The Satyricon — Volume 03: Encolpius and His Companions by 20-66 Petronius Arbiter
page 15 of 29 (51%)
page 15 of 29 (51%)
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Delivered from war, now the crowd, carefree, hastens to worship
And pours from the portals. Their cheeks wet with weeping, the joy Of their tremulous souls brings to eyes tears which terror Had banished. Laocoon, priest unto Neptune, with hair loosed, An outcry evoked from the mob: he drew back his javelin And launched it! The belly of wood was his target. The weapon Recoiled, for the fates stayed his hand, and this artifice won us. His feeble hand nerved he anew, and the lofty sides sounded, His two-edged ax tried them severely. The young troops in ambush Gasped. And as long as the reverberations re-echoed The wooden mass breathed out a fear that was not of its own. Imprisoned, the warriors advance to take Troia a captive And finish the struggle by strategem new and unheard of. Behold! Other portents: Where Tenedos steep breaks the ocean Where great surging billows dash high; to be broken, and leap back |
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