The Iliad: Book 9 Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCDECFCGHIJFJDKLMNJ OPDQRCSTUVSSVWXYJZWA 2BDDRCB2C2FD2FFE2NNF CLJWFC2WFFWF2CSBFEWH WEG2FYH2WLSA2FCWWI2W WHJ2JK2SWJ2DCFFFI2DR WEI2CJWI2I2L2SFJH2M2 HN2I2I2L| Thus did the Trojans watch But Panic comrade of blood stained | A |
| Rout had taken fast hold of the Achaeans and their princes were all | B |
| of them in despair As when the two winds that blow from Thrace the | C |
| north and the northwest spring up of a sudden and rouse the fury of | D |
| the main in a moment the dark waves uprear their heads and scatter | E |
| their sea wrack in all directions even thus troubled were the | C |
| hearts of the Achaeans | F |
| The son of Atreus in dismay bade the heralds call the people to a | C |
| council man by man but not to cry the matter aloud he made haste | G |
| also himself to call them and they sat sorry at heart in their | H |
| assembly Agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream or cataract | I |
| on the side of some sheer cliff and thus with many a heavy sigh he | J |
| spoke to the Achaeans My friends said he princes and councillors | F |
| Of the Argives the hand of heaven has been laid heavily upon me | J |
| Cruel Jove gave me his solemn promise that I should sack the city of | D |
| Troy before returning but he has played me false and is now | K |
| bidding me go ingloriously back to Argos with the loss of much people | L |
| Such is the will of Jove who has laid many a proud city in the dust | M |
| as he will yet lay others for his power is above all Now therefore | N |
| let us all do as I say and sail back to our own country for we | J |
| shall not take Troy | O |
| Thus he spoke and the sons of the Achaeans for a long while sat | P |
| sorrowful there but they all held their peace till at last Diomed of | D |
| the loud battle cry made answer saying Son of Atreus I will chide | Q |
| your folly as is my right in council Be not then aggrieved that I | R |
| should do so In the first place you attacked me before all the | C |
| Danaans and said that I was a coward and no soldier The Argives young | S |
| and old know that you did so But the son of scheming Saturn endowed | T |
| you by halves only He gave you honour as the chief ruler over us but | U |
| valour which is the highest both right and might he did not give you | V |
| Sir think you that the sons of the Achaeans are indeed as unwarlike | S |
| and cowardly as you say they are If your own mind is set upon going | S |
| home go the way is open to you the many ships that followed you | V |
| from Mycene stand ranged upon the seashore but the rest of us stay | W |
| here till we have sacked Troy Nay though these too should turn | X |
| homeward with their ships Sthenelus and myself will still fight on | Y |
| till we reach the goal of Ilius for for heaven was with us when we | J |
| came | Z |
| The sons of the Achaeans shouted applause at the words of Diomed | W |
| and presently Nestor rose to speak Son of Tydeus said he in | A2 |
| war your prowess is beyond question and in council you excel all | B |
| who are of your own years no one of the Achaeans can make light of | D |
| what you say nor gainsay it but you have not yet come to the end of | D |
| the whole matter You are still young you might be the youngest of my | R |
| own children still you have spoken wisely and have counselled the | C |
| chief of the Achaeans not without discretion nevertheless I am | B2 |
| older than you and I will tell you every thing therefore let no man | C2 |
| not even King Agamemnon disregard my saying for he that foments | F |
| civil discord is a clanless hearthless outlaw | D2 |
| Now however let us obey the behests of night and get our suppers | F |
| but let the sentinels every man of them camp by the trench that is | F |
| without the wall I am giving these instructions to the young men | E2 |
| when they have been attended to do you son of Atreus give your | N |
| orders for you are the most royal among us all Prepare a feast for | N |
| your councillors it is right and reasonable that you should do so | F |
| there is abundance of wine in your tents which the ships of the | C |
| Achaeans bring from Thrace daily You have everything at your disposal | L |
| wherewith to entertain guests and you have many subjects When many | J |
| are got together you can be guided by him whose counsel is wisest | W |
| and sorely do we need shrewd and prudent counsel for the foe has | F |
| lit his watchfires hard by our ships Who can be other than | C2 |
| dismayed This night will either be the ruin of our host or save it | W |
| Thus did he speak and they did even as he had said The sentinels | F |
| went out in their armour under command of Nestor's son Thrasymedes | F |
| a captain of the host and of the bold warriors Ascalaphus and | W |
| Ialmenus there were also Meriones Aphareus and Deipyrus and the son | F2 |
| of Creion noble Lycomedes There were seven captains of the | C |
| sentinels and with each there went a hundred youths armed with long | S |
| spears they took their places midway between the trench and the wall | B |
| and when they had done so they lit their fires and got every man his | F |
| supper | E |
| The son of Atreus then bade many councillors of the Achaeans to | W |
| his quarters prepared a great feast in their honour They laid their | H |
| hands on the good things that were before them and as soon as they | W |
| had enough to eat and drink old Nestor whose counsel was ever | E |
| truest was the first to lay his mind before them He therefore with | G2 |
| all sincerity and goodwill addressed them thus | F |
| With yourself most noble son of Atreus king of men Agamemnon | Y |
| will I both begin my speech and end it for you are king over much | H2 |
| people Jove moreover has vouchsafed you to wield the sceptre and to | W |
| uphold righteousness that you may take thought for your people | L |
| under you therefore it behooves you above all others both to speak | S |
| and to give ear and to out the counsel of another who shall have been | A2 |
| minded to speak wisely All turns on you and on your commands | F |
| therefore I will say what I think will be best No man will be of a | C |
| truer mind than that which has been mine from the hour when you | W |
| sir angered Achilles by taking the girl Briseis from his tent against | W |
| my judgment I urged you not to do so but you yielded to your own | I2 |
| pride and dishonoured a hero whom heaven itself had honoured for you | W |
| still hold the prize that had been awarded to him Now however let | W |
| us think how we may appease him both with presents and fair | H |
| speeches that may conciliate him | J2 |
| And King Agamemnon answered Sir you have reproved my folly | J |
| justly I was wrong I own it One whom heaven befriends is in himself | K2 |
| a host and Jove has shown that he befriends this man by destroying | S |
| much people of the Achaeans I was blinded with passion and yielded to | W |
| my worser mind therefore I will make amends and will give him | J2 |
| great gifts by way of atonement I will tell them in the presence of | D |
| you all I will give him seven tripods that have never yet been on the | C |
| fire and ten talents of gold I will give him twenty iron cauldrons | F |
| and twelve strong horses that have won races and carried off prizes | F |
| Rich indeed both in land and gold is he that has as many prizes as | F |
| my horses have won me I will give him seven excellent workwomen | I2 |
| Lesbians whom I chose for myself when he took Lesbos all of | D |
| surpassing beauty I will give him these and with them her whom I | R |
| erewhile took from him the daughter of Briseus and I swear a great | W |
| oath that I never went up into her couch nor have been with her after | E |
| the manner of men and women | I2 |
| All these things will I give him now down and if hereafter the | C |
| gods vouchsafe me to sack the city of Priam let him come when we | J |
| Achaeans are dividing the spoil and load his ship with gold and | W |
| bronze to his liking furthermore let him take twenty Trojan women | I2 |
| the loveliest after Helen herself Then when we reach Achaean | I2 |
| Argos wealthiest of all lands he shall be my son in law and I will | L2 |
| show him like honour with my own dear son Orestes who is being | S |
| nurtured in all abundance I have three daughters Chrysothemis | F |
| Laodice and lphianassa let him take the one of his choice freely | J |
| and without gifts of wooing to the house of Peleus I will add such | H2 |
| dower to boot as no man ever yet gave his daughter and will give | M2 |
| him seven well established cities Cardamyle Enope and Hire where | H |
| there is grass holy Pherae and the rich meadows of Anthea Aepea | N2 |
| also and the vine clad slopes of Pedasus all near the sea and on | I2 |
| the borders of sandy Pylos The men that dwell there are rich in | I2 |
| cattle | L |
Homer
(1)
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