by Virgil
Olli (sensit enim simulata mente locutam, 105
But Venus felt that Juno’s guile within the word did live,
quo regnum Italiae Libycas auerteret oras)
Who lordship due to Italy to Libya fain would give,
sic contra est ingressa Venus: ‘quis talia demens
So thus she answered her again: “Who were so overbold
abnuat aut tecum malit contendere bello?
To gainsay this? or who would wish war against thee to hold,
si modo quod memoras factum fortuna sequatur.
If only this may come to pass, and fate the deed may seal?
sed fatis incerta feror, si Iuppiter unam 110
But doubtful drifts my mind of fate, if one same town and weal
esse uelit Tyriis urbem Troiaque profectis,
Jove giveth to the Tyrian folk and those from Troy outcast,
misceriue probet populos aut foedera iungi.
If he will have those folks to blend and bind the treaty fast
tu coniunx, tibi fas animum temptare precando.
Thou art his wife: by prayer mayst thou prove all his purpose weighed.
perge, sequar.’ tum sic excepit regia Iuno:
Set forth, I follow.” Juno then took up the word and said:
‘mecum erit iste labor. nunc qua ratione quod instat 115
“Yea, that shall be my very work: how that which presseth now
confieri possit, paucis (aduerte) docebo.
May be encompassed, hearken ye, in few words will I show:
uenatum Aeneas unaque miserrima Dido
Æneas and the hapless queen are minded forth to fare
in nemus ire parant, ubi primos crastinus ortus
For hunting to the thicket-side, when Titan first shall bear
extulerit Titan radiisque retexerit orbem.
Tomorrow’s light aloft, and all the glittering world unveil:
his ego nigrantem commixta grandine nimbum, 120
On them a darkening cloud of rain, blended with drift of hail,
dum trepidant alae saltusque indagine cingunt,
Will I pour down, while for the hunt the feathered snare-lines shake,
desuper infundam et tonitru caelum omne ciebo.
And toils about the thicket go: all heaven will I awake
diffugient comites et nocte tegentur opaca:
With thunder, and their scattered folk the mid-mirk shall enwrap:
speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem
Then Dido and the Trojan lord on one same cave shall hap;
deuenient. adero et, tua si mihi certa uoluntas, 125
I will be there, and if to me thy heart be stable grown,
conubio iungam stabili propriamque dicabo.
In wedlock will I join the two and deem her all his own:
hic hymenaeus erit.’ non aduersata petenti
And there shall be their bridal God.” Then Venus nought gainsaid,
adnuit atque dolis risit Cytherea repertis.
But, nodding yea, she smiled upon the snare before her laid.
Oceanum interea surgens Aurora reliquit.
Meanwhile Aurora risen up had left the ocean stream,
it portis iubare exorto delecta iuuentus, 130
And gateward throng the chosen youth in first of morning’s beam,
retia rara, plagae, lato uenabula ferro,
And wide-meshed nets, and cordage-toils and broad-steeled spears abound,
Massylique ruunt equites et odora canum uis.
Massylian riders go their ways with many a scenting hound.
reginam thalamo cunctantem ad limina primi
The lords of Carthage by the door bide till the tarrying queen
Poenorum exspectant, ostroque insignis et auro
Shall leave her chamber: there, with gold and purple well beseen,
stat sonipes ac frena ferox spumantia mandit. 135
The mettled courser stands, and champs the bit that bids him bide.
tandem progreditur magna stipante caterua
At last she cometh forth to them with many a man beside:
Sidoniam picto chlamydem circumdata limbo;
A cloak of Sidon wrapped her round with pictured border wrought,
cui pharetra ex auro, crines nodantur in aurum,
Her quiver was of fashioned gold, and gold her tresses caught;
aurea purpuream subnectit fibula uestem.
The gathering of her purple gown a golden buckle had.
nec non et Phrygii comites et laetus Iulus 140
Then come the Phrygian fellows forth; comes forth Iulus glad;
incedunt. ipse ante alios pulcherrimus omnis
Yea and Æneas’ very self is of their fellowship,
infert se socium Aeneas atque agmina iungit.
And joins their band: in goodliness all those did he outstrip:
qualis ubi hibernam Lyciam Xanthique fluenta
E’en such as when Apollo leaves the wintry Lycian shore,
deserit ac Delum maternam inuisit Apollo
And Xanthus’ stream, and Delos sees, his mother’s isle once more;
instauratque choros, mixtique altaria circum 145
And halloweth in the dance anew, while round the altars shout
Cretesque Dryopesque fremunt pictique Agathyrsi;
The Cretans and the Dryopes, and painted Scythian rout:
ipse iugis Cynthi graditur mollique fluentem
He steps it o’er the Cynthus’ ridge, and leafy crown to hold
fronde premit crinem fingens atque implicat auro,
His flowing tresses doth he weave, and intertwines the gold,
tela sonant umeris: haud illo segnior ibat
And on his shoulders clang the shafts. Nor duller now passed on
Aeneas, tantum egregio decus enitet ore. 150
Æneas, from his noble face such wondrous glory shone.
postquam altos uentum in montis atque inuia lustra,
So come they to the mountain-side and pathless deer-fed ground,
ecce ferae saxi deiectae uertice caprae
And lo, from hill-tops driven adown, how swift the wild goats bound
decurrere iugis; alia de parte patentis
Along the ridges: otherwhere across the open lea
transmittunt cursu campos atque agmina cerui
Run hart and hind, and gathering up their hornèd host to flee,
puluerulenta fuga glomerant montisque relinquunt. 155
Amid a whirling cloud of dust they leave the mountain-sides.
at puer Ascanius mediis in uallibus acri
But here the boy Ascanius the midmost valley rides,
gaudet equo iamque hos cursu, iam praeterit illos,
And glad, swift-horsed, now these he leaves, now those he flees before,
spumantemque dari pecora inter inertia uotis
And fain were he mid deedless herds to meet a foaming boar,
optat aprum, aut fuluum descendere monte leonem.
Or see some yellow lion come the mountain-slopes adown.
Interea magno misceri murmure caelum 160
Meanwhile with mighty murmuring sound confused the heavens are grown,
incipit, insequitur commixta grandine nimbus,
And thereupon the drift of rain and hail upon them broke;
et Tyrii comites passim et Troiana iuuentus
Therewith the scattered Trojan youth, the Tyrian fellow-folk,
Dardaniusque nepos Veneris diuersa per agros
The son of Venus’ Dardan son, scared through the meadows fly
tecta metu petiere; ruunt de montibus amnes.
To diverse shelter, while the streams rush from the mountains high.
speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem 165
Then Dido and the Trojan lord meet in the self-same cave;
deueniunt. prima et Tellus et pronuba Iuno
Then Earth, first-born of everything, and wedding Juno gave
dant signum; f
ulsere ignes et conscius aether
The token; then the wildfires flashed, and air beheld them wed,
conubiis summoque ulularunt uertice Nymphae.
And o’er their bridal wailed the nymphs in hill-tops overhead.
ille dies primus leti primusque malorum
That day began the tide of death; that day the evil came;
causa fuit; neque enim specie famaue mouetur 170
No more she heedeth eyes of men; no more she heedeth fame;
nec iam furtiuum Dido meditatur amorem:
No more hath Dido any thought a stolen love to win,
coniugium uocat, hoc praetexit nomine culpam.
But calls it wedlock: yea, e’en so she weaveth up the sin.
Extemplo Libyae magnas it Fama per urbes,
Straight through the mighty Libyan folks is Rumour on the wing —
Fama, malum qua non aliud uelocius ullum:
Rumour, of whom nought swifter is of any evil thing:
mobilitate uiget uirisque adquirit eundo, 175
She gathereth strength by going on, and bloometh shifting oft!
parua metu primo, mox sese attollit in auras
A little thing, afraid at first, she springeth soon aloft;
ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit.
Her feet are on the worldly soil, her head the clouds o’erlay.
illam Terra parens ira inritata deorum
Earth, spurred by anger ‘gainst the Gods, begot her as they say,
extremam, ut perhibent, Coeo Enceladoque sororem
Of Coeus and Enceladus the latest sister-birth.
progenuit pedibus celerem et pernicibus alis, 180
Swift are her wings to cleave the air, swift-foot she treads the earth:
monstrum horrendum, ingens, cui quot sunt corpore plumae,
A monster dread and huge, on whom so many as there lie
tot uigiles oculi subter (mirabile dictu),
The feathers, under each there lurks, O strange! a watchful eye;
tot linguae, totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit auris.
And there wag tongues, and babble mouths, and hearkening ears upstand
nocte uolat caeli medio terraeque per umbram
As many: all a-dusk by night she flies ‘twixt sky and land
stridens, nec dulci declinat lumina somno; 185
Loud clattering, never shutting eye in rest of slumber sweet.
luce sedet custos aut summi culmine tecti
By day she keepeth watch high-set on houses of the street,
turribus aut altis, et magnas territat urbes,
Or on the towers aloft she sits for mighty cities’ fear!
tam ficti prauique tenax quam nuntia ueri.
And lies and ill she loves no less than sooth which she must bear.
haec tum multiplici populos sermone replebat
She now, rejoicing, filled the folk with babble many-voiced,
gaudens, et pariter facta atque infecta canebat: 190
And matters true and false alike sang forth as she rejoiced:
uenisse Aenean Troiano sanguine cretum,
How here was come Æneas now, from Trojan blood sprung forth,
cui se pulchra uiro dignetur iungere Dido;
Whom beauteous Dido deemed indeed a man to mate her worth:
nunc hiemem inter se luxu, quam longa, fouere
How winter-long betwixt them there the sweets of sloth they nursed,
regnorum immemores turpique cupidine captos.
Unmindful of their kingdoms’ weal, by ill desire accursed.
haec passim dea foeda uirum diffundit in ora. 195
This in the mouth of every man the loathly Goddess lays,
protinus ad regem cursus detorquet Iarban
And thence to King Iarbas straight she wendeth on her ways,
incenditque animum dictis atque aggerat iras.
To set his mind on fire with words, and high his wrath to lead.
Hic Hammone satus rapta Garamantide nympha
He, sprung from Garamantian nymph and very Ammon’s seed,
templa Ioui centum latis immania regnis,
An hundred mighty fanes to Jove, an hundred altars fair,
centum aras posuit uigilemque sacrauerat ignem, 200
Had builded in his wide domain, and set the watch-fire there,
excubias diuum aeternas, pecudumque cruore
The everlasting guard of God: there fat the soil was grown
pingue solum et uariis florentia limina sertis.
With blood of beasts; the threshold bloomed with garlands diverse blown.
isque amens animi et rumore accensus amaro
He, saith the tale, all mad at heart, and fired with bitter fame,
dicitur ante aras media inter numina diuum
Amidmost of the might of God before the altars came,
multa Iouem manibus supplex orasse supinis: 205
And prayed a many things to Jove with suppliant hands outspread:
‘Iuppiter omnipotens, cui nunc Maurusia pictis
“O Jupiter, almighty lord, to whom from painted bed
gens epulata toris Lenaeum libat honorem,
The banqueting Maurusian folk Lenæan joy pours forth,
aspicis haec? an te, genitor, cum fulmina torques
Dost thou behold? O Father, is our dread of nothing worth
nequiquam horremus, caecique in nubibus ignes
When thou art thundering? Yea, forsooth, a blind fire of the clouds,
terrificant animos et inania murmura miscent? 210
An idle hubbub of the sky, our souls with terror loads!
femina, quae nostris errans in finibus urbem
A woman wandering on our shore, who set her up e’en now
exiguam pretio posuit, cui litus arandum
A little money-cheapened town, to whom a field to plough
cuique loci leges dedimus, conubia nostra
And lordship of the place we gave, hath thrust away my word
reppulit ac dominum Aenean in regna recepit.
Of wedlock, and hath taken in Æneas for her lord:
et nunc ille Paris cum semiuiro comitatu, 215
And now this Paris, hedged around with all his gelding rout,
Maeonia mentum mitra crinemque madentem
Mæonian mitre tied to chin, and wet hair done about,
subnexus, rapto potitur: nos munera templis
Sits on the prey while to thine house a many gifts we bear,
quippe tuis ferimus famamque fouemus inanem.’
Still cherishing an idle tale who our begetters were.”
Talibus orantem dictis arasque tenentem
The Almighty heard him as he prayed holding the altar-horns,
audiit Omnipotens, oculosque ad moenia torsit 220
And to the war-walls of the Queen his eyes therewith he turns,
regia et oblitos famae melioris amantis.
And sees the lovers heeding nought the glory of their lives;
tum sic Mercurium adloquitur ac talia mandat:
Then Mercury he calls to him, and such a bidding gives:
‘uade age, nate, uoca Zephyros et labere pennis
“Go forth, O Son, the Zephyrs call, and glide upon the wing
Dardaniumque ducem, Tyria Karthagine qui nunc
Unto the duke of Dardan men in Carthage tarrying,
exspectat fatisque datas non respicit urbes, 225
Who hath no eyes to see the walls that fate to him hath given:
adloquere et celeris defer mea dicta per auras.
Speak to him, Son, and bear my words down the swift air of heaven:
non illum nobis genetrix pulcherrima talem
His fairest mother promised us no such a man at need,
promisit Graiumque ideo bis uindicat armis;
Nor claimed him twice from Greekish sword to live for such a deed.
sed fore qui grauidam imperiis belloque frementem
But Italy, the f
ierce in war, the big with empire’s brood,
Italiam regeret, genus alto a sanguine Teucri 230
Was he to rule; to get for us from glorious Teucer’s blood
proderet, ac totum sub leges mitteret orbem.
That folk of folks, and all the world beneath his laws to lay.
si nulla accendit tantarum gloria rerum
But if such glory of great deeds nought stirreth him today,
nec super ipse sua molitur laude laborem,
Nor for his own fame hath he heart the toil to overcome,
Ascanione pater Romanas inuidet arces?
Yet shall the father grudge the son the towered heights of Rome?
quid struit? aut qua spe inimica in gente moratur 235
What doth he? tarrying for what hope among the enemy?
nec prolem Ausoniam et Lauinia respicit arua?
And hath no eyes Ausonian sons, Lavinian land to see?
nauiget! haec summa est, hic nostri nuntius esto.’
Let him to ship! this is the doom; this word I bid thee bear.”
Dixerat. ille patris magni parere parabat
He spake: his mighty father’s will straight did the God prepare
imperio; et primum pedibus talaria nectit
To compass, and his golden shoes first bindeth on his feet,
aurea, quae sublimem alis siue aequora supra 240
E’en those which o’er the ocean plain aloft on feathers fleet,
seu terram rapido pariter cum flamine portant.
Or over earth swift bear him on before the following gale:
tum uirgam capit: hac animas ille euocat Orco
And then his rod he takes, wherewith he calleth spirits pale
pallentis, alias sub Tartara tristia mittit,
From Orcus, or those others sends sad Tartarus beneath,
dat somnos adimitque, et lumina morte resignat.
And giveth sleep and takes away, and openeth eyes to death;
illa fretus agit uentos et turbida tranat 245
The rod that sways the ocean-winds and rules the cloudy rack.
nubila. iamque uolans apicem et latera ardua cernit
Now winging way he comes in sight of peak and steepy back
Atlantis duri caelum qui uertice fulcit,
Of flinty Atlas, on whose head all heaven is set adown —
Atlantis, cinctum adsidue cui nubibus atris
Of Atlas with the piny head, and never-failing crown
piniferum caput et uento pulsatur et imbri,
Of mirky cloud, beat on with rain and all the winds that blow:
nix umeros infusa tegit, tum flumina mento 250
A snow-cloak o’er his shoulders falls, and headlong streams overflow
praecipitant senis, et glacie riget horrida barba.