«Such is our purpose, not unknown the way, « Where yonder torrent's devious waters stray: "Oft have we seen, when hunting by the stream, The distant spires above the vallies gleam. Mature in years, for sober wisdom fam'd, Mov'd by the speech, Alethes here exclaim'd: «Ye parent Gods! who rule the fate of Troy, «Still dwells the Dardan spirit in the boy; « When minds like these, in striplings thus ye raise, "Yours is the godlike act, be yours the praise; << In gallant youth, my fainting hopes revive, And llion's wonted glories still survive. »> Then, in his warm embrace, the boys he press'd, And quivering strain'd them to his aged breast; With tears the burning cheek of each bedew'd, And sobbing, thus his first discourse renew'd: "What gift, my countrymen, what martial prize « Can we bestow, which you may not despise? « Our deities the first, best boon have given, « Internal virtues are the gift of Heaven. * r What rewards can bless poor your deeds on earth, Doubtless, await such young exalted worth; "To yield applause, far, far surpassing mine. »› " ་་ " ་ powers above! By those Penates (1), who my country love; By hoary Vesta's sacred fane, I swear, My hopes are all in you, ye generous pair! 44 And all my sorrows yield to one delight... (1) Household gods. « Nisus! two silver goblets are thine own, My sire secured them on that fatal day, «Nor left such bowls, an Argive robber's prey. ་ While yet our vessels press'd the Punic wave ; " But, when the hostile chiefs at length bow down, « When great Æneas wears Hesperia's crown, << The casque, the buckler, and the fiery steed « Which Turnus guides with more than mortal speed, « Are thine; no envious lot shall then be cast, ༥ I pledge my word, irrevocably past; Nay more, twelve slaves and twice six captive dames, "To sooth thy softer hours with amorous flames, And all the realms which now the Latins sway, The labours of to-night, shall well repay. « But thou, my generous youth, whose tender years, «Are near my own, whose worth my heart reveres, Henceforth, affection sweetly thus begun, « Shall join our bosoms and our souls in one; ་ To him Euryalus: « No day shall shame « The rising glories, which from this I claim. « Fortune may favour, or the skies may frown, But valour, spite of fate, obtains renown. * Yet, ere frem hence our eager steps depart, " One boon I beg, the nearest to my heart: « My mother, sprung from Priam's royal line, « Like thine ennobled, hardly less divine, « Nor Troy, nor King Acestes' realms restrain Unknown, the secret enterprize I brave, «< Lest grief should bend my parent to the grave: << From this alone no fond adieus I scek, No fainting mother's lips have press'd my cheek; Such love was his, and such had been his woe. To cheer thy mother's years shall be my aim, ་་ Now, by my life, my Sire's most sacred oath, To thee I pledge my full, my firmest troth, (1) The mother of Iulus, lost on the night when Troy was taken. All the rewards, which once to thec were vow'd, His prayers he sends, but what can prayers avail, The trench is past, and, favour'd by the night, ་ Now, cries the first, « for deeds of blood prepare, With me the conquest, and the labour share; «Here lies our path; lest hand arise, any "Watch thou, while many a dreaming chieftain dies; "I'll carve our passage through the heedless foe, And clear thy road with many a deadly blow. » His whispering accents then the youth represt, And pierc'd proud Rhamnes through his panting breast; Stretch'd at his ease, th' incautious king repos'd, From the swol'n veins, the blackening torrents pour, In slaughter'd folds, the keepers lost in sleep, Nor less the other's deadly vengeance came, |