Book 9

1 While these affairs in distant places pass'd,
2 The various Iris Juno sends with haste,
3 To find bold Turnus, who, with anxious thought,
4 The secret shade of his great grandsire sought.
5 Retir'd alone she found the daring man,
6 And op'd her rosy lips, and thus began:
7 "What none of all the gods could grant thy vows,
8 That, Turnus, this auspicious day bestows.
9 Aeneas, gone to seek th' Arcadian prince,
10 Has left the Trojan camp without defense;
11 And, short of succors there, employs his pains
12 In parts remote to raise the Tuscan swains.
13 Now snatch an hour that favors thy designs;
14 Unite thy forces, and attack their lines."
15 This said, on equal wings she pois'd her weight,
16 And form'd a radiant rainbow in her flight.

17 The Daunian hero lifts his hands eyes,
18 And thus invokes the goddess as she flies:
19 "Iris, the grace of heav'n, what pow'r divine
20 Has sent thee down, thro' dusky clouds to shine?
21 See, they divide; immortal day appears,
22 And glitt'ring planets dancing in their spheres!
23 With joy, these happy omens I obey,
24 And follow to the war the god that leads the way."
25 Thus having said, as by the brook he stood,
26 He scoop'd the water from the crystal flood;
27 Then with his hands the drops to heav'n he throws,
28 And loads the pow'rs above with offer'd vows.

29 Now march the bold confed'rates thro' the plain,
30 Well hors'd, well clad; a rich and shining train.
31 Messapus leads the van; and, in the rear,
32 The sons of Tyrrheus in bright arms appear.
33 In the main battle, with his flaming crest,
34 The mighty Turnus tow'rs above the rest.
35 Silent they move, majestically slow,
36 Like ebbing Nile, or Ganges in his flow.
37 The Trojans view the dusty cloud from far,
38 And the dark menace of the distant war.
39 Caicus from the rampire saw it rise,
40 Black'ning the fields, and thick'ning thro' the skies.
41 Then to his fellows thus aloud he calls:
42 "What rolling clouds, my friends, approach the walls?
43 Arm! arm! and man the works! prepare your spears
44 And pointed darts! the Latian host appears."

45 Thus warn'd, they shut their gates; with shouts ascend
46 The bulwarks, and, secure, their foes attend:
47 For their wise gen'ral, with foreseeing care,
48 Had charg'd them not to tempt the doubtful war,
49 Nor, tho' provok'd, in open fields advance,
50 But close within their lines attend their chance.
51 Unwilling, yet they keep the strict command,
52 And sourly wait in arms the hostile band.
53 The fiery Turnus flew before the rest:
54 A piebald steed of Thracian strain he press'd;
55 His helm of massy gold, and crimson was his crest.
56 With twenty horse to second his designs,
57 An unexpected foe, he fac'd the lines.
58 "Is there," he said, "in arms, who bravely dare
59 His leader's honor and his danger share?"
60 Then spurring on, his brandish'd dart he threw,
61 In sign of war: applauding shouts ensue.

62 Amaz'd to find a dastard race, that run
63 Behind the rampires and the battle shun,
64 He rides around the camp, with rolling eyes,
65 And stops at ev'ry post, and ev'ry passage tries.
66 So roams the nightly wolf about the fold:
67 Wet with descending show'rs, and stiff with cold,
68 He howls for hunger, and he grins for pain,
69 (His gnashing teeth are exercis'd in vain,)
70 And, impotent of anger, finds no way
71 In his distended paws to grasp the prey.
72 The mothers listen; but the bleating lambs
73 Securely swig the dug, beneath the dams.
74 Thus ranges eager Turnus o'er the plain.
75 Sharp with desire, and furious with disdain;
76 Surveys each passage with a piercing sight,
77 To force his foes in equal field to fight.
78 Thus while he gazes round, at length he spies,
79 Where, fenc'd with strong redoubts, their navy lies,
80 Close underneath the walls; the washing tide
81 Secures from all approach this weaker side.
82 He takes the wish'd occasion, fills his hand
83 With ready fires, and shakes a flaming brand.
84 Urg'd by his presence, ev'ry soul is warm'd,
85 And ev'ry hand with kindled firs is arm'd.
86 From the fir'd pines the scatt'ring sparkles fly;
87 Fat vapors, mix'd with flames, involve the sky.
88 What pow'r, O Muses, could avert the flame
89 Which threaten'd, in the fleet, the Trojan name?
90 Tell: for the fact, thro' length of time obscure,
91 Is hard to faith; yet shall the fame endure.

92 'T is said that, when the chief prepar'd his flight,
93 And fell'd his timber from Mount Ida's height,
94 The grandam goddess then approach'd her son,
95 And with a mother's majesty begun:
96 "Grant me," she said, "the sole request I bring,
97 Since conquer'd heav'n has own'd you for its king.
98 On Ida's brows, for ages past, there stood,
99 With firs and maples fill'd, a shady wood;
100 And on the summit rose a sacred grove,
101 Where I was worship'd with religious love.
102 Those woods, that holy grove, my long delight,
103 I gave the Trojan prince, to speed his flight.
104 Now, fill'd with fear, on their behalf I come;
105 Let neither winds o'erset, nor waves intomb
106 The floating forests of the sacred pine;
107 But let it be their safety to be mine."
108 Then thus replied her awful son, who rolls
109 The radiant stars, and heav'n and earth controls:
110 "How dare you, mother, endless date demand
111 For vessels molded by a mortal hand?
112 What then is fate? Shall bold Aeneas ride,
113 Of safety certain, on th' uncertain tide?
114 Yet, what I can, I grant; when, wafted o'er,
115 The chief is landed on the Latian shore,
116 Whatever ships escape the raging storms,
117 At my command shall change their fading forms
118 To nymphs divine, and plow the wat'ry way,
119 Like Dotis and the daughters of the sea."
120 To seal his sacred vow, by Styx he swore,
121 The lake of liquid pitch, the dreary shore,
122 And Phlegethon's innavigable flood,
123 And the black regions of his brother god.
124 He said; and shook the skies with his imperial nod.

125 And now at length the number'd hours were come,
126 Prefix'd by fate's irrevocable doom,
127 When the great Mother of the Gods was free
128 To save her ships, and finish Jove's decree.
129 First, from the quarter of the morn, there sprung
130 A light that sign'd the heav'ns, and shot along;
131 Then from a cloud, fring'd round with golden fires,
132 Were timbrels heard, and Berecynthian choirs;
133 And, last, a voice, with more than mortal sounds,
134 Both hosts, in arms oppos'd, with equal horror wounds:
135 "O Trojan race, your needless aid forbear,
136 And know, my ships are my peculiar care.
137 With greater ease the bold Rutulian may,
138 With hissing brands, attempt to burn the sea,
139 Than singe my sacred pines. But you, my charge,
140 Loos'd from your crooked anchors, launch at large,
141 Exalted each a nymph: forsake the sand,
142 And swim the seas, at Cybele's command."
143 No sooner had the goddess ceas'd to speak,
144 When, lo! th' obedient ships their haulsers break;
145 And, strange to tell, like dolphins, in the main
146 They plunge their prows, and dive, and spring again:
147 As many beauteous maids the billows sweep,
148 As rode before tall vessels on the deep.

149 The foes, surpris'd with wonder, stood aghast;
150 Messapus curb'd his fiery courser's haste;
151 Old Tiber roar'd, and, raising up his head,
152 Call'd back his waters to their oozy bed.
153 Turnus alone, undaunted, bore the shock,
154 And with these words his trembling troops bespoke:
155 "These monsters for the Trojans' fate are meant,
156 And are by Jove for black presages sent.
157 He takes the cowards' last relief away;
158 For fly they cannot, and, constrain'd to stay,
159 Must yield unfought, a base inglorious prey.
160 The liquid half of all the globe is lost;
161 Heav'n shuts the seas, and we secure the coast.
162 Theirs is no more than that small spot of ground
163 Which myriads of our martial men surround.
164 Their fates I fear not, or vain oracles.
165 'T was giv'n to Venus they should cross the seas,
166 And land secure upon the Latian plains:
167 Their promis'd hour is pass'd, and mine remains.
168 'T is in the fate of Turnus to destroy,
169 With sword and fire, the faithless race of Troy.
170 Shall such affronts as these alone inflame
171 The Grecian brothers, and the Grecian name?
172 My cause and theirs is one; a fatal strife,
173 And final ruin, for a ravish'd wife.
174 Was 't not enough, that, punish'd for the crime,
175 They fell; but will they fall a second time?
176 One would have thought they paid enough before,
177 To curse the costly sex, and durst offend no more.
178 Can they securely trust their feeble wall,
179 A slight partition, a thin interval,
180 Betwixt their fate and them; when Troy, tho' built
181 By hands divine, yet perish'd by their guilt?
182 Lend me, for once, my friends, your valiant hands,
183 To force from out their lines these dastard bands.
184 Less than a thousand ships will end this war,
185 Nor Vulcan needs his fated arms prepare.
186 Let all the Tuscans, all th' Arcadians, join!
187 Nor these, nor those, shall frustrate my design.
188 Let them not fear the treasons of the night,
189 The robb'd Palladium, the pretended flight:
190 Our onset shall be made in open light.
191 No wooden engine shall their town betray;
192 Fires they shall have around, but fires by day.
193 No Grecian babes before their camp appear,
194 Whom Hector's arms detain'd to the tenth tardy year.
195 Now, since the sun is rolling to the west,
196 Give we the silent night to needful rest:
197 Refresh your bodies, and your arms prepare;
198 The morn shall end the small remains of war."

199 The post of honor to Messapus falls,
200 To keep the nightly guard, to watch the walls,
201 To pitch the fires at distances around,
202 And close the Trojans in their scanty ground.
203 Twice seven Rutulian captains ready stand,
204 And twice seven hundred horse these chiefs command;
205 All clad in shining arms the works invest,
206 Each with a radiant helm and waving crest.
207 Stretch'd at their length, they press the grassy ground;
208 They laugh, they sing, (the jolly bowls go round,)
209 With lights and cheerful fires renew the day,
210 And pass the wakeful night in feasts and play.

211 The Trojans, from above, their foes beheld,
212 And with arm'd legions all the rampires fill'd.
213 Seiz'd with affright, their gates they first explore;
214 Join works to works with bridges, tow'r to tow'r:
215 Thus all things needful for defense abound.
216 Mnestheus and brave Seresthus walk the round,
217 Commission'd by their absent prince to share
218 The common danger, and divide the care.
219 The soldiers draw their lots, and, as they fall,
220 By turns relieve each other on the wall.

221 Nigh where the foes their utmost guards advance,
222 To watch the gate was warlike Nisus' chance.
223 His father Hyrtacus of noble blood;
224 His mother was a huntress of the wood,
225 And sent him to the wars. Well could he bear
226 His lance in fight, and dart the flying spear,
227 But better skill'd unerring shafts to send.
228 Beside him stood Euryalus, his friend:
229 Euryalus, than whom the Trojan host
230 No fairer face, or sweeter air, could boast-
231 Scarce had the down to shade his cheeks begun.
232 One was their care, and their delight was one:
233 One common hazard in the war they shar'd,
234 And now were both by choice upon the guard.

235 Then Nisus thus: "Or do the gods inspire
236 This warmth, or make we gods of our desire?
237 A gen'rous ardor boils within my breast,
238 Eager of action, enemy to rest:
239 This urges me to fight, and fires my mind
240 To leave a memorable name behind.
241 Thou see'st the foe secure; how faintly shine
242 Their scatter'd fires! the most, in sleep supine
243 Along the ground, an easy conquest lie:
244 The wakeful few the fuming flagon ply;
245 All hush'd around. Now hear what I revolve-
246 A thought unripe- and scarcely yet resolve.
247 Our absent prince both camp and council mourn;
248 By message both would hasten his return:
249 If they confer what I demand on thee,
250 (For fame is recompense enough for me,)
251 Methinks, beneath yon hill, I have espied
252 A way that safely will my passage guide."

253 Euryalus stood list'ning while he spoke,
254 With love of praise and noble envy struck;
255 Then to his ardent friend expos'd his mind:
256 "All this, alone, and leaving me behind!
257 Am I unworthy, Nisus, to be join'd?
258 Thinkist thou I can my share of glory yield,
259 Or send thee unassisted to the field?
260 Not so my father taught my childhood arms;
261 Born in a siege, and bred among alarms!
262 Nor is my youth unworthy of my friend,
263 Nor of the heav'n-born hero I attend.
264 The thing call'd life, with ease I can disclaim,
265 And think it over-sold to purchase fame."

266 Then Nisus thus: "Alas! thy tender years
267 Would minister new matter to my fears.
268 So may the gods, who view this friendly strife,
269 Restore me to thy lov'd embrace with life,
270 Condemn'd to pay my vows, (as sure I trust,)
271 This thy request is cruel and unjust.
272 But if some chance- as many chances are,
273 And doubtful hazards, in the deeds of war-
274 If one should reach my head, there let it fall,
275 And spare thy life; I would not perish all.
276 Thy bloomy youth deserves a longer date:
277 Live thou to mourn thy love's unhappy fate;
278 To bear my mangled body from the foe,
279 Or buy it back, and fun'ral rites bestow.
280 Or, if hard fortune shall those dues deny,
281 Thou canst at least an empty tomb supply.
282 O let not me the widow's tears renew!
283 Nor let a mother's curse my name pursue:
284 Thy pious parent, who, for love of thee,
285 Forsook the coasts of friendly Sicily,
286 Her age committing to the seas and wind,
287 When ev'ry weary matron stay'd behind."
288 To this, Euryalus: "You plead in vain,
289 And but protract the cause you cannot gain.
290 No more delays, but haste!" With that, he wakes
291 The nodding watch; each to his office takes.
292 The guard reliev'd, the gen'rous couple went
293 To find the council at the royal tent.

294 All creatures else forgot their daily care,
295 And sleep, the common gift of nature, share;
296 Except the Trojan peers, who wakeful sate
297 In nightly council for th' indanger'd state.
298 They vote a message to their absent chief,
299 Shew their distress, and beg a swift relief.
300 Amid the camp a silent seat they chose,
301 Remote from clamor, and secure from foes.
302 On their left arms their ample shields they bear,
303 The right reclin'd upon the bending spear.
304 Now Nisus and his friend approach the guard,
305 And beg admission, eager to be heard:
306 Th' affair important, not to be deferr'd.
307 Ascanius bids 'em be conducted in,
308 Ord'ring the more experienc'd to begin.
309 Then Nisus thus: "Ye fathers, lend your ears;
310 Nor judge our bold attempt beyond our years.
311 The foe, securely drench'd in sleep and wine,
312 Neglect their watch; the fires but thinly shine;
313 And where the smoke in cloudy vapors flies,
314 Cov'ring the plain, and curling to the skies,
315 Betwixt two paths, which at the gate divide,
316 Close by the sea, a passage we have spied,
317 Which will our way to great Aeneas guide.
318 Expect each hour to see him safe again,
319 Loaded with spoils of foes in battle slain.
320 Snatch we the lucky minute while we may;
321 Nor can we be mistaken in the way;
322 For, hunting in the vale, we both have seen
323 The rising turrets, and the stream between,
324 And know the winding course, with ev'ry ford."

325 He ceas'd; and old Alethes took the word:
326 "Our country gods, in whom our trust we place,
327 Will yet from ruin save the Trojan race,
328 While we behold such dauntless worth appear
329 In dawning youth, and souls so void of fear."
330 Then into tears of joy the father broke;
331 Each in his longing arms by turns he took;
332 Panted and paus'd; and thus again he spoke:
333 "Ye brave young men, what equal gifts can we,
334 In recompense of such desert, decree?
335 The greatest, sure, and best you can receive,
336 The gods and your own conscious worth will give.
337 The rest our grateful gen'ral will bestow,
338 And young Ascanius till his manhood owe."

339 "And I, whose welfare in my father lies,"
340 Ascanius adds, "by the great deities,
341 By my dear country, by my household gods,
342 By hoary Vesta's rites and dark abodes,
343 Adjure you both, (on you my fortune stands;
344 That and my faith I plight into your hands,)
345 Make me but happy in his safe return,
346 Whose wanted presence I can only mourn;
347 Your common gift shall two large goblets be
348 Of silver, wrought with curious imagery,
349 And high emboss'd, which, when old Priam reign'd,
350 My conqu'ring sire at sack'd Arisba gain'd;
351 And more, two tripods cast in antic mold,
352 With two great talents of the finest gold;
353 Beside a costly bowl, ingrav'd with art,
354 Which Dido gave, when first she gave her heart.
355 But, if in conquer'd Italy we reign,
356 When spoils by lot the victor shall obtain-
357 Thou saw'st the courser by proud Turnus press'd:
358 That, Nisus, and his arms, and nodding crest,
359 And shield, from chance exempt, shall be thy share:
360 Twelve lab'ring slaves, twelve handmaids young and fair
361 All clad in rich attire, and train'd with care;
362 And, last, a Latian field with fruitful plains,
363 And a large portion of the king's domains.
364 But thou, whose years are more to mine allied-
365 No fate my vow'd affection shall divide
366 From thee, heroic youth! Be wholly mine;
367 Take full possession; all my soul is thine.
368 One faith, one fame, one fate, shall both attend;
369 My life's companion, and my bosom friend:
370 My peace shall be committed to thy care,
371 And to thy conduct my concerns in war."

372 Then thus the young Euryalus replied:
373 "Whatever fortune, good or bad, betide,
374 The same shall be my age, as now my youth;
375 No time shall find me wanting to my truth.
376 This only from your goodness let me gain
377 (And, this ungranted, all rewards are vain)
378 Of Priam's royal race my mother came-
379 And sure the best that ever bore the name-
380 Whom neither Troy nor Sicily could hold
381 From me departing, but, o'erspent and old,
382 My fate she follow'd. Ignorant of this
383 (Whatever) danger, neither parting kiss,
384 Nor pious blessing taken, her I leave,
385 And in this only act of all my life deceive.
386 By this right hand and conscious Night I swear,
387 My soul so sad a farewell could not bear.
388 Be you her comfort; fill my vacant place
389 (Permit me to presume so great a grace)
390 Support her age, forsaken and distress'd.
391 That hope alone will fortify my breast
392 Against the worst of fortunes, and of fears."
393 He said. The mov'd assistants melt in tears.

394 Then thus Ascanius, wonderstruck to see
395 That image of his filial piety:
396 "So great beginnings, in so green an age,
397 Exact the faith which I again ingage.
398 Thy mother all the dues shall justly claim,
399 Creusa had, and only want the name.
400 Whate'er event thy bold attempt shall have,
401 'T is merit to have borne a son so brave.
402 Now by my head, a sacred oath, I swear,
403 (My father us'd it,) what, returning here
404 Crown'd with success, I for thyself prepare,
405 That, if thou fail, shall thy lov'd mother share."

406 He said, and weeping, while he spoke the word,
407 From his broad belt he drew a shining sword,
408 Magnificent with gold. Lycaon made,
409 And in an ivory scabbard sheath'd the blade.
410 This was his gift. Great Mnestheus gave his friend
411 A lion's hide, his body to defend;
412 And good Alethes furnish'd him, beside,
413 With his own trusty helm, of temper tried.

414 Thus arm'd they went. The noble Trojans wait
415 Their issuing forth, and follow to the gate
416 With prayers and vows. Above the rest appears
417 Ascanius, manly far beyond his years,
418 And messages committed to their care,
419 Which all in winds were lost, and flitting air.

420 The trenches first they pass'd; then took their way
421 Where their proud foes in pitch'd pavilions lay;
422 To many fatal, ere themselves were slain.
423 They found the careless host dispers'd upon the plain,
424 Who, gorg'd, and drunk with wine, supinely snore.
425 Unharness'd chariots stand along the shore:
426 Amidst the wheels and reins, the goblet by,
427 A medley of debauch and war, they lie.
428 Observing Nisus shew'd his friend the sight:
429 "Behold a conquest gain'd without a fight.
430 Occasion offers, and I stand prepar'd;
431 There lies our way; be thou upon the guard,
432 And look around, while I securely go,
433 And hew a passage thro' the sleeping foe."
434 Softly he spoke; then striding took his way,
435 With his drawn sword, where haughty Rhamnes lay;
436 His head rais'd high on tapestry beneath,
437 And heaving from his breast, he drew his breath;
438 A king and prophet, by King Turnus lov'd:
439 But fate by prescience cannot be remov'd.
440 Him and his sleeping slaves he slew; then spies
441 Where Remus, with his rich retinue, lies.
442 His armor-bearer first, and next he kills
443 His charioteer, intrench'd betwixt the wheels
444 And his lov'd horses; last invades their lord;
445 Full on his neck he drives the fatal sword:
446 The gasping head flies off; a purple flood
447 Flows from the trunk, that welters in the blood,
448 Which, by the spurning heels dispers'd around,
449 The bed besprinkles and bedews the ground.
450 Lamus the bold, and Lamyrus the strong,
451 He slew, and then Serranus fair and young.
452 From dice and wine the youth retir'd to rest,
453 And puff'd the fumy god from out his breast:
454 Ev'n then he dreamt of drink and lucky play-
455 More lucky, had it lasted till the day.
456 The famish'd lion thus, with hunger bold,
457 O'erleaps the fences of the nightly fold,
458 And tears the peaceful flocks: with silent awe
459 Trembling they lie, and pant beneath his paw.

460 Nor with less rage Euryalus employs
461 The wrathful sword, or fewer foes destroys;
462 But on th' ignoble crowd his fury flew;
463 He Fadus, Hebesus, and Rhoetus slew.
464 Oppress'd with heavy sleep the former fell,
465 But Rhoetus wakeful, and observing all:
466 Behind a spacious jar he slink'd for fear;
467 The fatal iron found and reach'd him there;
468 For, as he rose, it pierc'd his naked side,
469 And, reeking, thence return'd in crimson dyed.
470 The wound pours out a stream of wine and blood;
471 The purple soul comes floating in the flood.

472 Now, where Messapus quarter'd, they arrive.
473 The fires were fainting there, and just alive;
474 The warrior-horses, tied in order, fed.
475 Nisus observ'd the discipline, and said:
476 "Our eager thirst of blood may both betray;
477 And see the scatter'd streaks of dawning day,
478 Foe to nocturnal thefts. No more, my friend;
479 Here let our glutted execution end.
480 A lane thro' slaughter'd bodies we have made."
481 The bold Euryalus, tho' loth, obey'd.
482 Of arms, and arras, and of plate, they find
483 A precious load; but these they leave behind.
484 Yet, fond of gaudy spoils, the boy would stay
485 To make the rich caparison his prey,
486 Which on the steed of conquer'd Rhamnes lay.
487 Nor did his eyes less longingly behold
488 The girdle-belt, with nails of burnish'd gold.
489 This present Caedicus the rich bestow'd
490 On Remulus, when friendship first they vow'd,
491 And, absent, join'd in hospitable ties:
492 He, dying, to his heir bequeath'd the prize;
493 Till, by the conqu'ring Ardean troops oppress'd,
494 He fell; and they the glorious gift possess'd.
495 These glitt'ring spoils (now made the victor's gain)
496 He to his body suits, but suits in vain:
497 Messapus' helm he finds among the rest,
498 And laces on, and wears the waving crest.
499 Proud of their conquest, prouder of their prey,
500 They leave the camp, and take the ready way.

501 But far they had not pass'd, before they spied
502 Three hundred horse, with Volscens for their guide.
503 The queen a legion to King Turnus sent;
504 But the swift horse the slower foot prevent,
505 And now, advancing, sought the leader's tent.
506 They saw the pair; for, thro' the doubtful shade,
507 His shining helm Euryalus betray'd,
508 On which the moon with full reflection play'd.
509 "'T is not for naught," cried Volscens from the crowd,
510 "These men go there;" then rais'd his voice aloud:
511 "Stand! stand! why thus in arms? And whither bent?
512 From whence, to whom, and on what errand sent?"
513 Silent they scud away, and haste their flight
514 To neighb'ring woods, and trust themselves to night.
515 The speedy horse all passages belay,
516 And spur their smoking steeds to cross their way,
517 And watch each entrance of the winding wood.
518 Black was the forest: thick with beech it stood,
519 Horrid with fern, and intricate with thorn;
520 Few paths of human feet, or tracks of beasts, were worn.
521 The darkness of the shades, his heavy prey,
522 And fear, misled the younger from his way.
523 But Nisus hit the turns with happier haste,
524 And, thoughtless of his friend, the forest pass'd,
525 And Alban plains, from Alba's name so call'd,
526 Where King Latinus then his oxen stall'd;
527 Till, turning at the length, he stood his ground,
528 And miss'd his friend, and cast his eyes around:
529 "Ah wretch!" he cried, "where have I left behind
530 Th' unhappy youth? where shall I hope to find?
531 Or what way take?" Again he ventures back,
532 And treads the mazes of his former track.
533 He winds the wood, and, list'ning, hears the noise
534 Of tramping coursers, and the riders' voice.
535 The sound approach'd; and suddenly he view'd
536 The foes inclosing, and his friend pursued,
537 Forelaid and taken, while he strove in vain
538 The shelter of the friendly shades to gain.
539 What should he next attempt? what arms employ,
540 What fruitless force, to free the captive boy?
541 Or desperate should he rush and lose his life,
542 With odds oppress'd, in such unequal strife?

543 Resolv'd at length, his pointed spear he shook;
544 And, casting on the moon a mournful look:
545 "Guardian of groves, and goddess of the night,
546 Fair queen," he said, "direct my dart aright.
547 If e'er my pious father, for my sake,
548 Did grateful off'rings on thy altars make,
549 Or I increas'd them with my sylvan toils,
550 And hung thy holy roofs with savage spoils,
551 Give me to scatter these." Then from his ear
552 He pois'd, and aim'd, and launch'd the trembling spear.
553 The deadly weapon, hissing from the grove,
554 Impetuous on the back of Sulmo drove;
555 Pierc'd his thin armor, drank his vital blood,
556 And in his body left the broken
557 He staggers round; his eyeballs roll in death,
558 And with short sobs he gasps away his breath.
559 All stand amaz'd- a second jav'lin flies
560 With equal strength, and quivers thro' the skies.
561 This thro' thy temples, Tagus, forc'd the way,
562 And in the brainpan warmly buried lay.
563 Fierce Volscens foams with rage, and, gazing round,
564 Descried not him who gave the fatal wound,
565 Nor knew to fix revenge: "But thou," he cries,
566 "Shalt pay for both," and at the pris'ner flies
567 With his drawn sword. Then, struck with deep despair,
568 That cruel sight the lover could not bear;
569 But from his covert rush'd in open view,
570 And sent his voice before him as he flew:
571 "Me! me!" he cried- "turn all your swords alone
572 On me- the fact confess'd, the fault my own.
573 He neither could nor durst, the guiltless youth:
574 Ye moon and stars, bear witness to the truth!
575 His only crime (if friendship can offend)
576 Is too much love to his unhappy friend."
577 Too late he speaks: the sword, which fury guides,
578 Driv'n with full force, had pierc'd his tender sides.
579 Down fell the beauteous youth: the yawning wound
580 Gush'd out a purple stream, and stain'd the ground.
581 His snowy neck reclines upon his breast,
582 Like a fair flow'r by the keen share oppress'd;
583 Like a white poppy sinking on the plain,
584 Whose heavy head is overcharg'd with rain.
585 Despair, and rage, and vengeance justly vow'd,
586 Drove Nisus headlong on the hostile crowd.
587 Volscens he seeks; on him alone he bends:
588 Borne back and bor'd by his surrounding friends,
589 Onward he press'd, and kept him still in sight;
590 Then whirl'd aloft his sword with all his might:
591 Th' unerring steel descended while he spoke,
592 Piered his wide mouth, and thro' his weazon broke.
593 Dying, he slew; and, stagg'ring on the plain,
594 With swimming eyes he sought his lover slain;
595 Then quiet on his bleeding bosom fell,
596 Content, in death, to be reveng'd so well.

597 O happy friends! for, if my verse can give
598 Immortal life, your fame shall ever live,
599 Fix'd as the Capitol's foundation lies,
600 And spread, where'er the Roman eagle flies!

601 The conqu'ring party first divide the prey,
602 Then their slain leader to the camp convey.
603 With wonder, as they went, the troops were fill'd,
604 To see such numbers whom so few had kill'd.
605 Serranus, Rhamnes, and the rest, they found:
606 Vast crowds the dying and the dead surround;
607 And the yet reeking blood o'erflows the ground.
608 All knew the helmet which Messapus lost,
609 But mourn'd a purchase that so dear had cost.
610 Now rose the ruddy morn from Tithon's bed,
611 And with the dawn of day the skies o'erspread;
612 Nor long the sun his daily course withheld,
613 But added colors to the world reveal'd:
614 When early Turnus, wak'ning with the light,
615 All clad in armor, calls his troops to fight.
616 His martial men with fierce harangue he fir'd,
617 And his own ardor in their souls inspir'd.
618 This done- to give new terror to his foes,
619 The heads of Nisus and his friend he shows,
620 Rais'd high on pointed spears- a ghastly sight:
621 Loud peals of shouts ensue, and barbarous delight.

622 Meantime the Trojans run, where danger calls;
623 They line their trenches, and they man their walls.
624 In front extended to the left they stood;
625 Safe was the right, surrounded by the flood.
626 But, casting from their tow'rs a frightful view,
627 They saw the faces, which too well they knew,
628 Tho' then disguis'd in death, and smear'd all o'er
629 With filth obscene, and dropping putrid gore.
630 Soon hasty fame thro' the sad city bears
631 The mournful message to the mother's ears.
632 An icy cold benumbs her limbs; she shakes;
633 Her cheeks the blood, her hand the web forsakes.
634 She runs the rampires round amidst the war,
635 Nor fears the flying darts; she rends her hair,
636 And fills with loud laments the liquid air.
637 "Thus, then, my lov'd Euryalus appears!
638 Thus looks the prop my declining years!
639 Was't on this face my famish'd eyes I fed?
640 Ah! how unlike the living is the dead!
641 And could'st thou leave me, cruel, thus alone?
642 Not one kind kiss from a departing son!
643 No look, no last adieu before he went,
644 In an ill-boding hour to slaughter sent!
645 Cold on the ground, and pressing foreign clay,
646 To Latian dogs and fowls he lies a prey!
647 Nor was I near to close his dying eyes,
648 To wash his wounds, to weep his obsequies,
649 To call about his corpse his crying friends,
650 Or spread the mantle (made for other ends)
651 On his dear body, which I wove with care,
652 Nor did my daily pains or nightly labor spare.
653 Where shall I find his corpse? what earth sustains
654 His trunk dismember'd, and his cold remains?
655 For this, alas! I left my needful ease,
656 Expos'd my life to winds and winter seas!
657 If any pity touch Rutulian hearts,
658 Here empty all your quivers, all your darts;
659 Or, if they fail, thou, Jove, conclude my woe,
660 And send me thunderstruck to shades below!"
661 Her shrieks and clamors pierce the Trojans' ears,
662 Unman their courage, and augment their fears;
663 Nor young Ascanius could the sight sustain,
664 Nor old Ilioneus his tears restrain,
665 But Actor and Idaeus jointly sent,
666 To bear the madding mother to her tent.

667 And now the trumpets terribly, from far,
668 With rattling clangor, rouse the sleepy war.
669 The soldiers' shouts succeed the brazen sounds;
670 And heav'n, from pole to pole, the noise rebounds.
671 The Volscians bear their shields upon their head,
672 And, rushing forward, form a moving shed.
673 These fill the ditch; those pull the bulwarks down:
674 Some raise the ladders; others scale the town.
675 But, where void spaces on the walls appear,
676 Or thin defense, they pour their forces there.
677 With poles and missive weapons, from afar,
678 The Trojans keep aloof the rising war.
679 Taught, by their ten years' siege, defensive fight,
680 They roll down ribs of rocks, an unresisted weight,
681 To break the penthouse with the pond'rous blow,
682 Which yet the patient Volscians undergo:
683 But could not bear th' unequal combat long;
684 For, where the Trojans find the thickest throng,
685 The ruin falls: their shatter'd shields give way,
686 And their crush'd heads become an easy prey.
687 They shrink for fear, abated of their rage,
688 Nor longer dare in a blind fight engage;
689 Contented now to gall them from below
690 With darts and slings, and with the distant bow.

691 Elsewhere Mezentius, terrible to view,
692 A blazing pine within the trenches threw.
693 But brave Messapus, Neptune's warlike son,
694 Broke down the palisades, the trenches won,
695 And loud for ladders calls, to scale the town.
696 Calliope, begin! Ye sacred Nine,
697 Inspire your poet in his high design,
698 To sing what slaughter manly Turnus made,
699 What souls he sent below the Stygian shade,
700 What fame the soldiers with their captain share,
701 And the vast circuit of the fatal war;
702 For you in singing martial facts excel;
703 You best remember, and alone can tell.

704 There stood a tow'r, amazing to the sight,
705 Built up of beams, and of stupendous height:
706 Art, and the nature of the place, conspir'd
707 To furnish all the strength that war requir'd.
708 To level this, the bold Italians join;
709 The wary Trojans obviate their design;
710 With weighty stones o'erwhelm their troops below,
711 Shoot thro' the loopholes, and sharp jav'lins throw.
712 Turnus, the chief, toss'd from his thund'ring hand
713 Against the wooden walls, a flaming brand:
714 It stuck, the fiery plague; the winds were high;
715 The planks were season'd, and the timber dry.
716 Contagion caught the posts; it spread along,
717 Scorch'd, and to distance drove the scatter'd throng.
718 The Trojans fled; the fire pursued amain,
719 Still gath'ring fast upon the trembling train;
720 Till, crowding to the corners of the wall,
721 Down the defense and the defenders fall.
722 The mighty flaw makes heav'n itself resound:
723 The dead and dying Trojans strew the ground.
724 The tow'r, that follow'd on the fallen crew,
725 Whelm'd o'er their heads, and buried whom it slew:
726 Some stuck upon the darts themselves had sent;
727 All the same equal ruin underwent.

728 Young Lycus and Helenor only scape;
729 Sav'd- how, they know not- from the steepy leap.
730 Helenor, elder of the two: by birth,
731 On one side royal, one a son of earth,
732 Whom to the Lydian king Licymnia bare,
733 And sent her boasted bastard to the war
734 (A privilege which none but freemen share).
735 Slight were his arms, a sword and silver shield:
736 No marks of honor charg'd its empty field.
737 Light as he fell, so light the youth arose,
738 And rising, found himself amidst his foes;
739 Nor flight was left, nor hopes to force his way.
740 Embolden'd by despair, he stood at bay;
741 And- like a stag, whom all the troop surrounds
742 Of eager huntsmen and invading hounds-
743 Resolv'd on death, he dissipates his fears,
744 And bounds aloft against the pointed spears:
745 So dares the youth, secure of death; and throws
746 His dying body on his thickest foes.
747 But Lycus, swifter of his feet by far,
748 Runs, doubles, winds and turns, amidst the war;
749 Springs to the walls, and leaves his foes behind,
750 And snatches at the beam he first can find;
751 Looks up, and leaps aloft at all the stretch,
752 In hopes the helping hand of some kind friend to reach.
753 But Turnus follow'd hard his hunted prey
754 (His spear had almost reach'd him in the way,
755 Short of his reins, and scarce a span behind)
756 "Fool!" said the chief, "tho' fleeter than the wind,
757 Couldst thou presume to scape, when I pursue?"
758 He said, and downward by the feet he drew
759 The trembling dastard; at the tug he falls;
760 Vast ruins come along, rent from the smoking walls.
761 Thus on some silver swan, or tim'rous hare,
762 Jove's bird comes sousing down from upper air;
763 Her crooked talons truss the fearful prey:
764 Then out of sight she soars, and wings her way.
765 So seizes the grim wolf the tender lamb,
766 In vain lamented by the bleating dam.

767 Then rushing onward with a barb'rous cry,
768 The troops of Turnus to the combat fly.
769 The ditch with fagots fill'd, the daring foe
770 Toss'd firebrands to the steepy turrets throw.

771 Ilioneus, as bold Lucetius came
772 To force the gate, and feed the kindling flame,
773 Roll'd down the fragment of a rock so right,
774 It crush'd him double underneath the weight.
775 Two more young Liger and Asylas slew:
776 To bend the bow young Liger better knew;
777 Asylas best the pointed jav'lin threw.
778 Brave Caeneus laid Ortygius on the plain;
779 The victor Caeneus was by Turnus slain.
780 By the same hand, Clonius and Itys fall,
781 Sagar, and Ida, standing on the wall.
782 From Capys' arms his fate Privernus found:
783 Hurt by Themilla first-but slight the wound-

784 His shield thrown by, to mitigate the smart,
785 He clapp'd his hand upon the wounded part:
786 The second shaft came swift and unespied,
787 And pierc'd his hand, and nail'd it to his side,
788 Transfix'd his breathing lungs and beating heart:
789 The soul came issuing out, and hiss'd against the dart.

790 The son of Arcens shone amid the rest,
791 In glitt'ring armor and a purple vest,
792 (Fair was his face, his eyes inspiring love,)
793 Bred by his father in the Martian grove,
794 Where the fat altars of Palicus flame,
795 And send in arms to purchase early fame.
796 Him when he spied from far, the Tuscan king
797 Laid by the lance, and took him to the sling,
798 Thrice whirl'd the thong around his head, and threw:
799 The heated lead half melted as it flew;
800 It pierc'd his hollow temples and his brain;
801 The youth came tumbling down, and spurn'd the plain.

802 Then young Ascanius, who, before this day,
803 Was wont in woods to shoot the savage prey,
804 First bent in martial strife the twanging bow,
805 And exercis'd against a human foe-
806 With this bereft Numanus of his life,
807 Who Turnus' younger sister took to wife.
808 Proud of his realm, and of his royal bride,
809 Vaunting before his troops, and lengthen'd with a stride,
810 In these insulting terms the Trojans he defied:

811 "Twice-conquer'd cowards, now your shame is shown-
812 Coop'd up a second time within your town!
813 Who dare not issue forth in open field,
814 But hold your walls before you for a shield.
815 Thus threat you war? thus our alliance force?
816 What gods, what madness, hether steer'd your course?
817 You shall not find the sons of Atreus here,
818 Nor need the frauds of sly Ulysses fear.
819 Strong from the cradle, of a sturdy brood,
820 We bear our newborn infants to the flood;
821 There bath'd amid the stream, our boys we hold,
822 With winter harden'd, and inur'd to cold.
823 They wake before the day to range the wood,
824 Kill ere they eat, nor taste unconquer'd food.
825 No sports, but what belong to war, they know:
826 To break the stubborn colt, to bend the bow.
827 Our youth, of labor patient, earn their bread;
828 Hardly they work, with frugal diet fed.
829 From plows and harrows sent to seek renown,
830 They fight in fields, and storm the shaken town.
831 No part of life from toils of war is free,
832 No change in age, or diff'rence in degree.
833 We plow and till in arms; our oxen feel,
834 Instead of goads, the spur and pointed steel;
835 Th' inverted lance makes furrows in the plain.
836 Ev'n time, that changes all, yet changes us in vain:
837 The body, not the mind; nor can control
838 Th' immortal vigor, or abate the soul.
839 Our helms defend the young, disguise the gray:
840 We live by plunder, and delight in prey.
841 Your vests embroider'd with rich purple shine;
842 In sloth you glory, and in dances join.
843 Your vests have sweeping sleeves; with female pride
844 Your turbants underneath your chins are tied.
845 Go, Phrygians, to your Dindymus again!
846 Go, less than women, in the shapes of men!
847 Go, mix'd with eunuchs, in the Mother's rites,
848 Where with unequal sound the flute invites;
849 Sing, dance, and howl, by turns, in Ida's shade:
850 Resign the war to men, who know the martial trade!"

851 This foul reproach Ascanius could not hear
852 With patience, or a vow'd revenge forbear.
853 At the full stretch of both his hands he drew,
854 And almost join'd the horns of the tough yew.
855 But, first, before the throne of Jove he stood,
856 And thus with lifted hands invok'd the god:
857 "My first attempt, great Jupiter, succeed!
858 An annual off'ring in thy grove shall bleed;
859 A snow-white steer, before thy altar led,
860 Who, like his mother, bears aloft his head,
861 Butts with his threat'ning brows, and bellowing stands,
862 And dares the fight, and spurns the yellow sands."

863 Jove bow'd the heav'ns, and lent a gracious ear,
864 And thunder'd on the left, amidst the clear.
865 Sounded at once the bow; and swiftly flies
866 The feather'd death, and hisses thro' the skies.
867 The steel thro' both his temples forc'd the way:
868 Extended on the ground, Numanus lay.
869 "Go now, vain boaster, and true valor scorn!
870 The Phrygians, twice subdued, yet make this third return."
871 Ascanius said no more. The Trojans shake
872 The heav'ns with shouting, and new vigor take.

873 Apollo then bestrode a golden cloud,
874 To view the feats of arms, and fighting crowd;
875 And thus the beardless victor he bespoke aloud:
876 "Advance, illustrious youth, increase in fame,
877 And wide from east to west extend thy name;
878 Offspring of gods thyself; and Rome shall owe
879 To thee a race of demigods below.
880 This is the way to heav'n: the pow'rs divine
881 From this beginning date the Julian line.
882 To thee, to them, and their victorious heirs,
883 The conquer'd war is due, and the vast world is theirs.
884 Troy is too narrow for thy name." He said,
885 And plunging downward shot his radiant head;
886 Dispell'd the breathing air, that broke his flight:
887 Shorn of his beams, a man to mortal sight.
888 Old Butes' form he took, Anchises' squire,
889 Now left, to rule Ascanius, by his sire:
890 His wrinkled visage, and his hoary hairs,
891 His mien, his habit, and his arms, he wears,
892 And thus salutes the boy, too forward for his years:
893 "Suffice it thee, thy father's worthy son,
894 The warlike prize thou hast already won.
895 The god of archers gives thy youth a part
896 Of his own praise, nor envies equal art.
897 Now tempt the war no more." He said, and flew
898 Obscure in air, and vanish'd from their view.
899 The Trojans, by his arms, their patron know,
900 And hear the twanging of his heav'nly bow.
901 Then duteous force they use, and Phoebus' name,
902 To keep from fight the youth too fond of fame.
903 Undaunted, they themselves no danger shun;
904 From wall to wall the shouts and clamors run.
905 They bend their bows; they whirl their slings around;
906 Heaps of spent arrows fall, and strew the ground;
907 And helms, and shields, and rattling arms resound.
908 The combat thickens, like the storm that flies
909 From westward, when the show'ry Kids arise;
910 Or patt'ring hail comes pouring on the main,
911 When Jupiter descends in harden'd rain,
912 Or bellowing clouds burst with a stormy sound,
913 And with an armed winter strew the ground.

914 Pand'rus and Bitias, thunderbolts of war,
915 Whom Hiera to bold Alcanor bare
916 On Ida's top, two youths of height and size
917 Like firs that on their mother mountain rise,
918 Presuming on their force, the gates unbar,
919 And of their own accord invite the war.
920 With fates averse, against their king's command,
921 Arm'd, on the right and on the left they stand,
922 And flank the passage: shining steel they wear,
923 And waving crests above their heads appear.
924 Thus two tall oaks, that Padus' banks adorn,
925 Lift up to heav'n their leafy heads unshorn,
926 And, overpress'd with nature's heavy load,
927 Dance to the whistling winds, and at each other nod.
928 In flows a tide of Latians, when they see
929 The gate set open, and the passage free;
930 Bold Quercens, with rash Tmarus, rushing on,
931 Equicolus, that in bright armor shone,
932 And Haemon first; but soon repuls'd they fly,
933 Or in the well-defended pass they die.
934 These with success are fir'd, and those with rage,
935 And each on equal terms at length ingage.
936 Drawn from their lines, and issuing on the plain,
937 The Trojans hand to hand the fight maintain.

938 Fierce Turnus in another quarter fought,
939 When suddenly th' unhop'd-for news was brought,
940 The foes had left the fastness of their place,
941 Prevail'd in fight, and had his men in chase.
942 He quits th' attack, and, to prevent their fate,
943 Runs where the giant brothers guard the gate.
944 The first he met, Antiphates the brave,
945 But base-begotten on a Theban slave,
946 Sarpedon's son, he slew: the deadly dart
947 Found passage thro' his breast, and pierc'd his heart.
948 Fix'd in the wound th' Italian cornel stood,
949 Warm'd in his lungs, and in his vital blood.
950 Aphidnus next, and Erymanthus dies,
951 And Meropes, and the gigantic size
952 Of Bitias, threat'ning with his ardent eyes.
953 Not by the feeble dart he fell oppress'd
954 (A dart were lost within that roomy breast),
955 But from a knotted lance, large, heavy, strong,
956 Which roar'd like thunder as it whirl'd along:
957 Not two bull hides th' impetuous force withhold,
958 Nor coat of double mail, with scales of gold.
959 Down sunk the monster bulk and press'd the ground;
960 His arms and clatt'ring shield on the vast body sound,
961 Not with less ruin than the Bajan mole,
962 Rais'd on the seas, the surges to control-
963 At once comes tumbling down the rocky wall;
964 Prone to the deep, the stones disjointed fall
965 Of the vast pile; the scatter'd ocean flies;
966 Black sands, discolor'd froth, and mingled mud arise:
967 The frighted billows roll, and seek the shores;
968 Then trembles Prochyta, then Ischia roars:
969 Typhoeus, thrown beneath, by Jove's command,
970 Astonish'd at the flaw that shakes the land,
971 Soon shifts his weary side, and, scarce awake,
972 With wonder feels the weight press lighter on his back.

973 The warrior god the Latian troops inspir'd,
974 New strung their sinews, and their courage fir'd,
975 But chills the Trojan hearts with cold affright:
976 Then black despair precipitates their flight.

977 When Pandarus beheld his brother kill'd,
978 The town with fear and wild confusion fill'd,
979 He turns the hinges of the heavy gate
980 With both his hands, and adds his shoulders to the weight
981 Some happier friends within the walls inclos'd;
982 The rest shut out, to certain death expos'd:
983 Fool as he was, and frantic in his care,
984 T' admit young Turnus, and include the war!
985 He thrust amid the crowd, securely bold,
986 Like a fierce tiger pent amid the fold.
987 Too late his blazing buckler they descry,
988 And sparkling fires that shot from either eye,
989 His mighty members, and his ample breast,
990 His rattling armor, and his crimson crest.

991 Far from that hated face the Trojans fly,
992 All but the fool who sought his destiny.
993 Mad Pandarus steps forth, with vengeance vow'd
994 For Bitias' death, and threatens thus aloud:
995 "These are not Ardea's walls, nor this the town
996 Amata proffers with Lavinia's crown:
997 'T is hostile earth you tread. Of hope bereft,
998 No means of safe return by flight are left."
999 To whom, with count'nance calm, and soul sedate,
1000 Thus Turnus: "Then begin, and try thy fate:
1001 My message to the ghost of Priam bear;
1002 Tell him a new Achilles sent thee there."

1003 A lance of tough ground ash the Trojan threw,
1004 Rough in the rind, and knotted as it grew:
1005 With his full force he whirl'd it first around;
1006 But the soft yielding air receiv'd the wound:
1007 Imperial Juno turn'd the course before,
1008 And fix'd the wand'ring weapon in the door.

1009 "But hope not thou," said Turnus, "when I strike,
1010 To shun thy fate: our force is not alike,
1011 Nor thy steel temper'd by the Lemnian god."
1012 Then rising, on his utmost stretch he stood,
1013 And aim'd from high: the full descending blow
1014 Cleaves the broad front and beardless cheeks in two.
1015 Down sinks the giant with a thund'ring sound:
1016 His pond'rous limbs oppress the trembling ground;
1017 Blood, brains, and foam gush from the gaping wound:
1018 Scalp, face, and shoulders the keen steel divides,
1019 And the shar'd visage hangs on equal sides.
1020 The Trojans fly from their approaching fate;
1021 And, had the victor then secur'd the gate,
1022 And to his troops without unclos'd the bars,
1023 One lucky day had ended all his wars.
1024 But boiling youth, and blind desire of blood,
1025 Push'd on his fury, to pursue the crowd.
1026 Hamstring'd behind, unhappy Gyges died;
1027 Then Phalaris is added to his side.
1028 The pointed jav'lins from the dead he drew,
1029 And their friends' arms against their fellows threw.
1030 Strong Halys stands in vain; weak Phlegys flies;
1031 Saturnia, still at hand, new force and fire supplies.
1032 Then Halius, Prytanis, Alcander fall-
1033 Ingag'd against the foes who scal'd the wall:
1034 But, whom they fear'd without, they found within.
1035 At last, tho' late, by Lynceus he was seen.
1036 He calls new succors, and assaults the prince:
1037 But weak his force, and vain is their defense.
1038 Turn'd to the right, his sword the hero drew,
1039 And at one blow the bold aggressor slew.
1040 He joints the neck; and, with a stroke so strong,
1041 The helm flies off, and bears the head along.
1042 Next him, the huntsman Amycus he kill'd,
1043 In darts invenom'd and in poison skill'd.
1044 Then Clytius fell beneath his fatal spear,
1045 And Creteus, whom the Muses held so dear:
1046 He fought with courage, and he sung the fight;
1047 Arms were his bus'ness, verses his delight.

1048 The Trojan chiefs behold, with rage and grief,
1049 Their slaughter'd friends, and hasten their relief.
1050 Bold Mnestheus rallies first the broken train,
1051 Whom brave Seresthus and his troop sustain.
1052 To save the living, and revenge the dead,
1053 Against one warrior's arms all Troy they led.
1054 "O, void of sense and courage!" Mnestheus cried,
1055 "Where can you hope your coward heads to hide?
1056 Ah! where beyond these rampires can you run?
1057 One man, and in your camp inclos'd, you shun!
1058 Shall then a single sword such slaughter boast,
1059 And pass unpunish'd from a num'rous host?
1060 Forsaking honor, and renouncing fame,
1061 Your gods, your country, and your king you shame!"
1062 This just reproach their virtue does excite:
1063 They stand, they join, they thicken to the fight.

1064 Now Turnus doubts, and yet disdains to yield,
1065 But with slow paces measures back the field,
1066 And inches to the walls, where Tiber's tide,
1067 Washing the camp, defends the weaker side.
1068 The more he loses, they advance the more,
1069 And tread in ev'ry step he trod before.
1070 They shout: they bear him back; and, whom by might
1071 They cannot conquer, they oppress with weight.

1072 As, compass'd with a wood of spears around,
1073 The lordly lion still maintains his ground;
1074 Grins horrible, retires, and turns again;
1075 Threats his distended paws, and shakes his mane;
1076 He loses while in vain he presses on,
1077 Nor will his courage let him dare to run:
1078 So Turnus fares, and, unresolved of flight,
1079 Moves tardy back, and just recedes from fight.
1080 Yet twice, inrag'd, the combat he renews,
1081 Twice breaks, and twice his broken foes pursues.
1082 But now they swarm, and, with fresh troops supplied,
1083 Come rolling on, and rush from ev'ry side:
1084 Nor Juno, who sustain'd his arms before,
1085 Dares with new strength suffice th' exhausted store;
1086 For Jove, with sour commands, sent Iris down,
1087 To force th' invader from the frighted town.

1088 With labor spent, no longer can he wield
1089 The heavy fanchion, or sustain the shield,
1090 O'erwhelm'd with darts, which from afar they fling:
1091 The weapons round his hollow temples ring;
1092 His golden helm gives way, with stony blows
1093 Batter'd, and flat, and beaten to his brows.
1094 His crest is rash'd away; his ample shield
1095 Is falsified, and round with jav'lins fill'd.

1096 The foe, now faint, the Trojans overwhelm;
1097 And Mnestheus lays hard load upon his helm.
1098 Sick sweat succeeds; he drops at ev'ry pore;
1099 With driving dust his cheeks are pasted o'er;
1100 Shorter and shorter ev'ry gasp he takes;
1101 And vain efforts and hurtless blows he makes.
1102 Plung'd in the flood, and made the waters fly.
1103 The yellow god the welcome burthen bore,
1104 And wip'd the sweat, and wash'd away the gore;
1105 Then gently wafts him to the farther coast,
1106 And sends him safe to cheer his anxious host.