The Aeneid | Page 9

swarming people
join.
She takes petitions, and dispenses laws,
Hears and determines
ev'ry private cause;
Their tasks in equal portions she divides,
And,
where unequal, there by lots decides.
Another way by chance Aeneas
bends
His eyes, and unexpected sees his friends,
Antheus, Sergestus
grave, Cloanthus strong,
And at their backs a mighty Trojan throng,

Whom late the tempest on the billows toss'd,
And widely scatter'd
on another coast.
The prince, unseen, surpris'd with wonder stands,

And longs, with joyful haste, to join their hands;
But, doubtful of the
wish'd event, he stays,
And from the hollow cloud his friends surveys,

Impatient till they told their present state,
And where they left their
ships, and what their fate,
And why they came, and what was their
request;
For these were sent, commission'd by the rest,
To sue for
leave to land their sickly men,
And gain admission to the gracious
queen.
Ent'ring, with cries they fill'd the holy fane;
Then thus, with
lowly voice, Ilioneus began:
"O queen! indulg'd by favor of the gods
To found an empire in these
new abodes,
To build a town, with statutes to restrain
The wild
inhabitants beneath thy reign,
We wretched Trojans, toss'd on ev'ry
shore,
From sea to sea, thy clemency implore.

Forbid the fires our
shipping to deface!
Receive th' unhappy fugitives to grace,
And
spare the remnant of a pious race!
We come not with design of
wasteful prey,
To drive the country, force the swains away:
Nor
such our strength, nor such is our desire;
The vanquish'd dare not to
such thoughts aspire.
A land there is, Hesperia nam'd of old;
The

soil is fruitful, and the men are boldTh'
Oenotrians held it once- by
common fame
Now call'd Italia, from the leader's name.
To that
sweet region was our voyage bent,
When winds and ev'ry warring
element
Disturb'd our course, and, far from sight of land,
Cast our
torn vessels on the moving sand:
The sea came on; the South, with
mighty roar,
Dispers'd and dash'd the rest upon the rocky shore.

Those few you see escap'd the Storm, and fear,
Unless you interpose,
a shipwreck here.
What men, what monsters, what inhuman race,

What laws, what barb'rous customs of the place,
Shut up a desart
shore to drowning men,
And drive us to the cruel seas again?
If our
hard fortune no compassion draws,
Nor hospitable rights, nor human
laws,
The gods are just, and will revenge our cause.
Aeneas was our
prince: a juster lord,
Or nobler warrior, never drew a sword;

Observant of the right, religious of his word.
If yet he lives, and
draws this vital air,
Nor we, his friends, of safety shall despair;
Nor
you, great queen, these offices repent,
Which he will equal, and
perhaps augment.
We want not cities, nor Sicilian coasts,
Where
King Acestes Trojan lineage boasts.
Permit our ships a shelter on
your shores,
Refitted from your woods with planks and oars,
That,
if our prince be safe, we may renew
Our destin'd course, and Italy
pursue.
But if, O best of men, the Fates ordain
That thou art
swallow'd in the Libyan main,
And if our young Iulus be no more,

Dismiss our navy from your friendly shore,
That we to good Acestes
may return,
And with our friends our common losses mourn."
Thus
spoke Ilioneus: the Trojan crew
With cries and clamors his request
renew.
The modest queen a while, with downcast eyes,
Ponder'd the speech;
then briefly thus replies:
"Trojans, dismiss your fears; my cruel fate,

And doubts attending an unsettled state,
Force me to guard my
coast from foreign foes.
Who has not heard the story of your woes,

The name and fortune of your native place,
The fame and valor of the
Phrygian race?
We Tyrians are not so devoid of sense,
Nor so

remote from Phoebus' influence.
Whether to Latian shores your
course is bent,
Or, driv'n by tempests from your first intent,
You
seek the good Acestes' government,
Your men shall be receiv'd, your
fleet repair'd,
And sail, with ships of convoy for your guard:
Or,
would you stay, and join your friendly pow'rs
To raise and to defend
the Tyrian tow'rs,
My wealth, my city, and myself are yours.
And
would to Heav'n, the Storm, you felt, would bring
On Carthaginian
coasts your wand'ring king.
My people shall, by my command,
explore
The ports and creeks of ev'ry winding shore,
And towns,
and wilds, and shady woods, in quest
Of so renown'd and so desir'd a
guest."
Rais'd in his mind the Trojan hero stood,
And long'd to break from
out his ambient cloud:
Achates found it, and thus urg'd his way:

"From whence, O goddess-born, this long delay?
What more can you
desire, your welcome sure,
Your fleet in safety, and your friends
secure?
One only wants; and him we saw in vain
Oppose the Storm,
and swallow'd in the main.
Orontes in his fate our forfeit paid;
The
rest agrees with what your mother said."
Scarce had he spoken, when
the cloud gave way,
The mists flew upward and dissolv'd in day.
The Trojan chief appear'd in open sight,
August in visage, and
serenely bright.
His mother goddess, with her hands divine,
Had
form'd his curling locks, and made his temples shine,
And giv'n his
rolling eyes a sparkling grace,
And breath'd a youthful vigor on his
face;
Like polish'd ivory, beauteous to behold,
Or Parian marble,
when enchas'd in gold:
Thus radiant from the circling