Page:Aeneid (Conington 1866).djvu/343

Rh Forth from the slain he plucks each spear,

And hurls them on the fliers' rear,

While Juno nerves him for the strife,

And breathes within diviner life.

Then lays he Halys on the field

And Phegeus, cloven through his shield:

Alcander, Halius, Prytanis,

And young Noemon, all

Are slaughtered, ere their foe they wis,

And tumbled from the wall:

And Lynceus, who in vain essayed

The strife, and called his friends for aid:

His right knee propped against the mound,

He swings his weighty falchion round:

Head-piece and head, by one sure wound

Cut off, at distance fall.

Then huntsman Amycus succeeds:

None better knew to flying reeds

The envenomed point to lend:

And Clytius feels the conqueror's spear,

And Cretheus, to the Muses dear,

Cretheus, the Muses' friend:

The minstrel lay, the tuneful shell

Had touched him with their magic spell,

And still the warrior strung

To martial themes his glowing lyre,

And arms, and men, and steeds of fire

In lofty numbers sung.

At last, at news of Troy's defeat,

Mnestheus and brave Serestus meet:

Their friends they see in wild retreat,

Within their camp the foe:

And 'Whither fly ye?' Mnestheus cried:

'What walls, what town are yours beside?