A thought unripe- and scarcely yet resolve.
Our
absentprince both camp and council mourn;
By message both would
hasten his return:
If they confer what I demand on thee,
(For fame is
recompense enough for me,)
Methinks, beneath yon hill, I have espied
A way that
safely will my passage guide."
Euryalus stood list'ning while he spoke,
With love of praise and noble envy struck;
Then to his
ardent friend expos'd his mind:
"All this, alone, and leaving me behind!
Am I
unworthy, Nisus, to be join'd?
Thinkist thou I can my share of glory yield,
Or send thee unassisted to the field?
Not so my father taught my
childhood arms;
Born in a siege, and bred among alarms!
Nor is my youth
unworthy of my friend,
Nor of the heav'n-born hero I attend.
The thing call'd life, with ease I can disclaim,
And think it over-sold to purchase fame."
Then Nisus thus: "Alas! thy tender years
Would
minister new matter to my fears.
So may the gods, who view this friendly strife,
Restore me to thy lov'd
embrace with life,
Condemn'd to pay my vows, (as sure I trust,)
This thy request is cruel and unjust.
But if some chance- as many chances are,
And
doubtful hazards, in the deeds of war-
If one should reach my head, there let it fall,
And spare thy life; I would not
perish all.
Thy bloomy youth deserves a longer date:
Live thou to mourn thy love's
unhappy fate;
To bear my mangled body from the foe,
Or buy it back, and fun'ral rites bestow.
Or, if hard fortune shall those dues deny,
Thou canst at least an empty tomb supply.
O let not me the widow's tears renew!
Nor let a mother's curse my name pursue:
Thy pious parent, who, for love of thee,
Forsook the coasts of friendly Sicily,
Her age committing to the seas and wind,
When ev'ry weary
matron stay'd behind."
To this, Euryalus: "You plead in vain,
And but protract the cause you cannot gain.
No more delays, but haste!" With that, he wakes
The nodding watch; each to his office takes.
The guard reliev'd, the gen'rous couple went
To find the council at the royal tent.
All creatures else forgot their daily care,
And sleep, the common gift of nature, share;
Except the Trojan peers, who wakeful sate
In
nightly council for th' indanger'd state.
They vote a message to their
absent chief,
Shew their
distress, and beg a swift relief.
Amid the camp a silent seat they chose,
Remote from clamor, and secure from foes.
On their left arms their ample
shields they bear,
The right reclin'd upon the bending spear.
Now Nisus and his friend approach the guard,
And beg
admission, eager to be heard:
Th' affair important, not to be deferr'd.
Ascanius bids 'em be conducted in,
Ord'ring the more experienc'd to begin.
Then Nisus thus: "Ye fathers, lend your ears;
Nor judge our bold attempt beyond our years.
The foe,
securely drench'd in sleep and wine,
Neglect their watch; the fires but
thinly shine;
And where the smoke in cloudy vapors flies,
Cov'ring the plain, and curling to the skies,
Betwixt two paths, which at the gate divide,
Close by the sea, a passage we have spied,
Which will our way to great Aeneas guide.
Expect each hour to see him safe again,
Loaded with spoils of foes in battle slain.
Snatch we the lucky minute while we may;
Nor can we be
mistaken in the way;
For,
hunting in the vale, we both have seen
The rising turrets, and the
stream between,
And know the winding course, with ev'ry ford."
He ceas'd; and old Alethes took the word:
"Our country gods, in whom our trust we place,
Will yet from ruin save the Trojan race,
While we behold such
dauntless worth appear
In dawning youth, and souls so void of fear."
Then into tears of joy the father broke;
Each in his
longing arms by turns he took;
Panted and paus'd; and thus again he spoke:
"Ye brave young men, what equal gifts can we,
In
recompense of such desert, decree?
The greatest, sure, and best you can receive,
The gods and your own
conscious worth will give.
The rest our
grateful gen'ral will bestow,
And young Ascanius till his
manhood owe."
"And I, whose
welfare in my father lies,"
Ascanius adds, "by the great deities,
By my dear country, by my household gods,
By hoary Vesta's rites and dark abodes,
Adjure you both, (on you my fortune stands;
That and my faith I
plight into your hands,)
Make me but happy in his safe return,
Whose wanted presence I can only mourn;
Your common gift shall two large
goblets be
Of silver,
wrought with curious imagery,
And high emboss'd, which, when old Priam reign'd,
My conqu'ring sire at sack'd Arisba gain'd;
And more, two tripods cast in antic mold,
With two great talents of the finest gold;
Beside a
costly bowl, ingrav'd with art,
Which Dido gave, when first she gave her heart.
But, if in conquer'd Italy we reign,
When spoils by lot the
victor shall obtain-
Thou saw'st the courser by proud Turnus press'd:
That, Nisus, and his arms, and nodding crest,
And
shield, from chance
exempt, shall be thy share:
Twelve lab'ring slaves, twelve handmaids young and fair
All clad in rich
attire, and train'd with care;
And, last, a Latian field with
fruitful plains,
And a large
portion of the king's domains.
But thou, whose years are more to mine allied-
No fate my vow'd
affection shall divide
From thee,
heroic youth! Be
wholly mine;
Take full possession; all my soul is thine.
One faith, one fame, one fate, shall both attend;
My life's
companion, and my bosom friend:
My peace shall be committed to thy care,
And to thy conduct my concerns in war."
Then thus the young Euryalus replied:
"Whatever fortune, good or bad, betide,
The same shall be my age, as now my youth;
No time shall find me
wanting to my truth.
This only from your
goodness let me gain
(And, this ungranted, all rewards are vain)
Of Priam's royal race my mother came-
And sure the best that ever bore the name-
Whom neither Troy nor Sicily could hold
From me de
parting, but, o'erspent and old,
My fate she follow'd. Ignorant of this
(Whatever) danger, neither
parting kiss,
Nor pious
blessing taken, her I leave,
And in this only act of all my life deceive.
By this right hand and
conscious Night I swear,
My soul so sad a
farewell could not bear.
Be you her comfort; fill my
vacant place
(Permit me to
presume so great a grace)
Support her age,
forsaken and
distress'd.
That hope alone will
fortify my breast
Against the worst of fortunes, and of fears."
He said. The mov'd assistants melt in tears.
Then thus Ascanius, wonderstruck to see
That image of his
filial piety:
"So great beginnings, in so green an age,
Exact the faith which I again ingage.
Thy mother all the dues shall
justly claim,
Creusa had, and only want the name.
Whate'er event thy bold attempt shall have,
'T is merit to have borne a son so brave.
Now by my head, a
sacred oath, I swear,
(My father us'd it,) what, returning here
Crown'd with success, I for thyself prepare,
That, if thou fail, shall thy lov'd mother share."
He said, and
weeping, while he spoke the word,
From his broad belt he drew a shining sword,
Magnificent with gold. Lycaon made,
And in an ivory scabbard sheath'd the blade.
This was his gift. Great Mnestheus gave his friend
A lion's hide, his body to defend;
And good Alethes furnish'd him, beside,
With his own
trusty helm, of
temper tried.
Thus arm'd they went. The noble Trojans wait
Their issuing forth, and follow to the gate
With prayers and vows. Above the rest appears
Ascanius, manly far beyond his years,
And messages committed to their care,
Which all in winds were lost, and flitting air.
The trenches first they pass'd; then took their way
Where their proud foes in pitch'd pavilions lay;
To many fatal, ere themselves were slain.
They found the
careless host dispers'd upon the plain,
Who, gorg'd, and drunk with wine, supinely snore.
Unharness'd chariots stand along the shore:
Amidst the wheels and reins, the
goblet by,
A medley of debauch and war, they lie.
Observing Nisus shew'd his friend the sight:
"Behold a
conquest gain'd without a fight.
Occasion offers, and I stand prepar'd;
There lies our way; be thou upon the guard,
And look around, while I
securely go,
And hew a passage thro' the
sleeping foe."
Softly he spoke; then striding took his way,
With his drawn sword, where
haughty Rhamnes lay;
His head rais'd high on
tapestry beneath,
And heaving from his breast, he drew his breath;
A king and
prophet, by King Turnus lov'd:
But fate by prescience cannot be remov'd.
Him and his
sleeping slaves he slew; then spies
Where Remus, with his rich retinue, lies.
His armor-bearer first, and next he kills
His charioteer, intrench'd betwixt the wheels
And his lov'd horses; last invades their lord;
Full on his neck he drives the fatal sword:
The gasping head flies off; a
purple flood