Specimen of a Translation of the Iliad in Blank Verse / Lord Alfred Tennyson

So Hector said, and sea-like roar'd his host;

Then loosed their sweating horses from the yoke,

And each beside his chariot bound his own;

And oxen from the city, and goodly sheep

In haste they drove, and honey-hearted wine

And bread from out the houses brought, and heap'd

Their firewood, and the winds from off the plain

Roll'd the rich vapor far into the heaven.

And these all night upon the[1] bridge of war

Sat glorying; many a fire before them blazed:

As when in heaven the stars about the moon

Look beautiful, when all the winds are laid,

And every height comes out, and jutting peak

And valley, and the immeasurable heavens

Break open to their highest, and all the stars

Shine, and the Shepherd gladdens in his heart:

So many a fire between the ships and stream

Of Xanthus blazed before the towers of Troy,

A thousand on the plain; and close by each

Sat fifty in the blaze of burning fire;

And champing golden grain, the horses stood

Hard by their chariots, waiting for the dawn.[2]

Iliad VIII. 542-561.

[1] Or, ridge.

[2] Or more literally--

And eating hoary grain and pulse the steeds

Stood by their cars, waiting the throned morn.