Saces, borne flying on his foaming horse
through the thickest of the foe, an arrow-wound right in his face,
darts, beseeching Turnus by his name.
through the thickest of the foe, an arrow-wound right in his face,
darts, beseeching Turnus by his name.
Virgil - Aeneid
' Thereat Turnus: .
.
.
'Ah my sister, long ere now I knew thee, when first thine arts shattered
the treaty, and thou didst mingle in the strife; and now thy godhead
conceals itself in vain. But who hath bidden thee descend from heaven to
bear this sore travail? was it that thou mightest see thy hapless
brother cruelly slain? for what do I, or what fortune yet gives promise
of safety? Before my very eyes, calling aloud on me, I saw Murranus,
than whom none other is left me more dear, sink huge to earth, borne
down by as huge a wound. Hapless Ufens is fallen, not to see our shame;
corpse and armour are in Teucrian hands. The destruction of their
households, this was the one thing yet lacking; shall I suffer it? Shall
my hand not refute Drances' jeers? shall I turn my back, and this land
see Turnus a fugitive? Is Death all so bitter? Do you, O Shades, be
gracious to me, since the powers of heaven are estranged; to you shall I
go down, a pure spirit and [649-681]ignorant of your blame, never once
unworthy of my mighty fathers of old. '
Scarce had he spoken thus; lo!
Saces, borne flying on his foaming horse
through the thickest of the foe, an arrow-wound right in his face,
darts, beseeching Turnus by his name. 'Turnus, in thee is our last
safety; pity thy people. Aeneas thunders in arms, and threatens to
overthrow and hurl to destruction the high Italian fortress; and already
firebrands are flying on our roofs. On thee, on thee the Latins turn
their gazing eyes; King Latinus himself mutters in doubt, whom he is to
call his sons, to whom he shall incline in union. Moreover the queen,
thy surest stay, hath fallen by her own hand and in dismay fled the
light. Alone in front of the gates Messapus and valiant Atinas sustain
the battle-line. Round about them to right and left the armies stand
locked and the iron field shivers with naked points; thou wheelest thy
chariot on the sward alone. ' At the distracting picture of his fortune
Turnus froze in horror and stood in dumb gaze; together in his heart
sweep the vast mingling tides of shame and maddened grief, and love
stung to frenzy and resolved valour. So soon as the darkness cleared and
light returned to his soul, he fiercely turned his blazing eyeballs
towards the ramparts, and gazed back from his wheels on the great city.
And lo! a spire of flame wreathing through the floors wavered up skyward
and held a turret fast, a turret that he himself had reared of mortised
planks and set on rollers and laid with high gangways. 'Now, O my
sister, now fate prevails: cease to hinder; let us follow where deity
and stern fortune call. I am resolved to face Aeneas, resolved to bear
what bitterness there is in death; nor shalt thou longer see me shamed,
sister of mine. Let me be mad, I pray thee, with this madness before the
end. ' He spoke, and leapt swiftly from his chariot to the field, and
darting through weapons [682-718]and through enemies, leaves his
sorrowing sister, and bursts in rapid course amid their columns. And as
when a rock rushes headlong from some mountain peak, torn away by the
blast, or if the rushing rain washes it away, or the stealing years
loosen its ancient hold; the reckless mountain mass goes sheer and
impetuous, and leaps along the ground, hurling with it forests and herds
and men; thus through the scattering columns Turnus rushes to the city
walls, where the earth is wettest with bloodshed and the air sings with
spears; and beckons with his hand, and thus begins aloud: 'Forbear now,
O Rutulians, and you, Latins, stay your weapons.
'Ah my sister, long ere now I knew thee, when first thine arts shattered
the treaty, and thou didst mingle in the strife; and now thy godhead
conceals itself in vain. But who hath bidden thee descend from heaven to
bear this sore travail? was it that thou mightest see thy hapless
brother cruelly slain? for what do I, or what fortune yet gives promise
of safety? Before my very eyes, calling aloud on me, I saw Murranus,
than whom none other is left me more dear, sink huge to earth, borne
down by as huge a wound. Hapless Ufens is fallen, not to see our shame;
corpse and armour are in Teucrian hands. The destruction of their
households, this was the one thing yet lacking; shall I suffer it? Shall
my hand not refute Drances' jeers? shall I turn my back, and this land
see Turnus a fugitive? Is Death all so bitter? Do you, O Shades, be
gracious to me, since the powers of heaven are estranged; to you shall I
go down, a pure spirit and [649-681]ignorant of your blame, never once
unworthy of my mighty fathers of old. '
Scarce had he spoken thus; lo!
Saces, borne flying on his foaming horse
through the thickest of the foe, an arrow-wound right in his face,
darts, beseeching Turnus by his name. 'Turnus, in thee is our last
safety; pity thy people. Aeneas thunders in arms, and threatens to
overthrow and hurl to destruction the high Italian fortress; and already
firebrands are flying on our roofs. On thee, on thee the Latins turn
their gazing eyes; King Latinus himself mutters in doubt, whom he is to
call his sons, to whom he shall incline in union. Moreover the queen,
thy surest stay, hath fallen by her own hand and in dismay fled the
light. Alone in front of the gates Messapus and valiant Atinas sustain
the battle-line. Round about them to right and left the armies stand
locked and the iron field shivers with naked points; thou wheelest thy
chariot on the sward alone. ' At the distracting picture of his fortune
Turnus froze in horror and stood in dumb gaze; together in his heart
sweep the vast mingling tides of shame and maddened grief, and love
stung to frenzy and resolved valour. So soon as the darkness cleared and
light returned to his soul, he fiercely turned his blazing eyeballs
towards the ramparts, and gazed back from his wheels on the great city.
And lo! a spire of flame wreathing through the floors wavered up skyward
and held a turret fast, a turret that he himself had reared of mortised
planks and set on rollers and laid with high gangways. 'Now, O my
sister, now fate prevails: cease to hinder; let us follow where deity
and stern fortune call. I am resolved to face Aeneas, resolved to bear
what bitterness there is in death; nor shalt thou longer see me shamed,
sister of mine. Let me be mad, I pray thee, with this madness before the
end. ' He spoke, and leapt swiftly from his chariot to the field, and
darting through weapons [682-718]and through enemies, leaves his
sorrowing sister, and bursts in rapid course amid their columns. And as
when a rock rushes headlong from some mountain peak, torn away by the
blast, or if the rushing rain washes it away, or the stealing years
loosen its ancient hold; the reckless mountain mass goes sheer and
impetuous, and leaps along the ground, hurling with it forests and herds
and men; thus through the scattering columns Turnus rushes to the city
walls, where the earth is wettest with bloodshed and the air sings with
spears; and beckons with his hand, and thus begins aloud: 'Forbear now,
O Rutulians, and you, Latins, stay your weapons.
