Book XII

When Turnus saw the Latins leave the field,

Their armies broken, and their courage quell'd,

Himself become the mark of public spite,

His honor question'd for the promis'd fight;

The more he was with vulgar hate oppress'd,

The more his fury boil'd within his breast:

He rous'd his vigor for the last debate,

And rais'd his haughty soul to meet his fate.

As, when the swains the Libyan lion chase,

He makes a sour retreat, nor mends his pace;

But, if the pointed jav'lin pierce his side,

The lordly beast returns with double pride:

He wrenches out the steel, he roars for pain;

His sides he lashes, and erects his mane:

So Turnus fares; his eyeballs flash with fire,

Thro' his wide nostrils clouds of smoke expire.

Trembling with rage, around the court he ran,

At length approach'd the king, and thus began:

"No more excuses or delays: I stand

In arms prepar'd to combat, hand to hand,

This base deserter of his native land.

The Trojan, by his word, is bound to take

The same conditions which himself did make.

Renew the truce; the solemn rites prepare,

And to my single virtue trust the war.

The Latians unconcern'd shall see the fight;

This arm unaided shall assert your right:

Then, if my prostrate body press the plain,

To him the crown and beauteous bride remain."

To whom the king sedately thus replied:

"Brave youth, the more your valor has been tried,

The more becomes it us, with due respect,

To weigh the chance of war, which you neglect.

You want not wealth, or a successive throne,

Or cities which your arms have made your own:

My towns and treasures are at your command,

And stor'd with blooming beauties is my land;

Laurentum more than one Lavinia sees,

Unmarried, fair, of noble families.

Now let me speak, and you with patience hear,

Things which perhaps may grate a lover's ear,

But sound advice, proceeding from a heart

Sincerely yours, and free from fraudful art.

The gods, by signs, have manifestly shown,

No prince Italian born should heir my throne:

Oft have our augurs, in prediction skill'd,

And oft our priests, foreign son reveal'd.

Yet, won by worth that cannot be withstood,

Brib'd by my kindness to my kindred blood,

Urg'd by my wife, who would not be denied,

I promis'd my Lavinia for your bride:

Her from her plighted lord by force I took;

All ties of treaties, and of honor, broke:

On your account I wag'd an impious war-

With what success, 't is needless to declare;

I and my subjects feel, and you have had your share.

Twice vanquish'd while in bloody fields we strive,

Scarce in our walls we keep our hopes alive:

The rolling flood runs warm with human gore;

The bones of Latians blanch the neighb'ring shore.

Why put I not an end to this debate,

Still unresolv'd, and still a slave to fate?

If Turnus' death a lasting peace can give,

Why should I not procure it whilst you live?

Should I to doubtful arms your youth betray,

What would my kinsmen the Rutulians say?

And, should you fall in fight, (which Heav'n defend!)

How curse the cause which hasten'd to his end

The daughter's lover and the father's friend?

Weigh in your mind the various chance of war;

Pity your parent's age, and ease his care."

Such balmy words he pour'd, but all in vain:

The proffer'd med'cine but provok'd the pain.

The wrathful youth, disdaining the relief,

With intermitting sobs thus vents his grief:

"The care, O best of fathers, which you take

For my concerns, at my desire forsake.

Permit me not to languish out my days,

But make the best exchange of life for praise.

This arm, this lance, can well dispute the prize;

And the blood follows, where the weapon flies.

His goddess mother is not near, to shroud

The flying coward with an empty cloud."

But now the queen, who fear'd for Turnus' life,

And loath'd the hard conditions of the strife,

Held him by force; and, dying in his death,

In these sad accents gave her sorrow breath:

"O Turnus, I adjure thee by these tears,

And whate'er price Amata's honor bears

Within thy breast, since thou art all my hope,

My sickly mind's repose, my sinking age's prop;

Since on the safety of thy life alone

Depends Latinus, and the Latian throne:

Refuse me not this one, this only pray'r,

To waive the combat, and pursue the war.

Whatever chance attends this fatal strife,

Think it includes, in thine, Amata's life.

I cannot live a slave, or see my throne

Usurp'd by strangers or a Trojan son."

At this, a flood of tears Lavinia shed;

A crimson blush her beauteous face o'erspread,

Varying her cheeks by turns with white and red.

The driving colors, never at a stay,

Run here and there, and flush, and fade away.

Delightful change! Thus Indian iv'ry shows,

Which with the bord'ring paint of purple glows;

Or lilies damask'd by the neighb'ring rose.

The lover gaz'd, and, burning with desire,

The more he look'd, the more he fed the fire:

Revenge, and jealous rage, and secret spite,

Roll in his breast, and rouse him to the fight.

Then fixing on the queen his ardent eyes,

Firm to his first intent, he thus replies:

"O mother, do not by your tears prepare

Such boding omens, and prejudge the war.

Resolv'd on fight, I am no longer free

To shun my death, if Heav'n my death decree."

Then turning to the herald, thus pursues:

"Go, greet the Trojan with ungrateful news;

Denounce from me, that, when to-morrow's light

Shall gild the heav'ns, he need not urge the fight;

The Trojan and Rutulian troops no more

Shall dye, with mutual blood, the Latian shore:

Our single swords the quarrel shall decide,

And to the victor be the beauteous bride."

He said, and striding on, with speedy pace,

He sought his coursers of the Thracian race.

At his approach they toss their heads on high,

And, proudly neighing, promise victory.

The sires of these Orythia sent from far,

To grace Pilumnus, when he went to war.

The drifts of Thracian snows were scarce so white,

Nor northern winds in fleetness match'd their flight.

Officious grooms stand ready by his side;

And some with combs their flowing manes divide,

And others stroke their chests and gently soothe their pride

He sheath'd his limbs in arms; a temper'd mass

Of golden metal those, and mountain brass.

Then to his head his glitt'ring helm he tied,

And girt his faithful fauchion to his side.

In his Aetnaean forge, the God of Fire

That fauchion labor'd for the hero's sire;

Immortal keenness on the blade bestow'd,

And plung'd it hissing in the Stygian flood.

Propp'd on a pillar, which the ceiling bore,

Was plac'd the lance Auruncan Actor wore;

Which with such force he brandish'd in his hand,

The tough ash trembled like an osier wand:

Then cried: "O pond'rous spoil of Actor slain,

And never yet by Turnus toss'd in vain,

Fail not this day thy wonted force; but go,

Sent by this hand, to pierce the Trojan foe!

Give me to tear his corslet from his breast,

And from that eunuch head to rend the crest;

Dragg'd in the dust, his frizzled hair to soil,

Hot from the vexing ir'n, and smear'd with fragrant oil!"

Thus while he raves, from his wide nostrils flies

A fiery steam, and sparkles from his eyes.

So fares the bull in his lov'd female's sight:

Proudly he bellows, and preludes the fight;

He tries his goring horns against a tree,

And meditates his absent enemy;

He pushes at the winds; he digs the strand

With his black hoofs, and spurns the yellow sand.

Nor less the Trojan, in his Lemnian arms,

To future fight his manly courage warms:

He whets his fury, and with joy prepares

To terminate at once the ling'ring wars;

To cheer his chiefs and tender son, relates

What Heav'n had promis'd, and expounds the fates.

Then to the Latian king he sends, to cease

The rage of arms, and ratify the peace.

The morn ensuing, from the mountain's height,

Had scarcely spread the skies with rosy light;

Th' ethereal coursers, bounding from the sea,

From out their flaming nostrils breath'd the day;

When now the Trojan and Rutulian guard,

In friendly labor join'd, the list prepar'd.

Beneath the walls they measure out the space;

Then sacred altars rear, on sods of grass,

Where, with religious their common gods they place.

In purest white the priests their heads attire;

And living waters bear, and holy fire;

And, o'er their linen hoods and shaded hair,

Long twisted wreaths of sacred veryain wear,

In order issuing from the town appears

The Latin legion, arm'd with pointed spears;

And from the fields, advancing on a line,

The Trojan and the Tuscan forces join:

Their various arms afford a pleasing sight;

A peaceful train they seem, in peace prepar'd for fight.

Betwixt the ranks the proud commanders ride,

Glitt'ring with gold, and vests in purple dyed;

Here Mnestheus, author of the Memmian line,

And there Messapus, born of seed divine.

The sign is giv'n; and, round the listed space,

Each man in order fills his proper place.

Reclining on their ample shields, they stand,

And fix their pointed lances in the sand.

Now, studious of the sight, a num'rous throng

Of either sex promiscuous, old and young,

Swarm the town: by those who rest behind,

The gates and walls and houses' tops are lin'd.

Meantime the Queen of Heav'n beheld the sight,

With eyes unpleas'd, from Mount Albano's height

(Since call'd Albano by succeeding fame,

But then an empty hill, without a name).

She thence survey'd the field, the Trojan pow'rs,

The Latian squadrons, and Laurentine tow'rs.

Then thus the goddess of the skies bespoke,

With sighs and tears, the goddess of the lake,

King Turnus' sister, once a lovely maid,

Ere to the lust of lawless Jove betray'd:

Compress'd by force, but, by the grateful god,

Now made the Nais of the neighb'ring flood.

"O nymph, the pride of living lakes," said she,

"O most renown'd, and most belov'd by me,

Long hast thou known, nor need I to record,

The wanton sallies of my wand'ring lord.

Of ev'ry Latian fair whom Jove misled

To mount by stealth my violated bed,

To thee alone I grudg'd not his embrace,

But gave a part of heav'n, and an unenvied place.

Now learn from me thy near approaching grief,

Nor think my wishes want to thy relief.

While fortune favor'd, nor Heav'n's King denied

To lend my succor to the Latian side,

I sav'd thy brother, and the sinking state:

But now he struggles with unequal fate,

And goes, with gods averse, o'ermatch'd in might,

To meet inevitable death in fight;

Nor must I break the truce, nor can sustain the sight.

Thou, if thou dar'st thy present aid supply;

It well becomes a sister's care to try."

At this the lovely nymph, with grief oppress'd,

Thrice tore her hair, and beat her comely breast.

To whom Saturnia thus: "Thy tears are late:

Haste, snatch him, if he can be snatch'd from fate:

New tumults kindle; violate the truce:

Who knows what changeful fortune may produce?

'T is not a crime t' attempt what I decree;

Or, if it were, discharge the crime on me."

She said, and, sailing on the winged wind,

Left the sad nymph suspended in her mind.

And now pomp the peaceful kings appear:

Four steeds the chariot of Latinus bear;

Twelve golden beams around his temples play,

To mark his lineage from the God of Day.

Two snowy coursers Turnus' chariot yoke,

And in his hand two massy spears he shook:

Then issued from the camp, in arms divine,

Aeneas, author of the Roman line;

And by his side Ascanius took his place,

The second hope of Rome's immortal race.

Adorn'd in white, a rev'rend priest appears,

And off'rings to the flaming altars bears;

A porket, and a lamb that never suffer'd shears.

Then to the rising sun he turns his eyes,

And strews the beasts, design'd for sacrifice,

With salt and meal: with like officious care

He marks their foreheads, and he clips their hair.

Betwixt their horns the purple wine he sheds;

With the same gen'rous juice the flame he feeds.

Aeneas then unsheath'd his shining sword,

And thus with pious pray'rs the gods ador'd:

"All-seeing sun, and thou, Ausonian soil,

For which I have sustain'd so long a toil,

Thou, King of Heav'n, and thou, the Queen of Air,

Propitious now, and reconcil'd by pray'r;

Thou, God of War, whose unresisted sway

The labors and events of arms obey;

Ye living fountains, and ye running floods,

All pow'rs of ocean, all ethereal gods,

Hear, and bear record: if I fall in field,

Or, recreant in the fight, to Turnus yield,

My Trojans shall encrease Evander's town;

Ascanius shall renounce th' Ausonian crown:

All claims, all questions of debate, shall cease;

Nor he, nor they, with force infringe the peace.

But, if my juster arms prevail in fight,

(As sure they shall, if I divine aright,)

My Trojans shall not o'er th' Italians reign:

Both equal, both unconquer'd shall remain,

Join'd in their laws, their lands, and their abodes;

I ask but altars for my weary gods.

The care of those religious rites be mine;

The crown to King Latinus I resign:

His be the sov'reign sway. Nor will I share

His pow'r in peace, or his command in war.

For me, my friends another town shall frame,

And bless the rising tow'rs with fair Lavinia's name."

Thus he. Then, with erected eyes and hands,

The Latian king before his altar stands.

"By the same heav'n," said he, "and earth, and main,

And all the pow'rs that all the three contain;

By hell below, and by that upper god

Whose thunder signs the peace, who seals it with his nod;

So let Latona's double offspring hear,

And double-fronted Janus, what I swear:

I touch the sacred altars, touch the flames,

And all those pow'rs attest, and all their names;

Whatever chance befall on either side,

No term of time this union shall divide:

No force, no fortune, shall my vows unbind,

Or shake the steadfast tenor of my mind;

Not tho' the circling seas should break their bound,

O'erflow the shores, or sap the solid ground;

Not tho' the lamps of heav'n their spheres forsake,

Hurl'd down, and hissing in the nether lake:

Ev'n as this royal scepter" (for he bore

A scepter in his hand) "shall never more

Shoot out in branches, or renew the birth:

An orphan now, cut from the mother earth

By the keen ax, dishonor'd of its hair,

And cas'd in brass, for Latian kings to bear."

When thus in public view the peace was tied

With solemn vows, and sworn on either side,

All dues perform'd which holy rites require;

The victim beasts are slain before the fire,

The trembling entrails from their bodies torn,

And to the fatten'd flames in chargers borne.

Already the Rutulians deem their man

O'ermatch'd in arms, before the fight began.

First rising fears are whisper'd thro' the crowd;

Then, gath'ring sound, they murmur more aloud.

Now, side to side, they measure with their eyes

The champions' bulk, their sinews, and their size:

The nearer they approach, the more is known

Th' apparent disadvantage of their own.

Turnus himself appears in public sight

Conscious of fate, desponding of the fight.

Slowly he moves, and at his altar stands

With eyes dejected, and with trembling hands;

And, while he mutters undistinguish'd pray'rs,

A livid deadness in his cheeks appears.

With anxious pleasure when Juturna view'd

Th' increasing fright of the mad multitude,

When their short sighs and thick'ning sobs she heard,

And found their ready minds for change prepar'd;

Dissembling her immortal form, she took

Camertus' mien, his habit, and his look;

A chief of ancient blood; in arms well known

Was his great sire, and he his greater son.

His shape assum'd, amid the ranks she ran,

And humoring their first motions, thus began:

"For shame, Rutulians, can you bear the sight

Of one expos'd for all, in single fight?

Can we, before the face of heav'n, confess

Our courage colder, or our numbers less?

View all the Trojan host, th' Arcadian band,

And Tuscan army; count 'em as they stand:

Undaunted to the battle if we go,

Scarce ev'ry second man will share a foe.

Turnus, 't is true, in this unequal strife,

Shall lose, with honor, his devoted life,

Or change it rather for immortal fame,

Succeeding to the gods, from whence he came:

But you, a servile and inglorious band,

For foreign lords shall sow your native land,

Those fruitful fields your fighting fathers gain'd,

Which have so long their lazy sons sustain'd."

With words like these, she carried her design:

A rising murmur runs along the line.

Then ev'n the city troops, and Latians, tir'd

With tedious war, seem with new souls inspir'd:

Their champion's fate with pity they lament,

And of the league, so lately sworn, repent.

Nor fails the goddess to foment the rage

With lying wonders, and a false presage;

But adds a sign, which, present to their eyes,

Inspires new courage, and a glad surprise.

For, sudden, in the fiery tracts above,

Appears in pomp th' imperial bird of Jove:

A plump of fowl he spies, that swim the lakes,

And o'er their heads his sounding pinions shakes;

Then, stooping on the fairest of the train,

In his strong talons truss'd a silver swan.

Th' Italians wonder at th' unusual sight;

But, while he lags, and labors in his flight,

Behold, the dastard fowl return anew,

And with united force the foe pursue:

Clam'rous around the royal hawk they fly,

And, thick'ning in a cloud, o'ershade the sky.

They cuff, they scratch, they cross his airy course;

Nor can th' incumber'd bird sustain their force;

But vex'd, not vanquish'd, drops the pond'rous prey,

And, lighten'd of his burthen, wings his way.

Th' Ausonian bands with shouts salute the sight,

Eager of action, and demand the fight.

Then King Tolumnius, vers'd in augurs' arts,

Cries out, and thus his boasted skill imparts:

"At length 't is granted, what I long desir'd!

This, this is what my frequent vows requir'd.

Ye gods, I take your omen, and obey.

Advance, my friends, and charge! I lead the way.

These are the foreign foes, whose impious band,

Like that rapacious bird, infest our land:

But soon, like him, they shall be forc'd to sea

By strength united, and forego the prey.

Your timely succor to your country bring,

Haste to the rescue, and redeem your king."

He said; and, pressing onward thro' the crew,

Pois'd in his lifted arm, his lance he threw.

The winged weapon, whistling in the wind,

Came driving on, nor miss'd the mark design'd.

At once the cornel rattled in the skies;

At once tumultuous shouts and clamors rise.

Nine brothers in a goodly band there stood,

Born of Arcadian mix'd with Tuscan blood,

Gylippus' sons: the fatal jav'lin flew,

Aim'd at the midmost of the friendly crew.

A passage thro' the jointed arms it found,

Just where the belt was to the body bound,

And struck the gentle youth extended on the ground.

Then, fir'd with pious rage, the gen'rous train

Run madly forward to revenge the slain.

And some with eager haste their jav'lins throw;

And some with sword in hand assault the foe.

The wish'd insult the Latine troops embrace,

And meet their ardor in the middle space.

The Trojans, Tuscans, and Arcadian line,

With equal courage obviate their design.

Peace leaves the violated fields, and hate

Both armies urges to their mutual fate.

With impious haste their altars are o'erturn'd,

The sacrifice half-broil'd, and half-unburn'd.

Thick storms of steel from either army fly,

And clouds of clashing darts obscure the sky;

Brands from the fire are missive weapons made,

With chargers, bowls, and all the priestly trade.

Latinus, frighted, hastens from the fray,

And bears his unregarded gods away.

These on their horses vault; those yoke the car;

The rest, with swords on high, run headlong to the war.

Messapus, eager to confound the peace,

Spurr'd his hot courser thro' the fighting prease,

At King Aulestes, by his purple known

A Tuscan prince, and by his regal crown;

And, with a shock encount'ring, bore him down.

Backward he fell; and, as his fate design'd,

The ruins of an altar were behind:

There, pitching on his shoulders and his head,

Amid the scatt'ring fires he lay supinely spread.

The beamy spear, descending from above,

His cuirass pierc'd, and thro' his body drove.

Then, with a scornful smile, the victor cries:

"The gods have found a fitter sacrifice."

Greedy of spoils, th' Italians strip the dead

Of his rich armor, and uncrown his head.

Priest Corynaeus, arm'd his better hand,

From his own altar, with a blazing brand;

And, as Ebusus with a thund'ring pace

Advanc'd to battle, dash'd it on his face:

His bristly beard shines out with sudden fires;

The crackling crop a noisome scent expires.

Following the blow, he seiz'd his curling crown

With his left hand; his other cast him down.

The prostrate body with his knees he press'd,

And plung'd his holy poniard in his breast.

While Podalirius, with his sword, pursued

The shepherd Alsus thro' the flying crowd,

Swiftly he turns, and aims a deadly blow

Full on the front of his unwary foe.

The broad ax enters with a crashing sound,

And cleaves the chin with one continued wound;

Warm blood, and mingled brains, besmear his arms around

An iron sleep his stupid eyes oppress'd,

And seal'd their heavy lids in endless rest.

But good Aeneas rush'd amid the bands;

Bare was his head, and naked were his hands,

In sign of truce: then thus he cries aloud:

"What sudden rage, what new desire of blood,

Inflames your alter'd minds? O Trojans, cease

From impious arms, nor violate the peace!

By human sanctions, and by laws divine,

The terms are all agreed; the war is mine.

Dismiss your fears, and let the fight ensue;

This hand alone shall right the gods and you:

Our injur'd altars, and their broken vow,

To this avenging sword the faithless Turnus owe."

Thus while he spoke, unmindful of defense,

A winged arrow struck the pious prince.

But, whether from some human hand it came,

Or hostile god, is left unknown by fame:

No human hand or hostile god was found,

To boast the triumph of so base a wound.

When Turnus saw the Trojan quit the plain,

His chiefs dismay'd, his troops a fainting train,

Th' unhop'd event his heighten'd soul inspires:

At once his arms and coursers he requires;

Then, with a leap, his lofty chariot gains,

And with a ready hand assumes the reins.

He drives impetuous, and, where'er he goes,

He leaves behind a lane of slaughter'd foes.

These his lance reaches; over those he rolls

His rapid car, and crushes out their souls:

In vain the vanquish'd fly; the victor sends

The dead men's weapons at their living friends.

Thus, on the banks of Hebrus' freezing flood,

The God of Battles, in his angry mood,

Clashing his sword against his brazen shield,

Let loose the reins, and scours along the field:

Before the wind his fiery coursers fly;

Groans the sad earth, resounds the rattling sky.

Wrath, Terror, Treason, Tumult, and Despair

(Dire faces, and deform'd) surround the car;

Friends of the god, and followers of the war.

With fury not unlike, nor less disdain,

Exulting Turnus flies along the plain:

His smoking horses, at their utmost speed,

He lashes on, and urges o'er the dead.

Their fetlocks run with blood; and, when they bound,

The gore and gath'ring dust are dash'd around.

Thamyris and Pholus, masters of the war,

He kill'd at hand, but Sthenelus afar:

From far the sons of Imbracus he slew,

Glaucus and Lades, of the Lycian crew;

Both taught to fight on foot, in battle join'd,

Or mount the courser that outstrips the wind.

Meantime Eumedes, vaunting in the field,

New fir'd the Trojans, and their foes repell'd.

This son of Dolon bore his grandsire's name,

But emulated more his father's fame;

His guileful father, sent a nightly spy,

The Grecian camp and order to descry:

Hard enterprise! and well he might require

Achilles' car and horses, for his hire:

But, met upon the scout, th' Aetolian prince

In death bestow'd a juster recompense.

Fierce Turnus view'd the Trojan from afar,

And launch'd his jav'lin from his lofty car;

Then lightly leaping down, pursued the blow,

And, pressing with his foot his prostrate foe,

Wrench'd from his feeble hold the shining sword,

And plung'd it in the bosom of its lord.

"Possess," said he, "the fruit of all thy pains,

And measure, at thy length, our Latian plains.

Thus are my foes rewarded by my hand;

Thus may they build their town, and thus enjoy the land!"

Then Dares, Butes, Sybaris he slew,

Whom o'er his neck his flound'ring courser threw.

As when loud Boreas, with his blust'ring train,

Stoops from above, incumbent on the main;

Where'er he flies, he drives the rack before,

And rolls the billows on th' Aegaean shore:

So, where resistless Turnus takes his course,

The scatter'd squadrons bend before his force;

His crest of horses' hair is blown behind

By adverse air, and rustles in the wind.

This haughty Phegeus saw with high disdain,

And, as the chariot roll'd along the plain,

Light from the ground he leapt, and seiz'd the rein.

Thus hung in air, he still retain'd his hold,

The coursers frighted, and their course controll'd.

The lance of Turnus reach'd him as he hung,

And pierc'd his plated arms, but pass'd along,

And only raz'd the skin. He turn'd, and held

Against his threat'ning foe his ample shield;

Then call'd for aid: but, while he cried in vain,

The chariot bore him backward on the plain.

He lies revers'd; the victor king descends,

And strikes so justly where his helmet ends,

He lops the head. The Latian fields are drunk

With streams that issue from the bleeding trunk.

While he triumphs, and while the Trojans yield,

The wounded prince is forc'd to leave the field:

Strong Mnestheus, and Achates often tried,

And young Ascanius, weeping by his side,

Conduct him to his tent. Scarce can he rear

His limbs from earth, supported on his spear.

Resolv'd in mind, regardless of the smart,

He tugs with both his hands, and breaks the dart.

The steel remains. No readier way he found

To draw the weapon, than t' inlarge the wound.

Eager of fight, impatient of delay,

He begs; and his unwilling friends obey.

Iapis was at hand to prove his art,

Whose blooming youth so fir'd Apollo's heart,

That, for his love, he proffer'd to bestow

His tuneful harp and his unerring bow.

The pious youth, more studious how to save

His aged sire, now sinking to the grave,

Preferr'd the pow'r of plants, and silent praise

Of healing arts, before Phoebean bays.

Propp'd on his lance the pensive hero stood,

And heard and saw, unmov'd, the mourning crowd.

The fam'd physician tucks his robes around

With ready hands, and hastens to the wound.

With gentle touches he performs his part,

This way and that, soliciting the dart,

And exercises all his heav'nly art.

All soft'ning simples, known of sov'reign use,

He presses out, and pours their noble juice.

These first infus'd, to lenify the pain,

He tugs with pincers, but he tugs in vain.

Then to the patron of his art he pray'd:

The patron of his art refus'd his aid.

Meantime the war approaches to the tents;

Th' alarm grows hotter, and the noise augments:

The driving dust proclaims the danger near;

And first their friends, and then their foes appear:

Their friends retreat; their foes pursue the rear.

The camp is fill'd with terror and affright:

The hissing shafts within the trench alight;

An undistinguish'd noise ascends the sky,

The shouts those who kill, and groans of those who die.

But now the goddess mother, mov'd with grief,

And pierc'd with pity, hastens her relief.

A branch of healing dittany she brought,

Which in the Cretan fields with care she sought:

Rough is the stern, which woolly leafs surround;

The leafs with flow'rs, the flow'rs with purple crown'd,

Well known to wounded goats; a sure relief

To draw the pointed steel, and ease the grief.

This Venus brings, in clouds involv'd, and brews

Th' extracted liquor with ambrosian dews,

And odorous panacee. Unseen she stands,

Temp'ring the mixture with her heav'nly hands,

And pours it in a bowl, already crown'd

With juice of med'c'nal herbs prepar'd to bathe the wound.

The leech, unknowing of superior art

Which aids the cure, with this foments the part;

And in a moment ceas'd the raging smart.

Stanch'd is the blood, and in the bottom stands:

The steel, but scarcely touch'd with tender hands,

Moves up, and follows of its own accord,

And health and vigor are at once restor'd.

Iapis first perceiv'd the closing wound,

And first the footsteps of a god he found.

"Arms! arms!" he cries; "the sword and shield prepare,

And send the willing chief, renew'd, to war.

This is no mortal work, no cure of mine,

Nor art's effect, but done by hands divine.

Some god our general to the battle sends;

Some god preserves his life for greater ends."

The hero arms in haste; his hands infold

His thighs with cuishes of refulgent gold:

Inflam'd to fight, and rushing to the field,

That hand sustaining the celestial shield,

This gripes the lance, and with such vigor shakes,

That to the rest the beamy weapon quakes.

Then with a close embrace he strain'd his son,

And, kissing thro' his helmet, thus begun:

"My son, from my example learn the war,

In camps to suffer, and in fields to dare;

But happier chance than mine attend thy care!

This day my hand thy tender age shall shield,

And crown with honors of the conquer'd field:

Thou, when thy riper years shall send thee forth

To toils of war, be mindful of my worth;

Assert thy birthright, and in arms be known,

For Hector's nephew, and Aeneas' son."

He said; and, striding, issued on the plain.

Anteus and Mnestheus, and a num'rous train,

Attend his steps; the rest their weapons take,

And, crowding to the field, the camp forsake.

A cloud of blinding dust is rais'd around,

Labors beneath their feet the trembling ground.

Now Turnus, posted on a hill, from far

Beheld the progress of the moving war:

With him the Latins view'd the cover'd plains,

And the chill blood ran backward in their veins.

Juturna saw th' advancing troops appear,

And heard the hostile sound, and fled for fear.

Aeneas leads; and draws a sweeping train,

Clos'd in their ranks, and pouring on the plain.

As when a whirlwind, rushing to the shore

From the mid ocean, drives the waves before;

The painful hind with heavy heart foresees

The flatted fields, and slaughter of the trees;

With like impetuous rage the prince appears

Before his doubled front, nor less destruction bears.

And now both armies shock in open field;

Osiris is by strong Thymbraeus kill'd.

Archetius, Ufens, Epulon, are slain

(All fam'd in arms, and of the Latian train)

By Gyas', Mnestheus', and Achates' hand.

The fatal augur falls, by whose command

The truce was broken, and whose lance, embrued

With Trojan blood, th' unhappy fight renew'd.

Loud shouts and clamors rend the liquid sky,

And o'er the field the frighted Latins fly.

The prince disdains the dastards to pursue,

Nor moves to meet in arms the fighting few;

Turnus alone, amid the dusky plain,

He seeks, and to the combat calls in vain.

Juturna heard, and, seiz'd with mortal fear,

Forc'd from the beam her brother's charioteer;

Assumes his shape, his armor, and his mien,

And, like Metiscus, in his seat is seen.

As the black swallow near the palace plies;

O'er empty courts, and under arches, flies;

Now hawks aloft, now skims along the flood,

To furnish her loquacious nest with food:

So drives the rapid goddess o'er the plains;

The smoking horses run with loosen'd reins.

She steers a various course among the foes;

Now here, now there, her conqu'ring brother shows;

Now with a straight, now with a wheeling flight,

She turns, and bends, but shuns the single fight.

Aeneas, fir'd with fury, breaks the crowd,

And seeks his foe, and calls by name aloud:

He runs within a narrower ring, and tries

To stop the chariot; but the chariot flies.

If he but gain a glimpse, Juturna fears,

And far away the Daunian hero bears.

What should he do! Nor arts nor arms avail;

And various cares in vain his mind assail.

The great Messapus, thund'ring thro' the field,

In his left hand two pointed jav'lins held:

Encount'ring on the prince, one dart he drew,

And with unerring aim and utmost vigor threw.

Aeneas saw it come, and, stooping low

Beneath his buckler, shunn'd the threat'ning blow.

The weapon hiss'd above his head, and tore

The waving plume which on his helm he wore.

Forced by this hostile act, and fir'd with spite,

That flying Turnus still declin'd the fight,

The Prince, whose piety had long repell'd

His inborn ardor, now invades the field;

Invokes the pow'rs of violated peace,

Their rites and injur'd altars to redress;

Then, to his rage abandoning the rein,

With blood and slaughter'd bodies fills the plain.

What god can tell, what numbers can display,

The various labors of that fatal day;

What chiefs and champions fell on either side,

In combat slain, or by what deaths they died;

Whom Turnus, whom the Trojan hero kill'd;

Who shar'd the fame and fortune of the field!

Jove, could'st thou view, and not avert thy sight,

Two jarring nations join'd in cruel fight,

Whom leagues of lasting love so shortly shall unite!

Aeneas first Rutulian Sucro found,

Whose valor made the Trojans quit their ground;

Betwixt his ribs the jav'lin drove so just,

It reach'd his heart, nor needs a second thrust.

Now Turnus, at two blows, two brethren slew;

First from his horse fierce Amycus he threw:

Then, leaping on the ground, on foot assail'd

Diores, and in equal fight prevail'd.

Their lifeless trunks he leaves upon the place;

Their heads, distilling gore, his chariot grace.

Three cold on earth the Trojan hero threw,

Whom without respite at one charge he slew:

Cethegus, Tanais, Tagus, fell oppress'd,

And sad Onythes, added to the rest,

Of Theban blood, whom Peridia bore.

Turnus two brothers from the Lycian shore,

And from Apollo's fane to battle sent,

O'erthrew; nor Phoebus could their fate prevent.

Peaceful Menoetes after these he kill'd,

Who long had shunn'd the dangers of the field:

On Lerna's lake a silent life he led,

And with his nets and angle earn'd his bread;

Nor pompous cares, nor palaces, he knew,

But wisely from th' infectious world withdrew:

Poor was his house; his father's painful hand

Discharg'd his rent, and plow'd another's land.

As flames among the lofty woods are thrown

On diff'rent sides, and both by winds are blown;

The laurels crackle in the sputt'ring fire;

The frighted sylvans from their shades retire:

Or as two neighb'ring torrents fall from high;

Rapid they run; the foamy waters fry;

They roll to sea with unresisted force,

And down the rocks precipitate their course:

Not with less rage the rival heroes take

Their diff'rent ways, nor less destruction make.

With spears afar, with swords at hand, they strike;

And zeal of slaughter fires their souls alike.

Like them, their dauntless men maintain the field;

And hearts are pierc'd, unknowing how to yield:

They blow for blow return, and wound for wound;

And heaps of bodies raise the level ground.

Murranus, boasting of his blood, that springs

From a long royal race of Latian kings,

Is by the Trojan from his chariot thrown,

Crush'd with the weight of an unwieldy stone:

Betwixt the wheels he fell; the wheels, that bore

His living load, his dying body tore.

His starting steeds, to shun the glitt'ring sword,

Paw down his trampled limbs, forgetful of their lord.

Fierce Hyllus threaten'd high, and, face to face,

Affronted Turnus in the middle space:

The prince encounter'd him in full career,

And at his temples aim'd the deadly spear;

So fatally the flying weapon sped,

That thro' his helm it pierc'd his head.

Nor, Cisseus, couldst thou scape from Turnus' hand,

In vain the strongest of th' Arcadian band:

Nor to Cupentus could his gods afford

Availing aid against th' Aenean sword,

Which to his naked heart pursued the course;

Nor could his plated shield sustain the force.

Iolas fell, whom not the Grecian pow'rs,

Nor great subverter of the Trojan tow'rs,

Were doom'd to kill, while Heav'n prolong'd his date;

But who can pass the bounds, prefix'd by fate?

In high Lyrnessus, and in Troy, he held

Two palaces, and was from each expell'd:

Of all the mighty man, the last remains

A little spot of foreign earth contains.

And now both hosts their broken troops unite

In equal ranks, and mix in mortal fight.

Seresthus and undaunted Mnestheus join

The Trojan, Tuscan, and Arcadian line:

Sea-born Messapus, with Atinas, heads

The Latin squadrons, and to battle leads.

They strike, they push, they throng the scanty space,

Resolv'd on death, impatient of disgrace;

And, where one falls, another fills his place.

The Cyprian goddess now inspires her son

To leave th' unfinish'd fight, and storm the town:

For, while he rolls his eyes around the plain

In quest of Turnus, whom he seeks in vain,

He views th' unguarded city from afar,

In careless quiet, and secure of war.

Occasion offers, and excites his mind

To dare beyond the task he first design'd.

Resolv'd, he calls his chiefs; they leave the fight:

Attended thus, he takes a neighb'ring height;

The crowding troops about their gen'ral stand,

All under arms, and wait his high command.

Then thus the lofty prince: "Hear and obey,

Ye Trojan bands, without the least delay

Jove is with us; and what I have decreed

Requires our utmost vigor, and our speed.

Your instant arms against the town prepare,

The source of mischief, and the seat of war.

This day the Latian tow'rs, that mate the sky,

Shall level with the plain in ashes lie:

The people shall be slaves, unless in time

They kneel for pardon, and repent their crime.

Twice have our foes been vanquish'd on the plain:

Then shall I wait till Turnus will be slain?

Your force against the perjur'd city bend.

There it began, and there the war shall end.

The peace profan'd our rightful arms requires;

Cleanse the polluted place with purging fires."

He finish'd; and, one soul inspiring all,

Form'd in a wedge, the foot approach the wall.

Without the town, an unprovided train

Of gaping, gazing citizens are slain.

Some firebrands, others scaling ladders bear,

And those they toss aloft, and these they rear:

The flames now launch'd, the feather'd arrows fly,

And clouds of missive arms obscure the sky.

Advancing to the front, the hero stands,

And, stretching out to heav'n his pious hands,

Attests the gods, asserts his innocence,

Upbraids with breach of faith th' Ausonian prince;

Declares the royal honor doubly stain'd,

And twice the rites of holy peace profan'd.

Dissenting clamors in the town arise;

Each will be heard, and all at once advise.

One part for peace, and one for war contends;

Some would exclude their foes, and some admit their friends.

The helpless king is hurried in the throng,

And, whate'er tide prevails, is borne along.

Thus, when the swain, within a hollow rock,

Invades the bees with suffocating smoke,

They run around, or labor on their wings,

Disus'd to flight, and shoot their sleepy stings;

To shun the bitter fumes in vain they try;

Black vapors, issuing from the vent, involve the sky.

But fate and envious fortune now prepare

To plunge the Latins in the last despair.

The queen, who saw the foes invade the town,

And brands on tops of burning houses thrown,

Cast round her eyes, distracted with her fear-

No troops of Turnus in the field appear.

Once more she stares abroad, but still in vain,

And then concludes the royal youth is slain.

Mad with her anguish, impotent to bear

The mighty grief, she loathes the vital air.

She calls herself the cause of all this ill,

And owns the dire effects of her ungovern'd will;

She raves against the gods; she beats her breast;

She tears with both her hands her purple vest:

Then round a beam a running noose she tied,

And, fasten'd by the neck, obscenely died.

Soon as the fatal news by Fame was blown,

And to her dames and to her daughter known,

The sad Lavinia rends her yellow hair

And rosy cheeks; the rest her sorrow share:

With shrieks the palace rings, and madness of despair.

The spreading rumor fills the public place:

Confusion, fear, distraction, and disgrace,

And silent shame, are seen in ev'ry face.

Latinus tears his garments as he goes,

Both for his public and his private woes;

With filth his venerable beard besmears,

And sordid dust deforms his silver hairs.

And much he blames the softness of his mind,

Obnoxious to the charms of womankind,

And soon seduc'd to change what he so well design'd;

To break the solemn league so long desir'd,

Nor finish what his fates, and those of Troy, requir'd.

Now Turnus rolls aloof o'er empty plains,

And here and there some straggling foes he gleans.

His flying coursers please him less and less,

Asham'd of easy fight and cheap success.

Thus half-contented, anxious in his mind,

The distant cries come driving in the wind,

Shouts from the walls, but shouts in murmurs drown'd;

A jarring mixture, and a boding sound.

"Alas!" said he, "what mean these dismal cries?

What doleful clamors from the town arise?"

Confus'd, he stops, and backward pulls the reins.

She who the driver's office now sustains,

Replies: "Neglect, my lord, these new alarms;

Here fight, and urge the fortune of your arms:

There want not others to defend the wall.

If by your rival's hand th' Italians fall,

So shall your fatal sword his friends oppress,

In honor equal, equal in success."

To this, the prince: "O I knew

The peace infring'd proceeded first from you;

I knew you, when you mingled first in fight;

And now in vain you would deceive my sight-

Why, goddess, this unprofitable care?

Who sent you down from heav'n, involv'd in air,

Your share of mortal sorrows to sustain,

And see your brother bleeding on the plain?

For to what pow'r can Turnus have recourse,

Or how resist his fate's prevailing force?

These eyes beheld Murranus bite the ground:

Mighty the man, and mighty was the wound.

I heard my dearest friend, with dying breath,

My name invoking to revenge his death.

Brave Ufens fell with honor on the place,

To shun the shameful sight of my disgrace.

On earth supine, a manly corpse he lies;

His vest and armor are the victor's prize.

Then, shall I see Laurentum in a flame,

Which only wanted, to complete my shame?

How will the Latins hoot their champion's flight!

How Drances will insult and point them to the sight!

Is death so hard to bear? Ye gods below,

(Since those above so small compassion show,)

Receive a soul unsullied yet with shame,

Which not belies my great forefather's name!"