XVIII. Now, fire in hand, and burning to destroy,
The fierce Rutulians still the siege maintain.
Pent in their ramparts stay the sons of Troy,
Hopeless of flight, and line the walls in vain,
A little band, but all that now remain.
Thymoetes, son of Hicetaon bold,
Asius, the son of Imbrasus, the twain
Assaraci, Castor and Thymbris old,		154
These, battling in the van, the desperate strife uphold.
XIX. Next stand the brethren of Sarpedon slain,
Claros and Themon,—braver Lycians none.
There, with a rock's huge fragment toils amain
Lyrnessian Acmon, famous Clytius' son,
Menestheus' brother, nor less fame he won.
Hot fares the combat; from the walls these fling
The stones, and those the javelins. Each one
Toils to defend; these blazing firebrands bring,		163
And fetch the flying shafts, and fit them to the string.
XX. There too, bare-headed, in the midst is seen
Fair Venus' care, the Dardan youth divine,
Bright as a diamond, or the lustrous sheen
Of gems, that, set in yellow gold, entwine
The neck, or sparkling on the temples shine.
So gleams the ivory, inlaid with care
In chest of terebinth, or boxwood scrine;
And o'er his milk-white neck and shoulders fair,		172
Twined with the pliant gold, streams down the warrior's hair.

XXI. There, too, brave [Ismarus,] the nations see,
Scattering the poisoned arrows from thy hands;
A gallant knight, and born of high degree
In far [Mæonia,] where his golden sands
[Pactolus] rolls along the fruitful lands.
There he, whom yesterday the voice of fame
Raised to the stars, the valiant Mnestheus stands,
Who drove fierce Turnus from the camp with shame;		181
There, Capys, he who gave the [Capuan town] its name.
XXII. Thus all day long both armies toiled and fought.
And now, at midnight, o'er the deep sea fares
Æneas. By Evander sent, he sought
The Tuscan camp. To Tarchon he declares
His name and race, the aid he asks and bears,
The friends Mezentius gathers to the fray,
And Turnus' violence; then warns, with prayers,
Of Fortune's fickleness. No more delay:		190
Brave Tarchon joins his power, and strikes a league straightway.

XXIII. So, free of Fate, Heaven's mandate they obey,
And Lydians, with a foreign leader, plough
The deep; Æneas' vessel leads the way.
Sweet Ida forms the figure-head; below,
The Phrygian [lions] ramp upon the prow.
Here sits Æneas, thoughtful, on the stern,
For war's dark chances cloud the chieftain's brow.
There, on his left, sits Pallas, and in turn		199
Now cons the stars, now seeks the wanderer's woes to learn.

XXIV. Now open [Helicon;] unlock the springs,
Ye Goddesses. Strike up the noble stave,
And sing what hosts from Tuscan shores he brings,
What ships he arms, and how they cross the wave.
First, Massicus with brazen Tiger clave
The watery plain. With him from [Clusium] go,
And [Cosæ's] town, a hundred, tried and brave;
Deft archers, well the deadly craft they know.		208
Light from their shoulders hang the quiver and the bow.