Narrative and Lyric Poems (first series) for use in the Lower School | Page 3

115?And endless flocks of goats and sheep,?And endless herds of kine,?And endless trains of wagons?That creaked beneath the weight?Of corn-sacks and of household goods, 120?Choked every roaring gate.
XVI
Now, from the rock Tarpeian,[23]?Could the wan burghers spy?The line of blazing villages?Red in the midnight sky. 125?The Fathers[24] of the City,?They sat all night and day,?For every hour some horseman came?With tidings of dismay.
XVII
To eastward and to westward 130?Have spread the Tuscan bands;?Nor house nor fence nor dovecote?In Crustumerium[25] stands.?Verbenna down to Ostia[26]?Hath wasted all the plain; 135?Astur hath stormed Janiculum,[27]?And the stout guards are slain.
XVIII
I wis,[28] in all the Senate,?There was no heart so bold,?But sore it ached, and fast it beat; 140?When that ill news was told.?Forthwith up rose the Consul,?Up rose the Fathers all;?In haste they girded up their gowns,?And hied them to the wall. 145
XIX
They held a council standing?Before the River-Gate[30];?Short time was there, ye well may guess,?For musing or debate.?Out spake the Consul roundly: 150?"The bridge[31] must straight go down;?For, since Janiculum is lost,?Naught else can save the town."
XX
Just then a scout came flying,?All wild with haste and fear; 155?"To arms! to arms! Sir Consul:?Lars Porsena is here."?On the low hills to westward?The Consul fixed his eye,?And saw the swarthy storm of dust 160?Rise fast along the sky.
XXI
And nearer fast and nearer?Doth the red whirlwind come;?And louder still and still more loud,?From underneath that rolling cloud, 165?Is heard the trumpet's war-note proud,?The trampling, and the hum.?And plainly and more plainly?Now through the gloom appears,?Far to left and far to right, 170?In broken gleams of dark-blue light,?The long array of helmets bright,?The long array of spears.
XXII
And plainly, and more plainly?Above that glimmering line, 175?Now might ye see the banners?Of twelve fair cities[32] shine;?But the banner of proud Clusium?Was highest of them all,?The terror of the Umbrian,[33] 180?The terror of the Gaul.[34]
XXIII
And plainly and more plainly?Now might the burghers know,?By port and vest,[35] by horse and crest,?Each warlike Lucumo.[36] 185?There Cilnius of Arretium?On his fleet roan[37] was seen;?And Astur of the fourfold shield,[38]?Girt with the brand none else may wield;?Tolumnius with the belt of gold, 190?And dark Verbenna from the hold?By reedy Thrasymene.[39]
XXIV
Fast by the royal standard,?O'erlooking all the war,?Lars Porsena of Clusium 195?Sat in his ivory car.?By the right wheel rode Mamilius,?Prince of the Latian name;?And by the left false Sextus,?That wrought the deed of shame. 200
XXV
But when the face of Sextus?Was seen among the foes,?A yell that rent the firmament?From all the town arose.?On the house-tops was no woman 205?But spat towards him and hissed,?No child but screamed out curses,?And shook its little fist.
XXVI
But the Consul's brow was sad,?And the Consul's speech was low. 210?And darkly looked he at the wall,?And darkly at the foe.?"Their van will be upon us?Before the bridge goes down;?And if they once may win the bridge, 215?What hope to save the town?"
XXVII
Then out spake brave Horatius,?The Captain of the Gate:?"To every man upon this earth?Death cometh soon or late, 220?And how can man die better?Than facing fearful odds,?For the ashes of his fathers,?And the temples of his Gods,
XXVIII
And for the tender mother 225?Who dandled him to rest,?And for the wife that nurses?His baby at her breast,?And for the holy maidens[40]?Who feed the eternal flame, 230?To save them from false Sextus?That wrought the deed of shame?"
XXIX
"Hew down the bridge, Sir Consul,?With all the speed ye may,?I, with two more to help me, 235?Will hold the foe in play.?In yon strait path a thousand?May well be stopped by three.?Now who will stand on either hand,?And keep the bridge with me?" 240
XXX
Then out spake Spurius Lartius;?A Ramnian[41] proud was he:?"Lo, I will stand at thy right hand,?And keep the bridge with thee."?And out spake strong Herminius; 245?Of Titian blood was he:?"I will abide on thy left side,?And keep the bridge with thee."
XXXI
"Horatius," quoth the Consul,?"As thou sayest, so let it be," 250?And straight against that great array?Forth went the dauntless Three.?For Romans in Rome's quarrel?Spared neither land nor gold,?Nor son nor wife, nor limb nor life, 255?In the brave days of old.[42]
XXXII
Then none was for a party;?Then all were for the state;?Then the great man helped the poor.?And the poor man loved the great, 260?Then lands were fairly portioned,?Then spoils were fairly sold:[43]?The Romans were like brothers?In the brave days of old.
XXXIII
Now Roman is to Roman 265?More hateful than a foe,?And the Tribunes[44] beard[45] the high,?And the Fathers grind the low.?As we wax hot in faction,?In battle we wax cold: 270?Wherefore men fight not as they fought?In the brave days of old.
XXXIV
Now while the Three were tightening?Their harness[46] on their backs,?The Consul was the foremost man 275?To take in hand an axe:?And Fathers mixed with Commons?Seized hatchet, bar, and crow,?And smote upon the planks above,?And loosed the props below. 280
XXXV
Meanwhile the Tuscan army,?Right glorious to behold,?Came flashing back the noonday light,?Rank behind rank, like surges