Aeneis
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
10.1.1
Meanwhile Olympus, seat of sovereign sway,
10.1.2
threw wide its portals, and in conclave fair
10.1.3
the Sire of gods and King of all mankind
10.1.4
summoned th' immortals to his starry court,
10.1.5
whence, high-enthroned, the spreading earth he views—
10.1.6
and Teucria's camp and Latium's fierce array.
10.1.7
Beneath the double-gated dome the gods
10.1.8
were sitting; Jove himself the silence broke:
10.1.9
“O people of Olympus, wherefore change
10.1.10
your purpose and decree, with partial minds
10.1.11
in mighty strife contending? I refused
10.1.12
such clash of war 'twixt Italy and Troy.
10.1.13
Whence this forbidden feud? What fears
10.1.14
seduced to battles and injurious arms
10.1.15
either this folk or that? Th' appointed hour
10.1.16
for war shall be hereafter—speed it not!—
10.1.17
When cruel Carthage to the towers of Rome
10.1.18
shall bring vast ruin, streaming fiercely down
10.1.19
the opened Alp. Then hate with hate shall vie,
10.1.20
and havoc have no bound. Till then, give o'er,
10.1.21
and smile upon the concord I decree!”
10.16.22
Thus briefly, Jove. But golden Venus made
10.16.23
less brief reply. “O Father, who dost hold
10.16.24
o'er Man and all things an immortal sway!
10.16.25
Of what high throne may gods the aid implore
10.16.26
save thine? Behold of yonder Rutuli
10.16.27
th' insulting scorn! Among them Turnus moves
10.16.28
in chariot proud, and boasts triumphant war
10.16.29
in mighty words. Nor do their walls defend
10.16.30
my Teucrians now. But in their very gates,
10.16.31
and on their mounded ramparts, in close fight
10.16.32
they breast their foes and fill the moats with blood.
10.16.33
Aeneas knows not, and is far away.
10.16.34
Will ne'er the siege have done? A second time
10.16.35
above Troy's rising walls the foe impends;
10.16.36
another host is gathered, and once more
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from his Aetolian Arpi wrathful speeds
10.16.38
a Diomed. I doubt not that for me
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wounds are preparing. Yea, thy daughter dear
10.16.40
awaits a mortal sword! If by thy will
10.16.41
unblest and unapproved the Trojans came
10.16.42
to Italy, for such rebellious crime
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give them their due, nor lend them succor, thou,
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with thy strong hand! But if they have obeyed
10.16.45
unnumbered oracles from gods above
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and sacred shades below, who now has power
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to thwart thy bidding, or to weave anew
10.16.48
the web of Fate? Why speak of ships consumed
10.16.49
along my hallowed Erycinian shore?
10.16.50
Or of the Lord of Storms, whose furious blasts
10.16.51
were summoned from Aeolia? Why tell
10.16.52
of Iris sped from heaven? Now she moves
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the region of the shades (one kingdom yet
10.16.54
from her attempt secure) and thence lets loose
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Alecto on the world above, who strides
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in frenzied wrath along th' Italian hills.
10.16.57
No more my heart now cherishes its hope
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of domination, though in happier days
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such was thy promise. Let the victory fall
10.16.60
to victors of thy choice! If nowhere lies
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the land thy cruel Queen would deign accord
10.16.62
unto the Teucrian people,—O my sire,
10.16.63
I pray thee by yon smouldering wreck of Troy
10.16.64
to let Ascanius from the clash of arms
10.16.65
escape unscathed. Let my own offspring live!
10.16.66
Yea, let Aeneas, tossed on seas unknown,
10.16.67
find some chance way; let my right hand avail
10.16.68
to shelter him and from this fatal war
10.16.69
in safety bring. For Amathus is mine,
10.16.70
mine are Cythera and the Paphian hills
10.16.71
and temples in Idalium. Let him drop
10.16.72
the sword, and there live out inglorious days.
10.16.73
By thy decree let Carthage overwhelm
10.16.74
Ausonia's power; nor let defence be found
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to stay the Tyrian arms! What profits it
10.16.76
that he escaped the wasting plague of war
10.16.77
and fled Argolic fires? or that he knew
10.16.78
so many perils of wide wilderness
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and waters rude? The Teucrians seek in vain
10.16.80
new-born Troy in Latium. Better far
10.16.81
crouched on their country's ashes to abide,
10.16.82
and keep that spot of earth where once was Troy!
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Give back, O Father, I implore thee, give
10.16.84
Xanthus and Simois back! Let Teucer's sons
10.16.85
unfold once more the tale of Ilium's woe!”
10.62.86
Then sovereign Juno, flushed with solemn scorn,
10.62.87
made answer. “Dost thou bid me here profane
10.62.88
the silence of my heart, and gossip forth
10.62.89
of secret griefs? What will of god or man
10.62.90
impelled Aeneas on his path of war,
10.62.91
or made him foeman of the Latin King?
10.62.92
Fate brought him to Italia? Be it so!
10.62.93
Cassandra's frenzy he obeyed. What voice —
10.62.94
say, was it mine?—urged him to quit his camp,
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risk life in storms, or trust his war, his walls,
10.62.96
to a boy-captain, or stir up to strife
10.62.97
Etruria's faithful, unoffending sons?
10.62.98
What god, what pitiless behest of mine,
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impelled him to such harm? Who traces here
10.62.100
the hand of Juno, or of Iris sped
10.62.101
from heaven? Is it an ignoble stroke
10.62.102
that Italy around the new-born Troy
10.62.103
makes circling fire, and Turnus plants his heel
10.62.104
on his hereditary earth, the son
10.62.105
of old Pilumnus and the nymph divine,
10.62.106
Venilia? For what offence would Troy
10.62.107
bring sword and fire on Latium, or enslave
10.62.108
lands of an alien name, and bear away
10.62.109
plunder and spoil? Why seek they marriages,
10.62.110
and snatch from arms of love the plighted maids?
10.62.111
An olive-branch is in their hands; their ships
10.62.112
make menace of grim steel. Thy power one day
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ravished Aeneas from his Argive foes,
10.62.114
and gave them shape of cloud and fleeting air
10.62.115
to strike at for a man. Thou hast transformed
10.62.116
his ships to daughters of the sea. What wrong
10.62.117
if I, not less, have lent the Rutuli
10.62.118
something of strength in war? Aeneas, then,
10.62.119
is far away and knows not! Far away
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let him remain, not knowing! If thou sway'st
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Cythera, Paphos, and Idalium,
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why rouse a city pregnant with loud wars,
10.62.123
and fiery hearts provoke? That fading power
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of Phrygia, do I, forsooth, essay
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to ruin utterly? O, was it I
10.62.126
exposed ill-fated Troy to Argive foe?
10.62.127
For what offence in vast array of arms
10.62.128
did Europe rise and Asia, for a rape
10.62.129
their peace dissolving? Was it at my word
10.62.130
th' adulterous Dardan shepherd came to storm
10.62.131
the Spartan city? Did my hand supply
10.62.132
his armament, or instigate a war
10.62.133
for Cupid's sake? Then was thy decent hour
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to tremble for thy children; now too late
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the folly of thy long lament to Heaven,
10.62.136
and objurgation vain.” Such Juno's plea;
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the throng of gods with voices loud or low
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gave various reply: as gathering winds
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sing through the tree-tops in dark syllables,
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and fling faint murmur on the far-off sea,
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to tell some pilot of to-morrow's storm.
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Then Jupiter omnipotent, whose hands
10.62.143
have governance supreme, began reply;
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deep silence at his word Olympus knew,
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Earth's utmost cavern shook; the realms of light
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were silent; the mild zephyrs breathed no more,
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and perfect calm o'erspread the levelled sea.
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“Give ear, ye gods, and in your hearts record
10.62.149
my mandate and decree. Fate yet allows
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no peace 'twixt Troy and Italy, nor bids
10.62.151
your quarrel end. Therefore, what Chance this day
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to either foe shall bring, whatever hope
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either may cherish,—the Rutulian cause
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and Trojan have like favor in my eyes.
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The destinies of Italy constrain
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the siege; which for the fault of Troy fulfills
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an oracle of woe. Yon Rutule host
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I scatter not. But of his own attempt
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let each the triumph and the burden bear;
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for Jove is over all an equal King.
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The Fates will find the way.” The god confirmed
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his sentence by his Stygian brother's wave,
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the shadowy flood and black, abysmal shore.
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He nodded; at the bending of his brow
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Olympus shook. It is the council's end.
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Now from the golden throne uprises Jove;
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the train of gods attend him to the doors.
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Meanwhile at every gate the Rutule foe
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urges the slaughter on, and closes round
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the battlements with ring of flame. The host
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of Trojans, prisoned in the palisades,
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lies in strict siege and has no hope to fly.
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In wretched plight they man the turrets tall,
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to no avail, and with scant garrison
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the ramparts crown. In foremost line of guard
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are Asius Imbrasides, the twin
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Assaraci, and Hicetaon's son
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Thymoetes, and with Castor at his side
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the veteran Thymbris; then the brothers both
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of slain Sarpedon, and from Lycian steep
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Clarus and Themon. With full-straining thews
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lifting a rock, which was of some huge hill
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no fragment small, Lyrnesian Acmon stood;
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nor less than Clytius his sire he seemed,
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nor Mnestheus his great brother. Some defend
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the wall with javelins; some hurl down stones
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or firebrands, or to the sounding string
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fit arrows keen. But lo! amid the throng,
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well worth to Venus her protecting care,
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the Dardan boy, whose princely head shone forth
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without a helm, like radiant jewel set
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in burnished gold for necklace or for crown;
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or like immaculate ivory inclosed
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in boxwood or Orician terebinth;
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his tresses o'er his white neck rippled down,
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confined in circlet of soft twisted gold.
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Thee, too, the warrior nations gaze upon,
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high-nurtured Ismarus, inflicting wounds
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with shafts of venomed reed: Maeonia's vale
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thy cradle was, where o'er the fruitful fields
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well-tilled and rich, Pactolus pours his gold.
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Mnestheus was there, who, for his late repulse
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of Turnus from the rampart, towered forth
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in glory eminent; there Capys stood,
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whose name the Capuan citadel shall bear.
10.146.206
While these in many a shock of grievous war
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hotly contend, Aeneas cleaves his way
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at midnight through the waters. He had fared
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from old Evander to th' Etruscan folk,
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addressed their King, and to him told the tale
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of his own race and name, his suit, his powers;
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of what allies Mezentius had embraced,
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and Turnus' lawless rage. He bids him know
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how mutable is man, and warning gives,
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with supplication joined. Without delay
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Tarchon made amity and sacred league,
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uniting with his cause. The Lydian tribe,
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now destined from its tyrant to be free,
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embarked, obedient to the gods, and gave
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allegiance to the foreign King. The ship
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Aeneas rode moved foremost in the line:
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its beak a pair of Phrygian lions bore;
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above them Ida rose, an emblem dear
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to exiled Trojans. On his Iofty seat
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was great Aeneas, pondering the events
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of changeful war; and clinging to his side
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the youthful Pallas fain would learn the lore
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of stars, the highway of dark night, and asks
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the story of his toils on land and sea.
10.163.230
Now open Helicon and move my song,
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ye goddesses, to tell what host in arms
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followed Aeneas from the Tuscan shore,
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and manned his ships and traveiled o'er the sea!
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First Massicus his brazen Tigress rode,
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cleaving the brine; a thousand warriors
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were with him out of Clusium's walls, or from
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the citadel of Coste, who for arms
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had arrows, quivers from the shoulder slung,
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and deadly bows. Grim Abas near him sailed;
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his whole band wore well-blazoned mail; his ship
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displayed the form of Phoebus, all of gold:
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to him had Populonia consigned
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(His mother-city, she) six hundred youth
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well-proven in war; three hundred Elba gave,
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an island rich in unexhausted ores
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of iron, like the Chalybes. Next came
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Asilas, who betwixt the gods and men
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interprets messages and reads clear signs
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in victims' entrails, or the stars of heaven,
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or bird-talk, or the monitory flames
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of lightning: he commands a thousand men
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close lined, with bristling spears, of Pisa all,
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that Tuscan city of Alpheus sprung.
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Then Astur followed, a bold horseman he,
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Astur in gorgeous arms, himself most fair:
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three hundred are his men, one martial mind
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uniting all: in Caere they were bred
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and Minio's plain, and by the ancient towers
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of Pyrgo or Gravisca's storm-swept hill.
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Nor thy renown may I forget, brave chief
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of the Ligurians, Cinyrus; nor thine,
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Cupavo, with few followers, thy crest
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the tall swan-wings, of love unblest the sign
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and of a father fair: for legends tell
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that Cycnus, for his Phaethon so dear
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lamenting loud beneath the poplar shade
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of the changed sisters, made a mournful song
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to soothe his grief and passion: but erewhile,
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in his old age, there clothed him as he sang
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soft snow-white plumes, and spurning earth he soared
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on high, and sped in music through the stars.
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His son with bands of youthful peers urged on
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a galley with a Centaur for its prow,
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which loomed high o'er the waves, and seemed to hurl
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a huge stone at the water, as the keel
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ploughed through the deep. Next Ocnus summoned forth
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a war-host from his native shores, the son
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of Tiber, Tuscan river, and the nymph
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Manto, a prophetess: he gave good walls,
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O Mantua, and his mother's name, to thee,—
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to Mantua so rich in noble sires,
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but of a blood diverse, a triple breed,
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four stems in each; and over all enthroned
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she rules her tribes: her strength is Tuscan born.
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Hate of Mezentius armed against his name
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five hundred men: upon their hostile prow
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was Mincius in a cloak of silvery sedge,—
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Lake Benacus the river's source and sire.
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Last good Aulestes smites the depths below,
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with forest of a hundred oars: the flood
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like flowing marble foams; his Triton prow
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threatens the blue waves with a trumpet-shell;
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far as the hairy flanks its form is man,
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but ends in fish below—the parting waves
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beneath the half-brute bosom break in foam.
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10.185.296
Such chosen chiefs in thirty galleys ploughed
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the salt-wave, bringing help to Trojan arms.
10.215.298
Day now had left the sky. The moon benign
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had driven her night-wandering chariot
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to the mid-arch of heaven. Aeneas sate,
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for thought and care allowed him no repose,
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holding the helm and tending his own sails.
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but, as he sped, behold, the beauteous train,
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lately his own, of nymphs, anon transformed
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by kind Cybebe to sea-ruling powers.
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In even ranks they swam the cloven wave,—
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nymphs now, but once as brazen galleys moored
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along the sandy shore. With joy they knew
10.215.309
their King from far, and with attending train
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around him drew. Cymodocea then,
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best skilled in mortal speech, sped close behind,
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with her right hand upon the stern, uprose
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breast-high, and with her left hand deeply plied
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the silent stream, as to the wondering King
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she called: “So late on watch, O son of Heaven,
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Aeneas? Slack thy sail, but still watch on!
10.215.317
We were the pine-trees on the holy top
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of Ida's mountain. Sea-nymphs now are we,
10.215.319
and thine own fleet. When, as we fled, the flames
10.215.320
rained o'er us from the false Rutulian's hand
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't was all unwillingly we cast away
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thy serviceable chains: and now once more
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we follow thee across the sea. These forms
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our pitying mother bade us take, with power
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to haunt immortally the moving sea.
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Lo, thy Ascanius lies close besieged
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in moated walls, assailed by threatening arms
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and Latium's front of war. Arcadia,
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her horsemen with the bold Etruscan joined,
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stands at the place appointed. Turnus means,
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with troop opposing, their advance to bar
10.215.332
and hold them from the camp. Arouse thee, then,
10.215.333
and with the rising beams of dawn call forth
10.215.334
thy captains and their followers. Take that shield
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victorious, which for thee the Lord of Fire
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forged for a gift and rimmed about with gold.
10.215.337
To-morrow's light—deem not my words be vain!—
10.215.338
shall shine on huge heaps of Rutulia's dead.”
10.215.339
So saying, she pushed with her right hand the stern
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with skilful thrust, and vanished. The ship sped
10.215.341
swift as a spear, or as an arrow flies
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no whit behind the wind: and all the fleet
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quickened its course. Anchises' princely son,
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dumb and bewildered stood, but took good heart
10.215.345
at such an omen fair. Then in few words
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with eyes upturned to heaven he made his prayer:
10.215.347
“Mother of gods, O Ida's Queen benign,
10.215.348
who Iovest Dindymus and towns with towers,
10.215.349
and lion-yokes obedient to thy rein,
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be thou my guide in battle, and fulfil
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thine augury divine. In Phrygia's cause
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be present evermore with favoring power!”
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He spoke no more. For now the wheels of day
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had sped full circle into perfect light,
10.215.355
the dark expelling. Then, for his first care,
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he bade his captains heed the signal given,
10.215.357
equip their souls for war, and wait in arms
10.215.358
the coming fray. Now holds he full in view
10.215.359
his Trojans and their fortress, as he stands
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upon his towering ship. With his left hand
10.215.361
he lifts his radiant shield; then from the wall
10.215.362
the Dardan warriors send a battle-cry
10.215.363
that echoes to the stars, as kindling hope
10.215.364
their rage renews. A flight of spears they hurl:
10.215.365
't was like the cranes of Strymon, through dark clouds
10.215.366
each other calling, when they cleave the skies
10.215.367
vociferous, outwinging as they fly
10.215.368
the swift south winds—Ioud music them pursues.
10.215.369
Amazement on Ausonia's captains fell
10.215.370
and Turnus, as they gazed. But soon they saw
10.215.371
ships pointing shoreward and the watery plain
10.215.372
all stirring with a fleet. Aeneas' helm
10.215.373
uplifted its bright peak,—like streaming flame
10.215.374
the crimson crest; his shield of orbed gold
10.215.375
poured forth prodigious fire: it seemed as when
10.215.376
in cloudless night a comet's blood-red beam
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makes mournful splendor, or the Dog-star glows,
10.215.378
which rises to bring drought and pestilence
10.215.379
to hapless men, and with ill-omened ray
10.215.380
saddens the sky. But Turnus, undismayed,
10.215.381
trusted not less to hurl th' invaders back
10.215.382
and hold the shore against them. “Look!” he cried,
10.215.383
your prayer is come to pass,—that sword in hand
10.215.384
ye now may shatter them. The might of Mars
10.215.385
is in a true man's blow. Remember well
10.215.386
each man his home and wife! Now call to mind
10.215.387
the glory and great deeds of all your sires!
10.215.388
Charge to yon river-bank, while yet they take
10.215.389
with weak and fearful steps their shoreward way!
10.215.390
Fortune will help the brave.” With words like these,
10.215.391
he chose, well-weighing, who should lead the charge,
10.215.392
who at the leaguered walls the fight sustain.
10.287.393
Aeneas straightway from his lofty ships
10.287.394
lets down his troop by bridges. Some await
10.287.395
the ebbing of slack seas, and boldly leap
10.287.396
into the shallows; others ply the oar.
10.287.397
Tarchon a beach discovers, where the sands
10.287.398
sing not, nor waves with broken murmur fall,
10.287.399
but full and silent swells the gentle sea.
10.287.400
Steering in haste that way, he called his crews:
10.287.401
“Now bend to your stout oars, my chosen brave.
10.287.402
Lift each ship forward, till her beak shall cleave
10.287.403
yon hostile shore; and let her keel's full weight
10.287.404
the furrow drive. I care not if we break
10.287.405
our ship's side in so sure an anchorage,
10.287.406
if once we land.” While Tarchon urged them thus,
10.287.407
the crews bent all together to their blades
10.287.408
and sped their foaming barks to Latium's plain,
10.287.409
till each beak gripped the sand and every keel
10.287.410
lay on dry land unscathed:—all save thine own,
10.287.411
O Tarchon! dashed upon a sand-bar, she!
10.287.412
Long poised upon the cruel ridge she hung,
10.287.413
tilted this way or that and beat the waves,
10.287.414
then split, and emptied forth upon the tide
10.287.415
her warriors; and now the drifting wreck
10.287.416
of shattered oars and thwarts entangles them,
10.287.417
or ebb of swirling waters sucks them down.
10.308.418
Turnus no lingering knows, but fiercely hurls
10.308.419
his whole line on the Teucrians, and makes stand
10.308.420
along the shore. Now peals the trumpet's call.
10.308.421
Aeneas in the van led on his troop
10.308.422
against the rustic foe, bright augury
10.308.423
for opening war, and laid the Latins low,
10.308.424
slaughtering Theron, a huge chief who dared
10.308.425
offer Aeneas battle; through the scales
10.308.426
of brazen mail and corselet stiff with gold
10.308.427
the sword drove deep, and gored the gaping side.
10.308.428
Then smote he Lichas, from his mother's womb
10.308.429
ripped in her dying hour, and unto thee,
10.308.430
O Phoebus, vowed, because his infant days
10.308.431
escaped the fatal steel. Hard by him fell
10.308.432
stout Cisseus and gigantic Gyas; these
10.308.433
to death were hurled, while with their knotted clubs
10.308.434
they slew opposing hosts; but naught availed
10.308.435
Herculean weapons, nor their mighty hands,
10.308.436
or that Melampus was their sire, a peer
10.308.437
of Hercules, what time in heavy toils
10.308.438
through earth he roved. See next how Pharon boasts!
10.308.439
But while he vainly raves, the whirling spear
10.308.440
smites full on his loud mouth. And also thou,
10.308.441
Cydon, wast by the Trojan stroke o'erthrown,
10.308.442
while following in ill-omened haste the steps
10.308.443
of Clytius, thy last joy, whose round cheek wore
10.308.444
its youthful golden down: soon hadst thou lain
10.308.445
in death, unheeding of thy fancies fond
10.308.446
which ever turned to youth;—but now arose
10.308.447
the troop of all thy brothers, Phorcus' sons,
10.308.448
a close array of seven, and seven spears
10.308.449
they hurled: some from Aeneas' helm or shield
10.308.450
glanced off in vain; some Venus' kindly power,
10.308.451
just as they touched his body, turned away.
10.308.452
Aeneas then to true Achates cried:
10.308.453
“Bring on my spears: not one shall fruitless fly
10.308.454
against yon Rutules, even as they pierced
10.308.455
the breasts of Greeks upon the Ilian plain.”
10.308.456
Then one great shaft he seized and threw; it sped
10.308.457
straight into Maeon's brazen shield, and clove
10.308.458
his mail-clad heart. Impetuous to his aid
10.308.459
brother Alcanor came, and lifted up
10.308.460
with strong right hand his brother as he fell:
10.308.461
but through his arm a second skilful shaft
10.308.462
made bloody way, and by the sinews held
10.308.463
the lifeless right hand from the shoulder swung.
10.308.464
Then from his brother's body Numitor
10.308.465
the weapon plucked and hurled it, furious,
10.308.466
upon Aeneas; but it could not strike
10.308.467
the hero's self, and grazed along the thigh
10.308.468
of great Achates. Next into the fight
10.308.469
Clausus of Cures came, in youthful bloom
10.308.470
exulting, and with far-thrown javelin
10.308.471
struck Dryops at the chin, and took away
10.308.472
from the gashed, shrieking throat both life and voice;
10.308.473
the warrior's fallen forehead smote the dust;
10.308.474
his lips poured forth thick blood. There also fell
10.308.475
three Thracians, odspring of the lordly stem
10.308.476
of Boreas, and three of Idas' sons
10.308.477
from Ismara, by various doom struck down.
10.308.478
Halaesus here his wild Auruncans brings;
10.308.479
and flying to the fight comes Neptune's son,
10.308.480
Messapus, famous horseman. On both sides
10.308.481
each charges on the foe. Ausonia's strand
10.308.482
is one wide strife. As when o'er leagues of air
10.308.483
the envious winds give battle to their peers,
10.308.484
well-matched in rage and power; and neither they
10.308.485
nor clouds above, nor plunging seas below
10.308.486
will end the doubtful war, but each withstands
10.308.487
the onset of the whole—in such wild way
10.308.488
the line of Trojans on the Latian line
10.308.489
hurls itself, limb on limb and man on man.
10.362.490
But at a distance where the river's flood
10.362.491
had scattered rolling boulders and torn trees
10.362.492
uprooted from the shore, young Pallas spied
10.362.493
th' Arcadian band, unused to fight on foot,
10.362.494
in full retreat, the Latins following close—
10.362.495
who also for the roughness of the ground
10.362.496
were all unmounted: he (the last resource
10.362.497
of men in straits) to wild entreaty turned
10.362.498
and taunts, enkindling their faint hearts anew:
10.362.499
“Whither, my men! O, by your own brave deeds,
10.362.500
O, by our lord Evander's happy wars,
10.362.501
the proud hopes I had to make my name
10.362.502
a rival glory,—think not ye can fly!
10.362.503
Your swords alone can carve ye the safe way
10.362.504
straight through your foes. Where yonder warrior-throng
10.362.505
is fiercest, thickest, there and only there
10.362.506
your Country's honor calls for men like you,
10.362.507
and for your captain Pallas. Nay, no gods
10.362.508
against us fight; we are but mortal men
10.362.509
pressed by a mortal foe. Not more than ours
10.362.510
the number of their lives or swords. Behold,
10.362.511
the barrier of yonder spreading sea
10.362.512
emprisons us, and for a craven flight
10.362.513
yon lands are all too small. Ha! Shall we steer
10.362.514
across the sea to Troy?” He said, and sprang
10.362.515
full in the centre of his gathered foes.
10.380.516
First in his path was Lagus, thither led
10.380.517
by evil stars; whom, as he tried to lift
10.380.518
a heavy stone, the shaft of Pallas pierced
10.380.519
where ribs and spine divide: backward he drew
10.380.520
the clinging spear; But Hisbo from above
10.380.521
surprised him not, though meaning it; for while
10.380.522
(In anger blind for friend unpitying slain)
10.380.523
at Pallas' face he flew:—he, standing firm,
10.380.524
plunged deep into that swelling breast the sword.
10.380.525
Then Sthenius he slew; and next Anchemolus
10.380.526
of Rhoetus' ancient line, who dared defile
10.380.527
his step-dame's bridal bed. And also ye,
10.380.528
fair Thymber and Larides, Daucus' twins,
10.380.529
fell on that Rutule field; so like were ye,
10.380.530
your own kin scarce discerned, and parents proud
10.380.531
smiled at the dear deceit; but now in death
10.380.532
cruel unlikeness Pallas wrought; thy head
10.380.533
fell, hapless Thymber, by Evander's sword;
10.380.534
and thy right hand, Larides, shorn away,
10.380.535
seemed feeling for its Iord; the fingers cold
10.380.536
clutched, trembling, at the sword. Now all the troop
10.380.537
of Arcady, their chief's great action seen,
10.380.538
and by his warning roused, made at their foes,
10.380.539
spurred on by grief and shame. Next Pallas pierced
10.380.540
the flying Rhoetus in his car; this gained
10.380.541
for Ilus respite and delay, for him
10.380.542
the stout spear aimed at; but its flight was stopped
10.380.543
by Rhoetus, as in swift retreat he rode,
10.380.544
by the two high-born brothers close pursued,
10.380.545
Teuthras and Tyres: from his car he rolled,
10.380.546
making deep furrows with his lifeless heels
10.380.547
along the Rutule plain. Oft when the winds
10.380.548
of summer, long awaited, rise and blow,
10.380.549
a shepherd fires the forest, and the blaze
10.380.550
devours the dense grove, while o'er the fields,
10.380.551
in that one moment, swift and sudden spread
10.380.552
grim Vulcan's serried flames; from some high seat
10.380.553
on distant hill, the shepherd peering down
10.380.554
sees, glad at heart, his own victorious fires:
10.380.555
so now fierce valor spreads, uniting all
10.380.556
in one confederate rage, 'neath Pallas' eyes.
10.380.557
But the fierce warrior Halaesus next
10.380.558
led on the charge, behind his skilful shield
10.380.559
close-crouching. Ladon and Demodocus
10.380.560
and Pheres he struck down; his glittering blade
10.380.561
cut Strymon's hand, which to his neck was raised,
10.380.562
sheer off; with one great stone he crushed the brows
10.380.563
of Thoas, scattering wide the broken skull,
10.380.564
bones, brains, and gore. Halaesus' prophet-sire,
10.380.565
foreseeing doom, had hid him in dark groves;
10.380.566
but when the old man's fading eyes declined
10.380.567
in death, the hand of Fate reached forth and doomed
10.380.568
the young life to Evander's sword; him now
10.380.569
Pallas assailed, first offering this prayer:
10.380.570
“O Father Tiber, give my poising shaft
10.380.571
through stout Halaesus' heart its lucky way!
10.380.572
The spoil and trophy of the hero slain
10.380.573
on thine own oak shall hang.” The god received
10.380.574
the vow, and while Halaesus held his shield
10.380.575
over Imaon, his ill-fated breast
10.380.576
lay naked to th' Arcadian's hungry spear.
10.426.577
But Lausus, seeing such a hero slain,
10.426.578
bade his troop have no fear, for he himself
10.426.579
was no small strength in war; and first he slew
10.426.580
Abas, who fought hard, and had ever seemed
10.426.581
himself the sticking-point and tug of war.
10.426.582
Down went Arcadia's warriors, and slain
10.426.583
etruscans fell, with many a Trojan brave
10.426.584
the Greek had spared. Troop charges upon troop
10.426.585
well-matched in might, with chiefs of like renown;
10.426.586
the last rank crowds the first;—so fierce the press
10.426.587
scarce hand or sword can stir. Here Pallas stands,
10.426.588
and pushes back the foe; before him looms
10.426.589
Lausus, his youthful peer, conspicuous both
10.426.590
in beauty; but no star will them restore
10.426.591
to home and native land. Yet would the King
10.426.592
of high Olympus suffer not the pair
10.426.593
to close in battle, but each hero found
10.426.594
a later doom at hands of mightier foes.
10.439.595
Now Turnus' goddess-sister bids him haste
10.439.596
to Lausus' help. So he, in wheeling car,
10.439.597
cut through the lines; and when his friends he saw,
10.439.598
“Let the fight stop! “ he cried, “for none but I
10.439.599
may strike at Pallas; unto me alone
10.439.600
the prize of Pallas falls. I would his sire
10.439.601
stood by to see.” He spake: his troop withdrew
10.439.602
a fitting space. But as they made him room,
10.439.603
the young prince, wondering at the scornful words,
10.439.604
looked upon Turnus, glancing up and down
10.439.605
that giant frame, and with fierce-frowning brows
10.439.606
scanned him from far, hurling defiant words
10.439.607
in answer to the King's. “My honor now
10.439.608
shall have the royal trophy of this war,
10.439.609
or glorious death. For either fortune fair
10.439.610
my sire is ready. Threaten me no more!”
10.439.611
So saying, to the midmost space he strode,
10.439.612
and in Arcadian hearts the blood stood still.
10.439.613
Swift from his chariot Turnus leaped, and ran
10.439.614
to closer fight. As when some lion sees
10.439.615
from his far mountain-lair a raging bull
10.439.616
that sniffs the battle from the grassy field,
10.439.617
and down the steep he flies—such picture showed
10.439.618
grim Turnus as he came. But when he seemed
10.439.619
within a spear's cast, Pallas opened fight,
10.439.620
expecting Fortune's favor to the brave
10.439.621
in such unequal match; and thus he prayed:
10.439.622
“O, by my hospitable father's roof,
10.439.623
where thou didst enter as a stranger-guest,
10.439.624
hear me, Alcides, and give aid divine
10.439.625
to this great deed. Let Turnus see these hands
10.439.626
strip from his half-dead breast the bloody spoil!
10.439.627
and let his eyes in death endure to see
10.439.628
his conqueror!” Alcides heard the youth:
10.439.629
but prisoned in his heart a deep-drawn sigh,
10.439.630
and shed vain tears; for Jove, the King and Sire, .
10.439.631
spoke with benignant accents to his son:
10.439.632
“To each his day is given. Beyond recall
10.439.633
man's little time runs by: but to prolong
10.439.634
life's glory by great deeds is virtue's power.
10.439.635
Beneath the lofty walls of fallen Troy
10.439.636
fell many a son of Heaven. Yea, there was slain
10.439.637
Sarpedon, my own offspring. Turnus too
10.439.638
is summoned to his doom, and nears the bounds
10.439.639
of his appointed span.” So speaking, Jove
10.439.640
turned from Rutulia's war his eyes away.
10.439.641
But Pallas hurled his lance with might and main,
10.439.642
and from its hollow scabbard flashed his sword.
10.439.643
The flying shaft touched where the plated steel
10.439.644
over the shoulders rose, and worked its way
10.439.645
through the shield's rim—then falling, glanced aside
10.439.646
from Turnus' giant body. Turnus then
10.439.647
poised, without haste, his iron-pointed spear,
10.439.648
and, launching it on Pallas, cried, “Look now
10.439.649
will not this shaft a good bit deeper drive?”
10.439.650
He said: and through the mid-boss of the shield,
10.439.651
steel scales and brass with bull's-hide folded round,
10.439.652
the quivering spear-point crashed resistlessly,
10.439.653
and through the corselet's broken barrier
10.439.654
pierced Pallas' heart. The youth plucked out in vain
10.439.655
the hot shaft from the wound; his life and blood
10.439.656
together ebbed away, as sinking prone
10.439.657
on his rent side he fell; above him rang
10.439.658
his armor; and from lips with blood defiled
10.439.659
he breathed his last upon his foeman's ground.
10.439.660
Over him Turnus stood: “Arcadians all,”
10.439.661
He cried, “take tidings of this feat of arms
10.439.662
to King Evander. With a warrior's wage
10.439.663
his Pallas I restore, and freely grant
10.439.664
what glory in a hero's tomb may lie,
10.439.665
or comfort in a grave. They dearly pay
10.439.666
who bid Aeneas welcome at their board.”
10.439.667
So saying, with his left foot he held down
10.439.668
the lifeless form, and raised the heavy weight
10.439.669
of graven belt, which pictured forth that crime
10.439.670
of youthful company by treason slain,
10.439.671
all on their wedding night, in bridal bowers
10.439.672
to horrid murder given,—which Clonus, son
10.439.673
of Eurytus, had wrought in lavish gold;
10.439.674
this Turnus in his triumph bore away,
10.439.675
exulting in the spoil. O heart of man,
10.439.676
not knowing doom, nor of events to be!
10.439.677
Nor, being lifted up, to keep thy bounds
10.439.678
in prosperous days! To Turnus comes the hour
10.439.679
when he would fain a prince's ransom give
10.439.680
had Pallas passed unscathed, and will bewail
10.439.681
cuch spoil of victory. With weeping now
10.439.682
and lamentations Ioud his comrades lay
10.439.683
young Pallas on his shield, and thronging close
10.439.684
carry him homeward with a mournful song:
10.439.685
alas! the sorrow and the glorious gain
10.439.686
thy sire shall have in thee. For one brief day
10.439.687
bore thee to battle and now bears away;
10.439.688
yet leavest thou full tale of foemen slain.
10.510.689
No doubtful rumor to Aeneas breaks
10.510.690
the direful news, but a sure messenger
10.510.691
tells him his followers' peril, and implores
10.510.692
prompt help for routed Troy. His ready sword
10.510.693
reaped down the nearest foes, and through their line
10.510.694
clove furious path and broad; the valiant blade
10.510.695
through oft-repeated bloodshed groped its way,
10.510.696
proud Turnus, unto thee! His heart beholds
10.510.697
Pallas and Sire Evander, their kind board
10.510.698
in welcome spread, their friendly league of peace
10.510.699
proffered and sealed with him, the stranger-guest.
10.510.700
So Sulmo's sons, four warriors, and four
10.510.701
of Ufens sprung, he took alive—to slay
10.510.702
as victims to the shades, and pour a stream
10.510.703
of captives' blood upon a flaming pyre.
10.510.704
Next from afar his hostile shaft he threw
10.510.705
at Mago, who with wary motion bowed
10.510.706
beneath the quivering weapon, as it sped
10.510.707
clean over him; then at Aeneas' knees
10.510.708
he crouched and clung with supplicating cry:
10.510.709
“O, by thy father's spirit, by thy hope
10.510.710
in young Iulus, I implore thee, spare
10.510.711
for son and father's sake this life of mine.
10.510.712
A lofty house have I, where safely hid
10.510.713
are stores of graven silver and good weight
10.510.714
of wrought and unwrought gold. The fate of war
10.510.715
hangs not on me; nor can one little life
10.510.716
thy victory decide.” In answer spoke
10.510.717
Aeneas: “Hoard the silver and the gold
10.510.718
for thy own sons. Such bartering in war
10.510.719
finished with Turnus, when fair Pallas fell.
10.510.720
Thus bids Anchises' shade, Iulus—thus!”
10.510.721
He spoke: and, grasping with his mighty left
10.510.722
the helmet of the vainly suppliant foe,
10.510.723
bent back the throat and drove hilt-deep his sword.
10.510.724
A little space removed, Haemonides,
10.510.725
priest of Phoebus and pale Trivia, stood,
10.510.726
whose ribboned brows a sacred fillet bound:
10.510.727
in shining vesture he, and glittering arms.
10.510.728
Him too the Trojan met, repelled, and towered
10.510.729
above the fallen form, o'ermantling it
10.510.730
in mortal shade; Serestus bore away
10.510.731
those famous arms a trophy vowed to thee,
10.510.732
Gradivus, Iord of war! Soon to fresh fight
10.510.733
came Caeculus, a child of Vulcan's line,
10.510.734
and Umbro on the Marsic mountains bred:
10.510.735
these met the Trojan's wrath. His sword shore off
10.510.736
Anxur's left hand, and the whole orbed shield
10.510.737
dropped earthward at the stroke: though Anxur's tongue
10.510.738
had boasted mighty things, as if great words
10.510.739
would make him strong, and lifting his proud heart
10.510.740
as high as heaven, had hoped perchance to see
10.510.741
gray hairs and length of days. Then Tarquitus
10.510.742
strode forth, exulting in his burnished arms
10.510.743
(Him Dryope, the nymph, to Faunus bore),
10.510.744
and dared oppose Aeneas' rage. But he
10.510.745
drew back his lance and, charging, crushed at once
10.510.746
corselet and ponderous shield; then off he struck
10.510.747
the supplicating head, which seemed in vain
10.510.748
preparing speech; while o'er the reeking corpse
10.510.749
the victor stood, and thrusting it away
10.510.750
spoke thus with wrathful soul: “Now lie thou there,
10.510.751
thou fearsome sight! No noble mother's hand
10.510.752
shall hide thee in the ground, or give those limbs
10.510.753
to their ancestral tomb. Thou shalt be left
10.510.754
to birds of ravin; or go drifting far
10.510.755
along yon river to engulfing seas,
10.510.756
where starving fishes on those wounds shall feed.”
10.510.757
Antceus next and Lucas he pursues,
10.510.758
though all in Turnus' van; and Numa bold
10.510.759
and Camers tawny-tressed, the son and heir
10.510.760
of Volscens the stout-hearted, whose domain
10.510.761
surpassed the richest of Ausonia's lords,
10.510.762
when over hushed Amyclae he was king.
10.510.763
Like old Aegaeon of the hundred arms,
10.510.764
the hundred-handed, from whose mouths and breasts
10.510.765
blazed fifty fiery blasts, as he made war
10.510.766
with fifty sounding shields and fifty swords
10.510.767
against Jove's thunder;—so Aeneas raged
10.510.768
victorious o'er the field, when once his steel
10.510.769
warmed to its work. But lo, he turns him now
10.510.770
where come Niphaeus' bold-advancing wheels
10.510.771
and coursers four, who, when at furious speed
10.510.772
they faced his giant stride and dreadful cry,
10.510.773
upreared in panic, and reversing spilled
10.510.774
their captain to the ground, and bore away
10.510.775
the chariot to the river's distant shore.
10.575.776
Meanwhile, with two white coursers to their car,
10.575.777
the brothers Lucagus and Liger drove
10.575.778
into the heart of battle: Liger kept
10.575.779
with skilful hand the manage of the steeds;
10.575.780
bold Lucagus swung wide his naked sword.
10.575.781
Aeneas, by their wrathful brows defied,
10.575.782
brooked not the sight, but to the onset flew,
10.575.783
huge-looming, with adverse and threatening spear.
10.575.784
Cried Liger, “Not Achilles' chariot, ours!
10.575.785
Nor team of Diomed on Phrygia's plain!
10.575.786
The last of life and strife shall be thy meed
10.575.787
upon this very ground.” Such raving word
10.575.788
flowed loud from Liger's lip: not with a word
10.575.789
the Trojan hero answered him, but flung
10.575.790
his whirling spear; and even as Lucagus
10.575.791
leaned o'er the horses, goading them with steel,
10.575.792
and, left foot forward, gathered all his strength
10.575.793
to strike—the spear crashed through the under rim
10.575.794
of his resplendent shield and entered deep
10.575.795
in the left groin; then from the chariot fallen,
10.575.796
the youth rolled dying on the field, while thus
10.575.797
pious Aeneas paid him taunting words:
10.575.798
“O Lucagus, thy chariot did not yield
10.575.799
because of horses slow to fly, or scared
10.575.800
by shadows of a foe. It was thyself
10.575.801
leaped o'er the wheel and fled.” So saying, he grasped
10.575.802
the horses by the rein. The brother then,
10.575.803
spilled also from the car, reached wildly forth
10.575.804
his helpless hands: “O, by thy sacred head,
10.575.805
and by the parents who such greatness gave,
10.575.806
good Trojan, let me live! Some pity show
10.575.807
to prostrate me!” But ere he longer sued,
10.575.808
Aeneas cried, “Not so thy language ran
10.575.809
a moment gone! Die thou! Nor let this day
10.575.810
brother from brother part!” Then where the life
10.575.811
hides in the bosom, he thrust deep his sword.
10.575.812
Thus o'er the field of war the Dardan King
10.575.813
moved on, death-dealing: like a breaking flood
10.575.814
or cloudy whirlwind seemed his wrath. Straightway
10.575.815
the boy Ascanius from the ramparts came,
10.575.816
his warriors with him; for the siege had failed.
10.606.817
Now Jupiter to Juno thus began:
10.606.818
“O ever-cherished spouse and sister dear,
10.606.819
surely 't is Venus—as thy mind misgave—
10.606.820
whose favor props—O, what discernment thine!
10.606.821
Yon Trojan power; not swift heroic hands,
10.606.822
or souls of fury facing perilous war!”
10.606.823
Juno made meek reply: “O noblest spouse!
10.606.824
Why vex one sick at heart, who humbly fears
10.606.825
thy stern command? If I could claim to-day
10.606.826
what once I had, my proper right and due,
10.606.827
love's induence, I should not plead in vain
10.606.828
to thee, omnipotent, to give me power
10.606.829
to lead off Turnus from the fight unscathed,
10.606.830
and save him at his father Daunus' prayer.
10.606.831
Aye, let him die! And with his loyal blood
10.606.832
the Teucrians' vengeance feed! Yet he derives
10.606.833
from our Saturnian stem, by fourth remove
10.606.834
sprung from Pilumnus. Oft his liberal hands
10.606.835
have heaped unstinted offering at thy shrine.”
10.606.836
Thus in few words th' Olympian King replied:
10.606.837
“If for the fated youth thy prayer implores
10.606.838
delay and respite of impending doom,
10.606.839
if but so far thou bidst me interpose,—
10.606.840
go—favor Turnus' flight, and keep him safe
10.606.841
in this imperilled hour; I may concede
10.606.842
such boon. But if thy pleading words intend
10.606.843
some larger grace, and fain would touch or change
10.606.844
the issue of the war, then art thou fed
10.606.845
on expectation vain.” With weeping eyes
10.606.846
Juno made answer: “Can it be thy mind
10.606.847
gives what thy words refuse, and Turnus' life,
10.606.848
if rescued, may endure? Yet afterward
10.606.849
some cruel close his guiltless day shall see—
10.606.850
or far from truth I stray! O, that I were
10.606.851
the dupe of empty fears! and O, that thou
10.606.852
wouldst but refashion to some happier end
10.606.853
the things by thee begun—for thou hast power!”
10.633.854
She ceased; and swiftly from the peak of heaven
10.633.855
moved earthward, trailing cloud-wrack through the air,
10.633.856
and girdled with the storm. She took her way
10.633.857
to where Troy's warriors faced Laurentum's line.
10.633.858
There of a hollow cloud the goddess framed
10.633.859
a shape of airy, unsubstantial shade,
10.633.860
Aeneas' image, wonderful to see,
10.633.861
and decked it with a Dardan lance and shield,
10.633.862
a crested helmet on the godlike head;
10.633.863
and windy words she gave of soulless sound,
10.633.864
and motion like a stride—such shapes, they say,
10.633.865
the hovering phantoms of the dead put on,
10.633.866
or empty dreams which cheat our slumbering eyes.
10.633.867
Forth to the front of battle this vain shade
10.633.868
stalked insolent, and with its voice and spear
10.633.869
challenged the warrior. At it Turnus flew,
10.633.870
and hurled a hissing spear with distant aim;
10.633.871
the thing wheeled round and fled. The foe forthwith,
10.633.872
thinking Aeneas vanquished, with blind scorn
10.633.873
flattered his own false hope: “Where wilt thou fly,
10.633.874
Aeneas? Wilt thou break a bridegroom's word?
10.633.875
This sword will give thee title to some land
10.633.876
thou hast sailed far to find!” So clamoring loud
10.633.877
he followed, flashing far his naked sword;
10.633.878
nor saw the light winds waft his dream away.
10.653.879
By chance in covert of a lofty crag
10.653.880
a ship stood fastened and at rest; her sides
10.653.881
showed ready bridge and stairway; she had brought
10.653.882
Osinius, king of Clusium. Thither came
10.653.883
Aeneas' counterfeit of flight and fear,
10.653.884
and dropped to darkness. Turnus, nothing loth,
10.653.885
gave close chase, overleaping every bar,
10.653.886
and scaling the high bridge; but scarce he reached
10.653.887
the vessel's prow, when Juno cut her loose,
10.653.888
the cables breaking, and along swift waves
10.653.889
pushed her to sea. Yet in that very hour
10.653.890
Aeneas to the battle vainly called
10.653.891
the vanished foe, and round his hard-fought path
10.653.892
stretched many a hero dead. No longer now
10.653.893
the mocking shadow sought to hide, but soared
10.653.894
visibly upward and was Iost in cloud,
10.653.895
while Turnus drifted o'er the waters wide
10.653.896
before the wind. Bewildered and amazed
10.653.897
he looked around him; little joy had he
10.653.898
in his own safety, but upraised his hands
10.653.899
in prayer to Heaven: “O Sire omnipotent!
10.653.900
Didst thou condemn me to a shame like this?
10.653.901
Such retribution dire? Whither now?
10.653.902
Whence came I here? What panic wafts away
10.653.903
this Turnus—if 't is he? Shall I behold
10.653.904
Laurentum's towers once more? But what of those
10.653.905
my heroes yonder, who took oath to me,
10.653.906
and whom—O sin and shame!—I have betrayed
10.653.907
to horrible destruction? Even now
10.653.908
I see them routed, and my ears receive
10.653.909
their dying groans. What is this thing I do?
10.653.910
Where will the yawning earth crack wide enough
10.653.911
beneath my feet? Ye tempests, pity me!
10.653.912
On rocks and reef—'t is Turnus' faithful prayer,
10.653.913
let this bark founder; fling it on the shoals
10.653.914
of wreckful isles, where no Rutulian eye
10.653.915
can follow me, or Rumor tell my shame.”
10.653.916
With such wild words his soul tossed to and fro,
10.653.917
not knowing if to hide his infamy
10.653.918
with his own sword and madly drive its blade
10.653.919
home to his heart, or cast him in the sea,
10.653.920
and, swimming to the rounded shore, renew
10.653.921
his battle with the Trojan foe. Three times
10.653.922
each fatal course he tried; but Juno's power
10.653.923
three times restrained, and with a pitying hand
10.653.924
the warrior's purpose barred. So on he sped
10.653.925
o'er yielding waters and propitious tides,
10.653.926
far as his father Daunus' ancient town.
10.689.927
At Jove's command Mezentius, breathing rage,
10.689.928
now takes the field and leads a strong assault
10.689.929
against victorious Troy. The Tuscan ranks
10.689.930
meet round him, and press hard on him alone,
10.689.931
on him alone with vengeance multiplied
10.689.932
their host of swords they draw. As some tall cliff,
10.689.933
projecting to the sea, receives the rage
10.689.934
of winds and waters, and untrembling bears
10.689.935
vast, frowning enmity of seas and skies,—
10.689.936
so he. First Dolichaon's son he slew,
10.689.937
Hebrus; then Latagus and Palmus, though
10.689.938
they fled amain; he smote with mighty stone
10.689.939
torn from the mountain, full upon the face
10.689.940
of Latagus; and Palmus he let lie
10.689.941
hamstrung and rolling helpless; he bestowed
10.689.942
the arms on his son Lausus for a prize,
10.689.943
another proud crest in his helm to wear;
10.689.944
he laid the Phrygian Euanthus Iow;
10.689.945
and Mimas, Paris' comrade, just his age,—
10.689.946
born of Theano's womb to Amycus
10.689.947
his sire, that night when royal Hecuba,
10.689.948
teeming with firebrand, gave Paris birth:
10.689.949
one in the city of his fathers sleeps;
10.689.950
and one, inglorious, on Laurentian strand.
10.689.951
As when a wild boar, harried from the hills
10.689.952
by teeth of dogs (one who for many a year
10.689.953
was safe in pine-clad Vesulus, or roamed
10.689.954
the meres of Tiber, feeding in the reeds)
10.689.955
falls in the toils at last, and stands at bay,
10.689.956
raging and bristling, and no hunter dares
10.689.957
defy him or come near, but darts are hurled
10.689.958
from far away, with cries unperilous:
10.689.959
not otherwise, though righteous is their wrath
10.689.960
against Mezentius, not a man so bold
10.689.961
as face him with drawn sword, but at long range
10.689.962
they throw their shafts and with loud cries assail;
10.689.963
he, all unterrified, makes frequent stand,
10.689.964
gnashing his teeth, and shaking off their spears.
10.719.965
From ancient Corythus had Acron come,
10.719.966
a Greek, who left half-sung his wedding-song,
10.719.967
and was an exile; him Mezentius saw
10.719.968
among long lines of foes, with flaunting plumes
10.719.969
and purple garments from his plighted spouse.
10.719.970
Then as a starving lion when he prowls
10.719.971
about high pasture-lands, urged on his way
10.719.972
by maddening hunger (if perchance he see
10.719.973
a flying she-goat or tall-antlered stag)
10.719.974
lifts up his shaggy mane, and gaping wide
10.719.975
his monstrous jaws, springs at the creature's side,
10.719.976
feeding foul-lipped, insatiable of gore:
10.719.977
so through his gathered foes Mezentius
10.719.978
flew at his prey. He stretched along the ground
10.719.979
ill-fated Acron, who breathed life away,
10.719.980
beating the dark dust with his heels, and bathed
10.719.981
his broken weapons in his blood. Nor deigned
10.719.982
Mezentius to strike Orodes down
10.719.983
as he took flight, nor deal a wound unseen
10.719.984
with far-thrown spear; but ran before his face,
10.719.985
fronting him man to man, nor would he win
10.719.986
by sleight or trick, but by a mightier sword.
10.719.987
Soon on the fallen foe he set his heel,
10.719.988
and, pushing hard, with heel and spear, cried out:
10.719.989
“Look ye, my men, where huge Orodes lies,
10.719.990
himself a dangerous portion of this war!”
10.719.991
With loyal, Ioud acclaim his peers reply;
10.719.992
but thus the dying hero: “Victor mine,
10.719.993
whoe'er thou art, I fall not unavenged!
10.719.994
Thou shalt but triumph for a fleeting hour.
10.719.995
Like doom for thee is written. Speedily
10.719.996
thou shalt this dust inhabit, even as I!”
10.719.997
Mezentius answered him with wrathful smile:
10.719.998
“Now die! What comes on me concerns alone
10.719.999
the Sire of gods and Sovereign of mankind.”
10.719.1000
So saying, from the wounded breast he plucked
10.719.1001
his javelin: and on those eyes there fell
10.719.1002
inexorable rest and iron slumber,
10.719.1003
and in unending night their vision closed.
10.747.1004
Then Caedicus cut down Alcathous,
10.747.1005
Sacrator slew Hydaspes, Rapo smote
10.747.1006
Parthenius and Orses stout and strong;
10.747.1007
Messapus, good blade cut down Clonius
10.747.1008
and Ericetes, fierce Lycaon's child;
10.747.1009
the one from an unbridled war-horse thrown,
10.747.1010
the other slain dismounted. Then rode forth
10.747.1011
Agis the Lycian, but bold Valerus,
10.747.1012
true to his valiant breeding, hurled him down;
10.747.1013
having slain Thronius, Salius was slain
10.747.1014
by skilled Nealces, of illustrious name
10.747.1015
for spear well cast and far-surprising bow.
10.755.1016
Thus Mars relentless holds in equal scale
10.755.1017
slaughters reciprocal and mutual woe;
10.755.1018
the victors and the vanquished kill or fall
10.755.1019
in equal measure; neither knows the way
10.755.1020
to yield or fly. Th' Olympians Iook down
10.755.1021
out of Jove's house, and pity as they see
10.755.1022
the unavailing wrath of either foe,
10.755.1023
and burdens measureless on mortals laid.
10.755.1024
Lo! Venus here, Saturnian Juno yon,
10.755.1025
in anxious watch; while pale Tisiphone
10.755.1026
moves on infuriate through the battling lines.
10.755.1027
On strode Mezentius o'er the gory plain,
10.755.1028
and swollen with rage waved wide-his awful spear.
10.755.1029
Like tall Orion when on foot he goes
10.755.1030
trough the deep sea and lifts his shoulders high
10.755.1031
above the waves; or when he takes his path
10.755.1032
along the mountain-tops, and has for staff
10.755.1033
an aged ash-tree, as he fixes firm
10.755.1034
his feet in earth and hides his brows in cloud;—
10.755.1035
so Ioomed Mezentius with his ponderous arms.
10.769.1036
To match him now, Aeneas, Iooking down
10.769.1037
the long array of war, came forth in arms
10.769.1038
to challenge and defy. But quailing not,
10.769.1039
a mass immovable, the other stood
10.769.1040
waiting his noble foe, and with a glance
10.769.1041
measured to cast his spear the space between.
10.769.1042
“May this right hand“, he said, “and this swift spear
10.769.1043
which here I poise, be favoring gods for me!
10.769.1044
The spoils from yonder robber's carcase stripped
10.769.1045
I vow to hang on thee, my Lausus, thou
10.769.1046
shalt stand for trophy of Aeneas slain.”
10.769.1047
He said, and hurled from far the roaring spear,
10.769.1048
which from the shield glanced off, and speeding still
10.769.1049
smote famed Antores 'twixt the loin and side—
10.769.1050
antores, friend of Hercules, who came
10.769.1051
from Argos, and had joined Evander's cause,
10.769.1052
abiding in Italia. Lo, a wound
10.769.1053
meant for another pierced him, and he lay,
10.769.1054
ill-fated! Iooking upward to the light,
10.769.1055
and dreaming of dear Argos as he died.
10.769.1056
Then good Aeneas hurled his spear; it passed
10.769.1057
through hollow orb of triple bronze, and through
10.769.1058
layers of flax and triple-twisted hides;
10.769.1059
then in the lower groin it lodged, but left
10.769.1060
its work undone. Aeneas, not ill-pleased
10.769.1061
to see the Tuscan wounded, swiftly drew
10.769.1062
the falchion from his thigh, and hotly pressed
10.769.1063
his startled foe. But Lausus at the sight
10.769.1064
groaned loud, so much he loved his father dear,
10.769.1065
and tears his cheek bedewed. O storied youth!
10.769.1066
If olden worth may win believing ear,
10.769.1067
let not my song now fail of thee to sing,
10.769.1068
thy noble deeds, thy doom of death and pain!
10.769.1069
10.769.1069
Mezentius, now encumbered and undone,
10.769.1070
fell backward, trailing from the broken shield
10.769.1071
his foeman's spear. His son leaped wildly forth
10.769.1072
to join the fray; and where Aeneas' hand
10.769.1073
lifted to strike, he faced the thrusting sword
10.769.1074
and gave the hero pause. His comrades raised
10.769.1075
applauding cries, as shielded by his son
10.769.1076
the father made retreat; their darts they hurl,
10.769.1077
and vex with flying spears the distant foe:
10.769.1078
Aeneas, wrathful, stands beneath his shield.
10.769.1079
As when the storm-clouds break in pelting hail,
10.769.1080
the swains and ploughmen from the furrows fly,
10.769.1081
and every traveller cowers in sure defence
10.769.1082
of river-bank or lofty shelving crag,
10.769.1083
while far and wide it pours; and by and by,
10.769.1084
each, when the sun returns, his task pursues:
10.769.1085
so great Aeneas, by assault o'erwhelmed,
10.769.1086
endured the cloud of battle, till its rage
10.769.1087
thundered no more; then with a warning word
10.769.1088
to Lausus with upbraiding voice he called:
10.769.1089
“Why, O death-doomed, rush on to deeds too high
10.769.1090
for strength like thine. Thou art betrayed, rash boy,
10.769.1091
by thine own loyal heart!” But none the less
10.769.1092
the youth made mad defence; while fiercer burned
10.769.1093
the Trojan's anger; and of Lausus' days
10.769.1094
the loom of Fate spun forth the last thin thread;
10.769.1095
for now Aeneas thrust his potent blade
10.769.1096
deep through the stripling's breast and out of sight;
10.769.1097
through the light shield it passed—a frail defence
10.769.1098
to threaten with!—and through the tunic fine
10.769.1099
his mother's hand had wrought with softest gold:
10.769.1100
blood filled his bosom, and on path of air
10.769.1101
down to the shades the mournful soul withdrew,
10.769.1102
its body quitting. As Anchises' son
10.769.1103
beheld the agonizing lips and brow
10.769.1104
so wondrous white in death, he groaned aloud
10.769.1105
in pity, and reached o'er him his right hand,
10.769.1106
touched to the heart such likeness to behold
10.769.1107
of his own filial love. “Unhappy boy!
10.769.1108
What reward worthy of heroic deeds
10.769.1109
can I award thee now? Wear still those arms
10.769.1110
so proudly worn! And I will send thee home
10.769.1111
(Perhaps thou carest!) to the kindred shades
10.769.1112
and ashes of thy sires. But let it be
10.769.1113
some solace in thy pitiable doom
10.769.1114
that none but great Aeneas wrought thy fall.”
10.769.1115
Then to the stripling's tardy followers
10.769.1116
he sternly called, and lifted from the earth
10.769.1117
with his own hand the fallen foe: dark blood
10.769.1118
defiled those princely tresses braided fair.
10.833.1119
Meanwhile Mezentius by the Tiber's wave
10.833.1120
with water staunched his wound, and propped his weight
10.833.1121
against a tree; upon its limbs above
10.833.1122
his brazen helmet hung, and on the sward
10.833.1123
his ponderous arms lay resting. Round him watched
10.833.1124
his chosen braves. He, gasping and in pain,
10.833.1125
clutched at his neck and let his flowing beard
10.833.1126
loose on his bosom fall; he questions oft
10.833.1127
of Lausus, and sends many a messenger
10.833.1128
to bid him back, and bear him the command
10.833.1129
of his sore-grieving sire. But lo! his peers
10.833.1130
bore the dead Lausus back upon his shield,
10.833.1131
and wept to see so strong a hero quelled
10.833.1132
by stroke so strong. From long way off the sire,
10.833.1133
with soul prophetic of its woe, perceived
10.833.1134
what meant their wail and cry. On his gray hairs
10.833.1135
the dust he flung, and, stretching both his hands
10.833.1136
to heaven, he cast himself the corpse along.
10.833.1137
“O son,” he cried, “was life to me so sweet,
10.833.1138
that I to save myself surrendered o'er
10.833.1139
my own begotten to a foeman's steel?
10.833.1140
Saved by these gashes shall thy father be,
10.833.1141
and living by thy death? O wretched me,
10.833.1142
how foul an end have I! Now is my wound
10.833.1143
deep! deep! 't was I, dear son, have stained
10.833.1144
thy name with infamy—to exile driven
10.833.1145
from sceptre and hereditary throne
10.833.1146
by general curse. Would that myself had borne
10.833.1147
my country's vengeance and my nation's hate!
10.833.1148
Would my own guilty life my debt had paid—
10.833.1149
yea, by a thousand deaths! But, see, I live!
10.833.1150
Not yet from human kind and light of day
10.833.1151
have I departed. But depart I will.”
10.833.1152
So saying, he raised him on his crippled thigh,
10.833.1153
and though by reason of the grievous wound
10.833.1154
his forces ebbed, yet with unshaken mien
10.833.1155
he bade them lead his war-horse forth, his pride,
10.833.1156
his solace, which from every war
10.833.1157
victorious bore him home. The master then
10.833.1158
to the brave beast, which seemed to know his pain,
10.833.1159
spoke thus: “My Rhoebus, we have passed our days
10.833.1160
long time together, if long time there be
10.833.1161
for mortal creatures. Either on this day
10.833.1162
thou shalt his bloody spoils in triumph bear
10.833.1163
and that Aeneas' head,—and so shalt be
10.833.1164
avenger of my Lausus' woe; or else,
10.833.1165
if I be vanquished, thou shalt sink and fall
10.833.1166
beside me. For, my bravest, thou wouldst spurn
10.833.1167
a stranger's will, and Teucrian lords to bear.”
10.833.1168
He spoke and, mounting to his back, disposed
10.833.1169
his limbs the wonted way and filled both hands
10.833.1170
with pointed javelins; a helm of brass
10.833.1171
with shaggy horse-hair crest gleamed o'er his brow.
10.833.1172
Swift to the front he rode: a mingled flood
10.833.1173
surged in his heart of sorrow, wrath, and shame;
10.833.1174
and thrice with loud voice on his foe he called.
10.873.1175
Aeneas heard and made exulting vow:
10.873.1176
“Now may the Father of the gods on high,
10.873.1177
and great Apollo hear! Begin the fray!”
10.873.1178
He said, and moved forth with a threatening spear.
10.873.1179
The other cried: “Hast robbed me of my son,
10.873.1180
and now, implacable, wouldst fright me more?
10.873.1181
That way, that only, was it in thy power
10.873.1182
to cast me down. No fear of death I feel.
10.873.1183
Nor from thy gods themselves would I refrain.
10.873.1184
Give o'er! For fated and resolved to die
10.873.1185
I come thy way: but; bring thee as I pass
10.873.1186
these offerings.” With this he whirled a spear
10.873.1187
against his foe, and after it drove deep
10.873.1188
another and another, riding swift
10.873.1189
in wide gyration round him. But the shield,
10.873.1190
the golden boss, broke not. Three times he rode
10.873.1191
in leftward circles, hurling spear on spear
10.873.1192
against th' unmoved Aeneas: and three times
10.873.1193
the Trojan hero in his brazen shield
10.873.1194
the sheaf of spears upbore. But such slow fight,
10.873.1195
such plucking of spent shafts from out his shield,
10.873.1196
the Trojan liked not, vexed and sorely tried
10.873.1197
in duel so ill-matched. With wrathful soul
10.873.1198
at length he strode forth, and between the brows
10.873.1199
of the wild war-horse planted his Iong spear.
10.873.1200
Up reared the creature, beating at the air
10.873.1201
with quivering feet, then o'er his fallen lord
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entangling dropped, and prone above him lay,
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pinning with ponderous shoulder to the ground.
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The Trojans and the Latins rouse the skies
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with clamor Ioud. Aeneas hastening forth
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unsheathes his sword, and looming o'er him cries:
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“Where now is fierce Mezentius, and his soul's
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wild pulse of rage?” The Tuscan in reply
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with eyes uprolled, and gasping as he gave
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long looks at heaven, recalled his fading mind:
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“Why frown at me and fume, O bitterest foe?
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Why threaten death? To slay me is no sin.
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Not to take quarter came I to this war,
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not truce with thee did my lost Lausus crave,
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yet this one boon I pray,—if mercy be
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for fallen foes: O, suffer me when dead
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in covering earth to hide! Full well I know
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what curses of my people ring me round.
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Defend me from that rage! I pray to be
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my son's companion in our common tomb.”
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He spoke: then offered with unshrinking eye
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his veined throat to the sword. O'er the bright mail
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his vital breath gushed forth in streaming gore.