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Rh Then to my palace I repair,

In hope, in hope, to find her there:

In vain: the foes had forced the door,

And flooded all the mansion o'er.

Fanned by the wind, the flame upsoars

Roof-high; the hot blast skyward roars.

Departing thence, I seek the tower,

The ruined seat of Priam's power.

There Phœnix and Ulysses fell

In the void courts by Juno's cell

Were set the spoil to keep;

Snatched from the burning shrines away,

There Ilium's mighty treasure lay,

Rich altars, bowls of massy gold,

And captive raiment, rudely rolled

In one promiscuous heap;

While boys and matrons, wild with fear,

In long array were standing near.

With desperate daring I essayed

To send my voice along the shade,

Roused the still streets, and called in vain

Creusa o'er and o'er again.

Thus while in agony I pressed

From house to house the endless quest,

The pale sad spectre of my wife

Confronts me, larger than in life.

I stood appall'd, my hair erect,

And fear my tongue-tied utterance checked,

While gently she her speech addressed,

And set my troubled heart at rest:

'Why grieve so madly, husband mine?

Nought here has chanced without design:

Fate and the Sire of all decree

Creusa shall not cross the sea.

Long years of exile must be yours,

Vast seas must tire your labouring oars;