Page:Aeneid (Conington 1866).djvu/300

276 All Nature to her centre reeled,

And east and west through ether pealed

The Tyrrhene trumpet's blare.

They look: yet once and once again

Deep growls the thunder in his den;

And armour veiled in cloud is seen

High in the azure space serene

To glimmer with a ruddy sheen

And hurtle in the air.

The rest are fixed in awe profound:

Æneas hails the expected sound

And owns his mother's hand.

'Ask not' he cries 'much honoured friend,

What chance these prodigies portend:

'Tis I the skies demand:

This sign to send my mother vowed,

If war was on the wing:

Herself to aid me through the cloud

Vulcanian arms would bring.

Alas! what havoc soon shall seize

Laurentum's wretched families!

What reckoning, Turnus, yours to pay!

What burdens shalt thou roll,

Helmets and shields and mangled clay

Where dwelt a warrior's soul,

Hoar Tiber! Call to arms, and break

With treacherous ease the leagues ye make!'

He said, and from his throne upleapt,

Awakes the altar-fires that slept,

And pays the rites of morning hours

To Hercules and home-god powers.

The Trojans and Arcadia's king

Alike their chosen victims bring.

Then, turning shoreward, he reviews

His vessels, and arrays the crews: