Her age and anguish from these rites detain." She said. The matrons, seiz'd with new amaze, 850 Roll their malignant eyes, and on the navy gaze. They fear, and hope, and neither part obey: They hope the fated land, but fear the fatal way. The goddess, having done her task below, Mounts up on equal wings, and bends her painted bow. Struck with the sight, and seiz'd with rage divine, The matrons prosecute their mad design: They shriek aloud; they snatch, with impious hands, The food of altars; fires and flaming brands. Green boughs and saplings, mingled in their And now the women, seiz'd with shame and fear, Dispers'd, to woods and caverns take their flight, Abhor their actions, and avoid the light; Their friends acknowledge, and their error find, And shake the goddess from their alter'd mind. 890 Not so the raging fires their fury cease, But, lurking in the seams, with seeming peace, Work on their way amid the smold'ring tow, Sure in destruction, but in motion slow. The silent plague thro' the green timber eats, And vomits out a tardy flame by fits. Nor buckets pour'd, nor strength of human hand, Can the victorious element withstand. The pious hero rends his robe, and throws To heav'n his hands, and with his hands his From pole to pole the forky lightning flies; Loud rattling shakes the mountains and the plain; Heav'n bellies downward, and descends in rain. Whole sheets of water from the clouds are sent, Which, hissing thro' the planks, the flames prevent, And stop the fiery pest. Four ships alone Burn to the waist, and for the fleet atone. But doubtful thoughts the hero's heart divide; If he should still in Sicily reside, Forgetful of his fates, or tempt the main, In hope the promis'd Italy to gain. 921 Whom good Æneas cheers, and recommends To their new master's care his fearful friends. On Eryx' altars three fat calves he lays; A lamb new-fallen to the stormy seas; 1010 Then slips his haulsers, and his anchors weighs. High on the deck the godlike hero stands, With olive crown'd, a charger in his hands; Then cast the reeking entrails in the brine, And pour'd the sacrifice of purple wine. Fresh gales arise; with equal strokes they vie, And brush the buxom seas, and o'er the billows fly. Meantime the mother goddess, full of fears, To Neptune thus address'd, with tender 1030 Let her the causes of her hatred tell; That mix'd the mounting billows with the clouds; When, bribing Æolus, she shook the main, And mov'd rebellion in your wat'ry reign. With fury she possess'd the Dardan dames, To burn their fleet with execrable flames, And forc'd Eneas, when his ships were lost, To leave his foll'wers on a foreign coast. For what remains, your godhead I implore, 1040 And trust my son to your protecting pow'r. If neither Jove's nor Fate's decree withstand, Secure his passage to the Latian land." Then thus the mighty Ruler of the Main: "What may not Venus hope from Neptune's reign? My kingdom claims your birth; my late defense Of your indanger'd fleet may claim your confidence. Nor less by land than sea my deeds declare How much your lov'd Æneas is my care. Thee, Xanthus, and thee, Simoïs, I at test: 1050 Your fleet shall safely gain the Latian shore; Their lives are giv'n; one destin'd head alone Shall perish, and for multitudes atone." Thus having arm'd with hopes her anxious mind, His finny team Saturnian Neptune join'd, Then adds the foamy bridle to their jaws, 1070 And to the loosen'd reins permits the laws. High on the waves his azure car he guides; Its axles thunder, and the sea subsides, And the smooth ocean rolls her silent tides. The tempests fly before their father's face, Trains of inferior gods his triumph grace, And monster whales before their master play, And choirs of Tritons crowd the wat❜ry way. The marshal'd pow'rs in equal troops divide To right and left; the gods his better side 1080 To whom the yawning pilot, half asleep: "Me dost thou bid to trust the treach❜rous deep, THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE ENEIS THE ARGUMENT The Sibyl foretells Eneas the adventures he should meet with in Italy. She attends him to hell; describing to him the various scenes of that place, and conducting him to his father Anchises, who instructs him in those sublime mysteries of the soul of the world, and the transmigration; and shews him that glorious race of heroes which was to descend from him, and his posterity. He said, and wept; then spread his sails before The winds, and reach'd at length the Cuman shore: Their anchors dropp'd, his crew the vessels moor. They turn their heads to sea, their sterns to land, And greet with greedy joy th' Italian strand. Some strike from clashing flints their fiery seed; Some gather sticks, the kindled flames to feed, Or search for hollow trees, and fell the woods, Or trace thro' valleys the discover'd floods. Thus, while their sev'ral charges they fulfil, 10 |