With Scythians, expert in the dart and bow.
And here the tam'd Euphrates humbly glides;

And there the Rhine submits her swelling tides, 969 And proud Araxes, whom no bridge could bind. The Danes' unconquer'd offspring march behind; And Morini, the last of human kind.

These figures, on the shield divinely wrought, By Vulcan labour'd, and by Venus brought, With joy and wonder fill the hero's thought. 1975 Unknown the names, he yet admires the grace,

And bears aloft the fame and fortune of his race.

A

ENE ÏS,

BOOK IX. A

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:

5

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

Æneas, gone to seek th' Arcadian prince,

Has left the Trojan camp without defence;

10

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.”

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:

"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,
Well hors'd, well clad-a rich and shining train. SO
Messapus leads the van; and, in the rear,
The sons of Tyrrheus in bright arms appear.
In the main battle, with his flaming crest,
The mighty Turnus tow'rs above the rest,
Silent they move, majestically slow,
Like ebbing Nile, or Ganges in his flow.

35

The Trojans view the dusty cloud from far,
And the dark menace of the distant war.
Caïcus from the rampire saw it rise,

39

Black'ning the fields, and thick'ning through the skies, Then to his fellows thus aloud he calls:

"What rolling clouds, my friends, approach the walls? Arm! arm! and man the works! prepare your spears, And pointed darts! the Latian host appears.

Thus warn'd, they shut their gates; with shouts

ascend

The bulwarks, and, secure, their foes attend:
For their wise gen'ral, with foreseeing care,
Had charg'd them not to tempt the doubtful war,
Nor, though provok'd, in open fields advance,

45

But close within their lines attend their chance. 50
Unwilling, yet they keep the strict command,
And sourly wait in arms the hostile band.

The fiery Turnus flew before the rest ;

A piebald steed of Thracian strain he press'd;

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His helm of massy gold; and crimson was his crest. With twenty horse to second his designs,

An unexpected foe, he fac'd the lines.

"Is there, (he said) in arms who bravely dare His leader's honour and his danger share ?”

Then spurring on, his brandish'd dart he threw, 60 applauding shouts ensue.

In sign of war: