An Alban name, but mixed with Dardan blood; Born in the covert of a shady wood, Him fair Lavinia, thy surviving wife, Shall breed in groves, to lead a solitary life. In Alba he shall fix his royal seat, And, born a king, a race of kings beget;-- Then Procas, honour of the Trojan name, Capys, and Numitor, of endless fame. A second Silvius after these appears; Silvius Æneas, for thy name he bears; For arms and justice equally renowned, Who, late restored, in Alba shall be crowned. How great they look! how vigorously they wield Their weighty lances, and sustain the shield! But they, who crowned with oaken wreaths appear, Shall Gabian walls and strong Fidena rear; Nomentum, Bola, with Pometia, found; And raise Collatian towers on rocky ground. All these shall then be towns of mighty fame, Though now they lie obscure, and lands without a name. See Romulus the great, born to restore The crown that once his injured grandsire wore. This prince a priestess of our blood shall bear, And like his sire in arms he shall appear. Two rising crests his royal head adorn; Born from a god, himself to godhead born, His sire already signs him for the skies, And marks his seat amidst the deities. Auspicious chief! thy race, in times to come, Shall spread the conquests of imperial Rome-- Rome, whose ascending towers shall heaven invade, Involving earth and ocean in her shade; High as the mother of the gods in place, And proud, like her, of an immortal race. Then, when in pomp she makes the Phrygian round, With golden turrets on her temples crowned; A hundred gods her sweeping train supply, Her offspring all, and all command the sky. Now fix your sight, and stand intent, to see Your Roman race, and Julian progeny. The mighty Cæsar waits his vital hour, Impatient for the world, and grasps his promised power. But next behold the youth of form divine-- Cæsar himself, exalted in his line-- Augustus, promised oft, and long foretold, } Sent to the realm that Saturn ruled of old; } Born to restore a better age of gold. } Afric and India shall his power obey; } He shall extend his propagated sway } Beyond the solar year, without the starry way, } Where Atlas turns the rolling heavens around, And his broad shoulders with their lights are crowned. At his foreseen approach, already quake The Caspian kingdoms and Mæotian lake. Their seers behold the tempest from afar; And threatening oracles denounce the war. Nile hears him knocking at his sevenfold gates, And seeks his hidden spring, and fears his nephew's fates. Nor Hercules more lands or labours knew, Not though the brazen-footed hind he slew, Freed Erymanthus from the foaming boar, And dipped his arrows in Lernæan gore; Nor Bacchus, turning from his Indian war,