Bound o'er the rocks, incroach upon the land;
And far upon the beach eject the fand.
Then backward, with a fwing, they take their way;
Repuls'd from upper ground, and seek their mother-fea :
With equal hurry quit th' invaded hore;
935
And swallow back the fand and stones they spew'd before.
Twice were the Tufcans mafters of the field,
Twice by the Latins, in their turn, repell’a.
Afham'd at length, to the third charge they ràn,
Both hofts refolv'd, and mingled man to man : 940
Now dying groans are heard, the fields are ftrow'd
With falling bodies, and are drunk with blood:
Arms, horses, men, on heaps together lie :
'Confus'd the fight, and more confus'd the cry.
Orfilochus, who durft not prefs too near
Strong Remulus, at distance drove his spear;
And ftruck the steel beneath his horfe's ear.
The fiery fteed, impatient of the wound,
Curvets, and, fpringing upward with a bound,
His hopeless lord caft backward on the ground. 950
Catillus pierc'd Tolas firft; then drew
His reeking lance, and at Herminius threw :
The mighty champion of the Tufcan crew.
His neck and throat unarm'd, his head was bare,
But shaded with a length of yellow hair :
Secure, he fought, expos'd on every part,
A spacious mark for swords, and for the flying dart: Acrofs the fhoulders came the feather'd wound; Transfix'd, he fell, and doubled to the ground.
The fands with streaming blood are fanguine dy'd; And death with honour fought on either side.
Refiftlefs, through the war, Camilla rode;
In danger unappall'd, and pleas'd with blood.
One fide was bare for her exerted breast;
One shoulder with her painted quiver prefs'd.
Now from afar her fatal javelins play;
Now with her axe's edge fhe hews her way;
Diana's arms upon her shoulder found;
And when, too closely prefs'd, fhe quits the ground,
From her bent bow fhe fends a backward wound.
Her maids, in martial pomp, on either fide,
Larina, Tulla, fierce, Tarpeia ride;
Italians all in peace, their queen's delight:
In war, the bold companions of the fight.
So march'd the Thracian Amazons of old,
When Thermodon with bloody billows roll'd;
Such troops as thefe in fhining arms were seen,
When Thefeus met in fight their maiden queen.
Such to the field Penthefilea led,
From the fierce virgin when the Grecians fled :
With fuch, return'd triumphant from the war;
Her maids with cries attend the lofty car:
They clash with manly force their moony shields;
With female-fhouts refound the Phrygian fields.
Who foremost, and who laft, heroic maid,
On the cold earth were by thy courage laid?
Thy fpear, of mountain-afh, Eumenius first,
With fury driven, from fide to fide tranfpierc'd;
A purple stream came fpouting from the wound; Bath'd in his blood he lies, and bites the ground. 990 Lyris and Pegasus at once she slew;
The former, as the slacken'd reins he drew,
Of his faint fteed: the latter, as he stretch'd
His arm to prop his friend, the javelin reach'd,
By the fame weapon, fent from the fame hand,
Both fall together, and both spurn the fand.
Amaftrus next is added to the flain :
The rest in rout the follows o'er the plain :
Tereus, Harpalicus, Demophoon,
And Chromys, at full speed her fury shun.
Of all her deadly darts, not one she loft;
Each was attended with a Trojan ghost.
Young Ornithus beftrode a hunter fteed,
Swift for the chace, and of Apulian breed:
Him, from afar, she spy'd in arms unknown;
O'er his broad back an ox's hide was thrown :
His helm a wolf, whofe gaping jaws were spread
A covering for his cheeks, and grinn'd around his head. He clench'd within his hand an iron-prong;
And tower'd above the reft, confpicuous in the throng. Him foon fhe fingled from the flying train,
And flew with eafe: then thus infults the flain.
Vain hunter, didst thou think through woods to chace
The favage herd, a vile and trembling race?
Here cease thy vaunts, and own my victory;
A woman-warrior was too ftrong for thee.
Yet if the ghosts demand the conqueror's name,
Confeffing great Camilla, fave thy fhame.
Then Butes and Orfilochus fhe flew,
The bulkieft bodies of the Trojan crew.
But Butes breaft to breaft: the fpear defcends
Above the gorget, where his helmet ends,
And o'er the fhield which his left fide defends.
Orfilochus, and she, their courfers ply,
He feems to follow, and the feems to fly.
But in a narrower ring fhe makes the race;
And then he flies, and the pursues the chace.
Gathering at length on her deluded foe,
She fwings her axe, and rises at the blow:
Full on the helm behind, with such a sway
The weapon fälls, the riven steel gives way :
He groans, he roars, hé sues in vain for grace;
Brains, mingled with his blood, befmear his face.
Aftonish'd Aunus juft arrives by chance,
To fee his fall, nor farther dares advance:
But fixing on the horrid maid his eye,
He ftares, and shakes, and finds it vain to fly.
Yet like a true Ligurian, born to cheat,
(At least while fortune favour'd his deceit)
Cries out aloud, What courage have you fhown, 1040
Who truft your courfer's ftrength, and not your own?<
Forego the 'vantage of your horse, alight,
And then on equal terms begin the fight:
It fhall be feen, weak woman, what you can,
When, foot to foot, you combat with a man.
He faid: the glows with anger and disdain,
Difmounts with speed to dare him on the plain :
And leaves her horfe at large among her train.
With her drawn fword defies him to the field:
And, marching, lifts aloft her maiden shield:
The youth, who thought his cunning did fucceed,
Reins round his horfe, and urges all his speed,
Adds the remembrance of the fpur, and hides
The goring rowels in his bleeding fides.
Vain fool, and coward, said the lofty maid,
Caught in the train, which thou thyfelf haft laid!
On others practise thy Ligurian arts;
Thin ftratagems, and tricks of little hearts,
Are loft on me. Nor fhalt thou fafe retire,
With vaunting lies to thy fallacious fire.
At this, fo faft her flying feet she sped,
That foon fhe ftrain'd beyond his horse's head:
Then turning fhort, at once the feiz'd the rein,
And laid the boafter groveling on the plain.
Not with more cafe the falcon from above
Truffes, in middle air, the trembling dove:
Then plumes the prey, in her strong pounces bound;
The feathers foul with blood come tumbling to the ground.
Nor mighty Jove, from his fuperior height,
With his broad eye furveys th' unequal fight.
He fires the breast of Tarchon with difdain;
And fends him to redeem th' abandon'd plain.
Between the broken ranks the Tuscan rides, .
And these encourages, and those he chides
Recalls each leader, by his name, from flight; 1075
Renews their ardour, and restores the fight.
What panic fear has feiz'd your fouls? O fhame,
O brand perpetual of th' Etrurian name! '
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