Aeneid

Virgil

Vergil. The Aeneid of Virgil. Williams, Theodore, C, translator. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910.

  1. Scarce had he said, when through the foeman's line
  2. Saces dashed forth upon a foaming steed,
  3. his face gashed by an arrow. He cried loud
  4. on Turnus' name: “O Turnus, but in thee
  5. our last hope lies. Have pity on the woe
  6. of all thy friends and kin! Aeneas hurls
  7. his thunderbolt of war, and menaces
  8. to crush the strongholds of all Italy,
  9. and lay them low; already where we dwell
  10. his firebrands are raining. Unto thee
  11. the Latins Iook, and for thy valor call.
  12. The King sits dumb and helpless, even he,
  13. in doubt which son-in-law, which cause to choose.
  14. Yea, and the Queen, thy truest friend, is fallen
  15. by her own hand; gone mad with grief and fear,
  16. she fled the light of day. At yonder gates
  17. Messapus only and Atinas bear
  18. the brunt of battle; round us closely draw
  19. the serried ranks; their naked blades of steel
  20. are thick as ripening corn; wilt thou the while
  21. speed in thy chariot o'er this empty plain?”
  22. Dazed and bewildered by such host of ills,
  23. Turnus stood dumb; in his pent bosom stirred
  24. shame, frenzy, sorrow, a despairing love
  25. goaded to fury, and a warrior's pride
  26. of valor proven.