Page:Aeneid (Conington 1866).djvu/131

Rh He on the heights of Cynthus moves,

And binds his hair's loose flow

With cincture of the leaf he loves:

Behind him sounds his bow:

So firm Æneas' graceful tread,

So bright the glories round his head.

Now to the mountain-slopes they come,

And tangled woods, the silvan's home;

See! startled from the craggy brow,

Wild goats run hurrying down below:

There, yet more timid, bands of deer

Scour the wide plains in full career,

And turn their backs on wood and height,

While dust-clouds gather o'er their flight.

But young Ascanius on his steed

With boyish ardour glows,

And now in ecstacy of speed

He passes these, now those:

For him too peaceful and too tame

The pleasure of the hunted game:

He longs to see the foaming boar,

Or hear the tawny lion's roar.

Meantime, loud thunder-peals resound,

And hail and rain the sky confound:

And Tyrian chiefs and sons of Troy,

And Venus' care, the princely boy,

Seek each his shelter, winged with dread,

While torrents from the hills run red.

Driven haply to the same retreat

The Dardan chief and Dido meet.

Then Earth, the venerable dame,

And Juno give the sign:

Heaven lightens with attesting flame,

And bids its torches shine,