by Virgil
‘Nulla tuarum audita mihi neque visa sororum —
“I have not seen, nor have I heard thy sisters nigh this place,
O quam te memorem, virgo? Namque haud tibi voltus
O maid: — and how to call thee then? for neither is thy face
mortalis, nec vox hominem sonat: O, dea certe —
Of mortals, nor thy voice of men: O very Goddess thou!
an Phoebi soror? an nympharum sanguinis una? —
What! Phoebus’ sister? or of nymphs whom shall I call thee now?
sis felix, nostrumque leves, quaecumque, laborem, 330
But whosoe’er thou be, be kind and lighten us our toil,
et, quo sub caelo tandem, quibus orbis in oris
And teach us where beneath the heavens, which spot of earthly soil
iactemur, doceas. Ignari hominumque locorumque
We are cast forth; unlearned of men, unlearned of land we stray,
erramus, vento huc vastis et fluctibus acti:
By might of wind and billows huge here driven from out our way.
multa tibi ante aras nostra cadet hostia dextra.’
Our right hands by thine altar-horns shall fell full many a host.”
Tum Venus: ‘Haud equidem tali me dignor honore; 335
Spake Venus: “Nowise am I worth so much of honour’s cost:
virginibus Tyriis mos est gestare pharetram,
The Tyrian maids are wont to bear the quiver even as I,
purpureoque alte suras vincire cothurno.
And even so far upon the leg the purple shoe-thong tie.
Punica regna vides, Tyrios et Agenoris urbem;
The Punic realm thou seest here, Agenor’s town and folk,
sed fines Libyci, genus intractabile bello.
But set amidst of Libyan men unused to bear the yoke.
Imperium Dido Tyria regit urbe profecta, 340
Dido is Lady of the Land, who fled from Tyre the old,
germanum fugiens. Longa est iniuria, longae
And from her brother: weary long were all the ill deed told,
ambages; sed summa sequar fastigia rerum.
And long its winding ways, but I light-foot will overpass.
‘Huic coniunx Sychaeus erat, ditissimus agri
Her husband was Sychæus hight, of land most rich he was
Phoenicum, et magno miserae dilectus amore,
Of all Phoenicians: she, poor wretch! loved him with mighty love,
cui pater intactam dederat, primisque iugarat 345
Whose father gave her, maid, to him, and first the rites did move
ominibus. Sed regna Tyri germanus habebat
Of wedlock: but as King of Tyre her brother did abide,
Pygmalion, scelere ante alios immanior omnes.
Pygmalion, more swollen up in sin than any man beside:
Quos inter medius venit furor. Ille Sychaeum
Mad hatred yoked the twain of them, he blind with golden lust,
impius ante aras, atque auri caecus amore,
Godless with stroke of iron laid Sychæus in the dust
clam ferro incautum superat, securus amorum 350
Unwares before the altar-horns; nor of the love did reck
germanae; factumque diu celavit, et aegram,
His sister had, but with vain hope played on the lover sick,
multa malus simulans, vana spe lusit amantem.
And made a host of feignings false, and hid the matter long.
Ipsa sed in somnis inhumati venit imago
Till in her sleep the image came of that unburied wrong,
coniugis, ora modis attollens pallida miris,
Her husband dead; in wondrous wise his face was waxen pale:
crudeles aras traiectaque pectora ferro 355
His breast with iron smitten through, the altar of his bale,
nudavit, caecumque domus scelus omne retexit.
The hooded sin of evil house, to her he open laid,
Tum celerare fugam patriaque excedere suadet,
And speedily to flee away from fatherland he bade;
auxiliumque viae veteres tellure recludit
And for the help of travel showed earth’s hidden wealth of old,
thesauros, ignotum argenti pondus et auri.
A mighty mass that none might tell of silver and of gold.
His commota fugam Dido sociosque parabat: 360
Sore moved hereby did Dido straight her flight and friends prepare:
conveniunt, quibus aut odium crudele tyranni
They meet together, such as are or driven by biting fear,
aut metus acer erat; navis, quae forte paratae,
Or bitter hatred of the wretch: such ships as hap had dight
corripiunt, onerantque auro: portantur avari
They fall upon and lade with gold; forth fare the treasures bright
Pygmalionis opes pelago; dux femina facti.
Of wretch Pygmalion o’er the sea, a woman first therein.
Devenere locos, ubi nunc ingentia cernis 365
And so they come unto the place where ye may see begin
moenia surgentemque novae Karthaginis arcem,
The towers of Carthage, and the walls new built that mighty grow,
mercatique solum, facti de nomine Byrsam,
And bought the Byrsa-field good cheap, as still the name shall show,
taurino quantum possent circumdare tergo.
So much of land as one bull’s hide might scantly go about
Sed vos qui tandem, quibus aut venistis ab oris,
— But ye forsooth, what men are ye, from what land fare ye out,
quove tenetis iter? ‘Quaerenti talibus ille 370
And whither go ye on your ways?” Her questioning in speech
suspirans, imoque trahens a pectore vocem:
He answered, and a heavy sigh from inmost heart did reach:
‘O dea, si prima repetens ab origine pergam,
“O Goddess, might I tread again first footsteps of our way,
et vacet annalis nostrorum audire laborum,
And if the annals of our toil thine hearkening ears might stay,
ante diem clauso componat Vesper Olympo.
Yet Vesper first on daylight dead should shut Olympus’ door.
Nos Troia antiqua, si vestras forte per auris 375
From Troy the old, if yet perchance your ears have felt before
Troiae nomen iit, diversa per aequora vectos
That name go by, do we come forth, and, many a water past,
forte sua Libycis tempestas adpulit oris.
A chance-come storm hath drifted us on Libyan shores at last.
Sum pius Aeneas, raptos qui ex hoste Penates
I am Æneas, God-lover; I snatched forth from the foe
classe veho mecum, fama super aethera notus.
My Gods to bear aboard with me, a fame for heaven to know.
Italiam quaero patriam et genus ab Iove summo. 380
I seek the Italian fatherland, and Jove-descended line;
Bis denis Phrygium conscendi navibus aequor,
Twice ten the ships were that I manned upon the Phrygian brine,
matre dea monstrante viam, data fata secutus;
My Goddess-mother led the way, we followed fate god-given;
vix septem convolsae undis Euroque supersunt.
And now scarce seven are left to me by wave and east-wind riven;
Ipse ignotus, egens, Libyae deserta peragro,
And I through Libyan deserts stray, a man unknown and poor,
Europa atque Asia pulsus.’ Nec plura querentem 385
From Asia cast, from Europe cast,” She might abide no more
passa Venus medio sic interfata dolore est:
To hear his moan: she thrusts a word amidst his grief and saith:
‘Quisquis es, haud, credo, invisus caelestibus auras
“Nay thou art not God’s castaway, who drawest mortal breath,
vitalis c
arpis, Tyriam qui adveneris urbem.
And fairest to the Tyrian town, if aught thereof I know.
Perge modo, atque hinc te reginae ad limina perfer,
Set on to Dido’s threshold then e’en as the way doth show.
Namque tibi reduces socios classemque relatam 390
For take the tidings of thy ships and folk brought back again
nuntio, et in tutum versis aquilonibus actam,
By shifting of the northern wind all safe from off the main:
ni frustra augurium vani docuere parentes.
Unless my parents learned me erst of soothsaying to wot
Aspice bis senos laetantis agmine cycnos,
But idly. Lo there twice seven swans disporting in a knot,
aetheria quos lapsa plaga Iovis ales aperto
Whom falling from the plain of air drave down the bird of Jove
turbabat caelo; nunc terras ordine longo 395
From open heaven: strung out at length they hang the earth above,
aut capere, aut captas iam despectare videntur:
And now seem choosing where to pitch, now on their choice to gaze,
ut reduces illi ludunt stridentibus alis,
As wheeling round with whistling wings they sport in diverse ways
et coetu cinxere polum, cantusque dedere,
And with their band ring round the pole and cast abroad their song.
haud aliter puppesque tuae pubesque tuorum
Nought otherwise the ships and youth that unto thee belong
aut portum tenet aut pleno subit ostia velo. 400
Hold haven now, or else full sail to harbour-mouth are come.
Perge modo, et, qua te ducit via, dirige gressum.’
Set forth, set forth and tread the way e’en as it leadeth home.”
Dixit, et avertens rosea cervice refulsit,
She spake, she turned, from rosy neck the light of heaven she cast,
ambrosiaeque comae divinum vertice odorem
And from her hair ambrosial the scent of Gods went past
spiravere, pedes vestis defluxit ad imos,
Upon the wind, and o’er her feet her skirts fell shimmering down,
et vera incessu patuit dea. Ille ubi matrem 405
And very God she went her ways. Therewith his mother known,
adgnovit, tali fugientem est voce secutus:
With such a word he followed up a-fleeing from his eyes:
‘Quid natum totiens, crudelis tu quoque, falsis
“Ah cruel as a God! and why with images and lies
ludis imaginibus? Cur dextrae iungere dextram
Dost thou beguile me? wherefore then is hand to hand not given
non datur, ac veras audire et reddere voces?’
And we to give and take in words that come from earth and heaven?”
Talibus incusat, gressumque ad moenia tendit: 410
Such wise he chided her, and then his footsteps townward bent:
at Venus obscuro gradientes aere saepsit,
But Venus with a dusky air did hedge them as they went,
et multo nebulae circum dea fudit amictu,
And widespread cloak of cloudy stuff the Goddess round them wrapped,
cernere ne quis eos, neu quis contingere posset,
Lest any man had seen them there, or bodily had happed
molirive moram, aut veniendi poscere causas.
Across their road their steps to stay, and ask their dealings there.
Ipsa Paphum sublimis abit, sedesque revisit 415
But she to Paphos and her home went glad amidst the air:
laeta suas, ubi templum illi, centumque Sabaeo
There is her temple, there they stand, an hundred altars meet,
ture calent arae, sertisque recentibus halant.
Warm with Sabæan incense-smoke, with new-pulled blossoms sweet.
Corripuere viam interea, qua semita monstrat.
But therewithal they speed their way as led the road along;
Iamque ascendebant collem, qui plurimus urbi
And now they scale a spreading hill that o’er the town is hung,
imminet, adversasque adspectat desuper arces. 420
And looking downward thereupon hath all the burg in face.
Miratur molem Aeneas, magalia quondam,
Æneas marvels how that world was once a peasants’ place,
miratur portas strepitumque et strata viarum.
He marvels at the gates, the roar and rattle of the ways.
Instant ardentes Tyrii pars ducere muros,
Hot-heart the Tyrians speed the work, and some the ramparts raise,
molirique arcem et manibus subvolvere saxa,
Some pile the burg high, some with hand roll stones up o’er the ground;
pars optare locum tecto et concludere sulco. 425
Some choose a place for dwelling-house and draw a trench around;
[Iura magistratusque legunt sanctumque senatum;]
Some choose the laws, and lords of doom, the holy senate choose.
hic portus alii effodiunt; hic alta theatris
These thereaway the havens dig, and deep adown sink those
fundamenta locant alii, immanisque columnas
The founding of the theatre walls, or cleave the living stone
rupibus excidunt, scaenis decora alta futuris.
In pillars huge, one day to show full fair the scene upon.
Qualis apes aestate nova per florea rura 430
As in new summer ‘neath the sun the bees are wont to speed
exercet sub sole labor, cum gentis adultos
Their labour in the flowery fields, whereover now they lead
educunt fetus, aut cum liquentia mella
The well-grown offspring of their race, or when the cells they store
stipant et dulci distendunt nectare cellas,
With flowing honey, till fulfilled of sweets they hold no more;
aut onera accipiunt venientum, aut agmine facto
Or take the loads of new-comers, or as a watch well set
ignavom fucos pecus a praesepibus arcent: 435
Drive off the lazy herd of drones that they no dwelling get;
fervet opus, redolentque thymo fragrantia mella.
Well speeds the work, and thymy sweet the honey’s odour is.
‘O fortunati, quorum iam moenia surgunt!’
“Well favoured of the Fates are ye, whose walls arise in bliss!”
Aeneas ait, et fastigia suspicit urbis.
Æneas cries, a-looking o’er the housetops spread below;
Infert se saeptus nebula, mirabile dictu,
Then, wonderful to tell in tale, hedged round with cloud doth go
per medios, miscetque viris, neque cernitur ulli. 440
Amid the thickest press of men, and yet of none is seen.
Lucus in urbe fuit media, laetissimus umbra,
A grove amid the town there is, a pleasant place of green,
quo primum iactati undis et turbine Poeni
Where erst the Tyrians, beat by waves and whirling of the wind,
effodere loco signum, quod regia Iuno
Dug out the token Juno once had bidden them hope to find,
monstrarat, caput acris equi; sic nam fore bello
An eager horse’s head to wit: for thus their folk should grow
egregiam et facilem victu per saecula gentem. 445
Far-famed in war for many an age, of victual rich enow.
Hic templum Iunoni ingens Sidonia Dido
There now did Dido, Sidon-born, uprear a mighty fane
condebat, donis opulentum et numine divae,
To Juno, rich in gifts, and rich in present godhead’s gain:
aerea cui gradibus surgebant limina, nexaeque
On brazen steps its threshold rose, and brass its lintel tied,
aere trabes, foribus cardo stridebat aenis.
And on their hinges therewithal the brazen door-leaves cried.
; Hoc primum in luco nova res oblata timorem 450
And now within that grove again a new thing thrusting forth
leniit, hic primum Aeneas sperare salutem
‘Gan lighten fear; for here to hope Æneas deemed it worth,
ausus, et adflictis melius confidere rebus.
And trust his fortune beaten down that yet it might arise.
Namque sub ingenti lustrat dum singula templo,
For there while he abode the Queen, and wandered with his eyes
reginam opperiens, dum, quae fortuna sit urbi,
O’er all the temple, musing on the city’s fate to be,
artificumque manus inter se operumque laborem 455
And o’er the diverse handicraft and works of mastery,
miratur, videt Iliacas ex ordine pugnas,
Lo there, set out before his face the battles that were Troy’s,
bellaque iam fama totum volgata per orbem,
And wars, whereof all folk on earth had heard the fame and noise;
Atridas, Priamumque, et saevum ambobus Achillem.
King Priam, the Atridæ twain, Achilles dire to both.
Constitit, et lacrimans, ‘Quis iam locus’ inquit ‘Achate,
He stood, and weeping spake withal: “Achates, lo! forsooth
quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris? 460
What place, what land in all the earth but with our grief is stored?
En Priamus! Sunt hic etiam sua praemia laudi;
Lo Priam! and even here belike deed hath its own reward.
sunt lacrimae rerum et mentem mortalia tangunt.
Lo here are tears for piteous things that touch men’s hearts anigh:
Solve metus; feret haec aliquam tibi fama salutem.’
Cast off thy fear! this fame today shall yet thy safety buy.”
Sic ait, atque animum pictura pascit inani,
And with the empty painted thing he feeds his mind withal,
multa gemens, largoque umectat flumine voltum. 465
Sore groaning, and a very flood adown his face did fall.
Namque videbat, uti bellantes Pergama circum
For there he saw, as war around of Pergamus they cast,
hac fugerent Graii, premeret Troiana iuventus,
Here fled the Greeks, the Trojan youth for ever following fast;
hac Phryges, instaret curru cristatus Achilles.
There fled the Phrygians, on their heels high-helmed Achilles’ car;
Nec procul hinc Rhesi niveis tentoria velis
Not far off, fair with snowy cloths, the tents of Rhesus are;
adgnoscit lacrimans, primo quae prodita somno 470
He knew them weeping: they of old in first of sleep betrayed,
Tydides multa vastabat caede cruentus,