s: This news to Turnus; bid him take my place,


s: And keep these Trojans from the town. Farewell."


s: So saying, she dropped the bridle, as she fell.


s: Death's creeping chills the loosened limbs o'erspread.


s: Down dropped the weapons she had borne so well,


s: The neck drooped, slackened; and she bowed her head,


s: And the disdainful soul went groaning to the dead.


s: The golden stars, and fiercer waxed the fray.


s: On press the host, in serried ranks complete,


s: High on a hill, fair Opis watched the day,


s: Set there by Trivia, undisturbed till now,


s: Deep from her breast she sighs, and thus in words of woe:


s: Poor maiden, who the Trojan arms would'st dare;


s: Nor aught availed thee, in the woodland glade


s: Yet not unhonoured in thy death, nor bare


s: Of fame she leaves thee; nor in after day


s: Shall vengeance fail thy prowess to declare.


s: Whoso hath dared thy sacred form to slay,


s: His blood shall rue the deed, and fit atonement pay."


s: Heaped there of old, and holm-oaks frowned beside


s: Dercennus' tomb, who ruled Laurentum's land.


s: Here, lightning swift, the lovely Nymph espied,


s: In shining arms, and puffed with empty pride,


s: False Aruns. "Caitiff! dost thou think to flee?


s: Why keep aloof? Turn hitherward!" she cried,


s: "Come here, and die! Camilla claims her fee.


s: Must Cynthia waste her shafts on worthless knaves like thee?"


s: The bow, full-stretched, till both the horns unite.


s: Both arms raised level, ere the missile flew,


s: Her left hand touched the iron point, the right,


s: Pressed to her nipple, strained the bow-string tight.


s: And feels the wound. Sweeping on amain, [word missing]


s: Forsakes him. Groaning, with a gasp, he dies.


s: Upsoars the gladdening Nymph, and seeks the Olympian skies.


s: Then, routed, the Rutulian ranks give way,


s: And fierce Atinas gallops from the plain,


s: And scattered chiefs and squadrons in dismay


s: Spur towards the town for shelter from the fray.


s: None dares that murderous onset of the foe


s: To stem with javelins, nor their charge to stay.


s: Slack from their fainting shoulders hangs the bow,


s: The clattering horse-hoofs shake the crumbling ground below.


s: And mothers on the watch-towers, pale with fear,


s: Smite on their breasts, and shriek aloud to heaven.


s: These, bursting in, their foemen in the rear


s: Crush in the crowd, and slaughter with the spear,


s: Slain in the gateway--miserably slain!--


s: Their walls in sight, their happy homes so near.


s: Those bar the gates, while comrades on the plain


s: Stretch their imploring hands, and call to them in vain.


s: Some storming, some defending. These without,


s: In sight of parents, weeping at their fate,


s: Roll down the moat, swept headlong by the rout,


s: Or charge the battered doorposts with a shout.


s: The very matrons, at their country's call,


s: Their javelins hurl. Charr'd stakes and oak-staves stout


s: Serve them for swords. Forth rush they, one and all,


s: Fir'd by Camilla's deeds, to save the town or fall.


s: Came Acca, and the bitter news made plain,


s: And told the chief the tumult of the war,--


s: The panic and the rout--the Volscian train


s: Swept from the battle, and Camilla slain.


s: The foemen, flushed with conquest, far and near


s: And all the city now aghast with fear:--


s: Such was the dolorous tale that filled the warrior's ear.


s: (For Jove is stern, and so the Fates ordain),


s: He quits his mountain-ambush and the wood.


s: Scarce, out of sight, had Turnus reached the plain,


s: When, issuing forth, AEneas hastes to gain


s: The pass, left open, climbs the neighbouring height,


s: And leaves the tangled forest. Thus the twain,


s: Each near to each,--the middle space is slight,--


s: Townward their troops lead on, and hail the proffered fight.


s: At once, in arms, fierce Turnus knows again


s: The dread AEneas, and he hears the neigh


s: Of steeds, and tramp of footmen in array.


s: Then each the fight had ventured, as they stood,


s: His steeds was bathing in the Iberian flood;


s: So by the walls they camp, and make the ramparts good.


s: carried off by Juturna (442-561), but presently gives rein to his


s: Turnus' eyes are opened. Seeing the city outworks in flames, he


s: Crushed by the War-God, and his pledge reclaimed,


s: As when a lion, in the breast sore maimed


s: In Punic fields, uprousing, shakes his mane,


s: And snaps the shaft that felon hands had aimed,


s: His mouth all bloody, as he roars with pain,


s: So Turnus blazed with wrath, as thus in scornful strain


s: No cause have these their challenge to forego,


s: Sire, be the compact hallowed; be it so.


s: Or I, while Latins sit and see the show,


s: Will hurl to Hell this Dardan thief abhorred,


s: Refute the common slander with the sword,


s: Or he, as victor, reign and be Lavinia's lord."


s: "O gallant youth, the more thy heart is fain


s: In fierceness to excel, the more should I


s: Weigh well the risks and measure loss with gain.


s: And captured towns. Good will have I and gold,


s: And other maids our Latin homes contain,


s: Hear now, and let plain speech the thankless truth unfold.


s: To wed my daughter, so the voice ordained


s: Of gods and men consenting. Love for thee,


s: And sympathy for kindred blood hath gained


s: The mastery, and a weeping wife constrained.


s: I robbed the husband of the bride he wooed,


s: Took impious arms, and plighted faith disdained.


s: Ah me! what wars, what bitter fates ensued,


s: Thou, Turnus, know'st too well, who first hast felt the feud.


s: Our walls can guard what Latin hopes remain,


s: And, choked with Latin corpses, day by day,


s: Old Tiber's stream runs purple to the main,


s: And Latin bones are whitening all the plain.


s: Why shifts my frenzied purpose to and fro?


s: Why change and change? If, maugre Turnus slain,


s: Why not, while Turnus lives, the needless strife forego?


s: Italia say, if (Chance the deed forefend!)


s: I leave thee, cheated of my care, to fall,


s: The daughter's lover, and the father's friend?


s: O, weigh the risks that on the war attend;


s: Thus he; but naught fierce Turnus can assuage;


s: The healing hand but chafes, and words augment his rage.


s: "Good Sire, thy trouble for my sake forego;


s: Leave me the price of glory--to be slain.


s: The whistling shaft, that lays the foeman low,


s: And drinks his life-blood. Vain shall be his prayer.


s: No goddess mother shall be there, to throw


s: Her mist around him, with a woman's care,


s: And screen her darling son with empty shades of air."


s: Wept sore and checked the fiery suitor's way.


s: "O Turnus! if thou heed'st me, by these tears;--


s: Hope of my age, Latinus' strength and stay,


s: Prop of our falling house! one boon I pray;


s: Forbear the fight. What fate awaiteth thee,


s: With thee I'll leave the loathed light, nor see


s: AEneas wed my child, a captive slave, as she."


s: A crimson blush her glowing face o'erspread,


s: And hot fires kindled on her burning cheek.


s: So flushed the maid, with varying thoughts distrest.


s: His constant gaze, but maddening with unrest,


s: Burned for the fight still more, and thus the Queen addressed:


s: With these thy tears and bodings of despair.


s: Thou, Idmon, to the Phrygian tyrant bear


s: The unwelcome word: to-morrow let him spare


s: To lead his Teucrians to the fight. Each side


s: Shall rest awhile; when morning shines in air,


s: His blood or mine the quarrel shall decide,


s: And he or I shall win, whose prowess earns, the bride."


s: And bids his steeds be harnessed for the fight:


s: Soon for the pleasure of their master's eyes


s: They stand before him, neighing in their might.


s: To King Pilumnus came those coursers twain,


s: Swifter than breezes and than snow more white;


s: His ready grooms attend, a nimble train,


s: And clap the sounding breast and comb the abundant mane.


s: His sword and shield he fitted to his hold,


s: And donned the helm, with crimson plumes arrayed,


s: The sword the Fire-King for his sire had made,


s: And dipped still glowing in the Stygian flood,


s: Last, the strong spear-beam in his hand he swayed


s: (Against a pillar in the house it stood),


s: Auruncan Actor's spoils, and shook the quivering wood,


s: Thy master's call, my trusty spear, I trow


s: The hour is come. Once, mightiest under mail,


s: Did Actor wield thee; Turnus wields thee now.


s: Grant this strong hand to lay the foeman low,


s: This Phrygian eunuch of his arms to spoil,


s: And rend his shattered breastplate with a blow;


s: Dragged in the dust, his dainty curls to soil,


s: Hot from the crisping tongs, and wet with myrrh and oil."


s: His hot face sparkles, and his eyes burn bright,


s: And from his eye-balls leaps the living fire;


s: As when a bull, in prelude for the fight,


s: Roars terribly, and fills the hinds with fright,


s: And, butting at a chance-met tree, would try


s: And with his fierce hoofs flings the sand on high,


s: And gores the empty air, and challenges the sky.


s: The arms that Venus to her son doth lend,--


s: Pleased with the challenge, singly to contend,


s: His friends he cheers, and calms Iulus' care,


s: Unfolding Fate, then heralds hastes to send,


s: The challenge he accepts, the terms of peace are fair.


s: And Phoebus' steeds, uprising from the main,


s: With lifted nostrils breathed approaching day.


s: Mixt with the Trojans, the Rutulian train,


s: Beneath the lofty town-walls on the plain


s: Mark out the lists, and mid-way in the ring,


s: Their braziers set, as common rites ordain.


s: These, apron-girt and crowned with vervain, bring


s: Fire for the turf-piled hearths, and water from the spring.


s: Trojans and Tuscans, to the field proceed,


s: And to and fro, in gold and purple, post


s: Mnestheus, Messapus, tamer of the steed.


s: Back step both armies at the trumpet's call,


s: Their spears in earth, their shields upon the mead.


s: An unarmed crowd, old men and matrons, all


s: Stand by the lofty gates, and throng the towers and wall.


s: Now Alban called, then nameless and unknown,


s: Gazed from its summit on the field of fight,


s: And, musing, on the marshalled hosts looked down


s: Then straight--a goddess to a goddess--spake


s: To Turnus' sister, who the sway doth own


s: Raised by the King of air, as yielding for his sake.


s: Thou know'st, Juturna, how to all whoe'er


s: Of Latin maidens climbed the couch of Jove,


s: I thee preferred, and gave his courts to share.


s: Learn now thy woe, lest I the blame should bear.


s: While Fate and Fortune smiled on Latium's sway,


s: Thy walls I saved, and Turnus was my care.


s: Now in ill hour I see him tempt the fray;


s: Fate and the foe speed on the inevitable day.


s: Thou, if thou durst, thy brother's doom arrest.


s: Go; luck perchance may follow thee." Fast rolled


s: Juturna's tears, and thrice she smote her breast.


s: "No time to weep," said Juno, "speed thy quest,


s: And save thy brother, if thou canst, ere dead,


s: Or wake the war, and rend the league unblest;


s: 'Tis I who bid thee to be bold." She said,


s: And left her, tost with doubt, and full of wildering dread.


s: High in his four-horse chariot, shines afar.


s: Twelve gilded rays the monarch's brows adorn,


s: His Sire's, the Sun-God's. Wielding as for war


s: Two spears, comes Turnus in his two-horse car.


s: There, Rome's great founder, doth AEneas ride,


s: With dazzling shield, bright-shining as a star,


s: And arms divine, and at his father's side


s: Ascanius takes his place, Rome's second hope and pride.


s: Leads forth the youngling of a bristly swine,


s: And two-year sheep, by shearer's hands unfleec'd.


s: And they, with eyes turned to the dawn divine,


s: Bared the bright steel, the victim's brow to sign,


s: And strewed the cakes of salted meal, and poured


s: And good AEneas drew his glittering sword,


s: And thus, with pious prayer, the immortal gods adored:


s: For whom I toil. Thou, Jove, supreme in sway,


s: And thou, great Juno, pleased at length to spare.


s: O mighty Mars, whose nod directs the fray;


s: Springs, Streams, and Powers whom Air and Sea obey.


s: Troy's sons shall fly, Iulus quit the reign,


s: Nor seed of mine e'er vex the Latin field again.


s: (As rather deem I, and may Heaven decree),


s: Nor claim the crown; let each, unquelled and free,


s: In deathless league on equal terms agree.


s: My Teucrian friends another town shall frame,


s: And bless the rising towers with fair Lavinia's name."


s: His right hand stretching to the stars in prayer,


s: "By the same Earth, and Sea and Stars I swear,


s: And two-faced Janus, and Hell's powers malign,


s: The Sire whose bolt the solemn league doth sign,


s: Witness these fires and gods,--my hand is on the shrine,--


s: Whate'er the issue, or the peace confound,


s: No force shall shake the purpose of my mind.


s: Nay--though the circling Ocean burst its bound,


s: And all the Earth were in a deluge drowned,


s: And Heaven with Hell should mingle. Sure as now


s: This sceptre" (haply in his hand was found


s: Shall bourgeon with fresh leaves, or spread a shadowing bough,


s: Lopped clean away, the woodman stripped it bare


s: Of boughs and leaves, now fashioned, as ye see,


s: And cased in brass by cunning craftsman's care,


s: For fathers of the Latin realm to bear."


s: So they, amid their chiefest, Sire with Sire,


s: Confirm the league. These o'er the flames prepare


s: To slay the victims, and, as rites require,


s: The living entrails tear, and feed the sacred fire.


s: The combat seemed, and trouble tossed them sore,


s: And strength the champions differed, yea, and more,


s: With downcast eyes Heaven's favour to implore,


s: The wanness of his youthful frame, that speaks


s: Of health and hope now fled, the pallor of his cheeks.


s: From tongue to tongue, and marked the changing tone,


s: The hearts of people wavering to and fro,


s: Amidst them,--now in form of Camers known,


s: Great Camers, sprung from grandsires of renown,


s: His father famed for many a brave emprise,


s: Himself as famed for exploits of his own,--


s: Amidst them, mistress of her part, she flies,


s: And scatters words of doubt, and many a dark surmise.


s: The life of one? In number, strength and show


s: Do we not match them? _Those_ are all they boast,


s: Fight we by turns, each scarce can find a foe.


s: He to his gods, whose shrines he dies to shield,


s: Will rise, and praised will be his name below.


s: We, reft of home, to tyrant lords shall yield,


s: And toil as slaves, who sit so slackly on the field."


s: Fresh rage, and murmurs through the concourse run,


s: And changed are Latin and Laurentian hearts,


s: And they, who lately sought the strife to shun,


s: And longed for rest, now wish the league undone,


s: And, pitying Turnus, wrongly doomed to die,


s: Call out for arms. And now, her work begun,


s: That shakes Italian hearts, and cheats the wondering eye.


s: In chase of clanging marsh-fowl, swooped in flight


s: Down on a swan, and trussed the noble prize.


s: The Latins gaze, when lo, a wondrous sight!


s: Back wheels the flock, and all with screams unite,


s: And darkening, as a cloud, in dense array


s: Press on the foe, till, overborne by might,


s: And yielding to sheer weight, he drops the prey


s: Into the stream below, and cloudward soars away.


s: And lift their hands. Then spake the seer straightway,


s: Tolumnius: "Welcome, welcome, powers divine!


s: 'Twas this--'twas this I longed for, day by day.


s: To arms! 'Tis I, Tolumnius, lead the way.


s: Poor souls! whom yon strange pirate would enslave,


s: Like feeble birds, and make your coast a prey.


s: He too shall fly, and vanish o'er the wave.


s: Stand close and fight as one, your captive king to save."


s: Advancing. Shrill the cornel hissed, and flew


s: True to its quarry. Then a shout uprose,


s: And the ranks wavered, and hearts throbbed anew


s: With ardour, as the gathering tumult grew.


s: On went the missile to where, side by side,


s: Nine brethren stood, of comely form, whom, true


s: Nine tall Arcadian sons, in bloom of youthful pride.


s: The broidered edges,--comeliest of the band,


s: And sheathed in shining mail--the steel-head smites,


s: And rives the ribs, and rolls him on the sand.


s: Blind with hot rage, his brethren, sword in hand,


s: Or snatching missiles, to avenge the slain,


s: Rush to the charge. Laurentum's ranks withstand


s: Their onset, and a deluge sweeps the plain,


s: Trojans, Agylla's bands, Arcadia's glittering train.


s: Stript stand the altars, and the shrines are bare;


s: Dark drives the storm of javelins far and wide,


s: And bowls and censers from the hearths they tear.


s: His home-gods, outraged by the league's misfare.


s: Some leap to horse, and others yoke the car,


s: Or bare the glittering sword, and hurry to the war.


s: Messapus scares, and, spurring forward, fain


s: To break the treaty, rides the Tuscan down.


s: He, bating ground, falls back, and hurled amain


s: Against the altars, pitches on the plain.


s: Up comes Messapus, with his beam-like spear,


s: And smites him, pleading sorely but in vain,


s: Steep-rising heavily smites him, with a jeer,


s: "He hath it; Heaven hath gained a better victim here."


s: A brand half-burnt fierce Corynoeus there


s: Flings full at Ebusus, as with lifted arm


s: He nears him, and the long beard, all aflare,


s: Shines crackling, with a smell of burning hair.


s: He with his left hand, following up the throw,


s: Grasps the long locks, and, planting firm and fair


s: His knee, beneath him pins the prostrate foe,


s: And drives the stark sword home, so deadly is the blow.


s: The foremost. With his naked sword he drew


s: Behind him close, and o'er his foeman hung.


s: He turning round his broad axe backward swung,


s: And clave the chin and forehead. Left and right


s: The dark blood o'er the spattered arms outsprung.


s: Hard rest and iron slumber seal his sight,


s: The drooping eyelids close on everlasting night.


s: XL. Unarmed, AEneas, with uncovered brow,


s: Stretched out his hands, and shouted to his train:


s: "Where rush ye, men? what sudden discord now


s: Is this? Be calm; your idle wrath refrain.


s: The truce is struck; the treaty's terms are plain.


s: Give way to me, nor fret and fume in vain.


s: This hand shall make the treaty firm and true.


s: These rites, this solemn pact give Turnus for my due."


s: XLI. So spake he, fain the tumult to allay,


s: And scarce had ceased, when, whistling as it flew,


s: A feathered shaft came hurtling on its way,


s: And smote the good AEneas; whose, and who


s: That shaft had sped, what wind had borne it true,


s: What chance with fame Ausonia's host had crowned,


s: What God, perhaps, had aided them--none knew.


s: The glory of that noble deed was drowned,


s: And none was found to boast of great AEneas' wound.


s: XLII. When Turnus saw the Trojan prince retire,


s: The chiefs bewildered, and their hearts unstrung,


s: And, calling for his steeds and arms, he sprung


s: Upon his chariot, and the reins outflung.


s: Sinks, crushed to death; the dying roll among


s: The dead; whole ranks beneath his wheels go down,


s: And fast at flying hosts the fliers' spears are thrown.


s: XLIII. As when grim Mars, by Hebrus' icy flood,


s: Clashing his brazen buckler, drives apace


s: His fierce steeds, maddening with the lust of blood;


s: They o'er the plain the flying winds outrace,


s: And with their trampling groan the fields of Thrace;


s: And round the War-God his attendants throng,


s: Hatred, and Treachery and Fear's dark face;


s: So Turnus drove the battling ranks among,


s: And lashed his smoking steeds, and waved the whistling thong.


s: XLIV. In piteous sort he tramples on the slain;


s: The flying horse-hoofs spirt the crimson dew,


s: And tread the gore down in the sandy plain.


s: Both armed alike, whom Imbracus had bred


s: To fight, or on swift steeds the flying winds to head.


s: XLV. Elsewhere afield, amid the foremost, fought


s: The brave Eumedes. (From the loins he came


s: The borrowed lustre of his grandsire's name,


s: The strength and spirit of his sire of fame,


s: Who for his meed, when offering to explore


s: The Danaan camp, Pelides' car would claim.


s: Poor fool! Tydides paid the boaster's score,


s: And for Achilles' steeds he hankers now no more.)


s: XLVI. Him Turnus sees, and through the void afar


s: Speeds a light lance, then bids the coursers stand,


s: And, lightly leaping from his two-horsed car,


s: Stamps on his neck, fall'n breathless on the sand,


s: And wrests the shining dagger from his hand.


s: Deep in his throat he deals a deadly wound,


s: And cries, "Now, Trojan, take the wished-for land.


s: Lie there, and measure the Hesperian ground;


s: Their meed, who tempt my sword; thus city-walls they found."


s: XLVII. Asbutes, Sybaris and Chloreus bleed,


s: Thymoetes, pitched from off his plunging steed.


s: As on the AEgean when the North-winds rave,


s: And the fierce gale rolls shoreward wave on wave,


s: And drives the cloud-rack through the sky; so these


s: Shrank back from Turnus, as his path he clave,


s: Urged by his impulse, and each turns and flees;


s: Loose streams his horsehair crest, blown backward by the breeze.


s: XLVIII. His fiery onset, and his shouts of pride


s: Bold Phlegeus brooked not, but himself he flung


s: Before the car, and caught and turned aside


s: The foaming steeds. But while, thus dragged along,


s: Grasping the bridle, on the yoke he hung,


s: His shieldless side the broad-tipt javelin found,


s: And pierced, and, staying, to the corslet clung,


s: With linen folds and brazen links twice bound.


s: And lightly scored the skin, and grazed him with the wound.


s: XLIX. His shield before him, at the foe he made,


s: And drew his short sword, turning sharply round,


s: When wheel and axle, urged with onward bound,


s: Struck down and dashed him headlong to the ground,


s: And Turnus, reaching forward, sword in hand,


s: Room 'twixt the hauberk and the helmet found


s: And lopped the head with his avenging brand,


s: And left the bleeding trunk to welter on the sand.


s: L.  While Turnus thus dealt havoc as he flew,


s: And helped the bleeding hero to his tent.


s: Faltering and pale, as on the spear he leant,


s: Fretting, and tugging at the shaft in vain,


s: Quick help he summons,--with the broadsword's rent


s: The wound to widen, and the lurking bane


s: Cut out, and send him back to battle on the plain.


s: His arts and gifts had offered to bestow,


s: To lengthen, sought the leech's craft to know,


s: The power of simples, and the silent praise


s: Of healing arts, and scorned the great Apollo's bays.


s: LII. Dark-frowning stands, still propt upon his spear,


s: Tight-girt like Paeon, with the robes upbound,


s: Beside him kneels the aged leech renowned.


s: With busy haste Apollo's salves he tries,


s: The stubborn steel, the pincer's teeth he plies:


s: Fate bides averse, his help the healing god denies;


s: LIII. And more and more, along the echoing wold,


s: The war's wild horror thickens on the ear,


s: And storm-like, in the darkened skies uprolled,


s: The driving dust-clouds show the danger near.


s: Now horsemen, galloping in haste, appear,


s: And darts and arrows, as the foe draw nigh,


s: Fall in the tents, and fill the camp with fear,


s: And a grim clamour mounts the vaulted sky,


s: The shouts of those that fight, the groans of those that die.


s: LIV. Then, Venus, for her darling filled with grief,


s: Seeks out, and gathers, for his wound's relief,


s: The flower of purple and the leaves of down.


s: (To wounded wild-goats 'twas a plant well-known)


s: This brings the Goddess, veiled in mist, and brews


s: And, steeped in water from the stream, she strews


s: Soft balm of fragrant scent, and sweet ambrosial dews.


s: LV. Therewith the leech, unwitting, rinsed the wound,


s: And the pain fled, and all the blood was stayed.


s: Out came the dart, and he again was sound.


s: "Arms! bring his arms! Why stand ye thus afraid?"


s: Inflames them to the fight. "No hand of mine,


s: No power of leech-craft, nor a mortal's aid


s: This healing wrought; a greater power divine,


s: AEneas, sends thee back, by greater deeds to shine."


s: LVI. He, hot for fight, the golden cuishes bound,


s: And shook the spear, then put his corslet on,


s: And strung the shield, and in his arms enwound,


s: And gently through the helmet kissed his son.


s: "Learn, boy, of me, how gallant deeds are done,


s: Fortune of others. I will guard thee now,


s: Thy kinsmen's deeds. Remember, and be thou


s: What uncle Hector was, and what thy sire is now."


s: LVII. He spake, and swinging his tremendous spear,


s: Swept through the gate; then Antheus, with his train,


s: Rushed forth, and Mnestheus. With a general cheer


s: Forth pours the host; a dust-cloud hides the plain;


s: Earth, startled by their trampling, throbs in pain.


s: Pale Turnus saw them from a distant height,


s: The Ausonians saw, and terror chilled each vein.


s: Juturna heard, and knew the noise of fight,


s: And from the van drew back, and shuddered with affright.


s: LVIII. On swept he, and the blackening host behind.


s: As when from sea a storm-cloud sweeps to shore,


s: The weather breaking, and the trembling hind


s: The shattered orchards, and the crops no more,


s: While, landward borne, the muttering winds betray


s: The coming storm; so down the Trojan bore


s: All knit their serried ranks, and gladden at the fray.


s: LIX. Thymbraeus smites Osiris, Mnestheus fells


s: Who first against the foemen hurled his spear.


s: Uprose a shout, and the Rutulians reeled


s: Close-trampling, scorns to follow them afield,


s: Or fight with those that stand, or slaughter those that yield.


s: LX. Turnus alone, amid the blinding gloom,


s: He tracks and traces, searching far and near,


s: Juturna sees, and smit with sudden fear,


s: And flings him down, and leaves him on the plain,


s: Then takes his place, and, urging their career,


s: Loose o'er the coursers shakes the waving rein;


s: Metiscus' voice and form, Metiscus' arms remain.


s: LXI. Like a black swallow, as she flies among


s: A rich man's halls, or in the courts is found


s: In quest of dainties for her twittering young.


s: The fishpools circles, while the shrill notes sound.


s: So now Juturna, through the midmost foes,


s: Whirled in the rapid chariot, scours the ground;


s: Now here, now there triumphant Turnus shows,


s: Now, flying, wheels aloof, nor suffers him to close.


s: LXII. So wheels in turn AEneas to and fro,


s: And tracks his man, and through the war's wild tide


s: Calls him aloud. Oft as he marks his foe,


s: And, running, tries to match the coursers' stride,


s: What shall he do? While wavering thus in vain,


s: As diverse thoughts his doubtful mind divide,


s: A steel-tipt dart Messapus--one of twain--


s: Aims true, and hurls it forth, uprunning on the plain.


s: LXIII. AEneas paused, behind his buckler bent.


s: On came the javelin, and the cone was shorn


s: From off his helmet, and the plume was rent.


s: Foiled by this treachery, as he marked with scorn


s: The steeds and chariot from the combat borne,


s: He blazed with ire, and, calling on again


s: Jove and the altars of the truce forsworn,


s: Rushed on, thrice terrible, and o'er the plain


s: Dealt indiscriminate death, and gave his wrath the rein.


s: LXIV. What heavenly muse can sing, what god can say


s: The scenes of horror wrought on either side,


s: What chiefs were chased along the field, and died,


s: His murderous sword? Jove, could'st thou deem it right


s: So dire a broil such peoples should divide,


s: Two jarring nations met in deadly fight,


s: Whom leagues of lasting love were destined to unite?


s: LXV. AEneas first (that fight 'twas first that stayed


s: The Teucrian rout) caught Suero on the side.


s: Where death is quickest, 'twixt the ribs his blade,


s: Deep in the framework of the breast, he plied.


s: His brother Amycus from his steed he tore;


s: One by the spear, one by the sword-cut died.


s: Their severed heads the ruthless victor bore,


s: Fixt to his flying car, and dripping with the gore.


s: LXVI. Talus, and Tanais, and Cethegus there


s: Turnus two Lycian brethren next o'erthrew


s: From Phoebus' fields, and young Menoetes too


s: From Arcady, who loathed the war in vain.


s: Poor was his home, nor rich men's doors he knew.


s: By fishful Lerna he had earned his gain,


s: Hired was the scanty glebe his father sowed with grain.


s: LXVII. Lo, as fierce flames drive in from left and right


s: Through woodlands parched and groves of crackling bay,


s: As sweep impetuous from a mountain height


s: Loud, foaming torrents, that withouten stay


s: Cleave to the sea their devastating way:


s: So, while in each full tides of anger flow,


s: Their tameless breasts with bursting valour glow,


s: On, on they speed amain, nor fear the opposing blow.


s: LXVIII. There stands Murranus, vaunting in vain joy


s: His sires, and grandsires, he the princely son


s: Of Latin monarchs. Him the chief of Troy


s: Smites with the whirlwind of a monstrous stone,


s: Huge as a rock. Down from his chariot thrown,


s: 'Twixt reins and yoke, he tumbles on the sward.


s: The fierce wheels, thundering onward, beat him down;


s: His starting steeds, to shun the victor's sword,


s: Tread on his trampled limbs, unmindful of their lord.


s: LXIX. Here, fronting Hyllus, as he rushed amain,


s: Fierce Turnus stood; his levelled spear-head clave


s: The golden casque, and quivered in his brain.


s: Nor thee, poor Creteus, though of Greeks most brave,


s: From Turnus had thy prowess power to save.


s: Squaring his breast, he met the glittering blade,


s: Nor long his brazen shield the mortal stroke delayed.


s: LXX. Thee, too, great AEolus, Laurentum's plain


s: Saw trampled down by Turnus, as he flew,


s: And stretched at length among the Trojan slain.


s: Thou diest, whom ne'er could Argive bands subdue,


s: Nor Peleus' son, who Priam's realm o'erthrew.


s: Thy goal is here; beyond the distant wave,


s: Beneath the mount where Ida's fir-trees grew,


s: High house was thine; high house Lyrnessus gave,


s: Thy home; Laurentum's soil hath given thee a grave.


s: LXXI. So met the ranks, and mingled, man with man,


s: Latins and Dardans in promiscuous throng,


s: Mnestheus and fierce Serestus in the van,


s: Messapus, tamer of the steed, and strong


s: Arcadian horsemen, and the Tuscan train.


s: No rest is theirs, no respite; loud and long


s: The conflict rages, as with might and main,


s: Each for his own dear life, the warriors strive and strain.


s: LXXII. Now lovely Venus doth her son persuade


s: To seek the walls, and townward turn his train,


s: And deal swift havoc on the foe dismayed.


s: While here and there AEneas scans the plain,


s: Still tracking Turnus through the ranks in vain,


s: Unscathed, unstirred, and in his restless brain


s: Larger the War-God looms, and to his chiefs he cries.


s: LXXIII. Mnestheus, Sergestus and Serestus strong


s: He calls, and on a hillock takes his stand.


s: There, mustering round him, all the Teucrians throng,


s: Each armed with buckler, and his spear in hand,


s: And from the mound he thus exhorts the band:


s: "Hear, sons of Teucer, and let none be slack.


s: Jove fights for us, so hearken my command.


s: Though strange the venture, sudden the attack,


s: Let none for that cause faint, none loiter and hang back.


s: LXXIV. "This town--unless they yield them and obey--


s: This town, the centre of Latinus' reign,


s: The cause of war, will I uproot this day,


s: And raze her smoking roof-tops to the plain.


s: What! shall I wait, and wait, till Turnus deign


s: To take fresh heart, and tempt the war's rough game,


s: And, conquered, face his conqueror again?


s: See there the fount of all this blood! For shame;


s: Bring quick the torch; let fire the perjured pact reclaim!"


s: LXXV. So spake he, and one purpose nerves them all.


s: They form a wedge, and forward with a cheer


s: The close-knit column charges at the wall.


s: Here scaling ladders in a trice they rear,


s: And firebrands suddenly and flames appear.


s: These seek the gates, and lay the foremost dead;


s: Those flash the sword, or shake the shining spear.


s: Darts cloud the skies. AEneas, at their head,


s: Stands by the lofty walls, and with his hands outspread,


s: LXXVI. Upbraids aloud Latinus, twice untrue,


s: And bids heaven witness and his wrongs regard,


s: Thus forced reluctant to the fight anew;


s: How loth again with Latin foes he warred,


s: How twice the truce the Latin crimes had marred.


s: Upsprings wild discord in the town; some call


s: To cede the city, and have the gates unbarred,


s: Some rush to arms, and strive their entrance to forestall.


s: LXXVII. As when within a crannied rock some hind,


s: Returning home, a swarm of bees hath found,


s: And all the nest with bitter smoke doth blind:


s: They, in their waxen citadel fast bound,


s: Post to and fro, the narrow cells around,


s: And whet their stings in fury and despair:


s: With stifled hum the caverned crags resound,


s: The black fumes search the windings of their lair,


s: And the dark smoke rolls up, and mingles with the air.


s: LXXVIII. A new mischance now smote with further woe


s: The Latin town, and fainting hearts dismayed.


s: The ramparts stormed, their flames the roofs invade,


s: And nowhere Turnus nor his troops to aid,


s: Him dead she deems, herself the cause declares,


s: Herself alone she spares not to upbraid.


s: She wails,--she raves,--her purple robe she tears,


s: And from a lofty beam the hideous noose prepares.


s: LXXIX. The women heard; Lavinia first of all,


s: Her golden locks, her rosy cheeks doth tear.


s: All rave around, and wailings fill the hall.


s: Fast flies the news, and shakes the town with fear.


s: Then rends his robes Latinus in despair,


s: And, scattering dust upon his hoary hair,


s: Himself he blames, that ne'er in Turnus' stead


s: The Dardan prince he chose, his dear-lov'd child to wed.


s: LXXX. Meanwhile, in chase of distant stragglers, speeds


s: Fierce Turnus. Slacker is his car's career,


s: And less he glories in his conquering steeds,


s: When lo, the breezes from Laurentum bear


s: The sound of shouting, and the shrieks of fear,


s: And a dull murmur, as of men that groan,--


s: The city's roar--strikes on his listening ear.


s: "Ah me! what clamour on the winds is blown?


s: What noise of grief," he cries, "comes rolling from the town?"


s: LXXXI. He spake, and madly pulled the rein. Then she,


s: His sister, like Metiscus changed in view,


s: Who ruled the chariot, "Forward, Turnus! See


s: The path that victory points thee to pursue.


s: This way--this way to chase the Trojan crew!


s: Others there are, who can the walls defend,


s: See here AEneas, how he storms. We, too,


s: Our foes, Troy's varlets, to their graves can send,


s: Nor thee less tale of slain, nor scantier praise attend."


s: LXXXII. Then quickly answered Turnus, glancing round,


s: "Sister, long since I knew thee--knew thee plain,


s: When first thy cunning did the league confound,


s: And sent thee forth, fierce battle to darrain;


s: And now thou think'st to cheat me, but in vain,


s: Albeit a goddess. But what power on high


s: Hath willed thee, sent from the Olympian reign,


s: Such toils to suffer, and such tasks to try?


s: Cam'st thou, forsooth, to see thy wretched brother die?


s: LXXXIII. "What can I do? What pledge of safety more


s: Doth Fortune give? what better hopes remain?


s: Stretched by a huge wound hugely on the plain.


s: I saw, how, backward as his comrades reeled,


s: Poor Ufens, sooner than behold such stain,


s: Sank low in death; himself, his sword and shield


s: The Teucrian victors hold, their trophies of the field.


s: LXXXIV. "What, shall I see our houses wrapt in flame,--


s: Last wrong of all--and coward-like, stand by,


s: Nor make this arm put Drances' taunts to shame?


s: Shall Turnus run, and Latins see him fly?


s: Be kind, dread spirits of the world below!


s: To you, since envious are the powers on high,


s: Free from the coward's blame, a sacred shade I go."


s: LXXXV. Scarce spake he; through the midmost foes apace


s: Comes Saces, borne upon his foaming steed,


s: A flying shaft had scored him in the face.


s: "Turnus," he cries, "sole champion in our need,


s: Help us, have pity on thy friends who bleed.


s: To raze our towers, and with a storm-cloud's speed


s: Thunders in arms, and roofward flies the fire,


s: To thee the Latins turn, thee Latin hopes require.


s: LXXXVI. "Himself, the king, is wavering, whom to call


s: His new allies, and whom his kingdom's heir.


s: Dead is the queen, thy faithfullest of all,


s: Self-plunged from light, in terror and despair.


s: Scarce fierce Atinas and Messapus there,


s: Beside the town-gates standing, hold their own.


s: Dense hosts surround them, and with falchions bare,


s: War's harvest bristles, by the walls upgrown;


s: Thou on the empty sward art charioting alone."


s: LXXXVII. Stunned and bewildered by the changeful scene


s: Stood Turnus, gazing speechless and oppressed.


s: Shame, rage, and sorrow, and revengeful spleen,


s: And frenzied love, and conscious worth confessed


s: Boil from the depths of his tumultuous breast.


s: Now, when the shadows from his mind withdrew,


s: And light, returning, to his thoughts gave rest,


s: Back from his chariot towards the walls he threw


s: His eyes, aflame with wrath, and grasped the town in view.


s: LXXXVIII. From floor to floor, behold, a tower upblazed,--


s: The tower, with bridge above and wheels below,


s: Himself with beams and mortised planks had raised.


s: "Sister," he cries, "Fate conquers; let us go


s: The way which Heaven and cruel fortune show.


s: No more dishonoured shalt thou see me, nay,


s: O sister, let me vent this fury, while I may."


s: LXXXIX. He spake, and quickly vaulting from his car,


s: Through foes, through darts, his sister left to mourn,


s: Rushed headlong forth, and broke the ranks of war.


s: As when a boulder, from a hill-top borne,


s: Which rains have washed, or blustering winds have torn,


s: Or creeping years have loosened, down the steep,


s: From crag to crag, leaps headlong, and in scorn


s: Goes bounding on, and with resistless sweep


s: Lays waste the woods, and whelms the shepherd and his sheep;


s: On to the town-walls, where the crimson plain


s: Is soaked, and shrill with javelins shrieks the sky,


s: Then shouts, with hand uplifted, to his train,


s: Mine are the risks of Fortune, mine of right,


s: The truce thus torn, to expiate the stain,


s: And let the sword give judgment." At the sight


s: The hostile ranks divide, and clear the lists of fight.


s: Of Turnus, and his foeman's form espied,


s: Down from the ramparts and the towers he came,


s: And scorned delay, and put all else aside,


s: Thundering in arms, and glorying in his pride.


s: Roars with his nodding oaks, when drifted snows


s: Shine on his joyous crest, and lighten on his brows.


s: Look wondering on, both they who man the height,


s: And they who batter at the base. Down fall


s: Their arms. Amazed Latinus views the sight,


s: Two chiefs from distant countries, matched in might.


s: The lists set wide, they dash into the fray.


s: Each hurls a spear, then, hand to hand, they fight.


s: Loud ring the shields, and quick the broadswords play.


s: Earth groans, and chance contends with courage for the day.


s: Two bulls, with butting foreheads, mix in fray:


s: Pale fly the hinds, mute stands the herd dismayed:


s: The heifers low, unknowing who shall sway


s: The grove, what lord and leader to obey;


s: They, with horns locked, their mutual rage outpour,


s: And thrust for thrust, and wound for wound repay,


s: Fast from their necks and dewlaps streams the gore,


s: And all the neighbouring wood rebellows to the roar;


s: Met in the deadly conflict, shield to shield


s: Clanged, and a loud crash shattered through the sky.


s: And now great Jove, the Sire of gods on high,


s: Holds up the scales, and sets the long beam straight,


s: And in the balance lays their fates, to try


s: Each champion's fortune in the stern debate,


s: Whom battle's toil shall doom, where sinks the deathful weight.


s: Fierce Turnus, rising to his utmost height,


s: Strikes. A loud shout, of terror and delight


s: Goes up from Troy and Latium at the sight.


s: When lo, the falchion, as the stroke he plies,


s: Snaps short, and leaves him helpless. Naught but flight


s: Can aid him; swifter than the wind he flies,


s: As in his hand disarmed an unknown hilt he spies.


s: In haste he snatched Metiscus' sword, 'tis said,


s: His sire's forgotten, as he climbed the car,


s: And well enough that weapon served his stead,


s: To smite the stragglers, while the Trojans fled;


s: But when it met, and countered in the fray


s: The arms of Vulcan, then the mortal blade,


s: Found faithless, like the brittle ice, gave way,


s: And in the yellow sand the sparkling fragments lay.


s: Now here, now there, weaves many an aimless round;


s: For all about him, as he scours the plain,


s: The swarming legions of the foe are found,


s: And here the marsh, and there the bulwarks bound.


s: Nor less AEneas, though his stiff knee feels


s: The rankling arrow, and the hampering wound


s: And dogs the flying foe, and presses on his heels.


s: Or toils with scarlet feathers, set to scare,


s: A huntsman with his braying hounds doth chase.


s: Awed by the steep bank and the threatening snare,


s: A thousand ways he doubles here and there;


s: Now grasps,--now holds him,--and now thinks to tear,


s: And snaps his teeth on nothing; and a cry


s: Rings back from shore and stream, and rolls along the sky.


s: Fierce Turnus for his trusty sword doth cry.


s: "Stand off," he shouts, "who ventures to draw nigh,


s: His town shall perish, and himself shall die."


s: Onward, though maimed, he presses to his prey.


s: Twice five times circling round the field they fly;


s: For no mean stake or sportive prize they play,


s: Lo, Turnus' life and blood are wagered in the fray.


s: When to Laurentum's guardian, safe on shore


s: Their votive raiment and their gifts they bore.


s: That sacred tree, the lists of fight to clear,


s: Troy's sons had lopped. There, in the trunk's deep core,


s: The Dardan javelin, urged with impulse sheer,


s: Stuck fast; the stubborn root, retentive, grasped the spear.


s: To pluck the steel, and follow with the spear


s: The foe his feet o'ertook not. Sore dismayed


s: Then Turnus cried, "O Faunus, heed and hear,


s: And thou, kind Earth, hold fast the steel, if dear


s: I held the plant, which Trojan hands profaned."


s: He prayed, nor Heaven refused a kindly ear.


s: Long while AEneas at the tough root strained;


s: Vain was his utmost strength; the biting shaft remained.


s: Ran forth, and to her brother reached his blade.


s: Then Venus, wroth the daring Nymph to view,


s: Came, and the javelin from the stem withdrew,


s: Thus, armed afresh, each eager for his chance,


s: The Daunian trusting to his falchion true,


s: The Dardan towering with uplifted lance,


s: High-hearted, face to face, the breathless chiefs advance.


s: Looked Juno, pleased the doubtful strife to view,


s: "When shall this end, sweet partner of my love?


s: What more? Thou know'st it, and hast owned it too,


s: What wilt thou, chill in cloudland? Was it right


s: Or give--for thine was all Juturna's might--


s: Lost Turnus back his sword, and renovate the fight?


s: Nor spoil those sweet lips with unlovely care.


s: The end is come; 'twas thine on sea and shore


s: Troy's sons to vex, to wake the war's uproar,


s: To cloud a home, a marriage-league untie,


s: And mar with grief a bridal. Cease, and more


s: Attempt not." Thus the ruler of the sky,


s: And thus, with down-cast look, Saturnia made reply.


s: Else ne'er should'st thou behold me here alone,


s: Thus shamed and suffering, but, torch in hand,


s: To smite these hateful Teucrians would I stand.


s: Her hapless brother,--mine was the command,--


s: Approved her daring for his sake, yet so


s: As not to wield the spear, or meddle with the bow.


s: (The only oath that doth the high gods bind),


s: By that grim fount that feeds the Stygian lake.


s: And now, great Jove, reluctant, but resigned,


s: I yield, and leave the loathed fight behind.


s: One boon I ask, nor that in Fate's despite,


s: When--be it so--blest Hymen's pact they plight,


s: And laws and lasting league the warring folks unite,


s: The name of Latins; turn them not, I pray,


s: To Trojan folk, to be as Teucrians known.


s: The garb they wear, the language of to-day


s: Let Latium flourish, and abide the same,


s: And Alban kings through distant ages sway.


s: Let Rome through Latin prowess wax in fame;


s: But fall'n is Troy, and fall'n for ever be her name."


s: "Thou, second child of Saturn, born to reign


s: In heaven Jove's sister, and his spouse beside.


s: Such floods of passion can thy breast contain?


s: But come, and from thy fruitless rage refrain.


s: I yield, and gladly; be thy will obeyed.


s: Speech, customs, name Ausonia shall retain


s: Unchanged for ever, as thy lips have prayed.


s: And in the Latin race Troy's mingled blood shall fade.


s: And sacred rites, as common good, assign.


s: Hence shalt thou see, from blood Ausonian sprung,


s: And ne'er shall other nation tell so loud


s: Thy praise, or pay such homage to thy shrine."


s: Well-pleased was Juno, and assenting bowed,


s: And straight with altered mind ascended from the cloud.


s: Two fiends there are, called Furies. Night with fell


s: Megaera bore them at one birth, and twined


s: Their serpent spires, and winged them like the wind.


s: These at Jove's threshold, and beside his throne


s: When death or pestilence the Sire sends down,


s: Or shakes the world with war, and scares the guilty town.


s: To front Juturna. Down, with sudden spring,


s: To earth, as in a whirlwind, she descends.


s: As when a poisoned arrow from the string


s: Through clouds a Parthian launches on the wing,--


s: Parthian or Cretan--and in darkling flight


s: The shaft, with cureless venom in its sting,


s: Screams through the shadows; so, arrayed in might,


s: Swift to the earth came down the daughter of the Night.


s: Shrunk to the semblance of a bird in size,


s: Which oft on tombs or ruined roofs alone


s: Sits late at night, and with ill-omened cries


s: Vexes the darkness; so in dwarfed disguise


s: The foul fiend, shrieking around Turnus' head,


s: Flaps on his shield, and flutters o'er his eyes.


s: Strange torpor numbs the Daunian's limbs with dread;


s: The stiffening hair stands up, and all his voice is dead.


s: Her comely face, and rent her scattered hair,


s: And smote her breast: "O cruel me! what more


s: Or craft thy days can lengthen? Can I dare


s: To face this fiend? At last, at last I go,


s: And quit the field. Foul birds, avaunt, nor scare


s: My fluttering soul. Too well the sounds of woe,


s: Those beating wings,--too well great Jove's behest I know.


s: And grudge a mortal's privilege--to die?


s: Else, sure this moment could I end my woe,


s: Thou, Turnus, dead? Gape, Earth, and let me go,


s: A Goddess, to the shades!" She spake, and sighed,


s: And, veiled in azure mantle, plunged beneath the tide.


s: His tree-like spear he poises for the fray,


s: And pours the pent-up fury of his breast.


s: "Why stay'st thou, Turnus? Wherefore this delay?


s: Fierce arms, not swiftness, must decide the day.


s: Shift as thou wilt, and every shape assume;


s: Exhaust thy courage and thy craft, and pray


s: For wings to soar with, or in earth's dark womb


s: Sink low thy recreant head, and hide thee from thy doom."


s: "Ruffian! thy threats are but as empty sound;


s: They daunt not Turnus; 'tis the gods I dread,


s: And Jove my enemy." Then, glancing round,


s: He marked a chance-met boulder on the ground,


s: Huge, grey with age, set there in ancient days


s: To clear disputes,--a barrier and a bound.


s: Scarce twelve picked men the ponderous mass could raise,


s: Such men as Earth brings forth in these degenerate days.


s: With hurrying hand, and all his height updrew,


s: And at AEneas hurled the monstrous shard;


s: So heaving, and so running, scarce he knew


s: His running, or how huge a weight he threw.


s: Cold froze his blood; beneath his trembling frame


s: The weak knees tottered. Through the void air flew


s: The stone, nor all the middle space o'ercame,


s: Short of its mark it fell, nor answered to its aim.


s: The slumbering eyes, still eager, but in vain,


s: We strive to race along a lengthening road,


s: And faint and fall, amidmost of the strain;


s: The feeble limbs their wonted aid disdain,


s: Mute is the tongue, nor doth the voice obey,


s: Nor words find utterance; so with fruitless pain


s: Poor Turnus strives; but, struggle as he may,


s: The baffling fiend is there, and mocks the vain essay.


s: Towards friends and town he throws an anxious glance.


s: Desperate of flight, nor daring to advance,


s: Aghast, and shuddering at the lifted lance,


s: His spear, and hurled it, as he marked his chance.


s: Less loud the stone from battering engine cast,


s: Less loud through ether bursts the levin-bolt's dread blast.


s: Right thro' the rim the sevenfold shield it rent


s: And breastplate's edge, nor stayed its onset ere


s: Deep in the thigh its hissing course was spent.


s: Down on the earth, his knees beneath him bent,


s: Great Turnus sank: Rutulia's host around


s: Sprang up with wailing and with wild lament:


s: From neighbouring hills their piercing cries rebound,


s: And every wooded steep re-echoes to the sound.


s: "Death I deserve, nor death would I delay.


s: Use, then, thy fortune. If a father's tears


s: Move thee, for old Anchises' sake, I pray,


s: If so thou wilt, to home and kin restore.


s: Thine is the victory. Latium's land to-day


s: Hath seen her prince the victor's grace implore.


s: Lavinia now is thine; the bitter feud give o'er."


s: And more and more now melts his wavering mood,


s: When lo, on Turnus' shoulder--known too true--


s: The luckless sword-belt flashed upon his view;


s: And bright with gold studs shone the glittering prey,


s: Which ruthless Turnus, when the youth he slew,


s: Stripped from the lifeless Pallas, as he lay,


s: And on his shoulders wore, in token of the day.


s: His fierce eyes fixt upon the sign of woe.


s: "Shalt _thou_ go hence, and with the loved one's spoils?


s: 'Tis Pallas--Pallas deals the deadly blow.


s: And claims this victim for his ghost below."


s: He spake, and mad with fury, as he said,


s: Drove the keen falchion through his prostrate foe.


s: The stalwart limbs grew stiff with cold and dead,


s: And, groaning, to the shades the scornful spirit fled.


s: XLII. Harpalyce was the daughter of a Thracian king and a famous


s: LXIII. _Troilus:_ a son of Priam slain by Achilles.


s: LXIV. Memnon, son of Aurora, the dawn-goddess, and Penthesilea,


s: LXX. _Hesperia_, 'the western land,' means Italy.


s: probably invented to account for the name _Italia_. Probably


s: LVI. _Nereus_ was one of the chief sea-gods.


s: LXIII. Pyrrhus is the same as Neoptolemus in stanza xxxv.


s: LXXVI. Creusa and Iulus were the wife and son of Aeneas.


s: blinded him, and sent the Harpies--loathsome monsters with the


s: For Celaeno's prophecy, see note on Book VII. stanza xvi.


s: XLIII. _Hermione_ was the daughter of Menelaus and Helen. Orestes


s: account of her treacherous murder of Agamemnon when the latter


s: settled in the south of Italy at the close of the Trojan war.


s: LV. _Scylla_ and _Charybdis_ are taken from Homer. The former was


s: LX. Dodona, in Epirus, was one of the famous oracles in Greece.


s: LXXII. The Cyclops were placed by Virgil on the slopes of Aetna.


s: LXXXVII. _Pelorus_ was the most northerly headland of the Straits


s: LXXXVIII. _Plemmyrium_ ('the place of the tides') is the headland


s: place as having to do with marriage--possibly they are invoked as


s: which took place there in honour of Bacchus.


s: For _Avernus_, see note on Book VI. stanza xviii.


s: The ancients believed that foals were born with a lump on their


s: foreheads. The name given to this was _hippomanes_, and it was


s: supposed to act as a powerful love-philtre.


s: Pandarus, who shot an arrow at Menelaus.


s: books. The old interpretation was that it referred to the burning


s: antiquity. Venus is called 'Idalian' from Idalium in Cyprus.


s: Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, fell in love with him, and helped


s: XLI. Charon was the ferryman of the dead.


s: LIV. Apollo was called Amphrysian because he tended the herds of


s: Admetus near the river Amphrysus in Thessaly. Here the epithet is


s: LVII. Minos, king of Crete, became one of the judges of the dead,


s: LIX. For Phaedra, see note on Book VII. stanza ciii. Procris was


s: accidentally slain by her husband, Eriphyle was killed by her son


s: LXXVII. The two sons of Aloeus were Otus and Ephialtes, who


s: Pirithous was his son, and was guilty of having, with Theseus,


s: Carthage in 146 B.C. Fabricius was the general who fought against


s: Maximus Cunctator, the general against Hannibal.


s: Aeaea,' the dwelling-place of Circe in Homer, with the promontory


s: 'Ausonia,' a poetical name for Italy. The _Ausones_ were early


s: 'Oenotria': originally the southern part of Lucania and Bruttium,


s: LXIX. 'Trivia's lake' refers to the little lake of Nemi. A famous


s: 'Velia's fountains,' a lake in the Umbrian hills beyond Reate.


s: LXXXVII. Agylla was the original name of Caere.


s: XLII.-XLVIII. Evander shows the town to Aeneas, tells him of the


s: former state of Latium, and points out to him the chief places of


s: ('wolf-repeller'), an old Roman shepherd god. The _Capitol_ is


s: referred to as 'now golden,' because in Virgil's time the roof of


s: near Mount Aetna. In later legends they are described as the


s: wide-spread, but the tales connecting them with Italy are all


s: unhistoric. _Silvanus_ was an ancient Latin woodland deity.


s: LXXXVI. The event here referred to is the invasion of Rome by the


s: always taken as the model of rigid and exalted virtue.


s: LXXII. 'Jove's armour-bearer' is the eagle.


s: LXXV. The Symaethus was a river in Sicily.


s: LXXVII. The 'wily-worded Ithacan' is Ulysses, the hero of the


s: _Prochyta_ and _Arime_ were two rocky islands dose to the bay of


s: Typhoeus was a hundred-headed monster slain by Jupiter and buried


s: embassy, Book XI. stanza xxxi. and following.


s: LXXIII. Trivia here refers to Diana. Gradivus is an archaic Latin


s: LXXVII. 'Mute Amyclae' was probably so called because the


s: Amyclae near Naples, but to the original Amyclae in Laconia, then


s: LXXIX. In the _Iliad_ Aeneas had been rescued from Diomedes and


s: Achilles. Liger is taunting him with this.


s: _Garganus:_ name of a mountain in Apulia.


s: LII. The Myrmidons were the followers of Achilles--Tydides is


s: Diomedes. The _Aufidus_ is a river of Apulia.


s: LXIX. Opis was a nymph of Diana (Latonia).


s: LXXXIV. Virgil is comparing Camilla to the two famous Amazons,


s: subscribers followed: the volume was printed by the celebrated


s: uncontaminated, and that from your courage, knowledge, and public


s: consciousness of injured worth attend your return to your native


s: With the sincerest gratitude and highest respect,


s: I cannot give to my country this edition of one of its favourite


s: There are eleven stanzas, of which the best, compared with the "A


s: the composition of Shenstone, and which is to be found in the


s: genius, had, it seems, copied it with his own hand, and hence my


s: I have along with this sent the two volumes of Ossian, with the


s: The Death and dying Words of poor Mailie


s: A Prayer under the pressure of violent Anguish


s: The Inventory; in answer to a mandate by the surveyor of taxes


s: To John Goudie of Kilmarnock, on the publication of his Essays


s: Nature's Law. A Poem humbly inscribed to G.H., Esq.


s: Address to the unco Guid, or the rigidly Righteous


s: Lament, occasioned by the unfortunate issue of a Friend's Amour


s: The first six Verses of the ninetieth Psalm


s: To a Louse, on seeing one on a Lady's Bonnet at Church


s: Epistle to J. Rankine, enclosing some Poems


s: On a Scotch Bard, gone to the West Indies


s: To Gavin Hamilton, Esq., recommending a boy


s: Answer to a Poetical Epistle sent to the Author by a Tailor


s: To J. Rankine. "I am a keeper of the law."


s: On reading in a Newspaper the Death of John M'Leod, Esq.


s: To a Lady, with a Present of a Pair of Drinking-glasses


s: Verses written under the Portrait of the Poet Fergusson


s: The humble Petition of Bruar-Water, to the noble Duke of Athole


s: On scaring some Water-fowl in Loch Turit


s: To Mr. William Tytler, with the present of the Bard's picture


s: To Captain Riddel, of Glenriddel. Extempore lines on returning a


s: A Mother's Lament for the Death of her Son


s: Lines, intended to be written under a Noble Earl's Picture


s: Ode. Sacred to the memory of Mrs. Oswald, of Auchencruive


s: Fragment inscribed to the Right Hon. C.J. Fox


s: On seeing a wounded Hare limp by me, which a Fellow had just shot


s: Scots Prologue, for Mr. Sutherland's Benefit-night, Dumfries


s: The Kirk's Alarm. A Satire. First Version


s: The Kirk's Alarm. A Ballad. Second Version


s: Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray, on the close of the


s: On Captain Grose's Peregrination through Scotland, collecting the


s: Written in a wrapper, enclosing a letter to Captain Grose


s: Lament of Mary Queen of Scots, on the approach of Spring


s: Lines sent to Sir John Whitefoord, Bart., of Whitefoord, with the


s: To Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintray, on receiving a favour


s: To John Maxwell, of Terraughty, on his birthday


s: On seeing Miss Fontenelle in a favourite character


s: To Miss Jessy Lewars, Dumfries, with Johnson's


s: Written on a window of the Inn at Carron


s: Lines written under the Picture of the celebrated Miss Burns


s: On Elphinston's Translation of Martial's Epigrams


s: Inscription on the Head-stone of Fergusson


s: Written on a pane of glass in the Inn at Moffat


s: To Mr. Syme, with a present of a dozen of porter


s: Lines written on a window of the Globe Tavern, Dumfries


s: To Dr. Maxwell, on Jessie Staig's Recovery


s: On seeing the beautiful Seat of Lord Galloway


s: To the same, on the Author being threatened with his resentment


s: "There's naethin' like the honest nappy"


s: On the blank leaf of a work by Hannah More, presented by Mrs. C


s: "I dream'd I lay where flowers were springing"


s: "My father was a farmer upon the Carrick border"


s: The Farewell to the Brethren of St. James's Lodge, Tarbolton


s: "O whar did ye get that hauver meal bannock?"


s: "O Whistle, and I'll come to you, my lad"


s: The Tailor fell through the bed, thimbles an' a'


s: There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame


s: Yon wild mossy mountains sae lofty and wide


s: What can a young lassie do wi' an auld man


s: As I was a-wand'ring ae Midsummer e'enin


s: Wae is my heart, and the tear's in my e'e


s: Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled. First Version


s: Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled. Second Version


s: "Where are the joys I have met in the morning"


s: The Lover's Morning Salute to his Mistress


s: Farewell, thou stream, that winding flows


s: Contented wi' little and cantie wi' mair


s: Their groves o' sweet myrtle let foreign lands reckon


s: 'Twas na her bonnie blue een was my ruin


s: Last May a braw wooer cam down the lang glen


s: Jessy. "Here's a health to ane I lo'e dear"


s: XLI. To John Ballantyne, Esq. Mr. Miller's offer of a farm


s: XLIV. To Dr. Moore. Acknowledgments for his notice


s: XLVII. To John Ballantyne, Esq. His portrait engraving


s: XLVIII. To the Earl of Glencairn. Enclosing "Lines intended to be


s: XLIX. To the Earl of Buchan. In reply to a letter of advice


s: L. To Mr. James Candlish. Still "the old man with his deeds"


s: LIV. To Mr. Sibbald. Thanks for his notice in the magazine


s: LVIII. To the Earl of Glencairn. On leaving Edinburgh


s: LXIII. To Mr. W. Nicol. A ride described in broad Scotch


s: LXIV. To Mr. James Smith. Unsettled in life. Jamaica


s: LXVI. To Mr. James Candlish. Seeking a copy of Lowe's poem of


s: LXIX. To Mr. Wm. Cruikshank. Auchtertyre


s: LXXII. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. Sets high value on his friendship


s: LXXIII. To the same. Nithsdale and Edinburgh


s: LXXIV. To Dr. Moore. Account of his own life


s: LXXV. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. A humorous letter


s: LXXVI. To Mr. Robert Muir. Stirling, Bannockburn


s: LXXVII. To Gavin Hamilton, Esq. Of Mr. Hamilton's own family


s: LXXVIII. To Mr. Walker. Bruar Water. The Athole family


s: LXXIX. To Mr. Gilbert Burns. Account of his Highland tour


s: LXXX. To Miss Margaret Chalmers. Charlotte Hamilton. Skinner.


s: LXXXII. To James Hoy, Esq. Mr. Nicol. Johnson's Musical Museum


s: LXXXIV. To James Hoy, Esq. Song by the Duke of Gordon


s: LXXXV. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. His friendship for him


s: LXXXVII. To James Dalrymple, Esq. Rhyme. Lord Glencairn


s: CXL. To Mr. James Johnson. Scots Musical Museum


s: CXLI. To Dr. Blacklock. Poetical progress. His marriage


s: CXLII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Enclosing "Auld Lang Syne"


s: CXLIII. To Miss Davies. Enclosing the song of "Charming, lovely


s: CXLIV. To Mr. John Tennant. Praise of his whiskey


s: CXLV. To Mrs. Dunlop. Reflections suggested by the day


s: CXLVI. To Dr. Moore. His situation and prospects


s: CXLVII. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. His favourite quotations. Musical


s: CXLIX. To Bishop Geddes. His situation and prospects


s: CLII. To the Rev. Peter Carfrae. Mr. Mylne's poem


s: CLIII. To Dr. Moore. Introduction. His ode to Mrs. Oswald


s: CLV. To Mr. Peter Hill. Economy and frugality. Purchase of books


s: CLVI. To Mrs. Dunlop. Sketch inscribed to the Right Hon. C.J. Fox


s: CLVIII. To Mrs. M'Murdo. With the song of "Bonnie Jean"


s: CLIX. To Mr. Cunningham. With the poem of "The Wounded Hare"


s: CLX. To Mr. Samuel Brown. His farm. Ailsa fowling


s: CLXIII. To William Creech, Esq. Toothache. Good wishes


s: CLXV. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. Overwhelmed with incessant toil


s: CLXVI. To Mr. M'Murdo. Enclosing his newest song


s: CLXVII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Reflections on religion


s: CLXVIII. To Mr. ----. Fergusson the poet


s: CLXIX. To Miss Williams. Enclosing criticisms on her poems


s: CLXX. To Mr. John Logan. With "The Kirk's Alarm"


s: CLXXI. To Mrs. Dunlop. Religion. Dr. Moore's "Zeluco"


s: CLXXII. To Captain Riddel. "The Whistle"


s: CLXXIII. To the same. With some of his MS. poems


s: CLXXIV. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. His Excise employment


s: CLXXV. To Mr. Richard Brown. His Excise duties


s: CLXXVII. To Mrs. Dunlop. Reflections on immortality


s: CLXXVIII. To Lady M.W. Constable. Jacobitism


s: CLXXIX. To Provost Maxwell. At a loss for a subject


s: CLXXXII. To Mr. Gilburt Burns. His farm a ruinous affair. Players


s: CLXXXIII. To Mr. Sutherland. Enclosing a Prologue


s: CLXXXV. To Mrs. Dunlop. Falconer the poet. Old Scottish songs


s: CLXXXVIII. To Mr. W. Cunningham. What strange beings we are


s: CLXXXIX. To Mr. Peter Hill. Orders for books. Mankind


s: CCXL. To the same. Thomson's alterations and observations


s: CCXLI. To the same. With "Auld Rob Morris," and "Duncan Gray"


s: CCXLIV. To Mrs. Dunlop. Hurry of business. Excise inquiry


s: CCXLV. To Mr. Thomson. With "Poortith cauld" and "Galla Water"


s: CCXLVI. To the same. William Tytler, Peter Pindar


s: CCXLVII. To Mr. Cunningham. The poet's seal. David Allan


s: CCXLVIII. To Thomson. With "Mary Morison"


s: CCCXLIX. To the same. With "Wandering Willie"


s: CCL. To Miss Benson. Pleasure he had in meeting her


s: CCLIII. To the same. Criticism. Allan Ramsay


s: CCLIV. To the same. "The last time I came o'er the moor"


s: CCLVI. To Mr. Robert Ainslie. Answering letters. Scholar-craft


s: CCLVII. To Miss Kennedy. A letter of compliment


s: CCLVIII. To Mr. Thomson. Frazer. "Blithe had I been on yon hill"


s: CCLIX. To Mr. Thomson. "Logan Water." "O gin my love were yon red


s: CCLX. To the same. With the song of "Bonnie Jean"


s: CCLXII. To the same. Note written in the name of Stephen Clarke


s: CCLXIII. To the same. With "Phillis the fair"


s: CCLXVII. To the same. With "Come, let me take thee to my breast"


s: CCLXVIII. To the same. With "Dainty Davie"


s: CCLXIX. To Miss Craik. Wretchedness of poets


s: CCLXX. To Lady Glencairn. Gratitude. Excise. Dramatic composition


s: CCLXXI. To Mr. Thomson. With "Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled"


s: CCLXXII. To the same. With "Behold the hour, the boat arrive"


s: CCLXXIII. To the same. Crawfurd and Scottish song


s: CCLXXVII. To the same. Erskine and Gavin Turnbull


s: CCLXXIX. To the same. With his printed poems


s: CCLXXXI. To Mrs. Riddel. The Dumfries Theatre


s: CCLXXXII. To a Lady. In favour of a player's benefit


s: CCLXXXIII. To the Earl of Buchan. With a copy of "Scots wha hae"


s: CCLXXXIV. To Captain Miller. With a copy of "Scots wha hae"


s: CCLXXXV. To Mrs. Riddel. Lobster-coated puppies


s: CCLXXXVI. To the same. The gin-horse class of the human genus


s: CCLXXXVII. To the same. With "Werter." Her reception of him


s: CCLXXXIX. To the same. Her neglect and unkindness


s: Request to be made a freeman of the town


s: CCCXL. To Mrs. Burns. Sea-bathing affords little relief


s: CCCXLI. To Mrs. Dunlop. Her friendship. A farewell


s: CCCXLIII. To Mr. James Burness. Soliciting the sum of ten pounds


s: Kincardineshire wrote his name Burness, was bred a gardener, and


s: acres. This was in 1765; but the land was hungry and sterile; the


s: unsure; when to his sorrow, the laird of Doonholm--a generous


s: galley-slaves," as the poet, alluding to those days, said, were


s: Amid these labours and disputes, the poet's father remembered the


s: Revelations. He was aided in these labours, first, by the


s: schoolmaster of Alloway-mill, near the Doon; secondly, by John


s: Murdoch, student of divinity, who undertook to teach arithmetic,


s: dead-lights, wraiths, apparitions, cantraips, giants, enchanted


s: flax-dresser, under one Peacock, kinsman to his mother. Some time


s: scenes of sociality with smugglers, and enjoyed the pleasure of a


s: consisted chiefly of oatmeal and potatoes sent from his father's


s: house. In a letter to his father, written with great purity and


s: scarcely to be envied by the hopeless wretches who have got their


s: Robert Burns was now the head of his father's house. He gathered


s: familiar: there is little or no trace of them in any of his


s: compositions. He read and wondered--he warmed his fancy at their


s: inhabitants--a county where civil and religious liberty have ever


s: While meditating something better than a ballad to his mistress's


s: indifferent seed and a wet harvest robbed him at once of half his


s: society the poet was president, and the first question they were


s: pleasure of subscribing for the first edition of the works of its


s: personal, and profane. Willie claims praise in the singular,


s: particularly the two latter, are the sharpest lampoons in the


s: domestic love; and accordingly, in the last and best of his


s: controversial compositions, he rose out of the lower regions of


s: together with his own experiences; and concludes by a hope, as


s: "Halloween" is a strain of a more homely kind, recording the


s: superstitious beliefs, and no less superstitious doings of Old


s: praise of that God to whom he owes all: this he performs with a


s: reverence and an awe, at once natural, national, and poetic. "The


s: His epistles in verse may be reckoned amongst his happiest


s: Burns, while he was writing the poems, the chief of which we have


s: reasonable return for labour, was unproductive, under one who had


s: double mystery of sugar-making and slavery.


s: The hearty applause which I have recorded came chiefly from the


s: composing in the manse when he feasted with a divine: he enclosed


s: feelings of parents, who could not be persuaded to bestow their


s: persuaded and won; of the light-hearted and the careless becoming


s: received from all ranks and descriptions of persons, were such as


s: station; plain and unpretending, with sufficient attention to


s: remonstrances of Mrs. Stewart, of Stair, and Mrs. Dunlop; and the


s: In April, the second or Edinburgh, edition was published: it was


s: widely purchased, and as warmly commended. The country had been


s: Hottentot, for having rooted out an ancient garden belonging to a


s: attractive, an amiable young lady, very handsome, with "beautiful


s: personæ_, in such a scene of horror." He extended his tour to


s: His second excursion was made in the company of Dr. Adair, of


s: Spoke in her cheeks, and so distinctly wrought,


s: That one would almost say her body thought."


s: Falkirk--places of triumph and of woe to Scotland, he gave way to


s: felicity; he eked out old fragments and sobered down licentious


s: little his border-jaunt among the fountains of ancient song


s: spirit of sorrow or of bitterness prevailed. Though accompanied,


s: during his northern excursions, by friends whose socialities and


s: indebted for some of its fairest flowers to the Highlands.


s: querulous sensibilities must have been frequently offended.


s: solicitation:--"I wish to go into the excise;" thus he wrote to


s: those, too, who had looked coldly on, and smiled at his outward


s: describes her: "The most placid good nature and sweetness of


s: Edinburgh, he adds, to complete the picture, "I have got the


s: retirement of the Carse hermitage, a little lodge in the wood, as


s: intercourse with the poet: "Alloway's auld haunted kirk" was


s: This poem was the work of a single day: Burns walked out to his


s: wondering at the unusual length of his meditations, she took her


s: Their sacks, instead o' creeshie flannen,


s: That ance were plush, o' gude blue hair,


s: valleys of Dumfrieshire, or measuring out pastoral verse to the


s: beauties of the land. He retired to a house in the Bank-vennel of


s: expensive as well as pure: he had witnessed, and he hoped for the


s: north: the duties which it imposed were regarded, not by peasants


s: nation--one whose tastes and sensibilities were so peculiarly its


s: Bank-vennel, and next in a small house in a humble street, since


s: stately work, while they are more polished and elegant than those


s: The land where the poet lived furnished ready materials for song:


s: garlands of the muse on unlovely altars; he was liable to no such


s: Lorimer; she was not more than seventeen when the poet made her


s: fair," "John Anderson my Jo," "Had I a cave on some wild distant


s: balancing himself on the hind legs of his arm-chair.


s: While indulging in these lyrical nights, politics penetrated into


s: interest Miller stood. On the other hand, his old Jacobitical


s: humorous, in his ballad of "The Five Carlins," in which he


s: calculating dames, met in much wrath and drink to choose a


s: democratic as the kirk of Scotland, which educated him--he


s: That Burns was numbered among the republicans of Dumfries I well


s: company the name of Pitt, because he preferred Washington, cannot


s: malicious. His steps were watched and his words weighed; when he


s: The neglect of his country, the tyranny of the Excise, and the


s: downfall of his hopes and fortunes, were now to bring forth their


s: sinking heart and a declining body. Yet though he was sensible of


s: On the 20th of June, 1795, he writes thus of his fortunes and


s: condition to his friend Clarke, "Still, still the victim of


s: His sinking state was not unobserved by his friends, and Syme and


s: Dumfries, where there were pleasant walks on the Solway-side, and


s: conversation, and the kindness of his heart. To the poet himself,


s: Commissioners of Excise, and his own eloquent refutation, leaving


s: It has been injuriously said of Burns, by Coleridge, that the man


s: nothing finer than this exquisite stanza:--


s: His thoughts as he lay wandered to Charlotte Hamilton, and he


s: dedicated some beautiful stanzas to her beauty and her coldness,


s: beginning, "Fairest maid on Devon banks."


s: It was a sad sight to see the poet gradually sinking; his wife in


s: thirty-seven years and seven months old.


s: The burial of Burns, on the 25th of July, was an impressive and


s: mournful scene: half the people of Nithsdale and the neighbouring


s: contradicted him. As his first inspiration came from love, he


s: lyrics. In case of interruption he completed the verses at the


s: neighbouring still; "The Twa Dogs," which conversed so wisely and


s: topics, and endowed them with life and beauty.


s: "pulses' maddening play" perform all. His songs are, in general,


s: pastoral pictures: he seldom finishes a portrait of female beauty


s: opinions--vivid pictures of rural happiness and the raptures of


s: feeling, and dashed off in every other paragraph with the easy


s: "Anonymous," but evidently the poet's own composition, was more


s: "The simple Bard, unbroke by rules of art,


s: He pours the wild effusions of the heart:


s: And if inspired, 'tis nature's pow'rs inspire--


s: Hers all the melting thrill, and hers the kindling fire."]


s: following works were composed with a view to the press. To amuse


s: While tumbling brown, the burn comes down,


s: But, waes my heart! he could na mend it!


s: My helpless lambs, I trust them wi' him.


s: Frae dogs, and tods, an' butchers' knives!


s: To sink thro' slaps, an' reave an' steal


s: An' bairns greet for them when they're dead.


s: An', for thy pains, thou'se get my blather."


s: Wi' saut tears trickling down your nose;


s: A friend mair faithfu' ne'er cam nigh him,


s: A bonnier fleesh ne'er cross'd the clips


s: Wi' woo' like goats an' legs like trams;


s: While coofs on countless thousands rant,


s: When banes are craz'd, and bluid is thin,


s: Ev'n then, sometimes we'd snatch a taste


s: Yet nature's charms, the hills and woods,


s: (To say aught less wad wrang the cartes,


s: The life-blood streaming thro' my heart,


s: And then he'll hilch, and stilt, and jimp,


s: I'm three times doubly o'er your debtor,


s: Hale be your heart, hale be your fiddle;


s: Whyles daez't wi' love, whyles daez't wi' drink,


s: Nae thought, nae view, nae scheme o' livin',


s: "O Prince! O Chief of many throned Pow'rs,


s: That led th' embattled Seraphim to war."


s: An', faith! thou's neither lag nor lame,


s: Whyles, on the strong-winged tempest flyin,


s: To say her prayers, douce, honest woman!


s: When wi' an eldritch, stoor quaick--quaick--


s: Thence countra wives, wi' toil an' pain,


s: On young guidmen, fond, keen, an' crouse;


s: An' lows'd his ill tongu'd, wicked scawl,


s: An' now, auld Cloots, I ken ye're thinkin,


s: Tho' thou's howe-backit, now, an' knaggie,


s: I've seen thee dappl't, sleek, and glaizie,


s: He should been tight that daur't to raize thee,


s: How thou wad prance, an' snore, an' skreigh,


s: Might aiblins waur't thee for a brattle;


s: But sax Scotch miles thou try't their mettle,


s: Thou never braindg't, an' fetch't, an' fliskit,


s: An' spread abreed thy weel-fill'd brisket,


s: 'Till spiritty knowes wad rair't and risket,


s: When frosts lay lang, an' snaws were deep,


s: Thou never lap, an' sten't, an' breastit,


s: Then horn for horn they stretch an' strive,


s: 'Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve


s: An' legs, an' arms, an' heads will sned,


s: shudder, I hung my harp on the willow-trees, except in some lucid


s: Why am I loth to leave this earthly scene?


s: How I so found it full of pleasing charms?


s: Some drops of joy with draughts of ill between:


s: Some gleams of sunshine 'mid renewing storms:


s: Or Death's unlovely, dreary, dark abode?


s: For guilt, for guilt, my terrors are in arms;


s: And justly smart beneath his sin-avenging rod.


s: Fain would I say, "Forgive my foul offence!"


s: But, should my Author health again dispense,


s: Then how should I for heavenly mercy pray,


s: Who act so counter heavenly mercy's plan?


s: Who sin so oft have mourn'd, yet to temptation ran?


s: Thy nod can make the tempest cease to blow,


s: With that controlling pow'r assist ev'n me


s: Those headlong furious passions to confine;


s: To rule their torrent in th' allowed line;


s: O, aid me with Thy help, Omnipotence Divine!


s: "Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are


s: That bide the pelting of the pitiless storm!


s: How shall your houseless heads and unfed sides,


s: Your looped and widow'd raggedness defend you


s: homilies on mercy, for it is the voice of Mercy herself. Burns,


s: While burns, wi' snawy wreeths up-choked,


s: Listening, the doors an' winnocks rattle,


s: And through the drift, deep-lairing sprattle


s: Whare wilt thou cower thy chittering wing,


s: The blood-stained roost, and sheep-cote spoiled


s: Still crowding thoughts, a pensive train,


s: "Blow, blow, ye winds, with heavier gust!


s: Than heaven-illumined man on brother man bestows;


s: Sending, like blood-hounds from the slip,


s: Truth, weeping, tells the mournful tale,


s: How pamper'd luxury, flattery by her side,


s: With all the servile wretches in the rear,


s: Looks o'er proud property, extended wide;


s: Placed for her lordly use thus far, thus vile, below.


s: Where, where is love's fond, tender throe,


s: Regardless of the tears and unavailing prayers!


s: Perhaps this hour, in misery's squalid nest,


s: She strains your infant to her joyless breast,


s: And with a mother's fears shrinks at the rocking blast!


s: Feel not a want but what yourselves create,


s: Think, for a moment, on his wretched fate,


s: Ill satisfied keen nature's clamorous call,


s: Stretched on his straw he lays himself to sleep,


s: Chill o'er his slumbers piles the drifty heap!


s: Affliction's sons are brothers in distress,


s: A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss!"


s: Of all the numerous ills that hurt our peace,


s: That press the soul, or wring the mind with anguish,


s: Has this to say, 'It was no deed of mine;'


s: This sting is added--'Blame thy foolish self!'


s: Or worser far, the pangs of keen remorse;


s: The torturing, gnawing consciousness of guilt,--


s: Of guilt, perhaps, where we've involved others;


s: The young, the innocent, who fondly lov'd us,


s: Nay, more, that very love their cause of ruin!


s: O burning hell! in all thy store of torments,


s: Lives there a man so firm, who, while his heart


s: Feels all the bitter horrors of his crime,


s: Can firmly force his jarring thoughts to peace?


s: supposed to exist; and of it a very accurate fac-simile has been


s: First, neist the fire, in auld red rags,


s: I once was a maid, tho' I cannot tell when,


s: And still my delight is in proper young men;


s: Some one of a troop of dragoons was my daddie,


s: The first of my loves was a swaggering blade,


s: To rattle the thundering drum was his trade;


s: His leg was so tight, and his cheek was so ruddy,


s: Transported I was with my sodger laddie.


s: But the godly old chaplain left him in the lurch,


s: The sword I forsook for the sake of the church;


s: He ventur'd the soul, and I risk'd the body,


s: 'Twas then I prov'd false to my sodger laddie.


s: Full soon I grew sick of my sanctified sot,


s: The regiment at large for a husband I got;


s: From the gilded spontoon to the fife I was ready,


s: But the peace it reduc'd me to beg in despair,


s: Till I met my old boy in a Cunningham fair;


s: His rags regimental they flutter'd so gaudy,


s: My heart is rejoic'd at my sodger laddie.


s: And now I have liv'd--I know not how long,


s: And still I can join in a cup or a song;


s: But whilst with both hands I can hold the glass steady,


s: Here's to thee, my hero, my sodger laddie.


s: Then turn'd, an' laid a smack on Grizzie,


s: Wha kent fu' weel to cleek the sterling,


s: They've hang'd my braw John Highlandman.


s: Wha us'd at trysts and fairs to driddle,


s: I've travell'd round all Christian ground


s: But vain they search'd, when off I march'd


s: The caird prevail'd--th' unblushing fair


s: Their tricks and craft have put me daft.


s: But clear your decks, and here's the sex!


s: They toom'd their pocks, an' pawn'd their duds,


s: Tune--"_Jolly Mortals, fill your Glasses._"


s: I stacher'd whyles, but yet took tent ay


s: An' hillocks, stanes, and bushes, kenn'd ay


s: Its stature seem'd lang Scotch ells twa,


s: "Guid-een," quo' I; "Friend, hae ye been mawin,


s: At length, says I, "Friend, where ye gaun,


s: But be na fley'd."--Quoth I, "Guid faith,


s: "Guidman," quo' he, "put up your whittle,


s: Come, gies your hand, an' sae we're gree't;


s: The weans haud out their fingers laughin


s: "See, here's a scythe, and there's a dart,


s: Wi' less, I'm sure, I've hundreds slain;


s: Fient haet o't wad hae pierc'd the heart


s: Although their face he ne'er had kend it,


s: Just sh---- in a kail-blade, and send it,


s: Baith their disease, and what will mend it,


s: "And then a' doctor's saws and whittles,


s: Or mite-horn shavings, filings, scrapings,


s: They'll a' be trench'd wi' mony a sheugh


s: Whase wife's twa nieves were scarce weel bred,


s: Some ill-brewn drink had hov'd her wame;


s: "That's just a swatch o' Hornbook's way;


s: Ye'll see how New-Light herds will whistle


s: The Lord's cause ne'er got sic a twistle


s: What flock wi' Moodie's flock could rank,


s: Frae Calvin's well, ay clear they drank,--


s: His voice was heard thro' muir and dale,


s: While New-Light herds, wi' laughin' spite,


s: There's Duncan, deep, and Peebles, shaul,


s: That thou wilt work them, hot and cauld,


s: Wi' Smith, wha thro' the heart can glance,


s: Lest he owre high and proud should turn,


s: He drinks, and swears, and plays at carts,


s: Frae God's ain priests the people's hearts


s: Thy strong right hand, Lord, mak it bare


s: To think how we stood groanin', shakin',


s: While Auld wi' hingin lips gaed sneakin'


s: Till, faith, wee Davock's turn'd sae gleg,


s: An' then, if kirk folks dinna clutch me,


s: B' the L--d! ye'se get them a'thegither.


s: Thro' dirt and dub for life I'll paidle,


s: _Subscripsi huic_                 ROBERT BURNS.


s: There, swankies young, in braw braid-claith,


s: Wi' sweet-milk cheese, in monie a whang,


s: Some carrying dails, some chairs an' stools,


s: There, racer Jess, and twa-three wh-res,


s: Which, by degrees, slips round her neck,


s: His lengthen'd chin, his turn'd-up snout,


s: But hark! the tent has chang'd its voice:


s: Now but an' ben, the Change-house fills,


s: While thick an' thrang, an' loud an' lang,


s: On this ane's dress, an' that ane's leuk,


s: His piercing words, like Highlan' swords,


s: How drink gaed round, in cogs an' caups,


s: An' cheese an' bread, frae women's laps,


s: Their hearts o' stane, gin night, are gane,


s: "For sense they little owe to frugal heav'n--


s: To please the mob they hide the little giv'n."


s: Nae mair thou'lt rowte out-owre the dale,


s: Come, screw the pegs, wi' tunefu' cheep,


s: Hark, how the nine-tail'd cat she plays!


s: There, Learning, with his Greekish face,


s: On his text, MALACHI, iv. 2--"And ye shall go forth, and grow


s: Right, Sir! your text I'll prove it true,


s: For instance; there's yoursel' just now,


s: "Friendship! mysterious cement of the soul!


s: Sweet'ner of life and solder of society!


s: generally very successful in life: Smith left Mauchline, and


s: Some rhyme (vain thought!) for needfu' cash:


s: Hae thought they had ensur'd their debtors,


s: Till fate shall snap the brittle thread;


s: For, ance that five-an'-forty's speel'd,


s: Comes hostin', hirplin', owre the field,


s: When ance life's day draws near the gloamin',


s: Like school-boys, at th' expected warning,


s: Thro' fair, thro' foul, they urge the race,


s: Poor wights! nae rules nor roads observin';


s: 'Till curst with age, obscure an' starvin',


s: But truce with peevish, poor complaining!


s: And kneel, "Ye Pow'rs," and warm implore,


s: Gie fine braw claes to fine life-guards,


s: indeed that she got more cloth than she could well carry.]


s: While here, half-mad, half-fed, half-sarkit,


s: That I, henceforth, would be rhyme-proof


s: When, click! the string the snick did draw:


s: The infant aith, half-form'd, was crusht;


s: When sweet, like modest worth, she blusht,


s: Were twisted, gracefu', round her brows,


s: Sae straught, sae taper, tight, and clean,


s: Deep lights and shades, bold-mingling, threw


s: There, mountains to the skies were tost:


s: Here, tumbling billows mark'd the coast,


s: Here, Doon pour'd down his far-fetch'd floods;


s: Some seem'd to muse, some seem'd to dare,


s: (Fit haunts for friendship or for love,)


s: The threat'ning storm some, strongly, rein;


s: Where once the Campbells, chiefs of fame,


s: Called forth the reaper's rustling noise,


s: "When youthful love, warm-blushing, strong,


s: "Yes! let the rich deride, the proud disdain,


s: The simple pleasures of the lowly train;


s: One native charm, than all the gloss of art."


s: regarding this," says James Hogg, "as rather a trivial poem!"]


s: Where Bruce ance rul'd the martial ranks,


s: To burn their nits, an' pou their stocks,


s: Then, first and foremost, thro' the kail,


s: They steek their een, an' graip an' wale,


s: Then, straught or crooked, yird or nane,


s: She lea'es them gashin' at their cracks,


s: It chanc'd the stack he faddom't thrice,


s: Whare three lairds' lands met at a burn,


s: according as they burn quietly together, or start from beside one


s: "Young stranger, whither wand'rest thou?"


s: "Does thirst of wealth thy step constrain,


s: Then age and want--oh! ill-match'd pair!--


s: "O Death! the poor man's dearest friend--


s: Fie! bring Black Jock, her state physician,


s: Not a' the quacks, wi' a' their gumption,


s: Her feeble pulse gies strong presumption


s: While briers an' woodbines budding green,


s: To ca' the crack and weave our stockin',


s: It thirl'd the heart-strings thro' the breast,


s: I've scarce heard aught describ'd sae weel,


s: Tho' I should pawn my pleugh and graith,


s: Confuse their brains in college classes!


s: There's ae wee faut they whiles lay to me,


s: The four-gill chap, we'se gar him clatter,


s: Syne we'll sit down an' tak our whitter,


s: Wha think that havins, sense, an' grace,


s: Ev'n love an' friendship, should give place


s: Whose hearts the tide of kindness warms,


s: distress that song which moved the heart of Burns, beginning


s: That trouth, my head is grown right dizzie,


s: "Shall bauld Lapraik, the king o' hearts,


s: Or some hotch-potch that's rightly neither,


s: My worthy friend, ne'er grudge an' carp,


s: But, thanks to Heav'n, that's no the gate


s: Tho' here they scrape, an' squeeze, an' growl,


s: And sing their pleasures, hopes, an' joys,


s: Guid health, hale han's, an' weather bonny;


s: For your braw, nameless, dateless letter,


s: While deil a hair yoursel' ye're better,


s: Then han' in nieve some day we'll knot it,


s: Shall make us baith sae blythe an' witty,


s: Tho' in sic phraisin' terms ye've penn'd it,


s: We'll sing auld Coila's plains an' fells,


s: Her banks an' braes, her dens an' dells,


s: Hog-shouther, jundie, stretch an' strive,


s: While moorlan' herds like guid fat braxies;


s: Count on a friend, in faith an' practice,


s: They took nae pains their speech to balance,


s: But spak their thoughts in plain, braid Lallans,


s: In thae auld times, they thought the moon,


s: It ne'er cam i' their heads to doubt it,


s: The rev'rend gray-beards rav'd and storm'd


s: Frae words an' aiths to clours an' nicks,


s: An' some, to learn them for their tricks,


s: That, faith, the youngsters took the sands


s: 'Till lairds forbade, by strict commands,


s: Folk thought them ruin'd stick-an'-stowe,


s: Nae doubt the Auld Light flocks are bleatin';


s: Their zealous herds are vex'd an' sweatin':


s: An' when the auld moon's gaun to lea'e them,


s: The hindmost shaird, they'll fetch it wi' them,


s: An' when the New Light billies see them,


s: Thou's welcome, wean, mischanter fa' me,


s: An auld wife's tongue's a feckless matter


s: Thro' a' thy childish years I'll e'e thee,


s: 'Twill please me mair to hear an' see it


s: "Great nature spoke, observant man obey'd."


s: Propitious Powers screen'd the young flowers,


s: On gown, an' ban', and douse black bonnet,


s: Their sighin' cantin' grace-proud faces,


s: Their three-mile prayers, and hauf-mile graces,


s: Whase greed, revenge, an' pride disgraces,


s: There's Gaun, miska't waur than a beast,


s: God knows, I'm no the thing I shou'd be,


s: An' hunt him down, o'er right, an' ruth,


s: Tho' blotch'd an' foul wi' mony a stain,


s: An' some, by whom your doctrine's blam'd,


s: Even Sir, by them your heart's esteem'd,


s: Wee, sleekit, cow'rin', tim'rous beastie,


s: I doubt na, whyles, but thou may thieve;


s: What then? poor beastie, thou maun live!


s: Thou saw the fields laid bare an' waste,


s: That wee bit heap o' leaves an' stibble,


s: Now thou's turn'd out, for a' thy trouble,


s: 'Bout vines, an' wines, an' dru'ken Bacchus,


s: I sing the juice Scotch bear can mak us,


s: O, thou, my Muse! guid auld Scotch drink;


s: But when thou pours thy strong heart's blood,


s: Food fills the wame an' keeps us livin';


s: When heavy dragg'd wi' pine an' grievin';


s: The wheels o' life gae down-hill, scrievin,'


s: But thee, what were our fairs an' rants?


s: How fumblin' cuifs their dearies slight;


s: Haud up thy han', Deil! ance, twice, thrice!


s: 'Dearest of distillation! last and best!----


s: "Thee, sodger Hugh, my watchman stented,


s: Your honours' hearts wi' grief 'twad pierce,


s: E'er sin' they laid that curst restriction


s: Stand forth, an' tell yon Premier youth,


s: Ne'er claw your lug, an' fidge your back,


s: Paint Scotland greetin' owre her thrizzle,


s: A blackguard smuggler, right behint her,


s: There's some sark-necks I wad draw tight,


s: Dempster, a true blue Scot I'se warran';


s: An' ane, a chap that's damn'd auldfarren,


s: Or faith! I'll wad my new pleugh-pettle,


s: She'll teach you, wi' a reekin' whittle,


s: For God sake, sirs, then speak her fair,


s: An' drink his health in auld Nanse Tinnock's


s: If he some scheme, like tea an' winnocks,


s: I'll pledge my aith in guid braid Scotch,


s: May still your mither's heart support ye,


s: Ye'll snap your fingers, poor an' hearty,


s: See future wines, rich clust'ring, rise;


s: While fragrance blooms and beauty charms!


s: When wretches range, in famish'd swarms,


s: Their bauldest thought's a' hank'ring swither


s: Till skelp--a shot--they're aff, a' throther


s: Nae could faint-hearted doubtings tease him;


s: Death comes, wi' fearless eye he sees him;


s: His latest draught o' breathin' lea'es him


s: I, for their thoughtless, careless sakes,


s: Their donsie tricks, their black mistakes,


s: 'Till, quite transmugrify'd, they're grown


s: "An honest man's the noblest work of God."


s: 'In vain the burns cam' down like waters,


s: An' cleed her bairns, man, wife, an wean,


s: While by their nose the tears will revel,


s: Since dark in death's fish-creel we wail


s: In vain the burns cam' down like waters,


s: Now ev'ry auld wife, greetin', clatters,


s: "L--d, five!" he cry'd, an' owre did stagger;


s: Whare Burns has wrote in rhyming blether


s: Thro' a' the streets an' neuks o' Killie,


s: For yet, unskaith'd by death's gleg gullie,


s: "Alas! how oft does goodness wound itself!


s: And sweet affection prove the spring of woe."


s: Then, who her pangs and pains will soothe,


s: The morn that warns th' approaching day,


s: O! thou bright queen, who o'er th' expanse


s: Now highest reign'st, with boundless sway!


s: Oppress'd with grief, oppress'd with care,


s: But, ah! those pleasures, loves, and joys,


s: When dancing thoughtless pleasure's maze,


s: "Let not ambition mock their useful toil,


s: Nor grandeur hear, with a disdainful smile,


s: The short and simple annals of the poor."


s: Motherwell tries to qualify the censure of his brother editor, by


s: picture of domestic happiness and devotion.]


s: My lov'd, my honour'd, much respected friend!


s: With honest pride, I scorn each selfish end:


s: My dearest meed, a friend's esteem and praise:


s: The lowly train in life's sequester'd scene;


s: The native feelings strong, the guileless ways;


s: What Aiken in a cottage would have been;


s: Ah! tho' his work unknown, far happier there, I ween!


s: November chill blaws loud wi' angry sugh;


s: The short'ning winter-day is near a close;


s: The miry beasts retreating frae the pleugh:


s: The black'ning trains o' craws to their repose:


s: The toil-worn Cotter frae his labour goes,


s: This night his weekly moil is at an end,


s: Hoping the morn in ease and rest to spend,


s: And weary, o'er the moor, his course does homeward bend.


s: At length his lonely cot appears in view,


s: Th' expectant wee-things, toddlin', stacher thro'


s: To meet their Dad, wi' flichterin' noise an' glee.


s: His clean hearth-stane, his thriftie Wifie's smile,


s: The lisping infant prattling on his knee,


s: Does a' his weary kiaugh and care beguile,


s: An' makes him quite forget his labour and his toil.


s: Belyve, the elder bairns come drapping in,


s: Some ca' the pleugh, some herd, some tentie rin


s: Their eldest hope, their Jenny, woman grown,


s: In youthfu' bloom, love sparkling in her e'e,


s: Comes hame, perhaps to shew a braw new gown,


s: To help her parents dear, if they in hardship be.


s: With joy unfeign'd, brothers and sisters meet,


s: An' each for other's welfare kindly spiers:


s: The social hours, swift-wing'd, unnotic'd, fleet;


s: Each tells the unco's that he sees or hears;


s: The parents, partial, eye their hopeful years;


s: The Mother, wi' her needle an' her shears,


s: Gars auld claes look amaist as weel's the new;


s: Their master's an' their mistress's command,


s: And mind their labours wi' an eydent hand,


s: An' ne'er, tho' out of sight, to jauk or play:


s: And mind your duty, duly, morn and night!


s: Lest in temptation's path ye gang astray,


s: Implore His counsel and assisting might:


s: They never sought in vain, that sought the Lord aright!"


s: But, hark! a rap comes gently to the door;


s: Jenny, wha kens the meaning o' the same,


s: Tells how a neebor lad cam o'er the moor,


s: To do some errands, and convoy her hame.


s: The wily Mother sees the conscious flame


s: Sparkle in Jenny's e'e, and flush her cheek,


s: With heart-struck anxious care, inquires his name,


s: While Jenny hafflins is afraid to speak;


s: Weel pleas'd the Mother hears it's nae wild, worthless rake.


s: Wi' kindly welcome, Jenny brings him ben;


s: A strappan youth; he taks the Mother's eye;


s: Blythe Jenny sees the visit's no ill ta'en;


s: The Father cracks of horses, pleughs, and kye.


s: The youngster's artless heart o'erflows wi' joy,


s: But blate, an laithfu', scarce can weel behave;


s: The Mother, wi' a woman's wiles, can spy


s: What makes the youth sae bashfu' and sae grave;


s: Weel pleas'd to think her bairn's respected like the lave.


s: O happy love! Where love like this is found!


s: O heart-felt raptures!--bliss beyond compare!


s: I've paced much this weary, mortal round,


s: And sage experience bids me this declare--


s: "If heaven a draught of heavenly pleasure spare,


s: 'Tis when a youthful, loving, modest pair,


s: In other's arms, breathe out the tender tale,


s: Beneath the milk-white thorn that scents the ev'ning gale."


s: Is there, in human form, that bears a heart--


s: A wretch! a villain! lost to love and truth!


s: That can, with studied, sly, ensnaring art,


s: Betray sweet Jenny's unsuspecting youth?


s: Curse on his perjur'd arts! dissembling smooth!


s: Are honour, virtue, conscience, all exil'd?


s: Points to the parents fondling o'er their child?


s: Then paints the ruin'd maid, and their distraction wild?


s: But now the supper crowns their simple board,


s: The halesome parritch, chief of Scotia's food:


s: The soupe their only hawkie does afford,


s: That 'yont the hallan snugly chows her cood:


s: The dame brings forth in complimental mood,


s: To grace the lad, her weel-hain'd kebbuck, fell,


s: An' aft he's prest, an' aft he ca's it guid;


s: How 'twas a towmond auld, sin' lint was i' the bell.


s: The cheerfu' supper done, wi' serious face,


s: They, round the ingle, form a circle wide;


s: The Sire turns o'er, with patriarchal grace,


s: The big ha'-Bible, ance his father's pride;


s: His lyart haffets wearing thin an' bare;


s: Those strains that once did sweet in Zion glide,


s: And 'Let us worship GOD!' he says, with solemn air.


s: They chant their artless notes in simple guise;


s: They tune their hearts, by far the noblest aim:


s: Perhaps Dundee's wild-warbling measures rise,


s: Or plaintive Martyrs, worthy of the name;


s: Or noble Elgin beets the heaven-ward flame,


s: Compar'd with these, Italian trills are tame;


s: The tickl'd ear no heart-felt raptures raise;


s: Nae unison hae they with our Creator's praise.


s: The priest-like Father reads the sacred page,


s: How Abram was the friend of God on high;


s: Beneath the stroke of Heaven's avenging ire;


s: Or Job's pathetic plaint, and wailing cry;


s: Or other holy seers that tune the sacred lyre.


s: Perhaps the Christian volume is the theme,


s: How guiltless blood for guilty man was shed;


s: How HE, who bore in Heaven the second name,


s: Had not on earth whereon to lay his head:


s: How His first followers and servants sped,


s: The precepts sage they wrote to many a land:


s: And heard great Bab'lon's doom pronounc'd by Heaven's command.


s: Then kneeling down, to HEAVEN'S ETERNAL KING,


s: The Saint, the Father, and the Husband prays:


s: Hope 'springs exulting on triumphant wing,'