unravel, nor has He Vouchsafed a clue to man, who bade us trust To Him our weakness, and we shall wake up After His likeness, and be satisfied. ATTILA. BOOK SIXTH. Sweet bird, that like an unseen spirit sing'st, When the rude winds are hush'd, the beaming glades Enrobed with tenderest verdure, and soft airs Breathe fragrance, stolen from the violet rathe ! Sweet angel of the year, that, ever hid 5 In loneliest umbrage, pour'st thy thrilling strain By kindred warblings answer'd, till around With inborn melody the covert burns In all its deep recesses ! is thy song The voice of the young spring, that wakes to life 10 This animated world of bright and fair ! Earth has no music like thy witching stores Of liquid modulation. In those tones Charm'd nature hath her lulling, not reclined In torpid sleep, but unto pleasure soothed. 15 At thy delighting call each ice-clad stream Throws off its wintery slough, and glides along With sparkling lustre, as the snake rejects The scaly dress, wherein it lay benumb'd, And bright in renovated beauty wins 20 Its slippery winding way ; with genial beam The sky relumes its radiance ; the smooth lake Glows like a mirror, in which Nature views 128 ATTILA. Her various garb, adorn 'd with dewy herbs, And the fresh flowers, which gem the early year 25 With springing loveliness, and promise give Of gorgeous and full-zoned maturity ; While, roused by thee from his late frozen couch, Love breathes anew, and his blythe mystery Fills every pulse with joy. Far other sounds 30 Waked vernal echoes on thy trampled banks, Pannonia ! the rude clang of armed steeds, Bill-hook, and battle-axe, and twanging bow, Gave loud alarum ; while strange banners, high Exalted, o'er a hundred * nations waved ; 35 And, issuing thro' Sicambria's gates to war, The Hunnish deluge stream'd. Weep, Italy, And tremble in thine holds ! With iron swoop, Fierce vindicator, gorged with Christian blood, Honoria's champion comes ; God's scourge, more fierce 40 By thy denial. As when, winter-bound, The slope of some vast mountain, parch'd and frore, Hath slept long months in silence, save where howl'd The snow-storm round its peaks, or the rent ice Rang terrible thro' all its echoing glens ; 45 By vernal zephyrs loosed the turbid streams Pour down its flank, and with one wasting flood O'erwhelm the vales beneath : so, pent long while By winter in his eyrie, now rush'd forth The desolating vulture crown'd with gold, 50 Attila's dread standard. Danau's wave is pass'd, And gelid Savus, big with Carnian snows, * One hundred and eight nations marched with Attila, and he sent one thousand men from each to conquer the North. — Herming Geneal. BOOK VI. 129 And Dravus swift. Illyria quakes with dread, And many a station, many a goodly town Wasted by ruthless conflagration smokes, 55 Segnia's strong towers, and Jadera, that late Stood glorious by the bright Dalmatian wave, And Pola near the beach. iEmona lies An ashy heap, never to rear again Her head among the cities of the West ; 60 Gorician wilds behold the vulture gleam In every rugged pass ; where, vain defence, Stood bristling o'er each mountain's deep defile The Roman steel. In vain the venal strength Of Alaric and sturdy Antal throng 65 The narrow glens, Goth against Gothic sword And Hunnish bow. Disgorged, the barbarous war Comes, as a torrent, on the pleasant vale. Already, streaming down the Julian Alps In lengthen'd files, the huge array of war 70 Looks o'er Tergeste, and thy fated walls, Bright Aquileia ! From the level plain Amazed the peasant views the skirts of war Spread round the vast horizon. Hamlets blaze In pagan flames involved, and unopposed 75 Onward the tide of violation rolls. Slow curling from the ravaged champaign rose The dim cinereous cloud ; and, gathering thick Around each mountain summit, lurid fumes Hung darkling. Shrouded in that canopy 80 With joy the Evil one his work survey'd, And that unhousel'd army, which their chief Array'd against the Highest. No common cause Hung in the scales ; but mortal arms once more K 130 ATTILA. Must prove the dire arbitrament assay'd 85 Of old in Phlegra, when the giants fell Warring against the Mighty One, whose darts Burnt sulphurous, with fiery vengeance wing'd, From Solfatara to where Typhos writhes Beneath Inarime and huge ^Etna's weight. 90 Arms must declare, as in that later day At Armageddon, on the sevenfold hills Which power shall sit supreme, adored by men In hierarchal glory, and from thence Send forth his faith to the four winds of heaven, 95 Messiah, or the Adversary. Assured In conscious strength, upon divided Rome The pagan pours his congregated might; From Albis, which the blue-eyed Saxon drinks, Mosa, or Rhene; from Scandia's frozen belt ; 100 From distant Asia, where the Tartar swain Reaps liquid sulphur mid the clear green waves Of Baikal's * holy pool, or tends his flock Along the skirts of vast Imaus spread ; From snow-»topt Caucasus, and that inland sea, 105 Where fierce the native trains his coal-black f whelps * A great lake in Siberia, environed by high mountains, which is called by the neighbouring people the holy lake. In that part which lies near the river Bargusin it throws up an inflammable sulphureous liquid called Maltha, which the natives of the adjoining country burn in their lamps. There are several sulphureous springs near the lake. t Valerius Flaccus states that the Caspians trained a numerous pack of dogs to spring up at the sound of the trumpet, and to fight by the side of their masters. The breasts and necks of the dogs were covered with iron armour, and their colour was black, unlessi n men- tioning the colour he alludes merely to the iron covering. See Argon, vi. 107. BOOK VI. 131 To fellowship in war, a steel-clad pack Baying like Hecat's * kennel ; from the coast Of Colchos and f Iberia, once the seat Of those Iazyges, whose impious sword 1 1 Blush'd with paternal gore, when frozen age Unnerved their sires for battle ; from the wilds Where tigers hear the foaming Oxus roar, From Baku + drear, the Guebres' fiery land, From famed Euphrates, and the flowery groves 115 Where Philomele, forgetful of her wrongs, Woos the sweet summer rose with amorous strains. Flank'd by the hoarse Timavus and thy towers, Tergeste, with extended line Rome's strength Stood waiting for the shock. O for the § arm 120 That late at Faesulae o'erthrew the Gete, Stern Radagais, with all his boastful might, Gothic or Vandal, whose bones uninhumed Whiten the Tuscan hills, while in the North His cenotaph and altars vainly reek 125 With expiatory blood ! O for the skill * The dogs which accompanied Hecate. Superas Hecates comi- tatusad auras. Val. Flac. vi. 112. Skulakes propoloi. Orph. Arg. 983. Stygiasque canes in luce superna. Lucan. t Iberia was part of the country lying between the Black Sea and the Caspian. The Iazyges were a people who formerly dwelt there, and were in the habit of killing their fathers when they became un- fit from age to draw the bow or hurl the javelin. See Val. Flac. vi. 120. Tacitus (ann. xii. 29. and 30.) says they were a Sarin atian peo- ple, impatient of confinement, and that they were located by Claudius in Pannonia or Hungary. X A town in Persia on the gulph of Ghilan in the Caspian sea, a principal seat of the fire-worshippers. § Stilicho. See Hist, treat. $. 10. K 2 132 ATTILA. Of Chalons' * subtle conqueror, to ward Fresh insult, utter overthrow and rout ! Impetuous, springing from his mountain lair, The pagan comes. Not broken, not subdued, 130 But quite from earth j- abolish'd, and dissolved As summer vapours by the glorious sun, That host, Rome's bulwark, sinks, at the first shock Annihilate. Short time for doughty deeds, Where all is terror, wild dismay, and flight. 135 Victorious, with dire front and lengthen'd flanks, Breathing vindictive rage, the heathen war Around beleaguer'd Aquileia stands. Strong of defence, the beauteous city, robed With wall and turret, by Natissa's flood 140 Look'd o'er the Adriatic, like the queen Of those bright waters, and withstood with might The merciless invaders. They the while Spread havoc even to Benacus, pour'd Along the cultured vales. Terror precedes; 145 And treason, nestling in the righteous fold, Yields up the flock. Apostate Helmund, robed In sacerdotal garb, betray'd thy strength, Tarvisium, and his God's polluted house, Unto the pagan ; false Diatheric threw 1 50 Wide open to the Hun Verona's gate, And, unresisting, to the dreaded scourge Bow'd Mantua, while the din of heathen war Alarm'd Italia's virgins on thy banks, Eridanus, monarch of Hesperian floods. 155 * Aetius. t Callimachus says of Attila on this occasion, " non vicit modo, sed prope delevit." BOOK VI. 133 The landscape glisten'd wide and far with arms, Like that Cadmean * crop, which from the glebe In complete panoply sprang serpent-born, With helmets, shields, and spears. But still intact Strong Aquileia hurls back threat for threat. 160 Each fainting heart by Menapus assured Breathes new defiance, mindful of the deeds Done by their fathers oft, when barbarous arms Around her clang'd. Facing to Aquilon A ponderous tower antique, with hoary strength, 165 Had breasted all invasion, ever since The second Caesar rear'd f a double wall From swift Natissa's margin, stretching far Eastward of Aquileia, to enclose Her domes and aqueducts of marble sheen, 170 Temples, and theatres, and gorgeous ways Stone-paved, and beautified another Rome. That structure, bulwark of the guarded town, Her wary chief with outer wall and fosse Doubly assured. As that huge promontory, 175 Round which the daring mariner, who sail'd First, without compass, upon untried seas, Saw other stars, and Hyperion flame Far in the North, repels with stubborn front The swell of that vast ocean, mountain-high, 180 Over which Auster with no lenient breath * Cadmus, having slain the serpent, sowed its teeth in the earth, from which presently sprang up a crop of men completely armed. t The remains of the double wall were extant in the time of Jolnunii's Candidus, with an inscription detailing the works erected there by Augustus Caesar. See also Orosius lib. G. c. '20. Aquileia was called another or second Rome. 134 ATT1LA. Comes rushing from the pole : day after day Assail'd with pelting sleet of war, that tower Baffles the Hun. Stones, arrows, molten lead, And flaming pitch, upon the pagan host 185 Shot from the battlements, spread fear and death, As when Jove thunders from the crest of Caf Hurling his lurid bolts. The scalers reel Smit by the blazing death in middle air, And tumble sheer, where water, blood, and fire, 190 Hissing commingle in the fosse below, And havoc strews the plain. The soldier moans Oft goaded to the assault, and many-tongued The whisper'd murmurs run. Three waning moons Had seen the grim-faced sons of Aliorune 195 Camp round the gallant town ; and Hunnium's peak, To heaven up-piled with shield-borne earth and stones, (An army's labour, still unscathed by Time) Lorded the Julian champaign, emulous Of that old tower, which whilom in Sennaar 200 Lifted its daring altitude ; a hold Against reverse secure, closing the way From Iapidia and Dalmatian hills. Grim Attila alone (like Him accurst, Who treads unseen in gloom, so to surprise 205 Man's weakness, and confound the works of God) Survey'd the bulwarks, which yet saved from scathe The Adriatic queen. Amazed he spies A secret portal open, where the sewer Pour'd forth its turbid stream. From the oozy bed 210 Sudden upstarting, in dark armour sheathed, A cohort stood before him. Aid is none, Save from his own dread sword, and mightier still BOOK VI. 135 The terror of his name. " Glory ascribe," Their leader cried, "to whom the praise is due. 215 " To Him, who by his servant David's arm " Slew the blaspheming Philistine, what time " His army, that defied the living God, " Fell stricken by His vengeance, all the way " From Shaharaim to the skirts of Gath, 220 " A bloody rout. Submit thee, king, or die ! " His might hath yielded thee into our hands, " Fell scourge of heaven !" The haughty vaunt was sped, And still the echo of that daring call Hung on the ear of night, but he lay maim'd 225 Gasping for life ; beside him writhed in gore Another, smitten by the sword ; aghast Their comrades, shrinking, view no earthly fire Gleam from the eyes of Attila. His glaive, Like some prodigious meteor, shone upraised, 230 Dispensing death ; while from his visage glared The spirit within, more deadly than the glance Of basilisk, or that angel of the storm Who look'd from Sodom on the # shepherd's wife ; As though the Evil one had made his frame 235 A tenement unhallow'd, and in wrath Breathed thro' its issues death, and, worse than death, Perdition ever-during and despair. As he, who, journeying at dead of night Thro' dark Hercynia's f wood, where popular dread 240 Fills every glen with strange unholy shapes, Or seen, or fancied, at the perilous hour When such have might, oft looks behind, and oft * Lot. Exod. xiv. 24. t The black forest, 136 ATTILA. Turns nothing less affrighted to his course, Till full before him glares the dreaded form, 245 Too horrible for mortal vision : thus Awe-stricken they into that miry stream Return'd precipitate, and stole by flight A few more miserable hours of life. He backward musing trod, and gain'd his camp, 250 As ruddy morning dawn'd. Him Alberon Address'd impetuous, breathing hate of Rome. " Why waste we precious days, all-glorious king, " Hewing the limbs of Rome ? These barren walls " Defy our engines, though they hurl amain 255 " Huge rocks and fragments from the mountains rent ; " While she upon her sevenfold hills in joy " Reclines deliciously. Few arms suffice " To starve unto submission the firm stones, " Which brave the giant's nerve. Lead thou thine host, " Where vengeance points the way, and glory calls ! " Lop we the hydra's head !" As wont, the king Replied not, ever in his purpose fixt. Foil'd oft, as oft renewing his assault, Infuriate by delay the monarch scowl'd 265 On Aquileia. Such a withering look The angel cast on Egypt, sent to slay Her first-born in one night. He bade them heap The yawning fosse with furniture of steeds, Half of his host's equipment ; and the while 270 The flight of arrows from each Hunnish bow Scared all defence, or spilt the ruddy blood Of valour on the leaguer'd battlements. Sustain'd upon that buoyant bridge, the Huns [vending with shouts the brazen vault of heaven 275 BOOK VI. 137 Pass o'er the moat in line ; no engines now, No strength of thundering rams the soldier brings, But frequent flame the torches, and he groans Beneath the weight of trunks and fascines huge, Chesnut, or resinous pine, hewn from the slope 280 Of Carnian hills. Anon the kindled blaze Encircles in a flaming belt the wall, E'en as that deadly wreath, Medea's gift, Around the forehead of Iason's bride Clung with consuming heat. The strong cement 285 Upon the crackling furnace falls, resolved Into its elements, and massive stones Sink crumbling. Soon a slender breach without Through glowing ashes to the Hun bewrays The tower's foundation, mighty in its weight 290 Of ancient masonry. Upon its crown Swarm Romans ; stones, and homicidal steel, And jets of water, like the unstaid rush Of some aerial cataract, give back Peril for peril, and a vaporous cloud 295 Curls upward from the blackening embers sent. Undaunted in that breach stands Menapus, Alone, as some bold stag with antler'd front Repells the clamorous pack, that round him bay Thirsting for blood. Sudden the gates unbarr'd 300 On ponderous hinges turn, and forth the strength Of Aquileian chivalry is pour'd, With falchion, lance, and shield, and banners gay, And high above their heads the * labarum gleams Advancing on the plain. Them Oricus, 305 * The Christian standard of Constantino. 138 ATT1LA. Brave-minded brother of the chieftain, leads, Whose path was ever, where bright Glory's form Walks close by Death. Saint Felus ! # was their cry, Felus for Aquileia ! and therewith They laid upon the Hurmish flank and rear 310 Such fearful discipline, such ceaseless dint Of iron, as when Caurus vehement, Waked by the vernal equinox, assails With his artillery of hail and sleet The hop^ of fruitfulness. Then Menapus 315 Sprang foremost from the breach, and him, steel-clad, Half Aquileia follow'd. On the Huns They sally, speeding the barb'd shower of death, And snatch the blazing brands, and cast them wide Amidst their foemen with a rain of sparks. 320 Press'd sorely, front and flank, in rout confused Those turn to fly ; flying the murderous steel O'ertakes them, and the wheeling squadrons tread Whom the sword spares, beneath careering hoofs. The fugitive wave roll'd back on Attila, 325 And o'er him shower'd the fire. Instant he turn'd Towards his camp, and sign'd his vassal kings To draw their squadrons forth in quick array* And battle with the Roman. Then came out Caparison 'd with gold the Hunnish horse, 330 * H. Palladius states that after the destruction of the image of the Gcd Belenusor Bel is, his temple was dedicated to St. Felix, an Aquileia n martyr, and that the common people called him St. Felus, in reminis- cence of their ancient tutelary Deity. De rer. Foro Jul. I. 8. Un- doubtedly it was dedicated to a saint with a similar name, as a mode of compounding with the heathens, which was frequently adopted, and led to the corruption of Christianity, and the adoration of saints. HOOK VI. 139 And scarlet-mantled Ostrogoths, on steeds Inured to war, and Rugians from the skirts Of Baltic ice ; and, close beside, bare-limb'd Herulians # ran, whose lightly sandall'd foot Kept equal pace with mailed cavalry. 335 A gallant sight of bravery was there, Embroider'd housings, and rich-jewell'd bits, And steel coruscating with flashes swift, And silken vestments sheen, which dust and blood Soon shall defile. Then grew the din of swords, 340 Lance clashing against lance, axe against axe, Shields riven, and the crash of meeting steeds. Nor was not in the thickest of that fray He, with teraphim on his cuirass graven, Nor fought not, as to whom life nought avail'd 345 Without the victory, that Roman pair, Brothers, in glory as in blood allied. But little boots their valour, save to earn Undying fame, inscribed upon the roll Of those who bled for righteousness. Soon fell, 350 Closing with Attila, brave Oricus ; At once around him twenty Scythian blades Glisten ; so many chargers o'er his corse Pass like a foaming wave. As when the tide Of ocean's flowing surge drives back the stream 355 Of some great river, big with mountain rains, Indus, or Ganges, or the mightier floods Of that vast continent, which lay conceal'd Behind the curtain of the West ; upheaved * Concerning the use of Herulians as light infantry, see JornamU de reb. Get. p. 70. 1 40 ATTILA. The struggling current froths, and, overborne 360 By the hoarse-roaring sea, is hurried back Toward its fountain. So the Roman strove Conflicting with the Hun, so turn'd again In hideous rout to Aquileia. Goths With their long bill-hooks cleave the Italian's rein, 365 Whose steed, ungovern'd by his rider's skill, ConfuSive flies : the fur-clad Hun pursues, And, nimbly borne on lightning-speeded hoofs, Unerring throws the fatal noose,* wherewith His hopeless foe, in middle course entwined, 370 Falls, victim to the prompt Herulian's blade. Few thro' the hospitable gate return, And with them, blended in confusion, rush Their fierce pursuers. Menapus, blood-smear'd, And faint with wounds, scarce stays the ardent foe 375 Upon the threshold, and well nigh that day Had seen the vulture, gorged with rapine, scowl Over the Julian towers. Ill-fated town ! Thine outer wall lies ruinous ; within Gaunt Famine vexes thee, and sore dismay'd 380 The cherub Hope grows pale. Three fearful nights, If rumour rightly tells, the soldier look'd Towards Tergeste o'er the level plain, And saw, beneath the moon, Rome's vanquish'd host, With many a slain barbarian,f ghastly rise 385 * See Ammianus Marcellinus. t Damascius, who wrote in the reign of Theodoric king of Italy, which commenced about 48 years after the death of Attila, states, that in a battle fought between Attila and the Romans, the carnage was excessive, " but, what is wonderful, after they had fallen and their bodies were dead, they fought with their souls during three days and BOOK VI. 141 From the gore-sprinkled earth, and there renew The strife, unfinish'd by devouring death. Upon the eyrie breeze the din of arms Came terrible, and spears and falchions gave Portentous light beneath the uncertain ray ; 390 And thrice, as faded the dim stars of heaven, Extinguish'd by the heathen battle sank Rome's legions ; with strange tones, unearthly shouts Of fiendish joy, the empyrean rang, While Death * upon his pale horse rode unstaid 395 With his four plagues, Hell following; and the cry Of saints rose even to the Holy one, Avenger of the righteous. The fourth night That martial glamour ceased, and stillness lull'd The mirky air, foreboding worse event. 400 Yet stood the mightiest bulwark still entire, Daring the Hun. Dark discontent had chill'd The strength of the assailants ; their king's eye, Fixt on the northern tower right opposite, Scann'd its obdurate strength ; when, slowly poised 405 Upon her out-stretch'd wings a clamorous stork From the aerial summit with her brood Flew southward, sailing from the field of strife. " So fly thy guardian Gods !" the monarch cried, Presaging by that augury the fall 410 Of Aquileia's bulwark, and fierce joy Illumed his swarthy skin. With instant voice Of gratulation and triumphal shout nights, being nowise inferior in strength and courage to living com- batants. The phantoms of their souls were seen and heard in colli- sion and clashing their arms."— Damasc. ap. Phot. bibl. p. 340. Berlin. 1824. * Revelation vi. 8. 142 ATTILA. He cheer'd his host ; then bade the trump * of death Ahenean at the massive portals sound, 415 By Bleda heard whilere with ominous bray Foreboding blood, what time Sicambria's walls Craved the accurst piation. Long and loud Rung the terrific clang, nor e'er in vain That herald of grim Erebus sent forth 420 The irrevocable doom. At that dread call Upsprang each Christian, as if manifest Death's angel o'er his couch had flapp'd the wing Tartarean, from whose shadow escape is none. Short prayer they make in peril imminent 425 To Him, who sent upon Assyria's f king t Some curious old verses by John Gower concerning the king of Hungary, and the trump of death, evidently allude to a tradition con- cerning Attila, though we know not the source from whence he derived it. " I find upon surquedry That whilome of Hungary In olde days there was a king j" and he had a brazen trumpet, " which was cleped the tromp of dethe." A great nobleman was the keeper of it. If any one had displeased the king unto death, that lord repaired to his gate and blew the trumpet. That king of Hungary having some words with his own brother, caused the trumpet of death to be blown at his gate to frighten him ; but in that solitary instance the blast was not followed by death, and he was pardoned. See Conf. amant. 196. ed. 1532. This seems to be a dis- torted tradition relating to the murder of Bleda by Attila. A very similar practice was known in Rome. See Tac. ann. 1. 2. c. 32. " L. Pituanius saxo dejectus est; in P. Martium consules extra portam Exquilinam, cum classicum canere jussissent, more prisco advertere." Terentius Varro states the summons by trumpet when Sergius Marius accused Trogus capitally. •' Curent eo die quo comitia erunt, in arce chissicus canat, turn circumquc muros et ante privati hujusce scelerosi hominis hosticum canat." De ling. Lat. 5. p. TO.— Bipont. t Sennacherib. Sec 2 Kings xix. 7. and 2 Chron. xxxii. 'BOOK VI. 143 A blast, a rumour, and the fatal arm Of his destroying messenger, what time With horse and chariots to the leafy side Of Lebanon he came, gorged with the blood 430 Of nations, whose vain Gods were wood and stone, Work of created hands. And some, who cling To errors old, or waver in Christ's faith, Cry to their guardian spirit # Belenus, Seen whilom in mid air with shield and bow 435 Effulgent, like the radiant God of day, To fight for Aquileia. Some are turn'd To desperation, in whose hearts the word Gladly received had push'd no stable root ; Round Menapus and their good patriarch 440 Mcetas, clamouring, they curse the name Of their Redeemer, and the pious hands, Which late o'erthrew the fanes of heathendom And altars foul with blood. Blaspheming these Seek to relume old Vesta's mouldering hearth, 445 Or wail to Jove for succour ; but the word Is gone forth, and Jehovah's scourge has power To wipe out the condemn'd. Hearts resolute To perish for their country and their God Throng the assaulted battlements ; in vain 450 Balistas strong and onagers, that throw Javelins or stones, and mimic scorpions ply. With mightier strength the Hunnish engines urge * The tutelary God of Aquileia. See Herodian, 1. 8. c. 7. The accentuation of the name is determined by a verse of Ausonius. The soldiers of Maximin, when he besieged Aquileia, affirmed that they saw the likeness of the God Belis or Belenus in the air fighting- for the town. 144 ATTILA. The aggression, each a huge Leviathan, Or hundred-handed Briareus, against 455 That fated tower. Hurl'd high, vast granite blocks Shoot skyward, and their ponderous fall beats down Turret and battlement, with deadlier stroke Than Jove's Cyclopean thunderbolt. Upheaved By thousand sinews still successive fly 460 Gigantic stones ; till crumbling to its base The stately fabric from its airy brow Drew ruin, with a crash, that shook far off Tergeste's bay, and echoing wider smote Mount Maurus, and the peaks of Alpine snow. 465 Uprose the dust from that great wreck to heaven ; And stillness, quiet as the voiceless grave, Follow'd that fearful sound, as if the world Had pass'd away therewith annihilate. Slowly dispersing, the pulvereous cloud 470 Reveal'd destruction, and a piteous breach UnveiM rich palaces and marble domes Unto the hungry spoliator's view. Then rose the shriek within the captured town, Matronal wail, and virgin agony, 475 And the loud voice of triumph smote the heaven Re-echoed far, a wild and dissonant whoop Over the quarry, from the ravening throats Of all that heathen multitude . What ensued Ear hath not heard, nor mind of man conceived, 480 Nor eye, save that which judgeth all, survey'd In every shape of horror multiform. Day dawn'd, and Aquileia was no more. No structure marks her site ; no dwelling stands, Where once she grew in beauty ; ruthless war 485 BOOK VI. 145 Has swept her from the marge of those blue waves, Which laughing heaved before her marble halls, And wafted oft, by summer suns illumed, Gladness, and song, and still unheeding youth, Upon their sparkling foam. Nor hoary years, 490 Nor infancy, nor sex, nor beauty, gain'd The respite of an hour ; stern havoc, led By desolating vengeance, laid all waste : Her very stones were hurl'd into the deep, And the plough razed her thresholds. The sad swain 495 Looks piteous o'er the vale, and asks where stood Bright Aquileia in her pride of power. One remnant of the wreck, like halcyons, Fled timorous o'er the Adriatic foam, And laid its nest amid the waters, close 500 Cradled in sedge, beyond the vulture's grasp, Where Meduacus laves the sunny isles That gem the azure wave. There long secure The infant bride of ocean trick'd her charms, Whose full-zoned prime of womanhood outshone 505 The queens of earth in glory. Thou didst rise, Young Venice, from that ruin call'd to life, Brighter than her, who bore thee mid the alarm Of violation ; to avenge her ills Rearing the cross of Christ, and ever prompt 510 To battle with the infidel. Thou shalt ride Supreme upon the deep, thy sea-green hair Sparkling with orient pearl, thy nuptial couch With golden conchs and Tyrian tissues deck'd, Honour'd, and fair, and mighty ! when the deeds 515 Of him, who stands beside thy parent's wreck, Stern victor, viewing his unhallow'd work, L 146 ATTILA. Shall sink obscured into the abyss of time. Death's revel was unfinish'd ; but aloof Beside Natissa, o'er a bleeding form, 520 Lean'd Alberon ; his alter'd eye was dim With sorrow, and each fiercer passion staid. Full of his wrongs, with many a long-hair'd Frank That shouted to the carnage, he had rush'd First thro' the breach, cheering that merciless pack 525 To deeds of lust and blood. Nor backward they, Nor slow to work his bidding ; the wild shrieks Of women came on his insatiate ear, Big with retributive joy. His sword was red E'en with the blood of babes, and, on his brow 530 Obdurate, like a ministering fiend, Sat deadly hate. As when in act to spring The serpent, charm'd by spells of potent sound, Stands rivetted ; its fearful crest erect Sinks slowly, and the coiled folds relax ; 535 So sudden stood in mid career of rage Astonied Alberon ; like who had gazed Upon the aegis, and that beauteous face, Which turn'd all flesh to stone. A shriek, * once heard, And ne'er forgotten since, a voice, once known 540 E'en to his inmost and still quivering there, Made each hair start with horror ; not, as oft, In stillness by delusive fancy brought, But full of life and agony. His eye, Uplifted to the battlements, beheld 545 A sight, which made the blessed light a curse Darker than Acheron ; that beauteous form, Book i. v. 450. BOOK VI. 147 Which was his day-dream, and at still of night The vision of his couch, by impious force Dragg'd in dishonour, struggling in the grasp 550 Of his own ruthless Franks, by him cheer'd on To rape and sacrilege. He saw, and ere His arm was raised to rescue, ere his voice Could check his ministers of guilt and blood, With visage veil'd # she flung her bleeding form, 555 A self-devoted victim, from the tower Which swift Natissa laved. Into the deep Leap'd desperate Alberon. A massive beam, Fragment of some rent palace, on the wave Lay floating; buoy'd upon its ample bulk 560 All arm'd he stems the perilous flood, and holds The bride of his young hopes, how lost ! and how Recover'd ! From the ruthless scene of blood Retired, beside that form beloved in vain, Clodion's first-born stood speechless. She, reclined 565 Upon the margin green, with wistful eyes Spoke things unutterable. Upon her breast A crucifix, suspended, told what fount Had sprinkled her ; then thus, outbreathing love Hallow'd by holiest thoughts, and purified 570 Of all terrestrial hope. " My life ! my lord ! " What mind, save His omnipotent, who sees " All that e'er was or ever will ensue, " Could have forethought this hour ! yet be it blest, " So, most beloved upon this fleeting earth, 575 * This circumstance is recorded of a Roman matron in Aquileia named Digna. Veiling the head was usual with those devoted Dis Manibus ; the superstitious practice appears to have survived the ehange of religion. L 2 148 ATTILA. " It bring new hope to thee, whom unredeem'd " From fatal error and the bloody creed " Of dark idolatries, to this lone heart " Eternity seems one long night of wo, " And the bright promises of deathless joy 580 " All incomplete and vain. O Alberon, " By all the thrilling thoughts of thy first love, " By our sad bridal morn, and the deep gloom " Of thraldom, which cut short the dawn of bliss, " In anguish I adjure thee, stay the arm 585 " Red with innocuous gore, that pleads to God " With thousand tongues angelic ! Not the grim Power " In thy Turnacum glorified, not they, " Fierce idols, tenants of the coal-black * grove, " Gorged with the blood of man, can give thee might 590 " Against Jehovah : albeit, some short space " Permitted for our sins, the arm of flesh " Spread havoc, and defile the works of God. " There is a hope, that maketh not ashamed, " Repentance not to be repented ; faith, 595 " On which the arm that leans shall never fail " Here, or hereafter. Wake from earthly scenes, " Wake, Alberon beloved, to tread with me " Fresh pastures, where the dove-like Spirit bears " Healing upon its wings with holy peace, 600 " And sorrow never comes ! Then welcome Death, " The term of all our labours, which shall join " Us sever'd here by fate !" Awhile he paused, As if of purpose doubtful ; and his mind, Touch'd with excelling love, to pity gave 605 * Nemus Carbonarium. BOOK VI. 149 Admittance brief and momentary rule : But hate of the Messiah in his soul Superior rose ; as, brooding o'er his wrongs, He thought upon Aetius, of his bride Despoiler, and that spurious king of Franks, 610 Clodion's equerry with the Roman leagued, False Meroveus, who from his birthright, Lutetia's * throne, supplanted him, cast forth With his two brothers and the widow'd queen, Thuringian Basina, whose pleaded griefs, 615 In congress at Bicurgium, drew the Hun On Belgia and the Gaul. He thought (and big S well'd the full tide within) of Clodion's throne, And Cameracum, f his new realm upheld By Hunnish arms against the rebel Franc ; 620 And that Hannonian J mountain, which bad Powers O'ershadow'd, guarded by religious awe. There oft with savour dire of sacrifice Fumed gory altars, redolent of death, And the wild huntsman Hesus, with his pack 625 Abominable, snuff'd the recent blood Of many an human victim. That high place Opprobrious lorded the Brabantian plain, Girt with compacted masonry, which not Usurping Meroveus could invade 630 With all his traitorous Franks, nor the amorous § king Entomb'd in old Turnacum ; but the might Of bloody Clovis in succeeding time Soil'd his grey hairs with gore, and trod to earth The Cameracan brothers, from that hold 635 * Paris. t Canibray. { Mons in Haiuault. $ Childeric. 150 ATTILA. Dragg'd to their death. Yet from Argotta's bed One scyon, princely Vambert, shall eschew The tyrant, and his sons in lengthened line O'er gloomy Arduenna shall bear sway, Till raised again unto the glorious state 640 Of their forefather. With impatient heat Thus, breathing hate to Rome and her fresh creed, Fierce Alberon made answer. " Ask not me, " Most loved, most wrong'd of women, as most fair, " Union accurst with Rome ! At those new shrines 645 " Bid Meroveus bow his faithless head, u Brother not brother, born * of a sea-fiend " And leprous as his dam, in evil hour " Whom Clodion press'd ; what time, by glamour vain " Illuded, he descried not her vile shape 650 " Of colour serpentine, and nether parts " With scales offensive. Him and his allies, " Rome, Christian Rome, alike my soul abhors. " Ask ought, save this, and be in all obey'd, " Dear sufferer ! and, lo, from vengeful deeds 655 " Recall'd, my legions stand by this still flood, " While the Hun revels in yon fated town, " Brightest yestrene of cities, from this hour " A wilderness for wolves." She meek replied, " My life is waning, Alberon, and fast 660 " Declines unto the grave ; nor e'er shall I, " Whose fortunes, soil'd by slavery, would ill " Thy greatness fit, embrace thee in the pride " Of youthful hope ; nor would I bring thee shame, " Sunk as I am, and by unseemly wrongs 665 * Sec Hist, treat. § 40. BOOK VI. 151 " Blighted before my prime. Yet grant, O grant, " To this weak spirit the brief boon, to die " By holy rites absolved and purified ! " Bear me to Cyprian's solitude afar, " Where Savus, amid lonely mountains born, 670 " Rushes from rock to rock, or lingering dwells " Where the unruffled tide of some blue lake " Spreads clear and tranquil. From that crystal fount " Regenerate life on my despairing brow " Shed orient hopes. There first I learnt to know 675 " My Saviour and my God. That glorious flood " Was dear unto my musings, and I read " The book of nature, by good Cyprian taught " To trace, there pictured, man's immortal course " In those bright waters ; cradled on the breast 680 " Of Alpine snows, that feed their infancy " Slow-trickling ; hurried next from cliff to cliff " Impetuous, till with strength matured they flow " Ample, profound, and calm; thence issuing glide " To subterranean darkness, under caves 685 " Deep and unseen. Yet, bursting from their tomb " And sparkling amid pastures never sere, " Their volume to the vast unchanging sea " Wins its majestic way. In holy peace " There, bosom 'd gently on the lap of death, 690 " My spirit shall to its Creator find " Easy access, and intercession made " By Him, who bare our sins ; in death more blest " Than living, if, amid those scenes sublime, " The lore of that good anchorite should draw 695 " Thy heart to better thoughts, and ope the gate " To heaven's beatitude.'' She ceased, and faint 152 4TTILA. On his supporting arm her pale form lay Mournful in beauty extreme. His eye, suffused With anguish nothing wont, look'd piteously 700 On her so loved, so rescued, and yet lost Beyond love's burning hopes. Answer he made None, for deep passion choked the issue of speech : But sign'd his brother Rauchas to advance The litter, spread with tissues soft and rare, 705 Sack'd Aquileia's booty ; and forthwith, Her boon vouchsafing, with small pomp of war March'd northward. To loved Reginald he gave Vicegerency o'er his legions, to abide His regress. Thence, as that fair mourner bade, 710 By sparkling Sontius, whose stream swift and clear Mingles its water with Natissa's flood, They journey to the dales, where Savus grows From many an Alpine source ; and soon descry, O'erhung by woods and rock, the mountain lake 715 Cerulean, Wochain cleped in later days ; Nor far a narrow glen, steep of ascent, Whence, gurgling, trickled underneath the shade A runlet, clearer than Bandusia's spring, Or that famed fount of Corinth eminent 720 Pirene pale, and Hippocrene that sprang From the wing'd hoof in Helicon. There sat Beneath his stony cell, the man of God With pensive eye, unblench'd by hoary age, Scanning the book of life. To them uprose 725 The holy anchorite, and gazed, for rare In that still solitude and trackless vale The tread of mailed man. " Welcome, my sons, " What cause soever to this tranquil seat BOOK VI. 153 " Conducts ye !" mild he said. " If sent by him, 730 " God's scourge, to take from these time-whiten'd brows " What lingers yet of life, God's will is just, " And I, long zealous for His hallow'd word, " Obey the call with gladness. If, though trick'd " With heathen pageantry, ye come to lave 735 " Transgressions in this fount, the page of truth " Lies open, and, by our Redeemer bought " For sinful man, His peace to all that seek " Is freely given." To him thus Alberon ; " Nor hostile, to defile thy silver locks, 740 " Nor suppliant to thy Gods, O Roman, comes " Clodion's sad offspring. Why before thee stands " Innocuous, fresh from Aquileia's sack, " Its conqueror, ask yon fairest of her kind, " His bride despoil'd by Rome." A pang, like death, 745 Shot thro' the heart of Cyprian. " Art thou fallen," He cried, " bright city of the faithful ! reap'd " By the destroyer in thy loveliness ! (i And thou, meek neophyte, must these old hands, " Which sign'd the cross upon thy brow, anoint 750 " Thee for thy burial, whose morn of life " Seems wasted ere its promise !" " Father," she said, Uplifting her mild countenance, " thou see'st " The wife of Alberon ; and would that he " Were altogether such as I am, turn'd 755 " From sin's original darkness to my God. " The bitterness of death were pass'd, and all " My heart holds dear fulfill' d, so he might taste " The cup of his salvation. Few remain w The moments, which e'en now are fleeting fast 760 " To mine eternal doom. Mountains sublime, 154 ATTILA. Nigh heaven uppiled ! and thou, romantic vale, Sloping from snow-crown 'd peaks ! no more on ye These eyes shall open ! Death is stealing on, And the earth's beauties fade. O Alberon, 765 There is a brighter kingdom, a new world, Where all may enter, led by saving faith To glory ever-during. Wilt thou meet There thy betroth'd ? or have our mortal eyes Look'd their last beam of love ?" To her replied 770 The prince, " Almost thou hast persuaded me To be a Christian ; but, while thus I gaze Hopeless on all I love, the spirit boils Maddening within for vengeance." " Peace, rash youth, The arm of vengeance is Jehovah's," cried 775 The man of God. " If in revenge is joy, It needs no sword of thine. The unborn times, Seen by the saint * in Patmos, cast their shade On the opprobrious town, that boasted once To see no sorrow : but ere few short moons 780 Her judgment comes, and all the kings of earth, Unclean partakers of her sins, shall mourn The conflagration. Blessed then, elect Of God, who have come out and not received Of her defilement ! Silent and aloof 785 Stand, unregenerate man, while the last rites Religion sheds o'er this repentant child." He said, but to her hand clung Alberon, As her flush'd cheek grew pale ; her eyes were fixt Upon the symbol, which that old man held 790 Aloft, imploring Christ ; no breathing stirr'd * St. John. See Revelation. BOOK VI. 155 Her humid lip ; the sad youth thought that still Fondly her palm press'd his ; but far away Her spirit, thro' the realms of ether pure, Had wing'd its glorious flight unto her God. 795 They laid her near that aged hermit's cell, Where, sloping to the East, the flowery turf Drank freshness, and the rill, beside whose course To her perennial rest she gently sank, Invited slumber. O'er her lowly grave 800 The anchorite out-pour'd a mournful chaunt, To Him, who gave and took his own away, Glory and praise ; and loud and shrill the Franks Raised their lament in accents barbarous, A wild and melancholy cry. Nor prayers 805 Nor counsel lack'd of Cyprian, to win Sad Alberon to the God of his beloved ; But pride forbade, which bars the narrow gate Thro' which the humble enter : pride, which drove The Babylonian from his kingly throne 810 To make his dwelling with the grazed ox Outcast from men. With her dear spirit fled His better thoughts. Gloomy and wroth he turn'd His course unto Hannonia, and there made Libations homicidal to his Gods, 815 A fiendish holocaust, and impious zeal With murderous rites profaned her obsequies. And art thou of my great forefathers one, As not unfaithful the heraldic # page * See the genealogy in Edmonstone's peerage brought down from Charlemain thro' Herebert Count of Vermandois, who came to England with William the First. The previous succession from Marcomir to Charlemain might have been prefixed. 156 ATTILA. Avers, stern Alberon ! and is the spark, 820 That, smouldering in this bosom, wakes at times A yearning for the praise which man concedes To the excelling, and the glowing thought That whispers, though repress'd, I might have trod A loftier path among the sons of fame, 825 From thee and thine illustrious sires derived, Whom, high uplifted on the kingly shield Amidst the shout of thousands, olden time Saw in their glory ! I can never think Of thee in thy deep forest, and the rites 830 By dark abominations oft denied Done to the gloomy Powers, who had foretold The restoration of thy royal line To all thy father held, (promise made good In Charlemain) but my excited mind 835 O'erleaps the gulph of ages, and brings back Thee palpable in all thy strange attire, And long-hair'd Clodion # bending to the earth Over his first-born, and old Pharamond, And Marcomir, the first preferr'd by fame 840 Of thine exalted race. That vision stirs A secret voice within, crying, " Were these w Indeed my sires, veil'd by the mist of years " From near perception ! waved those hoary locks, " Which Clovis trampled with his bloody foot, 845 " On my forefather's brow ! from whom I sprung " In long concatenation of those ties, " Which to the human spirit are most dear * Clodion is said to have died of grief for the loss of his eldest son killed at the siege of Soissons. BOOK VI. 157 " In this its dwelling !" till the wistful gaze Dives thro' the depth of years, and fain would brave 850 The tyrant in his phrensy. If ye be In truth the fountain, from which I and mine Have glided down the flood of time, peace rest Upon your ancient tombs, and the Benign Forgive the sins ye knew not ! In that line 855 Successive, O how many hearts have beat With pleasure or with crime ! how many shapes Have turn'd from beauty to the loathly worm, From glory to the grave ! how many sires Have breathed the blessing of parental joy 860 Over their earliest born ! which, were we not The creatures of a day, would still the first In love to his remotest issue join. But we are fleeting shadows ; the warm pulse Throbs its short hour, but our affections lie 865 All compass'd in the petty space between The cradle and the tomb ; and those, whom years Shall usher on this changeful stage of life Hereafter, the frail offspring of our loins, To us no debt of memory will yield, 870 Unless from our achievements they derive A lustre not their own. Ages roll on, And dense oblivion covers every tie. ATTILA. BOOK SEVENTH. Aloof, where Hindarfell with rugged brow Looks o'er the Rhine, in panoply of gold Stood Hilda, famous in the song of scalds And legends warbled by Teutonian tongue, Stern sorceress. With powerful spells illumed 5 Her wondrous beauty, underneath the veil Nocturnal, gleam'd terrific. By the Hun Divorced with guile from his incestuous couch, Fit sister of fit lord, the mailed queen Mused o'er deep vengeance. In precocious youth 10 She first to Attila disclosed the way Of science dark and perilous. Her charms Mutter'd in gloom, while shapes unholy glared Around her mystic cauldron manifest, Gave warning to bedew Sicambria's towers 15 With ruddy fratricide, piation dear To Mars the murderer, since that slain boy, Who first upon the Aventine espied The scantier flight of vultures, by his blood Portended might to Rome, which should endure 20 Twelve centuries, foreshadow'd then by twelve Prophetic fowls. With watchful ear she heard BOOK VII. 159 The silent step of Time, the Spirit dread That knock'd at midnight the Romulean gate Warning the term expired, the kingdom then 25 Number'd and finish'd. By her wizard hand Fashion'd of oricalch, the trump of death Mysterious clang'd by night at Bleda's door, And that same hour Sicambria's stones were red With gory consecration. Her nathless 30 The monarch, with unholy passion smit Of beauteous Eskam, their youth-blooming child, Cast forth abased. At eve, thro' philtres strange Entranced, to a new bridegroom she was given Unconscious. By the dawn awaked to wo 35 In Gunther's arms, on the Burgundian couch Silent nine days she lay, brooding revenge, Nor tired her raven locks, nor tasted food, Nor look'd on Hyperion's golden ray Odious as night : but oft in stillest gloom 40 Low voices thro" her chamber seem'd to sound Unearthly, and she held communion mute With darksome Anteros, the unwing'd God, Love turn'd to hate. Moon after moon illumed The welkin, yet in black despair she sat, 45 And fiercely ruminated all her wrongs, Though foremost in transgressions ; like the * accurst Of Colchis, with a brother's gore defiled, Who clombe Iason's couch, when he, whose love First soil'd her virgin fame, smit with new fires 50 Divorced her from his chamber. Now aroused She stood on that lone mount, where her abode, * Medea. 160 ATTILA. Rear'd by no mortal builder, glow'd with fire. Around her bower flames bickering high and bright Play'd lambent, or in wreathed volumes stream'd 55 O'er the crystalline waters of the moat, Mysterious, inextinguishable, gift Of hellish powers ; to her of mortals then Alone reveal'd ; in later years by Greeks Degenerate on the Arabian navies hurl'd, 60 What time with mimic * lightnings glared thy shores, Propontis^ and around the leaguer'd towers Of Byzance glitter'd the projected flame Unquenchable, wherewith Chalcedon gleam'd, And liquid splendours at the dead of night 65 Lit Bosporus, illuminating far Astonied Thrace. Starless and mute the air Look'd darkly on her purpose, save where shone The wondrous flame. She turn'd her aspect first Unto the seven Triones veil'd in cloud, 70 Then faced Orion's star, from other eyes Shrouded by mist ; around her next she cast Strange perfumes, such as Arabs never cull'd In Nabathaea, or the region bless'd With odoriferous Saba's spicy groves ; 75 Then graved upon the earth with Runic signs The name of blasphemy, and that dark line Gehennaf ; next she traced the mystic shapes Of those seven angels multiform, who stand Beside the dying, Michael in lion's guise, 80 * Called the Greek fire. t Origen says that a dark line called Gehenna crossed the diagram of the Ophites, a most impious sect. Concerning the seven angels, see Orig. ag. Celsus. BOOK VII. 161 And Suriel's taurine brow, and Raphael wing'd E'en as a dragon ; the outstretch'd pinions wide Of the eagle Gabriel, and shaggy * limbs Of Tautabaoth, nigh the doglike f spirit Cerberean, and Onoel the grazed ass. 85 Then silently she dug the crucial f fosse Once in impure § Therapnse famed, wherein She pour'd the vital stream from three black whelps Sacred to Him below. A pyre she raised Of cypress, and of cedar ever green, 90 Of poplar, || that still weeps balsamic tears For Phaeton, and paliurus f sharp With thorns, that from the holiest brows, there placed In mockery of a kingly crown, drew blood. Beneath a mystic veil she mingled next 100 Fell colchic with the deadly flower ** of brass, Bugloss, and tansy, and the yellow bloom Of baneful crowfoot dabbled in the gore ; She stuff'd with these the carcases, and placed Them on the faggots, and their entrails spread, 105 With water sprinkled, near the triple ff ditch. Then low she murmur'd words, which spoken aloud Would split heaven's brazen pavement, and resound * The bear. t Erataoth. See Origen against Celsus. $ The fosse was made in the shape of a cross, or of the body of a man with the arms extended, but the feet close together. Bothron tri- stoichon. — Orph. Argon. § The abode of Medea. That of Helen had the same name. || The four sorts of wood used by Medea. See Orph. Arg. IF Called Christ's thorn. ** x a ^ Kav 9°G> copperas, but meaning in Orpheus some vegetable. tt Such is the ceremony, as described by the author of Orph. Arg., who must have been almost contemporary with Attila. M 16*2 ATTTLA. Far thro' the infinite. This done, erect She stood, and, nought abash'd, thrice loud and plain 110 The Prince of nether darkness she adjured, By all the power that dwells in those dread # names, Sabaoth and Hadonai, to appear. Scarce had she ceased, the pale unearthly fire Sulphureous burnt, and from its base the hill 115 Rock'd at his coming. By her side invoked Stood the Archfiend ; not clad in terrors grim, As when he scatters flight, dismay, and death, Stern Ares mail'd for war ; bland aspect wore The felon Prince, with which he won the bed 120 Of that fair-form'd adulteress sea-born, Venus Mylitta, with impurest rites Adored by nymphs in Babylon, or where, To appease the unchaste Goddess, Cyprus sold Her meretricious virgins to like shame. 125 Then thus, with gentle speech, the author of ill Obsequious. " Beautiful of womankind ! " If woman, and not rather shape divine, . " As thine high bearing speaks thee, and the mind " Replete with wisdom far excelling man's ! 130 " What wilt thou, fairest of created forms ?" To him the enchantress. " Deem not, treacherous power, " By adulation vile, to stay the thoughts " And master-passion of this iron heart, " On earth my slave, enthrall'd by labours dark 135 " And many an occult mystery, to do " My bidding whatsoever ! Fiend, unroll " The hidden page of fate. The spirit of time * See Origen, who believed that there was power in those words. book vi r. 163 " With desolating wings e'en now flaps round " The ancient gates of Rome. That cycle dread 140 " Of ages, which Quirinus old divined, " On the triumphal wheels of brazen war " Returns accomplish'd. Remus, from her walls " Thy blood has faded, and that * nameless name " Breathed inwardly by pontiffs and the maid 145 " Silentious on the hill Capitoline, " That name, her strength, which but to speak was death, " Is swallowed by oblivion. Shall the gore " Of righteous Bleda to Sicambria's domes " Give equal-during sway, and wherewithal 150 " Shall Hilda, from those domes cast forth with scorn, " Reap vengeance ? how resume the sceptre lost ?' To her the fiend. " Not vengeance due for wrongs, " Not sorcery, how strong its spells soe'er, " Can touch the head, on which predestined hangs 155 " Imperial fortune. Rome's appointed hours " Have fleeted, and her guardian angel quails. " Conjured with Erebus thy brother stands " Against Jehovah. To him, nothing loth, " Thrones and dominions, and what else of might 160 " Walk Tartarus, shut out from upper heaven, " Give glory above his peers, ordain'd to o'erthrow " Messiah's dynasty. Blood-red the orb * Capitolium Scaudet cum tacita virgine pontifex. Hor. Valerius Sora- nus, tribune of the people, was crucified for speaking the secret name of Rome and her tutelary God. Pliny Hist. Nat. 3. 6. Servius in Georg. 1. 498. and Mxi. 1. 281. Pliny and Macrobius state that the reason for secrecy was the fear of the Deity being exorcised to quit the city by their enemies. What the ineffable name was remains unknown, though many have been suggested. M2 164 ATTILA. " Of Ares culminates, and, thro' his shroud, " Tempest and storm, reveal'd, Orion looks 165 " Portentous. The great hour foreknown above " Already throws upon this nether world " Its fearful shadow, and Fate close behind " Comes darkling. If, still unappall'd by signs, " Whate'er Jehovah fulmining on high 170 " May hurl upon the nations, he abide " Unmoved, unshaken, his victorious wheels " Soon shall surmount the Capitol, and Hell " Sit there enthroned in light. If recrean the " Foreswear his oath of hate to the All High, 175 " The everlasting compact, seal'd erewhile " With powers of darkness, fails. Abandon'd, wreck'd, " He sinks ; his glory, long by me upheld, " Is forfeit, and Jehovah's arm hath power. " Then, vengeance, do thy work !" To him replied 180 Hilda. " Too slow the march of Time, to who " Communes with spirits, and aboding ill " Burns inwardly, by strong desires consumed." To her, smiling in scorn, the spirit unclean. " If thirst of knowledge goad thee, from whose tree 185 " Thy first fair parent in the vale of joy " Pluck' d sorrow, of hours and deeds unborn behold " The spectre luminous. Scenes, unreveal'd " To mortals, o'er the wizard lake shall glow " Reflected from those forms, that even now 190 " Glide swiftly on the advancing wings of Time." This said, her buoyant thro' mid air the fiend Transported, where that Carnian grotto, hight In after days of Magdalena, gives Deep access unto Powers, that under earth 195 BOOK VII. 165 Secluded dwell. Profound its passage, like The jaws of Taenarus, thro' which the bard GEagrian pass'd to Hades and the realms Where shadows flit. Spacious and huge within The chamber subterranean frown'd. Its sides 200 Abrupt, of rocks gigantic and inform, Grandeur sublime, in strange confusion heap'd ; Aloft, with countless hues and various shape, Hung stalactites, that mock'd the diamond's blaze, Sapphire, or emerald, and that paler stone 205 That drinks the golden beam, pure chrysolite. There sun, nor summer heat, nor light of day Comes ever, nor the arrowy breath unkind Of winter frore. Along the cavern deep A pallid lustre spirituous gleam'd 210 From him accurst. The wondrous beam illumed A lake more still than Lethe, in that cave Far bosom'd underground ; no living form E'er stains its limpid surface, save where comes Eyeless and dark unto its breathing place 215 The proteus serpentine, that makes abode In the great deep below, of ocean's flood The nether pool, where many a monster dwells, Saurus # or huge Leviathan, unknown To the upper air. Astonish'd Hilda saw 220 Depictured on the mirror's watery lap A vast and noble city ; but within Nor motion, nor the shape of living thing Disturb'd the stillness of its marble ways. v The proteus of subterranean waters seems to have some affinity to the extinguished race of Sauri. 166 ATTILA. Untenanted the fenced turrets rose 225 On a deserted plain ; and all around A voiceless desolation seem'd to rule, Tranquil as death : the works of man were there, His pompous dwellings, and the haunts of life, But not his form ; the verdant meadow lay 230 Stiller than Eden's yet untrodden herbs, Nor cloven foot, nor undivided hoof Press'd their soft carpet ; but anon the dust Rose like a cloud on the horizon ; steel Gleam'd faintly, and an army's ample might, 235 As if in truth reflected on the lake, Seem'd growing into motion. " There behold," Satan pursued, " the shadows cast before " By wizard Time." Beauteous it was and bright To view the varied pageant, which advanced 240 On the blue water, as if thousand arms Were glimmering to the sun, and crested helms, And banners multiform with symbols strange, The ornament of battle. As when, borne O'er Arctic billows to the gelid * land 245 Far westward, the mazed mariner descries At morn refracted on the azure wave, Mast, hull, and crew, with all her canvass spread The spectre of some ship, which far aloof Speeds towards the pole. So gleam'd Concordia's domes Invaded by the Hun. Her massive gates Yield to the stroke of battle-axe and crow, And booty, torn from her abandon'd halls, As from a tomb, throngs all her spacious streets ; * See Scoresby's Voy. to Greenland. BOOK VII. 167 The silken drapery, the golden frieze, 255 And imitative shapes of moulded brass, Till plunder hath its fill, and flames arise Enveloping her glories ; the blue smoke Shrouds her scorch'd mansions and down-toppling towers, And ashes blacken, where each palace stood. 260 That vision pass'd ; next Hilda wondering spied Patavium's ramparts, glittering wide with arms On the dark mirror manifest. Around The Hunnish legions swarm ; and engines, late Proved well at Aquileia, seem to hurl 265 Stupendous ruin ; with diminish'd bulk, Fearfully bright, the living picture glows ; And mimic death in all its ghastly forms Is there terrific ; gore, and yawning wounds, Commingling havoc, and destructive rout 270 Without the din of war ; a silent scene Instinct with energy and deadly strife. Upon the battlements defensive stand Thousands of combatants, like termite ants That swarm around their castellated dome 275 Minacious, nor with threats alone, but deeds Worthier a giant's nerve, resist their foe. High on the central fane stood eminent Colossal Mars, by reverent awe preserved, When Caesar's edict, head and limbs loft off, 280 Smote heathendom's vain idols. Him the Huns Descry exulting, and salute their God, Fierce Arimanius, of the Scythian sword Dread spirit appeased by blood ; but from that height Struck by assailing engines, which threw stones 285 Olympus-high, the brazen God of war 168 ATTILA. Loud-clanging fell, and to the Hun presaged No foreign blow, but from domestic arms Precipitate reverse and sudden fall. Then glared once more the flaming element ; 290 Patavium's pride, each temple high uprear'd With Christian cross, ramparts, and palaces, Fell crumbling or consumed. Anon there came A change upon the waters. Foremost goes The form of Attila, his breast adorn'd 295 With dread teraphim ; his right-hand outstretch'd Points far unto Vincentia, while his left Curbs Grana to his will, and lurid light Streams from his iron sword. Short space aloof, Unmindful of the war, in motley vest 300 Stood mountebanks. Of God or country's weal They little reck'd, but light of heart and foot Disported, confident in folly. These To strange arbitrement of active power The king calls forth. Agile and lithe howe'er, 305 They cannot vault upon the steed, like him Who all accomplishment of man exceeds, In ponderous iron clothed; they cannot draw The arrow to the head, or bend the bow, Loved pastime of his youth. Surpass'd and shamed 310 In manly feats of energy and skill, Them with spare diet unto martial toil The monarch dooms. Then came another change; The shores of Adria, the translucent waves Of deepest blue, and thy majestic port, 315 Ravenna, lit by sunshine, on the lake Shews like a vision. From thy muniment The Caesar, with imperial splendour girt, BOOK VII. 169 Flies trembling unto Rome, nor dares await The heathen flood of battle. With him goes 320 Honoria, from her gloomy cell drawn forth, A weeping captive in monastic veil. Next from Ravenna's walls in vest of peace Issued a suppliant train. Slowly they wind Towards the Hunnish tents ; there humbly kneels 325 Her prelate to God's scourge. The pagan's face Seems to relax the inexorable lines That furrow his dark brow, as if appeased By prompt surrender. Next Vincentia's strength Is pictured ; girt with wide and watery fosse 330 Her martial turrets rise. Foremost he wades Breast-deep, and first assails the lofty scarp, Terror and rout before him, and behind Ungovernable rage. Her ancient walls, Imaged in fair resplendency, bow low 335 By fierce invaders razed, and the array Moves westward on Verona. Wide behind Grim desolation spreads. Then Burgomum, With vain defence, then Brixia's towers appear ; Whence, on the point of her Cycnean hill, 340 Faith * infidel enshrined had late look'd down On that vast aqueduct, whose weight bestrode The valley, and bore mid air the crystal flood Unto the dome of Flora opposite, The chapel now of Saint Floranus hight 345 By semi-christians ; O foul compromise Twixt faith of God and demons ! In the vale ■ The temple of Fides. 170 ATTILA. Triumpline, nigh the gryphon-guarded * walls Of antique Brixia, still unscathed and whole Naked Tyllinus stood, with laurel crown'd, 350 An iron God, and his sinister foot Trampled a human skull. His mystic spear, Round which a serpent coil'd, upon the lake Reflected, threw a lurid glare of light. Then came the crash of battle ; a blood-gout, 355 From that strong hand f that guards the charmed life Of heathendom's stern monarch, stain'd the sod Of many-templed Brixia. Then ensued Like contest and like overthrow ; the forms Of women, beautiful in disarray, 360 Flying aghast, or forced by mailed men, And mangled infancy and hoary age Dragg'd in the dust. High o'er the captured town The pagan standard, red with Christian gore, Flaunts insolent. Anon two mountain floods, 365 Lambrus and Addua, with deep-gurgling stream Seem'd to flow parallel, on that dark lake Gleaming like silver ; while between them stood A city undefiled by wasting war. A double wall environ'd her ; J within, 370 A circus huge, and splendid theatre, And Palatine towers, and famed Herculean baths, And peristyles with marble figures deck'd, Made beauteous show. The unresisted host * The bearings of Brixia were a gryphon, which was represented on her walls. The iron statue of Tyllinus stood long after the time of Attila, in the Triumpline valley near the town. t Attila is said to have been wounded in the hand, in the siege of Brixia. % Sec Ausonius. BOOK VII. 171 Invades her silent streets : high on the dais 375 In Mediolanum sits stern Attila, Victor and king. Before his frowning eye A picture hangs ; upon the gorgeous throne Rome's crowned emperor was there pourtray'd, And Scythians, grovelling unto earth, the knee 380 Submissive bend. Instant the vain offence Is cast unto the flames, and in its stead He bids the trembling limner to enthrone His own dread aspect with teraphim deck'd, And purpled emperors with precious weight 385 Sore laden, ready at his feet to lay The tributary gold. Unmoved the while Proudly he views his conquest, and forebodes One triumph more, the eternal fall of Rome. Then rose to view the banks where made strange wreck, Smit by Jove's ardent thunderbolt, the son Presumptuous, who boasted might to guide The burning car of Helius * in heaven ; But him confusion seized, and in mid air Utter dismay ; while, tossing from their necks 395 Unquenchable rays and wreathed flakes of fire They rush'd eccentric, thro' the star-paved waste Without the Ecliptic ; and he, thunder-struck, From that amazing altitude fell sheer Into Eridanus. On that famous marge 400 Where, rushing from the north, Ticinus pours His mingled waves, with gilded standards crown'd The pagan tabernacles now sent back The beaming sun, which never since that morn Hath devious stray'd, but in appointed course 405 * The Sun. 172 ATTILA. Spring-time and harvest brings, or steers aloof Towards Centaums and the Southern pole. Lovely and florid, as a Mayday queen, Ticina # look'd upon her kindred flood, But, unresisting, all her glories yield 410 To heathen force ; wealth, power, and ornament, Lie prostrate, with the flower of beauty reap'd By discord sprinkled with the dew of death. That pageant faded, and thy strength appear'd, Benacus, swelling like the ocean's surge, 415 First of Hesperian lakes ! The reed-fringed wave Of Mincius shew'd distinct, the fields once till'd By him,f who sang the head torn fiercely back From the marmorean neck, which, as it roll'd Adown CEagrian Hebrus, made the banks 420 Of that lone river still give back the wail, Eurydice ! and the song-hallow'd farm, Which heard the woes of Atys J borne amain On the swift barque, and striking with mad hand Cybele's brass, from bridegroom turn'd to bride, 425 Strange sterile hymeneals ! Mute is now The shell, that made harmonious echoes wake, And other feet pollute that classic lawn With iron tread. The Hunnish camp is pitch'd E'en where they warbled erst, and told how raved 430 Sea-like Benacus, or how Sirmio smiled. Gorgeous and vast the battailous array ; Not he who look'd from Peor, with his face Set to the wilderness, there call'd to curse God's people from that height, beheld the plain 435 • Properly Ticinum, but the neuter gender floes not suit a porsoni- fication. t See Virgil's Georgics, 1. 4. $ See Catullus. BOOK VII. 173 So whitening with their goodly tents, spread forth Like glorious cedars by the river's side, As Hilda on the eyrie lake pourtray'd Saw Attila's vast camp. The countless war Stretch'd southward, and its standards proudly fixt 440 Look'd unto Rome. Upon the mirror's face The white tents gleam'd, like flakes of fleecy cloud Upon the azure, when clear Aquilon Drives back the nebulous South : but, as she gazed, Slow darkness came, like an autumnal haze, 445 Over the pageant, and it seem'd to sink Deep gulph'd in the unfathom'd element. Long after look'd the sorceress, but light Came none, or colour, on the level glass Of that unruffled pool. " Why fades," she said, 450 " Yon vision ? Spirit, shew the march of war " E'en to the gates of that Romulean town, " Whose domination has twelve ages sway'd " This habitable world." " What shall ensue, " Known only to Jehovah," he replied, 455 " Eludes the eye of wisdom. Thou hast seen " The tenor of events, that smoothly glide " Upon the even face of destiny, " Things bruited wide in heaven, and known of yore ; 66 But there are periods in the book of fate 460 " Momentous, unreveal'd, though plain to Him " Who rides upon the cherubim enthroned. " Thus much, recorded in Heaven's high archives " Sufficeth ; Rome hath her appointed years, " And now her strength is waning. Well I know 465 " The day* must be, when manifest on earth * 2 Thess. ii. 3, &e. 174 ATTILA. " Shall reign that mighty one, whose corning is " After my working, with all power and signs, " Wondrous illusions, and in God's own house " Shall shew himself as God. Whether the hour, 47 " Which must exalt me on this nether sphere, < J Come instant, or delay'd, is the great cause " To man and spirit leagued against the Highest ; " Highest no more, so Attila stand firm, " Vicegerent of our world ; for whom I strive 475 " With portents and with shadows, sure to win " Subtle success ; not, as vain fables tell, " Assailing with the front of fiery war " Jehovah's legions, and the sapphire throne " From whence he hurls the thunder. If he shrink 480 " Unworthy, fate another tool will find " Fitter hereafter, but our present toils " Fall unfulfill'd : yet is the hour of Rome " Now seal'd. What conqueror smites her mural crown " Wisdom hath not unveil'd ; that lies yet hid 485 il Amid the glimpses of futurity " Reveal'd to spirits ; imperfect foresight gain'd " Of time's great scheme, when woman, sore deceived, " Pluck'd the forbidden fruit, to her lorn self " Acquiring shame, until that hour unknown 490 " In flowery Eden, and another law " Of knowledge warring with her innocence." He ceased ; for lo ! upon the glamorous pool A globe of light seem'd gathering, and anon Expanded, opening shapes, which, dim at first, 495 Grew into clearness. A rich tent was there Of Bactrian fashion, and a maiden bright With all accomplishment of form and grace, BOOK VII. 175 Array'd in garb of orient. At her feet Knelt yellow-hair'd Andages flush'd with hope ; 500 One lily hand he press'd, and seem'd to plead Love's soft petition ; and, she, scarce averse, Turn'd from his ardent gaze her blushing cheek, Languidly mute. A cross of silver hung Beneath her bosom's silken folds half hid. 505 Upon the groundsell Attila's stern form Stood scowling ; from his eyeballs lighten'd rage, Burning concupiscence, and jealous fires : Nor she from his fierce aspect, thus surprised, Shrank not abash'd; the roseate colour fled 510 Her alter'd face, as fearful she uprose. Long on that vision look'd with anxious mien The mailed sorceress. Those forms unchanged Grew into magnitude of life and limb, But motionless ; like rigid statues fixt 515 With all their passions glowing. " Wherefore comes," Astonied Hilda cries, " that dream ? Why stays " Its motion, or why fade its spectral forms ? " Portending what ? to whom ?" for, as she spoke, Grown dim they vanish'd in the gloomy pool. 520 To her the baleful spirit. " From that abyss " No phantom comes with import light or vain. " There is dread potency in that thou saw'st, " And danger to the mighty. In old times " By woman hath man fallen, else secure, 525 " And shall hereafter. Thou hast view'd the shape " Of fair Mycoltha, Bactria's royal nymph, " Beloved of Attila, if lust be love.'' Hard were it for the painter's art to limn That bright enchantress, by the mystic pool 530 176 ATTILA. Bending her visage flush'd with guilty hope, Thoughts perilous and vague ; while by her side The master spirit of all evil stood Contemptuous. Once again the hues of life, Relumed, were quickening on that Stygian lake. 535 A dismal cell with groined arches dark Was fashion 'd there ; its narrow casement shew'd Rome's palaces beneath. Within reclined Thy wasted loveliness, Honoria, once First of the fair, and in Ravenna's court 540 Most beautiful, most gay ! The garb austere Of penitence shrouds now the shrunken limbs, The bosom late full-zoned, and throbbing high Under the jewell'd kerchief; and that cheek Lit with the bloom of love, that fragrant lip 545 That woo'd the kiss of guilt, sorrow hath paled Remorseful, and the worm of conscience gnaws Unceasing the sad heart, which blithely once Beat heedless. Near, the mitred innocence Of Roman Leo stood. Soothed by his speech 550 Persuasive, the meek sinner seem'd to draw Assuaging comfort, and the rayless eye To beam refresh'd by hope. The holy rood Hallow'd that mournful chamber, and anon It wax'd unto portentous magnitude, 555 While round the front of Him divine, thereon Express'd, celestial fulgor radiated ; And instantly the rebel Prince appalPd Hasty retreat, into the realms of night, And headlong made, unequal to confront 560 The glory of the Most High. Behind him fled Delusions, portents, and the host of lies, BOOK VII. 177 Wherewith against the Holiest he moves Unhallow'd warfare, labouring to exalt Sin in high places manifest as God. 565 No ray was in the cave, where Hilda now Stood darkling; but, to her, deep knowledge, worse Than foolishness, had long made darkness clear As noonday's splendour, and she knew to soar Upon the midnight blast, like those dread maids 570 Ill-ominous, who bear from Odin's hall The deadly summons, and select the slain. High o'er Norician Alps she wings her flight To Hindarfell ; there plotting deep revenge Pores o'er unholy lore, and ever holds 575 Communion with the accurst, rejecting heaven. N ATTILA. BOOK EIGHTH. Mysterious slumber ! image of the change That comes to all, when the devouring grave Which never yet hath said, " It is enough," Receives its own, (dust render'd unto dust Corruptible, the glowing strength of life 5 To the worm's darkness) and the soul descends To its long rest in Hades ! Art thou to man By his beneficent Creator given As a sweet solace, a repose from all Of labour or of pain, that here assails 10 His weak mortality ? a gentle calm Oblivious, when the malice of his foes Loses for some short space its potency, And peace is with him, emblem of that peace Which the world cannot give ; and visions fair 15 Come round the couch of wo with angel smiles, Breathing beatitude ? Or art thou sent As a foretaste of that, which unto all Must be hereafter ? when the just alone Shall rest from every labour, and his works 20 Follow, a goodlier train, than ever brought The virgin to her bridal, or the great Of this world to their crowned majesty ! BOOK VIII. 179 For he shall sleep the slumber of the grave, Till the last trump arouse him, and the space 25 Of thousand years unto his spirit entranced Shall be refreshment calm, or visited By visions from the blest ; a long slow term To mortal estimation, which is based Upon the hearing and the sight of things 30 That are but as an atom amongst those Infinite and eternal ; to Thine eye, With whom a thousand years are as a day, The slumber of a dewy summer eve Fresh with delight. Perhaps to the unjust 35 Disquietude more dreadful, than the thought Of lone eternity to those who tread The weary vale of sorrow on this earth, Frightful unrest, while phantoms, that seen here, Would drive scared reason from her seat, crowd round 40 The unlimb'd spirit, which hath no escape From ills that overpower it, like the fiend That sits upon the breast, when nature lacks Wholesome digestion, and weighs down the wretch Fast held by impotence. 45 No friendly power Shed influence upon the gilded couch Whereon reclined Aetius. Bosom'd deep Amid the fairest hills of Italy His villa rose ; a stately mansion, deck'd 50 With spacious peristyles, marmorean stairs, And baths of porphyry, where Zephyrs sent Through ambient jasmine odoriferous airs, Sweet recreation ; there the huge hippodrome, Where neighing coursers vied ; and gardens bright 55 N 2 180 ATTILA. With thousand hues, where, in the wide expanse Prison'd, as if at liberty, the choir Various of note and plume, with gleamy wings Glanced in the sun, or from umbrageous bowers Pour'd melody ; and sparkling fountains play'd, 60 And the clear stream ran murmuring. Not such The frugal hearths, which to their country's aid Sent Cincinnatus rude, or, Decius, thy Devoted spirit; but with conquest came Soft luxury, and selfish love of ease, 65 Ambition, that trod down the public weal, And sensual vice. The lord of that domain On silken tissues lay, lull'd to his sleep With dulcet melody of shells, attuned By wanton slaves. But the unquiet soul 70 Vex'd by its evil will, slept not the sleep That gives regenerate strength and through the limbs Diffuses calm. The anxious scene of life, The steep ascent, which he had trod to power, And praise, ill merited by evil deeds, 75 Pass'd in review before him. That far Thrace, Where, clothed with Roman pomp, his Scythian sire Marshall'd the armies of degenerate Rome, The fond caress of her who gave him birth From the best veins of Latium ; all the sports 80 Of his bold infancy ; whether to guide The courser, thundering o'er the level mead, Or throw the disk, or wield the Gothic pole, Or, prouder, with Italian targe and sword Deal mimic war. Once more the mystic words 85 Of the wierd women came upon his ears Mutter'd erewhile, that even he was born BOOK VIII. 181 To be that great one, for whom then the world Look'd in suspense. Then came his first assay In those red fields of battle, where he won 90 A name, still sounded by the sons of Time After the lapse of ages. Next arose, Pictured to fancy's eye, thy glorious camp, Great Alaric ! where long his fervent youth, Hostage from her who whilom sway'd the world, 95 Abided, wielding the Sarmatian pike, Or striving with the Hun, to bend his bow To the barb'd arrow's point. There first he view'd The glory of the infidel, and learn'd To scorn degraded Rome. Prophetic hopes 100 Swell'd in his heart. Sprung from united streams Faithful and pagan, he forethought to sway Both sceptres, mounting by a Scythian throne To the Caesarean purple. With design Darkling and close, he wound the subtle chains 105 Of friendship, haply surest in rude breasts, Round many a barbarous heart. Nor did not rise The circles huge of giant * Hunniwar Plain to his sense, as when he first abode In green Pannonia, where the mighty Hun 110 Sat, nine times girded with stupendous walls ; The rites done there in blood, the orgies dire, Which he had known, and learnt the evil creed That nestled in his bosom, cover'd deep By specious show of faith; the gallant hours 115 In jovial forest, or the bloodier sports Of Ares, spent with Attila, thro' youth Sec Jornandes. 182 ATTILA. His rival and his comrade ; the rich halls Of John,* who in Ravenna's princely court Lost life and power usurp'd; while he, too late, 120 Against his country, from Pannonian wilds, CalPd forth to fell society of arms The Hun, yet guiltless of domestic blood. Nor saw he not the glorious fields of Gaul, The staff by treason earn'd, wherewith he ruled 125 Rome's armies, Arnolf weltering nigh the trench Of leaguer'd Arelas, Bavarian glens Scour 'd by his eagles, which ere long brought low Juthungian vaunts ; Mosella red with war, Gelons, and Francs, and Salian chivalry, 130 And Sauromatians with the incontinent Hun Mingled in death ; or nigh the banks of Rhine Gundioc the wealthy, with his boasted train Of Nibelungian warriors mail'd in gold, Biting Burgundian dust. Then dimly rose 135 (And, as he saw, malignant hate obscured His troubled brow) thy blood-polluted form, By double-tongued deceitfulness push'd on To treason, rued too late on Hippo's strand, Wrong'd Boniface ! whose hasty wrath invoked 140 Stern Genseric, to bring thee lawless aid ; And, after, with the gory flood of life, In vain victorious on the stones of Rome Dyed'st thy false rival's spear. Half roused from sleep He seem'd to hear the vengeful cry, which then 145 * John surnamed the tyrant. Aetius, who was his master of the palace, brought an army of Huns to his aid, but in meantime he had lost his life. BOOK VIII. 183 Had bay'd him in that chamber ; once again To fly, as when outlaw'd from Italy He sought her foes, the hospitable hearth Of him who sway'd the sword of Ariman, And by new treason from that dread retreat 150 Paved fresh the road to power. His spirit saw Once more the banks of Liger, the saved shrines Of Orleans, glittering to the noonday sun ; Once more, his latest attribute, the plain Where Matrona had seen the scourge of heaven 155 Staid by the Goths, what time his secret fraud Marr'd half the fruit of victory. And now His cheek was flush'd with fever ; the strong pulse Strove at his heart. He deem'd himself array'd In purple, brighter than the Tyrian shell 160 Hath ever stain'd; and in his grasp secure The steel adored by Scythians; while the kings Of many a nation barbarous, amid Discordant shouts and various-tongued applause, Raised him to Caesar's throne. Sudden he shrank, 165 And from his countenance the wholesome hue Departed, and a deadly shiver crept Over his limbs ; for on the gorgeous steps, Which then he clombe, lay headless Stilicho, Who at Pollentia turn'd to bloody rout 170 That other # child of victory, but struck Amidst his Hunnish sentries, and, of like Imaginations frustrate, in like act Fell headlong ; and, beside, anotherf corse, * Alaric. t Eucherius the son of Stilicho, put to death also by Honorius, after the death of his father. 184 ATTILA. Slain in fresh years, was folding its cold arms 1 75 Round the patrician's son, and on the crown, That seem'd within his youthful grasp, was gore, Gore on the bridal wreath, which o'er his brow Suspended* hung. Blest ! doubly blest ! who sleep The sleep of innocence, and o'er whose couch 180 Protecting angels hover, to ward off Unholy things and images of ill, That, led by the deceiver, crowd around, A fearful swarm. The man of tented fields In slumber stirr'd, as if his war-used hand 185 Were striving for the hilt ; but sleep weigh'd down The ineffectual grasp, and impotent He wrestled with the dreadful phantasy. It pass'd, and from his brow the warrior threw Night's shadows, and, half-rising, seem'd to gaze, 190 As if his wandering mind recall'd not yet, Whether the fortunes, to his youth foretold, Were even then achieved, or by the extreme Of fate reversed. The demon at his heart, Ambition, soon brought back the troubled thought 195 Unto its purpose, and cast far behind The evil issue of that great bad f man, His antecessor in the slippery path Now trodden to like goal. His country's weal Him moved not, or the sack of that fair tract 200 From Meduacus to the woody slope Of the hoar Apennine. In torpid ease, Spell-bound by secret policy, reposed ' The son of Aetius was betrothed to the daughter of the Emperor Valentinian. t Stilicho. BOOK VIII. 185 His daring energies, which might have braved The unbeliever in the open field, 205 Or staid him, in the barren gorges pent Of those huge obstacles, which nature set To shroud thy loveliness, thy tempting realms, Enslaved Ausonia, from the iron blight Breathed by the North. In vain, for ages still 210 Shall follow ages, and the German's steel Gather the vintage of thy fertile slopes, And (hard fore-boding !) his tyrannic might Smother the germs of freedom, and arrest Fair Science, with the social trust that man 215 Rests on his fellow ; for of all thy sons There shall not rise one vindicator, one With truer heart than that patrician, but Blazon'd like him upon the rolls of fame, To burst thy chains ; and thou must writhe unsaved 220 Beneath the oppressor, till Jehovah's will Shall lift the ban, which o'er thy freedom throws A gloom by no illumination cheer'd But glimpses of the past. With thoughts confused, And limbs by slumber unrecruited, rose 225 The Master of Rome's armies. Forth he strode Into the airy peristyle, adorn'd With many a marble form, colossal busts Of Latin patriots in the olden time, And semblances of Grecian heroes, carved 230 In Parian stone. The morning breeze came fresh Upon his spirit ; while, stretching far his sight Thro' the crepusculous haze, he saw the tents, Where, by inaction thrall'd, his host reposed, Having achieved nought worthy his renown. *2oo 186 ATTILA. A voice of other ages seem'd to breathe From those cold statues, which around him told Of fields once fought for liberty ; they bent Stern and unchangeable on him their brows Wreathed with no ill-eam'd laurel ; and the soul 240 Within him stirr'd, by generous thoughts impell'd, While his eye rested on the rugged front Of that famed Spartan chief, who dearly sold Life for his country, in the narrow glen Twixt Thessaly and Phocis. Twice he turn'd 245 Towards the portal, and perchance had bid His bold lieutenants from the bristling camp Advance the * labarum, and northward pour His legions, prompt to peril life and fame Against his country's foe : but twice turn'd back 250 Him to his evil purpose the sly fiend That whisper'd at his ear. Illusive hopes Staid him upon that threshold, ne'er again To pluck victorious bays, or drink the applause That hail'd him as the bulwark once of Rome. 255 The die of fate was cast ; as he turn'd back, The Genius of his country sigh'd ; for soon All the fair champaign, all the glorious towns North of Eridanus shall smoking lie : And, nearer still, f ^Emilia and the $ March 260 Blaze with the Hun's invasion. He, whose skill Wielded her force, whose active mind infused Like ardour in her sons, whose limbs were prompt * The Christian standard introduced by Constantino, t The country between Pisa and Dertona traversed by the iEmilian road, also the road from Aquileia to Rimini. $ Of Ancona. BOOK VIII. 187 For all exertion, patient to endure Extremes of heat and cold, hunger or thirst, 265 And long successive toil, in those gilt halls Stays paralyzed by treason ; and the hope, That, cover'd, nestles in his guilty breast, Shall mar his fortunes. Heart-consuming Vice ! How dost thou from the soul its nutriment, 270 Which should have budded into perfect worth, Steal unperceived ; and, when Time throws aside Thy specious mantle, leave its sapless age Denuded of respect ! As where in brakes, That lie deep cradled by JEmodian hills, 275 The dodder, like a baneful serpent, throws Its coil upon some shrub or vigorous herb, The lonely glen's best ornament ; entwined Around each limb the parasitic wreath Diffuses fragrance, and encircles it 280 With glory not its own ; while, from each pore Stealing the healthy sap, creeps slowly on The sweet contagion, and behind it spreads Pithless decay. Long musing he decreed To let the Scythian's unimpeded might 285 Waste northern Italy, till gorged success Undiscipline his armies ; to urge flight On his luxurious lord, beyond the Alps Unto Provincia, where fair Arelas Lords o'er the Rhone : while he, securely camp'd, 290 Before the quaking city waits the acclaim, Which, in the needful moment, should erelong Salute him Csesar ; and the snares, then spread, Which in his haram shall assail the Hun Smitten by treason. Loud he call'd, and forth -21)5 188 ATTILA. Came slaves obsequious, chosen for their gifts Of several quality from each far clime. Swart Libyans, and the Persian's sallow hue, Alans, and Gauls, or from what realm soe'er Selected. Next his gallant sons drew nigh, 300 Pagan Carpileon, and his other hope In vain betrothed to the high maid of Rome. Then messengers and seal'd dispatches, sent By dark conspirators from every court Allied or infidel ; all insincere, 305 And stored with adulation, treacherous plans, And tidings false or true. Various their drift, But one their evil end ; each sought to raise Himself thro' treason, of the public weal Regardless; heathens, by patrician gold 310 Ensnared ; close Arians, plotting the downfall Of the good pontiff and thy school impure, Foul Manes, smarting from the wholesome lash Sway'd late by hierarchal hands in Rome ; Conflicting sects, all labouring to obtain, 315 Not liberty, but strength to overthrow Their rivals, and usurp unholy power ; And who for lucre, who for vengeance, sold Their master to his foe. But chief he scann'd One letter, penn'd with many a symbol strange 320 By that corrupted * scribe, the treacherous gift Himself had placed nigh Attila. The Hun Made wary through the murder, basely plann'd At Byzance by false eunuchs and their f lord, (On whom that treason fix'd a fouler stain 325 Constantius. + Theodosius the younger. BOOK VIII. 189 Than all the blood of Salonica's babes Upon his * ruthless sire) constrain'd the slave By dread of crucifixion, to indite Unreal rumours, blent with specious truth, Objecting guile to guile. But not of fraud, 330 To that consummate veteran, the web Was arduous to unravel ; well he knew, School'd in deceit, to lay no trust on man, But from the tissue, howe'er deftly wrought, To draw conclusions just, whereby to shape 335 His stormy way. As he, who sails aloof Upon the perilous Atlantic, vex'd By baffling gales, what time his gallant barque Or on the summit of some dark blue wave Storm-beaten rides, or plunges into the chasm 340 From that tremendous altitude, and straight Lies in the trough becalm'd, as if the grave Had swallow'd her ; nathless undaunted sets His fixt regard upon the starry vault, And notes the hour, and frequent calculates 345 Distance and bearings, and with skill corrects The errors of his course. So darkling steer'd Aetius, thro' the shoals and fearful blasts Of his tempestuous time, but never found That anchorage, secure from every change 350 Of fitful gales, that haven, which the just * Theodosius the Great, who consigned to death in an angry moment the inhabitants of Salonica to the number of from 8 to 15,000. His subsequent repulse from the cathedral by the bishop of Milan, generally called St. Ambrose, until he had humbled himself in the dust as a penitent, is a refreshing circumstance in the history of a period when public virtues were at a low ebb. 1 90 ATTILA. Alone inherit ; for the sons of earth, Who, vex'd with vain disquietude, pursue Ambition's fatuous light, thro' miry pools That yawn for their destruction, stray foredoom'd 355 Amid delusive shadows to their end. That certain hope, which shineth evermore A beacon to the righteous, over them Its peaceful radiance never shall diffuse ; And bitterness shall be the bread they chew, 360 While striving to devour the portion, snatch'd By strong injustice from their fellow-men, A baneful meal ; and their satiety Shall be a curse, more fatal than the void Of meagre famine, an unwholesome weight, 365 That haply shall bring dreams beyond the grave To the charged soul, and phantoms of the things Which have been on this earth, and which shall be Hereafter, when the trumpet wakes the dead. ATTILA BOOK NINTH. Vain life of mortal man ! how small the worth Of all which thy brief span inheriteth, If thou reclinest on the lap of sloth LulPd by luxurious vice ; or dragg'st the chain Of meretricious pleasures, that erelong 5 Pall on the wearied sense ! Better to rest Beneath the honour'd sepulchre, than live Dead to man's noblest uses, and enthrall'd By selfish cares, inglorious, unbeloved, Wasting the gifts, which with no sparing hand 10 To each his Maker gave, and bade him strive Amid the turmoil of his troublous way, Not for the crown of sin, the blood-stain'd robe Which conquest wears ; not for the light applause That veers with every gale. A better prize 15 There is for man, a glory of this world Well worth the labour of the blessed, won By arduous deeds of righteousness, that bring Solace, or wisdom, or the deathless boon Of holy freedom, to his fellow men, 20 And praise to the Almighty. Such a wreath Encircled late the patriotic * brow * Washington. 19*2 ATTILA. Of him, who, greater than the kings of earth, To young Atlantis in an upright cause Gave strength and liberty, and laid the stone 25 Whereon shall rise, if so Jehovah will, An empire mightier than the vast domain Sway'd once by vicious Caesars ! Such a wreath Made thee more glorious, memorable Pole,* In the decrepitude of countless wounds 30 Borne for thy fallen fatherland, than when Entire in strength and hope, thou trodd'st the field Of battle against the false imperatrix ! So fair a crown, unstain'd by blood, awaits Whoever, with no private aim, sincere 35 Strive for their country's weal, content to dwell Beneath the shadow of the good achieved In calm retirement, on the lap of peace, Save when their country breathes that holy voice Which summons all her sons. And not unblest 40 By thee, eternal Father, be the toil Of these my quiet hours, wherein I strive To pluck false honour from the evil brows, And glorify thy name. Enough for me, If this my humble verse should turn one heart 45 To throb for righteousness, to seek those bays Of glory in this world, which are inwreathed In the similitude of that perfect crown Which is not of the earth. Wo to the land Which hath no arm to shield her, and no head 50 To lead her counsels, when the evil days ECoschiusko. book rx. 193 Approach her, and invasion's fiery flood Is pour'd around. Nigher and nigher Rome Came the fierce din, the alarm, the smoke roll'd wide By devastation's blast. Italia's breast 55 Was furrow'd deep with scars, like the proud oak When smit by fire from heaven. In sensual sloth, Unheeding of her groans, reclined at ease Imperial Valentinian ; and his mind Too cowardly to dread the ills, that seem'd 60 Striding toward his porch, shut out the scene Which to confront he dared not; and drank in Base adulation from the lips impure Of slaves and eunuchs, listening to the lute Amid voluptuous banquets sweetly tuned, 65 Or with the nightly fever of the dice Smother'd the better thoughts, which in the heart Will rise perforce, or with adulterous will Plotted dishonour and domestic shame To those who fought for him. Is this the man, 70 Whose fame drew Meroveus unto Rome From Clodion's hardy court, to wield the sword In mimic fight, and learn how Romans strove ? Is this the brow, round which the laurels twine First wreathed by warlike Julius ? this the hand, 75 That sways the sceptre of stern Romulus ? Where are ye, spirits of the glorious dead ! Mutius, or Codes, or the virgin strength Of Clelia, breasting the swift Tiber's flood Despite the Etruscan ! or who died, full-robed 80 Upon your curulc chairs, with hoary heads Unused to bow ! Are ye still floating o'er The mighty mother that inform'd you once ? o 194 ATTILA. And have ye vision, to behold her sons Battening in vice degenerate, what time 85 Her being is at stake, by strength assail'd More fearful than Porsena, or the Gaul ? Or, if ye sleep beneath your marble tombs, Hear ye not, even in the quiet grave, Her Genius call ye from the realms of night 90 To burst your bands, and shew how Romans once Conquer'd or died ? One only dared rebuke The purpled sinner, thine impartial voice, Unfearing Leo ! Yet in vain it pour'd Bold eloquence, of power to rouse a heart 95 Not sunk in degradation, to stand firm Against the painim ; him, so lost in vice, Death only, the just vengeance from her lord Due to that injured matron, who effaced Her guiltless shame with suicidal blood, 100 Shall startle from his dalliance. Round him grew Close-muttering discontent. The people's voice Wax'd mutinous ; but, deaf to warnings, he Seem'd to inherit the vile ease, that lull'd Sardanapalus on the slippery brink 105 Heedless of fate ; but not the proud resolve That made him nobler in his overthrow, Than when, reclined within his gilded hall, He joy'd the banquet, the soft couch of down, The baneful luxury of sloth, array'd 110 In kingly pomp. There was a fearful flux Into old Rome, the helpless, and the fair, And limbs of strength, that should have dared to die Resisting for their hearths and country, now Blent in unseemly flight. Before them went 115 BOOK IX. 195 Haggard Dismay, and in the mingled rout Came Famine and Disease, while vague Alarm Scatter'd terrific rumours, that outsped Each dire event, or gave portentous form To wild illusions, deadlier than the train 120 Of homicidal war. From the four winds Onward they hurried, and their desert homes Left in sepulchral stillness. Each averr'd The Hun was on his steps, a hideous shape, Engender'd by a whelp of hellish breed, 125 With fangs inhuman, flesh'd in infant blood, And visage like a hound. Some said he sat In bright Ravenna on the kingly throne ; Some knew him camp'd upon the rugged brow Right over Fsesulse ; and some yestrene 130 Had view'd his dark battalions on the plain Chafing round Mutina, whose saintlike priest To veil her from the heathen had drawn down A shroud of mist from heaven. Some said he held The champain, which the rich Apulian ploughs, 135 Laden with spoil ; or on Calabrian hills Sent forth his fierce lieutenants. Some obscure Whisper'd, but knew not wherefore, he was gone Tow'rds Mambuleium, and his mighty force Was drawing to a head, where Mincius slow 140 Washes Ardelica. But none had stood To yield him battle on the plain, or stay His squadrons pent amongst the mountains ; none Dared to await his elf-begotten host Clothed in Cimmerian darkness. Then was heard 145 The scoff of the blaspheming multitude Apostate from Jehovah, in the hour 196 ATTILA. Of peril, when most needs the shield of faith. Hearts, which irresolute had halted long Between Rome's idols and their God, now made 150 Open relapse ; and with tumultuous chaunt Tripudiating, like Saliar priests of old, Men pour'd the Arval # chorus, to appease Vemarmar, the relentless fiend of war ; And matrons, in the pensile f chariot, bore 155 Things consecrated once with mystic awe To the great Mother ; thro' the startled ways Resounded once again the trumpet-drum J Of old Cybele ; and the Floral rites Licentious with unchaste processions fill'd 160 The forum, where erelong Rome's vanquisher Will quell the voice of revelry. It seem'd As if, let loose from some iEolian den, The demons of her ancient worship came Upon the breathing wind, like harpies, pour'd 165 On every shrine, which had been cleansed erewhile From their pollution, and all Hell let loose With hydra heads repullulated. Raised In maddening gusts the Bacchanalian shout Gave voice to echoes, which now half an age 170 Had sent Messiah's name in hymns to heaven. Scared by invasion's terror, zealous Faith And Chastity were taking wings, to fly Devoted Rome ; the trumpet bray'd to arms, But none went forth to battle ; and her lord 175 Lay banqueting and vile amidst the vile, * See the very ancient Salic song of the Arval brothers. Consult Nimrod, vol. iii. p. 210. + See ^Eneid, 1. 8. t Typanum tnbam Cybeles. — Catullus. BOOK IX. 197 Nor heeded her defence, nor heard the tongues Blaspheming nigh his gate. But not unmark'd By Leo swell' d the mutinous acclaim Of that rebellious people, who now clombe 180 The marble steps unto the Capitol To do unseemly rites. Onward they went With banners waving o'er forbidden things And images secreted long, now brought Forth mid triumphal music, with applause 185 And heedless shouts of praise, to snuff once more The blood of victims, by misguided zeal Oft burnt upon their altars. One rehearsed The words pour'd out erewhile before the throne By pagan Symmachus, bold advocate 190 For his time-hallow'd * country, when grave doubt Balanced the scale between Jehovah's law And Jove's incestuous crew; till them, thus judged, Csesar's just edict overthrew, and cast From their polluted shrines. Nor shall the voice 195 Of that blaspheming multitude, which fain Would light their holocausts anew, prevail Against the Almighty. At the deafening shouts Aroused, the venerable pontiff rose From meditations deep, whereby to save 200 His country, and uphold the faith. He pass'd Straight to the Vatican, and there erect Stood waiting on the sacred steps, which led Into the house of God, asylum once Safe against barbarous violence and lust, 205 What time the Gothic conqueror of Rome * Symmachi oratio pro sacra patria. 198 ATTILA. Defiled her streets with victory. Then thus His arms extending high, " Father !" he cried, " Forgive them, for they know not what they do ! " But send thine Holy Spirit, to bring home 210 " These to thy fold, and with confusion strike " The unbeliever in his orgies dumb, " Thou great and uncreated Mightiness, " For Thy name's sake !" They, nothing silenced, nor Regardful of the Highest, onward came 215 Flush' d with impiety : but strong the power Of righteousness, on which with tainted breath Foul Calumny has never fix'd a stain, To stay the senseless and misguided rush Of Folly, when the gates of sin and death 220 Are yawning for their victims. The rash throng Stopp'd dubious and amazed, encountering Him thus before the vestibule, enrobed In hierarchal garb, and with firm grasp The crozier, symbol of his holy charge, 225 Extending. To the mad confusive rout Denying ingress and unmoved he stood, Like that cherubic glory, which forbad The way to Eden, when deluded man Fell from the paths of life. An impious cry 230 Came from the rear; the inebriated crew, That shouted praise to Bacchus, struggled on Impatiently ; nor lack'd there voices raised From throats ferocious, with loud calls to slay The pontiff, and disperse his aged limbs 235 Amongst the multitude, like him * whilere Fentheus. BOOK IX. 199 Kill'd by the savage mother,* who on the hills Cast his dissever'd members, while her train Cried, CEvoe ! and, enwreathed with ivy, danced Abominable. Nothing daunted he 240 Spake, and therewith each mutinous sound was still, Like chaos, when the word of mightiness Came on the troublous waste. " Me, reckless crowd, Me ready, whensoe'er the Almighty wills, And due unto the grave, give back to dust ! 245 A martyr joyful, if the blood so spilt Would not, like coals of ever-during fire, Lie on your heads eternally ! But who Shall shield you from your Maker ? who shall stay The ami of the Most High ? that sent His flame 250 To lick the altar by His prophet reared \ indicative, when the bloody priests of Baal From morn till eve had gash'd their flesh in vain Shouting unto the idol, for their God Lack'd sense to hear the wailing of his crew, And judgment, from which no salvation is, 255 O'ertook them. Smite not these Thy guilty flock, Almighty Father ! but their erring hearts Bend even now to honour Thee ! O sons Of holy Rome, deluded to your death, Cast down the abominations, that provoke 260 The Lord to be against us ! Here I stand Alone, God's servant, and I say, accurst Are the dumb idols, which your hands defiled Exalt in impious triumph ; and accurst Each tongue, that speaks their praise ! O stubborn race ! * Agave. 200 ATTILA. " Harden'd in folly ! have ye quite forgot " Things not achieved in secret, how the blocks ' ' Ye worship, which the cunning workman hew'd " To be your Gods, ejected from their fanes " Were headlong cast and maim'd, vain images, 270 " And powerless to help or harm mankind? " Save that, polluted by their loathsome rites, " Man draws upon himself destruction* Bow " The lowly head and bend the suppliant knees, •' Frail children of mortality, to who 275 4 ' Has power to save and to consume ! who sent " The pagan, His destroying messenger, 1 : To desecrate this country for our sins, *' And can, whene'er He will, appeased by prayer " Or touch'd by sufferings, turn away the plague 280 " From this His people. Join with me in praise " To Him, who, whether He dispenses joy, " Or smites us in His wrath, is just and true ! " Righteous and merciful are all His ways, •' And ever is His sure salvation nigh 285 " To those, who seek not to the arm of flesh, u But trust in Him. I, even I, unarm'd, " The weakest of the weak, but strong in faith ** And clad in my Redeemer's righteousness, " Will meet the Hun ; so haply by my tongue 290 * ' The word of truth on his benighted mind ' ' May breathe a gentle calm, and mitigate *' His rage against the just. Frail sons of Rome, " Kneel low with me ! and Thou, accept the prayers " Of these Thy sinful penitents! We laud 295 1 ' Thy name, Jehovah ! Thou alone art God ! " We are not worthy to approach Thy throne BOOK IX. 201 M With voice of adoration, or with hymns " Breathed from polluted lips ! But Thou art still " The same, eternal and unchangeable, 300 14 Who, robed in mercy, never wilt reject " Those that in meek repentance turn to Thee !" He ceased, and therewithal the portals wide Open'd behind him, and with vocal strain (Chorus and semichorus, in response 305 Melodiously alternating) advanced Of white-robed quiristers a holy train Slow from the house of God, and pour'd forth praise Hymn'd whilom by diviner lips. " We laud " Thy name, Jehovah! Thou alone art God! 310 " The earth is Thine, and all that therein is; " The compass of the world, and they that dwell " Therein ; for Thou hast founded it upon " The seas, and on the floods prepared it. " Who shall ascend into Thy holy place ? 315 " E'en he that hath clean hands ; he shall receive " Thy blessing. — O ye gates ! lift up your heads ! " Be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors 44 The King of glory shall come in. — Who is " The King of glory? — It is the Lord of hosts, 320 " Mighty and strong, the Lord in battle strong ; " And these are they that seek Him ! These the sons " That glorify His name. Be ye lift up 44 Ye everlasting doors ! and lift your heads. " Ye gates ! The King of glory shall come in !" 325 Thus they with visages ecstatic, fixt Upon the firmament, whence, mildly pour'd. The day-spring stream'd on them from heaven, as if Beaming acceptance ; and the fickle crowd, 202 ATTILA. That came to curse, with alter'd heart and voice 330 Shouted Jehovah ! Him in battle strong, The King of glory, and the Lord of hosts ! While they, who to forbidden orgies clung, Withdrew abash'd or murmuring ; for the word Was mighty, and in loud symphonious chaunt 335 Messiah's name was wafted to the skies. The din of turbulence in Rome was lull'd, And tranquil glanced upon her marble fanes The parting beam, as, in the Tuscan wave Far westward, sank the sun's unclouded orb 340 Radiant with gold. A down that famous hill, From whence, in after ages, upon kings Hath fulmined oft the hierarchal ban, His step as placid, as his brow benign, Good Leo wins his way. A gentler care 345 Now leads him, where secluded sorrow dwells Wrapp'd in the veil of holiness. Close barr'd Against profaner feet, a massive gate Ready access unto the pontiff yields ; And thro' the quiet corridor he treads 350 Unto a lonely chamber, which hath heard Erewhile his heartfelt benediction pour'd Upon repentant sin. There, on a couch Of no luxurious tissue, weak and wan The sister of imperial Caesar lay. 355 Her languid eyes were dim ; ambition now Lit not their changeful glance, or lawless thoughts By dangerous passion stirr'd. Submission meek Over her mournful countenance diffused Calm loveliness, that savour'd less of earth 360 And this world's frail desiring. Slow disease BOOK IX. 203 Had paled her ruby lip, and ever seem'd Death's angel nigh her couch, ready to cut Life's slender thread. " Peace to these sacred walls !" Entering he spoke, " to those, who find therein 365 " A refuge from temptations of the world, " A haven from tumultuous passions, peace !" To him with eyes downcast Honoria said; " Much needs thy blessing, father, and that peace, " Which the world cannot give or take away, 370 " To soothe the wounded spirit, that has sinn'd " Against its Maker, and of guilt convinced " Lies prostrate. How shall it in prayer draw nigh " Whom nothing, that defileth, may approach ? " Thou art alone amongst the sons of Rome 375 " By evil unpolluted, and the works, " Thy zeal hath wrought, have placed upon thy brow " The crown that never fades. O pure of heart, " And thus accepted at the throne of grace, " Be thou my intercessor !" " Child of grief, 380 " Thou errest, knowing not the word of truth," Replied the pontiff " Easy access there is " For all who will, unto that gracious seat. " Thy fellow mortal, under sin alike " Concluded, I am nothing worth, to stand 385 " Between the guilty, and the outstretch'd arm " Of his offended Maker. One is pure, " One only is accepted, and may be " The Mediator betwixt God and Man, " E'en He, who dying has borne all our sins, 390 " A mighty sacrifice. Thro' faith in Him " Made perfect by obedience, such as man " Can offer, frail of purpose, to his God, 204 ATTILA. " I am assured of help, whereby to work " In trembling my salvation ; but good works, 395 " Aye, daughter, e'en the brightest that have shone " Amidst the deeds of men, can profit nought " Unto salvation, for they lack the power " To open the strait gate of life, and, soil'd " By worldly ends, that lurk in the heart's core 400 " Unseen and unsuspected, their best form " Still savours of offence. Good works shall be " A glory to the righteous, and Truth says " That they * shall follow him, and haply deck " A brighter mansion f in the Father's house 405 " For the accepted; but that door is closed " Against the proud, who seek to enter in " Clothed in their righteousness. One only key " Can win access to everlasting joy, " The blood of Him that died, and faith must hold 4J0 " That passport without wavering. To Him, " Approaching humbly unto mercy's throne, " I trust my weakness ; ever prompt with zeal " To lead the sheep of mine Almighty Lord " Unto those pastures, and that living spring, 415 " Which I have tasted. Lady, those green walks " Amid the desolation of this world " Are ever fresh, and breathe unfailing health " Unto the soul. Pleasant they are and safe " To who, athirst and weary with the toil 420 " Of life's contentious journey, seek repose " In the bless'd vale of righteousness, where comes " No scorching noontide with the feverish hum * Revelation xiv. 13. t John xiv. 2. BOOK IX. -205 " Of passions multiform ; calm peace is there " O'ershadow'd by the might of the Benign, 425 " And nurtured by His word . But to that vale " One entrance, and thro' One alone, is given." " Father," resumed the damsel, " my young heart " Stray'd heedless, in the joyful prime of life " Amidst a wilderness, where mingling sweets 430 " Rioted in vain luxuriance at their will, " Quite unrestraint by the chastising hand " Of nice propriety. Pure innocence, " The jewel, which surpasseth price, I lost, " Ere I had learnt its value, and reproof 435 " Fell harsh and hateful on mine ear, attuned " To self-indulgence. The obdurate wrath " Of mine imperious parent seem'd to breathe " Not chastity, but pride ; and bitter taunts " From Valentinian, (sunk himself how deep 440 " In loathliest sensuality!) awoke " No sense of shame within me, born of her " Who round our youth had spread a vicious lure, " So to debase her son, and wield herself " The sceptre of his right. Exiled, outcast 445 " From blithe Ravenna, sever'd from the love " Then dear unto my heart, though now with shame " Too late remember d and repentance vain, " Amid Byzantine pomp my hopeless years " Rigid Pulcheria in seclusion held, 450 " And prayer, in her austere devotions pour'd, " Came bitter to my soul. It brought no balm " To soothe my griefs ; it breathed no healthful charm, " Like thy consoling voice : but penance drear, " Cold taunts, and execrated vigils, drove 455 *206 ATTILA. " My heart to desperation, while forlorn " I thought how my aspiring mother pass'd " From a barbarian * to a Roman bed. " The purple was the guerdon of her charms " Thus sold for power ; and, reckless of my God, 460 " (Unknown, or by no eye of saving faith " Seen dimly) to the dreaded Hun I turn'd, " As to the renovating source of life, " Voluptuous joys, and pomp, and surquedry, " On which my youth had batten'd. Other thoughts 465 " Waked by thy kindlier voice, have made this heart " Convicted of defilement, and I loathe " The memory of that which I have been, " Shame says, which I am still, if guilt " Be not absolved by sorrow. Is it good, 470 " My father, to be thus afflicted ?" " Aye, " Daughter, thro' sorrow and affliction comes " Salvation ;" answer'd the mild priest of Rome. " But sorrow purges not the soul of sin " Without that saving grace, which is from high 475 " Through faith alone. Blessed, thrice blessed, those * Placidia, daughter of Theodosius the Great, having fallen into the hands of the Goths, was married with great pomp to Adolphus king of the Visigoths. After his murder at Barcelona by the brother of Sarus, she was given up by his successor Wallia to the Roman general Con» stantius. Constantius received her in marriage as a reward for his services, and was raised to the imperial throne. Valentinian the Third and Honoria were their offspring. Placidia was aunt to Theodosius the younger and Pulcheria, who were the children of her brother Arcadius. Arcadia and Marina, were associated with their sister Pulcheria in the public vow by which their virginity was dedicated to God; but the chastity of Pulcheria, as well as her mother Eudoxia, lies under the heaviest imputations, nor did that of Placidia escape the most dis- gusting suspicions. BOOK IX. 207 " Who are convinced of guilt ! in whpm the pride, " Which this frail world has gender'd, stands rebuked, " And lowliness of heart throws wide the door " Unto repentance ; by which holy aid 480 " Comes faith with healing, and calm peace, and joy, " Which shall be there for ever." " Give that faith " Unto my yearning spirit, good pontiff!" cried Honoria ; " O give that, from which can flow " Salvation, peace, and joy ! I have believed 485 " E'en from my cradle in that holy name, " Which is redemption to mankind ; but peace " Has shunn'd my ways, and joy, if mine, has been " Impure and transient. Is my faith not faith, " Or can the evil soil, on which it falls, 490 " Bear nothing good?" " Faith without works is dead," Replied the father; " if it bring not fruit, " Meekness, obedience, temperance, and love " First to our God, unbounded, infinite, " Pure as himself; next to our fellow men, 495 " Chaste, temper'd with discretion, it is not " A saving faith, but barren; such belief, " As demons yield to the Almighty power, " Whom trembling they revere; and wo to those, " Whoever shall, in after times or now, 500 " Teach man to lean upon that reed, and trust " To such a hollow and deceptive hope !" " Ah me !" exclaim'd the penitent, and tears Fast coursed each other down her pallid cheek ; " Then farewell, hope ! farewell, illusions vain ! 505 " Which, waked by thy kind voice, had stirr'd my soul " To apprehension of a happier state, i{ Where that, which had been in dishonour sown, 208 ATTILA. " Might yet be sanctified, and reap'd in joy " Hereafter. Frail, unblest, sterile of good, 510 " My hours are waning to their close. Stern Death " Stands at my couch; and O how short the space " To perfect that, for which the longest life ' ' Hardly sufficeth !" " Be of good cheer, my child !" Took up the holy man, and therewithal 5 1 5 Raised his right arm to heaven. " Be of good cheer, " And lift the suppliant hands to the Most High, " For Christ is all-sufficient ! Unto God, " Who is the First and Last, a thousand years " Are as a day, and one brief moment worth 520 " The longest life of man ; a petty speck 1 ' Upon the roll of unrecorded time " To who inhabiteth eternity ! " Perdition yawns for the presumptuous soul, " Which, rioting in evil, shuns the heat 525 ' ' And burthen of the day, thinking to toil " At that late hour, in which no man can work; " But one bright beam of light, vouchsafed from high " Thro' God's own Spirit, to that bruised heart " Which is athirst for righteousness, can throw 530 " A glory round the grave; and the sure hope, " That dawns in mercy on the parting soul, " Is even as the guerdon of the just, " Who needeth no repentance. O light up " The mournful eye, and raise the voice with prayer, 535 ' ' Confiding in that name, thro' which alone " Access for any unto bliss is given !" He ceased ; as when the dull autumnal haze Admits a transient gleam, ecstatic joy Shone thro' her tears. " Be glory," she exclaim'd, 540 BOOK IX. 209 " Messiah to thy name ! be mine in tears, " In sackcloth, and in ashes, to deplore ■ ' My own un worthiness ; and, if thro' Thee " This mortal frame may from dishonour rise " Unto celestial bliss, be Thine the praise !" 545 She said, and kneeling kiss'd the holy rood, That sanctified her cell. The man of God Upon her pious head stretch'd out his hands Half tremulous, and pour'd his blessing forth In gentle accents, fraught with holy love, 550 That fell upon her spirit, like the dew Of evening on the parch'd and weeping herb. Then forth he went to weightier cares, prepared For that high charge, which with amazement strange Shall strike the unbeliever, and turn back 555 The scourge of the Almighty wrath from Rome, ATTILA BOOK TENTH. North of the seven-mouth'd flood, that drinks thy stream, Slow Mincius, where the foot that journies on At Acroventus treads thy shallow wave, Were gather'd to one head the ruthless bands Which had o'erwhelm'd Ausonia, and the clang 5 Of multifarious arms and heathen war Rang even to the welkin. There encamp'd Lay Attila's great host, with hungry wish Foretasting Latium's plunder, at his word Prepared to o'erpass Eridanus, and smite 10 Sore humbled Rome. That memorable hour Was pregnant with the fortunes of mankind. From heaven's cerulean cope God's angel look'd Upon the gathering of nations, leagued With evil Powers, that revell'd in the pride 15 Of dangerous knowledge, soon to reap dismay. He saw, where swarm'd on the crystalline heights Of Jura* and the Alp's huge solitudes, All that of spirituous nature fell With the Archfiend, precipitate from high; 20 Sylphids, and gnomes, and shadowy forms that flit Across the moonlight, and the haughtier shapes BOOK X. 211 Of evil angels, thrones, dominions, powers, With all the phantom train of viewless things That do his hateful bidding. Now, elate 25 With triumph of anticipated sway, They cluster on the peaks, where human tread Comes not, or voice of man. A fearful sound Of exultation from the misty height Bursts, like the thunder of the rifted ice, 30 Which rolls from glen to glen, and echoed far Strikes the aerial pinnacles. Nor sounds Alone of dreadful portent, and the voice Of the destroyer, cheer'd the pagan host ; But many a meteor, flaming in mid air, 35 Career'd above them ; with portentous light A comet,* like that once o'er Salem seen, Up to the pole from the horizon blazed, And all the north, with nightly radiance lit, Glow'd fiery, as if Phlegethon, let loose 40 From the abyss, with its sulphureous surge Lash'd heaven, and Orcus were outpour'd on earth. The angel look'd to Rome, and those gilt halls, Where slumber'd heartless Valentinian, lord Of Rome's declining destinies, begirt 45 With feeble eunuchs and the timid pomp Of minions, in whose veins no honest blood Throbb'd for their country. The luxurious court Batten'd on sensuality, secure * In the second year of the Emperor Marcian, when Attila invaded Gaul, signs appeared in the heavens from tlie North, the sky at evening- became fiery red with an intermixture of bright lights, the moon was eclipsed, and a comet appeared. Laziard. Epit. Hist. Univ. fol. CV. p 2 21*2 ATTILA. Of that Almighty scourge, which over head 50 Hung even then suspended ; and what arm, Save His who gave it license to destroy, Correcting whom He loves, and for wise ends Thinning His guilty flock, shall stay its force ! Not Meroveus, not Tolosa's king, 55 Not double-tongued Aetius, now shall turn War's torrent, or delay the whelming flood. O for a blast, like that which whilom scared Assyria's boastful captain, from the skirts Of shadowy Carmel to his native land ! 60 O for the trumpet, which shall rouse the dead, To break thy slumbers, Rome, and bid thee gird The armour of thy God, the breastplate pure Of righteousness, and wield the shield of faith, Wherewith thou may'st repel the fiery darts 65 Of thine invader ! from thy famous walls, Which lorded o'er the earth, the warders now Look northward blanch'd with terror ; and the arm Of fleshly power, wherein thou didst excel, Fails thee at need. No host in iron clad, 70 No hearts like those, which for thine altars bled At Cannae or red Thrasymene, now stand Before thy ramparts Thou must sue to him, Whose barbarous battle is about thee, sprung From bleak Imaus, thy predestined scourge. 75 The Angel gazed with ruth, and from on high Pour'd radiance, such as falls at dewy eve From the departing day, into the breast Of Leo, shepherd of the trembling flock, Confirming his calm heart with trust in God, 80 And faith that can move mountains. With slow pace BOOK X. . 213 Descending from the * Vatican, first paid Thanksgiving due and praise to the Most High, Upon the gilded car Rome's legates go With other mien, than on triumphal wheels 85 Who clombe while-ere the hill Capitoline, Dragging the pomp of chained kings, and spoils From far Aurora or the burning South Torn by unconquer'd arms. The sumptuous train That follow, bring barbaric silks and gold, 90 The meed of conquest once, but now the price To win precarious respite, and appease An unresisted foe. The branch of peace Precedes them, and the voice of holy song. Strong, beside frighted Mincius, in his camp 95 Sat Attila enthroned. Around him stood A hundred kings. Their hands were on the hilt, Their spirit blythe with expectation. He, Wisely forecasting, unto each address'd His several mandates, and at dawning bade 100 The universal host in proud array Muster its battle. Haughty was their vaunt To overthrow the seven-throned queen ; affiance firm In their terrific lord assured each heart ; For who hath stood before him, of the kings 105 Between Jaxartes and Germanic Rhine ? Not Hermanric, whose Gothic empire stretch'd From Pontus to the Baltic ; not the khan Of Avars, or those pastoral tribes that dwelt * The first church on the Vatican was built and dedicated to St. Peter by Constantine, and said to be on the site of the tomb of St. Peter, buried there by St. Anacletus. Constantine also built tin 1 basi- licon See Bonanni Numism. tempi. Vat. 171o. p. 0. 214 ATTILA. By Volga and the banks which Tanais laves, 110 In snowy tents around their Alan king, Gelon or painted Agathyrsian chiefs; Not Waldemar the Russ, whose confines reach'd The Hyperboreans and bleak realms of frost ; Not Gundioc, lord of Nibelungian gold; 115 Not proud Osantrix, with his vassal kings, Danish Aspilian, and who else, of mould Gigantic, at his summons march'd to death, Smit by the mighty Hun. They # have each bow'd Unto his bidding, and the iron sword 120 Of Scythia has cast down their hearths and Gods Imbecile for salvation ; but Thine arm, Jehovah ! the blasphemer's empty boast Shall bring to nought, and with resistless power Turn back the foaming bridles of the Hun, 125 The way whereby he came ; that all may know Thee for their God, and Thy faith stand secure, The rock of ages, on which beat in vain Man's malice, or the fiercer hate of fiends. A sound of solemn notes far floating came 130 On that unhallow'd council, as it stood Debating war ; and mild the south-wind brought The melody sublime of holy song, Symphonious voices, and pacific praise. Then wound in view the many-colour'd pomp 135 Of Rome's legation, by the limpid stream Of Mincius, glittering to the noonday sun With scarlet and with gold. Bright tissues, wrought With precious skill, ebon, and ivory, * See the Scandinavian Sagas. BOOK X. 215 And moulded shapes of massive gold, display 'd 140 An abject empire's tribute, with full chests Of money'd ore, stamp'd with the laurel'd brow Of Rome's degenerate emperors. Arrived, Denial harsh and stern rejection waits Her embassy. Hard task, and long, to win 145 Admission to the wilful monarch's court, And license e'en to sue. With haughty eye He scann'd the tribute, and a milder gleam Pass'd o'er his rugged brow. With alter'd mien He sign'd Orestes, ever on his beck 150 Watchful attendant, and with voice abrupt Bade the scorn'd Romans enter. Foremost came Sage Avienus, whose red trabea told Of honours consular, in time foregone Worn nobly, and whose head was blanch'd by age. 155 Next brave Trigetius with unyielding brow, Pretorian prefect ; and, in order last, Not least in worth and honour, Leo stept With mournful aspect, but serene, and firm, Strong in the hope that fails not. Them the king 160 Imperious thus bespoke. " Romans, ye bring " Vain tribute, rendering to me mine own, " A niggard portion to whom all belongs, " All that Italia, from the sunny point " Of Sirmio to far Tarentum, all 165 " That Rome holds now, or held in pride of sway " When she was first amongst the nations. Yet " A few short days, and on her hills this sword " Shall stand erect and bare. Our solemn rites " There shall we do, and the dread cauldron's brim 170 " Shall froth with Christian blood, an eucharist 216 ATTILA. " To the Terrific." Stern he spoke ; to him Bland Avienus meekly made reply : " Great son of Mundiuc, thy renown is spread " From rosy-curtain'd Orient, to the waves 175 " Where Hesperus on dewy couch receives i€ The sun's last radiance. Thou hast made the arms " Of these, thy warlike countrymen, a dread " To nations, and bright victory, where'er " Thou turn'st, precedes thee. If the cherish'd name 180 " Of fatherland is sweeter to thine ears* ' ' Than music, or the fall of waters heard " In the calm hour of moonlight; if the voice, " Which glory speaks unto thine inmost thoughts, " Be like a deathless aspiration, sent 185 " From other spheres, O king, revere the prayers " Breathed for our native land, the thoughts that burn " Within a Roman's bosom ! Rome hath stood, " The mighty, and the fortunate, long years il Triumphal; and the day has been, when none 190 " Dared stand against her, of the brave, whom Mars " Sent forth to war. There are undaunted powers tc Around her still, and o'er her giant walls " The immortal Genius spreads his guardian wings. " Say, thou succeedest, and thine iron force 195 " Throw down her fanes, and o'er her glories fling ' ' The bleeding shame of conquest ! what renown, ' ' What profit to have made the fairest realm, " That ever on this goodly earth held sway, " A desolation and a name gone by? 200 " Far other be thy boast, great king of men, " To found, as thou hast done, an empire stretch'd