The Aeneid of Virgil, page 300 by Virgil
<< Return to Title Details & Download301
r Ufens, sooner than behold such stain,
Sank low in death; himself, his sword and shield
The Teucrian victors hold, their trophies of the field.
LXXXIV. "What, shall I see our houses wrapt in flame,--
Last wrong of all--and coward-like, stand by,
Nor make this arm put Drances' taunts to shame?
Shall Turnus run, and Latins see him fly?
And is it then so terrible to die?
Be kind, dread spirits of the world below!
To you, since envious are the powers on high,
Worthy my ancestors of long ago,
Free from the coward's blame, a sacred shade I go."
LXXXV. Scarce spake he; through the midmost foes apace
Comes Saces, borne upon his foaming steed,
A flying shaft had scored him in the face.
"Turnus," he cries, "sole champion in our need,
Help us, have pity on thy friends who bleed.
See there, AEneas threatens in his ire
To raze our towers, and with a storm-cloud's speed
Thunders in arms, and roofward flies the fire,
To thee the Latins turn, thee Latin hopes require.
LXXXVI. "Himself, the king, is wavering, whom to call
His new allies, and whom his kingdom's heir.
Dead is the queen, thy faithfullest of all,
Self-plunged from light, in terror and despair.
Scarce fierce Atinas and Messapus there,
Beside the town-gates standing, hold their own.
Dense hosts surround them, and with falchions bare,
War's harvest bristles, by the walls upgrown;
Thou on the empty sward art charioting alone."
LXXXVII. Stunned and bewildered by the changeful scene
Stood Turnus, gazing speechless and oppressed.
Shame, rage, and sorrow, and revengeful spleen,
And frenzied love, and conscious worth confessed
Boil from the depths of his tumultuous breast.
Now, when the shadows from his mind withdrew,
And light, returning, to his thoughts gave rest,
Back from his chariot towards the walls he threw
His eyes, aflame with wrath, and grasped the town in view.
LXXXVIII. From floor to