,
Fell in the frenzy of her love's despair,
Not yet Proserpina had claimed her meed,
And shorn the ringlet of her golden hair,
And bade the sacred shade to Stygian realms repair.

XCIII. So down to earth came Iris from on high
On saffron wings all glittering with the dew.
A thousand tints against the sunlit sky
She flashed from out her rainbow as she flew,
Then, hovering overhead, these words outthrew,
"Behold, to Dis this offering I bear,
And loose thee from thy body."--Forth she drew
The fatal shears, and clipped the golden hair;
The vital heats disperse, and life dissolves in air.

BOOK FIVE

ARGUMENT

AEneas, unaware of Dido's fate, sails away to Acestes in Sicily, and
prepares funeral games against the anniversary of Anchises' death
(1-90). Offerings are paid to the spirit of Anchises. Sicilians and
Trojans assemble for the first contest, a boat race (91-140), which
is described at length. Cloanthus, ancestor of the Cluentii, wins
with the "Scylla" (141-342). The foot-race is next narrated.
Euryalus, by his friend's cunning, gains the first prize, and the
scene shifts (343-441) to the ring, in which Dares is defeated by
the veteran Entellus, who fells the ox, his prize, as an offering
to his master Eryx (442-594). After some wonderful shooting in the
archery which follows, AEneas awards the first prize to Acestes, as
the favourite of the gods (595-667). Before this contest is over
AEneas summons Ascanius and his boy-companions to perform the
elaborate manoeuvres afterwards celebrated in Rome as the "Trojan
Ride" (668-729). Juno schemes to destroy the Trojan fleet, while the
games are being held. She inspires with discontent the Trojan matrons,
who are not present at the festival. They set fire to the ships
(730-810). Ascanius hurries to the scene. Jupiter sends rain and
saves all the ships but four (811-855). Nautes advises AEneas to
leave behind the weak and aged with Acestes. The wraith of Anchises
enforces the advice, and bids AEneas visit him in the nether-world
(856-909). Preparations for departure. Acestes accepts his new
subjects, and the Trojans depart. Venus prevails on Neptune to grant
them safe convoy in return for the life of the helmsman Palinurus,
who is drowned (910-1062).

I. Now well at sea, AEneas, fixt in mind,
Held on his course, and cleft the watery ways
Through billows blackened by the northern wind,
And backward on the c