The Iliad: Book 19 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDEFGGHICJKLMNOPQR SETUVWXGSYZSA2SB2ASC 2ATCGD2BE2SBF2G2NH2I 2EF2ENBSRRRAORVJ2I2A SK2EREL2M2RE2EN2RSRO 2RI2A2P2Q2P2I2I2RKBO 2RGM2R2GTK2EI2S2KA2A 2I2I2A2ERSRI2P2BBSRE 2ST2SGU2BP2RBKDSKGSS GREXEV2I2BSA2CA2RSBR P2P2RI2RP2BBI2SRNGRI 2ERNW2SSX2SBRGCRBSGB I2I2VRI2I2A2RI2I2RSR BI2RCRGP2Y2BBSI2NTI2 RSGRRA2A2NA2P2SRRGRC I2A2SZ2P2RNNRSI2A2A3 GB3C3CI2GD3RE3F3G3I2 RKA2NNRPP2RSNPP2BBI2 RSSBERBH3SK2RBSRBBVR RSSGI3CSBBH3NGRRA2SR XRI2GA2SA2A2A2BA2SSA 2NI2P2A2| Now when Dawn in robe of saffron was hasting from the streams of | A |
| Oceanus to bring light to mortals and immortals Thetis reached the | B |
| ships with the armour that the god had given her She found her son | C |
| fallen about the body of Patroclus and weeping bitterly Many also | D |
| of his followers were weeping round him but when the goddess came | E |
| among them she clasped his hand in her own saying My son grieve as | F |
| we may we must let this man lie for it is by heaven's will that he | G |
| has fallen now therefore accept from Vulcan this rich and goodly | G |
| armour which no man has ever yet borne upon his shoulders | H |
| As she spoke she set the armour before Achilles and it rang out | I |
| bravely as she did so The Myrmidons were struck with awe and none | C |
| dared look full at it for they were afraid but Achilles was roused | J |
| to still greater fury and his eyes gleamed with a fierce light for | K |
| he was glad when he handled the splendid present which the god had | L |
| made him Then as soon as he had satisfied himself with looking at | M |
| it he said to his mother Mother the god has given me armour | N |
| meet handiwork for an immortal and such as no living could have | O |
| fashioned I will now arm but I much fear that flies will settle upon | P |
| the son of Menoetius and breed worms about his wounds so that his | Q |
| body now he is dead will be disfigured and the flesh will rot | R |
| Silver footed Thetis answered My son be not disquieted about this | S |
| matter I will find means to protect him from the swarms of noisome | E |
| flies that prey on the bodies of men who have been killed in battle | T |
| He may lie for a whole year and his flesh shall still be as sound | U |
| as ever or even sounder Call therefore the Achaean heroes in | V |
| assembly unsay your anger against Agamemnon arm at once and fight | W |
| with might and main | X |
| As she spoke she put strength and courage into his heart and she | G |
| then dropped ambrosia and red nectar into the wounds of Patroclus | S |
| that his body might suffer no change | Y |
| Then Achilles went out upon the seashore and with a loud cry called | Z |
| on the Achaean heroes On this even those who as yet had stayed always | S |
| at the ships the pilots and helmsmen and even the stewards who | A2 |
| were about the ships and served out rations all came to the place | S |
| of assembly because Achilles had shown himself after having held aloof | B2 |
| so long from fighting Two sons of Mars Ulysses and the son of | A |
| Tydeus came limping for their wounds still pained them nevertheless | S |
| they came and took their seats in the front row of the assembly Last | C2 |
| of all came Agamemnon king of men he too wounded for Coon son of | A |
| Antenor had struck him with a spear in battle | T |
| When the Achaeans were got together Achilles rose and said Son | C |
| of Atreus surely it would have been better alike for both you and me | G |
| when we two were in such high anger about Briseis surely it would | D2 |
| have been better had Diana's arrow slain her at the ships on the | B |
| day when I took her after having sacked Lyrnessus For so many an | E2 |
| Achaean the less would have bitten dust before the foe in the days | S |
| of my anger It has been well for Hector and the Trojans but the | B |
| Achaeans will long indeed remember our quarrel Now however let it | F2 |
| be for it is over If we have been angry necessity has schooled | G2 |
| our anger I put it from me I dare not nurse it for ever | N |
| therefore bid the Achaeans arm forthwith that I may go out against | H2 |
| the Trojans and learn whether they will be in a mind to sleep by | I2 |
| the ships or no Glad I ween will he be to rest his knees who may | E |
| fly my spear when I wield it | F2 |
| Thus did he speak and the Achaeans rejoiced in that he had put away | E |
| his anger | N |
| Then Agamemnon spoke rising in his place and not going into the | B |
| middle of the assembly Danaan heroes said he servants of Mars | S |
| it is well to listen when a man stands up to speak and it is not | R |
| seemly to interrupt him or it will go hard even with a practised | R |
| speaker Who can either hear or speak in an uproar Even the finest | R |
| orator will be disconcerted by it I will expound to the son of | A |
| Peleus and do you other Achaeans heed me and mark me well Often have | O |
| the Achaeans spoken to me of this matter and upbraided me but it | R |
| was not I that did it Jove and Fate and Erinys that walks in | V |
| darkness struck me mad when we were assembled on the day that I took | J2 |
| from Achilles the meed that had been awarded to him What could I | I2 |
| do All things are in the hand of heaven and Folly eldest of | A |
| Jove's daughters shuts men's eyes to their destruction She walks | S |
| delicately not on the solid earth but hovers over the heads of men | K2 |
| to make them stumble or to ensnare them | E |
| Time was when she fooled Jove himself who they say is greatest | R |
| whether of gods or men for Juno woman though she was beguiled him | E |
| on the day when Alcmena was to bring forth mighty Hercules in the fair | L2 |
| city of Thebes He told it out among the gods saying 'Hear me all | M2 |
| gods and goddesses that I may speak even as I am minded this day | R |
| shall an Ilithuia helper of women who are in labour bring a man | E2 |
| child into the world who shall be lord over all that dwell about him | E |
| who are of my blood and lineage ' Then said Juno all crafty and full | N2 |
| of guile 'You will play false and will not hold to your word | R |
| Swear me O Olympian swear me a great oath that he who shall this | S |
| day fall between the feet of a woman shall be lord over all that | R |
| dwell about him who are of your blood and lineage ' | O2 |
| Thus she spoke and Jove suspected her not but swore the great | R |
| oath to his much ruing thereafter For Juno darted down from the high | I2 |
| summit of Olympus and went in haste to Achaean Argos where she knew | A2 |
| that the noble wife of Sthenelus son of Perseus then was She being | P2 |
| with child and in her seventh month Juno brought the child to birth | Q2 |
| though there was a month still wanting but she stayed the offspring | P2 |
| of Alcmena and kept back the Ilithuiae Then she went to tell Jove | I2 |
| the son of Saturn and said 'Father Jove lord of the lightning I | I2 |
| have a word for your ear There is a fine child born this day | R |
| Eurystheus son to Sthenelus the son of Perseus he is of your | K |
| lineage it is well therefore that he should reign over the | B |
| Argives ' | O2 |
| On this Jove was stung to the very quick and in his rage he caught | R |
| Folly by the hair and swore a great oath that never should she | G |
| again invade starry heaven and Olympus for she was the bane of all | M2 |
| Then he whirled her round with a twist of his hand and flung her down | R2 |
| from heaven so that she fell on to the fields of mortal men and he | G |
| was ever angry with her when he saw his son groaning under the cruel | T |
| labours that Eurystheus laid upon him Even so did I grieve when | K2 |
| mighty Hector was killing the Argives at their ships and all the time | E |
| I kept thinking of Folly who had so baned me I was blind and Jove | I2 |
| robbed me of my reason I will now make atonement and will add much | S2 |
| treasure by way of amends Go therefore into battle you and your | K |
| people with you I will give you all that Ulysses offered you | A2 |
| yesterday in your tents or if it so please you wait though you | A2 |
| would fain fight at once and my squires shall bring the gifts from my | I2 |
| ship that you may see whether what I give you is enough | I2 |
| And Achilles answered Son of Atreus king of men Agamemnon you | A2 |
| can give such gifts as you think proper or you can withhold them | E |
| it is in your own hands Let us now set battle in array it is not | R |
| well to tarry talking about trifles for there is a deed which is as | S |
| yet to do Achilles shall again be seen fighting among the foremost | R |
| and laying low the ranks of the Trojans bear this in mind each one of | I2 |
| you when he is fighting | P2 |
| Then Ulysses said Achilles godlike and brave send not the | B |
| Achaeans thus against Ilius to fight the Trojans fasting for the | B |
| battle will be no brief one when it is once begun and heaven has | S |
| filled both sides with fury bid them first take food both bread and | R |
| wine by the ships for in this there is strength and stay No man | E2 |
| can do battle the livelong day to the going down of the sun if he is | S |
| without food however much he may want to fight his strength will fail | T2 |
| him before he knows it hunger and thirst will find him out and his | S |
| limbs will grow weary under him But a man can fight all day if he | G |
| is full fed with meat and wine his heart beats high and his strength | U2 |
| will stay till he has routed all his foes therefore send the | B |
| people away and bid them prepare their meal King Agamemnon will bring | P2 |
| out the gifts in presence of the assembly that all may see them and | R |
| you may be satisfied Moreover let him swear an oath before the | B |
| Argives that he has never gone up into the couch of Briseis nor | K |
| been with her after the manner of men and women and do you too show | D |
| yourself of a gracious mind let Agamemnon entertain you in his | S |
| tents with a feast of reconciliation that so you may have had your | K |
| dues in full As for you son of Atreus treat people more righteously | G |
| in future it is no disgrace even to a king that he should make amends | S |
| if he was wrong in the first instance | S |
| And King Agamemnon answered Son of Laertes your words please me | G |
| well for throughout you have spoken wisely I will swear as you would | R |
| have me do I do so of my own free will neither shall I take the name | E |
| of heaven in vain Let then Achilles wait though he would fain | X |
| fight at once and do you others wait also till the gifts come from | E |
| my tent and we ratify the oath with sacrifice Thus then do I charge | V2 |
| you take some noble young Achaeans with you and bring from my | I2 |
| tents the gifts that I promised yesterday to Achilles and bring the | B |
| women also furthermore let Talthybius find me a boar from those | S |
| that are with the host and make it ready for sacrifice to Jove and to | A2 |
| the sun | C |
| Then said Achilles Son of Atreus king of men Agamemnon see to | A2 |
| these matters at some other season when there is breathing time and | R |
| when I am calmer Would you have men eat while the bodies of those | S |
| whom Hector son of Priam slew are still lying mangled upon the | B |
| plain Let the sons of the Achaeans say I fight fasting and | R |
| without food till we have avenged them afterwards at the going | P2 |
| down of the sun let them eat their fill As for me Patroclus is lying | P2 |
| dead in my tent all hacked and hewn with his feet to the door and | R |
| his comrades are mourning round him Therefore I can take thought of | I2 |
| nothing save only slaughter and blood and the rattle in the throat | R |
| of the dying | P2 |
| Ulysses answered Achilles son of Peleus mightiest of all the | B |
| Achaeans in battle you are better than I and that more than a | B |
| little but in counsel I am much before you for I am older and of | I2 |
| greater knowledge Therefore be patient under my words Fighting is | S |
| a thing of which men soon surfeit and when Jove who is wars steward | R |
| weighs the upshot it may well prove that the straw which our | N |
| sickles have reaped is far heavier than the grain It may not be | G |
| that the Achaeans should mourn the dead with their bellies day by day | R |
| men fall thick and threefold continually when should we have | I2 |
| respite from our sorrow Let us mourn our dead for a day and bury them | E |
| out of sight and mind but let those of us who are left eat and | R |
| drink that we may arm and fight our foes more fiercely In that hour | N |
| let no man hold back waiting for a second summons such summons shall | W2 |
| bode ill for him who is found lagging behind at our ships let us | S |
| rather sally as one man and loose the fury of war upon the Trojans | S |
| When he had thus spoken he took with him the sons of Nestor with | X2 |
| Meges son of Phyleus Thoas Meriones Lycomedes son of Creontes | S |
| and Melanippus and went to the tent of Agamemnon son of Atreus The | B |
| word was not sooner said than the deed was done they brought out | R |
| the seven tripods which Agamemnon had promised with the twenty | G |
| metal cauldrons and the twelve horses they also brought the women | C |
| skilled in useful arts seven in number with Briseis which made | R |
| eight Ulysses weighed out the ten talents of gold and then led the | B |
| way back while the young Achaeans brought the rest of the gifts | S |
| and laid them in the middle of the assembly | G |
| Agamemnon then rose and Talthybius whose voice was like that of a | B |
| god came to him with the boar The son of Atreus drew the knife | I2 |
| which he wore by the scabbard of his mighty sword and began by | I2 |
| cutting off some bristles from the boar lifting up his hands in | V |
| prayer as he did so The other Achaeans sat where they were all silent | R |
| and orderly to hear the king and Agamemnon looked into the vault of | I2 |
| heaven and prayed saying I call Jove the first and mightiest of | I2 |
| all gods to witness I call also Earth and Sun and the Erinyes who | A2 |
| dwell below and take vengeance on him who shall swear falsely that | R |
| I have laid no hand upon the girl Briseis neither to take her to my | I2 |
| bed nor otherwise but that she has remained in my tents inviolate If | I2 |
| I swear falsely may heaven visit me with all the penalties which it | R |
| metes out to those who perjure themselves | S |
| He cut the boar's throat as he spoke whereon Talthybius whirled | R |
| it round his head and flung it into the wide sea to feed the | B |
| fishes Then Achilles also rose and said to the Argives Father Jove | I2 |
| of a truth you blind men's eyes and bane them The son of Atreus had | R |
| not else stirred me to so fierce an anger nor so stubbornly taken | C |
| Briseis from me against my will Surely Jove must have counselled | R |
| the destruction of many an Argive Go now and take your food that we | G |
| may begin fighting | P2 |
| On this he broke up the assembly and every man went back to his own | Y2 |
| ship The Myrmidons attended to the presents and took them away to the | B |
| ship of Achilles They placed them in his tents while the | B |
| stable men drove the horses in among the others | S |
| Briseis fair as Venus when she saw the mangled body of | I2 |
| Patroclus flung herself upon it and cried aloud tearing her | N |
| breast her neck and her lovely face with both her hands Beautiful | T |
| as a goddess she wept and said Patroclus dearest friend when I | I2 |
| went hence I left you living I return O prince to find you dead | R |
| thus do fresh sorrows multiply upon me one after the other I saw | S |
| him to whom my father and mother married me cut down before our city | G |
| and my three own dear brothers perished with him on the self same day | R |
| but you Patroclus even when Achilles slew my husband and sacked | R |
| the city of noble Mynes told me that I was not to weep for you | A2 |
| said you would make Achilles marry me and take me back with him to | A2 |
| Phthia we should have a wedding feast among the Myrmidons You were | N |
| always kind to me and I shall never cease to grieve for you | A2 |
| She wept as she spoke and the women joined in her lament making | P2 |
| as though their tears were for Patroclus but in truth each was | S |
| weeping for her own sorrows The elders of the Achaeans gathered round | R |
| Achilles and prayed him to take food but he groaned and would not | R |
| do so I pray you said he if any comrade will hear me bid me | G |
| neither eat nor drink for I am in great heaviness and will stay | R |
| fasting even to the going down of the sun | C |
| On this he sent the other princes away save only the two sons of | I2 |
| Atreus and Ulysses Nestor Idomeneus and the knight Phoenix who | A2 |
| stayed behind and tried to comfort him in the bitterness of his | S |
| sorrow but he would not be comforted till he should have flung | Z2 |
| himself into the jaws of battle and he fetched sigh on sigh thinking | P2 |
| ever of Patroclus Then he said | R |
| Hapless and dearest comrade you it was who would get a good dinner | N |
| ready for me at once and without delay when the Achaeans were | N |
| hasting to fight the Trojans now therefore though I have meat and | R |
| drink in my tents yet will I fast for sorrow Grief greater than this | S |
| I could not know not even though I were to hear of the death of my | I2 |
| father who is now in Phthia weeping for the loss of me his son who | A2 |
| am here fighting the Trojans in a strange land for the accursed sake | A3 |
| of Helen nor yet though I should hear that my son is no more he | G |
| who is being brought up in Scyros if indeed Neoptolemus is still | B3 |
| living Till now I made sure that I alone was to fall here at Troy | C3 |
| away from Argos while you were to return to Phthia bring back my son | C |
| with you in your own ship and show him all my property my | I2 |
| bondsmen and the greatness of my house for Peleus must surely be | G |
| either dead or what little life remains to him is oppressed alike | D3 |
| with the infirmities of age and ever present fear lest he should | R |
| hear the sad tidings of my death | E3 |
| He wept as he spoke and the elders sighed in concert as each | F3 |
| thought on what he had left at home behind him The son of Saturn | G3 |
| looked down with pity upon them and said presently to Minerva My | I2 |
| child you have quite deserted your hero is he then gone so clean out | R |
| of your recollection There he sits by the ships all desolate for | K |
| the loss of his dear comrade and though the others are gone to | A2 |
| their dinner he will neither eat nor drink Go then and drop nectar | N |
| and ambrosia into his breast that he may know no hunger | N |
| With these words he urged Minerva who was already of the same mind | R |
| She darted down from heaven into the air like some falcon sailing on | P |
| his broad wings and screaming Meanwhile the Achaeans were arming | P2 |
| throughout the host and when Minerva had dropped nectar and | R |
| ambrosia into Achilles so that no cruel hunger should cause his | S |
| limbs to fail him she went back to the house of her mighty father | N |
| Thick as the chill snow flakes shed from the hand of Jove and borne on | P |
| the keen blasts of the north wind even so thick did the gleaming | P2 |
| helmets the bossed shields the strongly plated breastplates and the | B |
| ashen spears stream from the ships The sheen pierced the sky the | B |
| whole land was radiant with their flashing armour and the sound of | I2 |
| the tramp of their treading rose from under their feet In the midst | R |
| of them all Achilles put on his armour he gnashed his teeth his eyes | S |
| gleamed like fire for his grief was greater than he could bear Thus | S |
| then full of fury against the Trojans did he don the gift of the | B |
| god the armour that Vulcan had made him | E |
| First he put on the goodly greaves fitted with ancle clasps and | R |
| next he did on the breastplate about his chest He slung the | B |
| silver studded sword of bronze about his shoulders and then took up | H3 |
| the shield so great and strong that shone afar with a splendour as | S |
| of the moon As the light seen by sailors from out at sea when men | K2 |
| have lit a fire in their homestead high up among the mountains but | R |
| the sailors are carried out to sea by wind and storm far from the | B |
| haven where they would be even so did the gleam of Achilles' wondrous | S |
| shield strike up into the heavens He lifted the redoubtable helmet | R |
| and set it upon his head from whence it shone like a star and the | B |
| golden plumes which Vulcan had set thick about the ridge of the | B |
| helmet waved all around it Then Achilles made trial of himself in | V |
| his armour to see whether it fitted him so that his limbs could | R |
| play freely under it and it seemed to buoy him up as though it had | R |
| been wings | S |
| He also drew his father's spear out of the spear stand a spear so | S |
| great and heavy and strong that none of the Achaeans save only | G |
| Achilles had strength to wield it this was the spear of Pelian ash | I3 |
| from the topmost ridges of Mt Pelion which Chiron had once given | C |
| to Peleus fraught with the death of heroes Automedon and Alcimus | S |
| busied themselves with the harnessing of his horses they made the | B |
| bands fast about them and put the bit in their mouths drawing the | B |
| reins back towards the chariot Automedon whip in hand sprang up | H3 |
| behind the horses and after him Achilles mounted in full armour | N |
| resplendent as the sun god Hyperion Then with a loud voice he | G |
| chided with his father's horses saying Xanthus and Balius famed | R |
| offspring of Podarge this time when we have done fighting be sure and | R |
| bring your driver safely back to the host of the Achaeans and do | A2 |
| not leave him dead on the plain as you did Patroclus | S |
| Then fleet Xanthus answered under the yoke for white armed Juno had | R |
| endowed him with human speech and he bowed his head till his mane | X |
| touched the ground as it hung down from under the yoke band Dread | R |
| Achilles said he we will indeed save you now but the day of | I2 |
| your death is near and the blame will not be ours for it will be | G |
| heaven and stern fate that will destroy you Neither was it through | A2 |
| any sloth or slackness on our part that the Trojans stripped Patroclus | S |
| of his armour it was the mighty god whom lovely Leto bore that slew | A2 |
| him as he fought among the foremost and vouchsafed a triumph to | A2 |
| Hector We two can fly as swiftly as Zephyrus who they say is fleetest | A2 |
| of all winds nevertheless it is your doom to fall by the hand of a | B |
| man and of a god | A2 |
| When he had thus said the Erinyes stayed his speech and Achilles | S |
| answered him in great sadness saying Why O Xanthus do you thus | S |
| foretell my death You need not do so for I well know that I am to | A2 |
| fall here far from my dear father and mother none the more however | N |
| shall I stay my hand till I have given the Trojans their fill of | I2 |
| fighting | P2 |
| So saying with a loud cry he drove his horses to the front | A2 |
Homer
(1)
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