The champion cheers his troops t' encounter those,
And seeks revenge himself on other foes.
At Anxur's shield he drove; and, at the blow,
Both shield and arm to ground together go.
Anxur had boasted much of magic charms,
And thought he wore impenetrable arms ;
So made by mutter'd spells; and, from the spheres,
Had life secured, in vain, for length of years.
Then Tarquitus the field in triumph trod;
A nymph his mother, and his sire a god.
Exulting in bright arms, he braves the prince:
With his protended lance he makes defence;
Bears back his feeble foe; then, pressing on,
Arrests his better hand, and drags him down;
Stands o'er the prostrate wretch, and (as he lay,
Vain tales inventing, and prepared to pray,)
Mows off his head: the trunk a moment stood,
Then sunk, and roll'd along the sand in blood.
The vengeful victor thus upbraids the slain :
'Lie there, proud man, unpitied on the plain :
Lie there, inglorious, and without a tomb,
Far from thy mother, and thy native home,
Exposed to savage beasts, and birds of prey,
Or thrown for food to monsters of the sea.'
On Lucas and Antæus next he ran,
Two chiefs of Turnus, and who led his van.
They fled for fear; with these, he chased along
Camers the yellow-lock'd, and Numa strong,
Both great in arms; and both were fair and young.
Camers was son to Volscens, lately slain,
In wealth surpassing all the Latian train,
And in Amyclæ fix'd his silent easy reign.
And, as Ægæon, when with heav'n he strove,
Stood opposite in arms to mighty Jove;
Moved all his hundred hands, provoked the war,
Defied the forky lightning from afar;
At fifty mouths his flaming breath expires,
And flash for flash returns, and fires for fires;
In his right hand as many swords he wields,
And takes the thunder on as many shields:
With strength like his, the Trojan hero stood;
And soon the fields with falling corpse were strow'd,
When once his falchion found the taste of blood. 801
With fury scarce to be conceived, he flew Against Niphæus, whom four coursers drew. They, when they see the fiery chief advance, And pushing at their chests his pointed lance, Wheel'd with so swift a motion, mad with fear, They threw their master headlong from the chair. They stare, they start, nor stop their course, before
They bear the bounding chariot to the shore.
Now Lucagus and Liger scour the plains,
With two white steeds; but Liger holds the reins,
And Lucagus the lofty seat maintains-
Bold brethren both. The former waved in air
His flaming sword: Eneas couch'd his spear,
Unused to threats, and more unused to fear.
Then Liger thus: 'Thy confidence is vain
To 'scape from hence, as from the Trojan plain :
Nor these the steeds which Diomede bestrode,
Nor this the chariot where Achilles rode :
Nor Venus' veil is here, nor Neptune's shield: 820
Thy fatal hour is come; and this the field.'
Thus Liger vainly vaunts: the Trojan peer
Return'd his answer with his flying spear.
As Lucagus, to lash his horses, bends,
Prone to the wheels, and his left foot protends,
Prepared for fight-the fatal dart arrives,
And through the border of his buckler drives;
Pass'd through, and pierced his groin. The deadly
Cast from his chariot, roll'd him on the ground:
Whom thus the chief upbraids with scornful spite :
'Blame not the slowness of your steeds in flight: 831
Vain shadows did not force their swift retreat;
But you yourself forsake your empty seat.'
He said, and seized at once the loosen'd rein;
For Liger lay already on the plain
By the same shock: then, stretching out his hands,
The recreant thus his wretched life demands:
Now by thyself, O more than mortal man ! By her and him from whom thy breath began, Who form'd thee thus divine, I beg thee, spare This forfeit life, and hear thy suppliant's pray'r.' Thus much he spoke, and more he would have said;
But the stern hero turn'd aside his head,
And cut him short: 'I hear another man:
You talk'd not thus before the fight began.
Now take your turn; and, as a brother should,
Attend your brother to the Stygian flood.'
Then through his breast his fatal sword he sent;
And the soul issued at the gaping vent.
As storms the skies, and torrents tear the ground, 850
Thus raged the prince, and scatter'd deaths around.
At length Ascanius, and the Trojan train,
Broke from the camp, so long besieged in vain.
Meantime the king of gods and mortal man
Held conf'rence with his queen, and thus began: 855
'My sister goddess, and well-pleasing wife,
Still think you Venus' aid supports the strife-
Sustains her Trojans-or themselves, alone,
With inborn valor force their fortune on?
How fierce in fight, with courage undecay'd!
Judge if such warriors want immortal aid.'
To whom the goddess with the charming eyes,
Soft in her tone, submissively replies:
'Why, O my sov'reign lord, whose frown I fear,
And cannot, unconcern'd, your anger bear-
Why urge you thus my grief? when, if I still
(As once I was) were mistress of your will,
From your almighty pow'r your pleasing wife
Might gain the grace of length'ning Turnus' life,
Securely snatch him from the fatal fight,
And give him to his aged father's sight.
Now let him perish, since you hold it good,
And glut the Trojans with his pious blood.
Yet from our lineage he derives his name,
And, in the fourth degree, from god Pilumnus came !
Yet he devoutly pays you rites divine,
And offers daily incense at your shrine.'
Then shortly thus the sov'reign god replied:
'Since in my pow'r and goodness you confide,
If, for a little space, a lengthen'd span,
You beg reprieve for this expiring man,
I grant you leave to take your Turnus hence
From instant fate, and can so far dispense.
But, if some secret meaning lies beneath,
To save the short-lived youth from destined death,
Or, if a farther thought you entertain,
To change the fates; you feed your hopes in vain.'
To whom the goddess thus, with weeping eyes:
'And what if that request your tongue denies,
Your heart should grant and not a short reprieve,
But length of certain life, to Turnus give?
Now speedy death attends the guiltless youth,
If my presaging soul divines with truth;
Which, O! I wish, might err through causeless
And you (for you have pow'r) prolong his years!' 895
Thus having said, involv'd in clouds, she flies,
And drives a storm before her through the skies.
Swift she descends, alighting on the plain,
Where the fierce foes a dubious fight maintain.
Of air condensed, a spectre soon she made;
And, what Æneas was, such seem'd the shade.
Adorn'd with Dardan arms, the phantom bore
His head aloft; a plumy crest he wore :
This hand appear'd a shining sword to wield,
And that sustain'd an imitated shield.
With manly mien he stalk'd along the ground,
Nor wanted voice belied, nor vaunting sound.
(Thus haunting ghosts appear to waking sight,
Or dreadful visions in our dreams by night.)
The spectre seems the Daunian chief to dare,
And florishes his empty sword in air.
At this, advancing, Turnus hurl'd his spear:
The phantom wheel'd, and seem'd to fly for fear.
Deluded Turnus thought the Trojan fled,
And with vain hopes his haughty fancy fed.
'Whither, O coward!' (thus he calls aloud,
Nor found he spoke to wind, and chased a cloud)
Why thus forsake your bride? Receive from me
The fated land you sought so long by sea.'
He said; and, brandishing at once his blade,
With eager pace pursued the flying shade.
By chance a ship was fasten'd to the shore,
Which from old Clusium king Osinius bore :
The plank was ready laid for safe ascent;
For shelter there the trembling shadow bent,
And skipp'd and skulk'd, and under hatches went.
Exulting Turnus, with regardless haste,
Ascends the plank, and to the galley pass'd.
Scarce had he reach'd the prow; Saturnia's hand
The halsers cuts, and shoots the ship from land. 930
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