Page:Aeneid (Conington 1866).djvu/179

Which to the mast had held her bound;
And forth into the clouds she flies.
With shaft already aimed for flight,
Eurytion to his brother vowed:
Triumphant as she wings the height,
He strikes the dove beneath a cloud.
Pierced to the heart, she leaves behind
Her life to mingle with the wind,
And as she tumbles to the ground,
The weapon in her side is found.

And now, of victory bereft,
Acestes at the end is left:
Yet still he shoots in air, to show
His veteran skill and sounding bow:
When sudden lo! the gazers see
A sign of mightiest augury:
The dire event the truth revealed,
And seers too late their warnings pealed.
E'en in the mid expanse of skies
The arrow kindles as it flies,
Behind it draws a fiery glare,
Then wasting, vanishes in air:
So stars, dislodged, athwart the night
Career, and trail a length of light.
In wonder either nation gazed,
Their souls to Heaven in prayer upraised:
Nor great Æneas dared disown
The omen by the gods foreshown;
Acestes to his heart he pressed,
With presents heaped, and thus addressed:
'Take this, my father! 'tis decreed
That yours should be a special meed:
So speak these signs above.
This bowl, enchased with figures, take,
And keep it for Anchises' sake: