"If but a respite for the youth be sought, A little time of tarrying, ere he die, And thus thou read'st the purport of my thought, Take then awhile thy Turnus; let him fly And 'scape his present fates; thus far may I Indulge thee.

But if aught beneath thy prayer Lie veiled of purpose or of hopes more high, To change the war's whole aspect, then beware, For idle hopes thou feed'st, as empty as the air." LXXXVI.

Then She with tears: "What if thy heart should give The pledge and promise, that thy lips disdain, And Turnus by thy warrant still should live?
Now death awaits him guiltless, or in vain I read the Fates.

Ah! may I merely feign An empty fear, and better thoughts advise Thee--for thou can'st--to spare him and refrain!" So saying, arrayed in storm-clouds, through the skies Down to Laurentum's camp and Ilian lines she flies.
LXXXVII.

Then straight the Goddess from a hollow cloud-- Strange sight to see!--a thin and strengthless shade Shaped like the great AEneas, and endowed With Dardan arms, and fixed the shield, and spread The plume and crest as on his godlike head.
And empty words, a soulless sound, she gave, And feigned the fashion of the warrior's tread.
Thus ghosts are said to glide above the grave; Thus oft delusive dreams the slumbering sense enslave.
LXXXVIII.