Book 12
by fair Latona's radiant children twain,
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and two-browed Janus; by the shadowy powers
of Hades and th' inexorable shrines
of the Infernal King; and may Jove hear,
who by his lightnings hallows what is sworn!
I touch these altars, and my lips invoke
the sacred altar-fires that 'twixt us burn:
we men of Italy will make this peace
inviolate, and its bond forever keep,
let come what will; there is no power can change
my purpose, not if ocean's waves o'erwhelm
the world in billowy deluge and obscure
the bounds of heaven and hell. We shall remain
immutable as my smooth sceptre is“
(By chance a sceptre in his hand he bore),
“which wears no more light leaf or branching shade;
for long since in the grove 't was plucked away
from parent stem, and yielded to sharp steel
its leaves and limbs; erewhile 't was but a tree,
till the wise craftsman with fair sheath of bronze
encircled it and laid it in the hands
of Latium's royal sires.” With words like these
they swore the bond, in the beholding eyes
of gathered princes. Then they slit the throats
of hallowed victims o'er the altar's blaze,
drew forth the quivering vitals, and with flesh
on loaded chargers heaped the sacrifice.
But to Rutulian eyes th' approaching joust
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seemed all ill-matched; and shifting hopes and fears
disturbed their hearts the closer they surveyed
th' unequal risks: still worse it was to see
how Turnus, silent and with downcast eyes,
dejectedly drew near the place of prayer,
worn, pale, and wasted in his youthful bloom.
The nymph Juturna, with a sister's fear,
noted the growing murmur, and perceived
how all the people's will did shift and change;
she went from rank to rank, feigning the shape
of Camers, scion of illustrious line,
with heritage of valor, and himself
