Page:Aeneid (Conington 1866).djvu/205

Rh 'Ah! would some God but show me now

In all that wood the golden bough!

My poor, poor friend! in thee, alas,

The Sibyl's words have come to pass.'

Scarce had he said, when lo! there flew

Two snow-white doves before his view,

And on the sward took rest;

His mother's birds the hero knew,

And joyful prayer addrest:

'Hail, gentle guides! before me fly,

And mark my pathway on the sky:

So lead me where the bough of gold

Glooms rich above its parent mould.

And thou, my mother, aid my quest,

Nor leave me doubtful and distrest.'

He stayed his steps, intent to know

What signs they give, which way they go.

By turns they feed, by turns they fly,

Just in the range of human eye;

Till when they scent the noisome gale

Which dark Avernus' jaws exhale

Aloft they rise in rapid flight:

Then on the tree at once alight

Where flashing through the leaves is seen

The golden bough's contrasted sheen.

As in the depth of winter's snow

The parasitic mistletoe

Bursts with fresh bloom, and clothes anew

The smooth bare stems with saffron hue:

So 'mid the oak's umbrageous green

The gleam of leafy gold was seen:

So 'mid the sounds of whispering trees

The thin foil tinkled in the breeze.

At once Æneas grasps the spray:

His haste o'ercomes its coy delay,