第81章

"Here ply your oars, and at all hazard land:

Force on the vessel, that her keel may wound This hated soil, and furrow hostile ground.

Let me securely land- I ask no more;

Then sink my ships, or shatter on the shore."This fiery speech inflames his fearful friends:

They tug at ev'ry oar, and ev'ry stretcher bends;They run their ships aground; the vessels knock, (Thus forc'd ashore,) and tremble with the shock.

Tarchon's alone was lost, that stranded stood, Stuck on a bank, and beaten by the flood:

She breaks her back; the loosen'd sides give way, And plunge the Tuscan soldiers in the sea.

Their broken oars and floating planks withstand Their passage, while they labor to the land, And ebbing tides bear back upon th' uncertain sand.

Now Turnus leads his troops without delay, Advancing to the margin of the sea.

The trumpets sound: Aeneas first assail'd The clowns new-rais'd and raw, and soon prevail'd.

Great Theron fell, an omen of the fight;

Great Theron, large of limbs, of giant height.

He first in open field defied the prince:

But armor scal'd with gold was no defense Against the fated sword, which open'd wide His plated shield, and pierc'd his naked side.

Next, Lichas fell, who, not like others born, Was from his wretched mother ripp'd and torn;Sacred, O Phoebus, from his birth to thee;For his beginning life from biting steel was free.

Not far from him was Gyas laid along, Of monstrous bulk; with Cisseus fierce and strong:

Vain bulk and strength! for, when the chief assail'd, Nor valor nor Herculean arms avail'd, Nor their fam'd father, wont in war to go With great Alcides, while he toil'd below.

The noisy Pharos next receiv'd his death:

Aeneas writh'd his dart, and stopp'd his bawling breath.

Then wretched Cydon had receiv'd his doom, Who courted Clytius in his beardless bloom, And sought with lust obscene polluted joys:

The Trojan sword had curd his love of boys, Had not his sev'n bold brethren stopp'd the course Of the fierce champions, with united force.

Sev'n darts were thrown at once; and some rebound From his bright shield, some on his helmet sound:

The rest had reach'd him; but his mother's care Prevented those, and turn'd aside in air.

The prince then call'd Achates, to supply The spears that knew the way to victory-"Those fatal weapons, which, inur'd to blood, In Grecian bodies under Ilium stood:

Not one of those my hand shall toss in vain Against our foes, on this contended plain."He said; then seiz'd a mighty spear, and threw;Which, wing'd with fate, thro' Maeon's buckler flew, Pierc'd all the brazen plates, and reach'd his heart:

He stagger'd with intolerable smart.

Alcanor saw; and reach'd, but reach'd in vain, His helping hand, his brother to sustain.

A second spear, which kept the former course, From the same hand, and sent with equal force, His right arm pierc'd, and holding on, bereft His use of both, and pinion'd down his left.

Then Numitor from his dead brother drew Th' ill-omen'd spear, and at the Trojan threw:

Preventing fate directs the lance awry, Which, glancing, only mark'd Achates' thigh.

In pride of youth the Sabine Clausus came, And, from afar, at Dryops took his aim.

The spear flew hissing thro' the middle space, And pierc'd his throat, directed at his face;It stopp'd at once the passage of his wind, And the free soul to flitting air resign'd:

His forehead was the first that struck the ground;Lifeblood and life rush'd mingled thro' the wound.

He slew three brothers of the Borean race, And three, whom Ismarus, their native place, Had sent to war, but all the sons of Thrace.

Halesus, next, the bold Aurunci leads:

The son of Neptune to his aid succeeds, Conspicuous on his horse.On either hand, These fight to keep, and those to win, the land.

With mutual blood th' Ausonian soil is dyed, While on its borders each their claim decide.

As wintry winds, contending in the sky, With equal force of lungs their titles try:

They rage, they roar; the doubtful rack of heav'n Stands without motion, and the tide undriv'n:

Each bent to conquer, neither side to yield, They long suspend the fortune of the field.

Both armies thus perform what courage can;Foot set to foot, and mingled man to man.

But, in another part, th' Arcadian horse With ill success ingage the Latin force:

For, where th' impetuous torrent, rushing down, Huge craggy stones and rooted trees had thrown, They left their coursers, and, unus'd to fight On foot, were scatter'd in a shameful flight.

Pallas, who with disdain and grief had view'd His foes pursuing, and his friends pursued, Us'd threat'nings mix'd with pray'rs, his last resource, With these to move their minds, with those to fire their force "Which way, companions? whether would you run?

By you yourselves, and mighty battles won, By my great sire, by his establish'd name, And early promise of my future fame;By my youth, emulous of equal right To share his honors- shun ignoble flight!

Trust not your feet: your hands must hew way Thro' yon black body, and that thick array:

'T is thro' that forward path that we must come;There lies our way, and that our passage home.

Nor pow'rs above, nor destinies below Oppress our arms: with equal strength we go, With mortal hands to meet a mortal foe.

See on what foot we stand: a scanty shore, The sea behind, our enemies before;No passage left, unless we swim the main;Or, forcing these, the Trojan trenches gain."This said, he strode with eager haste along, And bore amidst the thickest of the throng.

Lagus, the first he met, with fate to foe, Had heav'd a stone of mighty weight, to throw:

Stooping, the spear descended on his chine, Just where the bone distinguished either loin:

It stuck so fast, so deeply buried lay, That scarce the victor forc'd the steel away.

Hisbon came on: but, while he mov'd too slow To wish'd revenge, the prince prevents his blow;For, warding his at once, at once he press'd, And plung'd the fatal weapon in his breast.

Then lewd Anchemolus he laid in dust, Who stain'd his stepdam's bed with impious lust.