All 15 Uses of
sever
in
The Iliad by Homer - (translated by: Edward)
- Eurypylus, Euaemon's noble son,
Hypsenor slew, the worthy progeny
Of Dolopion brave; Scamander's priest,
And by the people as a God rever'd:
Him, as he fled before him, from behind
Eurypylus, Euaemon's noble son,
Smote with the sword; and from the shoulder-point
The brawny arm he sever'd; to the ground
Down fell the gory hand; the darkling shades
Of death, and rig'rous doom, his eyelids clos'd.†Chpt 1.5
- But when to Agamemnon's tents they came,
The King of men to Saturn's royal son
A bullock slew, a male of five years old;
The carcase then they flay'd; and cutting up,
Sever'd the joints; then fixing on the spits,
Roasted with care, and from the fire withdrew.†Chpt 1.7
- Down leap'd Hippolochus; but Atreus' son
Severing his hands and neck, amid the throng
Sent whirling like a bowl the gory head.†Chpt 2.11 *
- The hinges both gave way; the pond'rous stone
Fell inwards; widely gap'd the op'ning gates;
Nor might the bars within the blow sustain:
This way and that the sever'd portals flew
Before the crashing missile; dark as night
His low'ring brow, great Hector sprang within;
Bright flash'd the brazen armour on his breast,
As through the gates, two jav'lins in his hand,
He sprang; the Gods except, no pow'r might meet
That onset; blaz'd his eyes with lurid fire.†Chpt 2.12
- and Oileus' son,
Griev'd at Amphimachus, his comrade's death,
Cut from the tender neck, and like a ball
Sent whirling through the crowd the sever'd head;†Chpt 2.13
- Him Neptune by Idomeneus subdued;
Seal'd his quick eyes, his active limbs restrain'd,
Without the pow'r to fly, or shun the spear;
Fix'd as a pillar, or a lofty tree,
He stood, while through his breast Idomeneus
His weapon drove; the brazen mail it broke,
Which oft had turn'd aside the stroke of death;
Harshly it grated, sever'd by the spear:
He fell; the spear-point quiv'ring in his heart,
Which with convulsive throbbings shook the shaft.†Chpt 2.13
- To him Ilioneus, an only son,
His mother bore; who now, beneath the brow
And through the socket of the eye was struck,
Thrusting the eyeball out; for through the eye,
And backward through the head, the spear was driv'n:
With hands extended, down to earth he sank;
But Peneleus his weighty sword let fall
Full on his neck; the sever'd head and helm
Together fell, remaining still infix'd
The sturdy spear; then he, the gory head
Uplifting, to the Trojans vaunting cried:
"Go now, ye Trojans!†Chpt 2.14
- Many a fair-hilted blade, with iron bound,
Dropp'd from the hands, or from the sever'd arms,
Of warrior chiefs; the dark earth ran with blood:
Yet loos'd not Hector of the stern his hold,
But grasp'd the poop, and on the Trojans call'd;
"Bring fire, and all together loud and clear
Your war-cry raise; this day will Jove repay
Our labours all, with capture of those ships,
Which hither came, against the will of Heav'n,
And which on us unnumber'd ills have brought,
By our own Elders' fault, who me, desiring
Ev'n at their vessels' sterns to urge the war,
Withheld, and to the town the troops confin'd.†Chpt 2.15
- Phyleus' brave son, as rush'd Amphiclus on,
Stood firm, with eye observant; then th' attack
Preventing, through his thigh, high up, where lie
The strongest muscles, smote; the weapon's point
Sever'd the tendons; darkness clos'd his eyes.†Chpt 2.16
- Hector was dragging now Patroclus' corpse,
Stripped of its glitt'ring armour, and intent
The head to sever with his sword, and give
The mangled carcase to the dogs of Troy:
But Ajax, with his tow'r-like shield, approach'd;
Then Hector to his comrades' ranks withdrew,
Rush'd to his car, and bade the Trojans bear
The glitt'ring arms, his glorious prize, to Troy:
While Ajax with his mighty shield o'erspread
Menoetius' son; and stood, as for his cubs
A lion stands, whom hunters, unaware,
Have with his offspring met amid the woods.†Chpt 2.17
- As with sharp axe in hand a stalwart man,
Striking behind the horns a sturdy bull,
Severs the neck; he, forward, plunging, falls;
So forward first he sprang, then backwards fell:
And quiv'ring, in his vitals deep infix'd,
The sharp spear soon relax'd his limbs in death.†Chpt 2.17
- Haste to Patroclus' rescue; whom, around,
Before the ships, is wag'd a fearful war,
With mutual slaughter; these the dead defending,
And those to Ilium's breezy heights intent
To bear the body; noble Hector chief,
Who longs to sever from the tender neck,
And fix upon the spikes, thy comrade's head.†Chpt 2.18
- There levell'd he, as Hector onward rush'd;
Right through the yielding neck the lance was driv'n,
But sever'd not the windpipe, nor destroy'd
His pow'r of speech; prone in the dust he fell;
And o'er him, vaunting, thus Achilles spoke:
"Hector, Patroclus stripping of his arms,
Thy hope was that thyself wast safe; and I,
Not present, brought no terror to thy soul:
Fool!†Chpt 2.22
- The archers' prizes next, of iron hoar,
Ten sturdy axes, double-edg'd, he plac'd,
And single hatchets ten; then far away
Rear'd on the sand a dark-prow'd vessel's mast,
On which, with slender string, a tim'rous dove
Was fasten'd by the foot, the archers' mark;
That who should strike the dove should to his tent
The axes bear away; but who the string
Should sever, but should fail to strike the bird,
As less in skill, the hatchets should receive.†Chpt 2.23
- The dove he struck not, for the Archer-God
Withheld his aid; but close beside her foot
The arrow sever'd the retaining string.†Chpt 2.23
Definition:
to end or cut off completely -- either physically or in relationships