Shall Argives hope to quell the Trojan might, Till, homeward borne, new omens ye implore,
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And win the blessing back, which o'er the waves ye bore."
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XXIV .
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"'So now to Argos are they gone, to gain Fresh help from heaven, and hither by surprise Shall come once more, remeasuring the main. Thus Calchas warned them; by his words made wise This steed, for stol'n Palladium, they devise, To soothe the outrag'd goddess. Tall and great, With huge oak-timbers mounting to the skies, They build the monster, lest it pass the gate,
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And like Palladium stand, the bulwark of the State.
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XXV .
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"'"Once had your hands," said Calchas, "dared profane Minerva's gift, dire plagues" (which Heaven forestall Or turn on him) "should Priam's realm sustain; But if by Trojan aid it scaled your wall, Proud Asia then should Pelops' sons enthrall, And children rue the folly of the sire."' His arts gave credence, and forced tears withal Snared us, whom Diomede, nor Achilles dire,
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217
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Nor thousand ships subdued, nor ten years' war could tire.
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XXVI .
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"A greater yet and ghastlier sign remained Our heedless hearts to terrify anew. Laocoon, Neptune's priest, by lot ordained, A stately bull before the altar slew, When lo!—the tale I shudder to pursue— From Tenedos in silence, side by side, Two monstrous serpents, horrible to view, With coils enormous leaning on the tide,
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226
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Shoreward, with even stretch, the tranquil sea divide.
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XXVII .
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"Their breasts erect they rear amid the deep, Their blood-red crests above the surface shine, Their hinder parts along the waters sweep, Trailed in huge coils and many a tortuous twine; Lashed into foam, behind them roars the brine; Now, gliding onward to the beach, ere long They gain the fields, and rolling bloodshot eyne That blaze with fire, the monsters move along,
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235
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And lick their hissing jaws, and dart a flickering tongue.
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XXVIII .
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"Pale at the sight we fly; unswerving, these Glide on and seek Laocoon. First, entwined In stringent folds, his two young sons they seize, With cruel fangs their tortured limbs to grind. Then, as with arms he comes to aid, they bind In giant grasp the father. Twice, behold, Around his waist the horrid volumes wind, Twice round his neck their scaly backs are rolled,
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244
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High over all their heads and glittering crests unfold.
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XXIX .
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"Both hands are labouring the fierce knots to pull; Black gore and slime his sacred wreaths distain. Loud are his moans, as when a wounded bull Shakes from his neck the faltering axe and, fain To fly the cruel altars, roars in pain. But lo! the serpents to Tritonia's seat Glide from their victim, till the shrine they gain, And, coiled beside the goddess, at her feet,
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Behind her sheltering shield with gathered orbs retreat.
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XXX .
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"Fresh wonder seized us, and we shook with fear. All say, that justly had Laocoon died, And paid fit penalty, whose guilty spear Profaned the steed and pierced the sacred side. 'On with the image to its home,' they cried, 'And pray the Goddess to avert our woe'; We breach the walls, and ope the town inside. All set to work, and to the feet below
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Fix wheels, and hempen ropes around the neck they throw.
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XXXI .
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"Mounting the walls, the monster moves along, Teeming with arms. Boys, maidens joy around To touch the ropes, and raise the festive song. Onward it came, smooth-sliding on the ground, And, beetling, o'er the midmost city frowned. O native land! O Ilion, now betrayed! Blest home of deities, in war renowned! Four times beside the very gate 'twas stayed;
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271
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Four times within the womb the armour clashed and brayed.
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XXXII .
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"But heedless, blind with frenzy, one and all Up to the sacred citadel we strain, And there the ill-omened prodigy install. E'en then—alas! to Trojan ears in vain— Cassandra sang, and told in utterance plain The coming doom. We, sunk in careless joy, Poor souls! with festive garlands deck each fane, And through the town in revelry employ
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280
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The day decreed our last, the dying hours of Troy!
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XXXIII .
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"And now the heaven rolled round. From ocean rushed The Night, and wrapt in shadow earth and air And Myrmidonian wiles. In silence hushed, The Trojans through the city here and there, Outstretched in sleep, their weary limbs repair. Meanwhile from neighbouring Tenedos once more, Beneath the tranquil moonbeam's friendly care, With ordered ships, along the deep sea-floor,
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289
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Back came the Argive host, and sought the well-known shore.
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XXXIV .
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"Forth from the royal galley sprang the flame, When Sinon, screened by partial Fate, withdrew The bolts and barriers of the pinewood frame, And from its inmost caverns, bared to view, The fatal horse disgorged the Danaan crew. With joy from out the hollow wood they bound; First, dire Ulysses, with his captains two, Thessander bold and Sthenelus renowned,
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298
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Down by a pendent rope come sliding to the ground.
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