| CIV. | Wroth then was Jove, that one of mortal clay Should rise by mortal healing from the grave, And change the nether darkness for the day, And him, whose leechcraft thus availed to save, Hurled with his lightning to the Stygian wave. But kind Diana, in her pitying love, Concealed her darling in a secret cave, And fair Egeria nursed him in her grove, | 928 | |
| Far from the view of men, and wrath of mighty Jove. | |||
| CV. | There, changed in name to Virbius, but to fame Unknown, through life in Latin woods he strayed. Thenceforth, in memory of the deed of shame, No horn-hoof'd steeds are suffered to invade Chaste Trivia's temple or her sacred glade, Since, scared by Ocean's monsters, from his car They dashed him by the deep. Yet, undismayed, His son, young Virbius, o'er the plains afar | 937 | |
| The fleet-horsed chariot drives, and hastens to the war. | |||
| CVI. | High in the forefront towered with stately frame Turnus himself. His three-plumed helmet bore A dragon fierce, that breathed Ætnean flame. The bloodier waxed the battle, so the more Its fierceness blazed, the louder was its roar. Behold, the heifer on his shield, the sign Of [Io's fate;] there Argus ever o'er The virgin watches, and the stream doth shine, | 946 | |
| Poured from the pictured urn of Inachus divine. | |||
| CVII. | Next come the shielded footmen in a cloud, Auruncan bands, Sicanians famed of yore, Argives, Rutulians, and Sacranians proud. Their painted shields the brave Labicians bore; From Tibur's glades, from blest Numicia's shore, From Circe's mount, from where great Jove presides O'er Anxur, from Feronia's grove they pour, From Satura's dark pool, where Ufens glides | 955 | |
| Cold through the deepening vales, and mingles with the tides. | |||
| CVIII. | Last came Camilla, with the Volscian bands, Fierce horsemen, each in glittering arms bedight, A warrior-virgin; ne'er her tender hands Had plied the distaff; war was her delight, Her joy to race the whirlwind and to fight. Swift as the breeze, she skimmed the golden grain, Nor bent the tapering wheatstalks in her flight, So swift, the billows of the heaving main | 964 | |
| Touched not her flying fleet, she scoured the watery plain. | |||
| CIX. | Forth from each field and homestead, hurrying, throng, With wonder, men and matrons, young and old, And greet the maiden as she moves along. Entranced with greedy rapture, they behold Her royal scarf, in many a purple fold, Float o'er her shining shoulders, and her hair Bound in a coronal of clasping gold, Her Lycian quiver, and her pastoral spear | 973 | |
| Of myrtle, tipt with steel, and her, the maid, how fair! | |||
BOOK EIGHT
ARGUMENT
Mustering of Italians, and embassage to Diomedes ([1-18]). Tiber in a dream heartens Æneas and directs him to Evander for succour. Æneas sacrifices the white sow and her litter to Juno, and reaches Evander's city Pallanteum—the site of Rome ([19-117]). Æneas and Evander meet and feast together. The story of Cacus and the praises of Hercules are told and sung. Evander shows his city to Æneas ([118-432]). Venus asks and obtains from Vulcan divine armour for her son ([433-531]). At daybreak Evander promises Æneas further succour. Their colloquy is interrupted by a sign from heaven ([532-630]). Despatches are sent to Ascanius and prayers for aid to the Tuscans. Æneas, his men and Evander's son Pallas are sent forth by Evander with prayers for their success ([631-720]). Venus brings to Æneas the armour wrought by Vulcan ([721-738]). Virgil describes the shield, on which are depicted, not only the trials and triumphs of Rome's early kings and champions, but the final conflict also at Actium between East and West and the world-wide empire of Augustus ([739-846]).