And gain'd the golden fleece:
The fleece he from the Colchias tore:
Amidst the wheels and reins, the goblet by,
A medley of debauch and war they lie.
Observing Nisus show'd his friend the sight;
"Behold a conquest gain'd without a fight.
Occasion offers; and I stand prepar'd:
There lies our way: be thou upon the guard,
And look around, while I securely go,
And bew a passage through the sleeping foe."
Softly he spoke then, striding, took his way,
With his drawn sword, where haughty Rhamnes lay;
His head rais'd high on tapestry beneath,
And heaving from his breast, he drew his breath-
A king and prophet, by king Turnus lov'd:
But fate by prescience cannot be remov'd.
Him and his sleeping slaves he slew; then spies
Where Remus, with his rich retinue, lies.
His armour-bearer first, and next he kills
His charioteer, intrench'd betwixt the wheels
And his lov'd horses; last invades their lord;
Full on his neck he drives the fatal sword;
The gasping head flies off; a purple flood
Flows from the trunk, that welters in the blood,
Which, by the spurning heels dispers'd around,
The bed besprinkles, and bedews the ground.
Lamus the bold, and Lamyrus the strong,
He slew, and then Sarranus fair and young.
From dice and wine the youth retir❜d to rest,
And puff'd the fumy god from out his breast:
Ev'n then he dreamt of drink and lucky play-
More lucky, had it lasted till the day.
The famish'd lion thus, with hunger bold,
O'erleaps the fences of the nightly fold,
And tears the peaceful flocks: with silent awe
Trembling they lie, and pant beneath his paw.
Nor with less rage Euryalus employs
The wrathful sword, or fewer foes destroys:
But on the ignoble crowd his fury flew :
He Fadus, Hebesus, and Rhoetus slew..
And in the good ship Argo bore;
With lov'd Medea, home to Greece.
Oppress'd with heavy sleep the former fall,
But Rhotus wakeful, and observing all,
Behind a spacious jar he sunk for fear :
The fatal iron found and reach'd him there;
For, as he rose, it pierc'd his naked side,
And, reeking, thence return'd, in crimson dy'd.
The wound pours out a stream of wine and blood;
The purple soul comes floating in the flood.
Now, where Messapus quarter'd they arrive.
The fires were fainting there, and just alive :
The warrior horses, tied in order, fed.
Nisus observ'd the discipline, and said :
"Our eager thirst of blood may both betray;
And see the scatter'd streaks of dawning day.
Foe to nocturnal thefts. No more my friend :
Here let our glutted execution end.
A lane through slaughter'd bodies we have made."
The bold Euryalus, though loath, obey'd.
Of arms, and arras, and of plate, they find
A precious load: but these they leave behind.
Yet fond of gaudy spoils, the boy would stay
To make the rich caparison his prey,
Which on the steed of conquer'd Rhamnes lay.
Nor did his eyes less longingly behold
The girded belt, with nails of burnish'd gold.
This present Cædicus the rich bestow'd
On Remulus when friendship first they vow'd,
And, absent, join'd in hospitable ties :
He, dying, to his heir bequeath'd the prize;
Till, by the conqu'ring Ardean troops oppress'd,
He fell; and they the glorious gift possess'd.
These glitt'ring spoils, (now made the victor's gain)
He to his body suits, but suits in vain.
Messapus's helm he finds among the rest,
And laces on, and wears the waving crest.
Proud of their conquest, prouder of their prey,
'They leave the camp, and take the ready way.
But far they had not pass'd, before they spied
Three hundred horse, with Volscens for their guide.
In heaven it was a sore contest, [13]
"Twixt Mich. and Satan, who can doubt it?
The queen a legion to king Turnus sent :
But the swift horse the slower foot prevent,
And now, advancing, sought the leader's tent.
They saw the pair; for, through the doubtful shade,
His shining helm Euryalus betray'd.
On which the moon with full reflection play'd.
""Tis not for nought," cried Volscens from the crowd.
"These men go there :" then rais'd his voice aloud :
"Stand! stand! why thus in arms? and whither bent?
From whence, to whom, and on what errand sent ?"
Silent they scud away, and haste their flight
To neighb'ring woods, and trust themselves to night,
The speedy horse all passages belay,
And spur their smoking steeds to cross their way:
And watch each entrance of the winding wood.
Black was the forest: thick with beach it stood,
Horrid with fern, and intricate with thorn:
Few paths of human feet, or tracks of beasts, were worn.
The darkness of the shades, his heavy prey,
And fear, misled the younger from his way.
But Nisus hit the turns with happier haste,
And, thoughtless of his friend, the forest pass'd,
And Alban plains (from Alba's name so call'd,)
Where king Latinus then his oxen stall'd;
Till, turning at the length, he stood his ground,
And miss'd his friend, and cast his eyes around.
"Ah wretch!" he cry'd-" where have I left behind
Th' unhappy youth? where shall I hope to find?
Or what way take?" Again he ventures back,
And treads the mazes of his former track.
He winds the wood, and, listening, hears the noise
Of trampling coursers, and the riders' voice.
The sound approach'd; and suddenly he view'd
The foes enclosing, and his friend pursu❜d,
Forelay'd and taken, while he strove in vain
The shelter of the friendly shades to gain.
When Satan was but second best;
And Milton wrote,
ten thousand staves about it.
What should he next attempt? what arms employ,
What fruitless force, to free the captive boy?
Or desp❜rate should he rush, and lose his life,
With odds oppress'd, in such unequal strife?
Resolv'd at length, his pointed spear he shook ;
And casting on the moon a mournful look,
"Guardian of groves, and goddess of the night!
Fair queen!" he said, "direct my dart aright,
If e'er my pious father, for my sake,
Did grateful off'rings on thy altars make,
Or I increas'd them with my silvan toils,
And hung thy holy roofs with savage spoils,
Give me to scatter these." Then from his car
He pois'd, and aim'd, and launch'd the trembling spear.
The deadly weapon hissing from the grove,
Impetuous on the back of Sulmo drove ;
Pierc'd his thin armour, drank his vital blood,
And in his body left the broken wood.
He staggers round: his eyeballs roll in death;
And with short sobs he gasps away his breath.
-All stand amaz'd :--a second jav'lin flies
With equal strength, and quivers through the skies.
This through thy temples, Tagus, forc'd the way,
And in the brain-pan warmly buried lay.
Fierce Volscens foams with rage, and, gazing round,
Descried not him who gave the fatal wound,
Nor knew to fix revenge: "But thou," he cries,
"Shalt pay for both," and at the pris'ner flies
With his drawn sword. Then, struck with deep despair,
That cruel sight the lover could not bear ;
But from his covert rush'd in open view,
And sent his voice before him as he flew ;
"Me! me!" he cry'd-" turn all your swords alone
On me-the fact confess'd, the fault my own.
He neither could nor durst, the guiltless youth-
Ye moon and stars, bear witness to the truth!
His only crime (if friendship can offend)
Is too much love to his unhappy friend,"
Sung how Archangels, on celestial plains,
In malice, at Archangels rush'd so mad on;
Too late he speaks :-the sword, which fury guides,
Driv'n with full force, had pierc'd his tender sides.
Down fell the beauteous youth: the yawning wound
Gush'd out a purple stream, and stain'd the ground.
His snowy neck reclines upon his breast,
Like a fair flow'r by the keen share oppress'd--
Like a white poppy sinking on the plain,
Whose heavy head is overcharg'd with rain.
Despair, and rage, and vengeance justly vow'd,
Drove Nisus headlong on the hostile crowd.
Volscens he seeks; on him alone he bends;
Borne back and bor'd by his surrounding friends,
Onward he press'd, and kept him still in sight,
Then whirl'd aloft his sword with all his might,
Th' unerring steel descended while he spoke,
Pierc'd his wide mouth, and through his weazon broke.
Dying, he slew; and stagg'ring on the plain,
With swimming eyes he sought his lover slain;
Then quiet on his bleeding bosom fell,
Content, in death, to be reveng'd so well.
O happy friends! for, if my verse can give
Immortal life, your fame shall ever live,
Fix'd as the Capitol's foundation lies,
And spread where'er the Roman eagle flies!
The conqu'ring party first divide the prey,
Then their slain leader to the camp convey.
With wonder, as they went, the troops were fill'd,
To see such numbers whom so few had kill'd.
Sarranus, Rhamnes, and the rest they found :
Vast crowds the dying and the dead surround :
And the yet reeking blood o'erflows the ground.
All knew the helmet which Messapus lost,
But mourn'd a purchase that so dear had cost.
Now rose the ruddy morn from Tithon's bed,
And with the dawn of day the skies o'erspread;
Nor long the sun his daily course withheld,
But added colours to the world reveal'd;
When early Turnus wakening with the light,
All clad in armour, calls his troops to fight.
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