LXIII. There, reft of arms, poor [Troilus,] rash to dare
Achilles, by his horses dragged amain,
Hangs from his empty chariot. Neck and hair
Trail on the ground; his hand still grasps the rein;
The spear inverted scores the dusty plain.
Meanwhile, with beaten breasts and streaming hair,
The Trojan dames, a sad and suppliant train,
The veil to partial Pallas' temple bear.		559
Stern, with averted eyes the Goddess spurns their prayer.

LXIV. Thrice had Achilles round the Trojan wall
Dragged Hector; there the slayer sells the slain.
Sighing he sees him, chariot, arms and all,
And Priam, spreading helpless hands in vain.
Himself he knows among the Greeks again,
Black [Memnon's] arms, and all his Eastern clan,
[Penthesilea's] Amazonian train
With moony shields. Bare-breasted, in the van,		568
Girt with a golden zone, the maiden fights with man.

LXV. Thus while Æneas, with set gaze and long,
Hangs, mute with wonder, on the wildering scene,
Lo! to the temple, with a numerous throng
Of youthful followers, moves the beauteous Queen.
Such as Diana, with her [Oreads] seen
On swift [Eurotas'] banks or [Cynthus'] crest,
Leading the dances. She, in form and mien,
Armed with her quiver, towers above the rest,		577
And tranquil pleasure thrills [Latona's] silent breast.
LXVI. E'en such was Dido; so with joyous mien,
Urging the business of her rising state,
Among the concourse passed the Tyrian queen;
Then, girt with guards, within the temple's gate
Beneath the centre of the dome she sate.
There, ministering justice, she presides,
And deals the law, and from her throne of state,
As choice determines or as chance decides,		586
To each, in equal share, his separate task divides.
LXVII. Sudden, behold a concourse. Looking down,
His late-lost friends Æneas sees again,
Sergestus, brave Cloanthus of renown,
Antheus and others of the Trojan train,
Whom the black squall had scattered o'er the main,
And driven afar upon an alien strand.
At once, 'twixt joy and terror rent in twain,
Amazed, Æneas and Achates stand,		595
And long to greet old friends and clasp a comrade's hand.
LXVIII. Yet wildering wonder at so strange a scene
Still holds them mute, while anxious thoughts divide
Their doubtful minds, and in the cloud unseen,
Wrapt in its hollow covering, they abide
And note what fortune did their friends betide,
And whence they come, and why for grace they sue,
And on what shore they left the fleet to bide,
For chosen captains came from every crew,		604
And towards the sacred fane with clamorous cries they drew.
LXIX. Then, audience granted, as the fane they filled,
Thus calmly spake the eldest of the train,
Ilioneus: "O queen, whom Jove hath willed
To found this new-born city, here to reign,
And stubborn tribes with justice to refrain,
We, Troy's poor fugitives, implore thy grace,
Storm-tost and wandering over every main,—
Forbid the flames our vessels to deface,		613
Mark our afflicted plight, and spare a pious race.