Page:Aeneid (Conington 1866).djvu/195

Rh Shakes gently o'er the watcher's brow,

And seals those eyes, so firmly set.

Scarce had the loosening limbs given way,

The demon falls upon his prey,

And hurls him, dragging wood-work rent

And rudder in his prone descent,

With headlong ruin to the main,

Invoking friendly aid in vain:

Himself resumes his wings, and flies

Aloft into the buoyant skies.

Yet still the fleet by Neptune's aid

Floats onward, safe and undismayed,

Till as they near the Sirens' shore,

A perilous neighbourhood of yore

And white with mounded bones,

Where the hoarse sea with far-heard roar

Keeps washing on the stones,

The good chief feels the vessel sway,

No steersman to direct its way,

And takes himself the helm, and guides

Their progress through the darkling tides.

Full many a heart-fetched groan he heaved,

Thus of his hapless friend bereaved:

'Ah fatal confidence, too prone

To trust in sea and sky!

A naked corpse on shores unknown

Shall Palinurus lie!'