Bound o'er the rocks, incroach upon the land;
And far upon the beach eject the fand.
Then backward, with a swing, they take their way; Repuls'd from upper ground, and seek their mother-sea: With equal hurry quit th' invaded fhore;
And swallow back the fand and stones they fpew'd before.
Twice were the Tufcans mafters of the field,
Twice by the Latins, in their turn, repell'd.
Afham'd at length, to the third charge they ran,
Both hofts refolv'd, and mingled man to man:
Now dying groans are heard, the fields are ftrow'd
With falling bodies, and are drunk with blood:
Arms, horses, men, on heaps together lie:
Confus'd the fight, and more confus'd the cry.
Orfilochus, who durft not prefs too near
Strong Remulus, at diftance drove his fpear;
And ftruck the fteel beneath his horfe's ear.
The fiery fteed, impatient of the wound,
Curvets, and, fpringing upward with a bound,
His hopeless lord caft backward on the ground. 950
Catillus pierc'd Iolas firft; then drew
His reeking lance, and at Herminius threw :
The mighty champion of the Tuscan crew.
His neck and throat unarm'd, his head was bare,
But shaded with a length of yellow hair :
Secure, he fought, expos'd on every part,
A fpacious mark for fwords, and for the flying dart:
Acrofs the fhoulders came the feather'd wound;
Transfix'd, he fell, and doubled to the ground.
D
The fands with streaming blood are fanguine dy'd; And death with honour fought on either fide.
Refiftless, through the war, Camilla rode;
In danger unappall'd, and pleas'd with blood.
One fide was bare for her exerted breast;
One shoulder with her painted quiver prefs'd.
Now from afar her fatal javelins play;
Now with her axe's edge the hews her way;
Diana's arms upon her shoulder sound ;
And when, too closely prefs'd, fhe quits the ground,
From her bent bow fhe fends a backward wound.
Her maids, in martial pomp, on either fide,
Larina, Tulla, fierce Tarpeia ride;
Italians all in peace, their queen's delight:
In war, the bold companions of the fight.
So march'd the Thracian Amazons of old,
When Thermodon with bloody billows roll'd;
Such troops as these in shining arms were seen,
When Thefeus met in fight their maiden queen.
Such to the field Penthefilea led,
From the fierce virgin when the Grecians fled :
With such, return'd triumphant from the war;
Her maids with cries attend the lofty car:
They clash with manly force their moony fhields :
With female-fhouts refound the Phrygian fields.
Who foremost, and who laft, heroic maid,
On the cold earth were by thy courage laid?
Thy fpear, of mountain-afh, Eumenius firft,
With fury driven, from fide to fide tranfpierc'd;
A purple stream came fpouting from the wound;
Bath'd in his blood he lies, and bites the ground. 990
Lyris and Pegasus at once she flew;
The former, as the flacken'd reins he drew,
Of his faint fteed: the latter, as he stretch'd
His arm to prop his friend, the javelin reach'd,
By the fame weapon, fent from the same hand,
Both fall together, and both spurn the fand.
Amaftrus next is added to the flain:
The rest in rout she follows o'er the plain :
Tereus, Harpalicus, Demophoon,
And Chromys, at full speed her fury shun.
Of all her deadly darts, not one fhe loft;
Each was attended with a Trojan ghoft.
Young Ornithus bestrode a hunter steed,
Swift for the chace, and of Apulian breed:
Him, from afar, she spy'd in arms unknown;
O'er his broad back an ox's hide was thrown:
His helm a wolf, whofe gaping jaws were spread
A covering for his cheeks, and grinn'd around his head.
He clench'd within his hand an iron-prong;
And tower'd above the reft, confpicuous in the throng. Him foon fhe fingled from the flying train,
And flew with ease: then thus infults the flain.
Vain hunter, didst thou think through woods to chace The favage herd, a vile and trembling race? Here cease thy vaunts, and own my victory; A woman-warrior was too ftrong for thee. Yet if the ghosts demand the conqueror's name, › Confeffing great Camilla, fave thy fhame.
Then Butes and Orfilochus fhe flew,
The bulkieft bodies of the Trojan crew.
But Butes breaft to breast: the spear defcends
Above the gorget, where his helmet ends,
And o'er the fhield which his left fide defends.
Orfilochus, and fhe, their courfers ply,
He feems to follow, and the feems to fly.
But in a narrower ring the makes the race;
And then he flies, and the pursues the chace.
Gathering at length on her deluded foe,
She fwings her axe, and rifes at the blow:
Full on the helm behind, with fuch a fway
The weapon falls, the riven steel gives way :
He groans, he roars, he fues in vain for
Brains, mingled with his blood, befmear his face.
Aftonish'd Aunus juft arrives by chance,
To fee his fall, nor farther dares advance:
But fixing on the horrid maid his eye,
He ftares, and shakes, and finds it vain to fly.
Yet like a true Ligurian, born to cheat,
(At least while fortune favour'd his deceit)
Cries out aloud, What courage have you shown, 1040
Who truft your courfer's ftrength, and not your own?
Forego the 'vantage of your horfe, alight,
And then on equal terms begin the fight:
It shall be seen, weak woman, what you can,
When, foot to foot, you combat with a man.
He faid: the glows with anger and disdain,
Difmounts with speed to dare him on the plain :
And leaves her horfe at large among her train.
With her drawn fword defies him to the field:
And, marching, lifts aloft her maiden shield:
The youth, who thought his cunning did fucceed,
Reins round his horfe, and urges all his fpeed,
Adds the remembrance of the fpur, and hides
The goring rowels in his bleeding fides.
Vain fool, and coward, faid the lofty maid,
Caught in the train, which thou thyself haft laid!
On others practise thy Ligurian arts;
Thin ftratagems, and tricks of little hearts,
Are loft on me. Nor fhalt thou fafe retire,
With vaunting lies to thy fallacious fire.
At this, so fast her flying feet she sped,
That soon she ftrain'd beyond his horfe's head:
Then turning short, at once she feiz'd the rein,
And laid the boafter groveling on the plain.
Not with more eafe the falcon from above
Truffes, in middle air, the trembling dove :
Then plumes the prey, in her strong pounces bound;
The feathers foul with blood come tumbling to the ground.
Nor mighty Jove, from his fuperior height,
With his broad eye furveys th' unequal fight.
He fires the breaft of Tarchon with difdain;
And fends him to redeem th' abandon'd plain.
Between the broken ranks the Tufcan rides,
And these encourages, and those he chides :
Recalls each leader, by his name, from flight;
Renews their ardour, and reftores the fight.
What panic fear has feiz'd your fouls? O fhame,
O brand perpetual of th' Etrurian name!
D 3
|