First let him see his friends in battle slain,
And their untimely fate lament in vain :
And when, at length, the cruel war shall cease,
On hard conditions may he buy his peace.
Nor let him then enjoy supreme command,
But fall untimely by some hostile hand,
And lie unburied on the barren sand.
These are my prayers, and this my dying will:
And you, my Tyrians, every curse fulfil;
Perpetual hate, and mortal wars proclaim
Against the prince, the people, and the name.
These grateful offerings on my grave bestow;
Nor league, nor love, the hostile nations know:
Now, and from hence in every future age,

Her sad attendants saw the deadly stroke,
And, with loud cries, the sounding palace shook.
Distracted from the fatal sight they fled,
And through the town the dismal rumour spread.
First from the frighted court the yell began,
Redoubled thence from house to house it ran:
The groans of men, with shrieks, laments, and cries
Of mixing women, mount the vaulted skies.
Not less the clamour, than if ancient Tyre,
Or the new Carthage, set by foes on fire,
The rolling ruin, with their lov'd abodes,
Involv'd the blazing temples of their gods.
Her sister hears, and, furious with despair,
She beats her breast, and rends her yellow hair:

When rage excites your arms, and strength sup- And, calling on Eliza's name aloud,

plies the rage,

Rise some avenger of our Libyan blood;

With fire and sword pursue the perjur'd brood:
Our arms, our seas, our shores oppos'd to theirs,
And the same hate descend on all our heirs."/

This said, within her anxious mind she weighs
The means of cutting short her odious days.
Then to Sichæus' nurse she briefly said
(For when she left her country her's was dead),
"Go, Barce, call my sister; let her care
The solemn rites of sacrifice prepare :
The sheep, and all the atoning offerings bring,
Sprinkling her body from the crystal spring
With living drops: then let her come, and thou
With sacred fillets bind thy hoary brow.
Thus will I pay my vows to Stygian Jove,
And end the cares of my disastrous love.
Then cast the Trojan image on the fire,
And, as that burns, my passion shall expire."

The nurse moves onward, with officious care,
And all the speed her aged limbs can bear.
But furious Dido, with dark thoughts involv'd,
Shook at the mighty mischief she resolv❜d.
With livid spots distinguish'd was her face,

Red were her rolling eyes, and discompos'd her
pace:

Ghastly she gaz'd, with pain she drew her breath,
And nature shiver'd at approaching death.

Then swiftly to the fatal place she pass'd,
And mounts the funeral pile, with furious haste:
Unsheaths the sword the Trojan left behind
(Not for so dire an enterprise design'd).
But when she view'd the garments loosely spread,
Which once he wore, and saw the conscious bed,
She paus'd, and, with a sigh, the robes embrac'd;
Then on the couch her trembling body cast,
Repress'd the ready tears, and spoke her last :
"Dear pledges of my love, while Heaven so pleas'd,
Receive a soul of mortal anguish eas'd:
My fatal course is finish'd, and I go,
A glorious name, among the ghosts below.
A lofty city by my hands is rais'd;
Pygmalion punish'd, and my lord appeas'd.
What could my fortune have afforded more,
Had the false Trojan never touch'd my shore ?"
Then kiss'd the couch; "and must I die," she said,
And unreveng'd? 'tis doubly to be dead!
Yet ev'n this death with pleasure I receive;
On any terms, 'tis better than to live.
These flames from far may the false Trojan view;
These boding omens' his base flight pursue."
She said, and struck. Deep enter'd in her side
The piercing steel, with reeking purple dy'd :
Clogg'd in the wound the cruel weapon stands;
The spouting blood came streaming on her hands.

Runs breathless to the place, and breaks the crowd
"Was all that pomp of woe for this prepar'd,
These fires, this funeral pile, these altars rear'd?
Was all this train of plots contriv'd,” said she,
"All only to deceive unhappy me?
Which is the worst? Didst thou in death pretend
To scorn thy sister, or delude thy friend?
Thy summon'd sister, and thy friend, had come;
One sword had serv'd us both, one common tomb.
Was I to raise the pile, the powers invoke,
Not to be present at the fatal stroke?
At once thou hast destroy'd thyself and me;
Thy town, thy senate, and thy colony!
Bring water, bathe the wound; while I in death
Lay close my lips to her's, and catch the flying
breath."

This said, she mounts the pile with eager haste,
And in her arms the gasping queen embrac'd:
Her temples chaf'd, and her own garments tore,
To staunch the streaming blood, and cleanse the

gore.

Thrice Dido try'd to raise her drooping head,
And fainting thrice, fell grov'ling on the bed.
Thrice op'd her heavy eyes, and saw the light,
But, having found it, sicken'd at the sight,
And clos'd her lids, at last in endless night.

Then Juno, grieving that she should sustain
A death so lingering, and so full of pain,
Sent Tris down, to free her from the strife
Of labouring nature, and dissolve her life.
For, since she dy'd, not doom'd by Heaven's
Or her own crime, but human casualty, [decre,
And rage of love, that plung'd her in despair,
The Sisters had not cut the topmost hair,
Which Proserpine and they can only know,
Nor made her sacred to the shades below.
Downward the various goddess took her flight,.
| And drew a thousand colours from the light:
Then stood above the dying lover's head,
And said, "I thus devote thee to the dead.
This offering to th' infernal gods I bear :"
Thus while she spoke she cut the fatal hair:
The struggling soul was loos'd, and life dissolv'd

in air.

THE FIFTH BOOK OF

THE ENEIS.

THE ARGUMENT.

ENEAS, setting sail from Afric, is driven, by a storm, on the coast of Sicily: where he is

hospitably received by his friend Acestes, king | And, of part of the island, and born of Trojan parentage. He applies himself to celebrate the memory of his father with divine honours: and accordingly institutes funeral games, and appoints prizes for those who should conquer in them. While the ceremonies were performing, Juno sends Iris to persuade the Trojan women to burn the ships; who, upon her instigation, set fire to them, which burnt four, and would have consumed the rest, had not Jupiter, by a miraculous shower, extinguished it. Upon this Eneas, by the advice of one of his generals, and a vision of his father, builds a city for the. women, old men, and others who were either unfit for war, or weary of the voyage, and sails for Italy: Venus procures of Neptune a safe voyage for him and all his men, excepting only his pilot Palinurus, who was unfortunately lost.

MEANTIME the Trojan cuts his watery way,
Fix'd on his voyage through the curling sea:
Then, casting back his eyes, with dire amaze,
Sees, on the Punic shore, the mounting blaze.
The cause unknown; yet his presaging mind
The fate of Dido from the fire divin'd:
He knew the stormy souls of woman-kind,
What secret springs their eager passions move,
How capable of death for injur'd love.
Dire auguries from hence the Trojans draw,
Till neither fires nor shining shores they saw.
Now seas and skies their prospect only bound,
An empty space above, a floating field around.
But soon the Heavens with shadows were o'er.
spread;

A swelling cloud hung hovering o'er their head :
Livid it look'd, the threatening of a storm;
Then night and horrour ocean's face deform.
The pilot, Palinurus, cry'd aloud,

"What gusts of weather from that gathering cloud
My thoughts presage! Ere yet the tempest roars
Stand to your tackle, mates, and stretch your oars;
Contract your swelling sails, and luff to wind :"
The frighted crew perform the task assign'd.
Then, to his fearless chief, "Not Heaven," said he,
"Though Jove himself should promise Italy,
Can stem the torrent of this raging sea!
Mark how the shifting winds from west arise,
And what collected night involves the skies!
Nor can our shaken vessels live at sea;
Much less against the tempest force their way;
'Tis fate diverts our course, and fate we must obey.
Not far from hence, if I observ'd aright-
The southing of the stars, and polar light,
Sicilia lies; whose hospitable shores

In safety we may reach with struggling oars.” .
Æneas then reply'd, "Too sure I find,
We strive in vain against the seas and wind:
Now shift your sails: what place can please me

more

4

Than what you promise, the Sicilian shore;
Whose hollow'd earth Anchises' bones contains,
And where a prince of Trojan lineage reigns!"
The course resolv'd, before the western wind
They scud amain, and make the port assign'd.
Meantime Acestes, from a lofty stand,
Boheld the fleet descending on the land;

not unmindful of his ancient race,
Down from the cliff he ran with eager pace,
And held the hero in a strict embrace.
Of a rough Libyan bear the spoils he wore;
And either hand a pointed javelin bore.
His mother was a dame of Dardan blood;
His sire Crinisius, a Sicilian flood;
He welcomes his returning friends ashore
With plenteous country cates, and homely store.
Now, when the following morn had chas'd away
The flying stars, and light restor'd the day,
Eneas call'd the Trojan troops around,
And thus bespoke them from a rising ground:
Offspring of Heaven, divine Dardanian race,
The Sun revolving through th' ethereal space,
The shining circle of the year has fill'd,
Since first this isle my father's ashes held;
And now the rising day renews the year
(A day for ever sad, for ever dear).
This would I celebrate with annual games,
With gifts on altars pil'd, and holy flames,
Though banish'd to Getulia's barren sands,
Caught on the Grecian seas, or hostile lands:
But since this happy storm our fleet has driven
(Not, as I deem, without the will of Heaven)
Upon these friendly shores and flowery plains,
Which hide Anchises, and his blest remains,
Let us with joy perform his honours due, [renew.
And pray for prosperous winds, our voyage to
Pray that in towns and temples of our own,
The name of great Anchises may be known,
And yearly games may spread the god's renown,
Our sports, Acestes, of the Trojan race,
With royal gifts ordain'd, is pleas'd to grace :
Two steers on every ship the king bestows;
His gods and ours shall share your equal vows.
Besides, if nine days hence, the rosy morn
Shall, with unclouded light, the skies adorn,
That day with solemn sports I mean to grace:
Light gallies on the seas shall run a watery race.
Some shall in swiftness for the goal contend,
And others try the twanging bow to bend :
The strong with iron gauntlets arm'd shall stand,
Oppos'd in combat on the yellow sand.
Let all be present at the games prepar'd,
And joyful victors wait the just reward.

But now assist the rites, with garlands crown'd;".
He said, and first his brows with myrtle bound.
Then Helymus, by his example led,
And old Acestes, each adorn'd his head;
Thus young Ascanius, with a sprightly grace,
His temples ty'd, and all the Trojan race.

Æneas then advanc'd amidst the train,
By thousands follow'd through the flowery plain,
To great Anchises' tomb: which, when he found,
He pour'd to Bacchus, on the hollow'd ground,
Two bowls of sparkling wine, of milk two more,
And two from offer'd bulls of purple gore.
With roses then the sepulchre he strow'd;
And thus his father's ghost bespoke aloud:
"Hail, O ye holy manes! hail again,
Paternal ashes, now review'd in vain!
The gods permitted not that you, with me,
Should reach the promis'd shores of Italy;

Or Tyber's flood, what food soc'er it be."
Scarce had he finish'd, when, with speckled pride,
A serpent from the tomb began to glide;
His hugy bulk on seven high volumes roll'd;
Blue was his breadth of back, but streak'd with.
scaly gold.

In this, our common interest, let me find
That strength of hand, that courage of the mind,
As when you stemm'd the strong Malæan flood,
And o'er the Syrtes' broken billows row'd.
I seek not now the foremost palm to gain;
Though yet-But ah, that haughty wish is vain!
Let those enjoy it whom the gods ordain.
But to be last, the lags of all the race,
Redeem yourselves and me from that disgrace."
Now one and all, they tug amain; they row
At the full stretch, and shake the brazen prow
The sea beneath them sinks: their labouring sides
Are swell'd, and sweat runs guttering down in tides.
Chance aids their daring with unhop'd success;
Sergesthus, eager with his beak, to press
Betwixt the rival galley and the rock,
Shuts th' unwieldy Centaur in the lock.

The vessel struck; and, with the dreadful shock,
Her oars she shiver'd, and her head she broke,
The trembling rowers from their banks arise,
And, anxious for themselves, renounce the prize.
With iron poles they heave her off the shores;
And gather from the sea their floating oars.
The crew of Mnestheus, with elated minds,
Urge their success, and call the willing winds:
Then ply their oars, and cut their liquid way
In larger compass on the roomy sea.
As when the dove her rocky hold forsakes,
Rous'd in a fright, her sounding wings she shakes,
The cavern rings with clattering; out she flies,
And leaves her callow care, and cleaves the skies;
At first she flutters; but at length she springs
To smoother flight, and shoots upon her wings;
So Mnestheus in the Dolphin cuts the sea,
And flying with a force, that force assists his way.
Sergesthus in the Centaur soon he pass'd,
Wedg'd in the rocky shoals, and sticking fast.
In vain the victor he with cries implores,
And practises to row with shatter'd oars.
Then Mnestheus bears with Gyas, and outflies :
The ship without a pilot yields the prize.
Unvanquish'd Scylla now alone remains;
Her he pursues, and all his vigour strains.
Shouts from the favouring multitude arise,
Applauding echo to the shouts replies; [the skies.
Shouts, wishes, and applause, run rattling through
These clamours with disdain the Scylla heard,
Much grudg'd the praise, but more the robb'd re-
ward:

Resolv'd to hold their own, they mend their pace;
All obstinate to die, or gain the race.
Rais'd with success, the Dolphin swiftly ran
(For they can conquer who believe they can):
Both urge their oars, and fortune both supplies,
And both perhaps had shar'd an equal prize :
When to the seas Cloanthus holds his hands,
And succour from the watery powers demands :
"Gods of the liquid realms, on which I row,
If, giv'n by you, the laurel bind my brow,
Assist to make me guilty of my vow.

A snow-white bull shall on your shore be slain,
His offer'd entrails cast into the main:
And ruddy wine, from golden goblets thrown,
Your graceful gift and my return shall own."
The choir of nymphs, and Phorcus from below,
With virgin Panopea, heard his vow;
And old Portunos, with his breadth of hand,
Push'd on, and sped the galley to the land.
Swift as a shaft, on winged wind, she flies;
And, darting to the port, obtains the prize.

The herald summons all, and then proclaims
Cloanthus conqueror of the naval games.
The prince with laurel crowns the victor's head,
And three fat steers are to his vessel led;
The ship's reward: with generous wine beside,
And sums of silver, which the crew divide.
The leaders are distinguished from the rest,
The victor honour'd with a nobler vest:
Where gold and purple strive in equal rows.
And needle-work its happy cost bestows.
There, Ganymede is wrought with living art,
Chasing through Ida's groves the trembling hart;
Breathless he seems, yet eager to pursue:
When from aloft descends, in open view,
The bird of Jove; and, sousing on his prey,
With crooked talons bears the boy away.
In vain, with lifted hands and gazing eyes,
His guards behold him soaring through the skies,
And dogs pursue his flight, with imitated cries.

Mnestheus the second victor was declar'd;
And summon'd there, the second prize he shar'd÷
A coat of mail, which brave Demoleus bore,
More brave Eneas from his shoulders tore,
In single combat on the Trojan shore.
This was ordain'd for Mnestheus to possess,
In war for his defence; for ornament in peace:
Rich was the gift, and glorious to behold;
But yet, so ponderous with its plates of gold,
That scarce two servants could the weight sustain,
Yet, loaded thus, Demoleus o'er the plain
Pursued, and lightly seiz'd the Trojan train.
The third succeeding to the last reward,
Two goodly bowls of massy silver shar'd;
With figures prominent, and richly wrought,
And two brass cauldrons from Dodona brought.

Thus, all rewarded by the hero's hands,
Their conquering temples bound with purple bands
And now Sergesthus, clearing from the rock,
Brought back his galley shatter'd with the shock.
Forlorn she look'd without an aiding oar,
And hooted by the vulgar, made to shore.
As when a snake, surpris'd upon the road,
Is crush'd athwart her body by the load
Of heavy wheels; or with a mortal wound
Her belly bruis'd, and trodden to the ground,
In vain, with loosen'd curls, she crawls along,
Yet fierce above, she brandishes her tongue :
Glares with her eyes, and bristles with her scales,
But, grovelling in the dust, her parts unsound she
trails!

So slowly to the port the Centaur tends,

But what she wants in oars with sails amends:
Yet, for his galley sav'd, the grateful prince
Is pleas'd th' unhappy chief to recompense.
Pholoe, the Cretan slave, rewards his care,
Beauteous herself, with lovely twins, as fair.
From thence his way the Trojan hero bent,
Into the neighbouring plain, with mountains pent,
Whose sides were shaded with surrounding wood;
Full in the midst of this fair valley stood

A native theatre, which rising slow,

By just degrees, o'erlook'd the ground below.
High on a sylvan throne the leader sate,
A numerous train attend in solemn state;
Here those, that in the rapid course delight,
Desire of honour and the prize invite:
The rival runners without order stand,
The Trojans, mix'd with the Sicilian band.
First Nisus with Euryalus appears,
Euryalus a boy of blooming years;