This said, on equal wings she pois'd her weight, 15 And form'd a radiant rainbow in her flight. The Dauniau hero lifts his hands and eyes, And thus invokes the goddess as she flies: 'Iris! the grace of heav'n, what pow'r divine "Has sent thee down, thro' dusky clouds to shine? 'See they divide ! immortal day appears,

21

And glitt ring planets dancing in their spheres! With joy, these happy omens I obey, 'And follow, to the war, theGod 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 powers above with offer'd vows.

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Now march the bold confed'rates thro' 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 arins 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. The Trojans view the dusty cloud from far, And the dark menace of the distant war. Caïcus from the rampire saw it rise, Black'ning the fields, and thick'ning thro' the skies. Then, to his fellows, thus aloud he calls: [walls. What rolling clouds, my friends! approach the Arm! arm! and man the works! prepare your "Andpointed darts! the Latian host appears!'[spears

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Thus warn'd, they shut their gates; with shouts
The bulwarks,and,secure, their foes attend: [ascend
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,
But close within their lines attend their chance: 50
Unwilling, yet they keep the strict command,
And sourly wait in arins the hostile band.
The fiery Turnus flew before the rest:

A pye-ball'd steed of Thracian strain he press'd;
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.

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'Is there,' he said, in arms who bravely dare His leader's honor, and his danger share?

Then, spurring on, his brandish'd dart he threw, 60
In sign of war; applauding shouts ensue.
Amaz'd to find a dastard race that run
Behind the rampires, and the battle shun;
He rides around the camp, with rolling eyes,
And stops at every port, and every passage tries. 65
So roams the nightly wolf about the fold,
Wet with descending show'rs, and stiff with cold;
He howls for hunger, and he grins for pain,
(His gnashing teeth are exercis'd in vain,)
And, impotent of anger, finds no way
In his distended paws to grasp the prey.
The mothers listen; but the bleating lambs
Securely swig the dug beneath the dams,

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Thus ranges eager Turnus o'er the plain,
Sharp with desire, and furious with disdain; 75
Surveys each passage with a piercing sight,
To force his foes in equal field to fight.
Thus, while he gazes round, at length he spies
Where, fenc'd with strong redoubts, their navy lies;
Close underneath the walls: the washing tide 80
Secures from all approach this weaker side.
He takes the wish'd occasion; fills his hand
With ready fires, and shakes a flaming brand.
Urg'd by his presence, ev'ry soul is warm'd,
And every
hand with kindled fire is arm'd.
From the fir'd pines the scatt'ring sparkles fly;
Fat vapours mix'd with flames, involve the sky.
What pow'r, O Muses! could avert the flame,
Which threaten'd, in the fleet, the Trojan name?
Tell: for the fact, thro length of time obscure, 90
Is hard to faith; yet shall the fame endure.

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"Tis said, that, when the chief prepar'd his flight, And fell'd his timber from mount Ida's height, The grandam goddess then approach'd her son, And with a mother's majesty begun:

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'Grant me,' she said, 'the sole request I bring, 'Since conquer'd heav'n has own'd you for its king: 'On Ida's brows, for ages past, there stood,

With firs and maples fill'd, a shady wood; And on the summit rose a sacred grove, 'Where I was worship'd with religious love. 'These woods, that holy grove, my long delight, 'I gave the Trojan prince to speed his flight.

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'Now fill'd with fear, on their behalf I come; 'Let neither winds o'erset, nor waves intomb, 105 The floating forests of the sacred pine; 'But let it be their safety to be mine.' Then thus reply'd her awful son, who rolls The radiant stars, and heav'n and earth controls: How dare you, mother! endless date demand, 'For vessels moulded by a mortal hand? "What then is fate? Shall bold Æneas ride, 'Of safety certain, on th' uncertain tide? 'Yet what I can, I grant: when, wafted o'er, The chief is landed on the Latian shore,

'Whatever ships escape the raging storms,

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At my command shall change their fading forms To nymphs divine; and plow the wat'ry way, 'Like Dotis and the daughters of the sea.'

To seal his sacred vow, by Styx he swore, 120 The lake with liquid pitch, the dreary shore; And Phlegethon's innavigable flood,

And the black regions of his brother god.

He said; and shook the skies with his imperial nod. And now,at length, the number'd hours were come, Prefix'd by Fate's irrevocable doom;

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When the great mother of the Gods was free
To save her ships, and finish Jove's decree.
First, from the quarter of the morn, there sprung,
A light that sign'd the heav'ns, and shot along; 130
Then from a cloud, fring'd round with golden fires,
Were timbrels heard, and Berecynthian choirs;

'Methinks, beneath yon hill I have espy'd
A way that safely will my passage guide.'
Euryalus stood list`ning while he spoke;
With love of praise, and noble envy struck;
Then to his ardent friend expos'd his mind: 255
• All this, alone, and leaving me behind!

Am I unworthy, Nisus! to be join’d?

'Thinks't thou I can my share of glory yield, Or send thee unassisted to the field?

Not so my father taught my childhood arms; 260 Born in a siege, and bred among alarms. Nor is my youth unworthy of my friend, 'Nor of the heav'n-born hero I attend. • The thing call'd life, with ease. I can disclaim, And think it over-sold to purchase fame.' 265 Then, Nisus, thus: Alas! thy tender years Would minister new matter to my fears. So may the gods, who view this friendly strife, Restore me to thy lov'd embrace with life, 'Condemn'd to pay my vows, (as sure I trust,) 270 This thy request is cruel and unjust.

'But if some chance, as many chances are, And doubtful hazards in the deeds of war, "If one should reach my head, there let it fall, And spare thy life; I would not perish all. 273 Thy bloomy youth deserves a longer date : 'Live thou to mourn thy love's unhappy fate,

To bear my mangled body from the foe,

Or buy it back, and fun'ral rites bestow.