Aeneis
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
2.1.1
A general silence fell; and all gave ear,
2.1.2
while, from his lofty station at the feast,
2.1.3
Father Aeneas with these words began :—
2.1.4
A grief unspeakable thy gracious word,
2.1.5
o sovereign lady, bids my heart live o'er:
2.1.6
how Asia's glory and afflicted throne
2.1.7
the Greek flung down; which woeful scene I saw,
2.1.8
and bore great part in each event I tell.
2.1.9
But O! in telling, what Dolopian churl,
2.1.10
or Myrmidon, or gory follower
2.1.11
of grim Ulysses could the tears restrain?
2.1.12
'T is evening; lo! the dews of night begin
2.1.13
to fall from heaven, and yonder sinking stars
2.1.14
invite to slumber. But if thy heart yearn
2.1.15
to hear in brief of all our evil days
2.1.16
and Troy's last throes, although the memory
2.1.17
makes my soul shudder and recoil in pain,
2.1.18
I will essay it. Wearied of the war,
2.1.19
and by ill-fortune crushed, year after year,
2.1.20
the kings of Greece, by Pallas' skill divine,
2.1.21
build a huge horse, a thing of mountain size,
2.1.22
with timbered ribs of fir. They falsely say
2.1.23
it has been vowed to Heaven for safe return,
2.1.24
and spread this lie abroad. Then they conceal
2.1.25
choice bands of warriors in the deep, dark side,
2.1.26
and fill the caverns of that monstrous womb
2.1.27
with arms and soldiery. In sight of Troy
2.1.28
lies Tenedos, an island widely famed
2.1.29
and opulent, ere Priam's kingdom fell,
2.1.30
but a poor haven now, with anchorage
2.1.31
not half secure; 't was thitherward they sailed,
2.1.32
and lurked unseen by that abandoned shore.
2.1.33
We deemed them launched away and sailing far,
2.1.34
bound homeward for Mycenae. Teucria then
2.1.35
threw off her grief inveterate; all her gates
2.1.36
swung wide; exultant went we forth, and saw
2.1.37
the Dorian camp untenanted, the siege
2.1.38
abandoned, and the shore without a keel.
2.1.39
“Here!” cried we, “the Dolopian pitched; the host
2.1.40
of fierce Achilles here; here lay the fleet;
2.1.41
and here the battling lines to conflict ran.”
2.1.42
Others, all wonder, scan the gift of doom
2.1.43
by virgin Pallas given, and view with awe
2.1.44
that horse which loomed so large. Thymoetes then
2.1.45
bade lead it through the gates, and set on high
2.1.46
within our citadel,—or traitor he,
2.1.47
or tool of fate in Troy's predestined fall.
2.1.48
But Capys, as did all of wiser heart,
2.1.49
bade hurl into the sea the false Greek gift,
2.1.50
or underneath it thrust a kindling flame
2.1.51
or pierce the hollow ambush of its womb
2.1.52
with probing spear. Yet did the multitude
2.1.53
veer round from voice to voice and doubt of all.
2.40.54
Then from the citadel, conspicuous,
2.40.55
Laocoon, with all his following choir,
2.40.56
hurried indignant down; and from afar
2.40.57
thus hailed the people: “O unhappy men!
2.40.58
What madness this? Who deems our foemen fled?
2.40.59
Think ye the gifts of Greece can lack for guile?
2.40.60
Have ye not known Ulysses? The Achaean
2.40.61
hides, caged in yonder beams; or this is reared
2.40.62
for engin'ry on our proud battlements,
2.40.63
to spy upon our roof-tops, or descend
2.40.64
in ruin on the city. 'T is a snare.
2.40.65
Trust not this horse, O Troy, whate'er it bode!
2.40.66
I fear the Greeks, though gift on gift they bear.”
2.40.67
So saying, he whirled with ponderous javelin
2.40.68
a sturdy stroke straight at the rounded side
2.40.69
of the great, jointed beast. A tremor struck
2.40.70
its towering form, and through the cavernous womb
2.40.71
rolled loud, reverberate rumbling, deep and long.
2.40.72
If heaven's decree, if our own wills, that hour,
2.40.73
had not been fixed on woe, his spear had brought
2.40.74
a bloody slaughter on our ambushed foe,
2.40.75
and Troy were standing on the earth this day!
2.40.76
O Priam's towers, ye were unfallen still!
2.57.77
But, lo! with hands fast bound behind, a youth
2.57.78
by clamorous Dardan shepherds haled along,
2.57.79
was brought before our king,—to this sole end
2.57.80
a self-surrendered captive, that he might,
2.57.81
although a nameless stranger, cunningly
2.57.82
deliver to the Greek the gates of Troy.
2.57.83
His firm-set mind flinched not from either goal,—
2.57.84
success in crime, or on swift death to fall.
2.57.85
The thronging Trojan youth made haste his way
2.57.86
from every side, all eager to see close
2.57.87
their captive's face, and clout with emulous scorn.
2.57.88
Hear now what Greek deception is, and learn
2.57.89
from one dark wickedness the whole. For he,
2.57.90
a mark for every eye, defenceless, dazed,
2.57.91
stood staring at our Phrygian hosts, and cried:
2.57.92
“Woe worth the day! What ocean or what shore
2.57.93
will have me now? What desperate path remains
2.57.94
for miserable me? Now have I lost
2.57.95
all foothold with the Greeks, and o'er my head
2.57.96
Troy's furious sons call bloody vengeance down.”
2.57.97
Such groans and anguish turned all rage away
2.57.98
and stayed our lifted hands. We bade him tell
2.57.99
his birth, his errand, and from whence might be
2.57.100
such hope of mercy for a foe in chains.
2.57.101
Then fearing us no more, this speech he dared:
2.77.102
“O King! I will confess, whate'er befall,
2.77.103
the whole unvarnished truth. I will not hide
2.77.104
my Grecian birth. Yea, thus will I begin.
2.77.105
For Fortune has brought wretched Sinon low;
2.77.106
but never shall her cruelty impair
2.77.107
his honor and his truth. Perchance the name
2.77.108
of Palamedes, Belus' glorious son,
2.77.109
has come by rumor to your listening ears;
2.77.110
whom by false witness and conspiracy,
2.77.111
because his counsel was not for this war,
2.77.112
the Greeks condemned, though guiltless, to his death,
2.77.113
and now make much lament for him they slew.
2.77.114
I, his companion, of his kith and kin,
2.77.115
sent hither by my humble sire's command,
2.77.116
followed his arms and fortunes from my youth.
2.77.117
Long as his throne endured, and while he throve
2.77.118
in conclave with his kingly peers, we twain
2.77.119
some name and lustre bore; but afterward,
2.77.120
because that cheat Ulysses envied him
2.77.121
(Ye know the deed), he from this world withdrew,
2.77.122
and I in gloom and tribulation sore
2.77.123
lived miserably on, lamenting loud
2.77.124
my lost friend's blameless fall. A fool was I
2.77.125
that kept not these lips closed; but I had vowed
2.77.126
that if a conqueror home to Greece I came,
2.77.127
I would avenge. Such words moved wrath, and were
2.77.128
the first shock of my ruin; from that hour,
2.77.129
Ulysses whispered slander and alarm;
2.77.130
breathed doubt and malice into all men's ears,
2.77.131
and darkly plotted how to strike his blow.
2.77.132
Nor rest had he, till Calchas, as his tool,-
2.77.133
but why unfold this useless, cruel story?
2.77.134
Why make delay? Ye count all sons of Greece
2.77.135
arrayed as one; and to have heard thus far
2.77.136
suffices you. Take now your ripe revenge!
2.77.137
Ulysses smiles and Atreus' royal sons
2.77.138
with liberal price your deed of blood repay.”
2.105.139
We ply him then with passionate appeal
2.105.140
and question all his cause: of guilt so dire
2.105.141
or such Greek guile we harbored not the thought.
2.105.142
So on he prates, with well-feigned grief and fear,
2.105.143
and from his Iying heart thus told his tale:
2.105.144
2.105.144
“Full oft the Greeks had fain achieved their flight,
2.105.145
and raised the Trojan siege, and sailed away
2.105.146
war-wearied quite. O, would it had been so!
2.105.147
Full oft the wintry tumult of the seas
2.105.148
did wall them round, and many a swollen storm
2.105.149
their embarcation stayed. But chiefly when,
2.105.150
all fitly built of beams of maple fair,
2.105.151
this horse stood forth,— what thunders filled the skies!
2.105.152
With anxious fears we sent Eurypylus
2.105.153
to ask Apollo's word; and from the shrine
2.105.154
he brings the sorrowful commandment home:
2.105.155
‘By flowing blood and by a virgin slain
2.105.156
the wild winds were appeased, when first ye came,
2.105.157
ye sons of Greece, to Ilium's distant shore.
2.105.158
Through blood ye must return. Let some Greek life
2.105.159
your expiation be.’ The popular ear
2.105.160
the saying caught, all spirits were dimmed o'er;
2.105.161
cold doubt and horror through each bosom ran,
2.105.162
asking what fate would do, and on what wretch
2.105.163
Apollo's choice would fall. Ulysses, then,
2.105.164
amid the people's tumult and acclaim,
2.105.165
thrust Calchas forth, some prophecy to tell
2.105.166
to all the throng: he asked him o'er and o'er
2.105.167
what Heaven desired. Already not a few
2.105.168
foretold the murderous plot, and silently
2.105.169
watched the dark doom upon my life impend.
2.105.170
Twice five long days the seer his lips did seal,
2.105.171
and hid himself, refusing to bring forth
2.105.172
His word of guile, and name what wretch should die.
2.105.173
At last, reluctant, and all loudly urged
2.105.174
By false Ulysses, he fulfils their plot,
2.105.175
and, lifting up his voice oracular,
2.105.176
points out myself the victim to be slain.
2.105.177
Nor did one voice oppose. The mortal stroke
2.105.178
horribly hanging o'er each coward head
2.105.179
was changed to one man's ruin, and their hearts
2.105.180
endured it well. Soon rose th' accursed morn;
2.105.181
the bloody ritual was ready; salt
2.105.182
was sprinkled on the sacred loaf; my brows
2.105.183
were bound with fillets for the offering.
2.105.184
But I escaped that death—yes! I deny not!
2.105.185
I cast my fetters off, and darkling lay
2.105.186
concealed all night in lake-side sedge and mire,
2.105.187
awaiting their departure, if perchance
2.105.188
they should in truth set sail. But nevermore
2.105.189
shall my dear, native country greet these eyes.
2.105.190
No more my father or my tender babes
2.105.191
shall I behold. Nay, haply their own lives
2.105.192
are forfeit, when my foemen take revenge
2.105.193
for my escape, and slay those helpless ones,
2.105.194
in expiation of my guilty deed.
2.105.195
O, by yon powers in heaven which witness truth,
2.105.196
by aught in this dark world remaining now
2.105.197
of spotless human faith and innocence,
2.105.198
I do implore thee look with pitying eye
2.105.199
on these long sufferings my heart hath borne.
2.105.200
O, pity! I deserve not what I bear.”
2.145.201
Pity and pardon to his tears we gave,
2.145.202
and spared his life. King Priam bade unbind
2.145.203
the fettered hands and loose those heavy chains
2.145.204
that pressed him sore; then with benignant mien
2.145.205
addressed him thus: “ Whate'er thy place or name,
2.145.206
forget the people thou hast Iost, and be
2.145.207
henceforth our countryman. But tell me true!
2.145.208
What means the monstrous fabric of this horse?
2.145.209
Who made it? Why? What offering to Heaven,
2.145.210
or engin'ry of conquest may it be?”
2.145.211
He spake; and in reply, with skilful guile,
2.145.212
Greek that he was! the other lifted up
2.145.213
his hands, now freed and chainless, to the skies:
2.145.214
“O ever-burning and inviolate fires,
2.145.215
witness my word! O altars and sharp steel,
2.145.216
whose curse I fled, O fillets of the gods,
2.145.217
which bound a victim's helpless forehead, hear!
2.145.218
'T is lawful now to break the oath that gave
2.145.219
my troth to Greece. To execrate her kings
2.145.220
is now my solemn duty. Their whole plot
2.145.221
I publish to the world. No fatherland
2.145.222
and no allegiance binds me any more.
2.145.223
O Troy, whom I have saved, I bid thee keep
2.145.224
the pledge of safety by good Priam given,
2.145.225
for my true tale shall my rich ransom be.
2.145.226
The Greeks' one hope, since first they opened war,
2.145.227
was Pallas, grace and power. But from the day
2.145.228
when Diomed, bold scorner of the gods,
2.145.229
and false Ulysses, author of all guile,
2.145.230
rose up and violently bore away
2.145.231
Palladium, her holy shrine, hewed down
2.145.232
the sentinels of her acropolis,
2.145.233
and with polluted, gory hands dared touch
2.145.234
the goddess, virgin fillets, white and pure,—
2.145.235
thenceforth, I say, the courage of the Greeks
2.145.236
ebbed utterly away; their strength was Iost,
2.145.237
and favoring Pallas all her grace withdrew.
2.145.238
No dubious sign she gave. Scarce had they set
2.145.239
her statue in our camp, when glittering flame
2.145.240
flashed from the staring eyes; from all its limbs
2.145.241
salt sweat ran forth; three times (O wondrous tale!)
2.145.242
it gave a sudden skyward leap, and made
2.145.243
prodigious trembling of her lance and shield.
2.145.244
The prophet Calchas bade us straightway take
2.145.245
swift flight across the sea; for fate had willed
2.145.246
the Trojan citadel should never fall
2.145.247
by Grecian arm, till once more they obtain
2.145.248
new oracles at Argos, and restore
2.145.249
that god the round ships hurried o'er the sea.
2.145.250
Now in Mycenae, whither they are fled,
2.145.251
new help of heaven they find, and forge anew
2.145.252
the means of war. Back hither o'er the waves
2.145.253
they suddenly will come. So Calchas gave
2.145.254
the meaning of the god. Warned thus, they reared
2.145.255
in place of Pallas, desecrated shrine
2.145.256
yon image of the horse, to expiate
2.145.257
the woeful sacrilege. Calchas ordained
2.145.258
that they should build a thing of monstrous size
2.145.259
of jointed beams, and rear it heavenward,
2.145.260
so might it never pass your gates, nor come
2.145.261
inside your walls, nor anywise restore
2.145.262
unto the Trojans their lost help divine.
2.145.263
For had your hands Minerva's gift profaned,
2.145.264
a ruin horrible—O, may the gods
2.145.265
bring it on Calchas rather!—would have come
2.145.266
on Priam's throne and all the Phrygian power.
2.145.267
But if your hands should lift the holy thing
2.145.268
to your own citadel, then Asia's host
2.145.269
would hurl aggression upon Pelops' land,
2.145.270
and all that curse on our own nation fall.”
2.195.271
Thus Sinon's guile and practiced perjury
2.195.272
our doubt dispelled. His stratagems and tears
2.195.273
wrought victory where neither Tydeus' son,
2.195.274
nor mountain-bred Achilles could prevail,
2.195.275
nor ten years' war, nor fleets a thousand strong.
2.195.276
2.195.276
But now a vaster spectacle of fear
2.195.277
burst over us, to vex our startled souls.
2.195.278
Laocoon, that day by cast of lot
2.195.279
priest unto Neptune, was in act to slay
2.195.280
a huge bull at the god's appointed fane.
2.195.281
Lo! o'er the tranquil deep from Tenedos
2.195.282
appeared a pair (I shudder as I tell)
2.195.283
of vastly coiling serpents, side by side,
2.195.284
stretching along the waves, and to the shore
2.195.285
taking swift course; their necks were lifted high,
2.195.286
their gory dragon-crests o'ertopped the waves;
2.195.287
all else, half seen, trailed low along the sea;
2.195.288
while with loud cleavage of the foaming brine
2.195.289
their monstrous backs wound forward fold on fold.
2.195.290
Soon they made land; the furious bright eyes
2.195.291
glowed with ensanguined fire; their quivering tongues
2.195.292
lapped hungrily the hissing, gruesome jaws.
2.195.293
All terror-pale we fled. Unswerving then
2.195.294
the monsters to Laocoon made way.
2.195.295
First round the tender limbs of his two sons
2.195.296
each dragon coiled, and on the shrinking flesh
2.195.297
fixed fast and fed. Then seized they on the sire,
2.195.298
who flew to aid, a javelin in his hand,
2.195.299
embracing close in bondage serpentine
2.195.300
twice round the waist; and twice in scaly grasp
2.195.301
around his neck, and o'er him grimly peered
2.195.302
with lifted head and crest; he, all the while,
2.195.303
his holy fillet fouled with venomous blood,
2.195.304
tore at his fetters with a desperate hand,
2.195.305
and lifted up such agonizing voice,
2.195.306
as when a bull, death-wounded, seeks to flee
2.195.307
the sacrificial altar, and thrusts back
2.195.308
from his doomed head the ill-aimed, glancing blade.
2.195.309
then swiftly writhed the dragon-pair away
2.195.310
unto the templed height, and in the shrine
2.195.311
of cruel Pallas sure asylum found
2.195.312
beneath the goddess' feet and orbed shield.
2.195.313
Such trembling horror as we ne'er had known
2.195.314
seized now on every heart. “ Of his vast guilt
2.195.315
Laocoon,” they say, “receives reward;
2.195.316
for he with most abominable spear
2.195.317
did strike and violate that blessed wood.
2.195.318
Yon statue to the temple! Ask the grace
2.195.319
of glorious Pallas!” So the people cried
2.195.320
in general acclaim.Ourselves did make
2.195.321
a breach within our walls and opened wide
2.195.322
the ramparts of our city. One and all
2.195.323
were girded for the task. Smooth-gliding wheels
2.195.324
were 'neath its feet; great ropes stretched round its neck,
2.195.325
till o'er our walls the fatal engine climbed,
2.195.326
pregnant with men-at-arms. On every side
2.195.327
fair youths and maidens made a festal song,
2.195.328
and hauled the ropes with merry heart and gay.
2.195.329
So on and up it rolled, a tower of doom,
2.195.330
and in proud menace through our Forum moved.
2.195.331
O Ilium, my country, where abode
2.195.332
the gods of all my sires! O glorious walls
2.195.333
of Dardan's sons! before your gates it passed,
2.195.334
four times it stopped and dreadful clash of arms
2.195.335
four times from its vast concave loudly rang.
2.195.336
Yet frantic pressed we on, our hearts all blind,
2.195.337
and in the consecrated citadel
2.195.338
set up the hateful thing. Cassandra then
2.195.339
from heaven-instructed heart our doom foretold;
2.195.340
but doomed to unbelief were Ilium's sons.
2.195.341
Our hapless nation on its dying day
2.195.342
flung free o'er streets and shrines the votive flowers.
2.250.343
The skies rolled on; and o'er the ocean fell
2.250.344
the veil of night, till utmost earth and heaven
2.250.345
and all their Myrmidonian stratagems
2.250.346
were mantled darkly o'er. In silent sleep
2.250.347
the Trojan city lay; dull slumber chained
2.250.348
its weary life. But now the Greek array
2.250.349
of ordered ships moved on from Tenedos,
2.250.350
their only light the silent, favoring moon,
2.250.351
on to the well-known strand. The King displayed
2.250.352
torch from his own ship, and Sinon then,
2.250.353
whom wrathful Heaven defended in that hour,
2.250.354
let the imprisoned band of Greeks go free
2.250.355
from that huge womb of wood; the open horse
2.250.356
restored them to the light; and joyfully
2.250.357
emerging from the darkness, one by one,
2.250.358
princely Thessander, Sthenelus, and dire
2.250.359
Ulysses glided down the swinging cord.
2.250.360
Closely upon them Neoptolemus,
2.250.361
the son of Peleus, came, and Acamas,
2.250.362
King Menelaus, Thoas and Machaon,
2.250.363
and last, Epeus, who the fabric wrought.
2.250.364
Upon the town they fell, for deep in sleep
2.250.365
and drowsed with wine it lay; the sentinels
2.250.366
they slaughtered, and through gates now opened wide
2.250.367
let in their fellows, and arrayed for war
2.250.368
th' auxiliar legions of the dark design.
2.268.369
That hour it was when heaven's first gift of sleep
2.268.370
on weary hearts of men most sweetly steals.
2.268.371
O, then my slumbering senses seemed to see
2.268.372
Hector, with woeful face and streaming eyes;
2.268.373
I seemed to see him from the chariot trailing,
2.268.374
foul with dark dust and gore, his swollen feet
2.268.375
pierced with a cruel thong. Ah me! what change
2.268.376
from glorious Hector when he homeward bore
2.268.377
the spoils of fierce Achilles; or hurled far
2.268.378
that shower of torches on the ships of Greece!
2.268.379
Unkempt his beard, his tresses thick with blood,
2.268.380
and all those wounds in sight which he did take
2.268.381
defending Troy. Then, weeping as I spoke,
2.268.382
I seemed on that heroic shape to call
2.268.383
with mournful utterance: “O star of Troy!
2.268.384
O surest hope and stay of all her sons!
2.268.385
Why tarriest thou so Iong? What region sends
2.268.386
the long-expected Hector home once more?
2.268.387
These weary eyes that look on thee have seen
2.268.388
hosts of thy kindred die, and fateful change
2.268.389
upon thy people and thy city fall.
2.268.390
O, say what dire occasion has defiled
2.268.391
thy tranquil brows? What mean those bleeding wounds?”
2.268.392
Silent he stood, nor anywise would stay
2.268.393
my vain lament; but groaned, and answered thus:
2.268.394
“Haste, goddess-born, and out of yonder flames
2.268.395
achieve thy flight. Our foes have scaled the wall;
2.268.396
exalted Troy is falling. Fatherland
2.268.397
and Priam ask no more. If human arm
2.268.398
could profit Troy, my own had kept her free.
2.268.399
Her Lares and her people to thy hands
2.268.400
Troy here commends. Companions let them be
2.268.401
of all thy fortunes. Let them share thy quest
2.268.402
of that wide realm, which, after wandering far,
2.268.403
thou shalt achieve, at last, beyond the sea.”
2.268.404
He spoke: and from our holy hearth brought forth
2.268.405
the solemn fillet, the ancestral shrines,
2.268.406
and Vesta's ever-bright, inviolate fire.
2.298.407
Now shrieks and loud confusion swept the town;
2.298.408
and though my father's dwelling stood apart
2.298.409
embowered deep in trees, th' increasing din
2.298.410
drew nearer, and the battle-thunder swelled.
2.298.411
I woke on sudden, and up-starting scaled
2.298.412
the roof, the tower, then stood with listening ear:
2.298.413
't was like an harvest burning, when wild winds
2.298.414
uprouse the flames; 't was like a mountain stream
2.298.415
that bursts in flood and ruinously whelms
2.298.416
sweet fields and farms and all the ploughman's toil,
2.298.417
whirling whole groves along; while dumb with fear,
2.298.418
from some far cliff the shepherd hears the sound.
2.298.419
Now their Greek plot was plain, the stratagem
2.298.420
at last laid bare. Deiphobus' great house
2.298.421
sank vanquished in the fire. Ucalegon's
2.298.422
hard by was blazing, while the waters wide
2.298.423
around Sigeum gave an answering glow.
2.298.424
Shrill trumpets rang; Ioud shouting voices roared;
2.298.425
wildly I armed me (when the battle calls,
2.298.426
how dimly reason shines!); I burned to join
2.298.427
the rally of my peers, and to the heights
2.298.428
defensive gather. Frenzy and vast rage
2.298.429
seized on my soul. I only sought what way
2.298.430
with sword in hand some noble death to die.
2.318.431
When Panthus met me, who had scarce escaped
2.318.432
the Grecian spears,—Panthus of Othrys' line,
2.318.433
Apollo's priest within our citadel;
2.318.434
his holy emblems, his defeated gods,
2.318.435
and his small grandson in his arms he bore,
2.318.436
while toward the gates with wild, swift steps he flew.
2.318.437
“How fares the kingdom, Panthus? What strong place
2.318.438
is still our own?” But scarcely could I ask
2.318.439
when thus, with many a groan, he made reply:—
2.318.440
“Dardania's death and doom are come to-day,
2.318.441
implacable. There is no Ilium now;
2.318.442
our Trojan name is gone, the Teucrian throne
2.318.443
Quite fallen. For the wrathful power of Jove
2.318.444
has given to Argos all our boast and pride.
2.318.445
The Greek is Iord of all yon blazing towers.
2.318.446
yon horse uplifted on our city's heart
2.318.447
disgorges men-at-arms. False Sinon now,
2.318.448
with scorn exultant, heaps up flame on flame.
2.318.449
Others throw wide the gates. The whole vast horde
2.318.450
that out of proud Mycenae hither sailed
2.318.451
is at us. With confronting spears they throng
2.318.452
each narrow passage. Every steel-bright blade
2.318.453
is flashing naked, making haste for blood.
2.318.454
Our sentries helpless meet the invading shock
2.318.455
and give back blind and unavailing war.”
2.318.456
By Panthus' word and by some god impelled,
2.318.457
I flew to battle, where the flames leaped high,
2.318.458
where grim Bellona called, and all the air
2.318.459
resounded high as heaven with shouts of war.
2.318.460
Rhipeus and Epytus of doughty arm
2.318.461
were at my side, Dymas and Hypanis,
2.318.462
seen by a pale moon, join our little band;
2.318.463
and young Coroebus, Mygdon's princely son,
2.318.464
who was in Troy that hour because he loved
2.318.465
Cassandra madly, and had made a league
2.318.466
as Priam's kinsman with our Phrygian arms:
2.318.467
ill-starred, to heed not what the virgin raved!
2.347.468
When these I saw close-gathered for the fight,
2.347.469
I thus addressed them: “Warriors, vainly brave,
2.347.470
if ye indeed desire to follow one
2.347.471
who dares the uttermost brave men may do,
2.347.472
our evil plight ye see: the gods are fled
2.347.473
from every altar and protecting fire,
2.347.474
which were the kingdom's stay. Ye offer aid
2.347.475
unto your country's ashes. Let us fight
2.347.476
unto the death! To arms, my men, to arms!
2.347.477
The single hope and stay of desperate men
2.347.478
is their despair.” Thus did I rouse their souls.
2.347.479
Then like the ravening wolves, some night of cloud,
2.347.480
when cruel hunger in an empty maw
2.347.481
drives them forth furious, and their whelps behind
2.347.482
wait famine-throated; so through foemen's steel
2.347.483
we flew to surest death, and kept our way
2.347.484
straight through the midmost town . The wings of night
2.347.485
brooded above us in vast vault of shade.
2.347.486
But who the bloodshed of that night can tell?
2.347.487
What tongue its deaths shall number, or what eyes
2.347.488
find meed of tears to equal all its woe?
2.347.489
The ancient City fell, whose throne had stood
2.347.490
age after age. Along her streets were strewn
2.347.491
the unresisting dead; at household shrines
2.347.492
and by the temples of the gods they lay.
2.347.493
Yet not alone was Teucrian blood required:
2.347.494
oft out of vanquished hearts fresh valor flamed,
2.347.495
and the Greek victor fell. Anguish and woe
2.347.496
were everywhere; pale terrors ranged abroad,
2.347.497
and multitudinous death met every eye.
2.370.498
Androgeos, followed by a thronging band
2.370.499
of Greeks, first met us on our desperate way;
2.370.500
but heedless, and confounding friend with foe,
2.370.501
thus, all unchallenged, hailed us as his own :
2.370.502
“Haste, heroes! Are ye laggards at this hour?
2.370.503
Others bear off the captives and the spoil
2.370.504
of burning Troy. Just from the galleys ye?”
2.370.505
He spoke; but straightway, when no safe reply
2.370.506
returned, he knew himself entrapped, and fallen
2.370.507
into a foeman's snare; struck dumb was he
2.370.508
and stopped both word and motion; as one steps,
2.370.509
when blindly treading a thick path of thorns,
2.370.510
upon a snake, and sick with fear would flee
2.370.511
that lifted wrath and swollen gorge of green:
2.370.512
so trembling did Androgeos backward fall.
2.370.513
At them we flew and closed them round with war;
2.370.514
and since they could not know the ground, and fear
2.370.515
had whelmed them quite, we swiftly laid them low.
2.370.516
Thus Fortune on our first achievement smiled;
2.370.517
and, flushed with victory, Cormbus cried:
2.370.518
“Come, friends, and follow Fortune's finger, where
2.370.519
she beckons us what path deliverance lies.
2.370.520
Change we our shields, and these Greek emblems wear.
2.370.521
'Twixt guile and valor who will nicely weigh
2.370.522
When foes are met? These dead shall find us arms.”
2.370.523
With this, he dons Androgeos' crested helm
2.370.524
and beauteous, blazoned shield; and to his side
2.370.525
girds on a Grecian blade. Young Rhipeus next,
2.370.526
with Dymas and the other soldiery,
2.370.527
repeat the deed, exulting, and array
2.370.528
their valor in fresh trophies from the slain.
2.370.529
Now intermingled with our foes we moved,
2.370.530
and alien emblems wore; the long, black night
2.370.531
brought many a grapple, and a host of Greeks
2.370.532
down to the dark we hurled. Some fled away,
2.370.533
seeking their safe ships and the friendly shore.
2.370.534
Some cowards foul went clambering back again
2.370.535
to that vast horse and hid them in its maw.
2.402.536
But woe is me! If gods their help withhold,
2.402.537
't is impious to be brave. That very hour
2.402.538
the fair Cassandra passed us, bound in chains,
2.402.539
King Priam's virgin daughter, from the shrine
2.402.540
and altars of Minerva; her loose hair
2.402.541
had lost its fillet; her impassioned eyes
2.402.542
were lifted in vain prayer,—her eyes alone!
2.402.543
For chains of steel her frail, soft hands confined.
2.402.544
Coroebus' eyes this horror not endured,
2.402.545
and, sorrow-crazed, he plunged him headlong in
2.402.546
the midmost fray, self-offered to be slain,
2.402.547
while in close mass our troop behind him poured.
2.402.548
But, at this point, the overwhelming spears
2.402.549
of our own kinsmen rained resistless down
2.402.550
from a high temple-tower; and carnage wild
2.402.551
ensued, because of the Greek arms we bore
2.402.552
and our false crests. The howling Grecian band,
2.402.553
crazed by Cassandra's rescue, charged at us
2.402.554
from every side; Ajax of savage soul,
2.402.555
the sons of Atreus, and that whole wild horde
2.402.556
Achilles from Dolopian deserts drew.
2.402.557
'T was like the bursting storm, when gales contend,
2.402.558
west wind and South, and jocund wind of morn
2.402.559
upon his orient steeds—while forests roar,
2.402.560
and foam-flecked Nereus with fierce trident stirs
2.402.561
the dark deep of the sea. All who did hide
2.402.562
in shadows of the night, by our assault
2.402.563
surprised, and driven in tumultuous flight,
2.402.564
now start to view. Full well they now can see
2.402.565
our shields and borrowed arms, and clearly note
2.402.566
our speech of alien sound; their multitude
2.402.567
o'erwhelms us utterly. Coroebus first
2.402.568
at mailed Minerva's altar prostrate lay,
2.402.569
pierced by Peneleus, blade; then Rhipeus fell;
2.402.570
we deemed him of all Trojans the most just,
2.402.571
most scrupulously righteous; but the gods
2.402.572
gave judgment otherwise. There Dymas died,
2.402.573
and Hypanis, by their compatriots slain;
2.402.574
nor thee, O Panthus, in that mortal hour,
2.402.575
could thy clean hands or Phoebus, priesthood save.
2.402.576
O ashes of my country! funeral pyre
2.402.577
of all my kin! bear witness that my breast
2.402.578
shrank not from any sword the Grecian drew,
2.402.579
and that my deeds the night my country died
2.402.580
deserved a warrior's death, had Fate ordained.
2.402.581
But soon our ranks were broken; at my side
2.402.582
stayed Iphitus and Pelias; one with age
2.402.583
was Iong since wearied, and the other bore
2.402.584
the burden of Ulysses' crippling wound.
2.402.585
Straightway the roar and tumult summoned us
2.402.586
to Priam's palace,where a battle raged
2.402.587
as if save this no conflict else were known,
2.402.588
and all Troy's dying brave were mustered there.
2.402.589
There we beheld the war-god unconfined;
2.402.590
The Greek besiegers to the roof-tops fled;
2.402.591
or, with shields tortoise-back, the gates assailed.
2.402.592
Ladders were on the walls; and round by round,
2.402.593
up the huge bulwark as they fight their way,
2.402.594
the shielded left-hand thwarts the falling spears,
2.402.595
the right to every vantage closely clings.
2.402.596
The Trojans hurl whole towers and roof-tops down
2.402.597
upon the mounting foe; for well they see
2.402.598
that the last hour is come, and with what arms
2.402.599
the dying must resist. Rich gilded beams,
2.402.600
with many a beauteous blazon of old time,
2.402.601
go crashing down. Men armed with naked swords
2.402.602
defend the inner doors in close array.
2.453.603
Thus were our hearts inflamed to stand and strike
2.453.604
for the king's house, and to his body-guard
2.453.605
bring succor, and renew their vanquished powers.
2.453.606
A certain gate I knew, a secret way,
2.453.607
which gave free passage between Priam's halls,
2.453.608
and exit rearward; hither, in the days
2.453.609
before our fall, the lone Andromache
2.453.610
was wont with young Astyanax to pass
2.453.611
in quest of Priam and her husband's kin.
2.453.612
This way to climb the palace roof I flew,
2.453.613
where, desperate, the Trojans with vain skill
2.453.614
hurled forth repellent arms. A tower was there,
2.453.615
reared skyward from the roof-top, giving view
2.453.616
of Troy's wide walls and full reconnaissance
2.453.617
of all Achaea's fleets and tented field;
2.453.618
this, with strong steel, our gathered strength assailed,
2.453.619
and as the loosened courses offered us
2.453.620
great threatening fissures, we uprooted it
2.453.621
from its aerial throne and thrust it down.
2.453.622
It fell with instantaneous crash of thunder
2.453.623
along the Danaan host in ruin wide.
2.453.624
But fresh ranks soon arrive; thick showers of stone
2.453.625
rain down, with every missile rage can find.
2.469.626
Now at the threshold of the outer court
2.469.627
Pyrrhus triumphant stood, with glittering arms
2.469.628
and helm of burnished brass. He glittered like
2.469.629
some swollen viper, fed on poison-leaves,
2.469.630
whom chilling winter shelters underground,
2.469.631
till, fresh and strong, he sheds his annual scales
2.469.632
and, crawling forth rejuvenate, uncoils
2.469.633
his slimy length; his lifted gorge insults
2.469.634
the sunbeam with three-forked and quivering tongue.
2.469.635
Huge Periphas was there; Automedon,
2.469.636
who drove Achilles' steeds, and bore his arms.
2.469.637
Then Scyros' island-warriors assault
2.469.638
the palaces, and hurl reiterate fire
2.469.639
at wall and tower. Pyrrhus led the van;
2.469.640
seizing an axe he clove the ponderous doors
2.469.641
and rent the hinges from their posts of bronze;
2.469.642
he cut the beams, and through the solid mass
2.469.643
burrowed his way, till like a window huge
2.469.644
the breach yawned wide, and opened to his gaze
2.469.645
a vista of long courts and corridors,
2.469.646
the hearth and home of many an ancient king,
2.469.647
and Priam's own; upon its sacred bourne
2.469.648
the sentry, all in arms, kept watch and ward.
2.469.649
Confusion, groans, and piteous turmoil
2.469.650
were in that dwelling; women shrieked and wailed
2.469.651
from many a dark retreat, and their loud cry
2.469.652
rang to the golden stars. Through those vast halls
2.469.653
the panic-stricken mothers wildly roved,
2.469.654
and clung with frantic kisses and embrace
2.469.655
unto the columns cold. Fierce as his sire,
2.469.656
Pyrrhus moves on; nor bar nor sentinel
2.469.657
may stop his way; down tumbles the great door
2.469.658
beneath the battering beam, and with it fall
2.469.659
hinges and framework violently torn.
2.469.660
Force bursts all bars; th' assailing Greeks break in,
2.469.661
do butchery, and with men-at-arms possess
2.469.662
what place they will. Scarce with an equal rage
2.469.663
a foaming river, when its dykes are down,
2.469.664
o'erwhelms its mounded shores, and through the plain
2.469.665
rolls mountain-high, while from the ravaged farms
2.469.666
its fierce flood sweeps along both flock and fold.
2.469.667
My own eyes looked on Neoptolemus
2.469.668
frenzied with slaughter, and both Atreus' sons
2.469.669
upon the threshold frowning; I beheld
2.469.670
her hundred daughters with old Hecuba;
2.469.671
and Priam, whose own bleeding wounds defiled
2.469.672
the altars where himself had blessed the fires;
2.469.673
there fifty nuptial beds gave promise proud
2.469.674
of princely heirs; but all their brightness now,
2.469.675
of broidered cunning and barbaric gold,
2.469.676
lay strewn and trampled on. The Danaan foe
2.469.677
stood victor, where the raging flame had failed.
2.506.678
But would ye haply know what stroke of doom
2.506.679
on Priam fell? Now when his anguish saw
2.506.680
his kingdom lost and fallen, his abode
2.506.681
shattered, and in his very hearth and home
2.506.682
th' exulting foe, the aged King did bind
2.506.683
his rusted armor to his trembling thews,—
2.506.684
all vainly,— and a useless blade of steel
2.506.685
he girded on; then charged, resolved to die
2.506.686
encircled by the foe. Within his walls
2.506.687
there stood, beneath the wide and open sky,
2.506.688
a lofty altar; an old laurel-tree
2.506.689
leaned o'er it, and enclasped in holy shade
2.506.690
the statues of the tutelary powers.
2.506.691
Here Hecuba and all the princesses
2.506.692
took refuge vain within the place of prayer.
2.506.693
Like panic-stricken doves in some dark storm,
2.506.694
close-gathering they sate, and in despair
2.506.695
embraced their graven gods. But when the Queen
2.506.696
saw Priam with his youthful harness on,
2.506.697
“What frenzy, O my wretched lord,” she cried,
2.506.698
“Arrayed thee in such arms? O, whither now?
2.506.699
Not such defences, nor such arm as thine,
2.506.700
the time requires, though thy companion were
2.506.701
our Hector's self. O, yield thee, I implore!
2.506.702
This altar now shall save us one and all,
2.506.703
or we must die together.” With these words
2.506.704
she drew him to her side, and near the shrine
2.506.705
made for her aged spouse a place to cling.
2.526.706
But, lo! just 'scaped of Pyrrhus' murderous hand,
2.526.707
Polites, one of Priam's sons, fled fast
2.526.708
along the corridors, through thronging foes
2.526.709
and a thick rain of spears. Wildly he gazed
2.526.710
across the desolate halls, wounded to death.
2.526.711
Fierce Pyrrhus followed after, pressing hard
2.526.712
with mortal stroke, and now his hand and spear
2.526.713
were close upon:— when the lost youth leaped forth
2.526.714
into his father's sight, and prostrate there
2.526.715
lay dying, while his life-blood ebbed away.
2.526.716
Then Priam, though on all sides death was nigh,
2.526.717
quit not the strife, nor from loud wrath refrained:
2.526.718
“Thy crime and impious outrage, may the gods
2.526.719
(if Heaven to mortals render debt and due)
2.526.720
justly reward and worthy honors pay!
2.526.721
My own son's murder thou hast made me see,
2.526.722
blood and pollution impiously throwing
2.526.723
upon a father's head. Not such was he,
2.526.724
not such, Achilles, thy pretended sire,
2.526.725
when Priam was his foe. With flush of shame
2.526.726
he nobly listened to a suppliant's plea
2.526.727
in honor made. He rendered to the tomb
2.526.728
my Hector's body pale, and me did send
2.526.729
back to my throne a king.” With this proud word
2.526.730
the aged warrior hurled with nerveless arm
2.526.731
his ineffectual spear, which hoarsely rang
2.526.732
rebounding on the brazen shield, and hung
2.526.733
piercing the midmost boss,- but all in vain.
2.526.734
Then Pyrrhus: “Take these tidings, and convey
2.526.735
message to my father, Peleus' son!
2.526.736
tell him my naughty deeds! Be sure and say
2.526.737
how Neoptolemus hath shamed his sires.
2.526.738
Now die!” With this, he trailed before the shrines
2.526.739
the trembling King, whose feet slipped in the stream
2.526.740
of his son's blood. Then Pyrrhus' left hand clutched
2.526.741
the tresses old and gray; a glittering sword
2.526.742
his right hand lifted high, and buried it
2.526.743
far as the hilt in that defenceless heart.
2.526.744
So Priam's story ceased. Such final doom
2.526.745
fell on him, while his dying eyes surveyed
2.526.746
Troy burning, and her altars overthrown,
2.526.747
though once of many an orient land and tribe
2.526.748
the boasted lord. In huge dismemberment
2.526.749
his severed trunk lies tombless on the shore,
2.526.750
the head from shoulder torn, the corpse unknown.
2.559.751
Then first wild horror on my spirit fell
2.559.752
and dazed me utterly. A vision rose
2.559.753
of my own cherished father, as I saw
2.559.754
the King, his aged peer, sore wounded Iying
2.559.755
in mortal agony; a vision too
2.559.756
of lost Creusa at my ravaged hearth,
2.559.757
and young Iulus' peril. Then my eyes
2.559.758
looked round me seeking aid. But all were fled,
2.559.759
war-wearied and undone; some earthward leaped
2.559.760
from battlement or tower; some in despair
2.559.761
yielded their suffering bodies to the flame.
2.567.762
I stood there sole surviving; when, behold,
2.567.763
to Vesta's altar clinging in dumb fear,
2.567.764
hiding and crouching in the hallowed shade,
2.567.765
Tyndarus' daughter!— 't was the burning town
2.567.766
lighted full well my roving steps and eyes.
2.567.767
In fear was she both of some Trojan's rage
2.567.768
for Troy o'erthrown, and of some Greek revenge,
2.567.769
or her wronged husband's Iong indignant ire.
2.567.770
So hid she at that shrine her hateful brow,
2.567.771
being of Greece and Troy, full well she knew,
2.567.772
the common curse. Then in my bosom rose
2.567.773
a blaze of wrath; methought I should avenge
2.567.774
my dying country, and with horrid deed
2.567.775
pay crime for crime. “Shall she return unscathed
2.567.776
to Sparta, to Mycenae's golden pride,
2.567.777
and have a royal triumph? Shall her eyes
2.567.778
her sire and sons, her hearth and husband see,
2.567.779
while Phrygian captives follow in her train?
2.567.780
is Priam murdered? Have the flames swept o'er
2.567.781
my native Troy? and cloth our Dardan strand
2.567.782
sweat o'er and o'er with sanguinary dew?
2.567.783
O, not thus unavenged! For though there be
2.567.784
no glory if I smite a woman's crime,
2.567.785
nor conqueror's fame for such a victory won,
2.567.786
yet if I blot this monster out, and wring
2.567.787
full punishment from guilt, the time to come
2.567.788
will praise me, and sweet pleasure it will be
2.567.789
to glut my soul with vengeance and appease
2.567.790
the ashes of my kindred.”So I raved,
2.567.791
and to such frenzied purpose gave my soul.
2.567.792
Then with clear vision (never had I seen
2.567.793
her presence so unclouded) I beheld,
2.567.794
in golden beams that pierced the midnight gloom,
2.567.795
my gracious mother, visibly divine,
2.567.796
and with that mien of majesty she wears
2.567.797
when seen in heaven; she stayed me with her hand,
2.567.798
and from her lips of rose this counsel gave:
2.567.799
“O son, what sorrow stirs thy boundless rage?
2.567.800
what madness this? Or whither vanisheth
2.567.801
thy love of me? Wilt thou not seek to know
2.567.802
where bides Anchises, thy abandoned sire,
2.567.803
now weak with age? or if Creusa lives
2.567.804
and young Ascanius, who are ringed about
2.567.805
with ranks of Grecian foes, and long ere this—
2.567.806
save that my love can shield them and defend—
2.567.807
had fallen on flame or fed some hungry sword?
2.567.808
Not Helen's hated beauty works thee woe;
2.567.809
nor Paris, oft-accused. The cruelty
2.567.810
of gods, of gods unaided, overwhelms
2.567.811
thy country's power, and from its Iofty height
2.567.812
casts Ilium down. Behold, I take away
2.567.813
the barrier-cloud that dims thy mortal eye,
2.567.814
with murk and mist o'er-veiling. Fear not thou
2.567.815
to heed thy mother's word, nor let thy heart
2.567.816
refuse obedience to her counsel given.
2.567.817
'Mid yonder trembling ruins, where thou see'st
2.567.818
stone torn from stone, with dust and smoke uprolling,
2.567.819
't is Neptune strikes the wall; his trident vast
2.567.820
makes her foundation tremble, and unseats
2.567.821
the city from her throne. Fierce Juno leads
2.567.822
resistless onset at the Scaean gate,
2.567.823
and summons from the ships the league of powers,
2.567.824
wearing her wrathful sword. On yonder height
2.567.825
behold Tritonia in the citadel
2.567.826
clothed with the lightning and her Gorgon-shield!
2.567.827
Unto the Greeks great Jove himself renews
2.567.828
their courage and their power; 't is he thrusts on
2.567.829
the gods themselves against the Trojan arms.
2.567.830
Fly, O my son! The war's wild work give o'er!
2.567.831
I will be always nigh and set thee safe
2.567.832
upon thy father's threshold.” Having said,
2.567.833
she fled upon the viewless night away.
2.624.834
Then loomed o'er Troy the apparition vast
2.624.835
of her dread foes divine; I seemed to see
2.624.836
all Ilium sink in fire, and sacred Troy,
2.624.837
of Neptune's building, utterly o'erthrown.
2.624.838
So some huge ash-tree on the mountain's brow
2.624.839
(when rival woodmen, heaving stroke on stroke
2.624.840
of two-edged axes, haste to cast her down)
2.624.841
sways ominously her trembling, leafy top,
2.624.842
and drops her smitten head; till by her wounds
2.624.843
vanquished at last, she makes her dying groan,
2.624.844
and falls in loud wreck from the cliffs uptorn.
2.624.845
I left the citadel; and, led by Heaven,
2.624.846
threaded the maze of deadly foes and fires,
2.624.847
through spears that glanced aside and flames that fell.
2.634.848
Soon came I to my father's ancient seat,
2.634.849
our home and heritage. But lo! my sire
2.634.850
(whom first of all I sought, and first would bear
2.634.851
to safe asylum in the distant hills)
2.634.852
vowed he could never, after fallen Troy,
2.634.853
live longer on, or bear an exile's woe.
2.634.854
“O you,” he cried, “whose blood not yet betrays
2.634.855
the cruel taint of time, whose powers be still
2.634.856
unpropped and undecayed, go, take your flight.
2.634.857
If heavenly wrath had willed my life to spare,
2.634.858
this dwelling had been safe. It is too much
2.634.859
that I have watched one wreck, and for too Iong
2.634.860
outlived my vanquished country. Thus, O, thus!
2.634.861
Compose these limbs for death, and say farewell.
2.634.862
My own hand will procure it; or my foe
2.634.863
will end me of mere pity, and for spoil
2.634.864
will strip me bare. It is an easy loss
2.634.865
to have no grave. For many a year gone by,
2.634.866
accursed of Heaven, I tarry in this world
2.634.867
a useless burden, since that fatal hour
2.634.868
when Jove, of gods the Sire and men the King,
2.634.869
his lightnings o'er me breathed and blasting fire.”
2.650.870
Such fixed resolve he uttered o'er and o'er,
2.650.871
and would not yield, though with my tears did join
2.650.872
my spouse Creusa, fair Ascanius,
2.650.873
and our whole house, imploring the gray sire
2.650.874
not with himself to ruin all, nor add
2.650.875
yet heavier burdens to our crushing doom.
2.650.876
He still cried, “No!” and clung to where he sat
2.650.877
and to the same dread purpose. I once more
2.650.878
back to the fight would speed. For death alone
2.650.879
I made my wretched prayer. What space was left
2.650.880
for wisdom now? What chance or hope was given?
2.650.881
“Didst thou, dear father, dream that I could fly
2.650.882
sundered from thee? Did such an infamy
2.650.883
fall from a father's lips? If Heaven's decree
2.650.884
will of this mighty nation not let live
2.650.885
a single soul, if thine own purpose be
2.650.886
to cast thyself and thy posterity
2.650.887
into thy country's grave, behold, the door
2.650.888
is open to thy death! Lo, Pyrrhus comes
2.650.889
red-handed from King Priam! He has slain
2.650.890
a son before a father's eyes, and spilt
2.650.891
a father's blood upon his own hearthstone.
2.650.892
Was it for this, O heavenly mother mine,
2.650.893
that thou hast brought me safe through sword and fire?
2.650.894
that I might see these altars desecrate
2.650.895
by their worst foes? that I might look upon
2.650.896
my sire, my wife, and sweet Ascanius
2.650.897
dead at my feet in one another's blood?
2.650.898
To arms, my men, to arms! The hour of death
2.650.899
now beckons to the vanquished. Let me go
2.650.900
whither the Greeks are gathered; let me stand
2.650.901
where oft revives the flagging stroke of war:
2.650.902
Not all of us die unavenged this day!”
2.671.903
I clasped my sword-belt round me once again,
2.671.904
fitted my left arm to my shield, and turned
2.671.905
to fly the house; but at the threshold clung
2.671.906
Creusa to my knees, and lifted up
2.671.907
Iulus to his father's arms. “If thou
2.671.908
wouldst rush on death,” she cried, “O, suffer us
2.671.909
to share thy perils with thee to the end.
2.671.910
But if this day's work bid thee trust a sword,
2.671.911
defend thy hearthstone first. Who else shall guard
2.671.912
thy babe Iulus, or thy reverend sire?
2.671.913
Or me, thy wife that was—what help have I?”
2.679.914
So rang the roof-top with her piteous cries:
2.679.915
but lo! a portent wonderful to see
2.679.916
on sudden rose; for while his parents' grief
2.679.917
held the boy close in arm and full in view,
2.679.918
there seemed upon Iulus' head to glow
2.679.919
a flickering peak of fire; the tongue of flame
2.679.920
innocuous o'er his clustering tresses played,
2.679.921
and hovered round his brows. We, horror-struck,
2.679.922
grasped at his burning hair, and sprinkled him,
2.679.923
to quench that holy and auspicious fire.
2.679.924
then sire Anchises with exultant eyes
2.679.925
looked heavenward, and lifted to the stars
2.679.926
his voice and outstretched hands. “Almighty Jove,
2.679.927
if aught of prayer may move thee, let thy grace
2.679.928
now visit us! O, hear this holy vow!
2.679.929
And if for service at thine altars done,
2.679.930
we aught can claim, O Father, lend us aid,
2.679.931
and ratify the omen thou hast given!”
2.692.932
Scarce ceased his aged voice, when suddenly
2.692.933
from leftward, with a deafening thunder-peal,
2.692.934
cleaving the blackness of the vaulted sky,
2.692.935
a meteor-star in trailing splendor ran,
2.692.936
exceeding bright. We watched it glide sublime
2.692.937
o'er tower and town, until its radiant beam
2.692.938
in forest-mantled Ida died away;
2.692.939
but left a furrow on its track in air,
2.692.940
a glittering, Iong line, while far and wide
2.692.941
the sulphurous fume and exhalation flowed.
2.692.942
My father strove not now; but lifted him
2.692.943
in prayer to all the gods, in holy awe
2.692.944
of that auspicious star, and thus exclaimed:
2.692.945
“Tarry no moment more! Behold, I come!
2.692.946
Whithersoe'er ye lead, my steps obey.
2.692.947
Gods of my fathers, O, preserve our name!
2.692.948
Preserve my son, and his! This augury
2.692.949
is yours; and Troy on your sole strength relies.
2.692.950
I yield, dear son; I journey at thy side.”
2.692.951
He spoke; and higher o'er the blazing walls
2.692.952
leaped the loud fire, while ever nearer drew
2.692.953
the rolling surges of tumultuous flame.
2.692.954
“Haste, father, on these bending shoulders climb!
2.692.955
This back is ready, and the burden light;
2.692.956
one peril smites us both, whate'er befall;
2.692.957
one rescue both shall find. Close at my side
2.692.958
let young Iulus run, while, not too nigh,
2.692.959
my wife Creusa heeds what way we go.
2.692.960
Ye servants of our house, give ear, I pray,
2.692.961
to my command. Outside the city's gates
2.692.962
lies a low mound and long since ruined fane
2.692.963
to Ceres vowed; a cypress, ancient shade
2.692.964
o'erhangs it, which our fathers' pious care
2.692.965
protected year by year; by various paths
2.692.966
be that our meeting-place. But in thy hands
2.692.967
bring, sire, our household gods, and sanctifies:
2.692.968
for me to touch, who come this very hour
2.692.969
from battle and the fresh blood of the slain,
2.692.970
were but abomination, till what time
2.692.971
in living waters I shall make me clean.”
2.692.972
So saying, I bowed my neck and shoulders broad,
2.692.973
o'erspread me with a lion's tawny skin,
2.692.974
and lifted up my load. Close at my side
2.692.975
little Iulus twined his hand in mine
2.692.976
and followed, with unequal step, his sire.
2.692.977
My wife at distance came. We hastened on,
2.692.978
creeping through shadows; I, who once had viewed
2.692.979
undaunted every instrument of war
2.692.980
and all the gathered Greeks in grim array,
2.692.981
now shook at every gust, and heard all sounds
2.692.982
with fevered trepidation, fearing both
2.692.983
for him I bore and him who clasped my hand.
2.692.984
Now near the gates I drew, and deemed our flight
2.692.985
safely at end, when suddenly I heard
2.692.986
the sounding tread of many warriors
2.692.987
that seemed hard-by, while through the murky night
2.692.988
my father peered, and shouted, “O my son,
2.692.989
away, away! for surely all our foes
2.692.990
are here upon us, and my eyes behold
2.692.991
the glance of glittering shields and flash of arms.”
2.692.992
O, then some evil-working, nameless god
2.692.993
clouded my senses quite: for while I sped
2.692.994
along our pathless way, and left behind
2.692.995
all paths and regions known—O wretched me!—
2.692.996
Creusa on some dark disaster fell;
2.692.997
she stopped, or wandered, or sank down undone,—
2.692.998
I never knew what way,—and nevermore
2.692.999
I looked on her alive. Yet knew I not
2.692.1000
my loss, nor backward turned a look or thought,
2.692.1001
till by that hallowed hill to Ceres vowed
2.692.1002
we gathered all,— and she alone came not,
2.692.1003
while husband, friends, and son made search in vain.
2.692.1004
What god, what man, did not my grief accuse
2.692.1005
in frenzied word? In all the ruined land
2.692.1006
what worse woe had I seen? Entrusting then
2.692.1007
my sire, my son, and all the Teucrian gods
2.692.1008
to the deep shadows of a slanting vale
2.692.1009
where my allies kept guard, I tried me back
2.692.1010
to that doomed town, re-girt in glittering arms.
2.692.1011
Resolved was I all hazards to renew,
2.692.1012
all Troy to re-explore, and once again
2.692.1013
offer my life to perils without end.
2.752.1014
The walls and gloomy gates whence forth I came
2.752.1015
I first revisit, and retrace my way,
2.752.1016
searching the night once more. On all sides round
2.752.1017
horror spread wide; the very silence breathed
2.752.1018
a terror on my soul. I hastened then
2.752.1019
back to my fallen home, if haply there
2.752.1020
her feet had strayed; but the invading Greeks
2.752.1021
were its possessors, though the hungry fire
2.752.1022
was blown along the roof-tree, and the flames
2.752.1023
rolled raging upward on the fitful gale.
2.752.1024
To Priam's house I haste, and climb once more
2.752.1025
the citadel; in Juno's temple there,
2.752.1026
the chosen guardians of her wasted halls,
2.752.1027
Phoenix and dread Ulysses watched the spoil.
2.752.1028
Here, snatched away from many a burning fane,
2.752.1029
Troy's treasures lay,—rich tables for the gods,
2.752.1030
thick bowls of messy gold, and vestures rare,
2.752.1031
confusedly heaped up, while round the pile
2.752.1032
fair youths and trembling virgins stood forlorn.
2.752.1033
Yet oft my voice rang dauntless through the gloom,
2.752.1034
from street to street I cried with anguish vain;
2.752.1035
and on Creusa piteously calling,
2.752.1036
woke the lamenting echoes o'er and o'er.
2.752.1037
While on this quest I roamed the city through,
2.752.1038
of reason reft there rose upon my sight—
2.752.1039
O shape of sorrow!— my Creusa's ghost,
2.752.1040
hers truly, though a loftier port it wore.
2.752.1041
I quailed, my hair rose, and I gasped for fear;
2.752.1042
but thus she spoke, and soothed my grief away:
2.752.1043
“Why to these frenzied sorrows bend thy soul,
2.752.1044
O husband ever dear! The will of Heaven
2.752.1045
hath brought all this to pass. Fate doth not send
2.752.1046
Creusa the long journeys thou shalt take,
2.752.1047
or hath th' Olympian King so given decree.
2.752.1048
Long is thy banishment; thy ship must plough
2.752.1049
the vast, far-spreading sea. Then shalt thou come
2.752.1050
unto Hesperia, whose fruitful plains
2.752.1051
are watered by the Tiber, Lydian stream,
2.752.1052
of smooth, benignant Bow. Thou shalt obtain
2.752.1053
fair fortunes, and a throne and royal bride.
2.752.1054
For thy beloved Creusa weep no more!
2.752.1055
No Myrmidon's proud palace waits me now;
2.752.1056
Dolopian shall not scorn, nor Argive dames
2.752.1057
command a slave of Dardan's royal stem
2.752.1058
and wife to Venus' son. On these loved shores
2.752.1059
the Mother of the Gods compels my stay.
2.752.1060
Farewell! farewell! O, cherish evermore
2.752.1061
thy son and mine!” Her utterance scarce had ceased,
2.752.1062
when, as I strove through tears to make reply,
2.752.1063
she left me, and dissolved in empty air.
2.752.1064
Thrice would my frustrate arms her form enfold;
2.752.1065
thrice from the clasp of hand that vision fled,
2.752.1066
like wafted winds and like a fleeting dream.
2.795.1067
The night had passed, and to my friends once more
2.795.1068
I made my way, much wondering to find
2.795.1069
a mighty multitude assembled there
2.795.1070
of friends new-come,—matrons and men-at-arms,
2.795.1071
and youth for exile bound,— a doleful throng.
2.795.1072
From far and near they drew, their hearts prepared
2.795.1073
and their possessions gathered, to sail forth
2.795.1074
to lands unknown, wherever o'er the wave
2.795.1075
I bade them follow. Now above the crest
2.795.1076
of loftiest Ida rose the morning-star,
2.795.1077
chief in the front of day. The Greeks held fast
2.795.1078
the captive gates of Troy. No help or hope
2.795.1079
was ours any more. Then, yielding all,
2.795.1080
and lifting once again my aged sire,
2.795.1081
for refuge to the distant hills I fled.