n Argos see captivity,
I, who my lineage from the Dardans tell,
Allied to Venus. Now, by Fate's decree,
Here with the mother of the Gods I dwell.
Farewell, and guard in love our common child. Farewell!'

CVII. "So spake she, and with weeping eyes I yearned
To answer, wondering at the words she said,
When lo, the shadowy spirit, as I turned,
Dissolved in air, and in a moment fled.
Thrice round the neck with longing I essayed
To clasp the phantom in a wild delight;
Thrice, vainly clasped, the visionary shade
Mocked me embracing, and was lost to sight,
Swift as a winged wind or slumber of the night.

CVIII. "Back to my friends I hasten. There, behold,
Matrons and men, a miserable band,
Gathered for exile. From each side they shoaled,
Resolved and ready over sea and land
My steps to follow, where the Fates command.
Now over Ida shone the day-star bright;
Greeks swarmed at every entrance; help at hand
Seemed none. I yield, and, hurrying from the fight,
Take up my helpless sire, and climb the mountain height."

BOOK THREE

ARGUMENT

In obedience to oracles the Trojans build a fleet and sail to Thrace
(1-18). Seeking to found a city, they are warned away by the ghost
of Polydorus and visit Anius in Ortygia (19-99). Apollo promises
AEneas and his descendants world-wide empire if they return to "the
ancient motherland" of Troy,--which Anchises declares to be Crete
(100-144). They reach Crete, only to be again baffled. Drought and
plague interrupt this second attempt to found a city. On the point
of returning to ask Apollo for clearer counsel, AEneas in a dream
is certified by the home-gods of Troy that the true motherland is
Italy (145-207). Anchises owns his mistake, and recalls how
Cassandra had in other days been mocked for prophesying that Troy
should eventually be transplanted to Italy (208-225). Landing in the
Strophades, they unwittingly wrong the Harpies, whose queen Celaeno
thereupon threatens them with a portentous famine. Panic-stricken,
they coast along to Actium, where they celebrate their national games
and leave a defiance to the Greeks (226-342). At Buthrotum they find
Helenus and Andromache in possession of the kingdom of Pyrrhus, and
by them are entertained awhile and sent upon their way with gifts
and guidance (343-577). The voyage from Dyrrhachium and the first
glimpse of Italy. They land and propitiate Juno: then coast al