Classic Poem

The Trojan camp the common danger shared;
By turns they watched the walls, and kept the nightly guard.
To warlike Nisus fell the gate by lot
(Whom Hyrtacus on huntress Ida got,
And sent to sea, Aeneas to attend);
Well could he dart the spear, and shafts unerring send.
Beside him stood Euryalus, his ever-faithful friend.
No youth in all the Trojan host was seen
More beautiful in arms, or of a nobler mien;
Scarce was the down upon his chin begun,
One was their friendship, their desire was one;
With minds united in the field they warred,
And now were both by choice upon the guard.
Then Nisus thus:
‘Or do the gods this warlike warmth inspire,
Or makes each man a god of his desire?
A noble ardour boils within my breast,
Eager of action, enemy of rest,
That urges me to fight, or undertake
Some deed that may my fame immortal make.
Thou seest the foe secure; how faintly shine
Their scattered fires, the most in sleep supine,
Dissolved in ease, and drunk with victory;
The few awake the fuming flaggon ply,
All hushed around. Now hear what I revolve
Within my mind, and what my labouring thoughts resolve.
Our absent lord both camp and council mourn;
By message both would hasten his return:
The gifts proposed if they confer on thee
(For fame is recompense enough to me)
Methinks beneath yon hill I have espied
A way that safely will my passage guide.’
Euryalus stood listening while he spoke,
With love of praise and noble envy struck;
Then to his ardent friend exposed his mind:
‘All this alone, and leaving me behind!
Am I unworthy, Nisus, to be joined?
Think'st thou my share of honour I will yield,
Or send thee unassisted to the field?
Not so my father taught my childhood arms,
Born in a siege, and bred amongst alarms:
Nor is my youth unworthy of my friend,
Or of the heaven-born hero I attend.
The thing called life with ease I can disclaim,
And think it oversold to purchase fame.’
To whom his friend:
‘I could not think, alas, thy tender years
Would minister new matter to my fears:
Nor is it just thou shouldst thy wish obtain.
So Jove in triumph bring me back again
To those dear eyes, or if a god there be
To pious friends propitious more than he.
But if some one, as many sure there are,
Of adverse accidents in doubtful war,
If one should reach my head, there let it fall
And spare thy life: I would not perish all.
Thy youth is worthy of a longer date.
Do thou remain to mourn thy lover's fate,
To bear my mangled body from the foe,
Or buy it back, and funeral rites bestow;
Or if hard Fortune shall my corpse deny,
Those dues with empty marble to supply.
O let not me the widow's tears renew,
Let not a mother's curse my name pursue;
Thy pious mother, who in love to thee
Left the fair coast of fruitful Sicily,
Her age committing to the seas and wind,
When every weary matron stayed behind.’
To this Euryalus: ‘Thou plead'st in vain,
And but delay'st the cause thou canst not gain;
No more, 'tis loss of time.’ With that he wakes
The nodding watch; each to his office takes.
The guard relieved, in company they went
To find the council at the royal tent.
Now every living thing lay void of care,
And sleep, the common gift of nature, share.
Meantime the Trojan peers in council sate,
And called their chief commanders to debate
The weighty business of th' endangered state:
What next was to be done, who to be sent
T' inform Aeneas of the foe's intent.
In midst of all the quiet camp they held
Nocturnal council; each sustains a shield
Which his o'erlaboured arm can hardly rear,
And leans upon a long projected spear.
Now Nisus and his friend approach the guard,
And beg admittance, eager to be heard,
Th' affair important, not to be deferred.
Ascanius bids them be conducted in,
Then thus, commanded, Nisus does begin:
‘Ye Trojan fathers, lend attentive ears,
Nor judge our undertaking by our years.
The foes securely drenched in sleep and wine
Their watch neglect; their fires but thinly shine:
And where the smoke in thickening vapours flies,
Covering the plain, and clouding all the skies,
Betwixt the spaces we have marked a way,
Close by the gate, and coasting by the sea;
This passage undisturbed and unespied
Our steps will safely to Aeneas guide;
Expect each hour to see him back again,
Loaded with spoils of foes in battle slain.
Snatch we the lucky minute while we may.
Nor can we be mistaken in the way,
For hunting in the vale we oft have seen
The rising turrets with the stream between,
And know its winding course, with every ford.’
He paused, and old Alethes took the word:
‘Our country gods in whom our trust we place
Will yet from ruin save the Trojan race,
While we behold such springing worth appear
In youth so brave, and breasts so void of fear.’
With this he took the hand of either boy,
Embraced them closely both, and wept for joy.
‘Ye brave young men, what equal gifts can we,
What recompense for such desert, decree?
The greatest, sure, and best you can receive
The gods, your virtue and your fame will give:
The rest our grateful general will bestow,
And young Ascanius till his manhood owe.’
‘And I, whose welfare in my father lies,’
Ascanius adds, ‘by all the deities,
By our great country, and our household gods,
By hoary Vesta's rites and dark abodes,
Adjure you both; on you my fortune stands:
That and my faith I plight into your hands.
Make me but happy in his safe return
(For I no other loss but only his can mourn),
Nisus, your gift shall two large goblets be
Of silver, wrought with curious imagery,
And high embossed, which when old Priam reigned
My conquering sire at sacked Arisba gained;
And more, two tripods cast in antique mould,
With two great talents of the finest gold;
Besides a bowl which Tyrian art did grave,
The present that Sidonian Dido gave.
But if in conquered Italy we reign,
When spoils by lot the victors shall obtain,
Thou saw'st the courser by proud Turnus pressed:
That and his golden arms, and sanguine crest
And shield, from lot exempted, thou shalt share;
With these, twelve captive damsels young and fair,
Male slaves as many, well appointed all
With vests and arms, shall to thy portion fall:
And last, a fruitful field to thee shall rest,
The large demesnes the Latian king possessed.
But thou, whose years are more to mine allied,
No fate my vowed affection shall divide
From thee, O wondrous youth: be ever mine,
Take full possession, all my soul is thine;
My life's companion, and my bosom friend,
One faith, one fame, one fate shall both attend.
My peace shall be committed to thy care,
And to thy conduct my concerns in war.’
Then thus the bold Euryalus replied:
‘Whatever fortune, good or bad, betide,
The same shall be my age, as now my youth;
No time shall find me wanting to my truth.
This only from your bounty let me gain
(And this not granted, all rewards are vain):
Of Priam's royal race my mother came,
And sure the best that ever bore the name,
Whom neither Troy nor Sicily could hold
From me departing, but o'erspent and old
My fate she followed; ignorant of this
Whatever danger, neither parting kiss
Nor pious blessing taken, her I leave,
And in this only act of all my life deceive.
By this your hand and conscious night I swear,
My youth so sad a farewell could not bear.
Be you her patron, fill my vacant place
(Permit me to presume so great a grace),
Support her age, forsaken and distressed:
That hope alone will fortify my breast
Against the worst of fortunes and of fears.’
He said; th' assistants shed presaging tears,
But above all, Ascanius, moved to see
That image of paternal piety;
Then thus replied:
‘So great beginnings in so green an age
Exact that faith which firmly I engage;
Thy mother all the privilege shall claim
Creusa had, and only want the name.
Whate'er event thy enterprise shall have,
'Tis merit to have borne a son so brave.
By this my head a sacred oath I swear
(My father used it): what returning here,
Crowned with success, I for thyself prepare,
Thy parent and thy family shall share.’
He said; and weeping while he spoke the word,
From his broad belt he drew a shining sword,
Magnificent with gold: Lycaon made,
And in an ivory scabbard sheathed the blade.
This was his gift, while Mnestheus did provide
For Nisus' arms a grisly lion's hide,
And true Alethes changed with him his helm of temper tried.
Thus armed they went: the noble Trojans wait
Their going forth, and follow to the gate.
With prayers and vows above the rest appears
Ascanius, manly far above his years,
And messages committed to their care,
Which all in winds were lost, and empty air.
The trenches first they passed, then took their way
Where their proud foes in pitched pavilions lay,
To many fatal ere themselves were slain.
The careless host dispersed upon the plain
They found, who drunk with wine supinely snore;
Unharnessed chariots stand upon the shore:
Midst wheels, and reins, and arms, the goblet by,
A medley of debauch and war they lie.
Observing, Nisus showed his friend the sight,
Then thus: ‘Behold a conquest without fight.
Occasion calls the sword to be prepared:
Our way lies there; stand thou upon the guard,
And look behind, while I securely go
To cut an ample passage through the foe.’
Softly he spoke, then stalking took his way
With his drawn sword where haughty Rhamnes lay,
His head raised high, on tapestry beneath,
And heaving from his breast he puffed his breath:
A king and prophet by King Turnus loved,
But fate by prescience cannot be removed.
Three sleeping slaves he soon subdues, then spies
Where Rhemus with his proud retinue lies:
His armour-bearer first, and next he kills
His charioteer, entrenched betwixt the wheels
And his loved horses; last invades their lord:
Full on his neck he aims the fatal sword,
The gasping head flies off, a purple flood
Flows from the trunk that wallows in the blood,
Which by the spurning heels dispersed around,
The bed besprinkles, and bedews the ground.
Then Lamyrus with Lamus, and the young
Serranus, who with gaming did prolong
The night: oppressed with wine and slumber lay
The beauteous youth, and dreamt of lucky play—
More lucky had it been protracted till the day.
The famished lion thus with hunger bold
O'erleaps the fences of the nightly fold,
The peaceful flock devours, and tears, and draws;
Wrapped up in silent fear they lie, and pant beneath his paws.
Nor with less rage Euryalus employs
The vengeful sword, nor fewer foes destroys;
But on th' ignoble crowd his fury flew,
Which Fadus, Hebesus and Rhaetus slew,
With Abaris. In sleep the rest did fall,
But Rhaetus waking, and observing all,
Behind a mighty jar he slunk for fear:
The sharp-edged iron found and reached him there;
Full as he rose he plunged it in his side,
The cruel sword returned in crimson dyed.
The wound a blended stream of wine and blood
Pours out; the purple soul comes floating in the flood.
Now where Messapus quartered they arrive,
The fires were fainting there, and just alive;
The warlike horses tied in order fed.
Nisus the discipline observed, and said:
‘Our eagerness of blood may both betray:
Behold the doubtful glimmering of the day,
Foe to these nightly thefts: no more, my friend,
Here let our glutted execution end;
A lane through slaughtered bodies we have made.’
The bold Euryalus, though loath, obeyed;
Rich arms and arras which they scattered find,
And plate, a precious load they leave behind.
Yet fond of gaudy spoils, the boy would stay
To make the proud caparisons his prey,
Which decked a neighbouring steed.
Nor did his eyes less longingly behold
The girdle studded o'er with nails of gold
Which Rhamnes wore: this present long ago
On Remulus did Caedicus bestow,
And absent joined in hospitable ties.
He dying to his heir bequeathed the prize,
Till by the conquering Rutuli oppressed
He fell, and they the glorious gift possessed.
These gaudy spoils Euryalus now bears,
And vainly on his brawny shoulders wears:
Messapus' helm he found amongst the dead,
Garnished with plumes, and fitted to his head.
They leave the camp and take the safest road.
Meantime a squadron of their foes abroad,
Three hundred horse, with bucklers armed, they spied,
Whom Volscens by the King's command did guide:
To Turnus these were from the city sent,
And to perform their message sought his tent.
Approaching near their utmost lines they draw,
When bending t'wards the left their captain saw
The faithful pair, for through the doubtful shade
His glittering helm Euryalus betrayed,
On which the moon with full reflection played.
‘'Tis not for nought’ cried Volscens from the crowd,
‘These men go there’, then raised his voice aloud:
‘Stand, stand! why thus in arms? and whither bent?
From whence, to whom, and on what errand sent?’
Silent they make away, and haste their flight
To neighbouring woods, and trust themselves to night.
The speedy horsemen spur their steeds to get
'Twixt them and home, and every path beset,
And all the windings of the well-known wood;
Black was the brake, and thick with oak it stood,
With fern all horrid, and perplexing thorn,
Where tracks of bears had scarce a passage worn.
The darkness of the shades, his heavy prey,
And fear, misled the younger from his way;
But Nisus hit the turns with happier haste,
Who now, unknowing, had the danger passed,
And Alban lakes (from Alba's name so called)
Where King Latinus then his oxen stalled;
Till turning at the length he stood his ground,
And vainly cast his longing eyes around
For his lost friend.
‘Ah wretch!’ he cried, ‘where have I left behind,
Where shall I hope th' unhappy youth to find?
Or what way take?’ Again he ventures back,
And treads the mazes of his former track
Through the wild wood; at last he hears the noise
Of trampling horses, and the riders' voice.
The sound approached, and suddenly he viewed
His foes enclosing, and his friend pursued,
Forelaid, and taken, while he strove in vain
The covert of the neighbouring wood to gain.
What should he next attempt, what arms employ
With fruitless force to free the captive boy?
Or tempt unequal numbers with the sword,
And die by him whom living he adored?
Resolved on death, his dreadful spear he shook,
And casting to the moon a mournful look,
‘Fair Queen’, said he, ‘who dost in woods delight,
Grace of the stars, and goddess of the night,
Be present, and direct my dart aright.
If e'er my pious father for my sake
Did on thy altars grateful offerings make,
Or I increased them with successful toils,
And hung thy sacred roof with savage spoils,
Through the brown shadows guide my flying spear
To reach this troop.’ Then poising from his ear
The quivering weapon with full force he threw:
Through the divided shades the deadly javelin flew;
On Sulmo's back it splits, the double dart
Drove deeper onward and transfixed his heart.
He staggers round, his eyeballs roll in death,
And with short sobs he gasps away his breath.
All stand amazed; a second javelin flies
From his stretched arm, and hisses through the skies.
The lance through Tagus' temples forced its way,
And in his brain-pan warmly buried lay.
Fierce Volscens foams with rage, and gazing round
Descried no author of the fatal wound,
Nor where to fix revenge. ‘But thou’ he cries
‘Shalt pay for both’, and at the prisoner flies
With his drawn sword. Then, struck with deep despair,
That fatal sight the lover could not bear,
But from his covert rushed in open view,
And sent his voice before him as he flew:
‘Me, me, employ your sword on me alone;
The crime confessed; the fact was all my own.
He neither could nor durst, the guiltless youth,
Ye moon and stars bear witness to the truth;
His only fault, if that be to offend,
Was too much loving his unhappy friend.’
Too late, alas, he speaks:
The sword, which unrelenting fury guides,
Driven with full force had pierced his tender sides.
Down fell the beauteous youth, the gaping wound
Gushed out a crimson stream, and stained the ground.
His nodding neck reclines on his white breast,
Like a fair flower in furrowed fields oppressed
By the keen share, or poppy on the plain,
Whose heavy head is overcharged with rain.
Disdain, despair, and deadly vengeance vowed
Drove Nisus headlong on the hostile crowd;
Volscens he seeks, at him alone he bends,
Born back and pushed by his surrounding friends,
He still pressed on, and kept him still in sight,
Then whirled aloft his sword with all his might.
Th' unerring weapon flew, and winged with death
Entered his gaping mouth and stopped his breath.
Dying he slew, and staggering on the plain
Sought for the body of his lover slain;
Then quietly on his dear breast he fell,
Content in death to be revenged so well.
O happy pair! For if my verse can give
Eternity, your fame shall ever live:
Fixed as the Capitol's foundation lies,
And spread where'er the Roman eagle flies.