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VmOim MWIS. BOOK II.



m



To wlioio do yoQ aspoin^ yovr Other's life,

Voor son's, and mine, your now-forgotten wife !*

While thus she fills the house with clamorous cries.

Our hearing is diverted by our eyes ;

For while I held my son, in the shorf. space|

Betwixt our kisses and our last embrace,

Strange to relate, from young liilus* head

A lambent flame arose, which gently spread

Around his brows, and on his temples Ld.

AmazM, with running water we prepare

To quench the sacred fire, and slake his hair ;

But aid Anchises, versM in omens, rear d

His hand to Heaven, and this request preferred ;

' If any yows, almighty Jove, can bend

Thy will, if piety can prayers commend.

Confirm the glad presage which thou art pl^asM

to send.'
Scarce had he said, when, on our left, we hear
A peal of rattling thunder roll in air :
There shot a streaming lamp along the sljuy.
Which on the winged lightning seem'd to fly ;
From o*er the roof the blaze began to move ,
And trailing^ vanish'd in th* Idean grove.
It swept a path in Heaven, and shone a guide ;
Then in a steaming stench of sulphur dy^d.

" The good old man with ^uppliaAt hands im-
plored
The gods' protection, (uid their star ador'd.
* Now, now,' said he, ' my son, no more delay,
I yield, I follow where Heaven shows the way.
Keep (O my country-gods !) our dwelling place,
And guard this relic of the Trojan race :
This tender child ; these omeps are your owq ;
Aod yon can yet restore the ruinM tovn.
At least accomplish what your signs foreshow :
I stand redgn'd, and am prepar'd to go.'

*' He said ', the crackling flames appear oiji high,
And driving sparkles dance along the sky.
With Vulcan's rage the rising winds conspire;
And near our palace rolls the flood of fire.
' Baste, my dear father, ('tis no time to wait)
And load my shoulders with a willing freight.
Whate'er befals, your Ufe shall be my care.
One death, pr one deliverance, we will share,
My hand ^all lead our little ^on ; and you.
My faithful consort, shall our steps pursue.
Vext, you, Doy servants, heed my ftrict commands:
Without the walls a ruin'd temple stands.
To Ceres hallow'd once, a cypress nigh
Shoots up her venerable head on high ;
By lon^ religion kept : there bend your feet;
And, in divided parties, let us meet,
Our country gods, the relics, and the bands,
Hold you, my father, in your guiltless hands :
In me 'tis impious holy things to bear.
Red as I am with slaughter, new from war :
Till, in some living stream, 1 cleanse the guilt
Of dire debate, and blood in battle spilt'
Thus, ordering all that prudence could provide,
I clothe my shoulders with a lion's hide.
And yellow spoils : then, on my bending back,
The welcome load of my dear fattier take.
While, on my bettt^r hand, Ascanius hung«
And, with unequal paces, tript along.
Crtiusa kept behind : by choice we stray
Through every dark and every devious way.
I) who so bold and dauntless, just before.
The Grecian darta and shocks of lances bore.
At every shadow now am seiz'd with fear :
K>t igr jnyael^ but for the charge I bear*.



Till near the ruin'd gate arriv'd at last,

Secure, and deeming all the danger past,

A frightful noise of trampling feet we hear ;

My &ther, looking through the shades with fear,

Cry'd out, * Haste, haste, my son, the fbes are nigh \

Their swords and shining ai>iiour I descry.' ,

Some hostile god, for some unknown offence,

Had sure bereft my mind of better sense :

For while, through winding ways, I took my flight.

And lought the shelter of the gloomy night,

Alas ! I lost CrcUsa : hard to tell

If by her fiaital destiny she fell.

Or weiry sat, or wander'd with affright ;

But she was lost for ever to my sight. '

I knew not, or reflected, till I meet

My friends, at Ceres' now-deserted geat :

We met : not one was wanting, only she

Deceiv'd her friends, her son, and wrftched me»

What mad expressions did my tongue refuse !

Whom did I not of gods or men accuse !

lliis was the fatal blow, that pain'd me more

Than all I felt from ruin'd Troy before.

Stung with my loss, and raving with desp^r^

Abandoning my now-forgotten care.

Of coiinsel, comfort, and of hope bereft,

My sire, my son, my c

In shining armour once

My limbs, not feeling w

Then headlong to the b

And seek the danger I ^

I tread my former tracl

Each passage, every st

All things were full of 1

And dreadful ev'n the s

Then to my father's hoi

With some small glimpi ;

Instead of her, the cruel Greeks I met :

The house was flll'd with fbes, with dames beset.

Driven on the wings of winds, whole sheets of fire.

Through air transported, to the roofs aspire.

From thence to Priam's palace I resort.

And search the citadel, and desert court

Then, unobserv'd, I pass'd by Juno's church ;

A guaid of Grecians had poise^s'd the porch i

Tliere Phoenix and Ulysses watch the prey.

And thither all the wealth of Troy convey.

llie spoils which they from ransack'd houses brougl^t.

And golden bowls from burning altars caught

The tables of the gods, the purple vests,

The peoples' treasure, and' the pomp of priests.

A rank of wretched youths, with pioion'd haods*

And captive matrons, in long order stands.

Then, wtth ungovem'd madness, 1 prodaini.

Through all the silent streets, Creiisa's name.

Creiisa still I call : at length she hears }

And, sudden, thro' the shades of night appears

Appears no more Creiisa, nor my wife.

But a pale spectre, larger than the lif^. .

Aghast, astonish'd, and struck dumb with fear,

I stood ; like bristles rose my stiffen'd hair.

Then thus the ghost began to soothe my grief:

* Nor tears, nor cries, can gtve the dead relief;

Desist, my much-lov'd lord, t' indulge your paini^

You bear no more than what the gods ordain^

My fates permit me not from hence to fly;

Nor he, the great comptroller of the sky.

Ix>ng wandering ways fbr you the powers 'decree i

On land hard labours, and a length of sea.

Then, after many painful years are past,

On Latium's hf ppy shore you shall be cast :



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S74



DRYDEN'S translations:



Wliere gentle Tyber from his bed beholds

The flovery meadows, aiid the feeding folds.

There end your toils : and there your £it«s provide

A quiet kingdom, and a royal bride :

There fortune shall the Trojan line restore;

And you for lost Cnriisa weep no more.

Fear not that I shall watch, with servile shame,

Th* imperious looks of some proud Grecian dame :

Or, stooping Ut the victor's lust, disgrace

My goddeis-mothei, or my royal race.

And now farewell : the parent of the godf

Restrains my fleeting soul in her abodes :

I trust our common issue to your care.'

(>he said : and gliding pass'd unseen in air.

J strove to speak, but horroor ty'd my tongue ;

And thrice about her neck my arms I flang:

And, thrice deceived, on vain embraces hung.

Light as an empty dream at break of day.

Or as a blast of wind, she rush'd away.

" Thus, bavin? possM the night in fruitless pahi,
I to my longing friends return again.
Amaz'd tir augmented number to beheld.
Of roeA and matrons mix'd, of young and old :
A wretched exil'd crew together brought,
With arms appointed, and with treasure fraught
Resolv'd, and willing under my command,
To run all hazards both of sea and land.
The Mom began, from Ida, to display
Her rosy cheeks, and Phosphor led the day :
Before the j^ates the Grecians took their post :
Apd all pretence of late relief were lost
I yield to fate, unwillingly retire,
And, loaded, up the bill convey my sire."



TAX THIID BOOK OP

THE MNEIS.



TBS AKCUMENT.

jEnkas proceeds in his relation : he gives an ac-
count of the fleet with which be sailed, and the
success of his fhrst voyage to Thrace; from
th«nice he directs his course to Deios, and asks
the oracle what place the gods had appointed
for his habitation r By a mistake of the oracle's
answer, he settles in Crete : his household gods
give him the true sense ^ the oracle in a dream :
he fbllows their advice, and makes the best of
his way for Italy : he is cast on several shores,
and nieets wHh very snrprisiog adventures, till
at length he lands on Sicily : where his fisther
AnchfaMS dies. This is the place he was sailmg
from, when the tempest rose,' and threw him
upon the Carthaginian coast



" Whew Heaven had overtum'd the Trojan state,
And Priam's throne, hy too severe a fate :
Whtm min'd Troy became the Grecians' prey,
And Ilium's lofty towers in ashes lay :
Warn'd by celestial omens, we rttieat.
To seek "x foreign lands a hapfder seat
Near old Antandros, and at Ida's foot.
The timber of the sacred proves we exit ;
And buitd our fleet : uncertain yet to find
^bat platM) tli« gods for our repose a8si^n*d.



Friends daily flock, and scarce tlie kiadly sprinf
Began to clothe the fpround, and birds to sing :
When old Anchises summon'd all to sea :
The crew, my father, and the fates obey.
With sighs and tears I leave my native shore.
And empty fields, where Ilium stood befbre.
My sire, my son, our less and greater gods.
All sail at once ; and cleave the briny floods.

" Against our coast appears a spacious land.
Which once the fierce Lycnrgns did command :
Thracia the name ; the people bold id war;
Vast are their fields, and tillage is their cart*
A hospitable realm, while fate.was kind ;
With Troy in friendship and religion jom'd.
I land, with lockleas omens; then'adore
Their gods, and draw a line along the shore :
I lay the deep frandations of a wall :
And &noi, nam'd from me, the city calL
To Dioosan Venus vows are paid.
And all the powers that rising labours aid ;
A bull on Jove's imperial aHar lard.
Not fisr, a rising hilloc stood in view ;
Sharp myrtles, on the'sides, and cornels, grew.
There, while I went to crop the sylvan scenes.
And shade our altar with their leafy greens,
I pull'd a plant (with horrour I relate
A prodigy so strange, and fidl of fate).
The rooted fibres rose ; and from the woond.
Black bloody drops distill'd upon the ground.
Mute, and amaz'd, my hair with terrour stood :
Fear shrunk my sinews, and congeal'd my blood :
Manned once again, another pfant I try,
That other gush'd with the same sanguine dye.
Then, fearing guitt for some ofience unknown.
With prayers and vows the Dryads 1 atone ;
With all the sisters of the woods, and most
The god of arms, who rules the Thracian coast :
That they, or he, these omens would avert ;
Release our fears, and better signs impart
Clear'd, as 1 thought, and fully 6x'd at length
To learn the cause, T tugg'd with all my strength :
I bent my knees against the ground ; once more
The violated myrtle fan with gore.
Scarce dare I tell the sequel : from the womb
Of wounded earth, and caverns of the tomb,
A groan, as of a troubled ghost, renew'd
My fright, and then these dreadful words ensued ?
* Why doatthou thus my bury'd body rend?
O spare the corpse of thy unhappy friend !
Spare to pollute thy pious hands with blood :
The tears distil not f^om the wounded wood ;
But every drop this living tree contains
Is kindred blood, and ran in Trojan veins s
O fly from this unhospitable shore,
Wam'd by my fate ; for I am Polydore !
Here loads of lances, in my blood embrued.
Again shoot upward, by my blood renew'd.*

" My faltering tongue and shivering limbs de«
dare
My horrour, and in bri<<tles ros^my hair.
"^Vhen Troy with Grecian arms was closely pent,
Old Priam, fearful of the war's event.
This hapless Polydore to Thracia sent
TxMided with gold, he s<nit his darling far
From noise and tumults, and destructive war : '
Committed to the faithless tyrrfnt's care ;
Who, when he saw th«' power of Troy declfne,
Forsook the weaker, with the stront? to join :
Broke every bond of nature, and of truth -.
And murderM, fur.bi:i wealth, the royal yontlu



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VIRGIL'S ^NEIS. BOOK III



.175



f> VtereA hunger of pcraSflioot gold,
What bands of futh omi knpioot lucre bold !
Now, when my towl had shaken off her fearSy
I call my fiitber, vod the Trojan peers :
Relate the prodigies of Heaven, require
What he comnands, and their advice desiraii
All vote to leave that execrable shore,
IMllnCed with the blood of Polydore.
Bat ere we sail, his funeral rites prepare ;
Then, to his ghost, a tonb and altars rear.
In mournful pomp the matrons walk the round :
With balefol C3rpre8s and blue fillets crown'd ; '
With eyes dejected, and with hair unbound.
Then bowls of tepid milk and Mood we pour,
ibid thrice invoke the soul of Polydore.

" Now when the raging storms no longer reign ;
But southern gales invite us to the main ;
We lanch our vessels, with a prosperous wind;
And leave the cities and the shores behind.

** An island in th' JB/gemn main appears ;
Neptune and watery Doris claim it theirs.
It floated once, till Phcebus fix'd the sides
To rooted earth, and now it braves the tides.
Here, borne by friendly winds, we come ashore.
With needful ease our weary limbs restore .*
And the Sun's temple and his town adore.

'* Anius the pri^, and king, with laurel crovn'd.
His hoary loclu with purple fillets bound.
Who saw my aire the Delian shore ascend.
Came forth with eager haste to meet his friend :
Invites him to his palace: and, in sign
Of ancient love, their plighted hands they join.
Then to the temple of the god I went ;
And thus before the shrine my vows present t

* Give, O ThymbrsBUS ! give a resting-place
To the sad relics of the Trojan race :

A seat secure, a region of their own,

A lasting empire, and a happier town.

Where shall we fix, where shall our labours end.

Whom shall we follow, and what fate attend ?

Let not my prayers a doubtfbl answer find,

Bu^ in clear auguries unveil thy mind.'

Scarce had I said ; he shook the holy ground.

The laurels, and the lafty hills around :

And from the tripos rush'd a bellowing sound.

Prostrate we fell, confess'd the present god -,

Who gives this answer from his dark abode t

* Undaunted youths, *go seek that mother Earth
From which your ancestors derive their birth.
The toil that sent you fbrthi her ancient race.
In her old bosom, shall again embrace.
Through the wide world th' .£netan house shall

reign.
And children's children shall the crown sustain.'
Thus Phcebus did our future £&tes disclose :
A mighty tumult, mix'd with joy, areae.

'* All are concero'd to know what place the god
Assigned, and where determin'd our abode.
My fother, long revoVving in his mind
The race and lineage of the Trojan kind,
Thus answeed th^r demands : * Ye princes, hear
Your pleasmg fortune ; and dispel your fear.
The fruitful isle of Crete, well known to fisme,
Sacred of old to Jove's imperial name.
In the mid ocean lies with large command ;
And on its plains a hundred cities stand.
Another Ida rises there ; and we
From thence derive our Trojan ancestry.
From thence, as 'tis divul^d by certain fame.
To the Rhaeteai\ shores old Teucer came :



There flx'd, and there the saatoTanpira t

Ere Ilium and the Th>jan towers aroae.

In humble vales they built their soft abodes :

TillCybele, the mother of the gods.

With tinkling cymbals, chann'd th' Idean woodsu

She secret rites and ceremonies toogfat.

And to the yoke the savage lions brought.

I^ us the land, which Heaven appohnts, explore;

Appease the winds, and seek the Gnossian shore.

If Jove assist the passage of our fleet.

The third propitious dawn discovers Crete.'

Thus having said, the sacrifices, laid

Oh smokhig altars, to the gods he paid,

A bull to Neptune, an oblation due,

Another bull to bright Apollo slew :

A milk-white ewe the western whids to please t

And one coal-black to calm the stormy seas.

Ere this, a flying rumour had been spread.

That fierce Idomeneus from Crete was fled ;

ExpelI'd and exii'd ; that the coast was free

From foreign or domestic enemy :

We leave the Delian ports, and put to tea.

By Nasos, fam'd for vintage, make our way :

Then green Donysa pass ; and sail in sight

Of Paros isle, with marble quarries white.

We pass the scattered isles of Cjrdades,

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

The shouts of sailors double near the shores ;

Th^ stretch their cahvass, and they ply theiroars,

' All hands aloft, for Crete, for Crete !' they cty.

And swiftly through the foaming billows fly.

Full on the prpmis'd land at length we bore.

With joy desoending on the Cretan shore.

With eager haste a rismg town I frame.

Which from the Trojan Pergamus I name;

The name itself was grateful ; I exhort

To found their houses, and erect a fort. ^

Our ships are haul'd upon the yellow strand s

The youth begm to till the lahoor'd land.

And I myself new marriages promote.

Give laws, and dwellmgs I divide by lot

WHen rising vapours choke the wholesome tar.

And blasts of noisome winds corrupt the year :

The trees, devouring caterpillars bum :

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

Nor scape the beasts : for Sirios from on high

With pestilential heat infects the sky:

My men, some fiill, the rest in fevers fry.

Again my father bids me seek the shore

Of sacred Belos, and the god implore :

To learn what end of woes we might expect.

And to what clime our weary course direct.

" 'Twas night, when every creature, void of caret.
The common gift of balmy slumber ^leg .
The statues of my godk (for such they aeem'd)
Those gods whom 1 from flaming Trc^ redeem'd.
Before me stood ; rai^estically bright.
Pull in the beams of Phoebe's entering light.
Then'thus they spoke, and eas'd my troubled mindi
' What from the Delian god thou go'st to find.
He tells thee here; and sends us to relate :
Those powers are we, companions of thy fate.
Who from the burning town by thee were brought f
Thy fortune followed, and thy safety wrought.
Through seas and lands as we thy steps attend.
So shall oiu* care thy glorious race befriend.
An ample realm for thee thy fates ordain;
A town, that o'er the conquer'd world shall reigi^
Thou mighty walls for mighty nations build j
Nor let thy weary paind to labonrs yield:



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3W



DttYDEN'8 TItANSLATI0N8,



^ut cbaikgt tbyiett ! fer not the Itetian god,
Kor we, have giv'n thee Crete for our aboik.
A land there it, Hetperia called of old.
The soil is fruitfol, and the natives bold.
TV CEootriaot held it oooe ; by later lam^
Kow caird Italia from the leader's name.
Jas ius there, and Dardanus were born :
Fr^m thepce we came, and thither raoft letorm
Kise, and the sire vith these glad tidmgs great |
Search Italy, for Jore denies thee Crete.

** AstOnishM at tbdr Toicei, and their sight,
(Nor were tbey dreams, hot visions of the nig^ ;
I saw, I knew their feces, and desory'd
In perfect view their hair with fillets ty*d) |
I started from my conch, and clammy swaal
pn aU my limbs and shivering body sat.
To Heaven I lift my bandf with piooi haile.
And sacred incense in the flames I oast
Thus to the gods their perfect honours doBOi
More cbeerfol to my ^K>d old sire I run.
And tell the pleasing news : in Kttle space
He found bis erronr of the double raoe.
Kot, as belbre bd deem'd, derived from Crete |
Ko more deluded by the doubtful seat
Then said, ' O son ! turmoil'd hi Trojan fate^
Such things as these Cassandra did relate ;
This day revives within my mind, what she
Foretold of Troy renew'd in Italy,
And Latian lands: hot who could then have thongbt
That Phrygian gods to Liittum shouk} be brought^
Or who believed what maid Cbssandra taught }
Now let us go, where Pbcnbus leads the way.*
He said, and we with glad oonseot obey :
Forsake the seat; and, leaving few behhid»
We spread our sails beifbre the willing wmd.
Now froni the sight of land our gillies movv.
With only seas around, and skies above.
When.-o^er oar heads deioeods a burst of rain.
And night, with sable clouds, mvolves the dmiid |
The ruffling winds the foamy billows jmne ;
The scatte|r*d ieet is forc'd to several ways ;
The fefoe of Heaven is ravishH) from our eyee.
And, in redoubled peafs, the roaring thunder flies.
Cast from oiir cottise, we wander in the dark ;
No stars to guide, qo point of land to mark,
^v'n Palipnrus no distinction found [around.

Betwixt the night and day, such darkness reign'd
Three stadess nights the doubtful navy strays
Without distinction, and three fnnless days.
The fourth renews the light, and, from our shfoqds,
We view ;i rising land like distant clouds t
The mountain-tops cpnArm the pleading sight,
Awl curling smoke ascending from their height
The canvass fells, their oars the sailqrs ply.
From the mde strokes the whirling waters Hy.
At length I land upon the Strophadee,
Safe from the danger of the stormy seas :
Those isles are oompassM by th' likiian roaia>
The dh« abode where the foul harpies raign :
Forc'd by the wii)ged warriors to repair
To their old homes, and leave their costly fera
Monsiien more fierce, oiTended Heaven ne*er sent
From Heirs abyss, fbr human punishment.
With virgin feces, but with w<»mb's obscene,
Fool paunilns, and with ordure ^UI unclean s
With claws forehands, and looks for ever lean.

*' We landed at the port, and soon beheld
Fat herds of oxen graze the flowery field t
And wanton goats without a keeper stray'^d ;
yf\ti^ feaponi we i^ welcoipc pre^ invade.



Then call the gods for pertiisn of oar feiMts
And Jote himaelf the chief invited guest
We sp^rend the tables on the greensward groondf
We feed with bonder, and the bowls go round :
When from the BHHiB^n tops, with hideoas ory|
And claOarmg wings, the hungry liarpies iy :
They ^natoh the meat, defiling all they find ;
And, pafting, leare a loathaome stepofa behiad«
Close by a holtow roc^ agM we sit,
New-dreas th^ dinner, and the beds refit ;
Secure from sight^ beneath a pleasiuf sluid6|
Where ^ftad trees a Mtive arbonr nsade.
Again the holy fires on altars bum.
And once again (he ravenous birds rotqnis
Op from the dark recesses where they lie.
Or frtMn another quarter of the ^y ;
With filthy ckws their odious meal repeat.
And mix their loathsome ordurea with their meal^
I bid my friends for vengeance then prepafe^
And with the hs^lisb natkm wage the war.
They, as cpmmanded, for the fight provide.
And in the grass their glittering weapons bide |
Then^ when algng the opoked abore we hear
Their clattering wingf, and saw the foes appear^
Misenus sounds a charge : we take th* alarm.
And our strong hands w|tb swords apd buckleiv
in this new kind of combat all employ [arm.

Their utmost force the monsters to destroy.
In vain ; the feted skin is proof to wounds :
And, from their plumes, the yhining sword rsr

bounds.
At length, rtbnff'd, they leaye their mangled prsy|
And their stretched pinions to the skies display.
Yet one remained the messenger of fete,
High on the craggy clifis Celseno sat.
And thus her difmal ^rriMid dfd reUte :
* What, not contented with pur oxen slain,
Dare you with Heaven an impious war maintain^
And drive the harpies from their native reign ?
Heed, therefore, wh^t I say, and keep m mhid
What Jcfve decrees, what Phfebus has design'd t
And I, the fory*s queen, from both relate :
You seek th* Italian shored, foredopm*d by fete:
Th' Italian shores are granted yon to find,
And a safe passage to the port as sig n ed.
But k|iow, that ere your promn'd waUs you baUdf
My curses shall severely be frilfiH'd*'
Fierce fenrine is yonr lot, for this misdeed.
Reduced to grind the plates on which yon feed.*
She sfid, and ^ the neighbouring forest flew :
Our courage ftuls us, and our fears renew*
Hopeless to win by war, to prayers we fell*
And on th' ofiended harpies humbly caU.
And whether geds or birds obscene tbey were.
Our vows for pardon and for peaoe prdfer.
But old Anchises, offmng saoific^.
And lifting up to Heaven his hands and eyeff^
Adored the greater gods : ' Avert,* said be,
* These omens ; render vain this prophecy |
And, from th' impending curse, a pious people frr^'
Thus haying said, he bids us putT to sea ;
We loose from shore our hausers, and obey.
And soon, with sw^ling sails, pursue our water|

vay.
Amidst our course Zacynthian woods appear;
And next by rocky Nentos we steer : ■
We fly from Ithaca's detested shore.
And curse the land which dhe Ulysses bore.
At length Leucate*s cloudy top appeaw,
And tl^e Sun's leoisle, which t|ie saUor fefTf;



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VlRGiyS JENEIS. BOOK IK.



Jilt



^Utolr'd to breathe a, while from labour past,
jOur crooked anchors from the prow we cast,
' And joyful to the little city haste.
Here safe, beyond our hope^, our vows we pay