Looks round him, charm'd with the delightful

scene,

And many a question asks, and much he learns Of heroes far renown'd in ancient times.

Then spake Evander. These extensive groves Were once inhabited by fauns and nymphs Produced beneath their shades, and a rude race men, the progeny uncouth of elms

Of

And knotted oaks. They no refinement knew
Of laws or manners civilized, to yoke
The steer, with forecast provident to store
The hoarded grain, or manage what they had,
But browsed like beasts upon the leafy boughs,
Or fed voracious on their hunted prey.
An exile from Olympus, and expell'd

His native realm by thunder-bearing Jove,

First Saturn came. He from the mountains drew

This herd of men untractable and fierce,

And gave them laws and call'd his hiding

place

This growth of forests, Latium, Such the peace

His land possess'd, the golden age was then,
So famed in story; till by slow degrees

Far other times, and of far diff'rent hue
Succeeded, thirst of gold and thirst of blood.
Then came Ausonian bands, and armed hosts
From Sicily, and Latium often changed
Her master and her name, At length arose
Kings, of whom Tybris of gigantic form
Was chief; and we Italians since have call'd
The river by his name; thus Albula

(So was the country call'd in ancient days)
Was quite forgot. Me from my native land
An exile, thro' the dang'rous ocean driv'n,
Resistless fortune and relentless fate

Placed where thou see'st me. Phoebus, and
The nymph Carmentis, with maternal care
Attendant on thy wand'rings, fixt me here.

[Ten lines omitted.]

He said, and shew'd him the Tarpeian rock,
And the rude spot, where now the capitol
Stands all magnificent and bright with gold,
Then overgrown with thorns. And yet ev❜n then,
The swains beheld that sacred scene with awe;
The grove, the rock, inspired religious fear.
This grove, he said, that crowns the lofty top
Of this fair hill, some deity, we know,
Inhabits, but what deity we doubt.

'Th' Arcadians speak of Jupiter himself,

That they have often seen him, shaking here His gloomy Ægis, while the thunder-storms Came rolling all around him. Turn thine eyes, Behold that ruin; those dismantled walls, Where once two towns, Ianiculum

By Janus this, and that by Saturn built, Saturnia. Such discourse brought them beneath The roof of poor Evander, thence they saw,

Where now the proud and stately forum stands, The grazing herds wide scatter'd o'er the field. Soon as he enter'd-Hercules, he said,

Victorious Hercules, on this threshold trod,

These walls contain'd him, humble as they are. Dare to despise magnificence, my friend, Prove thy divine descent by worth divine,

Nor view with haughty scorn this mean abode. So saying, he led Æneas by the hand,

And plac'd him on a cushion stuff'd with leaves, Spread with the skin of a Lybistian bear.

[The Episode of Venus and Vulcan omitted.]

While thus in Lemnos Vulcan was employ'd,
Awaken'd by the gentle dawn of day,

And the shrill song of birds beneath the eaves
Of his low mansion, old Evander rose.
His tunic, and the sandals on his feet,
And his good sword well-girded to his side,
A panther's skin dependent from his left
And over his right shoulder thrown aslant,
Thus was he clad. Two mastives follow'd him,

His whole retinue and his nightly guard.

OVID. TRIST. LIB. V. ELEG. XII.

Scribis, ut oblectem.

You bid me write t' amuse the tedious hours,
And save from with'ring my poetic pow'rs.

Hard is the task, my friend, for verse should flow
From the free mind, not fetter'd down by woe;

Restless amidst unceasing tempests tost,

Whoe'er has cause for sorrow, I have most.

Would you bid Priam laugh, his sons all slain,
Or childless Niobe from tears refrain,

Join the gay dance, and lead the festive train?
Does grief or study most befit the mind,
To this remote, this barb'rous nook confin'd?
Could you impart to my unshaken breast
The fortitude by Socrates possess'd,

Soon would it sink beneath such woes as mine,

For what is human strength to wrath divine?