by Virgil
Stand in array; for on the right the river girdeth all.
Aeneadae duri murorum in parte sinistra
In woe they ward the ditches deep, and on the towers on high
opposuere aciem (nam dextera cingitur amni),
Stand sorrowing; for those heads upreared touch all their hearts anigh,
ingentisque tenent fossas et turribus altis 470
Known overwell to their sad eyes mid the black flow of gore.
stant maesti; simul ora uirum praefixa mouebant
Therewith in wingèd fluttering haste, the trembling city o’er
nota nimis miseris atroque fluentia tabo.
Goes tell-tale Fame, and swift amidst the mother’s ears doth glide;
Interea pauidam uolitans pennata per urbem
And changed she was, nor in her bones the life-heat would abide:
nuntia Fama ruit matrisque adlabitur auris
The shuttle falls from out her hand, unrolled the web doth fall,
Euryali. at subitus miserae calor ossa reliquit, 475
And with a woman’s hapless shrieks she flieth to the wall:
excussi manibus radii reuolutaque pensa.
Rending her hair, beside herself, she faced the front of fight,
euolat infelix et femineo ululatu
Heedless of men, and haps of death, and all the weapons’ flight,
scissa comam muros amens atque agmina cursu
And there the very heavens she filled with wailing of her grief:
prima petit, non illa uirum, non illa pericli
“O son, and do I see thee so? Thou rest and last relief
telorumque memor, caelum dehinc questibus implet: 480
Of my old days! hadst thou the heart to leave me lone and spent?
‘hunc ego te, Euryale, aspicio? tune ille senectae
O cruel! might I see thee not on such a peril sent?
sera meae requies, potuisti linquere solam,
Was there no time for one last word amid my misery?
crudelis? nec te sub tanta pericula missum
A prey for Latin fowl and dogs how doth thy body lie,
adfari extremum miserae data copia matri?
On lands uncouth! Not e’en may I, thy mother, streak thee, son,
heu, terra ignota canibus data praeda Latinis 485
Thy body dead; or close thine eyes, or wash thy wounds well won,
alitibusque iaces! nec te tua funere mater
Or shroud thee in the cloth I wrought for thee by night and day,
produxi pressiue oculos aut uulnera laui,
When hastening on the weaving-task I kept eld’s cares at bay?
ueste tegens tibi quam noctes festina diesque
Where shall I seek thee? What earth hides thy body, mangled sore,
urgebam, et tela curas solabar anilis.
And perished limbs? O son, to me bringest thou back no more
quo sequar? aut quae nunc artus auulsaque membra 490
Than this? and have I followed this o’er every land and sea?
et funus lacerum tellus habet? hoc mihi de te,
O pierce me through, if ye be kind; turn all your points on me,
nate, refers? hoc sum terraque marique secuta?
Rutulians! Let me first of all with battle-steel be sped!
figite me, si qua est pietas, in me omnia tela
Father of Gods, have mercy thou! Thrust down the hated head
conicite, o Rutuli, me primam absumite ferro;
Beneath the House of Tartarus with thine own weapon’s stress,
aut tu, magne pater diuum, miserere, tuoque 495
Since otherwise I may not break my life-days’ bitterness.”
inuisum hoc detrude caput sub Tartara telo,
Their hearts were shaken with her wail, and Sorrow fain will weep,
quando aliter nequeo crudelem abrumpere uitam.’
And in all men their battle-might unbroken lay asleep.
hoc fletu concussi animi, maestusque per omnis
But Actor and Idæus take that flaming misery,
it gemitus, torpent infractae ad proelia uires.
As bade Ilioneus, and young Iulus, sore as he
illam incendentem luctus Idaeus et Actor 500
Went weeping: back in arms therewith they bear her ‘neath the roof.
Ilionei monitu et multum lacrimantis Iuli
But now the trump with brazen song cast fearful sound aloof,
corripiunt interque manus sub tecta reponunt.
Chiding to war; and shouts rise up and belloweth back the heaven,
At tuba terribilem sonitum procul aere canoro
And forth the Volscians fare to speed the shield-roof timely driven.
increpuit, sequitur clamor caelumque remugit.
Some men fall on to fill the ditch and pluck the ramparts down;
accelerant acta pariter testudine Volsci 505
Some seek approach and ladders lay where daylight rends the crown
et fossas implere parant ac uellere uallum;
Of wall-wards, and would get them up where stands the hedge of war
quaerunt pars aditum et scalis ascendere muros,
Thinner of men: against their way the Teucrian warders pour
qua rara est acies interlucetque corona
All weapon-shot: with hard-head pikes they thrust them down the steep.
non tam spissa uiris. telorum effundere contra
Long was the war wherein they learned the battle-wall to keep.
omne genus Teucri ac duris detrudere contis, 510
Stones, too, of deadly weight they roll, if haply they may break
adsueti longo muros defendere bello.
The shield-roof of the battle-rush; but sturdily those take
saxa quoque infesto uoluebant pondere, si qua
All chances of the play beneath their close and well-knit hold.
possent tectam aciem perrumpere, cum tamen omnis
Yet fail they; for when hard at hand their world of war was rolled,
ferre iuuet subter densa testudine casus.
A mighty mass by Teucrians moved rolls on and rushes o’er,
nec iam sufficiunt. nam qua globus imminet ingens, 515
And fells the host of Rutuli and breaks the tiles of war.
immanem Teucri molem uoluuntque ruuntque,
Nor longer now the Rutuli, the daring hearts, may bear
quae strauit Rutulos late armorumque resoluit
To play with Mars amid the dark, but strive the walls to clear
tegmina. nec curant caeco contendere Marte
With storm of shaft and weapon shot.
amplius audaces Rutuli, sed pellere uallo
But now Mezentius otherwhere, a fearful sight to see,
missilibus certant. 520
Was tossing high the Tuscan pine with smoke-wreathed fiery heart:
parte alia horrendus uisu quassabat Etruscam
While Neptune’s child, the horse-tamer Messapus, played his part,
pinum et fumiferos infert Mezentius ignis;
Rending the wall, and crying out for ladders to be laid.
at Messapus equum domitor, Neptunia proles,
Speak, Song-maids: thou, Calliope, give thou the singer aid
rescindit uallum et scalas in moenia poscit.
To tell what wise by Turnus’ sword the field of fight was strown;
Vos, o Calliope, precor, aspirate canenti 525
What death he wrought; what man each man to Orcus sent adown.
quas ibi tum ferro strages, quae funera Turnus
Fall to with me to roll abroad the mighty skirts of war,
ediderit, quem quisque uirum demiserit Orco,
Ye, Goddesses, remember all, and ye may tell it o’er.
et mecum ingentis oras euoluite belli.
There was a tower built high overhead, with gangways up in air,
Turris erat uasto suspectu et pontibus altis, 530
Set well f
or fight, ‘gainst which the foe their utmost war-might bear,
opportuna loco, summis quam uiribus omnes
And all Italians strive their most to work its overthrow:
expugnare Itali summaque euertere opum ui
Gainst whom the Trojans ward it well, casting the stones below,
certabant, Troes contra defendere saxis
And through the hollow windows speed the shot-storm thick and fast.
perque cauas densi tela intorquere fenestras.
There Turnus first of all his folk a flaming firebrand cast,
princeps ardentem coniecit lampada Turnus 535
And fixed it in the turret’s flank: wind-nursed it caught great space
et flammam adfixit lateri, quae plurima uento
Of planking, and amid the doors, consuming, kept its place.
corripuit tabulas et postibus haesit adesis.
Then they within, bewildered sore, to flee their ills are fain,
turbati trepidare intus frustraque malorum
But all for nought; for while therein they huddle from the bane,
uelle fugam. dum se glomerant retroque residunt
And draw aback to place yet free from ruin, suddenly
in partem quae peste caret, tum pondere turris 540
O’erweighted toppleth down the tower, and thundereth through the sky.
procubuit subito et caelum tonat omne fragore.
Half-dead the warders fall to earth by world of wrack o’erborne,
semineces ad terram immani mole secuta
Pierced with their own shafts, and their breasts with hardened splinters torn.
confixique suis telis et pectora duro
Yea, Lycus and Helenor came alone of all their peers
transfossi ligno ueniunt. uix unus Helenor
Alive to earth: Helenor, now in spring-tide of his years:
et Lycus elapsi; quorum primaeuus Helenor, 545
Bond-maid Licymnia privily to that Mæonian king
Maeonio regi quem serua Licymnia furtim
Had borne the lad, and sent him forth to Troy’s beleaguering
sustulerat uetitisque ad Troiam miserat armis,
With arms forbidden, sheathless sword and churl’s unpainted shield.
ense leuis nudo parmaque inglorius alba.
But when he saw himself amidst the thousand-sworded field
isque ubi se Turni media inter milia uidit,
Of Turnus, Latins on each side, behind, and full in face,
hinc acies atque hinc acies astare Latinas, 550
E’en as a wild beast hedged about by girdle of the chase
ut fera, quae densa uenantum saepta corona
Rages against the point and edge, and, knowing death anear,
contra tela furit seseque haud nescia morti
Leaps forth, and far is borne away down on the hunter’s spear;
inicit et saltu supra uenabula fertur —
Not otherwise the youth falls on where thickest spear-points lie,
haud aliter iuuenis medios moriturus in hostis
And in the middle of the foe he casts himself to die.
inruit et qua tela uidet densissima tendit. 555
But Lycus, nimbler far of foot, betwixt the foemen slipped,
at pedibus longe melior Lycus inter et hostis
Betwixt the swords, and gained the wall, and at the coping gripped,
inter et arma fuga muros tenet, altaque certat
And strove to draw him up with hand, the friendly hands to feel;
prendere tecta manu sociumque attingere dextras.
But Turnus both with foot and spear hath followed hard at heel,
quem Turnus pariter cursu teloque secutus
And mocks him thus in victory: “How was thy hope so grown
increpat his uictor: ‘nostrasne euadere, demens, 560
Of ‘scaping from my hand, O fool?” Therewith he plucks him down
sperasti te posse manus?’ simul arripit ipsum
From where he hung, and space of wall tears downward with the man.
pendentem et magna muri cum parte reuellit:
As when it chanceth that a hare or snowy-bodied swan
qualis ubi aut leporem aut candenti corpore cycnum
Jove’s shield-bearer hath borne aloft in snatching hookèd feet;
sustulit alta petens pedibus Iouis armiger uncis,
Or lamb, whose mother seeketh him with most abundant bleat,
quaesitum aut matri multis balatibus agnum 565
Some wolf of Mars from fold hath caught. Goes up great cry around:
Martius a stabulis rapuit lupus. undique clamor
They set on, and the ditches filled with o’erturned garth and mound,
tollitur: inuadunt et fossas aggere complent,
While others cast the blazing brands on roof and battlement.
ardentis taedas alii ad fastigia iactant.
Ilioneus with mighty stone, a shard from hillside rent,
Ilioneus saxo atque ingenti fragmine montis
Lucetius felled, as fire in hand unto the gate he drew.
Lucetium portae subeuntem ignisque ferentem, 570
Then Liger felled Emathion, for craft of spear he knew;
Emathiona Liger, Corynaeum sternit Asilas,
Asylas Corynæus, by dint of skill in bowshaft’s ways,
hic iaculo bonus, hic longe fallente sagitta,
Cæneus Ortygius fells, and him, victorious, Turnus slays,
Ortygium Caeneus, uictorem Caenea Turnus,
And Itys, Clonius, Promolus, Dioxippus withal,
Turnus Ityn Cloniumque, Dioxippum Promolumque
And Sagaris, and Idas set on topmost turret-wall.
et Sagarim et summis stantem pro turribus Idan, 575
Then Capys slays Privernus; him Themilla’s light-winged spear
Priuernum Capys. hunc primo leuis hasta Themillae
Had grazed, whereon he dropped his shield, and his left hand did bear
strinxerat, ille manum proiecto tegmine demens
Upon the hurt; when lo, thereto the wingèd shaft did win,
ad uulnus tulit; ergo alis adlapsa sagitta
And nailed the hand unto the side, and, buried deep within,
et laeuo infixa est alte lateri, abditaque intus
Burst all the breathing-ways of life with deadly fatal sore.
spiramenta animae letali uulnere rupit. 580
But lo, where standeth Arcens’ child in goodly weed of war,
stabat in egregiis Arcentis filius armis
Fair with his needle-painted cloak, with Spanish scarlet bright,
pictus acu chlamydem et ferrugine clarus Hibera,
Noble of face: Arcens, his sire, had sent him to the fight
insignis facie, genitor quem miserat Arcens
From nursing of his mother’s grove about Symæthia’s flood,
eductum Martis luco Symaethia circum
Whereby Palicus’ altar stands, the wealthy and the good.
flumina, pinguis ubi et placabilis ara Palici: 585
Mezentius now laid by his spear, and took his whistling sling,
stridentem fundam positis Mezentius hastis
And whirled it thrice about his head at length of tugging string,
ipse ter adducta circum caput egit habena
And with the flight of molten lead his midmost forehead clave,
et media aduersi liquefacto tempora plumbo
And to the deep abundant sand his outstretched body gave.
diffidit ac multa porrectum extendit harena.
Then first they say Ascanius aimed his speedy shafts in war,
Tum primum bello celerem intendisse sagittam 590
Wherewith but fleeing beasts afield he used to fright before:
dicitur ante feras solitus terrere fugacis
But now at last his own right hand the stark Numanus slays,
Ascanius, fortemque manu fudisse Numanum,
Who had to
surname Remulus, and in these latter days
cui Remulo cognomen erat, Turnique minorem
King Turnus’ sister, young of years, had taken to his bed:
germanam nuper thalamo sociatus habebat.
He in the forefront of the fight kept crying out, and said
is primam ante aciem digna atque indigna relatu 595
Things worthy and unworthy tale: puffed up with pride of place
uociferans tumidusque nouo praecordia regno
New-won he went, still clamouring out his greatness and his grace.
ibat et ingentem sese clamore ferebat:
“O twice-caught Phrygians, shames you nought thus twice amid the wars
‘non pudet obsidione iterum ualloque teneri,
To lie in bonds, and stretch out walls before the march of Mars?
bis capti Phryges, et morti praetendere muros?
Lo, these are they who woke the war the wives of us to wed!
en qui nostra sibi bello conubia poscunt! 600
What God sent you to Italy? what madness hither sped?
quis deus Italiam, quae uos dementia adegit?
Here are no Atreus’ sons, and no Ulysses word-weaver.
non hic Atridae nec fandi fictor Vlixes:
A people hard from earliest spring our new-born sons we bear
durum a stirpe genus natos ad flumina primum
Unto the stream, and harden us with bitter frost and flood.
deferimus saeuoque gelu duramus et undis;
Our lads, they wake the dawning-chase and wear the tangled wood;
uenatu inuigilant pueri siluasque fatigant, 605
Our sport is taming of the horse and drawing shafted bow;
flectere ludus equos et spicula tendere cornu.
Our carles, who bear a world of toil, and hunger-pinching know,
at patiens operum paruoque adsueta iuuentus
Tame earth with spade, or shake with war the cities of the folk.
aut rastris terram domat aut quatit oppida bello.
Yea, all our life with steel is worn; afield we drive the yoke
omne aeuum ferro teritur, uersaque iuuencum
With spear-shaft turned about: nor doth a halting eld of sloth
terga fatigamus hasta, nec tarda senectus 610
Weaken our mightiness of soul, or change our glory’s growth.
debilitat uiris animi mutatque uigorem:
We do the helm on hoary hairs, and ever deem it good
canitiem galea premimus, semperque recentis
To drive the foray day by day, and make the spoil our food.
comportare iuuat praedas et uiuere rapto.
But ye — the raiment saffron-stained, with purple glow tricked out —
uobis picta croco et fulgenti murice uestis,
These are your heart-joys: ye are glad to lead the dance about.