Page:Aeneid (Conington 1866).djvu/288

264 Then Cacus' mansion stood displayed;

The cave revealed its depth of shade;

As though by some strange might

Earth, parting to her inmost core,

Should show the realms that gods abhor,

The vast abyss lie bare to day,

And spectres huddle in dismay

At influx of the light.

There as surprised with sudden glare

The monster, pent within his lair,

In hideous fashion roars,

Alcides plies him from on high

With all his dread artillery,

And trunk and millstone pours.

He, powerless to elude or flee,

Black smoke disgorges, dire to see,

With darkness floods the room,

Blots out all prospect from the sight,

And makes another, deeper night,

Half lightning and half gloom.

Alcides, chafing as for shame,

Dashed onward headlong through the flame,

Where thickest spout the jets of smoke,

And blackest clouds the cavern choke.

There, as in vain he fumed and hissed,

He locked him in a deadly twist,

And cleaving, clinging, throttling, strained

His starting eyes, his throat blood-drained.

The victor now, the doors down-torn,

The loathsome den reveals,

Displays the oxen, late forsworn,

And the foul carcase drags in scorn

To daylight by the heels.

The rustics view with wild surprise

The body o'er and o'er,