The drifts of Thracian fnows were fcarce fo white, Nor northern winds in fleetness match'd their flight. Officious grooms ftand ready by his fide;
And fome with combs their flowing manes divide; And others ftroke their chefts, and gently footh their pride.
He sheath'd his limbs in arms; a temper'd mass
Of golden metal thofe, and mountain brafs.
Then to his head his glittering helm he ty'd;
And girt his faithful fauchion by his fide.
In his Ætnean forge, the god of fire
That fauchion labour'd for the hero's fire:
Immortal keenness on the blade bestow'd,
And plung'd it hiffing in the Stygian flood.
Propp'd on a pillar, which the cieling bore,
Was plac'd the lance Auruncan Actor wore;
Which with fuch force he brandish'd in his hand,
The tough afh trembled like an ofier wand.
Then cry'd, O ponderous fpoil of Actor flain,
And never yet by Turnus tofs'd in vain,
Fail not, this day, thy wonted force: but go,
Sent by this hand, to pierce the Trojan foe:
Give me to tear his corflet from his breast,
And from that eunuch head, to rend the creft:
Dragg'd in the duft, his frizzled hair to foil,
Hot from the vexing ir'n, and fmear'd with fragrant oil.
Thus while he raves, from his wide noftrils flies
A fiery fteam, and fparkles from his eyes.
So fares the bull in his lov'd female's fight;
Proudly he bellows, and preludes the fight:
He tries his goring horns against a tree;
And meditates his abfent enemy:
He pushes at the winds, he digs the ftrand
With his black hoofs, and spurns the yellow fand.
Nor lefs the Trojan, in his Lemnian arms,
To future fight his manly courage warms:
He whets his fury, and with joy prepares
To terminate at once the lingering wars.
To chear his chiefs, and tender fon, relates
What heaven had promis'd, and expounds the fates. 170 Then to the Latian king he fends, to cease
The rage of arms, and ratify the peace.
The morn, enfuing from the mountain's height,
Had scarcely spread the skies with rosy light;
Th' ethereal courfers, bounding from the fea,
From out their flaming noftrils breath'd the day:
When now the Trojan and Rutulian guard,
In friendly labour join'd, the lift prepar'd.
Beneath the walls, they measure out the space;
Then facred altars rear, on fods of grass;
Where, with religious rites, their common gods they
place.
In pureft white the priests their heads attire,
And living waters bear, and holy fire:
And o'er their linen hoods, and shaded hair,
Long twisted wreaths of facred vervain wear.
In order iffuing from the town appears
The Latin legion, arm'd with pointed fpears;
And from the fields, advancing on a line,
The Trojan and the Tufcan forces join:
Their various arms afford a pleafing fight:
A peaceful train they feem, in peace prepar'd for fight.
Betwixt the ranks the proud commanders ride,
Glittering with gold, and vefts in purple dy'd.
Here Mnestheus, author of the Memmian line,
And there Meffapus born of feed divine.
The fign is given, and round the lifted space
Each man in order fills his proper place.
Reclining on their ample fhields, they stand;
And fix their pointed lances in the fand.
Now, ftudious of the fight, a numerous throng
Of either fex promifcuous, old and young,
Swarm from the town: by those who reft behind,
The gates and walls, and houses tops are lin❜d.
Mean time the queen of heaven beheld the fight,
With eyes unpleas'd, from Mount Albano's height: 205
(Since call'd Albano, by fucceeding fame,
But then an empty hill, without a name.)
She thence furvey'd the field, the Trojan powers,
The Latian squadrons, and Laurentine towers.
Then thus the goddess of the skies befpake,
With fighs and tears, the goddess of the lake;
King Turnus' fifter, once a lovely maid,
Ere to the luft of lawlefs Jove betray'd,
Comprefs'd by force, but by the grateful god,
Now made the Naïs of the neighbouring flood.
O nymph, the pride of living lakes, faid she,
O moft renown'd, and most belov'd by me,
Long haft thou known, nor need I to record
The wanton fallies of my wandering lord:
Of every Latian fair, whom Jove misled,
To mount by ftealth my violated bed,
To thee alone I grudg'd not his embrace;
But gave a part of heaven, and an unenvy'd place.
Now learn from me, thy near approaching grief,
Nor think my wishes want to thy relief.
While fortune favour'd, nor heaven's king deny'd,
To lend my fuccour to the Latian fide,
I fav'd thy brother, and the finking state;
But now he ftruggles with unequal fate;
And goes with gods averfe, o'ermatch'd in might,
To meet inevitable death in fight:
Nor muft I break the truce, nor can fuftain the fight.
Thou, if thou dar'ft, thy present aid supply;
It well becomes a fifter's care to try.
At this the lovely nymph, with grief oppress'd, 235 Thrice tore her hair, and beat her comely breast. To whom Saturnia thus; Thy tears are late:
Hafte, fnatch him, if he can be fnatch'd, from fate. New tumults kindle, violate the truce;
Who knows what changeful fortune may produce? 240 "Tis not a crime t' attempt what I decree,
Or if it were, discharge the crime on me.
She said, and, failing on the winged wind,
Left the fad nymph suspended in her mind.
And now in pomp the peaceful kings appear:
Four fteeds the chariot of Latinus bear:
Twelve golden beams around his temples play,
To mark his lineage from the god of day.
Two fnowy courfers Turnus' chariot yoke,
And in his hand two maffy spears he fhook:
Then issued from the camp, in arms divine,
Æneas, author of the Roman line:
And by his fide Afcanius took his place,
The second hope of Rome's immortal race.
Adorn'd in white, a reverend priest appears;
And offerings to the flaming altars bears;
A porket, and a lamb, that never fuffer'd fhears.
Then to the rifing fun he turns his eyes,
And shews the beasts design'd for facrifice,
With falt and meal: with like officious care
He marks their foreheads, and he clips their hair.
Betwixt their horns the purple wine he sheds,
With the fame generous juice the flame he feeds.
Æneas then unsheath'd his shining sword,
And thus with pious prayers the gods ador'd:
All-feeing fun, and thou Aufonian foil,
For which I have sustain'd so long a toil,
Thou king of heaven, and thou the queen of air,
(Propitious now, and reconcil'd by prayer)
Thou god of war, whofe unrefifted fway
The labours and events of arms obey;
Ye living fountains, and ye running floods,
All powers of ocean, all ethereal gods,
Hear, and bear record: if I fall in field,
Or recreant in the fight, to Turnus yield,
My Trojans fhall increase Evander's town ;
Afcanius fhall renounce th' Aufonian crown:
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