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PRINTED FOR J. JOHNSON; R. BALDWIN; F. AND C. RIVINGTON;
W. J. AND J. RICHARDSON; W. OTRIDGE AND SON; R. FAULDER;
J. WALKER; G. KEARSLEY; LACKINGTON, ALLEN, AND CO.;
CADELL AND DAVIES; AND B. CROSBY.

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NEIS,

BOOK IX.

ARGUMENT.

Turnus takes advantage of Æneas's absence, fires some of his ships (which are transformed into sea-nymphs), and assaults his camp. The Trojans, reduced to the last extremities, send Nisus and Euryalus to recall Æneas; which furnishes the poet with that admirable episode of their friendship, generosity, and the conclusion of their adventures.

WHILE these affairs in distant places pass'd,
The various Iris Juno sends with haste,
To find bold Turnus, who, with anxious thought,
The secret shade of his great grandsire sought.
Retir'd alone she found the daring man,

And op'd her rosy lips, and thus began:

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"What none of all the gods could grant thy vowsThat, Turnus, this auspicious day bestows.

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Æneas, gone to seek th' Arcadian prince,
Has left the Trojan camp without defence;
And, short of succours there, employs his pains
In parts remote to raise the Tuscan swains.
Now snatch an hour that favours thy designs;
Unite thy forces, and attack their lines."

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This said, on equal wings she pois'd her weight, 15 And form'd a radiant rainbow in her flight.

The Daunian hero lifts his hands and eyes,

And thus invokes the goddess as she flies: 66 Iris, the

grace of heav'n! what pow'r divine 19 Has sent thee down, through dusky clouds to shine? See, they divide: immortal day appears,

And glitt'ring planets dancing in their spheres!
With joy, these happy omens I obey,

And follow, to the war, the god that leads the way."
Thus having said, as by the brook he stood, 25
He scoop'd the water from the crystal flood;
Then with his hands the drops to heav'n he throws,
And loads the pow'rs above with offer'd vows.

Now march the bold confed'rates through the

plain,

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