Page:Aeneid (Conington 1866).djvu/164

All reckless of his own true pride
And his imperilled crew
He seized the dilatory guide
And from the vessel threw:
Himself assumes the helm, and cheers
His merry men, and shoreward steers.
But old Menœtes, when the main
Gave him at length to light again,
Landward with feeble motion swims,
His wet clothes clinging to his limbs,
Ascends the rock, and sits on high
There on the summit, safe and dry.
To see him fall the Trojans laughed:
They laughed to see him float,
And laugh, as now the briny draught
He sputters from his throat.

Now Mnestheus and Sergestus feel
A dawning hope, a new-born zeal,
Chimæra to outstrip:
The choice of way Sergestus gets,
And toward the rock his helm he sets:
Not first by all his length of bark,
First but by part; a part the Shark
Just covers with her tip.
But Mnestheus, pacing through and through
His vessel, cheers the eager crew:
'Now, now, my men, now ply your oar,
Who fought at Hector's side of yore,
Whom in the day of Troy's despair
I chose my destiny to share:
Call up the valour in your souls
That made you thread Gætulian shoals,
Defy the Ionian main, and scape
The waves that buffet Malea's cape.