Page:The Pharsalia of Lucan; (IA cu31924026485809).pdf/105

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Book III
MASSILIA
81
Then crashed the prows together, and the keelsRebounded backwards, and unnumbered dartsOr darkened all the sky or, in their fall,The vacant ocean. As the wings grew wide,Less densely packed the fleet, some Grecian shipsPressed in between; as when with west and east 610The tide contends, this way the waves are drivenAnd that the sea; so as they plough the deepIn various lines converging, what the prowThrows up advancing, from the foemen's oarsFalls back repelled. But soon the Grecian fleetWas handier found in battle, and in flightPretended, and in shorter curves could round;More deftly governed by the guiding helm:While on the Roman side their steadier keelsGave vantage, as to men who fight on land. 620Then Brutus to the pilot of his ship:'Dost suffer them to range the wider deep,'Contending with the foe in naval skill?'Draw close the war and drive us on the prows'Of these Phocæans.' Him the pilot heard;And turned his vessel slantwise to the foe.Then was the sea all covered with the war:Then Grecian ships attacking Brutus foundTheir ruin in the stroke, and vanquished layBeside his bulwarks; while with grappling hooks 630Others laid fast the foe, themselves by oarsHeld back the while. And now no outstretched armHurls forth the javelin, but hand to handWith swords they wage the fight: each from his shipLeans forward to the stroke, and falls when slainUpon a foeman's deck. Deep flows the streamOf purple slaughter to the foamy main:By piles of floating corpses are the sides,
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