XI. Say, Muse, what god from Teucrians turned the flame,
Such fiery havoc. O, the tale declare;
Old is its faith, but deathless is its fame.
When first Æneas did his fleet prepare
'Neath Phrygian [Ida,] through the seas to fare,
To Jove the [Berecynthian queen] divine
Spake thus, 'tis said, urging a suppliant's prayer:
"O Lord Olympian, hearken and incline.		91
Grant what thy mother asks, who made Olympus thine.
XII. "A wood, beloved for many a year, was mine,
A grove of sacrifice, on Ida's height,
Darksome with maple and the swart pitch-pine.
This wood, these trees, my ever-dear delight,
Gladly I gave to speed the Dardan's flight.
But doubts and fears my troubled mind assail.
O calm them; may a parent's prayer have might,
And this their birth upon our hills avail		100
To guide their voyage safe, and shield them from the gale."
XIII. Then spake her son, who wields the starry sphere,
"Mother, what would'st thou of the Fates demand?
What art thou seeking for these Teucrians here?
Shall vessels, fashioned by a mortal hand,
The gift of immortality command?
And shall Æneas sail the uncertain main,
Himself of safety certain, and his band?
Did ever God such privilege attain?		109
Nay, rather, when at length, Ausonian ports they gain,

XIV. "Their duty done, and Ocean's dangers o'er,
What ships soe'er shall have escaped, to bear
The Dardan chief to the Laurentian shore,
Shall lose their perishable form, and wear
The sea-nymphs' shape, like Galatea fair
And Doto, when they breast the deep." He spake,
And by [his brother's Stygian river] sware,
Whose pitchy torrent swells the infernal lake,		118
And with his awful nod made all Olympus shake.
XV. The day was come, the fated time complete,
When Turnus' insults bade the Mother rise
And ward the firebrands from her sacred fleet.
A sudden light now flashed upon their eyes,
A cloud from eastward ran athwart the skies,
With choirs of Ida, and a voice through air
Pealed forth, and filled both armies with surprise,
"Trojans, be calm; your needless pains forbear,		127
Nor arm to save these ships; their safety is my care.
XVI. "Sooner shall Turnus make the ocean blaze,
Than these my pines. Go, sea-nymphs, and be free,
Your mother bids you." Each at once obeys,
Their cables snapt, like dolphins in their glee,
They dip their beaks, and dive beneath the sea.
Hence, where before along the shore had stood
The brazen poops—O marvellous to see!—
So many now, with maiden forms endued,		136
Rise up, and reappear, and float upon the flood.

XVII. All stand aghast; amid the startled steeds
Messapus quails, and Tiber checks his tide,
And, hoarsely murmuring, from the deep recedes.
Yet fails not Turnus, prompt to cheer or chide.
"To Teucrians point these prodigies," he cried,
"They bide not, they, Rutulian sword and brand.
E'en Jove their wonted succour hath denied.
Barred is the sea, and half the world is banned;		145
Earth, too, is ours, such hosts Italia's chiefs command.