Book 7

1 And thou, O matron of immortal fame,
2 Here dying, to the shore hast left thy name;
3 Cajeta still the place is call'd from thee,
4 The nurse of great Aeneas' infancy.
5 Here rest thy bones in rich Hesperia's plains;
6 Thy name ('t is all a ghost can have) remains.

7 Now, when the prince her fun'ral rites had paid,
8 He plow'd the Tyrrhene seas with sails display'd.
9 From land a gentle breeze arose by night,
10 Serenely shone the stars, the moon was bright,
11 And the sea trembled with her silver light.
12 Now near the shelves of Circe's shores they run,
13 (Circe the rich, the daughter of the Sun,)
14 A dang'rous coast: the goddess wastes her days
15 In joyous songs; the rocks resound her lays:
16 In spinning, or the loom, she spends the night,
17 And cedar brands supply her father's light.
18 From hence were heard, rebellowing to the main,
19 The roars of lions that refuse the chain,
20 The grunts of bristled boars, and groans of bears,
21 And herds of howling wolves that stun the sailors' ears.
22 These from their caverns, at the close of night,
23 Fill the sad isle with horror and affright.
24 Darkling they mourn their fate, whom Circe's pow'r,
25 (That watch'd the moon and planetary hour,)
26 With words and wicked herbs from humankind
27 Had alter'd, and in brutal shapes confin'd.
28 Which monsters lest the Trojans' pious host
29 Should bear, or touch upon th' inchanted coast,
30 Propitious Neptune steer'd their course by night
31 With rising gales that sped their happy flight.
32 Supplied with these, they skim the sounding shore,
33 And hear the swelling surges vainly roar.
34 Now, when the rosy morn began to rise,
35 And wav'd her saffron streamer thro' the skies;
36 When Thetis blush'd in purple not her own,
37 And from her face the breathing winds were blown,
38 A sudden silence sate upon the sea,
39 And sweeping oars, with struggling, urge their way.
40 The Trojan, from the main, beheld a wood,
41 Which thick with shades and a brown horror stood:
42 Betwixt the trees the Tiber took his course,
43 With whirlpools dimpled; and with downward force,
44 That drove the sand along, he took his way,
45 And roll'd his yellow billows to the sea.
46 About him, and above, and round the wood,
47 The birds that haunt the borders of his flood,
48 That bath'd within, or basked upon his side,
49 To tuneful songs their narrow throats applied.
50 The captain gives command; the joyful train
51 Glide thro' the gloomy shade, and leave the main.

52 Now, Erato, thy poet's mind inspire,
53 And fill his soul with thy celestial fire!
54 Relate what Latium was; her ancient kings;
55 Declare the past and state of things,
56 When first the Trojan fleet Ausonia sought,
57 And how the rivals lov'd, and how they fought.
58 These are my theme, and how the war began,
59 And how concluded by the godlike man:
60 For I shall sing of battles, blood, and rage,
61 Which princes and their people did engage;
62 And haughty souls, that, mov'd with mutual hate,
63 In fighting fields pursued and found their fate;
64 That rous'd the Tyrrhene realm with loud alarms,
65 And peaceful Italy involv'd in arms.
66 A larger scene of action is display'd;
67 And, rising hence, a greater work is weigh'd.

68 Latinus, old and mild, had long possess'd
69 The Latin scepter, and his people blest:
70 His father Faunus; a Laurentian dame
71 His mother; fair Marica was her name.
72 But Faunus came from Picus: Picus drew
73 His birth from Saturn, if records be true.
74 Thus King Latinus, in the third degree,
75 Had Saturn author of his family.
76 But this old peaceful prince, as Heav'n decreed,
77 Was blest with no male issue to succeed:
78 His sons in blooming youth were snatch'd by fate;
79 One only daughter heir'd the royal state.
80 Fir'd with her love, and with ambition led,
81 The neighb'ring princes court her nuptial bed.
82 Among the crowd, but far above the rest,
83 Young Turnus to the beauteous maid address'd.
84 Turnus, for high descent and graceful mien,
85 Was first, and favor'd by the Latian queen;
86 With him she strove to join Lavinia's hand,
87 But dire portents the purpos'd match withstand.

88 Deep in the palace, of long growth, there stood
89 A laurel's trunk, a venerable wood;
90 Where rites divine were paid; whose holy hair
91 Was kept and cut with superstitious care.
92 This plant Latinus, when his town he wall'd,
93 Then found, and from the tree Laurentum call'd;
94 And last, in honor of his new abode,
95 He vow'd the laurel to the laurel's god.
96 It happen'd once (a boding prodigy!)
97 A swarm of bees, that cut the liquid sky,
98 (Unknown from whence they took their airy flight,)
99 Upon the topmost branch in clouds alight;
100 There with their clasping feet together clung,
101 And a long cluster from the laurel hung.
102 An ancient augur prophesied from hence:
103 "Behold on Latian shores a foreign prince!
104 From the same parts of heav'n his navy stands,
105 To the same parts on earth; his army lands;
106 The town he conquers, and the tow'r commands."

107 Yet more, when fair Lavinia fed the fire
108 Before the gods, and stood beside her sire,
109 (Strange to relate!) the flames, involv'd in smoke
110 Of incense, from the sacred altar broke,
111 Caught her dishevel'd hair and rich attire;
112 Her crown and jewels crackled in the fire:
113 From thence the fuming trail began to spread
114 And lambent glories danc'd about her head.
115 This new portent the seer with wonder views,
116 Then pausing, thus his prophecy renews:
117 "The nymph, who scatters flaming fires around,
118 Shall shine with honor, shall herself be crown'd;
119 But, caus'd by her irrevocable fate,
120 War shall the country waste, and change the state."

121 Latinus, frighted with this dire ostent,
122 For counsel to his father Faunus went,
123 And sought the shades renown'd for prophecy
124 Which near Albunea's sulph'rous fountain lie.
125 To these the Latian and the Sabine land
126 Fly, when distress'd, and thence relief demand.
127 The priest on skins of off'rings takes his ease,
128 And nightly visions in his slumber sees;
129 A swarm of thin aerial shapes appears,
130 And, flutt'ring round his temples, deafs his ears:
131 These he consults, the future fates to know,
132 From pow'rs above, and from the fiends below.
133 Here, for the gods' advice, Latinus flies,
134 Off'ring a hundred sheep for sacrifice:
135 Their woolly fleeces, as the rites requir'd,
136 He laid beneath him, and to rest retir'd.
137 No sooner were his eyes in slumber bound,
138 When, from above, a more than mortal sound
139 Invades his ears; and thus the vision spoke:
140 "Seek not, my seed, in Latian bands to yoke
141 Our fair Lavinia, nor the gods provoke.
142 A foreign son upon thy shore descends,
143 Whose martial fame from pole to pole extends.
144 His race, in arms and arts of peace renown'd,
145 Not Latium shall contain, nor Europe bound:
146 'T is theirs whate'er the sun surveys around."
147 These answers, in the silent night receiv'd,
148 The king himself divulg'd, the land believ'd:
149 The fame thro' all the neighb'ring nations flew,
150 When now the Trojan navy was in view.

151 Beneath a shady tree, the hero spread
152 His table on the turf, with cakes of bread;
153 And, with his chiefs, on forest fruits he fed.
154 They sate; and, (not without the god's command,)
155 Their homely fare dispatch'd, the hungry band
156 Invade their trenchers next, and soon devour,
157 To mend the scanty meal, their cakes of flour.
158 Ascanius this observ'd, and smiling said:
159 "See, we devour the plates on which we fed."
160 The speech had omen, that the Trojan race
161 Should find repose, and this the time and place.
162 Aeneas took the word, and thus replies,
163 Confessing fate with wonder in his eyes:
164 "All hail, O earth! all hail, my household gods!
165 Behold the destin'd place of your abodes!
166 For thus Anchises prophesied of old,
167 And this our fatal place of rest foretold:
168 'When, on a foreign shore, instead of meat,
169 By famine forc'd, your trenchers you shall eat,
170 Then ease your weary Trojans will attend,
171 And the long labors of your voyage end.
172 Remember on that happy coast to build,
173 And with a trench inclose the fruitful field.'
174 This was that famine, this the fatal place
175 Which ends the wand'ring of our exil'd race.
176 Then, on to-morrow's dawn, your care employ,
177 To search the land, and where the cities lie,
178 And what the men; but give this day to joy.
179 Now pour to Jove; and, after Jove is blest,
180 Call great Anchises to the genial feast:
181 Crown high the goblets with a cheerful draught;
182 Enjoy the present hour; adjourn the future thought."

183 Thus having said, the hero bound his brows
184 With leafy branches, then perform'd his vows;
185 Adoring first the genius of the place,
186 Then Earth, the mother of the heav'nly race,
187 The nymphs, and native godheads yet unknown,
188 And Night, and all the stars that gild her sable throne,
189 And ancient Cybel, and Idaean Jove,
190 And last his sire below, and mother queen above.
191 Then heav'n's high monarch thunder'd thrice aloud,
192 And thrice he shook aloft a golden cloud.
193 Soon thro' the joyful camp a rumor flew,
194 The time was come their city to renew.
195 Then ev'ry brow with cheerful green is crown'd,
196 The feasts are doubled, and the bowls go round.

197 When next the rosy morn disclos'd the day,
198 The scouts to sev'ral parts divide their way,
199 To learn the natives' names, their towns explore,
200 The coasts and trendings of the crooked shore:
201 Here Tiber flows, and here Numicus stands;
202 Here warlike Latins hold the happy lands.
203 The pious chief, who sought by peaceful ways
204 To found his empire, and his town to raise,
205 A hundred youths from all his train selects,
206 And to the Latian court their course directs,
207 (The spacious palace where their prince resides,)
208 And all their heads with wreaths of olive hides.
209 They go commission'd to require a peace,
210 And carry presents to procure access.
211 Thus while they speed their pace, the prince designs
212 His new-elected seat, and draws the lines.
213 The Trojans round the place a rampire cast,
214 And palisades about the trenches plac'd.

215 Meantime the train, proceeding on their way,
216 From far the town and lofty tow'rs survey;
217 At length approach the walls. Without the gate,
218 They see the boys and Latian youth debate
219 The martial prizes on the dusty plain:
220 Some drive the cars, and some the coursers rein;
221 Some bend the stubborn bow for victory,
222 And some with darts their active sinews try.
223 A posting messenger, dispatch'd from hence,
224 Of this fair troop advis'd their aged prince,
225 That foreign men of mighty stature came;
226 Uncouth their habit, and unknown their name.
227 The king ordains their entrance, and ascends
228 His regal seat, surrounded by his friends.

229 The palace built by Picus, vast and proud,
230 Supported by a hundred pillars stood,
231 And round incompass'd with a rising wood.
232 The pile o'erlook'd the town, and drew the sight;
233 Surpris'd at once with reverence and delight.
234 There kings receiv'd the marks of sov'reign pow'r;
235 In state the monarchs march'd; the lictors bore
236 Their awful axes and the rods before.
237 Here the tribunal stood, the house of pray'r,
238 And here the sacred senators repair;
239 All at large tables, in long order set,
240 A ram their off'ring, and a ram their meat.
241 Above the portal, carv'd in cedar wood,
242 Plac'd in their ranks, their godlike grandsires stood;
243 Old Saturn, with his crooked scythe, on high;
244 And Italus, that led the colony;
245 And ancient Janus, with his double face,
246 And bunch of keys, the porter of the place.
247 There good Sabinus, planter of the vines,
248 On a short pruning hook his head reclines,
249 And studiously surveys his gen'rous wines;
250 Then warlike kings, who for their country fought,
251 And honorable wounds from battle brought.
252 Around the posts hung helmets, darts, and spears,
253 And captive chariots, axes, shields, and bars,
254 And broken beaks of ships, the trophies of their wars.
255 Above the rest, as chief of all the band,
256 Was Picus plac'd, a buckler in his hand;
257 His other wav'd a long divining wand.
258 Girt in his Gabin gown the hero sate,
259 Yet could not with his art avoid his fate:
260 For Circe long had lov'd the youth in vain,
261 Till love, refus'd, converted to disdain:
262 Then, mixing pow'rful herbs, with magic art,
263 She chang'd his form, who could not change his heart;
264 Constrain'd him in a bird, and made him fly,
265 With party-color'd plumes, a chatt'ring pie.

266 In this high temple, on a chair of state,
267 The seat of audience, old Latinus sate;
268 Then gave admission to the Trojan train;
269 And thus with pleasing accents he began:
270 "Tell me, ye Trojans, for that name you own,
271 Nor is your course upon our coasts unknown-
272 Say what you seek, and whither were you bound:
273 Were you by stress of weather cast aground?
274 (Such dangers as on seas are often seen,
275 And oft befall to miserable men,)
276 Or come, your shipping in our ports to lay,
277 Spent and disabled in so long a way?
278 Say what you want: the Latians you shall find
279 Not forc'd to goodness, but by will inclin'd;
280 For, since the time of Saturn's holy reign,
281 His hospitable customs we retain.
282 I call to mind (but time the tale has worn)
283 Th' Arunci told, that Dardanus, tho' born
284 On Latian plains, yet sought the Phrygian shore,
285 And Samothracia, Samos call'd before.
286 From Tuscan Coritum he claim'd his birth;
287 But after, when exempt from mortal earth,
288 From thence ascended to his kindred skies,
289 A god, and, as a god, augments their sacrifice,"

290 He said. Ilioneus made this reply:
291 "O king, of Faunus' royal family!
292 Nor wintry winds to Latium forc'd our way,
293 Nor did the stars our wand'ring course betray.
294 Willing we sought your shores; and, hither bound,
295 The port, so long desir'd, at length we found;
296 From our sweet homes and ancient realms expell'd;
297 Great as the greatest that the sun beheld.
298 The god began our line, who rules above;
299 And, as our race, our king descends from Jove:
300 And hither are we come, by his command,
301 To crave admission in your happy land.
302 How dire a tempest, from Mycenae pour'd,
303 Our plains, our temples, and our town devour'd;
304 What was the waste of war, what fierce alarms
305 Shook Asia's crown with European arms;
306 Ev'n such have heard, if any such there be,
307 Whose earth is bounded by the frozen sea;
308 And such as, born beneath the burning sky
309 And sultry sun, betwixt the tropics lie.
310 From that dire deluge, thro' the wat'ry waste,
311 Such length of years, such various perils past,
312 At last escap'd, to Latium we repair,
313 To beg what you without your want may spare:
314 The common water, and the common air;
315 Sheds which ourselves will build, and mean abodes,
316 Fit to receive and serve our banish'd gods.
317 Nor our admission shall your realm disgrace,
318 Nor length of time our gratitude efface.
319 Besides, what endless honor you shall gain,
320 To save and shelter Troy's unhappy train!
321 Now, by my sov'reign, and his fate, I swear,
322 Renown'd for faith in peace, for force in war;
323 Oft our alliance other lands desir'd,
324 And, what we seek of you, of us requir'd.
325 Despite not then, that in our hands we bear
326 These holy boughs, sue with words of pray'r.
327 Fate and the gods, by their supreme command,
328 Have doom'd our ships to seek the Latian land.
329 To these abodes our fleet Apollo sends;
330 Here Dardanus was born, and hither tends;
331 Where Tuscan Tiber rolls with rapid force,
332 And where Numicus opes his holy source.
333 Besides, our prince presents, with his request,
334 Some small remains of what his sire possess'd.
335 This golden charger, snatch'd from burning Troy,
336 Anchises did in sacrifice employ;
337 This royal robe and this tiara wore
338 Old Priam, and this golden scepter bore
339 In full assemblies, and in solemn games;
340 These purple vests were weav'd by Dardan dames."

341 Thus while he spoke, Latinus roll'd around
342 His eyes, and fix'd a while upon the ground.
343 Intent he seem'd, and anxious in his breast;
344 Not by the scepter mov'd, or kingly vest,
345 But pond'ring future things of wondrous weight;
346 Succession, empire, and his daughter's fate.
347 On these he mus'd within his thoughtful mind,
348 And then revolv'd what Faunus had divin'd.
349 This was the foreign prince, by fate decreed
350 To share his scepter, and Lavinia's bed;
351 This was the race that sure portents foreshew
352 To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.
353 At length he rais'd his cheerful head, and spoke:
354 "The pow'rs," said he, "the pow'rs we both invoke,
355 To you, and yours, and mine, propitious be,
356 And firm our purpose with their augury!
357 Have what you ask; your presents I receive;
358 Land, where and when you please, with ample leave;
359 Partake and use my kingdom as your own;
360 All shall be yours, while I command the crown:
361 And, if my wish'd alliance please your king,
362 Tell him he should not send the peace, but bring.
363 Then let him not a friend's embraces fear;
364 The peace is made when I behold him here.
365 Besides this answer, tell my royal guest,
366 I add to his commands my own request:
367 One only daughter heirs my crown and state,
368 Whom not our oracles, nor Heav'n, nor fate,
369 Nor frequent prodigies, permit to join
370 With any native of th' Ausonian line.
371 A foreign son-in-law shall come from far
372 (Such is our doom), a chief renown'd in war,
373 Whose race shall bear aloft the Latian name,
374 And thro' the conquer'd world diffuse our fame.
375 Himself to be the man the fates require,
376 I firmly judge, and, what I judge, desire."

377 He said, and then on each bestow'd a steed.
378 Three hundred horses, in high stables fed,
379 Stood ready, shining all, and smoothly dress'd:
380 Of these he chose the fairest and the best,
381 To mount the Trojan troop. At his command
382 The steeds caparison'd with purple stand,
383 With golden trappings, glorious to behold,
384 And champ betwixt their teeth the foaming gold.
385 Then to his absent guest the king decreed
386 A pair of coursers born of heav'nly breed,
387 Who from their nostrils breath'd ethereal fire;
388 Whom Circe stole from her celestial sire,
389 By substituting mares produc'd on earth,
390 Whose wombs conceiv'd a more than mortal birth.
391 These draw the chariot which Latinus sends,
392 And the rich present to the prince commends.
393 Sublime on stately steeds the Trojans borne,
394 To their expecting lord with peace return.

395 But jealous Juno, from Pachynus' height,
396 As she from Argos took her airy flight,
397 Beheld with envious eyes this hateful sight.
398 She saw the Trojan and his joyful train
399 Descend upon the shore, desert the main,
400 Design a town, and, with unhop'd success,
401 Th' embassadors return with promis'd peace.
402 Then, pierc'd with pain, she shook her haughty head,
403 Sigh'd from her inward soul, and thus she said:
404 "O hated offspring of my Phrygian foes!
405 O fates of Troy, which Juno's fates oppose!
406 Could they not fall unpitied on the plain,
407 But slain revive, and, taken, scape again?
408 When execrable Troy in ashes lay,
409 Thro' fires and swords and seas they forc'd their way.
410 Then vanquish'd Juno must in vain contend,
411 Her rage disarm'd, her empire at an end.
412 Breathless and tir'd, is all my fury spent?
413 Or does my glutted spleen at length relent?
414 As if 't were little from their town to chase,
415 I thro' the seas pursued their exil'd race;
416 Ingag'd the heav'ns, oppos'd the stormy main;
417 But billows roar'd, and tempests rag'd in vain.
418 What have my Scyllas and my Syrtes done,
419 When these they overpass, and those they shun?
420 On Tiber's shores they land, secure of fate,
421 Triumphant o'er the storms and Juno's hate.
422 Mars could in mutual blood the Centaurs bathe,
423 And Jove himself gave way to Cynthia's wrath,
424 Who sent the tusky boar to Calydon;
425 (What great offense had either people done?)
426 But I, the consort of the Thunderer,
427 Have wag'd a long and unsuccessful war,
428 With various arts and arms in vain have toil'd,
429 And by a mortal man at length am foil'd.
430 If native pow'r prevail not, shall I doubt
431 To seek for needful succor from without?
432 If Jove and Heav'n my just desires deny,
433 Hell shall the pow'r of Heav'n and Jove supply.
434 Grant that the Fates have firm'd, by their decree,
435 The Trojan race to reign in Italy;
436 At least I can defer the nuptial day,
437 And with protracted wars the peace delay:
438 With blood the dear alliance shall be bought,
439 And both the people near destruction brought;
440 So shall the son-in-law and father join,
441 With ruin, war, and waste of either line.
442 O fatal maid, thy marriage is endow'd
443 With Phrygian, Latian, andRutulian blood!
444 Bellona leads thee to thy lover's hand;
445 Another queen brings forth another brand,
446 To burn with foreign fires another land!
447 A second Paris, diff'ring but in name,
448 Shall fire his country with a second flame."

449 Thus having said, she sinks beneath the ground,
450 With furious haste, and shoots the Stygian sound,
451 To rouse Alecto from th' infernal seat
452 Of her dire sisters, and their dark retreat.
453 This Fury, fit for her intent, she chose;
454 One who delights in wars and human woes.
455 Ev'n Pluto hates his own misshapen race;
456 Her sister Furies fly her hideous face;
457 So frightful are the forms the monster takes,
458 So fierce the hissings of her speckled snakes.
459 Her Juno finds, and thus inflames her spite:
460 "O virgin daughter of eternal Night,
461 Give me this once thy labor, to sustain
462 My right, and execute my just disdain.
463 Let not the Trojans, with a feign'd pretense
464 Of proffer'd peace, delude the Latian prince.
465 Expel from Italy that odious name,
466 And let not Juno suffer in her fame.
467 'T is thine to ruin realms, o'erturn a state,
468 Betwixt the dearest friends to raise debate,
469 And kindle kindred blood to mutual hate.
470 Thy hand o'er towns the fun'ral torch displays,
471 And forms a thousand ills ten thousand ways.
472 Now shake, out thy fruitful breast, the seeds
473 Of envy, discord, and of cruel deeds:
474 Confound the peace establish'd, and prepare
475 Their souls to hatred, and their hands to war."

476 Smear'd as she was with black Gorgonian blood,
477 The Fury sprang above the Stygian flood;
478 And on her wicker wings, sublime thro' night,
479 She to the Latian palace took her flight:
480 There sought the queen's apartment, stood before
481 The peaceful threshold, and besieg'd the door.
482 Restless Amata lay, her swelling breast
483 Fir'd with disdain for Turnus dispossess'd,
484 And the new nuptials of the Trojan guest.
485 From her black bloody locks the Fury shakes
486 Her darling plague, the fav'rite of her snakes;
487 With her full force she threw the poisonous dart,
488 And fix'd it deep within Amata's heart,
489 That, thus envenom'd, she might kindle rage,
490 And sacrifice to strife her house husband's age.
491 Unseen, unfelt, the fiery serpent skims
492 Betwixt her linen and her naked limbs;
493 His baleful breath inspiring, as he glides,
494 Now like a chain around her neck he rides,
495 Now like a fillet to her head repairs,
496 And with his circling volumes folds her hairs.
497 At first the silent venom slid with ease,
498 And seiz'd her cooler senses by degrees;
499 Then, ere th' infected mass was fir'd too far,
500 In plaintive accents she began the war,
501 And thus bespoke her husband: "Shall," she said,
502 "A wand'ring prince enjoy Lavinia's bed?
503 If nature plead not in a parent's heart,
504 Pity my tears, and pity her desert.
505 I know, my dearest lord, the time will come,
506 You in vain, reverse your cruel doom;
507 The faithless pirate soon will set to sea,
508 And bear the royal virgin far away!
509 A guest like him, a Trojan guest before,
510 In shew of friendship sought the Spartan shore,
511 And ravish'd Helen from her husband bore.
512 Think on a king's inviolable word;
513 And think on Turnus, her once plighted lord:
514 To this false foreigner you give your throne,
515 And wrong a friend, a kinsman, and a son.
516 Resume your ancient care; and, if the god
517 Your sire, and you, resolve on foreign blood,
518 Know all are foreign, in a larger sense,
519 Not born your subjects, or deriv'd from hence.
520 Then, if the line of Turnus you retrace,
521 He springs from Inachus of Argive race."

522 But when she saw her reasons idly spent,
523 And could not move him from his fix'd intent,
524 She flew to rage; for now the snake possess'd
525 Her vital parts, and poison'd all her breast;
526 She raves, she runs with a distracted pace,
527 And fills with horrid howls the public place.
528 And, as young striplings whip the top for sport,
529 On the smooth pavement of an empty court;
530 The wooden engine flies and whirls about,
531 Admir'd, with clamors, of the beardless rout;
532 They lash aloud; each other they provoke,
533 And lend their little souls at ev'ry stroke:
534 Thus fares the queen; and thus her fury blows
535 Amidst the crowd, and kindles as she goes.
536 Nor yet content, she strains her malice more,
537 And adds new ills to those contriv'd before:
538 She flies the town, and, mixing with a throng
539 Of madding matrons, bears the bride along,
540 Wand'ring thro' woods and wilds, and devious ways,
541 And with these arts the Trojan match delays.
542 She feign'd the rites of Bacchus; cried aloud,
543 And to the buxom god the virgin vow'd.
544 "Evoe! O Bacchus!" thus began the song;
545 And "Evoe!" answer'd all the female throng.
546 "O virgin! worthy thee alone!" she cried;
547 "O worthy thee alone!" the crew replied.
548 "For thee she feeds her hair, she leads thy dance,
549 And with thy winding ivy wreathes her lance."
550 Like fury seiz'd the rest; the progress known,
551 All seek the mountains, and forsake the town:
552 All, clad in skins of beasts, the jav'lin bear,
553 Give to the wanton winds their flowing hair,
554 And shrieks and shoutings rend the suff'ring air.
555 The queen herself, inspir'd with rage divine,
556 Shook high above her head a flaming pine;
557 Then roll'd her haggard eyes around the throng,
558 And sung, in Turnus' name, the nuptial song:
559 "Io, ye Latian dames! if any here
560 Hold your unhappy queen, Amata, dear;
561 If there be here," she said, who dare maintain
562 My right, nor think the name of mother vain;
563 Unbind your fillets, loose your flowing hair,
564 And orgies and nocturnal rites prepare."

565 Amata's breast the Fury thus invades,
566 And fires with rage, amid the sylvan shades;
567 Then, when she found her venom spread so far,
568 The royal house embroil'd in civil war,
569 Rais'd on her dusky wings, she cleaves the skies,
570 And seeks the palace where young Turnus lies.
571 His town, as fame reports, was built of old
572 By Danae, pregnant with almighty gold,
573 Who fled her father's rage, and, with a train
574 Of following Argives, thro' the stormy main,
575 Driv'n by the southern blasts, was fated here to reign.
576 'T was Ardua once; now Ardea's name it bears;
577 Once a fair city, now consum'd with years.
578 Here, in his lofty palace, Turnus lay,
579 Betwixt the confines of the night and day,
580 Secure in sleep. The Fury laid aside
581 Her looks and limbs, and with new methods tried
582 The foulness of th' infernal form to hide.
583 Propp'd on a staff, she takes a trembling mien:
584 Her face is furrow'd, and her front obscene;
585 Deep-dinted wrinkles on her cheek she draws;
586 Sunk are her eyes, and toothless are her jaws;
587 Her hoary hair with holy fillets bound,
588 Her temples with an olive wreath are crown'd.
589 Old Chalybe, who kept the sacred fane
590 Of Juno, now she seem'd, and thus began,
591 Appearing in a dream, to rouse the careless man:
592 "Shall Turnus then such endless toil sustain
593 In fighting fields, and conquer towns in vain?
594 Win, for a Trojan head to wear the prize,
595 Usurp thy crown, enjoy thy victories?
596 The bride and scepter which thy blood has bought,
597 The king transfers; and foreign heirs are sought.
598 Go now, deluded man, and seek again
599 New toils, new dangers, on the dusty plain.
600 Repel the Tuscan foes; their city seize;
601 Protect the Latians in luxurious ease.
602 This dream all-pow'rful Juno sends; I bear
603 Her mighty mandates, and her words you hear.
604 Haste; arm your Ardeans; issue to the plain;
605 With fate to friend, assault the Trojan train:
606 Their thoughtless chiefs, their painted ships, that lie
607 In Tiber's mouth, with fire and sword destroy.
608 The Latian king, unless he shall submit,
609 Own his old promise, and his new forget-
610 Let him, in arms, the pow'r of Turnus prove,
611 And learn to fear whom he disdains to love.
612 For such is Heav'n's command." The youthful prince
613 With scorn replied, and made this bold defense:
614 "You tell me, mother, what I knew before:
615 The Phrygian fleet is landed on the shore.
616 I neither fear nor will provoke the war;
617 My fate is Juno's most peculiar care.
618 But time has made you dote, and vainly tell
619 Of arms imagin'd in your lonely cell.
620 Go; be the temple and the gods your care;
621 Permit to men the thought of peace and war."

622 These haughty words Alecto's rage provoke,
623 And frighted Turnus trembled as she spoke.
624 Her eyes grow stiffen'd, and with sulphur burn;
625 Her hideous looks and hellish form return;
626 Her curling snakes with hissings fill the place,
627 And open all the furies of her face:
628 Then, darting fire from her malignant eyes,
629 She cast him backward as he strove to rise,
630 And, ling'ring, sought to frame some new replies.
631 High on her head she rears two twisted snakes,
632 Her chains she rattles, and her whip she shakes;
633 And, churning bloody foam, thus loudly speaks:
634 "Behold whom time has made to dote, and tell
635 Of arms imagin'd in her lonely cell!
636 Behold the Fates' infernal minister!
637 War, death, destruction, in my hand I bear."

638 Thus having said, her smold'ring torch, impress'd
639 With her full force, she plung'd into his breast.
640 Aghast he wak'd; and, starting from his bed,
641 Cold sweat, in clammy drops, his limbs o'erspread.
642 "Arms! arms!" he cries: "my sword and shield prepare!"
643 He breathes defiance, blood, and mortal war.
644 So, when with crackling flames a caldron fries,
645 The bubbling waters from the bottom rise:
646 Above the brims they force their fiery way;
647 Black vapors climb aloft, and cloud the day.

648 The peace polluted thus, a chosen band
649 He first commissions to the Latian land,
650 In threat'ning embassy; then rais'd the rest,
651 To meet in arms th' intruding Trojan guest,
652 To force the foes from the Lavinian shore,
653 And Italy's indanger'd peace restore.
654 Himself alone an equal match he boasts,
655 To fight the Phrygian and Ausonian hosts.
656 The gods invok'd, the Rutuli prepare
657 Their arms, and warn each other to the war.
658 His beauty these, and those his blooming age,
659 The rest his house and his own fame ingage.

660 While Turnus urges thus his enterprise,
661 The Stygian Fury to the Trojans flies;
662 New frauds invents, and takes a steepy stand,
663 Which overlooks the vale with wide command;
664 Where fair Ascanius and his youthful train,
665 With horns and hounds, a hunting match ordain,
666 And pitch their toils around the shady plain.
667 The Fury fires the pack; they snuff, they vent,
668 And feed their hungry nostrils with the scent.
669 'Twas of a well-grown stag, whose antlers rise
670 High o'er his front; his beams invade the skies.
671 From this light cause th' infernal maid prepares
672 The country churls to mischief, hate, and wars.

673 The stately beast the two Tyrrhidae bred,
674 Snatch'd from his dams, and the tame youngling fed.
675 Their father Tyrrheus did his fodder bring,
676 Tyrrheus, chief ranger to the Latian king:
677 Their sister Silvia cherish'd with her care
678 The little wanton, and did wreaths prepare
679 To hang his budding horns, with ribbons tied
680 His tender neck, and comb'd his silken hide,
681 And bathed his body. Patient of command
682 In time he grew, and, growing us'd to hand,
683 He waited at his master's board for food;
684 Then sought his salvage kindred in the wood,
685 Where grazing all the day, at night he came
686 To his known lodgings, and his country dame.

687 This household beast, that us'd the woodland grounds,
688 Was view'd at first by the young hero's hounds,
689 As down the stream he swam, to seek retreat
690 In the cool waters, and to quench his heat.
691 Ascanius young, and eager of his game,
692 Soon bent his bow, uncertain in his aim;
693 But the dire fiend the fatal arrow guides,
694 Which pierc'd his bowels thro' his panting sides.
695 The bleeding creature issues from the floods,
696 Possess'd with fear, and seeks his known abodes,
697 His old familiar hearth and household gods.
698 He falls; he fills the house with heavy groans,
699 Implores their pity, and his pain bemoans.
700 Young Silvia beats her breast, and cries aloud
701 For succor from the clownish neighborhood:
702 The churls assemble; for the fiend, who lay
703 In the close woody covert, urg'd their way.
704 One with a brand yet burning from the flame,
705 Arm'd with a knotty club another came:
706 Whate'er they catch or find, without their care,
707 Their fury makes an instrument of war.
708 Tyrrheus, the foster father of the beast,
709 Then clench'd a hatchet in his horny fist,
710 But held his hand from the descending stroke,
711 And left his wedge within the cloven oak,
712 To whet their courage and their rage provoke.
713 And now the goddess, exercis'd in ill,
714 Who watch'd an hour to work her impious will,
715 Ascends the roof, and to her crooked horn,
716 Such as was then by Latian shepherds borne,
717 Adds all her breath: the rocks and woods around,
718 And mountains, tremble at th' infernal sound.
719 The sacred lake of Trivia from afar,
720 The Veline fountains, and sulphureous Nar,
721 Shake at the baleful blast, the signal of the war.
722 Young mothers wildly stare, with fear possess'd,
723 And strain their helpless infants to their breast.

724 The clowns, a boist'rous, rude, ungovern'd crew,
725 With furious haste to the loud summons flew.
726 The pow'rs of Troy, then issuing on the plain,
727 With fresh recruits their youthful chief sustain:
728 Not theirs a raw and unexperienc'd train,
729 But a firm body of embattled men.
730 At first, while fortune favor'd neither side,
731 The fight with clubs and burning brands was tried;
732 But now, both parties reinforc'd, the fields
733 Are bright with flaming swords and brazen shields.
734 A shining harvest either host displays,
735 And shoots against the sun with equal rays.
736 Thus, when a black-brow'd gust begins to rise,
737 White foam at first on the curl'd ocean fries;
738 Then roars the main, the billows mount the skies;
739 Till, by the fury of the storm full blown,
740 The muddy bottom o'er the clouds is thrown.
741 First Almon falls, old Tyrrheus' eldest care,
742 Pierc'd with an arrow from the distant war:
743 Fix'd in his throat the flying weapon stood,
744 And stopp'd his breath, and drank his vital blood
745 Huge heaps of slain around the body rise:
746 Among the rest, the rich Galesus lies;
747 A good old man, while peace he preach'd in vain,
748 Amidst the madness of th' unruly train:
749 Five herds, five bleating flocks, his pastures fill'd;
750 His lands a hundred yoke of oxen till'd.

751 Thus, while in equal scales their fortune stood
752 The Fury bath'd them in each other's blood;
753 Then, having fix'd the fight, exulting flies,
754 And bears fulfill'd her promise to the skies.
755 To Juno thus she speaks: "Behold! It is done,
756 The blood already drawn, the war begun;
757 The discord is complete; nor can they cease
758 The dire debate, nor you command the peace.
759 Now, since the Latian and the Trojan brood
760 Have tasted vengeance and the sweets of blood;
761 Speak, and my pow'r shall add this office more:
762 The neighb'ing nations of th' Ausonian shore
763 Shall hear the dreadful rumor, from afar,
764 Of arm'd invasion, and embrace the war."
765 Then Juno thus: "The grateful work is done,
766 The seeds of discord sow'd, the war begun;
767 Frauds, fears, and fury have possess'd the state,
768 And fix'd the causes of a lasting hate.
769 A bloody Hymen shall th' alliance join
770 Betwixt the Trojan and Ausonian line:
771 But thou with speed to night and hell repair;
772 For not the gods, nor angry Jove, will bear
773 Thy lawless wand'ring walks in upper air.
774 Leave what remains to me." Saturnia said:
775 The sullen fiend her sounding wings display'd,
776 Unwilling left the light, and sought the nether shade.

777 In midst of Italy, well known to fame,
778 There lies a lake (Amsanctus is the name)
779 Below the lofty mounts: on either side
780 Thick forests the forbidden entrance hide.
781 Full in the center of the sacred wood
782 An arm arises of the Stygian flood,
783 Which, breaking from beneath with bellowing sound,
784 Whirls the black waves and rattling stones around.
785 Here Pluto pants for breath from out his cell,
786 And opens wide the grinning jaws of hell.
787 To this infernal lake the Fury flies;
788 Here hides her hated head, and frees the lab'ring skies.

789 Saturnian Juno now, with double care,
790 Attends the fatal process of the war.
791 The clowns, return'd, from battle bear the slain,
792 Implore the gods, and to their king complain.
793 The corps of Almon and the rest are shown;
794 Shrieks, clamors, murmurs, fill the frighted town.
795 Ambitious Turnus in the press appears,
796 And, aggravating crimes, augments their fears;
797 Proclaims his private injuries aloud,
798 A solemn promise made, and disavow'd;
799 A foreign son is sought, and a mix'd mungril brood.
800 Then they, whose mothers, frantic with their fear,
801 In woods and wilds the flags of Bacchus bear,
802 And lead his dances with dishevel'd hair,
803 Increase the clamor, and the war demand,
804 (Such was Amata's interest in the land,)
805 Against the public sanctions of the peace,
806 Against all omens of their ill success.
807 With fates averse, the rout in arms resort,
808 To force their monarch, and insult the court.
809 But, like a rock unmov'd, a rock that braves
810 The raging tempest and the rising waves-
811 Propp'd on himself he stands; his solid sides
812 Wash off the seaweeds, and the sounding tides-
813 So stood the pious prince, unmov'd, and long
814 Sustain'd the madness of the noisy throng.
815 But, when he found that Juno's pow'r prevail'd,
816 And all the methods of cool counsel fail'd,
817 He calls the gods to witness their offense,
818 Disclaims the war, asserts his innocence.
819 "Hurried by fate," he cries, "and borne before
820 A furious wind, we have the faithful shore.
821 O more than madmen! you yourselves shall bear
822 The guilt of blood and sacrilegious war:
823 Thou, Turnus, shalt atone it by thy fate,
824 And pray to Heav'n for peace, but pray too late.
825 For me, my stormy voyage at an end,
826 I to the port of death securely tend.
827 The fun'ral pomp which to your kings you pay,
828 Is all I want, and all you take away."
829 He said no more, but, in his walls confin'd,
830 Shut out the woes which he too well divin'd
831 Nor with the rising storm would vainly strive,
832 But left the helm, and let the vessel drive.

833 A solemn custom was observ'd of old,
834 Which Latium held, and now the Romans hold,
835 Their standard when in fighting fields they rear
836 Against the fierce Hyrcanians, or declare
837 The Scythian, Indian, or Arabian war;
838 Or from the boasting Parthians would regain
839 Their eagles, lost in Carrhae's bloody plain.
840 Two gates of steel (the name of Mars they bear,
841 And still are worship'd with religious fear)
842 Before his temple stand: the dire abode,
843 And the fear'd issues of the furious god,
844 Are fenc'd with brazen bolts; without the gates,
845 The wary guardian Janus doubly waits.
846 Then, when the sacred senate votes the wars,
847 The Roman consul their decree declares,
848 And in his robes the sounding gates unbars.
849 The youth in military shouts arise,
850 And the loud trumpets break the yielding skies.
851 These rites, of old by sov'reign princes us'd,
852 Were the king's office; but the king refus'd,
853 Deaf to their cries, nor would the gates unbar
854 Of sacred peace, or loose th' imprison'd war;
855 But hid his head, and, safe from loud alarms,
856 Abhorr'd the wicked ministry of arms.
857 Then heav'n's imperious queen shot down from high:
858 At her approach the brazen hinges fly;
859 The gates are forc'd, and ev'ry falling bar;
860 And, like a tempest, issues out the war.

861 The peaceful cities of th' Ausonian shore,
862 Lull'd in their ease, and undisturb'd before,
863 Are all on fire; and some, with studious care,
864 Their restiff steeds in sandy plains prepare;
865 Some their soft limbs in painful marches try,
866 And war is all their wish, and arms the gen'ral cry.
867 Part scour the rusty shields with seam; and part
868 New grind the blunted ax, and point the dart:
869 With joy they view the waving ensigns fly,
870 And hear the trumpet's clangor pierce the sky.
871 Five cities forge their arms: th' Atinian pow'rs,
872 Antemnae, Tibur with her lofty tow'rs,
873 Ardea the proud, the Crustumerian town:
874 All these of old were places of renown.
875 Some hammer helmets for the fighting field;
876 Some twine young sallows to support the shield;
877 The croslet some, and some the cuishes mold,
878 With silver plated, and with ductile gold.
879 The rustic honors of the scythe and share
880 Give place to swords and plumes, the pride of war.
881 Old fauchions are new temper'd in the fires;
882 The sounding trumpet ev'ry soul inspires.
883 The word is giv'n; with eager speed they lace
884 The shining headpiece, and the shield embrace.
885 The neighing steeds are to the chariot tied;
886 The trusty weapon sits on ev'ry side.

887 And now the mighty labor is begun
888 Ye Muses, open all your Helicon.
889 Sing you the chiefs that sway'd th' Ausonian land,
890 Their arms, and armies under their command;
891 What warriors in our ancient clime were bred;
892 What soldiers follow'd, and what heroes led.
893 For well you know, and can record alone,
894 What fame to future times conveys but darkly down.
895 Mezentius first appear'd upon the plain:
896 Scorn sate upon his brows, and sour disdain,
897 Defying earth and heav'n. Etruria lost,
898 He brings to Turnus' aid his baffled host.
899 The charming Lausus, full of youthful fire,
900 Rode in the rank, and next his sullen sire;
901 To Turnus only second in the grace
902 Of manly mien, and features of the face.
903 A skilful horseman, and a huntsman bred,
904 With fates averse a thousand men he led:
905 His sire unworthy of so brave a son;
906 Himself well worthy of a happier throne.

907 Next Aventinus drives his chariot round
908 The Latian plains, with palms and laurels crown'd.
909 Proud of his steeds, he smokes along the field;
910 His father's hydra fills his ample shield:
911 A hundred serpents hiss about the brims;
912 The son of Hercules he justly seems
913 By his broad shoulders and gigantic limbs;
914 Of heav'nly part, and part of earthly blood,
915 A mortal woman mixing with a god.
916 For strong Alcides, after he had slain
917 The triple Geryon, drove from conquer'd Spain
918 His captive herds; and, thence in triumph led,
919 On Tuscan Tiber's flow'ry banks they fed.
920 Then on Mount Aventine the son of Jove
921 The priestess Rhea found, and forc'd to love.
922 For arms, his men long piles and jav'lins bore;
923 And poles with pointed steel their foes in battle gore.
924 Like Hercules himself his son appears,
925 In salvage pomp; a lion's hide he wears;
926 About his shoulders hangs the shaggy skin;
927 The teeth and gaping jaws severely grin.
928 Thus, like the god his father, homely dress'd,
929 He strides into the hall, a horrid guest.

930 Then two twin brothers from fair Tibur came,
931 (Which from their brother Tiburs took the name,)
932 Fierce Coras and Catillus, void of fear:
933 Arm'd Argive horse they led, and in the front appear.
934 Like cloud-born Centaurs, from the mountain's height
935 With rapid course descending to the fight;
936 They rush along; the rattling woods give way;
937 The branches bend before their sweepy sway.

938 Nor was Praeneste's founder wanting there,
939 Whom fame reports the son of Mulciber:
940 Found in the fire, and foster'd in the plains,
941 A shepherd and a king at once he reigns,
942 And leads to Turnus' aid his country swains.
943 His own Praeneste sends a chosen band,
944 With those who plow Saturnia's Gabine land;
945 Besides the succor which cold Anien yields,
946 The rocks of Hernicus, and dewy fields,
947 Anagnia fat, and Father Amasene-
948 A num'rous rout, but all of naked men:
949 Nor arms they wear, nor swords and bucklers wield,
950 Nor drive the chariot thro' the dusty field,
951 But whirl from leathern slings huge balls of lead,
952 And spoils of yellow wolves adorn their head;
953 The left foot naked, when they march to fight,
954 But in a bull's raw hide they sheathe the right.
955 Messapus next, (great Neptune was his sire,)
956 Secure of steel, and fated from the fire,
957 In pomp appears, and with his ardor warms
958 A heartless train, unexercis'd in arms:
959 The just Faliscans he to battle brings,
960 And those who live where Lake Ciminia springs;
961 And where Feronia's grove and temple stands,
962 Who till Fescennian or Flavinian lands.
963 All these in order march, and marching sing
964 The warlike actions of their sea-born king;
965 Like a long team of snowy swans on high,
966 Which clap their wings, and cleave the liquid sky,
967 When, homeward from their wat'ry pastures borne,
968 They sing, and Asia's lakes their notes return.
969 Not one who heard their music from afar,
970 Would think these troops an army train'd to war,
971 But flocks of fowl, that, when the tempests roar,
972 With their hoarse gabbling seek the silent shore.

973 Then Clausus came, who led a num'rous band
974 Of troops embodied from the Sabine land,
975 And, in himself alone, an army brought.
976 'T was he, the noble Claudian race begot,
977 The Claudian race, ordain'd, in times to come,
978 To share the greatness of imperial Rome.
979 He led the Cures forth, of old renown,
980 Mutuscans from their olive-bearing town,
981 And all th' Eretian pow'rs; besides a band
982 That follow'd from Velinum's dewy land,
983 And Amiternian troops, of mighty fame,
984 And mountaineers, that from Severus came,
985 And from the craggy cliffs of Tetrica,
986 And those where yellow Tiber takes his way,
987 And where Himella's wanton waters play.
988 Casperia sends her arms, with those that lie
989 By Fabaris, and fruitful Foruli:
990 The warlike aids of Horta next appear,
991 And the cold Nursians come to close the rear,
992 Mix'd with the natives born of Latine blood,
993 Whom Allia washes with her fatal flood.
994 Not thicker billows beat the Libyan main,
995 When pale Orion sets in wintry rain;
996 Nor thicker harvests on rich Hermus rise,
997 Or Lycian fields, when Phoebus burns the skies,
998 Than stand these troops: their bucklers ring around;
999 Their trampling turns the turf, and shakes the solid ground.

1000 High in his chariot then Halesus came,
1001 A foe by birth to Troy's unhappy name:
1002 From Agamemnon born- to Turnus' aid
1003 A thousand men the youthful hero led,
1004 Who till the Massic soil, for wine renown'd,
1005 And fierce Auruncans from their hilly ground,
1006 And those who live by Sidicinian shores,
1007 And where with shoaly fords Vulturnus roars,
1008 Cales' and Osca's old inhabitants,
1009 And rough Saticulans, inur'd to wants:
1010 Light demi-lances from afar they throw,
1011 Fasten'd with leathern thongs, to gall the foe.
1012 Short crooked swords in closer fight they wear;
1013 And on their warding arm light bucklers bear.

1014 Nor Oebalus, shalt thou be left unsung,
1015 From nymph Semethis and old Telon sprung,
1016 Who then in Teleboan Capri reign'd;
1017 But that short isle th' ambitious youth disdain'd,
1018 And o'er Campania stretch'd his ample sway,
1019 Where swelling Sarnus seeks the Tyrrhene sea;
1020 O'er Batulum, and where Abella sees,
1021 From her high tow'rs, the harvest of her trees.
1022 And these (as was the Teuton use of old)
1023 Wield brazen swords, and brazen bucklers hold;
1024 Sling weighty stones, when from afar they fight;
1025 Their casques are cork, a covering thick and light.

1026 Next these in rank, the warlike Ufens went,
1027 And led the mountain troops that Nursia sent.
1028 The rude Equicolae his rule obey'd;
1029 Hunting their sport, and plund'ring was their trade.
1030 In arms they plow'd, to battle still prepar'd:
1031 Their soil was barren, and their hearts were hard.

1032 Umbro the priest the proud Marrubians led,
1033 By King Archippus sent to Turnus' aid,
1034 And peaceful olives crown'd his hoary head.
1035 His wand and holy words, the viper's rage,
1036 And venom'd wounds of serpents could assuage.
1037 He, when he pleas'd with powerful juice to steep
1038 Their temples, shut their eyes in pleasing sleep.
1039 But vain were Marsian herbs, and magic art,
1040 To cure the wound giv'n by the Dardan dart:
1041 Yet his untimely fate th' Angitian woods
1042 In sighs remurmur'd to the Fucine floods.

1043 The son of fam'd Hippolytus was there,
1044 Fam'd as his sire, and, as his mother, fair;
1045 Whom in Egerian groves Aricia bore,
1046 And nurs'd his youth along the marshy shore,
1047 Where great Diana's peaceful altars flame,
1048 In fruitful fields; and Virbius was his name.
1049 Hippolytus, as old records have said,
1050 Was by his stepdam sought to share her bed;
1051 But, when no female arts his mind could move,
1052 She turn'd to furious hate her impious love.
1053 Torn by wild horses on the sandy shore,
1054 Another's crimes th' unhappy hunter bore,
1055 Glutting his father's eyes with guiltless gore.
1056 But chaste Diana, who his death deplor'd,
1057 With Aesculapian herbs his life restor'd.
1058 Then Jove, who saw from high, with just disdain,
1059 The dead inspir'd with vital breath again,
1060 Struck to the center, with his flaming dart,
1061 Th' unhappy founder of the godlike art.
1062 But Trivia kept in secret shades alone
1063 Her care, Hippolytus, to fate unknown;
1064 And call'd him Virbius in th' Egerian grove,
1065 Where then he liv'd obscure, but safe from Jove.
1066 For this, from Trivia's temple and her wood
1067 Are coursers driv'n, who shed their master's blood,
1068 Affrighted by the monsters of the flood.
1069 His son, the second Virbius, yet retain'd
1070 His father's art, and warrior steeds he rein'd.

1071 Amid the troops, and like the leading god,
1072 High o'er the rest in arms the graceful Turnus rode:
1073 A triple of plumes his crest adorn'd,
1074 On which with belching flames Chimaera burn'd:
1075 The more the kindled combat rises high'r,
1076 The more with fury burns the blazing fire.
1077 Fair Io grac'd his shield; but Io now
1078 With horns exalted stands, and seems to low-
1079 A noble charge! Her keeper by her side,
1080 To watch her walks, his hundred eyes applied;
1081 And on the brims her sire, the wat'ry god,
1082 Roll'd from a silver urn his crystal flood.
1083 A cloud of foot succeeds, and fills the fields
1084 With swords, and pointed spears, and clatt'ring shields;
1085 Of Argives, and of old Sicanian bands,
1086 And those who plow the rich Rutulian lands;
1087 Auruncan youth, and those Sacrana yields,
1088 And the proud Labicans, with painted shields,
1089 And those who near Numician streams reside,
1090 And those whom Tiber's holy forests hide,
1091 Or Circe's hills from the main land divide;
1092 Where Ufens glides along the lowly lands,
1093 Or the black water of Pomptina stands.

1094 Last, from the Volscians fair Camilla came,
1095 And led her warlike troops, a warrior dame;
1096 Unbred to spinning, in the loom unskill'd,
1097 She chose the nobler Pallas of the field.
1098 Mix'd with the first, the fierce virago fought,
1099 Sustain'd the toils of arms, the danger sought,
1100 Outstripp'd the winds in speed upon the plain,
1101 Flew o'er the fields, nor hurt the bearded grain:
1102 She swept the seas, and, as she skimm'd along,
1103 Her flying feet unbath'd on billows hung.
1104 Men, boys, and women, stupid with surprise,
1105 Where'er she passes, fix their wond'ring eyes:
1106 Longing they look, and, gaping at the sight,
1107 Devour her o'er and o'er with vast delight;
1108 Her purple habit sits with such a grace
1109 On her smooth shoulders, and so suits her face;
1110 Her head with ringlets of her hair is crown'd,
1111 And in a golden caul the curls are bound.
1112 She shakes her myrtle jav'lin; and, behind,
1113 Her Lycian quiver dances in the wind.