s: Observing still the motions of their flight,


s: What course they took, what happy signs they shew.


s: They fed, and, flutt'ring, by degrees withdrew


s: Still farther from the place, but still in view:


s: Hopping and flying, thus they led him on


s: To the slow lake, whose baleful stench to shun


s: They wing'd their flight aloft; then, stooping low,


s: Perch'd on the double tree that bears the golden bough.


s: Thro' the green leafs the glitt'ring shadows glow;


s: As, on the sacred oak, the wintry mistletoe,


s: Where the proud mother views her precious brood,


s: And happier branches, which she never sow'd.


s: Such was the glitt'ring; such the ruddy rind,


s: And dancing leaves, that wanton'd in the wind.


s: He seiz'd the shining bough with griping hold,


s: And rent away, with ease, the ling'ring gold;


s: Then to the Sibyl's palace bore the prize.


s: Meantime the Trojan troops, with weeping eyes,


s: First, from the ground a lofty pile they rear,


s: Of pitch trees, oaks, and pines, and unctuous fir:


s: The fabric's front with cypress twigs they strew,


s: And stick the sides with boughs of baleful yew.


s: The topmost part his glitt'ring arms adorn;


s: Warm waters, then, in brazen caldrons borne,


s: Are pour'd to wash his body, joint by joint,


s: And fragrant oils the stiffen'd limbs anoint.


s: With groans and cries Misenus they deplore:


s: Then on a bier, with purple cover'd o'er,


s: The breathless body, thus bewail'd, they lay,


s: And fire the pile, their faces turn'd away-


s: Such reverend rites their fathers us'd to pay.


s: Pure oil and incense on the fire they throw,


s: And fat of victims, which his friends bestow.


s: These gifts the greedy flames to dust devour;


s: Then on the living coals red wine they pour;


s: And, last, the relics by themselves dispose,


s: Which in a brazen urn the priests inclose.


s: Old Corynaeus compass'd thrice the crew,


s: Which thrice he sprinkled round, and thrice aloud


s: Invok'd the dead, and then dismissed the crowd.


s: A stately tomb, whose top a trumpet bore,


s: A soldier's fauchion, and a seaman's oar.


s: Thus was his friend interr'd; and deathless fame


s: Still to the lofty cape consigns his name.


s: These rites perform'd, the prince, without delay,


s: Hastes to the nether world his destin'd way.


s: Deep was the cave; and, downward as it went


s: From the wide mouth, a rocky rough descent;


s: And here th' access a gloomy grove defends,


s: O'er whose unhappy waters, void of light,


s: No bird presumes to steer his airy flight;


s: Such deadly stenches from the depths arise,


s: And steaming sulphur, that infects the skies.


s: From hence the Grecian bards their legends make,


s: Four sable bullocks, in the yoke untaught,


s: The priestess pours the wine betwixt their horns;


s: Then cuts the curling hair; that first oblation burns,


s: The sacred priests with ready knives bereave


s: The beasts of life, and in full bowls receive


s: The streaming blood: a lamb to Hell and Night


s: (The sable wool without a streak of white)


s: Sev'n brawny bulls with his own hand he kills;


s: Then on the broiling entrails oil he pours;


s: Which, ointed thus, the raging flame devours.


s: Then earth began to bellow, trees to dance,


s: And howling dogs in glimm'ring light advance,


s: Ere Hecate came. "Far hence be souls profane!"


s: The Sibyl cried, "and from the grove abstain!


s: Now, Trojan, take the way thy fates afford;


s: Assume thy courage, and unsheathe thy sword."


s: She said, and pass'd along the gloomy space;


s: The prince pursued her steps with equal pace.


s: Ye realms, yet unreveal'd to human sight,


s: Ye gods who rule the regions of the night,


s: The mystic wonders of your silent state!


s: Obscure they went thro' dreary shades, that led


s: Thus wander travelers in woods by night,


s: By the moon's doubtful and malignant light,


s: When Jove in dusky clouds involves the skies,


s: And the faint crescent shoots by fits before their eyes.


s: Just in the gate and in the jaws of hell,


s: Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell,


s: Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted rage;


s: Here Toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother, Sleep,


s: Forms terrible to view, their sentry keep;


s: With anxious Pleasures of a guilty mind,


s: Deep Frauds before, and open Force behind;


s: The Furies' iron beds; and Strife, that shakes


s: Her hissing tresses and unfolds her snakes.


s: Full in the midst of this infernal road,


s: The God of Sleep there hides his heavy head,


s: And empty dreams on ev'ry leaf are spread.


s: Of various forms unnumber'd specters more,


s: Centaurs, and double shapes, besiege the door.


s: Before the passage, horrid Hydra stands,


s: And Briareus with all his hundred hands;


s: The chief unsheath'd his shining steel, prepar'd,


s: Tho' seiz'd with sudden fear, to force the guard,


s: Off'ring his brandish'd weapon at their face;


s: Had not the Sibyl stopp'd his eager pace,


s: And told him what those empty phantoms were:


s: Forms without bodies, and impassive air.


s: Hence to deep Acheron they take their way,


s: Whose troubled eddies, thick with ooze and clay,


s: There Charon stands, who rules the dreary coast-


s: A length of beard descends, uncomb'd, unclean;


s: A girdle, foul with grease, binds his obscene attire.


s: He spreads his canvas; with his pole he steers;


s: The freights of flitting ghosts in his thin bottom bears.


s: He look'd in years; yet in his years were seen


s: An airy crowd came rushing where he stood,


s: Which fill'd the margin of the fatal flood:


s: Husbands and wives, boys and unmarried maids,


s: And mighty heroes' more majestic shades,


s: And youths, intomb'd before their fathers' eyes,


s: With hollow groans, and shrieks, and feeble cries.


s: Thick as the leaves in autumn strow the woods,


s: Or fowls, by winter forc'd, forsake the floods,


s: And wing their hasty flight to happier lands;


s: Such, and so thick, the shiv'ring army stands,


s: And press for passage with extended hands.


s: Now these, now those, the surly boatman bore:


s: The rest he drove to distance from the shore.


s: The hero, who beheld with wond'ring eyes


s: The tumult mix'd with shrieks, laments, and cries,


s: Ask'd of his guide, what the rude concourse meant;


s: Why to the shore the thronging people bent;


s: What forms of law among the ghosts were us'd;


s: Why some were ferried o'er, and some refus'd.


s: "Son of Anchises, offspring of the gods,"


s: The Sibyl said, "you see the Stygian floods,


s: The sacred stream which heav'n's imperial state


s: The ghosts rejected are th' unhappy crew


s: The boatman, Charon; those, the buried host,


s: Nor dares his transport vessel cross the waves


s: With such whose bones are not compos'd in graves.


s: A hundred years they wander on the shore;


s: At length, their penance done, are wafted o'er."


s: The Trojan chief his forward pace repress'd,


s: Revolving anxious thoughts within his breast,


s: He saw his friends, who, whelm'd beneath the waves,


s: Their fun'ral honors claim'd, and ask'd their quiet graves.


s: The lost Leucaspis in the crowd he knew,


s: And the brave leader of the Lycian crew,


s: Whom, on the Tyrrhene seas, the tempests met;


s: The sailors master'd, and the ship o'erset.


s: Yet fresh from life, a new-admitted guest,


s: Who, while he steering view'd the stars, and bore


s: His course from Afric to the Latian shore,


s: Fell headlong down. The Trojan fix'd his view,


s: And scarcely thro' the gloom the sullen shadow knew.


s: Then thus the prince: "What envious pow'r, O friend,


s: Brought your lov'd life to this disastrous end?


s: Has in your fate alone my faith betray'd.


s: The god foretold you should not die, before


s: You reach'd, secure from seas, th' Italian shore.


s: Is this th' unerring pow'r?" The ghost replied;


s: "Nor Phoebus flatter'd, nor his answers lied;


s: Nor envious gods have sent me to the deep:


s: But, while the stars and course of heav'n I keep,


s: My wearied eyes were seiz'd with fatal sleep.


s: I fell; and, with my weight, the helm constrain'd


s: Was drawn along, which yet my gripe retain'd.


s: Now by the winds and raging waves I swear,


s: Your safety, more than mine, was then my care;


s: Lest, of the guide bereft, the rudder lost,


s: Your ship should run against the rocky coast.


s: Three blust'ring nights, borne by the southern blast,


s: Forcing my strength, and gath'ring to the shore.


s: Panting, but past the danger, now I seiz'd


s: The craggy cliffs, and my tir'd members eas'd.


s: While, cumber'd with my dropping clothes, I lay,


s: Stain'd with my blood th' unhospitable coast;


s: And now, by winds and waves, my lifeless limbs are toss'd:


s: Which I have lost for this eternal night!


s: By your dead sire, and by your living son,


s: Redeem from this reproach my wand'ring ghost;


s: And in a peaceful grave my corpse compose;


s: Without whose aid you durst not undertake


s: This frightful passage o'er the Stygian lake,


s: Lend to this wretch your hand, and waft him o'er


s: To the sweet banks of yon forbidden shore."


s: Scarce had he said, the prophetess began:


s: Think'st thou, thus unintomb'd, to cross the floods,


s: And visit, without leave, the dark abodes?


s: Attend the term of long revolving years;


s: Fate, and the dooming gods, are deaf to tears.


s: This comfort of thy dire misfortune take:


s: The wrath of Heav'n, inflicted for thy sake,


s: With vengeance shall pursue th' inhuman coast,


s: Till they propitiate thy offended ghost,


s: And raise a tomb, with vows and solemn pray'r;


s: And Palinurus' name the place shall bear."


s: This calm'd his cares; sooth'd with his future fame,


s: And pleas'd to hear his propagated name.


s: Now nearer to the Stygian lake they draw:


s: Whom, from the shore, the surly boatman saw;


s: Observ'd their passage thro' the shady wood,


s: And mark'd their near approaches to the flood.


s: Then thus he call'd aloud, inflam'd with wrath:


s: "Mortal, whate'er, who this forbidden path


s: In arms presum'st to tread, I charge thee, stand,


s: And tell thy name, and bus'ness in the land.


s: Know this, the realm of night- the Stygian shore:


s: Nor was I pleas'd great Theseus once to bear,


s: Who forc'd a passage with his pointed spear,


s: And from th' immortal gods their lineage came.


s: And took him trembling from his sov'reign's side:


s: Two sought by force to seize his beauteous bride."


s: To whom the Sibyl thus: "Compose thy mind;


s: Nor frauds are here contriv'd, nor force design'd.


s: Still may the dog the wand'ring troops constrain


s: Of airy ghosts, and vex the guilty train,


s: And with her grisly lord his lovely queen remain.


s: The Trojan chief, whose lineage is from Jove,


s: Much fam'd for arms, and more for filial love,


s: Is sent to seek his sire in your Elysian grove.


s: Can gain his passage to the Stygian strand,


s: This fatal present shall prevail at least."


s: Then shew'd the shining bough, conceal'd within her vest.


s: Stood mute with awe, to see the golden rod;


s: Admir'd the destin'd off'ring to his queen-


s: His fury thus appeas'd, he puts to land;


s: The ghosts forsake their seats at his command:


s: He clears the deck, receives the mighty freight;


s: The leaky vessel groans beneath the weight.


s: Slowly she sails, and scarcely stems the tides;


s: The pressing water pours within her sides.


s: His passengers at length are wafted o'er,


s: Expos'd, in muddy weeds, upon the miry shore.


s: His crested snakes, and arm'd his bristling hair.


s: A sop, in honey steep'd, to charm the guard;


s: Which, mix'd with pow'rful drugs, she cast before


s: His greedy grinning jaws, just op'd to roar.


s: With three enormous mouths he gapes; and straight,


s: With hunger press'd, devours the pleasing bait.


s: Long draughts of sleep his monstrous limbs enslave;


s: He reels, and, falling, fills the spacious cave.


s: The keeper charm'd, the chief without delay


s: Before the gates, the cries of babes new born,


s: Whom fate had from their tender mothers torn,


s: Assault his ears: then those, whom form of laws


s: Condemn'd to die, when traitors judg'd their cause.


s: Nor want they lots, nor judges to review


s: And lives and crimes, with his assessors, hears.


s: Round in his urn the blended balls he rolls,


s: Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls.


s: The next, in place and punishment, are they


s: Fools, who, repining at their wretched state,


s: And loathing anxious life, suborn'd their fate.


s: With late repentance now they would retrieve


s: The bodies they forsook, and wish to live;


s: To view the light of heav'n, and breathe the vital air:


s: But fate forbids; the Stygian floods oppose,


s: And with circling streams the captive souls inclose.


s: Not far from thence, the Mournful Fields appear


s: So call'd from lovers that inhabit there.


s: The souls whom that unhappy flame invades,


s: Make endless moans, and, pining with desire,


s: Lament too late their unextinguish'd fire.


s: Baring her breast, yet bleeding with the wound


s: With Phaedra's ghost, a foul incestuous pair.


s: Not far from these Phoenician Dido stood,


s: Fresh from her wound, her bosom bath'd in blood;


s: Obscure in shades, and with a doubtful view,


s: (Doubtful as he who sees, thro' dusky night,


s: Or thinks he sees, the moon's uncertain light,)


s: With tears he first approach'd the sullen shade;


s: And, as his love inspir'd him, thus he said:


s: "Unhappy queen! then is the common breath


s: And I, alas! the cause? By Heav'n, I vow,


s: And all the pow'rs that rule the realms below,


s: Unwilling I forsook your friendly state,


s: Commanded by the gods, and forc'd by fate-


s: Those gods, that fate, whose unresisted might


s: Have sent me to these regions void of light,


s: Nor dar'd I to presume, that, press'd with grief,


s: My flight should urge you to this dire relief.


s: Stay, stay your steps, and listen to my vows:


s: 'T is the last interview that fate allows!"


s: In vain he thus attempts her mind to move


s: With tears, and pray'rs, and late-repenting love.


s: Disdainfully she look'd; then turning round,


s: But fix'd her eyes unmov'd upon the ground,


s: And what he says and swears, regards no more


s: Than the deaf rocks, when the loud billows roar;


s: But whirl'd away, to shun his hateful sight,


s: Hid in the forest and the shades of night;


s: Then sought Sichaeus thro' the shady grove,


s: Who answer'd all her cares, and equal'd all her love.


s: And follow'd with his eyes the flitting shade,


s: Then took the forward way, by fate ordain'd,


s: And, with his guide, the farther fields attain'd,


s: Where, sever'd from the rest, the warrior souls remain'd.


s: The pride of armies, and the soldiers' grace;


s: And pale Adrastus with his ghastly face.


s: Of Trojan chiefs he view'd a num'rous train,


s: Antenor's sons, and Ceres' sacred priest.


s: Who shakes his empty reins, and aims his airy spear.


s: The gladsome ghosts, in circling troops, attend


s: And with unwearied eyes behold their friend;


s: What bus'ness brought him to the realms below.


s: But Argive chiefs, and Agamemnon's train,


s: When his refulgent arms flash'd thro' the shady plain,


s: Fled from his well-known face, with wonted fear,


s: As when his thund'ring sword and pointed spear


s: Drove headlong to their ships, and glean'd the routed rear.


s: They rais'd a feeble cry, with trembling notes;


s: But the weak voice deceiv'd their gasping throats.


s: Whose face and limbs were one continued wound:


s: Dishonest, with lopp'd arms, the youth appears,


s: Spoil'd of his nose, and shorten'd of his ears.


s: He scarcely knew him, striving to disown


s: His blotted form, and blushing to be known;


s: And therefore first began: "O Tsucer's race,


s: Who durst thy faultless figure thus deface?


s: What heart could wish, what hand inflict, this dire disgrace?


s: 'Twas fam'd, that in our last and fatal night


s: Your single prowess long sustain'd the fight,


s: Till tir'd, not forc'd, a glorious fate you chose,


s: And fell upon a heap of slaughter'd foes.


s: Thrice call'd your manes on the Trojan plains:


s: The place your armor and your name retains.


s: Your body too I sought, and, had I found,


s: Design'd for burial in your native ground."


s: All needful rites, to rest my wand'ring shade;


s: To Grecian swords betray'd my sleeping life.


s: These are the monuments of Helen's love:


s: The shame I bear below, the marks I bore above.


s: You know in what deluding joys we pass'd


s: The night that was by Heav'n decreed our last:


s: For, when the fatal horse, descending down,


s: Pregnant with arms, o'erwhelm'd th' unhappy town


s: She feign'd nocturnal orgies; left my bed,


s: And, mix'd with Trojan dames, the dances led


s: Then, waving high her torch, the signal made,


s: Which rous'd the Grecians from their ambuscade.


s: With watching overworn, with cares oppress'd,


s: And heavy sleep my weary limbs possess'd.


s: Meantime my worthy wife our arms mislaid,


s: And from beneath my head my sword convey'd;


s: The door unlatch'd, and, with repeated calls,


s: Invites her former lord within my walls.


s: Thus in her crime her confidence she plac'd,


s: And with new treasons would redeem the past.


s: What need I more? Into the room they ran,


s: Ulysses, basely born, first led the way.


s: Avenging pow'rs! with justice if I pray,


s: But answer you; and in your turn relate,


s: What brought you, living, to the Stygian state:


s: Driv'n by the winds and errors of the sea,


s: Or tell what other chance conducts your way,


s: To view with mortal eyes our dark retreats,


s: Tumults and torments of th' infernal seats."


s: While thus in talk the flying hours they pass,


s: The sun had finish'd more than half his race:


s: And they, perhaps, in words and tears had spent


s: The little time of stay which Heav'n had lent;


s: But thus the Sibyl chides their long delay:


s: "Night rushes down, and headlong drives the day:


s: 'T is here, in different paths, the way divides;


s: The right to Pluto's golden palace guides;


s: Which to the depth of Tartarus descends;


s: The seat of night profound, and punish'd fiends."


s: Forbear to chide, and be your will obey'd!


s: Proceed, auspicious prince, with glory crown'd,


s: And born to better fates than I have found."


s: He said; and, while he said, his steps he turn'd


s: To secret shadows, and in silence mourn'd.


s: With treble walls, which Phlegethon surrounds,


s: Whose fiery flood the burning empire bounds;


s: And, press'd betwixt the rocks, the bellowing noise resounds


s: Wide is the fronting gate, and, rais'd on high


s: With adamantine columns, threats the sky.


s: Vain is the force of man, and Heav'n's as vain,


s: To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.


s: Sublime on these a tow'r of steel is rear'd;


s: And dire Tisiphone there keeps the ward,


s: Girt in her sanguine gown, by night and day,


s: Observant of the souls that pass the downward way.


s: From hence are heard the groans of ghosts, the pains


s: Of sounding lashes and of dragging chains.


s: The Trojan stood astonish'd at their cries,


s: And ask'd his guide from whence those yells arise;


s: And what the crimes, and what the tortures were,


s: And loud laments that rent the liquid air.


s: She thus replied: "The chaste and holy race


s: But Hecate, when she gave to rule the woods,


s: Then led me trembling thro' these dire abodes,


s: And taught the tortures of th' avenging gods.


s: These are the realms of unrelenting fate;


s: He hears and judges each committed crime;


s: Enquires into the manner, place, and time.


s: The conscious wretch must all his acts reveal,


s: From the first moment of his vital breath,


s: Straight, o'er the guilty ghost, the Fury shakes


s: The sounding whip and brandishes her snakes,


s: And the pale sinner, with her sisters, takes.


s: Then, of itself, unfolds th' eternal door;


s: With dreadful sounds the brazen hinges roar.


s: You see, before the gate, what stalking ghost


s: Commands the guard, what sentries keep the post.


s: Whose jaws with iron teeth severely grin.


s: And twice as deep as earth is distant from the skies.


s: Here, sing'd with lightning, roll within th' unfathom'd space.


s: Here lie th' Alaean twins, (I saw them both,)


s: Who dar'd in fight the Thund'rer to defy,


s: Affect his heav'n, and force him from the sky.


s: Salmoneus, suff'ring cruel pains, I found,


s: Of mimic thunder, and the glitt'ring blaze


s: Of pointed lightnings, and their forky rays.


s: Thro' Elis and the Grecian towns he flew;


s: Th' audacious wretch four fiery coursers drew:


s: He wav'd a torch aloft, and, madly vain,


s: Sought godlike worship from a servile train.


s: Ambitious fool! with horny hoofs to pass


s: But he, the King of Heav'n, obscure on high,


s: Bar'd his red arm, and, launching from the sky


s: His writhen bolt, not shaking empty smoke,


s: Down to the deep abyss the flaming felon strook.


s: There Tityus was to see, who took his birth


s: From heav'n, his nursing from the foodful earth.


s: Here his gigantic limbs, with large embrace,


s: Her crooked beak and cruel talons tried;


s: Still for the growing liver digg'd his breast;


s: The growing liver still supplied the feast;


s: Still are his entrails fruitful to their pains:


s: Th' immortal hunger lasts, th' immortal food remains.


s: And more Thessalian chiefs of mighty fame.


s: High o'er their heads a mold'ring rock is plac'd,


s: That promises a fall, and shakes at ev'ry blast.


s: They lie below, on golden beds display'd;


s: And genial feasts with regal pomp are made.


s: The Queen of Furies by their sides is set,


s: And snatches from their mouths th' untasted meat,


s: Which if they touch, her hissing snakes she rears,


s: Tossing her torch, and thund'ring in their ears.


s: Then they, who brothers' better claim disown,


s: Expel their parents, and usurp the throne;


s: Defraud their clients, and, to lucre sold,


s: Who dare not give, and ev'n refuse to lend


s: To their poor kindred, or a wanting friend.


s: Vast is the throng of these; nor less the train


s: Of lustful youths, for foul adult'ry slain:


s: Hosts of deserters, who their honor sold,


s: And basely broke their faith for bribes of gold.


s: All these within the dungeon's depth remain,


s: Ask not what pains; nor farther seek to know


s: Their process, or the forms of law below.


s: Some roll a weighty stone; some, laid along,


s: And bound with burning wires, on spokes of wheels are hung


s: And wretched Phlegyas warns the world with cries


s: (Could warning make the world more just or wise):


s: 'Learn righteousness, and dread th' avenging deities.'


s: To tyrants others have their country sold,


s: Imposing foreign lords, for foreign gold;


s: Some have old laws repeal'd, new statutes made,


s: Not as the people pleas'd, but as they paid;


s: With incest some their daughters' bed profan'd:


s: All dar'd the worst of ills, and, what they dar'd, attain'd.


s: Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues,


s: And throats of brass, inspir'd with iron lungs,


s: I could not half those horrid crimes repeat,


s: Nor half the punishments those crimes have met.


s: The walls of Pluto's palace are in view;


s: The gate, and iron arch above it, stands


s: On anvils labor'd by the Cyclops' hands.


s: Here must we fix on high the golden bough."


s: She said: and thro' the gloomy shades they pass'd,


s: And chose the middle path. Arriv'd at last,


s: The prince with living water sprinkled o'er


s: His limbs and body; then approach'd the door,


s: Possess'd the porch, and on the front above


s: He fix'd the fatal bough requir'd by Pluto's love.


s: These holy rites perform'd, they took their way


s: Where long extended plains of pleasure lay:


s: The verdant fields with those of heav'n may vie,


s: The blissful seats of happy souls below.


s: Stars of their own, and their own suns, they know;


s: Their airy limbs in sports they exercise,


s: And on the green contend the wrestler's prize.


s: The Thracian bard, surrounded by the rest,


s: There stands conspicuous in his flowing vest;


s: His flying fingers, and harmonious quill,


s: Strikes sev'n distinguish'd notes, and sev'n at once they fill.


s: Here found they Tsucer's old heroic race,


s: Born better times and happier years to grace.


s: Perpetual fame, with him who founded Troy.


s: The chief beheld their chariots from afar,


s: Their shining arms, and coursers train'd to war:


s: Their lances fix'd in earth, their steeds around,


s: Free from their harness, graze the flow'ry ground.


s: The love of horses which they had, alive,


s: And care of chariots, after death survive.


s: Some cheerful souls were feasting on the plain;


s: Some did the song, and some the choir maintain,


s: Mounts up to woods above, and hides his head below.


s: Here patriots live, who, for their country's good,


s: In fighting fields, were prodigal of blood:


s: Priests of unblemish'd lives here make abode,


s: And searching wits, of more mechanic parts,


s: Who grac'd their age with new-invented arts:


s: Those who to worth their bounty did extend,


s: And those who knew that bounty to commend.


s: The heads of these with holy fillets bound,


s: And all their temples were with garlands crown'd.


s: To these the Sibyl thus her speech address'd,


s: (Tow'ring his height, and ample was his breast):


s: Where lives Anchises, and where lies our way


s: We sought the dark abodes, and cross'd the bitter lake?"


s: "In no fix'd place the happy souls reside.


s: In groves we live, and lie on mossy beds,


s: By crystal streams, that murmur thro' the meads:


s: But pass yon easy hill, and thence descend;


s: The path conducts you to your journey's end."


s: This said, he led them up the mountain's brow,


s: And shews them all the shining fields below.


s: They wind the hill, and thro' the blissful meadows go.


s: Review'd his muster'd race, and took the tale:


s: Those happy spirits, which, ordain'd by fate,


s: With studious thought observ'd th' illustrious throng,


s: Their names, their fates, their conduct, and their care,


s: Meets him with open arms, and falling tears.


s: "Welcome," he said, "the gods' undoubted race!


s: Once more 't is giv'n me to behold your face!


s: Have pass'd the perils of so hard a way.


s: 'T is true, computing times, I now believ'd


s: The happy day approach'd; nor are my hopes deceiv'd.


s: What length of lands, what oceans have you pass'd;


s: What storms sustain'd, and on what shores been cast?


s: How have I fear'd your fate! but fear'd it most,


s: When love assail'd you, on the Libyan coast."


s: "Your sacred ghost before my sleeping eyes


s: Appear'd, and often urg'd this painful enterprise.


s: But reach your hand, O parent shade, nor shun


s: He said; and falling tears his face bedew:


s: Then thrice around his neck his arms he threw;


s: And thrice the flitting shadow slipp'd away,


s: Like winds, or empty dreams that fly the day.


s: A sep'rate grove, thro' which a gentle breeze


s: Plays with a passing breath, and whispers thro' the trees;


s: And, just before the confines of the wood,


s: The gliding Lethe leads her silent flood.


s: Thick as the humming bees, that hunt the golden dew;


s: In summer's heat on tops of lilies feed,


s: And creep within their bells, to suck the balmy seed:


s: The winged army roams the fields around;


s: The rivers and the rocks remurmur to the sound.


s: Aeneas wond'ring stood, then ask'd the cause


s: Which to the stream the crowding people draws.


s: Then thus the sire: "The souls that throng the flood


s: Are those to whom, by fate, are other bodies ow'd:


s: In Lethe's lake they long oblivion taste,


s: Of future life secure, forgetful of the past.


s: Long has my soul desir'd this time and place,


s: To set before your sight your glorious race,


s: That this presaging joy may fire your mind


s: To seek the shores by destiny design'd."-


s: "O father, can it be, that souls sublime


s: And that the gen'rous mind, releas'd by death,


s: Can covet lazy limbs and mortal breath?"


s: To clear those wonders to his godlike son:


s: "Know, first, that heav'n, and earth's compacted frame,


s: And flowing waters, and the starry flame,


s: And both the radiant lights, one common soul


s: Inspires and feeds, and animates the whole.


s: This active mind, infus'd thro' all the space,


s: Unites and mingles with the mighty mass.


s: Hence men and beasts the breath of life obtain,


s: And birds of air, and monsters of the main.


s: And every soul is fill'd with equal flame;


s: As much as earthy limbs, and gross allay


s: Blunt not the beams of heav'n and edge of day.


s: From this coarse mixture of terrestrial parts,


s: Desire and fear by turns possess their hearts,


s: And grief, and joy; nor can the groveling mind,


s: In the dark dungeon of the limbs confin'd,


s: Assert the native skies, or own its heav'nly kind:


s: Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains;


s: But long-contracted filth ev'n in the soul remains.


s: The relics of inveterate vice they wear,


s: And spots of sin obscene in ev'ry face appear.


s: And some are hung to bleach upon the wind,


s: Some plung'd in waters, others purg'd in fires,


s: Till all the dregs are drain'd, and all the rust expires.


s: All have their manes, and those manes bear:


s: The few, so cleans'd, to these abodes repair,


s: And breathe, in ample fields, the soft Elysian air.


s: Then are they happy, when by length of time


s: The scurf is worn away of each committed crime;


s: No speck is left of their habitual stains,


s: But, when a thousand rolling years are past,


s: (So long their punishments and penance last,)


s: Whole droves of minds are, by the driving god,


s: Compell'd to drink the deep Lethaean flood,


s: In large forgetful draughts to steep the cares


s: Of their past labors, and their irksome years,


s: The soul may suffer mortal flesh again."


s: Thus having said, the father spirit leads


s: The priestess and his son thro' swarms of shades,


s: And takes a rising ground, from thence to see


s: "Survey," pursued the sire, "this airy throng,


s: As, offer'd to thy view, they pass along.


s: These are th' Italian names, which fate will join


s: With ours, and graff upon the Trojan line.


s: Observe the youth who first appears in sight,


s: And holds the nearest station to the light,


s: And leans just forward, on a shining spear:


s: But first in order sent, to fill thy place;


s: An Alban name, but mix'd with Dardan blood,


s: Shall breed in groves, to lead a solitary life.


s: And, born a king, a race of kings beget.


s: Who, late restor'd, in Alba shall be crown'd.


s: How great they look! how vig'rously they wield


s: Their weighty lances, and sustain the shield!


s: But they, who crown'd with oaken wreaths appear,


s: Shall Gabian walls and strong Fidena rear;


s: And raise Collatian tow'rs on rocky ground.


s: All these shall then be towns of mighty fame,


s: Tho' now they lie obscure, and lands without a name.


s: The crown that once his injur'd grandsire wore.


s: This prince a priestess of your blood shall bear,


s: And like his sire in arms he shall appear.


s: Two rising crests, his royal head adorn;


s: Born from a god, himself to godhead born:


s: His sire already signs him for the skies,


s: Auspicious chief! thy race, in times to come,


s: Shall spread the conquests of imperial Rome-


s: Rome, whose ascending tow'rs shall heav'n invade,


s: High as the Mother of the Gods in place,


s: And proud, like her, of an immortal race.


s: Then, when in pomp she makes the Phrygian round,


s: With golden turrets on her temples crown'd;


s: A hundred gods her sweeping train supply;


s: Her offspring all, and all command the sky.


s: "Now fix your sight, and stand intent, to see


s: Impatient for the world, and grasps his promis'd pow'r.


s: But next behold the youth of form divine,


s: Augustus, promis'd oft, and long foretold,


s: Sent to the realm that Saturn rul'd of old;


s: Beyond the solar year, without the starry way,


s: Where Atlas turns the rolling heav'ns around,


s: And his broad shoulders with their lights are crown'd.


s: Their seers behold the tempest from afar,


s: And threat'ning oracles denounce the war.


s: Nile hears him knocking at his sev'nfold gates,


s: And seeks his hidden spring, and fears his nephew's fates.


s: Not tho' the brazen-footed hind he slew,


s: Nor Bacchus, turning from his Indian war,


s: From Nisus' top descending on the plains,


s: With curling vines around his purple reins.


s: And doubt we yet thro' dangers to pursue


s: The paths of honor, and a crown in view?


s: But what's the man, who from afar appears?


s: His head with olive crown'd, his hand a censer bears,


s: His hoary beard and holy vestments bring


s: His lost idea back: I know the Roman king.


s: He shall to peaceful Rome new laws ordain,


s: Call'd from his mean abode a scepter to sustain.


s: An active prince, and prone to martial deeds.


s: He shall his troops for fighting fields prepare,


s: Disus'd to toils, and triumphs of the war.


s: By dint of sword his crown he shall increase,


s: And scour his armor from the rust of peace.


s: Next view the Tarquin kings, th' avenging sword


s: Of Brutus, justly drawn, and Rome restor'd.


s: And gives the consuls royal robes to wear.


s: His sons, who seek the tyrant to sustain,


s: He dooms to death deserv'd, asserting public right.


s: Of nature, pleading in his children's cause!


s: 'T is love of honor, and his country's good:


s: The consul, not the father, sheds the blood.


s: With standards well redeem'd, and foreign foes o'ercome


s: Now, friends below, in close embraces join;


s: But, when they leave the shady realms of night,


s: And, cloth'd in bodies, breathe your upper light,


s: With mortal hate each other shall pursue:


s: What wars, what wounds, what slaughter shall ensue!


s: From Alpine heights the father first descends;


s: His daughter's husband in the plain attends:


s: His daughter's husband arms his eastern friends.


s: Embrace again, my sons, be foes no more;


s: Nor stain your country with her children's gore!


s: And thou, the first, lay down thy lawless claim,


s: Thou, of my blood, who bearist the Julian name!


s: Another comes, who shall in triumph ride,


s: From conquer'd Corinth, rich with Grecian spoils.


s: And yet another, fam'd for warlike toils,


s: And on the Greeks revenge the Trojan cause;


s: Shall drag in chains their Achillean race;


s: Shall vindicate his ancestors' disgrace,


s: And conqu'ring Cossus goes with laurels crown'd.


s: The Scipios' worth, those thunderbolts of war,


s: The double bane of Carthage? Who can see


s: Severe Fabricius, or can cease t' admire


s: The plowman consul in his coarse attire?


s: Tir'd as I am, my praise the Fabii claim;


s: And thou, great hero, greatest of thy name,


s: Ordain'd in war to save the sinking state,


s: Of metals, and inform the breathing brass,


s: Plead better at the bar; describe the skies,


s: And when the stars descend, and when they rise.


s: But, Rome, 't is thine alone, with awful sway,


s: To rule mankind, and make the world obey,


s: Disposing peace and war by thy own majestic way;


s: To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free:


s: These are imperial arts, and worthy thee."


s: He paus'd; and, while with wond'ring eyes they view'd


s: The passing spirits, thus his speech renew'd:


s: "See great Marcellus! how, untir'd in toils,


s: He moves with manly grace, how rich with regal spoils!


s: He, when his country, threaten'd with alarms,


s: Requires his courage and his conqu'ring arms,


s: Shall more than once the Punic bands affright;


s: Shall kill the Gaulish king in single fight;


s: And the third spoils shall grace Feretrian Jove."


s: A godlike youth in glitt'ring armor shine,


s: With great Marcellus keeping equal pace;


s: But gloomy were his eyes, dejected was his face.


s: He saw, and, wond'ring, ask'd his airy guide,


s: What and of whence was he, who press'd the hero's side:


s: "His son, or one of his illustrious name?


s: How like the former, and almost the same!


s: Observe the crowds that compass him around;


s: All gaze, and all admire, and raise a shouting sound:


s: But hov'ring mists around his brows are spread,


s: And night, with sable shades, involves his head."


s: "Seek not to know," the ghost replied with tears,


s: "The sorrows of thy sons in future years.


s: This youth (the blissful vision of a day)


s: Shall just be shown on earth, and snatch'd away.


s: The gods too high had rais'd the Roman state,


s: Were but their gifts as permanent as great.


s: What groans of men shall fill the Martian field!


s: How fierce a blaze his flaming pile shall yield!


s: What fun'ral pomp shall floating Tiber see,


s: When, rising from his bed, he views the sad solemnity!


s: No youth shall equal hopes of glory give,


s: No youth afford so great a cause to grieve;


s: Admir'd when living, and ador'd when lost!


s: No foe, unpunish'd, in the fighting field


s: Shall dare thee, foot to foot, with sword and shield;


s: Much less in arms oppose thy matchless force,


s: When thy sharp spurs shall urge thy foaming horse.


s: Ah! couldst thou break thro' fate's severe decree,


s: Full canisters of fragrant lilies bring,


s: Mix'd with the purple roses of the spring;


s: Let me with fun'ral flow'rs his body strow;


s: This gift which parents to their children owe,


s: This unavailing gift, at least, I may bestow!"


s: The confines of the blest Elysian ground;


s: Which when Anchises to his son had shown,


s: And fir'd his mind to mount the promis'd throne,


s: He tells the future wars, ordain'd by fate;


s: The strength and customs of the Latian state;


s: The prince, and people; and forearms his care


s: With rules, to push his fortune, or to bear.


s: Two gates the silent house of Sleep adorn;


s: Of polish'd ivory this, that of transparent horn:


s: True visions thro' transparent horn arise;


s: Thro' polish'd ivory pass deluding lies.


s: Of various things discoursing as he pass'd,


s: Anchises hither bends his steps at last.


s: Then, thro' the gate of iv'ry, he dismiss'd


s: His valiant offspring and divining guest.


s: Embark'd his men, and skimm'd along the sea,


s: Still coasting, till he gain'd Cajeta's bay.


s: At length on oozy ground his galleys moor;


s: Their heads are turn'd to sea, their sterns to shore.


s: Here dying, to the shore hast left thy name;


s: Cajeta still the place is call'd from thee,


s: Here rest thy bones in rich Hesperia's plains;


s: Thy name ('t is all a ghost can have) remains.


s: Now, when the prince her fun'ral rites had paid,


s: He plow'd the Tyrrhene seas with sails display'd.


s: From land a gentle breeze arose by night,


s: Serenely shone the stars, the moon was bright,


s: And the sea trembled with her silver light.


s: Now near the shelves of Circe's shores they run,


s: (Circe the rich, the daughter of the Sun,)


s: A dang'rous coast: the goddess wastes her days


s: In joyous songs; the rocks resound her lays:


s: In spinning, or the loom, she spends the night,


s: And cedar brands supply her father's light.


s: From hence were heard, rebellowing to the main,


s: The roars of lions that refuse the chain,


s: The grunts of bristled boars, and groans of bears,


s: And herds of howling wolves that stun the sailors' ears.


s: These from their caverns, at the close of night,


s: Fill the sad isle with horror and affright.


s: Darkling they mourn their fate, whom Circe's pow'r,


s: (That watch'd the moon and planetary hour,)


s: With words and wicked herbs from humankind


s: Had alter'd, and in brutal shapes confin'd.


s: Which monsters lest the Trojans' pious host


s: Should bear, or touch upon th' inchanted coast,


s: Propitious Neptune steer'd their course by night


s: With rising gales that sped their happy flight.


s: Supplied with these, they skim the sounding shore,


s: And hear the swelling surges vainly roar.


s: And wav'd her saffron streamer thro' the skies;


s: When Thetis blush'd in purple not her own,


s: And from her face the breathing winds were blown,


s: And sweeping oars, with struggling, urge their way.


s: The Trojan, from the main, beheld a wood,


s: Which thick with shades and a brown horror stood:


s: Betwixt the trees the Tiber took his course,


s: With whirlpools dimpled; and with downward force,


s: That drove the sand along, he took his way,


s: And roll'd his yellow billows to the sea.


s: About him, and above, and round the wood,


s: The birds that haunt the borders of his flood,


s: That bath'd within, or basked upon his side,


s: To tuneful songs their narrow throats applied.


s: The captain gives command; the joyful train


s: Glide thro' the gloomy shade, and leave the main.


s: And fill his soul with thy celestial fire!


s: Relate what Latium was; her ancient kings;


s: When first the Trojan fleet Ausonia sought,


s: And how the rivals lov'd, and how they fought.


s: These are my theme, and how the war began,


s: For I shall sing of battles, blood, and rage,


s: Which princes and their people did engage;


s: And haughty souls, that, mov'd with mutual hate,


s: In fighting fields pursued and found their fate;


s: That rous'd the Tyrrhene realm with loud alarms,


s: And, rising hence, a greater work is weigh'd.


s: Latinus, old and mild, had long possess'd


s: The Latin scepter, and his people blest:


s: His birth from Saturn, if records be true.


s: But this old peaceful prince, as Heav'n decreed,


s: Was blest with no male issue to succeed:


s: His sons in blooming youth were snatch'd by fate;


s: One only daughter heir'd the royal state.


s: Fir'd with her love, and with ambition led,


s: The neighb'ring princes court her nuptial bed.


s: Among the crowd, but far above the rest,


s: Young Turnus to the beauteous maid address'd.


s: Turnus, for high descent and graceful mien,


s: Was first, and favor'd by the Latian queen;


s: With him she strove to join Lavinia's hand,


s: But dire portents the purpos'd match withstand.


s: Deep in the palace, of long growth, there stood


s: Where rites divine were paid; whose holy hair


s: Was kept and cut with superstitious care.


s: This plant Latinus, when his town he wall'd,


s: Then found, and from the tree Laurentum call'd;


s: He vow'd the laurel to the laurel's god.


s: A swarm of bees, that cut the liquid sky,


s: (Unknown from whence they took their airy flight,)


s: Upon the topmost branch in clouds alight;


s: There with their clasping feet together clung,


s: And a long cluster from the laurel hung.


s: "Behold on Latian shores a foreign prince!


s: From the same parts of heav'n his navy stands,


s: To the same parts on earth; his army lands;


s: The town he conquers, and the tow'r commands."


s: Yet more, when fair Lavinia fed the fire


s: Before the gods, and stood beside her sire,


s: (Strange to relate!) the flames, involv'd in smoke


s: Of incense, from the sacred altar broke,


s: Caught her dishevel'd hair and rich attire;


s: From thence the fuming trail began to spread


s: And lambent glories danc'd about her head.


s: This new portent the seer with wonder views,


s: "The nymph, who scatters flaming fires around,


s: Shall shine with honor, shall herself be crown'd;


s: War shall the country waste, and change the state."


s: Latinus, frighted with this dire ostent,


s: And sought the shades renown'd for prophecy


s: Which near Albunea's sulph'rous fountain lie.


s: Fly, when distress'd, and thence relief demand.


s: The priest on skins of off'rings takes his ease,


s: And nightly visions in his slumber sees;


s: And, flutt'ring round his temples, deafs his ears:


s: These he consults, the future fates to know,


s: From pow'rs above, and from the fiends below.


s: Here, for the gods' advice, Latinus flies,


s: Their woolly fleeces, as the rites requir'd,


s: He laid beneath him, and to rest retir'd.


s: No sooner were his eyes in slumber bound,


s: When, from above, a more than mortal sound


s: Invades his ears; and thus the vision spoke:


s: "Seek not, my seed, in Latian bands to yoke


s: Whose martial fame from pole to pole extends.


s: His race, in arms and arts of peace renown'd,


s: Not Latium shall contain, nor Europe bound:


s: 'T is theirs whate'er the sun surveys around."


s: These answers, in the silent night receiv'd,


s: The king himself divulg'd, the land believ'd:


s: The fame thro' all the neighb'ring nations flew,


s: His table on the turf, with cakes of bread;


s: And, with his chiefs, on forest fruits he fed.


s: They sate; and, (not without the god's command,)


s: Their homely fare dispatch'd, the hungry band


s: Invade their trenchers next, and soon devour,


s: To mend the scanty meal, their cakes of flour.


s: Ascanius this observ'd, and smiling said:


s: "See, we devour the plates on which we fed."


s: The speech had omen, that the Trojan race


s: Should find repose, and this the time and place.


s: Confessing fate with wonder in his eyes:


s: "All hail, O earth! all hail, my household gods!


s: Behold the destin'd place of your abodes!


s: And this our fatal place of rest foretold:


s: 'When, on a foreign shore, instead of meat,


s: By famine forc'd, your trenchers you shall eat,


s: Then ease your weary Trojans will attend,


s: And with a trench inclose the fruitful field.'


s: This was that famine, this the fatal place


s: Which ends the wand'ring of our exil'd race.


s: Then, on to-morrow's dawn, your care employ,


s: To search the land, and where the cities lie,


s: And what the men; but give this day to joy.


s: Now pour to Jove; and, after Jove is blest,


s: Call great Anchises to the genial feast:


s: Crown high the goblets with a cheerful draught;


s: Enjoy the present hour; adjourn the future thought."


s: Thus having said, the hero bound his brows


s: With leafy branches, then perform'd his vows;


s: Then Earth, the mother of the heav'nly race,


s: The nymphs, and native godheads yet unknown,


s: And Night, and all the stars that gild her sable throne,


s: And last his sire below, and mother queen above.


s: Then heav'n's high monarch thunder'd thrice aloud,


s: And thrice he shook aloft a golden cloud.


s: Soon thro' the joyful camp a rumor flew,


s: Then ev'ry brow with cheerful green is crown'd,


s: The feasts are doubled, and the bowls go round.


s: When next the rosy morn disclos'd the day,


s: The scouts to sev'ral parts divide their way,


s: To learn the natives' names, their towns explore,


s: The coasts and trendings of the crooked shore:


s: Here Tiber flows, and here Numicus stands;


s: Here warlike Latins hold the happy lands.


s: The pious chief, who sought by peaceful ways


s: To found his empire, and his town to raise,


s: A hundred youths from all his train selects,


s: And to the Latian court their course directs,


s: (The spacious palace where their prince resides,)


s: And all their heads with wreaths of olive hides.


s: They go commission'd to require a peace,


s: Thus while they speed their pace, the prince designs


s: His new-elected seat, and draws the lines.


s: The Trojans round the place a rampire cast,


s: And palisades about the trenches plac'd.


s: Meantime the train, proceeding on their way,


s: From far the town and lofty tow'rs survey;


s: At length approach the walls. Without the gate,


s: They see the boys and Latian youth debate


s: Some drive the cars, and some the coursers rein;


s: And some with darts their active sinews try.


s: A posting messenger, dispatch'd from hence,


s: Of this fair troop advis'd their aged prince,


s: That foreign men of mighty stature came;


s: Uncouth their habit, and unknown their name.


s: The king ordains their entrance, and ascends


s: His regal seat, surrounded by his friends.


s: The palace built by Picus, vast and proud,


s: And round incompass'd with a rising wood.


s: The pile o'erlook'd the town, and drew the sight;


s: Surpris'd at once with reverence and delight.


s: There kings receiv'd the marks of sov'reign pow'r;


s: In state the monarchs march'd; the lictors bore


s: Here the tribunal stood, the house of pray'r,


s: A ram their off'ring, and a ram their meat.


s: Plac'd in their ranks, their godlike grandsires stood;


s: Old Saturn, with his crooked scythe, on high;


s: And ancient Janus, with his double face,


s: And bunch of keys, the porter of the place.


s: There good Sabinus, planter of the vines,


s: On a short pruning hook his head reclines,


s: And studiously surveys his gen'rous wines;


s: Then warlike kings, who for their country fought,


s: And honorable wounds from battle brought.


s: Around the posts hung helmets, darts, and spears,


s: And captive chariots, axes, shields, and bars,


s: And broken beaks of ships, the trophies of their wars.


s: Above the rest, as chief of all the band,


s: Was Picus plac'd, a buckler in his hand;


s: Yet could not with his art avoid his fate:


s: For Circe long had lov'd the youth in vain,


s: Till love, refus'd, converted to disdain:


s: Then, mixing pow'rful herbs, with magic art,


s: She chang'd his form, who could not change his heart;


s: Constrain'd him in a bird, and made him fly,


s: With party-color'd plumes, a chatt'ring pie.


s: In this high temple, on a chair of state,


s: Then gave admission to the Trojan train;


s: And thus with pleasing accents he began:


s: "Tell me, ye Trojans, for that name you own,


s: Nor is your course upon our coasts unknown-


s: Say what you seek, and whither were you bound:


s: Were you by stress of weather cast aground?


s: (Such dangers as on seas are often seen,


s: Or come, your shipping in our ports to lay,


s: Say what you want: the Latians you shall find


s: Not forc'd to goodness, but by will inclin'd;


s: For, since the time of Saturn's holy reign,


s: I call to mind (but time the tale has worn)


s: Th' Arunci told, that Dardanus, tho' born


s: On Latian plains, yet sought the Phrygian shore,


s: From Tuscan Coritum he claim'd his birth;


s: But after, when exempt from mortal earth,


s: From thence ascended to his kindred skies,


s: A god, and, as a god, augments their sacrifice,"


s: Nor wintry winds to Latium forc'd our way,


s: Nor did the stars our wand'ring course betray.


s: Willing we sought your shores; and, hither bound,


s: The port, so long desir'd, at length we found;


s: From our sweet homes and ancient realms expell'd;


s: Great as the greatest that the sun beheld.


s: The god began our line, who rules above;


s: And, as our race, our king descends from Jove:


s: How dire a tempest, from Mycenae pour'd,


s: Our plains, our temples, and our town devour'd;


s: What was the waste of war, what fierce alarms


s: Ev'n such have heard, if any such there be,


s: Whose earth is bounded by the frozen sea;


s: And such as, born beneath the burning sky


s: And sultry sun, betwixt the tropics lie.


s: From that dire deluge, thro' the wat'ry waste,


s: Such length of years, such various perils past,


s: To beg what you without your want may spare:


s: Sheds which ourselves will build, and mean abodes,


s: Fit to receive and serve our banish'd gods.


s: Nor our admission shall your realm disgrace,


s: Nor length of time our gratitude efface.


s: Besides, what endless honor you shall gain,


s: To save and shelter Troy's unhappy train!


s: Now, by my sov'reign, and his fate, I swear,


s: Renown'd for faith in peace, for force in war;


s: And, what we seek of you, of us requir'd.


s: Despite not then, that in our hands we bear


s: These holy boughs, sue with words of pray'r.


s: Fate and the gods, by their supreme command,


s: Have doom'd our ships to seek the Latian land.


s: Here Dardanus was born, and hither tends;


s: Where Tuscan Tiber rolls with rapid force,


s: Besides, our prince presents, with his request,


s: Some small remains of what his sire possess'd.


s: This golden charger, snatch'd from burning Troy,


s: In full assemblies, and in solemn games;


s: These purple vests were weav'd by Dardan dames."


s: Thus while he spoke, Latinus roll'd around


s: His eyes, and fix'd a while upon the ground.


s: Intent he seem'd, and anxious in his breast;


s: Not by the scepter mov'd, or kingly vest,


s: But pond'ring future things of wondrous weight;


s: Succession, empire, and his daughter's fate.


s: On these he mus'd within his thoughtful mind,


s: And then revolv'd what Faunus had divin'd.


s: This was the foreign prince, by fate decreed


s: To share his scepter, and Lavinia's bed;


s: This was the race that sure portents foreshew


s: To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.


s: At length he rais'd his cheerful head, and spoke:


s: "The pow'rs," said he, "the pow'rs we both invoke,


s: To you, and yours, and mine, propitious be,


s: Have what you ask; your presents I receive;


s: Land, where and when you please, with ample leave;


s: All shall be yours, while I command the crown:


s: And, if my wish'd alliance please your king,


s: Tell him he should not send the peace, but bring.


s: Then let him not a friend's embraces fear;


s: The peace is made when I behold him here.


s: Besides this answer, tell my royal guest,


s: One only daughter heirs my crown and state,


s: Whom not our oracles, nor Heav'n, nor fate,


s: A foreign son-in-law shall come from far


s: (Such is our doom), a chief renown'd in war,


s: Whose race shall bear aloft the Latian name,


s: And thro' the conquer'd world diffuse our fame.


s: Himself to be the man the fates require,


s: I firmly judge, and, what I judge, desire."


s: He said, and then on each bestow'd a steed.


s: Three hundred horses, in high stables fed,


s: Stood ready, shining all, and smoothly dress'd:


s: Of these he chose the fairest and the best,


s: To mount the Trojan troop. At his command


s: The steeds caparison'd with purple stand,


s: With golden trappings, glorious to behold,


s: And champ betwixt their teeth the foaming gold.


s: Then to his absent guest the king decreed


s: A pair of coursers born of heav'nly breed,


s: Who from their nostrils breath'd ethereal fire;


s: Whom Circe stole from her celestial sire,


s: By substituting mares produc'd on earth,


s: Whose wombs conceiv'd a more than mortal birth.


s: These draw the chariot which Latinus sends,


s: And the rich present to the prince commends.


s: Sublime on stately steeds the Trojans borne,


s: To their expecting lord with peace return.


s: But jealous Juno, from Pachynus' height,


s: Beheld with envious eyes this hateful sight.


s: Descend upon the shore, desert the main,


s: Design a town, and, with unhop'd success,


s: Th' embassadors return with promis'd peace.


s: Then, pierc'd with pain, she shook her haughty head,


s: Sigh'd from her inward soul, and thus she said:


s: O fates of Troy, which Juno's fates oppose!


s: Could they not fall unpitied on the plain,


s: But slain revive, and, taken, scape again?


s: Thro' fires and swords and seas they forc'd their way.


s: Then vanquish'd Juno must in vain contend,


s: Her rage disarm'd, her empire at an end.


s: Breathless and tir'd, is all my fury spent?


s: Or does my glutted spleen at length relent?


s: As if 't were little from their town to chase,


s: I thro' the seas pursued their exil'd race;


s: Ingag'd the heav'ns, oppos'd the stormy main;


s: But billows roar'd, and tempests rag'd in vain.


s: What have my Scyllas and my Syrtes done,


s: When these they overpass, and those they shun?


s: On Tiber's shores they land, secure of fate,


s: Triumphant o'er the storms and Juno's hate.


s: Mars could in mutual blood the Centaurs bathe,


s: And Jove himself gave way to Cynthia's wrath,


s: (What great offense had either people done?)


s: With various arts and arms in vain have toil'd,


s: And by a mortal man at length am foil'd.


s: If native pow'r prevail not, shall I doubt


s: To seek for needful succor from without?


s: If Jove and Heav'n my just desires deny,


s: Hell shall the pow'r of Heav'n and Jove supply.


s: Grant that the Fates have firm'd, by their decree,


s: And with protracted wars the peace delay:


s: With blood the dear alliance shall be bought,


s: And both the people near destruction brought;


s: So shall the son-in-law and father join,


s: With ruin, war, and waste of either line.


s: With Phrygian, Latian, and Rutulian blood!


s: Another queen brings forth another brand,


s: To burn with foreign fires another land!


s: Shall fire his country with a second flame."


s: Thus having said, she sinks beneath the ground,


s: With furious haste, and shoots the Stygian sound,


s: Of her dire sisters, and their dark retreat.


s: This Fury, fit for her intent, she chose;


s: One who delights in wars and human woes.


s: Ev'n Pluto hates his own misshapen race;


s: So frightful are the forms the monster takes,


s: So fierce the hissings of her speckled snakes.


s: Her Juno finds, and thus inflames her spite:


s: Let not the Trojans, with a feign'd pretense


s: Of proffer'd peace, delude the Latian prince.


s: 'T is thine to ruin realms, o'erturn a state,


s: Betwixt the dearest friends to raise debate,


s: And kindle kindred blood to mutual hate.


s: Thy hand o'er towns the fun'ral torch displays,


s: And forms a thousand ills ten thousand ways.


s: Now shake, out thy fruitful breast, the seeds


s: Confound the peace establish'd, and prepare


s: Their souls to hatred, and their hands to war."


s: Smear'd as she was with black Gorgonian blood,


s: The Fury sprang above the Stygian flood;


s: And on her wicker wings, sublime thro' night,


s: She to the Latian palace took her flight:


s: There sought the queen's apartment, stood before


s: The peaceful threshold, and besieg'd the door.


s: Fir'd with disdain for Turnus dispossess'd,


s: And the new nuptials of the Trojan guest.


s: From her black bloody locks the Fury shakes


s: Her darling plague, the fav'rite of her snakes;


s: With her full force she threw the poisonous dart,


s: That, thus envenom'd, she might kindle rage,


s: And sacrifice to strife her house husband's age.


s: His baleful breath inspiring, as he glides,


s: Now like a chain around her neck he rides,


s: And with his circling volumes folds her hairs.


s: At first the silent venom slid with ease,


s: And seiz'd her cooler senses by degrees;


s: Then, ere th' infected mass was fir'd too far,


s: And thus bespoke her husband: "Shall," she said,


s: "A wand'ring prince enjoy Lavinia's bed?


s: If nature plead not in a parent's heart,


s: I know, my dearest lord, the time will come,


s: The faithless pirate soon will set to sea,


s: A guest like him, a Trojan guest before,


s: In shew of friendship sought the Spartan shore,


s: And ravish'd Helen from her husband bore.


s: And think on Turnus, her once plighted lord:


s: To this false foreigner you give your throne,


s: And wrong a friend, a kinsman, and a son.


s: Resume your ancient care; and, if the god


s: Your sire, and you, resolve on foreign blood,


s: Know all are foreign, in a larger sense,


s: Not born your subjects, or deriv'd from hence.


s: Then, if the line of Turnus you retrace,


s: He springs from Inachus of Argive race."


s: But when she saw her reasons idly spent,


s: And could not move him from his fix'd intent,


s: She flew to rage; for now the snake possess'd


s: Her vital parts, and poison'd all her breast;


s: She raves, she runs with a distracted pace,


s: And fills with horrid howls the public place.


s: And, as young striplings whip the top for sport,


s: On the smooth pavement of an empty court;


s: The wooden engine flies and whirls about,


s: Admir'd, with clamors, of the beardless rout;


s: They lash aloud; each other they provoke,


s: And lend their little souls at ev'ry stroke:


s: Thus fares the queen; and thus her fury blows


s: Amidst the crowd, and kindles as she goes.


s: Nor yet content, she strains her malice more,


s: And adds new ills to those contriv'd before:


s: She flies the town, and, mixing with a throng


s: Of madding matrons, bears the bride along,


s: Wand'ring thro' woods and wilds, and devious ways,


s: And with these arts the Trojan match delays.


s: She feign'd the rites of Bacchus; cried aloud,


s: And "Evoe!" answer'd all the female throng.


s: "O virgin! worthy thee alone!" she cried;


s: "O worthy thee alone!" the crew replied.


s: "For thee she feeds her hair, she leads thy dance,


s: And with thy winding ivy wreathes her lance."


s: Like fury seiz'd the rest; the progress known,


s: All seek the mountains, and forsake the town:


s: All, clad in skins of beasts, the jav'lin bear,


s: Give to the wanton winds their flowing hair,


s: And shrieks and shoutings rend the suff'ring air.


s: The queen herself, inspir'd with rage divine,


s: Shook high above her head a flaming pine;


s: Then roll'd her haggard eyes around the throng,


s: And sung, in Turnus' name, the nuptial song:


s: If there be here," she said, who dare maintain


s: My right, nor think the name of mother vain;


s: Unbind your fillets, loose your flowing hair,


s: And orgies and nocturnal rites prepare."


s: And fires with rage, amid the sylvan shades;


s: Then, when she found her venom spread so far,


s: Rais'd on her dusky wings, she cleaves the skies,


s: And seeks the palace where young Turnus lies.


s: His town, as fame reports, was built of old


s: Who fled her father's rage, and, with a train


s: Of following Argives, thro' the stormy main,


s: Driv'n by the southern blasts, was fated here to reign.


s: 'T was Ardua once; now Ardea's name it bears;


s: Once a fair city, now consum'd with years.


s: Betwixt the confines of the night and day,


s: Her looks and limbs, and with new methods tried


s: The foulness of th' infernal form to hide.


s: Propp'd on a staff, she takes a trembling mien:


s: Her face is furrow'd, and her front obscene;


s: Deep-dinted wrinkles on her cheek she draws;


s: Sunk are her eyes, and toothless are her jaws;


s: Her temples with an olive wreath are crown'd.


s: Of Juno, now she seem'd, and thus began,


s: Appearing in a dream, to rouse the careless man:


s: "Shall Turnus then such endless toil sustain


s: In fighting fields, and conquer towns in vain?


s: Win, for a Trojan head to wear the prize,


s: The bride and scepter which thy blood has bought,


s: The king transfers; and foreign heirs are sought.


s: New toils, new dangers, on the dusty plain.


s: Repel the Tuscan foes; their city seize;


s: This dream all-pow'rful Juno sends; I bear


s: Her mighty mandates, and her words you hear.


s: Haste; arm your Ardeans; issue to the plain;


s: With fate to friend, assault the Trojan train:


s: Their thoughtless chiefs, their painted ships, that lie


s: In Tiber's mouth, with fire and sword destroy.


s: The Latian king, unless he shall submit,


s: Own his old promise, and his new forget-


s: Let him, in arms, the pow'r of Turnus prove,


s: And learn to fear whom he disdains to love.


s: For such is Heav'n's command." The youthful prince


s: With scorn replied, and made this bold defense:


s: "You tell me, mother, what I knew before:


s: The Phrygian fleet is landed on the shore.


s: I neither fear nor will provoke the war;


s: But time has made you dote, and vainly tell


s: Go; be the temple and the gods your care;


s: Permit to men the thought of peace and war."


s: These haughty words Alecto's rage provoke,


s: And frighted Turnus trembled as she spoke.


s: Her eyes grow stiffen'd, and with sulphur burn;


s: Her hideous looks and hellish form return;


s: Her curling snakes with hissings fill the place,


s: Then, darting fire from her malignant eyes,


s: She cast him backward as he strove to rise,


s: And, ling'ring, sought to frame some new replies.


s: High on her head she rears two twisted snakes,


s: Her chains she rattles, and her whip she shakes;


s: And, churning bloody foam, thus loudly speaks:


s: "Behold whom time has made to dote, and tell


s: War, death, destruction, in my hand I bear."


s: Thus having said, her smold'ring torch, impress'd


s: With her full force, she plung'd into his breast.


s: Aghast he wak'd; and, starting from his bed,


s: Cold sweat, in clammy drops, his limbs o'erspread.


s: "Arms! arms!" he cries: "my sword and shield prepare!"


s: He breathes defiance, blood, and mortal war.


s: So, when with crackling flames a caldron fries,


s: The bubbling waters from the bottom rise:


s: Above the brims they force their fiery way;


s: Black vapors climb aloft, and cloud the day.


s: He first commissions to the Latian land,


s: In threat'ning embassy; then rais'd the rest,


s: To meet in arms th' intruding Trojan guest,


s: To force the foes from the Lavinian shore,


s: To fight the Phrygian and Ausonian hosts.


s: Their arms, and warn each other to the war.


s: His beauty these, and those his blooming age,


s: The rest his house and his own fame ingage.


s: New frauds invents, and takes a steepy stand,


s: Which overlooks the vale with wide command;


s: Where fair Ascanius and his youthful train,


s: With horns and hounds, a hunting match ordain,


s: And pitch their toils around the shady plain.


s: The Fury fires the pack; they snuff, they vent,


s: And feed their hungry nostrils with the scent.


s: 'Twas of a well-grown stag, whose antlers rise


s: High o'er his front; his beams invade the skies.


s: From this light cause th' infernal maid prepares


s: The country churls to mischief, hate, and wars.


s: The stately beast the two Tyrrhidae bred,


s: Snatch'd from his dams, and the tame youngling fed.


s: Their father Tyrrheus did his fodder bring,


s: Tyrrheus, chief ranger to the Latian king:


s: Their sister Silvia cherish'd with her care


s: The little wanton, and did wreaths prepare


s: To hang his budding horns, with ribbons tied


s: His tender neck, and comb'd his silken hide,


s: In time he grew, and, growing us'd to hand,


s: He waited at his master's board for food;


s: Then sought his salvage kindred in the wood,


s: Where grazing all the day, at night he came


s: To his known lodgings, and his country dame.


s: This household beast, that us'd the woodland grounds,


s: Was view'd at first by the young hero's hounds,


s: As down the stream he swam, to seek retreat


s: In the cool waters, and to quench his heat.


s: Soon bent his bow, uncertain in his aim;


s: But the dire fiend the fatal arrow guides,


s: Which pierc'd his bowels thro' his panting sides.


s: The bleeding creature issues from the floods,


s: Possess'd with fear, and seeks his known abodes,


s: His old familiar hearth and household gods.


s: He falls; he fills the house with heavy groans,


s: Implores their pity, and his pain bemoans.


s: Young Silvia beats her breast, and cries aloud


s: For succor from the clownish neighborhood:


s: The churls assemble; for the fiend, who lay


s: In the close woody covert, urg'd their way.


s: One with a brand yet burning from the flame,


s: Whate'er they catch or find, without their care,


s: Tyrrheus, the foster father of the beast,


s: Then clench'd a hatchet in his horny fist,


s: But held his hand from the descending stroke,


s: And left his wedge within the cloven oak,


s: To whet their courage and their rage provoke.


s: Who watch'd an hour to work her impious will,


s: Ascends the roof, and to her crooked horn,


s: Such as was then by Latian shepherds borne,


s: Adds all her breath: the rocks and woods around,


s: And mountains, tremble at th' infernal sound.


s: The Veline fountains, and sulphureous Nar,


s: Shake at the baleful blast, the signal of the war.


s: Young mothers wildly stare, with fear possess'd,


s: And strain their helpless infants to their breast.


s: The clowns, a boist'rous, rude, ungovern'd crew,


s: With furious haste to the loud summons flew.


s: The pow'rs of Troy, then issuing on the plain,


s: With fresh recruits their youthful chief sustain:


s: Not theirs a raw and unexperienc'd train,


s: At first, while fortune favor'd neither side,


s: The fight with clubs and burning brands was tried;


s: But now, both parties reinforc'd, the fields


s: Are bright with flaming swords and brazen shields.


s: And shoots against the sun with equal rays.


s: Thus, when a black-brow'd gust begins to rise,


s: White foam at first on the curl'd ocean fries;


s: Then roars the main, the billows mount the skies;


s: Till, by the fury of the storm full blown,


s: The muddy bottom o'er the clouds is thrown.


s: First Almon falls, old Tyrrheus' eldest care,


s: Pierc'd with an arrow from the distant war:


s: Fix'd in his throat the flying weapon stood,


s: And stopp'd his breath, and drank his vital blood


s: Huge heaps of slain around the body rise:


s: A good old man, while peace he preach'd in vain,


s: Five herds, five bleating flocks, his pastures fill'd;


s: His lands a hundred yoke of oxen till'd.


s: Thus, while in equal scales their fortune stood


s: The Fury bath'd them in each other's blood;


s: Then, having fix'd the fight, exulting flies,


s: And bears fulfill'd her promise to the skies.


s: To Juno thus she speaks: "Behold! It is done,


s: The discord is complete; nor can they cease


s: The dire debate, nor you command the peace.


s: Now, since the Latian and the Trojan brood


s: Have tasted vengeance and the sweets of blood;


s: Speak, and my pow'r shall add this office more:


s: The neighb'ing nations of th' Ausonian shore


s: Shall hear the dreadful rumor, from afar,


s: Of arm'd invasion, and embrace the war."


s: Then Juno thus: "The grateful work is done,


s: The seeds of discord sow'd, the war begun;


s: Frauds, fears, and fury have possess'd the state,


s: But thou with speed to night and hell repair;


s: For not the gods, nor angry Jove, will bear


s: Thy lawless wand'ring walks in upper air.


s: Leave what remains to me." Saturnia said:


s: The sullen fiend her sounding wings display'd,


s: Unwilling left the light, and sought the nether shade.


s: There lies a lake (Amsanctus is the name)


s: Thick forests the forbidden entrance hide.


s: Which, breaking from beneath with bellowing sound,


s: Whirls the black waves and rattling stones around.


s: Here Pluto pants for breath from out his cell,


s: And opens wide the grinning jaws of hell.


s: Here hides her hated head, and frees the lab'ring skies.


s: The clowns, return'd, from battle bear the slain,


s: Implore the gods, and to their king complain.


s: The corps of Almon and the rest are shown;


s: Shrieks, clamors, murmurs, fill the frighted town.


s: And, aggravating crimes, augments their fears;


s: A foreign son is sought, and a mix'd mungril brood.


s: Then they, whose mothers, frantic with their fear,


s: In woods and wilds the flags of Bacchus bear,


s: And lead his dances with dishevel'd hair,


s: Increase the clamor, and the war demand,


s: (Such was Amata's interest in the land,)


s: Against the public sanctions of the peace,


s: With fates averse, the rout in arms resort,


s: To force their monarch, and insult the court.


s: But, like a rock unmov'd, a rock that braves


s: The raging tempest and the rising waves-


s: Propp'd on himself he stands; his solid sides


s: Wash off the seaweeds, and the sounding tides-


s: So stood the pious prince, unmov'd, and long


s: Sustain'd the madness of the noisy throng.


s: But, when he found that Juno's pow'r prevail'd,


s: And all the methods of cool counsel fail'd,


s: He calls the gods to witness their offense,


s: Disclaims the war, asserts his innocence.


s: "Hurried by fate," he cries, "and borne before


s: A furious wind, we have the faithful shore.


s: O more than madmen! you yourselves shall bear


s: The guilt of blood and sacrilegious war:


s: Thou, Turnus, shalt atone it by thy fate,


s: And pray to Heav'n for peace, but pray too late.


s: The fun'ral pomp which to your kings you pay,


s: He said no more, but, in his walls confin'd,


s: Shut out the woes which he too well divin'd


s: Nor with the rising storm would vainly strive,


s: But left the helm, and let the vessel drive.


s: Which Latium held, and now the Romans hold,


s: Their standard when in fighting fields they rear


s: Against the fierce Hyrcanians, or declare


s: Or from the boasting Parthians would regain


s: Their eagles, lost in Carrhae's bloody plain.


s: Two gates of steel (the name of Mars they bear,


s: And still are worship'd with religious fear)


s: Before his temple stand: the dire abode,


s: And the fear'd issues of the furious god,


s: Are fenc'd with brazen bolts; without the gates,


s: Then, when the sacred senate votes the wars,


s: And in his robes the sounding gates unbars.


s: And the loud trumpets break the yielding skies.


s: These rites, of old by sov'reign princes us'd,


s: Were the king's office; but the king refus'd,


s: Deaf to their cries, nor would the gates unbar


s: Of sacred peace, or loose th' imprison'd war;


s: But hid his head, and, safe from loud alarms,


s: Then heav'n's imperious queen shot down from high:


s: The gates are forc'd, and ev'ry falling bar;


s: And, like a tempest, issues out the war.


s: The peaceful cities of th' Ausonian shore,


s: Lull'd in their ease, and undisturb'd before,


s: Are all on fire; and some, with studious care,


s: Their restiff steeds in sandy plains prepare;


s: Some their soft limbs in painful marches try,


s: And war is all their wish, and arms the gen'ral cry.


s: Part scour the rusty shields with seam; and part


s: New grind the blunted ax, and point the dart:


s: With joy they view the waving ensigns fly,


s: And hear the trumpet's clangor pierce the sky.


s: Five cities forge their arms: th' Atinian pow'rs,


s: Some hammer helmets for the fighting field;


s: Some twine young sallows to support the shield;


s: The croslet some, and some the cuishes mold,


s: With silver plated, and with ductile gold.


s: The rustic honors of the scythe and share


s: Give place to swords and plumes, the pride of war.


s: Old fauchions are new temper'd in the fires;


s: The sounding trumpet ev'ry soul inspires.


s: The word is giv'n; with eager speed they lace


s: The shining headpiece, and the shield embrace.


s: The neighing steeds are to the chariot tied;


s: Sing you the chiefs that sway'd th' Ausonian land,


s: Their arms, and armies under their command;


s: What warriors in our ancient clime were bred;


s: What soldiers follow'd, and what heroes led.


s: For well you know, and can record alone,


s: What fame to future times conveys but darkly down.


s: Mezentius first appear'd upon the plain:


s: Scorn sate upon his brows, and sour disdain,


s: He brings to Turnus' aid his baffled host.


s: The charming Lausus, full of youthful fire,


s: Rode in the rank, and next his sullen sire;


s: Of manly mien, and features of the face.


s: A skilful horseman, and a huntsman bred,


s: With fates averse a thousand men he led:


s: Himself well worthy of a happier throne.


s: The Latian plains, with palms and laurels crown'd.


s: Proud of his steeds, he smokes along the field;


s: His father's hydra fills his ample shield:


s: A hundred serpents hiss about the brims;


s: By his broad shoulders and gigantic limbs;


s: Of heav'nly part, and part of earthly blood,


s: The triple Geryon, drove from conquer'd Spain


s: His captive herds; and, thence in triumph led,


s: On Tuscan Tiber's flow'ry banks they fed.


s: The priestess Rhea found, and forc'd to love.


s: For arms, his men long piles and jav'lins bore;


s: And poles with pointed steel their foes in battle gore.


s: In salvage pomp; a lion's hide he wears;


s: About his shoulders hangs the shaggy skin;


s: The teeth and gaping jaws severely grin.


s: Thus, like the god his father, homely dress'd,


s: He strides into the hall, a horrid guest.


s: Then two twin brothers from fair Tibur came,


s: (Which from their brother Tiburs took the name,)


s: Fierce Coras and Catillus, void of fear:


s: Arm'd Argive horse they led, and in the front appear.


s: Like cloud-born Centaurs, from the mountain's height


s: With rapid course descending to the fight;


s: They rush along; the rattling woods give way;


s: The branches bend before their sweepy sway.


s: Nor was Praeneste's founder wanting there,


s: Found in the fire, and foster'd in the plains,


s: A shepherd and a king at once he reigns,


s: And leads to Turnus' aid his country swains.


s: With those who plow Saturnia's Gabine land;


s: Besides the succor which cold Anien yields,


s: Nor arms they wear, nor swords and bucklers wield,


s: Nor drive the chariot thro' the dusty field,


s: But whirl from leathern slings huge balls of lead,


s: And spoils of yellow wolves adorn their head;


s: The left foot naked, when they march to fight,


s: But in a bull's raw hide they sheathe the right.


s: Messapus next, (great Neptune was his sire,)


s: Secure of steel, and fated from the fire,


s: In pomp appears, and with his ardor warms


s: And those who live where Lake Ciminia springs;


s: And where Feronia's grove and temple stands,


s: All these in order march, and marching sing


s: The warlike actions of their sea-born king;


s: Like a long team of snowy swans on high,


s: Which clap their wings, and cleave the liquid sky,


s: When, homeward from their wat'ry pastures borne,


s: They sing, and Asia's lakes their notes return.


s: Not one who heard their music from afar,


s: Would think these troops an army train'd to war,


s: But flocks of fowl, that, when the tempests roar,


s: With their hoarse gabbling seek the silent shore.


s: Then Clausus came, who led a num'rous band


s: Of troops embodied from the Sabine land,


s: 'T was he, the noble Claudian race begot,


s: The Claudian race, ordain'd, in times to come,


s: To share the greatness of imperial Rome.


s: Mutuscans from their olive-bearing town,


s: And all th' Eretian pow'rs; besides a band


s: And mountaineers, that from Severus came,


s: And those where yellow Tiber takes his way,


s: Casperia sends her arms, with those that lie


s: And the cold Nursians come to close the rear,


s: Mix'd with the natives born of Latine blood,


s: Not thicker billows beat the Libyan main,


s: Nor thicker harvests on rich Hermus rise,


s: Or Lycian fields, when Phoebus burns the skies,


s: Than stand these troops: their bucklers ring around;


s: Their trampling turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground.


s: Who till the Massic soil, for wine renown'd,


s: And fierce Auruncans from their hilly ground,


s: And those who live by Sidicinian shores,


s: And where with shoaly fords Vulturnus roars,


s: Fasten'd with leathern thongs, to gall the foe.


s: Short crooked swords in closer fight they wear;


s: And on their warding arm light bucklers bear.


s: From nymph Semethis and old Telon sprung,


s: But that short isle th' ambitious youth disdain'd,


s: And o'er Campania stretch'd his ample sway,


s: Where swelling Sarnus seeks the Tyrrhene sea;


s: From her high tow'rs, the harvest of her trees.


s: And these (as was the Teuton use of old)


s: Wield brazen swords, and brazen bucklers hold;


s: Sling weighty stones, when from afar they fight;


s: Their casques are cork, a covering thick and light.


s: Next these in rank, the warlike Ufens went,


s: And led the mountain troops that Nursia sent.


s: Hunting their sport, and plund'ring was their trade.


s: In arms they plow'd, to battle still prepar'd:


s: Their soil was barren, and their hearts were hard.


s: Umbro the priest the proud Marrubians led,


s: And peaceful olives crown'd his hoary head.


s: His wand and holy words, the viper's rage,


s: And venom'd wounds of serpents could assuage.


s: He, when he pleas'd with powerful juice to steep


s: Their temples, shut their eyes in pleasing sleep.


s: But vain were Marsian herbs, and magic art,


s: To cure the wound giv'n by the Dardan dart:


s: Yet his untimely fate th' Angitian woods


s: In sighs remurmur'd to the Fucine floods.


s: Fam'd as his sire, and, as his mother, fair;


s: And nurs'd his youth along the marshy shore,


s: Where great Diana's peaceful altars flame,


s: In fruitful fields; and Virbius was his name.


s: Was by his stepdam sought to share her bed;


s: But, when no female arts his mind could move,


s: She turn'd to furious hate her impious love.


s: Another's crimes th' unhappy hunter bore,


s: Glutting his father's eyes with guiltless gore.


s: But chaste Diana, who his death deplor'd,


s: With Aesculapian herbs his life restor'd.


s: Then Jove, who saw from high, with just disdain,


s: The dead inspir'd with vital breath again,


s: Struck to the center, with his flaming dart,


s: And call'd him Virbius in th' Egerian grove,


s: Where then he liv'd obscure, but safe from Jove.


s: For this, from Trivia's temple and her wood


s: Are coursers driv'n, who shed their master's blood,


s: Affrighted by the monsters of the flood.


s: His son, the second Virbius, yet retain'd


s: His father's art, and warrior steeds he rein'd.


s: Amid the troops, and like the leading god,


s: High o'er the rest in arms the graceful Turnus rode:


s: On which with belching flames Chimaera burn'd:


s: The more the kindled combat rises high'r,


s: The more with fury burns the blazing fire.


s: With horns exalted stands, and seems to low-


s: To watch her walks, his hundred eyes applied;


s: And on the brims her sire, the wat'ry god,


s: Roll'd from a silver urn his crystal flood.


s: A cloud of foot succeeds, and fills the fields


s: With swords, and pointed spears, and clatt'ring shields;


s: And those who plow the rich Rutulian lands;


s: Auruncan youth, and those Sacrana yields,


s: And the proud Labicans, with painted shields,


s: And those who near Numician streams reside,


s: And those whom Tiber's holy forests hide,


s: Or Circe's hills from the main land divide;


s: Where Ufens glides along the lowly lands,


s: Last, from the Volscians fair Camilla came,


s: And led her warlike troops, a warrior dame;


s: Unbred to spinning, in the loom unskill'd,


s: She chose the nobler Pallas of the field.


s: Mix'd with the first, the fierce virago fought,


s: Sustain'd the toils of arms, the danger sought,


s: Outstripp'd the winds in speed upon the plain,


s: Flew o'er the fields, nor hurt the bearded grain:


s: She swept the seas, and, as she skimm'd along,


s: Her flying feet unbath'd on billows hung.


s: Men, boys, and women, stupid with surprise,


s: Where'er she passes, fix their wond'ring eyes:


s: Longing they look, and, gaping at the sight,


s: Devour her o'er and o'er with vast delight;


s: On her smooth shoulders, and so suits her face;


s: Her head with ringlets of her hair is crown'd,


s: And in a golden caul the curls are bound.


s: She shakes her myrtle jav'lin; and, behind,


s: When Turnus had assembled all his pow'rs,


s: His standard planted on Laurentum's tow'rs;


s: When now the sprightly trumpet, from afar,


s: Had giv'n the signal of approaching war,


s: Had rous'd the neighing steeds to scour the fields,


s: While the fierce riders clatter'd on their shields;


s: Trembling with rage, the Latian youth prepare


s: To join th' allies, and headlong rush to war.


s: Fierce Ufens, and Messapus, led the crowd,


s: With bold Mezentius, who blasphem'd aloud.


s: These thro' the country took their wasteful course,


s: The fields to forage, and to gather force.


s: The Grecian leader of the growing storm:


s: With banish'd gods, and with a baffled host,


s: Yet now aspir'd to conquest of the state,


s: And claim'd a title from the gods and fate;


s: What num'rous nations in his quarrel came,


s: And how they spread his formidable name.


s: What he design'd, what mischief might arise,


s: If fortune favor'd his first enterprise,


s: Was left for him to weigh, whose equal fears,


s: And common interest, was involv'd in theirs.


s: While Turnus and th' allies thus urge the war,


s: The Trojan, floating in a flood of care,


s: Beholds the tempest which his foes prepare.


s: This way and that he turns his anxious mind;


s: Thinks, and rejects the counsels he design'd;


s: Explores himself in vain, in ev'ry part,


s: And gives no rest to his distracted heart.


s: So, when the sun by day, or moon by night,


s: Strike on the polish'd brass their trembling light,


s: The glitt'ring species here and there divide,


s: And cast their dubious beams from side to side;


s: Now on the walls, now on the pavement play,


s: And to the ceiling flash the glaring day.


s: 'T was night; and weary nature lull'd asleep


s: The birds of air, and fishes of the deep,


s: And beasts, and mortal men. The Trojan chief


s: Was laid on Tiber's banks, oppress'd with grief,


s: And found in silent slumber late relief.


s: Then, thro' the shadows of the poplar wood,


s: A wreath of shady reeds adorn'd his head:


s: Thus, manifest to sight, the god appear'd,


s: And with these pleasing words his sorrow cheer'd:


s: Who thro' the foes hast borne thy banish'd gods,


s: Restor'd them to their hearths, and old abodes;


s: This is thy happy home, the clime where fate


s: Ordains thee to restore the Trojan state.


s: Fear not! The war shall end in lasting peace,


s: And that this nightly vision may not seem


s: All white herself, and white her thirty young.


s: When thirty rolling years have run their race,


s: Shall build a royal town, of lasting fame,


s: Which from this omen shall receive the name.


s: Time shall approve the truth. For what remains,


s: And how with sure success to crown thy pains,


s: With patience next attend. A banish'd band,


s: Driv'n with Evander from th' Arcadian land,


s: Have planted here, and plac'd on high their walls;


s: Their town the founder Pallanteum calls,


s: Deriv'd from Pallas, his great-grandsire's name:


s: But the fierce Latians old possession claim,


s: These make thy friends, and on their aid rely.


s: To thy free passage I submit my streams.


s: Wake, son of Venus, from thy pleasing dreams;


s: And, when the setting stars are lost in day,


s: With sacrifice the wrathful queen appease:


s: Her pride at length shall fall, her fury cease.


s: When thou return'st victorious from the war,


s: Perform thy vows to me with grateful care.


s: Around these fields, and fattens as it goes:


s: Renown'd on earth, esteem'd among the gods.


s: This is my certain seat. In times to come,


s: My waves shall wash the walls of mighty Rome."


s: He said, and plung'd below. While yet he spoke,


s: He rose, and looking up, beheld the skies


s: With purple blushing, and the day arise.


s: From Tiber's flood, and thus the pow'rs bespoke:


s: "Laurentian nymphs, by whom the streams are fed,


s: Conceals thy wat'ry stores; where'er they rise,


s: And, bubbling from below, salute the skies;


s: Thou, king of horned floods, whose plenteous urn


s: For this thy kind compassion of our woes,


s: Shalt share my morning song and ev'ning vows.


s: And firm the gracious promise thou hast made!"


s: Thus having said, two galleys from his stores,


s: With care he chooses, mans, and fits with oars.


s: Now on the shore the fatal swine is found.


s: Wondrous to tell!- She lay along the ground:


s: Her well-fed offspring at her udders hung;


s: She white herself, and white her thirty young.


s: The foll'wing night, and the succeeding day,


s: Propitious Tiber smooth'd his wat'ry way:


s: He roll'd his river back, and pois'd he stood,


s: A gentle swelling, and a peaceful flood.


s: The Trojans mount their ships; they put from shore,


s: Borne on the waves, and scarcely dip an oar.


s: Shouts from the land give omen to their course,


s: And the pitch'd vessels glide with easy force.


s: The woods and waters wonder at the gleam


s: Of shields, and painted ships that stem the stream.


s: One summer's night and one whole day they pass


s: Betwixt the greenwood shades, and cut the liquid glass.


s: The fiery sun had finish'd half his race,


s: Look'd back, and doubted in the middle space,


s: When they from far beheld the rising tow'rs,


s: The tops of sheds, and shepherds' lowly bow'rs,


s: Thin as they stood, which, then of homely clay,


s: Now rise in marble, from the Roman sway.


s: These cots (Evander's kingdom, mean and poor)


s: The Trojan saw, and turn'd his ships to shore.


s: 'T was on a solemn day: th' Arcadian states,


s: The king and prince, without the city gates,


s: Then paid their off'rings in a sacred grove


s: Thick clouds of rolling smoke involve the skies,


s: But, when they saw the ships that stemm'd the flood,


s: And glitter'd thro' the covert of the wood,


s: They rose with fear, and left th' unfinish'd feast,


s: Till dauntless Pallas reassur'd the rest


s: A jav'lin seiz'd, and singly took his way;


s: Then gain'd a rising ground, and call'd from far:


s: "Resolve me, strangers, whence, and what you are;


s: Your bus'ness here; and bring you peace or war?"


s: While thus he spoke: "The Phrygians' arms you see,


s: At first affianc'd, and at last betray'd.


s: This message bear: 'The Trojans and their chief


s: Bring holy peace, and beg the king's relief.'


s: Struck with so great a name, and all on fire,


s: The youth replies: "Whatever you require,


s: Your fame exacts. Upon our shores descend.


s: A welcome guest, and, what you wish, a friend."


s: He said, and, downward hasting to the strand,


s: Embrac'd the stranger prince, and join'd his hand.


s: The silence first, and thus the king bespoke:


s: "Best of the Greeks, to whom, by fate's command,


s: I bear these peaceful branches in my hand,


s: Your birth is Grecian, and your land my foe;


s: From Atreus tho' your ancient lineage came,


s: And both the brother kings your kindred claim;


s: Yet, my self-conscious worth, your high renown,


s: Your virtue, thro' the neighb'ring nations blown,


s: Our fathers' mingled blood, Apollo's voice,


s: Have led me hither, less by need than choice.


s: And Greeks acknowledge, from Electra sprung:


s: Atlas, whose head sustains the starry frame.


s: Was Atlas' daughter, who sustains the sky.


s: Thus from one common source our streams divide;


s: Ours is the Trojan, yours th' Areadian side.


s: Rais'd by these hopes, I sent no news before,


s: Nor ask'd your leave, nor did your faith implore;


s: But come, without a pledge, my own ambassador.


s: The same Rutulians, who with arms pursue


s: Our host expell'd, what farther force can stay


s: Then will they stretch their pow'r athwart the land,


s: And either sea from side to side command.


s: Receive our offer'd faith, and give us thine;


s: Ours is a gen'rous and experienc'd line:


s: We want not hearts nor bodies for the war;


s: In council cautious, and in fields we dare."


s: He said; and while spoke, with piercing eyes


s: Evander view'd the man with vast surprise,


s: Pleas'd with his action, ravish'd with his face:


s: Then answer'd briefly, with a royal grace:


s: In whom the features of thy father shine,


s: His motions, mien, and all my friend, in thee!


s: Long tho' it be, 't is fresh within my mind,


s: When Priam to his sister's court design'd


s: And thro' th' Arcadian kingdom took his way.


s: To shade my chin, and call me first a man.


s: I saw the shining train with vast delight,


s: And Priam's goodly person pleas'd my sight:


s: With awful wonder fir'd my youthful breast.


s: I long'd to join in friendship's holy bands


s: Our mutual hearts, and plight our mutual hands.


s: And, with a loving force, to Pheneus brought.


s: He gave me, when at length constrain'd to go,


s: And two rich bridles, with their bits of gold,


s: Which my son's coursers in obedience hold.


s: The league you ask, I offer, as your right;


s: And, when to-morrow's sun reveals the light,


s: With swift supplies you shall be sent away.


s: Honor our annual feast; and take your seat,


s: With friendly welcome, at a homely treat."


s: Thus having said, the bowls (remov'd for fear)


s: The youths replac'd, and soon restor'd the cheer.


s: On sods of turf he set the soldiers round:


s: A maple throne, rais'd higher from the ground,


s: Receiv'd the Trojan chief; and, o'er the bed,


s: A lion's shaggy hide for ornament they spread.


s: The loaves were serv'd in canisters; the wine


s: In bowls; the priest renew'd the rites divine:


s: Broil'd entrails are their food, and beef's continued chine.


s: But when the rage of hunger was repress'd,


s: "These rites, these altars, and this feast, O king,


s: From no vain fears or superstition spring,


s: Or blind devotion, or from blinder chance,


s: But, sav'd from danger, with a grateful sense,


s: See, from afar, yon rock that mates the sky,


s: About whose feet such heaps of rubbish lie;


s: How desart now it stands, expos'd in air!


s: 'T was once a robber's den, inclos'd around


s: With living stone, and deep beneath the ground.


s: The monster Cacus, more than half a beast,


s: This hold, impervious to the sun, possess'd.


s: Heads, and their mangled members, hung the door.


s: Vulcan this plague begot; and, like his sire,


s: Black clouds he belch'd, and flakes of livid fire.


s: Time, long expected, eas'd us of our load,


s: And brought the needful presence of a god.


s: Th' avenging force of Hercules, from Spain,


s: Thrice liv'd the giant, and thrice liv'd in vain.


s: His prize, the lowing herds, Alcides drove


s: Near Tiber's bank, to graze the shady grove.


s: Allur'd with hope of plunder, and intent


s: By force to rob, by fraud to circumvent,


s: The brutal Cacus, as by chance they stray'd,


s: Four oxen thence, and four fair kine convey'd;


s: And, lest the printed footsteps might be seen,


s: He dragg'd 'em backwards to his rocky den.


s: And led the searcher backward from the cave.


s: "Meantime the herdsman hero shifts his place,


s: To find fresh pasture and untrodden grass.


s: The beasts, who miss'd their mates, fill'd all around


s: With bellowings, and the rocks restor'd the sound.


s: One heifer, who had heard her love complain,


s: Roar'd from the cave, and made the project vain.


s: Alcides found the fraud; with rage he shook,


s: And toss'd about his head his knotted oak.


s: Swift as the winds, or Scythian arrows' flight,


s: He clomb, with eager haste, th' aerial height.


s: Then first we saw the monster mend his pace;


s: Fear his eyes, and paleness in his face,


s: Confess'd the god's approach. Trembling he springs,


s: As terror had increas'd his feet with wings;


s: Nor stay'd for stairs; but down the depth he threw


s: (The door, a rib of living rock; with pains


s: His father hew'd it out, and bound with iron chains):


s: He broke the heavy links, the mountain clos'd,


s: The wretch had hardly made his dungeon fast;


s: The fierce avenger came with bounding haste;


s: Survey'd the mouth of the forbidden hold,


s: And here and there his raging eyes he roll'd.


s: He gnash'd his teeth; and thrice he compass'd round


s: With winged speed the circuit of the ground.


s: Thrice at the cavern's mouth he pull'd in vain,


s: And, panting, thrice desisted from his pain.


s: A pointed flinty rock, all bare and black,


s: Grew gibbous from behind the mountain's back;


s: Owls, ravens, all ill omens of the night,


s: Here built their nests, and hither wing'd their flight.


s: The leaning head hung threat'ning o'er the flood,


s: Adverse, with planted feet, and, from the right,


s: Tugg'd at the solid stone with all his might.


s: Thus heav'd, the fix'd foundations of the rock


s: Gave way; heav'n echo'd at the rattling shock.


s: Tumbling, it chok'd the flood: on either side


s: The banks leap backward, and the streams divide;


s: The sky shrunk upward with unusual dread,


s: And trembling Tiber div'd beneath his bed.


s: The court of Cacus stands reveal'd to sight;


s: The cavern glares with new-admitted light.


s: So the pent vapors, with a rumbling sound,


s: Heave from below, and rend the hollow ground;


s: A sounding flaw succeeds; and, from on high,


s: The gods with hate beheld the nether sky:


s: And curse th' invading sun, and sicken at the sight.


s: The graceless monster, caught in open day,


s: Howls horrible from underneath, and fills


s: Plies him with darts, and stones, and distant war.


s: He, from his nostrils huge mouth, expires


s: Black clouds of smoke, amidst his father's fires,


s: Gath'ring, with each repeated blast, the night,


s: To make uncertain aim, and erring sight.


s: The wrathful god then plunges from above,


s: And, where in thickest waves the sparkles drove,


s: There lights; and wades thro' fumes, and gropes his way,


s: Half sing'd, half stifled, till he grasps his prey.


s: The monster, spewing fruitless flames, he found;


s: He squeez'd his throat; he writh'd his neck around,


s: And in a knot his crippled members bound;


s: Then from their sockets tore his burning eyes:


s: Roll'd on a heap, the breathless robber lies.


s: The doors, unbarr'd, receive the rushing day,


s: And thoro' lights disclose the ravish'd prey.


s: The bulls, redeem'd, breathe open air again.


s: Next, by the feet, they drag him from his den.


s: The wond'ring neighborhood, with glad surprise,


s: Behold his shagged breast, his giant size,


s: His mouth that flames no more, and his extinguish'd eyes.


s: From that auspicious day, with rites divine,


s: Potitius first ordain'd these annual vows:


s: As priests, were added the Pinarian house,


s: Who rais'd this altar in the sacred shade,


s: Where honors, ever due, for ever shall be paid.


s: For these deserts, and this high virtue shown,


s: Ye warlike youths, your heads with garlands crown:


s: Fill high the goblets with a sparkling flood,


s: And with deep draughts invoke our common god."


s: This said, a double wreath Evander twin'd,


s: And poplars black and white his temples bind.


s: Then brims his ample bowl. With like design


s: The rest invoke the gods, with sprinkled wine.


s: Meantime the sun descended from the skies,


s: And the bright evening star began to rise.


s: And now the priests, Potitius at their head,


s: In skins of beasts involv'd, the long procession led;


s: Held high the flaming tapers in their hands,