Little they think on those strong limbs
That moulder deep below.
Little they think how sternly

That day the trumpets pealed;
How in the slippery swamp of blood
Warrior and war-horse reeled;
How wolves came with fierce gallop,
And crows on eager wings,
To tear the flesh of captains,

And peck the eyes of kings; How thick the dead lay scattered Under the Porcian height; How through the gates of Tusculum Raved the wild stream of flight; And how the Lake Regillus

Bubbled with crimson foam, What time the Thirty Cities

Came forth to war with Rome.

4.

But, Roman, when thou standest
Upon that holy ground,

Look thou with heed on the dark rock
That girds the dark lake round.
So shalt thou see a hoof-mark
Stamped deep into the flint:
It was no hoof of mortal steed

That made so strange a dint:
There to the Great Twin Brethren
Vow thou thy vows, and pray
That they, in tempest and in fight,
Will keep thy head alway.

5.

Since last the Great Twin Brethren
Of mortal eyes were seen,
Have years gone by a hundred
And fourscore and thirteen.
That summer a Virginius

Was Consul first in place;
The second was stout Aulus,
Of the Posthumian race.
The Herald of the Latines'

From Gabii came in state: The Herald of the Latines

Passed through Rome's Eastern Ga.e: The Herald of the Latines

Did in our Forum stand; And there he did his office, A sceptre in his hand.

6.

"Hear, Senators and people

Of the good town of Rome: The Thirty Cities charge you To bring the Tarquins home: And if ye still be stubborn,

To work the Tarquins wrong, The Thirty Cities warn you, Look that your walls be strong."

7.

Then spake the Consul Aulus,

He spake a bitter jest;
"Once the jays sent a message
Unto the eagle's nest :-
Now yield thou up thine eyrie
Unto the carrion-kite,

Or come forth valiantly, and face
The jays in deadly fight.—

Forth looked in wrath the eagle;
And carrion-kite and jay,
Soon as they saw his beak and claw,
Fled screaming far away."

8.

The Herald of the Latines
Hath hied him back in state.
The Fathers of the City

Are met in high debate.
Then spake the elder Consal,
An ancient man and wise:
"Now hearken, Conscript Fathers
To that which I advise.
In seasons of great peril

"Tis good that one bear sway;
Then choose we a Dictator,
Whom all men shall obey.
Camerium knows how deeply
The sword of Aulus bites;
And all our city calls him

The man of seventy fights.
Then let him be Dictator

For six months and no more, And have a Master of the Knights, And axes twenty-four."

9.

So Aulus was Dictator,

The man of seventy fights;

He made Æbutius Elva

His Master of the Knights.
On the third morn thereafter,
At dawning of the day,
Did Aulus and Ebutius

Set forth with their array.
Sempronius Atratinus

Was left in charge at home With boys and with gray-headed mea, To keep the walls of Rome.

Hard by the Lake Regillus

Our camp was pitched at night;
Eastward a mile the Latines lay,
Under the Porcian height.
Far over hill and valley

Their mighty host was spread;
And with their thousand watchfires
The midnight sky was red.

10.

Up rose the golden morning
Over the Porcian height,
The proud ides of Quintilis
Marked evermore with white.
Not without secret trouble

Our bravest saw the foes,
For, girt by threescore thousand spears,
The thirty standards rose.
From every warlike city

That boasts the Latian name,
Foredoomed to dogs and vultures,
That gallant army came;
From Setia's purple vineyards,
From Norba's ancient wall,
From the white streets of Tusculum,
The proudest town of all;
From where the Witch's Fortress
O'erhangs the dark-blue seas,
From the still glassy lake that sleep
Beneath Aricia's trees-

Those trees in whose dim shadow
The ghastly priest doth reign,
The priest who slew the slayer,
And shall himself be slain;-
From the drear banks of Ufens,
Where flights of marsh-fowl play;
And buffaloes lie wallowing

Through the hot summer's day;
From the gigantic watch-towers,
No work of earthly men,
Whence Cora's sentinels o'erlook
The never-ending fen;
From the Laurentian jungle,

The wild hog's reedy home,

From the green steps whence Anio leaps

In floods of snow-white foam.

11.

Aricia, Cora, Norba,

Velitræ, with the might Of Setia and of Tusculum,

Were marshalled on their right: Their leader was Mamilius,

Prince of the Latian name; Upon his head a helmet

Of red gold shone like flame: High on a gallant charger

Of dark-gray hue he rode; Over his gilded armour

A vest of purple flowed, Woven in the land of sunrise

By Syria's dark-browed daughters, And by the sails of Carthage brought Far o'er the southern waters.

12.

Lavinium and Circeium

Had on the left their post,
With all the banners of the marsh,
And banners of the coast.
Their leader was false Sextus,

That wrought the deed of shame:
With restless pace and haggard face,
To his last field he came.
Men said he saw strange visions,

Which none beside might see;

And that strange sounds were in his ears, Which none might hear but he.

A woman fair and stately,

But pale as are the dead,

Oft through the watches of the night
Sate spinning by his bed.
And as she plied the distaff,

In a sweet voice and low,
She sang of great old houses,

And fights fought long ago.
So spun she, and so sung she,

Until the east was gray;
Then pointed to her bleeding breast,
And shrieked, and fled away.

13.

But in the centre thickest

Were ranged the shields of foes, And from the centre loudest

The cry of battle rose. There Tibur marched and Pedum Beneath proud Tarquin's rule, And Ferentinum of the rock, And Gabii of the pool.

Now on each side the leaders
Gave signal for the charge;
And on each side the footmen

Strode on with lance and targe; And on each side the horsemen Struck their spurs deep in gore, And front to front the armies

Met with a mighty roar:

And under that great battle

The earth with blood was red; And, like the Pomptine fog at morn, The dust hung overhead; And louder still and louder

Rose from the darkened field The braying of the war-horns, The clang of sword and shield, The rush of squadrons sweeping Like whirlwinds o'er the plain, The shouting of the slayers,

And screeching of the slain.

15.

False Sextus rede out foremost:
His look was high and bold;
His corslet was of bison's hide,
Plated with steel and gold.

As glares the famished eagle

From the Digentian rock,

On a choice lamb that bounds alone
Before Bandusia's flock,
Herminius glared on Sextus,
And came with eagle speed;
Herminius on black Auster.

Brave champion on brave steed.
In his right hand the broadsword
That kept the bridge so weli,
And on his helm the crown he won
When proud Fidenæ fell.
Wo to the maid whose lover

Shall cross his path to-day!
False Sextus saw, and trembled,
And turned, and fled away.
As turns, as flies, the woodman
In the Calabrian brake,

When through the reeds gleams the und

16.

Then far to North Ebutius,
The Master of the Knights,
Gave Tubero of Norba

To feed the Porcian kites.
Next under those red horse-hoofs
Flaccus of Setia lay;
Better had he been pruning
Among his elms that day.
Mamilius saw the slaughter,

And tossed his golden crest,

And towards the Master of the Knights
Through the thick battle pressed.
Ebutius smote Mamilius

So fiercely on the shield,
That the great lord of Tusculum
Wellnigh rolled on the field.
Mamilius smote butius,

With a good aim and true,

Just where the neck and shoulder join, And pierced him through and through; And brave butius Elva

Fell swooning to the ground: But a thick wall of bucklers Encompassed him around. His clients from the battle

Bare him some little space;

And filled a helm from the dark lake,
And bathed his brow and face;
And when at last he opened

His swimming eyes to light,
Men say, the earliest word he spake
Was, "Friends, how goes the fight?"

17.

But meanwhile in the centre

Great deeds of arms were wrought; There Aulus the Dictator,

And there Valerius fought.
Aulus, 'with his good broadsword,
A bloody passage cleared

To where, amidst the thickest foes,
He saw the long white beard.
Flat lighted that good broadsword
Upon proud Tarquin's head.

He dropped the lance: he dropped the reins:
He fell as fall the dead.
Down Aulus springs to slay him,
With eyes like coals of fire;
But faster Titus hath sprung down,
And hath bestrode his sire.
Latian captains, Roman knights,

Fast down to earth they spring;
And hand to hand they fight on foot
Around the ancient king.
First Titus gave tall Cæso

A death wound in the face;
Tall Cæso was the bravest man
Of the brave Fabian race:
Aulus slew Rex of Gabii,

The priest of Juno's shrine: Valerius smote down Julius,

Of Rome's great Julian line; Inlius, who left his mansion

High on the Velian hill,

And through all turns of weal and wo
Followed proud Tarquin still.
Now right across proud Tarquin
A corpse was Julius laid:

And Titus groaned with rage a: d grief,
And at Valerius made.

Valerius struck at Titus,

And lopped off half his crest; But Titus stabbed Valerius

A span deep in the breast.
Like a mast snapped by the tempest,
Valerius reeled and fell.

Ah! wo is me for the good house
That loves the people well!
Then shouted loud the Latines;
And with one rush they bore
The struggling Romans backward
Three lances' length and more:
And up they took proud Tarquin,
And laid him on a shield,
And four strong yeomen bare him,
Still senseless, from the field.
18.

But fiercer grew the fighting

Around Valerius dead;

For Titus dragged him by the foot,
And Aulus by the head.

"On, Latines, on !" quoth Titus,
"See how the rebels fly!"
"Romans, stand firm!" quoth Aulus,
"And win this fight or die!
They must not give Valerius
To raven and to kite;

For aye Valerius loathed the wrong,
And aye upheld the right:
And for your wives and babies

In the front rank he fell.

Now play the men for the good house That loves the people well!"

19.

Then tenfold round the body

The roar of battle rose,
Like the roar of a burning forest,
When a strong northwind blows.
Now backward, and now forward,
Rocked furiously the fray,
Till none could see Valerius,

And none wist where he lay.
For shivered arms and ensigns
Were heaped there in a mound,
And corpses stiff, and dying men
That writhed and gnawed the ground
And wounded horses kicking,

And snorting purple foam: Right well did such a couch befit A Consular of Rome.

20.

But north looked the Dictator;
North looked he long and hard;
And spake to Caius Cossus,
The Captain of his Guard:
"Caius, of all the Romans
Thou hast the keenest sight;
Say, what through yonder storm of dust
Comes from the Latian right?"

21.

Then answered Caius Cossus:
"I see an evil sight;
The banner of proud Tusculum
Comes from the Latian right,
I see the plumed horsemen;
And far before the rest

I see the dark-gray charger,
I see the purple vest;

see the golden helmet

That shines far off like flame; Bo ever rides Mamilius,

Prince of the Latian name."

22.

"Now, hearken, Caius Cossus; Spring on thy horse's back; Ride as the wolves of Apennine Were all upon thy track! Haste to our southward battle, And never draw thy rein Until thou find Herminius,

And bid him come amain."

23.

So Aulus spake, and turned him
Again to that fierce strife;
And Caius Cossus mounted,

And rode for death and life.
Loud clanged beneath his horse-hoofs
The helmets of the dead,
And many a curdling pool of blood
Splashed him from heel to head.
So came he far to southward,

Where fought the Roman host
Against the banners of the marsh
And banners of the coast.
Like corn before the sickle

The stout Lavinians fell,
Beneath the edge of the true sword
That kept the bridge so well.

24.

"Herminius! Aulus greets thee; He bids thee come with speed To help our central battle,

For sore is there our need: There wars the youngest Tarquin, And there the Crest of Flame, The Tusculan Mamilius,

Prince of the Latian name.
Valerius hath fallen fighting
In front of our array,

And Aulus of the seventy fields
Alone upholds the day."

25.

Herminius beat his bosom,

But never a word he spake:

He clapped his hands on Auster's mane; He gave the reins a shake.

Away, away went Auster

Like an arrow from the bow;

Black Auster was the fleetest steed
From Aufidus to Po.

26.

Right glad were all the Romans

Who, in that hour of dread, Against great odds bare up the war Around Valerius dead, When from the south the cheering Rose with a mighty swell,"Herminius comes, Herminius, Who kept the bridge so well!"

27. Mamilius spied Herminius, And dashed across the way. VOL IV.-70·

"Herminius! I have sought thee Through many a bloody day. One of us two, Herminius

Shall never more go home.
I will lay on for Tusculum,
And lay thou on for Rome!"
28.

All round them paused the battle,
While met in mortal fray
The Roman and the Tusculan,
The horses black and gray.
Herminius smote Mamilius

Through breastplate and through breast, And fast flowed out the purple blood Over the purple vest. Mamilius smote Herminius

Through headpiece and through head, And side by side those chiefs of pride Together fell down dead.

Down fell they dead together

In a great lake of gore;

And still stood all who saw them fall
While men might count a score.
29.

Fast, fast, with heels wild spurning,
The dark-gray charger fled;
He burst through ranks of fighting men,
He sprang o'er heaps of dead.
His bridle far out-streaming,

His flanks all blood and foam,
He sought the southern mountains,
The mountains of his home.
The pass was steep and rugged,

The wolves they howled and whined; But he ran like a whirlwind up the pass And he left the wolves behind. Through many a startled hamlet

Thundered his flying feet:

He rushed through the gate of Tusculum He rushed up the long white street; He rushed by tower and temple,

And paused not from his race

Till he stood before his master's door
In the stately market-place.
And straightway round him gathered
A pale and trembling crowd,
And when they knew him cries of rage
Brake forth, and wailing loud:
And women rent their tresses

For their great prince's fall:
And old men girt on their old swords,
And went to man the wall.

30.

But, like a graven image,

Black Auster kept his place,
And ever wistfully he looked
Into his master's face.
The raven-mane that daily,

With pats and fond caresses,

The young Herminia washed and combed,
And twined in even tresses,

And decked with coloured ribands
From her own gay attire,
Hung sadly o'er her father's corpse
In carnage and in mire.
Forth with a shout sprang Titus,

And seized black Auster's rein,
Then Aulus sware a fearful oath.
And ran at him amain.
3 A

"The furies of thy brother
With me and mine abide,
If one of your accursed house
Upon black Auster ride!"
As on an Alpine watch-tower

From heaven comes down the flame,

Full on the neck of Titus

The blade of Aulus came:
And out the red blood spouted,

In a wide arch and tall,
As spouts a fountain in the court

Of some rich Capuan's hall.
The knees of all the Latines

Were loosened with dismay
When dead, on dead Herminius,
The bravest Tarquin lay.
31.

And Aulus the Dictator

Stroked Auster's raven mane, With heed he looked unto the girths, With heed unto the rein.

"Now bear me well, black Auster,
Into yon thick array;

And thou and I will have revenge
For thy good lord this day."

And Ardea wavered on the left,
And Cora on the right.
"Rome to the charge!" cried Aulus.
"The foe begins to yield!
Charge for the hearth of Vesta!
Charge for the Golden Shield!
Let no man stop to plunder,
But slay, and slay, and slay:
The gods who live forever
Are on our side to-day."

36.

Then the fierce trumpet-flourish
From earth to heaven arose,

The kites know well the long stern swel
That bids the Romans close.
Then the good sword of Aulus
Was lifted up to slay:
Then, like a crag down Apennine,
Rushed Auster through the fray.
But under those strange horsemen
Still thicker lay the slain;
And after those strange horses
Black Auster toiled in vain.
Behind them Rome's long battle
Came rolling on the foe,
Ensigns dancing wild above,
Blades all in line below.

So comes the Po in flood-time

Upon the Celtic plain:

So comes the squall, blacker than nigh
Upon the Adrian main.
Now, by our Sire Quirinus,

It was a goodly sight

To see the thirty standards
Swept down the tide of flight.
So flies the spray of Adria

When the black squall doth blow,
So corn-sheaves in the flood-time
Spin down the whirling Po.
False Sextus to the mountains
Turned first his horse's head:
And fast fled Ferentinum,

And fast Circeium fled.
The horsemen of Nomentum
Spurred hard out of the fray;
The footmen of Velitræ

Threw shield and spear away.
And underfoot was trampled,

Amidst the mud and gore,
The banner of proud Tusculum,
That never stooped before:
And down went Flavius Faustus,
Who led his stately ranks
From where the apple blossoms wave
On Anio's echoing banks,

And Tullus of Arpinum,
Chief of the Volscian aids,
And Metius with the long fair curls,
The love of Anxur's maids,
And the white head of Vulso

The great Arician seer
And Nepos of Laurentur,

The hunter of the deer
And in the back false Sextus

Felt the good Roman steel,
And wriggling in the dust he died,
Like a worm beneath the wheel:
And fliers and pursuers

Were mingled in a mass;