George Meredith - The Invective of Achilles

George Meredith - The Invective of Achilles

[Iliad, B. I. V. 149] br br 'Heigh me! brazen of front, thou glutton for plunder, how can one, br Servant here to thy mandates, heed thee among our Achaians, br Either the mission hie on or stoutly do fight with the foemen? br I, not hither I fared on account of the spear-armed Trojans, br Pledged to the combat; they unto me have in nowise a harm done; br Never have they, of a truth, come lifting my horses or oxen; br Never in deep-soiled Phthia, the nurser of heroes, my harvests br Ravaged, they; for between us is numbered full many a darksome br Mountain, ay, therewith too the stretch of the windy sea-waters. br O hugely shameless! thee did we follow to hearten thee, justice br Pluck from the Dardans for him, Menelaos, thee too, thou dog-eyed! br Whereof little thy thought is, nought whatever thou reckest. br Worse, it is thou whose threat 'tis to ravish my prize from me, portion br Won with much labour, the which my gift from the sons of Achaia. br Never, in sooth, have I known my prize equal thine when Achaians br Gave some flourishing populous Trojan town up to pillage. br Nay, sure, mine were the hands did most in the storm of the combat, br Yet when came peradventure share of the booty amongst us, br Bigger to thee went the prize, while I some small blessed thing bore br Off to the ships, my share of reward for my toil in the bloodshed! br So now go I to Phthia, for better by much it beseems me br Homeward go with my beaked ships now, and I hold not in prospect, br I being outraged, thou mayst gather here plunder and wealth-store.


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Uploaded: 2014-11-10

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