Book 2
a breach within our walls and opened wide
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the ramparts of our city. One and all
were girded for the task. Smooth-gliding wheels
were 'neath its feet; great ropes stretched round its neck,
till o'er our walls the fatal engine climbed,
pregnant with men-at-arms. On every side
fair youths and maidens made a festal song,
and hauled the ropes with merry heart and gay.
So on and up it rolled, a tower of doom,
and in proud menace through our Forum moved.
O Ilium, my country, where abode
the gods of all my sires! O glorious walls
of Dardan's sons! before your gates it passed,
four times it stopped and dreadful clash of arms
four times from its vast concave loudly rang.
Yet frantic pressed we on, our hearts all blind,
and in the consecrated citadel
set up the hateful thing. Cassandra then
from heaven-instructed heart our doom foretold;
but doomed to unbelief were Ilium's sons.
Our hapless nation on its dying day
flung free o'er streets and shrines the votive flowers.
The skies rolled on; and o'er the ocean fell
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the veil of night, till utmost earth and heaven
and all their Myrmidonian stratagems
were mantled darkly o'er. In silent sleep
the Trojan city lay; dull slumber chained
its weary life. But now the Greek array
of ordered ships moved on from Tenedos,
their only light the silent, favoring moon,
on to the well-known strand. The King displayed
torch from his own ship, and Sinon then,
whom wrathful Heaven defended in that hour,
let the imprisoned band of Greeks go free
from that huge womb of wood; the open horse
restored them to the light; and joyfully
emerging from the darkness, one by one,
princely Thessander, Sthenelus, and dire
Ulysses glided down the swinging cord.
Closely upon them Neoptolemus,
