Chapter 16

“A greater omen, and of worse portent, Did our unwary minds with fear torment, Concurring to produce the dire event. Laocoon, Neptune’s priest by lot that year, With solemn pomp then sacrific’d a steer; When, dreadful to behold, from sea we spied Two serpents, rank’d abreast, the seas divide, And smoothly sweep along the swelling tide. Their flaming crests above the waves they show; Their bellies seem to burn the seas below; Their speckled tails advance to…