Meanwhile Olympus, seat of sovereign sway,threw wide its portals, and in conclave fairthe Sire of gods and King of all mankindsummoned th' immortals to his starry court,whence, high-enthroned, the spreading earth he views—and Teucria's camp and Latium's fierce array.Beneath the double-gated dome the godswere sitting; Jove himself the silence broke:“O people of Olympus, wherefore changeyour purpose and decree, with partial mindsin mighty strife contending? I refusedsuch clash of war 'twixt Italy and Troy.Whence this forbidden feud? What fearsseduced to battles and injurious armseither this folk or that? Th' appointed hourfor war shall be hereafter—speed it not!—When cruel Carthage to the towers of Romeshall bring vast ruin, streaming fiercely downthe opened Alp. Then hate with hate shall vie,and havoc have no bound. Till then, give o'er,and smile upon the concord I decree!”
Panditur interea domus omnipotentis Olympi,conciliumque vocat divom pater atque hominum rexsideream in sedem, terras unde arduus omniscastraque Dardanidum adspectat populosque Latinos.Considunt tectis bipatentibus, incipit ipse:“Caelicolae magni, quianam sententia vobis”“versa retro tantumque animis certatis iniquis?”“Abnueram bello Italiam concurrere Teucris.”“Quae contra vetitum discordia? Quis metus aut hos”“aut hos arma sequi ferrumque lacessere suasit?”“Adveniet iustum pugnae, ne arcessite, tempus,”“cum fera Karthago Romanis arcibus olim”“exitium magnum atque Alpes immittet apertas:”“tum certare odiis, tum res rapuisse licebit.”“Nunc sinite et placitum laeti componite foedus.”
Thus briefly, Jove. But golden Venus madeless brief reply. “O Father, who dost holdo'er Man and all things an immortal sway!Of what high throne may gods the aid imploresave thine? Behold of yonder Rutulith' insulting scorn! Among them Turnus movesin chariot proud, and boasts triumphant warin mighty words. Nor do their walls defendmy Teucrians now. But in their very gates,and on their mounded ramparts, in close fightthey breast their foes and fill the moats with blood.Aeneas knows not, and is far away.Will ne'er the siege have done? A second timeabove Troy's rising walls the foe impends;another host is gathered, and once morefrom his Aetolian Arpi wrathful speedsa Diomed. I doubt not that for mewounds are preparing. Yea, thy daughter dearawaits a mortal sword! If by thy willunblest and unapproved the Trojans cameto Italy, for such rebellious crimegive them their due, nor lend them succor, thou,with thy strong hand! But if they have obeyedunnumbered oracles from gods aboveand sacred shades below, who now has powerto thwart thy bidding, or to weave anewthe web of Fate? Why speak of ships consumedalong my hallowed Erycinian shore?Or of the Lord of Storms, whose furious blastswere summoned from Aeolia? Why tellof Iris sped from heaven? Now she movesthe region of the shades (one kingdom yetfrom her attempt secure) and thence lets looseAlecto on the world above, who stridesin frenzied wrath along th' Italian hills.No more my heart now cherishes its hopeof domination, though in happier dayssuch was thy promise. Let the victory fallto victors of thy choice! If nowhere liesthe land thy cruel Queen would deign accordunto the Teucrian people,—O my sire,I pray thee by yon smouldering wreck of Troyto let Ascanius from the clash of armsescape unscathed. Let my own offspring live!Yea, let Aeneas, tossed on seas unknown,find some chance way; let my right hand availto shelter him and from this fatal warin safety bring. For Amathus is mine,mine are Cythera and the Paphian hillsand temples in Idalium. Let him dropthe sword, and there live out inglorious days.By thy decree let Carthage overwhelmAusonia's power; nor let defence be foundto stay the Tyrian arms! What profits itthat he escaped the wasting plague of warand fled Argolic fires? or that he knewso many perils of wide wildernessand waters rude? The Teucrians seek in vainnew-born Troy in Latium. Better farcrouched on their country's ashes to abide,and keep that spot of earth where once was Troy!Give back, O Father, I implore thee, giveXanthus and Simois back! Let Teucer's sonsunfold once more the tale of Ilium's woe!”Then sovereign Juno, flushed with solemn scorn,made answer. “Dost thou bid me here profanethe silence of my heart, and gossip forthof secret griefs? What will of god or manimpelled Aeneas on his path of war,or made him foeman of the Latin King?Fate brought him to Italia? Be it so!Cassandra's frenzy he obeyed. What voice —say, was it mine?—urged him to quit his camp,risk life in storms, or trust his war, his walls,to a boy-captain, or stir up to strifeEtruria's faithful, unoffending sons?What god, what pitiless behest of mine,impelled him to such harm? Who traces herethe hand of Juno, or of Iris spedfrom heaven? Is it an ignoble strokethat Italy around the new-born Troymakes circling fire, and Turnus plants his heelon his hereditary earth, the sonof old Pilumnus and the nymph divine,Venilia? For what offence would Troybring sword and fire on Latium, or enslavelands of an alien name, and bear awayplunder and spoil? Why seek they marriages,and snatch from arms of love the plighted maids?An olive-branch is in their hands; their shipsmake menace of grim steel. Thy power one dayravished Aeneas from his Argive foes,and gave them shape of cloud and fleeting airto strike at for a man. Thou hast transformedhis ships to daughters of the sea. What wrongif I, not less, have lent the Rutulisomething of strength in war? Aeneas, then,is far away and knows not! Far awaylet him remain, not knowing! If thou sway'stCythera, Paphos, and Idalium,why rouse a city pregnant with loud wars,and fiery hearts provoke? That fading powerof Phrygia, do I, forsooth, essayto ruin utterly? O, was it Iexposed ill-fated Troy to Argive foe?For what offence in vast array of armsdid Europe rise and Asia, for a rapetheir peace dissolving? Was it at my wordth' adulterous Dardan shepherd came to stormthe Spartan city? Did my hand supplyhis armament, or instigate a warfor Cupid's sake? Then was thy decent hourto tremble for thy children; now too latethe folly of thy long lament to Heaven,and objurgation vain.”
Iuppiter haec paucis; at non Venus aurea contrapauca refert:“O pater, O hominum rerumque aeterna potestas!”“Namque aliud quid sit, quod iam implorare queamus?”“Cernis ut insultent Rutulli Turnusque [feratur]”“[per medios insignis equis tumidusque] secundo”“Marte ruat? Non clausa tegunt iam moenia Teucros:”“quin intra portas atque ipsis proelia miscent”“aggeribus moerorum et inundant sanguine fossas.”“Aeneas ignarus abest. Numquamne levari”“obsidione sines? Muris iterum imminet hostis”“nascentis Troiae [nec non exercitus alter;]”“atque iterum in Teucros Aetolis surgit ab Arpis”“Tydides. Equidem credo, mea volnera restant”“et tua progenies mortalia demoror arma.”“Si sine pace tua atque invito numine Troes”“Italiam petiere, luant peccata neque illos”“iuveris auxilio; sin tot responsa secuti,”“quae superi manesque dabant: cur nunc tua quisquam”“vertere iussa potest aut cur nova condere fata?”“Quid repetem exustas Erycino in litore classes,”“quid tempestatum regem ventosque furentis”“Aeolia excitos aut actam nubibus Irim?”“Nunc etiam manis, haec intemptata manebat”“sors rerum, movet et superis immissa repente”“Allecto, medias Italum bacchata per urbes.”“Nil super imperio moveor: speravimus ista,”“dum fortuna fuit; vincant quos vincere mavis.”“Si nulla est regio, Teucris quam det tua coniunx”“dura, per eversae, genitor, fumantia Troiae”“exscidia obtestor, liceat dimittere ab armis”“incolumem Ascanium, liceat superesse nepotem.”“Aeneas sane ignotis iactetur in undis”“et, quamcumque viam dederit Fortuna, sequatur:”“hunc tegere et dirae valeam subducere pugnae.”“Est Amathus, est celsa mihi Paphus atque Cythera”“Idaliaeque domus: positis inglorius armis”“exigat hic aevum. Magna dicione iubeto”“Karthago premat Ausoniam: nihil urbibus inde”“obstabit Tyriis. Quid pestem evadere belli”“iuvit et Argolicos medium fugisse per ignes”“totque maris vastaeque exhausta pericula terrae,”“dum Latium Teucri recidivaque Pergama quaerunt?”“Non satius cineres patriae insedisse supremos”“atque solum, quo Troia fuit? Xanthum et Simoenta”“redde, oro, miseris iterumque revolvere casus”“da, pater, Iliacos Teucris.”Tum regia Iunoacta furore gravi: “Quid me alta silentia cogis”“rumpere et obductum verbis volgare dolorem?”“Aenean hominum quisquam divomque subegit”“bella sequi aut hostem regi se inferre Latino?”“Italiam petiit fatis auctoribus, esto,”“Cassandrae inpulsus furiis: num linquere castra”“hortati sumus aut vitam committere ventis?”“Num puero summam belli, num credere muros”“Tyrrhenamque fidem, aut gentis agitare quietas?”“Quis deus in fraudem, quae dura potentia nostra”“egit? Ubi hic Iuno demissave nubibus Iris?”“Indignum est Italos Troiam circumdare flammis”“nascentem et patria Turnum consistere terra,”“cui Pilumnus avus, cui diva Venilia mater:”“quid face Troianos atra vim ferre Latinis,”“arva aliena iugo premere atque avertere praedas?”“Quid soceros legere et gremiis abducere pactas,”“pacem orare manu, praefigere puppibus arma?”“Tu potes Aenean manibus subducere Graium”“proque viro nebulam et ventos obtendere inanis,”“tu potes in totidem classem convertere nymphas:”“nos aliquid Rutulos contra iuvisse nefandum est?”“Aeneas ignarus abest: ignarus et absit.”“Est Paphus Idaliumque tibi, sunt alta Cythera:”“quid gravidam bellis urbem et corda aspera temptas?”“Nosne tibi fluxas Phrygiae res vertere fundo”“conamur, nos, an miseros qui Troas Achivis”“obiecit? Quae causa fuit, consurgere in arma”“Europamque Asiamque et foedera solvere furto?”“Me duce Dardanius Spartam expugnavit adulter,”“aut ego tela dedi fovive cupidine bella?”“Tum decuit metuisse tuis: nunc sera querelis”“haud iustis adsurgis et inrita iurgia iactas.”
Such Juno's plea;the throng of gods with voices loud or lowgave various reply: as gathering windssing through the tree-tops in dark syllables,and fling faint murmur on the far-off sea,to tell some pilot of to-morrow's storm.Then Jupiter omnipotent, whose handshave governance supreme, began reply;deep silence at his word Olympus knew,Earth's utmost cavern shook; the realms of lightwere silent; the mild zephyrs breathed no more,and perfect calm o'erspread the levelled sea.“Give ear, ye gods, and in your hearts recordmy mandate and decree. Fate yet allowsno peace 'twixt Troy and Italy, nor bidsyour quarrel end. Therefore, what Chance this dayto either foe shall bring, whatever hopeeither may cherish,—the Rutulian causeand Trojan have like favor in my eyes.The destinies of Italy constrainthe siege; which for the fault of Troy fulfillsan oracle of woe. Yon Rutule hostI scatter not. But of his own attemptlet each the triumph and the burden bear;for Jove is over all an equal King.The Fates will find the way.” The god confirmedhis sentence by his Stygian brother's wave,the shadowy flood and black, abysmal shore.He nodded; at the bending of his browOlympus shook. It is the council's end.Now from the golden throne uprises Jove;the train of gods attend him to the doors.
Talibus orabat Iuno, cunctique fremebantcaelicolae adsensu vario, ceu flamina primacum deprensa fremunt silvis et caeca volutantmurmura, venturos nautis prodentia ventos.Tum pater omnipotens, rerum cui prima potestas,infit; eo dicente deum domus alta silescitet tremefacta solo tellus, silet arduus aether,tum Zephyri posuere, premit placida aequora pontus:“Accipite ergo animis atque haec mea figite dicta.”“Quandoquidem Ausonios coniungi foedere Teucris”“haud licitum, nec vestra capit discordia finem:”“quae cuique est fortuna hodie, quam quisque secat spem,”“Tros Rutulusne fuat nullo discrimine habebo.”“Seu fatis Italum castra obsidione tenentur”“sive errore malo Troiae monitisque sinistris.”“Nec Rutulos solvo: sua cuique exorsa laborem”“fortunamque ferent. Rex Iuppiter omnibus idem.”“Fata viam invenient.” Stygii per flumina fratris,per pice torrentis atraque voragine ripasadnuit et totum nutu tremefecit Olympum.Hic finis fandi. Solio tum Iuppiter aureosurgit, caelicolae medium quem ad limina ducunt.
Meanwhile at every gate the Rutule foeurges the slaughter on, and closes roundthe battlements with ring of flame. The hostof Trojans, prisoned in the palisades,lies in strict siege and has no hope to fly.In wretched plight they man the turrets tall,to no avail, and with scant garrisonthe ramparts crown. In foremost line of guardare Asius Imbrasides, the twinAssaraci, and Hicetaon's sonThymoetes, and with Castor at his sidethe veteran Thymbris; then the brothers bothof slain Sarpedon, and from Lycian steepClarus and Themon. With full-straining thewslifting a rock, which was of some huge hillno fragment small, Lyrnesian Acmon stood;nor less than Clytius his sire he seemed,nor Mnestheus his great brother. Some defendthe wall with javelins; some hurl down stonesor firebrands, or to the sounding stringfit arrows keen. But lo! amid the throng,well worth to Venus her protecting care,the Dardan boy, whose princely head shone forthwithout a helm, like radiant jewel setin burnished gold for necklace or for crown;or like immaculate ivory inclosedin boxwood or Orician terebinth;his tresses o'er his white neck rippled down,confined in circlet of soft twisted gold.Thee, too, the warrior nations gaze upon,high-nurtured Ismarus, inflicting woundswith shafts of venomed reed: Maeonia's valethy cradle was, where o'er the fruitful fieldswell-tilled and rich, Pactolus pours his gold.Mnestheus was there, who, for his late repulseof Turnus from the rampart, towered forthin glory eminent; there Capys stood,whose name the Capuan citadel shall bear.
Interea Rutuli portis circum omnibus instantsternere caede viros et moenia cingere flammis.At legio Aeneadum vallis obsessa tenetur,nec spes ulla fugae. Miseri stant turribus altisnequiquam et rara muros cinxere coronaAsius Imbrasides Hicetaoniusque ThymoetesAssaracique duo et senior cum Castore Thymbris,prima acies; hos germani Sarpedonis amboet Clarus et Thaemon Lycia comitantur ab alta.Fert ingens toto conixus corpore saxum,haud partem exiguam montis, Lyrnesius Acmon,nec Clytio genitore minor nec fratre Menestheo.Hi iaculis, illi certant defendere saxismolirique ignem nervoque aptare sagittas.Ipse inter medios, Veneris iustissima cura,Dardanius caput ecce puer detectus honestum,qualis gemma micat, fulvum quae dividit aurum,aut collo decus aut capiti; vel quale per arteminclusum buxo aut Oricia terebintholucet ebur; fusos cervix cui lactea crinisaccipit et molli subnectens circulus auro.Te quoque magnanimae viderunt, Ismare, gentesvolnera dirigere et calamos armare veneno,Maeonia generose domo, ubi pinguia cultaexercentque viri Pactolusque inrigat auro.Adfuit et Mnestheus, quem pulsi pristina Turniaggere moerorum sublimem gloria tollit,et Capys: hinc nomen Campanae ducitur urbi.
While these in many a shock of grievous warhotly contend, Aeneas cleaves his wayat midnight through the waters. He had faredfrom old Evander to th' Etruscan folk,addressed their King, and to him told the taleof his own race and name, his suit, his powers;of what allies Mezentius had embraced,and Turnus' lawless rage. He bids him knowhow mutable is man, and warning gives,with supplication joined. Without delayTarchon made amity and sacred league,uniting with his cause. The Lydian tribe,now destined from its tyrant to be free,embarked, obedient to the gods, and gaveallegiance to the foreign King. The shipAeneas rode moved foremost in the line:its beak a pair of Phrygian lions bore;above them Ida rose, an emblem dearto exiled Trojans. On his Iofty seatwas great Aeneas, pondering the eventsof changeful war; and clinging to his sidethe youthful Pallas fain would learn the loreof stars, the highway of dark night, and asksthe story of his toils on land and sea.
Illi inter sese duri certamina bellicontulerant: media Aeneas freta nocte secabat.Namque ut ab Euandro castris ingressus Etruscisregem adit et regi memorat nomenque genusque,quidve petat quidve ipse ferat, Mezentius armaquae sibi conciliet, violentaque pectora Turniedocet, humanis quae sit fiducia rebusadmonet immiscetque preces: haud fit mora, Tarchoniungit opes foedusque ferit; tum libera faticlassem conscendit iussis gens Lydia divom,externo commissa duci. Aeneia puppisprima tenet, rostro Phrygios subiuncta leones,imminet Ida super, profugis gratissima Teucris.Hic magnus sedet Aeneas secumque volutateventus belli varios, Pallasque sinistroadfixus lateri iam quaerit sidera, opacaenoctis iter, iam quae passus terraque marique.
Now open Helicon and move my song,ye goddesses, to tell what host in armsfollowed Aeneas from the Tuscan shore,and manned his ships and traveiled o'er the sea!
Pandite nunc Helicona, deae, cantusque movete,quae manus interea Tuscis comitetur ab orisAenean armetque rates pelagoque vehatur.
First Massicus his brazen Tigress rode,cleaving the brine; a thousand warriorswere with him out of Clusium's walls, or fromthe citadel of Coste, who for armshad arrows, quivers from the shoulder slung,and deadly bows. Grim Abas near him sailed;his whole band wore well-blazoned mail; his shipdisplayed the form of Phoebus, all of gold:to him had Populonia consigned(His mother-city, she) six hundred youthwell-proven in war; three hundred Elba gave,an island rich in unexhausted oresof iron, like the Chalybes. Next cameAsilas, who betwixt the gods and meninterprets messages and reads clear signsin victims' entrails, or the stars of heaven,or bird-talk, or the monitory flamesof lightning: he commands a thousand menclose lined, with bristling spears, of Pisa all,that Tuscan city of Alpheus sprung.Then Astur followed, a bold horseman he,Astur in gorgeous arms, himself most fair:three hundred are his men, one martial minduniting all: in Caere they were bredand Minio's plain, and by the ancient towersof Pyrgo or Gravisca's storm-swept hill.
Massicus aerata princeps secat aequora tigri:sub quo mille manus iuvenum, qui moenia Clusiquique urbem liquere Cosas, quis tela sagittaegorytique leves umeris et letifer arcus.Una torvus Abas: huic totum insignibus armisagmen et aurato fulgebat Apolline puppis.Sescentos illi dederat Populonia materexpertos belli iuvenes, ast Ilva trecentosinsula inexhaustis Chalybum generosa metallis.Tertius ille hominum divomque interpres Asilas,cui pecudum fibrae, caeli cui sidera parentet linguae volucrum et praesagi fulminis ignes,mille rapit densos acie atque horrentibus hastis.Hos parere iubent Alpheae ab origine Pisae,urbs Etrusca solo. Sequitur pulcherrimus Astur,Astur equo fidens et versicoloribus armis.Tercentum adiciunt (mens omnibus una sequendi)qui Caerete domo, qui sunt Minionis in arvis,et Pyrgi veteres intempestaeque Graviscae.
Nor thy renown may I forget, brave chiefof the Ligurians, Cinyrus; nor thine,Cupavo, with few followers, thy crestthe tall swan-wings, of love unblest the signand of a father fair: for legends tellthat Cycnus, for his Phaethon so dearlamenting loud beneath the poplar shadeof the changed sisters, made a mournful songto soothe his grief and passion: but erewhile,in his old age, there clothed him as he sangsoft snow-white plumes, and spurning earth he soaredon high, and sped in music through the stars.His son with bands of youthful peers urged ona galley with a Centaur for its prow,which loomed high o'er the waves, and seemed to hurla huge stone at the water, as the keelploughed through the deep.
Non ego te, Ligurum ductor fortissime bello,transierim, Cinyre, et paucis comitate Cupavo,cuius olorinae surgunt de vertice pennae,crimen, Amor, vestrum formaeque insigne paternae.Namque ferunt luctu Cycnum Phaethontis amati,populeas inter frondes umbramque sororumdum canit et maestum Musa solatur amorem,canentem molli pluma duxisse senectam,linquentem terras et sidera voce sequentem.Filius, aequalis comitatus classe catervas,ingentem remis Centaurum promovet: illeinstat aquae saxumque undis immane minaturarduus et longa sulcat maria alta carina.
Next Ocnus summoned fortha war-host from his native shores, the sonof Tiber, Tuscan river, and the nymphManto, a prophetess: he gave good walls,O Mantua, and his mother's name, to thee,—to Mantua so rich in noble sires,but of a blood diverse, a triple breed,four stems in each; and over all enthronedshe rules her tribes: her strength is Tuscan born.Hate of Mezentius armed against his namefive hundred men: upon their hostile prowwas Mincius in a cloak of silvery sedge,—Lake Benacus the river's source and sire.Last good Aulestes smites the depths below,with forest of a hundred oars: the floodlike flowing marble foams; his Triton prowthreatens the blue waves with a trumpet-shell;far as the hairy flanks its form is man,but ends in fish below—the parting wavesbeneath the half-brute bosom break in foam.Such chosen chiefs in thirty galleys ploughedthe salt-wave, bringing help to Trojan arms.
Ille etiam patriis agmen ciet Ocnus ab oris,fatidicae Mantus et Tusci filius amnis,qui muros matrisque dedit tibi, Mantua, nomen,Mantua, dives avis; sed non genus omnibus unum:gens illi triplex, populi sub gente quaterni,ipsa caput populis, Tusco de sanguine vires.Hinc quoque quingentos in se Mezentius armat,quos patre Benaco velatus harundine glaucaMincius infesta ducebat in aequora pinu.It gravis Aulestes centenaque arbore fluctumverberat adsurgens, spumant vada marmore verso.Hunc vehit immanis Triton et caerula conchaexterrens freta, cui laterum tenus hispida nantifrons hominem praefert, in pristim desinit alvus:spumea semifero sub pectore murmurat unda.Tot lecti proceres ter denis navibus ibantsubsidio Troiae et campos salis aera secabant.
Day now had left the sky. The moon benignhad driven her night-wandering chariotto the mid-arch of heaven. Aeneas sate,for thought and care allowed him no repose,holding the helm and tending his own sails.but, as he sped, behold, the beauteous train,lately his own, of nymphs, anon transformedby kind Cybebe to sea-ruling powers.In even ranks they swam the cloven wave,—nymphs now, but once as brazen galleys mooredalong the sandy shore. With joy they knewtheir King from far, and with attending trainaround him drew. Cymodocea then,best skilled in mortal speech, sped close behind,with her right hand upon the stern, uprosebreast-high, and with her left hand deeply pliedthe silent stream, as to the wondering Kingshe called: “So late on watch, O son of Heaven,Aeneas? Slack thy sail, but still watch on!We were the pine-trees on the holy topof Ida's mountain. Sea-nymphs now are we,and thine own fleet. When, as we fled, the flamesrained o'er us from the false Rutulian's hand't was all unwillingly we cast awaythy serviceable chains: and now once morewe follow thee across the sea. These formsour pitying mother bade us take, with powerto haunt immortally the moving sea.Lo, thy Ascanius lies close besiegedin moated walls, assailed by threatening armsand Latium's front of war. Arcadia,her horsemen with the bold Etruscan joined,stands at the place appointed. Turnus means,with troop opposing, their advance to barand hold them from the camp. Arouse thee, then,and with the rising beams of dawn call forththy captains and their followers. Take that shieldvictorious, which for thee the Lord of Fireforged for a gift and rimmed about with gold.To-morrow's light—deem not my words be vain!—shall shine on huge heaps of Rutulia's dead.”So saying, she pushed with her right hand the sternwith skilful thrust, and vanished. The ship spedswift as a spear, or as an arrow fliesno whit behind the wind: and all the fleetquickened its course. Anchises' princely son,dumb and bewildered stood, but took good heartat such an omen fair. Then in few wordswith eyes upturned to heaven he made his prayer:“Mother of gods, O Ida's Queen benign,who Iovest Dindymus and towns with towers,and lion-yokes obedient to thy rein,be thou my guide in battle, and fulfilthine augury divine. In Phrygia's causebe present evermore with favoring power!”He spoke no more. For now the wheels of dayhad sped full circle into perfect light,the dark expelling. Then, for his first care,he bade his captains heed the signal given,equip their souls for war, and wait in armsthe coming fray.
Iamque dies caelo concesserat almaque currunoctivago Phoebe medium pulsabat Olympum:Aeneas (neque enim membris dat cura quietem)ipse sedens clavumque regit velisque ministrat.Atque illi medio in spatio chorus ecce suarumoccurrit comitum: nymphae, quas alma Cybebenumen habere maris nymphasque e navibus esseiusserat, innabant pariter fluctusque secabant,quot prius aeratae steterant ad litora prorae.Agnoscunt longe regem lustrantque choreis,quarum quae fandi doctissima Cymodoceapone sequens dextra puppim tenet ipsaque dorsoeminet ac laeva tacitis subremigat undis,tum sic ignarum adloquitur: “Vigilasne, deum gens,”“Aenea? Vigila et velis immitte rudentis.”“Nos sumus, Idaeae sacro de vertice pinus,”“nunc pelagi nymphae, classis tua. Perfidus ut nos”“praecipitis ferro Rutulus flammaque premebat,”“rupimus invitae tua vincula teque per aequor”“quaerimus. Hanc Genetrix faciem miserata refecit”“et dedit esse deas aevumque agitare sub undis.”“At puer Ascanius muro fossisque tenetur”“tela inter media atque horrentis Marte Latinos.”“Iam loca iussa tenent forti permixtus Etrusco”“Arcas eques: medias illis opponere turmas,”“ne castris iungant, certast sententia Turno.”“Surge age et Aurora socios veniente vocari”“primus in arma iube et clipeum cape, quem dedit ipse”“invictum Ignipotens atque oras ambiit auro.”“Crastina lux, mea si non inrita dicta putaris,”“ingentis Rutulae spectabit caedis acervos.”Dixerat, et dextra discedens impulit altamhaud ignara modi puppim: fugit illa per undasocior et iaculo et ventos aequante sagitta.Inde aliae celerant cursus. Stupet inscius ipseTros Anchisiades; animos tamen omine tollit.Tum breviter super adspectans convexa precatur:“Alma parens Idaea deum, cui Dindyma cordi”“turrigeraeque urbis biiugique ad frena leones,”“tu mihi nunc pugnae princeps, tu rite propinques”“augurium Phrygibusque adsis pede, diva, secundo.”Tantum effatus. Et interea revoluta rubebatmatura iam luce dies noctemque fugarat:principio sociis edicit, signa sequanturatque animos aptent armis pugnaeque parent se.
Now holds he full in viewhis Trojans and their fortress, as he standsupon his towering ship. With his left handhe lifts his radiant shield; then from the wallthe Dardan warriors send a battle-crythat echoes to the stars, as kindling hopetheir rage renews. A flight of spears they hurl:'t was like the cranes of Strymon, through dark cloudseach other calling, when they cleave the skiesvociferous, outwinging as they flythe swift south winds—Ioud music them pursues.Amazement on Ausonia's captains felland Turnus, as they gazed. But soon they sawships pointing shoreward and the watery plainall stirring with a fleet. Aeneas' helmuplifted its bright peak,—like streaming flamethe crimson crest; his shield of orbed goldpoured forth prodigious fire: it seemed as whenin cloudless night a comet's blood-red beammakes mournful splendor, or the Dog-star glows,which rises to bring drought and pestilenceto hapless men, and with ill-omened raysaddens the sky.
Iamque in conspectu Teucros habet et sua castra,stans celsa in puppi; clipeum cum deinde sinistraextulit ardentem. Clamorem ad sidera tolluntDardanidae e muris, spes addita suscitat iras,tela manu iaciunt: quales sub nubibus atrisStrymoniae dant signa grues atque aethera tranantcum sonitu fugiuntque notos clamore secundo.At Rutulo regi ducibusque ea mira videriAusoniis, donec versas ad litora puppesrespiciunt totumque adlabi classibus aequor.Ardet apex capiti cristisque a vertice flammafunditur et vastos umbo vomit aureus ignes:non secus ac liquida siquando nocte cometaesanguinei lugubre rubent aut Sirius ardor,ille sitim morbosque ferens mortalibus aegris,nascitur et laevo contristat lumine caelum.
But Turnus, undismayed,trusted not less to hurl th' invaders backand hold the shore against them. “Look!” he cried,your prayer is come to pass,—that sword in handye now may shatter them. The might of Marsis in a true man's blow. Remember welleach man his home and wife! Now call to mindthe glory and great deeds of all your sires!Charge to yon river-bank, while yet they takewith weak and fearful steps their shoreward way!Fortune will help the brave.” With words like these,he chose, well-weighing, who should lead the charge,who at the leaguered walls the fight sustain.
Haud tamen audaci Turno fiducia cessitlitora praecipere et venientis pellere terra.[ultro animos tollit dictis atque increpat ultro]“Quod votis optastis, adest, perfringere dextra;”“in manibus Mars ipse viris. Nunc coniugis esto”“quisque suae tectique memor, nunc magna referto”“facta, patrum laudes. Ultro occurramus ad undam,”“dum trepidi egressisque labant vestigia prima.”“Audentis Fortuna iuvat,”haec ait et secum versat, quos ducere contravel quibus obsessos possit concredere muros.
Aeneas straightway from his lofty shipslets down his troop by bridges. Some awaitthe ebbing of slack seas, and boldly leapinto the shallows; others ply the oar.Tarchon a beach discovers, where the sandssing not, nor waves with broken murmur fall,but full and silent swells the gentle sea.Steering in haste that way, he called his crews:“Now bend to your stout oars, my chosen brave.Lift each ship forward, till her beak shall cleaveyon hostile shore; and let her keel's full weightthe furrow drive. I care not if we breakour ship's side in so sure an anchorage,if once we land.” While Tarchon urged them thus,the crews bent all together to their bladesand sped their foaming barks to Latium's plain,till each beak gripped the sand and every keellay on dry land unscathed:—all save thine own,O Tarchon! dashed upon a sand-bar, she!Long poised upon the cruel ridge she hung,tilted this way or that and beat the waves,then split, and emptied forth upon the tideher warriors; and now the drifting wreckof shattered oars and thwarts entangles them,or ebb of swirling waters sucks them down.
Interea Aeneas socios de puppibus altispontibus exponit. Multi servare recursuslanguentis pelagi et brevibus se credere saltu,per remos alii. Speculatus litora Tarchon,qua vada non sperat nec fracta remurmurat unda,sed mare inoffensum crescenti adlabitur aestu,advertit subito proram sociosque precatur:“Nunc, o lecta manus, validis incumbite remis;”“tollite, ferte rates; inimicam findite rostris”“hanc terram, sulcumque sibi premat ipsa carina.”“Frangere nec tali puppim statione recuso”“arrepta tellure semel.” Quae talia postquameffatus Tarchon, socii consurgere tonsisspumantisque rates arvis inferre Latinis,donec rostra tenent siccum et sedere carinaeomnes innocuae, sed non puppis tua, Tarchon.Namque inflicta vadis dorso dum pendet iniquo,anceps sustentata diu fluctusque fatigat,solvitur atque viros mediis exponit in undisfragmina remorum quos et fluitantia transtraimpediunt, retrahitque pedem simul unda relabens.
Turnus no lingering knows, but fiercely hurlshis whole line on the Teucrians, and makes standalong the shore. Now peals the trumpet's call.Aeneas in the van led on his troopagainst the rustic foe, bright auguryfor opening war, and laid the Latins low,slaughtering Theron, a huge chief who daredoffer Aeneas battle; through the scalesof brazen mail and corselet stiff with goldthe sword drove deep, and gored the gaping side.Then smote he Lichas, from his mother's wombripped in her dying hour, and unto thee,O Phoebus, vowed, because his infant daysescaped the fatal steel. Hard by him fellstout Cisseus and gigantic Gyas; theseto death were hurled, while with their knotted clubsthey slew opposing hosts; but naught availedHerculean weapons, nor their mighty hands,or that Melampus was their sire, a peerof Hercules, what time in heavy toilsthrough earth he roved. See next how Pharon boasts!But while he vainly raves, the whirling spearsmites full on his loud mouth. And also thou,Cydon, wast by the Trojan stroke o'erthrown,while following in ill-omened haste the stepsof Clytius, thy last joy, whose round cheek woreits youthful golden down: soon hadst thou lainin death, unheeding of thy fancies fondwhich ever turned to youth;—but now arosethe troop of all thy brothers, Phorcus' sons,a close array of seven, and seven spearsthey hurled: some from Aeneas' helm or shieldglanced off in vain; some Venus' kindly power,just as they touched his body, turned away.Aeneas then to true Achates cried:“Bring on my spears: not one shall fruitless flyagainst yon Rutules, even as they piercedthe breasts of Greeks upon the Ilian plain.”Then one great shaft he seized and threw; it spedstraight into Maeon's brazen shield, and clovehis mail-clad heart. Impetuous to his aidbrother Alcanor came, and lifted upwith strong right hand his brother as he fell:but through his arm a second skilful shaftmade bloody way, and by the sinews heldthe lifeless right hand from the shoulder swung.Then from his brother's body Numitorthe weapon plucked and hurled it, furious,upon Aeneas; but it could not strikethe hero's self, and grazed along the thighof great Achates.
Nec Turnum segnis retinet mora, sed rapit acertotam aciem in Teucros et contra in litore sistit.Signa canunt. Primus turmas invasit agrestisAeneas, omen pugnae, stravitque Latinosocciso Therone, virum qui maximus ultroAenean petit: huic gladio perque aerea suta,per tunicam squalentem auro latus haurit apertum.Inde Lichan ferit, exsectum iam matre peremptaet tibi, Phoebe, sacrum: casus evadere ferriquo licuit parvo? Nec longe Cissea durumimmanemque Gyan, sternentis agmina clava,deiecit Leto: nihil illos Herculis armanec validae iuvere manus genitorque Melampus,Alcidae comes usque gravis dum terra laborespraebuit. Ecce Pharo, voces dum iactat inertis,intorquens iaculum clamanti sistit in ore.Tu quoque, flaventem prima lanugine malasdum sequeris Clytium infelix, nova gaudia, Cydon,Dardania stratus dextra, securus amorum,qui iuvenum tibi semper erant, miserande iaceres,ni fratrum stipata cohors foret obvia, Phorciprogenies, septem numero, septenaque telaconiciunt; partim galea clipeoque resultantinrita, deflexit partim stringentia corpusalma Venus. Fidum Aeneas adfatur Achaten:“Suggere tela mihi: non ullum dextera frustra”“torserit in Rutulos, steterunt quae in corpore Graium”“Iliacis campis.” Tum magnam corripit hastamet iacit: illa volans clipei transverberat aeraMaeonis et thoraca simul cum pectore rumpit.Huic frater subit Alcanor fratremque ruentemsustentat dextra: traiecto missa lacertoprotinus hasta fugit servatque cruenta tenorem,dexteraque ex umero nervis moribunda pependit.Tum Numitor iaculo fratris de corpore raptoAenean petiit; sed non et figere contraest licitum, magnique femur perstrinxit Achatae.
Next into the fightClausus of Cures came, in youthful bloomexulting, and with far-thrown javelinstruck Dryops at the chin, and took awayfrom the gashed, shrieking throat both life and voice;the warrior's fallen forehead smote the dust;his lips poured forth thick blood. There also fellthree Thracians, odspring of the lordly stemof Boreas, and three of Idas' sonsfrom Ismara, by various doom struck down.Halaesus here his wild Auruncans brings;and flying to the fight comes Neptune's son,Messapus, famous horseman. On both sideseach charges on the foe. Ausonia's strandis one wide strife. As when o'er leagues of airthe envious winds give battle to their peers,well-matched in rage and power; and neither theynor clouds above, nor plunging seas belowwill end the doubtful war, but each withstandsthe onset of the whole—in such wild waythe line of Trojans on the Latian linehurls itself, limb on limb and man on man.
Hic Curibus fidens primaevo corpore Claususadvenit et rigida Dryopem ferit eminus hastasub mentum graviter pressa pariterque loquentisvocem animamque rapit traiecto gutture; at illefronte ferit terram et crassum vomit ore cruorem.Tres quoque Threicios Boreae de gente supremaet tris, quos Idas pater et patria Ismara mittit,per varios sternit casus. Accurrit HalaesusAuruncaeque manus, subit et Neptunia proles,insignis Messapus equis. Expellere tenduntnunc hi, nunc illi; certatur limine in ipsoAusoniae. Magno discordes aethere ventiproelia ceu tollunt animis et viribus aequis;non ipsi inter se, non nubila, non mare cedit;anceps pugna diu, stant obnixa omnia contra:haud aliter Troianae acies aciesque Latinaeconcurrunt; haeret pede pes densusque viro vir.
But at a distance where the river's floodhad scattered rolling boulders and torn treesuprooted from the shore, young Pallas spiedth' Arcadian band, unused to fight on foot,in full retreat, the Latins following close—who also for the roughness of the groundwere all unmounted: he (the last resourceof men in straits) to wild entreaty turnedand taunts, enkindling their faint hearts anew:“Whither, my men! O, by your own brave deeds,O, by our lord Evander's happy wars,the proud hopes I had to make my namea rival glory,—think not ye can fly!Your swords alone can carve ye the safe waystraight through your foes. Where yonder warrior-throngis fiercest, thickest, there and only thereyour Country's honor calls for men like you,and for your captain Pallas. Nay, no godsagainst us fight; we are but mortal menpressed by a mortal foe. Not more than oursthe number of their lives or swords. Behold,the barrier of yonder spreading seaemprisons us, and for a craven flightyon lands are all too small. Ha! Shall we steeracross the sea to Troy?” He said, and sprangfull in the centre of his gathered foes.
At parte ex alia, qua saxa rotantia lateimpulerat torrens arbustaque diruta ripis,Arcadas insuetos acies inferre pedestrisut vidit Pallas Latio dare terga sequaci(aspera quis natura loci dimittere quandosuasit equos), unum quod rebus restat egenis,nunc prece, nunc dictis virtutem accendit amaris:“Quo fugitis, socii? Per vos et fortia facta,”“per ducis Evandri nomen devictaque bella”“Opemque meam, patriae quae nunc subit aemula laudi,”“fidite ne pedibus. Ferro rumpenda per hostis”“est via. Qua globus ille virum densissimus urget,”“hac vos et Pallanta ducem patria alta reposcit.”“Numina nulla premunt, mortali urgemur ab hoste”“mortales, totidem nobis animaeque manusque.”“Ecce, maris magna claudit nos obice pontus,”“deest iam terra fugae: pelagus Troiamne petemus?”Haec ait et medius densos prorumpit in hostis.
First in his path was Lagus, thither ledby evil stars; whom, as he tried to lifta heavy stone, the shaft of Pallas piercedwhere ribs and spine divide: backward he drewthe clinging spear; But Hisbo from abovesurprised him not, though meaning it; for while(In anger blind for friend unpitying slain)at Pallas' face he flew:—he, standing firm,plunged deep into that swelling breast the sword.Then Sthenius he slew; and next Anchemolusof Rhoetus' ancient line, who dared defilehis step-dame's bridal bed. And also ye,fair Thymber and Larides, Daucus' twins,fell on that Rutule field; so like were ye,your own kin scarce discerned, and parents proudsmiled at the dear deceit; but now in deathcruel unlikeness Pallas wrought; thy headfell, hapless Thymber, by Evander's sword;and thy right hand, Larides, shorn away,seemed feeling for its Iord; the fingers coldclutched, trembling, at the sword. Now all the troopof Arcady, their chief's great action seen,and by his warning roused, made at their foes,spurred on by grief and shame.
Obvius huic primum, fatis adductus iniquis,fit Lagus. Hunc, magno vellit dum pondere saxum,intorto figit telo, discrimina costisper medium qua spina dabat, hastamque receptatossibus haerentem. Quem non super occupat Hisbo,ille quidem hoc sperans: nam Pallas ante ruentem,dum furit, incautum crudeli morte sodalisexcipit atque ensem tumido in pulmone recondit.Hinc Sthenium petit et Rhoeti de gente vetustaAnchemolum, thalamos ausum incestare novercae.Vos etiam, gemini, Rutulis cecidistis in agris,Daucia, Laride Thymberque, simillima proles,indiscreta suis gratusque parentibus error;at nunc dura dedit vobis discrimina Pallas:nam tibi, Thymbre, caput Evandrius abstulit ensis;te decisa suum, Laride, dextera quaeritsemianimesque micant digiti ferrumque retractant.Arcadas accensos monitu et praeclara tuentisfacta viri mixtus dolor et pudor armat in hostis.
Next Pallas piercedthe flying Rhoetus in his car; this gainedfor Ilus respite and delay, for himthe stout spear aimed at; but its flight was stoppedby Rhoetus, as in swift retreat he rode,by the two high-born brothers close pursued,Teuthras and Tyres: from his car he rolled,making deep furrows with his lifeless heelsalong the Rutule plain. Oft when the windsof summer, long awaited, rise and blow,a shepherd fires the forest, and the blazedevours the dense grove, while o'er the fields,in that one moment, swift and sudden spreadgrim Vulcan's serried flames; from some high seaton distant hill, the shepherd peering downsees, glad at heart, his own victorious fires:so now fierce valor spreads, uniting allin one confederate rage, 'neath Pallas' eyes.But the fierce warrior Halaesus nextled on the charge, behind his skilful shieldclose-crouching. Ladon and Demodocusand Pheres he struck down; his glittering bladecut Strymon's hand, which to his neck was raised,sheer off; with one great stone he crushed the browsof Thoas, scattering wide the broken skull,bones, brains, and gore. Halaesus' prophet-sire,foreseeing doom, had hid him in dark groves;but when the old man's fading eyes declinedin death, the hand of Fate reached forth and doomedthe young life to Evander's sword; him nowPallas assailed, first offering this prayer:“O Father Tiber, give my poising shaftthrough stout Halaesus' heart its lucky way!The spoil and trophy of the hero slainon thine own oak shall hang.” The god receivedthe vow, and while Halaesus held his shieldover Imaon, his ill-fated breastlay naked to th' Arcadian's hungry spear.
Tum Pallas biiugis fugientem Rhoetea praetertraicit. Hoc spatium tantumque morae fuit Ilo;Ilo namque procul validam direxerat hastam,quam medius Rhoeteus intercipit, optime Teuthra,te fugiens fratremque Tyren, curruque volutuscaedit semianimis Rutulorum calcibus arva.Ac velut optato ventis aestate coortisdispersa immittit silvis incendia pastor,correptis subito mediis extenditur unahorrida per latos acies Volcania campos;ille sedens victor flammas despectat ovantis:non aliter socium virtus coit omnis in unumteque iuvat, Palla. Sed bellis acer Halaesustendit in adversos seque in sua conligit arma.Hic mactat Ladona Pheretaque Demodocumque,Strymonio dextram fulgenti deripit enseelatam in iugulum, saxo ferit ora Thoantisossaque dispersit cerebro permixta cruento.Fata canens silvis genitor celarat Halaesum:ut senior leto canentia lumina solvit,iniecere manum Parcae telisque sacraruntEvandri. Quem sic Pallas petit ante precatus:“Da nunc, Thybri pater, ferro, quod missile libro,”“fortunam atque viam duri per pectus Halaesi.”“Haec arma exuviasque viri tua quercus habebit.”Audiit illa deus: dum texit Imaona Halaesus,Arcadio infelix telo dat pectus inermum.
But Lausus, seeing such a hero slain,bade his troop have no fear, for he himselfwas no small strength in war; and first he slewAbas, who fought hard, and had ever seemedhimself the sticking-point and tug of war.Down went Arcadia's warriors, and slainetruscans fell, with many a Trojan bravethe Greek had spared. Troop charges upon troopwell-matched in might, with chiefs of like renown;the last rank crowds the first;—so fierce the pressscarce hand or sword can stir. Here Pallas stands,and pushes back the foe; before him loomsLausus, his youthful peer, conspicuous bothin beauty; but no star will them restoreto home and native land. Yet would the Kingof high Olympus suffer not the pairto close in battle, but each hero founda later doom at hands of mightier foes.
At non caede viri tanta perterrita Lausus,pars ingens belli, sinit agmina: primus Abantemoppositum interimit, pugnae nodumque moramque.Sternitur Arcadiae proles, sternuntur Etrusciet vos, O Grais imperdita corpora, Teucri.Agmina concurrunt ducibusque et viribus aequis.Extremi addensent acies nec turba moveritela manusque sinit. Hinc Pallas instat et urget,hinc contra Lausus, nec multum discrepat aetas:egregii forma, sed quis Fortuna negaratin patriam reditus. Ipsos concurrere passushaud tamen inter se magni regnator Olympi:mox illos sua fata manent maiore sub hoste.
Now Turnus' goddess-sister bids him hasteto Lausus' help. So he, in wheeling car,cut through the lines; and when his friends he saw,“Let the fight stop! “he cried, “for none but Imay strike at Pallas; unto me alonethe prize of Pallas falls. I would his sirestood by to see.” He spake: his troop withdrewa fitting space. But as they made him room,the young prince, wondering at the scornful words,looked upon Turnus, glancing up and downthat giant frame, and with fierce-frowning browsscanned him from far, hurling defiant wordsin answer to the King's. “My honor nowshall have the royal trophy of this war,or glorious death. For either fortune fairmy sire is ready. Threaten me no more!”So saying, to the midmost space he strode,and in Arcadian hearts the blood stood still.Swift from his chariot Turnus leaped, and ranto closer fight. As when some lion seesfrom his far mountain-lair a raging bullthat sniffs the battle from the grassy field,and down the steep he flies—such picture showedgrim Turnus as he came. But when he seemedwithin a spear's cast, Pallas opened fight,expecting Fortune's favor to the bravein such unequal match; and thus he prayed:“O, by my hospitable father's roof,where thou didst enter as a stranger-guest,hear me, Alcides, and give aid divineto this great deed. Let Turnus see these handsstrip from his half-dead breast the bloody spoil!and let his eyes in death endure to seehis conqueror!” Alcides heard the youth:but prisoned in his heart a deep-drawn sigh,and shed vain tears; for Jove, the King and Sire,.spoke with benignant accents to his son:“To each his day is given. Beyond recallman's little time runs by: but to prolonglife's glory by great deeds is virtue's power.Beneath the lofty walls of fallen Troyfell many a son of Heaven. Yea, there was slainSarpedon, my own offspring. Turnus toois summoned to his doom, and nears the boundsof his appointed span.” So speaking, Joveturned from Rutulia's war his eyes away.But Pallas hurled his lance with might and main,and from its hollow scabbard flashed his sword.The flying shaft touched where the plated steelover the shoulders rose, and worked its waythrough the shield's rim—then falling, glanced asidefrom Turnus' giant body.
Interea soror alma monet succedere LausoTurnum, qui volucri curru medium secat agmen.Ut vidit socios: “Tempus desistere pugnae;”“solus ego in Pallanta feror, soli mihi Pallas”“debetur; cuperem ipse parens spectator adesset.”Haec ait, et socii cesserunt aequore iusso.At Rutulum abscessu iuvenis tum iussa superbamiratus stupet in Turno corpusque per ingenslumina volvit obitque truci procul omnia visutalibus et dictis it contra dicta tyranni:“Aut spoliis ego iam raptis laudabor opimis”“aut leto insigni: sorti pater aequus utrique est.”“Tolle minas.” Fatus medium procedit in aequor.Frigidus Arcadibus coit in praecordia sanguis.Desiluit Turnus biiugis, pedes apparat irecomminus; utque leo, specula cum vidit ab altastare procul campis meditantem in proelia taurum,advolat: haud alia est Turni venientis imago.Hunc ubi contiguum missae fore credidit hastae,ire prior Pallas, siqua fors adiuvet ausumviribus imparibus, magnumque ita ad aethera fatur:“Per patris hospitium et mensas, quas advena adisti,”“te precor, Alcide, coeptis ingentibus adsis.”“Cernat semineci sibi me rapere arma cruenta”“victoremque ferant morientia lumina Turni.”Audiit Alcides iuvenem magnumque sub imocorde premit gemitum lacrimasque effundit inanis.Tum Genitor natum dictis adfatur amicis:“Stat sua cuique dies, breve et inreparabile tempus”“omnibus est vitae: sed famam extendere factis,”“hoc virtutis opus. Troiae sub moenibus altis”“tot nati cecidere deum; quin occidit una”“Sarpedon, mea progenies. Etiam sua Turnum”“fata vocant, metasque dati pervenit ad aevi.”Sic ait atque oculos Rutulorum reicit arvis.At Pallas magnis emittit viribus hastamvaginaque cava fulgentem deripit ensem.Illa volans umeri surgunt qua tegmina summaincidit atque viam clipei molita per orastandem etiam magno strinxit de corpore Turni.