Page:The Pharsalia of Lucan; (IA cu31924026485809).pdf/80

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56
PHARSALIA
Book II
Were swallowed by the vortex of the sea;Just as if Eryx and its lofty topWere cast into the deep, yet not a speckShould mark the watery plain; or Gaurus hugeSplit from his summit to his base, were plungedIn fathomless Avernus' stagnant pool.The billows thus unstemmed, 'twas Cæsar's willTo hew the stately forests and with treesEnchained to form a rampart. Thus of old(If fame be true) the boastful Persian king 760Prepared a way across the rapid strait'Twixt Sestos and Abydos, and made oneThe European and the Trojan shores;And marched upon the waters, wind and stormCounting as nought, but trusting his empriseTo one frail bridge, so that his ships might passThrough middle Athos. Thus a mighty moleOf fallen forests grew upon the waves,Free until then, and lofty turrets rose,And land usurped the entrance to the main. 770This when Pompeius saw, with anxious careHis soul was filled; yet hoping to regainThe exit lost, and win a wider worldWherein to wage the war, on chosen shipsHe hoists the sails; these, driven by the windAnd drawn by cables fastened to their prows,Scattered the beams asunder; and at nightNot seldom engines, worked by stalwart arms,Flung flaming torches forth. But when the timeFor secret flight was come, no sailor shout 780Rang on the shore, no trumpet marked the hour,No bugle called the armament to sea.Already shone the Virgin in the skyLeading the Scorpion in her course, whose claws
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