'T was on a solemn day: th' Arcadian states, The king and prince, without the city gates, Then paid their off'rings in a sacred grove To Hercules, the warrior son of Jove.
Thick clouds of rolling smoke involve the skies, And fat of entrails on his altar fries.
But, when they saw the ships that stemm'd the flood, And glitter'd thro' the covert of the wood, They rose with fear, and left th' unfinish'd feast, Till dauntless Pallas reassur'd the rest To pay the rites.Himself without delay A jav'lin seiz'd, and singly took his way;Then gain'd a rising ground, and call'd from far:
"Resolve me, strangers, whence, and what you are;Your bus'ness here; and bring you peace or war?"High on the stern Aeneas his stand, And held a branch of olive in his hand, While thus he spoke: "The Phrygians' arms you see, Expell'd from Troy, provok'd in Italy By Latian foes, with war unjustly made;At first affianc'd, and at last betray'd.
This message bear: 'The Trojans and their chief Bring holy peace, and beg the king's relief.'
Struck with so great a name, and all on fire, The youth replies: "Whatever you require, Your fame exacts.Upon our shores descend.
A welcome guest, and, what you wish, a friend."He said, and, downward hasting to the strand, Embrac'd the stranger prince, and join'd his hand.
Conducted to the grove, Aeneas broke The silence first, and thus the king bespoke:
"Best of the Greeks, to whom, by fate's command, I bear these peaceful branches in my hand, Undaunted I approach you, tho' I know Your birth is Grecian, and your land my foe;From Atreus tho' your ancient lineage came, And both the brother kings your kindred claim;Yet, my self-conscious worth, your high renown, Your virtue, thro' the neighb'ring nations blown, Our fathers' mingled blood, Apollo's voice, Have led me hither, less by need than choice.
Our founder Dardanus, as fame has sung, And Greeks acknowledge, from Electra sprung:
Electra from the loins of Atlas came;
Atlas, whose head sustains the starry frame.
Your sire is Mercury, whom long before On cold Cyllene's top fair Maia bore.
Maia the fair, on fame if we rely, Was Atlas' daughter, who sustains the sky.
Thus from one common source our streams divide;Ours is the Trojan, yours th' Areadian side.
Rais'd by these hopes, I sent no news before, Nor ask'd your leave, nor did your faith implore;But come, without a pledge, my own ambassador.
The same Rutulians, who with arms pursue The Trojan race, are equal foes to you.
Our host expell'd, what farther force can stay The victor troops from universal sway?
Then will they stretch their pow'r athwart the land, And either sea from side to side command.
Receive our offer'd faith, and give us thine;Ours is a gen'rous and experienc'd line:
We want not hearts nor bodies for the war;In council cautious, and in fields we dare."He said; and while spoke, with piercing eyes Evander view'd the man with vast surprise, Pleas'd with his action, ravish'd with his face:
Then answer'd briefly, with a royal grace:
"O valiant leader of the Trojan line, In whom the features of thy father shine, How I recall Anchises! how I see His motions, mien, and all my friend, in thee!
Long tho' it be, 't is fresh within my mind, When Priam to his sister's court design'd A welcome visit, with a friendly stay, And thro' th' Arcadian kingdom took his way.
Then, past a boy, the callow down began To shade my chin, and call me first a man.
I saw the shining train with vast delight, And Priam's goodly person pleas'd my sight:
But great Anchises, far above the rest, With awful wonder fir'd my youthful breast.
I long'd to join in friendship's holy bands Our mutual hearts, and plight our mutual hands.
I first accosted him: I sued, I sought, And, with a loving force, to Pheneus brought.
He gave me, when at length constrain'd to go, A Lycian quiver and a Gnossian bow, A vest embroider'd, glorious to behold, And two rich bridles, with their bits of gold, Which my son's coursers in obedience hold.
The league you ask, I offer, as your right;And, when to-morrow's sun reveals the light, With swift supplies you shall be sent away.
Now celebrate with us this solemn day, Whose holy rites admit no long delay.
Honor our annual feast; and take your seat, With friendly welcome, at a homely treat."Thus having said, the bowls (remov'd for fear)The youths replac'd, and soon restor'd the cheer.
On sods of turf he set the soldiers round:
A maple throne, rais'd higher from the ground, Receiv'd the Trojan chief; and, o'er the bed, A lion's shaggy hide for ornament they spread.
The loaves were serv'd in canisters; the wine In bowls; the priest renew'd the rites divine:
Broil'd entrails are their food, and beef's continued chine.
But when the rage of hunger was repress'd, Thus spoke Evander to his royal guest:
"These rites, these altars, and this feast, O king, From no vain fears or superstition spring, Or blind devotion, or from blinder chance, Or heady zeal, or brutal ignorance;But, sav'd from danger, with a grateful sense, The labors of a god we recompense.
See, from afar, yon rock that mates the sky, About whose feet such heaps of rubbish lie;Such indigested ruin; bleak and bare, How desart now it stands, expos'd in air!
'T was once a robber's den, inclos'd around With living stone, and deep beneath the ground.
The monster Cacus, more than half a beast, This hold, impervious to the sun, possess'd.
The pavement ever foul with human gore;
Heads, and their mangled members, hung the door.
Vulcan this plague begot; and, like his sire, Black clouds he belch'd, and flakes of livid fire.
Time, long expected, eas'd us of our load, And brought the needful presence of a god.
Th' avenging force of Hercules, from Spain, Arriv'd in triumph, from Geryon slain:
Thrice liv'd the giant, and thrice liv'd in vain.
His prize, the lowing herds, Alcides drove Near Tiber's bank, to graze the shady grove.
