No More Learning

If any pity touch Rutuhan hearts,
Here empty all your qmvers, all your darts;
Or, if they fail. thou, Jove, conclude my woe, And send me thunderstruck to shades below ! "
Her shrieks and clamors plerce the Trojans' ears, Unman their courage, and augment their fears; Nor young Ascanius could the s_ght st_stain,
? 814 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Nor old Ilioneus his tears restrain,
But Actor and Id_us jointly sent,
To bear the madding mother to her tent.
And now the trumpets terribly, from far,
With rattling clangor s rouse the sleepy war.
The soldmrs' shouts succeed the brazen sounds;
And heav'n, from pole to pole, the noise rebounds. The Volscians bear thelr shields upon their head, And, rushing forward, form a moving shed.
These fill the ditch; those pull the bulwarks down: Some raise the ladders; others scale the town.
But, where void spaces on the walls appear,
Or thin defense, they pour their forces there.
With poles and missive weapons, from afar,
The Trojans keep aloof the rising war.
Taught, by their ten years' siege, defensive fight, They roll down ribs of rocks, an unresisted weight, To break the penthouse with the pond'rous blow, Which yet the patient Volscians undergo:
But could not bear th' unequal combat long;
For, where the Trojans find the thickest throng,
The ruin faUs: their shatter'd shields give wayt
And their crush'd heads become an easy prey.
They shrink for fear, abated of their rage,
Nor longer dare in a blind fight engage;
Contented now to gall them from below
With darts and slings, and with the distant bow.
Elsewhere Mezentius, terrible to view, A blazing pine within the trenches threw.
But brave Messapus, Neptune's warlike son, Broke down the palisades, the trenches won, And loud for ladders calls, to scale the town.
Calliope, begin[ Ye sacred Nine,
Inspire your poet in his high design,
To sing what slaughter manly Turn_s made, What souls he sent below the Stygian shade, What fame the soldiers with their captain shat_ And the Vast circuit of the fatal war;
For you in singing martial facts excel;
You best remember, and alone can tell
? THE :NINTH BOOK OF TH]_ . _ENEIS
3IS
There stood a tow'r, amazing to the sight, Built up of beams, and of stupendous helght:
Art, and the nature of the place, conspir'd
To furnish all the strength that war requir'&
To level this, the bold Italians join;
The wary Trojans obviate their design;
\? ith weighty stones o'erwhelm their troops
Shoot thro' the loopholes, and sharp jav'lins throw. Turnus, the chief, toss'd from his thund'rmg hand Against the wooden walls, a flaming brand
It stuck, the fiery plague; the winds were high; The planks were season'd, and the timber dry. Contagion caught the posts; it spread along, Scorch'd, and to distance drove the scatter'd throng. The Trojans fled; the fire pursued amain,
Still gath'rlng fast upon the trembling tram;
Till, crowding to the corners of the wall,
Down the defense and the defenders fall.
The mighty flaw makes heav'n itself resound:
The dead and dyitlg Trojans strew the ground.
The tow'r, that follow'd on the fallen crew,
Whelm'd o'er their heads, and buried whom it slew: Some stuck upon the darts themselves had sent;
All the same equal ruin underwent.
Young Lycus and Helenor only scape, Say'd--how, they know not_from the steepy
leap.
_
;_
's" ,:
. _ r
:. [,_
'_
Helenor, elder of the two: by birth,
On one side royal, one a son of earth,
V_rhom to the Lydian king Licymma bare,
And sent her boasted bastard to the war
(A privilege which none but freemen share). Slight were his arms, a sword and silver shield: No marl-. s of honor charg'd its empty field.
Light as he fell, so light the youth arose,
And rising, found himself amidst his foes;
Nor flight was left, nor hopes to force his way. Embolden'd by despair, he stood at bay;
And_like a stag, whom all the troop surrounds Of eager hut_tsmen and invading hounds_ Resolv'd on death, he dlsmpates his fears,
below,
? 316 DRY'DEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
And bounds aloft against the pointed spears"
So dares the youth, secure of death; and throws
His dying body on his thickest foes. But Lycus, swifter of his feet by far,
Runs, doubles, _xmds and turns, amidst the war; Springs to the walls, and leaves his foes behind,
And snatches at the beam he first can find; Looks up, and leaps aloft at all the stretch,
In hopes the helping hand of some kind friend to reach But Turnus follo_'d hard his hunted prey
(His spear had ahnost reach'd hml in the way,
Short of his reins, and scarce a span behind).
"FcJol ! " said the cluef, "tho' fleeter than the _ind, Couldst thou presume to scape, when I pur_uc _" l-Ie said, and downward by tile feet he drew
The trembling dastard, at the tug he falls,
Vast ruins come along, rent from the smoking walls. Thus on some silver swan, or tim'rous hare.
Jove's bird comes sou_mg do_n from upper air;
Her crooked talons truss the fearful prey:
Then out of sight _he soars, and wings her way. So seizes the grml _ olf the tender lamb,
In vain lamented by the bleating dam.
Then rushing onward with a barb'rous cry, The troops of Turnus to the combat fly.
The ditch with fagots fill'd, the daring foe Toss'd firebrand_ to the steepy turret_ throw.
Ilioneus, as bold Lucetms came
To force the gate, and feed the kmdhng flame, Roll'd down the fragment of a rock so right,
It crush'd him double underneath the weight. Two more young Liger and Asylas slew"
To bend the bow young Llger better knew; Asylas best the pointed jav'hn threw.
Brave Cmneus laid Ortyg_us on the plain;
The victor Cmneus was by Turnus slain.
By the same hand, Clonlus and Itys fall,
Sagar, and Ida, standing on the wall
From Capys' arms his fate Privernus found: Hurt by Themilla first--but slight the wound-. -
? THE N'/NTH BOOK OF THE _EN_EIS SD'
His shield thrown by, to mitigate the smart, He clapp'd his hand upon the wounded part:
The second shaft came swift and unespled,
And pierc'd his hand, and nail'd it to his side,
Transfix'd his breathing lungs and beating heart:
The soul came issuing out, and hiss'd against the dart.
The son of Arcens shone amid the rest, In ghtt'rmg armor and a purple vest,
(Fair was his face, his eyes inspiring love,)
Bred by h_s father in the Martian grove,
Where the fat altars of Pahcus flame,
And sent in arms to purchase early fame
H_m when he spied from far, the Tuscan king
Laid by the lance, and took him to the shng,
Thrice whirl'd the thong around his head, and threw: The heated lead half melted as it flew,
It pierc'd his hollow temples and his brain;
The youth came ttambhng down, and spurn'd the plain.
Then young Ascanius, who, before tbas day, \\'as wont in woods to shoot the savage prey, First bent in martial strife the twanging bow,
And exercis'd against a human ? oe--
With this bereft . Numanus of his life,
Who Turnus' younger sister took to wife
Proud of his realm, and of his royal bride,
Vaunting before his troops, and lengthen'd xvith a stride, in these insulting terms the Trojans he defied "Twlce-conquer'd cowards, now your shame _s shown-- Coop'd up a second time within your town!
Who dare not issue forth in open field,
But hold your walls before you for a shield.
Thus threat you war? thus our alliance force?
\Vhat gods, what madness, hether steer'd your course? You shall not find the sons of Atreus here,
Nor need the frauds of sly Ulysses fear.
Strong from the cradle, o_ a sturdy brood,
We bear our newborn infants to the flood;
There bath'd amid the stream, our boys we hold,
With winter harden'd, and inur'd to cold.
They wake before the day to raz_ge the wood,
? 518 DRYDEN'S TRAI_SLATION OF VIRGIL Kill ere they eat, nor taste unconquer'd food.
No sports, but what belong to war, they know: To break the stubborn colt, to bend the bow.
Our youth, of labor patient, earn their bread; Hardly they work, with frugal diet fed.
From plows and harrows sent to seek renown, They fight in fields, and storm the shaken town. No part of life from toils of war is free,
No change in age, or diff'rence in degree.
We plow and till in arms; our oxen feel,
Instead of goads, the spur and pointed steel;
Th' inverted lance makes furrows in the plain Ev'n time, that changes all, yet changes us in vain: The body, not the mind; nor can control
Th' immortal vigor, or abate the soul.
Our helms defend the young, disguise the gray:
We live by plunder, and delight in prey.
Your vests embroider'd with rich purple shine;
In sloth you glory, and in dances join.
Your vests have sweeping sleeves; with female pride Your turbants underneath your chins are tied.
Go, Phrygians, to your Dindymus again l
Go, less than women, in the shapes of men!
Go, mix'd with eunuchs, in the Mother's rites,
Where with unequal sound the flute invites;
Sing, dance, and howl, by turns, in Ida's shade:
Reslgu the war to men, who know the martial trade ! "
This foul reproach Ascanius could not hear With patience, or a vow'd revenge forbear.
At the full stretch of both his hands he drew, And almost join'd the horns of the tough yew. But, first, before the throne of Jove he stood, And thas with lifted hands invok'd the god: "My first attempt, great Jupiter, succeed!
An annual off'ring in thy grove shall bleed; A snow-white steer, before thy altar led,
Who, like his mother, bears aloft his head,
Butts with his threat'ning brows, and bellowing stands_
And dares the fights and sparns the yellow sands. " Jove bow'fl the heav'ns, and lent a gracious ear,
? THE NINTH _K OF THE ZENEIS 319 And thunder'd on the left, amidst the dear?
Sounded at once the bow_ and swiftly flies The feather'd death, and hisses thro' the skies.
The steel thro' both his temples forc'd the way: Extended on the ground, Numanus lay,
"Go now, vain boaster, and true valor scorn l
The Phrygians, t_ice subdued, yet make this third return. "
Ascanius said no more_ The Trojans shake The heav'ns with shouting, and new vigor take.
Apollo then bestrode a golden cloud,
To wow the feats of arms_ and fighting crowd;
And thus the beardless victor he bespoke aloud: "Advance, illustrious youth s increase m fame,
And wide from east to west extend thy name; Offspring of gods thyself; and Rome shall owe
To thee a race of demigods below,
Th_s is the way to heav'n; the pow'rs divine
From this beginning date the Julian line.
To thee, to them, and their victorious heirs,
The conquer'd war is due, and the vast world is theirs. Troy is too narrow for thy name. " He said,
And plunging downward shot his radiant head; Dispell'd the breathing air, that broke hts fl_ght: Shorn of his beams, a man to mortal sight.
Old Butes' form he took, Anchises' squire,
Now left, to rule Ascanius, by his sire:
His wrinkled visage, and his hoary hairs,
His mien, his habit, and his arms, he wears,
And thus salutes the boy, too forward for his years: "Suffice it thee, thy father's worthy son,
The warlike prize thou hast already won.
The god of archers gives thy youth a part
Of his own praise, nor envies equal art.
Now tempt the war no more. " He said, and flew Obscure in air, and vanish'd from their view.
The Trojans, by his arms, their patron know,
And hear the twanging of his heav'nly bow.
Then duteous force they use, and Phoebus' name,
To keep from fight the youth too fond of fame. .
? 320 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL; Undaunted, they themselves no danger shun;
From wall to wall the shouts and clamors run.
They bend their bows; they whirl their slings around;
Heaps of spent arrows fall, and strew the ground; And helms, and shlelds, and ratthng arms resound. The combat thickens, hke the storm that flies From westward, when the show'ry Kids arise;
Or patt'rmg hail comes pouring on the main,
When Jupiter descends m harden'd rain,
Or bellowing clouds burst with a stormy sound,
And with an armed winter strew the ground.
Pand'rus and B_tias, thunderbolts of war, Whom Hlera to bold Alcanor bare
On Ida's top, two youths of height and _ize Like fir_ that on their mother mountain rise, Presuming on their force, the gates unbar, And of their own accord invite the war.
With fates averse, against their king's command, Arm'd, on the right and on the left they stand, And flank the passage: shining steel they wear, And waving crests above their heads appear. Thus two tall oaks, that Padus' banks adorn,
Lift up to heav'n their leafy heads unshorn,
And, overpress'd with nature's heavy load,
Dance to the whisthng winds, and at each other nod. In flows a tide of Latmns, when they see
The gate set open, and the passage free;
Bold Quorcens, with rash Tmarus, ruslfing on, Equicolus, that in bright armor shone,
And H_emon first; but soon repuls'd they fly,
Or in the well-defended pass they din.
These with success are fir'd, and those with rage,
And each on equal terms at length ingage.
Drawn from their lines, and issuing on the plain,
The Trojans hand to hand the fight maintain.
Fierce Turnus in another quarter fought,
When suddenly th' unhop'd-for news was brought,
The foes had left the fastness of their place, Prevail'd in fight, and had his men in chase. IIe quits th' attack, and, to prevent their fate,
? THE N_INTH BOOK OF THE _NEIS 32] Runs wherethegiantbrothersguardthegate.
The first he met, Antlphates the brave,
But base-begotten on a Theban slave,
Sarpedou's son, he slew: the deadly dart
Found passage thro' his breast, and pierc'd h_s
heart.
Fix'd in the wound th' Italian cornel stood,
Warm'd in his lungs, and m his vital blood. Aphidnus next, and Erymanthus dies,
And l_eropes, and the giganUc stze
Of Bitms, threat'mng wtth his ardent eyes. Not by the feeble dart he fell oppress'd
(A dart were lost within that roomy breast), But from a knotted lance, large, heavy, strong,
\Vhich roar'd like thunder as it whirl'd along"
Not two bull hides th' impetuous force withhold,
Nor coat of double mail, wtth scales of gold.
Down sunk the monster bulk and press'd the ground; His arms and clatt'rmg shield on the vast body sound, . Not with less ruin than the Bajan mole,
Rais'd on the seas, the surges to control--
At once comes tumbling down the rocky wall;
Prone to the deep, the stones d_sjointed fall
Of the vast pile; the scatter'd ocean fires;
Black sands, discolor'd froth, and mingled mud arise: The frighted billows roll, and seek the shores;
Then trembles Prochyta, then Ischia roars:
Typhoeus, thrown beneath, by Jo_e's command, Astonish'd at the flaw that shakes the land,
Soon shifts his weary side, and, scarce awake,
With wonder feels the weight press lighter on his back.
The warrior god the Latian troops inspir'd,
New strung their sinews, and their courage fir'd, But chiIls the Trojan hearts with cold affright: Then black despair precipitates their flight.
When Pandarus beheld his brother ktll'd, The town with fear and wild confusion fill'd,
He turns the hinges of the heavy gate
With both his hands, and adds his shoulders to the
weight; _rC XIII--I I
? $25 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Some happier friends within the walls inclos'd; The rest shut out, to certain death expos'd:
Fool as he was, and frantic in his care,
T' admit young Turnus, and include the war| He thrust amid the crowd, securely bold,
Like a fierce tiger pent amid the fold.
Too late his blazing buckler they descry,
And sparkling fires that shot from either eye, His mighty members, and his ample breast, I-Iis rattling armor, and his crimson crest.
Far from that hated face the Trojans fly, All but the fool who sought his destmy.
Mad Pandarus steps forth, with vengeance vow'c} For Bltias' death, and threatens thus aloud
"These are not Ardea's walls, nor this the town Amata proffers with Lavinia's crown:
'T is hostile earth you tread. Of hope bereft, No means of safe return by flight are left"
To whom, with count'nance calm, and soul sedate, Thus Turnus: "Then begin, and try thy fate:
My message to the ghost of Priam bear;
Tell him a new Achilles sent thee there"
A lance of tough ground ash the Trojan thre,'dj Rough in the rind, and knotted as it grew:
With hls full force he whirl'd it first around; But the soft yielding air receiv'd the wound:
Imperial Juno turn'd the course before,
And fix'd the wand'rmg weapon in the door.
"But hope not thou," said Turnus, "when I str_e, To shun thy fate: our force is not alike,
-qor thy steel temper'd by the Lemnian god. "
Then rising, on his utmost stretch he stood,
And aim'd from high: the full descending blow Cleaves the broad front and beardless cheeks in two. Down sinks the giant with a thund'ring sound-
His pond'rous limbs oppress the trembhng ground; Blood, brains, and foam gush from the gaping wound:
Scalp, face, and shoulders the keen steel divides, And the shar'cl visage hangs on equal sides. The Trojans fly from their approaching fate;
? THE NINTH BOOK OF _ B_NEI8
And, had the victorthen secur'dthe gate, And tohistroopswithoutunclos'dthebars, One lucky day had ended allhis wars
But boihng youth,and bhnd deslrcof blood, Push'd on his fury,to pursue the crowd. Hamstring'd behind,unhappy Gyges died; Then Phalarisisaddedtohlsslde.
The pointedjav'hnsfromthedeadhedrew,
And thelrfriends'arms againsttheirfellowsthrew. Strong Halys stands in yam; weak Phlegys flies,
Saturma,stilalthand,new forceandfiresupphes. Then Halius,Prytanis,A_Icanderfall-- Ingag'dagainstthefoeswho scal'dthewall: But,whom theyfear'dwlthout,theyfoundw,thin. At last,tho'late,by Lynccus he was seen.
He callsnew succors,andassaultstheprince; But weak hlsforce,and vain istheirdefense.
Turn'd to the right,his sword the hero drew, And atoneblowtheboldaggressorslew.
He joints the neck; and, wlth a stroke so strong, The helm flies off, and bears the head along. Next him, the huntsman Amycus he k111'd,
In darts invenom'd and in poison skill'd
Then Clytius fell beneath his fatal spear,
And Creteus, whom the Muses held so dear:
He fought with courage, and he sung the fight; Arms were his bus'hess, verses hls delight
The Trojan chiefs behold, wlth rage and grief, Their slaughter'd friends, and hasten their rehef.
]3old Mnestheus rallies first the broken tram, Whom brave Seresthus and his troop sustain.
To save the living, and revenge the dead,
Against one warrior's arms all Troy they led.
"0, void of sense and courage! " Mnestheus cried, "Where can you hope your coward heads to hide? Ah! where beyond these rampires can you run? One man, and in your camp inclos'd, you shun! Shall then a single sword such slaughter boast,
And pass unpumsh'd from a num'rous host? Forsaking honor, and renouncing fame,
? $P_ DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Your gods, your country, and your king you shame This just reproach their virtue does excite:
They stand, they join, they thicken to the fight. Now Turnus doubts, and yet disdains to yield,
But wxth slow paces measures back the field, And inches to the walls, where Tlber's hde,
Washing the camp, defends the weaker side.
The more he loses, they advance the more,
And tread m ev'ry step he trod before.
They shout: they bear him back; and, whom by might They cannot conquer, they oppress with weight.
As, compass'd with a wood of spears around, The lordly lion stall maintains his ground;
Grins horr2ble, retires, and turns again;
Threats h_s distended paws, and shakes his mane; He loses while in vain he presses on,
Nor will his courage let him dare to run: So Turnus fares, and, unresolved of flight,
Moves tardy back, and just recedes from fight.
Yet twice, inrag'd, the combat he renews,
Twice breaks, and twice his broken foes pursues.
But now they swarm, and, with fresh troops supphed, Come rolling on, and rush from ev'ry side:
Nor Juno, who sustain'd his arms before,
Dares w_th new strength suffice th' exhausted store; For Jove, with sour commands, sent Iris down,
To force th' invader from the frighted town.
With labor spent, no longer can he wield
The heavy fanchion, or sustain the shield, O'erwhelm'd with darts, whlch from afar they fling: The weapons round Ins hollow temples ring;
His golden helm gives way, with stony blows
Batter'd, and flat, and beaten to his brows.
His crest is rash'd away; his ample shield
Is falsified, and round with jav'lins fill'd.
The foe, now faint, the Trojans overwhelm; And Mnestheus lays hard load upon his helm.
Sick sweat succeeds; he drops at ev'ry pore; With driving dust his cheeks are pasted o'er;
Shorter and shorter ev'ry gasp he takes;
? THE NINTH BOOK OF THE _RNEIS 325 . And vain efforts and hurtless blows he makes.
Plung'd in the flood, and made the waters fly. The yellow god the welcome burthen bore,
And wip'd the sweat, and wash'd away the gore;
Then gently wafts hm_ to the farther coast, And sends him safe to cheer h_s anxious host
? THE TENTH BOOK OF THE ? ENEIS
THE ARou_E_r. --Juplter, calhng a council of the gods, forbldl them to engage m e_ther party. At 2Eneas's return there Is a bloody battle: Turnus kllhng Pallas; . _neas, Lausus and Mezentius. Mezentius is descr2bed as an atheist; Lausus as a pious and virtu- ous youth. The different actmns and death of these two are tho sub3cct of a noble epmode.
HE gates of heav'n unfold: Jove summons all The gods to council in the common hall.
Sublimely seated, he surveys from far The fields, the camp, the fortune of the war,
And all th' inferior world. From first to last, The soy'reign senate in degrees are plac'd.
Then thus th' almighty sire began: "Ye gods, Natives or denizens of blest abodes,
From whence these murmurs, and this change of mind, This backward fate from what was first flesign'd?
Why this protracted war, when my commands Pronounc'd a peace, and gave the Lotion lands ? What fear or hope on either part divides
Our heav'ns, and arms our powers on diff'rent sldes? A lawful time of war at length will come,
(Nor need your haste anticipate the doom),
When Carthage shall contend the world with Rome,
Shall force the rigid rocks and Alpine chains, And. like a flood,come pouring on the plains. Then is your time for faction and debate,
For partial favor, and permitted hate
Let now your immature dissension cease; Sit quiet, and compose your souls to peace. ':
3_
? THE TENTH BOOK OF THE A_NEIS _y
Thus Jupiter in few unfolds the charge;
But lovely Venus thus replies at large:
"O pow'r immense, eternal energy,
(For to what else protection can we fly? ) Seest thou the proud Rutulians, how they dare In fields, unpumsh'd, and msult my care?
How lofty Turnus vaunts anndst his train,
In shining arms, triumphant on the plain?
Ev'n in their lines and trenches they contend, And scarce their walls the Trojan troops defend: The town is fill'd with slaughter, and o'erfloats, With a red deluge, their increasing moats.
-_neas, ignorant, and far from thence,
Has left a camp expos'd, without defense.
This endless outrage shall they still sustain?
Shall Troy renew'd be forc'd and fir'd again?
A second siege my banish'd issue fears,
And a new Diomede in arms appears.
One more audacious mortal will be found;
And I, thy daughter, wait another wound.
Yet, if with fates averse, without thy leave,
The Latian lands my progeny receive,
Bear they the pains of violated law,
And thy protection from their aid withdraw.
But, if the gods their sure success foretell;
If those of heav'n consent with those of hell, To promise Italy; who dare debate
The pow'r of Jove, or fix another fate? What should I tell of tempests on the main,
Of . _olus usurping Neptune's reign?
Of Irls sent, with Bacchanalian heat
T' inspire the matrons, and destroy the fleet?
Now Juno to the Stygian sky descends,
Solicits hell for aid, and arms the fiends.
That new example wanted yet above:
An act that well became the wife of Jove!
Aleeto, rals'd by her, with rage inflames
The peaceful bosoms of the Latian dames.
Imperial sway no more exalts my mind;
(Such hopes I had indeed, while Heav'n was kind;)
? 328 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Now let my happier foes possess my place, Whom Jove prefers before the Trojan raco;
And conquer they, whom you with conquest grace. Since you can spare, from all your wide commamd, No spot of earth, no hospitable land,
Which may my wand'rmg fugitives recelve;
(Since haughty Juno will not give you leave,) Then, father, (if I still may use that name,) By rum'd Troy, yet smoking from the flame, I beg you, let Ascamus, by my care,
Be freed from danger, and dlsnnss'd the war: Inglorious let h_m live, without a crown. The father may be cast on coasts unknown, Struggling with fate; but let me save the son. Mine is Cythera, mine the Cyprian tow'rs:
In those recesses, and those sacred bow'rs, Obscurely let him rest; his right resign
To promis'd empire, and his Juhan ]ine
Then Carthage may th' Ausoman towns destroy,
Nor fear the race of a rejected boy
What profits it my son to scape the fire,
Arm'd with his gods, and loaded with hls sire;
To pass the perils of the seas and wind,
Evade the Greeks, and leave the war behind;
To reach th' Italian shores, if, after all,
Our second Pergamus is doom'd to fall?
Much better had he curb'd his high desires,
And hover'd o'er his ill-extinguish'd fires.
To Simois' banks the fugltives restore,
And give them back to war, and all the woes before. 'j
Deep indignation swell'd Saturnia's heart:
"And must I own," she said, "my secret smart-- What with more decence were in silence kept, And, but for this unjust reproach, had slept?
Did god or man your fay'rite son advise,
With war unhop'd the Latians to surprise?
By fate, you boast, and by the gods' decree,
He left his native land for Italy t
Confess the truth; by mad Cassandra, more
Than Heav'n inspir'd, he sought a foreign shore I
? THE TENTH I_OOK OF THE /_NEIS 3_
Did I persuade to trust his second Troy
To the raw conduct of a beardless boy,
With walls unfimsh'd, which himself forsakes, Avxt thro' the waves a wand'ring voyage takes? When have I urg'd him meanly to demand
The Tuscan aid, and arm a quiet land?
Did I or Iris give this mad advice,
Or made the fool himself the fatal choice?
You think it hard, the Latians should destroy
With swords your Trojans, and with fires your Troy[ Hard and unjust indeed, for men to draw
Their native air, nor take a foreign law!
That Turnus is permitted still to hve,
To whom his birth a god and goddess give!
But yet 't is just and la_ful for your hne
To drive their fields, and force x_,ith fraud to joln; Realms, not your own, among your clans divide,
And from the bridegroom tear the promls'd bride; Petition, while you public arms prepare;
Pretend a peace, and yet provoke a wary
'T was giv'n to you, your darling son to shroud,
To draw the dastard from the fighting crowd,
And, for a man, obtend an empty cloud.
From flaming fleets you turn'd the fire away,
And chang'd the ships to daughters of the sea.
But 't is my crime--the Queen of Heav'n offends_ If she presume to save her suff'rmg friends I
Your son, not knowing what his foes decree,
You say, is absent: absent let him be
Yours is Cythera, yours the Cyprian tow'rs,
The soft recesses, and the sacred bow'rs.
Why do you then these needless arms prepare,
And thus provoke a people prone to war?
Did I with fire the Trojan town deface,
Or hinder from return your exil'd race?
Was I the _ause of mischief, or the man
Whose lawless lust the fatal war begau_
Think on whose faith th' adult'rous )outh relied; Who promis'd, who procur'd, the Spartan bride? When all th' umted states of Greece combm'd,
? S30 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
To purge the world of the perfidiouksind, Then wasyourtimetofeartheTrojanfate: Your quarrelsand complaintsare now too late. "
Thus Juno. Murmurs rise,with mix'd applause, Justas theyfavorordislikethecause.
So winds,when yetunflcdg'dinwoods theylic,
In whispers first their tender voices try,
Then issue on the main with bellowing rage, And storms to trembling mariners presage.
Then thus to both replied th' imperial god, Who shakes heav'n's axles with his awful nod.
(When he begins, the silent senate stand
With rev'rence, list'ning to the dread command:
The clouds dispel; the winds their breath restrain; And the hush'd waves lie flatted on the mare ) "Celestials, your attentive ears incline !
Since," said the god, "the Trojans must not join In wish'd alliance with the Latian line;
Since endless jarrings and immortal hate
Tend but to discompose our happy state;
The war henceforward be resign'd to fate: Each to his proper fortune stand or fall;
Equal and uneoncern'd I look on all.
Rutulians, Trojans, are the same to me;
And both shall draw the lots their fates decree. Let these assault, if Fortune be their friend, And, if she favors those, let those defend:
The Fates will find their way. " The Thund'rer said, And shook the sacred honors of his head,
Attesting Styx_ th' inviolable flood,
And the black regions of his brother god.
Trembled the poles of heav'n, and earth confess'd the nod, This end the sessions had: the senate rise,
And to his palace wait their soy'reign thro' the skxes. Meantime, intent upon their siege, the foes
Within their walls the Trojan host inclose:
They wound, they kill, they watch at ev'ry gate; "Renew the fires, and urge their happy fate.
Th' lnEneans wish in vain their wanted chief, Hopeless of flight, more hopeless of relief.
? T_ONTH BOOK OF THE 2_N_IS
Thin on the tow'rs they stand; and ev'n those few A feeble, fainting, and dejected crew.
Yet in the face of danger some there stood:
The two bold brothers of Sarpedon's blood,
Asius and Acmon; both th' Assaraci;
Young Hmmon, and tho' young, resolv'd to die.
With these were Clarus and Thymcetes join'd; Tlbris and Castor, both of Lycian kind.
From Acmon's hands a rolling stone there came,
So large, it half deserv'd a mountain's name: Strong-sinew'd was the youth, and big of bone;
His brother Mnestheus could not more have done, Or the great father of th' intrepid son
Some firebrands throw, some fl_ghts of arrows send; And some with darts, and some with stones defend.
Amid the press appears the beauteous boy, The care of Venus, and the hope of Troy.
His lovely face unarm'd, his head was hare;
In ringlets o'er his shoulders hung his hair.
His forehead circled with a dmdem; Distinguish'd from the crowd, he shines a gem, Enehas'd in gold, or pohsh'd iv'ry set,
Amidst the meaner foil of sable jet. Nor Ismarus was wanting to the war,
Directing pointed arrows from afar,
And death with poison arm'd--in Lydia born, Where plenteous harvests the fat fields adorn; Where proud Pactolus floats the fruitful lands, And leaves a rich manure of golden sands. There Capys, author of the Capuan name,
And there was Mnestheus too, mcreas'd in fame, Since Turnus from the camp he cast with shame
Thus mortal war was wag'd on either stde. l_{eantime the hero cuts the nightly ttde"
For, anxious, from Evander when he went,
He sought the Tyrrhene camp. and Tarchon's tent; Expos'd the cause of coming to the chief;
His name and country told. and ask'd rehef:
Propos'd the terms; his own small strength declar'd; What vengeance proud Mezentlus had prepar'd.
? _32 DRYDEWS TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
What Turnus, bold and violent, design'd; Then shew'd the slipp'ry state of humankind, And fickle fortune; warn'd him to beware, And to his wholesome counsel added pray'r Tarchon, without delay, the treaty s_gns,
And to the Trojan troops the Tuscan joins.
They soon set sail; nor now the fates withstand; Their forces trusted with a foreign hand.
? Eneas leads; upon his stern appear
Two lions carv'd, which rising Ida bear_
Ida, to wand'ring Trojans ever dear.
Under their grateful shade _neas sate, Revolving war's events, and varmus fate. His left young Pallas kept, fix'd to his side, And oft of winds enquir'd, and of the t_de; Oft of the stars, and of their wat'ry _ay, And what he suffer'd both by land and sea.
Now, sacred sisters, open all your spring!
The Tuscan leaders, and their army stag,
Which follow'd great 3Eneas to the war:
Their arms, their numbers, and their names declare.
A thousand youths brave Masslcus obey,
Borne in the Tiger thro' the foaming sea,
From Asium brought, and Cosa, by his care:
For arms, light qmvers, bows and shafts, they bear. Fierce Abas next has men bright armor wore;
His stern Apollo's golden statue bore.
Six hundred Populonia sent along,
All skill'd in martial exercise, and strong.
Three hundred more for battle Ilva joins,
An isle renown'd for steel, and unexhausted mines. Asylas on his prow the third appears,
Who heav'n interprets, and the wand'rmg stars; From offer'd entrails prodigies expounds,
And peals of thunder, with presaging sounds.
A thousand spears in warlike order stand,
Sent by the Pisans under his command
Fair Astur follows in the wat'ry field, Proud of his manag'd horse and painted shield.
Gravisca, noisome from the neighb'ring fen,
? THE TENTH BOOK OF THE _ENEIS
And his own C_ere, sent three hundred men; With those which Mmm's fields and Pyrgi gave, All bred in arms, unanimous, and brave.
Thou, Muse, the name of Cinyras renew, And brave Cupavo follow'd but by few; Whose helm confess'd the hneage of the man, And bore, with wings display'd, a silver swan. Love was the fault of his fam'd ancestry, Whose forms and fortunes in his ensigns fly. For Cycnus Iov'd unhappy Phaeton,
And sung his loss in poplar groves, alone, Beneath the sister shades, to soothe his grief.
Heav'n heard his song, and hasten'd his relief, And chang'd to snowy plumes his hoary hair, And wmg'd his fl_ght, to chant aloft m mr His son Cupavo brush'd the briny flood"
Upon his stern a brawny Centaur stood,
Who heav'd a rock, and, threat'ning still to throw,
With hfted hands alarm'd the seas below: They seem'd to fear the formidable sight,
And roll'd thelr billows on, to speed his flight. Ocnus was next, who led his native tram
Of hardy warrmrs thro' the wat'ry plato:
The son of l_Ianto by the Tuscan stream,
From whence the 5Iantuan town derives the name--
An ancient city, but o4 mlx'd descent:
Three sev'ral tribes compose the goxernment; Four towns are under each; but all obey
The Mantuan laws, and own the Tuscan sway.
Hate to Mezentms arm'd five hundred more, Yv'hom Mincms from his sire Benacus bore"
Mincius, with wreaths of reeds his forehead cover'd o'er, These grave Auletes leads: a hundred sweep
With stretching oars at once the glassy deep.
Him and his martml train the Triton bears;
High on his poop the sea-green god appears: Frowning he seems his crooked shell to sound,
And at the blast the billows dance around. A hairy man above the waist he shows; A porpoise tail beneath his belly grows;
? _4
DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF WIRGIL
And ends a fish: his breast the waves divides,
And froth and foam augment the murm'ring tides.
Full thirty ships transport the chosen train For Troy's relief, and scour the briny main.
Now was the world forsaken by the sun,
And Phoebe half her nightly race had run.
The careful chief, who never clos'd his eyes, Himself the rudder holds, the sails supphes.
A choir of Nerelds meet him on the flood,
Once hls own galleys, hewn from Ida's wood;
But now, as many nymphs, the sea they sweep,
As rode, before, tall vessels on the deep.
They know him from afar; and in a ring
Inclose the ship that bore the Trojan king. Cymodoce, whose voice excell'd the rest,
Above the waves advanc'd her snowy breast;
Her right hand stops the stern; her left divides
The curling ocean, and corrects the tides.
She spoke for all the choir, and thus began
With pleasing words to warn th' unknowing man: "Sleeps our lov'd lord? O goddess-born, awake! Spread ev'ry sail, pursue your wat'ry track,
And haste your course. Your navy once were we, From Ida's height descending to the sea;
Till Turnus, as at anchor fix'd we stood,
Presum'd to violate our holy wood
Then, loos'd from shore, we fled his fires profane (Unwillingly we broke our master's chain),
And since have sought you thro' the Tuscan main. The mighty Mother chang'd our forms to these,
And gave us life immortal in the seas.
But young Ascanius, in his camp distress'd,
By your insulting foes is hardly press'd.
Th' Arcadian horsemen, and Etrurian host,
Advance in order on the Latian coast:
To cut their way the Daunian chief designs,
Before their troops can reach the Trojan lines.
Thou, when the rosy morn restores the light,
First arm thy soldiers for th' ensuing fight:
,Thyself the fated sword of Vulcan wield,
? TH_ TEN,JR BOOK OF THR _ENEIS
And bear aloft th' impenetrable shield. To-morrow's sun, unless my skill be vain,
Shall see huge heaps of foes in battle slain. "
Parting, she spoke; and with immortal force
Push'd on the vessel in her wat'ry course;
For well she knew the way. Impell'd behind,
The ship flew fo_vard, and outstripp'd the wind. ! The rest make up. Unknowing of the cause,
The chief admires their speed, and happy omens draws. [; Then thus he pray'd, and fix'd on heav'n his eyes:
"Hear thou, great Motlaer of the deities.
W2th turrets crown'd! (on Ida's holy hill _" F_erce tigers, rein'd and curb'd, obey thy will )
Firm thy own omens; lead us on to fight; t And let thy Phrygians conquer in thy right. "
He said no more. And now renewing day
Had chas'd the shadows of the night away.
He charg'd the soldiers, with preventing care,
Their flags to follow, and their arms prepare;
Warn'd of th' ensuing fight, and bade 'era hope the war. Now, from his lofty poop, he vlew'd below
His camp incompass'd, and th' inclosing foe.
His blazing shield, imbrac'd, he held on high;
The camp receive the sign, and with loud shouts reply. Hope arms their courage: from their tow'rs they throw Their darts with double force, and drive the foe. Thus, at the signal giv'n, the cranes arise
Before the stormy south, and blacken all the skies
King Turnus wonder'd at the fight renew'd, Till, looking back, the Trojan fleet he view'd, The seas with swelling canvas covcr'd o'er, And the swift ships descending on the shore.
The Latlans saw from far, w_th dazzled eyes,
The radiant crest that seem'd in flames to rise, And dart diffusive fires around the field,
And the keen glitt'ring of the golden shield.
Thus threat'nirlg comets, when by night they rise, Shoot sanguine streams, and sadden all the skies: So Sirius, flashing forth sinister lights,
Pale humankind with plagues and with dry fanfine frights.
? _36 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Yet Turnus with undaunted mind is bent To man the shores, and hinder their descent,
And thus awakes the courage of his friends:
"What you so long have wish'd, kind Fortune sends; In ardent arms to meet th' invading foe:
You find, and find him at advantage now.
Yours is the day: you need but only dare;
Your swords will make you masters of the war.
Your sires, your sons, your houses, and your lands, And dearest wifes, are all within your hands.
Be mindful of the race from whence you came,
And emulate in arms your fathers' fame.
Now take the time, while stagg'rmg yet they stand With feet unfirm, and prepossess the strand.
Fortune befriends the bold. " Nor more he said,
But balanc'd whom to leave, and whom to lead;
Then these elects, the landing to prevent;
And those he leaves, to keep the city pent.
Meantime the Trojan sends his troops ashore: Some are by boats expos'd, by bridges more.
With lab'ring oars they bear along the strand, Where the tide languishes, and leap aland. Tarchon observes the coast with careful eyes, And, where no ford he finds, no water fries, Nor billows with unequal murmurs roar,
But smoothly slide along, and swell the shore,
That course he steer'd, and thus he gave command1
"Here ply your oars, and at all hazard land. Force on the vessel, that her keel may wound This hated soil, and furrow hostile ground. Let me securely land--I ask no more;
Then sink my ships, or shatter on the shore" Thi_ fiery speech inflames his fearful friends:
They tug at ev'ry oar, and ev'ry stretcher bends; They run their ships aground; the vessels knock,
(Thus forc'd ashore,) and tremble with the shock. Tarchon's alene was lost, that stranded stood,
Stuck on a bank, and beaten by the flood:
She breaks her back; the loosen'd sides give way',
'_md plunge the Tuscan soldiers in the sea.
? THE TENTH BOOK OF THE tENEIS 3. _
Their broken oars and floating planks withstand
Their passage, while they labor to the land,
And ebbing tides bear back upon th' uncertain sand.
Now Turnus leads his troops without delay, Hdvaneing to the margin of the sea.
The trumpets sound: _neas first assaWd
The clovms new-rais'd and raw, and soon prevail'd. Great Theron fell, an omen of the fight;
Great Thcron, large of hmbs, of giant height. He first i_aopen field defied the prince:
But armor scal'd with gold was no defense Against the fated sword, which open'd w_de His plated shield, and pierc'd his naked side. Next, Lichas fell, who, not like others born, Was from his wretched mother ripp'd and torn; Sacred, O Phoebus, from his birth to thee;
For his beginning life from biting steel was free. Not far from him was Gyas laid along,
Of monstrous bulk; with Cisseus fierce and strong: Vain bulk and strength! for, when the chief assaird, Nor valor nor Herculean arms avail'd,
Nor their fam'd father, wont in war to go With great Alcides, while he toil'd below. The noisy Pharos next receiv'd his death:
. ,Eneas writh'd his dart, and stopp'd his bawling breath. Then wretched Cydon had receiv'd his doom,
Who courted Clytms in h_s beardless bloom,
And sought with lust obscene polluted joys:
The Trojan sword had cur'd his love of boys,
Had not his sev'n bold brethren stopp'd the course Of the fierce champions, with united force.
Sev'n darts were thrown at once; and some rebound From his bright shield, some on his helmet sound: The rest had reach'd him; but his mother's care Prevented those, and turn'd aside in air.
The prince then call'd Aehates, to supply The spears that knew the way to victory--
"Those _atal weapons, which, inur'd to blood, In Grecian bodies under Ilium stood
Not one of those my hand shall toss in vain
? 338 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Against our foes, on this contended plain. "
lie said; then seiz'd a mighty spear, and threw; Which, wing'd with fate, thro' Ma. 'on's buckler flew, Pierc'd all the brazen plates, and reaeh'd his heart: lie stagger'd with intolerable smart
Alcanor saw; and reach'd, but reach'd in vain,
His helping hand, his brother to sustain.
A second spear, whlch kept the former course,
From the same hand, and sent with equal force,
His right arm pierc'd, and holding on, bereft
His use of both, and pinion'd down his left.
Then Numltor from his dead brother drew
Th' ill-omen'd spear, and at the Trojan threw: Preventing fate directs the lance awry,
Which, glancing, only mark'd Achates' thigh.
In pride of youth the Sabine Clausus came,
And, from afar, at Dryops took his aim
The spear flew hissing thro' the middle space,
And pierc'd his throat, directed at his face;
It stopp'd at once the passage of his wind,
And the free soul to fllttlng a,r resign'd:
His forehead was the first that struck the ground; Lifeblood and life rush'd mingled thro' the wound. He slew three brothers of the Borean race,
_nd three, whom Ismarus, their native place,
Had sent to war, but all the sons of Thrace. Halesus, next, the bold Aurunci leads:
The son of Neptune to his aid succeeds,
Consplcuous on his horse. On either hand,
These fight to keep, and those to wln, the land. With mutual blood th' Ausonian soil is dyed, While on its borders each their claim decide.
As wintry winds, contending in the sky,
With equal force of lungs their titles try:
They rage, they roar; the doubtful rack of heav'tl Stands without motion, and the tide undriv'n"
Each bent to conquer, neither side to yield,
They long suspend the fortune of the field.
Both armies thus perform what courage carl;
Foot set to foot, and mingled man to man.
? But, in another part, th' Arcadian horse
With ill success ingage the Latin force:
For, where th' impetuous torrent, rushing down,
Huge craggy stones and rooted trees had thrown,
They left their coursers, and, unus'd to fight
On foot, were scatter'd in a shameful flight.
Pallas, who with disdain and grief had vlew'd
His foes pursuing, and his friends pursued,
Us'd threat'nings mix'd with pray'rs, his last resource,
With these to move their minds, with those _o fire their force. "Which way, companions? whether would you run?
By you yourselves, and mighty battles won,
By my great sire, by his establish'd name,
And early promise of my future fame
By my youth, emulous of equal right
To share his honors--shun ignoble flight
Trust not your feet: your hands must hew your way
Thro' yon black body. and that thick array:
'T is thro' that forward path that _ve must come;
There lles our way, and that our passage home.
Nor pow'rs above, nor destinies below
Oppress our arms: with equal strength we go,
With mortal hands to meet a mortal foe.
See on what foot we stand: a scanty shore,
The sea behind, our enemies before;
No passage left, unless we swim the main;
Or, forcing these, the Trojan trenches galnY
This said, he strode with eager haste along,
And bore amidst the thickest of the throng.
Lagus, the first he met, with fate to foe,
Had heav'd a stone of mighty weight, to throw:
Stooping, the spear descended on his chine,
Just where the hone distinguished either Ioin:
It stuck so fast, so deeply buried lay,
That scarce the victor forc'd the steel away.
Hisbon came on: but, while he mov'd too slow
To wish'd revenge, the prince prevents his blow_
For, warding hls at once, at once he press'd,
And plung'd the fatal weapon in his breast.
Then lewd Anchemolus he laid in dust,
? 340
DRYDE_'S TRANSLATION OF _'IRGI_
Who stain'd his stepdam's bed with impious lust. And, after him, the Daucian twins were slain, Laris and Thymbrus, on the Latian plain;
So wondrous like in feature, shape, and size, As caus'd an error in their parents' eyes--- Grateful mistake! but soon the sword decides The nice distinction, and their fate d_vides:
For Thymbrus' head was lopp'd; and Laris' hand, Dismember'd, sought its owner on the strand:
The trembling fingers yet the fauchlon strata, And threaten still th' intended stroke in vain.
Now, to renew the charge, th' Arcadians came: Sight of such acts, and sense of honest shame, And grief, with anger mix'd, their minds inflame. Then, with a casual blow was Rhceteus slain, Who chanc'd, as Pallas threw, to cross the plain: The flying spear was after Ilus sent;
But Rhoeteus happen'd on a death unmeant:
From Teuthras and from Tyres while he fled,
The lance, athwart his body, laid him dead:
Roll'd from his chariot with a mortal wound,
_knd intercepted fate, he spurn'd the ground.
As when, in summer, welcome winds arise,
The watchful shepherd to the forest flies,
And fires the midmost plants; contagion spreads, And catching flames infect the neighb'ring heads; Around the forest flies the furious blast,
And all the leafy nation sinks at last,
And Vulcan r_des in triumph o'er the waste;
The pastor, pleas'd with his dire victory,
Beholds the satiate flames in sheets ascend the sky: So Pallas' troops their scatter'd strength unite, And, pouring on their foes, their prince delight.
Halesus came, fierce with desire of blood; But first collected in his arms he stood:
Advancing then, he plied the spear so well, Ladon, Demodocus, and Pheres fell.
Around his head he toss'd his glitt'ring brand,. _nd from Strymonius hew'd his better hand,
Yield up to guard his throat; then hurl'd a stone
? THE TENTH BOOK OF THE _IS S&I
_t Tho'as' ample front, and plerc'd the bone: It struck beneath the space of either eye; And blood, and mingled brains, tc_gether fly. Deep skilI'd in future fates, Halesus' sire Did with the youth to lonely groves retire: But, when the father's mortal race was run, Dire destiny laid hold upon the son,
And hauI'd him to the war, to find, beneath Th' Evandrian spear, a memorable death.
Pallas th' encounter seeks, but, ere he throws, To Tuscan Tiber thus address'd his vows:
"O sacred stream, direct my flying dart, And give to pass the proud Halesus _heart!
His arms and spoils thy holy oak shall bear. " Pleas'd with the bribe, the god recelv'd his pray'r_
For, while his shield protects a friend distress'd, The dart came driving on, and pierc'd his breast.
But Lausus, no small portion of the war, Permits not panic, fear to reign too far,
Caus'd by the death of so renown'd a knight;
But by his own example cheers the fight.
Fierce Abas first he slew; Abas, the stay
Of Trojan hopes, and hlnd'rance of the day.
The Phrygian troops escap'd the Greeks in vain: They, and their mix'd allies, now load the plail. To the rude shock of war both armies came; Their leaders equal, and their strength the same. The rear so press'd the front, they could not wiel_l Their angry weapons, to dispute the field.
Here Pallas urges on, and Lausus there: Of equal youth and beauty both appear,
But both by fate forbid to breathe their native air. Their congress in the field great Jove withstands_
Both doom'd to fall, but fall by greater hands. Meantime Juturna warns the Daunlan chie_
Of Lausus' danger, urging swift relief.
With his driv'n chariot he divides the crowd,
And, making to his friends, thus calls aloud: "Let none presume his needless aid to join; Retire, and clear the field; the fight is mine:
? To this right hand is Pallas only due;
0 were his father here, my just revenge to view ! '_ From the forbidden space his men retir'd.
Pallas their awe, and his stern words, admlr'd; Survey'd him o'er and o'er with wond'rlng sight, Struck with his h0ughty mien, and tow'ring height. Then to the king: "Your empty vaunts forbear; Success I hope, and fate I cannot fear;
Alive or dead, I shall deserve a name;
Jove is impartial, and to both the same. "
He said, and to the void advanc'd his pace
Pale horror sate on each Arcadian face.
Then Turnus, from his chariot leaping light, Address'd himself on foot to single fight.
And. as a lion--when he spies from far
A bull that seems to meditate the war,
Bending his neck, and spurning back the sand-- Runs roaring downward from his hilly stand: Imagine eager Turnus not more slow,
To rush from high on his unequal foe
Young Pallas, when he saw the chief advance
Within due distance of his flying lance,
Prepares to charge him first, resolv'd to try
If fortune would his want of force supply;
And thus to Heav'n and Hercules address'd;
"Alcides, once on earth Evander's guest,
His son adjures you by those holy rites,
That hospitable board, those genial nights;
Assist my great attempt to gain this prize,
And let proud Turnus view, with dying eyes,
His ravish'd spoils" 'T was heard, the vain request_ Alcldes mourn'd, and stifled sighs within his breast. Then Jove, to soothe his sorrow, thus began:
"Short bounds of life are set to mortal man.
'T is virtue's work alone to stretch the narrow span.
So many sons of gods, in bloody fight,
Aro-and the walls of Troy, have lost the light:
My own Sarpedon fell beneath his foe;
Nor I, his mighty sire, could ward the blow.
Ev'n Turnus shortly shall resign his breath_
? THE TENTH BOOK 0I_ T_H_ _NEIS _,4_
And stands already on the verge o_ death. " This said, the god permits the fatal fight,
But from the Latian fields averts his sight.
Now with full force his spear young Pallas threw,
And, having thrown, his shining fauchion drew The steel just graz'd along the shoulder joint,
And mark'd it slightly with the glancing point, Fierce Turnus first to nearer distance drew,
And pois'd his pointed spear, before he threw: Then, as the winged weapon whizz'd along,
"See now," said he, "whose arm is better strung. " The spear kept on the fatal course, unstay'd
By plates of if'n, which o'er the shield were l_id: Thro' folded brass and tough bull hides it pass'd, His covslet plerc'd, and reach'd his heart at last. In vain the youth tugs at the broken wood;
The soul comes issuing with the vital blood:
He fails; his arms upon his body sound;
And with his bloody teeth he bites the ground.
Turnus bestrode the corpse: "Arcadians, hear," Said he; "my message to your master bear:
Such as the sire deserv'd, the son I send;
It costs him dear to be the Phryglans' friend,
The lifeless body, tell him, I bestow,
Unask'd, to rest his wand'ring ghost below. "
He said, and trampled down with all the force Of his left foot, and spurn'd the wretched corse: Then snatch'd the shining belt, with gold inlaid; The belt Eurytion's artful hands had made, Where fifty fatal brides, express'd to sight,
All in the compass of one mournful night, Depriv'd their bridegrooms of returning light.
In an ill hour insulting Turnus tore
Those golden spoils, and in a worse he wore.
O mortals, blind in fate, who never know
To bear high fortune, or endure the low!
The time shall come, when Turnus, but iu va_n, Shall wish untouch'd the trophies of the slain; Shall wish the fatal belt were far away,
And curse the dire remembrance of the day.
? DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
The sad Arcadians, from th' unhappy field, Bear back the breathless body on a shield.
O grace and grief of war l at once restor'd,
With praises, to thy sire, at once deplor'd!
One day first sent thee to the fighting field,
Beheld whole heaps of foes in battle kill'd;
One day beheld thee dead, and borne upon thy shield. This dismal news, not from uncertain fame,
But sad spectators, to the hero came:
His friends upon the brink of ruin stand,
Unless reliev'd by his victorious hand.
He whirls his sword around, without delay, And hews thro' adverse foes an ample way, To find fierce Turnus, of his conquest proud: Evander, Pallas, all that friendshlp ow'd
To large deserts, are present to his eyes;
His plighted hand, and hospitable ties.
Four sons of Sulmo, four whom Ufens bred, He took in fight, and living victims led,
To please the ghost of Pallas, and expire,
In sacrifice, before his fun'r,al fire.
At Magus next he threw: he stoop'd below
The flying spear, and shunn'd the promis'd blow; Then, creeping, clasp'd the hero's knees, and pray'd: "By young Iulus, by thy father's shade,
0 spare my life, and send me back to see
My longing sire, and tender progeny!
A lofty house I have, and wealth untold,
In silver ingots, and in bars of gold:
All these, and sums besides, which see no day, The ransom of this one poor life shall pay.
If I survive, will Troy the less prevail_
A single soul's too light to turn the scale"
He said.