Let that vile soul in that vile body rest;
The lodging is well worthy of the guest.
Now, royal father, to the present state
Of our affairs, and of this high debate-
If in your arms thus early you diffide,
And think your fortune is already tried;
If one defeat has brought us down so low,
As never more in fields to meet the foe;
Then I conclude for peace: 'tis time to treat,
And lie like vassals at the victor's feet.
But, oh! if any ancient blood remains,
One drop of all our fathers, in our veins,
That man would I prefer before the rest,
Who dared his death with an undaunted breast; 645
Who comely fell by no dishonest wound,
To shun that sight, and, dying, gnaw'd the ground.
But, if we still have fresh recruits in store,
If our confed'rates can afford us more;
If the contended field we bravely fought;
And not a bloodless victory was bought.
Their losses equall'd ours; and, for their slain,
With equal fires they fill'd the shining plain ;
Why thus, unforced, should we so tamely yield,
And, ere the trumpet sounds, resign the field?
Good unexpected, evils unforeseen,
Appear by turns, as Fortune shifts the scene.
Some raised aloft, come tumbling down amain :
Then fall so hard, they bound and rise again.
If Diomede refuse his aid to lend,
The great Messapus yet remains our friend:
Tolumnius, who foretells events, is ours:
Th' Italian chiefs and princes join their pow'rs:
Nor least in number, nor in name the last,
Your own brave subjects have our cause em
Above the rest, the Volscian Amazon
Contains an army in herself alone,
And heads a squadron, terrible to sight,
With glitt'ring shields, in brazen armor bright.
Yet, if the foe a single fight demand,
And I alone the public peace withstand;
If you consent, he shall not be refused;
Nor find a hand to victory unused.
This new Achilles, let him take the field,
With fated armor, and Vulcanian shield ;
For you, my royal father, and my fame,
I, Turnus, not the least of all my name,
Devote my soul. He calls me hand to hand :
And I alone will answer his demand.
Drances shall rest secure, and neither share
The danger, nor divide the prize of war.'
While they debate, nor these nor those will yield, Æneas draws his forces to the field,
And moves his camp. The scouts with flying speed
Return, and through the frighted city spread
Th' unpleasing news. 'The Trojans are descried,
In battle marching by the river side,
And bending to the town.' They take th' alarm :
Some tremble; some are bold: all in confusion arm.
Th' impetuous youth press forward to the field:
They clash the sword, and clatter on the shield.
The fearful matrons raise a screaming cry;
Old feeble men with fainter groans reply :
A jarring sound results, and mingles in the sky,
Like that of swans remurm'ring to the floods,
Or birds of diff'ring kinds in hollow woods.
Turnus th' occasion takes, and cries aloud;
'Talk on, ye quaint haranguers of the crowd:
Declaim in praise of peace, when danger calls,
And the fierce foes in arms approach the walls.'
He said, and, turning short with speedy pace,
Casts back a scornful glance, and quits the place.
'Thou, Volusus, the Volscian troops command
To mount; and lead thyself our Ardean band.
Messapus, and Catillus, post your force
Along the fields, to charge the Trojan horse.
Some guard the passes; others man the wall;
Drawn up in arms, the rest attend my call.'
They swarm from ev'ry quarter of the town,
And with disorder'd haste the ramparts crown.
Good old Latinus, when he saw, too late,
The gath'ring storm just breaking on the state,
Dismiss'd the council till a fitter time,
And own'd his easy temper as his crime,
Who, forced against his reason, had complied
To break the treaty for the promised bride.
Some help to sink new trenches; others aid
To ram the stones, or raise the palisade.
Hoarse trumpets sound th' alarm: around the walls
Runs a distracted crew, whom their last labor calls.
A sad procession in the streets is seen
Of matrons that attend the mother queen:
High in her chair she sits, and, at her side,
With downcast eyes appears the fatal bride.
They mount the cliff, where Pallas' temple stands ;
Pray'rs in their mouths, and presents in their hands.
With censers, first they fume the sacred shrine,
Then in this common supplication join :
O patroness of arms, unspotted maid!
Propitious hear, and lend thy Latins aid :
Break short the pirate's lance; pronounce his fate,
And lay the Phrygian low before the gate.'
Now Turnus arms for fight. His back and breast
Well-temper'd steel and scaly brass invest:
The cuishes, which his brawny thighs infold,
Are mingled metal damask'd o'er with gold.
His faithful falchion sits upon his side;
Nor casque nor crest his manly features hide :
But, bare to view, amid surrounding friends,
With godlike grace, he from the tow'r descends.
Exulting in his strength, he seems to dare
His absent rival, and to promise war.
Freed from his keepers, thus, with broken reins,
The wanton courser prances o'er the plains,
Or in the pride of youth o'erleaps the mounds,
And snuffs the females in forbidden grounds,
Or seeks his wat'ring in the well-known flood,
To quench his thirst, and cool his fiery blood:
He swims luxuriant in the liquid plain,
And o'er his shoulder flows his waving mane:
He neighs, he snorts, he bears his head on high ;
Before his ample chest the frothy waters fly.
Soon as the prince appears without the gate The Volscians, and their virgin leader, wait His last commands. Then, with a graceful mien, 755 Lights from her lofty steed the warrior queen : Her squadron imitates, and each descends; Whose common suit Camilla thus commends: 'If sense of honor, if a soul secure Of inborn worth that can all tests endure, Can promise aught, or on itself rely Greatly to dare to conquer or to die ; Then, I alone, sustain'd by these, will meet The Tyrrhene troops, and promise their defeat. Ours be the danger, ours the sole renown: You, gen'ral, stay behind, and guard the town.' Turnus a while stood mute with glad surprise,
And on the fierce virago fix'd his eyes,
Then thus return'd: 'O grace of Italy !
With what becoming thanks can I reply?
Not only words lie lab'ring in my breast;
But thought itself is by thy praise oppress'd.
Yet rob me not of all; but let me join
My toils, my hazard, and my fame, with thine.
The Trojan, not in stratagem unskill'd,
Sends his light horse before to scour the field:
Himself, through steep ascent and thorny brakes,
A larger compass to the city takes.
This news my scouts confirm: and I prepare
To foil his cunning, and his force to dare :
With chosen foot his passage to forelay,
And place an ambush in the winding way.
Thou, with thy Volscians, face the Tuscan horse:
The brave Messapus shall thy troops inforce
With those of Tibur, and the Latian band,
Subjected all to thy supreme command.'
This said, he warns Messapus to the war;
Then ev'ry chief exhorts with equal care.
All thus encouraged, his own troops he joins,
And hastes to prosecute his deep designs.
Inclosed with hills a winding valley lies, By nature form'd for fraud, and fitted for surprise. A narrow track, by human steps untrode, Leads, through perplexing thorns, to this obscure abode. High o'er the vale a steepy mountain stands, Whence the surveying sight the nether ground com
The top is level-an offensive seat
Of war; and from the war a safe retreat:
For, on the right and left, is room to press
The foes at hand, or from afar distress;
To drive 'em headlong downward; and to pour
On their descending backs a stony show'r.
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