Book 2

1 All were attentive to the godlike man,
2 When from his lofty couch he thus began:
3 "Great queen, what you command me to relate
4 Renews the sad remembrance of our fate:
5 An empire from its old foundations rent,
6 And ev'ry woe the Trojans underwent;
7 A peopled city made a desart place;
8 All that I saw, and part of which I was:
9 Not ev'n the hardest of our foes could hear,
10 Nor stern Ulysses tell without a tear.
11 And now the latter watch of wasting night,
12 And setting stars, to kindly rest invite;
13 But, since you take such int'rest in our woe,
14 And Troy's disastrous end desire to know,
15 I will restrain my tears, and briefly tell
16 What in our last and fatal night befell.

17 "By destiny compell'd, and in despair,
18 The Greeks grew weary of the tedious war,
19 And by Minerva's aid a fabric rear'd,
20 Which like a steed of monstrous height appear'd:
21 The sides were plank'd with pine; they feign'd it made
22 For their return, and this the vow they paid.
23 Thus they pretend, but in the hollow side
24 Selected numbers of their soldiers hide:
25 With inward arms the dire machine they load,
26 And iron bowels stuff the dark abode.
27 In sight of Troy lies Tenedos, an isle
28 (While Fortune did on Priam's empire smile)
29 Renown'd for wealth; but, since, a faithless bay,
30 Where ships expos'd to wind and weather lay.
31 There was their fleet conceal'd. We thought, for Greece
32 Their sails were hoisted, and our fears release.
33 The Trojans, coop'd within their walls so long,
34 Unbar their gates, and issue in a throng,
35 Like swarming bees, and with delight survey
36 The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay:
37 The quarters of the sev'ral chiefs they show'd;
38 Here Phoenix, here Achilles, made abode;
39 Here join'd the battles; there the navy rode.
40 Part on the pile their wond'ring eyes employ:
41 The pile by Pallas rais'd to ruin Troy.
42 Thymoetes first ('t is doubtful whether hir'd,
43 Or so the Trojan destiny requir'd)
44 Mov'd that the ramparts might be broken down,
45 To lodge the monster fabric in the town.
46 But Capys, and the rest of sounder mind,
47 The fatal present to the flames designed,
48 Or to the wat'ry deep; at least to bore
49 The hollow sides, and hidden frauds explore.
50 The giddy vulgar, as their fancies guide,
51 With noise say nothing, and in parts divide.
52 Laocoon, follow'd by a num'rous crowd,
53 Ran from the fort, and cried, from far, aloud:
54 'O wretched countrymen! what fury reigns?
55 What more than madness has possess'd your brains?
56 Think you the Grecians from your coasts are gone?
57 And are Ulysses' arts no better known?
58 This hollow fabric either must inclose,
59 Within its blind recess, our secret foes;
60 Or 't is an engine rais'd above the town,
61 T' o'erlook the walls, and then to batter down.
62 Somewhat is sure design'd, by fraud or force:
63 Trust not their presents, nor admit the horse.'
64 Thus having said, against the steed he threw
65 His forceful spear, which, hissing as flew,
66 Pierc'd thro' the yielding planks of jointed wood,
67 And trembling in the hollow belly stood.
68 The sides, transpierc'd, return a rattling sound,
69 And groans of Greeks inclos'd come issuing thro' the wound
70 And, had not Heav'n the fall of Troy design'd,
71 Or had not men been fated to be blind,
72 Enough was said and done t'inspire a better mind.
73 Then had our lances pierc'd the treach'rous wood,
74 And Ilian tow'rs and Priam's empire stood.
75 Meantime, with shouts, the Trojan shepherds bring
76 A captive Greek, in bands, before the king;
77 Taken to take; who made himself their prey,
78 T' impose on their belief, and Troy betray;
79 Fix'd on his aim, and obstinately bent
80 To die undaunted, or to circumvent.
81 About the captive, tides of Trojans flow;
82 All press to see, and some insult the foe.
83 Now hear how well the Greeks their wiles disguis'd;
84 Behold a nation in a man compris'd.
85 Trembling the miscreant stood, unarm'd and bound;
86 He star'd, and roll'd his haggard eyes around,
87 Then said: 'Alas! what earth remains, what sea
88 Is open to receive unhappy me?
89 What fate a wretched fugitive attends,
90 Scorn'd by my foes, abandon'd by my friends?'
91 He said, and sigh'd, and cast a rueful eye:
92 Our pity kindles, and our passions die.
93 We cheer youth to make his own defense,
94 And freely tell us what he was, and whence:
95 What news he could impart, we long to know,
96 And what to credit from a captive foe.

97 "His fear at length dismiss'd, he said: 'Whate'er
98 My fate ordains, my words shall be sincere:
99 I neither can nor dare my birth disclaim;
100 Greece is my country, Sinon is my name.
101 Tho' plung'd by Fortune's pow'r in misery,
102 'T is not in Fortune's pow'r to make me lie.
103 If any chance has hither brought the name
104 Of Palamedes, not unknown to fame,
105 Who suffer'd from the malice of the times,
106 Accus'd and sentenc'd for pretended crimes,
107 Because these fatal wars he would prevent;
108 Whose death the wretched Greeks too late lament-
109 Me, then a boy, my father, poor and bare
110 Of other means, committed to his care,
111 His kinsman and companion in the war.
112 While Fortune favor'd, while his arms support
113 The cause, and rul'd the counsels, of the court,
114 I made some figure there; nor was my name
115 Obscure, nor I without my share of fame.
116 But when Ulysses, with fallacious arts,
117 Had made impression in the people's hearts,
118 And forg'd a treason in my patron's name
119 (I speak of things too far divulg'd by fame),
120 My kinsman fell. Then I, without support,
121 In private mourn'd his loss, and left the court.
122 Mad as I was, I could not bear his fate
123 With silent grief, but loudly blam'd the state,
124 And curs'd the direful author of my woes.
125 'T was told again; and hence my ruin rose.
126 I threaten'd, if indulgent Heav'n once more
127 Would land me safely on my native shore,
128 His death with double vengeance to restore.
129 This mov'd the murderer's hate; and soon ensued
130 Th' effects of malice from a man so proud.
131 Ambiguous rumors thro' the camp he spread,
132 And sought, by treason, my devoted head;
133 New crimes invented; left unturn'd no stone,
134 To make my guilt appear, and hide his own;
135 Till Calchas was by force and threat'ning wrought-
136 But why- why dwell I on that anxious thought?
137 If on my nation just revenge you seek,
138 And 't is t' appear a foe, t' appear a Greek;
139 Already you my name and country know;
140 Assuage your thirst of blood, and strike the blow:
141 My death will both the kingly brothers please,
142 And set insatiate Ithacus at ease.'
143 This fair unfinish'd tale, these broken starts,
144 Rais'd expectations in our longing hearts:
145 Unknowing as we were in Grecian arts.
146 His former trembling once again renew'd,
147 With acted fear, the villain thus pursued:

148 "'Long had the Grecians (tir'd with fruitless care,
149 And wearied with an unsuccessful war)
150 Resolv'd to raise the siege, and leave the town;
151 And, had the gods permitted, they had gone;
152 But oft the wintry seas and southern winds
153 Withstood their passage home, and chang'd their minds.
154 Portents and prodigies their souls amaz'd;
155 But most, when this stupendous pile was rais'd:
156 Then flaming meteors, hung in air, were seen,
157 And thunders rattled thro' a sky serene.
158 Dismay'd, and fearful of some dire event,
159 Eurypylus t' enquire their fate was sent.
160 He from the gods this dreadful answer brought:

161 "O Grecians, when the Trojan shores you sought,
162 Your passage with a virgin's blood was bought:
163 So must your safe return be bought again,
164 And Grecian blood once more atone the main."
165 The spreading rumor round the people ran;
166 All fear'd, and each believ'd himself the man.
167 Ulysses took th' advantage of their fright;
168 Call'd Calchas, and produc'd in open sight:
169 Then bade him name the wretch, ordain'd by fate
170 The public victim, to redeem the state.
171 Already some presag'd the dire event,
172 And saw what sacrifice Ulysses meant.
173 For twice five days the good old seer withstood
174 Th' intended treason, and was dumb to blood,
175 Till, tir'd, with endless clamors and pursuit
176 Of Ithacus, he stood no longer mute;
177 But, as it was agreed, pronounc'd that I
178 Was destin'd by the wrathful gods to die.
179 All prais'd the sentence, pleas'd the storm should fall
180 On one alone, whose fury threaten'd all.
181 The dismal day was come; the priests prepare
182 Their leaven'd cakes, and fillets for my hair.
183 I follow'd nature's laws, and must avow
184 I broke my bonds and fled the fatal blow.
185 Hid in a weedy lake all night I lay,
186 Secure of safety when they sail'd away.
187 But now what further hopes for me remain,
188 To see my friends, or native soil, again;
189 My tender infants, or my careful sire,
190 Whom they returning will to death require;
191 Will perpetrate on them their first design,
192 And take the forfeit of their heads for mine?
193 Which, O! if pity mortal minds can move,
194 If there be faith below, or gods above,
195 If innocence and truth can claim desert,
196 Ye Trojans, from an injur'd wretch avert.'

197 "False tears true pity move; the king commands
198 To loose his fetters, and unbind his hands:
199 Then adds these friendly words: 'Dismiss thy fears;
200 Forget the Greeks; be mine as thou wert theirs.
201 But truly tell, was it for force or guile,
202 Or some religious end, you rais'd the pile?'
203 Thus said the king. He, full of fraudful arts,
204 This well-invented tale for truth imparts:
205 'Ye lamps of heav'n!' he said, and lifted high
206 His hands now free, 'thou venerable sky!
207 Inviolable pow'rs, ador'd with dread!
208 Ye fatal fillets, that once bound this head!
209 Ye sacred altars, from whose flames I fled!
210 Be all of you adjur'd; and grant I may,
211 Without a crime, th' ungrateful Greeks betray,
212 Reveal the secrets of the guilty state,
213 And justly punish whom I justly hate!
214 But you, O king, preserve the faith you gave,
215 If I, to save myself, your empire save.
216 The Grecian hopes, and all th' attempts they made,
217 Were only founded on Minerva's aid.
218 But from the time when impious Diomede,
219 And false Ulysses, that inventive head,
220 Her fatal image from the temple drew,
221 The sleeping guardians of the castle slew,
222 Her virgin statue with their bloody hands
223 Polluted, and profan'd her holy bands;
224 From thence the tide of fortune left their shore,
225 And ebb'd much faster than it flow'd before:
226 Their courage languish'd, as their hopes decay'd;
227 And Pallas, now averse, refus'd her aid.
228 Nor did the goddess doubtfully declare
229 Her alter'd mind and alienated care.
230 When first her fatal image touch'd the ground,
231 She sternly cast her glaring eyes around,
232 That sparkled as they roll'd, and seem'd to threat:
233 Her heav'nly limbs distill'd a briny sweat.
234 Thrice from the ground she leap'd, was seen to wield
235 Her brandish'd lance, and shake her horrid shield.
236 Then Calchas bade our host for flight
237 And hope no conquest from the tedious war,
238 Till first they sail'd for Greece; with pray'rs besought
239 Her injur'd pow'r, and better omens brought.
240 And now their navy plows the wat'ry main,
241 Yet soon expect it on your shores again,
242 With Pallas pleas'd; as Calchas did ordain.
243 But first, to reconcile the blue-ey'd maid
244 For her stol'n statue and her tow'r betray'd,
245 Warn'd by the seer, to her offended name
246 We rais'd and dedicate this wondrous frame,
247 So lofty, lest thro' your forbidden gates
248 It pass, and intercept our better fates:
249 For, once admitted there, our hopes are lost;
250 And Troy may then a new Palladium boast;
251 For so religion and the gods ordain,
252 That, if you violate with hands profane
253 Minerva's gift, your town in flames shall burn,
254 (Which omen, O ye gods, on Graecia turn!)
255 But if it climb, with your assisting hands,
256 The Trojan walls, and in the city stands;
257 Then Troy shall Argos and Mycenae burn,
258 And the reverse of fate on us return.'

259 "With such deceits he gain'd their easy hearts,
260 Too prone to credit his perfidious arts.
261 What Diomede, nor Thetis' greater son,
262 A thousand ships, nor ten years' siege, had done-
263 False tears and fawning words the city won.

264 "A greater omen, and of worse portent,
265 Did our unwary minds with fear torment,
266 Concurring to produce the dire event.
267 Laocoon, Neptune's priest by lot that year,
268 With solemn pomp then sacrific'd a steer;
269 When, dreadful to behold, from sea we spied
270 Two serpents, rank'd abreast, the seas divide,
271 And smoothly sweep along the swelling tide.
272 Their flaming crests above the waves they show;
273 Their bellies seem to burn the seas below;
274 Their speckled tails advance to steer their course,
275 And on the sounding shore the flying billows force.
276 And now the strand, and now the plain they held;
277 Their ardent eyes with bloody streaks were fill'd;
278 Their nimble tongues they brandish'd as they came,
279 And lick'd their hissing jaws, that sputter'd flame.
280 We fled amaz'd; their destin'd way they take,
281 And to Laocoon and his children make;
282 And first around the tender boys they wind,
283 Then with their sharpen'd fangs their limbs and bodies grind.
284 The wretched father, running to their aid
285 With pious haste, but vain, they next invade;
286 Twice round his waist their winding volumes roll'd;
287 And twice about his gasping throat they fold.
288 The priest thus doubly chok'd, their crests divide,
289 And tow'ring o'er his head in triumph ride.
290 With both his hands he labors at the knots;
291 His holy fillets the blue venom blots;
292 His roaring fills the flitting air around.
293 Thus, when an ox receives a glancing wound,
294 He breaks his bands, the fatal altar flies,
295 And with loud bellowings breaks the yielding skies.
296 Their tasks perform'd, the serpents quit their prey,
297 And to the tow'r of Pallas make their way:
298 Couch'd at her feet, they lie protected there
299 By her large buckler and protended spear.
300 Amazement seizes all; the gen'ral cry
301 Proclaims Laocoon justly doom'd to die,
302 Whose hand the will of Pallas had withstood,
303 And dared to violate the sacred wood.
304 All vote t' admit the steed, that vows be paid
305 And incense offer'd to th' offended maid.
306 A spacious breach is made; the town lies bare;
307 Some hoisting-levers, some the wheels prepare
308 And fasten to the horse's feet; the rest
309 With cables haul along th' unwieldly beast.
310 Each on his fellow for assistance calls;
311 At length the fatal fabric mounts the walls,
312 Big with destruction. Boys with chaplets crown'd,
313 And choirs of virgins, sing and dance around.
314 Thus rais'd aloft, and then descending down,
315 It enters o'er our heads, and threats the town.
316 O sacred city, built by hands divine!
317 O valiant heroes of the Trojan line!
318 Four times he struck: as oft the clashing sound
319 Of arms was heard, and inward groans rebound.
320 Yet, mad with zeal, and blinded with our fate,
321 We haul along the horse in solemn state;
322 Then place the dire portent within the tow'r.
323 Cassandra cried, and curs'd th' unhappy hour;
324 Foretold our fate; but, by the god's decree,
325 All heard, and none believ'd the prophecy.
326 With branches we the fanes adorn, and waste,
327 In jollity, the day ordain'd to be the last.
328 Meantime the rapid heav'ns roll'd down the light,
329 And on the shaded ocean rush'd the night;
330 Our men, secure, nor guards nor sentries held,
331 But easy sleep their weary limbs compell'd.
332 The Grecians had embark'd their naval pow'rs
333 From Tenedos, and sought our well-known shores,
334 Safe under covert of the silent night,
335 And guided by th' imperial galley's light;
336 When Sinon, favor'd by the partial gods,
337 Unlock'd the horse, and op'd his dark abodes;
338 Restor'd to vital air our hidden foes,
339 Who joyful from their long confinement rose.
340 Tysander bold, and Sthenelus their guide,
341 And dire Ulysses down the cable slide:
342 Then Thoas, Athamas, and Pyrrhus haste;
343 Nor was the Podalirian hero last,
344 Nor injur'd Menelaus, nor the fam'd
345 Epeus, who the fatal engine fram'd.
346 A nameless crowd succeed; their forces join
347 T' invade the town, oppress'd with sleep and wine.
348 Those few they find awake first meet their fate;
349 Then to their fellows they unbar the gate.

350 "'T was in the dead of night, when sleep repairs
351 Our bodies worn with toils, our minds with cares,
352 When Hector's ghost before my sight appears:
353 A bloody shroud he seem'd, and bath'd in tears;
354 Such as he was, when, by Pelides slain,
355 Thessalian coursers dragg'd him o'er the plain.
356 Swoln were his feet, as when the thongs were thrust
357 Thro' the bor'd holes; his body black with dust;
358 Unlike that Hector who return'd from toils
359 Of war, triumphant, in Aeacian spoils,
360 Or him who made the fainting Greeks retire,
361 And launch'd against their navy Phrygian fire.
362 His hair and beard stood stiffen'd with his gore;
363 And all the wounds he for his country bore
364 Now stream'd afresh, and with new purple ran.
365 I wept to see the visionary man,
366 And, while my trance continued, thus began:
367 'O light of Trojans, and support of Troy,
368 Thy father's champion, and thy country's joy!
369 O, long expected by thy friends! from whence
370 Art thou so late return'd for our defense?
371 Do we behold thee, wearied as we are
372 With length of labors, and with toils of war?
373 After so many fun'rals of thy own
374 Art thou restor'd to thy declining town?
375 But say, what wounds are these? What new disgrace
376 Deforms the manly features of thy face?'

377 "To this the specter no reply did frame,
378 But answer'd to the cause for which he came,
379 And, groaning from the bottom of his breast,
380 This warning in these mournful words express'd:
381 'O goddess-born! escape, by timely flight,
382 The flames and horrors of this fatal night.
383 The foes already have possess'd the wall;
384 Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall.
385 Enough is paid to Priam's royal name,
386 More than enough to duty and to fame.
387 If by a mortal hand my father's throne
388 Could be defended, 't was by mine alone.
389 Now Troy to thee commends her future state,
390 And gives her gods companions of thy fate:
391 From their assistance walls expect,
392 Which, wand'ring long, at last thou shalt erect.'
393 He said, and brought me, from their blest abodes,
394 The venerable statues of the gods,
395 With ancient Vesta from the sacred choir,
396 The wreaths and relics of th' immortal fire.

397 "Now peals of shouts come thund'ring from afar,
398 Cries, threats, and loud laments, and mingled war:
399 The noise approaches, tho' our palace stood
400 Aloof from streets, encompass'd with a wood.
401 Louder, and yet more loud, I hear th' alarms
402 Of human cries distinct, and clashing arms.
403 Fear broke my slumbers; I no longer stay,
404 But mount the terrace, thence the town survey,
405 And hearken what the frightful sounds convey.
406 Thus, when a flood of fire by wind is borne,
407 Crackling it rolls, and mows the standing corn;
408 Or deluges, descending on the plains,
409 Sweep o'er the yellow year, destroy the pains
410 Of lab'ring oxen and the peasant's gains;
411 Unroot the forest oaks, and bear away
412 Flocks, folds, and trees, and undistinguish'd prey:
413 The shepherd climbs the cliff, and sees from far
414 The wasteful ravage of the wat'ry war.
415 Then Hector's faith was manifestly clear'd,
416 And Grecian frauds in open light appear'd.
417 The palace of Deiphobus ascends
418 In smoky flames, and catches on his friends.
419 Ucalegon burns next: the seas are bright
420 With splendor not their own, and shine with Trojan light.
421 New clamors and new clangors now arise,
422 The sound of trumpets mix'd with fighting cries.
423 With frenzy seiz'd, I run to meet th' alarms,
424 Resolv'd on death, resolv'd to die in arms,
425 But first to gather friends, with them t' oppose
426 (If fortune favor'd) and repel the foes;
427 Spurr'd by my courage, by my country fir'd,
428 With sense of honor and revenge inspir'd.

429 "Pantheus, Apollo's priest, a sacred name,
430 Had scap'd the Grecian swords, and pass'd the flame:
431 With relics loaden. to my doors he fled,
432 And by the hand his tender grandson led.
433 'What hope, O Pantheus? whither can we run?
434 Where make a stand? and what may yet be done?'
435 Scarce had I said, when Pantheus, with a groan:
436 'Troy is no more, and Ilium was a town!
437 The fatal day, th' appointed hour, is come,
438 When wrathful Jove's irrevocable doom
439 Transfers the Trojan state to Grecian hands.
440 The fire consumes the town, the foe commands;
441 And armed hosts, an unexpected force,
442 Break from the bowels of the fatal horse.
443 Within the gates, proud Sinon throws about
444 The flames; and foes for entrance press without,
445 With thousand others, whom I fear to name,
446 More than from Argos or Mycenae came.
447 To sev'ral posts their parties they divide;
448 Some block the narrow streets, some scour the wide:
449 The bold they kill, th' unwary they surprise;
450 Who fights finds death, and death finds him who flies.
451 The warders of the gate but scarce maintain
452 Th' unequal combat, and resist in vain.'

453 "I heard; and Heav'n, that well-born souls inspires,
454 Prompts me thro' lifted swords and rising fires
455 To run where clashing arms and clamor calls,
456 And rush undaunted to defend the walls.
457 Ripheus and Iph'itus by my side engage,
458 For valor one renown'd, and one for age.
459 Dymas and Hypanis by moonlight knew
460 My motions and my mien, and to my party drew;
461 With young Coroebus, who by love was led
462 To win renown and fair Cassandra's bed,
463 And lately brought his troops to Priam's aid,
464 Forewarn'd in vain by the prophetic maid.
465 Whom when I saw resolv'd in arms to fall,
466 And that one spirit animated all:
467 'Brave souls!' said I,- 'but brave, alas! in vain-
468 Come, finish what our cruel fates ordain.
469 You see the desp'rate state of our affairs,
470 And heav'n's protecting pow'rs are deaf to pray'rs.
471 The passive gods behold the Greeks defile
472 Their temples, and abandon to the spoil
473 Their own abodes: we, feeble few, conspire
474 To save a sinking town, involv'd in fire.
475 Then let us fall, but fall amidst our foes:
476 Despair of life the means of living shows.'
477 So bold a speech incourag'd their desire
478 Of death, and added fuel to their fire.

479 "As hungry wolves, with raging appetite,
480 Scour thro' the fields, nor fear the stormy night-
481 Their whelps at home expect the promis'd food,
482 And long to temper their dry chaps in blood-
483 So rush'd we forth at once; resolv'd to die,
484 Resolv'd, in death, the last extremes to try.
485 We leave the narrow lanes behind, and dare
486 Th' unequal combat in the public square:
487 Night was our friend; our leader was despair.
488 What tongue can tell the slaughter of that night?
489 What eyes can weep the sorrows and affright?
490 An ancient and imperial city falls:
491 The streets are fill'd with frequent funerals;
492 Houses and holy temples float in blood,
493 And hostile nations make a common flood.
494 Not only Trojans fall; but, in their turn,
495 The vanquish'd triumph, and the victors mourn.
496 Ours take new courage from despair and night:
497 Confus'd the fortune is, confus'd the fight.
498 All parts resound with tumults, plaints, and fears;
499 And grisly Death in sundry shapes appears.
500 Androgeos fell among us, with his band,
501 Who thought us Grecians newly come to land.
502 'From whence,' said he, 'my friends, this long delay?
503 You loiter, while the spoils are borne away:
504 Our ships are laden with the Trojan store;
505 And you, like truants, come too late ashore.'
506 He said, but soon corrected his mistake,
507 Found, by the doubtful answers which we make:
508 Amaz'd, he would have shunn'd th' unequal fight;
509 But we, more num'rous, intercept his flight.
510 As when some peasant, in a bushy brake,
511 Has with unwary footing press'd a snake;
512 He starts aside, astonish'd, when he spies
513 His rising crest, blue neck, and rolling eyes;
514 So from our arms surpris'd Androgeos flies.
515 In vain; for him and his we compass'd round,
516 Possess'd with fear, unknowing of the ground,
517 And of their lives an easy conquest found.
518 Thus Fortune on our first endeavor smil'd.
519 Coroebus then, with youthful hopes beguil'd,
520 Swoln with success, and a daring mind,
521 This new invention fatally design'd.
522 'My friends,' said he, 'since Fortune shows the way,
523 'T is fit we should th' auspicious guide obey.
524 For what has she these Grecian arms bestow'd,
525 But their destruction, and the Trojans' good?
526 Then change we shields, and their devices bear:
527 Let fraud supply the want of force in war.
528 They find us arms.' This said, himself he dress'd
529 In dead Androgeos' spoils, his upper vest,
530 His painted buckler, and his plumy crest.
531 Thus Ripheus, Dymas, all the Trojan train,
532 Lay down their own attire, and strip the slain.
533 Mix'd with the Greeks, we go with ill presage,
534 Flatter'd with hopes to glut our greedy rage;
535 Unknown, assaulting whom we blindly meet,
536 And strew with Grecian carcasses the street.
537 Thus while their straggling parties we defeat,
538 Some to the shore and safer ships retreat;
539 And some, oppress'd with more ignoble fear,
540 Remount the hollow horse, and pant in secret there.

541 "But, ah! what use of valor can be made,
542 When heav'n's propitious pow'rs refuse their aid!
543 Behold the royal prophetess, the fair
544 Cassandra, dragg'd by her dishevel'd hair,
545 Whom not Minerva's shrine, nor sacred bands,
546 In safety could protect from sacrilegious hands:
547 On heav'n she cast her eyes, she sigh'd, she cried-
548 'T was all she could- her tender arms were tied.
549 So sad a sight Coroebus could not bear;
550 But, fir'd with rage, distracted with despair,
551 Amid the barb'rous ravishers he flew:
552 Our leader's rash example we pursue.
553 But storms of stones, from the proud temple's height,
554 Pour down, and on our batter'd helms alight:
555 We from our friends receiv'd this fatal blow,
556 Who thought us Grecians, as we seem'd in show.
557 They aim at the mistaken crests, from high;
558 And ours beneath the pond'rous ruin lie.
559 Then, mov'd with anger and disdain, to see
560 Their troops dispers'd, the royal virgin free,
561 The Grecians rally, and their pow'rs unite,
562 With fury charge us, and renew the fight.
563 The brother kings with Ajax join their force,
564 And the whole squadron of Thessalian horse.

565 "Thus, when the rival winds their quarrel try,
566 Contending for the kingdom of the sky,
567 South, east, and west, on airy coursers borne;
568 The whirlwind gathers, and the woods are torn:
569 Then Nereus strikes the deep; the billows rise,
570 And, mix'd with ooze and sand, pollute the skies.
571 The troops we squander'd first again appear
572 From several quarters, and enclose the rear.
573 They first observe, and to the rest betray,
574 Our diff'rent speech; our borrow'd arms survey.
575 Oppress'd with odds, we fall; Coroebus first,
576 At Pallas' altar, by Peneleus pierc'd.
577 Then Ripheus follow'd, in th' unequal fight;
578 Just of his word, observant of the right:
579 Heav'n thought not so. Dymas their fate attends,
580 With Hypanis, mistaken by their friends.
581 Nor, Pantheus, thee, thy miter, nor the bands
582 Of awful Phoebus, sav'd from impious hands.
583 Ye Trojan flames, your testimony bear,
584 What I perform'd, and what I suffer'd there;
585 No sword avoiding in the fatal strife,
586 Expos'd to death, and prodigal of life;
587 Witness, ye heavens! I live not by my fault:
588 I strove to have deserv'd the death I sought.
589 But, when I could not fight, and would have died,
590 Borne off to distance by the growing tide,
591 Old Iphitus and I were hurried thence,
592 With Pelias wounded, and without defense.
593 New clamors from th' invested palace ring:
594 We run to die, or disengage the king.
595 So hot th' assault, so high the tumult rose,
596 While ours defend, and while the Greeks oppose
597 As all the Dardan and Argolic race
598 Had been contracted in that narrow space;
599 Or as all Ilium else were void of fear,
600 And tumult, war, and slaughter, only there.
601 Their targets in a tortoise cast, the foes,
602 Secure advancing, to the turrets rose:
603 Some mount the scaling ladders; some, more bold,
604 Swerve upwards, and by posts and pillars hold;
605 Their left hand gripes their bucklers in th' ascent,
606 While with their right they seize the battlement.
607 From their demolish'd tow'rs the Trojans throw
608 Huge heaps of stones, that, falling, crush the foe;
609 And heavy beams and rafters from the sides
610 (Such arms their last necessity provides)
611 And gilded roofs, come tumbling from on high,
612 The marks of state and ancient royalty.
613 The guards below, fix'd in the pass, attend
614 The charge undaunted, and the gate defend.
615 Renew'd in courage with recover'd breath,
616 A second time we ran to tempt our death,
617 To clear the palace from the foe, succeed
618 The weary living, and revenge the dead.

619 "A postern door, yet unobserv'd and free,
620 Join'd by the length of a blind gallery,
621 To the king's closet led: a way well known
622 To Hector's wife, while Priam held the throne,
623 Thro' which she brought Astyanax, unseen,
624 To cheer his grandsire and his grandsire's queen.
625 Thro' this we pass, and mount the tow'r, from whence
626 With unavailing arms the Trojans make defense.
627 From this the trembling king had oft descried
628 The Grecian camp, and saw their navy ride.
629 Beams from its lofty height with swords we hew,
630 Then, wrenching with our hands, th' assault renew;
631 And, where the rafters on the columns meet,
632 We push them headlong with our arms and feet.
633 The lightning flies not swifter than the fall,
634 Nor thunder louder than the ruin'd wall:
635 Down goes the top at once; the Greeks beneath
636 Are piecemeal torn, or pounded into death.
637 Yet more succeed, and more to death are sent;
638 We cease not from above, nor they below relent.
639 Before the gate stood Pyrrhus, threat'ning loud,
640 With glitt'ring arms conspicuous in the crowd.
641 So shines, renew'd in youth, the crested snake,
642 Who slept the winter in a thorny brake,
643 And, casting off his slough when spring returns,
644 Now looks aloft, and with new glory burns;
645 Restor'd with poisonous herbs, his ardent sides
646 Reflect the sun; and rais'd on spires he rides;
647 High o'er the grass, hissing he rolls along,
648 And brandishes by fits his forky tongue.
649 Proud Periphas, and fierce Automedon,
650 His father's charioteer, together run
651 To force the gate; the Scyrian infantry
652 Rush on in crowds, and the barr'd passage free.
653 Ent'ring the court, with shouts the skies they rend;
654 And flaming firebrands to the roofs ascend.
655 Himself, among the foremost, deals his blows,
656 And with his ax repeated strokes bestows
657 On the strong doors; then all their shoulders ply,
658 Till from the posts the brazen hinges fly.
659 He hews apace; the double bars at length
660 Yield to his ax and unresisted strength.
661 A mighty breach is made: the rooms conceal'd
662 Appear, and all the palace is reveal'd;
663 The halls of audience, and of public state,
664 And where the lonely queen in secret sate.
665 Arm'd soldiers now by trembling maids are seen,
666 With not a door, and scarce a space, between.
667 The house is fill'd with loud laments and cries,
668 And shrieks of women rend the vaulted skies;
669 The fearful matrons run from place to place,
670 And kiss the thresholds, and the posts embrace.
671 The fatal work inhuman Pyrrhus plies,
672 And all his father sparkles in his eyes;
673 Nor bars, nor fighting guards, his force sustain:
674 The bars are broken, and the guards are slain.
675 In rush the Greeks, and all the apartments fill;
676 Those few defendants whom they find, they kill.
677 Not with so fierce a rage the foaming flood
678 Roars, when he finds his rapid course withstood;
679 Bears down the dams with unresisted sway,
680 And sweeps the cattle and the cots away.
681 These eyes beheld him when he march'd between
682 The brother kings: I saw th' unhappy queen,
683 The hundred wives, and where old Priam stood,
684 To stain his hallow'd altar with his brood.
685 The fifty nuptial beds (such hopes had he,
686 So large a promise, of a progeny),
687 The posts, of plated gold, and hung with spoils,
688 Fell the reward of the proud victor's toils.
689 Where'er the raging fire had left a space,
690 The Grecians enter and possess the place.

691 "Perhaps you may of Priam's fate enquire.
692 He, when he saw his regal town on fire,
693 His ruin'd palace, and his ent'ring foes,
694 On ev'ry side inevitable woes,
695 In arms, disus'd, invests his limbs, decay'd,
696 Like them, with age; a late and useless aid.
697 His feeble shoulders scarce the weight sustain;
698 Loaded, not arm'd, he creeps along with pain,
699 Despairing of success, ambitious to be slain!
700 Uncover'd but by heav'n, there stood in view
701 An altar; near the hearth a laurel grew,
702 Dodder'd with age, whose boughs encompass round
703 The household gods, and shade the holy ground.
704 Here Hecuba, with all her helpless train
705 Of dames, for shelter sought, but sought in vain.
706 Driv'n like a flock of doves along the sky,
707 Their images they hug, and to their altars fly.
708 The Queen, when she beheld her trembling lord,
709 And hanging by his side a heavy sword,
710 'What rage,' she cried, 'has seiz'd my husband's mind?
711 What arms are these, and to what use design'd?
712 These times want other aids! Were Hector here,
713 Ev'n Hector now in vain, like Priam, would appear.
714 With us, one common shelter thou shalt find,
715 Or in one common fate with us be join'd.'
716 She said, and with a last salute embrac'd
717 The poor old man, and by the laurel plac'd.
718 Behold! Polites, one of Priam's sons,
719 Pursued by Pyrrhus, there for safety runs.
720 Thro' swords and foes, amaz'd and hurt, he flies
721 Thro' empty courts and open galleries.
722 Him Pyrrhus, urging with his lance, pursues,
723 And often reaches, and his thrusts renews.
724 The youth, transfix'd, with lamentable cries,
725 Expires before his wretched parent's eyes:
726 Whom gasping at his feet when Priam saw,
727 The fear of death gave place to nature's law;
728 And, shaking more with anger than with age,
729 'The gods,' said he, 'requite thy brutal rage!
730 As sure they will, barbarian, sure they must,
731 If there be gods in heav'n, and gods be just-
732 Who tak'st in wrongs an insolent delight;
733 With a son's death t' infect a father's sight.
734 Not he, whom thou and lying fame conspire
735 To call thee his- not he, thy vaunted sire,
736 Thus us'd my wretched age: the gods he fear'd,
737 The laws of nature and of nations heard.
738 He cheer'd my sorrows, and, for sums of gold,
739 The bloodless carcass of my Hector sold;
740 Pitied the woes a parent underwent,
741 And sent me back in safety from his tent.'

742 "This said, his feeble hand a javelin threw,
743 Which, flutt'ring, seem'd to loiter as it flew:
744 Just, and but barely, to the mark it held,
745 And faintly tinkled on the brazen shield.

746 "Then Pyrrhus thus: 'Go thou from me to fate,
747 And to my father my foul deeds relate.
748 Now die!' With that he dragg'd the trembling sire,
749 Slidd'ring thro' clotter'd blood and holy mire,
750 (The mingled paste his murder'd son had made,)
751 Haul'd from beneath the violated shade,
752 And on the sacred pile the royal victim laid.
753 His right hand held his bloody falchion bare,
754 His left he twisted in his hoary hair;
755 Then, with a speeding thrust, his heart he found:
756 The lukewarm blood came rushing thro' the wound,
757 And sanguine streams distain'd the sacred ground.
758 Thus Priam fell, and shar'd one common fate
759 With Troy in ashes, and his ruin'd state:
760 He, who the scepter of all Asia sway'd,
761 Whom monarchs like domestic slaves obey'd.
762 On the bleak shore now lies th' abandon'd king,
763 A headless carcass, and a nameless thing.

764 "Then, not before, I felt my cruddled blood
765 Congeal with fear, my hair with horror stood:
766 My father's image fill'd my pious mind,
767 Lest equal years might equal fortune find.
768 Again I thought on my forsaken wife,
769 And trembled for my son's abandon'd life.
770 I look'd about, but found myself alone,
771 Deserted at my need! My friends were gone.
772 Some spent with toil, some with despair oppress'd,
773 Leap'd headlong from the heights; the flames consum'd the rest.
774 Thus, wand'ring in my way, without a guide,
775 The graceless Helen in the porch I spied
776 Of Vesta's temple; there she lurk'd alone;
777 Muffled she sate, and, what she could, unknown:
778 But, by the flames that cast their blaze around,
779 That common bane of Greece and Troy I found.
780 For Ilium burnt, she dreads the Trojan sword;
781 More dreads the vengeance of her injur'd lord;
782 Ev'n by those gods who refug'd her abhorr'd.
783 Trembling with rage, the strumpet I regard,
784 Resolv'd to give her guilt the due reward:
785 'Shall she triumphant sail before the wind,
786 And leave in flames unhappy Troy behind?
787 Shall she her kingdom and her friends review,
788 In state attended with a captive crew,
789 While unreveng'd the good old Priam falls,
790 And Grecian fires consume the Trojan walls?
791 For this the Phrygian fields and Xanthian flood
792 Were swell'd with bodies, and were drunk with blood?
793 'T is true, a soldier can small honor gain,
794 And boast no conquest, from a woman slain:
795 Yet shall the fact not pass without applause,
796 Of vengeance taken in so just a cause;
797 The punish'd crime shall set my soul at ease,
798 And murm'ring manes of my friends appease.'
799 Thus while I rave, a gleam of pleasing light
800 Spread o'er the place; and, shining heav'nly bright,
801 My mother stood reveal'd before my sight
802 Never so radiant did her eyes appear;
803 Not her own star confess'd a light so clear:
804 Great in her charms, as when on gods above
805 She looks, and breathes herself into their love.
806 She held my hand, the destin'd blow to break;
807 Then from her rosy lips began to speak:
808 'My son, from whence this madness, this neglect
809 Of my commands, and those whom I protect?
810 Why this unmanly rage? Recall to mind
811 Whom you forsake, what pledges leave behind.
812 Look if your helpless father yet survive,
813 Or if Ascanius or Creusa live.
814 Around your house the greedy Grecians err;
815 And these had perish'd in the nightly war,
816 But for my presence and protecting care.
817 Not Helen's face, nor Paris, was in fault;
818 But by the gods was this destruction brought.
819 Now cast your eyes around, while I dissolve
820 The mists and films that mortal eyes involve,
821 Purge from your sight the dross, and make you see
822 The shape of each avenging deity.
823 Enlighten'd thus, my just commands fulfil,
824 Nor fear obedience to your mother's will.
825 Where yon disorder'd heap of ruin lies,
826 Stones rent from stones; where clouds of dust arise-
827 Amid that smother Neptune holds his place,
828 Below the wall's foundation drives his mace,
829 And heaves the building from the solid base.
830 Look where, in arms, imperial Juno stands
831 Full in the Scaean gate, with loud commands,
832 Urging on shore the tardy Grecian bands.
833 See! Pallas, of her snaky buckler proud,
834 Bestrides the tow'r, refulgent thro' the cloud:
835 See! Jove new courage to the foe supplies,
836 And arms against the town the partial deities.
837 Haste hence, my son; this fruitless labor end:
838 Haste, where your trembling spouse and sire attend:
839 Haste; and a mother's care your passage shall befriend.'
840 She said, and swiftly vanish'd from my sight,
841 Obscure in clouds and gloomy shades of night.
842 I look'd, I listen'd; dreadful sounds I hear;
843 And the dire forms of hostile gods appear.
844 Troy sunk in flames I saw (nor could prevent),
845 And Ilium from its old foundations rent;
846 Rent like a mountain ash, which dar'd the winds,
847 And stood the sturdy strokes of lab'ring hinds.
848 About the roots the cruel ax resounds;
849 The stumps are pierc'd with oft-repeated wounds:
850 The war is felt on high; the nodding crown
851 Now threats a fall, and throws the leafy honors down.
852 To their united force it yields, tho' late,
853 And mourns with mortal groans th' approaching fate:
854 The roots no more their upper load sustain;
855 But down she falls, and spreads a ruin thro' the plain.

856 "Descending thence, I scape thro' foes and fire:
857 Before the goddess, foes and flames retire.
858 Arriv'd at home, he, for whose only sake,
859 Or most for his, such toils I undertake,
860 The good Anchises, whom, by timely flight,
861 I purpos'd to secure on Ida's height,
862 Refus'd the journey, resolute to die
863 And add his fun'rals to the fate of Troy,
864 Rather than exile and old age sustain.
865 'Go you, whose blood runs warm in ev'ry vein.
866 Had Heav'n decreed that I should life enjoy,
867 Heav'n had decreed to save unhappy Troy.
868 'T is, sure, enough, if not too much, for one,
869 Twice to have seen our Ilium overthrown.
870 Make haste to save the poor remaining crew,
871 And give this useless corpse a long adieu.
872 These weak old hands suffice to stop my breath;
873 At least the pitying foes will aid my death,
874 To take my spoils, and leave my body bare:
875 As for my sepulcher, let Heav'n take care.
876 'T is long since I, for my celestial wife
877 Loath'd by the gods, have dragg'd a ling'ring life;
878 Since ev'ry hour and moment I expire,
879 Blasted from heav'n by Jove's avenging fire.'
880 This oft repeated, he stood fix'd to die:
881 Myself, my wife, my son, my family,
882 Intreat, pray, beg, and raise a doleful cry-
883 'What, will he still persist, on death resolve,
884 And in his ruin all his house involve!'
885 He still persists his reasons to maintain;
886 Our pray'rs, our tears, our loud laments, are vain.

887 "Urg'd by despair, again I go to try
888 The fate of arms, resolv'd in fight to die:
889 'What hope remains, but what my death must give?
890 Can I, without so dear a father, live?
891 You term it prudence, what I baseness call:
892 Could such a word from such a parent fall?
893 If Fortune please, and so the gods ordain,
894 That nothing should of ruin'd Troy remain,
895 And you conspire with Fortune to be slain,
896 The way to death is wide, th' approaches near:
897 For soon relentless Pyrrhus will appear,
898 Reeking with Priam's blood- the wretch who slew
899 The son (inhuman) in the father's view,
900 And then the sire himself to the dire altar drew.
901 O goddess mother, give me back to Fate;
902 Your gift was undesir'd, and came too late!
903 Did you, for this, unhappy me convey
904 Thro' foes and fires, to see my house a prey?
905 Shall I my father, wife, and son behold,
906 Welt'ring in blood, each other's arms infold?
907 Haste! gird my sword, tho' spent and overcome:
908 'T is the last summons to receive our doom.
909 I hear thee, Fate; and I obey thy call!
910 Not unreveng'd the foe shall see my fall.
911 Restore me to the yet unfinish'd fight:
912 My death is wanting to conclude the night.'
913 Arm'd once again, my glitt'ring sword I wield,
914 While th' other hand sustains my weighty shield,
915 And forth I rush to seek th' abandon'd field.
916 I went; but sad Creusa stopp'd my way,
917 And cross the threshold in my passage lay,
918 Embrac'd my knees, and, when I would have gone,
919 Shew'd me my feeble sire and tender son:
920 'If death be your design, at least,' said she,
921 'Take us along to share your destiny.
922 If any farther hopes in arms remain,
923 This place, these pledges of your love, maintain.
924 To whom do you expose your father's life,
925 Your son's, and mine, your now forgotten wife!'
926 While thus she fills the house with clam'rous cries,
927 Our hearing is diverted by our eyes:
928 For, while I held my son, in the short space
929 Betwixt our kisses and our last embrace;
930 Strange to relate, from young Iulus' head
931 A lambent flame arose, which gently spread
932 Around his brows, and on his temples fed.
933 Amaz'd, with running water we prepare
934 To quench the sacred fire, and slake his hair;
935 But old Anchises, vers'd in omens, rear'd
936 His hands to heav'n, and this request preferr'd:
937 'If any vows, almighty Jove, can bend
938 Thy will; if piety can pray'rs commend,
939 Confirm the glad presage which thou art pleas'd to send.'
940 Scarce had he said, when, on our left, we hear
941 A peal of rattling thunder roll in air:
942 There shot a streaming lamp along the sky,
943 Which on the winged lightning seem'd to fly;
944 From o'er the roof the blaze began to move,
945 And, trailing, vanish'd in th' Idaean grove.
946 It swept a path in heav'n, and shone a guide,
947 Then in a steaming stench of sulphur died.

948 "The good old man with suppliant hands implor'd
949 The gods' protection, and their star ador'd.
950 'Now, now,' said he, 'my son, no more delay!
951 I yield, I follow where Heav'n shews the way.
952 Keep, O my country gods, our dwelling place,
953 And guard this relic of the Trojan race,
954 This tender child! These omens are your own,
955 And you can yet restore the ruin'd town.
956 At least accomplish what your signs foreshow:
957 I stand resign'd, and am prepar'd to go.'

958 "He said. The crackling flames appear on high.
959 And driving sparkles dance along the sky.
960 With Vulcan's rage the rising winds conspire,
961 And near our palace roll the flood of fire.
962 'Haste, my dear father, ('t is no time to wait,)
963 And load my shoulders with a willing freight.
964 Whate'er befalls, your life shall be my care;
965 One death, or one deliv'rance, we will share.
966 My hand shall lead our little son; and you,
967 My faithful consort, shall our steps pursue.
968 Next, you, my servants, heed my strict commands:
969 Without the walls a ruin'd temple stands,
970 To Ceres hallow'd once; a cypress nigh
971 Shoots up her venerable head on high,
972 By long religion kept; there bend your feet,
973 And in divided parties let us meet.
974 Our country gods, the relics, and the bands,
975 Hold you, my father, in your guiltless hands:
976 In me 't is impious holy things to bear,
977 Red as I am with slaughter, new from war,
978 Till in some living stream I cleanse the guilt
979 Of dire debate, and blood in battle spilt.'
980 Thus, ord'ring all that prudence could provide,
981 I clothe my shoulders with a lion's hide
982 And yellow spoils; then, on my bending back,
983 The welcome load of my dear father take;
984 While on my better hand Ascanius hung,
985 And with unequal paces tripp'd along.
986 Creusa kept behind; by choice we stray
987 Thro' ev'ry dark and ev'ry devious way.
988 I, who so bold and dauntless, just before,
989 The Grecian darts and shock of lances bore,
990 At ev'ry shadow now am seiz'd with fear,
991 Not for myself, but for the charge I bear;
992 Till, near the ruin'd gate arriv'd at last,
993 Secure, and deeming all the danger past,
994 A frightful noise of trampling feet we hear.
995 My father, looking thro' the shades, with fear,
996 Cried out: 'Haste, haste, my son, the foes are nigh;
997 Their swords and shining armor I descry.'
998 Some hostile god, for some unknown offense,
999 Had sure bereft my mind of better sense;
1000 For, while thro' winding ways I took my flight,
1001 And sought the shelter of the gloomy night,
1002 Alas! I lost Creusa: hard to tell
1003 If by her fatal destiny she fell,
1004 Or weary sate, or wander'd with affright;
1005 But she was lost for ever to my sight.
1006 I knew not, or reflected, till I meet
1007 My friends, at Ceres' now deserted seat.
1008 We met: not one was wanting; only she
1009 Deceiv'd her friends, her son, and wretched me.

1010 "What mad expressions did my tongue refuse!
1011 Whom did I not, of gods or men, accuse!
1012 This was the fatal blow, that pain'd me more
1013 Than all I felt from ruin'd Troy before.
1014 Stung with my loss, and raving with despair,
1015 Abandoning my now forgotten care,
1016 Of counsel, comfort, and of hope bereft,
1017 My sire, my son, my country gods I left.
1018 In shining armor once again I sheathe
1019 My limbs, not feeling wounds, nor fearing death.
1020 Then headlong to the burning walls I run,
1021 And seek the danger I was forc'd to shun.
1022 I tread my former tracks; thro' night explore
1023 Each passage, ev'ry street I cross'd before.
1024 All things were full of horror and affright,
1025 And dreadful ev'n the silence of the night.
1026 Then to my father's house I make repair,
1027 With some small glimpse of hope to find her there.
1028 Instead of her, the cruel Greeks I met;
1029 The house was fill'd with foes, with flames beset.
1030 Driv'n on the wings of winds, whole sheets of fire,
1031 Thro' air transported, to the roofs aspire.
1032 From thence to Priam's palace I resort,
1033 And search the citadel and desart court.
1034 Then, unobserv'd, I pass by Juno's church:
1035 A guard of Grecians had possess'd the porch;
1036 There Phoenix and Ulysses watch prey,
1037 And thither all the wealth of Troy convey:
1038 The spoils which they from ransack'd houses brought,
1039 And golden bowls from burning altars caught,
1040 The tables of the gods, the purple vests,
1041 The people's treasure, and the pomp of priests.
1042 A rank of wretched youths, with pinion'd hands,
1043 And captive matrons, in long order stands.
1044 Then, with ungovern'd madness, I proclaim,
1045 Thro' all the silent street, Creusa's name:
1046 Creusa still I call; at length she hears,
1047 And sudden thro' the shades of night appears-
1048 Appears, no more Creusa, nor my wife,
1049 But a pale specter, larger than the life.
1050 Aghast, astonish'd, and struck dumb with fear,
1051 I stood; like bristles rose my stiffen'd hair.
1052 Then thus the ghost began to soothe my grief
1053 'Nor tears, nor cries, can give the dead relief.
1054 Desist, my much-lov'd lord,'t indulge your pain;
1055 You bear no more than what the gods ordain.
1056 My fates permit me not from hence to fly;
1057 Nor he, the great controller of the sky.
1058 Long wand'ring ways for you the pow'rs decree;
1059 On land hard labors, and a length of sea.
1060 Then, after many painful years are past,
1061 On Latium's happy shore you shall be cast,
1062 Where gentle Tiber from his bed beholds
1063 The flow'ry meadows, and the feeding folds.
1064 There end your toils; and there your fates provide
1065 A quiet kingdom, and a royal bride:
1066 There fortune shall the Trojan line restore,
1067 And you for lost Creusa weep no more.
1068 Fear not that I shall watch, with servile shame,
1069 Th' imperious looks of some proud Grecian dame;
1070 Or, stooping to the victor's lust, disgrace
1071 My goddess mother, or my royal race.
1072 And now, farewell! The parent of the gods
1073 Restrains my fleeting soul in her abodes:
1074 I trust our common issue to your care.'
1075 She said, and gliding pass'd unseen in air.
1076 I strove to speak: but horror tied my tongue;
1077 And thrice about her neck my arms I flung,
1078 And, thrice deceiv'd, on vain embraces hung.
1079 Light as an empty dream at break of day,
1080 Or as a blast of wind, she rush'd away.

1081 "Thus having pass'd the night in fruitless pain,
1082 I to my longing friends return again,
1083 Amaz'd th' augmented number to behold,
1084 Of men and matrons mix'd, of young and old;
1085 A wretched exil'd crew together brought,
1086 With arms appointed, and with treasure fraught,
1087 Resolv'd, and willing, under my command,
1088 To run all hazards both of sea and land.
1089 The Morn began, from Ida, to display
1090 Her rosy cheeks; and Phosphor led the day:
1091 Before the gates the Grecians took their post,
1092 And all pretense of late relief was lost.
1093 I yield to Fate, unwillingly retire,
1094 And, loaded, up the hill convey my sire."