Aeneid

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He said, and wept; then spread his sails before

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The winds, and reach'd at length the Cumaean shore:

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Their anchors dropp'd, his crew the vessels moor.

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They turn their heads to sea, their sterns to land,

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And greet with greedy joy th' Italian strand.

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Some strike from clashing flints their fiery seed;

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Some gather sticks, the kindled flames to feed,

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Or search for hollow trees, and fell the woods,

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Or trace thro' valleys the discover'd floods.

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Thus, while their sev'ral charges they fulfil,

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The pious prince ascends the sacred hill

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Where Phoebus is ador'd; and seeks the shade

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Which hides from sight his venerable maid.

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Deep in a cave the Sibyl makes abode;

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Thence full of fate returns, and of the god.

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Thro' Trivia's grove they walk; and now behold,

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And enter now, the temple roof'd with gold.

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When Daedalus, to fly the Cretan shore,

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His heavy limbs on jointed pinions bore,

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(The first who sail'd in air,) 't is sung by Fame,

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To the Cumaean coast at length he came,

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And here alighting, built this costly frame.

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Inscrib'd to Phoebus, here he hung on high

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The steerage of his wings, that cut the sky:

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Then o'er the lofty gate his art emboss'd

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Androgeos' death, and off'rings to his ghost;

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Sev'n youths from Athens yearly sent, to meet

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The fate appointed by revengeful Crete.

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And next to those the dreadful urn was plac'd,

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In which the destin'd names by lots were cast:

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The mournful parents stand around in tears,

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And rising Crete against their shore appears.

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There too, in living sculpture, might be seen

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The mad affection of the Cretan queen;

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Then how she cheats her bellowing lover's eye;

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The rushing leap, the doubtful progeny,

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The lower part a beast, a man above,

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The monument of their polluted love.

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Not far from thence he grav'd the wondrous maze,

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A thousand doors, a thousand winding ways:

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Here dwells the monster, hid from human view,

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Not to be found, but by the faithful clew;

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Till the kind artist, mov'd with pious grief,

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Lent to the loving maid this last relief,

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And all those erring paths describ'd so well

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That Theseus conquer'd and the monster fell.

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Here hapless Icarus had found his part,

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Had not the father's grief restrain'd his art.

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He twice assay'd to cast his son in gold;

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Twice from his hands he dropp'd the forming mold.

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All this with wond'ring eyes Aeneas view'd;

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Each varying object his delight renew'd:

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Eager to read the rest- Achates came,

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And by his side the mad divining dame,

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The priestess of the god, Deiphobe her name.

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"Time suffers not," she said, "to feed your eyes

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With empty pleasures; haste the sacrifice.

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Sev'n bullocks, yet unyok'd, for Phoebus choose,

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And for Diana sev'n unspotted ewes."

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This said, the servants urge the sacred rites,

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While to the temple she the prince invites.

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A spacious cave, within its farmost part,

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Was hew'd and fashion'd by laborious art

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Thro' the hill's hollow sides: before the place,

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A hundred doors a hundred entries grace;

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As many voices issue, and the sound

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Of Sybil's words as many times rebound.

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Now to the mouth they come. Aloud she cries:

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"This is the time; enquire your destinies.

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He comes; behold the god!" Thus while she said,

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(And shiv'ring at the sacred entry stay'd,)

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Her color chang'd; her face was not the same,

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And hollow groans from her deep spirit came.

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Her hair stood up; convulsive rage possess'd

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Her trembling limbs, and heav'd her lab'ring breast.

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Greater than humankind she seem'd to look,

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And with an accent more than mortal spoke.

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Her staring eyes with sparkling fury roll;

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When all the god came rushing on her soul.

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Swiftly she turn'd, and, foaming as she spoke:

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"Why this delay?" she cried- "the pow'rs invoke!

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Thy pray'rs alone can open this abode;

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Else vain are my demands, and dumb the god."

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She said no more. The trembling Trojans hear,

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O'erspread with a damp sweat and holy fear.

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The prince himself, with awful dread possess'd,

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His vows to great Apollo thus address'd:

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"Indulgent god, propitious pow'r to Troy,

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Swift to relieve, unwilling to destroy,

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Directed by whose hand the Dardan dart

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Pierc'd the proud Grecian's only mortal part:

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Thus far, by fate's decrees and thy commands,

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Thro' ambient seas and thro' devouring sands,

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Our exil'd crew has sought th' Ausonian ground;

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And now, at length, the flying coast is found.

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Thus far the fate of Troy, from place to place,

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With fury has pursued her wand'ring race.

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Here cease, ye pow'rs, and let your vengeance end:

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Troy is no more, and can no more offend.

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And thou, O sacred maid, inspir'd to see

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Th' event of things in dark futurity;

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Give me what Heav'n has promis'd to my fate,

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To conquer and command the Latian state;

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To fix my wand'ring gods, and find a place

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For the long exiles of the Trojan race.

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Then shall my grateful hands a temple rear

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To the twin gods, with vows and solemn pray'r;

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And annual rites, and festivals, and games,

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Shall be perform'd to their auspicious names.

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Nor shalt thou want thy honors in my land;

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For there thy faithful oracles shall stand,

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Preserv'd in shrines; and ev'ry sacred lay,

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Which, by thy mouth, Apollo shall convey:

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All shall be treasur'd by a chosen train

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Of holy priests, and ever shall remain.

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But O! commit not thy prophetic mind

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To flitting leaves, the sport of ev'ry wind,

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Lest they disperse in air our empty fate;

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Write not, but, what the pow'rs ordain, relate."

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Struggling in vain, impatient of her load,

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And lab'ring underneath the pond'rous god,

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The more she strove to shake him from her breast,

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With more and far superior force he press'd;

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Commands his entrance, and, without control,

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Usurps her organs and inspires her soul.

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Now, with a furious blast, the hundred doors

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Ope of themselves; a rushing whirlwind roars

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Within the cave, and Sibyl's voice restores:

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"Escap'd the dangers of the wat'ry reign,

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Yet more and greater ills by land remain.

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The coast, so long desir'd (nor doubt th' event),

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Thy troops shall reach, but, having reach'd, repent.

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Wars, horrid wars, I view- a field of blood,

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And Tiber rolling with a purple flood.

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Simois nor Xanthus shall be wanting there:

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A new Achilles shall in arms appear,

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And he, too, goddess-born. Fierce Juno's hate,

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Added to hostile force, shall urge thy fate.

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To what strange nations shalt not thou resort,

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Driv'n to solicit aid at ev'ry court!

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The cause the same which Ilium once oppress'd;

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A foreign mistress, and a foreign guest.

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But thou, secure of soul, unbent with woes,

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The more thy fortune frowns, the more oppose.

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The dawnings of thy safety shall be shown

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From whence thou least shalt hope, a Grecian town."

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Thus, from the dark recess, the Sibyl spoke,

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And the resisting air the thunder broke;

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The cave rebellow'd, and the temple shook.

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Th' ambiguous god, who rul'd her lab'ring breast,

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In these mysterious words his mind express'd;

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Some truths reveal'd, in terms involv'd the rest.

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At length her fury fell, her foaming ceas'd,

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And, ebbing in her soul, the god decreas'd.

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Then thus the chief: "No terror to my view,

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No frightful face of danger can be new.

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Inur'd to suffer, and resolv'd to dare,

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The Fates, without my pow'r, shall be without my care.

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This let me crave, since near your grove the road

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To hell lies open, and the dark abode

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Which Acheron surrounds, th' innavigable flood;

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Conduct me thro' the regions void of light,

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And lead me longing to my father's sight.

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For him, a thousand dangers I have sought,

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And, rushing where the thickest Grecians fought,

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Safe on my back the sacred burthen brought.

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He, for my sake, the raging ocean tried,

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And wrath of Heav'n, my still auspicious guide,

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And bore beyond the strength decrepid age supplied.

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Oft, since he breath'd his last, in dead of night

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His reverend image stood before my sight;

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Enjoin'd to seek, below, his holy shade;

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Conducted there by your unerring aid.

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But you, if pious minds by pray'rs are won,

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Oblige the father, and protect the son.

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Yours is the pow'r; nor Proserpine in vain

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Has made you priestess of her nightly reign.

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If Orpheus, arm'd with his enchanting lyre,

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The ruthless king with pity could inspire,

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And from the shades below redeem his wife;

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If Pollux, off'ring his alternate life,

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Could free his brother, and can daily go

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By turns aloft, by turns descend below-

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Why name I Theseus, or his greater friend,

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Who trod the downward path, and upward could ascend?

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Not less than theirs from Jove my lineage came;

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My mother greater, my descent the same."

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So pray'd the Trojan prince, and, while he pray'd,

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His hand upon the holy altar laid.

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Then thus replied the prophetess divine:

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"O goddess-born of great Anchises' line,

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The gates of hell are open night and day;

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Smooth the descent, and easy is the way:

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But to return, and view the cheerful skies,

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In this the task and mighty labor lies.

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To few great Jupiter imparts this grace,

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And those of shining worth and heav'nly race.

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Betwixt those regions and our upper light,

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Deep forests and impenetrable night

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Possess the middle space: th' infernal bounds

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Cocytus, with his sable waves, surrounds.

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But if so dire a love your soul invades,

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As twice below to view the trembling shades;

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If you so hard a toil will undertake,

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As twice to pass th' innavigable lake;

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Receive my counsel. In the neighb'ring grove

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There stands a tree; the queen of Stygian Jove

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Claims it her own; thick woods and gloomy night

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Conceal the happy plant from human sight.

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One bough it bears; but (wondrous to behold!)

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The ductile rind and leaves of radiant gold:

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This from the vulgar branches must be torn,

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And to fair Proserpine the present borne,

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Ere leave be giv'n to tempt the nether skies.

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The first thus rent a second will arise,

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And the same metal the same room supplies.

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Look round the wood, with lifted eyes, to see

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The lurking gold upon the fatal tree:

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Then rend it off, as holy rites command;

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The willing metal will obey thy hand,

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Following with ease, if favor'd by thy fate,

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Thou art foredoom'd to view the Stygian state:

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If not, no labor can the tree constrain;

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And strength of stubborn arms and steel are vain.

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Besides, you know not, while you here attend,

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Th' unworthy fate of your unhappy friend:

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Breathless he lies; and his unburied ghost,

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Depriv'd of fun'ral rites, pollutes your host.

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Pay first his pious dues; and, for the dead,

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Two sable sheep around his hearse be led;

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Then, living turfs upon his body lay:

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This done, securely take the destin'd way,

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To find the regions destitute of day."

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She said, and held her peace. Aeneas went

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Sad from the cave, and full of discontent,

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Unknowing whom the sacred Sibyl meant.

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Achates, the companion of his breast,

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Goes grieving by his side, with equal cares oppress'd.

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Walking, they talk'd, and fruitlessly divin'd

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What friend the priestess by those words design'd.

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But soon they found an object to deplore:

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Misenus lay extended the shore;

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Son of the God of Winds: none so renown'd

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The warrior trumpet in the field to sound;

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With breathing brass to kindle fierce alarms,

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And rouse to dare their fate in honorable arms.

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He serv'd great Hector, and was ever near,

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Not with his trumpet only, but his spear.

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But by Pelides' arms when Hector fell,

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He chose Aeneas; and he chose as well.

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Swoln with applause, and aiming still at more,

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He now provokes the sea gods from the shore;

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With envy Triton heard the martial sound,

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And the bold champion, for his challenge, drown'd;

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Then cast his mangled carcass on the strand:

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The gazing crowd around the body stand.

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All weep; but most Aeneas mourns his fate,

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And hastens to perform the funeral state.

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In altar-wise, a stately pile they rear;

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The basis broad below, and top advanc'd in air.

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An ancient wood, fit for the work design'd,

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(The shady covert of the salvage kind,)

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The Trojans found: the sounding ax is plied;

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Firs, pines, and pitch trees, and the tow'ring pride

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Of forest ashes, feel the fatal stroke,

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And piercing wedges cleave the stubborn oak.

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Huge trunks of trees, fell'd from the steepy crown

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Of the bare mountains, roll with ruin down.

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Arm'd like the rest the Trojan prince appears,

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And by his pious labor urges theirs.

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Thus while he wrought, revolving in his mind

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The ways to compass what his wish design'd,

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He cast his eyes upon the gloomy grove,

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And then with vows implor'd the Queen of Love:

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"O may thy pow'r, propitious still to me,

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Conduct my steps to find the fatal tree,

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In this deep forest; since the Sibyl's breath

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Foretold, alas! too true, Misenus' death."

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Scarce had he said, when, full before his sight,

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Two doves, descending from their airy flight,

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Secure upon the grassy plain alight.

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He knew his mother's birds; and thus he pray'd:

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"Be you my guides, with your auspicious aid,

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And lead my footsteps, till the branch be found,

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Whose glitt'ring shadow gilds the sacred ground.

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And thou, great parent, with celestial care,

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In this distress be present to my pray'r!"

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Thus having said, he stopp'd with watchful sight,

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Observing still the motions of their flight,

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What course they took, what happy signs they shew.

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They fed, and, flutt'ring, by degrees withdrew

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Still farther from the place, but still in view:

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Hopping and flying, thus they led him on

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To the slow lake, whose baleful stench to shun

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They wing'd their flight aloft; then, stooping low,

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Perch'd on the double tree that bears the golden bough.

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Thro' the green leafs the glitt'ring shadows glow;

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As, on the sacred oak, the wintry mistletoe,

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Where the proud mother views her precious brood,

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And happier branches, which she never sow'd.

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Such was the glitt'ring; such the ruddy rind,

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And dancing leaves, that wanton'd in the wind.

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He seiz'd the shining bough with griping hold,

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And rent away, with ease, the ling'ring gold;

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Then to the Sibyl's palace bore the prize.

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Meantime the Trojan troops, with weeping eyes,

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To dead Misenus pay his obsequies.

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First, from the ground a lofty pile they rear,

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Of pitch trees, oaks, and pines, and unctuous fir:

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The fabric's front with cypress twigs they strew,

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And stick the sides with boughs of baleful yew.

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The topmost part his glitt'ring arms adorn;

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Warm waters, then, in brazen caldrons borne,

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Are pour'd to wash his body, joint by joint,

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And fragrant oils the stiffen'd limbs anoint.

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With groans and cries Misenus they deplore:

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Then on a bier, with purple cover'd o'er,

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The breathless body, thus bewail'd, they lay,

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And fire the pile, their faces turn'd away-

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Such reverend rites their fathers us'd to pay.

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Pure oil and incense on the fire they throw,

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And fat of victims, which his friends bestow.

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These gifts the greedy flames to dust devour;

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Then on the living coals red wine they pour;

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And, last, the relics by themselves dispose,

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Which in a brazen urn the priests inclose.

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Old Corynaeus compass'd thrice the crew,

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And dipp'd an olive branch in holy dew;

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Which thrice he sprinkled round, and thrice aloud

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Invok'd the dead, and then dismissed the crowd.

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But good Aeneas order'd on the shore

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A stately tomb, whose top a trumpet bore,

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A soldier's fauchion, and a seaman's oar.

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Thus was his friend interr'd; and deathless fame

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Still to the lofty cape consigns his name.

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These rites perform'd, the prince, without delay,

Primary

Hastes to the nether world his destin'd way.

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Deep was the cave; and, downward as it went

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From the wide mouth, a rocky rough descent;

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And here th' access a gloomy grove defends,

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And there th' unnavigable lake extends,

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O'er whose unhappy waters, void of light,

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No bird presumes to steer his airy flight;

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Such deadly stenches from the depths arise,

Primary

And steaming sulphur, that infects the skies.

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From hence the Grecian bards their legends make,

Primary

And give the name Avernus to the lake.

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Four sable bullocks, in the yoke untaught,

Primary

For sacrifice the pious hero brought.

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The priestess pours the wine betwixt their horns;

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Then cuts the curling hair; that first oblation burns,

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Invoking Hecate hither to repair:

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A pow'rful name in hell and upper air.

Primary

The sacred priests with ready knives bereave

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The beasts of life, and in full bowls receive

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The streaming blood: a lamb to Hell and Night

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(The sable wool without a streak of white)

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Aeneas offers; and, by fate's decree,

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A barren heifer, Proserpine, to thee,

Primary

With holocausts he Pluto's altar fills;

Primary

Sev'n brawny bulls with his own hand he kills;

Primary

Then on the broiling entrails oil he pours;

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Which, ointed thus, the raging flame devours.

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Late the nocturnal sacrifice begun,

Primary

Nor ended till the next returning sun.

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Then earth began to bellow, trees to dance,

Primary

And howling dogs in glimm'ring light advance,

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Ere Hecate came. "Far hence be souls profane!"

Primary

The Sibyl cried, "and from the grove abstain!

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Now, Trojan, take the way thy fates afford;

Primary

Assume thy courage, and unsheathe thy sword."

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She said, and pass'd along the gloomy space;

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The prince pursued her steps with equal pace.

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Ye realms, yet unreveal'd to human sight,

Primary

Ye gods who rule the regions of the night,

Primary

Ye gliding ghosts, permit me to relate

Primary

The mystic wonders of your silent state!

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Obscure they went thro' dreary shades, that led

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Along the waste dominions of the dead.

Primary

Thus wander travelers in woods by night,

Primary

By the moon's doubtful and malignant light,

Primary

When Jove in dusky clouds involves the skies,

Primary

And the faint crescent shoots by fits before their eyes.

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Just in the gate and in the jaws of hell,

Primary

Revengeful Cares and sullen Sorrows dwell,

Primary

And pale Diseases, and repining Age,

Primary

Want, Fear, and Famine's unresisted rage;

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Here Toils, and Death, and Death's half-brother, Sleep,

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Forms terrible to view, their sentry keep;

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With anxious Pleasures of a guilty mind,

Primary

Deep Frauds before, and open Force behind;

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The Furies' iron beds; and Strife, that shakes

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Her hissing tresses and unfolds her snakes.

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Full in the midst of this infernal road,

Primary

An elm displays her dusky arms abroad:

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The God of Sleep there hides his heavy head,

Primary

And empty dreams on ev'ry leaf are spread.

Primary

Of various forms unnumber'd specters more,

Primary

Centaurs, and double shapes, besiege the door.

Primary

Before the passage, horrid Hydra stands,

Primary

And Briareus with all his hundred hands;

Primary

Gorgons, Geryon with his triple frame;

Primary

And vain Chimaera vomits empty flame.

Primary

The chief unsheath'd his shining steel, prepar'd,

Primary

Tho' seiz'd with sudden fear, to force the guard,

Primary

Off'ring his brandish'd weapon at their face;

Primary

Had not the Sibyl stopp'd his eager pace,

Primary

And told him what those empty phantoms were:

Primary

Forms without bodies, and impassive air.

Primary

Hence to deep Acheron they take their way,

Primary

Whose troubled eddies, thick with ooze and clay,

Primary

Are whirl'd aloft, and in Cocytus lost.

Primary

There Charon stands, who rules the dreary coast-

Primary

A sordid god: down from his hoary chin

Primary

A length of beard descends, uncomb'd, unclean;

Primary

His eyes, like hollow furnaces on fire;

Primary

A girdle, foul with grease, binds his obscene attire.

Primary

He spreads his canvas; with his pole he steers;

Primary

The freights of flitting ghosts in his thin bottom bears.

Primary

He look'd in years; yet in his years were seen

Primary

A youthful vigor and autumnal green.

Primary

An airy crowd came rushing where he stood,

Primary

Which fill'd the margin of the fatal flood:

Primary

Husbands and wives, boys and unmarried maids,

Primary

And mighty heroes' more majestic shades,

Primary

And youths, intomb'd before their fathers' eyes,

Primary

With hollow groans, and shrieks, and feeble cries.

Primary

Thick as the leaves in autumn strow the woods,

Primary

Or fowls, by winter forc'd, forsake the floods,

Primary

And wing their hasty flight to happier lands;

Primary

Such, and so thick, the shiv'ring army stands,

Primary

And press for passage with extended hands.

Primary

Now these, now those, the surly boatman bore:

Primary

The rest he drove to distance from the shore.

Primary

The hero, who beheld with wond'ring eyes

Primary

The tumult mix'd with shrieks, laments, and cries,

Primary

Ask'd of his guide, what the rude concourse meant;

Primary

Why to the shore the thronging people bent;

Primary

What forms of law among the ghosts were us'd;

Primary

Why some were ferried o'er, and some refus'd.

Primary

"Son of Anchises, offspring of the gods,"

Primary

The Sibyl said, "you see the Stygian floods,

Primary

The sacred stream which heav'n's imperial state

Primary

Attests in oaths, and fears to violate.

Primary

The ghosts rejected are th' unhappy crew

Primary

Depriv'd of sepulchers and fun'ral due:

Primary

The boatman, Charon; those, the buried host,

Primary

He ferries over to the farther coast;

Primary

Nor dares his transport vessel cross the waves

Primary

With such whose bones are not compos'd in graves.

Primary

A hundred years they wander on the shore;

Primary

At length, their penance done, are wafted o'er."

Primary

The Trojan chief his forward pace repress'd,

Primary

Revolving anxious thoughts within his breast,

Primary

He saw his friends, who, whelm'd beneath the waves,

Primary

Their fun'ral honors claim'd, and ask'd their quiet graves.

Primary

The lost Leucaspis in the crowd he knew,

Primary

And the brave leader of the Lycian crew,

Primary

Whom, on the Tyrrhene seas, the tempests met;

Primary

The sailors master'd, and the ship o'erset.

Primary

Amidst the spirits, Palinurus press'd,

Primary

Yet fresh from life, a new-admitted guest,

Primary

Who, while he steering view'd the stars, and bore

Primary

His course from Afric to the Latian shore,

Primary

Fell headlong down. The Trojan fix'd his view,

Primary

And scarcely thro' the gloom the sullen shadow knew.

Primary

Then thus the prince: "What envious pow'r, O friend,

Primary

Brought your lov'd life to this disastrous end?

Primary

For Phoebus, ever true in all he said,

Primary

Has in your fate alone my faith betray'd.

Primary

The god foretold you should not die, before

Primary

You reach'd, secure from seas, th' Italian shore.

Primary

Is this th' unerring pow'r?" The ghost replied;

Primary

"Nor Phoebus flatter'd, nor his answers lied;

Primary

Nor envious gods have sent me to the deep:

Primary

But, while the stars and course of heav'n I keep,

Primary

My wearied eyes were seiz'd with fatal sleep.

Primary

I fell; and, with my weight, the helm constrain'd

Primary

Was drawn along, which yet my gripe retain'd.

Primary

Now by the winds and raging waves I swear,

Primary

Your safety, more than mine, was then my care;

Primary

Lest, of the guide bereft, the rudder lost,

Primary

Your ship should run against the rocky coast.

Primary

Three blust'ring nights, borne by the southern blast,

Primary

I floated, and discover'd land at last:

Primary

High on a mounting wave my head I bore,

Primary

Forcing my strength, and gath'ring to the shore.

Primary

Panting, but past the danger, now I seiz'd

Primary

The craggy cliffs, and my tir'd members eas'd.

Primary

While, cumber'd with my dropping clothes, I lay,

Primary

The cruel nation, covetous of prey,

Primary

Stain'd with my blood th' unhospitable coast;

Primary

And now, by winds and waves, my lifeless limbs are toss'd:

Primary

Which O avert, by yon ethereal light,

Primary

Which I have lost for this eternal night!

Primary

Or, if by dearer ties you may be won,

Primary

By your dead sire, and by your living son,

Primary

Redeem from this reproach my wand'ring ghost;

Primary

Or with your navy seek the Velin coast,

Primary

And in a peaceful grave my corpse compose;

Primary

Or, if a nearer way your mother shows,

Primary

Without whose aid you durst not undertake

Primary

This frightful passage o'er the Stygian lake,

Primary

Lend to this wretch your hand, and waft him o'er

Primary

To the sweet banks of yon forbidden shore."

Primary

Scarce had he said, the prophetess began:

Primary

"What hopes delude thee, miserable man?

Primary

Think'st thou, thus unintomb'd, to cross the floods,

Primary

To view the Furies and infernal gods,

Primary

And visit, without leave, the dark abodes?

Primary

Attend the term of long revolving years;

Primary

Fate, and the dooming gods, are deaf to tears.

Primary

This comfort of thy dire misfortune take:

Primary

The wrath of Heav'n, inflicted for thy sake,

Primary

With vengeance shall pursue th' inhuman coast,

Primary

Till they propitiate thy offended ghost,

Primary

And raise a tomb, with vows and solemn pray'r;

Primary

And Palinurus' name the place shall bear."

Primary

This calm'd his cares; sooth'd with his future fame,

Primary

And pleas'd to hear his propagated name.

Primary

Now nearer to the Stygian lake they draw:

Primary

Whom, from the shore, the surly boatman saw;

Primary

Observ'd their passage thro' the shady wood,

Primary

And mark'd their near approaches to the flood.

Primary

Then thus he call'd aloud, inflam'd with wrath:

Primary

"Mortal, whate'er, who this forbidden path

Primary

In arms presum'st to tread, I charge thee, stand,

Primary

And tell thy name, and bus'ness in the land.

Primary

Know this, the realm of night- the Stygian shore:

Primary

My boat conveys no living bodies o'er;

Primary

Nor was I pleas'd great Theseus once to bear,

Primary

Who forc'd a passage with his pointed spear,

Primary

Nor strong Alcides- men of mighty fame,

Primary

And from th' immortal gods their lineage came.

Primary

In fetters one the barking porter tied,

Primary

And took him trembling from his sov'reign's side:

Primary

Two sought by force to seize his beauteous bride."

Primary

To whom the Sibyl thus: "Compose thy mind;

Primary

Nor frauds are here contriv'd, nor force design'd.

Primary

Still may the dog the wand'ring troops constrain

Primary

Of airy ghosts, and vex the guilty train,

Primary

And with her grisly lord his lovely queen remain.

Primary

The Trojan chief, whose lineage is from Jove,

Primary

Much fam'd for arms, and more for filial love,

Primary

Is sent to seek his sire in your Elysian grove.

Primary

If neither piety, nor Heav'n's command,

Primary

Can gain his passage to the Stygian strand,

Primary

This fatal present shall prevail at least."

Primary

Then shew'd the shining bough, conceal'd within her vest.

Primary

No more was needful: for the gloomy god

Primary

Stood mute with awe, to see the golden rod;

Primary

Admir'd the destin'd off'ring to his queen-

Primary

A venerable gift, so rarely seen.

Primary

His fury thus appeas'd, he puts to land;

Primary

The ghosts forsake their seats at his command:

Primary

He clears the deck, receives the mighty freight;

Primary

The leaky vessel groans beneath the weight.

Primary

Slowly she sails, and scarcely stems the tides;

Primary

The pressing water pours within her sides.

Primary

His passengers at length are wafted o'er,

Primary

Expos'd, in muddy weeds, upon the miry shore.

Primary

No sooner landed, in his den they found

Primary

The triple porter of the Stygian sound,

Primary

Grim Cerberus, who soon began to rear

Primary

His crested snakes, and arm'd his bristling hair.

Primary

The prudent Sibyl had before prepar'd

Primary

A sop, in honey steep'd, to charm the guard;

Primary

Which, mix'd with pow'rful drugs, she cast before

Primary

His greedy grinning jaws, just op'd to roar.

Primary

With three enormous mouths he gapes; and straight,

Primary

With hunger press'd, devours the pleasing bait.

Primary

Long draughts of sleep his monstrous limbs enslave;

Primary

He reels, and, falling, fills the spacious cave.

Primary

The keeper charm'd, the chief without delay

Primary

Pass'd on, and took th' irremeable way.

Primary

Before the gates, the cries of babes new born,

Primary

Whom fate had from their tender mothers torn,

Primary

Assault his ears: then those, whom form of laws

Primary

Condemn'd to die, when traitors judg'd their cause.

Primary

Nor want they lots, nor judges to review

Primary

The wrongful sentence, and award a new.

Primary

Minos, the strict inquisitor, appears;

Primary

And lives and crimes, with his assessors, hears.

Primary

Round in his urn the blended balls he rolls,

Primary

Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls.

Primary

The next, in place and punishment, are they

Primary

Who prodigally throw their souls away;

Primary

Fools, who, repining at their wretched state,

Primary

And loathing anxious life, suborn'd their fate.

Primary

With late repentance now they would retrieve

Primary

The bodies they forsook, and wish to live;

Primary

Their pains and poverty desire to bear,

Primary

To view the light of heav'n, and breathe the vital air:

Primary

But fate forbids; the Stygian floods oppose,

Primary

And with circling streams the captive souls inclose.

Primary

Not far from thence, the Mournful Fields appear

Primary

So call'd from lovers that inhabit there.

Primary

The souls whom that unhappy flame invades,

Primary

In secret solitude and myrtle shades

Primary

Make endless moans, and, pining with desire,

Primary

Lament too late their unextinguish'd fire.

Primary

Here Procris, Eriphyle here he found,

Primary

Baring her breast, yet bleeding with the wound

Primary

Made by her son. He saw Pasiphae there,

Primary

With Phaedra's ghost, a foul incestuous pair.

Primary

There Laodamia, with Evadne, moves,

Primary

Unhappy both, but loyal in their loves:

Primary

Caeneus, a woman once, and once a man,

Primary

But ending in the sex she first began.

Primary

Not far from these Phoenician Dido stood,

Primary

Fresh from her wound, her bosom bath'd in blood;

Primary

Whom when the Trojan hero hardly knew,

Primary

Obscure in shades, and with a doubtful view,

Primary

(Doubtful as he who sees, thro' dusky night,

Primary

Or thinks he sees, the moon's uncertain light,)

Primary

With tears he first approach'd the sullen shade;

Primary

And, as his love inspir'd him, thus he said:

Primary

"Unhappy queen! then is the common breath

Primary

Of rumor true, in your reported death,

Primary

And I, alas! the cause? By Heav'n, I vow,

Primary

And all the pow'rs that rule the realms below,

Primary

Unwilling I forsook your friendly state,

Primary

Commanded by the gods, and forc'd by fate-

Primary

Those gods, that fate, whose unresisted might

Primary

Have sent me to these regions void of light,

Primary

Thro' the vast empire of eternal night.

Primary

Nor dar'd I to presume, that, press'd with grief,

Primary

My flight should urge you to this dire relief.

Primary

Stay, stay your steps, and listen to my vows:

Primary

'T is the last interview that fate allows!"

Primary

In vain he thus attempts her mind to move

Primary

With tears, and pray'rs, and late-repenting love.

Primary

Disdainfully she look'd; then turning round,

Primary

But fix'd her eyes unmov'd upon the ground,

Primary

And what he says and swears, regards no more

Primary

Than the deaf rocks, when the loud billows roar;

Primary

But whirl'd away, to shun his hateful sight,

Primary

Hid in the forest and the shades of night;

Primary

Then sought Sichaeus thro' the shady grove,

Primary

Who answer'd all her cares, and equal'd all her love.

Primary

Some pious tears the pitying hero paid,

Primary

And follow'd with his eyes the flitting shade,

Primary

Then took the forward way, by fate ordain'd,

Primary

And, with his guide, the farther fields attain'd,

Primary

Where, sever'd from the rest, the warrior souls remain'd.

Primary

Tydeus he met, with Meleager's race,

Primary

The pride of armies, and the soldiers' grace;

Primary

And pale Adrastus with his ghastly face.

Primary

Of Trojan chiefs he view'd a num'rous train,

Primary

All much lamented, all in battle slain;

Primary

Glaucus and Medon, high above the rest,

Primary

Antenor's sons, and Ceres' sacred priest.

Primary

And proud Idaeus, Priam's charioteer,

Primary

Who shakes his empty reins, and aims his airy spear.

Primary

The gladsome ghosts, in circling troops, attend

Primary

And with unwearied eyes behold their friend;

Primary

Delight to hover near, and long to know

Primary

What bus'ness brought him to the realms below.

Primary

But Argive chiefs, and Agamemnon's train,

Primary

When his refulgent arms flash'd thro' the shady plain,

Primary

Fled from his well-known face, with wonted fear,

Primary

As when his thund'ring sword and pointed spear

Primary

Drove headlong to their ships, and glean'd the routed rear.

Primary

They rais'd a feeble cry, with trembling notes;

Primary

But the weak voice deceiv'd their gasping throats.

Primary

Here Priam's son, Deiphobus, he found,

Primary

Whose face and limbs were one continued wound:

Primary

Dishonest, with lopp'd arms, the youth appears,

Primary

Spoil'd of his nose, and shorten'd of his ears.

Primary

He scarcely knew him, striving to disown

Primary

His blotted form, and blushing to be known;

Primary

And therefore first began: "O Tsucer's race,

Primary

Who durst thy faultless figure thus deface?

Primary

What heart could wish, what hand inflict, this dire disgrace?

Primary

'Twas fam'd, that in our last and fatal night

Primary

Your single prowess long sustain'd the fight,

Primary

Till tir'd, not forc'd, a glorious fate you chose,

Primary

And fell upon a heap of slaughter'd foes.

Primary

But, in remembrance of so brave a deed,

Primary

A tomb and fun'ral honors I decreed;

Primary

Thrice call'd your manes on the Trojan plains:

Primary

The place your armor and your name retains.

Primary

Your body too I sought, and, had I found,

Primary

Design'd for burial in your native ground."

Primary

The ghost replied: "Your piety has paid

Primary

All needful rites, to rest my wand'ring shade;

Primary

But cruel fate, and my more cruel wife,

Primary

To Grecian swords betray'd my sleeping life.

Primary

These are the monuments of Helen's love:

Primary

The shame I bear below, the marks I bore above.

Primary

You know in what deluding joys we pass'd

Primary

The night that was by Heav'n decreed our last:

Primary

For, when the fatal horse, descending down,

Primary

Pregnant with arms, o'erwhelm'd th' unhappy town

Primary

She feign'd nocturnal orgies; left my bed,

Primary

And, mix'd with Trojan dames, the dances led

Primary

Then, waving high her torch, the signal made,

Primary

Which rous'd the Grecians from their ambuscade.

Primary

With watching overworn, with cares oppress'd,

Primary

Unhappy I had laid me down to rest,

Primary

And heavy sleep my weary limbs possess'd.

Primary

Meantime my worthy wife our arms mislaid,

Primary

And from beneath my head my sword convey'd;

Primary

The door unlatch'd, and, with repeated calls,

Primary

Invites her former lord within my walls.

Primary

Thus in her crime her confidence she plac'd,

Primary

And with new treasons would redeem the past.

Primary

What need I more? Into the room they ran,

Primary

And meanly murther'd a defenseless man.

Primary

Ulysses, basely born, first led the way.

Primary

Avenging pow'rs! with justice if I pray,

Primary

That fortune be their own another day!

Primary

But answer you; and in your turn relate,

Primary

What brought you, living, to the Stygian state:

Primary

Driv'n by the winds and errors of the sea,

Primary

Or did you Heav'n's superior doom obey?

Primary

Or tell what other chance conducts your way,

Primary

To view with mortal eyes our dark retreats,

Primary

Tumults and torments of th' infernal seats."

Primary

While thus in talk the flying hours they pass,

Primary

The sun had finish'd more than half his race:

Primary

And they, perhaps, in words and tears had spent

Primary

The little time of stay which Heav'n had lent;

Primary

But thus the Sibyl chides their long delay:

Primary

"Night rushes down, and headlong drives the day:

Primary

'T is here, in different paths, the way divides;

Primary

The right to Pluto's golden palace guides;

Primary

The left to that unhappy region tends,

Primary

Which to the depth of Tartarus descends;

Primary

The seat of night profound, and punish'd fiends."

Primary

Then thus Deiphobus: "O sacred maid,

Primary

Forbear to chide, and be your will obey'd!

Primary

Lo! to the secret shadows I retire,

Primary

To pay my penance till my years expire.

Primary

Proceed, auspicious prince, with glory crown'd,

Primary

And born to better fates than I have found."

Primary

He said; and, while he said, his steps he turn'd

Primary

To secret shadows, and in silence mourn'd.

Primary

The hero, looking on the left, espied

Primary

A lofty tow'r, and strong on ev'ry side

Primary

With treble walls, which Phlegethon surrounds,

Primary

Whose fiery flood the burning empire bounds;

Primary

And, press'd betwixt the rocks, the bellowing noise resounds

Primary

Wide is the fronting gate, and, rais'd on high

Primary

With adamantine columns, threats the sky.

Primary

Vain is the force of man, and Heav'n's as vain,

Primary

To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.

Primary

Sublime on these a tow'r of steel is rear'd;

Primary

And dire Tisiphone there keeps the ward,

Primary

Girt in her sanguine gown, by night and day,

Primary

Observant of the souls that pass the downward way.

Primary

From hence are heard the groans of ghosts, the pains

Primary

Of sounding lashes and of dragging chains.

Primary

The Trojan stood astonish'd at their cries,

Primary

And ask'd his guide from whence those yells arise;

Primary

And what the crimes, and what the tortures were,

Primary

And loud laments that rent the liquid air.

Primary

She thus replied: "The chaste and holy race

Primary

Are all forbidden this polluted place.

Primary

But Hecate, when she gave to rule the woods,

Primary

Then led me trembling thro' these dire abodes,

Primary

And taught the tortures of th' avenging gods.

Primary

These are the realms of unrelenting fate;

Primary

And awful Rhadamanthus rules the state.

Primary

He hears and judges each committed crime;

Primary

Enquires into the manner, place, and time.

Primary

The conscious wretch must all his acts reveal,

Primary

(Loth to confess, unable to conceal),

Primary

From the first moment of his vital breath,

Primary

To his last hour of unrepenting death.

Primary

Straight, o'er the guilty ghost, the Fury shakes

Primary

The sounding whip and brandishes her snakes,

Primary

And the pale sinner, with her sisters, takes.

Primary

Then, of itself, unfolds th' eternal door;

Primary

With dreadful sounds the brazen hinges roar.

Primary

You see, before the gate, what stalking ghost

Primary

Commands the guard, what sentries keep the post.

Primary

More formidable Hydra stands within,

Primary

Whose jaws with iron teeth severely grin.

Primary

The gaping gulf low to the center lies,

Primary

And twice as deep as earth is distant from the skies.

Primary

The rivals of the gods, the Titan race,

Primary

Here, sing'd with lightning, roll within th' unfathom'd space.

Primary

Here lie th' Alaean twins, (I saw them both,)

Primary

Enormous bodies, of gigantic growth,

Primary

Who dar'd in fight the Thund'rer to defy,

Primary

Affect his heav'n, and force him from the sky.

Primary

Salmoneus, suff'ring cruel pains, I found,

Primary

For emulating Jove; the rattling sound

Primary

Of mimic thunder, and the glitt'ring blaze

Primary

Of pointed lightnings, and their forky rays.

Primary

Thro' Elis and the Grecian towns he flew;

Primary

Th' audacious wretch four fiery coursers drew:

Primary

He wav'd a torch aloft, and, madly vain,

Primary

Sought godlike worship from a servile train.

Primary

Ambitious fool! with horny hoofs to pass

Primary

O'er hollow arches of resounding brass,

Primary

To rival thunder in its rapid course,

Primary

And imitate inimitable force!

Primary

But he, the King of Heav'n, obscure on high,

Primary

Bar'd his red arm, and, launching from the sky

Primary

His writhen bolt, not shaking empty smoke,

Primary

Down to the deep abyss the flaming felon strook.

Primary

There Tityus was to see, who took his birth

Primary

From heav'n, his nursing from the foodful earth.

Primary

Here his gigantic limbs, with large embrace,

Primary

Infold nine acres of infernal space.

Primary

A rav'nous vulture, in his open'd side,

Primary

Her crooked beak and cruel talons tried;

Primary

Still for the growing liver digg'd his breast;

Primary

The growing liver still supplied the feast;

Primary

Still are his entrails fruitful to their pains:

Primary

Th' immortal hunger lasts, th' immortal food remains.

Primary

Ixion and Perithous I could name,

Primary

And more Thessalian chiefs of mighty fame.

Primary

High o'er their heads a mold'ring rock is plac'd,

Primary

That promises a fall, and shakes at ev'ry blast.

Primary

They lie below, on golden beds display'd;

Primary

And genial feasts with regal pomp are made.

Primary

The Queen of Furies by their sides is set,

Primary

And snatches from their mouths th' untasted meat,

Primary

Which if they touch, her hissing snakes she rears,

Primary

Tossing her torch, and thund'ring in their ears.

Primary

Then they, who brothers' better claim disown,

Primary

Expel their parents, and usurp the throne;

Primary

Defraud their clients, and, to lucre sold,

Primary

Sit brooding on unprofitable gold;

Primary

Who dare not give, and ev'n refuse to lend

Primary

To their poor kindred, or a wanting friend.

Primary

Vast is the throng of these; nor less the train

Primary

Of lustful youths, for foul adult'ry slain:

Primary

Hosts of deserters, who their honor sold,

Primary

And basely broke their faith for bribes of gold.

Primary

All these within the dungeon's depth remain,

Primary

Despairing pardon, and expecting pain.

Primary

Ask not what pains; nor farther seek to know

Primary

Their process, or the forms of law below.

Primary

Some roll a weighty stone; some, laid along,

Primary

And bound with burning wires, on spokes of wheels are hung

Primary

Unhappy Theseus, doom'd for ever there,

Primary

Is fix'd by fate on his eternal chair;

Primary

And wretched Phlegyas warns the world with cries

Primary

(Could warning make the world more just or wise):

Primary

'Learn righteousness, and dread th' avenging deities.'

Primary

To tyrants others have their country sold,

Primary

Imposing foreign lords, for foreign gold;

Primary

Some have old laws repeal'd, new statutes made,

Primary

Not as the people pleas'd, but as they paid;

Primary

With incest some their daughters' bed profan'd:

Primary

All dar'd the worst of ills, and, what they dar'd, attain'd.

Primary

Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues,

Primary

And throats of brass, inspir'd with iron lungs,

Primary

I could not half those horrid crimes repeat,

Primary

Nor half the punishments those crimes have met.

Primary

But let us haste our voyage to pursue:

Primary

The walls of Pluto's palace are in view;

Primary

The gate, and iron arch above it, stands

Primary

On anvils labor'd by the Cyclops' hands.

Primary

Before our farther way the Fates allow,

Primary

Here must we fix on high the golden bough."

Primary

She said: and thro' the gloomy shades they pass'd,

Primary

And chose the middle path. Arriv'd at last,

Primary

The prince with living water sprinkled o'er

Primary

His limbs and body; then approach'd the door,

Primary

Possess'd the porch, and on the front above

Primary

He fix'd the fatal bough requir'd by Pluto's love.

Primary

These holy rites perform'd, they took their way

Primary

Where long extended plains of pleasure lay:

Primary

The verdant fields with those of heav'n may vie,

Primary

With ether vested, and a purple sky;

Primary

The blissful seats of happy souls below.

Primary

Stars of their own, and their own suns, they know;

Primary

Their airy limbs in sports they exercise,

Primary

And on the green contend the wrestler's prize.

Primary

Some in heroic verse divinely sing;

Primary

Others in artful measures led the ring.

Primary

The Thracian bard, surrounded by the rest,

Primary

There stands conspicuous in his flowing vest;

Primary

His flying fingers, and harmonious quill,

Primary

Strikes sev'n distinguish'd notes, and sev'n at once they fill.

Primary

Here found they Tsucer's old heroic race,

Primary

Born better times and happier years to grace.

Primary

Assaracus and Ilus here enjoy

Primary

Perpetual fame, with him who founded Troy.

Primary

The chief beheld their chariots from afar,

Primary

Their shining arms, and coursers train'd to war:

Primary

Their lances fix'd in earth, their steeds around,

Primary

Free from their harness, graze the flow'ry ground.

Primary

The love of horses which they had, alive,

Primary

And care of chariots, after death survive.

Primary

Some cheerful souls were feasting on the plain;

Primary

Some did the song, and some the choir maintain,

Primary

Beneath a laurel shade, where mighty Po

Primary

Mounts up to woods above, and hides his head below.

Primary

Here patriots live, who, for their country's good,

Primary

In fighting fields, were prodigal of blood:

Primary

Priests of unblemish'd lives here make abode,

Primary

And poets worthy their inspiring god;

Primary

And searching wits, of more mechanic parts,

Primary

Who grac'd their age with new-invented arts:

Primary

Those who to worth their bounty did extend,

Primary

And those who knew that bounty to commend.

Primary

The heads of these with holy fillets bound,

Primary

And all their temples were with garlands crown'd.

Primary

To these the Sibyl thus her speech address'd,

Primary

And first to him surrounded by the rest

Primary

(Tow'ring his height, and ample was his breast):

Primary

"Say, happy souls, divine Musaeus, say,

Primary

Where lives Anchises, and where lies our way

Primary

To find the hero, for whose only sake

Primary

We sought the dark abodes, and cross'd the bitter lake?"

Primary

To this the sacred poet thus replied:

Primary

"In no fix'd place the happy souls reside.

Primary

In groves we live, and lie on mossy beds,

Primary

By crystal streams, that murmur thro' the meads:

Primary

But pass yon easy hill, and thence descend;

Primary

The path conducts you to your journey's end."

Primary

This said, he led them up the mountain's brow,

Primary

And shews them all the shining fields below.

Primary

They wind the hill, and thro' the blissful meadows go.

Primary

But old Anchises, in a flow'ry vale,

Primary

Review'd his muster'd race, and took the tale:

Primary

Those happy spirits, which, ordain'd by fate,

Primary

For future beings and new bodies wait-

Primary

With studious thought observ'd th' illustrious throng,

Primary

In nature's order as they pass'd along:

Primary

Their names, their fates, their conduct, and their care,

Primary

In peaceful senates and successful war.

Primary

He, when Aeneas on the plain appears,

Primary

Meets him with open arms, and falling tears.

Primary

"Welcome," he said, "the gods' undoubted race!

Primary

O long expected to my dear embrace!

Primary

Once more 't is giv'n me to behold your face!

Primary

The love and pious duty which you pay

Primary

Have pass'd the perils of so hard a way.

Primary

'T is true, computing times, I now believ'd

Primary

The happy day approach'd; nor are my hopes deceiv'd.

Primary

What length of lands, what oceans have you pass'd;

Primary

What storms sustain'd, and on what shores been cast?

Primary

How have I fear'd your fate! but fear'd it most,

Primary

When love assail'd you, on the Libyan coast."

Primary

To this, the filial duty thus replies:

Primary

"Your sacred ghost before my sleeping eyes

Primary

Appear'd, and often urg'd this painful enterprise.

Primary

After long tossing on the Tyrrhene sea,

Primary

My navy rides at anchor in the bay.

Primary

But reach your hand, O parent shade, nor shun

Primary

The dear embraces of your longing son!"

Primary

He said; and falling tears his face bedew:

Primary

Then thrice around his neck his arms he threw;

Primary

And thrice the flitting shadow slipp'd away,

Primary

Like winds, or empty dreams that fly the day.

Primary

Now, in a secret vale, the Trojan sees

Primary

A sep'rate grove, thro' which a gentle breeze

Primary

Plays with a passing breath, and whispers thro' the trees;

Primary

And, just before the confines of the wood,

Primary

The gliding Lethe leads her silent flood.

Primary

About the boughs an airy nation flew,

Primary

Thick as the humming bees, that hunt the golden dew;

Primary

In summer's heat on tops of lilies feed,

Primary

And creep within their bells, to suck the balmy seed:

Primary

The winged army roams the fields around;

Primary

The rivers and the rocks remurmur to the sound.

Primary

Aeneas wond'ring stood, then ask'd the cause

Primary

Which to the stream the crowding people draws.

Primary

Then thus the sire: "The souls that throng the flood

Primary

Are those to whom, by fate, are other bodies ow'd:

Primary

In Lethe's lake they long oblivion taste,

Primary

Of future life secure, forgetful of the past.

Primary

Long has my soul desir'd this time and place,

Primary

To set before your sight your glorious race,

Primary

That this presaging joy may fire your mind

Primary

To seek the shores by destiny design'd."-

Primary

"O father, can it be, that souls sublime

Primary

Return to visit our terrestrial clime,

Primary

And that the gen'rous mind, releas'd by death,

Primary

Can covet lazy limbs and mortal breath?"

Primary

Anchises then, in order, thus begun

Primary

To clear those wonders to his godlike son:

Primary

"Know, first, that heav'n, and earth's compacted frame,

Primary

And flowing waters, and the starry flame,

Primary

And both the radiant lights, one common soul

Primary

Inspires and feeds, and animates the whole.

Primary

This active mind, infus'd thro' all the space,

Primary

Unites and mingles with the mighty mass.

Primary

Hence men and beasts the breath of life obtain,

Primary

And birds of air, and monsters of the main.

Primary

Th' ethereal vigor is in all the same,

Primary

And every soul is fill'd with equal flame;

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As much as earthy limbs, and gross allay

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Of mortal members, subject to decay,

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Blunt not the beams of heav'n and edge of day.

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From this coarse mixture of terrestrial parts,

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Desire and fear by turns possess their hearts,

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And grief, and joy; nor can the groveling mind,

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In the dark dungeon of the limbs confin'd,

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Assert the native skies, or own its heav'nly kind:

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Nor death itself can wholly wash their stains;

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But long-contracted filth ev'n in the soul remains.

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The relics of inveterate vice they wear,

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And spots of sin obscene in ev'ry face appear.

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For this are various penances enjoin'd;

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And some are hung to bleach upon the wind,

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Some plung'd in waters, others purg'd in fires,

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Till all the dregs are drain'd, and all the rust expires.

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All have their manes, and those manes bear:

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The few, so cleans'd, to these abodes repair,

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And breathe, in ample fields, the soft Elysian air.

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Then are they happy, when by length of time

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The scurf is worn away of each committed crime;

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No speck is left of their habitual stains,

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But the pure ether of the soul remains.

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But, when a thousand rolling years are past,

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(So long their punishments and penance last,)

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Whole droves of minds are, by the driving god,

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Compell'd to drink the deep Lethaean flood,

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In large forgetful draughts to steep the cares

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Of their past labors, and their irksome years,

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That, unrememb'ring of its former pain,

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The soul may suffer mortal flesh again."

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Thus having said, the father spirit leads

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The priestess and his son thro' swarms of shades,

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And takes a rising ground, from thence to see

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The long procession of his progeny.

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"Survey," pursued the sire, "this airy throng,

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As, offer'd to thy view, they pass along.

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These are th' Italian names, which fate will join

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With ours, and graff upon the Trojan line.

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Observe the youth who first appears in sight,

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And holds the nearest station to the light,

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Already seems to snuff the vital air,

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And leans just forward, on a shining spear:

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Silvius is he, thy last-begotten race,

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But first in order sent, to fill thy place;

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An Alban name, but mix'd with Dardan blood,

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Born in the covert of a shady wood:

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Him fair Lavinia, thy surviving wife,

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Shall breed in groves, to lead a solitary life.

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In Alba he shall fix his royal seat,

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And, born a king, a race of kings beget.

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Then Procas, honor of the Trojan name,

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Capys, and Numitor, of endless fame.

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A second Silvius after these appears;

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Silvius Aeneas, for thy name he bears;

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For arms and justice equally renown'd,

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Who, late restor'd, in Alba shall be crown'd.

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How great they look! how vig'rously they wield

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Their weighty lances, and sustain the shield!

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But they, who crown'd with oaken wreaths appear,

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Shall Gabian walls and strong Fidena rear;

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Nomentum, Bola, with Pometia, found;

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And raise Collatian tow'rs on rocky ground.

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All these shall then be towns of mighty fame,

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Tho' now they lie obscure, and lands without a name.

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See Romulus the great, born to restore

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The crown that once his injur'd grandsire wore.

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This prince a priestess of your blood shall bear,

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And like his sire in arms he shall appear.

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Two rising crests, his royal head adorn;

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Born from a god, himself to godhead born:

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His sire already signs him for the skies,

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And marks the seat amidst the deities.

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Auspicious chief! thy race, in times to come,

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Shall spread the conquests of imperial Rome-

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Rome, whose ascending tow'rs shall heav'n invade,

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Involving earth and ocean in her shade;

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High as the Mother of the Gods in place,

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And proud, like her, of an immortal race.

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Then, when in pomp she makes the Phrygian round,

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With golden turrets on her temples crown'd;

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A hundred gods her sweeping train supply;

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Her offspring all, and all command the sky.

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"Now fix your sight, and stand intent, to see

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Your Roman race, and Julian progeny.

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The mighty Caesar waits his vital hour,

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Impatient for the world, and grasps his promis'd pow'r.

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But next behold the youth of form divine,

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Ceasar himself, exalted in his line;

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Augustus, promis'd oft, and long foretold,

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Sent to the realm that Saturn rul'd of old;

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Born to restore a better age of gold.

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Afric and India shall his pow'r obey;

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He shall extend his propagated sway

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Beyond the solar year, without the starry way,

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Where Atlas turns the rolling heav'ns around,

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And his broad shoulders with their lights are crown'd.

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At his foreseen approach, already quake

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The Caspian kingdoms and Maeotian lake:

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Their seers behold the tempest from afar,

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And threat'ning oracles denounce the war.

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Nile hears him knocking at his sev'nfold gates,

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And seeks his hidden spring, and fears his nephew's fates.

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Nor Hercules more lands or labors knew,

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Not tho' the brazen-footed hind he slew,

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Freed Erymanthus from the foaming boar,

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And dipp'd his arrows in Lernaean gore;

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Nor Bacchus, turning from his Indian war,

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By tigers drawn triumphant in his car,

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From Nisus' top descending on the plains,

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With curling vines around his purple reins.

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And doubt we yet thro' dangers to pursue

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The paths of honor, and a crown in view?

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But what's the man, who from afar appears?

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His head with olive crown'd, his hand a censer bears,

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His hoary beard and holy vestments bring

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His lost idea back: I know the Roman king.

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He shall to peaceful Rome new laws ordain,

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Call'd from his mean abode a scepter to sustain.

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Him Tullus next in dignity succeeds,

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An active prince, and prone to martial deeds.

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He shall his troops for fighting fields prepare,

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Disus'd to toils, and triumphs of the war.

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By dint of sword his crown he shall increase,

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And scour his armor from the rust of peace.

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Whom Ancus follows, with a fawning air,

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But vain within, and proudly popular.

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Next view the Tarquin kings, th' avenging sword

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Of Brutus, justly drawn, and Rome restor'd.

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He first renews the rods and ax severe,

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And gives the consuls royal robes to wear.

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His sons, who seek the tyrant to sustain,

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And long for arbitrary lords again,

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With ignominy scourg'd, in open sight,

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He dooms to death deserv'd, asserting public right.

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Unhappy man, to break the pious laws

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Of nature, pleading in his children's cause!

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Howeer the doubtful fact is understood,

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'T is love of honor, and his country's good:

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The consul, not the father, sheds the blood.

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Behold Torquatus the same track pursue;

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And, next, the two devoted Decii view:

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The Drusian line, Camillus loaded home

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With standards well redeem'd, and foreign foes o'ercome

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The pair you see in equal armor shine,

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Now, friends below, in close embraces join;

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But, when they leave the shady realms of night,

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And, cloth'd in bodies, breathe your upper light,

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With mortal hate each other shall pursue:

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What wars, what wounds, what slaughter shall ensue!

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From Alpine heights the father first descends;

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His daughter's husband in the plain attends:

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His daughter's husband arms his eastern friends.

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Embrace again, my sons, be foes no more;

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Nor stain your country with her children's gore!

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And thou, the first, lay down thy lawless claim,

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Thou, of my blood, who bearist the Julian name!

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Another comes, who shall in triumph ride,

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And to the Capitol his chariot guide,

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From conquer'd Corinth, rich with Grecian spoils.

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And yet another, fam'd for warlike toils,

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On Argos shall impose the Roman laws,

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And on the Greeks revenge the Trojan cause;

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Shall drag in chains their Achillean race;

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Shall vindicate his ancestors' disgrace,

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And Pallas, for her violated place.

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Great Cato there, for gravity renown'd,

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And conqu'ring Cossus goes with laurels crown'd.

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Who can omit the Gracchi? who declare

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The Scipios' worth, those thunderbolts of war,

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The double bane of Carthage? Who can see

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Without esteem for virtuous poverty,

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Severe Fabricius, or can cease t' admire

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The plowman consul in his coarse attire?

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Tir'd as I am, my praise the Fabii claim;

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And thou, great hero, greatest of thy name,

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Ordain'd in war to save the sinking state,

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And, by delays, to put a stop to fate!

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Let others better mold the running mass

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Of metals, and inform the breathing brass,

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And soften into flesh a marble face;

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Plead better at the bar; describe the skies,

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And when the stars descend, and when they rise.

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But, Rome, 't is thine alone, with awful sway,

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To rule mankind, and make the world obey,

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Disposing peace and war by thy own majestic way;

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To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free:

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These are imperial arts, and worthy thee."

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He paus'd; and, while with wond'ring eyes they view'd

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The passing spirits, thus his speech renew'd:

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"See great Marcellus! how, untir'd in toils,

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He moves with manly grace, how rich with regal spoils!

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He, when his country, threaten'd with alarms,

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Requires his courage and his conqu'ring arms,

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Shall more than once the Punic bands affright;

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Shall kill the Gaulish king in single fight;

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Then to the Capitol in triumph move,

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And the third spoils shall grace Feretrian Jove."

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Aeneas here beheld, of form divine,

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A godlike youth in glitt'ring armor shine,

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With great Marcellus keeping equal pace;

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But gloomy were his eyes, dejected was his face.

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He saw, and, wond'ring, ask'd his airy guide,

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What and of whence was he, who press'd the hero's side:

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"His son, or one of his illustrious name?

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How like the former, and almost the same!

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Observe the crowds that compass him around;

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All gaze, and all admire, and raise a shouting sound:

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But hov'ring mists around his brows are spread,

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And night, with sable shades, involves his head."

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"Seek not to know," the ghost replied with tears,

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"The sorrows of thy sons in future years.

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This youth (the blissful vision of a day)

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Shall just be shown on earth, and snatch'd away.

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The gods too high had rais'd the Roman state,

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Were but their gifts as permanent as great.

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What groans of men shall fill the Martian field!

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How fierce a blaze his flaming pile shall yield!

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What fun'ral pomp shall floating Tiber see,

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When, rising from his bed, he views the sad solemnity!

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No youth shall equal hopes of glory give,

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No youth afford so great a cause to grieve;

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The Trojan honor, and the Roman boast,

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Admir'd when living, and ador'd when lost!

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Mirror of ancient faith in early youth!

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Undaunted worth, inviolable truth!

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No foe, unpunish'd, in the fighting field

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Shall dare thee, foot to foot, with sword and shield;

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Much less in arms oppose thy matchless force,

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When thy sharp spurs shall urge thy foaming horse.

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Ah! couldst thou break thro' fate's severe decree,

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A new Marcellus shall arise in thee!

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Full canisters of fragrant lilies bring,

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Mix'd with the purple roses of the spring;

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Let me with fun'ral flow'rs his body strow;

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This gift which parents to their children owe,

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This unavailing gift, at least, I may bestow!"

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Thus having said, he led the hero round

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The confines of the blest Elysian ground;

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Which when Anchises to his son had shown,

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And fir'd his mind to mount the promis'd throne,

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He tells the future wars, ordain'd by fate;

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The strength and customs of the Latian state;

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The prince, and people; and forearms his care

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With rules, to push his fortune, or to bear.

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Two gates the silent house of Sleep adorn;

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Of polish'd ivory this, that of transparent horn:

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True visions thro' transparent horn arise;

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Thro' polish'd ivory pass deluding lies.

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Of various things discoursing as he pass'd,

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Anchises hither bends his steps at last.

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Then, thro' the gate of iv'ry, he dismiss'd

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His valiant offspring and divining guest.

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Straight to the ships Aeneas his way,

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Embark'd his men, and skimm'd along the sea,

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Still coasting, till he gain'd Cajeta's bay.

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At length on oozy ground his galleys moor;

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Their heads are turn'd to sea, their sterns to shore.