Earth yawning to the centre should disclose
The mansions, the pale mansions of the dead,
Loath'd by the Gods, such would the gulf appear,
And the ghosts tremble at the sight of day.
The monster braying with unusual din
Within his hollow lair, and sore amaz'd
To see such sudden inroads of the light,
Alcides press'd him close with what at hand
Lay readiest, stumps of trees, and fragments huge
Of millstone size. He, (for escape was none)
Wondrous to tell! forth from his gorge discharg`d
A smoky cloud that darken'd all the den;
Wreath after wreath he vomited amain
The smoth'ring vapour, mix'd with fiery sparks.
No sight could penetrate the veil obscure.
The hero, more provoked, endur'd not this,
But, with a headlong leap, he rushed to where
The thickest cloud envelop'd his abode.
There grasp'd he Cacus, spite of all his fires,
Till crush'd within his arms, the monster shows
His bloodless throat, now dry with panting hard,
And his press'd eyeballs start. Soon he tears down
The barricade of rock; the dark abyss
Lies open, and th' imprison'd bulls, the theft
He had with oaths denied, are brought to light:
By th' heels the miscreant carcass is dragg'd forth.
His face, his eyes, all terrible, his breast
Beset with bristles, and his sooty jaws
Are view'd with wonder never to be cloy'd.
Hence the celebrity thou seest, and hence
This festal day, Potitius first enjoin'd
Posterity these solemn rites, he first
With those who bear the great Pinarian name
To Hercules devoted, in the grove
This altar built, deem'd sacred in the highest
By us, and sacred ever to be deem'd.
Come then, my friends, and bind your youthful brows
In praise of such deliv'rance, and hold forth
The brimming cup: your deities and ours
Are now the same; then drink, and freely too.
So saying, he twisted round his rev'rend locks
A variegated poplar wreath, and fill'd
His right hand with a consecrated bowl.
At once all pour libations on the board.
All offer pray'r. And now the radiant sphere
Of day descending, eventide drew near.
When first Potitius with the priests advanc'd,
Begirt with skins, and torches in their hands.
High piled with meats of sav'ry taste, they rangea
The chargers, and renewed the grateful feast.
Then came the Salii, crown'd with poplar too
Circling the blazing altars; here the youth
Advanced, a choir harmonious; there were heard
The rev'rend seers responsive; praise they sung,
Much praise in honour of Alcides' deeds;
How first, with infant gripe, two serpents huge
He strangled, sent from Juno; next they sung,
How Troja and the Oechalia he destroyed,
Fair cities both, and many a toilsome task
Beneath Eurystheus, (so his step-dame will'd)
Achiev'd victorious. Thou, the cloud-born pair,
Hylæus fierce and Pholos, monstrous twins,
Thou slew'st the Minotaur, the plague of Crete,
And the vast lion of the Nemean rock.
Thee Hell, and Cerberus, Hell's porter, fear'd,
Stretch'd in his den upon his half-gnaw'd bones.
Thee no abhorred form, not e'en the vast
Typhoeus could appal, though clad in arms.
Hail, true born son of Jove, among the Gods
At length enroll'd, nor least illustrious thou,
Haste thee propitious, and approve our songs ;"
Thus hymn'd the chorus; above all they sing
The cave of Cacus, and the flames he breath'd.
The whole grove echoes, and the hills rebound.
The rites perform'd all hasten to the town. The king, bending with age, held as he went Eneas and his Pallas by the hand,
Vith much variety of pleasing talk
Short'ning the way. Eneas, with a smile,
Looks round him, charm'd with the delightful scene
And many a question asks, and much he learns
Of heroes far renown'd in ancient times.
Then spake Evander. These extensive groves
Were once inhabited by fawns and nymphs
Produced beneath their shades, and a rude race
If men, the progeny uncouth of elms
And knotted oaks. They no refinement knew
Of laws or inanners civilized, to yoke
The steer, with forecast provident to store
he hoarded grain, or manage what they had, But browsed like beasts upon the leafy boughs, Or fed voracious on their hunted prey.
An exile from Olympus, and expell'd
His native realm by thunder-bearing Jove,
First Saturn came. He from the mountains drew
"his herd of inen untractable and fierce,
nd gave them laws; and call'd his hiding-place,
nis growth of forests, Latium. Such the peace
His land possess'd, the golden age was then,
So fam'd in story; till by slow degrees
Far other times, and of far diffrent hue,
Succeeded thirst of gold and thirst of blood.
Then came Ausonian bands, and armed nosts
From Sicily, and Latium often changed
Her master and her name. At length arose
Kings, of whom Tibris of gigantick form
Was chief, and we Italians since have call'd
The river by his name; thus Albula
(So was the country call'd in ancient days)
Was quite forgot. Me from my native land
An exile, thro' the dang 'rous ocean driv'n,
Resistless fortune and relentless fate
Placed where thou see'st me. Phœbus, and
The nymph Carmentis, with maternal care,
Attendant on my wand'rings, fix'd me here.
He said, and show'd him the Tarpeian rock, And the rude spot, where now the capitol Stands all magnificent and bright with gold, Then overgrown with thorns. And yet e'en then The swains beheld that sacred scene with awe ; The grove, the rock, inspired religious fear. This grove, he said, that crowns the lofty top Of this fair hill, some deity, we know, Inhabits, but what deity we doubt. Th' Arcadians speak of Jupiter himself, That they have often seen him, shaking here His gloomy Ægis, while the thunder-storms Came rolling all around him. Turn thy eyes, Behold that ruin; those dismantled walls, Where once two towns, IaniculumBy Janus this, and that by Saturn built, Saturnia. Such discourse brought them beneath The roof of poor Evander, thence they saw, Where now the proud and stately forum stands, The grazing herds wide scatter'd o'er the field. Soon as he enter'd-Hercules, he said, Victorious Hercules, on this threshold trod, These walls contain'd him, humble as they are Dare to despise magnificence, my friend, Prove thy divine descent by worth divine, Nor view with haughty scorn this mean abode. So saying, he led Eneas by the hand, And plac'd him on a cushion stuff'd with leaves, Spread with the skin of a Libistian bear.
[The Episode of Venus and Vulcan omitted]
While thus in Lemnos Vulcan was employed
Awaken'd by the gentle dawn of day,
And the shrill song of birds beneath the eavo
Of his low mansion, old Evander rosc.
His tunick, and the sandals on his feet,
And his good sword well-girded to his side,
A panther's skin dependent from his left,
And over his right shoulder thrown aslant,
Thus was he clad. Two mastiffs followed him,
His whole retinue and his nightly guard.
OVID. TRIST. LIB. V. ELEG. XII
You bid me write t'amuse the tedious hours,
And save from with'ring my poetick pow`rs.
Hard is the task, my friend, for verse should flow
From the free mind, not fetter'd down by wo;
Restless amidst unceasing tempests tost,
Whoe'er has cause for sorrow, I have most.
Would you bid Priam laugh, his sons all slain,
Or childless Niobe from tears refrain,
Join the gay dance, and lead the festive train?
Does grief or study most befit the mind,
To this remote, this barb'rous nook confin'd?
Could you impart to my unshaken breast,
The fortitude by Socrates possess'd,
Soon would it sink beneath such woes as mine,
For what is human strength to wrath divine ?
Wise as he was, and Heav'n pronounc'd him so,
My sufferings would have laid that wisdom low.
Could I forget my country, thee and all,
And e'en th' offence to which I owe my fall,
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