L. To war with beasts and monsters - is this

virtue ?

M. "Tis virtue to subdue what all men dread.

L. The shades of hell bury a vaunting tongue.

M. The road from earth to heaven is not a soft one.

188. Go, my child, go. Within the walls of Troy
One is there who will love and cherish thee,
Yes, there lives
Thy father, but how short a time to live,

Thee, but without thy mother.

Alas! he knows not; for from Lemnos comes
In safety Philoctetes, and he brings

Those arrows with him, those of Hercules,
By which the Fates have sung thy sire must fall.

189. O miserable life of mortal man,

At every moment how art thou expos'd
To danger, now increasing, and again
Dwindling to nothing! There's no goal assign'd,
At which when they arrive, the human race
Have privilege to rest in their career,

Till, at Jove's mandate, Death with chilling hand
Arrive, and put a period to our life.

190. Take me again to earth: this is no place
Of hope for me. My father still must bear
His curse: he shall not bear it all alone.

Take me to earth that I may follow him.
I do not fear th' almighty man. The gods
Are feeble here: but there are higher powers

Who will not turn their eyes from wrongs
Take me to earth again.

like ours.

191. Once at their birth the Fates did destine tears
To be the lot of all the Trojan women,

And Hecuba their queen. To you, O Dion,
As the deserv'd reward for glorious deeds,

They gave extensive and illustrious hopes. And now you lie beneath your native soil, Honour'd by all your countrymen, O Dion, And lov'd by me with ardent, lasting love. 192. How can that strong intrepid mind

Attack a weak, defenceless kind?

Those jaws should prey on nobler food,
And drink the boar's and lion's blood.
Great souls with generous pity melt,
Which coward tyrants never felt.
How harmless is our fleecy care!

Be brave, and let thy mercy spare.

193. Brutus, far to the west, in the ocean wide,
Beyond the realm of Gaul, a land there lies,
Sea-girt it lies, where giants dwelt of old;
Now void, it fits thy people: thither bend
Thy course there shalt thou find a lasting seat;
There to thy sons another Troy shall rise,

And kings be born of thee, whose dreadful might
Shall awe the world, and conquer nations bold.

194. But whosoever wishes to attain

Th' ill-omen'd period of old age, is void
Of reason; for unnumber'd cares attend
Life lengthened out beyond its usual date.
Old age, what pleasing hopes dost thou afford!
And all men wish to reach thy distant goal:
But he who makes the trial, with regret
Acknowledges that there is nought more grievous.

195. Around his neck sprang the Idæan boy,
And, Blessed, cried he, blessed he whoe'er
Thus deeply hates my mother's injurer.

With me most virtuous is it to abhor

That Spartan. To none other house will I

Than the king's own, where with his father dwells

My father, where the chaste Andromache
Bemoans her husband on the ground he trod.
196. There is a streamlet issuing from a rock :
The village girls, singing wild madrigals,

Dip their white vestments in its waters clear,
And hang them to the sun. There first I saw her.
Her dark and eloquent eyes, mild, full of fire,
'Twas heaven to look upon; and her sweet voice,
As tunable as harp of many strings,

At once spoke joy and sadness to my soul.
197. A cold, sick tremor thrills my bloodless limbs.
What crime insults mine ear? I shudder'd not
When burst around our walls the crash of battlę
Chasing sweet peace. I heard it undismay'd.
But now these nuptials fright me; now I seem
Indeed a captive. Well; let griding chains
Torture my frame; let lean and staring famine
Draw out a lengthen'd death: my faith no force
Shall perjure: thine, dear husband, I will die.
198. A. But who dares tell a prince he goes aside?

C. His conscience best, if wisdom were his guide. A. But they are great, and may do what they will. C. Great, if much good, not great, if they do ill. A. But we must yield to what princes would have. C. He is no prince that is affection's slave. A. Be what he will, his power is over-strong. C. Heaven will not suffer sin to flourish long. 199. Ah, had it been the will of Heav'n to save His honour'd relics from a nameless grave! Had we but seen th' accustom'd flames aspire And wrap his corpse in purifying fire! Yet what avails it to lament the dead? Say, will it profit ought to shroud our head, And wear away in grief the fleeting hours, Rather than with bright nymphs in rosy bowers?

200. The sayings of the wealthy, men term wise;
But when the poor, when he who from a line
Of humble ancestors derives his birth,
Discreetly speaks, they laugh: but I full oft
Observe the indigent exceed the rich

In wisdom, and find men, who in their hands
Bear a small offering to the gods, more pious
Than those who sacrifice the bleeding steer.
201. Heed not those fetter'd hands: look in my face;
Look in my face with the full confidence
Of a brave man, for such I'll swear thou art.
Think'st thou that I am come to visit thee
In whining pity, as a guilty man?

No, by the rood! If I had thought thee such,
Being the son of him whose form thou wearest,
I should have curs'd thee.

202. Why should I name to thee Pirithous,
Ixion, or the Lapiths? over whom

Hangs a black rock, about to fall, and just
Falling. Before them couches propp'd on gold
And banquets richly spread in splendour shine:
But th' eldest Fury close in ambush lies,

And with her hand forbids to touch the board,

Springs, waves a torch, and thunders in their ear.

203. Great minds, like Heav'n, are pleas'd with doing good,

Though the ungrateful subjects of their favours

Are barren in return.

Virtue does still

With scorn the mercenary world regard,
Where abject souls do good, and hope reward.
Above the worthless trophies man can raise,
She seeks not honour, wealth, nor airy praise,
But with herself, herself the goddess pays.
204. I grieve not that Larissa holds the bones
Of my forefathers in their quiet graves;

I grieve not for my mother in the halls
Of Tethys, from the power of death exempt:
I grieve that Ilion should be thus aveng'd
Without her thousands fallen around me slain.
Dark art thou, standing o'er my head, O Death!
Most bitter is this wound; it smites my heart.
205. Appoint the maiden to command the host!

We follow blindly wheresoe'er she leads.
The holy one's prophetic eye shall guide,
And this brave sword from danger shall protect her.
A universe in arms we will not fear,

If she, the mighty one, precede our troops;
The god of battle walketh by her side:

Let her conduct us on to victory!

206. Winds all were hush'd, a sudden calm succeeds,
And oarblades thro' the sluggish waters toil.
Here a vast grove Eneas from the main
Descries, where Tiber makes his pleasant way,
With eddies swift and yellow sandy flood
On rushing to the sea. Above, around,

Birds many-colour'd haunt the bank and stream,
Flit in the grove, and charm the air with song.

207. O lady, grateful are these solar beams;

And, when the winds are hush'd, 'tis sweet to view
The level ocean, earth with verdure deck'd,
The plenteous waters of refreshing springs :
And there are many beauteous objects more

Whose praise I might recount; yet none more
welcome

Than children, when they to the house of those
Who long despair'd of issue, give new lustre.

208. Hopest thou, sister, sister, happy days
Awaiting thee? Look thou at Troy: behold
The work of Neptune and Apollo, Troy,
Ramparts and towers that Pallas dwells within.