Sudden clouds snatch away the daylight sky From Trojan sight. Black night roosts on the sea. Heaven resounds, and fires dance in its heights. The world becomes a threat of instant d**h. A swift and icy terror numbed Aeneas. He moaned and held his hands up to the stars And gave a cry: "Three times and four times blessed Are those who perished in their fathers' sight Beneath Troy's walls. You, Diomedes, boldest Of Greeks, could you not spill my soul and let me Fall on the fields of Troy, like raging Hector Slain by Achilles' spear, or tall Sarpedon, Where the Simois River churns beneath her ripples Shields, helmets, bodies of so many strong men?" A screaming northern gale flew past his wild words And slammed the sails, and pulled a wave toward heaven. The oars broke, the prow swerved and set the ship Against a looming precipice of water. Crews dangled on the crest, or glimpsed the seabed Between the waves. Sand poured through seething water. Three times the South Wind hurled them at rocks lurking Midway across—Italians call them Altars; Their ma**ive spine protrudes—three times the East Wind Drove them toward sandy shallows—awful sight— And rammed them tight, and ringed them with a sand wall. Before Aeneas' eyes a toweling wave tipped, To strike head-on the ship of staunch Orontes And the Lycians, and whirled the helmsman out Head first. The boat was whipped in three tight circles, And then the hungry whirlpool swallowed it. The endless sea showed scatterings of swimmers. Planks, gear, and Trojan treasure strewed the waves. The storm subdued the strong ships carrying Ilioneus, Abas, brave Achates, And old Aletes.