ac veluti montis saxum de vertice praeceps cum ruit avulsum vento, seu turbidus imber proluit aut annis solvit sublapsa vetustas; fertur in abruptum magno mons improbus actu exsultatque solo, silvas armenta virosque involvens secum: disiecta per agmina Turnus sic urbis ruit ad muros, ubi plurima fuso sanguine terra madet striduntque hastilibus aurae, significatque manu et magno simul incipit ore: parcite iam, Rutuli, et vos tela inhibete, Latini.
And as when a rock from mountaintoprushes headlong, torn away by the blast'whether the whirling storm has washed it free, or time stealing on with lapse of years has loosened it, down the steep with mighty rush sweeps the reckless mass and bounds over the earth, rolling with it trees, herds, and men: so among the scattered ranks Turnus rushes to the city walls, where the ground is deepest drenched with spilled blood and the air is shrill with spears; then he beckons with his hand and thus begins aloud: Forbear now, Rutulians, and you Latins, stay your darts.