Thus, manifest to sight, the god appear'd,
And with these pleasing words his sorrow cheer'd: 50
'Undoubted offspring of ethereal race,
O long expected in this promised place!
Who, through the foes, hast borne thy banish'd gods,
Restored them to their hearths, and old abodes-
This is thy happy home, the clime where fate
Ordains thee to restore the Trojan state.
Fear not! The war shall end in lasting peace,
And all the rage of haughty Juno cease.
And that this nightly vision may not seem
Th' effect of fancy, or an idle dream,
A sow beneath an oak shall lie along,
All white herself, and white her thirty young.
When thirty rolling years have run their race,
Thy son Ascanius, on this empty space,
Shall build a royal town, of lasting fame,
Which from this omen shall receive the name.
Time shall approve the truth.-For what remains,
And how with sure success to crown thy pains,
With patience next attend. A banish'd band,
Driv'n with Evander from th' Arcadian land,
Have planted here, and placed on high their walls :
Their town the founder Pallanteum calls,
Derived from Pallas, his great grandsire's name :
But the fierce Latians old possession claim,
With war infesting the new colony.
These make thy friends, and on their aid rely.
To thy free passage I submit my streams.
Wake, son of Venus, from thy pleasing dreams;
And, when the setting stars are lost in day,
To Juno's pow'r thy just devotion pay;
With sacrifice the wrathful queen appease :
Her pride at length shall fall, her fury cease.
When thou return'st victorious from the war,
Perform thy vows to me with grateful care.
The god am I, whose yellow water flows
Around these fields, and fattens as it goes:
Tiber my name among the rolling floods,
Renown'd on earth, esteem'd among the gods.
This is my certain seat. In times to come,
My waves shall wash the walls of mighty Rome.'
He said; and plunged below. While yet he spoke,
His dream Æneas and his sleep forsook.
He rose, and looking up, beheld the skies
With purple blushing, and the day arise.
Then water in his hollow palm he took
From Tiber's flood, and thus the pow'rs bespoke : 'Laurentian nymphs, by whom the streams are fed, And father Tiber, in thy sacred bed
Receive Æneas, and from danger keep.
Whatever fount, whatever holy deep,
Conceals thy wat'ry stores-where'er they rise,
And, bubbling from below, salute the skies-
Thou, king of horned floods, whose plenteous urn
Suffices fatness to the fruitful corn,
For this thy kind compassion of our woes,
Shalt share my morning song, and ev'ning vows.
But, oh! be present to thy people's aid,
And firm the gracious promise thou hast made.'
Thus having said, two galleys, from his stores,
With care he chooses, mans, and fits with oars.
Now on the shore the fatal swine is found-
Wondrous to tell!-She lay along the ground:
Her well-fed offspring at her udders hung;
She white herself, and white her thirty young.
Æneas takes the mother and her brood;
And all on Juno's altar are bestow'd.
The following night, and the succeeding day,
Propitious Tiber smooth'd his wat'ry way:
He roll'd his river back, and poised he stood,
A gentle swelling, and a peaceful flood.
The Trojans mount their ships; they put from shore,
Borne on the waves, and scarcely dip an oar.
Shouts from the land give omen to their course;
And the pitch'd vessels glide with easy force.
The woods and waters wonder at the gleam
Of shields, and painted ships that stem the stream. One summer's night and one whole day they pass Betwixt the green-wood shades, and cut the liquid
The fiery sun had finish'd half his race,
Look'd back and doubted in the middle space,
When they from far beheld the rising tow'rs,
The tops of sheds, and shepherds' lowly bow'rs,
Thin as they stood, which then of homely clay,
Now rise in marble, from the Roman sway.
These cots (Evander's kingdom, mean and poor) 135
The Trojan saw, and turn'd his ships to shore.
'Twas on a solemn day: th' Arcadian states,
The king and prince, without the city gates,
Then paid their off'rings in a sacred grove
To Hercules, the warrior son of Jove.
Thick clouds of rolling smoke involve the skies;
And fat of entrails on his altar fries.
But, when they saw the ships that stemm'd the flood,
And glitter'd through the covert of the wood,
They rose with fear, and left th' unfinish'd feast, 145
Till dauntless Pallas reassured the rest
To pay the rites. Himself without delay
A jav'lin seized, and singly took his way,
Then gain'd a rising ground, and call'd from far :
'Resolve me, strangers, whence and what you are; Your bus'ness here, and bring you peace or war?' 151 High on the stern Eneas took his stand,
And held a branch of olive in his hand,
While thus he spoke: 'The Phrygians' arms you see,
Expell'd from Troy, provoked in Italy
By Latian foes, with war unjustly made
At first affianced, and at last betray'd.
This message bear: The Trojans and their chief
Bring holy peace, and beg the king's relief.'
Struck with so great a name, and all on fire,
The youth replies : 'Whatever you require
Your fame exacts. Upon our shores descend,
A welcome guest, and, what you wish, a friend.'
He said, and, downward hasting to the strand,
Embraced the stranger prince, and join'd his hand.
Conducted to the grove, Æneas broke
The silence first, and thus the king bespoke:
'Best of the Greeks! to whom, by fate's command,
I bear these peaceful branches in my hand-
Undaunted I approach you, though I know
Your birth is Grecian, and your land my foe;
From Atreus though your ancient lineage came,
And both the brother kings your kindred claim :
Yet, my self-conscious worth, your high renown,
Your virtue, through the neighb'ring nations blown,
Our fathers' mingled blood, Apollo's voice,
Have led me hither, less by need than choice.
Our father Dardanus, as fame has sung,
And Greeks acknowlege, from Electra sprung:
Electra from the loins of Atlas came-
Atlas, whose head sustains the starry frame.
Your sire is Mercury, whom long before
On cold Cyllene's top fair Maia bore. /
Maia the fair, on fame if we rely,
Was Atlas' daughter, who sustains the sky.
Thus from one common source our streams di
Ours is the Trojan, yours th' Arcadian side.
Raised by these hopes, I sent no news before,
Nor ask'd your leave, nor did your faith implore ;
But come, without a pledge, my own ambassador. 190
The same Rutulians, who with arms pursue
The Trojan race, are equal foes to you.
Our host expell'd, what farther force can stay
The victor troops from universal sway?
Then will they stretch their pow'r athwart the land, And either sea from side to side command.
Receive our offer'd faith, and give us thine :
Ours is a gen'rous and experienced line :
We want not hearts nor bodies for the war:
In council cautious, and in fields we dare.'
He said: and while he spoke, with piercing eyes
Evander view'd the man with vast surprise-
Pleased with his action, ravish'd with his face;
Then answer'd briefly, with a royal grace :
O valiant leader of the Trojan line,
In whom the features of thy father shine!
How I recall Anchises! how I see
His motions, mien, and all my friend, in thee!
Long though it be, 'tis fresh within my mind,
When Priam to his sister's court design'd
A welcome visit, with a friendly stay,
And through th' Arcadian kingdom took his way.
Then, past a boy, the callow down began
To shade my chin, and call me first a man.
I saw the shining train with vast delight;
And Priam's goodly person pleased my sight:
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