Aeneis
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Original / primary: Perseus Eng2
3.1.1
When Asia's power and Priam's race and throne,
3.1.2
though guiltless, were cast down by Heaven's decree,
3.1.3
when Ilium proud had fallen, and Neptune's Troy
3.1.4
in smouldering ash lay level with the ground,
3.1.5
to wandering exile then and regions wild
3.1.6
the gods by many an augury and sign
3.1.7
compelled us forth. We fashioned us a fleet
3.1.8
within Antander's haven, in the shade
3.1.9
of Phrygian Ida's peak (though knowing not
3.1.10
whither our fate would drive, or where afford
3.1.11
a resting-place at last), and my small band
3.1.12
of warriors I arrayed. As soon as smiled
3.1.13
the light of summer's prime, my reverend sire
3.1.14
Anchises bade us on the winds of Fate
3.1.15
to spread all sail. Through tears I saw recede
3.1.16
my native shore, the haven and the plains
3.1.17
where once was Troy. An exile on the seas,
3.1.18
with son and followers and household shrines,
3.1.19
and Troy's great guardian-gods, I took my way.
3.13.20
There is a far-off land where warriors breed,
3.13.21
where Thracians till the boundless plains, and where
3.13.22
the cruel-eyed Lycurgus once was king.
3.13.23
Troy's old ally it was, its deities
3.13.24
had brotherhood with ours before our fall.
3.13.25
Thither I fared, and on its winding shores
3.13.26
set my first walls, though partial Fate opposed
3.13.27
our entrance there. In memory of my name
3.13.28
I called its people the Aeneadae.
3.19.29
Unto Dione's daughter, and all gods
3.19.30
who blessed our young emprise, due gifts were paid;
3.19.31
and unto the supreme celestial King
3.19.32
I slew a fair white bull beside the sea.
3.19.33
But haply near my place of sacrifice
3.19.34
a mound was seen, and on the summit grew
3.19.35
a copse of corner and a myrtle tree,
3.19.36
with spear-like limbs outbranched on every side.
3.19.37
This I approached, and tried to rend away
3.19.38
from its deep roots that grove of gloomy green,
3.19.39
and dress my altars in its leafy boughs.
3.19.40
But, horrible to tell, a prodigy
3.19.41
smote my astonished eyes: for the first tree,
3.19.42
which from the earth with broken roots I drew,
3.19.43
dripped black with bloody drops, and gave the ground
3.19.44
dark stains of gore. Cold horror shook my frame,
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and every vein within me froze for fear.
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Once more I tried from yet another stock
3.19.47
the pliant stem to tear, and to explore
3.19.48
the mystery within,—but yet again
3.19.49
the foul bark oozed with clots of blackest gore!
3.19.50
From my deep-shaken soul I made a prayer
3.19.51
to all the woodland nymphs and to divine
3.19.52
Gradivus, patron of the Thracian plain,
3.19.53
to bless this sight, to lift its curse away.
3.19.54
But when at a third sheaf of myrtle spears
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I fell upon my knees, and tugged amain
3.19.56
against the adverse ground (I dread to tell!),
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a moaning and a wail from that deep grave
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burst forth and murmured in my listening ear:
3.19.59
“Why wound me, great Aeneas, in my woe?
3.19.60
O, spare the dead, nor let thy holy hands
3.19.61
do sacrilege and sin! I, Trojan-born,
3.19.62
was kin of thine. This blood is not of trees.
3.19.63
Haste from this murderous shore, this land of greed.
3.19.64
O, I am Polydorus! Haste away!
3.19.65
Here was I pierced; a crop of iron spears
3.19.66
has grown up o'er my breast, and multiplied
3.19.67
to all these deadly javelins, keen and strong.”
3.19.68
Then stood I, burdened with dark doubt and fear
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I quailed, my hair rose and my utterance choked.
3.49.70
For once this Polydorus, with much gold,
3.49.71
ill-fated Priam sent by stealth away
3.49.72
for nurture with the Thracian king, what time
3.49.73
Dardania's war Iooked hopeless, and her towers
3.49.74
were ringed about by unrelenting siege.
3.49.75
That king, when Ilium's cause was ebbing low,
3.49.76
and fortune frowned, gave o'er his plighted faith
3.49.77
to Agamemnon's might and victory;
3.49.78
he scorned all honor and did murder foul
3.49.79
on Polydorus, seizing lawlessly
3.49.80
on all the gold. O, whither at thy will,
3.49.81
curst greed of gold, may mortal hearts be driven?
3.49.82
Soon as my shuddering ceased, I told this tale
3.49.83
of prodigies before the people's chiefs,
3.49.84
who sat in conclave with my kingly sire,
3.49.85
and bade them speak their reverend counsel forth.
3.49.86
All found one voice; to leave that land of sin,
3.49.87
where foul abomination had profaned
3.49.88
a stranger's right; and once more to resign
3.49.89
our fleet unto the tempest and the wave.
3.49.90
But fit and solemn funeral rites were paid
3.49.91
to Polydorus. A high mound we reared
3.49.92
of heaped-up earth, and to his honored shade
3.49.93
built a perpetual altar, sadly dressed
3.49.94
in cypress dark and purple pall of woe.
3.49.95
Our Ilian women wailed with loosened hair;
3.49.96
new milk was sprinkled from a foaming cup,
3.49.97
and from the shallow bowl fresh blood out-poured
3.49.98
upon the sacred ground. So in its tomb
3.49.99
we laid his ghost to rest, and loudly sang,
3.49.100
with prayer for peace, the long, the last farewell.
3.69.101
After these things, when first the friendly sea
3.69.102
looked safe and fair, and o'er its tranquil plain
3.69.103
light-whispering breezes bade us launch away,
3.69.104
my men drew down our galleys to the brine,
3.69.105
thronging the shore. Soon out of port we ran,
3.69.106
and watched the hills and cities fading far.
3.69.107
There is a sacred island in mid-seas,
3.69.108
to fruitful Doris and to Neptune dear,
3.69.109
which grateful Phoebus, wielder of the bow,
3.69.110
the while it drifted loose from land to land,
3.69.111
chained firmly where the crags of Gyaros
3.69.112
and Myconos uptower, and bade it rest
3.69.113
immovable, in scorn of wind and wave.
3.69.114
Thither I sped; by this my weary ships
3.69.115
found undisturbed retreat and haven fair.
3.69.116
To land we came and saw with reverent eyes
3.69.117
Apollo's citadel. King Anius,
3.69.118
his people's king, and priest at Phoebus' fane,
3.69.119
came forth to meet us, wearing on his brow
3.69.120
the fillets and a holy laurel crown.
3.69.121
Unto Anchises he gave greeting kind,
3.69.122
claimed old acquaintance, grasped us by the hand,
3.69.123
and bade us both his roof and welcome share.
3.84.124
Then, kneeling at the shrine of time-worn stone:
3.84.125
“Thou who at Thymbra on the Trojan shore
3.84.126
hast often blessed my prayer, O, give to me
3.84.127
a hearth and home, and to this war-worn band
3.84.128
defensive towers and offspring multiplied
3.84.129
in an abiding city; give to Troy
3.84.130
a second citadel, that shall survive
3.84.131
Achilles' wrath and all our Argive foe.
3.84.132
Whom shall we follow? Whither lies our way?
3.84.133
Where wilt thou grant us an abiding-place?
3.84.134
Send forth, O King, thy voice oracular,
3.84.135
and on our spirits move.” Scarce had I spoke
3.84.136
when sudden trembling through the laurels ran
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and smote the holy portals; far and wide
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the mighty ridges of the mountain shook,
3.84.139
and from the opening shrine the tripod moaned.
3.84.140
Prostrate to earth we fall, as on our ears
3.84.141
this utterance breaks: “O breed of iron men,
3.84.142
ye sons of Dardanus! the self-same land
3.84.143
where bloomed at first your far-descended stem
3.84.144
shall to its bounteous bosom draw ye home.
3.84.145
Seek out your ancient Mother! There at last
3.84.146
Aeneas' race shall reign on every shore,
3.84.147
and his sons' sons, and all their house to be.”
3.84.148
So Phoebus spoke; and mighty joy uprose
3.84.149
from all my thronging people, who would know
3.84.150
where Phoebus' city lay, and whitherward
3.84.151
the god ordained the wandering tribe's return.
3.84.152
Then spake my father, pondering olden days
3.84.153
and sacred memories of heroes gone:
3.84.154
“Hear, chiefs and princes, what your hopes shall be!
3.84.155
The Isle of Crete, abode of lofty Jove,
3.84.156
rests in the middle sea. Thence Ida soars;
3.84.157
there is the cradle of our race. It boasts
3.84.158
a hundred cities, seats of fruitful power.
3.84.159
Thence our chief sire, if duly I recall
3.84.160
the olden tale, King Teucer sprung, who first
3.84.161
touched on the Trojan shore, and chose his seat
3.84.162
of kingly power. There was no Ilium then
3.84.163
nor towered Pergama; in lowly vales
3.84.164
their dwelling; hence the ancient worship given
3.84.165
to the Protectress of Mount Cybele,
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mother of Gods, what time in Ida's grove
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the brazen Corybantic cymbals clang,
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or sacred silence guards her mystery,
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and lions yoked her royal chariot draw.
3.84.170
Up, then, and follow the behests divine!
3.84.171
Pour offering to the winds, and point your keels
3.84.172
unto that realm of Minos. It is near.
3.84.173
if Jove but bless, the third day's dawn should see
3.84.174
our ships at Cretan land.” So, having said,
3.84.175
he slew the victims for each altar's praise.
3.84.176
A bull to Neptune, and a bull to thee,
3.84.177
o beauteous Apollo! A black lamb
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unto the clouds and storms; but fleece of snow
3.84.179
to the mild zephyrs was our offering.
3.121.180
The tale was told us that Idomeneus,
3.121.181
from his hereditary kindgom driven,
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had left his Crete abandoned, that no foe
3.121.183
now harbored there, but all its dwellings lay
3.121.184
untenanted of man. So forth we sailed
3.121.185
out of the port of Delos, and sped far
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along the main. The maenad-haunted hills
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of Naxos came in view; the ridges green
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of fair Donysa, with Olearos,
3.121.189
and Paros, gleaming white, and Cyclades
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scattered among the waves, as close we ran
3.121.191
where thick-strewn islands vex the channelled seas
3.121.192
with rival shout the sailors cheerly called:
3.121.193
“On, comrades! On, to Crete and to our sires!”
3.121.194
Freely behind us blew the friendly winds,
3.121.195
and gave smooth passage to that fabled shore,
3.121.196
the land of the Curetes, friends of Jove.
3.121.197
There eagerly I labored at the walls
3.121.198
of our long-prayed-for city; and its name
3.121.199
was Pergamea; to my Trojan band,
3.121.200
pleased with such name, I gave command to build
3.121.201
altar and hearth, and raise the lofty tower.
3.135.202
But scarce the ships were beached along the strand
3.135.203
(While o'er the isle my busy mariners
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ploughed in new fields and took them wives once more, —
3.135.205
I giving homes and laws) when suddenly
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a pestilence from some infectious sky
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seized on man's flesh, and horribly exhaled
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o'er trees and crops a fatal year of plague.
3.135.209
Some breathed their last, while others weak and worn
3.135.210
lived on; the dog-star parched the barren fields;
3.135.211
grass withered, and the sickly, mouldering corn
3.135.212
refused us life. My aged father then
3.135.213
bade us re-cross the waves and re-implore
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Apollo's mercy at his island shrine;
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if haply of our weariness and woe
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he might vouchsafe the end, or bid us find
3.135.217
help for our task, or guidance o'er the sea.
3.147.218
'T was night, and sleep possessed all breathing things;
3.147.219
when, lo! the sacred effigies divine,
3.147.220
the Phrygian gods which through the flames I bore
3.147.221
from fallen Troy, seemed in a vision clear
3.147.222
to stand before me where I slumbering lay,
3.147.223
bathed in bright beams which from the moon at full
3.147.224
streamed through the latticed wall: and thus they spoke
3.147.225
to soothe my care away. “Apollo's word,
3.147.226
which in far Delos the god meant for thee,
3.147.227
is uttered here. Behold, he sends ourselves
3.147.228
to this thy house, before thy prayer is made.
3.147.229
We from Troy's ashes have companioned thee
3.147.230
in every fight; and we the swollen seas,
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guided by thee, in thine own ships have crossed;
3.147.232
our power divine shall set among the stars
3.147.233
thy seed to be, and to thy city give
3.147.234
dominion evermore. For mighty men
3.147.235
go build its mighty walls! Seek not to shun
3.147.236
the hard, long labors of an exile's way.
3.147.237
Change this abode! Not thine this Cretan shore,
3.147.238
nor here would Delian Phoebus have thee bide.
3.147.239
There is a land the roving Greeks have named
3.147.240
Hesperia. It is a storied realm
3.147.241
made mighty by great wars and fruitful land.
3.147.242
Oenotrians had it, and their sons, 't is said,
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have called it Italy, a chieftain's name
3.147.244
to a whole region given. That land alone
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our true abode can be; for Dardanus
3.147.246
was cradled there, and old Iasius,
3.147.247
their blood the oldest of our ancient line.
3.147.248
Arise! go forth and cheer thy father gray
3.147.249
with the glad tidings! Bid him doubt no more!
3.147.250
Ausonia seek and Corythus; for Jove
3.147.251
denies this Cretan realm to thine and thee.”
3.147.252
I marvelled at the heavenly presences
3.147.253
so vocal and so bright, for 't was not sleep;
3.147.254
but face to face I deemed I could discern
3.147.255
each countenance august and holy brow,
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each mantled head; and from my body ran
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cold sweat of awe. From my low couch I sprang,
3.147.258
lifting to heaven my suppliant hands and prayer,
3.147.259
and o'er my hearth poured forth libations free.
3.147.260
After th' auspicious offering, I told
3.147.261
Anchises the whole tale in order due.
3.147.262
He owned our stock two-branched, of our great sires
3.147.263
the twofold line, and that his thought had strayed,
3.147.264
in new confusion mingling ancient names;
3.147.265
then spoke: “O son, in Ilium's doom severe
3.147.266
afflicted ever! To my ears alone
3.147.267
this dark vicissitude Cassandra sang.
3.147.268
I mind me now that her wild tongue foretold
3.147.269
such destiny. For oft she called aloud
3.147.270
‘Hesperia!’ oft ‘Italia's kingdom!’ called.
3.147.271
But who had faith that Teucer's sons should come
3.147.272
to far Hesperia? What mortal ear
3.147.273
gave heed to sad Cassandra's voice divine?
3.147.274
Now Phoebus speaks. Obedient let us be,
3.147.275
and, warned by him, our happier Iot pursue!”
3.147.276
He spoke: with heart of hope we all obeyed;
3.147.277
again we changed abode; and, leaving there
3.147.278
a feeble few, again with spreading sails
3.147.279
we coursed in hollow ship the spacious sea.
3.192.280
When from the deep the shores had faded far,
3.192.281
and only sky and sea were round our way,
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full in the zenith hung a purple cloud,
3.192.283
storm-laden, dark as night, and every wave
3.192.284
grew black and angry, while perpetual gales
3.192.285
came rolling o'er the main, and mountain-high
3.192.286
the wreckful surges rose; our ships were hurled
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wide o'er the whirling waters; thunder-clouds
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and misty murk of night made end of all
3.192.289
the light of heaven, save where the rifted storm
3.192.290
flashed with the oft-reiterate shaft of Jove.
3.192.291
Then went we drifting, beaten from our course,
3.192.292
upon a trackless sea. Not even the eyes
3.192.293
of Palinurus could tell night from noon
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or ken our way. Three days of blinding dark,
3.192.295
three nights without a star, we roved the seas;
3.192.296
The fourth, land seemed to rise. Far distant hills
3.192.297
and rolling smoke we saw. Down came our sails,
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out flew the oars, and with prompt stroke the crews
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swept the dark waves and tossed the crested foam.
3.192.300
From such sea-peril safe, I made the shores
3.192.301
of Strophades,—a name the Grecians gave
3.192.302
to islands in the broad Ionic main, —
3.192.303
the Strophades, where dread Celaeno bides,
3.192.304
with other Harpies, who had quit the halls
3.192.305
of stricken Phineus, and for very fear
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fled from the routed feast; no prodigy
3.192.307
more vile than these, nor plague more pitiless
3.192.308
ere rose by wrath divine from Stygian wave;
3.192.309
birds seem they, but with face like woman-kind;
3.192.310
foul-flowing bellies, hands with crooked claws,
3.192.311
and ghastly lips they have, with hunger pale.
3.192.312
Scarce had we made the haven, when, behold!
3.192.313
Fair herds of cattle roaming a wide plain,
3.192.314
and horned goats, untended, feeding free
3.192.315
in pastures green, surprised our happy eyes.
3.192.316
with eager blades we ran to take and slay,
3.192.317
asking of every god, and chicfly Jove,
3.192.318
to share the welcome prize: we ranged a feast,
3.192.319
with turf-built couches and a banquet-board
3.192.320
along the curving strand. But in a trice,
3.192.321
down from the high hills swooping horribly,
3.192.322
the Harpies loudly shrieking, flapped their wings,
3.192.323
snatched at our meats, and with infectious touch
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polluted all; infernal was their cry,
3.192.325
the stench most vile. Once more in covert far
3.192.326
beneath a caverned rock, and close concealed
3.192.327
with trees and branching shade, we raised aloft
3.192.328
our tables, altars, and rekindled fires.
3.192.329
Once more from haunts unknown the clamorous flock
3.192.330
from every quarter flew, and seized its prey
3.192.331
with taloned feet and carrion lip most foul.
3.192.332
I called my mates to arms and opened war
3.192.333
on that accursed brood. My band obeyed;
3.192.334
and, hiding in deep grass their swords and shields,
3.192.335
in ambush lay. But presently the foe
3.192.336
swept o'er the winding shore with loud alarm :
3.192.337
then from a sentry-crag, Misenus blew
3.192.338
a signal on his hollow horn. My men
3.192.339
flew to the combat strange, and fain would wound
3.192.340
with martial steel those foul birds of the sea;
3.192.341
but on their sides no wounding blade could fall,
3.192.342
nor any plume be marred. In swiftest flight
3.192.343
to starry skies they soared, and left on earth
3.192.344
their half-gnawed, stolen feast, and footprints foul.
3.192.345
Celaeno only on a beetling crag
3.192.346
took lofty perch, and, prophetess of ill,
3.192.347
shrieked malediction from her vulture breast:
3.192.348
“Because of slaughtered kine and ravished herd,
3.192.349
sons of Laomedon, have ye made war?
3.192.350
And will ye from their rightful kingdom drive
3.192.351
the guiltless Harpies? Hear, O, hear my word
3.192.352
(Long in your bosoms may it rankle sore!)
3.192.353
which Jove omnipotent to Phoebus gave,
3.192.354
Phoebus to me: a word of doom, which I,
3.192.355
the Furies' elder sister, here unfold:
3.192.356
‘To Italy ye fare. The willing winds
3.192.357
your call have heard; and ye shall have your prayer
3.192.358
in some Italian haven safely moored.
3.192.359
But never shall ye rear the circling walls
3.192.360
of your own city, till for this our blood
3.192.361
by you unjustly spilt, your famished jaws
3.192.362
bite at your tables, aye,—and half devour.’”
3.258.363
She spoke: her pinions bore her to the grove,
3.258.364
and she was seen no more. But all my band
3.258.365
shuddered with shock of fear in each cold vein;
3.258.366
their drooping spirits trusted swords no more,
3.258.367
but turned to prayers and offerings, asking grace,
3.258.368
scarce knowing if those creatures were divine,
3.258.369
or but vast birds, ill-omened and unclean.
3.258.370
Father Anchises to the gods in heaven
3.258.371
uplifted suppliant hands, and on that shore
3.258.372
due ritual made, crying aloud; “Ye gods
3.258.373
avert this curse, this evil turn away!
3.258.374
Smile, Heaven, upon your faithful votaries.”
3.258.375
Then bade he launch away, the chain undo,
3.258.376
set every cable free and spread all sail.
3.258.377
O'er the white waves we flew, and took our way
3.258.378
where'er the helmsman or the winds could guide.
3.258.379
Now forest-clad Zacynthus met our gaze,
3.258.380
engirdled by the waves; Dulichium,
3.258.381
same, and Neritos, a rocky steep,
3.258.382
uprose. We passed the cliffs of Ithaca
3.258.383
that called Laertes king, and flung our curse
3.258.384
on fierce Ulysses' hearth and native land.
3.258.385
nigh hoar Leucate's clouded crest we drew,
3.258.386
where Phoebus' temple, feared by mariners,
3.258.387
loomed o'er us; thitherward we steered and reached
3.258.388
the little port and town. Our weary fleet
3.258.389
dropped anchor, and lay beached along the strand.
3.278.390
So, safe at land, our hopeless peril past,
3.278.391
we offered thanks to Jove, and kindled high
3.278.392
his altars with our feast and sacrifice;
3.278.393
then, gathering on Actium's holy shore,
3.278.394
made fair solemnities of pomp and game.
3.278.395
My youth, anointing their smooth, naked limbs,
3.278.396
wrestled our wonted way. For glad were we,
3.278.397
who past so many isles of Greece had sped
3.278.398
and 'scaped our circling foes. Now had the sun
3.278.399
rolled through the year's full circle, and the waves
3.278.400
were rough with icy winter's northern gales.
3.278.401
I hung for trophy on that temple door
3.278.402
a swelling shield of brass (which once was worn
3.278.403
by mighty Abas) graven with this line:
3.278.404
SPOIL OF AENEAS FROM TRIUMPHANT FOES.
3.278.405
Then from that haven I command them forth;
3.278.406
my good crews take the thwarts, smiting the sea
3.278.407
with rival strokes, and skim the level main.
3.278.408
Soon sank Phaeacia's wind-swept citadels
3.278.409
out of our view; we skirted the bold shores
3.278.410
of proud Epirus, in Chaonian land,
3.278.411
and made Buthrotum's port and towering town.
3.294.412
Here wondrous tidings met us, that the son
3.294.413
of Priam, Helenus, held kingly sway
3.294.414
o'er many Argive cities, having wed
3.294.415
the Queen of Pyrrhus, great Achilles' son,
3.294.416
and gained his throne; and that Andromache
3.294.417
once more was wife unto a kindred lord.
3.294.418
Amazement held me; all my bosom burned
3.294.419
to see the hero's face and hear this tale
3.294.420
of strange vicissitude. So up I climbed,
3.294.421
leaving the haven, fleet, and friendly shore.
3.294.422
That self-same hour outside the city walls,
3.294.423
within a grove where flowed the mimic stream
3.294.424
of a new Simois, Andromache,
3.294.425
with offerings to the dead, and gifts of woe,
3.294.426
poured forth libation, and invoked the shade
3.294.427
of Hector, at a tomb which her fond grief
3.294.428
had consecrated to perpetual tears,
3.294.429
though void; a mound of fair green turf it stood,
3.294.430
and near it rose twin altars to his name.
3.294.431
She saw me drawing near; our Trojan helms
3.294.432
met her bewildered eyes, and, terror-struck
3.294.433
at the portentous sight, she swooning fell
3.294.434
and lay cold, rigid, lifeless, till at last,
3.294.435
scarce finding voice, her lips addressed me thus :
3.294.436
“Have I true vision? Bringest thou the word
3.294.437
Of truth, O goddess-born? Art still in flesh?
3.294.438
Or if sweet light be fled, my Hector, where?”
3.294.439
With flood of tears she spoke, and all the grove
3.294.440
reechoed to her cry. Scarce could I frame
3.294.441
brief answer to her passion, but replied
3.294.442
with broken voice and accents faltering:
3.294.443
“I live, 't is true. I lengthen out my days
3.294.444
through many a desperate strait. But O, believe
3.294.445
that what thine eyes behold is vision true.
3.294.446
Alas! what lot is thine, that wert unthroned
3.294.447
from such a husband's side? What after-fate
3.294.448
could give thee honor due? Andromache,
3.294.449
once Hector's wife, is Pyrrhus still thy lord?”
3.320.450
With drooping brows and lowly voice she cried :
3.320.451
“O, happy only was that virgin blest,
3.320.452
daughter of Priam, summoned forth to die
3.320.453
in sight of Ilium, on a foeman's tomb!
3.320.454
No casting of the lot her doom decreed,
3.320.455
nor came she to her conqueror's couch a slave.
3.320.456
Myself from burning Ilium carried far
3.320.457
o'er seas and seas, endured the swollen pride
3.320.458
of that young scion of Achilles' race,
3.320.459
and bore him as his slave a son. When he
3.320.460
sued for Hermione, of Leda's line,
3.320.461
and nuptial-bond with Lacedaemon's Iords,
3.320.462
I, the slave-wife, to Helenus was given,
3.320.463
and slave was wed with slave. But afterward
3.320.464
Orestes, crazed by loss of her he loved,
3.320.465
and ever fury-driven from crime to crime,
3.320.466
crept upon Pyrrhus in a careless hour
3.320.467
and murdered him upon his own hearth-stone.
3.320.468
Part of the realm of Neoptolemus
3.320.469
fell thus to Helenus, who called his lands
3.320.470
Chaonian, and in Trojan Chaon's name
3.320.471
his kingdom is Chaonia. Yonder height
3.320.472
is Pergamus, our Ilian citadel.
3.320.473
What power divine did waft thee to our shore,
3.320.474
not knowing whither? Tell me of the boy
3.320.475
Ascanius! Still breathes he earthly air?
3.320.476
In Troy she bore him—is he mourning still
3.320.477
that mother ravished from his childhood's eyes?
3.320.478
what ancient valor stirs the manly soul
3.320.479
of thine own son, of Hector's sister's child?”
3.320.480
Thus poured she forth full many a doleful word
3.320.481
with unavailing tears. But as she ceased,
3.320.482
out of the city gates appeared the son
3.320.483
of Priam, Helenus, with princely train.
3.320.484
He welcomed us as kin, and glad at heart
3.320.485
gave guidance to his house, though oft his words
3.320.486
fell faltering and few, with many a tear.
3.320.487
Soon to a humbler Troy I lift my eyes,
3.320.488
and of a mightier Pergamus discern
3.320.489
the towering semblance; there a scanty stream
3.320.490
runs on in Xanthus' name, and my glad arms
3.320.491
the pillars of a Scaean gate embrace.
3.320.492
My Teucrian mariners with welcome free
3.320.493
enjoyed the friendly town; his ample halls
3.320.494
our royal host threw wide; full wine-cups flowed
3.320.495
within the palace; golden feast was spread,
3.320.496
and many a goblet quaffed. Day followed day,
3.320.497
while favoring breezes beckoned us to sea,
3.320.498
and swelled the waiting canvas as they blew.
3.320.499
Then to the prophet-priest I made this prayer:
3.320.500
“Offspring of Troy, interpreter of Heaven!
3.320.501
Who knowest Phoebus' power, and readest well
3.320.502
the tripod, stars, and vocal laurel leaves
3.320.503
to Phoebus dear, who know'st of every bird
3.320.504
the ominous swift wing or boding song,
3.320.505
o, speak! For all my course good omens showed,
3.320.506
and every god admonished me to sail
3.320.507
in quest of Italy's far-distant shores;
3.320.508
but lone Celaeno, heralding strange woe,
3.320.509
foretold prodigious horror, vengeance dark,
3.320.510
and vile, unnatural hunger. How elude
3.320.511
such perils? Or by what hard duty done
3.320.512
may such huge host of evils vanquished be?”
3.320.513
Then Helenus, with sacrifice of kine
3.320.514
in order due, implored the grace of Heaven,
3.320.515
unloosed the fillets from his sacred brow,
3.320.516
and led me, Phoebus, to thy temple's door,
3.320.517
awed by th' o'er-brooding godhead, whose true priest,
3.320.518
with lips inspired, made this prophetic song:
3.374.519
“O goddess-born, indubitably shines
3.374.520
the blessing of great gods upon thy path
3.374.521
across the sea; the heavenly King supreme
3.374.522
thy destiny ordains; 't is he unfolds
3.374.523
the grand vicissitude, which now pursues
3.374.524
a course immutable. I will declare
3.374.525
of thy large fate a certain bounded part;
3.374.526
that fearless thou may'st view the friendly sea,
3.374.527
and in Ausonia's haven at the last
3.374.528
find thee a fixed abode. Than this no more
3.374.529
the Sister Fates to Helenus unveil,
3.374.530
and Juno, Saturn's daughter, grants no more.
3.374.531
First, that Italia (which nigh at hand
3.374.532
thou deemest, and wouldst fondly enter in
3.374.533
by yonder neighboring bays) lies distant far
3.374.534
o'er trackless course and long, with interval
3.374.535
of far-extended lands. Thine oars must ply
3.374.536
the waves of Sicily; thy fleet must cleave
3.374.537
the large expanse of that Ausonian brine;
3.374.538
the waters of Avernus thou shalt see,
3.374.539
and that enchanted island where abides
3.374.540
Aeaean Circe, ere on tranquil shore
3.374.541
thou mayest plant thy nation. Lo! a sign
3.374.542
I tell thee; hide this wonder in thy heart:
3.374.543
Beside a certain stream's sequestered wave,
3.374.544
thy troubled eyes, in shadowy flex grove
3.374.545
that fringes on the river, shall descry
3.374.546
a milk-white, monstrous sow, with teeming brood
3.374.547
of thirty young, new littered, white like her,
3.374.548
all clustering at her teats, as prone she lies.
3.374.549
There is thy city's safe, predestined ground,
3.374.550
and there thy labors' end. Vex not thy heart
3.374.551
about those ‘tables bitten’, for kind fate
3.374.552
thy path will show, and Phoebus bless thy prayer.
3.374.553
But from these lands and yon Italian shore,
3.374.554
where from this sea of ours the tide sweeps in,
3.374.555
escape and flee, for all its cities hold
3.374.556
pernicious Greeks, thy foes: the Locri there
3.374.557
have builded walls; the wide Sallentine fields
3.374.558
are filled with soldiers of Idomeneus;
3.374.559
there Meliboean Philoctetes' town,
3.374.560
petilia, towers above its little wall.
3.374.561
Yea, even when thy fleet has crossed the main,
3.374.562
and from new altars built along the shore
3.374.563
thy vows to Heaven are paid, throw o'er thy head
3.374.564
a purple mantle, veiling well thy brows,
3.374.565
lest, while the sacrificial fire ascends
3.374.566
in offering to the gods, thine eye behold
3.374.567
some face of foe, and every omen fail.
3.374.568
Let all thy people keep this custom due,
3.374.569
and thou thyself be faithful; let thy seed
3.374.570
forever thus th' immaculate rite maintain.
3.374.571
After departing hence, thou shalt be blown
3.374.572
toward Sicily, and strait Pelorus' bounds
3.374.573
will open wide. Then take the leftward way:
3.374.574
those leftward waters in long circuit sweep,
3.374.575
far from that billowy coast, the opposing side.
3.374.576
These regions, so they tell, in ages gone
3.374.577
by huge and violent convulsion riven
3.374.578
(Such mutability is wrought by time),
3.374.579
sprang wide asunder; where the doubled strand
3.374.580
sole and continuous lay, the sea's vast power
3.374.581
burst in between, and bade its waves divide
3.374.582
Hesperia's bosom from fair Sicily,
3.374.583
while with a straitened firth it interflowed
3.374.584
their fields and cities sundered shore from shore.
3.374.585
The right side Scylla keeps; the left is given
3.374.586
to pitiless Charybdis, who draws down
3.374.587
to the wild whirling of her steep abyss
3.374.588
the monster waves, and ever and anon
3.374.589
flings them at heaven, to lash the tranquil stars.
3.374.590
But Scylla, prisoned in her eyeless cave,
3.374.591
thrusts forth her face, and pulls upon the rocks
3.374.592
ship after ship; the parts that first be seen
3.374.593
are human; a fair-breasted virgin she,
3.374.594
down to the womb; but all that lurks below
3.374.595
is a huge-membered fish, where strangely join
3.374.596
the flukes of dolphins and the paunch of wolves.
3.374.597
3.374.597
Better by far to round the distant goal
3.374.598
of the Trinacrian headlands, veering wide
3.374.599
from thy true course, than ever thou shouldst see
3.374.600
that shapeless Scylla in her vaulted cave,
3.374.601
where grim rocks echo her dark sea-dogs' roar.
3.374.602
Yea, more, if aught of prescience be bestowed
3.374.603
on Helenus, if trusted prophet he,
3.374.604
and Phoebus to his heart true voice have given,
3.374.605
o goddess-born, one counsel chief of all
3.374.606
I tell thee oft, and urge it o'er and o'er.
3.374.607
To Juno's godhead lift thy Ioudest prayer;
3.374.608
to Juno chant a fervent votive song,
3.374.609
and with obedient offering persuade
3.374.610
that potent Queen. So shalt thou, triumphing,
3.374.611
to Italy be sped, and leave behind
3.374.612
Trinacria.When wafted to that shore,
3.374.613
repair to Cumae's hill, and to the Lake
3.374.614
Avernus with its whispering grove divine.
3.374.615
There shalt thou see a frenzied prophetess,
3.374.616
who from beneath the hollow scarped crag
3.374.617
sings oracles, or characters on leaves
3.374.618
mysterious names. Whate'er the virgin writes,
3.374.619
on leaves inscribing the portentous song,
3.374.620
she sets in order, and conceals them well
3.374.621
in her deep cave, where they abide unchanged
3.374.622
in due array. Yet not a care has she,
3.374.623
if with some swinging hinge a breeze sweeps in,
3.374.624
to catch them as they whirl: if open door
3.374.625
disperse them flutterlig through the hollow rock,
3.374.626
she will not link their shifted sense anew,
3.374.627
nor re-invent her fragmentary song.
3.374.628
Oft her unanswered votaries depart,
3.374.629
scorning the Sibyl's shrine. But deem not thou
3.374.630
thy tarrying too Iong, whate'er thy stay.
3.374.631
Though thy companions chide, though winds of power
3.374.632
invite thy ship to sea, and well would speed
3.374.633
the swelling sail, yet to that Sibyl go.
3.374.634
Pray that her own lips may sing forth for thee
3.374.635
the oracles, uplifting her dread voice
3.374.636
in willing prophecy. Her rede shall tell
3.374.637
of Italy, its wars and tribes to be,
3.374.638
and of what way each burden and each woe
3.374.639
may be escaped, or borne. Her favoring aid
3.374.640
will grant swift, happy voyages to thy prayer.
3.374.641
Such counsels Heaven to my lips allows.
3.374.642
arise, begone! and by thy glorious deeds
3.374.643
set Troy among the stars! “
3.463.644
So spake the prophet with benignant voice.
3.463.645
Then gifts he bade be brought of heavy gold
3.463.646
and graven ivory, which to our ships
3.463.647
he bade us bear; each bark was Ioaded full
3.463.648
with messy silver and Dodona's pride
3.463.649
of brazen cauldrons; a cuirass he gave
3.463.650
of linked gold enwrought and triple chain;
3.463.651
a noble helmet, too, with flaming crest
3.463.652
and lofty cone, th' accoutrement erewhile
3.463.653
of Neoptolemus. My father too
3.463.654
had fit gifts from the King; whose bounty then
3.463.655
gave steeds and riders; and new gear was sent
3.463.656
to every sea-worn ship, while he supplied
3.463.657
seafarers, kit to all my loyal crews.
3.472.658
Anchises bade us speedily set sail,
3.472.659
nor lose a wind so fair; and answering him,
3.472.660
Apollo's priest made reverent adieu:
3.472.661
“Anchises, honored by the love sublime
3.472.662
of Venus, self and twice in safety borne
3.472.663
from falling Troy, chief care of kindly Heaven,
3.472.664
th' Ausonian shore is thine. Sail thitherward!
3.472.665
For thou art pre-ordained to travel far
3.472.666
o'er yonder seas; far in the distance lies
3.472.667
that region of Ausonia, Phoebus' voice
3.472.668
to thee made promise of. Onward, I say,
3.472.669
o blest in the exceeding loyal love
3.472.670
of thy dear son! Why keep thee longer now?
3.472.671
Why should my words yon gathering winds detain?”
3.472.672
Likewise Andromache in mournful guise
3.472.673
took last farewell, bringing embroidered robes
3.472.674
of golden woof; a princely Phrygian cloak
3.472.675
she gave Ascanius, vying with the King
3.472.676
in gifts of honor; and threw o'er the boy
3.472.677
the labors of her loom, with words like these:
3.472.678
“Accept these gifts, sweet youth, memorials
3.472.679
of me and my poor handicraft, to prove
3.472.680
th' undying friendship of Andromache,
3.472.681
once Hector's wife. Take these last offerings
3.472.682
of those who are thy kin—O thou that art
3.472.683
of my Astyanax in all this world
3.472.684
the only image! His thy lovely eyes!
3.472.685
Thy hands, thy lips, are even what he bore,
3.472.686
and like thy own his youthful bloom would be.”
3.472.687
Thus I made answer, turning to depart
3.472.688
with rising tears: “Live on, and be ye blessed,
3.472.689
whose greatness is accomplished! As for me,
3.472.690
from change to change Fate summons, and I go;
3.472.691
but ye have won repose. No leagues of sea
3.472.692
await your cleaving keel. Not yours the quest
3.472.693
of fading Italy's delusive shore.
3.472.694
Here a new Xanthus and a second Troy
3.472.695
your labor fashioned and your eyes may see—
3.472.696
more blest, I trust, less tempting to our foes!
3.472.697
If e'er on Tiber and its bordering vales
3.472.698
I safely enter, and these eyes behold
3.472.699
our destined walls, then in fraternal bond
3.472.700
let our two nations live, whose mutual boast
3.472.701
is one Dardanian blood, one common story.
3.472.702
Epirus with Hesperia shall be
3.472.703
one Troy in heart and soul. But this remains
3.472.704
for our sons' sons the happy task and care.”
3.506.705
Forth o'er the seas we sped and kept our course
3.506.706
nigh the Ceraunian headland, where begins
3.506.707
the short sea-passage unto Italy.
3.506.708
Soon sank the sun, while down the shadowed hills
3.506.709
stole deeper gloom; then making shore, we flung
3.506.710
our bodies on a dry, sea-bordering sand,
3.506.711
couched on earth's welcome breast; the oars were ranged
3.506.712
in order due; the tides of slumber dark
3.506.713
o'erflowed our lives. But scarce the chariot
3.506.714
of Night, on wings of swift, obedient Hours,
3.506.715
had touched the middle sky, when wakeful sprang
3.506.716
good Palinurus from his pillowed stone:
3.506.717
with hand at ear he caught each airy gust
3.506.718
and questioned of the winds; the gliding stars
3.506.719
he called by name, as onward they advanced
3.506.720
through the still heaven; Arcturus he beheld,
3.506.721
the Hyades, rain-bringers, the twin Bears,
3.506.722
and vast Orion girt in golden arms.
3.506.723
He blew a trumpet from his ship; our camp
3.506.724
stirred to the signal for embarking; soon
3.506.725
we rode the seas once more with swelling sail.
3.521.726
Scarce had Aurora's purple from the sky
3.521.727
warned off the stars, when Iying very low
3.521.728
along th' horizon, the dimmed hills we saw
3.521.729
of Italy; Achates first gave cry
3.521.730
“Italia!” with answering shouts of joy,
3.521.731
my comrades' voices cried, “Italia, hail!”
3.521.732
Anchises, then, wreathed a great bowl with flowers
3.521.733
and filled with wine, invoking Heaven to bless,
3.521.734
and thus he prayed from our ship's lofty stern:
3.521.735
“O Iords of land and sea and every storm!
3.521.736
Breathe favoring breezes for our onward way!”
3.521.737
Fresh blew the prayed-for winds. A haven fair
3.521.738
soon widened near us; and its heights were crowned
3.521.739
by a Greek fane to Pallas. Yet my men
3.521.740
furled sail and shoreward veered the pointing prow.
3.521.741
the port receding from the orient wave
3.521.742
is curved into a bow; on either side
3.521.743
the jutting headlands toss the salt sea-foam
3.521.744
and hide the bay itself. Like double wall
3.521.745
the towered crags send down protecting arms,
3.521.746
while distant from the shore the temple stands.
3.521.747
Here on a green sward, the first omen given,
3.521.748
I saw four horses grazing through the field,
3.521.749
each white as snow. Father Anchises cried:
3.521.750
“Is war thy gift, O new and alien land?
3.521.751
Horses make war; of war these creatures bode.
3.521.752
Yet oft before the chariot of peace
3.521.753
their swift hoofs go, and on their necks they bear
3.521.754
th' obedient yoke and rein. Therefore a hope
3.521.755
of peace is also ours.” Then we implored
3.521.756
Minerva's mercy, at her sacred shrine,
3.521.757
the mail-clad goddess who gave welcome there;
3.521.758
and at an altar, mantling well our brows
3.521.759
the Phrygian way, as Helenus ordained,
3.521.760
we paid the honors his chief counsel urged,
3.521.761
with blameless rite, to Juno, Argive Queen.
3.548.762
No tarrying now, but after sacrifice
3.548.763
we twirled the sailyards and shook out all sail,
3.548.764
leaving the cities of the sons of Greece
3.548.765
and that distrusted land. Tarentum's bay
3.548.766
soon smiled before us, town of Hercules,
3.548.767
if fame be true; opposing it uptowers
3.548.768
Lacinia's headland unto Juno dear,
3.548.769
the heights of Caulon, and that sailors' bane,
3.548.770
ship-shattering Scylaceum. Thence half seen,
3.548.771
trinacrian Aetna cleaves th' horizon line;
3.548.772
we hear from far the crash of shouting seas,
3.548.773
where lifted billows leap the tide-swept sand.
3.548.774
Father Anchises cried: “'T is none but she—
3.548.775
Charybdis! Helenus this reef foretold,
3.548.776
and rocks of dreadful name. O, fly, my men!
3.548.777
Rise like one man with long, strong sweep of oars!”
3.548.778
Not unobedient they! First Palinure
3.548.779
veered to the leftward wave the willing keel,
3.548.780
and sails and oars together leftward strove.
3.548.781
We shot to skyward on the arching surge,
3.548.782
then, as she sank, dropped deeper than the grave;
3.548.783
thrice bellowed the vast cliffs from vaulted wall;
3.548.784
thrice saw we spouted foam and showers of stars.
3.548.785
After these things both wind and sun did fail;
3.548.786
and weary, worn, not witting of our way,
3.548.787
we drifted shoreward to the Cyclops' land.
3.570.788
A spreading bay is there, impregnable
3.570.789
to all invading storms; and Aetna's throat
3.570.790
with roar of frightful ruin thunders nigh.
3.570.791
Now to the realm of light it lifts a cloud
3.570.792
of pitch-black, whirling smoke, and fiery dust,
3.570.793
shooting out globes of flame, with monster tongues
3.570.794
that lick the stars; now huge crags of itself,
3.570.795
out of the bowels of the mountain torn,
3.570.796
its maw disgorges, while the molten rock
3.570.797
rolls screaming skyward; from the nether deep
3.570.798
the fathomless abyss makes ebb and flow.
3.570.799
Enceladus, his body lightning-scarred,
3.570.800
lies prisoned under all, so runs the tale:
3.570.801
o'er him gigantic Aetna breathes in fire
3.570.802
from crack and seam; and if he haply turn
3.570.803
to change his wearied side, Trinacria's isle
3.570.804
trembles and moans, and thick fumes mantle heaven.
3.570.805
That night in screen and covert of a grove
3.570.806
we bore the dire convulsion, unaware
3.570.807
whence the loud horror came. For not a star
3.570.808
its lamp allowed, nor burned in upper sky
3.570.809
the constellated fires, but all was gloom,
3.570.810
and frowning night confined the moon in cloud.
3.588.811
When from the eastern waves the light of morn
3.588.812
began to peer, and from the upper sky
3.588.813
Aurora flamed away the dark and dew,
3.588.814
out of the forest sprang a startling shape
3.588.815
of hunger-wasted misery; a man
3.588.816
in wretched guise, who shoreward came with hands
3.588.817
outstretched in supplication. We turned back
3.588.818
and scanned him well. All grime and foulness he,
3.588.819
with long and tangled beard, his savage garb
3.588.820
fastened with thorns; but in all else he seemed
3.588.821
a Greek, and in his country's league of arms
3.588.822
sent to the seige of Troy. Then he beheld
3.588.823
the Dardan habit, and our Trojan steel,
3.588.824
he somewhat paused, as if in dread dismay
3.588.825
such sight to see, and falteringly moved;
3.588.826
but soon with headlong steps he sought the shore,
3.588.827
ejaculating broken sobs and prayers:
3.588.828
“By stars above! By gods on high! O, hear!
3.588.829
By this bright heavenly air we mortals breathe,
3.588.830
save me, sweet Trojans! Carry me away
3.588.831
unto what land ye will! I ask no more.
3.588.832
I came, I know it, in the ships of Greece;
3.588.833
and I did war, 't is true, with Ilium's gods.
3.588.834
O, if the crime deserve it, fling my corse
3.588.835
on yonder waves, and in the boundless brine
3.588.836
sink me forever! Give me in my death
3.588.837
the comfort that by human hands I die.”
3.588.838
He clasped our knees, and writhing on his own
3.588.839
clung fast. We bid him tell his race and name,
3.588.840
and by what fate pursued. Anchises gave
3.588.841
his own right hand in swift and generous aid,
3.588.842
and by prompt token cheered the exile's heart,
3.588.843
who, banishing his fears, poured forth this tale :—
3.613.844
“My home was Ithaca, and I partook
3.613.845
the fortunes of Ulysses evil-starred.
3.613.846
My name is Achemenides, my sire
3.613.847
was Adamastus, and I sailed for Troy,
3.613.848
being so poor,—O, that I ne'er had change
3.613.849
the lot I bore! In yon vast Cyclops' cave
3.613.850
my comrades, flying from its gruesome door,
3.613.851
left me behind, forgotten. 'T is a house
3.613.852
of gory feasts of flesh, 't is deep and dark,
3.613.853
and vaulted high. He looms as high as heaven;
3.613.854
I pray the blessed gods to rid the earth
3.613.855
of the vile monster! None can look on him,
3.613.856
none speak with him. He feeds on clotted gore
3.613.857
of disembowelled men. These very eyes
3.613.858
saw him seize two of our own company,
3.613.859
and, as he lolled back in the cave, he clutched
3.613.860
and dashed them on the stones, fouling the floor
3.613.861
with torrent of their blood; myself I saw him
3.613.862
crunch with his teeth the dripping, bloody limbs
3.613.863
still hot and pulsing on his hungry jaw.
3.613.864
But not without reward! For such a sight
3.613.865
Ulysses would not brook, and Ithaca
3.613.866
forgot not in such strait the name he bore.
3.613.867
For soon as, gorged with feasting and o'ercome
3.613.868
with drunken slumber, the foul giant lay
3.613.869
sprawled through the cave, his head dropped helpless down,
3.613.870
disgorging as he slept thick drool of gore
3.613.871
and gobbets drenched with bloody wine; then we,
3.613.872
calling on Heaven and taking place by lot,
3.613.873
drew round him like one man, and with a beam
3.613.874
sharpened at end bored out that monster eye,
3.613.875
which, huge and sole, lay under the grim brow,
3.613.876
round as an Argive shield or Phoebus' star.
3.613.877
Thus took we joyful vengeance for the shades
3.613.878
of our lost mates. But, O ill-fated men!
3.613.879
Fly, I implore, and cut the cables free
3.613.880
along the beach! For in the land abide,
3.613.881
like Polyphemus, who in hollow cave
3.613.882
kept fleecy sheep, and milked his fruitful ewes,
3.613.883
a hundred other, huge as he, who rove
3.613.884
wide o'er this winding shore and mountains fair:
3.613.885
Cyclops accursed, bestial! Thrice the moon
3.613.886
has filled her horns with light, while here I dwell
3.613.887
in lonely woods and lairs of creatures wild;
3.613.888
or from tall cliffs out-peering I discern
3.613.889
the Cyclops, and shrink shuddering from the sound
3.613.890
of their vast step and cry. My sorry fare
3.613.891
is berries and hard corners dropped from trees,
3.613.892
or herb-roots torn out from the niggard ground.
3.613.893
Though watching the whole sea, only today
3.613.894
Have I had sight of ships. To you I fled.
3.613.895
Whate'er ye be, it was my only prayer
3.613.896
to 'scape that monster brood. I ask no more.
3.613.897
O, set me free by any death ye will!”
3.655.898
He scarce had said, when moving o'er the crest
3.655.899
of a high hill a giant shape we saw:
3.655.900
that shepherd Polyphemus, with his flocks
3.655.901
down-wending to the well-known water-side;
3.655.902
huge, shapeless, horrible, with blinded eye,
3.655.903
bearing a lopped pine for a staff, he made
3.655.904
his footing sure, while the white, fleecy sheep,
3.655.905
sole pleasure now, and solace of his woes,
3.655.906
ran huddling at his side.
3.655.907
Soon to the vast flood of the level brine
3.655.908
he came, and washed the flowing gore away
3.655.909
from that out-hollowed eye; he gnashed his teeth,
3.655.910
groaning, and deep into the watery way
3.655.911
stalked on, his tall bulk wet by scarce a wave.
3.655.912
We fled in haste, though far, and with us bore
3.655.913
the truthful suppliant; cut silently
3.655.914
the anchor-ropes, and, bending to the oar,
3.655.915
swept on with eager strokes clean out to sea.
3.655.916
Aware he was, and toward our loud halloo
3.655.917
whirled sudden round; but when no power had he
3.655.918
to seize or harm, nor could his fierce pursuit
3.655.919
o'ertake the Ionian surges as they rolled,
3.655.920
he raised a cry incredible; the sea
3.655.921
with all its billows trembled; the wide shore
3.655.922
of Italy from glens and gorges moaned,
3.655.923
and Aetna roared from every vaulted cave.
3.675.924
Then rallied from the grove-clad, Iofty isle
3.675.925
the Cyclops' clan, and lined the beach and bay.
3.675.926
We saw each lonely eyeball glare in vain,
3.675.927
as side by side those brothers Aetna-born
3.675.928
stood towering high, a conclave dark and dire:
3.675.929
as when, far up some mountain's famous crest,
3.675.930
wind-fronting oaks or cone-clad cypresses
3.675.931
have made assembling in the solemn hills,
3.675.932
Jove's giant wood or Dian's sacred grove.
3.675.933
We, terror-struck, would fly we knew not where,
3.675.934
with loosened sheet and canvas swelling strong
3.675.935
before a welcome wind; but Helenus
3.675.936
bade us both Scylla and Charybdis fear,
3.675.937
where 'twixt the twain death straitly hems the way;
3.675.938
and so the counsel was to veer our bark
3.675.939
the course it came. But lo! a northern gale
3.675.940
burst o'er us from Pelorus' narrowed side,
3.675.941
and on we rode far past Pantagia's bay
3.675.942
of unhewn rock, and past the haven strong
3.675.943
of Megara, and Thapsus Iying low.
3.675.944
Such were the names retold, and such the shores
3.675.945
shown us by Achemenides, whose fate
3.675.946
made him familiar there, for he had sailed
3.675.947
with evil-starred Ulysses o'er that sea.
3.692.948
Off the Sicilian shore an island lies,
3.692.949
wave-washed Plemmyrium, called in olden days
3.692.950
Ortygia; here Alpheus, river-god,
3.692.951
from Elis flowed by secret sluice, they say,
3.692.952
beneath the sea, and mingles at thy mouth,
3.692.953
fair Arethusa! with Sicilian waves.
3.692.954
Our voices hailed the great gods of the land
3.692.955
with reverent prayer; then skirted we the shore,
3.692.956
where smooth Helorus floods the fruitful plain.
3.692.957
Under Pachynus' beetling precipice
3.692.958
we kept our course; then Camarina rose
3.692.959
in distant view, firm-seated evermore
3.692.960
by Fate's decree; and that far-spreading vale
3.692.961
of Gela, with the name of power it takes
3.692.962
from its wide river; and, uptowering far,
3.692.963
the ramparts of proud Acragas appeared,
3.692.964
where fiery steeds were bred in days of old.
3.692.965
Borne by the winds, along thy coast I fled,
3.692.966
Selinus, green with palm! and past the shore
3.692.967
of Lilybaeum with its treacherous reef;
3.692.968
till at the last the port of Drepanum
3.692.969
received me to its melancholy strand.
3.692.970
Here, woe is me I outworn by stormful seas,
3.692.971
my sire, sole comfort of my grievous doom,
3.692.972
Anchises ceased to be. O best of sires!
3.692.973
Here didst thou leave me in the weary way;
3.692.974
through all our perils—O the bitter loss! —
3.692.975
borne safely, but in vain. King Helenus,
3.692.976
whose prophet-tongue of dark events foretold,
3.692.977
spoke not this woe; nor did Celeno's curse
3.692.978
of this forebode. Such my last loss and pain;
3.692.979
such, of my weary way, the destined goal.
3.692.980
From thence departing, the divine behest
3.692.981
impelled me to thy shores, O listening queen!
3.716.982
Such was, while all gave ear, the tale sublime
3.716.983
father Aeneas, none but he, set forth
3.716.984
of wanderings and of dark decrees divine:
3.716.985
silent at last, he ceased, and took repose.