Of Priam much inquired, of Hector more; } Then asked what arms the swarthy Memnon wore, } What troops he landed on the Trojan shore; } The steeds of Diomede varied the discourse, And fierce Achilles, with his matchless force; At length, as Fate and her ill stars required, To hear the series of the war desired. "Relate at large, my god-like guest," she said, "The Grecian stratagems, the town betrayed: The fatal issue of so long a war, Your flight, your wanderings, and your woes, declare; For, since on every sea, on every coast, Your men have been distressed, your navy tossed, Seven times the sun has either tropic viewed, The winter banished, and the spring renewed." FOOTNOTES: [94] This was an obliging promise to Æolus, who had been so unhappy in his former children, Macareus and Canace.--DRYDEN. [95] Note I. [96] Note II. [97] The early editions read, _was graced_; but Dr Carey judiciously substitutes _he_, for the preservation of both sense and grammar. [98] Note III. NOTES ON ÆNEÏS, BOOK I. Note I. _The realms of ocean, and the fields of air, Are mine, not his._--P. 237. Poetically speaking, the _fields of air_ are under the command of Juno, and her vicegerent Æolus. Why then does Neptune call them his? I answer, Because, being god of the seas, Æolus could raise no tempest in the atmosphere above them without his leave. But why does Juno address to her own substitute? I answer, He had an immediate power over the winds, whom Juno desires to employ on her revenge. That power was absolute by land; which Virgil plainly insinuates: for, when Boreas and his brethren were let loose, he says at first, _terras turbine perflant_--then adds, _Incubuere mari_. To raise a tempest on the sea, was usurpation on the prerogative of Neptune, who had given him no leave, and therefore was enraged at his attempt. I may also add, that they who are in a passion, as Neptune then was, are apt to assume to themselves more than is properly their due. Note II. _O virgin!----&c. If, as you seem, the sister of the day, Or one at least of chaste Diana's train._--P. 244. Thus in the original-- _O quam te memorem, virgo-------- An Phœbi soror, an nympharum sanguinis una?_ This is a family compliment, which Æneas here bestows on Venus. His father Anchises had used the very same to that goddess when he courted her. This appears by that very ancient Greek poem[99], in which that amour is so beautifully described, and which is thought Homer's, though it seems to be written before his age. Note III. ----_Her princely guest Was next her side._--P. 259. This, I confess, is improperly translated, and according to the modern fashion of sitting at table. But the ancient custom of lying on beds had not been understood by the unlearned reader. FOOTNOTES: [99] The Hymn on Venus. ÆNEÏS, BOOK II. ARGUMENT.