LXXVII. "Think ye no shame, poor cowards, thus again
Behind your sheltering battlements to stand,
Twice-captured Phrygians! and to plant in vain
These walls, to shield you from the foemen's hand?
Lo, these the varlets who our wives demand!
What God, what madness blinded you, that e'er
Ye thought to venture to Italia's land?
No [wily-worded Ithacan] is near;		685
Far other foes than he or Atreus' sons are here.
LXXVIII. "Our babes are hardened in the frost and flood,
Strong is the stock and sturdy whence we came.
Our boys from morn till evening scour the wood,
Their joy is hunting, and the steed to tame,
To bend the bow, the flying shaft to aim.
Patient of toil, and used to scanty cheer,
Our youths with rakes the stubborn glebe reclaim,
Or storm the town. Through life we grasp the spear.		694
In war it strikes the foe, in peace it goads the steer.
LXXIX. "Age cannot stale, nor creeping years impair
Stout hearts as ours, nor make our strength decay.
Our hoary heads the heavy helmet bear.
Our joy is in the foray, day by day
To reap fresh plunder, and to live by prey.
Ye love to dance, and dally with the fair,
In saffron robes with purple flounces gay.
Your toil is ease, and indolence your care,		703
And tunics hung with sleeves, and ribboned coifs ye wear.

LXXX. "Go Phrygian women, for ye are not men!
Hence, to your [Dindymus,] and roam her heights
With Corybantian eunuchs! Get ye, then,
And hear the flute, harsh-grating, that invites
With twy-mouthed music to her lewd delights,
Where boxen pipe and timbrel from afar
Shriek forth the summons to her sacred rites.
Put by the sword, poor dotards as ye are,		712
Leave arms to men, like us, nor meddle with the war."
LXXXI. Such taunts Ascanius brooked not. Stung with pride,
A shaft he fitted to the horse-hair twine,
And, turning, stood with outstretched arms, and cried:
"Bless, Jove omnipotent, this bold design:
Aid me, and yearly offerings shall be thine.
A milk-white steer—I bind me to the vow—
Myself will lead, the choicest, to thy shrine,
Tall as his mother, and with gilded brow,		721
And butting horns, and hoofs, that spurn the sand e'en now."
LXXXII. Jove heard, and leftward, where the sky was blue,
Thundered aloud. At once the fateful bow
Twanged; with a whirr the fateful arrow flew,
And pierced the head of Remulus. "Now go,
And teach thy proud tongue to insult a foe,
And scoff at Trojan valour. This reply
Twice-captured Phrygians to thy taunts bestow."
Ascanius spoke; the Teucrians with a cry,		730
Press on, their joyous hearts uplifting to the sky.
LXXXIII. Meanwhile, Apollo from his cloudy car
The Ausonian host, and leaguered town descries,
And calls the youthful conqueror from afar:
"Hail to thy maiden prowess; yonder lies
Thy path, brave boy, to glory and the skies.
O sons of Gods, and sire of Gods to be,
All wars shall cease beneath the race to rise
From great Assaracus. Nor thine, nor thee		739
Shall narrow Troy contain; so stands the Fate's decree."
LXXXIV. He spake, and through the breathing air shot down,
And sought Ascanius, now a god no more,
But shaped like aged Butes, whilom known
The servant of the Dardan king, who bore
Anchises' shield, and waited at his door,
Then left to guard Ascanius. Such in view
Apollo seemed; such clanging arms he wore;
Such were his hoary tresses, voice, and hue,		748
And these his words, as near the fiery youth he drew:
LXXXV. "Enough, to live, and see Numanus bleed,
Child of Æneas! This, thy valour's due,
Great Phoebus grants, nor stints a rival's meed.
Now cease."—He spake, and vanished from their view.
His arms divine the Dardan chieftains knew,
And heard the quiver rattle in his flight.
So, warned by Phoebus' presence, back they drew
The fiery youth, then plunged into the fight.		757
Death seems a welcome risk, and danger a delight.