Aeneid

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All were attentive to the godlike man,

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When from his lofty couch he thus began:

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"Great queen, what you command me to relate

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Renews the sad remembrance of our fate:

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An empire from its old foundations rent,

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And ev'ry woe the Trojans underwent;

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A peopled city made a desart place;

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All that I saw, and part of which I was:

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Not ev'n the hardest of our foes could hear,

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Nor stern Ulysses tell without a tear.

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And now the latter watch of wasting night,

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And setting stars, to kindly rest invite;

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But, since you take such int'rest in our woe,

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And Troy's disastrous end desire to know,

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I will restrain my tears, and briefly tell

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What in our last and fatal night befell.

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"By destiny compell'd, and in despair,

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The Greeks grew weary of the tedious war,

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And by Minerva's aid a fabric rear'd,

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Which like a steed of monstrous height appear'd:

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The sides were plank'd with pine; they feign'd it made

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For their return, and this the vow they paid.

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Thus they pretend, but in the hollow side

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Selected numbers of their soldiers hide:

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With inward arms the dire machine they load,

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And iron bowels stuff the dark abode.

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In sight of Troy lies Tenedos, an isle

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(While Fortune did on Priam's empire smile)

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Renown'd for wealth; but, since, a faithless bay,

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Where ships expos'd to wind and weather lay.

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There was their fleet conceal'd. We thought, for Greece

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Their sails were hoisted, and our fears release.

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The Trojans, coop'd within their walls so long,

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Unbar their gates, and issue in a throng,

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Like swarming bees, and with delight survey

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The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay:

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The quarters of the sev'ral chiefs they show'd;

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Here Phoenix, here Achilles, made abode;

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Here join'd the battles; there the navy rode.

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Part on the pile their wond'ring eyes employ:

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The pile by Pallas rais'd to ruin Troy.

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Thymoetes first ('t is doubtful whether hir'd,

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Or so the Trojan destiny requir'd)

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Mov'd that the ramparts might be broken down,

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To lodge the monster fabric in the town.

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But Capys, and the rest of sounder mind,

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The fatal present to the flames designed,

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Or to the wat'ry deep; at least to bore

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The hollow sides, and hidden frauds explore.

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The giddy vulgar, as their fancies guide,

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With noise say nothing, and in parts divide.

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Laocoon, follow'd by a num'rous crowd,

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Ran from the fort, and cried, from far, aloud:

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'O wretched countrymen! what fury reigns?

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What more than madness has possess'd your brains?

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Think you the Grecians from your coasts are gone?

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And are Ulysses' arts no better known?

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This hollow fabric either must inclose,

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Within its blind recess, our secret foes;

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Or 't is an engine rais'd above the town,

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T' o'erlook the walls, and then to batter down.

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Somewhat is sure design'd, by fraud or force:

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Trust not their presents, nor admit the horse.'

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Thus having said, against the steed he threw

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His forceful spear, which, hissing as flew,

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Pierc'd thro' the yielding planks of jointed wood,

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And trembling in the hollow belly stood.

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The sides, transpierc'd, return a rattling sound,

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And groans of Greeks inclos'd come issuing thro' the wound

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And, had not Heav'n the fall of Troy design'd,

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Or had not men been fated to be blind,

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Enough was said and done t'inspire a better mind.

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Then had our lances pierc'd the treach'rous wood,

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And Ilian tow'rs and Priam's empire stood.

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Meantime, with shouts, the Trojan shepherds bring

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A captive Greek, in bands, before the king;

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Taken to take; who made himself their prey,

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T' impose on their belief, and Troy betray;

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Fix'd on his aim, and obstinately bent

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To die undaunted, or to circumvent.

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About the captive, tides of Trojans flow;

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All press to see, and some insult the foe.

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Now hear how well the Greeks their wiles disguis'd;

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Behold a nation in a man compris'd.

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Trembling the miscreant stood, unarm'd and bound;

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He star'd, and roll'd his haggard eyes around,

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Then said: 'Alas! what earth remains, what sea

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Is open to receive unhappy me?

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What fate a wretched fugitive attends,

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Scorn'd by my foes, abandon'd by my friends?'

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He said, and sigh'd, and cast a rueful eye:

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Our pity kindles, and our passions die.

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We cheer youth to make his own defense,

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And freely tell us what he was, and whence:

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What news he could impart, we long to know,

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And what to credit from a captive foe.

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"His fear at length dismiss'd, he said: 'Whate'er

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My fate ordains, my words shall be sincere:

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I neither can nor dare my birth disclaim;

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Greece is my country, Sinon is my name.

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Tho' plung'd by Fortune's pow'r in misery,

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'T is not in Fortune's pow'r to make me lie.

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If any chance has hither brought the name

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Of Palamedes, not unknown to fame,

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Who suffer'd from the malice of the times,

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Accus'd and sentenc'd for pretended crimes,

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Because these fatal wars he would prevent;

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Whose death the wretched Greeks too late lament-

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Me, then a boy, my father, poor and bare

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Of other means, committed to his care,

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His kinsman and companion in the war.

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While Fortune favor'd, while his arms support

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The cause, and rul'd the counsels, of the court,

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I made some figure there; nor was my name

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Obscure, nor I without my share of fame.

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But when Ulysses, with fallacious arts,

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Had made impression in the people's hearts,

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And forg'd a treason in my patron's name

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(I speak of things too far divulg'd by fame),

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My kinsman fell. Then I, without support,

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In private mourn'd his loss, and left the court.

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Mad as I was, I could not bear his fate

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With silent grief, but loudly blam'd the state,

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And curs'd the direful author of my woes.

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'T was told again; and hence my ruin rose.

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I threaten'd, if indulgent Heav'n once more

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Would land me safely on my native shore,

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His death with double vengeance to restore.

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This mov'd the murderer's hate; and soon ensued

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Th' effects of malice from a man so proud.

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Ambiguous rumors thro' the camp he spread,

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And sought, by treason, my devoted head;

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New crimes invented; left unturn'd no stone,

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To make my guilt appear, and hide his own;

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Till Calchas was by force and threat'ning wrought-

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But why- why dwell I on that anxious thought?

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If on my nation just revenge you seek,

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And 't is t' appear a foe, t' appear a Greek;

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Already you my name and country know;

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Assuage your thirst of blood, and strike the blow:

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My death will both the kingly brothers please,

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And set insatiate Ithacus at ease.'

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This fair unfinish'd tale, these broken starts,

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Rais'd expectations in our longing hearts:

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Unknowing as we were in Grecian arts.

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His former trembling once again renew'd,

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With acted fear, the villain thus pursued:

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"'Long had the Grecians (tir'd with fruitless care,

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And wearied with an unsuccessful war)

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Resolv'd to raise the siege, and leave the town;

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And, had the gods permitted, they had gone;

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But oft the wintry seas and southern winds

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Withstood their passage home, and chang'd their minds.

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Portents and prodigies their souls amaz'd;

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But most, when this stupendous pile was rais'd:

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Then flaming meteors, hung in air, were seen,

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And thunders rattled thro' a sky serene.

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Dismay'd, and fearful of some dire event,

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Eurypylus t' enquire their fate was sent.

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He from the gods this dreadful answer brought:

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"O Grecians, when the Trojan shores you sought,

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Your passage with a virgin's blood was bought:

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So must your safe return be bought again,

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And Grecian blood once more atone the main."

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The spreading rumor round the people ran;

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All fear'd, and each believ'd himself the man.

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Ulysses took th' advantage of their fright;

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Call'd Calchas, and produc'd in open sight:

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Then bade him name the wretch, ordain'd by fate

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The public victim, to redeem the state.

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Already some presag'd the dire event,

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And saw what sacrifice Ulysses meant.

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For twice five days the good old seer withstood

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Th' intended treason, and was dumb to blood,

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Till, tir'd, with endless clamors and pursuit

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Of Ithacus, he stood no longer mute;

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But, as it was agreed, pronounc'd that I

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Was destin'd by the wrathful gods to die.

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All prais'd the sentence, pleas'd the storm should fall

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On one alone, whose fury threaten'd all.

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The dismal day was come; the priests prepare

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Their leaven'd cakes, and fillets for my hair.

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I follow'd nature's laws, and must avow

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I broke my bonds and fled the fatal blow.

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Hid in a weedy lake all night I lay,

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Secure of safety when they sail'd away.

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But now what further hopes for me remain,

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To see my friends, or native soil, again;

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My tender infants, or my careful sire,

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Whom they returning will to death require;

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Will perpetrate on them their first design,

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And take the forfeit of their heads for mine?

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Which, O! if pity mortal minds can move,

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If there be faith below, or gods above,

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If innocence and truth can claim desert,

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Ye Trojans, from an injur'd wretch avert.'

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"False tears true pity move; the king commands

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To loose his fetters, and unbind his hands:

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Then adds these friendly words: 'Dismiss thy fears;

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Forget the Greeks; be mine as thou wert theirs.

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But truly tell, was it for force or guile,

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Or some religious end, you rais'd the pile?'

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Thus said the king. He, full of fraudful arts,

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This well-invented tale for truth imparts:

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'Ye lamps of heav'n!' he said, and lifted high

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His hands now free, 'thou venerable sky!

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Inviolable pow'rs, ador'd with dread!

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Ye fatal fillets, that once bound this head!

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Ye sacred altars, from whose flames I fled!

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Be all of you adjur'd; and grant I may,

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Without a crime, th' ungrateful Greeks betray,

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Reveal the secrets of the guilty state,

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And justly punish whom I justly hate!

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But you, O king, preserve the faith you gave,

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If I, to save myself, your empire save.

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The Grecian hopes, and all th' attempts they made,

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Were only founded on Minerva's aid.

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But from the time when impious Diomede,

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And false Ulysses, that inventive head,

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Her fatal image from the temple drew,

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The sleeping guardians of the castle slew,

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Her virgin statue with their bloody hands

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Polluted, and profan'd her holy bands;

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From thence the tide of fortune left their shore,

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And ebb'd much faster than it flow'd before:

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Their courage languish'd, as their hopes decay'd;

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And Pallas, now averse, refus'd her aid.

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Nor did the goddess doubtfully declare

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Her alter'd mind and alienated care.

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When first her fatal image touch'd the ground,

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She sternly cast her glaring eyes around,

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That sparkled as they roll'd, and seem'd to threat:

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Her heav'nly limbs distill'd a briny sweat.

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Thrice from the ground she leap'd, was seen to wield

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Her brandish'd lance, and shake her horrid shield.

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Then Calchas bade our host for flight

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And hope no conquest from the tedious war,

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Till first they sail'd for Greece; with pray'rs besought

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Her injur'd pow'r, and better omens brought.

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And now their navy plows the wat'ry main,

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Yet soon expect it on your shores again,

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With Pallas pleas'd; as Calchas did ordain.

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But first, to reconcile the blue-ey'd maid

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For her stol'n statue and her tow'r betray'd,

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Warn'd by the seer, to her offended name

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We rais'd and dedicate this wondrous frame,

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So lofty, lest thro' your forbidden gates

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It pass, and intercept our better fates:

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For, once admitted there, our hopes are lost;

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And Troy may then a new Palladium boast;

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For so religion and the gods ordain,

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That, if you violate with hands profane

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Minerva's gift, your town in flames shall burn,

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(Which omen, O ye gods, on Graecia turn!)

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But if it climb, with your assisting hands,

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The Trojan walls, and in the city stands;

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Then Troy shall Argos and Mycenae burn,

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And the reverse of fate on us return.'

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"With such deceits he gain'd their easy hearts,

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Too prone to credit his perfidious arts.

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What Diomede, nor Thetis' greater son,

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A thousand ships, nor ten years' siege, had done-

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False tears and fawning words the city won.

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"A greater omen, and of worse portent,

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Did our unwary minds with fear torment,

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Concurring to produce the dire event.

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Laocoon, Neptune's priest by lot that year,

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With solemn pomp then sacrific'd a steer;

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When, dreadful to behold, from sea we spied

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Two serpents, rank'd abreast, the seas divide,

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And smoothly sweep along the swelling tide.

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Their flaming crests above the waves they show;

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Their bellies seem to burn the seas below;

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Their speckled tails advance to steer their course,

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And on the sounding shore the flying billows force.

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And now the strand, and now the plain they held;

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Their ardent eyes with bloody streaks were fill'd;

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Their nimble tongues they brandish'd as they came,

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And lick'd their hissing jaws, that sputter'd flame.

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We fled amaz'd; their destin'd way they take,

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And to Laocoon and his children make;

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And first around the tender boys they wind,

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Then with their sharpen'd fangs their limbs and bodies grind.

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The wretched father, running to their aid

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With pious haste, but vain, they next invade;

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Twice round his waist their winding volumes roll'd;

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And twice about his gasping throat they fold.

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The priest thus doubly chok'd, their crests divide,

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And tow'ring o'er his head in triumph ride.

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With both his hands he labors at the knots;

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His holy fillets the blue venom blots;

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His roaring fills the flitting air around.

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Thus, when an ox receives a glancing wound,

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He breaks his bands, the fatal altar flies,

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And with loud bellowings breaks the yielding skies.

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Their tasks perform'd, the serpents quit their prey,

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And to the tow'r of Pallas make their way:

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Couch'd at her feet, they lie protected there

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By her large buckler and protended spear.

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Amazement seizes all; the gen'ral cry

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Proclaims Laocoon justly doom'd to die,

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Whose hand the will of Pallas had withstood,

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And dared to violate the sacred wood.

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All vote t' admit the steed, that vows be paid

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And incense offer'd to th' offended maid.

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A spacious breach is made; the town lies bare;

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Some hoisting-levers, some the wheels prepare

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And fasten to the horse's feet; the rest

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With cables haul along th' unwieldly beast.

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Each on his fellow for assistance calls;

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At length the fatal fabric mounts the walls,

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Big with destruction. Boys with chaplets crown'd,

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And choirs of virgins, sing and dance around.

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Thus rais'd aloft, and then descending down,

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It enters o'er our heads, and threats the town.

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O sacred city, built by hands divine!

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O valiant heroes of the Trojan line!

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Four times he struck: as oft the clashing sound

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Of arms was heard, and inward groans rebound.

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Yet, mad with zeal, and blinded with our fate,

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We haul along the horse in solemn state;

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Then place the dire portent within the tow'r.

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Cassandra cried, and curs'd th' unhappy hour;

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Foretold our fate; but, by the god's decree,

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All heard, and none believ'd the prophecy.

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With branches we the fanes adorn, and waste,

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In jollity, the day ordain'd to be the last.

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Meantime the rapid heav'ns roll'd down the light,

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And on the shaded ocean rush'd the night;

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Our men, secure, nor guards nor sentries held,

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But easy sleep their weary limbs compell'd.

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The Grecians had embark'd their naval pow'rs

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From Tenedos, and sought our well-known shores,

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Safe under covert of the silent night,

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And guided by th' imperial galley's light;

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When Sinon, favor'd by the partial gods,

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Unlock'd the horse, and op'd his dark abodes;

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Restor'd to vital air our hidden foes,

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Who joyful from their long confinement rose.

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Tysander bold, and Sthenelus their guide,

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And dire Ulysses down the cable slide:

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Then Thoas, Athamas, and Pyrrhus haste;

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Nor was the Podalirian hero last,

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Nor injur'd Menelaus, nor the fam'd

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Epeus, who the fatal engine fram'd.

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A nameless crowd succeed; their forces join

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T' invade the town, oppress'd with sleep and wine.

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Those few they find awake first meet their fate;

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Then to their fellows they unbar the gate.

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"'T was in the dead of night, when sleep repairs

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Our bodies worn with toils, our minds with cares,

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When Hector's ghost before my sight appears:

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A bloody shroud he seem'd, and bath'd in tears;

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Such as he was, when, by Pelides slain,

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Thessalian coursers dragg'd him o'er the plain.

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Swoln were his feet, as when the thongs were thrust

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Thro' the bor'd holes; his body black with dust;

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Unlike that Hector who return'd from toils

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Of war, triumphant, in Aeacian spoils,

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Or him who made the fainting Greeks retire,

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And launch'd against their navy Phrygian fire.

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His hair and beard stood stiffen'd with his gore;

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And all the wounds he for his country bore

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Now stream'd afresh, and with new purple ran.

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I wept to see the visionary man,

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And, while my trance continued, thus began:

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'O light of Trojans, and support of Troy,

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Thy father's champion, and thy country's joy!

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O, long expected by thy friends! from whence

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Art thou so late return'd for our defense?

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Do we behold thee, wearied as we are

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With length of labors, and with toils of war?

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After so many fun'rals of thy own

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Art thou restor'd to thy declining town?

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But say, what wounds are these? What new disgrace

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Deforms the manly features of thy face?'

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"To this the specter no reply did frame,

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But answer'd to the cause for which he came,

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And, groaning from the bottom of his breast,

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This warning in these mournful words express'd:

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'O goddess-born! escape, by timely flight,

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The flames and horrors of this fatal night.

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The foes already have possess'd the wall;

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Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall.

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Enough is paid to Priam's royal name,

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More than enough to duty and to fame.

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If by a mortal hand my father's throne

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Could be defended, 't was by mine alone.

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Now Troy to thee commends her future state,

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And gives her gods companions of thy fate:

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From their assistance walls expect,

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Which, wand'ring long, at last thou shalt erect.'

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He said, and brought me, from their blest abodes,

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The venerable statues of the gods,

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With ancient Vesta from the sacred choir,

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The wreaths and relics of th' immortal fire.

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"Now peals of shouts come thund'ring from afar,

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Cries, threats, and loud laments, and mingled war:

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The noise approaches, tho' our palace stood

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Aloof from streets, encompass'd with a wood.

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Louder, and yet more loud, I hear th' alarms

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Of human cries distinct, and clashing arms.

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Fear broke my slumbers; I no longer stay,

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But mount the terrace, thence the town survey,

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And hearken what the frightful sounds convey.

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Thus, when a flood of fire by wind is borne,

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Crackling it rolls, and mows the standing corn;

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Or deluges, descending on the plains,

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Sweep o'er the yellow year, destroy the pains

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Of lab'ring oxen and the peasant's gains;

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Unroot the forest oaks, and bear away

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Flocks, folds, and trees, and undistinguish'd prey:

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The shepherd climbs the cliff, and sees from far

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The wasteful ravage of the wat'ry war.

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Then Hector's faith was manifestly clear'd,

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And Grecian frauds in open light appear'd.

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The palace of Deiphobus ascends

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In smoky flames, and catches on his friends.

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Ucalegon burns next: the seas are bright

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With splendor not their own, and shine with Trojan light.

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New clamors and new clangors now arise,

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The sound of trumpets mix'd with fighting cries.

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With frenzy seiz'd, I run to meet th' alarms,

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Resolv'd on death, resolv'd to die in arms,

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But first to gather friends, with them t' oppose

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(If fortune favor'd) and repel the foes;

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Spurr'd by my courage, by my country fir'd,

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With sense of honor and revenge inspir'd.

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"Pantheus, Apollo's priest, a sacred name,

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Had scap'd the Grecian swords, and pass'd the flame:

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With relics loaden. to my doors he fled,

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And by the hand his tender grandson led.

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'What hope, O Pantheus? whither can we run?

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Where make a stand? and what may yet be done?'

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Scarce had I said, when Pantheus, with a groan:

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'Troy is no more, and Ilium was a town!

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The fatal day, th' appointed hour, is come,

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When wrathful Jove's irrevocable doom

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Transfers the Trojan state to Grecian hands.

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The fire consumes the town, the foe commands;

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And armed hosts, an unexpected force,

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Break from the bowels of the fatal horse.

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Within the gates, proud Sinon throws about

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The flames; and foes for entrance press without,

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With thousand others, whom I fear to name,

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More than from Argos or Mycenae came.

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To sev'ral posts their parties they divide;

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Some block the narrow streets, some scour the wide:

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The bold they kill, th' unwary they surprise;

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Who fights finds death, and death finds him who flies.

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The warders of the gate but scarce maintain

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Th' unequal combat, and resist in vain.'

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"I heard; and Heav'n, that well-born souls inspires,

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Prompts me thro' lifted swords and rising fires

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To run where clashing arms and clamor calls,

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And rush undaunted to defend the walls.

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Ripheus and Iph'itus by my side engage,

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For valor one renown'd, and one for age.

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Dymas and Hypanis by moonlight knew

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My motions and my mien, and to my party drew;

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With young Coroebus, who by love was led

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To win renown and fair Cassandra's bed,

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And lately brought his troops to Priam's aid,

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Forewarn'd in vain by the prophetic maid.

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Whom when I saw resolv'd in arms to fall,

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And that one spirit animated all:

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'Brave souls!' said I,- 'but brave, alas! in vain-

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Come, finish what our cruel fates ordain.

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You see the desp'rate state of our affairs,

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And heav'n's protecting pow'rs are deaf to pray'rs.

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The passive gods behold the Greeks defile

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Their temples, and abandon to the spoil

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Their own abodes: we, feeble few, conspire

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To save a sinking town, involv'd in fire.

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Then let us fall, but fall amidst our foes:

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Despair of life the means of living shows.'

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So bold a speech incourag'd their desire

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Of death, and added fuel to their fire.

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"As hungry wolves, with raging appetite,

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Scour thro' the fields, nor fear the stormy night-

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Their whelps at home expect the promis'd food,

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And long to temper their dry chaps in blood-

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So rush'd we forth at once; resolv'd to die,

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Resolv'd, in death, the last extremes to try.

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We leave the narrow lanes behind, and dare

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Th' unequal combat in the public square:

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Night was our friend; our leader was despair.

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What tongue can tell the slaughter of that night?

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What eyes can weep the sorrows and affright?

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An ancient and imperial city falls:

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The streets are fill'd with frequent funerals;

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Houses and holy temples float in blood,

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And hostile nations make a common flood.

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Not only Trojans fall; but, in their turn,

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The vanquish'd triumph, and the victors mourn.

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Ours take new courage from despair and night:

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Confus'd the fortune is, confus'd the fight.

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All parts resound with tumults, plaints, and fears;

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And grisly Death in sundry shapes appears.

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Androgeos fell among us, with his band,

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Who thought us Grecians newly come to land.

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'From whence,' said he, 'my friends, this long delay?

Primary

You loiter, while the spoils are borne away:

Primary

Our ships are laden with the Trojan store;

Primary

And you, like truants, come too late ashore.'

Primary

He said, but soon corrected his mistake,

Primary

Found, by the doubtful answers which we make:

Primary

Amaz'd, he would have shunn'd th' unequal fight;

Primary

But we, more num'rous, intercept his flight.

Primary

As when some peasant, in a bushy brake,

Primary

Has with unwary footing press'd a snake;

Primary

He starts aside, astonish'd, when he spies

Primary

His rising crest, blue neck, and rolling eyes;

Primary

So from our arms surpris'd Androgeos flies.

Primary

In vain; for him and his we compass'd round,

Primary

Possess'd with fear, unknowing of the ground,

Primary

And of their lives an easy conquest found.

Primary

Thus Fortune on our first endeavor smil'd.

Primary

Coroebus then, with youthful hopes beguil'd,

Primary

Swoln with success, and a daring mind,

Primary

This new invention fatally design'd.

Primary

'My friends,' said he, 'since Fortune shows the way,

Primary

'T is fit we should th' auspicious guide obey.

Primary

For what has she these Grecian arms bestow'd,

Primary

But their destruction, and the Trojans' good?

Primary

Then change we shields, and their devices bear:

Primary

Let fraud supply the want of force in war.

Primary

They find us arms.' This said, himself he dress'd

Primary

In dead Androgeos' spoils, his upper vest,

Primary

His painted buckler, and his plumy crest.

Primary

Thus Ripheus, Dymas, all the Trojan train,

Primary

Lay down their own attire, and strip the slain.

Primary

Mix'd with the Greeks, we go with ill presage,

Primary

Flatter'd with hopes to glut our greedy rage;

Primary

Unknown, assaulting whom we blindly meet,

Primary

And strew with Grecian carcasses the street.

Primary

Thus while their straggling parties we defeat,

Primary

Some to the shore and safer ships retreat;

Primary

And some, oppress'd with more ignoble fear,

Primary

Remount the hollow horse, and pant in secret there.

Primary

"But, ah! what use of valor can be made,

Primary

When heav'n's propitious pow'rs refuse their aid!

Primary

Behold the royal prophetess, the fair

Primary

Cassandra, dragg'd by her dishevel'd hair,

Primary

Whom not Minerva's shrine, nor sacred bands,

Primary

In safety could protect from sacrilegious hands:

Primary

On heav'n she cast her eyes, she sigh'd, she cried-

Primary

'T was all she could- her tender arms were tied.

Primary

So sad a sight Coroebus could not bear;

Primary

But, fir'd with rage, distracted with despair,

Primary

Amid the barb'rous ravishers he flew:

Primary

Our leader's rash example we pursue.

Primary

But storms of stones, from the proud temple's height,

Primary

Pour down, and on our batter'd helms alight:

Primary

We from our friends receiv'd this fatal blow,

Primary

Who thought us Grecians, as we seem'd in show.

Primary

They aim at the mistaken crests, from high;

Primary

And ours beneath the pond'rous ruin lie.

Primary

Then, mov'd with anger and disdain, to see

Primary

Their troops dispers'd, the royal virgin free,

Primary

The Grecians rally, and their pow'rs unite,

Primary

With fury charge us, and renew the fight.

Primary

The brother kings with Ajax join their force,

Primary

And the whole squadron of Thessalian horse.

Primary

"Thus, when the rival winds their quarrel try,

Primary

Contending for the kingdom of the sky,

Primary

South, east, and west, on airy coursers borne;

Primary

The whirlwind gathers, and the woods are torn:

Primary

Then Nereus strikes the deep; the billows rise,

Primary

And, mix'd with ooze and sand, pollute the skies.

Primary

The troops we squander'd first again appear

Primary

From several quarters, and enclose the rear.

Primary

They first observe, and to the rest betray,

Primary

Our diff'rent speech; our borrow'd arms survey.

Primary

Oppress'd with odds, we fall; Coroebus first,

Primary

At Pallas' altar, by Peneleus pierc'd.

Primary

Then Ripheus follow'd, in th' unequal fight;

Primary

Just of his word, observant of the right:

Primary

Heav'n thought not so. Dymas their fate attends,

Primary

With Hypanis, mistaken by their friends.

Primary

Nor, Pantheus, thee, thy miter, nor the bands

Primary

Of awful Phoebus, sav'd from impious hands.

Primary

Ye Trojan flames, your testimony bear,

Primary

What I perform'd, and what I suffer'd there;

Primary

No sword avoiding in the fatal strife,

Primary

Expos'd to death, and prodigal of life;

Primary

Witness, ye heavens! I live not by my fault:

Primary

I strove to have deserv'd the death I sought.

Primary

But, when I could not fight, and would have died,

Primary

Borne off to distance by the growing tide,

Primary

Old Iphitus and I were hurried thence,

Primary

With Pelias wounded, and without defense.

Primary

New clamors from th' invested palace ring:

Primary

We run to die, or disengage the king.

Primary

So hot th' assault, so high the tumult rose,

Primary

While ours defend, and while the Greeks oppose

Primary

As all the Dardan and Argolic race

Primary

Had been contracted in that narrow space;

Primary

Or as all Ilium else were void of fear,

Primary

And tumult, war, and slaughter, only there.

Primary

Their targets in a tortoise cast, the foes,

Primary

Secure advancing, to the turrets rose:

Primary

Some mount the scaling ladders; some, more bold,

Primary

Swerve upwards, and by posts and pillars hold;

Primary

Their left hand gripes their bucklers in th' ascent,

Primary

While with their right they seize the battlement.

Primary

From their demolish'd tow'rs the Trojans throw

Primary

Huge heaps of stones, that, falling, crush the foe;

Primary

And heavy beams and rafters from the sides

Primary

(Such arms their last necessity provides)

Primary

And gilded roofs, come tumbling from on high,

Primary

The marks of state and ancient royalty.

Primary

The guards below, fix'd in the pass, attend

Primary

The charge undaunted, and the gate defend.

Primary

Renew'd in courage with recover'd breath,

Primary

A second time we ran to tempt our death,

Primary

To clear the palace from the foe, succeed

Primary

The weary living, and revenge the dead.

Primary

"A postern door, yet unobserv'd and free,

Primary

Join'd by the length of a blind gallery,

Primary

To the king's closet led: a way well known

Primary

To Hector's wife, while Priam held the throne,

Primary

Thro' which she brought Astyanax, unseen,

Primary

To cheer his grandsire and his grandsire's queen.

Primary

Thro' this we pass, and mount the tow'r, from whence

Primary

With unavailing arms the Trojans make defense.

Primary

From this the trembling king had oft descried

Primary

The Grecian camp, and saw their navy ride.

Primary

Beams from its lofty height with swords we hew,

Primary

Then, wrenching with our hands, th' assault renew;

Primary

And, where the rafters on the columns meet,

Primary

We push them headlong with our arms and feet.

Primary

The lightning flies not swifter than the fall,

Primary

Nor thunder louder than the ruin'd wall:

Primary

Down goes the top at once; the Greeks beneath

Primary

Are piecemeal torn, or pounded into death.

Primary

Yet more succeed, and more to death are sent;

Primary

We cease not from above, nor they below relent.

Primary

Before the gate stood Pyrrhus, threat'ning loud,

Primary

With glitt'ring arms conspicuous in the crowd.

Primary

So shines, renew'd in youth, the crested snake,

Primary

Who slept the winter in a thorny brake,

Primary

And, casting off his slough when spring returns,

Primary

Now looks aloft, and with new glory burns;

Primary

Restor'd with poisonous herbs, his ardent sides

Primary

Reflect the sun; and rais'd on spires he rides;

Primary

High o'er the grass, hissing he rolls along,

Primary

And brandishes by fits his forky tongue.

Primary

Proud Periphas, and fierce Automedon,

Primary

His father's charioteer, together run

Primary

To force the gate; the Scyrian infantry

Primary

Rush on in crowds, and the barr'd passage free.

Primary

Ent'ring the court, with shouts the skies they rend;

Primary

And flaming firebrands to the roofs ascend.

Primary

Himself, among the foremost, deals his blows,

Primary

And with his ax repeated strokes bestows

Primary

On the strong doors; then all their shoulders ply,

Primary

Till from the posts the brazen hinges fly.

Primary

He hews apace; the double bars at length

Primary

Yield to his ax and unresisted strength.

Primary

A mighty breach is made: the rooms conceal'd

Primary

Appear, and all the palace is reveal'd;

Primary

The halls of audience, and of public state,

Primary

And where the lonely queen in secret sate.

Primary

Arm'd soldiers now by trembling maids are seen,

Primary

With not a door, and scarce a space, between.

Primary

The house is fill'd with loud laments and cries,

Primary

And shrieks of women rend the vaulted skies;

Primary

The fearful matrons run from place to place,

Primary

And kiss the thresholds, and the posts embrace.

Primary

The fatal work inhuman Pyrrhus plies,

Primary

And all his father sparkles in his eyes;

Primary

Nor bars, nor fighting guards, his force sustain:

Primary

The bars are broken, and the guards are slain.

Primary

In rush the Greeks, and all the apartments fill;

Primary

Those few defendants whom they find, they kill.

Primary

Not with so fierce a rage the foaming flood

Primary

Roars, when he finds his rapid course withstood;

Primary

Bears down the dams with unresisted sway,

Primary

And sweeps the cattle and the cots away.

Primary

These eyes beheld him when he march'd between

Primary

The brother kings: I saw th' unhappy queen,

Primary

The hundred wives, and where old Priam stood,

Primary

To stain his hallow'd altar with his brood.

Primary

The fifty nuptial beds (such hopes had he,

Primary

So large a promise, of a progeny),

Primary

The posts, of plated gold, and hung with spoils,

Primary

Fell the reward of the proud victor's toils.

Primary

Where'er the raging fire had left a space,

Primary

The Grecians enter and possess the place.

Primary

"Perhaps you may of Priam's fate enquire.

Primary

He, when he saw his regal town on fire,

Primary

His ruin'd palace, and his ent'ring foes,

Primary

On ev'ry side inevitable woes,

Primary

In arms, disus'd, invests his limbs, decay'd,

Primary

Like them, with age; a late and useless aid.

Primary

His feeble shoulders scarce the weight sustain;

Primary

Loaded, not arm'd, he creeps along with pain,

Primary

Despairing of success, ambitious to be slain!

Primary

Uncover'd but by heav'n, there stood in view

Primary

An altar; near the hearth a laurel grew,

Primary

Dodder'd with age, whose boughs encompass round

Primary

The household gods, and shade the holy ground.

Primary

Here Hecuba, with all her helpless train

Primary

Of dames, for shelter sought, but sought in vain.

Primary

Driv'n like a flock of doves along the sky,

Primary

Their images they hug, and to their altars fly.

Primary

The Queen, when she beheld her trembling lord,

Primary

And hanging by his side a heavy sword,

Primary

'What rage,' she cried, 'has seiz'd my husband's mind?

Primary

What arms are these, and to what use design'd?

Primary

These times want other aids! Were Hector here,

Primary

Ev'n Hector now in vain, like Priam, would appear.

Primary

With us, one common shelter thou shalt find,

Primary

Or in one common fate with us be join'd.'

Primary

She said, and with a last salute embrac'd

Primary

The poor old man, and by the laurel plac'd.

Primary

Behold! Polites, one of Priam's sons,

Primary

Pursued by Pyrrhus, there for safety runs.

Primary

Thro' swords and foes, amaz'd and hurt, he flies

Primary

Thro' empty courts and open galleries.

Primary

Him Pyrrhus, urging with his lance, pursues,

Primary

And often reaches, and his thrusts renews.

Primary

The youth, transfix'd, with lamentable cries,

Primary

Expires before his wretched parent's eyes:

Primary

Whom gasping at his feet when Priam saw,

Primary

The fear of death gave place to nature's law;

Primary

And, shaking more with anger than with age,

Primary

'The gods,' said he, 'requite thy brutal rage!

Primary

As sure they will, barbarian, sure they must,

Primary

If there be gods in heav'n, and gods be just-

Primary

Who tak'st in wrongs an insolent delight;

Primary

With a son's death t' infect a father's sight.

Primary

Not he, whom thou and lying fame conspire

Primary

To call thee his- not he, thy vaunted sire,

Primary

Thus us'd my wretched age: the gods he fear'd,

Primary

The laws of nature and of nations heard.

Primary

He cheer'd my sorrows, and, for sums of gold,

Primary

The bloodless carcass of my Hector sold;

Primary

Pitied the woes a parent underwent,

Primary

And sent me back in safety from his tent.'

Primary

"This said, his feeble hand a javelin threw,

Primary

Which, flutt'ring, seem'd to loiter as it flew:

Primary

Just, and but barely, to the mark it held,

Primary

And faintly tinkled on the brazen shield.

Primary

"Then Pyrrhus thus: 'Go thou from me to fate,

Primary

And to my father my foul deeds relate.

Primary

Now die!' With that he dragg'd the trembling sire,

Primary

Slidd'ring thro' clotter'd blood and holy mire,

Primary

(The mingled paste his murder'd son had made,)

Primary

Haul'd from beneath the violated shade,

Primary

And on the sacred pile the royal victim laid.

Primary

His right hand held his bloody falchion bare,

Primary

His left he twisted in his hoary hair;

Primary

Then, with a speeding thrust, his heart he found:

Primary

The lukewarm blood came rushing thro' the wound,

Primary

And sanguine streams distain'd the sacred ground.

Primary

Thus Priam fell, and shar'd one common fate

Primary

With Troy in ashes, and his ruin'd state:

Primary

He, who the scepter of all Asia sway'd,

Primary

Whom monarchs like domestic slaves obey'd.

Primary

On the bleak shore now lies th' abandon'd king,

Primary

A headless carcass, and a nameless thing.

Primary

"Then, not before, I felt my cruddled blood

Primary

Congeal with fear, my hair with horror stood:

Primary

My father's image fill'd my pious mind,

Primary

Lest equal years might equal fortune find.

Primary

Again I thought on my forsaken wife,

Primary

And trembled for my son's abandon'd life.

Primary

I look'd about, but found myself alone,

Primary

Deserted at my need! My friends were gone.

Primary

Some spent with toil, some with despair oppress'd,

Primary

Leap'd headlong from the heights; the flames consum'd the rest.

Primary

Thus, wand'ring in my way, without a guide,

Primary

The graceless Helen in the porch I spied

Primary

Of Vesta's temple; there she lurk'd alone;

Primary

Muffled she sate, and, what she could, unknown:

Primary

But, by the flames that cast their blaze around,

Primary

That common bane of Greece and Troy I found.

Primary

For Ilium burnt, she dreads the Trojan sword;

Primary

More dreads the vengeance of her injur'd lord;

Primary

Ev'n by those gods who refug'd her abhorr'd.

Primary

Trembling with rage, the strumpet I regard,

Primary

Resolv'd to give her guilt the due reward:

Primary

'Shall she triumphant sail before the wind,

Primary

And leave in flames unhappy Troy behind?

Primary

Shall she her kingdom and her friends review,

Primary

In state attended with a captive crew,

Primary

While unreveng'd the good old Priam falls,

Primary

And Grecian fires consume the Trojan walls?

Primary

For this the Phrygian fields and Xanthian flood

Primary

Were swell'd with bodies, and were drunk with blood?

Primary

'T is true, a soldier can small honor gain,

Primary

And boast no conquest, from a woman slain:

Primary

Yet shall the fact not pass without applause,

Primary

Of vengeance taken in so just a cause;

Primary

The punish'd crime shall set my soul at ease,

Primary

And murm'ring manes of my friends appease.'

Primary

Thus while I rave, a gleam of pleasing light

Primary

Spread o'er the place; and, shining heav'nly bright,

Primary

My mother stood reveal'd before my sight

Primary

Never so radiant did her eyes appear;

Primary

Not her own star confess'd a light so clear:

Primary

Great in her charms, as when on gods above

Primary

She looks, and breathes herself into their love.

Primary

She held my hand, the destin'd blow to break;

Primary

Then from her rosy lips began to speak:

Primary

'My son, from whence this madness, this neglect

Primary

Of my commands, and those whom I protect?

Primary

Why this unmanly rage? Recall to mind

Primary

Whom you forsake, what pledges leave behind.

Primary

Look if your helpless father yet survive,

Primary

Or if Ascanius or Creusa live.

Primary

Around your house the greedy Grecians err;

Primary

And these had perish'd in the nightly war,

Primary

But for my presence and protecting care.

Primary

Not Helen's face, nor Paris, was in fault;

Primary

But by the gods was this destruction brought.

Primary

Now cast your eyes around, while I dissolve

Primary

The mists and films that mortal eyes involve,

Primary

Purge from your sight the dross, and make you see

Primary

The shape of each avenging deity.

Primary

Enlighten'd thus, my just commands fulfil,

Primary

Nor fear obedience to your mother's will.

Primary

Where yon disorder'd heap of ruin lies,

Primary

Stones rent from stones; where clouds of dust arise-

Primary

Amid that smother Neptune holds his place,

Primary

Below the wall's foundation drives his mace,

Primary

And heaves the building from the solid base.

Primary

Look where, in arms, imperial Juno stands

Primary

Full in the Scaean gate, with loud commands,

Primary

Urging on shore the tardy Grecian bands.

Primary

See! Pallas, of her snaky buckler proud,

Primary

Bestrides the tow'r, refulgent thro' the cloud:

Primary

See! Jove new courage to the foe supplies,

Primary

And arms against the town the partial deities.

Primary

Haste hence, my son; this fruitless labor end:

Primary

Haste, where your trembling spouse and sire attend:

Primary

Haste; and a mother's care your passage shall befriend.'

Primary

She said, and swiftly vanish'd from my sight,

Primary

Obscure in clouds and gloomy shades of night.

Primary

I look'd, I listen'd; dreadful sounds I hear;

Primary

And the dire forms of hostile gods appear.

Primary

Troy sunk in flames I saw (nor could prevent),

Primary

And Ilium from its old foundations rent;

Primary

Rent like a mountain ash, which dar'd the winds,

Primary

And stood the sturdy strokes of lab'ring hinds.

Primary

About the roots the cruel ax resounds;

Primary

The stumps are pierc'd with oft-repeated wounds:

Primary

The war is felt on high; the nodding crown

Primary

Now threats a fall, and throws the leafy honors down.

Primary

To their united force it yields, tho' late,

Primary

And mourns with mortal groans th' approaching fate:

Primary

The roots no more their upper load sustain;

Primary

But down she falls, and spreads a ruin thro' the plain.

Primary

"Descending thence, I scape thro' foes and fire:

Primary

Before the goddess, foes and flames retire.

Primary

Arriv'd at home, he, for whose only sake,

Primary

Or most for his, such toils I undertake,

Primary

The good Anchises, whom, by timely flight,

Primary

I purpos'd to secure on Ida's height,

Primary

Refus'd the journey, resolute to die

Primary

And add his fun'rals to the fate of Troy,

Primary

Rather than exile and old age sustain.

Primary

'Go you, whose blood runs warm in ev'ry vein.

Primary

Had Heav'n decreed that I should life enjoy,

Primary

Heav'n had decreed to save unhappy Troy.

Primary

'T is, sure, enough, if not too much, for one,

Primary

Twice to have seen our Ilium overthrown.

Primary

Make haste to save the poor remaining crew,

Primary

And give this useless corpse a long adieu.

Primary

These weak old hands suffice to stop my breath;

Primary

At least the pitying foes will aid my death,

Primary

To take my spoils, and leave my body bare:

Primary

As for my sepulcher, let Heav'n take care.

Primary

'T is long since I, for my celestial wife

Primary

Loath'd by the gods, have dragg'd a ling'ring life;

Primary

Since ev'ry hour and moment I expire,

Primary

Blasted from heav'n by Jove's avenging fire.'

Primary

This oft repeated, he stood fix'd to die:

Primary

Myself, my wife, my son, my family,

Primary

Intreat, pray, beg, and raise a doleful cry-

Primary

'What, will he still persist, on death resolve,

Primary

And in his ruin all his house involve!'

Primary

He still persists his reasons to maintain;

Primary

Our pray'rs, our tears, our loud laments, are vain.

Primary

"Urg'd by despair, again I go to try

Primary

The fate of arms, resolv'd in fight to die:

Primary

'What hope remains, but what my death must give?

Primary

Can I, without so dear a father, live?

Primary

You term it prudence, what I baseness call:

Primary

Could such a word from such a parent fall?

Primary

If Fortune please, and so the gods ordain,

Primary

That nothing should of ruin'd Troy remain,

Primary

And you conspire with Fortune to be slain,

Primary

The way to death is wide, th' approaches near:

Primary

For soon relentless Pyrrhus will appear,

Primary

Reeking with Priam's blood- the wretch who slew

Primary

The son (inhuman) in the father's view,

Primary

And then the sire himself to the dire altar drew.

Primary

O goddess mother, give me back to Fate;

Primary

Your gift was undesir'd, and came too late!

Primary

Did you, for this, unhappy me convey

Primary

Thro' foes and fires, to see my house a prey?

Primary

Shall I my father, wife, and son behold,

Primary

Welt'ring in blood, each other's arms infold?

Primary

Haste! gird my sword, tho' spent and overcome:

Primary

'T is the last summons to receive our doom.

Primary

I hear thee, Fate; and I obey thy call!

Primary

Not unreveng'd the foe shall see my fall.

Primary

Restore me to the yet unfinish'd fight:

Primary

My death is wanting to conclude the night.'

Primary

Arm'd once again, my glitt'ring sword I wield,

Primary

While th' other hand sustains my weighty shield,

Primary

And forth I rush to seek th' abandon'd field.

Primary

I went; but sad Creusa stopp'd my way,

Primary

And cross the threshold in my passage lay,

Primary

Embrac'd my knees, and, when I would have gone,

Primary

Shew'd me my feeble sire and tender son:

Primary

'If death be your design, at least,' said she,

Primary

'Take us along to share your destiny.

Primary

If any farther hopes in arms remain,

Primary

This place, these pledges of your love, maintain.

Primary

To whom do you expose your father's life,

Primary

Your son's, and mine, your now forgotten wife!'

Primary

While thus she fills the house with clam'rous cries,

Primary

Our hearing is diverted by our eyes:

Primary

For, while I held my son, in the short space

Primary

Betwixt our kisses and our last embrace;

Primary

Strange to relate, from young Iulus' head

Primary

A lambent flame arose, which gently spread

Primary

Around his brows, and on his temples fed.

Primary

Amaz'd, with running water we prepare

Primary

To quench the sacred fire, and slake his hair;

Primary

But old Anchises, vers'd in omens, rear'd

Primary

His hands to heav'n, and this request preferr'd:

Primary

'If any vows, almighty Jove, can bend

Primary

Thy will; if piety can pray'rs commend,

Primary

Confirm the glad presage which thou art pleas'd to send.'

Primary

Scarce had he said, when, on our left, we hear

Primary

A peal of rattling thunder roll in air:

Primary

There shot a streaming lamp along the sky,

Primary

Which on the winged lightning seem'd to fly;

Primary

From o'er the roof the blaze began to move,

Primary

And, trailing, vanish'd in th' Idaean grove.

Primary

It swept a path in heav'n, and shone a guide,

Primary

Then in a steaming stench of sulphur died.

Primary

"The good old man with suppliant hands implor'd

Primary

The gods' protection, and their star ador'd.

Primary

'Now, now,' said he, 'my son, no more delay!

Primary

I yield, I follow where Heav'n shews the way.

Primary

Keep, O my country gods, our dwelling place,

Primary

And guard this relic of the Trojan race,

Primary

This tender child! These omens are your own,

Primary

And you can yet restore the ruin'd town.

Primary

At least accomplish what your signs foreshow:

Primary

I stand resign'd, and am prepar'd to go.'

Primary

"He said. The crackling flames appear on high.

Primary

And driving sparkles dance along the sky.

Primary

With Vulcan's rage the rising winds conspire,

Primary

And near our palace roll the flood of fire.

Primary

'Haste, my dear father, ('t is no time to wait,)

Primary

And load my shoulders with a willing freight.

Primary

Whate'er befalls, your life shall be my care;

Primary

One death, or one deliv'rance, we will share.

Primary

My hand shall lead our little son; and you,

Primary

My faithful consort, shall our steps pursue.

Primary

Next, you, my servants, heed my strict commands:

Primary

Without the walls a ruin'd temple stands,

Primary

To Ceres hallow'd once; a cypress nigh

Primary

Shoots up her venerable head on high,

Primary

By long religion kept; there bend your feet,

Primary

And in divided parties let us meet.

Primary

Our country gods, the relics, and the bands,

Primary

Hold you, my father, in your guiltless hands:

Primary

In me 't is impious holy things to bear,

Primary

Red as I am with slaughter, new from war,

Primary

Till in some living stream I cleanse the guilt

Primary

Of dire debate, and blood in battle spilt.'

Primary

Thus, ord'ring all that prudence could provide,

Primary

I clothe my shoulders with a lion's hide

Primary

And yellow spoils; then, on my bending back,

Primary

The welcome load of my dear father take;

Primary

While on my better hand Ascanius hung,

Primary

And with unequal paces tripp'd along.

Primary

Creusa kept behind; by choice we stray

Primary

Thro' ev'ry dark and ev'ry devious way.

Primary

I, who so bold and dauntless, just before,

Primary

The Grecian darts and shock of lances bore,

Primary

At ev'ry shadow now am seiz'd with fear,

Primary

Not for myself, but for the charge I bear;

Primary

Till, near the ruin'd gate arriv'd at last,

Primary

Secure, and deeming all the danger past,

Primary

A frightful noise of trampling feet we hear.

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My father, looking thro' the shades, with fear,

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Cried out: 'Haste, haste, my son, the foes are nigh;

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Their swords and shining armor I descry.'

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Some hostile god, for some unknown offense,

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Had sure bereft my mind of better sense;

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For, while thro' winding ways I took my flight,

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And sought the shelter of the gloomy night,

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Alas! I lost Creusa: hard to tell

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If by her fatal destiny she fell,

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Or weary sate, or wander'd with affright;

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But she was lost for ever to my sight.

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I knew not, or reflected, till I meet

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My friends, at Ceres' now deserted seat.

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We met: not one was wanting; only she

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Deceiv'd her friends, her son, and wretched me.

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"What mad expressions did my tongue refuse!

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Whom did I not, of gods or men, accuse!

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This was the fatal blow, that pain'd me more

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Than all I felt from ruin'd Troy before.

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Stung with my loss, and raving with despair,

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Abandoning my now forgotten care,

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Of counsel, comfort, and of hope bereft,

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My sire, my son, my country gods I left.

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In shining armor once again I sheathe

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My limbs, not feeling wounds, nor fearing death.

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Then headlong to the burning walls I run,

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And seek the danger I was forc'd to shun.

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I tread my former tracks; thro' night explore

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Each passage, ev'ry street I cross'd before.

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All things were full of horror and affright,

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And dreadful ev'n the silence of the night.

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Then to my father's house I make repair,

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With some small glimpse of hope to find her there.

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Instead of her, the cruel Greeks I met;

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The house was fill'd with foes, with flames beset.

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Driv'n on the wings of winds, whole sheets of fire,

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Thro' air transported, to the roofs aspire.

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From thence to Priam's palace I resort,

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And search the citadel and desart court.

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Then, unobserv'd, I pass by Juno's church:

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A guard of Grecians had possess'd the porch;

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There Phoenix and Ulysses watch prey,

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And thither all the wealth of Troy convey:

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The spoils which they from ransack'd houses brought,

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And golden bowls from burning altars caught,

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The tables of the gods, the purple vests,

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The people's treasure, and the pomp of priests.

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A rank of wretched youths, with pinion'd hands,

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And captive matrons, in long order stands.

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Then, with ungovern'd madness, I proclaim,

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Thro' all the silent street, Creusa's name:

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Creusa still I call; at length she hears,

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And sudden thro' the shades of night appears-

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Appears, no more Creusa, nor my wife,

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But a pale specter, larger than the life.

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Aghast, astonish'd, and struck dumb with fear,

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I stood; like bristles rose my stiffen'd hair.

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Then thus the ghost began to soothe my grief

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'Nor tears, nor cries, can give the dead relief.

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Desist, my much-lov'd lord,'t indulge your pain;

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You bear no more than what the gods ordain.

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My fates permit me not from hence to fly;

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Nor he, the great controller of the sky.

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Long wand'ring ways for you the pow'rs decree;

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On land hard labors, and a length of sea.

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Then, after many painful years are past,

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On Latium's happy shore you shall be cast,

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Where gentle Tiber from his bed beholds

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The flow'ry meadows, and the feeding folds.

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There end your toils; and there your fates provide

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A quiet kingdom, and a royal bride:

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There fortune shall the Trojan line restore,

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And you for lost Creusa weep no more.

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Fear not that I shall watch, with servile shame,

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Th' imperious looks of some proud Grecian dame;

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Or, stooping to the victor's lust, disgrace

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My goddess mother, or my royal race.

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And now, farewell! The parent of the gods

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Restrains my fleeting soul in her abodes:

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I trust our common issue to your care.'

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She said, and gliding pass'd unseen in air.

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I strove to speak: but horror tied my tongue;

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And thrice about her neck my arms I flung,

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And, thrice deceiv'd, on vain embraces hung.

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Light as an empty dream at break of day,

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Or as a blast of wind, she rush'd away.

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"Thus having pass'd the night in fruitless pain,

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I to my longing friends return again,

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Amaz'd th' augmented number to behold,

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Of men and matrons mix'd, of young and old;

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A wretched exil'd crew together brought,

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With arms appointed, and with treasure fraught,

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Resolv'd, and willing, under my command,

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To run all hazards both of sea and land.

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The Morn began, from Ida, to display

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Her rosy cheeks; and Phosphor led the day:

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Before the gates the Grecians took their post,

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And all pretense of late relief was lost.

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I yield to Fate, unwillingly retire,

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And, loaded, up the hill convey my sire."