No More Learning

Where make a stand? and what may yet be done? ' Scarce had Isaid, when Pantheus, with a groan:
'Troy is nQ. moi'e, and Ilium was a towfl!
The fatal day, th' appointed hour, is come,
When wrathful Jove's irrevocable doom
Transfers the Trojan state to Grecian harids.
The fire consumes the town, the foe commands;
And armed hosts, an unexpected force,
Break from the bowels of the fatal horse.
Within the gates, proud Sinon throws about
The flames; and foes for entrance press without,
With thOUsand others, whom I fear to flame,
More than ft-om Argos or Mycenae came.
To sev'ral posts their parties tltey divide;
Some block the narrow streets_ some scour the wide: The bold they kill, th' tanwary they surprise;
Who fights finds death, arid death finds him who flieg The warders of the gate bat scarce maintain
Th' unequal coinbat, and resist in vain. '
"I heard; and Hear'n, that well-born souls inspiresj Prompts me thro' lifted swords and rising fires
To run where clashing arms and dam0r calls, And rush tmdatttited to defend the walls.
Ripheus and Iph'itus by my side engage, For valor oni_ reflbvrn'd, and one for age.
? THE SECOND BOOK OF THE ;RNEI8 III
Dymas and Hypanls by moonlight knew
My motions and my mien, and to my party drew; With young Corcebus, who by love was led
To win renown and fair Cassandra's bed,
And lately brought his troops to Priam's aid, Forewarn'd in vain by the prophetic maid.
Whom when I saw resolv'd in arms to fall,
And that one spirit animated all:
'Brave souls F said I,---'but brave, alas l in vain_ Come, finish what our cruel fates ordain.
You see the desp'rate state of our affairs,
And heav'n's protecting pow'rs are deaf to pray'rs. The passive gods behold the Greeks defile
Their temples, and abandon to the spoil
Their own abodes: we, feeble few, conspire
To save a sinking town, involv'd in fire.
Then let us fall, but fall amidst our foes:
Despair of llfe the means of living shows. '
So bold a speech incourag'd their desire
Of death, and added fuel to their fire.
"As hungry wolves, with raging appetite,
Scour thro' the fields, nor _ear the stormy night--- Their whelps at home expect the promis'd food, And long to temper their dry chaps in blood--
So rush'd we forth at once ; resolv'd to die, Resolv'd, in death, the last extremes to try.
We leave the narrow lanes behind, and dare
Th' unequal combat in the public square:
Night was our frlend; our leader was despair. What tongue can tell the slaughter of that night_ What eyes can weep the sorrows and affright?
An ancient and imperial city falls :
The sweets are fill'd with frequent funerals; Houses and holy temples float in blood,
And hostile nations make a common flood.
Not only Trojans fall; but, in their turn,
The vanquish'd triumph, and the victors mourn. Ours take new courage from despair and night: Confus'd the fortune is, confus'd the fight.
All parts resound with tumults, plaints, and fears;
? 118
DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
And grisly Death in sundry shapes appears. Androgeos fell among us, with his band,
Who thought us Grectans newly come to land
'From whence,' said he, "my friends, this long delayF You loiter, while the spoils are borne away:
Our ships are laden with the Trojan store;
And you_ like truants, come too late ashore. '
He said, but soon corrected his mistake,
Found, by the doubtful answers which we make: Amaz'd, he would have shunn'd th' unequal fight;
But we, more num'rous, intercept his flight.
As when some peasant, in a bushy brake,
Has with unwary footing press'd a snake;
He starts aside, astonish'd, when he spies
His rising crest, blue neck, and rolling eyes;
So from our arms surpris'd Androgeos flies.
In vain; for him and his we compass'd round, Possess'd. with fear, unknowing of the ground,
And of their lives an easy conquest found.
Thus Fortune on our first endeavor smil'd.
Coroebus then, with youthful hopes beguil'd,
Swoln with success, and of a daring mind,
This new invention fatally design'd.
'My friends,' said he, 'since Fortune shows the w&y_ 'T is fit we should th' auspicious guide obey.
For what has she these Grecian arms bestow'd, But their destruction, and the Trojans' good? Then change we shields, and their devices bear: Let fraud supply the want of force in war.
They find us arms. ' This said, himself he dress'd In dead Androgeos' spoils, his upper vest,
His painted buckler, and his plumy crest.
Thus Ripheus, Dymas, all the Trojan train, Lay dowr_ their own attire, and strip the slain. Mix'd with the Greeks, we go with ill presage, Flatter'd with hopes to glut our greedy rage; Unknown, assaulting whom we blindly meet, And strew with Grecian carcasses the street. Thus while their straggling parties we defeag Some to the shore and safer ships retreat;
? THE SECOND BOOK OF THE _NEI8 |_
And some, oppress'd with more ignoble fear, Remount the hollow horse, and pant in secret there.
"But, ah! what use of valor can be made,
When heav'n's propitious pow'rs refuse their aid! Behold the royal prophetess, the fair
Cassandra, dragg'd by her dishevel'd hair,
Whom not Minerva's shrine, nor sacred bands,
In safety could protect from sacrilegious hands:
On heav'n she cast her eyes, she sigh'd, she cried-
'T was all she could--her tender arms were tied.
So sad a sight Cort_bus could not bear;
But, fir'd with rage, distracted with despair,
Amid the barb'rous ravishers he flew:
Our leader's rash example we pursue.
But storms of stones, from the proud temple's height, Pour down, and on our batter'd helms alight:
We from our friends receiv'd this fatal blow,
Who thought us Grecians, as we seem'd in show. They aim at the mistaken crests, from hlgh;
And ours beveath the pond'rous ruin lie.
Then, mov'd with anger and disdain, to see
Their troops dispers'd, the royal virgin free,
The Grecians rally, and their pow'rs unite,
With fury charge us, and renew the fight.
The brother kings with Ajax join their force,
And the whole squadron of Thessalian horse.
"Thus, when the rival winds their quarrel try, Contending for the Ringdom of the sky,
South, east, and west, on airy coursers borne ; The whirlwind gathers, and the woods are torn: Then Nereus strikes the deep; the billows rise,
And, mix'd with ooze and sand, pollute the skies. The troops we squander'd first again appear
From several quarters, and enclose the rear.
They first observe, and to the rest betray,
Our diff'rent speech; our borrow'd arms survey'. Oppress'd with odds, we fall; Coro_bus first,
At Pallas' altar, by Peneleus piere'd.
Then Ripheus follow'd, in th' unequal fight;
lust of his word, observant of the right:
? DR_EN_8 TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Heav'n thought not so. Dymas their fate attends, With Hypanis, mistaken by their friends.
Nor, Pantheus, thee, thy miter, nor the bands Of awful Phoebus, sav'd from impious hands. Ye Trojan flames, your testimony bear,
What I perform'd, and what I suffer'd there; No sword avoiding in the fatal strife,
Expos'd to death, and prodigal of life; Witness, ye heavens[ I live not by my fault: I strove to have deserv'd the death I sought.
But, when I could not fight, and would have died, Borne off to distance by the growing tide,
Old Iphitus and I were hurried thence,
With Pelias wounded, and without defense.
New clamors from th' invested palace ring:
We run to die, or disengage the king.
So hot th' assault, so high the tumult rose,
While ours defend, and while the Greeks oppose
As all the Dardan and Argolic race
Had been contracted in that narrow space;
Or as all Ilium else were void of fear,
And tumult, war, and slaughter, only there.
Their targets in a tortoise cast, the foesp
Secure advancing, to the turrets rose:
Some mount the scaling ladders; some, more bold, Swerve upwards, and by posts and pillars hold; Their left hand gripes their bucklers in th' ascent,
While with their right they seize the battlement. From their demolish'd tow'rs the Trojans throw Huge heaps of stones, that, falling, crush the foe; And heavy beams and rafters from the sides (Such arms their last necessity provides)
And gilded roofs, come tumbling from on high, The marks of state and ancient royalty.
The guards below, fix'd in the pass, attend The charge undaunted, and the gate defend.
Renew'd in courage with recover'd breath, A second time we ran to tempt our death,
To clear the palace from the foe, succeed The weary living, and revenge the dead.
? THE 8EP-OND BOOK OF THE B_'I_I! llg
"A postern door, yet unobserv'd and free, Join'd by the length of a blind gallery,
To the king's closet led: a way well known
To Hector's wife, while Priam held the throne,
Thro' which she brought Astyanax, unseen,
To cheer his grandsire and his grandsire's queen. Thro' this we pass, and mount the tow'r, from whence With unavailing arms the Trojans make defense. From this the tremlding king had oft descried
The Grecian camp, and saw their navy ride.
Beams from its lofty height with swords we hew, Then, wrenching with our hands, th' assault renew; And, where the rafters on the columns meet,
We push them headlong with our arms and feet.
The lightning flies not swifter than the fall,
Nor thunder louder than the ruin'd wall:
Down goes the top at once; the Greeks beneath
Are piecemeal torn, or pounded into death.
Yet more succeed, and more to death are sent;
We cease not from above, nor they below relent. Before the gate stood Pyrrhus, threat'ning loud,
With glitt'ring arms conspicuous in the crowd.
So shines, renew'd in youth, the crested snake, Who slept the winter in a thorny brake,
And, casting off his slough when spring returns, Now looks aloft, and with new glory burns; Restor'd with pois'nous herbs, his ardent sides Reflect the sun; and rais'd on spires he rides; High o'er the grass, hissing he rolls along,
And brandishes by fits his iorky tongue.
Proud Periphas, and fierce Automedon,
His father's charioteer, together run
To force the gate; the Scyrian infantry
Rush on in crowds, and the barr'd passage free. Ent'rlng the court, with shouts the skies they rend_ And flaming firebrands to the roofs ascend.
Himself, among the foremost, deals his blows, And with his ax repeated strokes bestows
On the strong doors; then all their shoulders ply, Till from the posts the braze. a hinges fly.
? 120
DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
He hews apace; the double bars at length
Yield to his ax and unresisted strength.
A mighty breach is made: the rooms eonceal'd
Appear, and all the palace is reveal'd;
The halls of audience, and of public state,
And where the lonely queen in secret sate.
Arm'd soldiers now by trembling maids are seen_
With not a door, and scarce a space, between.
The house is fill'd with loud laments and cries,
And shrleks of women rend the vaulted skies;
The fearful matrons run from place to place,
And kzss the thresholds, and the posts embrace.
The fatal work inhuman Pyrrhus phes,
And all his father sparkles in his eyes;
Nor bars, nor fighting guards, his force sustain:
The bars are broken, and the guards are slain.
In rush the Greeks, and all the apartments fill;
Those "few defendants whom they find, they kill.
Not with so fierce a rage the foaming flood
Roars, when he finds his rapid course withstood;
Bears down the dams with unresisted sway,
And sweeps the cattle and the cots away.
These eyes beheld him when he march'd between
The brother kings: I saw th' unhappy queen,
The hundred wives, and where old Priam stood, To stain his hallow'd altar with his brood.
The fifty nuptial beds (such hopes had her
So large a promise, of a progeny),
The posts_ of plated gold, and hung with spoils, Fell the reward of the proud victor's toils. Where'er the raging fire had left a space,
The Grecians enter and possess the place.
"Perhaps you may of Priam's fate enquire. He, when he saw his regal town on fire,
His ruin'd palace, and his ent'ring foes,
On ev'ry side inevitable woes,
In arms, disus'd, invests his limbs, decay'd,
Like them, with age; a late and useless aid. His feeble shoulders scarce the weight sustaln_ Loaded, not arm'd, he creeps along with pa_n_
? THE SECOND BOOE OF THE _lqEIS 121
Despairing of success, ambitious to be slain l Uncover'd but by heav'n, there stood in view
An altar; near the hearth a laurel grew,
Dodder'd with age, whose boughs encompass round The household gods, and shade the holy ground. Here Hecuba, with all her helpless train
Of dames, for shelter sought, but sought in vain. Driv'n like a flock of doves along the sky,
Their images they hug, and to their altars fly. The Queen, when she beheld her trembling lord, And hanging by his side a heavy sword,
'What rage,' she cried, 'has seiz'd my husband's mind? What arms are these, and to what use design'd ? These times want other aids[ Were Hector here, Ev'n Hector now in vain, like Priam, would appear. With us, one common shelter thou shMt find,
Or in one common fate with us be join'&' She said, and with a last salute embrac'd
The poor old man, and by the laurel plac'd. Behold! Polites, one of Priam's sons,
Pursued by Pyrrhus, there for safety runs. Thro' swords and foes, amaz'd and hurt, he flies Thro' empty courts and open galleries.
Him Pyrrhus, urging with his lance, pursues, And often reaches, and his thrusts renews.
The youth, transGx'd, with lamentable cries, Expires before his wretched parent's eyes: Whom gasping at his feet when Priam saw,
The fear of death gave place to nature's law; And, shaking more with anger than with age, 'The gods,' said he, 'requite thy brutal rage!
As sure they will, barbarian, sure they must,
If there be gods in hear'n, and gods be justq Who tak'st in wrongs an insolent delight;
With a son's death t' infect a father's sight.
Not he, whom thou and lying fame conspire
To call thee his--not he, thy vaunted sire,
Thus us'd my wretched age: the gods he fear'd, The laws of nature and of nations heard.
He cheer'd my sorrows, and, for sums of gold,
? _2_
DRY/)E_'8 _. _TSLA_ION OF VIRGIL
'/'he bloodless carcass of my Hector sold; Pitied the woes a parent underwent,
And sent me hack in safety from his tent. '
"This said, his feeble hand a javelin threw, Which, flutt'ring, seem'd to loiter as it flew: Just, and but barely, to the mark it held,
And faintly tinkled on the brazen shield.
"Then Pyrrhus thus: 'Go thou from me to fate, And to my father my foul deeds relate.
Now die 7' With that he dragg'd the trembling sire, Slidd'ring thro' clotter'd blood and holy mire,
(The mingled paste his murder'd son had made,) Haul'd from beneath the violated shade,
And on the sacred pile the royal victim laid.
His right hand held his bloody falchion hare,
His left he twisted in his hoary hair;
Then, with a speeding thrust, his heart he found: The lukewarm blood came rushing thro' the wound, And sanguine streams distaln'd the sacred ground. Thus Priam fell, and shar'd one common fate
With Troy in ashes, and his ruin'd state: He, who the scepter of all Asia sway'd,
Whom monarchs like domestic slaves obey'd. On the bleak shore now lies th' abandon'd king,
A headless carcass, and a nameless thing. "Then, not before, I felt my cruddled blood
Congeal with fear, my hair with horror stood: My father's image fiU'd my pious mind,
Lest equal years might equal fortune find. Again I thought on my forsaken wife,
And trembled for my son's abandon'd lifs.
I look'd about, but found myself alone,
Deserted at my need l My friends were gone.
Some spent with toil, some with despair oppress'd, Leap'd headlong from the heights; the flames consum'd
the rest.
Thus, wand'rlng |n my way, without a guide,
The graceless Helen in the porch I spied
Of Vesta's temple; there she lurk'd alone; Mutited she sate, and, what she could, unka_own:
? THE SECOND W3Og OF TITE ,_i_tZt8 12S
But, by the flames that cast their blaze around, That common bane of Greece and Troy I fomld. For lhum burnt, she dreads the Trojan sword; More dreads the vengeance of her injur'd lord; Ev'nbythosegodswho refug'dherabhorr'd. Tremblingwithrage,thestrumpetI regard, Resolv'tdogiveherguiltheduereward: 'Shallshe triumphantsailbeforethewind. And leaveinflamesunhappyTroybehind? Shallsheherkingdomandherfriendrseview, In stateattendecwlith a captivecrew,
While unreveng'dthegood oldPriam falls,
And Grecianfiresconsume theTrojanwalls?
For this the Phrygian fields and Xanthian flood
Were swell'd with bodies, and were drunk with blood_ 'T is true, a soldier can small honor gain,
And boast no conquest, from a woman slain:
Yet shallthefactnotpasswithoutapplause, Ofvengeancetakeninsojusta cause;
The punish'dcrimeshallsetmy sotdatease,
And murm'rlngmanes of my friendsappease. ' Thus whileI rave,a gleam of pleasinlgight Spreado'ertheplace;and,shiningheav'nlybright, My motherstoodreveal'bdeforemy sight Neversoradiantdidhereyesappear;
Not herown starconfcss'adlightsodear: Greatinhercharms,aswhenongodsabove
She looks,and breathesherselifntotheirlove. Sheheldmy hand,thedestin'bdlowtobreak; Then fromherrosylipsbegantospeak:
'My son,from whence thismadness,thisneglect Of my commands,and thosewhom I protec? t
Why thisunmanlyrage? Recalltomind
Whom youforsakew,hatpledgesleavebehind. Look ifyour helplesfsatheryetsurvive,
Or ifAscaniusor Crefislaive.
Around yomrhousethegreedyGrecianserr; And thesehad perish'idnthenightlywar, But formy presenceand protectincgare. _ot Helen's _ac_ nor Paris, was in fault;
? 124 DRYDF__S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
But by the gods was this destruction brought. Now cast your eyes around, while I dissolve The mists and films that mortal eyes involve,
Purge from your sight the dross, and make you see The shape of each avenging deity.
:Enlighten'd thus, my just commands fulfil,
Nor fear obedience to your mother's will.
Where yon disorder'd heap of ruin lies,
Stones rent from stones; where clouds of dust arise? _ Amid that smother Neptune holds his place,
Bdow the walrs foundation drives his mace,
And heaves the building from the solid base.
Look where, in arms, imperial Juno stands
Full in the Sc_an gate, with loud commands,
Urging on shore the tardy Grecian bands.
See! Pallas, of her snaky buckler proud,
Bestrides the tow'r, refulgent thro' the cloud:
See! Jove new courage to the foe supplies,
And arms against the town the partial deities.
Haste hence, my son; this fruitless labor end:
Haste, where your trembling spouse and sire attend: Haste; and a mother's care your passage shall befriend? She said, and swiftly vanish'd from my sight,
Obscure in clouds and gloomy shades of night.
I look'd, I listen'd; dreadful sounds I hear; And the dire form: o[ hostile gods appear.
Troy sunk in flames I saw (nor could prevent), And Ilium from its old foundations rent;
Rent llke a mountain ash, which dar'd the winds, And stood the sturdy strokes of lab'rlng hinds.
About the roots the cruel ax resounds;
The stumps are pierc'd with oft-repeated wounds:
The war is felt on hlgh; the nodding crown
Now threats a fall, and throws the leafy honors down.
_ro their united force it yields, tho' late,
And mourns with mortal groans th' approaching fate: The roots no more their upper load sustain;
But down she fails, and spreads a ruin thro' the pla_
"Descending thence, I scape thro' foes and fire: Before thegoddessf,oesandflamersetire.
? THE SECOND BOOK OF THE _NEIS |2_
Arriv'd at home, he, for whose only sake,
Or most for his, such toils I undertake,
The good Anchises, whom, by timely flight,
I purpos'd to secure on Ida's height,
Refus'd the journey, resolute to die
And add his fun'rals to the fate of Troy,
Rather than exile and old age sustain.
'Go you, whose blood runs warm in ev'ry vein. Had Heav'n decreed that I should llfe enjoy, Heav'n had decreed to save unhappy Troy.
'T is, sure, enough, if not too much, for one, Twice to have seen our Ilium overthrown.
Make haste to save the poor remaining crew, And give this useless corpse a long adieu.
These weak old hands suffice to stop my breath;
At least the pitying foes will aid my death,
To take my spoils, and leave my body bare:
As for my sepulcher, let Heav'n take care.
'T is long since I, for my celestial wife
Loath'd by the gods, have dragg'd a ling'rlng life; Since ev'ry hour and moment I expire,
Blasted from heav'n by Jove's avenging fire. '
This oft repeated, he stood fix'd to die:
Myself, my wife, my son, my family,
Intreat, pray, beg, and raise a doleful cry--
'What, will he still persist, on death resolve,
And in his ruin all his house involve l'
He still persists his reasons to maintain;
Our pray'rs, our tears, our loud laments, are vain.
"Urg'd by despair, again I go to try
The fate of arms, resolv'd in fight to die:
'What hope remains, but _-,katmy death must give? Can I, without so dear a father, live ?
You term it prudence, what I baseness call:
Could such a word from such a parent fall?
If Fortune please, and so the gods ordain,
That nothing should of ruin'd Troy remain,
And you conspire with Fortune to be slain,
The way to death is wide, th' approaches near: For soon relentless Pyrrhus will appear,
? 1_
DRYDEN'S TRAN_r. _A_/O_ OF _rIRGIL
Reeking with Priam's blood--the wretch who slew The son (inhuman) in the father's view,
And then the sire himself to the dire altar drew.
O goddess mother, give me back to Fate;
Your gift was undesir'd, and came too late!
Did you, for this, unhappy me convey
Thro' foes and fires, to see my house a prey? Shall I my father, wife, and son behold, Welt'ring in blood, each other's arms infold? Haste! gird my sword, tho' spent and overcome: 'T is the last summons to receive our doom.
I hear thee, Fate ; and I obey thy call !
Not unreveng'd the foe shall see my fall. Restore me to the yet unfinish'd fight:
My death is wanting to conclude the night. ' Arm'd once again, my glitt'ring sword I wield, While th_other hand sustains my weighty shield, And forth I rush to seek th' abandon'd field.
I went; but sad Cretisa stopp'd my way,
And cross the threshold in my passage lay, Embrac'd my knees, and, when I would have gone, Shew'd me my feeble sire and tender son:
'If death be your design, at least,' said she,
'Take us along to share your destiny.
If any farther hopes in arms remain,
This place, these pledges of your love, maintain. To whom do you expose your father's life,
Your son's, and mine, your now forgotten wife I' While thus she fills the house with clam'rous cries, Our hearing is diverted by our eyes:
For, while I held my son, in the short space Betwixt our kisses and our last embrace;
Strange to relate, from young I_lus' head
A lambent flame arose, which gently spread Around his brows, and on his temples fed.
Amaz'd, with running water we prepare
To quench the sacred fire, and slake his hair; But old Anchtses, vers'd in omens, rear'd
His hands to hear'n, and this request preferr'd: 'If any vowa, almighty Jove, can bend
? ? HE SgOO_/n 9fPO_ _ _I-_ _EIS 117
Thy will I if piety ca_ pray'rs commend,
Confirm the g! ad presage which thou art pleass'd to send. ' Scarce had he said, whe_, on our left, we hear
A peal of rattling thund? r roll in air:
There shot a streaming lamp along the sky,
Which on the winged lightning seenl'tl to fly;
From o'er the roof the blaze began to move,
And, trailing, vanish'd in th' Id0_alagrove.
It swept a path in hefty'n, and shone a guide,
Then in a steaming stench of sulphur died.
"The good old man with suppliant hands implorTd The gods' protectiQn, and their star ador'd.
'Now, now,' said he, 'my solo, no more delay l
I yield, I follow where Heav'n shews the way. Keep, O my country gods, our dwelling place,
And guard this relic of "he Trojan race,
This tender, childl These omens are your own,
And you can. yet restore the ruin'd town,
At least accomplish what your signs foresh0w: I stand resign'd, and am prepar'd to go. '
"He said. Th0 crackling flames _ppear on hlgh. And driving sparkles dante _lotqg the sky.
With Vulcan's rage th? rising winc]s conspire,
And near our palace roll the flood of fire.
'Haste, my dear father, ('t is no time to wait,) And load my shoulders with a willing freight, Whate'er befalls, your life shall be my care; One death, or one deify'tahoe, we will share. My hand shall lead our little son; and you,
My faithful consort, shall otw steps pursue.
Next, you, my servants, heed Iny strict cqtnl_l_ndl: Without the walls a rui_a'd temple stands,
To Ceres hallow'd once; a cypress nigh
Shoots up her venerable head on high,
By long religion kept; there be_d your feet,
And in divided par_ies let us meet.
Our country, gods, the relics, and the b_nds,
Hold you, my father, in your gui_t|_ss handle;
In me 't is impious holy things to l_gr,
Red as I am _ith _l_gght_t _? w from, wgr_
? 128
DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Till in some living stream I cleanse the guilt Of dire debate, and blood in battle spilt. '
Thus, ord'ring 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 father take; While on my better hand Ascanius hung,
And with unequal paces tripp'd along.
Cre_sa kept behind; by choice we stray
Thro' ev'ry dark and ev'ry devious way.
I, who so bold and dauntless, just before,
The Grecian darts and shock of lances bore,
At ev'ry shadow now am seiz'd with fear,
Not for myself, 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 father, looking thro' the shades, with fear, Cried out: 'Haste, haste, my son, the foes are nigh; Their swords and shining armor I descry. '
Some hostile god, for some unknown offense,
Had sure bereft my mind of better sense;
For, while thro' winding ways I took my flight, And sought the shelter of the gloomy night,
Alas l I lost Crefisa: hard to tell
If by her fatal destiny she fell,
Or weary sate, 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 seat.
We met: not one was wanting; only she
Deceiv'd her friends, her son, and wretched me.
"What mad expressions did my tongue refuse ! Whom did I not, of gods or men, accuse l
This 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 despair, Abandoning my now forgotten care,
Of counsel, comfort, and of hope bereft, My sire, my son, my country gods I left.
? THE SECOND BOOK OF THE _NEIS 120
In shining armor once again I sheathe
My limbs, not feeling wounds, nor fearing death. Then headlong to the burning walls I run,
And seek the danger I was forc'd to shun.
I tread my former tracks; thro' night explore
Each passage, ev'ry street I cross'd before.
All things were full of horror and affright,
And dreadful ev'n the silence of the night.
Then to my father's house I make repair,
With some small glimpse of hope to find her there. Instead of her, the cruel Greeks I met;
The house was fill'd with foes, with flames beset. Driv'n on the wings of winds, whole sheets of fire, Thro' air transported, to the roofs aspire.
From thence to Prlam's palace I resort,
And search the citadel and desart court.
Then, unobserv'd, I pass by Juno's church:
A guard of Grecians had possess'd the porch ;
There Phcenix and Ulysses watch the prey,
And thither all the wealth of Troy convey:
The spoils which they from ransack'd houses brought_ And golden bowls from burning altars caught,
The tables of the gods, the purple vests,
The people's treasure, and the pomp of priests.
A rank of wretched youths, with pinion'd hands,
And captive matrons, in long order stands.
Then, with ungovern'd madness, I proclaim,
Thro' all the stlent street, Creusa's name:
Creitsa still I call; at length she hears,,
And sudden thro' the shades of night appears-- Appmrs, no more Crei_sa, nor my wife,
But a pale specter, larger than the life.
Aghast, _tonish'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 give the dead relief.
Desist, my mu_h-lov'd lord, 't indulge your pain;
You bear no more than what the gods ordain.
My fates permit me not from hence to fly;
Nor he, the great controller of the sky. ac rau--5
? 130
THE SECOND BOOK OF THE _ENEIS
Long wand'ring ways for you the pow'rs decree; On land hard labors, and a length of sea.
Then, after many painful years are past,
On Latium's happy shore you shall be cast, Where gentle Tiber from his bed beholds
The flow'ry meadows, and the feeding folds.
There end your tolls; and there your fates provide A quiet kingdom, and a royal brxde:
There fortune shall the Trojan line restore,
And you for lost Creusa weep no more.
Fear not that I shall watch, with servile shame, Th' imperious looks of some proud Grecian dame; Or, stooping to the victor's lust, chsgTace
My goddess mother, or my royal race.
And now, farewell! The parent of the gods Restrains my fleeting soul in her abodes:
I trust. ,our common issue to your care. '
She said, and ghding pass'd unseen in air?
I strove to speak: but horror tied my tongue;
And thrice about her neck my arms I flung,
And, thrice deceiv'd, on vain emhraces hung. Light as an empty dream at break of day,
Or as a blast of wind, she rush'd away.
"Thus having pass'd the night in frmtless pain, I to my longing friends return again,
Amaz'd th' augmented number to behold,
Of men and matrons mix'd, of young and old; A wretched ex_l'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 Morn began, from Ida, to display
Her rosy cheeks; and Phosphor led the day:
Before the gates the Grecians took their post, And all pretense of late relief was lost.
I yield to Fate, unwillingly retire,
And, loaded, up the hill convey my sire? '
? THE THIRD BOOK OF THE ENEI8
THE At_GU_ENT. --. 'Eneas proceeds in his relation: he glve8 an ac- count of the fleet wzth which he safl'd, and the success of h_s first
voyagetoThrace. Fromthencehedirectsh_scoursetoDelos,and asks the oraclewhat place the gods had appointedfor his habitation. By a mistake;of the oracle's answer, he settles m Crete; has horse- hold gods give hzm the true sense of the oracle, in _ dream. He follows their advice, and makes the best of his way for Italy. He is cast on several shores, and meets with very surprisingadventures, ull at length he /ands on Sicily, where hls father Anehise_ dies. Thls is the place which he was saihng from, when the tempest rose,
? and threw him upon the Carthaginiancoast.
""_][-'T'HEN Heav',n had overturn'd the Trojan state _/_/ And Priamls throne, by too severe a fate;
v v When rtlind Troy became the Grecians' prey, And Illum's lofty tow'rs in ashes lay;
Warn'd by celestial omens, we retreat,
To see_i in foreign lands a happter seat.
Near old Anta_ndros, and at Ida's foot, The timber of the sacred groves we cut,
And build our fleet; uncertain yet to find What place the gods for our repose assign'd. Friends d_ly floe. k; and scarce the kindly spring Began to clothe the ground, 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 field_, where Ilium stood before. My sir_, mY son, our less and greater gods,
All sail at once, and cleave the briny floods.
"Against our coast _pe_rs a spacious land, 131
? 132 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGIL
Which once the fierce Lycurgus did command, (Thracia the name--the people bold in war;
Vast are their fields, and tillage is their care,) A hospitable realm while Fate was kind,
With Troy in friendship and religion join'd.
I land; with lucldess omens then adore
Their gods, and draw a line along the shore; I lay the deep foundations of a wall,
And . ,Enos, nam'd from me, the city call. To Dion_ean Venus vows are paid,
And all the pow'rs that rising labors aid; A bull on Jove's imperial altar laid.
Not far, a rising hillock 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'cLa plant--with horror I relate
A prodigy so strange and full of fate.
The rooted fibers rose, and from the wound Black bloody drops distill'd upon the ground. Mute and amaz'd, my hair with terror stood; Fear shrunk my sinews, and congeal'd my blood. Mann'd once again, another plant I try:
That other gush'd with the same sanguine dye. Then, fearing guilt for some offense unknown, With pray'rs and vows the Dryads I 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 I thought, and fully tix'd at length
To learn the cause, I tugged with all my strengtli: I bent my knees against the ground; once more The violated myrtle ran 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 dost thou thus my buried body rend?
0 spare the corpse of thy unhappy friend!
? THE THIRD BOOK OF THE . _NEIS 1_
Spare to pollute thy pious hands with blood. The tears distil not from the wounded wood; But ev'ry drop this living tree contains
Is kindred blood, and ran in Trojan veins. O fly from this unhospitable shore,
Warn'd by my fate; for I am Polydorel
Here loads of lances, in my blood embrued, _Again shoot upward, by my blood renew'd. '
"My fair'ring tongue and shlv'ring limbs declare My horror, and in bristles rose my hair.
When Troy with Grecian arms was closely pent, Old Priam, fearful of the war's event,
This hapless Polydore to Thracia sent:
Loaded with gold, he s_nt his darling, far From noise and tumults, and destructive war, Committed to the faithless tyrant's care;
Who, when he saw the pow'r of Troy decline, Forsook the weaker, with the strong to join; Broke ev'ry bond of nature and of truth, _Andmurder'd, for his wealth, the royal youth. O sacred hunger of pernicious gold!
What bands of faith can impious lucre hold? Now, when my soul had shaken off her fears, I call my father and the Trojan peers;
Relate the prodigies of Heav'n, require
What he commands, arid their advice desire. All vote to leave that execrable shore,
Polluted with the blood of Polydore;
But, ere we sail, his fun'ral rites prepare, Then, to his ghost, a tomb and altars rear.
In mournful pomp the matrons walk the round, With baleful cypress and blue fillets erown'd, With eyes dejected, and with hair unbound. Then bowls of tepid milk and blood we pour, And thrice invoke the soul of Polydore.
"Now, when the raging storms no longer reign, But southern gales invite us to the main,
We launch our vessels, with a prosp'rons wind, And leave the cities and the shores behind.
"An island in th' __4F_an main appears;
? 134 DRYDEN_ TRAI_'SLATION' OF VIRGIL
Neptune and wat'ry Doris claim it theirs.
It floated once, till Phoebus tix'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 t6wn adore.
"Anius, the priest and king, with laurel crown'd, His hoary locks with purple fillets bound,
Who saw my sire the Dehan shore ascend,
Came forth with eager haste to meet his friend; Invites him to his pslace ; 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: 'Give, O Thymbrmus, give a resting place
To the sad relics of the Trojan race;
A seat _ecure, a region of their own,
A lasting empire, and a happier town.
Where shall we fix? where shall our labors end? Whom shall we follow, and what fate attend ? Let not my pray'rs a doubtful answer find;
But in clear auguries unveil thy mind. ' Scarce had I said: he shook the holy ground,
The laurels, and the lofty hills around;
And from the tripos rush'd a bellowing sound.
Prostrate we fell; confess'd the present god, Who gave this answer from his dark abode:
'Undaunted youths, go, seek that mother earth From which your ancestors derive their birth. The soil that sent you forth, her ancient race In her old bosom shall again embrace.
Thro' the wide world th' _neian house shall reign, And children's children shall the crown sustain. ' Thus Phoebus did our future fates disclose:
A mighty tumult, mix'd with joy, arose.
"All are concern'd to know what place the god _Lssign'd, and where determin'd our abode.
My father, long revolving in his mind
The race and lineage of the Trojan kind,
Thus answer'd their demands: 'Ye princes, hear
? THIRD BOOK OF THE 2ENEIS 1M
Your pleasing fortune, and dispel your fear. The fruitful isle of Crete, well known to fame,
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 't is divulg'd by certain fame, To the Rhcetean shores old Teucrus came; There fix'd, and there the seat of empire chose, Ere Ilium and the Trojan tow'rs arose.
In humble vales they built their soft abodes, Till Cybele, the mother of the gods,
With tinkling cymbals charm'd th' Id_ean woods, She secret rites and ceremonies taught,
And to the yoke the savage lions brought.
Let us the land which Heav'n appoints, explore; Appease the winds, and seek the Gnossian shore. If Jove assists the passage of our fleet,
The third propitious dawn discovers Crete. '
Thus having said, the sacrifices, laid
On smoking 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 winds to please, And one coal-black, to calm the stormy seas. Ere this, a flying rumor had been spread
That fierce Idomeneus from Crete was fled, Expell'd and exird; that the coast was free From foreign or domestic enemy.
"We leave the Delian ports, and put to sea; By Naxos, 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 scatter'd isles of Cyclades,
That, scarce distinguish'd, seem to stud the seas. The shouts of sailors double near the shores;
They stretch their canvas, and they ply their oars? 'All hands aloft I for Crete I for Crete I_they cry, And swiftly thro' the foamy biUows/ly.
? DRYDEN_ TRAI_SLATION OF VIRGIL Full on the promis'd land at length we bore,
With joy descending on the Cretan shore. With eager haste a rising 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; The youth begin to till the labor'd land;
And I myself new marriages promote,
Give laws, and dwellings I divide by lot;
When rising vapors choke the wholesome air, And blasts of noisome winds corrupt the year; The trees devouring caterpillars burn;
Parch'd was the grass, and blighted was the corn: Nor 'scape the beasts ; for Sirius, from on high, With pestilential heat infects the sky:
My men--some fall, the rest in fevers fry.
Again my father bids me seek the shore
Of sacred Delos, and the god implore,
To learn what end of woes we might expect,
And to what clime our weary course direct.
"'T was night, when ev'ry creature, void of carelE The common gift of balmy slumber shares:
The statues of my gods (for such they seem'd),
Those gods whom I from flaming Troy redeem'd, Before me stood, majestically bright,
Full in the beams of Phcebe's ent'ring light.
Then thus they spoke, and eas'd my troubled mind: 'What from the Delian god thou go'st to find,
He tells thee here, and sends us to relate.
Those pow'rs are we, companions of thy fate,
Who from the burning town by thee were brought, Thy fortune follow'd, and thy safety wroughL Thro' seas and lands as we thy steps attend,
So shall our care flay glorious race befriend.
An ample realm for thee thy fates ordain,
A town that o'er the conquer'd world shall reign. Thou, mighty walls for mighty nations build;
Nor let thy weary mind to labors yield:
But changeth_ seat; for not the Delian god,
? THE THIRD BOOK OF THE _NELq I$_
Nor we, have glv'n thee Crete for our abode. A land there is, Hesperia call'd of old,
(The soil is fruitful, and the natives bold-- Th' ? Enotrians held it once,) by later fame Now eall'd Italia, from the leader's name. Iasius there and Dardanus were born;
From thence we came, and thither must return. Rise, and thy sire with these glad tidings greet.
Search Italy; for Jove denies thee Crete. ' "Astonish'd at their voices and their sight,
(Nor were they dreams, but visions of the night; I saw, I knew their faces, and descried,
In perfect view, their hair with fillets tied ;)
I started from my couch; a clammy sweat
On all my limbs and shiv'ring body sate. To heav'n I lift my hands with pious haste,
And sacred incense in the flames I cast.
Thus to the gods their perfect honors done,
More cheerful, to my good old sire I run,
And tell the pleasing news. In little space
He found his error of the double race;
Not, as before he deem'd, deriv'd from Crete; No more deluded by the doubtful seat:
Then said: 'O son, turmoil'd in Trojan fate l 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; but who could then have thought That Phrygian gods to Latium should be brought, Or who believ'd what mad Cassandra taught ?
Now let us go where Phoebus leads the way. '
"He said; and we with glad consent obey, Forsake the seat, and, leaving few behind,
We spread our sails before the willing wind. Now from the sight of land our galleys move, With only seas around and skies above;
When o'er our heads descends a burst of rain, _,nd night with sable clouds involves the mai_; The ruffling winds the foamy billows raise; The scatter'fl fleet is forc'd to sev'ral ways;
? B
DRYI)E_S TRA_SLATI01_ OF _rIRGIL
The face of heav'n is ravish'd from our eyes, And in redoubled peals the roaring thunder flies,
Cast from our course, we wander in the dark. No stars to guide, no point of land to mark.
Ev'n Pallnurus no distinction found
Betwixt the night and day ; such darkness reign'd al_und
Three starless nights the doubtful navy strays, Without distinction, and three sunless days;
The fourth renews the light, and, from our shrouds, We view a rising land, like d_stant clouds;
The mountain-tops confirm the pleasing sight,
And curling smoke ascending from their height,
The canvas falls; their oars the sailors ply;
From the rude strokes the whirling waters fly.
At length I land upon the Strophades,
Safe from the danger of the stormy seas.
Those _sles are compass'd by th' Ionian main,
The dire abode where the foul Harpies reign, Forc'd by the winged warriors to repair
To their old homes, and leave their costly Ea_. Monsters more fierce offended Heav'n ne'er sent From hell's abyss, for human punishment:
With virgin faces, but with wombs obscene,
Foul paunches, and with ordure still unclean;
With claws for hahds, and looks for ever leaO.
'Wv'e landed at the port, and soon beheld
Fat herds of oxen graze the flow'ry field,
And wanton goats without a _eeper stray'& With weapons we the welcome prey invade, Then call the gods for partners of out feast,
And Jove himself, the chief ihvited guest.
We spread the tables on the greensward ground; We feed with hunger, and the bowls go round; When from the mountaln-tops, with htdeous cry, And clatt'ring wings, the hungry Harpies fly; They snatch the meat, defiling all they find, _nd, parting, leave a loathsome stench behind; Close by a hollow rock, again we sit,
New dress the dinner, and the beds refit, Secure from sight, beneath a pleasing sl_ades
? THE THIRD BOOK OF THE 2_Iq_I8 1_ Where tufted trees a native arbor made
Again the holy fres on altars burn;
And once again the rav'nous birds return,
Or from the dark recesses where they lie,
Or from another quarter of the sky;
With filthy claws their odious meal repeat,
And mix their loathsome ordures with their meat.
I bid my friends for vengeance then prepare,
And with the hellish nation wage the war.
They, as commanded, for the fight provide,
And in the grass their glitt'ring weapons hide;
Then, when along the crooked shore we hear
Their clatt'ring wings, and saw the foes appear, Misenus sounds a charge: we take th' alarm,
And our strong hands with swords and bucklers arm. In this new kind of combat all employ
Their utmost force, the monsters to destroy.
In vain--the fated skin is proof to wounds;
And from their pIumes the shining sword rebounds. At length rebuff'd, they leave their mangled prey, And their stretch'd pinions to the skies display.
Yet one remain'd---the messenger of Fate:
High on a craggy cliff Celmno sate,
And thus her dismal errand did relate:
'What l not contented with our oxen slain,
Dare you with Heav'n an impious war maintain,
And drive . the Harpies from their native reign? Heed therefore what I say; and keep in mind What Jove decrees, what Phoebus has destgn'd, And I, the Furies' queen, from both relate--- You seek th' Italian shores, foredoom'd by fate: Th' Italian shores are granted you to find, 'And a safe passage to the port assign'd.
But know, that ere your promis'd walls you build, My curses shall severely be fulfill'd.
Fierce famine is your lot for this misdeed, Reduc'd to grind the plates on which you feed. ' She said, and to the neighb'ring forest flew.
Our courage fails us, and our fears renew. Hopeless to win by war, to pray'rs we falg
? 240 DRYDEN'S TRANSLATION OF VIRGI_
And on th' offended Harpies humbly call,
And whether gods or birds obscene they were,
Our vows for pardon and for peace prefer.
But old Anchises, off'ring sacrifice,
And lifting up to heav'n his hands and eyes,
_,dor'd the greater gods: 'Avert,' said he,
*These omens; render vain this prophecy,
_nd from th' impending curse a pious people free1'
"Thus having said, he bids us put to sea;
We loose from shore our haulsers, and obey,
And soon with swelling sails pursue the wat'ry way. Amidst our course, Zacynthian woods appear;
And next by rocky Neritos we steer:
We fly from Ithaca's detested shore,
And curse the land which dire Ulysses bore.
At length Leucate's cloudy top appears,
And the Sun's temple, which the sailor fears. Resolv'd to breathe a while from labor past,
Our crooked anchors from the prow we cast,
And joyful to the little city haste.
Here, safe beyond our hopes, our vows we pay
To love, the guide and patron of our way.
The customs of our country we pursue,
And Trojan games on Actian shores renew.
Our youth their naked limbs besmear with oil,
And exercise the wrastlers' noble toil;
Pleas'd to have sail'd so long before the wind,
And left so many Grecian towns behind.
The sun had now fulfill'd his annual course,
And Boreas on the seas display'd his force:
I fix'd upon the temple's lofty door
The brazen shield which vanquish'd A_oas bore; The verse beneath my name and action speaks: 'These arms 2_neas took from conqu'ring Greeks. e Then I command to weigh; the seamen ply
Their sweeping oars; the smoking billows fly. The sight of high Ph_eacia soon we lost,
And skimm'd along Epirus' rocky coast.
"Then to Chaonia's port our course we bend, _. nd, landed, to Buthrotus' heights ascend.
$
? '
THE THIRD BOOK OF THE _NEIS 141
;
Here wondrous things were loudly blaz'd by fame: How Helenus reviv'd the Trojan name,
And reigu'd in Greece; that Priam's captive son Succeeded Pyrrhus in his bed and throne;
And fair Andromache, restor'd by fate,
Once more was happy in a Trojan mate.
I leave my galleys riding in the port,
And long to see the new Dardaniau court.
By chance, the mournful queen, before the gate, Then solemniz'd her former husband's fate.
Green altars, rais'd of turf, with gifts she crown'd, And sacred priests in order stand around,
And thrice the name of hapless Hector sound.
The grove itself resembles Ida's wood;
And Simois seem'd the well-dissembled flood. But when at nearer distance she beheld
My shining armor and my Trojan shield,
Astonish'd at the sight, the vital heat
Forsakes her limbs; her veins no longer beat:
She hints, she falls, and scarce recov'ring strength, Thus, with a falt'ring tongue, she speaks at length:
"'Are you alive, O goddess-born ? ' she said, 'Or if a ghost, then where is Hector's shade? ' At this, she cast a loud and frightful cry.
With broken words I made this brief reply:
'All of me that remains appears in sight,
I live, if living be to loathe the light.
No phantom; but I drag a wretched life,
My fate resembling that of Hector's wife.
What have you suffer'd since you lost your lord? By what strange blessing are you now restor'd? Still are your Hector's? or is Hector fled,
And his remembrance lost in Pyrrhus' bed? ' With eyes dejected, in a lowly tone,
After a modest pause she thus begun:
"'O only happy maid of Priam's race, Whom death deliver'd from the foes' embrace !
Commanded on AchiUes' tomb to die, Not forc'd, like us, to hard captivity, Or in a haughty master's arms to lie.
? |g
DItTDI_N'STRANSLATION 0F _qR011_
InGrot_m_ilp_unhappywe were130rDe, Endur'd the victor's lust, sustain'd the scorn! Thus I submitted to the lawless pride
Of Pyrrhus, more a handmaid than a bride. Cloy'd with possession, he forsook my bed, And Helen's lovely daughter sought to wed; Then me to Trojan Helertus resign'd,
And his two slaves in equal marriage join'd; Till young Orestes, pierc'd with deep despair, And longing to redeem the promis'd fair, Before Apollo's altar slew the ravisher.
By Pyrrhus' death the kingdom we regain'd: At least one half with Hclenus remain'd.
Our part, from Chaon, he Chaonia calls, And names from Pergamus his rising walls.
But you, what fates have landed on our coast ?
What gods have sent you, or what storms have toss'd. 1 Does young Ascanius life and health enjoy,
Sav'd from the ruins of unhappy Troy ?
O tell me how his mother's loss he bears,
What hopes are promis'd from his blooming years, How much of Hector in his face appears? '
She spoke; and mix'd her speech with mournful crie_ And fruitless tears came trickling from her eyes.
"At length her lord descends upon the plain, In pomp, attended with a num'rous train; Receives his friends, and to the city leads, And tears of joy amidst his welcome sheds. Proceeding on, another Troy I see,
Or, in less compass, Troy's epitome.
A rivqet by the name of Xanthus ran,
And I embrace the Sc_an gate again.