Left when the towers advance their ponderous height, The mouldering mafs fhould yield beneath the weight.590 Not far away for ages paft had stood
An old inviolated facred wood;
Whofe gloomy boughs, thick interwoven, made
A chilly chearless everlasting fhade:
There, nor the ruftic gods, nor fatyrs sport,
Nor fauns and fylvans with the nymphs refort:
But barbarous priests fome dreadful power adore,
And luftrate every tree with human gore.
If myfteries in times of old receiv'd,
And pious ancientry be yet believ'd,
There nor the feather'd fongfter builds her nest,
Nor lonely dens conceal the favage beast:
There no tempeftuous winds prefume to fly,
Even lightnings glance aloof, and shoot obliquely by.
No wanton breczes tofs the dancing leaves,
But fhivering horror in the branches heaves.
Black fprings with pitchy ftreams divide the ground,
And bubbling tumble with a fullen found.
Old images of forms misshapen ftand,
Rude and unknowing of the artist's hand;
With hoary filth begrim'd, each ghaftly head
Strikes the aftonifh'd gazer's foul with dread.
No gods, who long in common fhapes appear'd,
Were e'er with fuch religious awe rever`d :
But zealous crouds in ignorance adore,
And still the less they know, they fear the more.
Oft (as Fame tells) the earth in founds of woe
Is heard to groan from hollow depths below;
The baleful yew, though dead, has oft been feen
To rife from earth, and fpring with dusky green;
With fparkling flames the trees unburning fhine,
And round their boles prodigious serpents twine.
The pious worshipers approach not near,
But fhun their gods, and kneel with distant fear:
The priest himself, when, or the day, or night,
Rolling have reach'd their full meridian height,
Refrains the gloomy paths with wary feet,
Dreading the Demon of the grove to meet;
Who, terrible to fight, at that fix'd hour,
Still treads the round about his dreary bower.
This wood near neighbouring to th' encompass'd town
Untouch'd by former wars remain'd alone;
And fince the country round it naked stands,
From hence the Latian chief fupplies demands.
But lo! the bolder hands, that should have struck, 635
With fome unusual horror trembling shook :
With filent dread and reverence they furvey'd
The gloom majestic of the facred shade:
None dares with impious fteel the bark to rend,
Left on himself the deftin'd ftroke defcend.
Cæfar perceiv'd the fpreading fear to grow,
Then, eager, caught an ax, and aim'd a blow.
Deep funk within a violated oak
The wounding edge, and thus the warrior spoke.
Now, let no doubting hand the task decline;
Cut you the wood, and let the guilt be mine.
The trembling bands unwillingly obey'd;
Two various ills were in the balance laid,
And Cæfar's wrath against the gods was weigh'd.
Then Jove's Dodonian tree was forc'd to bow;
The lofty ash and knotty holm lav low
The floating alder by the current born,
The cypress by the noble mourner worn,
Veil their aerial fummits, and display
Their dark recefies to the golden day;
Crouding they fall, each o'er the other lies,
And heap'd on high the leafy piles arise.
With grief, and fear, the groaning Gauls beheld
Their holy grove by impious foldiers fell'd;
While the Maffilians, from th' encompass'd wall, 660
Rejoic'd to see the sylvan honours fall :
They hope fuch power can never profper long,
Nor think the patient gods will bear the wrong.
But, ah! too oft fuccefs to guilt is given,
And wretches only stand the mark of heaven.
With timber largely from the wood fupply'd,
For wains the legions fearch the country wide;
Then from the crooked plow unyoke the steer,
And leave the fwain to mourn the fruitlefs year.
Meanwhile, impatient of the lingering war,
The chieftain to Iberia bends afar,
And gives the leaguer to Trebonius' care.
With diligence the destin'd task he plies;
Huge works of earth with ftrengthening beams arife:
High tottering towers, by no fix'd basis bound,
Roll nodding on along the stable mound.
The Greeks with wonder on the movement look,
And fancy earth's foundations deep are shook;
Fierce winds they think the beldame's entrails tear,
And anxious for their walls and city fear:
The Roman from the lofty top looks down,
And rains a winged war upon the town.
Nor with less active rage the Grecians burn,
But larger ruin on their foes return;
Nor hands alone the miffile deaths fupply,
From nervous cross-bows whistling arrows fly ;
The steely corflet and the bone they break,
Through multitudes their fatal journeys take;
Nor wait the lingering Parcæ's flow delay,
But wound, and to new flaughter wing their way.
Now by some vast machine a ponderous stone,
Pernicious, from the hoftile wall is thrown;
At once, on many, fwift the fhock defcends,
And the crush'd carcafes confounding blends.
So rolls fome falling rock by age long worn,
Loose from its root by raging whirlwinds torn,
And thundering down the precipice is born,
O'er crashing woods the mafs is feen to ride,
To grind its way, and plain the mountain's fide.
Gail'd with the fhot from far, the legions join,
Their bucklers in the warlike shell combine;
Compact and close the brazen roof they bear,
And in just order to the town draw near :
Safe they advance, while with unweary'd pain
The wrathful engines waste their stores in vain ;
High o'er their heads the deftin'd deaths are toft,
And far behind in vacant earth are loft;
Nor fudden could they change their erring aim,
Slow and unwieldy moves the cumbrous frame.
This feen, the Greeks their brawny arms employ, 710
And hurl a ftony tempeft from on high :
The clattering shower the founding fence affails;
But vain, as when the stormy winter hails,
Nor on the folid marble roof prevails :
Till tir'd at length the warriors fall their shields;
And, fpent with toil, the broken phalanx yields.
Now other ftratagems the war fupplies,
Beneath the Vinea clofe th' affailant lies.
The ftrong machine, with planks and turf be-spread,
Moves to the walls its well-defended head;
Within the covert fafe the miners lurk,
And to the deep foundation urge their work.
Now justly pois'd the thundering ram they fling,
And drive him forceful with a lanching spring;
Haply to loofe fome yielding part at length,
And fhake the firm cemented bulwark's ftrength.
But from the town the Grecian youth prepare
With hardy vigour to repel the war:
Crouding they gather on the rampart's height,
And with tough staves and spears maintain the fight;
Darts, fragments of the rock, and flames they throw,
And tear the planky fhelter fix'd below;
Around by all the warring tempeft beat,
The baffled Romans fullenly retreat.
Now by fuccefs the brave Maffilians fir'd,
To fame of higher enterprize aspir'd;
Nor longer with their walls defence content,
In daring fallies they the foe prevent.
Nor arm'd with fwords, nor pointed spears they go,
Nor aim the fhaft, nor bend the deadly bow :
Fierce Mulciber fupplies the bold design,
And for their weapons kindling torches shine.
|