«Expectata dies aderat nonamque serena Auroram Phaetontis equi iam luce vehebant, Famaque finitimos et clari nomen Acestae Excierat. Laeto complebant litora coetu Visuri Aeneadas, pars et certare parati» (Eneide, libro quinto, vv. 104-108) The poets, the sea, the islands, the wind? Trapani intimately? Now came the day desir'd. The skies were bright With rosy luster of the rising light: The bord'ring people, rous'd by sounding fame Of Trojan feasts and great Acestes' name, The crowded shore with acclamations fill, Part to behold, and part to prove their skill. (?.) The clangor of the trumpet gives the sign; At once they start, advancing in a line: With shouts the sailors rend the starry skies; Lash'd with their oars, the smoky billows rise; Sparkles the briny main, and the vex'd ocean fries. Exact in time, with equal strokes they row: At once the brushing oars and brazen prow Dash up the sandy waves, and ope the depths below.(?.) Amidst the loud applauses of the shore, Gyas outstripp'd the rest, and sprung before: Cloanthus, better mann'd, pursued him fast, But his o'er-masted galley check'd his haste. The Centaur and the Dolphin brush the brine With equal oars, advancing in a line; And now the mighty Centaur seems to lead, And now the speedy Dolphin gets ahead; Now board to board the rival vessels row, The billows lave the skies, and ocean groans below. (?.) Aeneid, Book V