When the Assault Was Intended to the City

Captain, or colonel, or knight in arms,
Whose chance on these defenceless doors may seize,
If deed of honour did thee ever please,
Guard them, and him within protect from harms.
He can requite thee, for he knows the charms
That call fame on such gentle acts as these,
And he can spread thy name oer lands and seas,
Whatever clime the suns bright circle warms.
Lift not thy spear against the Muses bower;
The great Emathian conqueror bid spare
The house of Pindarus, when temple and tower
Went to the ground; and the repeated air
Of sad Electras Poet had the power
To save the Athenian walls from ruin bare.

John Milton

John Milton was an influential English poet, theologian, and intellectual. He is best known for his epic poem 'Paradise Lost,' which explores themes of rebellion, free will, and human fallibility. His works reflect his deep engagement with politics, religion, and linguistic innovation. Milton's literary contributions have cemented him as one of the most important figures in Western literature, and his writings continue to be studied and revered worldwide.

John Milton

On Time

John Milton, Simple Poetry

Psal. VII. Upon the words of Chush the Benjamite against him.

John Milton, Simple Poetry

Elegy V. - Anno Aetates 20. - On the Approach of Spring.

John Milton, Simple Poetry

On the Gunpowder Plot.

John Milton, Simple Poetry

English

Suggested Poems

Explore a curated selection of verses that share themes, styles, and emotional resonance with the poem you've just read.

Sonnets. VIII

Captain or Colonel, or Knight in Arms,
Whose chance on these defenceless dores may sease,
If ever deed of honour did thee please,
Guard them, and him within protect from harms,
He can requite thee, for he knows the charms
That call Fame on such gentle acts as these,
And he can spred thy Name o're Lands and Seas,
What ever clime the Suns bright circle warms.
Lift not thy spear against the Muses Bowre,
The great Emathian Conqueror bid spare
The house of Pindarus, when Temple and Towre
Went to the ground: And the repeated air
Of sad Electra's Poet had the power
To save th' Athenian Walls from ruine bare.

John Milton

Elegy IV. - Anno Aetates 18. - To My Tutor, Thomas Young,1 Chaplain of the English Merchants Resident at Hamburg.

Hence, my epistle skim the Deep fly o'er
Yon smooth expanse to the Teutonic shore!
Haste lest a friend should grieve for thy delay
And the Gods grant that nothing thwart thy way!
I will myself invoke the King² who binds
In his Sicanian ecchoing vault the winds,
With Doris³ and her Nymphs, and all the throng
Of azure Gods, to speed thee safe along.
But rather, to insure thy happier haste,
Ascend Medea's chariot,⁴ if thou may'st,
Or that whence young Triptolemus⁵ of yore
Descended welcome on the Scythian shore.
The sands that line the German coast descried,
To opulent Hamburg turn aside,
So call'd, if legendary fame be true,
From Hama,⁶ whom a club-arm'd Cimbrian slew.
There lives, deep-learn'd and primitive...

John Milton

Translations Of Iliad

(I. 1-32.)

Goddess, the anger sing of the Pelean Achilles,
Fatal beginning of griefs unnumbered to the Achæans;
Many valiant souls untimely it hurried to Hades,
And the heroes left themselves of dogs to be eaten
And of ravenous birds till Zeuss plan was accomplished
From the day when first contention arose to dissever
Atrides the King and the godlike hero Achilles.
What divinity thus incited them to contention?
Zeus and Letos son; who, in anger with Agamemnon,
Sent a deadly disease on the host, destroying the people,
On account of the wrong the King to his worshipper offered,
Chryses, who had come to the hollow ships of Achaia,
To recover his daughter, with gifts of costly redemption,
Carrying in his hands the wreaths of the archer Apollo
Set on a go...

Arthur Hugh Clough

Hymn To Aristogeiton And Harmodius

I

Wreathed in myrtle, my sword Ill conceal,
Like those champions devoted and brave,
When they plunged in the tyrant their steel,
And to Athens deliverance gave.

II

Beloved heroes! your deathless souls roam
In the joy breathing isles of the blest;
Where the mighty of old have their home,
Where Achilles and Diomed rest.

III

In fresh myrtle my blade Ill entwine,
Like Harmodius, the gallant and good,
When he made at the tutelar shrine
A libation of Tyrannys blood.

IV

Ye deliverers of Athens from shame!
Ye avengers of Libertys wrongs!
Endless ages shall cherish your fame,
Embalmed in their echoing songs!

Edgar Allan Poe

From Homer.

Il. 1.


Sing, O daughter of heaven, of Peleus' son, of Achilles,
Him whose terrible wrath brought thousand woes on Achaia.
Many a stalwart soul did it hurl untimely to Hades,
Souls of the heroes of old: and their bones lay strown on the sea-sands,
Prey to the vulture and dog. Yet was Zeus fulfilling a purpose;
Since that far-off day, when in hot strife parted asunder
Atreus' sceptred son, and the chos'n of heaven, Achilles.
Say then, which of the Gods bid arise up battle between them?
Zeus's and Leto's son. With the king was kindled his anger:
Then went sickness abroad, and the people died of the sickness:
For that of Atreus' son had his priest been lightly entreated,
Chryses, Apollo's priest. For he came to the ships of Achaia,
Bearing a daughter's ransom, a sum ...

Charles Stuart Calverley

Achilles Over The Trench

ILIAD, XVIII. 2O2.


So saying, light-foot Iris passd away.
Then rose Achilles dear to Zeus; and round
The warriors puissant shoulders Pallas flung
Her fringed ægis, and around his head
The glorious goddess wreathd a golden cloud,
And from it lighted an all-shining flame.
As when a smoke from a city goes to heaven
Far off from out an island girt by foes,
All day the men contend in grievous war
From their own city, but with set of sun
Their fires flame thickly, and aloft the glare
Flies streaming, if perchance the neighbours round
May see, and sail to help them in the war;
So from his head the splendour went to heaven.
From wall to dyke he stept, he stood, nor joind
The Achæanshonouring his wise mothers word
There standing, shouted, and Pa...

Alfred Lord Tennyson