Of all the mighty man, the last remains A little spot of foreign earth contains.
And now both hosts their broken troops unite In equal ranks, and mix in mortal fight.
Seresthus and undaunted Mnestheus join The Trojan, Tuscan, and Arcadian line:
Sea-born Messapus, with Atinas, heads The Latin squadrons, and to battle leads.
They strike, they push, they throng the scanty space, Resolv'd on death, impatient of disgrace;And, where one falls, another fills his place.
The Cyprian goddess now inspires her son To leave th' unfinish'd fight, and storm the town:
For, while he rolls his eyes around the plain In quest of Turnus, whom he seeks in vain, He views th' unguarded city from afar, In careless quiet, and secure of war.
Occasion offers, and excites his mind To dare beyond the task he first design'd.
Resolv'd, he calls his chiefs; they leave the fight:
Attended thus, he takes a neighb'ring height;The crowding troops about their gen'ral stand, All under arms, and wait his high command.
Then thus the lofty prince: "Hear and obey, Ye Trojan bands, without the least delay Jove is with us; and what I have decreed Requires our utmost vigor, and our speed.
Your instant arms against the town prepare, The source of mischief, and the seat of war.
This day the Latian tow'rs, that mate the sky, Shall level with the plain in ashes lie:
The people shall be slaves, unless in time They kneel for pardon, and repent their crime.
Twice have our foes been vanquish'd on the plain:
Then shall I wait till Turnus will be slain?
Your force against the perjur'd city bend.
There it began, and there the war shall end.
The peace profan'd our rightful arms requires;Cleanse the polluted place with purging fires."He finish'd; and, one soul inspiring all, Form'd in a wedge, the foot approach the wall.
Without the town, an unprovided train Of gaping, gazing citizens are slain.
Some firebrands, others scaling ladders bear, And those they toss aloft, and these they rear:
The flames now launch'd, the feather'd arrows fly, And clouds of missive arms obscure the sky.