No More Learning

His passengers at length are wafted o'er,
Expos'd, in muddy weeds, upon the miry shore.
No sooner landed, in Ms den they found
The triple porter of the Stygian sound,
Grim Cerberus, who soon began to rear
His crested snakes, and arm'd his bristling hair. The prudent Sibyl had before prepar'd
A sop, in honey steep'd, to charm the guard;
Which, mix'd with pow'rful drugs, she cast before i His greedy grinning jaws, just op'd to roar
W_th three enormous mouths he gapes; and straight,
With hunger press'd, devours the pleaslng bait.
Long draughts of sleep his monstrous limbs enslave;
He reels, and, falling, fills the spacious cave.
The keeper charm'd, the chief without delay
Pass'd on, and took th' irremeable way.
Before the gates, the cries of babes new born,
Whom fate had from their tender mothers torn,
Assault his ears: then those, whom form of laws
Condemn'd to die, when traitors judg'd their cause.
Nor want they lots, nor judges to review
The wrongful sentence, and award a new.
Minos, the strict inquisitor, appears; Hc xtu--8
? W_
DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
And lives and crimes, with his assessors, hears. Round in his urn the blended balls he rolls, Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls. The next, in place and punishment, are they Who prodigally throw their souls away;
Fools, who, repining at their wretched state, And loathing anxious life, suborn'd their fate. With late repentance now they would retrieve The bodies they forsook, and wish to live; Their pains and poverty desire to bear,
To view the light of hear'n, and breathe the vital air: But fate forbids; the Stygian floods oppose,
And with nine circling streams the captive souls inclose, Not far from thence, the Mournful Fields appear
So call'd from lovers that inhabit there.
The souls whom that unhappy flame invades,
In secret solitude and myrtle shades
Make endless moans, and, pining with desire, Lament-too late their unextinguish'd fire.
Here Proeris, Eriphyle here he found,
Baring her breast, yet bleeding with the wound Made by her son. He saw Pasiphae there,
With Ph;edra's ghost, a foul incestuous pair.
There Laodamia, with Evadne, moves,
Unhappy both, but loyal in their loves:
C_eneus, a woman once, and once a man,
But ending in the sex she first began.
Not far from these Ph_nician Dido stood,
Fresh from her wound, her bosom bath'd in blood; Whom when the Trojan hero hardly knew,
Obscure in shades, and with a doubtful view, (Doubtful as he who sees, thro' dusky night,
Or thinks he sees, the moon's uncertain hght,) With tears he first approach'd the sullen shade; And, as his love inspir'd him, thus he said: "Unhappy queen l then is the common breath
Of rumor true, in your reported death,
And I, alas! the cause? By Hear'n, I vow,
And all the pow"rs that rule the realms below, Unwilling I forsook your friendly state,
? 81X'rH BOOK OP THB ,,_ z_
__m__suded by the gods, and forc'd by fate-- Those gods, that fate, whose unresisted might Have seat me to these regions void of light, Thro' the vast empire of eternal night,
Nor dar'd I to presume, that, press'd with grief, My flight should urge you to this dire relief. Stay, stay your steps, and listed to my voWS,
is the last interview that Isle allows I"
In vain he thus attempts her mind to move
With tears, and pray'rs, and late-repenting 10re, Disdainfully she look'd; then turning round,
But fix'd her eyes unmov'd upon the ground,
And what he says and swears, regards no more Than the deaf rocks, when the loud billows roar; But whirl'd away, to shun his hateful sight,
Hid Lnthe forest and the shades of night;
Then sought Sicha_us thro' the shady grove,
Who answer'd all her cares, and equal'd all her lQv_
Some pious tears the pitying hero paid,
And folIow'd with his eyes the flitting shade,
Then took the forward way, by fate ordain'd,
And, with his guide, the farther fields attain'd,
Where, sever'd from the rest, the warrior souls remain'& Tydeus he met, with Meleager's race,
The pride of armies, and the soldiers' grace;
And pale Adrastus with his ghastly face.
Of Trojan chiefs he vlew'd a num'rous trainj
All much lamented, all in battle sIaln;
GIaucus and Medon, high above the rest,
Antenor's sons, and Ceres' sacred priest.
And proud Idzus, Priam's charioteer,
Who shakes his empty reins, and aims his airy spear. The gladsome ghosts, in circling troops, attend
And with unwearied eyes behold their friend;
Delight to hover near_ and long to know
What hus'aess brought him to the realms below.
But A-rglve chiefs, and Agamenmon's train,
VChea his refulgent arms flash'd thro' the shady pl_h_ Fled from his well-known face, with wonted fear,
As when his thuad'riag sword _d pointed spear
? DRYDI_"S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Drove headlong to their ships, and glean'd the routed real'.
They rais'd a feeble cry, with trembling notes; But the weak voice deceiv'd their gasping throats.
Here Priam's son, Deiphobus, he found,
Whose face and limbs were one continued wound:
Dishonest, with lopp'd arms, the youth appears, Spoll'd of his nose, and shorten'd of his ears.
He scarcely knew h_m, striving to disown
His blotted form, and blushing to be known;
And therefore first began: "0 Teucer's race,
Who durst thy faultless figure thus deface?
What heart could wish, what hand infl_ct, this dire disgrace[_ 'Twas fam'd, that in our last and fatal night
Your single prowess long sustain'd the fight,
Till tir'd, not forc'd, a glorious fate you chose,
And fell upon a heap of slaughter'd foes.
But, in remembrance of so brave a deed,
A tomb and iun'ral honors I decreed;
Thrice ca-ll'd your manes on the Trojan plains:
The place your armor and your name retains.
Your body too I sought, and, had I found,
Desigu'd for burial in your native ground. "
The ghost replied: "Your piety has paid
All needful rites, to rest my wand'ring shade;
But cruel fate, and my more cruel wife,
To Grecian swords betray'd my sleeping hfe.
These are the monuments of Helen's love:
The shame I bear below, the marks I bore above. You know in what deluding joys we pass'd
The night that was by Heav'n decreed our last:
For, when the fatal horse, descending down, Pregnant with arms, o'erwhelm'd th' unhappy town She feign'd nocturnal orgies; left my bed,
And, mix'd with Trojan dames, the dances led, Then, waving high her torch, the signal made, Which rous'd the Grecians from their ambuscade. With watching overworn, with cares oppress'd, Unhappy I had laid me down to rest,
And heavy sleep my weary hmbs possess'd. Meantime ray worthy wife our arms mislaid,
? THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE _NEIS 2_
And from beneath my head my sword convey'd; The door unlatch'd, and, with repeated calls, Invites her former lord within my walls.
Thus in her crime her confidence she plac'd, And with new treasons would redeem the past. What need I more_ Into the room they ran, And meanly murther'd a defenseless man. Ulysses, basely born, first led the way.
Avenging pow'rsl with justice if I pray, That fortune be their own another day l
But answer you; and in your turn relate, What brought you, living, to the Stygian state: Driv'n by the winds and errors of the sea,
Or did you Heav'n's superior doom obey
Or tell what other chance conducts your way, To view wlth mortal eyes our dark retreats, Tumults and torments of th' infernal seats"
While thus in talk the flying hours they pass, The sun had finish'd more than half his race:
And they, perhaps, in words and tears had _pent The httle tnne of stay which Heav'n had lent,
But thus the Sibyl chides their long delay:
"Night rushes down, and headlong drives the day: 'T is here, in different paths, the way divides;
The right to Pluto's golden palace guides;
The left to that unhappy region tends,
Which to the depth of Tartarus descends;
The seat of night profound, and punish'd fiends. " Then thus Deiphobus: "0 sacred maid,
Forbear to chide, and be your will obey'dl Lo ! to the secret shadows I retire,
To pay my penance till my years expire. Proceed, auspicious prince, with glory crown'd,
And born to better fates than I have found. " He said; and, while he said, his steps he turn'd
To secret shadows, and in silence mourn'd. The hero, looking on the left, espied
A lofty tow'r, and strong on ev'ry side
With treble walls, which Phlegethon surrounds, Whose fiery flood the burning empire bounds;
? 230 DRYDEN'S TRAN'SLA'I_ON OF VIRGIL
And, press'd betwixt the rocks, the bellowing noise resounds. Wide is the fronting gate, and, rals'd on high
With adamantine columns, threats the sky.
Vain is the force of man, and Heav'n's as vain,
To crush the pillars which the pile sustain. Sublime on these a tow'r of steel is rear'd;
And d_re Tlsiphone there keeps the ward,
Girt in her sanguine gown, by night and day,
Observant of the souls that pass the downward way From hence are heard the groans of ghosts, the pains Of sounding lashes and of dragging chains.
The Trojan stood astonish'd at their cries,
And ask'd his guide from whence those yells arise; And what the crimes, and what the tortures were, And loud laments that rent the liquid air.
She thus replied; "The chaste and holy race Are all forbidden this polluted place.
But Hecate, when she gave to rule the woods, Then led me trembling thro' these dire abodes, And taught the tortures of th' avenging gods. These are the realms of unrelenting fate;
And awful Rhadamanthus rules the state. He hears and judges each committed crime;
Enquires mto the manner, place, and time. The conscious wretch must all his acts reveal,
(Loth to confess, unable to conceal),
From the first moment of his vital breath,
To his last hour of unrepenting death. Straight, o'er the guilty ghost, the Fury shakes
The sounding whip and brandishes her snakes, And the pale stoner, with her sisters, takes.
Then, of itself, unfolds th' eternal door;
With dreadful sounds the brazen hinges roar.
You see, before the gate, what stalking ghost Commands the guard, what sentries keep the post. More formidable Hydra stands within,
Whose jaws with iron teeth severely grin.
The gaping gulf low to the center lies,
_Andtwice as deep as earth is distant from the sktel, The rivals of the gods, the Titan race,
? THE SIXTH BOOK O_ THE _NEIS
Here, sing'd with hghtning, roll withi_ th' uafathom'd 6p_P,, Here lie th' Al_ean twins, (I saw them both,)
Enormous bodies, of gigantic growth,
Who dar'd in fight the Thund'rer to defy,
Affect his heav'n, and force him from the sky. Salmoneus, suff'ring cruel pains, I found,
For emulating Jove; the rattling sound
Of mimic thunder, and the ghtt'ring blaze
Of pointed lightnings, and their forky rays. Thro' Elis and the Grecmn towns he flew;
Th' audacious wretch four fiery coursers drew: He wav'd a torch aloft, and, madly vain,
Sought godhke worship from a servde train. Ambitious fool l with horny hoofs to pass O'er hollow arches of resounding brass,
To rival thunder in its rapid course,
And imitate inimitable force!
But he, the King of Hear'n, obscure on high,
Bar'd his red arm, and, launching from the sky His writhen bolt, not shaking empty smoke,
Down to the deep abyss the flaming felon strook. There Tityus was to see, who took his birth
From hear'n, his nursing from the foodful earth. Here his gigantic hmbs, with large embrace, Infold nine acres of infernal space.
A rav'nous vulture, in his open'd side,
Her crooked beak and cruel talons tried; Still for the growing liver digg'd his breast;
The growing liver still supphed the feast; Still are his entrails frmtful to their pains:
Th' immortal hunger lasts, th' immortal food remains. Ixlon and Perithotis I could name,
And more Thessalian chiefs of mighty fame. High o'er their heads a mold'rmg rock is plac'd, That promises a fall, and shakes at ev'ry blast. They lie below, on golden beds display'd;
And genial feasts with regal pomp _lremade. The Queen of Fttries by their sideq is set,
And snatches from their mouths th' untasted meat, Which if they tou_h, her hissing snakes, she rears,
? DRYDEN'S TRANSLATIOI_ OF VIRGIL
Tossing her torch, and thund'ring in their ears. Then they, who brothers' better claim disown,
Expel their parents, and usurp the throne; Defraud their chents, and, to lucre sold,
Sit brooding on unprofitable gold;
Who dare not give, and ev'n refuse to lend
To their poor kindred, or a wanting friend.
Vast is the throng of these; nor less the train
Of lustful youths, for foul adult'ry slam:
Hosts of deserters, who their honor sold,
. And basely broke thelr faith for bribes of gold.
All these within the dungeon's depth remain,
Despairing pardon, and expecting pain.
Ask not what pains; nor farther seek to know
Their process, or the forms of law below.
Some roll a weighty stone; some, laid along,
And bound with burning wires, on spokes of wheels are hung. Unhappy_Theseus, doom'd for ever there,
Is fix'd by fate on his eternal chair;
And wretched Phlegyas warns the world with cries
(. Could warning make the world more just or wise):
' Learn righteousness, and dread th' avenging deities. '
To tyrants others have their country sold,
Imposing foreign lords, for foreign gold;
Some have old laws repeal'd, new statutes made,
lqot as the people pleas'd, but as they paid;
With incest some their daughters' bed profan'd:
All dar'd the worst of ills, and, what they dar'd, attain'& Had I a hundred mouths, a hundred tongues,
And throats of brass, inspir'd with iron lungs,
I could not half those horrid crimes repeat,
Nor half the pumshments those crimes have met.
But let us haste our voyage to pursue:
The walls of Pluto's palace are m view;
The gate, and iron arch above it, stands
On anvils labor'd by the Cyclops' hands.
Before our farther way the Fates allow,
Here must we fix on liigh the golden bough. "
She said: and thro' the gloomy shades they pass'd,
And chose the middle path. Arriv'd at last,
? THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE _NEIS
The prince with living water sprinkled o'er
His limbs and body; then approach'd the door, Possess'd the porch, and on the front above
He fix'd the fatal bough requir'd by Pluto's love. These holy rites perform'd, they took their way Where long extended plains of pleasure lay:
The verdant fields with those of heav'n may v_e_ With ether vested, and a purple sky;
The blissful seats of happy souls below.
Stars of their own, and their own suns, they know.
Their airy limbs in sports they exercise,
And on the green contend the wrestler's prize.
Some in heroic verse divinely sing;
Others in artful measures lead the ring.
The Thracian bard, surrounded by the rest,
There stands conspicuous in his flowing vest;
His flying fingers, and harmonious quill,
Strikes sev'n distinguish'd notes, and sev'n at once the_ ill. Here found they Teucer's old heroic race,
Born better times and happier years to grace.
Assaracus and Ilus here enjoy
Perpetual fame, with him who founded Troy,
The chief beheld their chariots from afar,
Their shining arms, and coursers train'd to war:
Their lances fix'd m earth, their steeds around,
Free from their harness, graze the flow'ry ground,
The love of horses which they had, alive,
And care of chariots, after death survive.
Some cheerful souls were feasting on the plain;
Some did the song, and some the choir maintain,
Beneath a laurel shade, where mighty Po
Mounts up to woods above, and hides his head below.
Here patriots live, who, for their country's good, In fighting fields, were prodigal of blood:
Priests of unblemish'd lives here make abode, And poets worthy their inspiring god;
And searching wits, of more mechanic parts, Who grac'd their age with new-invented arts: Those who to worth their bounty did extend, And those who knew that bounty to commend.
? 1_ DItTDEN'8 TRANSLAT/ON OF V'IP_IT_j
The heads o5 these with holy fillets bound,
And all their temples were with garlands crown'd.
To these the Sibyl thus her speech address'd, And first to him surrounded by the rest
(Tow'ring his height, and ample was his breast) : "Say, happy souls, divine Mus_eus, say,
Where lives Anchises, and where lies our way To find the hero, for whose only sake
We sought the dark abodes, and cross'd the bitter lake ? '_ To this the sacred poet thus replied:
"In no fix'd place the happy souls rcsxde.
in groves we live, and lie on mossy beds,
By crystal streams, that murmur thro' the meads:
But pass yon easy hill, and thence descend;
The path conducts you to your journey's end. "
This said, he led them up the mountain's brow,
And shews them all the shining fields below.
They wind the hill, and thro' the blissful meadows go.
But old Anchises, in a flow'ry vale,
Review'd his muster'd race, and took the tale:
Those happy spirits, which, ordain'd by fate, For future beings and new bodies waitm
With studious thought observ'd th' illustrious
In nature's order as they pass'd along:
Their names, their fates, their conduct, and their care,
In peaceful senates and successful war.
He, when Z_neas on the plain appears,
l_,ieets him with open arms, and falling tears.
"Welcome," he said, "the gods' undoubted race!
O long expected to my dear embrace l
Once more 'tis giv'n me to behold your face l
The love and pious duty which you pay
Have pass'd the perils of so hard a way.
'Tis true, computing times, I now believ'd
The happy day approach'd; nor are my hopes deceiv'd. What length of lands, what oceans have you pass'd; What storms sustain'd, and on what shores been cast? How have I fear'd your fate! but fear'd it most,
When love assail'd you. on the Libyan coast. "
To _is, the filial duty thus replies:
throng,
? THE SIXTH BOOK OF TITE _NEIg _S5
_our sacred ghost before my sleeping eyes _ppear'd, and often urg'd this painful enterprise. After long tossing on the Tyrrhene sea,
My navy rides at anchor in the bay.
But reach your hand, O parent shade, nor shun The dear embraces of your longing son ! "
He said; and falling tears his face bedew:
Then thrice around his neck his arms he threw; And thrice the flitting shadow slipp'd away,
Like winds, or empty dreams that fly the day.
Now, in a secret vale, the Trojan sees
A sep'rate grove, thro' which a gentle breeze
Flays with a passing breath, and whispers thro' the trees; And, just before the confines of the wood,
The gliding Lethe leads her silent flood.
About the boughs an alry nation flew,
Thick as the humming bees, that hunt the golden dew; In summer's heat on tops of lihes feed,
And creep within their bells, to suck the balmy seed:
The winged army roams the fields around;
The rivers and the rocks remurmur to the sound.
_neas wond'ring stood, then ask'd the cause
Which to the stream the crowding people draws
Then thus the sire: "The souls that throng the flood Are those to whom, by fate, are other bodies ow'd:
In Lethe's lake they long oblivion taste,
Of future hfe secure, forgetful of the past.
Long has my soul desir'd this time and place,
To set before your sight your glorious race,
That this presaging joy may fire your mind
To seek the shores by destiny deslgn'd. "--
"O father, can it be, that souls sublime
Return to visit our terrestrial dime,
And that the gen'rous mind, releas'd by death,
Can covet lazy limbs and mortal breath ? "
A:nchises then, in order, thus begun
To dear those wonders to his godlike son:
"Know, first, that hear'n, and earth's compacted frame, And flowing waters, and the starry flame,
And both the radiant lights, one common soul
? DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRG_
Inspires and feeds, and animates the whole This active mind, infus'd thro' all the space, Unites and mingles with the mighty mass.
Hence men and beasts the breath of life obtain, And birds of air, and monsters of the main. Th' ethereal vigor is in all the same,
And every soul is fill'd with equal flame;
As much as earthy hmbs, and gross allay
Of mortal members, subject to decay,
Blunt not the beams of heav'n and edge of day. From this coarse mtxture of terrestrial parts, Desire and fear by turns possess their hearts,
And grief, and joy; nor can the grovehng mind, In the dark dungeon of the limbs confin'd,
Assert the natlve skies, or own its heav'nly kind: Nor death itself can wholly wash their stares;
But long-contracted filth ev'n in the soul remains. The relics of inveterate vice they wear,
And spots of sin obscene in ev'ry face appear. For this are various penances enjoin'd;
And some are hung to bleach upon the wind,
Some plung'd in waters, others purg'd in fires,
Till all the dregs are drain'd, and all the rust expires, All have their manes, and those wa_zes bear:
The few, so cleans'd, to these abodes repair,
And breathe, in ample fields, the soft Elysian air. Then are they happy, when by length of time
The scurf is worn away of each committed crime; No speck is left of their habitual stains,
But the pure ether of the soul remains.
But, when a thot_sand rolhng years are past,
(So long their pumshments and penance last,) Whole droves of minds are, by the driving god,
Compell'd to drink the deep Leth,'ean flood,
In large forgetful draughts to steep the cares Of their past labors, and their irksome years, That, unrememb'rlng of its former pain,
The soul may suffer mortal flesh again"
Thus having said, the father spirit leads
The priestess and his son thro' swarms of shades,
? THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE _NEIS _7
And takes a rising ground, from thence to see The long procession of his progeny.
"Survey," pursued the sire, "this airy throng,
As, offer'd to thy view, they pass along.
These are th' Italian names, which fate will join With ours, and graft upon the Trojan line. Observe the youth who first appears in sight,
And holds the nearest station to the light, Already seems to snuff the vital air,
And leans just forward, on a shining spear: Silvius is he, thy last-begotten race,
But first in order sent, to fill thy place;
An Alban name, but mix'd with Dardan blood,
Born in the covert of a shady wood:
Him fair Lavinia, thy surviving wife,
Shall breed in groves, to lead a solitary hfe.
In Alba he shall fix his royal seat,
And, born a king, a race of kings beget.
Then Procas, honor of the Trojan name,
Capys, and Numitor, of endless fame.
A second Stlvms after these appears;
Silvius . _ineas, for thy name he bears;
For arms and justice equally renown'd,
Who, late restor'd, in Alba shall be crown'd.
How great they look l how vig'rously they wield Their weighty lances, and sustain the shield!
But they, who crown'd with oaken wreaths appear, Shall Gabian walls and strong Fidena rear; Nomentum, Bola, with Pometia, found;
And raise Collatian tow'rs on rocky ground.
All these shall then be towns of mighty fame,
Tho' now they lie obscure, and lands without a name. See Romulus the great, born to restore
The crown that once hls injur'd grandsire wore.
This prince a priestess of your blood shall bear,
And like his sire in arms he shall appear.
Two rising crests his royal head adorn;
Born from a god, himself to godhead born:
His sire already signs him for the skies,
And marks the seat amidst the deities.
? DI_YDEI_S TRANSLATION OF _IL
Auspicioes chief[ thy race, in times to come,
Shall spread the conqlests of imperial Rome-- Rome, whose ascending tow'rs shah heav'n invade, Involving earth and ocean in her shade;
High as the Mother of the Gods in place,
And proud, like her, of an immortal race.
Then, when in pomp she makes the Phrygian roared, With golden turrets on her temples crown'd;
A hundred gods her sweeping tram supply;
Her offspring all, and all command the sky.
"Now fix your sight, and stand intent, to see
Your Roman race, and Julian progeny.
The mighty Caesar waits his wtal hour,
Impatient for the world, and grasps his promis'd pow'r. But next behold the youth of form divine,
C,'esar himself, exalted in his line;
Augustus, promis'd oft, and long foretold,
Sent to th'_ realm that Saturn ruI'd of old;
Born to restore a better age of gold.
Afric and India shall his pow'r obey;
He shall extend his propagated sway
Beyond the solar year, without the starry way,
Where Atlas turns the rolling hear'ha around,
And his broad shoulders with their lights are crown'd At his foreseen approach, already quake
The Caspian kingdoms and Ma_oUan lake:
Their seers behold the tempest from afar,
And threat'ning oracles denounce the war.
Nile hears him knocking at his sev'nfold gates,
And seeks his hidden spring, and fears his nephew's fates. Nor Hercules more lands or labors knew,
Not tho" the brazen-footed hind he slew,
Freed Erymanthus from the foaming boar,
And dipp'd his arrows in Lerna_an gore;
Nor Bacchus, taming from his Indian war, By tigers drawn triumphant in his car, From Nisus' top descending on the plains, With curling vines around his purple reins. And doubt we yet thro' dangers to pursue The paths of honorj and a crown in view?
? SIXTI_ BOOK Ol r TH_ . _gNElb 230
But what's the man, who from afar appears ?
His head with olive crown'd, his hand a censer bears,
His hoary beard and holy vestments bring
His lost idea back: I know the Roman king.
He shall to peaceful Rome new laws ordain,
Call'd from his mean abode a scepter to sustain.
Him Tullus next in dignity succeeds,
An active prince, arid prone to martial deeds.
He shall his troops for fighting fields prepare,
Disus'd to toils, and triumphs of the war.
By dint of sword his crown he shall increase,
And scour his armor from the rust of peace.
Whom Ancus follows, with a fawning air,
But vain within, and proudly popular.
Next view the Tarquin kings, th' avenging sword
Of Brutus, justly drawn, and Rome restor'd.
He first renews the rods and ax severe,
And gives the consuls royal robes to wear.
His sons, who seek the tyrant to sustain_
And long for arbitrary lords again,
With ignominy scourg'd, in open sight,
He dooms to death deserv'd, asserting public right. Unhappy man, to break the pious laws
Of nature, pleading in his children's cause, t
Howe'er the doubtful fact is understood,
'Tis love of honor, and his country's good:
The consul, not the father, sheds the blood.
Behold Torquatus the same track pursue;
And, next, the two devoted Decii view:
The Drusian line, CamiUus loaded home
With standards well redeem'd, and foreign foes o'ercome. The pair you see in equal armor shine,
Now, friends below, in close embraces join;
But, when they leave the shady realms of night,
And, cloth'd in bodies, breathe your upper light,
With mortal hate each other shall pursue:
What wars, what wounds, what slaughter shall ensue! From Alpine heights the father first descends;
His daughter's husband in the plain attends:
His daughter's husband arms his eastern friends.
? DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Embrace again, my sons, be foes no more;
Nor stain your country wlth her children's gore. t And thou, the first, lay down thy lawless claim, Thou, of my blood, who bear'st the Juhan name l Another comes, who shall in triumph ride,
And to the Capitol his chariot guide,
From conquer'd Corinth, rich with Greclan spoils. And yet another, fam'd for warhke tolls,
On Argos shall impose the Roman laws,
And on the Greeks revenge the Trojan cause;
Shall drag in chains their Acballean race;
Shall vindicate his ancestors' disgrace,
And Pallas, for her violated place
Great Cato there, for gravity renown'd,
And conqu'ring Cosstas goes with laurels crown'& "_Vho can omit the Gracchi ? who declare
The Sciptos' worth, those thunderbolts of war, The double bane of Carthage? Who can see Without-esteem for virtuous poverty,
Severe Fabricius, or can cease t' admire
The plowman consul in his coarse attire? Tir'd as I am, my praise the Fabii claim; And thou, great hero, greatest of thy name, Ordaln'd in war to save the sinking state, And, by delays, to put a stop to fate!
Let others better mold the running mass
Of metals, and inform the breathing brass,
And soften into flesh a marble face;
Plead better at the bar; describe the skies,
And when the stars descend, and when they rise. But, Rome, 't is thine alone, with awful sway,
To rttle mankind, and make the world obey, Disposing peace and war by thy own majestic way; To tame the proud, the fetter'd slave to free:
These are imperial arts, and worthy thee. "
He paus'd; and, while with wond'ring eyes they view'd The passing spirits, thus his speech renew'd:
"See great Marcellus! how, untir'd in toils,
He moves with manly grace, how rich with regal spoils | He, when his country, threaten'd with alarms,
? THE SIXTH BOOK OF THE _NEIS 241
Requires his courage and his conqu'ring arms, Shall more than once the Punic bands affright; Shall kill the Gaulish king in single fight; Then to the Capitol in triumph move,
And the third spoils shall grace Feretrian Jove. " ? Eneas here beheld, of form dlvine,
A godlike youth in ghtt'ring armor shine,
With great Marcellus keeping equal pace;
But gloomy were his eyes, dejected was his face.
He saw, and, wond'ring, ask'd his airy guide,
What and of whence was he, who press'd the hero's side: "His son, or one of his fllustrlous name ?
How hke the former, and almost the same l
Obserre the crowds that compass hlm around;
All gaze, and all admire, and raise a shouting sound: But hov'ring mlsts around his brows are spread,
And mght, with sable shades, involves his head. "
"Seek not to know," the ghost replied with tears,
"The sorrows of thy sons in future years.
This youth (the bhssful vision of a day)
Shall just be shown on earth, and snatch'd away.
The gods too high had rais'd the Roman state,
Were but their gifts as permanent as great.
What gloans of men shall fill the Martian field l
How fierce a blaze his flaming pile shall yield!
What fun'ral pomp shall floating Taber see,
When, rising from his bed, he vlews the sad solemnity! No youth shall equal hopes of glory give,
No youth afford so great a cause to grieve;
The Trojan honor, and the Roman boast,
Admir'd when laving, and ador'd when lost l
Mirror of ancient faith in early youth!
Undaunted worth, inviolable truth!
No foe, unpumsh'd, in the fighting field
Shall dare thee, foot to foot, with sword and shield; Much less in arms oppose thy matchless force,
When thy sharp spurs shall urge thy foaming horse.
Ah! couldst thou break thro' fate's severe decree,
A new Marcellus shall arise in thee!
Full canisters of fragrant lilies bring,
?
_2
DRYDEIq'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Mix'd with the purple roses of the spring;
Let me with fUn'ral flow'rs has body strow;
This gift which parents to their children owe, This unavailing gift, at least, I may bestow ! " Thus having said, he led the hero round
The confines of the blest Elysian grotmd;
Which when Anehises to his son had shown, And fir'd his mind to mount the promis'd throne, He tells the future wars, ordain'd by fate;
The strength and customs of the Latian state;
The prince, and people; and forearms his care With rules, to push his fortune, or to bear.
Two gates the silent house of Sleep adorn;
Of pohsh'd iv'ry this, that of transparent horn: True visions tht'o' transparent horn arise;
Thro' polish'd iv'ry pass deluding lies.
Of variobs--things discoursing as he pass'd,
Anehises hither bends his steps at last.
Then, thro' the gate of iv'ry, he dismlss'd
His vahant offspring and divining guest.
Straight to the ship_ . _neas took his way, Embark'd his men, and skimm'd along the sea, Still coasting, till he gatn'd Cajeta's bay.
At length on oozy ground his galleys moor;
Thelr heads are turn'd to sea, their sterns to shore.
/
? THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THE ENEIS
TH_ AeGVMEST. --KIngLatmus entertains . ,Eneas, and promises ham his only daughter, Lawma, the heiress of his crown. Turnus, being m love with her, favor'd by her mother, and stirr'd up by Juno and Aleeto, breaks the treaty which was made, and engages in his quarrel Mezentms, Camilla, Messapus, and many others of the neighboring princes; whose forces, and the names of their commanders, are here particularly related
ND thou, O matron of immortal fame,
Here dying, to the shore hast left thy name;
Cajeta still the place is call'd from thee, The nurse of _eat -_neas' infancy.
Here rest thy bones in rich Hesperia's plains; Thy name ('t is all a ghost can have) remains.
Now, when the prince her fun'ral rites had paid, He plow'd the Tyrrhene seas with sails display'd. From 1and a gentle breeze arose by night,
Serenely shone the stars, the moon was bright,
And the sea trembled with her silver light.
Now near the shelves of Circe's shores they run,
(Circe the rich, the daughter of the Sun,)
A dang'tons coast: the goddess wastes her days
In joyotls songs; the rocks resound her lays:
In spinning, or the loom, she spends the night, And cedar brands supply her father's light.
From hence were heard, rebeUowing to the main, The roars of lions that refuse the chain,
The grtmts of bristled boars, and groans of bears,
And herds of howling wolves that stun the sailors' eaM. These from their caverns, at the close of night,
Fill the sad isle with horror and affright.
? 244 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATIOI_ OF VIRGIL Darkling they mourn their fate, whom Circe's pow'r,
(That watch'd the moon and planetary hour,) With words and wicked herbs from humankind
Had alter'd, and in brutal shapes confin'd
Which monsters lest the Trojans' pious host Should bear, or touch upon th' inchanted coast, Propitious Neptune steer'd their course by night With rising gales that sped thetr happy flight. Supplied with these, they skim the sounding shore, And hear the swelling surges vainly roar.
Now, when the rosy morn began to rise,
And wav'd her saffron streamer thro' the skies; When Thetis blush'd in purple not her own,
And from her face the breathing winds were blown,
A sudden silence sate upon the sea,
And sweeping oars, with strugghng, . rge their way.
The Trojan, from the main, beheld a wood, Which th! ck with shades and a brown horror stood:
Betwixt the trees the T_ber took his course,
With whirlpools dimpled, and with downward force, That drove the sand along, he took his way,
And roll'd his yellow billows to the sea.
About him, and above, and round the wood,
The birds that haunt the borders of his flood,
That bath'd within, or basked upon his side,
To tuneful songs their narrow throats applied.
The captain gives command; the joyful train
Glide thro' the gloomy shade, and leave the main.
Now, Erato, thy poet's mind inspire,
_,nd fill his soul with thy celestial fire l
Relate what Latmm was; her ancient kings; Declare the past and present state of things, When first the Trojan fleet Ausonia sought, And how the rivals lov'd, and how they /ought. These are my theme, and how the war began, And how concluded by the godlike man:
For I shall sing of battles, blood, and rage, Which princes and their people did engage;
And haughty souls, that, mov'd with mutual hate, In fighting fields pursued and fo. nd their fate;
? 'rI-[E SEVENTH BOOK OF TIrE _NEIS 245
That rous'd the Tyrrhene realm with loud alarms, And peaceful Italy involv'd in arms.
A larger scene of action is display'd;
And, rising hence, a greater work is weigh'd.
Latmus, old and mild, had long possess'el The Latin scepter, and his people blest:
His father Faunus; a Laurentian dame
His mother, fair Marica was her name.
Bt_t Faunus came from Picus: Picus drew His birth from Saturn, if records be true Thus King Latmus, in the third degree, Had Saturn author of his family.
But this old peaceful prince, as Heav'n decreed, Was blest with no male issue to succeed:
His sons in blooming youth were snatch'd by fate; One only daughter heir'd the royal state.
Flr'd with her love, and with ambition led,
The neighb'ring princes court her nuptial bed Among the crowd, but far above the rest,
Young Turnus to the beauteous maid address'd. Turnus, for high descent and graceful mien, Was first, and favor'd by the Latian qt_een; With lure she strove to join Lavmia's hand, But dire portents the purpos'd match withstand
Deep in the palace, of long growth, there stood A laurel's trunk, a venerable wood;
Where rltes dlvine were paid; whose holy hair Was kept and cut with superstitious care.
This plant Latmus, when his town he wail'd, Then found, and from the tree Laurentum call'd:
And last, in honor of his new abode,
He vow'd the laurel to the laurel's god.
It happen'd once (a boding prodigy 1)
A swarm of bees, that cut the liquid sky,
(Unknown from whence they took their airy flight,) Upon the topmost branch in clouds alight;
There with their clasping feet together clung,
And a long cluster from the laurel hung.
An ancient augur prophesied from hence: "Behold on Latian shores a foreign prince l
? DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
From the same parts of heav'n his navy stands, To the same parts on earth; his army lands;
The town he conquers, and the tow'r commands. "
Yet more, when fair Lavinia fed the fire Before the gods, and stood beside her sire,
(Strange to relate ! ) the flames, involv'd in smoke Of incense, from the sacred altar broke,
Caught her dishevel'd hair and rich attire;
Her crown and jewels crackled in the fire: From thence the fuming trall began to spread And lambent glories danc'd about her head.
This new portent the seer with wonder views, Then pausing, thus his prophecy renews:
"The nymph, who scatters flaming fires around, Shall shine with honor, shall herself be crown'd; But, eaus'd by her irrevocable fate,
War shall the country waste, and change the state. * Latmus, frighted w_th this &re ostent,
For counsel to his father Faunus went,
And sought the shades renown'd for prophecy Which near Albunea's sulph'rous fountain lie.
To these the Latian and the Sabine land
Fly, when distress'd, and thence rehef demand.
The priest on skins of off'rings takes his ease, And mghtly visions in his slmnber sees;
A swarm of thin a_rial shapes appears,
And, flutt'ring round his temples, deals h_s ears: These he consults, the future fates to know, From pow'rs above, and from the fiends below. Here, for the gods' advice, Latinus flies,
Off'ring a hundred sheep for sacrifice:
Their woolly fleeces, as the rites requir'd,
He laid beneath him, and to rest retir'd.
No sooner were his eyes in slumber bound, When, from above, a more than mortal sound Invades his ears; and thus the vision spoke: "Seek not, my seed, in Latian bands to yoke
Our fair Lavmia, nor the gods provoke.
A foreign son upon thy shore descends,
Whose martial fame from pole to pole extends.
? THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THE 2ENEIS _4Y
His race, in arms and arts of peace renown'd, Not Latium shall contain, nor Europe bound: 'T is theirs whate'er the sun surveys around. " These answers, in the silent night receiv'd,
The king himself divulg'd, the land belier'd: The fame thro' all the neighb'ring nations flew, When now the Trojan navy was in view.
Beneath a shady tree, the hero spread His table on the turf, with cakes of bread;
And, with his chiefs, on forest fruits he fed. They sate; and, (not without the god's command,) Thew homely fare dispatch'd, the hungry band Invade their trenchers next, and soon devour,
To mend the scanty meal, their cakes of flour. Ascanius this observ'd, and smiling said:
"See, we devour the plates on which we fed. " The speech had omen, that the Trojan race Should find repose, and this the time and place. . _neas took the word, and thus replies,
Confessing fate with wonder in his eyes:
"All hail, O earth I all hail, my household gods l Behold the destin'd place of your abodes!
For thus Anchises prophesied of old,
And this our fatal place of rest foretold:
'When, on a foreign shore, instead of meat,
By famine forc'd, your trenchers you shall eat, Then ease your weary Trojans will attend,
And the long labors of your voyage end Remember on that happy coast to build,
And with a trench inclose the frttitful field '
This was that famine, this the fatal place
Which ends the wand'ring of our exil'd race. Then, on to-morrow's dawn, your care employ,
To search the land, and where the cities lie,
And what the men; but give this day to joy.
Now pour to Jove; and, after Jove is blest,
Call great Anchises to the genial feast:
Crown high the goblets with a cheerful draught; Enjoy the present hour; adjourn the future thought. "
Thus having said_ the hero hotrod his brows
? DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL With leafybranches,then perform'dhisvows;
Adoring firsthe genius of the place,
Then Earth,themotheroftheheav'nlyrace,
The nymphs, and nativegodheads yet unknown,
And Night,andallthestarsthatgildhersablethrone, And ancientCybcl_ and Id_an Jove,
And lasthlssirebelow,and mother queen above.
Then heav'n'shigh monarch thunder'dthricealoud, And thricehe shook alofta golden cloud.
Soon thro'the joyfulcamp a rumor flew,
The time was come theircityto renew.
Then ev'rybrow with cheerfulgreen is crown'd,
The feastsare doubled,and the bowls go round.
3,Vhcnnexttherosymorn disclos'dtheday, The scoutsto sev'ralpartsdividetheirway,
To learnthe natives'names, theirtowns explore, The coastsand trcndingsof the crooked shore:
Here Tiber flows,and here Numicus stands; Hcrc warllkeLatinsholdthehappylands. The piouschief,who soughtbypeacefulways To foundhisempire,andhlstown toraise, A hundred youths from allhis trainselects, And to the Latian courttheircoursedlrccts,
(The spaciouspalacewhere theirplinceresldes,) . And alltheirheads with wreaths of olivehldcs.
They go commlssion'dtorequirca peace,
And carrypresentstoprocureaccess.
Thus whiletheyspeedtheirpace,theprincedesigns His ncw-clcctcdseat,and draws thehnes.
The Trojans round the placea rampirc east,
And palisadesaboutthetrenchesplac'd.
Meantime thetrain,proceedingontheirway, From farthetown and loftytow'rssurvey;
At length approach the walls. Without the gate, They seetheboysandLatianyouthdebate
The martialprizeson thedustyplain:
Some drivethe cars,and some the coursersrein; Some bend thestubbornbow forvictory,
And some with dartsthciractlvcsinewstry.
A postingmessenger,dispatch'dfrom hence,
? THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THE _NEIS 24D
Of this fair troop advls'd their aged prince, That foreign men of mighty stature came; Uncouth their habit, and unknown their name. The king ordains their entrance, and ascends His regal seat, surrounded by his friends.
The palace built by Pious, vast and proud, Supported by a hundred pillars stood,
And round incompass'd with a rising wood.
The pile o'erlook'd the town, and drew the sight;
Surpris'd at once with reverence and delight.
There kings receiv'd the marks of soy'reign pow'r; In state the monarchs march'd; the lictors bore Their awful axes and the rods before
Here the tribunal stood, the house of pray'r,
And here the sacred senators repair;
All at large tables, in long order set,
A ram thetr off'ring, and a ram their meat.
Above the portal, carv'd in cedar wood,
Plac'd in their ranks, their godlike grandsires stoodi Old Saturn, with his crooked scythe, on high;
And Italus, that led the colony;
And ancient Janus, with his double face,
And bunch of keys, the porter of the place.
There good Sabmus, planter of the vines,
On a short pruning hook his head reclines,
And studiously surveys his gen'rous wines;
Then warhke kings, who for their country fought, And honorable wounds from battle brought.
Around the posts hung helmets, darts, and spears,
And captive chariots, axes, shields, and bars,
And broken beaks of ships, the trophies of their wars. Above the rest, as chief of all the band,
Was Pieus plat'd, a buckler in his hand;
His other wa_,'d a long divining wand.
Girt in his Gabin gown the hero sate,
Yet could not with his art avoid his fate:
For Circe long had lov'd the youth in vain,
Till love, refus'd, converted to disdain:
Then, mixing pow'rful herbs, with magic art,
She chang'd his form, who could not change his heart;
? Z_rj0 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATIOIq OF VIRGIL
Constrain'd him in a bird, and made him fly, With party-color'd plumes, a chatt'ring pie.
In this high temple, on a chair of state,
The seat of audience, old Latinus sate;
Then gave admission to the Trojan train;
And thus with pleasing accents he began:
"Tell me, ye Trojans, for that name you own, Nor is your course upon our coasts unknown--
Say what you seek, and whither were you bound: Were you by stress of weather cast aground ? (S_uch dangers as on seas are often seen,
And oft befall to miserable men,)
Or come, your shipping in our ports to lay, Spent and disabled in so long a way?
Say what you want: the Latlans you shall find Not forc'd to goodness, but by w_ll inclin'd;
For, since the time of Saturn's holy reign,
His ho. %Ditable customs we retain.
I call to mind (but time the tale has worn)
Th' Aranci told, that Dardanus, tho' born
On Latian plains, yet sought the Phrygian shore, And Samothracia, Samos call'd before.
From Tuscan Coritum he claim'd his birth;
But after, when _. xempt from mortal earth,
From thence ascended to hts kindred skies,
A god, and, as a god, augments thetr sacrifice. "
He said. Ilioneus made this reply:
"O king, of Faunus' royal family l
Nor wintry winds to Latium forc'd our way,
Nor did the stars our wand'ring course betray. Willing we sought your shores; and, hither bound, The port, so long deslr'd, at length we found;
From our sweet homes and ancient realms expell'd; Great as the greatest that the sun beheld.
The god began our line, who rules above;
And, as our race, our king descends from Jove:
And hither are we come, by his command,
To crave admission in your happy land.
How dire a tempest, from Mycenm pour'd,
O_ plains, our temples, and our town devour'd;
? THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THE . JENEIS 251
What was the waste of war, what fierce alarms Shook Asia's crown with European arms;
Ev'n such have heard, if any such there be, Whose earth is bounded by the frozen sea;
And such as, born beneath the burning sky And sultry sun, betwixt the tropics lie.
From that dire deluge, thro' the wat'ry waste, Such length of years, smch various perils past, At last escap'd, to Latium we repair,
To beg what you without your want may spare: The common water, and the common air;
Sheds which ourselves will build, and mean abodes, Fit to receive and serve our banish'd gods.
Nor our admission shall your realm d,sgrace, Nor length of time our gratitude efface.
Besides, what endless honor you shall gain, To save and shelter Troy's unhappy tram!
Now, by my soy'reign, and his fate, I swear, Renown'd for faith in peace, for force in war;
Oft o_r alhance other lands desir'd,
And, what we seek of you, of us requir'd Despite not then, that in our hands we bear These holy boughs, and sue with words of pray'r. Fate and the gods, by their supreme command, Have doom'd our ships to seek the Latian land. To these abodes our fleet Apollo sends;
Here Dardanus was born, and hither tends; Where Tuscan Tiber rolls with rapid force, And where Numicus opes his holy source.
Besides, our prince presents, with his request, Some small remains of what his sire possess'd
This golden charger, snatch'd from burning Troy, Anchises did in sacrifice employ;
This royal robe and this tiara wore
Old Priam, and this golden scepter bore
In full assemblies, and in solemn games;
These purple vests were weav'd by Dardan dames. "
Thus while he spoke, Latinus roll'd around
His eyes, and fix'd a while upon the ground. Intent he seem'd, and anxious in his breast;
? 252
DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Not by the scepter mov'd, or kingly vest,
But pond'ring future things of wondrous weight; Succession, empire, and his daughter's fate.
On these he mus'd within his thoughtful mind, And then revolv'd what Faunus had dlvin'd.
This was the foreign prince, by fate decreed
To share his scepter, and Lavinia's bed;
This was the race that sure portents foreshew
To sway the world, and land and sea subdue.
At length he rais'd his cheerful head, and spoke: "The pow'rs," said he, "the pow'rs we both invoke, To you, and yours, and mine, propitious be,
And firm our purpose with their auguD'_
Have what you ask; your presents I receive;
Land, where and when you please, with ample leave_ Partake and use my kingdom as your own.
All shall be yours, while I command the crown:
And, if my wish'd alliance please your king,
Tell him he should not send the peace, but bring. Then let him not a friend's embraces fear,
The peace is made when I behold him here.
Besides this answer, tell my royal guest,
I add to his commands my own request:
One only daughter heirs my crown and state,
Whom not our oracles, nor Heav'n, nor fate,
Nor frequent prodigies, permit to join
With any native of th' _,usonian line
A foreign son-in-law shall come from far
(Such Is our doom), a chief renown'd in war, Whose race shall bear aloft the Latian name,
And thro' the eonquer'd world diffuse our fame. Himself to be the man the fates require,
I firmly judge, and, what I judge, desire. "
He said, and then on each bestow'd a steed Three hundred horses, in h_gh stables fed,
Stood ready, shining all, and smootlfly dress'd: Of these he chose the fairest and the best,
To mount the Trojan troop. At his command The steeds caparison'd wtTh pttrple stand,
With golden trappings, glorious to behold,
? THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THE _ENEIS 253
_md champ betwixt their teeth the foaming gold. Then to his absent guest the king decreed
A pair of coursers born of heav'nly breed,
Who from their nostrils breath'd ethereal fire; Whom Circe stole from her celestial sire,
By substituting mares produc'd on earth,
Whose wombs concelv'd a more than mortal birth.
These draw the chariot which Latinus sends, And the rich present to the prince commends.
Subhme on stately steeds the Trojans borne, To their expecting lord with peace return.
But jealous Juno, from Pachynus' height, As she from Argos took her airy flight,
Beheld with envious eyes this hateful sight.
She saw the Trojan and his joyful train
Descend upon the shore, desert the main,
Design a town, and, with unhop'd success,
Th' embassadors return with promis'd peace.
Then, pierc'd wlth pain, she shook her haughty head, Sigh'd from her inward soul, and thus she said:
"0 hated offspring of my Phrygian foes!
O fates of Troy, which Juno's fates oppose!
Could they not fall unpitied on the plain,
But slain revive, and, taken, scape again?
When execrable Troy in ashes lay,
Thro' fires and swords and seas they forc'd their way. Then vanqmsh'd Juno must in vain contend,
Her rage disarm'd, her empire at an end.
Breathless and fir'd, is all my fury spent?
Or does my glutted spleen at length relent?
As if 't were little from their town to chase,
I thro' the seas pursued their exil'd race;
Ingag'd the heav'ns, oppos'd the stormy main;
But billows roar'd, and tempests rag'd in yam.
What have my Scyllas and my Syrtes done,
When these they overpass, and those they shun?
On Tiber's shores they land, secure of fate, Triumphant o'er the storms and Juno's hate.
Mars could in mutual Mood the Centaurs bathe,
And Jove himself gave way to Cynthia's wrath,
? DRYDEN'S TItAN_B_ATION' OF VIRGIL
Who sent the tusk), boar to Calydon;
(What great offense had either people done? )
But I, the consort of the Thunderer,
Have wag'd a long and unsuccessful war,
With various arts and arms in vain have toil'd, And by a mortal man at length am foll'd.
If native pow'r prevail not, shall I doubt
To seek for needful succor from without?
If love and Heav'n my just desires deny,
Hell shall the pow'r of Heav'n and Jove supply. Grant that the Fates have firm'd, by their dect_ The Trojan race to reign in Italy;
At least I can defer the nuptial day,
And with protracted wars the peace delay:
Wlth blood the dear alhanee shall be bought, And both the people near destruction brought;
So shall the son-in-law and father join,
With ruin, war, and waste of either line. O fatal maid, thy marriage is endow'd
With Phrygaan, Latian, and Rutulian blood | Bellona leads thee to thy lover's hand;
Another queen brings forth another brand, To burn with foreign fires another land l A second Paris, diff'ring but in name, Shall fire his country with a second flame. "
Thus having said, she sinks beneath the ground, With furious haste, and shoots the Stygian sound, To rouse Alecto from th' infernal seat
Of her dire sisters, and their dark retreat. This Fury, fit for her intent, she chose;
One who delights in wars and human woes. Ev'n Pluto hates his own misshapen race;
Her sister Furies fly her hideous face;
So frightful axe the forms the monster takes, So fierce the hissings of her speckled snakes. Her Jimo finds, and thus inflames her spite" "0 virgin daughter of eternal Night,
Give me this once thy labor, to sustain
1VIy right, and execute my just disdain.
Let not the Trojans, with a ieign'd pretense
? T_ SEVEMT H _OOlg _OF . THE _U_IS
Of proffer'd peace, d_v4de the Lati_n prince.
Expel from Italy that odious name,
And let not Juno suffer m her far0e.
'T is thine to _ttin rea_m_ o'erturn a state,
Betwixt the dearest frieqds to raise debBte,
And kindle kiBdred blood to mutual hate.
Thy hand o'er towns the fun'ral torch displays,
And forms a thol_sand ills ten thousand ways
Now shake, from out thy fruitfl_l breast, the seeds Of envy, discord, _nd of cruel deeds:
Confound the peace estabhsll'd, _pd prepare
Their souls to hatred, and their hoods to war. "
Smear'd as she was with black Gorgoman blaod_ The Fury sprang above the Stygian flood;
And on her wicker wings, sublime thro' mght,
She to the Latian palace took her flight:
There sought the queen's apartment,, stood before The peaceful threshold, and besieg d the door.
Restless Amata lay, her swelling breast
Fir'd with disdain for Turnu_ dispossess'd,
And the new nuptials of the Trojan guest.
From her black bloody locks the Fury shakes
Her darling plague, the fay'rite of her snakes;
With her full force she threw the pois'nous dart, And fix'd it deep within Amata's heart,
That, thus envenom'd, she might kindle rage,
And sacrifice to strife her house and husband's age, Unseen, unfelt, the fiery serpent skims
Betwixt her linen and her naked limbs;
His baleful brea_ inspiring, as he glides,
Now like a chain around her neck he rides,
Now like a fillet to her head repairs,
And with his circling volumes folds her ha. its.
At first the silent venom slid with ease,
And seiz'd her cooler senses by degrees;
Then, ere th' infected ITmss was fir'd too far,
In plaintive accelats she began the war,
And thus bespoke her husband: "Shall," she said_ "A wand'ring prince enjoy L_vinia. 's bed?
If nature plead _. 0t in a paroat's heart?
? 256 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Pity my tears, and pity her desert
I know, my dearest lord, the time w111come,
You would, in vain, reverse your cruel doom;
The faithless pirate soon will set to sea,
And bear the royal virgin far away!
A guest hke him, a Trojan guest before,
In she_ of friendship sought the Spartan shore_ And ravlsh'd Helen from her husband bore.
Think on a king's inviolable word;
And think on Turnus, her once phghted lord:
To tlns false foreigner you g_ve your throne,
And wrong a friend, a kinsman, and a son Resume your ancient care; and, _f the god
Your sire, and you, resolve on foreign blood,
Know all are foreign, in a larger sense,
Not born )our subjects, or deriv'd from hence. Then, if the line of Turnu_ you retrace,
He springs from Inachus of Argive race. "
But when she saw her reasons idly spent, And could not move him from his fix'd intent,
She flew to rage; for now the snake possess'd
Her vital parts, and poison'd all her breast;
She raves, she runs with a distracted pace,
And fills with horrid howls the pubhc place
And, as young striplings whip the top for sport, On the smooth pavement of an empty court,
The wooden engine flies and whirls about,
Admit'd, w_th clamors, of the beardless rout;
They lash aloud; each other the) provoke,
And lend their little souls at ev'ry stroke:
Thus fares the queen; and thus her fury blows
Amidst the crox_d, and kindles as she goes.
Nor yet content, she strains her malice more, And adds new ills to those contriv'd before:
She flies the town, and, mixing with a throng
Of madding matrons, bears the bride along,
Wand'rmg thro' woods and wilds, and devious ways, And with these arts the Trojan match delays.
She feign'd the rites of Bacchus; cried aloud,
And to the buxom god the virgin vow'd.
? THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THE A_NEIS 257
"Evoe vO Bacchus! " thus began the song;
And "Evoe! " answer'd all the female throng.
"'0 virgin l worthy thee aloneV' she cried;
"O worthy thee alone ! " the crew replied.
"For thee she feeds her hair, she leads thy dance, And with thy winding ivy wreathes her lance. " Like fury seiz'd the rest. the progress known, All seek the mountains, and forsake the town: All, clad in skins of beasts, the jav'lin bear,
Give to the wanton winds their flowing hair, And shrieks and shoutmgs rend the suff'rmg air. The queen herself, inspir'd with rage divine, Shook high above her head a flaming pine;
Then roll'd her haggard e)es around the throng, And sung, in Turnus' name, the nuptial song: "Io, ye Latlan dames! if any here
Hold your unhappy queen, Amata, dear;
If there be here," she said, "who dare maintain _3" right, nor think the name of mother vain; Unbind )-our fillets, loose your flowing hair,
And orgies and nocturlaal rites prepare. "
Amata's breast the Fury thus rex'aries,
And fires with rage, amld the sylvan shades;
Then, when she found her venom spread so far,
The royal house embroll'd in civil war,
Rais'd on her dusky wings, she cleaves the skies,
And seeks the palace where young Turnus lies.
I-hs town, as fame reports, was bmlt of old
By Danae, pregnant with almighty gold,
\Vho fled her father's rage, and, w_th a train
Of following Arg_ves, thro' the stormy main,
Driv'n by the southern blasts, was fated here to reign. 'T was Ardua once; now Ardea's name it bears;
Once a fair c_ty, now consum'd wzth years.
Itere, in his lofty palace, Turnus lay,
Betwixt the confineq of the night and day,
Secure in sleep. The Fury laid aside
Her looks and limbs, and with new methods tlied
The foulness of th' infernal form to hldc
Propp'd on a staff, she takes a trembhng m_en: HC XIII'-'-"9
? 258 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Her face is furrow'd, and her front obscene; Deep-dinted wrinkles on her cheek she draws; Sunk are her eyes, and toothless are her jaws; Her hoary hair with holy fillets bound,
Her temples with an ohve wreath are crown'd.
Old Chalybe, who kept the sacred fane
Of Juno, now she seem'd, and thus began,
Appearing m a dream, to rouse the careless man: "Shall Turnus then such endless toil sustain
In fighting fields, and conquer towns in vain? Win, for a Trojan head to wear the prize,
Usurp thy crown, enjoy thy victories
The bride and scepter which thy blood has bought, The king transfers; and foreign heirs are sought. Go now, deluded man, and seek again
New tolls, new dangers, on the dusty plain.
Repel the Tuscan foes; their city seize;
Protec_ the Latians in luxurious ease.
This dream all-pow'rful Juno sends, I bear
Her m_ghty mandates, and her words you hear.
Haste; arm your Ardeans, issue to the plain;
With fate to friend, assault the Trojan train.
Their thoughtless chiefs, their painted ships, that lie In Tiber's mouth, with fire and sword destroy.
The LatJan king, unless he shall submit,
Own his old promise, and his new forget--
Let him, in arms, the pow'r of Turnus prove,
And learn to fear whom he disdains to love
For such is Heav'n's command. " The youthful prince With scorn rephed, and made this bold defense:
"You tell me, mother, what I knew before:
The Phrygian fleet is landed on the shore.
I neither fear nor will provoke the war;
My fate is Juno's most peculiar care.
But time has made you dote, and vainly tell
Of arms imagin'd in your lonely cell.
Go; be the temple and the gods your care,
Permit to men the thought of peace and war. " These haughty words Alecto's rage provoke,
And frighted Turnus trembled as she spoke,
? THE SEVENTH BOOK OF THE _NEIS 2_ Her eyes grow stiffen'd, and with sulphur burn;
Her hideous looks and hellish form return;
Her curhng snakes with hlssings fill the place, And open all the furies of her face:
Then, darting fire from her malignant eyes,
She cast him backward as he strove to rise,
And, ling'ring, sought to frame some new replies.