The Episode Of Nisus And Euryalus. [1] A Paraphrase From The "aeneid," Lib. 9. Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: ABCCDDEEFFGGHHIJKL MMNNKKOOPPQQRRSSTT FFUUVWXXYYZZA2A2B2B2 C2C2UUD2D2E2E2F2F2G2 G2H2H2I2I2J2J2K2K2L2 L2M2M2WW N2N2O2O2P2P2 Q2Q2R2R2S2S2CCNNZZT2 T2 Q2Q2U2U2V2V2W2W2N2N2 X2X2Y2Y2Z2Z2A3A3U2U2 B3B3FFC3C3D3D3NNNNE3 E3F3F3G3G3RR IIHHNNUUNNUUDDUUNNNN H3H3NNI3I3UUUUFF J3J3UUNNUUUUIIDDK3K3 N2N2UUL3L3J3J3NNN2F2 NNJ3J3UUM3M3NNN3N3N2 N2N2N2O2O3UUP3P3N2N2 NNMWUUUUHHE3E3F2F2NN NNQ3Q3N2N2N2N2R3R3NN WWS3MNNNNL2L2R3R3R3R 3 J3J3N2N2R3R3R3R3F2F2 NNNNJ3J3NNUU NNR3R3NNUUR3R3NN R3R3NNNNR3R3NNR3R3N2 N2NN UUNNR3R3NNNNR3R3NNR3 R3NNR3R3HHNNT3D3N2N2 VVU3U3R3R3NNV3V3NNR3 R3UUR3R3N2N2R3R3R3R3 R3R3UUNNNNJINNNNHHMM NN NNNNF2F2R3R3R3R3NNNN R3R3 J3J3S3S3J3J3| Nisus the guardian of the portal stood | A |
| Eager to gild his arms with hostile blood | B |
| Well skill'd in fight the quivering lance to wield | C |
| Or pour his arrows thro' th' embattled field | C |
| From Ida torn he left his sylvan cave | D |
| And sought a foreign home a distant grave | D |
| To watch the movements of the Daunian host | E |
| With him Euryalus sustains the post | E |
| No lovelier mien adorn'd the ranks of Troy | F |
| And beardless bloom yet grac'd the gallant boy | F |
| Though few the seasons of his youthful life | G |
| As yet a novice in the martial strife | G |
| 'Twas his with beauty Valour's gifts to share | H |
| A soul heroic as his form was fair | H |
| These burn with one pure flame of generous love | I |
| In peace in war united still they move | J |
| Friendship and Glory form their joint reward | K |
| And now combin'd they hold their nightly guard | L |
| - | |
| What God exclaim'd the first instils this fire | M |
| Or in itself a God what great desire | M |
| My lab'ring soul with anxious thought oppress'd | N |
| Abhors this station of inglorious rest | N |
| The love of fame with this can ill accord | K |
| Be't mine to seek for glory with my sword | K |
| See'st thou yon camp with torches twinkling dim | O |
| Where drunken slumbers wrap each lazy limb | O |
| Where confidence and ease the watch disdain | P |
| And drowsy Silence holds her sable reign | P |
| Then hear my thought In deep and sullen grief | Q |
| Our troops and leaders mourn their absent chief | Q |
| Now could the gifts and promised prize be thine | R |
| The deed the danger and the fame be mine | R |
| Were this decreed beneath yon rising mound | S |
| Methinks an easy path perchance were found | S |
| Which past I speed my way to Pallas' walls | T |
| And lead neas from Evander's halls | T |
| - | |
| With equal ardour fir'd and warlike joy | F |
| His glowing friend address'd the Dardan boy | F |
| These deeds my Nisus shalt thou dare alone | U |
| Must all the fame the peril be thine own | U |
| Am I by thee despis'd and left afar | V |
| As one unfit to share the toils of war | W |
| Not thus his son the great Opheltes taught | X |
| Not thus my sire in Argive combats fought | X |
| Not thus when Ilion fell by heavenly hate | Y |
| I track'd neas through the walks of fate | Y |
| Thou know'st my deeds my breast devoid of fear | Z |
| And hostile life drops dim my gory spear | Z |
| Here is a soul with hope immortal burns | A2 |
| And life ignoble life for Glory spurns | A2 |
| Fame fame is cheaply earn'd by fleeting breath | B2 |
| The price of honour is the sleep of death | B2 |
| - | |
| Then Nisus Calm thy bosom's fond alarms | C2 |
| Thy heart beats fiercely to the din of arms | C2 |
| More dear thy worth and valour than my own | U |
| I swear by him who fills Olympus' throne | U |
| So may I triumph as I speak the truth | D2 |
| And clasp again the comrade of my youth | D2 |
| But should I fall and he who dares advance | E2 |
| Through hostile legions must abide by chance | E2 |
| If some Rutulian arm with adverse blow | F2 |
| Should lay the friend who ever lov'd thee low | F2 |
| Live thou such beauties I would fain preserve | G2 |
| Thy budding years a lengthen'd term deserve | G2 |
| When humbled in the dust let some one be | H2 |
| Whose gentle eyes will shed one tear for me | H2 |
| Whose manly arm may snatch me back by force | I2 |
| Or wealth redeem from foes my captive corse | I2 |
| Or if my destiny these last deny | J2 |
| If in the spoiler's power my ashes lie | J2 |
| Thy pious care may raise a simple tomb | K2 |
| To mark thy love and signalise my doom | K2 |
| Why should thy doating wretched mother weep | L2 |
| Her only boy reclin'd in endless sleep | L2 |
| Who for thy sake the tempest's fury dar'd | M2 |
| Who for thy sake war's deadly peril shar'd | M2 |
| Who brav'd what woman never brav'd before | W |
| And left her native for the Latian shore | W |
| - | |
| In vain you damp the ardour of my soul | N2 |
| Replied Euryalus it scorns controul | N2 |
| Hence let us haste their brother guards arose | O2 |
| Rous'd by their call nor court again repose | O2 |
| The pair buoy'd up on Hope's exulting wing | P2 |
| Their stations leave and speed to seek the king | P2 |
| - | |
| Now o'er the earth a solemn stillness ran | Q2 |
| And lull'd alike the cares of brute and man | Q2 |
| Save where the Dardan leaders nightly hold | R2 |
| Alternate converse and their plans unfold | R2 |
| On one great point the council are agreed | S2 |
| An instant message to their prince decreed | S2 |
| Each lean'd upon the lance he well could wield | C |
| And pois'd with easy arm his ancient shield | C |
| When Nisus and his friend their leave request | N |
| To offer something to their high behest | N |
| With anxious tremors yet unaw'd by fear | Z |
| The faithful pair before the throne appear | Z |
| Iulus greets them at his kind command | T2 |
| The elder first address'd the hoary band | T2 |
| - | |
| With patience thus Hyrtacides began | Q2 |
| Attend nor judge from youth our humble plan | Q2 |
| Where yonder beacons half expiring beam | U2 |
| Our slumbering foes of future conquest dream | U2 |
| Nor heed that we a secret path have trac'd | V2 |
| Between the ocean and the portal plac'd | V2 |
| Beneath the covert of the blackening smoke | W2 |
| Whose shade securely our design will cloak | W2 |
| If you ye Chiefs and Fortune will allow | N2 |
| We'll bend our course to yonder mountain's brow | N2 |
| Where Pallas' walls at distance meet the sight | X2 |
| Seen o'er the glade when not obscur'd by night | X2 |
| Then shall neas in his pride return | Y2 |
| While hostile matrons raise their offspring's urn | Y2 |
| And Latian spoils and purpled heaps of dead | Z2 |
| Shall mark the havoc of our Hero's tread | Z2 |
| Such is our purpose not unknown the way | A3 |
| Where yonder torrent's devious waters stray | A3 |
| Oft have we seen when hunting by the stream | U2 |
| The distant spires above the valleys gleam | U2 |
| - | |
| Mature in years for sober wisdom fam'd | B3 |
| Mov'd by the speech Alethes here exclaim'd | B3 |
| Ye parent gods who rule the fate of Troy | F |
| Still dwells the Dardan spirit in the boy | F |
| When minds like these in striplings thus ye raise | C3 |
| Yours is the godlike act be yours the praise | C3 |
| In gallant youth my fainting hopes revive | D3 |
| And Ilion's wonted glories still survive | D3 |
| Then in his warm embrace the boys he press'd | N |
| And quivering strain'd them to his ag d breast | N |
| With tears the burning cheek of each bedew'd | N |
| And sobbing thus his first discourse renew'd | N |
| What gift my countrymen what martial prize | E3 |
| Can we bestow which you may not despise | E3 |
| Our Deities the first best boon have given | F3 |
| Internal virtues are the gift of Heaven | F3 |
| What poor rewards can bless your deeds on earth | G3 |
| Doubtless await such young exalted worth | G3 |
| neas and Ascanius shall combine | R |
| To yield applause far far surpassing mine | R |
| - | |
| Iulus then By all the powers above | I |
| By those Penates who my country love | I |
| By hoary Vesta's sacred Fane I swear | H |
| My hopes are all in you ye generous pair | H |
| Restore my father to my grateful sight | N |
| And all my sorrows yield to one delight | N |
| Nisus two silver goblets are thine own | U |
| Sav'd from Arisba's stately domes o'erthrown | U |
| My sire secured them on that fatal day | N |
| Nor left such bowls an Argive robber's prey | N |
| Two massy tripods also shall be thine | U |
| Two talents polish'd from the glittering mine | U |
| An ancient cup which Tyrian Dido gave | D |
| While yet our vessels press'd the Punic wave | D |
| But when the hostile chiefs at length bow down | U |
| When great neas wears Hesperia's crown | U |
| The casque the buckler and the fiery steed | N |
| Which Turnus guides with more than mortal speed | N |
| Are thine no envious lot shall then be cast | N |
| I pledge my word irrevocably past | N |
| Nay more twelve slaves and twice six captive dames | H3 |
| To soothe thy softer hours with amorous flames | H3 |
| And all the realms which now the Latins sway | N |
| The labours of to night shall well repay | N |
| But thou my generous youth whose tender years | I3 |
| Are near my own whose worth my heart reveres | I3 |
| Henceforth affection sweetly thus begun | U |
| Shall join our bosoms and our souls in one | U |
| Without thy aid no glory shall be mine | U |
| Without thy dear advice no great design | U |
| Alike through life esteem'd thou godlike boy | F |
| In war my bulwark and in peace my joy | F |
| - | |
| To him Euryalus No day shall shame | J3 |
| The rising glories which from this I claim | J3 |
| Fortune may favour or the skies may frown | U |
| But valour spite of fate obtains renown | U |
| Yet ere from hence our eager steps depart | N |
| One boon I beg the nearest to my heart | N |
| My mother sprung from Priam's royal line | U |
| Like thine ennobled hardly less divine | U |
| Nor Troy nor king Acestes' realms restrain | U |
| Her feeble age from dangers of the main | U |
| Alone she came all selfish fears above | I |
| A bright example of maternal love | I |
| Unknown the secret enterprise I brave | D |
| Lest grief should bend my parent to the grave | D |
| From this alone no fond adieus I seek | K3 |
| No fainting mother's lips have press'd my cheek | K3 |
| By gloomy Night and thy right hand I vow | N2 |
| Her parting tears would shake my purpose now | N2 |
| Do thou my prince her failing age sustain | U |
| In thee her much lov'd child may live again | U |
| Her dying hours with pious conduct bless | L3 |
| Assist her wants relieve her fond distress | L3 |
| So dear a hope must all my soul enflame | J3 |
| To rise in glory or to fall in fame | J3 |
| Struck with a filial care so deeply felt | N |
| In tears at once the Trojan warriors melt | N |
| Faster than all Iulus' eyes o'erflow | N2 |
| Such love was his and such had been his woe | F2 |
| All thou hast ask'd receive the Prince replied | N |
| Nor this alone but many a gift beside | N |
| To cheer thy mother's years shall be my aim | J3 |
| Creusa's style but wanting to the dame | J3 |
| Fortune an adverse wayward course may run | U |
| But bless'd thy mother in so dear a son | U |
| Now by my life my Sire's most sacred oath | M3 |
| To thee I pledge my full my firmest troth | M3 |
| All the rewards which once to thee were vow'd | N |
| If thou should'st fall on her shall be bestow'd | N |
| Thus spoke the weeping Prince then forth to view | N3 |
| A gleaming falchion from the sheath he drew | N3 |
| Lycaon's utmost skill had grac'd the steel | N2 |
| For friends to envy and for foes to feel | N2 |
| A tawny hide the Moorish lion's spoil | N2 |
| Slain 'midst the forest in the hunter's toil | N2 |
| Mnestheus to guard the elder youth bestows | O2 |
| And old Alethes' casque defends his brows | O3 |
| Arm'd thence they go while all th' assembl'd train | U |
| To aid their cause implore the gods in vain | U |
| More than a boy in wisdom and in grace | P3 |
| Iulus holds amidst the chiefs his place | P3 |
| His prayer he sends but what can prayers avail | N2 |
| Lost in the murmurs of the sighing gale | N2 |
| - | |
| The trench is pass'd and favour'd by the night | N |
| Through sleeping foes they wheel their wary flight | N |
| When shall the sleep of many a foe be o'er | M |
| Alas some slumber who shall wake no more | W |
| Chariots and bridles mix'd with arms are seen | U |
| And flowing flasks and scatter'd troops between | U |
| Bacchus and Mars to rule the camp combine | U |
| A mingled Chaos this of war and wine | U |
| Now cries the first for deeds of blood prepare | H |
| With me the conquest and the labour share | H |
| Here lies our path lest any hand arise | E3 |
| Watch thou while many a dreaming chieftain dies | E3 |
| I'll carve our passage through the heedless foe | F2 |
| And clear thy road with many a deadly blow | F2 |
| His whispering accents then the youth repress'd | N |
| And pierced proud Rhamnes through his panting breast | N |
| Stretch'd at his ease th' incautious king repos'd | N |
| Debauch and not fatigue his eyes had clos'd | N |
| To Turnus dear a prophet and a prince | Q3 |
| His omens more than augur's skill evince | Q3 |
| But he who thus foretold the fate of all | N2 |
| Could not avert his own untimely fall | N2 |
| Next Remus' armour bearer hapless fell | N2 |
| And three unhappy slaves the carnage swell | N2 |
| The charioteer along his courser's sides | R3 |
| Expires the steel his sever'd neck divides | R3 |
| And last his Lord is number'd with the dead | N |
| Bounding convulsive flies the gasping head | N |
| From the swol'n veins the blackening torrents pour | W |
| Stain'd is the couch and earth with clotting gore | W |
| Young Lamyrus and Lamus next expire | S3 |
| And gay Serranus fill'd with youthful fire | M |
| Half the long night in childish games was pass'd | N |
| Lull'd by the potent grape he slept at last | N |
| Ah happier far had he the morn survey'd | N |
| And till Aurora's dawn his skill display'd | N |
| In slaughter'd folds the keepers lost in sleep | L2 |
| His hungry fangs a lion thus may steep | L2 |
| 'Mid the sad flock at dead of night he prowls | R3 |
| With murder glutted and in carnage rolls | R3 |
| Insatiate still through teeming herds he roams | R3 |
| In seas of gore the lordly tyrant foams | R3 |
| - | |
| Nor less the other's deadly vengeance came | J3 |
| But falls on feeble crowds without a name | J3 |
| His wound unconscious Fadus scarce can feel | N2 |
| Yet wakeful Rh sus sees the threatening steel | N2 |
| His coward breast behind a jar he hides | R3 |
| And vainly in the weak defence confides | R3 |
| Full in his heart the falchion search'd his veins | R3 |
| The reeking weapon bears alternate stains | R3 |
| Through wine and blood commingling as they flow | F2 |
| One feeble spirit seeks the shades below | F2 |
| Now where Messapus dwelt they bend their way | N |
| Whose fires emit a faint and trembling ray | N |
| There unconfin'd behold each grazing steed | N |
| Unwatch'd unheeded on the herbage feed | N |
| Brave Nisus here arrests his comrade's arm | J3 |
| Too flush'd with carnage and with conquest warm | J3 |
| Hence let us haste the dangerous path is pass'd | N |
| Full foes enough to night have breath'd their last | N |
| Soon will the Day those Eastern clouds adorn | U |
| Now let us speed nor tempt the rising morn | U |
| - | |
| What silver arms with various art emboss'd | N |
| What bowls and mantles in confusion toss'd | N |
| They leave regardless yet one glittering prize | R3 |
| Attracts the younger Hero's wandering eyes | R3 |
| The gilded harness Rhamnes' coursers felt | N |
| The gems which stud the monarch's golden belt | N |
| This from the pallid corse was quickly torn | U |
| Once by a line of former chieftains worn | U |
| Th' exulting boy the studded girdle wears | R3 |
| Messapus' helm his head in triumph bears | R3 |
| Then from the tents their cautious steps they bend | N |
| To seek the vale where safer paths extend | N |
| - | |
| Just at this hour a band of Latian horse | R3 |
| To Turnus' camp pursue their destin'd course | R3 |
| While the slow foot their tardy march delay | N |
| The knights impatient spur along the way | N |
| Three hundred mail clad men by Volscens led | N |
| To Turnus with their master's promise sped | N |
| Now they approach the trench and view the walls | R3 |
| When on the left a light reflection falls | R3 |
| The plunder'd helmet through the waning night | N |
| Sheds forth a silver radiance glancing bright | N |
| Volscens with question loud the pair alarms | R3 |
| Stand Stragglers stand why early thus in arms | R3 |
| From whence to whom He meets with no reply | N2 |
| Trusting the covert of the night they fly | N2 |
| The thicket's depth with hurried pace they tread | N |
| While round the wood the hostile squadron spread | N |
| - | |
| With brakes entangled scarce a path between | U |
| Dreary and dark appears the sylvan scene | U |
| Euryalus his heavy spoils impede | N |
| The boughs and winding turns his steps mislead | N |
| But Nisus scours along the forest's maze | R3 |
| To where Latinus' steeds in safety graze | R3 |
| Then backward o'er the plain his eyes extend | N |
| On every side they seek his absent friend | N |
| O God my boy he cries of me bereft | N |
| In what impending perils art thou left | N |
| Listening he runs above the waving trees | R3 |
| Tumultuous voices swell the passing breeze | R3 |
| The war cry rises thundering hoofs around | N |
| Wake the dark echoes of the trembling ground | N |
| Again he turns of footsteps hears the noise | R3 |
| The sound elates the sight his hope destroys | R3 |
| The hapless boy a ruffian train surround | N |
| While lengthening shades his weary way confound | N |
| Him with loud shouts the furious knights pursue | R3 |
| Struggling in vain a captive to the crew | R3 |
| What can his friend 'gainst thronging numbers dare | H |
| Ah must he rush his comrade's fate to share | H |
| What force what aid what stratagem essay | N |
| Back to redeem the Latian spoiler's prey | N |
| His life a votive ransom nobly give | T3 |
| Or die with him for whom he wish'd to live | D3 |
| Poising with strength his lifted lance on high | N2 |
| On Luna's orb he cast his frenzied eye | N2 |
| - | |
| Goddess serene transcending every star | V |
| Queen of the sky whose beams are seen afar | V |
| By night Heaven owns thy sway by day the grove | U3 |
| When as chaste Dian here thou deign'st to rove | U3 |
| If e'er myself or Sire have sought to grace | R3 |
| Thine altars with the produce of the chase | R3 |
| Speed speed my dart to pierce yon vaunting crowd | N |
| To free my friend and scatter far the proud | N |
| Thus having said the hissing dart he flung | V3 |
| Through parted shades the hurtling weapon sung | V3 |
| The thirsty point in Sulmo's entrails lay | N |
| Transfix'd his heart and stretch'd him on the clay | N |
| He sobs he dies the troop in wild amaze | R3 |
| Unconscious whence the death with horror gaze | R3 |
| While pale they stare thro' Tagus' temples riven | U |
| A second shaft with equal force is driven | U |
| Fierce Volscens rolls around his lowering eyes | R3 |
| Veil'd by the night secure the Trojan lies | R3 |
| Burning with wrath he view'd his soldiers fall | N2 |
| Thou youth accurst thy life shall pay for all | N2 |
| Quick from the sheath his flaming glaive he drew | R3 |
| And raging on the boy defenceless flew | R3 |
| Nisus no more the blackening shade conceals | R3 |
| Forth forth he starts and all his love reveals | R3 |
| Aghast confus'd his fears to madness rise | R3 |
| And pour these accents shrieking as he flies | R3 |
| Me me your vengeance hurl on me alone | U |
| Here sheathe the steel my blood is all your own | U |
| Ye starry Spheres thou conscious Heaven attest | N |
| He could not durst not lo the guile confest | N |
| All all was mine his early fate suspend | N |
| He only lov'd too well his hapless friend | N |
| Spare spare ye Chiefs from him your rage remove | J |
| His fault was friendship all his crime was love | I |
| He pray'd in vain the dark assassin's sword | N |
| Pierced the fair side the snowy bosom gor'd | N |
| Lowly to earth inclines his plume clad crest | N |
| And sanguine torrents mantle o'er his breast | N |
| As some young rose whose blossom scents the air | H |
| Languid in death expires beneath the share | H |
| Or crimson poppy sinking with the shower | M |
| Declining gently falls a fading flower | M |
| Thus sweetly drooping bends his lovely head | N |
| And lingering Beauty hovers round the dead | N |
| - | |
| But fiery Nisus stems the battle's tide | N |
| Revenge his leader and Despair his guide | N |
| Volscens he seeks amidst the gathering host | N |
| Volscens must soon appease his comrade's ghost | N |
| Steel flashing pours on steel foe crowds on foe | F2 |
| Rage nerves his arm Fate gleams in every blow | F2 |
| In vain beneath unnumber'd wounds he bleeds | R3 |
| Nor wounds nor death distracted Nisus heeds | R3 |
| In viewless circles wheel'd his falchion flies | R3 |
| Nor quits the hero's grasp till Volscens dies | R3 |
| Deep in his throat its end the weapon found | N |
| The tyrant's soul fled groaning through the wound | N |
| Thus Nisus all his fond affection prov'd | N |
| Dying revenged the fate of him he lov'd | N |
| Then on his bosom sought his wonted place | R3 |
| And death was heavenly in his friend's embrace | R3 |
| - | |
| Celestial pair if aught my verse can claim | J3 |
| Wafted on Time's broad pinion yours is fame | J3 |
| Ages on ages shall your fate admire | S3 |
| No future day shall see your names expire | S3 |
| While stands the Capitol immortal dome | J3 |
| And vanquished millions hail their Empress Rome | J3 |
George Gordon Byron
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About The Episode Of Nisus And Euryalus. [1] A Paraphrase From The "aeneid," Lib. 9.
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