Book 10

1 The gates of heav'n unfold: Jove summons all
2 The gods to council in the common hall.
3 Sublimely seated, he surveys from far
4 The fields, the camp, the fortune of the war,
5 And all th' inferior world. From first to last,
6 The sov'reign senate in degrees are plac'd.

7 Then thus th' almighty sire began: "Ye gods,
8 Natives or denizens of blest abodes,
9 From whence these murmurs, and this change of mind,
10 This backward fate from what was first design'd?
11 Why this protracted war, when my commands
12 Pronounc'd a peace, and gave the Latian lands?
13 What fear or hope on either part divides
14 Our heav'ns, and arms our powers on diff'rent sides?
15 A lawful time of war at length will come,
16 (Nor need your haste anticipate the doom),
17 When Carthage shall contend the world with Rome,
18 Shall force the rigid rocks and Alpine chains,
19 And, like a flood, come pouring on the plains.
20 Then is your time for faction and debate,
21 For partial favor, and permitted hate.
22 Let now your immature dissension cease;
23 Sit quiet, and compose your souls to peace."

24 Thus Jupiter in few unfolds the charge;
25 But lovely Venus thus replies at large:
26 "O pow'r immense, eternal energy,
27 (For to what else protection can we fly?)
28 Seest thou the proud Rutulians, how they dare
29 In fields, unpunish'd, and insult my care?
30 How lofty Turnus vaunts amidst his train,
31 In shining arms, triumphant on the plain?
32 Ev'n in their lines and trenches they contend,
33 And scarce their walls the Trojan troops defend:
34 The town is fill'd with slaughter, and o'erfloats,
35 With a red deluge, their increasing moats.
36 Aeneas, ignorant, and far from thence,
37 Has left a camp expos'd, without defense.
38 This endless outrage shall they still sustain?
39 Shall Troy renew'd be forc'd and fir'd again?
40 A second siege my banish'd issue fears,
41 And a new Diomede in arms appears.
42 One more audacious mortal will be found;
43 And I, thy daughter, wait another wound.
44 Yet, if with fates averse, without thy leave,
45 The Latian lands my progeny receive,
46 Bear they the pains of violated law,
47 And thy protection from their aid withdraw.
48 But, if the gods their sure success foretell;
49 If those of heav'n consent with those of hell,
50 To promise Italy; who dare debate
51 The pow'r of Jove, or fix another fate?
52 What should I tell of tempests on the main,
53 Of Aeolus usurping Neptune's reign?
54 Of Iris sent, with Bacchanalian heat
55 T' inspire the matrons, and destroy the fleet?
56 Now Juno to the Stygian sky descends,
57 Solicits hell for aid, and arms the fiends.
58 That new example wanted yet above:
59 An act that well became the wife of Jove!
60 Alecto, rais'd by her, with rage inflames
61 The peaceful bosoms of the Latian dames.
62 Imperial sway no more exalts my mind;
63 (Such hopes I had indeed, while Heav'n was kind;)
64 Now let my happier foes possess my place,
65 Whom Jove prefers before the Trojan race;
66 And conquer they, whom you with conquest grace.
67 Since you can spare, from all your wide command,
68 No spot of earth, no hospitable land,
69 Which may my wand'ring fugitives receive;
70 (Since haughty Juno will not give you leave;)
71 Then, father, (if I still may use that name,)
72 By ruin'd Troy, yet smoking from the flame,
73 I beg you, let Ascanius, by my care,
74 Be freed from danger, and dismiss'd the war:
75 Inglorious let him live, without a crown.
76 The father may be cast on coasts unknown,
77 Struggling with fate; but let me save the son.
78 Mine is Cythera, mine the Cyprian tow'rs:
79 In those recesses, and those sacred bow'rs,
80 Obscurely let him rest; his right resign
81 To promis'd empire, and his Julian line.
82 Then Carthage may th' Ausonian towns destroy,
83 Nor fear the race of a rejected boy.
84 What profits it my son to scape the fire,
85 Arm'd with his gods, and loaded with his sire;
86 To pass the perils of the seas and wind;
87 Evade the Greeks, and leave the war behind;
88 To reach th' Italian shores; if, after all,
89 Our second Pergamus is doom'd to fall?
90 Much better had he curb'd his high desires,
91 And hover'd o'er his ill-extinguish'd fires.
92 To Simois' banks the fugitives restore,
93 And give them back to war, and all the woes before."

94 Deep indignation swell'd Saturnia's heart:
95 "And must I own," she said, "my secret smart-
96 What with more decence were in silence kept,
97 And, but for this unjust reproach, had slept?
98 Did god or man your fav'rite son advise,
99 With war unhop'd the Latians to surprise?
100 By fate, you boast, and by the gods' decree,
101 He left his native land for Italy!
102 Confess the truth; by mad Cassandra, more
103 Than Heav'n inspir'd, he sought a foreign shore!
104 Did I persuade to trust his second Troy
105 To the raw conduct of a beardless boy,
106 With walls unfinish'd, which himself forsakes,
107 And thro' the waves a wand'ring voyage takes?
108 When have I urg'd him meanly to demand
109 The Tuscan aid, and arm a quiet land?
110 Did I or Iris give this mad advice,
111 Or made the fool himself the fatal choice?
112 You think it hard, the Latians should destroy
113 With swords your Trojans, and with fires your Troy!
114 Hard and unjust indeed, for men to draw
115 Their native air, nor take a foreign law!
116 That Turnus is permitted still to live,
117 To whom his birth a god and goddess give!
118 But yet is just and lawful for your line
119 To drive their fields, and force with fraud to join;
120 Realms, not your own, among your clans divide,
121 And from the bridegroom tear the promis'd bride;
122 Petition, while you public arms prepare;
123 Pretend a peace, and yet provoke a war!
124 'T was giv'n to you, your darling son to shroud,
125 To draw the dastard from the fighting crowd,
126 And, for a man, obtend an empty cloud.
127 From flaming fleets you turn'd the fire away,
128 And chang'd the ships to daughters of the sea.
129 But is my crime- the Queen of Heav'n offends,
130 If she presume to save her suff'ring friends!
131 Your son, not knowing what his foes decree,
132 You say, is absent: absent let him be.
133 Yours is Cythera, yours the Cyprian tow'rs,
134 The soft recesses, and the sacred bow'rs.
135 Why do you then these needless arms prepare,
136 And thus provoke a people prone to war?
137 Did I with fire the Trojan town deface,
138 Or hinder from return your exil'd race?
139 Was I the cause of mischief, or the man
140 Whose lawless lust the fatal war began?
141 Think on whose faith th' adult'rous youth relied;
142 Who promis'd, who procur'd, the Spartan bride?
143 When all th' united states of Greece combin'd,
144 To purge the world of the perfidious kind,
145 Then was your time to fear the Trojan fate:
146 Your quarrels and complaints are now too late."

147 Thus Juno. Murmurs rise, with mix'd applause,
148 Just as they favor or dislike the cause.
149 So winds, when yet unfledg'd in woods they lie,
150 In whispers first their tender voices try,
151 Then issue on the main with bellowing rage,
152 And storms to trembling mariners presage.

153 Then thus to both replied th' imperial god,
154 Who shakes heav'n's axles with his awful nod.
155 (When he begins, the silent senate stand
156 With rev'rence, list'ning to the dread command:
157 The clouds dispel; the winds their breath restrain;
158 And the hush'd waves lie flatted on the main.)
159 "Celestials, your attentive ears incline!
160 Since," said the god, "the Trojans must not join
161 In wish'd alliance with the Latian line;
162 Since endless jarrings and immortal hate
163 Tend but to discompose our happy state;
164 The war henceforward be resign'd to fate:
165 Each to his proper fortune stand or fall;
166 Equal and unconcern'd I look on all.
167 Rutulians, Trojans, are the same to me;
168 And both shall draw the lots their fates decree.
169 Let these assault, if Fortune be their friend;
170 And, if she favors those, let those defend:
171 The Fates will find their way." The Thund'rer said,
172 And shook the sacred honors of his head,
173 Attesting Styx, th' inviolable flood,
174 And the black regions of his brother god.
175 Trembled the poles of heav'n, and earth confess'd the nod.
176 This end the sessions had: the senate rise,
177 And to his palace wait their sov'reign thro' the skies.

178 Meantime, intent upon their siege, the foes
179 Within their walls the Trojan host inclose:
180 They wound, they kill, they watch at ev'ry gate;
181 Renew the fires, and urge their happy fate.

182 Th' Aeneans wish in vain their wanted chief,
183 Hopeless of flight, more hopeless of relief.
184 Thin on the tow'rs they stand; and ev'n those few
185 A feeble, fainting, and dejected crew.
186 Yet in the face of danger some there stood:
187 The two bold brothers of Sarpedon's blood,
188 Asius and Acmon; both th' Assaraci;
189 Young Haemon, and tho' young, resolv'd to die.
190 With these were Clarus and Thymoetes join'd;
191 Tibris and Castor, both of Lycian kind.
192 From Acmon's hands a rolling stone there came,
193 So large, it half deserv'd a mountain's name:
194 Strong-sinew'd was the youth, and big of bone;
195 His brother Mnestheus could not more have done,
196 Or the great father of th' intrepid son.
197 Some firebrands throw, some flights of arrows send;
198 And some with darts, and some with stones defend.

199 Amid the press appears the beauteous boy,
200 The care of Venus, and the hope of Troy.
201 His lovely face unarm'd, his head was bare;
202 In ringlets o'er his shoulders hung his hair.
203 His forehead circled with a diadem;
204 Distinguish'd from the crowd, he shines a gem,
205 Enchas'd in gold, or polish'd iv'ry set,
206 Amidst the meaner foil of sable jet.

207 Nor Ismarus was wanting to the war,
208 Directing pointed arrows from afar,
209 And death with poison arm'd- in Lydia born,
210 Where plenteous harvests the fat fields adorn;
211 Where proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands,
212 And leaves a rich manure of golden sands.
213 There Capys, author of the Capuan name,
214 And there was Mnestheus too, increas'd in fame,
215 Since Turnus from the camp he cast with shame.

216 Thus mortal war was wag'd on either side.
217 Meantime the hero cuts the nightly tide:
218 For, anxious, from Evander when he went,
219 He sought the Tyrrhene camp, and Tarchon's tent;
220 Expos'd the cause of coming to the chief;
221 His name and country told, and ask'd relief;
222 Propos'd the terms; his own small strength declar'd;
223 What vengeance proud Mezentius had prepar'd:
224 What Turnus, bold and violent, design'd;
225 Then shew'd the slipp'ry state of humankind,
226 And fickle fortune; warn'd him to beware,
227 And to his wholesome counsel added pray'r.
228 Tarchon, without delay, the treaty signs,
229 And to the Trojan troops the Tuscan joins.

230 They soon set sail; nor now the fates withstand;
231 Their forces trusted with a foreign hand.
232 Aeneas leads; upon his stern appear
233 Two lions carv'd, which rising Ida bear-
234 Ida, to wand'ring Trojans ever dear.
235 Under their grateful shade Aeneas sate,
236 Revolving war's events, and various fate.
237 His left young Pallas kept, fix'd to his side,
238 And oft of winds enquir'd, and of the tide;
239 Oft of the stars, and of their wat'ry way;
240 And what he suffer'd both by land and sea.

241 Now, sacred sisters, open all your spring!
242 The Tuscan leaders, and their army sing,
243 Which follow'd great Aeneas to the war:
244 Their arms, their numbers, and their names declare.

245 A thousand youths brave Massicus obey,
246 Borne in the Tiger thro' the foaming sea;
247 From Asium brought, and Cosa, by his care:
248 For arms, light quivers, bows and shafts, they bear.
249 Fierce Abas next: his men bright armor wore;
250 His stern Apollo's golden statue bore.
251 Six hundred Populonia sent along,
252 All skill'd in martial exercise, and strong.
253 Three hundred more for battle Ilva joins,
254 An isle renown'd for steel, and unexhausted mines.
255 Asylas on his prow the third appears,
256 Who heav'n interprets, and the wand'ring stars;
257 From offer'd entrails prodigies expounds,
258 And peals of thunder, with presaging sounds.
259 A thousand spears in warlike order stand,
260 Sent by the Pisans under his command.

261 Fair Astur follows in the wat'ry field,
262 Proud of his manag'd horse and painted shield.
263 Gravisca, noisome from the neighb'ring fen,
264 And his own Caere, sent three hundred men;
265 With those which Minio's fields and Pyrgi gave,
266 All bred in arms, unanimous, and brave.

267 Thou, Muse, the name of Cinyras renew,
268 And brave Cupavo follow'd but by few;
269 Whose helm confess'd the lineage of the man,
270 And bore, with wings display'd, a silver swan.
271 Love was the fault of his fam'd ancestry,
272 Whose forms and fortunes in his ensigns fly.
273 For Cycnus lov'd unhappy Phaeton,
274 And sung his loss in poplar groves, alone,
275 Beneath the sister shades, to soothe his grief.
276 Heav'n heard his song, and hasten'd his relief,
277 And chang'd to snowy plumes his hoary hair,
278 And wing'd his flight, to chant aloft in air.
279 His son Cupavo brush'd the briny flood:
280 Upon his stern a brawny Centaur stood,
281 Who heav'd a rock, and, threat'ning still to throw,
282 With lifted hands alarm'd the seas below:
283 They seem'd to fear the formidable sight,
284 And roll'd their billows on, to speed his flight.

285 Ocnus was next, who led his native train
286 Of hardy warriors thro' the wat'ry plain:
287 The son of Manto by the Tuscan stream,
288 From whence the Mantuan town derives the name-
289 An ancient city, but of mix'd descent:
290 Three sev'ral tribes compose the government;
291 Four towns are under each; but all obey
292 The Mantuan laws, and own the Tuscan sway.

293 Hate to Mezentius arm'd five hundred more,
294 Whom Mincius from his sire Benacus bore:
295 Mincius, with wreaths of reeds his forehead cover'd o'er.
296 These grave Auletes leads: a hundred sweep
297 With stretching oars at once the glassy deep.
298 Him and his martial train the Triton bears;
299 High on his poop the sea-green god appears:
300 Frowning he seems his crooked shell to sound,
301 And at the blast the billows dance around.
302 A hairy man above the waist he shows;
303 A porpoise tail beneath his belly grows;
304 And ends a fish: his breast the waves divides,
305 And froth and foam augment the murm'ring tides.

306 Full thirty ships transport the chosen train
307 For Troy's relief, and scour the briny main.

308 Now was the world forsaken by the sun,
309 And Phoebe half her nightly race had run.
310 The careful chief, who never clos'd his eyes,
311 Himself the rudder holds, the sails supplies.
312 A choir of Nereids meet him on the flood,
313 Once his own galleys, hewn from Ida's wood;
314 But now, as many nymphs, the sea they sweep,
315 As rode, before, tall vessels on the deep.
316 They know him from afar; and in a ring
317 Inclose the ship that bore the Trojan king.
318 Cymodoce, whose voice excell'd the rest,
319 Above the waves advanc'd her snowy breast;
320 Her right hand stops the stern; her left divides
321 The curling ocean, and corrects the tides.
322 She spoke for all the choir, and thus began
323 With pleasing words to warn th' unknowing man:
324 "Sleeps our lov'd lord? O goddess-born, awake!
325 Spread ev'ry sail, pursue your wat'ry track,
326 And haste your course. Your navy once were we,
327 From Ida's height descending to the sea;
328 Till Turnus, as at anchor fix'd we stood,
329 Presum'd to violate our holy wood.
330 Then, loos'd from shore, we fled his fires profane
331 (Unwillingly we broke our master's chain),
332 And since have sought you thro' the Tuscan main.
333 The mighty Mother chang'd our forms to these,
334 And gave us life immortal in the seas.
335 But young Ascanius, in his camp distress'd,
336 By your insulting foes is hardly press'd.
337 Th' Arcadian horsemen, and Etrurian host,
338 Advance in order on the Latian coast:
339 To cut their way the Daunian chief designs,
340 Before their troops can reach the Trojan lines.
341 Thou, when the rosy morn restores the light,
342 First arm thy soldiers for th' ensuing fight:
343 Thyself the fated sword of Vulcan wield,
344 And bear aloft th' impenetrable shield.
345 To-morrow's sun, unless my skill be vain,
346 Shall see huge heaps of foes in battle slain."
347 Parting, she spoke; and with immortal force
348 Push'd on the vessel in her wat'ry course;
349 For well she knew the way. Impell'd behind,
350 The ship flew forward, and outstripp'd the wind.
351 The rest make up. Unknowing of the cause,
352 The chief admires their speed, and happy omens draws.

353 Then thus he pray'd, and fix'd on heav'n his eyes:
354 "Hear thou, great Mother of the deities.
355 With turrets crown'd! (on Ida's holy hill
356 Fierce tigers, rein'd and curb'd, obey thy will.)
357 Firm thy own omens; lead us on to fight;
358 And let thy Phrygians conquer in thy right."

359 He said no more. And now renewing day
360 Had chas'd the shadows of the night away.
361 He charg'd the soldiers, with preventing care,
362 Their flags to follow, and their arms prepare;
363 Warn'd of th' ensuing fight, and bade 'em hope the war.
364 Now, his lofty poop, he view'd below
365 His camp incompass'd, and th' inclosing foe.
366 His blazing shield, imbrac'd, he held on high;
367 The camp receive the sign, and with loud shouts reply.
368 Hope arms their courage: from their tow'rs they throw
369 Their darts with double force, and drive the foe.
370 Thus, at the signal giv'n, the cranes arise
371 Before the stormy south, and blacken all the skies.

372 King Turnus wonder'd at the fight renew'd,
373 Till, looking back, the Trojan fleet he view'd,
374 The seas with swelling canvas cover'd o'er,
375 And the swift ships descending on the shore.
376 The Latians saw from far, with dazzled eyes,
377 The radiant crest that seem'd in flames to rise,
378 And dart diffusive fires around the field,
379 And the keen glitt'ring the golden shield.
380 Thus threat'ning comets, when by night they rise,
381 Shoot sanguine streams, and sadden all the skies:
382 So Sirius, flashing forth sinister lights,
383 Pale humankind with plagues and with dry famine fright:

384 Yet Turnus with undaunted mind is bent
385 To man the shores, and hinder their descent,
386 And thus awakes the courage of his friends:
387 "What you so long have wish'd, kind Fortune sends;
388 In ardent arms to meet th' invading foe:
389 You find, and find him at advantage now.
390 Yours is the day: you need but only dare;
391 Your swords will make you masters of the war.
392 Your sires, your sons, your houses, and your lands,
393 And dearest wifes, are all within your hands.
394 Be mindful of the race from whence you came,
395 And emulate in arms your fathers' fame.
396 Now take the time, while stagg'ring yet they stand
397 With feet unfirm, and prepossess the strand:
398 Fortune befriends the bold." Nor more he said,
399 But balanc'd whom to leave, and whom to lead;
400 Then these elects, the landing to prevent;
401 And those he leaves, to keep the city pent.

402 Meantime the Trojan sends his troops ashore:
403 Some are by boats expos'd, by bridges more.
404 With lab'ring oars they bear along the strand,
405 Where the tide languishes, and leap aland.
406 Tarchon observes the coast with careful eyes,
407 And, where no ford he finds, no water fries,
408 Nor billows with unequal murmurs roar,
409 But smoothly slide along, and swell the shore,
410 That course he steer'd, and thus he gave command:
411 "Here ply your oars, and at all hazard land:
412 Force on the vessel, that her keel may wound
413 This hated soil, and furrow hostile ground.
414 Let me securely land- I ask no more;
415 Then sink my ships, or shatter on the shore."

416 This fiery speech inflames his fearful friends:
417 They tug at ev'ry oar, and ev'ry stretcher bends;
418 They run their ships aground; the vessels knock,
419 (Thus forc'd ashore,) and tremble with the shock.
420 Tarchon's alone was lost, that stranded stood,
421 Stuck on a bank, and beaten by the flood:
422 She breaks her back; the loosen'd sides give way,
423 And plunge the Tuscan soldiers in the sea.
424 Their broken oars and floating planks withstand
425 Their passage, while they labor to the land,
426 And ebbing tides bear back upon th' uncertain sand.

427 Now Turnus leads his troops without delay,
428 Advancing to the margin of the sea.
429 The trumpets sound: Aeneas first assail'd
430 The clowns new-rais'd and raw, and soon prevail'd.
431 Great Theron fell, an omen of the fight;
432 Great Theron, large of limbs, of giant height.
433 He first in open field defied the prince:
434 But armor scal'd with gold was no defense
435 Against the fated sword, which open'd wide
436 His plated shield, and pierc'd his naked side.
437 Next, Lichas fell, who, not like others born,
438 Was from his wretched mother ripp'd and torn;
439 Sacred, O Phoebus, from his birth to thee;
440 For his beginning life from biting steel was free.
441 Not far from him was Gyas laid along,
442 Of monstrous bulk; with Cisseus fierce and strong:
443 Vain bulk and strength! for, when the chief assail'd,
444 Nor valor nor Herculean arms avail'd,
445 Nor their fam'd father, wont in war to go
446 With great Alcides, while he toil'd below.
447 The noisy Pharos next receiv'd his death:
448 Aeneas writh'd his dart, and stopp'd his bawling breath.
449 Then wretched Cydon had receiv'd his doom,
450 Who courted Clytius in his beardless bloom,
451 And sought with lust obscene polluted joys:
452 The Trojan sword had curd his love of boys,
453 Had not his sev'n bold brethren stopp'd the course
454 Of the fierce champions, with united force.
455 Sev'n darts were thrown at once; and some rebound
456 From his bright shield, some on his helmet sound:
457 The rest had reach'd him; but his mother's care
458 Prevented those, and turn'd aside in air.

459 The prince then call'd Achates, to supply
460 The spears that knew the way to victory-
461 "Those fatal weapons, which, inur'd to blood,
462 In Grecian bodies under Ilium stood:
463 Not one of those my hand shall toss in vain
464 Against our foes, on this contended plain."
465 He said; then seiz'd a mighty spear, and threw;
466 Which, wing'd with fate, thro' Maeon's buckler flew,
467 Pierc'd all the brazen plates, and reach'd his heart:
468 He stagger'd with intolerable smart.
469 Alcanor saw; and reach'd, but reach'd in vain,
470 His helping hand, his brother to sustain.
471 A second spear, which kept the former course,
472 From the same hand, and sent with equal force,
473 His right arm pierc'd, and holding on, bereft
474 His use of both, and pinion'd down his left.
475 Then Numitor from his dead brother drew
476 Th' ill-omen'd spear, and at the Trojan threw:
477 Preventing fate directs the lance awry,
478 Which, glancing, only mark'd Achates' thigh.

479 In pride of youth the Sabine Clausus came,
480 And, from afar, at Dryops took his aim.
481 The spear flew hissing thro' the middle space,
482 And pierc'd his throat, directed at his face;
483 It stopp'd at once the passage of his wind,
484 And the free soul to flitting air resign'd:
485 His forehead was the first that struck the ground;
486 Lifeblood and life rush'd mingled thro' the wound.
487 He slew three brothers of the Borean race,
488 And three, whom Ismarus, their native place,
489 Had sent to war, but all the sons of Thrace.
490 Halesus, next, the bold Aurunci leads:
491 The son of Neptune to his aid succeeds,
492 Conspicuous on his horse. On either hand,
493 These fight to keep, and those to win, the land.
494 With mutual blood th' Ausonian soil is dyed,
495 While on its borders each their claim decide.
496 As wintry winds, contending in the sky,
497 With equal force of lungs their titles try:
498 They rage, they roar; the doubtful rack of heav'n
499 Stands without motion, and the tide undriv'n:
500 Each bent to conquer, neither side to yield,
501 They long suspend the fortune of the field.
502 Both armies thus perform what courage can;
503 Foot set to foot, and mingled man to man.

504 But, in another part, th' Arcadian horse
505 With ill success ingage the Latin force:
506 For, where th' impetuous torrent, rushing down,
507 Huge craggy stones and rooted trees had thrown,
508 They left their coursers, and, unus'd to fight
509 On foot, were scatter'd in a shameful flight.
510 Pallas, who with disdain and grief had view'd
511 His foes pursuing, and his friends pursued,
512 Us'd threat'nings mix'd with pray'rs, his last resource,
513 With these to move their minds, with those to fire their force
514 "Which way, companions? whether would you run?
515 By you yourselves, and mighty battles won,
516 By my great sire, by his establish'd name,
517 And early promise of my future fame;
518 By my youth, emulous of equal right
519 To share his honors- shun ignoble flight!
520 Trust not your feet: your hands must hew way
521 Thro' yon black body, and that thick array:
522 'T is thro' that forward path that we must come;
523 There lies our way, and that our passage home.
524 Nor pow'rs above, nor destinies below
525 Oppress our arms: with equal strength we go,
526 With mortal hands to meet a mortal foe.
527 See on what foot we stand: a scanty shore,
528 The sea behind, our enemies before;
529 No passage left, unless we swim the main;
530 Or, forcing these, the Trojan trenches gain."
531 This said, he strode with eager haste along,
532 And bore amidst the thickest of the throng.
533 Lagus, the first he met, with fate to foe,
534 Had heav'd a stone of mighty weight, to throw:
535 Stooping, the spear descended on his chine,
536 Just where the bone distinguished either loin:
537 It stuck so fast, so deeply buried lay,
538 That scarce the victor forc'd the steel away.
539 Hisbon came on: but, while he mov'd too slow
540 To wish'd revenge, the prince prevents his blow;
541 For, warding his at once, at once he press'd,
542 And plung'd the fatal weapon in his breast.
543 Then lewd Anchemolus he laid in dust,
544 Who stain'd his stepdam's bed with impious lust.
545 And, after him, the Daucian twins were slain,
546 Laris and Thymbrus, on the Latian plain;
547 So wondrous like in feature, shape, and size,
548 As caus'd an error in their parents' eyes-
549 Grateful mistake! but soon the sword decides
550 The nice distinction, and their fate divides:
551 For Thymbrus' head was lopp'd; and Laris' hand,
552 Dismember'd, sought its owner on the strand:
553 The trembling fingers yet the fauchion strain,
554 And threaten still th' intended stroke in vain.

555 Now, to renew the charge, th' Arcadians came:
556 Sight of such acts, and sense of honest shame,
557 And grief, with anger mix'd, their minds inflame.
558 Then, with a casual blow was Rhoeteus slain,
559 Who chanc'd, as Pallas threw, to cross the plain:
560 The flying spear was after Ilus sent;
561 But Rhoeteus happen'd on a death unmeant:
562 From Teuthras and from Tyres while he fled,
563 The lance, athwart his body, laid him dead:
564 Roll'd from his chariot with a mortal wound,
565 And intercepted fate, he spurn'd the ground.
566 As when, in summer, welcome winds arise,
567 The watchful shepherd to the forest flies,
568 And fires the midmost plants; contagion spreads,
569 And catching flames infect the neighb'ring heads;
570 Around the forest flies the furious blast,
571 And all the leafy nation sinks at last,
572 And Vulcan rides in triumph o'er the waste;
573 The pastor, pleas'd with his dire victory,
574 Beholds the satiate flames in sheets ascend the sky:
575 So Pallas' troops their scatter'd strength unite,
576 And, pouring on their foes, their prince delight.

577 Halesus came, fierce with desire of blood;
578 But first collected in his arms he stood:
579 Advancing then, he plied the spear so well,
580 Ladon, Demodocus, and Pheres fell.
581 Around his head he toss'd his glitt'ring brand,
582 And from Strymonius hew'd his better hand,
583 Held up to guard his throat; then hurl'd a stone
584 At Thoas' ample front, and pierc'd the bone:
585 It struck beneath the space of either eye;
586 And blood, and mingled brains, together fly.
587 Deep skill'd in future fates, Halesus' sire
588 Did with the youth to lonely groves retire:
589 But, when the father's mortal race was run,
590 Dire destiny laid hold upon the son,
591 And haul'd him to the war, to find, beneath
592 Th' Evandrian spear, a memorable death.
593 Pallas th' encounter seeks, but, ere he throws,
594 To Tuscan Tiber thus address'd his vows:
595 "O sacred stream, direct my flying dart,
596 And give to pass the proud Halesus' heart!
597 His arms and spoils thy holy oak shall bear."
598 Pleas'd with the bribe, the god receiv'd his pray'r:
599 For, while his shield protects a friend distress'd,
600 The dart came driving on, and pierc'd his breast.

601 But Lausus, no small portion of the war,
602 Permits not panic fear to reign too far,
603 Caus'd by the death of so renown'd a knight;
604 But by his own example cheers the fight.
605 Fierce Abas first he slew; Abas, the stay
606 Of Trojan hopes, and hindrance of the day.
607 The Phrygian troops escap'd the Greeks in vain:
608 They, and their mix'd allies, now load the plain.
609 To the rude shock of war both armies came;
610 Their leaders equal, and their strength the same.
611 The rear so press'd the front, they could not wield
612 Their angry weapons, to dispute the field.
613 Here Pallas urges on, and Lausus there:
614 Of equal youth and beauty both appear,
615 But both by fate forbid to breathe their native air.
616 Their congress in the field great Jove withstands:
617 Both doom'd to fall, but fall by greater hands.

618 Meantime Juturna warns the Daunian chief
619 Of Lausus' danger, urging swift relief.
620 With his driv'n chariot he divides the crowd,
621 And, making to his friends, thus calls aloud:
622 "Let none presume his needless aid to join;
623 Retire, and clear the field; the fight is mine:
624 To this right hand is Pallas only due;
625 O were his father here, my just revenge to view!"
626 From the forbidden space his men retir'd.
627 Pallas their awe, and his stern words, admir'd;
628 Survey'd him o'er and o'er with wond'ring sight,
629 Struck with his haughty mien, and tow'ring height.
630 Then to the king: "Your empty vaunts forbear;
631 Success I hope, and fate I cannot fear;
632 Alive or dead, I shall deserve a name;
633 Jove is impartial, and to both the same."
634 He said, and to the void advanc'd his pace:
635 Pale horror sate on each Arcadian face.
636 Then Turnus, from his chariot leaping light,
637 Address'd himself on foot to single fight.
638 And, as a lion- when he spies from far
639 A bull that seems to meditate the war,
640 Bending his neck, and spurning back the sand-
641 Runs roaring downward from his hilly stand:
642 Imagine eager Turnus not more slow,
643 To rush from high on his unequal foe.

644 Young Pallas, when he saw the chief advance
645 Within due distance of his flying lance,
646 Prepares to charge him first, resolv'd to try
647 If fortune would his want of force supply;
648 And thus to Heav'n and Hercules address'd:
649 "Alcides, once on earth Evander's guest,
650 His son adjures you by those holy rites,
651 That hospitable board, those genial nights;
652 Assist my great attempt to gain this prize,
653 And let proud Turnus view, with dying eyes,
654 His ravish'd spoils." 'T was heard, the vain request;
655 Alcides mourn'd, and stifled sighs within his breast.
656 Then Jove, to soothe his sorrow, thus began:
657 "Short bounds of life are set to mortal man.
658 'T is virtue's work alone to stretch the narrow span.
659 So many sons of gods, in bloody fight,
660 Around the walls of Troy, have lost the light:
661 My own Sarpedon fell beneath his foe;
662 Nor I, his mighty sire, could ward the blow.
663 Ev'n Turnus shortly shall resign his breath,
664 And stands already on the verge of death."
665 This said, the god permits the fatal fight,
666 But from the Latian fields averts his sight.

667 Now with full force his spear young Pallas threw,
668 And, having thrown, his shining fauchion drew
669 The steel just graz'd along the shoulder joint,
670 And mark'd it slightly with the glancing point,
671 Fierce Turnus first to nearer distance drew,
672 And pois'd his pointed spear, before he threw:
673 Then, as the winged weapon whizz'd along,
674 "See now," said he, "whose arm is better strung."
675 The spear kept on the fatal course, unstay'd
676 By plates of ir'n, which o'er the shield were laid:
677 Thro' folded brass and tough bull hides it pass'd,
678 His corslet pierc'd, and reach'd his heart at last.
679 In vain the youth tugs at the broken wood;
680 The soul comes issuing with the vital blood:
681 He falls; his arms upon his body sound;
682 And with his bloody teeth he bites the ground.

683 Turnus bestrode the corpse: "Arcadians, hear,"
684 Said he; "my message to your master bear:
685 Such as the sire deserv'd, the son I send;
686 It costs him dear to be the Phrygians' friend.
687 The lifeless body, tell him, I bestow,
688 Unask'd, to rest his wand'ring ghost below."
689 He said, and trampled down with all the force
690 Of his left foot, and spurn'd the wretched corse;
691 Then snatch'd the shining belt, with gold inlaid;
692 The belt Eurytion's artful hands had made,
693 Where fifty fatal brides, express'd to sight,
694 All in the compass of one mournful night,
695 Depriv'd their bridegrooms of returning light.

696 In an ill hour insulting Turnus tore
697 Those golden spoils, and in a worse he wore.
698 O mortals, blind in fate, who never know
699 To bear high fortune, or endure the low!
700 The time shall come, when Turnus, but in vain,
701 Shall wish untouch'd the trophies of the slain;
702 Shall wish the fatal belt were far away,
703 And curse the dire remembrance of the day.

704 The sad Arcadians, from th' unhappy field,
705 Bear back the breathless body on a shield.
706 O grace and grief of war! at once restor'd,
707 With praises, to thy sire, at once deplor'd!
708 One day first sent thee to the fighting field,
709 Beheld whole heaps of foes in battle kill'd;
710 One day beheld thee dead, and borne upon thy shield.
711 This dismal news, not from uncertain fame,
712 But sad spectators, to the hero came:
713 His friends upon the brink of ruin stand,
714 Unless reliev'd by his victorious hand.
715 He whirls his sword around, without delay,
716 And hews thro' adverse foes an ample way,
717 To find fierce Turnus, of his conquest proud:
718 Evander, Pallas, all that friendship ow'd
719 To large deserts, are present to his eyes;
720 His plighted hand, and hospitable ties.

721 Four sons of Sulmo, four whom Ufens bred,
722 He took in fight, and living victims led,
723 To please the ghost of Pallas, and expire,
724 In sacrifice, before his fun'ral fire.
725 At Magus next he threw: he stoop'd below
726 The flying spear, and shunn'd the promis'd blow;
727 Then, creeping, clasp'd the hero's knees, and pray'd:
728 "By young Iulus, by thy father's shade,
729 O spare my life, and send me back to see
730 My longing sire, and tender progeny!
731 A lofty house I have, and wealth untold,
732 In silver ingots, and in bars of gold:
733 All these, and sums besides, which see no day,
734 The ransom of this one poor life shall pay.
735 If I survive, will Troy the less prevail?
736 A single soul's too light to turn the scale."
737 He said. The hero sternly thus replied:
738 "Thy bars and ingots, and the sums beside,
739 Leave for thy children's lot. Thy Turnus broke
740 All rules of war by one relentless stroke,
741 When Pallas fell: so deems, nor deems alone
742 My father's shadow, but my living son."
743 Thus having said, of kind remorse bereft,
744 He seiz'd his helm, and dragg'd him with his left;
745 Then with his right hand, while his neck he wreath'd,
746 Up to the hilts his shining fauchion sheath'd.

747 Apollo's priest, Emonides, was near;
748 His holy fillets on his front appear;
749 Glitt'ring in arms, he shone amidst the crowd;
750 Much of his god, more of his purple, proud.
751 Him the fierce Trojan follow'd thro' the field:
752 The holy coward fell; and, forc'd to yield,
753 The prince stood o'er the priest, and, at one blow,
754 Sent him an off'ring to the shades below.
755 His arms Seresthus on his shoulders bears,
756 Design'd a trophy to the God of Wars.

757 Vulcanian Caeculus renews the fight,
758 And Umbro, born upon the mountains' height.
759 The champion cheers his troops t' encounter those,
760 And seeks revenge himself on other foes.
761 At Anxur's shield he drove; and, at the blow,
762 Both shield and arm to ground together go.
763 Anxur had boasted much of magic charms,
764 And thought he wore impenetrable arms,
765 So made by mutter'd spells; and, from the spheres,
766 Had life secur'd, in vain, for length of years.
767 Then Tarquitus the field triumph trod;
768 A nymph his mother, his sire a god.
769 Exulting in bright arms, he braves the prince:
770 With his protended lance he makes defense;
771 Bears back his feeble foe; then, pressing on,
772 Arrests his better hand, and drags him down;
773 Stands o'er the prostrate wretch, and, as he lay,
774 Vain tales inventing, and prepar'd to pray,
775 Mows off his head: the trunk a moment stood,
776 Then sunk, and roll'd along the sand in blood.
777 The vengeful victor thus upbraids the slain:
778 "Lie there, proud man, unpitied, on the plain;
779 Lie there, inglorious, and without a tomb,
780 Far from thy mother and thy native home,
781 Exposed to savage beasts, and birds of prey,
782 Or thrown for food to monsters of the sea."

783 On Lycas and Antaeus next he ran,
784 Two chiefs of Turnus, and who led his van.
785 They fled for fear; with these, he chas'd along
786 Camers the yellow-lock'd, and Numa strong;
787 Both great in arms, and both were fair and young.
788 Camers was son to Volscens lately slain,
789 In wealth surpassing all the Latian train,
790 And in Amycla fix'd his silent easy reign.
791 And, as Aegaeon, when with heav'n he strove,
792 Stood opposite in arms to mighty Jove;
793 Mov'd all his hundred hands, provok'd the war,
794 Defied the forky lightning from afar;
795 At fifty mouths his flaming breath expires,
796 And flash for flash returns, and fires for fires;
797 In his right hand as many swords he wields,
798 And takes the thunder on as many shields:
799 With strength like his, the Trojan hero stood;
800 And soon the fields with falling corps were strow'd,
801 When once his fauchion found the taste of blood.
802 With fury scarce to be conceiv'd, he flew
803 Against Niphaeus, whom four coursers drew.
804 They, when they see the fiery chief advance,
805 And pushing at their chests his pointed lance,
806 Wheel'd with so swift a motion, mad with fear,
807 They threw their master headlong from the chair.
808 They stare, they start, nor stop their course, before
809 They bear the bounding chariot to the shore.

810 Now Lucagus and Liger scour the plains,
811 With two white steeds; but Liger holds the reins,
812 And Lucagus the lofty seat maintains:
813 Bold brethren both. The former wav'd in air
814 His flaming sword: Aeneas couch'd his spear,
815 Unus'd to threats, and more unus'd to fear.
816 Then Liger thus: "Thy confidence is vain
817 To scape from hence, as from the Trojan plain:
818 Nor these the steeds which Diomede bestrode,
819 Nor this the chariot where Achilles rode;
820 Nor Venus' veil is here, near Neptune's shield;
821 Thy fatal hour is come, and this the field."
822 Thus Liger vainly vaunts: the Trojan
823 Return'd his answer with his flying spear.
824 As Lucagus, to lash his horses, bends,
825 Prone to the wheels, and his left foot protends,
826 Prepar'd for fight; the fatal dart arrives,
827 And thro' the borders of his buckler drives;
828 Pass'd thro' and pierc'd his groin: the deadly wound,
829 Cast from his chariot, roll'd him on the ground.
830 Whom thus the chief upbraids with scornful spite:
831 "Blame not the slowness of your steeds in flight;
832 Vain shadows did not force their swift retreat;
833 But you yourself forsake your empty seat."
834 He said, and seiz'd at once the loosen'd rein;
835 For Liger lay already on the plain,
836 By the same shock: then, stretching out his hands,
837 The recreant thus his wretched life demands:
838 "Now, by thyself, O more than mortal man!
839 By her and him from whom thy breath began,
840 Who form'd thee thus divine, I beg thee, spare
841 This forfeit life, and hear thy suppliant's pray'r."
842 Thus much he spoke, and more he would have said;
843 But the stern hero turn'd aside his head,
844 And cut him short: "I hear another man;
845 You talk'd not thus before the fight began.
846 Now take your turn; and, as a brother should,
847 Attend your brother to the Stygian flood."
848 Then thro' his breast his fatal sword he sent,
849 And the soul issued at the gaping vent.

850 As storms the skies, and torrents tear the ground,
851 Thus rag'd the prince, and scatter'd deaths around.
852 At length Ascanius and the Trojan train
853 Broke from the camp, so long besieg'd in vain.

854 Meantime the King of Gods and Mortal Man
855 Held conference with his queen, and thus began:
856 "My sister goddess, and well-pleasing wife,
857 Still think you Venus' aid supports the strife-
858 Sustains her Trojans- or themselves, alone,
859 With inborn valor force their fortune on?
860 How fierce in fight, with courage undecay'd!
861 Judge if such warriors want immortal aid."
862 To whom the goddess with the charming eyes,
863 Soft in her tone, submissively replies:
864 "Why, O my sov'reign lord, whose frown I fear,
865 And cannot, unconcern'd, your anger bear;
866 Why urge you thus my grief? when, if I still
867 (As once I was) were mistress of your will,
868 From your almighty pow'r your pleasing wife
869 Might gain the grace of length'ning Turnus' life,
870 Securely snatch him from the fatal fight,
871 And give him to his aged father's sight.
872 Now let him perish, since you hold it good,
873 And glut the Trojans with his pious blood.
874 Yet from our lineage he derives his name,
875 And, in the fourth degree, from god Pilumnus came;
876 Yet he devoutly pays you rites divine,
877 And offers daily incense at your shrine."

878 Then shortly thus the sov'reign god replied:
879 "Since in my pow'r and goodness you confide,
880 If for a little space, a lengthen'd span,
881 You beg reprieve for this expiring man,
882 I grant you leave to take your Turnus hence
883 From instant fate, and can so far dispense.
884 But, if some secret meaning lies beneath,
885 To save the short-liv'd youth from destin'd death,
886 Or if a farther thought you entertain,
887 To change the fates; you feed your hopes in vain."
888 To whom the goddess thus, with weeping eyes:
889 "And what if that request, your tongue denies,
890 Your heart should grant; and not a short reprieve,
891 But length of certain life, to Turnus give?
892 Now speedy death attends the guiltless youth,
893 If my presaging soul divines with truth;
894 Which, O! I wish, might err thro' causeless fears,
895 And you (for you have pow'r) prolong his years!"

896 Thus having said, involv'd in clouds, she flies,
897 And drives a storm before her thro' the skies.
898 Swift she descends, alighting on the plain,
899 Where the fierce foes a dubious fight maintain.
900 Of air condens'd a specter soon she made;
901 And, what Aeneas was, such seem'd the shade.
902 Adorn'd with Dardan arms, the phantom bore
903 His head aloft; a plumy crest he wore;
904 This hand appear'd a shining sword to wield,.
905 And that sustain'd an imitated shield.
906 With manly mien he stalk'd along the ground,
907 Nor wanted voice belied, nor vaunting sound.
908 (Thus haunting ghosts appear to waking sight,
909 Or dreadful visions in our dreams by night.)
910 The specter seems the Daunian chief to dare,
911 And flourishes his empty sword in air.
912 At this, advancing, Turnus hurl'd his spear:
913 The phantom wheel'd, and seem'd to fly for fear.
914 Deluded Turnus thought the Trojan fled,
915 And with vain hopes his haughty fancy fed.
916 "Whether, O coward?" (thus he calls aloud,
917 Nor found he spoke to wind, and chas'd a cloud,)
918 "Why thus forsake your bride! Receive from me
919 The fated land you sought so long by sea."
920 He said, and, brandishing at once his blade,
921 With eager pace pursued the flying shade.
922 By chance a ship was fasten'd to the shore,
923 Which from old Clusium King Osinius bore:
924 The plank was ready laid for safe ascent;
925 For shelter there the trembling shadow bent,
926 And skipp't and skulk'd, and under hatches went.
927 Exulting Turnus, with regardless haste,
928 Ascends the plank, and to the galley pass'd.
929 Scarce had he reach'd the prow: Saturnia's hand
930 The haulsers cuts, and shoots the ship from land.
931 With wind in poop, the vessel plows the sea,
932 And measures back with speed her former way.
933 Meantime Aeneas seeks his absent foe,
934 And sends his slaughter'd troops to shades below.

935 The guileful phantom now forsook the shroud,
936 And flew sublime, and vanish'd in a cloud.
937 Too late young Turnus the delusion found,
938 Far on the sea, still making from the ground.
939 Then, thankless for a life redeem'd by shame,
940 With sense of honor stung, and forfeit fame,
941 Fearful besides of what in fight had pass'd,
942 His hands and haggard eyes to heav'n he cast;
943 "O Jove!" he cried, "for what offense have
944 Deserv'd to bear this endless infamy?
945 Whence am I forc'd, and whether am I borne?
946 How, and with what reproach, shall I return?
947 Shall ever I behold the Latian plain,
948 Or see Laurentum's lofty tow'rs again?
949 What will they say of their deserting chief
950 The war was mine: I fly from their relief;
951 I led to slaughter, and in slaughter leave;
952 And ev'n from hence their dying groans receive.
953 Here, overmatch'd in fight, in heaps they lie;
954 There, scatter'd o'er the fields, ignobly fly.
955 Gape wide, O earth, and draw me down alive!
956 Or, O ye pitying winds, a wretch relieve!
957 On sands or shelves the splitting vessel drive;
958 Or set me shipwrack'd on some desart shore,
959 Where no Rutulian eyes may see me more,
960 Unknown to friends, or foes, or conscious Fame,
961 Lest she should follow, and my flight proclaim."

962 Thus Turnus rav'd, and various fates revolv'd:
963 The choice was doubtful, but the death resolv'd.
964 And now the sword, and now the sea took place,
965 That to revenge, and this to purge disgrace.
966 Sometimes he thought to swim the stormy main,
967 By stretch of arms the distant shore to gain.
968 Thrice he the sword assay'd, and thrice the flood;
969 But Juno, mov'd with pity, both withstood.
970 And thrice repress'd his rage; strong gales supplied,
971 And push'd the vessel o'er the swelling tide.
972 At length she lands him on his native shores,
973 And to his father's longing arms restores.

974 Meantime, by Jove's impulse, Mezentius arm'd,
975 Succeeding Turnus, with his ardor warm'd
976 His fainting friends, reproach'd their shameful flight,
977 Repell'd the victors, and renew'd the fight.
978 Against their king the Tuscan troops conspire;
979 Such is their hate, and such their fierce desire
980 Of wish'd revenge: on him, and him alone,
981 All hands employ'd, and all their darts are thrown.
982 He, like a solid rock by seas inclos'd,
983 To raging winds and roaring waves oppos'd,
984 From his proud summit looking down, disdains
985 Their empty menace, and unmov'd remains.

986 Beneath his feet fell haughty Hebrus dead,
987 Then Latagus, and Palmus as he fled.
988 At Latagus a weighty stone he flung:
989 His face was flatted, and his helmet rung.
990 But Palmus from behind receives his wound;
991 Hamstring'd he falls, and grovels on the ground:
992 His crest and armor, from his body torn,
993 Thy shoulders, Lausus, and thy head adorn.
994 Evas and Mimas, both of Troy, he slew.
995 Mimas his birth from fair Theano drew,
996 Born on that fatal night, when, big with fire,
997 The queen produc'd young Paris to his sire:
998 But Paris in the Phrygian fields was slain,
999 Unthinking Mimas on the Latian plain.

1000 And, as a savage boar, on mountains bred,
1001 With forest mast and fatt'ning marshes fed,
1002 When once he sees himself in toils inclos'd,
1003 By huntsmen and their eager hounds oppos'd-
1004 He whets his tusks, and turns, and dares the war;
1005 Th' invaders dart their jav'lins from afar:
1006 All keep aloof, and safely shout around;
1007 But none presumes to give a nearer wound:
1008 He frets and froths, erects his bristled hide,
1009 And shakes a grove of lances from his side:
1010 Not otherwise the troops, with hate inspir'd,
1011 And just revenge against the tyrant fir'd,
1012 Their darts with clamor at a distance drive,
1013 And only keep the languish'd war alive.

1014 From Coritus came Acron to the fight,
1015 Who left his spouse betroth'd, and unconsummate night.
1016 Mezentius sees him thro' the squadrons ride,
1017 Proud of the purple favors of his bride.
1018 Then, as a hungry lion, who beholds
1019 A gamesome goat, who frisks about the folds,
1020 Or beamy stag, that grazes on the plain-
1021 He runs, he roars, he shakes his rising mane,
1022 He grins, and opens wide his greedy jaws;
1023 The prey lies panting underneath his paws:
1024 He fills his famish'd maw; his mouth runs o'er
1025 With unchew'd morsels, while he churns the gore:
1026 So proud Mezentius rushes on his foes,
1027 And first unhappy Acron overthrows:
1028 Stretch'd at his length, he spurns the swarthy ground;
1029 The lance, besmear'd with blood, lies broken in the wound.
1030 Then with disdain the haughty victor view'd
1031 Orodes flying, nor the wretch pursued,
1032 Nor thought the dastard's back deserv'd a wound,
1033 But, running, gain'd th' advantage of the ground:
1034 Then turning short, he met him face to face,
1035 To give his victor the better grace.
1036 Orodes falls, equal fight oppress'd:
1037 Mezentius fix'd his foot upon his breast,
1038 And rested lance; and thus aloud he cries:
1039 "Lo! here the champion of my rebels lies!"
1040 The fields around with Io Paean! ring;
1041 And peals of shouts applaud the conqu'ring king.
1042 At this the vanquish'd, with his dying breath,
1043 Thus faintly spoke, and prophesied in death:
1044 "Nor thou, proud man, unpunish'd shalt remain:
1045 Like death attends thee on this fatal plain."
1046 Then, sourly smiling, thus the king replied:
1047 "For what belongs to me, let Jove provide;
1048 But die thou first, whatever chance ensue."
1049 He said, and from the wound the weapon drew.
1050 A hov'ring mist came swimming o'er his sight,
1051 And seal'd his eyes in everlasting night.

1052 By Caedicus, Alcathous was slain;
1053 Sacrator laid Hydaspes on the plain;
1054 Orses the strong to greater strength must yield;
1055 He, with Parthenius, were by Rapo kill'd.
1056 Then brave Messapus Ericetes slew,
1057 Who from Lycaon's blood his lineage drew.
1058 But from his headstrong horse his fate he found,
1059 Who threw his master, as he made a bound:
1060 The chief, alighting, stuck him to the ground;
1061 Then Clonius, hand to hand, on foot assails:
1062 The Trojan sinks, and Neptune's son prevails.
1063 Agis the Lycian, stepping forth with pride,
1064 To single fight the boldest foe defied;
1065 Whom Tuscan Valerus by force o'ercame,
1066 And not belied his mighty father's fame.
1067 Salius to death the great Antronius sent:
1068 But the same fate the victor underwent,
1069 Slain by Nealces' hand, well-skill'd to throw
1070 The flying dart, and draw the far-deceiving bow.

1071 Thus equal deaths are dealt with equal chance;
1072 By turns they quit their ground, by turns advance:
1073 Victors and vanquish'd, in the various field,
1074 Nor wholly overcome, nor wholly yield.
1075 The gods from heav'n survey the fatal strife,
1076 And mourn the miseries of human life.
1077 Above the rest, two goddesses appear
1078 Concern'd for each: here Venus, Juno there.
1079 Amidst the crowd, infernal Ate shakes
1080 Her scourge aloft, and crest of hissing snakes.

1081 Once more the proud Mezentius, with disdain,
1082 Brandish'd his spear, and rush'd into the plain,
1083 Where tow'ring in the midmost rank she stood,
1084 Like tall Orion stalking o'er the flood.
1085 (When with his brawny breast he cuts the waves,
1086 His shoulders scarce the topmost billow laves),
1087 Or like a mountain ash, whose roots are spread,
1088 Deep fix'd in earth; in clouds he hides his head.

1089 The Trojan prince beheld him from afar,
1090 And dauntless undertook the doubtful war.
1091 Collected in his strength, and like a rock,
1092 Pois'd on his base, Mezentius stood the shock.
1093 He stood, and, measuring first with careful eyes
1094 The space his spear could reach, aloud he cries:
1095 "My strong right hand, and sword, assist my stroke!
1096 (Those only gods Mezentius will invoke.)
1097 His armor, from the Trojan pirate torn,
1098 By my triumphant Lausus shall be worn."
1099 He said; and with his utmost force he threw
1100 The massy spear, which, hissing as it flew,
1101 Reach'd the celestial shield, that stopp'd the course;
1102 But, glancing thence, the yet unbroken force
1103 Took a new bent obliquely, and betwixt
1104 The side and bowels fam'd Anthores fix'd.
1105 Anthores had from Argos travel'd far,
1106 Alcides' friend, and brother of the war;
1107 Till, tir'd with toils, fair Italy he chose,
1108 And in Evander's palace sought repose.
1109 Now, falling by another's wound, his eyes
1110 He cast to heav'n, on Argos thinks, and dies.

1111 The pious Trojan then his jav'lin sent;
1112 The shield gave way; thro' treble plates it went
1113 Of solid brass, of linen trebly roll'd,
1114 And three bull hides which round the buckler fold.
1115 All these it pass'd, resistless in the course,
1116 Transpierc'd his thigh, and spent its dying force.
1117 The gaping wound gush'd out a crimson flood.
1118 The Trojan, glad with sight of hostile blood,
1119 His faunchion drew, to closer fight address'd,
1120 And with new force his fainting foe oppress'd.

1121 His father's peril Lausus view'd with grief;
1122 He sigh'd, he wept, he ran to his relief.
1123 And here, heroic youth, 't is here I must
1124 To thy immortal memory be just,
1125 And sing an act so noble and so new,
1126 Posterity will scarce believe 't is true.
1127 Pain'd with his wound, and useless for the fight,
1128 The father sought to save himself by flight:
1129 Incumber'd, slow he dragg'd the spear along,
1130 Which pierc'd his thigh, and in his buckler hung.
1131 The pious youth, resolv'd on death, below
1132 The lifted sword springs forth to face the foe;
1133 Protects his parent, and prevents the blow.
1134 Shouts of applause ran ringing thro' the field,
1135 To see the son the vanquish'd father shield.
1136 All, fir'd with gen'rous indignation, strive,
1137 And with a storm of darts to distance drive
1138 The Trojan chief, who, held at bay from far,
1139 On his Vulcanian orb sustain'd the war.

1140 As, when thick hail comes rattling in the wind,
1141 The plowman, passenger, and lab'ring hind
1142 For shelter to the neighb'ring covert fly,
1143 Or hous'd, or safe in hollow caverns lie;
1144 But, that o'erblown, when heav'n above 'em smiles,
1145 Return to travel, and renew their toils:
1146 Aeneas thus, o'erwhelmed on ev'ry side,
1147 The storm of darts, undaunted, did abide;
1148 And thus to Lausus loud with friendly threat'ning cried:
1149 "Why wilt thou rush to certain death, and rage
1150 In rash attempts, beyond thy tender age,
1151 Betray'd by pious love?" Nor, thus forborne,
1152 The youth desists, but with insulting scorn
1153 Provokes the ling'ring prince, whose patience, tir'd,
1154 Gave place; and all his breast with fury fir'd.
1155 For now the Fates prepar'd their sharpen'd shears;
1156 And lifted high the flaming sword appears,
1157 Which, full descending with a frightful sway,
1158 Thro' shield and corslet forc'd th' impetuous way,
1159 And buried deep in his fair bosom lay.
1160 The purple streams thro' the thin armor strove,
1161 And drench'd th' imbroider'd coat his mother wove;
1162 And life at length forsook his heaving heart,
1163 Loth from so sweet a mansion to depart.

1164 But when, with blood and paleness all o'erspread,
1165 The pious prince beheld young Lausus dead,
1166 He griev'd; he wept; the sight an image brought
1167 Of his own filial love, a sadly pleasing thought:
1168 Then stretch'd his hand to hold him up, and said:
1169 "Poor hapless youth! what praises can be paid
1170 To love so great, to such transcendent store
1171 Of early worth, and sure presage of more?
1172 Accept whate'er Aeneas can afford;
1173 Untouch'd thy arms, untaken be thy sword;
1174 And all that pleas'd thee living, still remain
1175 Inviolate, and sacred to the slain.
1176 Thy body on thy parents I bestow,
1177 To rest thy soul, at least, if shadows know,
1178 Or have a sense of human things below.
1179 There to thy fellow ghosts with glory tell:
1180 ''T was by the great Aeneas hand I fell.'"
1181 With this, his distant friends he beckons near,
1182 Provokes their duty, and prevents their fear:
1183 Himself assists to lift him from the ground,
1184 With clotted locks, and blood that well'd from out the wound.

1185 Meantime, his father, now no father, stood,
1186 And wash'd his wounds by Tiber's yellow flood:
1187 Oppress'd with anguish, panting, and o'erspent,
1188 His fainting limbs against an oak he leant.
1189 A bough his brazen helmet did sustain;
1190 His heavier arms lay scatter'd on the plain:
1191 A chosen train of youth around him stand;
1192 His drooping head was rested on his hand:
1193 His grisly beard his pensive bosom sought;
1194 And all on Lausus ran his restless thought.
1195 Careful, concern'd his danger to prevent,
1196 He much enquir'd, and many a message sent
1197 To warn him from the field- alas! in vain!
1198 Behold, his mournful followers bear him slain!
1199 O'er his broad shield still gush'd the yawning wound,
1200 And drew a bloody trail along the ground.
1201 Far off he heard their cries, far off divin'd
1202 The dire event, with a foreboding mind.
1203 With dust he sprinkled first his hoary head;
1204 Then both his lifted hands to heav'n he spread;
1205 Last, the dear corpse embracing, thus he said:
1206 "What joys, alas! could this frail being give,
1207 That I have been so covetous to live?
1208 To see my son, and such a son, resign
1209 His life, a ransom for preserving mine!
1210 And am I then preserv'd, and art thou lost?
1211 How much too dear has that redemption cost!
1212 'T is now my bitter banishment I feel:
1213 This is a wound too deep for time to heal.
1214 My guilt thy growing virtues did defame;
1215 My blackness blotted thy unblemish'd name.
1216 Chas'd from a throne, abandon'd, and exil'd
1217 For foul misdeeds, were punishments too mild:
1218 I ow'd my people these, and, from their hate,
1219 With less resentment could have borne my fate.
1220 And yet I live, and yet sustain the sight
1221 Of hated men, and of more hated light:
1222 But will not long." With that he rais'd from ground
1223 His fainting limbs, that stagger'd with his wound;
1224 Yet, with a mind resolv'd, and unappall'd
1225 With pains or perils, for his courser call'd
1226 Well-mouth'd, well-manag'd, whom himself did dress
1227 With daily care, and mounted with success;
1228 His aid in arms, his ornament in peace.
1229 Soothing his courage with a gentle stroke,
1230 The steed seem'd sensible, while thus he spoke:
1231 "O Rhoebus, we have liv'd too long for me-
1232 If life and long were terms that could agree!
1233 This day thou either shalt bring back the head
1234 And bloody trophies of the Trojan dead;
1235 This day thou either shalt revenge my woe,
1236 For murther'd Lausus, on his cruel foe;
1237 Or, if inexorable fate deny
1238 Our conquest, with thy conquer'd master die:
1239 For, after such a lord, rest secure,
1240 Thou wilt no foreign reins, or Trojan load endure."
1241 He said; and straight th' officious courser kneels,
1242 To take his wonted weight. His hands he fills
1243 With pointed jav'lins; on his head he lac'd
1244 His glitt'ring helm, which terribly was grac'd
1245 With waving horsehair, nodding from afar;
1246 Then spurr'd his thund'ring steed amidst the war.
1247 Love, anguish, wrath, and grief, to madness wrought,
1248 Despair, and secret shame, and conscious thought
1249 Of inborn worth, his lab'ring soul oppress'd,
1250 Roll'd in his eyes, and rag'd within his breast.
1251 Then loud he call'd Aeneas thrice by name:
1252 The loud repeated voice to glad Aeneas came.
1253 "Great Jove," he said, "and the far-shooting god,
1254 Inspire thy mind to make thy challenge good!"
1255 He spoke no more; but hasten'd, void of fear,
1256 And threaten'd with his long protended spear.

1257 To whom Mezentius thus: "Thy vaunts are vain.
1258 My Lausus lies extended on the plain:
1259 He's lost! thy conquest is already won;
1260 The wretched sire is murther'd in the son.
1261 Nor fate I fear, but all the gods defy.
1262 Forbear thy threats: my bus'ness is to die;
1263 But first receive this parting legacy."
1264 He said; and straight a whirling dart he sent;
1265 Another after, and another went.
1266 Round in a spacious ring he rides the field,
1267 And vainly plies th' impenetrable shield.
1268 Thrice rode he round; and thrice Aeneas wheel'd,
1269 Turn'd as he turn'd: the golden orb withstood
1270 The strokes, and bore about an iron wood.
1271 Impatient of delay, and weary grown,
1272 Still to defend, and to defend alone,
1273 To wrench the darts which in his buckler light,
1274 Urg'd and o'er-labor'd in unequal fight;
1275 At length resolv'd, he throws with all his force
1276 Full at the temples of the warrior horse.
1277 Just where the stroke was aim'd, th' unerring spear
1278 Made way, and stood transfix'd thro' either ear.
1279 Seiz'd with unwonted pain, surpris'd with fright,
1280 The wounded steed curvets, and, rais'd upright,
1281 Lights on his feet before; his hoofs behind
1282 Spring up in air aloft, and lash the wind.
1283 Down comes the rider headlong from his height:
1284 His horse came after with unwieldy weight,
1285 And, flound'ring forward, pitching on his head,
1286 His lord's incumber'd shoulder overlaid.

1287 From either host, the mingled shouts and cries
1288 Of Trojans and Rutulians rend the skies.
1289 Aeneas, hast'ning, wav'd his fatal sword
1290 High o'er his head, with this reproachful word:
1291 "Now; where are now thy vaunts, the fierce disdain
1292 Of proud Mezentius, and the lofty strain?"

1293 Struggling, and wildly staring on the skies,
1294 With scarce recover'd sight he thus replies:
1295 "Why these insulting words, this waste of breath,
1296 To souls undaunted, and secure of death?
1297 'T is no dishonor for the brave to die,
1298 Nor came I here with hope victory;
1299 Nor ask I life, nor fought with that design:
1300 As I had us'd my fortune, use thou thine.
1301 My dying son contracted no such band;
1302 The gift is hateful from his murd'rer's hand.
1303 For this, this only favor let me sue,
1304 If pity can to conquer'd foes be due:
1305 Refuse it not; but let my body have
1306 The last retreat of humankind, a grave.
1307 Too well I know th' insulting people's hate;
1308 Protect me from their vengeance after fate:
1309 This refuge for my poor remains provide,
1310 And lay my much-lov'd Lausus by my side."
1311 He said, and to the sword his throat applied.
1312 The crimson stream distain'd his arms around,
1313 And the disdainful soul came rushing thro' the wound.