And, as our race, our king descends from Jove: And hither are we come, by his command, To crave admission in your happy land. How dire a tempest, from Mycenæ poured, Our plains, our temples, and our town, devoured; What was the waste of war, what fierce alarms Shook Asia's crown with European arms; Even such have heard, if any such there be, Whose earth is bounded by the frozen sea; And such as, born beneath the burning sky And sultry sun, betwixt the tropics lie. From that dire deluge, through the watery waste, (Such length of years, such various perils past,) At last escaped, to Latium we repair, } To beg what you without your want may spare-- } The common water, and the common air; } Sheds which ourselves will build, and mean abodes, Fit to receive and serve our banished gods. Nor our admission shall your realm disgrace, Nor length of time our gratitude efface-- Besides what endless honour you shall gain, To save and shelter Troy's unhappy train. Now, by my sovereign, and his fate, I swear-- Renowned for faith in peace, for force in war-- Oft our alliance other lands desired, And, what we seek of you, of us required. Despise not then, that in our hands we bear These holy boughs, and sue with words of prayer. Fate and the gods, by their supreme command, Have doomed our ships to seek the Latian land. To these abodes our fleet Apollo sends; Here Dardanus was born, and hither tends; Where Tuscan Tyber rolls with rapid force, And where Numicus opes his holy source. Besides, our prince presents, with his request, Some small remains of what his sire possessed. This golden charger, snatched from burning Troy, Anchises did in sacrifice employ: This royal robe and this tiara wore Old Priam, and this golden sceptre bore, In full assemblies, and in solemn games; These purple vests were weaved by Dardan dames." Thus while he spoke, Latinus rolled around His eyes, and fixed a while upon the ground. Intent he seemed, and anxious in his breast; Not by the sceptre moved, or kingly vest, But pondering future things of wonderous weight-- Succession, empire, and his daughter's fate. On these he mused within his thoughtful mind, And then revolved what Faunus had divined. This was the foreign prince, by fate decreed To share his sceptre, and Lavinia's bed; This was the race, that sure portents foreshew To sway the world, and land and sea subdue. At length he raised his cheerful head, and spoke:-- "The powers," said he, "the powers we both invoke, To you, and yours, and mine, propitious be, And firm our purpose with their augury! Have what you ask; your presents I receive; Land, where and when you please, with ample leave; Partake and use my kingdom as your own; All shall be yours, while I command the crown. And, if my wished alliance please your king,