III
Now on the place of slaughter1 Are cots and sheepfolds seen, And rows of vines, and fields of wheat, And apple-orchards green; The swine crush the big acorns2 That fall from Corne's oaks. Upon the turf by the Fair Fount The reaper's pottage smokes. The fisher baits his angle; The hunter twangs his bow; Little they think on those strong limbs That moulder3 deep below. Little they think how
sternly That day the trumpets4 pealed5; How in the slippery swamp of blood Warrior6 and war-horse reeled; How wolves came with fierce gallops7, And crows on eager wings, To tear the flesh of captains,
And peck the eyes of kings; How thick the dead lay scattered8 Under the Porcian height; How through the gates of Tusculum Raved9 the wild stream of flight; And how the Lake Regillus Bubbled with crimson10 foam11, What time the Thirty Cities Came forth12 to war with Rome.