Nor urg'd my dear, dear consort to impart,
For a lost empire, his immortal art;
Though Priam's royal offspring claim'd my care,
Though much I sorrow'd for my godlike heir.
Now as the chief, by Jove's supreme command,
Has reach'd at length the destin'd Latian land;
To thee, my guardian pow'r, for aid I run;
A goddess begs; a mother for her son.
Oh! guard the hero from these dire alarms,
Forge, for the chief, impenetrable arms.
See, what proud cities every hand employ,
To arm new hosts against the sons of Troy;
On me and all my people, from afar
See what assembled nations pour to war!
Yet not in vain her sorrows Thetis shed,
Nor the fair partner of Tithonus' bed,
When they implor'd my lord of old to grace
With arms immortal an inferior race.
Hear then, nor let thy queen in vain implore
The gift, those goddesses obtain'd before."

This said; her arms, that match the winter snows,
Around her unresolving lord she throws;
When lo! more rapid than the lightning flies,
That gilds with momentary beams the skies,
The thrilling flames of love, without control,
Flew through the sooty god, and fir'd his soul.
With conscious joy her conquest she descry'd;
When, by her charms subdu'd, her lord reply'd:

"Why all these reasons urg'd, my mind to move;
When such your beauties, and so fierce my love!
Long since, at your request, my ready care,
In Troy's fam'd fields, had arm'd your son for war.
Nor did the high decrees of Jove and fate
Doom to so swift a fall the Dardan state;
But, ten years more, old Priam might enjoy
Th' imperial sceptre, and the throne of Troy.
Yet, if our queen is bent the war to wage,
Her sacred cause shall all our art engage.
The noblest arms our potent skill can frame,
With breathing bellows or the forming flame,
Or polish'd steel, refulgent to behold,
Or mingled metals, damask'd o'er with gold,
Shall grace the chief: thy anxious fears give o'er,
And doubt thy interest in my love no more."

Th' alternate blows the brawny brethren deal;
Thick burst the sparkles from the tortur'd steel..
Huge strokes, rough Steropes and Brontes gave,
And strong Pyracmon shook the gloomy cave.
Before their sovereign came, the Cyclops strove
With eager speed, to forge a bolt for Jove,
Such as by Heaven's almighty lord are hurl'd,
All charg'd with vengeance on a guilty world.
Beneath their hands, tremendous to survey!
Half rough, half form'd, the dreadful engine lay:
Three points of rain; three forks of hail conspire;
Three arm'd with wind; and three were barb'd with

fire.

The mass they temper'd thick with livid rays,
Fear, wrath and terrour, and the lightning's blaze.
With equal speed, a second train prepare
The rapid chariot for the god of war;
The thund'ring wheels and axles, that excite
The madding nations to the rage of fight.
Some, in a fringe, the burnish'd serpents roll'd
Round the dread ægis, bright with scales of gold;
The horrid ægis, great Minerva's shield,
When, in her wrath, she takes the fatal field,
All charg'd with curling snakes the boss they rais'd,
And the grim Gorgon's head tremendous blaz'd.
In agonizing pains the monster frown'd,
And roll'd, in death, her fiery eyes around.

"Throw, throw your tasks aside," the sovereign "Arms for a godlike hero must be made. [said; Fly to the work before the dawn of day; [play!" Your speed, your strength, and all your skill dis

Swift as the word, (his orders to pursue)
To the black labours of the forge they flew;
Vast heaps of steel in the deep furnace roll'd,
And bubbling streams of brass, and floods of melted
gold.

The brethren first a glorious shield prepare,
Capacious of the whole Rutulian war,
Some, orb in orb, the blazing buckler frame;
Some with huge bellows rouse the roaring flame:
Some in the stream the hissing metals drown'd;
From vault to vault the thund'ring strokes rebound,
And the deep caves rebellow to the sound.
Exact in time each ponderous hammer plays;

He spoke; and, fir'd with transport by her | In time their arms the giant brethren raise,
charms,
Clasp'd the fair goddess in his eager arms;
Then pleas'd, and panting on her bosom lay,
Sunk in repose, and all dissolv'd away!
But rosé refresh'd, impatient from the bed,
When half the silent hours of night were fled:
What time the poor laborious frugal dame,
Who plies the distaff, stirs the dying flame;
Employs her handmaids by the winking light,
And lengthens out their task with half the night;
Thus to her children she divides the bread,
And guards the honours of her homely bed:
So to his task, before the dawn, retires
From soft repose the father of the fires.

Amid th' Hesperian and Sicilian flood
All black with smoke, a rocky island stood,
The dark Vulcanian land, the region of the god.
Here the grim Cyclops ply, in vaults profound,
The huge Æolian forge, that thunders round.
Th' eternal anvils ring the dungeon o'er;
From side to side the fiery caverns roar.

[blows;
Loud groans the mass beneath their ponderous
Fierce burns the flame, and the full furnace glows.
To this dark region, from the bright abode,
With speed impetuous flew the fiery god.

And turn the glowing mass a thousand ways.
These cares employ the father of the fires:
Meantime Evander from his couch retires,
Call'd by the purple beams of morn away,
And tuneful birds, that hail'd the dawning day.
First the warm tunic round his limbs he threw;
Next on his feet the shining sandals drew.
Around his shoulders flow'd the panther's hide,
And the bright sword hung glittering by his side.
Two mighty dogs, domestic at his board,
(A faithful guard) attend their aged lord.
The promis'd aid revolving in his breast,
The careful monarch sought his godlike guest,
Who with Achates rose at dawn of day,
And join'd the king and Pallas on the way. [took
Their friendly hands exchang'd, their seats they
Amid the hall; and first Evander spoke;

"Great prince, the guardian of the Trojan state!

Who, safe in thee, defies the frowns of fate;
Small is our force, and slender our relief;
Far, far unworthy such a glorious chief.
For here, old Tyber bounds our lands; and there
The stern Rutulians gird our walls with war;
Yet to our court kind fortune led thy way;
And mighty aids the willing fates display;

N

可

When, by this hand, beneath her rocky wall,
Præneste saw her vanquish'd armies fall;
When, victor of the field, and crown'd with fame,
With piles of hostile shields, I fed the flame,
And sent great Herilus, of matchless might,
Their martial monarch, to the shades of night;
On whom, descended from celestial blood,
Three lives his goddess mother had bestow'd.
Wond'rous to tell! the warrior thrice was slain,

And emulate thy deeds, and catch the glorious fire! As oft reviv'd, and arm'd, and fought again.

Thrice, though renew'd for fight, the monarch bled,
And thrice, of all his arms Lstripp'd the dead.
Such were I now-not all these dire alarms,
Dangers, or deaths, should tear ine from thy arms:

Nor had Mezentius thus his slaughters spread,
Thus heap'd with wrongs thy father's aged head;
Nor thus unpunish'd stretch'd his rage abhorr'd
O'er towns, dispeopled by his wasteful sword.
But hear, ye gods! and Heaven's great ruler, hear,
With due regard, a king's and father's pray'r!
My dear, dear Pallas, if the fates ordain
Safe to return, and bless these eyes again:
With age, pain, sickness, this one blessing give;
On this condition I'll endure to live.

But oh! if fortune has decreed his doom,

Now, now, by death, prevent my woes to come;
Now, while my hopes and fears uncertain flow;
Now, ere she lifts her hand to strike the blow;
While in these feeble arms I strain the boy,
My sole delight, my last surviving joy!
Ere the sad news of his untimely doom
Must bow his hoary head with sorrow to the tomb!"
With these last words he swoon'd, and sunk away;
His servants to the couch their breathless lord
convey.

Now through the opening gates the warriors ride,
Eneas first, Achates by his side.
The Trojan chiefs succeed: amid the train
Young Pallas towers, conspicuous o'er the plain.
All bright his military purple flow'd;
His polish'd arms with golden splendours glow'd.
So, bath'd in ocean, with a vivid ray

Flames the refulgent star that leads the day:
Wide through the sky, before the sacred light
Break, and disperse the scattering shades of night.
High on the battlements the mothers stand,
And, from the towers, survey the martial band.
Through the thick woods, embody'd in array,
The glittering squadrons take the nearest way.
Loud shouts arise; the thundering coursers bound
Through clouds of dust, and paw the trembling
A mighty grove, rever'd for ages stood
Where Cære views with pride her rolling flood:
Hills clad with fir, to guard the hallow'd bound,
Rose in the majesty of darkness round.
In times of old, the pious Argive train,
The first possessors of the Latian plain,

[ground.

To the great guardian of the fields, had made
For ever sacred the devoted shade,

And, on his solemn day, their annual offerings paid.
Not far from hence the Tuscan host dispread
Their mighty camp, with Tarchon at their head.
From the tall towering point in full survey,
Stretch'd o'er the vale, th' embattled army lay.
Hither Æneas, with his band, succeeds;
The train, refresh'd, release the panting steeds.

Meantime his beauteous mother, from on high,
Had brought the blazing present down the sky.
By the cool stream the hero she survey'd
Within the winding vale, and thus she said:

"Behold the promis'd arms; in every part
By Vulcan labour'd with immortal art.
Now dare thy foes, collected in thy might,
Now call the haughty Turnus to the fight."
Then the fair queen her joyful son embrac'd,
And by an oak the radiant burthen plac'd.
The wondering chief with sudden rapture glow'd,
Struck with the glorious labours of the god.
Astonish'd at the blazing arms he stands,
And, one by one, he pois'd 'em in his hands.
The sword, with death all pointed, he admires,
And the proud helm, that shoots a length of fires.

Sylvanuss

The mighty corslet cast a vivid ray;
With scales of brass and sanguine colours gay
And, like a flaming cloud, refulgent shone,
Pierc'd with the glancing glories of the Sun.
The polish'd greaves his manly thighs enfold,
With mingled metals wrought and ductile gold.
With joy the weighty spear the prince beheld;
But most admir'd the huge mysterious shield;
For there had Vulcan, skill'd in times to come,
Display'd the triumphs of immortal Rome;
There all the Julian line the god had wrought,
And charg'd the gold with battles yet unfought.
Here in a verdant cave's embow'ring shade,
The fostering wolf and martial twins were laid;
Th' indulgent mother, half reclin'd along,
While at her dugs the sportive infants hung,
Look'd fondly back, and form'd 'em with her
tongue.
[dames,
Next Rome appear'd; here shriek the Sabine
Surpris'd, and ravish'd at her solemn games.
In arms the Cures with their king appear,
And wage with infant Rome a sudden war.
At length agreed, from fight the monarchs cease,
And, at the shrine of Jove, conclude the peace.
Each king beside the bleeding victim stands,
With lifted eyes, a goblet in his hands.
Here the mad coursers flew the forest o'er,
And, limb from limb, the perjur'd Metius tore.
As vengeful Tullus drags him through the wood,
The sculptur'd trees are all bedropp'd with blood.

Here proud Porsenna, with his martial train,
Bids Rome receive her banish'd king again,
Her noble sons, surrounded with alarms,
Fly, in the cause of liberty, to arms.
While glorious Cocles all his host withstood,
And Clœlia broke her chains, and swam the flood.
With furious looks, tremendous to behold,
The raging monarch frown'd, and storm'd in gold.

There, for the Capitol, brave Manlius strove,
Fought like a god, and look'd a second Jove.
There stood thy palace, Romulus, (decreed
The seat of empire) roof'd with homely reed.
Here fled the silver goose through courts of gold,
And, cackling loud, th' approaching Gauls foretold.
Through the thick forest move the hostile pow'rs,
And, favour'd by the night, invade the tow'rs.
Fair golden tresses grace the comely train,
And every warrior wears a golden chain.
Embroider'd vests their snowy limbs enfold;
And their rich robes are all adorn'd with gold.
Two Alpine spears with martial pride they wield,
And guard their bodies with an ample shield.
The Salii next in solemn garbs advance;
And naked here the mad Luperci dance.
The pledge of future empire from the sky,
The sacred targe strikes dazzling on the eye.
In stately cars the pious matrons rode,
Who sav'd their country, and appeas'd the god.

Far hence remov'd, appear the realins below,

The horrid mansions of eternal woe;
Where howl the damn'd; where Catiline in chains
Roars from the dark abyss, in endless pains;
Sees the grim furies all around him spread,
And the black rock still trembling o'er his head.
But in a separate space the just remain;
And awful Cato rules the godlike train.

Full in the midst, majestically roll'd
The solemn ocean, wrought in figur'd gold:

Romulus and Remus

TURNUS takes advantage of Æneas's absence, attempts to fire his ships, (which are transformed into sea-nymphs) and assaults his camp. The Trojans, reduced to the last extremities, send Nisus and Euryalus to recall Æneas, which furnishes the poet with that admirable episode of their friendship, generosity, and conclusion of their adventures. In the morning, Turnus pushes the siege with vigour; and, hearing that the Trojans had opened a gate, he runs thither, and breaks into the town with the enemies he pursues. The gates are immediately closed upon him; and he fights his way through the town to the river Tyber. He is forced at last to leap, armed as he is, into the river, and swims to his

THUS while the prince collects auxiliar hosts,
And leads new armies from the Tuscan coasts;
Dispatch'd by Heav'n's great empress from the
The goddess of the bow to Turnus flies;
Where, cover'd with the shade, he made abode
In his old grandsire's consecrated wood;
There, as at ease reclin'd the godlike man,
Her rosy lips she open'd, and began:

"Turnus, this kind auspicious hour bestows
What scarce a god could promise to thy vows:
For lo! the Trojan chief has parted hence,
And for new succours courts th' Arcadian prince,
Thence to the Tuscan coasts his course he bends,
And leaves expos'd his walls, bis fleets, and friends,

:

!

The van with great Messapus at their head;
The deep'ning rear the sons of Tyrrheus led.
Brave Turnus flames in arms, supremely tall,
Tow'rs in the centre, and outshines them all.
Silent they march beneath their godļike guide:
So mighty Ganges leads, with awful pride,
In sev'n large streams, his swelling solemn tide:
So Nile, compos'd within his banks again,
Moves in slow pomp, majestic, to the main.

Troy saw from far the black'ning cloud arise:
Then from the rampart's height Caïcus cries:
"See, see, my friends, yon dusky martial train,
Involv'd in clouds, and sweeping o'er the plain !
To arms-the foes advance-your swords prepare!
Fly!-mount the ramparts, and repel the war!"

With shouts they run; they gather at the call;
They close the gates; they mount; they guard

For so th' experienc'd prince had charg'd the host,
When late he parted for the Tuscan coast;
Whate'er befel, their ardour to restrain,

Trust to their walls, nor tempt the open plain.
There, though with shame and wrath their bosoms

Now howls with hunger, and now thirsts for blood; { Your needless aid, our vessels to defend.