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| LXIV . | Thrice had Achilles round the Trojan wall Dragged Hector; there the slayer sells the slain. Sighing he sees him, chariot, arms and all, And Priam, spreading helpless hands in vain. Himself he knows among the Greeks again, Black Memnon's arms, and all his Eastern clan, Penthesilea's Amazonian train With moony shields. Bare-breasted, in the van, | 568 | |
| Girt with a golden zone, the maiden fights with man. | |||
| LXV . | Thus while Æneas, with set gaze and long, Hangs, mute with wonder, on the wildering scene, Lo! to the temple, with a numerous throng Of youthful followers, moves the beauteous Queen. Such as Diana, with her Oreads seen On swift Eurotas' banks or Cynthus' crest, Leading the dances. She, in form and mien, Armed with her quiver, towers above the rest, | 577 | |
| And tranquil pleasure thrills Latona's silent breast. | |||
| LXVI . | E'en such was Dido; so with joyous mien, Urging the business of her rising state, Among the concourse passed the Tyrian queen; Then, girt with guards, within the temple's gate Beneath the centre of the dome she sate. There, ministering justice, she presides, And deals the law, and from her throne of state, As choice determines or as chance decides, | 586 | |
| To each, in equal share, his separate task divides. | |||
| LXVII . | Sudden, behold a concourse. Looking down, His late-lost friends Æneas sees again, Sergestus, brave Cloanthus of renown, Antheus and others of the Trojan train, Whom the black squall had scattered o'er the main, And driven afar upon an alien strand. At once, 'twixt joy and terror rent in twain, Amazed, Æneas and Achates stand, | 595 | |
| And long to greet old friends and clasp a comrade's hand. | |||
| LXVIII . | Yet wildering wonder at so strange a scene Still holds them mute, while anxious thoughts divide Their doubtful minds, and in the cloud unseen, Wrapt in its hollow covering, they abide And note what fortune did their friends betide, And whence they come, and why for grace they sue, And on what shore they left the fleet to bide, For chosen captains came from every crew, | 604 | |
| And towards the sacred fane with clamorous cries they drew. | |||
| LXIX . | Then, audience granted, as the fane they filled, Thus calmly spake the eldest of the train, Ilioneus: "O queen, whom Jove hath willed To found this new-born city, here to reign, And stubborn tribes with justice to refrain, We, Troy's poor fugitives, implore thy grace, Storm-tost and wandering over every main— Forbid the flames our vessels to deface, | 613 | |
| Mark our afflicted plight, and spare a pious race. | |||
| LXX . | "We come not hither with the sword to rend Your Libyan homes, and shoreward drive the prey. Nay, no such violence our thoughts intend, Such pride suits not the vanquished. Far away There lies a place—Greeks style the land to-day Hesperia—fruitful and of ancient fame And strong in arms. OEnotrian folk, they say, First tilled the soil. Italian is the name | 622 | |
| Borne by the later race, with Italus who came. | |||
| LXXI . | "Thither we sailed, when, rising with the wave, Orion dashed us on the shoals, the prey Of wanton winds, and mastering billows drave Our vessels on the pathless rocks astray. We few have floated to your shore. O say, What manner of mankind is here? What land Is this, to treat us in this barbarous way? They grudge the very shelter of the sand, | 631 | |
| And call to arms and bar our footsteps from the strand! | |||
| LXXII . | "If human kind and mortal arms ye scorn, Think of the Gods, who judge the wrong and right. A king was ours, Æneas; ne'er was born A man more just, more valiant in the fight, More famed for piety and deeds of might. If yet he lives and looks upon the sun, Nor cruel death hath snatched him from the light, No fear have we, nor need hast thou to shun | 640 | |
| A Trojan guest, or rue kind offices begun. | |||
| LXXIII . | "Towns yet for us in Sicily remain, And arms, and, sprung from Trojan sires of yore, Our kinsman there, Acestes, holds his reign. Grant us to draw our scattered fleet ashore, And fit new planks and branches for the oar. So, if with king and comrades brought again, The Fates allow us to reach Italia's shore, Italia gladly and the Latian plain | 649 | |
| Seek we; but else, if thoughts of safety be in vain, | |||
| LXXIV . | "If thee, dear Sire, the Libyan deep doth hide, Nor hopes of young Iulus more can cheer, Back let our barks to the Sicanian tide And proffered homes and king Acestes steer." He spake; the Dardans answered with a cheer. Then Dido thus, with downcast look sedate; "Take courage, Trojans, and dismiss your fear. My kingdom's newness and the stress of Fate | 658 | |
| Force me to guard far off the frontiers of my state. | |||
| LXXV . |
"Who knows not Troy, th' Æneian house of fame, The deeds and doers, and the war's renown That fired the world? Not hearts so dull and tame Have Punic folk; not so is Phoebus known To turn his back upon our Tyrian town. Whether ye sail to great Hesperia's shore And Saturn's fields, or seek the realms
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