Herminius smote Mamilius

Through breast-plate and through breast,
And fast flowed out the purple blood

Over the purple vest.
Mamilius smote Herminius

Through head-piece and through head,
And side by side those chiefs of pride,

Together fell down dead.
Down fell they dead together

In a great lake of gore;
And still stood all who saw them fall

While men might count a score.
XXIX

Fast, fast, with heels wild spurning,
The dark-gray charger fled:

He burst through ranks of fighting men,
He sprang o'er heaps of dead.

His bridle far out-streming,
His flanks all blood and foam,

He sought the southern mountains,
The mountains of his home.

The pass was steep and rugged,
The wolves they howled and whined;

But he ran like a whirlwind up the pass,
And he left the wolves behind.

Through many a startled hamlet
Thundered his flying feet;

He rushed through the gate of Tusculum,
He rushed up the long white street;

He rushed by tower and temple,
And paused not from his race

Till he stood before his master's door
In the stately market-place.

And straightway round him gathered
A pale and trembling crowd,

And when they knew him, cries of rage
Brake forth, and wailing loud:

And women rent their tresses
For their great prince's fall;

And old men girt on their old swords,
And went to man the wall.

XXX
But, like a graven image,

Black Auster kept his place,
And ever wistfully he looked

Into his master's face.
The raven-mane that daily,

With pats and fond caresses,
The young Herminia washed and combed,

And twined in even tresses,
And decked with colored ribbons

From her own gay attire,
Hung sadly o'er her father's corpse

In carnage and in mire.
Forth with a shout sprang Titus,

And seized black Auster's rein.
Then Aulus sware a fearful oath,

And ran at him amain.
``The furies of thy brother

With me and mine abide,
If one of your accursed house

Upon black Auster ride!''
As on a Alpine watch-tower

From heaven comes down the flame,
Full on the neck of Titus

The blade of Aulus came:
And out the red blood spouted,

In a wide arch and tall,
As spouts a fountain in the court

Of some rich Capuan's hall.
The knees of all the Latines

Were loosened with dismay,
When dead, on dead Herminius,

The bravest Tarquin lay.
XXXI

And Aulus the Dictator
Stroked Auster's raven mane,

With heed he looked unto the girths,
With heed unto the rein.

``Now bear me well, black Auster,
Into yon thick array;

And thou and I will have revenge
For thy good lord this day.''

XXXII
So spake he; and was buckling

Tighter black Auster's band,
When he was aware of a princely pair

That rode at his right hand.
So like they were, no mortal

Might one from other know:
White as snow their armor was:

Their steeds were white as snow.
Never on earthly anvil

Did such rare armor gleam;
And never did such gallant steeds

Drink of an earthly stream.
XXXIII

And all who saw them trembled,
And pale grew every cheek;

And Aulus the Dictator
Scarce gathered voice to speak.

``Say by what name men call you?
What city is your home?

And wherefore ride ye in such guise
Before the ranks of Rome?''

XXXIV
``By many names men call us;

In many lands we dwell:
Well Samothracia knows us;

Cyrene knows us well.
Our house in gay Tarentum

Is hung each morn with flowers:
High o'er the masts of Syracuse

Our marbleportal towers;
But by the proud Eurotas

Is our dear native home;
And for the right we come to fight

Before the ranks of Rome.''
XXXV

So answered those strange horsemen,
And each couched low his spear;

And forthwith all the ranks of Rome
Were bold, and of good cheer:

And on the thirty armies
Came wonder and affright,

And Ardea wavered on the left,
And Cora on the right.

``Rome to the charge!'' cried Aulus;
``The foe begins to yield!

Charge for the hearth of Vesta!
Charge for the Golden Shield!

Let no man stop to plunder,
But slay, and slay, and slay;

The gods who live forever
Are on our side to-day.''

XXXVI
Then the fierce trumpet-flourish

From earth to heaven arose,
The kites know well the long stern swell

That bids the Romans close.
Then the good sword of Aulus

Was lifted up to slay;
Then, like a crag down Apennine,

Rushed Auster through the fray.
But under those strange horsemen

Still thicker lay the slain;
And after those strange horses

Black Auster toiled in vain.
Behind them Rome's long battle

Came rolling on the foe,
Ensigns dancing wild above,

Blades all in line below.
So comes the Po in flood-time

Upon the Celtic plain;
So comes the squall, blacker than night,

Upon the Adrian main.
Now, by our Sire Quirinus,

It was a goodly sight
To see the thirty standards

Swept down the tide of flight.
So flies the spray of Adria

When the black squall doth blow
So corn-sheaves in the flood-time

Spin down the whirling Po.
False Sextus to the mountains

Turned first his horse's head;
And fast fled Ferentinum,

And fast Lanuvium fled.
The horsemen of Nomentus

Spurred hard out of the fray;
The footmen of Velitr?

Threw shield and spear away.
And underfoot was trampled,

Amidst the mud and gore,
The banner of proud Tusculum,

That never stooped before:
And down went Flavius Faustus,

Who led his stately ranks
From where the apple blossoms wave

On Anio's echoing banks,
And Tullus of Arpinum,

Chief of the Volscian aids,
And Metius with the long fair curls,

The love of Anxur's maids,
And the white head of Vulso,

The great Arician seer,
And Nepos of Laurentum

The hunter of the deer;
And in the back false Sextus

Felt the good Roman steel,
And wriggling in the dust he died,

Like a worm beneath the wheel:
And fliers and pursuers

Were mingled in a mass;
And far away the battle

Went roaring through the pass.
XXXVII

Semponius Atratinus
Sat in the Eastern Gate,

Beside him were three Fathers,
Each in his chair of state;

• purple [´pə:pl] n.紫色 a.紫(红)的 (初中英语单词)
• sprang [spræŋ] spring 的过去式 (初中英语单词)
• fearful [´fiəfəl] a.可怕的；担心的 (初中英语单词)
• fountain [´fauntin] n.泉水；源泉；根源 (初中英语单词)
• gallant [´gælənt, gə´lænt] a.英勇的；华丽的 (初中英语单词)
• marble [´mɑ:bəl] n.大理石 a.大理石的 (初中英语单词)
• fierce [fiəs] a.残忍的；强烈的 (初中英语单词)
• shield [ʃi:ld] n.盾牌；防御 v.保护 (初中英语单词)
• banner [´bænə] n.旗(帜)；头号标题 (初中英语单词)
• hunter [´hʌntə] n.猎人；猎狗；猎马 (初中英语单词)
• bridle [´braidl] n.(马)笼头；束缚 (高中英语单词)
• stately [´steitli] a.庄严的，雄伟的 (高中英语单词)
• straightway [´streitwei] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)
• earthly [´ə:θli] a.地球的；世俗的 (高中英语单词)
• forthwith [fɔ:θ´wið] ad.立刻 (高中英语单词)
• hearth [hɑ:θ] n.炉边；家庭(生活) (高中英语单词)
• goodly [´gudli] a.适意的；漂亮的 (高中英语单词)
• whirlwind [´wə:l,wind] n.旋风；猛烈的势力 (英语四级单词)
• accursed [ə´kə:sid] a.被诅咒的；可憎的 (英语四级单词)
• alpine [´ælpain] a.高山的 (英语四级单词)
• princely [´prinsli] a.王候般的；高贵的 (英语四级单词)
• wherefore [´weəfɔ:] ad.为什么；因此 (英语四级单词)
• portal [´pɔ:tl] n.(正)门；隧道 (英语四级单词)
• charger [´tʃɑ:dʒə] n.军马；委托者；控诉者 (英语六级单词)
• wistfully [´wistfuli] ad.渴望地；不满足地 (英语六级单词)
• squall [skwɔ:l] n.&v.啼哭 n.暴风，飑 (英语六级单词)