Aeneid

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"When Heav'n had overturn'd the Trojan state

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And Priam's throne, by too severe a fate;

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When ruin'd Troy became the Grecians' prey,

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And Ilium's lofty tow'rs in ashes lay;

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Warn'd by celestial omens, we retreat,

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To seek in foreign lands a happier seat.

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Near old Antandros, and at Ida's foot,

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The timber of the sacred groves we cut,

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And build our fleet; uncertain yet to find

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What place the gods for our repose assign'd.

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Friends daily flock; and scarce the kindly spring

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Began to clothe the ground, and birds to sing,

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When old Anchises summon'd all to sea:

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The crew my father and the Fates obey.

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With sighs and tears I leave my native shore,

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And empty fields, where Ilium stood before.

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My sire, my son, our less and greater gods,

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All sail at once, and cleave the briny floods.

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"Against our coast appears a spacious land,

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Which once the fierce Lycurgus did command,

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(Thracia the name- the people bold in war;

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Vast are their fields, and tillage is their care,)

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A hospitable realm while Fate was kind,

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With Troy in friendship and religion join'd.

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I land; with luckless omens then adore

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Their gods, and draw a line along the shore;

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I lay the deep foundations of a wall,

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And Aenos, nam'd from me, the city call.

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To Dionaean Venus vows are paid,

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And all the pow'rs that rising labors aid;

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A bull on Jove's imperial altar laid.

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Not far, a rising hillock stood in view;

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Sharp myrtles on the sides, and cornels grew.

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There, while I went to crop the sylvan scenes,

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And shade our altar with their leafy greens,

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I pull'd a plant- with horror I relate

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A prodigy so strange and full of fate.

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The rooted fibers rose, and from the wound

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Black bloody drops distill'd upon the ground.

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Mute and amaz'd, my hair with terror stood;

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Fear shrunk my sinews, and congeal'd my blood.

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Mann'd once again, another plant I try:

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That other gush'd with the same sanguine dye.

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Then, fearing guilt for some offense unknown,

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With pray'rs and vows the Dryads I atone,

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With all the sisters of the woods, and most

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The God of Arms, who rules the Thracian coast,

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That they, or he, these omens would avert,

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Release our fears, and better signs impart.

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Clear'd, as I thought, and fully fix'd at length

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To learn the cause, I tugged with all my strength:

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I bent my knees against the ground; once more

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The violated myrtle ran with gore.

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Scarce dare I tell the sequel: from the womb

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Of wounded earth, and caverns of the tomb,

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A groan, as of a troubled ghost, renew'd

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My fright, and then these dreadful words ensued:

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'Why dost thou thus my buried body rend?

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O spare the corpse of thy unhappy friend!

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Spare to pollute thy pious hands with blood:

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The tears distil not from the wounded wood;

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But ev'ry drop this living tree contains

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Is kindred blood, and ran in Trojan veins.

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O fly from this unhospitable shore,

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Warn'd by my fate; for I am Polydore!

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Here loads of lances, in my blood embrued,

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Again shoot upward, by my blood renew'd.'

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"My falt'ring tongue and shiv'ring limbs declare

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My horror, and in bristles rose my hair.

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When Troy with Grecian arms was closely pent,

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Old Priam, fearful of the war's event,

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This hapless Polydore to Thracia sent:

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Loaded with gold, he sent his darling, far

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From noise and tumults, and destructive war,

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Committed to the faithless tyrant's care;

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Who, when he saw the pow'r of Troy decline,

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Forsook the weaker, with the strong to join;

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Broke ev'ry bond of nature and of truth,

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And murder'd, for his wealth, the royal youth.

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O sacred hunger of pernicious gold!

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What bands of faith can impious lucre hold?

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Now, when my soul had shaken off her fears,

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I call my father and the Trojan peers;

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Relate the prodigies of Heav'n, require

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What he commands, and their advice desire.

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All vote to leave that execrable shore,

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Polluted with the blood of Polydore;

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But, ere we sail, his fun'ral rites prepare,

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Then, to his ghost, a tomb and altars rear.

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In mournful pomp the matrons walk the round,

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With baleful cypress and blue fillets crown'd,

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With eyes dejected, and with hair unbound.

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Then bowls of tepid milk and blood we pour,

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And thrice invoke the soul of Polydore.

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"Now, when the raging storms no longer reign,

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But southern gales invite us to the main,

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We launch our vessels, with a prosp'rous wind,

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And leave the cities and the shores behind.

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"An island in th' Aegaean main appears;

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Neptune and wat'ry Doris claim it theirs.

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It floated once, till Phoebus fix'd the sides

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To rooted earth, and now it braves the tides.

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Here, borne by friendly winds, we come ashore,

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With needful ease our weary limbs restore,

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And the Sun's temple and his town adore.

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"Anius, the priest and king, with laurel crown'd,

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His hoary locks with purple fillets bound,

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Who saw my sire the Delian shore ascend,

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Came forth with eager haste to meet his friend;

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Invites him to his palace; and, in sign

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Of ancient love, their plighted hands they join.

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Then to the temple of the god I went,

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And thus, before the shrine, my vows present:

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'Give, O Thymbraeus, give a resting place

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To the sad relics of the Trojan race;

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A seat secure, a region of their own,

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A lasting empire, and a happier town.

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Where shall we fix? where shall our labors end?

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Whom shall we follow, and what fate attend?

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Let not my pray'rs a doubtful answer find;

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But in clear auguries unveil thy mind.'

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Scarce had I said: he shook the holy ground,

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The laurels, and the lofty hills around;

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And from the tripos rush'd a bellowing sound.

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Prostrate we fell; confess'd the present god,

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Who gave this answer from his dark abode:

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'Undaunted youths, go, seek that mother earth

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From which your ancestors derive their birth.

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The soil that sent you forth, her ancient race

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In her old bosom shall again embrace.

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Thro' the wide world th' Aeneian house shall reign,

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And children's children shall the crown sustain.'

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Thus Phoebus did our future fates disclose:

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A mighty tumult, mix'd with joy, arose.

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"All are concern'd to know what place the god

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Assign'd, and where determin'd our abode.

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My father, long revolving in his mind

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The race and lineage of the Trojan kind,

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Thus answer'd their demands: 'Ye princes, hear

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Your pleasing fortune, and dispel your fear.

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The fruitful isle of Crete, well known to fame,

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Sacred of old to Jove's imperial name,

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In the mid ocean lies, with large command,

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And on its plains a hundred cities stand.

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Another Ida rises there, and we

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From thence derive our Trojan ancestry.

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From thence, as 't is divulg'd by certain fame,

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To the Rhoetean shores old Teucrus came;

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There fix'd, and there the seat of empire chose,

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Ere Ilium and the Trojan tow'rs arose.

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In humble vales they built their soft abodes,

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Till Cybele, the mother of the gods,

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With tinkling cymbals charm'd th' Idaean woods,

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She secret rites and ceremonies taught,

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And to the yoke the savage lions brought.

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Let us the land which Heav'n appoints, explore;

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Appease the winds, and seek the Gnossian shore.

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If Jove assists the passage of our fleet,

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The third propitious dawn discovers Crete.'

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Thus having said, the sacrifices, laid

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On smoking altars, to the gods he paid:

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A bull, to Neptune an oblation due,

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Another bull to bright Apollo slew;

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A milk-white ewe, the western winds to please,

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And one coal-black, to calm the stormy seas.

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Ere this, a flying rumor had been spread

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That fierce Idomeneus from Crete was fled,

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Expell'd and exil'd; that the coast was free

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From foreign or domestic enemy.

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"We leave the Delian ports, and put to sea;

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By Naxos, fam'd for vintage, make our way;

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Then green Donysa pass; and sail in sight

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Of Paros' isle, with marble quarries white.

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We pass the scatter'd isles of Cyclades,

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That, scarce distinguish'd, seem to stud the seas.

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The shouts of sailors double near the shores;

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They stretch their canvas, and they ply their oars.

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'All hands aloft! for Crete! for Crete!' they cry,

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And swiftly thro' the foamy billows fly.

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Full on the promis'd land at length we bore,

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With joy descending on the Cretan shore.

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With eager haste a rising town I frame,

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Which from the Trojan Pergamus I name:

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The name itself was grateful; I exhort

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To found their houses, and erect a fort.

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Our ships are haul'd upon the yellow strand;

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The youth begin to till the labor'd land;

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And I myself new marriages promote,

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Give laws, and dwellings I divide by lot;

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When rising vapors choke the wholesome air,

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And blasts of noisome winds corrupt the year;

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The trees devouring caterpillars burn;

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Parch'd was the grass, and blighted was the corn:

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Nor 'scape the beasts; for Sirius, from on high,

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With pestilential heat infects the sky:

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My men- some fall, the rest in fevers fry.

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Again my father bids me seek the shore

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Of sacred Delos, and the god implore,

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To learn what end of woes we might expect,

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And to what clime our weary course direct.

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"'T was night, when ev'ry creature, void of cares,

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The common gift of balmy slumber shares:

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The statues of my gods (for such they seem'd),

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Those gods whom I from flaming Troy redeem'd,

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Before me stood, majestically bright,

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Full in the beams of Phoebe's ent'ring light.

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Then thus they spoke, and eas'd my troubled mind:

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'What from the Delian god thou go'st to find,

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He tells thee here, and sends us to relate.

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Those pow'rs are we, companions of thy fate,

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Who from the burning town by thee were brought,

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Thy fortune follow'd, and thy safety wrought.

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Thro' seas and lands as we thy steps attend,

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So shall our care thy glorious race befriend.

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An ample realm for thee thy fates ordain,

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A town that o'er the conquer'd world shall reign.

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Thou, mighty walls for mighty nations build;

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Nor let thy weary mind to labors yield:

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But change thy seat; for not the Delian god,

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Nor we, have giv'n thee Crete for our abode.

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A land there is, Hesperia call'd of old,

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(The soil is fruitful, and the natives bold-

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Th' Oenotrians held it once,) by later fame

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Now call'd Italia, from the leader's name.

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lasius there and Dardanus were born;

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From thence we came, and thither must return.

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Rise, and thy sire with these glad tidings greet.

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Search Italy; for Jove denies thee Crete.'

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"Astonish'd at their voices and their sight,

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(Nor were they dreams, but visions of the night;

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I saw, I knew their faces, and descried,

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In perfect view, their hair with fillets tied;)

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I started from my couch; a clammy sweat

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On all my limbs and shiv'ring body sate.

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To heav'n I lift my hands with pious haste,

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And sacred incense in the flames I cast.

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Thus to the gods their perfect honors done,

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More cheerful, to my good old sire I run,

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And tell the pleasing news. In little space

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He found his error of the double race;

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Not, as before he deem'd, deriv'd from Crete;

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No more deluded by the doubtful seat:

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Then said: 'O son, turmoil'd in Trojan fate!

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Such things as these Cassandra did relate.

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This day revives within my mind what she

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Foretold of Troy renew'd in Italy,

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And Latian lands; but who could then have thought

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That Phrygian gods to Latium should be brought,

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Or who believ'd what mad Cassandra taught?

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Now let us go where Phoebus leads the way.'

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"He said; and we with glad consent obey,

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Forsake the seat, and, leaving few behind,

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We spread our sails before the willing wind.

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Now from the sight of land our galleys move,

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With only seas around and skies above;

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When o'er our heads descends a burst of rain,

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And night with sable clouds involves the main;

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The ruffling winds the foamy billows raise;

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The scatter'd fleet is forc'd to sev'ral ways;

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The face of heav'n is ravish'd from our eyes,

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And in redoubled peals the roaring thunder flies.

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Cast from our course, we wander in the dark.

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No stars to guide, no point of land to mark.

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Ev'n Palinurus no distinction found

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Betwixt the night and day; such darkness reign'd around.

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Three starless nights the doubtful navy strays,

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Without distinction, and three sunless days;

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The fourth renews the light, and, from our shrouds,

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We view a rising land, like distant clouds;

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The mountain-tops confirm the pleasing sight,

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And curling smoke ascending from their height.

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The canvas falls; their oars the sailors ply;

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From the rude strokes the whirling waters fly.

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At length I land upon the Strophades,

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Safe from the danger of the stormy seas.

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Those isles are compass'd by th' Ionian main,

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The dire abode where the foul Harpies reign,

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Forc'd by the winged warriors to repair

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To their old homes, and leave their costly fare.

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Monsters more fierce offended Heav'n ne'er sent

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From hell's abyss, for human punishment:

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With virgin faces, but with wombs obscene,

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Foul paunches, and with ordure still unclean;

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With claws for hands, and looks for ever lean.

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"We landed at the port, and soon beheld

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Fat herds of oxen graze the flow'ry field,

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And wanton goats without a keeper stray'd.

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With weapons we the welcome prey invade,

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Then call the gods for partners of our feast,

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And Jove himself, the chief invited guest.

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We spread the tables on the greensward ground;

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We feed with hunger, and the bowls go round;

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When from the mountain-tops, with hideous cry,

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And clatt'ring wings, the hungry Harpies fly;

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They snatch the meat, defiling all they find,

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And, parting, leave a loathsome stench behind.

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Close by a hollow rock, again we sit,

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New dress the dinner, and the beds refit,

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Secure from sight, beneath a pleasing shade,

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Where tufted trees a native arbor made.

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Again the holy fires on altars burn;

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And once again the rav'nous birds return,

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Or from the dark recesses where they lie,

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Or from another quarter of the sky;

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With filthy claws their odious meal repeat,

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And mix their loathsome ordures with their meat.

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I bid my friends for vengeance then prepare,

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And with the hellish nation wage the war.

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They, as commanded, for the fight provide,

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And in the grass their glitt'ring weapons hide;

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Then, when along the crooked shore we hear

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Their clatt'ring wings, and saw the foes appear,

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Misenus sounds a charge: we take th' alarm,

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And our strong hands with swords and bucklers arm.

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In this new kind of combat all employ

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Their utmost force, the monsters to destroy.

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In vain- the fated skin is proof to wounds;

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And from their plumes the shining sword rebounds.

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At length rebuff'd, they leave their mangled prey,

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And their stretch'd pinions to the skies display.

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Yet one remain'd- the messenger of Fate:

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High on a craggy cliff Celaeno sate,

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And thus her dismal errand did relate:

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'What! not contented with our oxen slain,

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Dare you with Heav'n an impious war maintain,

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And drive the Harpies from their native reign?

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Heed therefore what I say; and keep in mind

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What Jove decrees, what Phoebus has design'd,

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And I, the Furies' queen, from both relate-

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You seek th' Italian shores, foredoom'd by fate:

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Th' Italian shores are granted you to find,

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And a safe passage to the port assign'd.

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But know, that ere your promis'd walls you build,

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My curses shall severely be fulfill'd.

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Fierce famine is your lot for this misdeed,

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Reduc'd to grind the plates on which you feed.'

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She said, and to the neighb'ring forest flew.

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Our courage fails us, and our fears renew.

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Hopeless to win by war, to pray'rs we fall,

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And on th' offended Harpies humbly call,

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And whether gods or birds obscene they were,

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Our vows for pardon and for peace prefer.

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But old Anchises, off'ring sacrifice,

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And lifting up to heav'n his hands and eyes,

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Ador'd the greater gods: 'Avert,' said he,

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'These omens; render vain this prophecy,

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And from th' impending curse a pious people free!'

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"Thus having said, he bids us put to sea;

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We loose from shore our haulsers, and obey,

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And soon with swelling sails pursue the wat'ry way.

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Amidst our course, Zacynthian woods appear;

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And next by rocky Neritos we steer:

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We fly from Ithaca's detested shore,

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And curse the land which dire Ulysses bore.

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At length Leucate's cloudy top appears,

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And the Sun's temple, which the sailor fears.

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Resolv'd to breathe a while from labor past,

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Our crooked anchors from the prow we cast,

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And joyful to the little city haste.

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Here, safe beyond our hopes, our vows we pay

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To Jove, the guide and patron of our way.

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The customs of our country we pursue,

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And Trojan games on Actian shores renew.

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Our youth their naked limbs besmear with oil,

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And exercise the wrastlers' noble toil;

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Pleas'd to have sail'd so long before the wind,

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And left so many Grecian towns behind.

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The sun had now fulfill'd his annual course,

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And Boreas on the seas display'd his force:

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I fix'd upon the temple's lofty door

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The brazen shield which vanquish'd Abas bore;

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The verse beneath my name and action speaks:

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'These arms Aeneas took from conqu'ring Greeks.'

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Then I command to weigh; the seamen ply

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Their sweeping oars; the smoking billows fly.

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The sight of high Phaeacia soon we lost,

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And skimm'd along Epirus' rocky coast.

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"Then to Chaonia's port our course we bend,

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And, landed, to Buthrotus' heights ascend.

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Here wondrous things were loudly blaz'd fame:

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How Helenus reviv'd the Trojan name,

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And reign'd in Greece; that Priam's captive son

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Succeeded Pyrrhus in his bed and throne;

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And fair Andromache, restor'd by fate,

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Once more was happy in a Trojan mate.

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I leave my galleys riding in the port,

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And long to see the new Dardanian court.

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By chance, the mournful queen, before the gate,

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Then solemniz'd her former husband's fate.

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Green altars, rais'd of turf, with gifts she crown'd,

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And sacred priests in order stand around,

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And thrice the name of hapless Hector sound.

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The grove itself resembles Ida's wood;

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And Simois seem'd the well-dissembled flood.

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But when at nearer distance she beheld

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My shining armor and my Trojan shield,

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Astonish'd at the sight, the vital heat

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Forsakes her limbs; her veins no longer beat:

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She faints, she falls, and scarce recov'ring strength,

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Thus, with a falt'ring tongue, she speaks at length:

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"'Are you alive, O goddess-born ?' she said,

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'Or if a ghost, then where is Hector's shade?'

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At this, she cast a loud and frightful cry.

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With broken words I made this brief reply:

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'All of me that remains appears in sight;

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I live, if living be to loathe the light.

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No phantom; but I drag a wretched life,

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My fate resembling that of Hector's wife.

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What have you suffer'd since you lost your lord?

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By what strange blessing are you now restor'd?

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Still are you Hector's? or is Hector fled,

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And his remembrance lost in Pyrrhus' bed?'

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With eyes dejected, in a lowly tone,

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After a modest pause she thus begun:

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"'O only happy maid of Priam's race,

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Whom death deliver'd from the foes' embrace!

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Commanded on Achilles' tomb to die,

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Not forc'd, like us, to hard captivity,

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Or in a haughty master's arms to lie.

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In Grecian ships unhappy we were borne,

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Endur'd the victor's lust, sustain'd the scorn:

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Thus I submitted to the lawless pride

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Of Pyrrhus, more a handmaid than a bride.

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Cloy'd with possession, he forsook my bed,

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And Helen's lovely daughter sought to wed;

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Then me to Trojan Helenus resign'd,

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And his two slaves in equal marriage join'd;

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Till young Orestes, pierc'd with deep despair,

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And longing to redeem the promis'd fair,

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Before Apollo's altar slew the ravisher.

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By Pyrrhus' death the kingdom we regain'd:

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At least one half with Helenus remain'd.

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Our part, from Chaon, he Chaonia calls,

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And names from Pergamus his rising walls.

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But you, what fates have landed on our coast?

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What gods have sent you, or what storms have toss'd?

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Does young Ascanius life and health enjoy,

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Sav'd from the ruins of unhappy Troy?

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O tell me how his mother's loss he bears,

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What hopes are promis'd from his blooming years,

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How much of Hector in his face appears?'

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She spoke; and mix'd her speech with mournful cries,

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And fruitless tears came trickling from her eyes.

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"At length her lord descends upon the plain,

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In pomp, attended with a num'rous train;

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Receives his friends, and to the city leads,

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And tears of joy amidst his welcome sheds.

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Proceeding on, another Troy I see,

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Or, in less compass, Troy's epitome.

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A riv'let by the name of Xanthus ran,

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And I embrace the Scaean gate again.

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My friends in porticoes were entertain'd,

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And feasts and pleasures thro' the city reign'd.

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The tables fill'd the spacious hall around,

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And golden bowls with sparkling wine were crown'd.

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Two days we pass'd in mirth, till friendly gales,

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Blown from the supplied our swelling sails.

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Then to the royal seer I thus began:

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'O thou, who know'st, beyond the reach of man,

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The laws of heav'n, and what the stars decree;

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Whom Phoebus taught unerring prophecy,

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From his own tripod, and his holy tree;

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Skill'd in the wing'd inhabitants of air,

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What auspices their notes and flights declare:

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O say- for all religious rites portend

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A happy voyage, and a prosp'rous end;

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And ev'ry power and omen of the sky

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Direct my course for destin'd Italy;

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But only dire Celaeno, from the gods,

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A dismal famine fatally forebodes-

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O say what dangers I am first to shun,

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What toils vanquish, and what course to run.'

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"The prophet first with sacrifice adores

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The greater gods; their pardon then implores;

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Unbinds the fillet from his holy head;

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To Phoebus, next, my trembling steps he led,

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Full of religious doubts and awful dread.

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Then, with his god possess'd, before the shrine,

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These words proceeded from his mouth divine:

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'O goddess-born, (for Heav'n's appointed will,

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With greater auspices of good than ill,

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Foreshows thy voyage, and thy course directs;

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Thy fates conspire, and Jove himself protects,)

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Of many things some few I shall explain,

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Teach thee to shun the dangers of the main,

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And how at length the promis'd shore to gain.

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The rest the fates from Helenus conceal,

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And Juno's angry pow'r forbids to tell.

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First, then, that happy shore, that seems so nigh,

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Will far from your deluded wishes fly;

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Long tracts of seas divide your hopes from Italy:

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For you must cruise along Sicilian shores,

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And stem the currents with your struggling oars;

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Then round th' Italian coast your navy steer;

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And, after this, to Circe's island veer;

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And, last, before your new foundations rise,

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Must pass the Stygian lake, and view the nether skies.

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Now mark the signs of future ease and rest,

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And bear them safely treasur'd in thy breast.

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When, in the shady shelter of a wood,

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And near the margin of a gentle flood,

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Thou shalt behold a sow upon the ground,

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With thirty sucking young encompass'd round;

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The dam and offspring white as falling snow-

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These on thy city shall their name bestow,

Primary

And there shall end thy labors and thy woe.

Primary

Nor let the threaten'd famine fright thy mind,

Primary

For Phoebus will assist, and Fate the way will find.

Primary

Let not thy course to that ill coast be bent,

Primary

Which fronts from far th' Epirian continent:

Primary

Those parts are all by Grecian foes possess'd;

Primary

The salvage Locrians here the shores infest;

Primary

There fierce Idomeneus his city builds,

Primary

And guards with arms the Salentinian fields;

Primary

And on the mountain's brow Petilia stands,

Primary

Which Philoctetes with his troops commands.

Primary

Ev'n when thy fleet is landed on the shore,

Primary

And priests with holy vows the gods adore,

Primary

Then with a purple veil involve your eyes,

Primary

Lest hostile faces blast the sacrifice.

Primary

These rites and customs to the rest commend,

Primary

That to your pious race they may descend.

Primary

"'When, parted hence, the wind, that ready waits

Primary

For Sicily, shall bear you to the straits

Primary

Where proud Pelorus opes a wider way,

Primary

Tack to the larboard, and stand off to sea:

Primary

Veer starboard sea and land. Th' Italian shore

Primary

And fair Sicilia's coast were one, before

Primary

An earthquake caus'd the flaw: the roaring tides

Primary

The passage broke that land from land divides;

Primary

And where the lands retir'd, the rushing ocean rides.

Primary

Distinguish'd by the straits, on either hand,

Primary

Now rising cities in long order stand,

Primary

And fruitful fields: so much can time invade

Primary

The mold'ring work that beauteous Nature made.

Primary

Far on the right, her dogs foul Scylla hides:

Primary

Charybdis roaring on the left presides,

Primary

And in her greedy whirlpool sucks the tides;

Primary

Then spouts them from below: with fury driv'n,

Primary

The waves mount up and wash the face of heav'n.

Primary

But Scylla from her den, with open jaws,

Primary

The sinking vessel in her eddy draws,

Primary

Then dashes on the rocks. A human face,

Primary

And virgin bosom, hides her tail's disgrace:

Primary

Her parts obscene below the waves descend,

Primary

With dogs inclos'd, and in a dolphin end.

Primary

'T is safer, then, to bear aloof to sea,

Primary

And coast Pachynus, tho' with more delay,

Primary

Than once to view misshapen Scylla near,

Primary

And the loud yell of wat'ry wolves to hear.

Primary

"'Besides, if faith to Helenus be due,

Primary

And if prophetic Phoebus tell me true,

Primary

Do not this precept of your friend forget,

Primary

Which therefore more than once I must repeat:

Primary

Above the rest, great Juno's name adore;

Primary

Pay vows to Juno; Juno's aid implore.

Primary

Let gifts be to the mighty queen design'd,

Primary

And mollify with pray'rs her haughty mind.

Primary

Thus, at the length, your passage shall be free,

Primary

And you shall safe descend on Italy.

Primary

Arriv'd at Cumae, when you view the flood

Primary

Of black Avernus, and the sounding wood,

Primary

The mad prophetic Sibyl you shall find,

Primary

Dark in a cave, and on a rock reclin'd.

Primary

She sings the fates, and, in her frantic fits,

Primary

The notes and names, inscrib'd, to leafs commits.

Primary

What she commits to leafs, in order laid,

Primary

Before the cavern's entrance are display'd:

Primary

Unmov'd they lie; but, if a blast of wind

Primary

Without, or vapors issue from behind,

Primary

The leafs are borne aloft in liquid air,

Primary

And she resumes no more her museful care,

Primary

Nor gathers from the rocks her scatter'd verse,

Primary

Nor sets in order what the winds disperse.

Primary

Thus, many not succeeding, most upbraid

Primary

The madness of the visionary maid,

Primary

And with loud curses leave the mystic shade.

Primary

"'Think it not loss of time a while to stay,

Primary

Tho' thy companions chide thy long delay;

Primary

Tho' summon'd to the seas, tho' pleasing gales

Primary

Invite thy course, and stretch thy swelling sails:

Primary

But beg the sacred priestess to relate

Primary

With willing words, and not to write thy fate.

Primary

The fierce Italian people she will show,

Primary

And all thy wars, and all thy future woe,

Primary

And what thou may'st avoid, and what must undergo.

Primary

She shall direct thy course, instruct thy mind,

Primary

And teach thee how the happy shores to find.

Primary

This is what Heav'n allows me to relate:

Primary

Now part in peace; pursue thy better fate,

Primary

And raise, by strength of arms, the Trojan state.'

Primary

"This when the priest with friendly voice declar'd,

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He gave me license, and rich gifts prepar'd:

Primary

Bounteous of treasure, he supplied my want

Primary

With heavy gold, and polish'd elephant;

Primary

Then Dodonaean caldrons put on board,

Primary

And ev'ry ship with sums of silver stor'd.

Primary

A trusty coat of mail to me he sent,

Primary

Thrice chain'd with gold, for use and ornament;

Primary

The helm of Pyrrhus added to the rest,

Primary

That flourish'd with a plume and waving crest.

Primary

Nor was my sire forgotten, nor my friends;

Primary

And large recruits he to my navy sends:

Primary

Men, horses, captains, arms, and warlike stores;

Primary

Supplies new pilots, and new sweeping oars.

Primary

Meantime, my sire commands to hoist our sails,

Primary

Lest we should lose the first auspicious gales.

Primary

"The prophet bless'd the parting crew, and last,

Primary

With words like these, his ancient friend embrac'd:

Primary

'Old happy man, the care of gods above,

Primary

Whom heav'nly Venus honor'd with her love,

Primary

And twice preserv'd thy life, when Troy was lost,

Primary

Behold from far the wish'd Ausonian coast:

Primary

There land; but take a larger compass round,

Primary

For that before is all forbidden ground.

Primary

The shore that Phoebus has design'd for you,

Primary

At farther distance lies, conceal'd from view.

Primary

Go happy hence, and seek your new abodes,

Primary

Blest in a son, and favor'd by the gods:

Primary

For I with useless words prolong your stay,

Primary

When southern gales have summon'd you away.'

Primary

"Nor less the queen our parting thence deplor'd,

Primary

Nor was less bounteous than her Trojan lord.

Primary

A noble present to my son she brought,

Primary

A robe with flow'rs on golden tissue wrought,

Primary

A phrygian vest; and loads with gifts beside

Primary

Of precious texture, and of Asian pride.

Primary

'Accept,' she said, 'these monuments of love,

Primary

Which in my youth with happier hands I wove:

Primary

Regard these trifles for the giver's sake;

Primary

'T is the last present Hector's wife can make.

Primary

Thou call'st my lost Astyanax to mind;

Primary

In thee his features and his form I find:

Primary

His eyes so sparkled with a lively flame;

Primary

Such were his motions; such was all his frame;

Primary

And ah! had Heav'n so pleas'd, his years had been the same.'

Primary

"With tears I took my last adieu, and said:

Primary

'Your fortune, happy pair, already made,

Primary

Leaves you no farther wish. My diff'rent state,

Primary

Avoiding one, incurs another fate.

Primary

To you a quiet seat the gods allow:

Primary

You have no shores to search, no seas to plow,

Primary

Nor fields of flying Italy to chase:

Primary

(Deluding visions, and a vain embrace!)

Primary

You see another Simois, and enjoy

Primary

The labor of your hands, another Troy,

Primary

With better auspice than her ancient tow'rs,

Primary

And less obnoxious to the Grecian pow'rs.

Primary

If e'er the gods, whom I with vows adore,

Primary

Conduct my steps to Tiber's happy shore;

Primary

If ever I ascend the Latian throne,

Primary

And build a city I may call my own;

Primary

As both of us our birth from Troy derive,

Primary

So let our kindred lines in concord live,

Primary

And both in acts of equal friendship strive.

Primary

Our fortunes, good or bad, shall be the same:

Primary

The double Troy shall differ but in name;

Primary

That what we now begin may never end,

Primary

But long to late posterity descend.'

Primary

"Near the Ceraunian rocks our course we bore;

Primary

The shortest passage to th' Italian shore.

Primary

Now had the sun withdrawn his radiant light,

Primary

And hills were hid in dusky shades of night:

Primary

We land, and, on the bosom Of the ground,

Primary

A safe retreat and a bare lodging found.

Primary

Close by the shore we lay; the sailors keep

Primary

Their watches, and the rest securely sleep.

Primary

The night, proceeding on with silent pace,

Primary

Stood in her noon, and view'd with equal face

Primary

Her steepy rise and her declining race.

Primary

Then wakeful Palinurus rose, to spy

Primary

The face of heav'n, and the nocturnal sky;

Primary

And listen'd ev'ry breath of air to try;

Primary

Observes the stars, and notes their sliding course,

Primary

The Pleiads, Hyads, and their wat'ry force;

Primary

And both the Bears is careful to behold,

Primary

And bright Orion, arm'd with burnish'd gold.

Primary

Then, when he saw no threat'ning tempest nigh,

Primary

But a sure promise of a settled sky,

Primary

He gave the sign to weigh; we break our sleep,

Primary

Forsake the pleasing shore, and plow the deep.

Primary

"And now the rising morn with rosy light

Primary

Adorns the skies, and puts the stars to flight;

Primary

When we from far, like bluish mists, descry

Primary

The hills, and then the plains, of Italy.

Primary

Achates first pronounc'd the joyful sound;

Primary

Then, 'Italy!' the cheerful crew rebound.

Primary

My sire Anchises crown'd a cup with wine,

Primary

And, off'ring, thus implor'd the pow'rs divine:

Primary

'Ye gods, presiding over lands and seas,

Primary

And you who raging winds and waves appease,

Primary

Breathe on our swelling sails a prosp'rous wind,

Primary

And smooth our passage to the port assign'd!'

Primary

The gentle gales their flagging force renew,

Primary

And now the happy harbor is in view.

Primary

Minerva's temple then salutes our sight,

Primary

Plac'd, as a landmark, on the mountain's height.

Primary

We furl our sails, and turn the prows to shore;

Primary

The curling waters round the galleys roar.

Primary

The land lies open to the raging east,

Primary

Then, bending like a bow, with rocks compress'd,

Primary

Shuts out the storms; the winds and waves complain,

Primary

And vent their malice on the cliffs in vain.

Primary

The port lies hid within; on either side

Primary

Two tow'ring rocks the narrow mouth divide.

Primary

The temple, which aloft we view'd before,

Primary

To distance flies, and seems to shun the shore.

Primary

Scarce landed, the first omens I beheld

Primary

Were four white steeds that cropp'd the flow'ry field.

Primary

'War, war is threaten'd from this foreign ground,'

Primary

My father cried, 'where warlike steeds are found.

Primary

Yet, since reclaim'd to chariots they submit,

Primary

And bend to stubborn yokes, and champ the bit,

Primary

Peace may succeed to war.' Our way we bend

Primary

To Pallas, and the sacred hill ascend;

Primary

There prostrate to the fierce virago pray,

Primary

Whose temple was the landmark of our way.

Primary

Each with a Phrygian mantle veil'd his head,

Primary

And all commands of Helenus obey'd,

Primary

And pious rites to Grecian Juno paid.

Primary

These dues perform'd, we stretch our sails, and stand

Primary

To sea, forsaking that suspected land.

Primary

"From hence Tarentum's bay appears in view,

Primary

For Hercules renown'd, if fame be true.

Primary

Just opposite, Lacinian Juno stands;

Primary

Caulonian tow'rs, and Scylacaean strands,

Primary

For shipwrecks fear'd. Mount Aetna thence we spy,

Primary

Known by the smoky flames which cloud the sky.

Primary

Far off we hear the waves with surly sound

Primary

Invade the rocks, the rocks their groans rebound.

Primary

The billows break upon the sounding strand,

Primary

And roll the rising tide, impure with sand.

Primary

Then thus Anchises, in experience old:

Primary

''T is that Charybdis which the seer foretold,

Primary

And those the promis'd rocks! Bear off to sea!'

Primary

With haste the frighted mariners obey.

Primary

First Palinurus to the larboard veer'd;

Primary

Then all the fleet by his example steer'd.

Primary

To heav'n aloft on ridgy waves we ride,

Primary

Then down to hell descend, when they divide;

Primary

And thrice our galleys knock'd the stony ground,

Primary

And thrice the hollow rocks return'd the sound,

Primary

And thrice we saw the stars, that stood with dews around.

Primary

The flagging winds forsook us, with the sun;

Primary

And, wearied, on Cyclopian shores we run.

Primary

The port capacious, and secure from wind,

Primary

Is to the foot of thund'ring Aetna join'd.

Primary

By turns a pitchy cloud she rolls on high;

Primary

By turns hot embers from her entrails fly,

Primary

And flakes of mounting flames, that lick the sky.

Primary

Oft from her bowels massy rocks are thrown,

Primary

And, shiver'd by the force, come piecemeal down.

Primary

Oft liquid lakes of burning sulphur flow,

Primary

Fed from the fiery springs that boil below.

Primary

Enceladus, they say, transfix'd by Jove,

Primary

With blasted limbs came tumbling from above;

Primary

And, where he fell, th' avenging father drew

Primary

This flaming hill, and on his body threw.

Primary

As often as he turns his weary sides,

Primary

He shakes the solid isle, and smoke the heavens hides.

Primary

In shady woods we pass the tedious night,

Primary

Where bellowing sounds and groans our souls affright,

Primary

Of which no cause is offer'd to the sight;

Primary

For not one star was kindled in the sky,

Primary

Nor could the moon her borrow'd light supply;

Primary

For misty clouds involv'd the firmament,

Primary

The stars were muffled, and the moon was pent.

Primary

"Scarce had the rising sun the day reveal'd,

Primary

Scarce had his heat the pearly dews dispell'd,

Primary

When from the woods there bolts, before our sight,

Primary

Somewhat betwixt a mortal and a sprite,

Primary

So thin, so ghastly meager, and so wan,

Primary

So bare of flesh, he scarce resembled man.

Primary

This thing, all tatter'd, seem'd from far t' implore

Primary

Our pious aid, and pointed to the shore.

Primary

We look behind, then view his shaggy beard;

Primary

His clothes were tagg'd with thorns, and filth his limbs besmear'd;

Primary

The rest, in mien, in habit, and in face,

Primary

Appear'd a Greek, and such indeed he was.

Primary

He cast on us, from far, a frightful view,

Primary

Whom soon for Trojans and for foes he knew;

Primary

Stood still, and paus'd; then all at once began

Primary

To stretch his limbs, and trembled as he ran.

Primary

Soon as approach'd, upon his knees he falls,

Primary

And thus with tears and sighs for pity calls:

Primary

'Now, by the pow'rs above, and what we share

Primary

From Nature's common gift, this vital air,

Primary

O Trojans, take me hence! I beg no more;

Primary

But bear me far from this unhappy shore.

Primary

'T is true, I am a Greek, and farther own,

Primary

Among your foes besieg'd th' imperial town.

Primary

For such demerits if my death be due,

Primary

No more for this abandon'd life I sue;

Primary

This only favor let my tears obtain,

Primary

To throw me headlong in the rapid main:

Primary

Since nothing more than death my crime demands,

Primary

I die content, to die by human hands.'

Primary

He said, and on his knees my knees embrac'd:

Primary

I bade him boldly tell his fortune past,

Primary

His present state, his lineage, and his name,

Primary

Th' occasion of his fears, and whence he came.

Primary

The good Anchises rais'd him with his hand;

Primary

Who, thus encourag'd, answer'd our demand:

Primary

'From Ithaca, my native soil, I came

Primary

To Troy; and Achaemenides my name.

Primary

Me my poor father with Ulysses sent;

Primary

(O had I stay'd, with poverty content!)

Primary

But, fearful for themselves, my countrymen

Primary

Left me forsaken in the Cyclops' den.

Primary

The cave, tho' large, was dark; the dismal floor

Primary

Was pav'd with mangled limbs and putrid gore.

Primary

Our monstrous host, of more than human size,

Primary

Erects his head, and stares within the skies;

Primary

Bellowing his voice, and horrid is his hue.

Primary

Ye gods, remove this plague from mortal view!

Primary

The joints of slaughter'd wretches are his food;

Primary

And for his wine he quaffs the streaming blood.

Primary

These eyes beheld, when with his spacious hand

Primary

He seiz'd two captives of our Grecian band;

Primary

Stretch'd on his back, he dash'd against the stones

Primary

Their broken bodies, and their crackling bones:

Primary

With spouting blood the purple pavement swims,

Primary

While the dire glutton grinds the trembling limbs.

Primary

"'Not unreveng'd Ulysses bore their fate,

Primary

Nor thoughtless of his own unhappy state;

Primary

For, gorg'd with flesh, and drunk with human wine

Primary

While fast asleep the giant lay supine,

Primary

Snoring aloud, and belching from his maw

Primary

His indigested foam, and morsels raw;

Primary

We pray; we cast the lots, and then surround

Primary

The monstrous body, stretch'd along the ground:

Primary

Each, as he could approach him, lends a hand

Primary

To bore his eyeball with a flaming brand.

Primary

Beneath his frowning forehead lay his eye;

Primary

For only one did the vast frame supply-

Primary

But that a globe so large, his front it fill'd,

Primary

Like the sun's disk or like a Grecian shield.

Primary

The stroke succeeds; and down the pupil bends:

Primary

This vengeance follow'd for our slaughter'd friends.

Primary

But haste, unhappy wretches, haste to fly!

Primary

Your cables cut, and on your oars rely!

Primary

Such, and so vast as Polypheme appears,

Primary

A hundred more this hated island bears:

Primary

Like him, in caves they shut their woolly sheep;

Primary

Like him, their herds on tops of mountains keep;

Primary

Like him, with mighty strides, they stalk from steep to steep

Primary

And now three moons their sharpen'd horns renew,

Primary

Since thus, in woods and wilds, obscure from view,

Primary

I drag my loathsome days with mortal fright,

Primary

And in deserted caverns lodge by night;

Primary

Oft from the rocks a dreadful prospect see

Primary

Of the huge Cyclops, like a walking tree:

Primary

From far I hear his thund'ring voice resound,

Primary

And trampling feet that shake the solid ground.

Primary

Cornels and salvage berries of the wood,

Primary

And roots and herbs, have been my meager food.

Primary

While all around my longing eyes I cast,

Primary

I saw your happy ships appear at last.

Primary

On those I fix'd my hopes, to these I run;

Primary

'T is all I ask, this cruel race to shun;

Primary

What other death you please, yourselves bestow.'

Primary

"Scarce had he said, when on the mountain's brow

Primary

We saw the giant shepherd stalk before

Primary

His following flock, and leading to the shore:

Primary

A monstrous bulk, deform'd, depriv'd of sight;

Primary

His staff a trunk of pine, to guide his steps aright.

Primary

His pond'rous whistle from his neck descends;

Primary

His woolly care their pensive lord attends:

Primary

This only solace his hard fortune sends.

Primary

Soon as he reach'd the shore and touch'd the waves,

Primary

From his bor'd eye the gutt'ring blood he laves:

Primary

He gnash'd his teeth, and groan'd; thro' seas he strides,

Primary

And scarce the topmost billows touch'd his sides.

Primary

"Seiz'd with a sudden fear, we run to sea,

Primary

The cables cut, and silent haste away;

Primary

The well-deserving stranger entertain;

Primary

Then, buckling to the work, our oars divide the main.

Primary

The giant harken'd to the dashing sound:

Primary

But, when our vessels out of reach he found,

Primary

He strided onward, and in vain essay'd

Primary

Th' Ionian deep, and durst no farther wade.

Primary

With that he roar'd aloud: the dreadful cry

Primary

Shakes earth, and air, and seas; the billows fly

Primary

Before the bellowing noise to distant Italy.

Primary

The neigh'ring Aetna trembling all around,

Primary

The winding caverns echo to the sound.

Primary

His brother Cyclops hear the yelling roar,

Primary

And, rushing down the mountains, crowd the shore.

Primary

We saw their stern distorted looks, from far,

Primary

And one-eyed glance, that vainly threaten'd war:

Primary

A dreadful council, with their heads on high;

Primary

(The misty clouds about their foreheads fly;)

Primary

Not yielding to the tow'ring tree of Jove,

Primary

Or tallest cypress of Diana's grove.

Primary

New pangs of mortal fear our minds assail;

Primary

We tug at ev'ry oar, and hoist up ev'ry sail,

Primary

And take th' advantage of the friendly gale.

Primary

Forewarn'd by Helenus, we strive to shun

Primary

Charybdis' gulf, nor dare to Scylla run.

Primary

An equal fate on either side appears:

Primary

We, tacking to the left, are free from fears;

Primary

For, from Pelorus' point, the North arose,

Primary

And drove us back where swift Pantagias flows.

Primary

His rocky mouth we pass, and make our way

Primary

By Thapsus and Megara's winding bay.

Primary

This passage Achaemenides had shown,

Primary

Tracing the course which he before had run.

Primary

"Right o'er against Plemmyrium's wat'ry strand,

Primary

There lies an isle once call'd th' Ortygian land.

Primary

Alpheus, as old fame reports, has found

Primary

From Greece a secret passage under ground,

Primary

By love to beauteous Arethusa led;

Primary

And, mingling here, they roll in the same sacred bed.

Primary

As Helenus enjoin'd, we next adore

Primary

Diana's name, protectress of the shore.

Primary

With prosp'rous gales we pass the quiet sounds

Primary

Of still Elorus, and his fruitful bounds.

Primary

Then, doubling Cape Pachynus, we survey

Primary

The rocky shore extended to the sea.

Primary

The town of Camarine from far we see,

Primary

And fenny lake, undrain'd by fate's decree.

Primary

In sight of the Geloan fields we pass,

Primary

And the large walls, where mighty Gela was;

Primary

Then Agragas, with lofty summits crown'd,

Primary

Long for the race of warlike steeds renown'd.

Primary

We pass'd Selinus, and the palmy land,

Primary

And widely shun the Lilybaean strand,

Primary

Unsafe, for secret rocks and moving sand.

Primary

At length on shore the weary fleet arriv'd,

Primary

Which Drepanum's unhappy port receiv'd.

Primary

Here, after endless labors, often toss'd

Primary

By raging storms, and driv'n on ev'ry coast,

Primary

My dear, dear father, spent with age, I lost:

Primary

Ease of my cares, and solace of my pain,

Primary

Sav'd thro' a thousand toils, but sav'd in vain

Primary

The prophet, who my future woes reveal'd,

Primary

Yet this, the greatest and the worst, conceal'd;

Primary

And dire Celaeno, whose foreboding skill

Primary

Denounc'd all else, was silent of the ill.

Primary

This my last labor was. Some friendly god

Primary

From thence convey'd us to your blest abode."

Primary

Thus, to the list'ning queen, the royal guest

Primary

His wand'ring course and all his toils express'd;

Primary

And here concluding, he retir'd to rest.