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 engage 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 510 His foes pursuing and his friends pursu'd,
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? whither would
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 honours-shun ignoble flight!
Trust not your feet: your hands must hew your way
Through yon black body, and that thick array :
"Tis through 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, 525
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." 530
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 distinguish'd either loin:
It stuck so fast, so deeply bury'd lay,
That scarce the victor forc'd the steel away.
Hisbo 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 stepdame's bed with impious lust.
And, after him, the Daunian twins were slain, 545
Laris and Thymbrus, on the Latian plain;
So wond'rous like in feature, shape, and size,
As caus'd an error in their parents' eyes-
Grateful mistake! but soon the sword decides
The nice distinction, and their fate divides:
For Thymbrus' head was lopp'd; and Laris' hand,
Dismember'd, sought its owner on the strand :
The trembling fingers yet the falchion strain,
And threaten still th' extended stroke in vain. 554
Now, to renew the charge, th' Arcadians came;
Sight of such acts, and sense of honest shame,
And grief, with anger mix'd, their minds inflame.
Then, with a casual blow was Rhoteus slain,
Who chanc'd, as Pallas threw, to cross the plain : The flying spear was after Ilus sent;
But Rhoteus happen'd on a death unmeant:
From Teuthras and from Tyres while he fled,
The lance, athwart his body, laid him dead:
Roll'd from his chariot with a mortal wound,
And intercepted fate, he spurn'd the ground. 565
As when, in summer, welcome winds arise,
The watchful shepherd to the forest flies,
And fires the midmost plants; contagion spreads,
And catching flames infect the neighb'ring heads;
Around the forest flies the furious blast,
And all the leafy nation sinks at last;
And Vulcan rides in triumph o'er the waste;
The pastor, pleas'd with his dire victory,
Beholds the satiate flames in sheets ascend the sky:-
So Pallas' troops their scatter'd strength unite, 575
And, pouring on their foes, their prince delight.
Halesus came, fierce with desire of blood:
But first collected in his arms he stood:
Advancing then, he ply'd the spear so well,
Ladon, Demodocus, and Pheres, fell.
Around his head he toss'd his glitt❜ring brand,
And from Strymonius hew'd his better hand,
Held up to guard his throat; then hurl'd a stone
At Thoas' ample front, and pierc'd the bone:
It struck beneath the space of either eye;
And blood, and mingled brains, together fly.
Deep skill'd in future fates, Halesus' sire
Did with the youth to lonely groves retire:
But, when the father's mortal race was run,
Dire destiny laid hold upon the son,
And haul'd him to the war, to find, beneath
Th' Evandrian spear, a memorable death.
Pallas th' encounter seeks, but, ere he throws,
To Tuscan Tyber thus address'd his vows:
"O sacred stream! direct my flying dart,
And give to pass the proud Halesus' heart:
His arms and spoils thy holy oak shall bear.” Pleas'd with the bribe, the god receiv'd his pray'r: For, while his shield protects a friend distress'd, The dart came driving on, and pierc'd his breast. But Lausus, no small portion of the war, Permits not panic fear to reign too far,
Caus'd by the death of so renown'd a knight;
But by his own example cheers the fight.
Fiece Abas first he slew-Abas, the stay
Of Trojan hopes, and hind'rance of the day.
The Phrygian troops escap'd the Greeks in vain :
They, and their mix'd allies, now load the plain.
To the rude shock of war both armies came; 609
Their leaders equal, and their strength the same.
The rear so press'd the front, they could not wield
Their angry weapons, to dispute the field.
Here Pallas urges on, and Lausus there:
Of equal youth and beauty both appear,
But both by fate forbid to breathe their native air.
Their congress in the field great Jove withstands
Both doom'd to fall, but fall by greater hands.
Meantime Juturna warns the Daunian chief
Of Lausus' danger, urging swift relief.
With his driv'n chariot he divides the crowd,
And, making to his friends, thus calls aloud :
"Let none presume his needless aid to join :
Retire, and clear the field: the fight is mine:
To this right hand is Pallas only due :
Oh! were his father here, my just revenge to view !"
From the forbidden space his men retir'd.
Pallas their awe, and his stern words, admir'd;
Survey'd him o'er and o'er with wond'ring sight,
Struck with his haughty mien, and tow'ring height:
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