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Tho gan the sey of bemys walxin red,
And heich abuf, dovn from the hevinly sted,
Within hyr rosy cartis cleirly schane
Aurora vestit into brovn sanguane.
Eftir the wyndys lownyt war at will,
And all the blastis pacefyit and still,
Out our the calm streym of marbill gray
With ayris palmys sweip thai furth thar way.
And suddanly heir from the stabillit see
A large semly schaw beheld Enee,
Amyddis quham the flude he gan aspy
Of Tybir flowand soft and esely,
With sworland welis, and mekill ȝallow sand,
Into the sey dyd entyr fast at hand.
The byrdis seir of mony diuerss hewis,
About the watir, abuf vp in the clewis,
On bankis weilbyknaw and fludis bay,
Wyth wryblis sweit and myrthfull sangis gay
Gan meyss and glaid the hevynnys and the ayr,
And throu the schaw went fleand our alquhar.
To turn thar courss he gan his feris command,
And stevin thar schippis to the sammyn land;
Ioyfull and blith thai entring in the flude,
That dern about skuggyt with bewis stude.
Now, thou my muse, Erato, I the pray,
Do schaw me this, at I may scharply say
Quhatkynd process of tyme was, and quhat kyngis
In ald Latium, and in quhat stait all thingis,
Quhen first this strange army or falloschip
In Italy gan arryvyn, euery schip:
I sall declar all, and reduce fut hait,
From the begynnyng of the first debayt.
O thou sweit goddes, O thou haly wight,
Convoy and tech thy poet to say ryght!
I sall the horribill batellis schaw and tell,
The bludy ostis, and the feildis fell;
Quhou, throw thar curage, douchty kyngis seir
As ded corpss becum war, and brocht on beir;
The power hale of all Tuscany,
And all the gret rowtis of Italy
Assemblit into armys on the land.
Per ordour now thar risis apon hand
Fer largear materis forto treit and write,
A grettar wark begyn we to endyte.
Tha boundis, with thar lusty citeis all,
By lang proces of peax, in stait riall
The king Latinus held in governyng;
Or than full agyt was this nobill kyng,
Quham, as we haue hard tald ful long agone,
By Kyng Fawnus engendrit was apon
The mayd or nymphe of Lawrent, Marica.
And to this Fawnus fader was alssua
Picus the kyng, quhilk doith the represent,
Saturnus, for hys fader and parent:
Thou was the fyrst gan all thar blude begyn,
The first fundment and cheif stok of kyn.
By dispositioun of the goddis dyvyn,
Son nor manchild nane had Kyng Latyn,
For alsmekill as his ȝong son, a page,
Discessit was within his tendir age.
The kyngis palice and all that riall hald,
All hyr allane, a douchtir dyd with hald,
Now reddy for a man, and cum to age
In grene ȝheris to compleit mariage.
Full mony nobillis into Latium
Axit hir to wyf, throu Itale all and sum:
Turnus hir axis, cummyn of hie parage,
Abuf all other maste gudly personage,
And tharto rich of frendis, and myghty
Of eldris gret and riall anchestry,
Quham Kyng Latinus spowss, Queyn Amata,
With diligens dyd procur, day by day,
That he adionyt war thar son in law.
Bot feirfull syngnys by the goddis schaw,
And syndry terrouris gan tharto ganestand.
Amyddis of the palyce closs dyd stand,
With blisfull bewis, a fair grene lawrer,
Haldyn in dreid and wirschip mony a ȝer,
Quham this ilk prynce and fader Latinus
Dyd consecrat and hallow to Phebus,
For that he fand it growand in the feild
Quhar he hys ryall palyce first dyd beild:
The indwellaris of the grond, efter this tre,
Lawrentes onto name clepit hes he.
Betyd a wondir takynnyng for to say:
A gret flight of beys, on a day,
Careit our the sey heich throu the moist ayr,
With lowd bemyng gan alycht and repar
On the hie top of this forsaid lawreir;
Intill a clud ful thik togidder infeir,
Thar feyt al sammyn knyt efter thar gyss,
A swarm, or ony wyst quhou or quhat wyss,
Hang from a florist branch of this ilk tre.
Incontinent the spaymen cryis: “We se
A strange man tocum onto thir partis
With a gret rowt, and, fra the sammyn artis
Quharfra ȝon beis cam, sal hidder seik;
Quhilk, for hys bonte and his thewis meke,
Sall weild this palice and hie senȝeory.”
Abuf this, eik, betyd a mar farly:
As Kyng Latinus kyndillis, on thar gyss,
Apon the altaris for the sacrefyis,
The clene schidis of the dry fyre brandis,
Quhar that also fast by hir fader standis
Lavynya the maid, his douchter fair;
A selcouth thing to se, in hir syde hair
It semyt the hait fyre kyndillit bricht,
And hir gay clething al with lowis lyght
Gan gleit, and sperkland birn vp in a bless;
Hir ryal tressis inflambit, evil at eyss;
Hir crownel, picht with mony precyus stane,
Infyrit all of byrnand flawys schane;
And efter that semyt this gudly wight
Tobe involuyt in ȝallo reky lyght,
And furth our al the place and rufe on hie
The fyre blesys, thame semyt, skattirris sche.
Certis, this was reput with ȝyng and ald
A grisly thing and wondrus to behald,
For the diuinys declaris by and by
Quhat this feirful takyn dyd signyfy:
That is to knaw, at this ilk maid suld be
Of fame excelland and felicite
Bot to the pepill pronosticatioun cleir
Of suddane batale and of mortal wer.
Bot than the king, thochtfull and al pensyve
Of sik monstreis, gan do seik belyve
Hys fader Fawnus orator and answar,
Quhilk couth the fatis for tocum declar;
And gan inquiryng responsions alssua
In the schaw vndre hie Albunea,
Quhilk is a cheif gret forest, as thai tell,
And namyt from a haly rowtand well,
Quhar, from the erth, in dern wentis heir and thar,
A strang flewyr thrawis vp in the ayr.
Thiddir hail the pepil of Italia,
And al the land eik of Onotrya,
Thar dowtsum axyng tursis for ansuer,
And thar petitions gettis assolȝeit heir.
The kingis offerand and rich sacryfyss
The preist thidder gart bring, as was the gyss,
And, vnder silence of the dirk nycht,
On scheip skynnys, weil spred and couchit rycht,
Quhilk slane war in the sacrifice that day,
He strekis him adovne and tharon lay,
Demandand swevynnys and visions til appeir.
On mervellus wyss, thir fleand schaddoys seir
And figouris nyss dyd he se and aspy,
And diuerss vocis hard he eik fast by,
And gan the goddis carping bruke and ioys,
With speche of thai spretis that beyn ycloss
In Achyron, the depest pyt of hell,
And thame that far doun in Avernus dyd dwel.
The kyng alsso, that tyme, atour the laif,
Heir wald him self his answer ask and craif:
Ane hundreth wollit wedderis, weil ganand,
In sacryfyss he brytynnys for offerand,
On quhais soft flesys, weil and dewly spreid,
The kyng down liggis for that nyghtis bed.
And suddanly, furth of the schawys closs,
Sayand him thus, thar com a hasty voce:
“O thou my child, cummyn of my stok,
Adress the nevir to knyt into wedlok
Thi dochter til a man of Latyn land;
Lyppin nocht in ȝon allyance reddy at hand.
Tobe thi mawch sal cum ane alienar,
That of his blude sal gendir sik ane air,
Quhilk sal our name abufe the starnys vpbring;
Of quhais stok the nevoys and ofspryng
Vnder thar feit and lordschip salbehald
All landis sterit and rewlit as thai wald,
Als fer as that the son, circuland we se,
Behaldis baith the est and westir seye.”