Page:Virgil's Pastorals, Georgics and Aeneis - Dryden (1709) - volume 2.djvu/134

And why they came, and what was their Request:
For these were sent commission'd by the rest, 730
To sue for leave to land their fickly Men,
And gain Admission to the Gracious Queen.
Ent'ring, with Cries they fill'd the holy Fane;
Then thus, with lowly Voice, Ilioneus began.
O Queen! indulg'd by Favour of the Gods, 735
To found an Empire in these new Abodes;
To build a Town, with Statutes to restrain
The wild Inhabitants beneath thy Reign:
We wretched Trojans tost on ev'ry Shore,
From Sea to Sea, thy Clemency implore: 740
$\scriptstyle {\left.{\begin{matrix}\ \\\\\ \ \end{matrix}}\right\}\,}$Forbid the Fires our Shipping to deface,
Receive th' unhappy Fugitives to Grace,
And spare the remnant of a Pious Race.
We come not with design of wastful Prey
To drive the Country, force the Swains away: 745
Nor such our Strength, nor such is our Desire,
The vanquish'd dare not to such Thoughts aspire.
A Land there is, Hesperia nam'd of old,
The Soil is fruitful, and the Men are bold;
Th' Oenotrians held it once, by common Fame, 750
Now call'd Italia, from the Leaders Name.
To that fweet Region was our Voyage bent,
When Winds, and ev'ry warring Element,
Disturb'd our Course, and far from sight of Land,
Cast our torn Vessels on the moving Sand: 755