cruel fate Brought darkness o’er the dying warrior’s eyes. Peneleus fought with Lycon; each had cast His spear and missed his aim, and now with swords The twain encountered. Lycon dealt a stroke Upon the crested helmet of his foe, And the blade failed him, breaking at the hilt. Meantime Peneleus smote beneath the ear The neck of Lycon: deep the weapon went; The severed head, held only by the skin, Dropped to one side, and life forsook the limbs. Meriones, o’ertaking Acamas, In rapid flight, discharged a mighty blow On his left shoulder as he climbed his car; He fell, and darkness gathered o’er his eyes. Then plunged Idomeneus the cruel spear Into the mouth of Erymas. The blade Passed on beneath the brain, and pierced the neck, And there divided the white bones. It dashed The teeth out; both the eyes were filled with blood, Which gushed from mouth and nostrils as he breathed; And the black cloud of death came over him. Thus every Grecian leader slew his man.
As ravening wolves that spring on lambs and kids, And seize them, wandering wide among the hills Beyond the keeper’s care, and bear them off, And rend with cruel fangs their helpless prey, So fiercely did the Achaians fling themselves Upon the men of Troy, who only thought Of flight from that tumultuous strife, and quite Forgot their wonted valor. All the while The greater Ajax sought to hurl his spear At Hector, clad in brazen mail, who yet, Expert in battle, kept his ample chest Hid by his bull’s-hide shield, and, though he heard The hiss of darts and clash of spears, and saw The fortune of the field deserting him, Lingered to rescue his beloved friends.
As from the summit of Olympus spreads A cloud into the sky that late was clear, When Jove brings on the tempest, with such speed In clamorous flight the Trojans left the fleet, Yet passed they not the trench in seemly plight. The rapid steeds of Hector bore him safe Across with all his arms, while, left between The high banks of the trench, the Trojan host Struggled despairingly. The fiery steeds, Harnessed to many a chariot, left it there With broken pole. Patroclus followed close, With