html.skin-theme-clientpref-night @media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os }hen Turnus had assembled all his Pow'rs;
His Standard planted on Laurentum's Tow'rs;
When now the sprightly Trumpet, from afar,
Had giv'n the Signal of approaching War,
Had rouz'd the neighing Steeds to scour the Fields, 5
While the fierce Riders clatter'd on their Shields,
Trembling with Rage, the Latian Youth prepare
To join th' Allies, and headlong rush to War.
Fierce Ufens, and Messapus, led the Crowd;
With bold Mezentius, who blasphem'd aloud. 10
These, thro' the Country took their wasteful Course;
The Fields to forage, and to gather Force.
Then Venulus to Diomede they send,
To beg his Aid Ausonia to defend:
Declare the common Danger; and inform 15
The Grecian Leader of the growing Storm:
Æneas landed on the Latian Coast,
With banish'd Gods, and with a baffled Hoast;
Yet now aspir'd to Conquest of the State;
And claim'd a Title from the Gods and Fate. 20
What num'rous Nations in his Quarrel came,
And how they spread his formidable Name:
What he design'd, what Mischiefs might arise,
If Fortune favour'd his first Enterprise,
Was left for him to weigh: whose equal Fears, 25
And common Interest was involv'd in theirs.
}While Turnus and th' Allies thus urge the War,
The Trojan floating in a Flood of Care,
Beholds the Tempest which his Foes prepare.
This way and that he turns his anxious Mind; 30
Thinks, and rejects the Counsels he design'd.
Explores himself in vain, in ev'ry part,
And gives no rest to his distracted Heart.
So when the Sun by Day, or Moon by Night,
Strike, on the polish'd Brass their trembling Light, 35
The glitt'ring Species here and there divide;
And cast their dubious Beams from side to side:
Now on the Walls, now on the Pavement play,
And to the Ceiling flash the glaring Day.
Twas Night: And weary Nature lull'd asleep 40
The Birds of Air, and Fishes of the Deep;
}And Beasts, and Mortal Men: The Trojan Chief
Was laid on Tyber's Banks, oppress'd with Grief,
And found in silent Slumber late Relief.
Then, thro' the Shadows of the Poplar Wood, 45
Arose the Father of the Roman Flood;
An Azure Robe was o'er his Body spread,
A Wreath of shady Reeds adorn'd his Head:
Thus, manifest to Sight, the God appear'd,
And with these pleasing Words his Sorrow chear'd.
Undoubted Off-spring of Etherial Race, 51
O long expected in this promis'd Place,
Who, thro' the Foes, hast born thy banish'd Gods,
Restor'd them to their Hearths, and old Abodes;
This is thy happy Home! The Clime where Fate 55
Ordains thee to restore the Trojan State.
Fear not, the War shall end in lasting Peace;
And all the Rage of haughty Juno cease.
And that this nightly Vision may not seem
Th' Effect of Fancy, or an idle Dream, 60
A Sow beneath an Oak shall lye along;
All white her self, and white her thirty Young.
When thirty rowling Years have run their Race,
Thy Son, Ascanius, on this empty Space,
Shall build a Royal Town, of lasting Fame; 65
Which from this Omen shall receive the Name.
Time shall approve the Truth: For what remains,
And how with sure Success to crown thy Pains,
With Patience next attend. A banish'd Band,
Driv'n with Evander from th' Arcadian Land, 70
Have planted here; and plac'd on high their Walls;
Their Town the Founder, Palanteum calls:
Deriv'd from Pallas, his great Grandsire's Name:
But the fierce Latians old Possession claim:
With War infesting the new Colony; 75
These make thy Friends, and on their Aid rely.
To thy free Passage I submit my Streams:
Wake Son of Venus from thy pleasing Dreams;
And, when the setting Stars are lost in Day,
To Juno's Pow'r thy just Devotion pay. 80
With Sacrifice the wrathful Queen appease;
Her Pride at length shall fall, her Fury cease;
When thou return'st victorious from the War,
Perform thy Vows to me with grateful Care.
The God am I, whose yellow Water flows 85
Around these Fields, and fatten as it goes:
Tyber my Name: among the rowling Floods,
Renown'd on Earth, esteem'd among the Gods.
This is my certain Seat: In Times to come,
My Waves shall wash the Walls of mighty Rome. 90
He said; and plung'd below, while yet he spoke:
His Dream Æneas and his Sleep forsook.
He rose, and looking up, beheld the Skies
With Purple blushing, and the Day arise.
Then, Water in his hollow Palm he took, 95
From Tyber's Flood; and thus the Pow'rs bespoke.
Laurentian Nymphs, by whom the Streams are fed,
And Father Tyber, in thy sacred Bed
Receive Æneas; and from Danger keep.
Whatever Fount, whatever holy Deep, 100
Conceals thy wat'ry Stores; where e'er thy rise,
And, bubling from below, salute the Skies:
Thou King of horned Floods, whose plenteous Urn
Suffices Fatness to the fruitful Corn,
For this thy kind Compassion of our Woes, 105
Shalt share my Morning Song, and Ev'ning Vows.
But, oh! be present to thy Peoples Aid;
And firm the gracious Promise thou hast made.
Thus having said, two Gallies, from his Stores,
With Care he chuses; Mans, and fits with Oars. 110
Now on the Shore the fatal Swine is found:
Wond'rous to tell; she lay along the Ground:
Her well fed Offspring at her Udders hung;
She white her self, and white her thirty young;
Æneas takes the Mother, and her Brood, 115
And all on Juno's Altar are bestow'd.
The foll'wing Night, and the succeeding Day,
Propitious Tyber smooth'd his wat'ry Way:
He rowl'd his River back; and pois'd he stood;
A gentle Swelling, and a peaceful Flood. 120
The Trojans mount their Ships; they put from Shoar,
Born on the Waves, and scarcely dip an Oar.
Shouts from the Land give Omen to their Course;
And the pitch'd Vessels glide with easie Force.
The Woods and Waters, wonder at the Gleam 125
Of Shields, and painted Ships, that stem the Stream.
One Summer's Night, and one whole Day they pass,
Betwixt the green-wood Shades; and cut the liquid Glass.
The fiery Sun had finish'd half his Race;
Look'd back, and doubted in the middle Space: 130
When they from far beheld the rising Tow'rs,
The Tops of Sheds, and Shepherds lowly Bow'rs:
Thin as they stood, which, then of homely Clay,
Now rise in Marble, from the Roman Sway.
These Cots, (Evander's Kingdom, mean and poor) 135
The Trojan saw, and turn'd his Ships to Shore.
Twas on a solemn Day: Th' Arcadian States,
The King and Prince without the City Gates,
Then paid their Off'rings in a sacred Grove,
To Hercules, the Warrior Son of Jove. 140
Thick Clouds of rowling Smoke involve the Skies;
And Fat of Entrails on his Altar fries.
But when they saw the Ships that stem'd the Flood,
And glitter'd thro' the Covert of the Wood,
They rose with Fear; and left th' unfinished'd Feast: 145
Till dauntless Pallas reassur'd the rest,
To pay the Rites. Himself without delay
A Jav'lin seiz'd, and singly took his Way.
}Then gain'd a rising Ground; and call'd from far.
Resolve me, Strangers, whence, and what you are;
Your Buis'ness here; and bring you Peace or War? 151
High on the Stern, Æneas took his Stand,
And held a Branch of Olive in his Hand;
While thus he spoke. The Phrygians Arms you see;
Expell'd from Troy, provok'd in Italy 155
By Latian Foes, with War unjustly made:
At first affianc'd, and at last betray'd.
This Message bear: The Trojans and their Chief
Bring holy Peace; and beg the King's Relief.
Struck with so great a Name, and all on fire, 160
The Youth replies, Whatever you require,
Your Fame exacts: Upon our Shores descend,
A welcome Guest, and what you wish, a Friend.
He said; and downward hasting to the Strand,
Embrac'd the Stranger Prince, and join'd his Hand.
Conducted to the Grove, Æneas broke 166
The silence first, and thus the King bespoke.
Best of the Greeks, to whom, by Fates Command,
I bear these peaceful Branches in my hand;
Undaunted I approach you; though I know 170
Your Birth is Grecian, and your Land my Foe:
From Atreus tho' your ancient Lineage came;
And both the Brother Kings your Kindred claim:
Yet, my self-conscious Worth, your high Renown,
Your Virtue, thro' the Neighb'ring Nations blown,
Our Fathers mingl'd Blood, Apollo's Voice, 176
Have led me hither, less by Need than Choice.
Our Founder Dardanus, as Fame has sung,
And Greeks acknowledge, from Electra sprung:
Electra from the Loins of Atlas came; 180
Atlas whose Head sustains the Starry Frame.
Your Sire is Mercury; whom long before
On cold Cyllene's top fair Maja bore.
Maja the fair, on Fame if we rely,
Was Atlas Daughter, who sustains the Sky. 185
Thus from one common Source our Streams divide:
Ours is the Trojan, yours th' Arcadian side.
}Rais'd by these Hopes, I sent no News before:
Nor ask'd you leave, nor did your Faith implore;
But come, without a Pledge, my own Ambassador.
The same Rutulians, who with Arms pursue 191
The Trojan Race, are equal Foes to you.
Our Host expell'd, what farther Force can stay
The Victor Troops from Universal Sway?
Then will they stretch their Pow'r athwart the Land;
And either Sea from side to side command. 196
Receive our offer'd Faith; and give us thine:
Our is a gen'rous, and experienc'd Line:
We want not Hearts, nor Bodies for the War;
In Council cautious, and in Fields we dare. 200
He said; and while he spoke, with piercing Eyes,
Evander view'd the Man with vast surprize.
Pleas'd with his Action, ravish'd with his Face,
Then answer'd briefly, with a Royal grace.
O Valiant Leader of the Trojan Line, 205
In whom the Features of thy Father shine;
How I recall Anchises, how I see
His Motions, Meen, and all my Friend in thee!
Long tho' it be, tis fresh within my Mind,
When Priam, to his Sister's Court design'd 210
A welcome Visit, with a friendly stay;
And, thro' th' Arcadian Kingdom took his way.
Then, past a Boy, the callow Down began
To shade my Chin, and call me first a Man.
I saw the shining Train, with vast delight, 215
And Priam's goodly Person pleas'd my sight:
But great Anchises, far above the rest,
With awful Wonder fir'd my Youthful Breast.
I long'd to join, in Friendship's holy Bands,
Our mutual Hearts, and plight our mutual Hands. 220
I first accosted him: I su'd, I sought,
And, with a loving force, to Pheneus brought.
He gave me, when at length constrain'd to go,
A Lycian Quiver, and a Gnossian Bow:
}A Vest embroider'd, glorious to behold, 225
And two rich Bridles, with their Bits of Gold,
Which my Son's Coursers in obedience hold.
The League you ask I offer, as your Right:
And when to Morrow's Sun reveals the Light,
}With swift Supplies you shall be sent away: 230
Now celebrate, with us, this solemn Day;
Whose Holy Rites admit no long Delay.
Honour our Annual Feast; and take your Seat
With friendly Welcome, at a homely Treat.
Thus having said, the Bowls (remov'd for Fear) 235
The Youths replac'd; and soon restor'd the Chear.
On sods of Turf he set the Souldiers round;
A Maple Throne, rais'd higher from the Ground,
Receiv'd the Trojan Chief: And o'er the Bed,
A Lion's shaggy Hide for Ornament they spread. 240
}The Loaves were serv'd in Canisters; the Wine
In Bowls, the Priest renew'd the Rites Divine:
Broil'd Entrails are their Food; and Beefs continu'd Chine.
But, when the Rage of Hunger was repress'd,
Thus spoke Evander to his Royal Guest. 245
These Rites, these Altars, and this Feast, O King,
From no vain Fears, or Superstition spring:
Or blind Devotion, or from blinder Chances
Or heady Zeal, or brutal Ignorance:
But, sav'd from Danger, with a grateful Sence, 250
The Labours of a God we recompence.
See, from afar, yon Rock that mates the Sky;
About whose Feet such heaps of Rubbish lye:
Such indigested Ruin; bleak and bare,
How desart now it stands, expos'd in Air!
Twas once a Robber's Den; inclos'd around
With living Stone, and deep beneath the Ground.
The Monster Cacus, more than half a Beast,
This Hold, impervious to the Sun, possess'd.
The Pavement ever foul with human Gore; 260
Heads, and their mangled Members, hung the Door.
Vulcan this Plague begot: And, like his Sire,
Black Clouds he belch'd, and flakes of livid Fire.
Time, long expected, eas'd us of our Load:
And brought the needful presence of a God. 265
}Th' avenging force of Hercules, from Spain,
Arriv'd in Triumph, from Geryon slain;
Thrice liv'd the Gyant, and thrice liv'd in vain.
His Prize, the lowing Herds, Alcides drove
Near Tyber's Bank, to graze the shady Grove. 270
Allur'd with Hope of Plunder, and intent
By Force to rob, by Fraud to circumvent;
The brutal Cacus, as by Chance they stray'd,
Four Oxen thence, and four fair Kine convey'd.
And, lest the printed Footsteps might be seen, 275
He drag'd 'em backwards to his rocky Den.
The Tracks averse, a lying Notice gave;
And led the Searcher backward from the Cave.
Mean time the Herdsman Heroe shifts his place:
To find fresh Pasture, and untrodden Grass. 280
The Beasts, who miss'd their Mates, fill'd all around
With Bellowings, and the Rocks restor'd the Sound.
One Heifar who had heard her Love complain,
Roar'd from the Cave; and made the Project vain.
Alcides found the Fraud: With Rage he shook, 285
And toss'd about his Head his knotted Oak.
Swift as the Winds, or Scythian Arrows flight,
He clomb, with eager haste, th' Aerial height.
Then first we saw the Monster mend his Pace:
Fear in his Eyes, and Paleness in his Face, 290
Confess'd the Gods approach: Trembling he springs,
As Terror had increas'd his Feet with Wings:
Nor stay'd for Stairs; but down the Depth he threw
His Body; on his Back the Door he drew.
The Door, a Rib of living Rock; with Pains 295
His Father hew'd it out, and bound with Iron Chains.
He broke the heavy Links; the Mountain clos'd;
And Bars and Leavers to his Foe oppos'd.
The Wretch had hardly made his Dungeon fast;
The fierce Avenger came with bounding haste: 300
Survey'd the Mouth of the forbidden hold;
And here and there his raging Eyes he rowl'd.
He gnash'd his Teeth; and thrice he compass'd round
With winged speed the Circuit of the Ground.
Thrice at the Cavern's Mouth he pull'd in vain, 305
And, panting, thrice desisted from his Pain.
A pointed flinty Rock, all bare, and black,
Grew gibbous from behind the Mountains Back:
Owls, Pavens, all ill Omens of the Night, 309
Here built their Nests, and hither wing'd their Flight.
The leaning Head hung threatning o'er the Flood;
And nodded to the left: The Heroe stood
Averse, with planted Feet, and from the right,
Tugg'd at the solid Stone with all his might.
Thus heav'd, the fix'd Foundations of the Rock 315
Gave way: Heav'n eccho'd at the ratling Shock.
Tumbling it choak'd the Flood: On either side
The Banks leap backward; and the Streams divide.
The Sky shrunk upward with unusual Dread:
And trembling Tyber div'd beneath his Bed. 320
The Court of Cacus stands reveal'd to sight;
The Cavern glares with new admitted Light.
So the pent Vapours with a rumbling Sound
Heave from below; and rend the hollow Ground:
A sounding Flaw succeeds: And from on high, 325
The Gods, with Hate beheld the neather Sky:
The Ghosts repine at violated Night;
And curse th' invading Sun; and sicken at the sight.
The graceless Monster caught in open Day,
Inclos'd, and in Despair to fly away; 330
Howls horrible from underneath, and fills
His hollow Palace, with unmanly Yells.
The Heroe stands above; and from afar
Plies him with Darts, and Stones, and distant War.
He, from his Nostrils, and huge Mouth, expires 335
Black Clouds of Smoke, amidst his Father's Fires.
Gath'ring, with each repeated Blast, the Night:
To make uncertain Aim, and erring Sight.
The wrathful God then plunges from above,
And where in thickest Waves the Sparkles drove, 340
There lights; and wades thro' Fumes, and gropes his Way;
Half sing'd, half stifled, till he grasps his Prey.
}The Monster, spewing fruitless Flames, he found;
He squeez'd his Throat, he writh'd his Neck around,
And in a Knot his cripled Members bound. 345
Then, from their Sockets, tore his burning Eyes;
Rowl'd on a heap the breathless Robber lyes.
The Doors, unbarr'd, receive the rushing Day;
And thorough Lights disclose the ravish'd Prey.
The Bulls redeem'd, breathe open Air agen; 350
Next, by the Feet, they drag him from his Den.
}The wond'ring Neighbourhood, with glad surprise,
Beheld his shagged Breast, his Gyant Size,
His Mouth that flames no more, and his extinguish'd Eyes.
From that auspicious Day, with Rites Divine, 355
We worship at the Hero's Holy Shrine.
Potitius first ordain'd these annual Vows,
As Priests, were added the Pinarian House:
Who rais'd this Altar in the Sacred Shade;
Where Honours, ever due, for ever shall be paid. 360
For these Deserts, and this high Virtue shown,
Ye warlike Youths, your Heads with Garlands crown.
Fill high the Goblets with a sparkling Flood:
And with deep Draughts invoke our common God.
This said, a double Wreath Evander twin'd: 365
And Poplars black and white his Temples bind.
Then Brims his ample Bowl: With like Design
The rest invoke the Gods, with sprinkled Wine.
Mean time the Sun descended from the Skies;
And the bright Evening-Star began to rise. 370
And now the Priests, Potitius at their Head,
In Skins of Beasts involv'd, the long Procession led:
Held high the flaming Tapers in their Hands;
As Custom had prescrib'd their holy Bands:
Then with a second Course the Tables load: 375
And with full Chargers offer to the God.
The Salij sing, and cense his Altars round
With Saban Smoke, their Heads with Poplar bound.
One Choir of old, another of the young;
To dance, and bear the Burthen of the Song. 380
The Lay records the Labours, and the Praise,
And all th' Immortal Acts of Hercules.
First, how the mighty Babe, when swath'd in Bands,
The Serpents strangled, with his Infant Hands.
Then, as in Years, and matchless Force he grew, 385
Th' Oechalian Walls, and Trojan overthrew.
Besides a thousand Hazards they relate,
Procur'd by Juno's, and Euristheus's Hate.
Thy Hands, unconquer'd Heroe, cou'd subdue
The Cloud-born Centaurs, and the Monster Crew. 390
Nor thy resistless Arm the Bull with stood:
Nor He the roaring Terror of the Wood.
}The triple Porter of the Stygian Seat,
With lolling Tongue, lay fawning at thy Feet:
And, seiz'd with Fear, forgot his mangled Meat. 395
Th' Infernal Waters trembled at thy Sight;
Thee, God, no face of Danger cou'd Affright;
Not huge Typhœus, nor th' unnumber'd Snake,
Increas'd with hissing Heads, in Lerna's Lake.
Hail Jove's undoubted Son! An added Grace 400
To Heav'n, and the great Author of thy Race.
Receive the grateful Off'rings, which we pay,
And smile propitious on thy solemn Day.
In Numbers, thus, they sung: Above the rest,
The Den, and Death of Cacus crown the Feast. 405
The Woods to hollow Vales convey the Sound;
The Vales to Hills, and Hills the Notes rebound.
The Rites perform'd, the chearful Train retire.
Betwixt young Pallas, and his aged Sire
The Trojan pass'd, the City to survey; 410
And pleasing Talk beguil'd the tedious Way.
The Stranger cast around his curious Eyes;
New Objects viewing still, with new Surprise.
With greedy Joys enquires of various Things;
And Acts and Monuments of Ancient Kings. 415
Then thus the Founder of the Roman Tow'rs:
These Woods were first the Seat of Silvan Pow'rs,
Of Nymphs, and Fauns, and salvage Men, who took
Their Birth from Trunks of Trees, and stubborn Oak.
}Nor Laws they knew, nor Manners, nor the Care
Of lab'ring Oxen, or the shining Share: 421
Nor Arts of Gain, nor what they gain'd to spare.