Tolumnius, who foretels events, is ours:
Th' Italian chiefs, and princes, join their powers:
Nor leaft in number, nor in name the laft,
Your own brave subjects have our cause embrac’d. 665 Above the reft, the Volfcian Amazon
Contains an army in herfelf alone:
And heads a fquadron, terrible to fight,
With glittering fhields, in brazen armour bright.
Yet if the foe a fingle fight demand,
And I alone the public peace withstand;
If you confent, he fhall not be refus'd,
Nor find a hand to victory unus'd.
This new Achilles let him take the field,
With fated armour, and Vulcanian shield;
For you, my royal father, and my fame,
I, Turnus, not the leaft of all my name,
Devote my foul. He calls me hand to hand,
And I alone will anfwer his demand.
Drances fhall reft fecure, and neither fhare
The danger, nor divide the prize of war.
While they debate; nor thefe nor those will yield; Eneas draws his forces to the field;
And moves his camp. The fcouts with flying speed
Return, and through the frighted city spread
Th' unpleafing news, the Trojans are defcry'd
In battle marching by the river's fide;
And bending to the town. They take th' alarm,
Some tremble, fome are bold, all in confufion arm.
Th' impetuous youth prefs forward to the field; 690
They clash the fword, and clatter on the shield;
The fearful matrons riafe a screaming cry;
Old feeble men with fainter groans reply ;
A jarring found refults, and mingles in the fky,
Like that of swans remurmuring to the floods,
Or birds of differing kinds in hollow woods.
Turnus th' occafion takes, and cries aloud,
Talk on, ye quaint haranguers of the crown:
Declaim in praise of peace, when danger calls;
And the fierce foes in arms approach the walls.
He said, and, turning fhort, with speedy pace,
Cafts back a fcornful glance, and quits the place.
Thou, Volufus, the Volscian troops command
To mount; and lead thyfelf our Ardean band.
Meffapus, and Catillus, poft your force
Along the fields, to charge the Trojan horse.
Some guard the paffes, others man the wall;
Drawn up in arms, the reft attend my call.
They fwarm from every quarter of the town;
And with diforder'd hafte the rampires crown.
Good old Latinus, when he faw, too late,
The gathering ftorm, juft breaking on the state,
Difmifs'd the council, till a fitter time,
And own'd his eafy temper as his crime :
Who, forc'd against his reason, had comply'd
To break the treaty for the promis'd bride.
Some help to fink new trenches, others aid
To ram the stones, or raise the palisade.
Hoarfe trumpets found th' alarm: around the walls
Runs a diftracted crew, whom their laft labour calls.
A fad proceffion in the streets is seen,
Of matrons that attend the mother-queen:
High in her chair she fits, and at her fide,
With down-caft eyes, appears the fatal bride.
They mount the cliff, where Pallas' tempie ftands;
Prayers in their mouths, and prefents in their hands;
With cenfers, first they fume the facred fhrine;
Then in this common fupplication join :
O patronefs of arms, unspotted maid,
Propitious hear, and lend thy Latins aid:
Break fhort the pirate's lance; pronounce his fate,
And lay the Phrygian low before the gate.
Now Turnus arms for fight: his back and breast,
Well-temper'd fteel and fcaly brass invest:
The cuifhes, which his brawny thighs infold,
Are mingled metal damask'd o'er with gold.
His faithful fauchion fits upon his fide;
Nor cafque, nor creft, his manly features hide:
But bare to view amid furrounding friends,
With godlike grace, he from the tower defcends. 740
Exulting in his ftrength, he feems to dare
His abfent rival, and to promife war.
Freed from his keepers, thus, with broken reins,
"The wanton courfer prances o'er the plains:
Or in the pride of youth o'erleaps the mounds:
And fnuffs the females in forbidden grounds.
Or feeks his watering in the well-known flood,
To quench his thirft, and cool his fiery blood:
He fwims luxuriant in the Equid plain,
And o'er his fhoulder flows his waving mane:
He neighs, he fnorts, he bears his head on high;
Before his ample cheft the frothy waters fly.
Soon as the prince appears without the gate, The Volfcians, and their virgin-leader, wait His last commands. Then, with a grateful mien, 755 Lights from her lofty steed the warrior queen: Her squadron imitates, and each descends; Whofe common fuit Camilla thus commends: If fenfe of honour, if a foul fecure
Of inborn worth, that can all tests endure,
Can promife aught; or on itself rely,
Greatly to dare, to conquer, or to die :
Then, I alone, fuftain'd by thefe, will meet.
The Tyrrhene troops, and promise their defeat.
Ours be the danger, ours the fole renown;
You, general, stay behind, and guard the town.
Turnus a while ftood mute, with glad furprize,
And on the fierce virago fix'd his eyes:
Then thus return'd: O grace of Italy,
With what becoming thanks can I reply!
Not only words lie labouring in my breaft;
But thought itself is by thy praise oppreft;
Yet rob me not of all, but let me join
My toils, my hazard, and my fame, with thine.
The Trojan (not in ftratagem unfkill'd)
Sends his light horfe before, to fcour the field:
Him elf, through fteep afcents and thorny brakes,
A larger compafs to the city takes.
This news my feouts confirm: and I prepare.
To foil his cunning, and his force to dare
With chofen foot his paffage to forelay :
And place an ambush in the winding way.
Thou, with thy Volfcians, face the Thufcan horse:
The brave Meffapus fhall thy troops inforce;
With those of Tibur; and the Latian band:
Subjected all to thy fupreme command.
This said, he warns Meffapus to the war :
Then every chief exhorts, with equal care.
All thus encourag'd, his own troops he joins,
And haftes to profecute his deep defigns.
Inclos'd with hills, the winding valley lies,
By nature form'd for fraud, and fitted for furprize;
A narrow track, by human steps untrode,
Leads, through perplexing thorns, to this obfcure abode. High o'er the vale a steepy mountain stands :
Whence the furveying fight the nether ground commands. The top is level: an offenfive feat
Of war; and from the war a safe retreat.
For, on the right and left, is room to prefs
The foes at hand, or from afar distress:
To drive them headlong downward; and to pour,
On their defcending backs, a stony shower.
Thither young Turnus took the well-known way;
Poffefs'd the pass, and in blind ambush lay.
Mean time, Latonian Phoebe, from the skies,
Beheld th' approaching war with hateful eyes,
And call'd the light-foot Opis to her aid,
Her most belov'd, and ever-trufty maid.
Then with a figh began: Camilla goes
To meet her death, amidst her fatal foes.
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