There stood a groveWhich from the earliest time no hand of manHad dared to violate; hidden from the sunIts chill recesses; matted boughs entwinedPrisoned the air within. No sylvan nymphsHere found a home, nor Pan, but savage ritesAnd barbarous worship, altars horribleOn massive stones upreared; sacred with bloodOf men was every tree. If faith be givenTo ancient myth, no fowl has ever daredTo rest upon those branches, and no beastHas made his lair beneath: no tempest falls,Nor lightnings flash upon it from the cloud.Stagnant the air, unmoving, yet the leavesFilled with mysterious trembling; dripped the streamsFrom coal-black fountains; effigies of godsRude, scarcely fashioned from some fallen trunkHeld the mid space: and, pallid with decay,Their rotting shapes struck terror. Thus do menDread most the god unknown. 'Twas said that cavesRumbled with earthquakes, that the prostrate yewRose up again; that fiery tongues of flameGleamed in the forest depths, yet were the treesUnkindled; and that snakes in frequent foldsWere coiled around the trunks. Men flee the spotNor dare to worship near: and e'en the priestOr when bright Phoebus holds the height, or whenDark night controls the heavens, in anxious dreadDraws near the grove and fears to find its lord.Spared in the former war, still dense it roseWhere all the hills were bare, and Caesar nowIts fall commanded. But the brawny armsWhich swayed the axes trembled, and the men,Awed by the sacred grove's dark majesty,Held back the blow they thought would be returned.This Caesar saw, and swift within his graspUprose a ponderous axe, which downward fellCleaving a mighty oak that towered to heaven,While thus he spake: ' Henceforth let no man dread'To fell this forest: all the crime is mine.'This be your creed.' He spake, and all obeyed,For Caesar's ire weighed down the wrath of Heaven.Yet ceased they not to fear. Then first the oak,Dodona's ancient boast; the knotty holm;The cypress, witness of patrician grief,The buoyant alder, laid their foliage lowAdmitting day; though scarcely through the stemsTheir fall found passage. At the sight the GaulsGrieved; but the garrison within the wallsRejoiced: for thus shall men insult the godsAnd find no punishment? Yet fortune oftProtects the guilty; on the poor aloneThe gods can vent their ire. Enough hewn down,They seize the country wagons; and the hind,His oxen gone which else had drawn the plough,Mourns for his harvest.But the eager chiefImpatient of the combat by the wallsCarries the warfare to the furthest west.Meanwhile a giant mound, on star-shaped wheelsConcealed, they fashion, crowned with double towersHigh as the battlements, by cause unseenSlow creeping onwards; while amazed the foeBeheld, and thought some subterranean gustHad burst the caverns of the earth and forcedThe nodding pile aloft, and wondered soreTheir walls should stand unshaken. From its heightHissed down the weapons; but the Grecian boltsWVith greater force were on the Romans hurled;Nor by the arm unaided, for the lanceUrged by the catapult resistless rushedThrough arms and shield and flesh, and left a deathBehind, nor stayed its course: and massive stonesCast by the beams of mighty engines fell;As from the mountain top some time-worn rockAt length by winds dislodged, in all its trackSpreads ruin vast: nor crushed the life aloneForth from the body, but dispersed the limbsIn fragments undistinguished and in blood.But as protected by the armour shieldThe might of Rome drew nigh beneath the wall(The front rank with their bucklers interlacedAnd held above their helms), the missiles fellBehind their backs, nor could the toiling GreeksDeflect their engines, throwing still the boltsFar into space; but from the rampart topFlung ponderous masses down. Long as the shieldsHeld firm together, like to hail that fallsHarmless upon a roof, so long the stonesCrushed down innocuous; but as the blowsRained fierce and ceaseless and the Romans tired,Some here and there sank fainting. Next the roofMoves on with earth besprinkled: underneathThe ram conceals his head, which, poised and swung,They dash with mighty force upon the wall,Covered themselves with mantlets. Though the headLight on the lower stones, yet as the shockFalls and refalls, from battlement to baseThe rampart soon shall topple. But by balksAnd rocky fragments overwhelmed, and flames,The roof at length gives way; and worn with toilAll spent in vain, the wearied troops withdrawAnd seek the shelter of their tents again.Thus far to hold their battlements was allThe Greeks had hoped; now, venturing attack,With glittering torches for their arms, by nightFearless they sallied forth: nor lance they bearNor deadly bow, nor shaft; for fire aloneIs now their weapon. Through the Roman worksDriven by the wind the conflagration spread:Nor did the newness of the wood make pauseThe fury of the flames, which, fed afreshBy living torches, 'neath a smoky pallLeaped on in fiery tongues. Not wood aloneBut stones gigantic crumbling into dustDissolved beneath the heat; the mighty moundLay prone, yet in its ruin larger seemed.
Lucus erat longo numquam violatus ab evo,Obscurum cingens connexis aera ramis,Et gelidas alte submotis solibus umbras.Hunc non ruricolae Panes, nemorumque potentesSilvani Nymphaeque tenent, sed barbara rituSacra deum, structae diris altaribus arae;Omnisque humanis lustrata cruoribus arbos.Si qua fidem meruit superos mirata vetustas,Illis et volucres metuunt insistere ramis,Et lustris recubare ferae: nec ventus in illasIncubuit silvas, excussaque nubibus atrisFulgura: non ullis frondem praebentibus aurisArboribus suus horror inest. Tum plurima nigrisFontibus unda cadit, simulacraque moesta deorumArte carent, caesisque extant informia truncis.Ipse situs putrique facit iam robore pallorAttonitos: non vulgatis sacrata figurisNumina sic metuunt: tantum terroribus addit,Quos timeant non nosse deos. Iam fama ferebatSaepe cavas motu terrae mugire cavernas,Et procumbentes iterum consurgere taxos,Et non ardentis fulgere incendia silvae,Roboraque amplexos circumfluxisse dracones.Non illum cultu populi propiore frequentant,Sed cessere deis. Medio cum Phoebus in axe est,Aut coelum nox atra tenet, pavet ipse sacerdosAcessus, dominumque timet deprendere luci.Hanc iubet immisso silvam procumbere ferro:Nam vicina operi belloque intacta prioreInter nudatos stabat densissima montes.Sed fortes tremuere manus, motique verendaMaiestate loci, si robora sacra ferirent,In sua credebant redituras membra secures.Implicitas magno Caesar torpore cohortesUt vidit, primus raptam librare bipennemAusus, et aeriam ferro proscindere quercum,Effatur, merso violata in robora ferro:Iam ne quis vestrum dubitet subvertere silvam,Credite me fecisse nefas. Tunc paruit omnisImperiis non sublato secura pavoreTurba, sed expensa superorum et Caesaris ira.Procumbunt orni, nodosa impellitur ilex,Silvaque Dodones, et fluctibus aptior alnus,Et non plebeios luctus testata cupressus,Tum primum posuere comas, et fronde carentesAdmisere diem: propulsaque robore densoSustinuit se silva cadens. Gemuere videntesGallorum populi: muris sed clausa iuventusExsultat. Quis enim laesos impune putaretEsse deos? Servat multos fortuna nocentes:Et tantum miseris irasci numina possunt.Utque satis caesi nemoris, quaesita per agrosPlaustra ferunt: curvoque soli cessantis aratroAgricolae raptis annum flevere iuvencis.Dux tamen, impatiens haesuri ad moenia Martis,Versus ad Hispanas acies extremaque mundi,Iussit bella geri. Stellatis axibus aggerErigitur, geminasque aequantes moenia turresAccipit: hae nullo fixerunt robore terram,Sed per iter longum caussa repsere latenti.Cum tantum nutaret onus, telluris inanesConcussisse sinus quaerentem erumpere ventumCredidit, et muros mirata est stare iuventus.Illinc tela cadunt excelsas urbis in arces.Sed maior Graio Romana in corpora ferroVis inerat. Neque enim solis excussa lacertisLancea, sed tenso ballistae turbine rapta,Haud unum contenta latus transire, quiescit:Sed pandens perque arma viam, perque ossa, relictaMorte, fugit: superest telo post vulnera cursus.At saxum quoties ingenti verberis actuExcutitur, qualis rupes, quam vertice montisAbscidit impulsu ventorum adiuta vetustas,Frangit cuncta ruens: nec tantum corpora pressaExanimat: totos cum sanguine dissipat artus.Ut tamen hostiles densa testudine murosTecta subit virtus, armisque innexa prioresArma ferunt, galeamque extentus protegit umbo,Quae prius ex longo nocuerunt missa recessu,Iam post terga cadunt: nec Graiis flectere iactum,Aut facilis labor est longinqua ad tela paratiTormenti mutare modum: sed pondere soloContenti, nudis evolvunt saxa lacertis.Dum fuit armorum series, ut grandine tectaInnocua percussa sonant, sic omnia telaRespuit: at postquam virtus incensa virorumPerpetuam rupit defesso milite cratem,Singula continuis cesserunt ictibus arma.Tunc adoperta levi procedit vinea terra,Sub cuius pluteis et tecta fronte latentesMoliri nunc ima parant, et vertere ferroMoenia: nunc aries suspenso fortior ictuIncussus densi compagem solvere muriTentat, et impositis unum subducere saxis.Sed super et flammis, et magnae fragmine molis,Et sudibus crebris, et adusti roboris ictuPercussae cedunt crates, frustraque laboreExhausto fessus repetit tentoria miles.Summa fuit Grais, starent ut moenia, voti.Ultro acies inferre parant: armisque coruscasNocturni texere faces: audaxque iuventusErupit: non hasta viris, non letifer arcus,Telum flamma fuit, rapiensque incendia ventusPer Romana tulit celeri munimina cursu.Nec, quamvis viridi lactetur robore, lentasIgnis agit vires: teda sed raptus ab omniConsequitur nigri spatiosa volumina fumi:Nec solum silvas, sed saxa iugentia solvit,Et crudae putri fluxerunt pulvere cautes.Procubuit, maiorque iacens adparuit agger.
Next, conquered on the land, upon the mainThey try their fortunes. On their simple craftNo painted figure-head adorned the bowsNor claimed protection from the gods; but rude,Just as they fell upon their mountain homes,The trees were knit together, and the deckGave steady foot-hold for an ocean fight.Meanwhile had Caesar's squadron left the RhoneAnd reached with Brutus' turret ship the straitBy Stoechas' isles. Nor less the Grecian host-Boys not yet grown to war, and aged men,Armed for the conflict, with their all at stake.Nor only did they marshal for the fightShips meet for service; but their ancient keelsBrought from the dockyards. When the morning raysBroke from the waters, and the sky was clear,And all the winds were still upon the deep,Smoothed for the battle, swift on either partThe fleets essay the open; and the shipsTremble beneath the oars that urge them on,By sinewy arms impelled. Upon the wingsThat bound the Roman fleet, the larger craftWith triple and quadruple banks of oarsGird in the lesser: so they front the sea;While in their rear, shaped as a crescent moon,Liburnian galleys follow. Over allTowers Brutus' deck praetorian. Oars on oarsPropel the bulky vessel through the main,Six ranks; the topmost strike the waves afar.When such a space remained between the fleetsAs could be covered by a single stroke,Innumerable voices rise in airDrowning with resonant din the beat of oarsAnd note of trumpet summoning: and allSit on the benches and with mighty strokeSweep o'er the sea and gain the space between.Then crashed the prows together, and the keelsRebounded backwards, and unnumbered dartsOr darkened all the sky or, in their fall,The vacant ocean. As the wings grew wide,Less densely packed the fleet, some Grecian shipsPressed in between; as when with west and eastThe tide contends, this way the waves are drivenAnd that the sea; so as they plough the deepIn various lines converging, what the prowThrows up advancing, from the foemen's oarsFalls back repelled. But soon the Grecian fleetWas handier found in battle, and in flightPretended, and in shorter curves could round;More deftly governed by the guiding helm:While on the Roman side their steadier keelsGave vantage, as to men who fight on land.Then Brutus to the pilot of his ship:' Dost suffer them to range the wider deep,'Contending with the foe in naval skill?' Draw close the war and drive us on the prows'Of these Phocaeans.' Him the pilot heard;And turned his vessel slantwise to the foe.Then was the sea all covered with the war:Then Grecian ships attacking Brutus foundTheir ruin in the stroke, and vanquished layBeside his bulwarks; with curved hooks and chainsThe foe they grapple, by entangled oarsThemselves held back. And now no outstretched armHurls forth the javelin, but sword in handThey wage a naval fight: each from his shipLeans forward to the stroke, and falls when slainUpon a foeman's deck. Deep flows the streamOf purple slaughter to the foamy main:By piles of floating corpses are the sides,Though grappled, kept asunder. Some, half dead,Plunge in the ocean, gulping down the brineEncrimsoned with their blood; some lingering stillDraw their last struggling breath amid the wreckOf broken navies: weapons which have missedFind yet their victims, and the falling steelFails not in middle deep to deal the wound.One vessel circled by Phocaean keelsDivides her strength, and on the right and leftOn either side with equal war contends;On whose high poop while Tagus fighting grippedThe stern Phocaean, pierced his back and breastTwo fatal weapons; in the midst the steelMet, and the blood, uncertain whence to flow,Stood still, arrested, till with double courseForth by a sudden gush it drove each dart,And sent the life abroad through either wound.Here fated Telon also steered his ship:No pilot's hand upon an angry seaMore deftly ruled a vessel. Well he knew,Or by the sun or crescent moon, how bestTo set his canvas fitted for the breezeThe coming hours would bring. His rushing stemShattered a Roman vessel: but a dartHurled at the moment quivered in his breast.He falls, and in the fall his dying handDiverts the prow. Then Gyareus, in actTo climb the friendly deck, by javelin pierced,Still as he hung, by the retaining steelFast to the side was nailed.Twin brethren standA fruitful mother's pride; with different fates,But ne'er distinguished till death's savage handStruck once, and ended error: he that lived,Cause of fresh anguish to their sorrowing souls,Called ever to the weeping parents backThe image of the lost: who, as the oarsGrecian and Roman mixed their teeth oblique,Grasped with his dexter hand the Roman ship;When fell a blow that shore his arm away.So died, upon the side it held, the hand,Nor loosed its grasp in death. Yet with the woundHis noble courage rose, and maimed he daredRenew the fray, and stretched across the seaTo grasp the lost-in vain! another blowLopped arm and hand alike. Nor shield nor swordHenceforth are his. Yet even now he seeksNo sheltering hold, but with his chest advancedBefore his brother armed, he claims the fight,And holding in his breast the darts which elseHad slain his comrades, pierced with countless spears,He falls in death well earned; yet ere his endCollects his parting life, and all his strengthStrains to the utmost and with failing limbsLeaps on the foeman's deck; by weight aloneInjurious; for streaming down with goreAnd piled on high with corpses, while her sidesSounded to ceaseless blows, the fated shipLet in the greedy brine until her waysWere level with the waters-then she plungedIn whirling eddies downwards-and the mainFirst parted, then closed in upon its prey.Full many wondrous deaths, with fates diverse,Upon the sea in that day's fight befell.
Spes victis telluris abit, placuitque profundoFortunam tentare mari Non robore pictoOrnatas decuit fulgens tutela carinas,Sed rudis, et qualis procumbit montibus arbor,Conseritur stabilis navalibus area bellis.Et iam turrigeram Bruti comitata carinamVenerat in fluctus Rhodani cum gurgite classis,Stoechados arva tenens. Nec non et Graia iuventua,Omne suum fatis voluit committere robur,Grandaevosque senes mixtis armavit ephebis.Accepit non sola viros, quae stabat in undisClassis; et emeritas repetunt navalibus alnos.Ut matutinos spargens super aequora PhoebusFregit aquis radios, et liber nubibus aether,Et posito Borea, pacemque tenentibus Austris,Servatum bello iacuit mare, movit ab omniQuisque suam statione ratem, paribusque lacertisCaesaris hinc puppes, hinc Graio remige classisTollitur: impulsae tonsis tremuere carinae,Crebraque sublimes convellunt verbera puppes.Cornua Romanae classis validaeque triremes,Quasque quater surgens exstructi remigis ordoCommovet, et plures quae mergunt aequore pinus,Multiplices cinxere rates. Hoc robur apertoOppositum pelago. Lunata fronte receduntOrdine contentae gemino crevisse Liburnae.Celsior at cunctis Bruti praetoria puppisVerberibus senis agitur, molemque profundo.Invehit, et summis longe petit aequora remis.Ut tantum medii fuerat maris, utraque classisQuod semel excussis posset transcurrere tonsis,Innumerae vasto miscentur in aethere voces:Remorumque sonus premitur clamore: nec ullaeAudiri potuere tubae. Tunc caerula verrunt,Atque in transtra cadunt, et remis pectora pulsant.Ut primum rostris crepuerunt obvia rostra,In puppim rediere rates, emissaque telaAera texerunt vacuumque cadentia pontum.Et iam diductis extendunt cornua proris,Diversaeque rates laxata classe receptae.Ut, quoties aestus Zephyris Eurisque repugnat,Huc abeunt fluctus, illuc mare: sic, ubi puppesSulcato varios duxerunt gurgite tractus,Quod tulit illa ratis remis, haec repulit aequor.Sed Graiis habiles pugnamque lacessere pinusEt tentare fugam, nec longo frangere gyroCursum, nec tarde flectenti cedere clavo.At Romana ratis stabilem praebere carinamCertior, et terrae similem bellantibus usum.Tunc in signifera residenti puppe magistroBrutus ait: Paterisne acies errare profundo,Artibus et certas pelagi? Iam consere bellum:Phocaicis medias rostris oppone carinas.Paruit, obliquas et praebuit hostibus alnos.Tunc, quaecumque ratis tentavit robora Bruti,Ictu victa suo percussae capta cohaesit.Ast alias manicaeque ligant, teretesque catenae,Seque tenent remis: tecto stetit aequore bellum.Iam non excussis torquentur tela lacertis,Nec longinqua cadunt iaculato vulnera ferro:Miscenturque manus. Navali plurima belloEnsis agit. Stat quisque suae de robore puppisPronus in adversos ictus: nullique peremptiIn ratibus cecidere suis. Cruor altus in undisSpumat, et obducti concreto sanguine fluctus.Et quas immissi traxerunt vincula ferri,Has prohibent iungi conserta cadavera puppes.Semianimes alii vastum subiere profundum,Hauseruntque suo permixtum sanguine pontum.Hi, luctantem animam lenta cum morte trahentes,Fractarum subita ratium periere ruina.Irrita tela suas peragunt in gurgite caedes:Et quodcumque cadit frustrato pondere ferrum,Exceptum mediis invenit vulnus in undis.Phocaicis Romana ratis vallata carinis,Robore diducto dextrum laevumque tueturAequo Marte latus: cuius dum pugnat ab altaPuppe Tagus, Graiumque audax aplustre retentat,Terga simul pariter missis et pectora telisTransigitur: medio concurrit pectore ferrum,Et stetit incertus, flueret quo vulnere, sanguis,Donec utrasque simul largus cruor expulit hastas,Divisitque animam, sparsitque in vulnera letum.Dirigit huc puppim miseri quoque dextra Telonis,Qua nullam melius, pelago turbante, carinaeAudivere manum: nec lux est notior ulliCrastina, seu Phoebum videat, seu cornua lunae,Semper venturis componere carbasa ventis.Hic Latiae rostro compagem ruperat alni:Pila sed in medium venere trementia pectus,Avertitque ratem morientis dextra magistri.Dum cupit in seciam Gyareus erepere puppim,Excipit immissum suspensa per ilia ferrum,Adfixusque rati, telo retinente, pependit.Stant gemini fratres, fecundae gloria matris,Quos eadem variis genuerunt viscera fatis.Discrevit mors saeva viros: unumque relictumAgnorunt miseri, sublato errore, parentes,Aeternis caussam lacrimis. Tenet ille doloremSemper, et amissum fratrem lugentibus obfert.Quorum alter, mixtis obliquo pectine remis,Ausus Romanae Graia de puppe carinaeIniectare manum: sed eam gravis insuper ictusAmputat: ilia tamen nisu, quo prenderat, haesit,Deriguitque tenens strictis immortua nervis.Crevit in adversis virtus: plus nobilis iraeTruncus habet, fortique instaurat proelia laeva,Rapturusque suam procumbit in aequora dextram.Haec quoque cum toto manus est abscisa lacerto.Iam clypeo telisque carens, non conditur imaPuppe, sed expositus, fraternaque pectore nudoArma tegens, crebra confixus cuspide perstat:Telaque multorum leto casura suorumEmerita iam morte tenet. Tum vulnere multoEffugientem animam lassos collegit in artus,Membraque contendit toto, quicumque manebat,Sanguine, et hostilem, defectis robore membris,Insiluit, solo nociturus pondere, puppim.Strage virum cumulata ratis, multoque cruorePlena, per oblicum crebros latus accipit ictus.At postquam ruptis pelagus compagibus hausit,Ad summos repleta foros, descendit in undas,Vicinum involvens contorto vertice pontum.Aequora discedunt mersa diducta carina,Inque locum puppis cecidit mare. - Multaque pontoPraebuit illa dies varii miracula fati.
Caught by a grappling-hook that missed the side,Had Lycidas been whelmed in middle deep;But by his feet his comrades dragged him back,And rent in twain he hung; nor slowly flowedAs from a wound the blood; but all his veinsWere torn asunder and the stream of lifeGushed o'er his limbs till lost amid the waves.From no man dying has the vital breathRushed by so wide a path; the lower trunkSuccumbed to death, but with the lungs and heartLong strove the fates, and hardly won the whole.While, bent upon the fight, an eager crewWere gathered to the margin of their deck(Leaving the upper side as bare of foes),Their ship was overset. Beneath the keelWhich floated upwards, prisoned in the sea,And powerless by spread of arms to floatThe main, they perished. One who haply swamAmid the battle, chanced upon a deathStrange and unheard of; for two meeting prowsTransfixed his body. At the double strokeWide yawns his chest; blood issues from his mouthWith flesh commingled; and the brazen beaksResounding clash together, by the bonesUnhindered: now they part and through the gapSwift pours the sea and drags the corse below.Next, of a shipwrecked crew, the larger partStruggling with death upon the waters, reachedA comrade bark; but when with elbows raisedThey seized upon the bulwarks and the shipRolled, nor could bear their weight, the ruthless crewHacked off their straining arms; then maimed they sankBelow the seething waves, to rise no more.Now every dart was hurled and every spear,The soldier weaponless; yet their rage found arms:One hurls an oar; another's brawny armTugs at the twisted stern; or from the seatsThe oarsmen driving, swings a bench in air.The ships are broken for the fight. They seizeThe fallen dead and snatch the sword that slew.Nay, many from their wounds, frenzied for arms,Pluck forth the deadly steel, and pressing stillUpon their yawning sides, hurl forth the spearBack to the hostile ranks from which it came;Then ebbs their life blood forth.But deadlier yetWas that fell force most hostile to the sea;For, thrown in torches and in sulphurous boltsFire all-consuming ran among the ships,Whose oily timbers soaked in pitch and waxInflammable, gave welcome to the flames.Nor could the waves prevail against the blazeWhich claimed as for its own the fragments borneUpon the waters. Lo! on burning plankOne hardly 'scapes destruction; one to saveHis flaming ship, gives entrance to the main.Of all the forms of death each fears the oneThat brings immediate dying: yet quail notTheir hearts in shipwreck: from the waves they pluckThe fallen darts and furnishing the shipsEssay the feeble stroke; and should that hopeStill fail their hand, they call the sea to aidAnd seizing in their grasp some floating foeDrag him to mutual death. But on that dayPhoceus above all others proved his skill.Well trained was he to dive beneath the mainAnd search the waters with unfailing eye;And should an anchor 'gainst the straining ropeToo firmly bite the sands, to wrench it free.Oft in his fatal grasp he seized a foeNor loosed his grip until the life was gone.Such was his frequent deed; but this his fate:For rising, victor (as he thought), to air,Full on a keel he struck and found his death.Some, drowning, seized a hostile oar and checkedThe flying vessel; not to die in vain,Their single care; some on their vessel's sideHanging, in death, with wounded frame essayedTo check the charging prow. Tyrrhenus highUpon the bulwarks of his ship was struckBy leaden bolt from Balearic slingOf Lygdamus; straight through his temples passedThe fated missile; and in streams of bloodForced from their seats his trembling eyeballs fell.Plunged in a darkness as of night, he thoughtThat life had left him; yet ere long he knewThe living vigour of his limbs; and cried,'Place me, O friends, as some machine of warStraight facing towards the foe; then shall my dartsStrike as of old; and thou, Tyrrhenus, spendThy latest breath, still left, upon the fight:So shalt thou play, not wholly dead, the partThat fits a soldier, and the spear that strikesThy frame, shall miss the living.' Thus he spake,And hurled his javelin, blind, but not in vain;For Argus, generous youth of noble blood,Below the middle waist received the spearAnd falling drave it home. His aged sireFrom furthest portion of the conquered shipBeheld; than whom in pride of manhood noneMore brave in battle: now no more he fought,Yet did the memory of his prowess stirPhocaean youths to emulate his fame.Oft stumbling o'er the benches the old man hastesTo reach his boy, and finds him breathing still.No tear bedewed his cheek; upon his breastNo blow he struck; but all his frame was stiff,His hands outspread: and o'er his eyes there fellA dark impenetrable veil of mistThat blotted out the day; nor could he moreDiscern his luckless Argus. He, who sawHis parent, raising up his drooping headWith parted lips and silent features asksA father's latest kiss, a father's handTo close his dying eyes. But soon his sire,Recovering from his swoon, when ruthless griefPossessed his spirit, 'This short space,' he cried,' I lose not, which the cruel gods have given,' But die before thee. Grant thy sorrowing sire' Forgiveness that he fled thy last embrace.Not yet has passed thy life blood from the woundNor yet is death upon thee-still thou may'stOutlive thy parent.' Thus he spake, and seizedThe reeking sword and drave it to the hilt,Then plunged into the deep, with headlong bound,To anticipate his son: for this he fearedA single form of death should not suffice.Now gave the fates their judgment, and in doubtNo longer was the war: the Grecian fleetIn most part sunk; -some ships by Romans oaredConveyed the victors home: in headlong flightSome sought the yards for shelter. On the strandWhat tears of parents for their offspring slain,How wept the mothers! 'Mid the pile confusedOfttimes the wife sought madly for her spouseAnd chose for her last kiss some Roman slain;While wretched fathers by the blazing pyresFought for the dead. But Brutus thus at seaFirst gained a triumph for great Caesar's arms.
Ferrea dum puppi rapidos manus inserit uncos,Adfixit Lycidam. Mersus foret ille profundo;Sed prohibent socii, suspensaque crura retentant.Scinditur avulsus: nec, sicut vulnere, sanguisEmicuit lentus: ruptis cadit undique venis:Discursusque animae diversa in membra meantisInterceptus aquis. Nullius vita peremptiEst tanta dimissa via: pars ultima trunciTradidit in letum vacuos vitalibus artis;At tumidus qua pulmo iacet, qua viscera fervent,Haeserunt ibi fata diu: luctataque multumHac cum parte viri vix omnia membra tulerunt.Dum nimium pugnax unius turba carinaeIncumbit prono lateri, vacuamque relinquit,Qua caret hoste, ratem: congesto pondere puppisVersa, cava texit pelagus nautasque carina;Brachia nec licuit vasto iactare profundo,Sed clauso periere mari. - tunc unica diriConspecta est leti facies, cum forte natantemDiversae rostris iuvenem fixere carinae.Discessit medium tam vastos pectus ad ictus:Nec prohibere valent obtritis ossibus artus,Quo minus aera sonent. Eliso ventre, per oraEiectat saniem permixtus viscere sanguis.Postquam inhibent remis puppes, ac rostra recedunt,Deiectum in pelagus perfosso pectore corpusVulneribus transmisit aquas. - Pars maxima turbaeNaufraga, iactatis morti obluctata lacertis,Puppis ad auxilium sociae concurrit: at illiRobora cum vetitis prensarent altius ulnis,Nutaretque ratis populo peritura recepto,Impia turba super medios ferit ense lacertos:Brachia linquentes Graia pendentia puppi,A manibus cecidere suis: non amplius undaeSustinuere graves in summo gurgite truncos.Iamque omni fusis nudato milite telis,Invenit arma furor: remum contorsit in hostemAlter: at hi tortum validis aplustre lacertisAvulsasque rotant, excusso remige, sedes.In pugnam fregere rates. Sidentia pessumCorpora caesa tenent, spoliantque cadavera ferro.Multi, inopes teli, iaculum letale revulsumVisceribus traxere suis, et vulnera laevaOppressere manu, validos dum praebeat ictusSanguis et hostilem cum torserit exeat hastam.Nulla tamen plures hoc edidit aequore clades,Quam pelago diversa lues. Nam pinguibus ignisAdfixus tedis, et tecto sulfure vivaxSpargitur: at faciles praebere alimenta carinaeNunc pice, nunc liquida rapuere incendia cera.Nec flammas superant undae: sparsisque per aequorIam ratibus, fragmenta ferus sibi vindicat ignis.Hic recipit fluctus, extinguat ut aequore flammas:Hi, ne mergantur, tabulis ardentibus haerent.Mille modos inter leti, mors una timori est,Qua coepere mori. Nec cessat naufraga virtus.Tela legunt deiecta mari, ratibusque ministrant:Incertasque manus ictu languente per undasExercent. Nunc, rara datur si copia ferri,Utuntur pelago. Saevus complectitur hostemHostis, et implicitis gaudent subsidere membris,Mergentesque mori. - Pugna fuit unus in illaEximius Phoceus animiam servare sub undis,Scrutarique fretum si quid mersisset arenis,Et nimis adfixos unci convellere morsus,Adductum quoties non senserat ancora funem.Hic ubi compressum penitus deduxerat hostem,Victor et incolumis summas remeabat ad undas;Sed, se per vacuos credit dum surgere fluctus,Puppibus occurrit, tandemque sub aequore mansit.Hi super hostiles iecerunt brachia remos,Et ratium tenuere fugam. Non perdere letumMaxima cura fuit; multus sua vulnera puppiAdfixit moriens, et rostris abstulit ictus.Stantem sublimi Tyrrhenum culmine proraeLygdamus excussa, Balearis tortor habenae,Glande petens, solido fregit cava tempora plumbo.Sedibus expulsi, postquam cruor omnia rupitVincula, procumbunt oculi: stat lumine raptoAdtonitus, mortisque illas putat esse tenebras.At postquam membris sensit constare vigorem,Vos, ait, o socii, sicut tormenta soletis,Me quoque mittendis rectum componite telis.Egere quod superest animae, Tyrrhene, per omnesBellorum casus. Ingentem militis usumHoc habet ex magna defunctum parte cadaver:Viventis feriere loco. Sic fatus in hostemCaeca tela manu, sed non tamen irrita, mittit.Excipit haec iuvenis generosi sanguinis Argus,Qua iam non medius descendit in ilia venter,Adiuvitque suo procumbens pondere ferrum.Stabat diversa victae iam parte carinaeInfelix Argi genitor: non ille iuventaeTempore Phocaicis ulli cessurus in armis:Victum aevo robur cecidit, fessusque senectaExemplum, non miles erat. Qui, funere viso,Saepe cadens longae senior per transtra carinaePervenit ad puppim, spirantesque invenit artus.Non lacrimae cecidere genis, non pectora tundit,Distentis toto riguit sed corpore palmis.Nox subit, atque oculos vastae obduxere tenebrae,Et miserum cernens agnoscere desinit Argum.Ille caput labens et iam languentia colla,Viso patre, levat: vox fauces nulla solutasProsequitur: tacito tantum petit oscula vultu,Invitatque patris claudenda ad lumina dextram.Ut torpore senex caruit, viresque cruentusCoepit habere dolor, Non perdam tempora, dixit,A saevis permissa deis, iugulumque senilemConfodiam. Veniam misero concede parenti,Arge, quod amplexus, extrema quod oscula fugi.Nondum destituit calidus tua vulnera sanguis,Semianimisque iaces, et adhuc potes esse superstes.Sic fatus, quamvis capulum per viscera missiPolluerat gladii, tamen alta sub aequora tenditPraecipiti saltu. Letum praecedere natiFestinantem animam morti non credidit uni.Inclinant iam fata ducum, nec iam amplius ancepsBelli casus erat: Graiae pars maxima classisMergitur: ast aliae mutato remige puppesVictores vexere suos: navalia paucaePraecipiti tenuere fuga. Quis in urbe parentumFletus erat! quanti matrum per litora planctus!Coniunx saepe sui, confusis vultibus unda,Credidit ora viri, Romanum amplexa cadaver:Accensisque rogis miseri de corpore truncoCertavere patres. - At Brutus, in aequore victor,Primus Caesareis pelagi decus addidit armis.