``Now harken, Conscript Fathers,

To that which I advise.
In seasons of great peril

'Tis good that one bear sway;
Then choose we a Dictator,

Whom all men shall obey.
Camerium knows how deeply

The sword of Aulus bites,
And all our city calls him

The man of seventy fights.
Then let him be Dictator

For six months and no more,
And have a Master of the Knights,

And axes twenty-four.''
IX

So Aulus was Dictator,
The man of seventy fights;

He made 锟絙utius Elva
His Master of the Knights.

On the third morn thereafter,
At downing of the day,

Did Aulus and 锟絙utius
Set forth with their array.

Sempronius Atratinus
Was left in charge at home

With boys, and with gray-headed men,
To keep the walls of Rome.

Hard by the Lake Regillus
Our camp was pitched at night:

Eastward a mile the Latines lay,
Under the Porcian height.

Far over hill and valley
Their mighty host was spread;

And with their thousand watch-fires
The midnight sky was red.

X
Up rose the golden morning

Over the Porcian height,
The proud Ides of Quintilis

Marked evermore in white.
Not without secret trouble

Our bravest saw the foe;
For girt by threescore thousand spears,

The thirty standards rose.
From every warlike city

That boasts the Latian name,
Fordoomed to dogs and vultures,

That gallant army came;
From Setia's purple vineyards,

From Norba's ancient wall,
From the white streets of Tusculum,

The proudust town of all;
From where the Witch's Fortress

O'er hangs the dark-blue seas;
From the still glassy lake that sleeps

Beneath Aricia's trees--
Those trees in whose dim shadow

The ghastlypriest doth reign,
The priest who slew the slayer,

And shall himself be slain;
From the drear banks of Ufens,

Where flights of marsh-fowl play,
And buffaloes lie wallowing

Through the hot summer's day;
From the gigantic watch-towers,

No work of earthly men,
Whence Cora's sentinels o'erlook

The never-ending fen;
From the Laurentian jungle,

The wild hog's reedy home;
From the green steeps whence Anio leaps

In floods of snow-white foam.
XI

Aricia, Cora, Norba,
Velitr? with the might

Of Setia and of Tusculum,
Were marshalled on the right:

The leader was Mamilius,
Prince of the Latian name;

Upon his head a helmet
Of red gold shone like flame:

High on a gallantcharger
Of dark-gray hue he rode;

Over his gilded armor
A vest of purple flowed,

Woven in the land of sunrise
By Syria's dark-browed daughters,

And by the sails of Carthage brought
Far o'er the southern waters.

XII
Lavinium and Laurentum

Had on the left their post,
With all the banners of the marsh,

And banners of the coast.
Their leader was false Sextus,

That wrought the deed of shame:
With restless pace and haggard face

To his last field he came.
Men said he saw strange visions

Which none beside might see;
And that strange sounds were in his ears

Which none might hear but he.
A woman fair and stately,

But pale as are the dead,
Oft through the watches of the night

Sat spinning by his bed.
And as she plied the distaff,

In a sweet voice and low,
She sang of great old houses,

And fights fought long ago.
So spun she, and so sang she,

Until the east was gray.
Then pointed to her bleeding breast,

And shrieked, and fled away.
XIII

But in the centre thickest
Were ranged the shields of foes,

And from the centre loudest
The cry of batle rose.

There Tibur marched and Pedum
Beneath proud Tarquin's rule,

And Ferentinum of the rock,
And Gabii of the pool.

There rode the Volscian succors:
There, in the dark stern ring,

The Roman exiles gathered close
Around the ancient king.

Though white as Mount Soracte,
When winter nights are long,

His beard flowed down o'er mail and belt,
His heart and hand were strong:

Under his hoary eyebrows
Still flashed forth quenchless rage:

And, if the lance shook in his gripe,
'Twas more with hate than age.

Close at his side was Titus
On an Apulian steed,

Titus, the youngest Tarquin,
Too good for such a breed.

XIV
Now on each side the leaders

Gave signal for the charge;
And on each side the footmen

Strode on with lance and targe;
And on each side the horsemen

Struck their spurs deep in gore,
And front to front the armies

Met with a mighty roar:
And under that great battle

The earth with blood was red;
And, like the Pomptine fog at morn,

The dust hung overhead;
And louder still and louder

Rose from the darkened field
The braying of the war-horns,

The clang of sword and shield,
The rush of squadrons sweeping

Like whirlwinds o'er the plain,
The shouting of the slayers,

And screeching of the slain.
XV

False Sextus rode out foremost,
His look was high and bold;

His corslet was of bison's hide,
Plated with steel and gold.

As glares the famished eagle
From the Digentian rock

On a choice lamb that bounds alone
Before Bandusia's flock,

Herminius glared on Sextus,
And came with eagle speed,

Herminius on black Auster,
Brave champion on brave steed;

In his right hand the broadsword
That kept the bridge so well,

And on his helm the crown he won
When proud Fiden?fell.

Woe to the maid whose lover
Shall cross his path to-day!

False Sextus saw, and trembled,
And turned, and fled away.

As turns, as flies, the woodman
In the Calabrian brake,

When through the reeds gleams the round eye
Of that fell speckled snake;

So turned, so fled, false Sextus,
And hid him in the rear,

Behind the dark Lavinian ranks,
Bristling with crest and spear.

XVI
But far to the north 锟絙utius,

The Master of the Knights,
Gave Tubero of Norba

To feed the Porcian kites.
Next under those red horse-hoofs

Flaccus of Setia lay;
Better had he been pruning

Among his elms that day.
Mamilus saw the slaughter,

And tossed his golden crest,
And towards the Master of the Knights

• charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
• midnight [´midnait] n.午夜；漆黑 (初中英语单词)
• gallant [´gælənt, gə´lænt] a.英勇的；华丽的 (初中英语单词)
• purple [´pə:pl] n.紫色 a.紫(红)的 (初中英语单词)
• priest [pri:st] n.教士；牧师；神父 (初中英语单词)
• wrought [rɔ:t] work 的过去式(分词) (初中英语单词)
• restless [´restləs] a.没有休息的 (初中英语单词)
• pointed [´pɔintid] a.尖(锐)的；中肯的 (初中英语单词)
• champion [´tʃæmpiən] n.冠军 vt.拥护 (初中英语单词)
• mighty [´maiti] a.强有力的 ad.很 (高中英语单词)
• ghastly [´gɑ:stli] a.苍白的；可怕的 (高中英语单词)
• gigantic [dʒai´gæntik] a.巨大的 (高中英语单词)
• earthly [´ə:θli] a.地球的；世俗的 (高中英语单词)
• spinning [´spiniŋ] n.纺织 a.纺织品的 (高中英语单词)
• evermore [,evə´mɔ:] ad.永远，始终 (英语四级单词)
• warlike [´wɔ:laik] a.战争的；好战的 (英语四级单词)
• whence [wens] ad.从何处；从那里 (英语四级单词)
• haggard [´hægəd] a.憔悴的 (英语四级单词)
• bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
• threescore [´θri:skɔ:] n.&a.六十(的) (英语六级单词)
• glassy [´glɑ:si] a.光滑的；无神的 (英语六级单词)