Virgil's Aeneid translated into Scottish verse by Gavin Douglas Coldwell |
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 | Virgil's Aeneid translated into Scottish verse |  |
Met with hys modir into habit onknaw.
That in his mynd gan mony thyng compass,
Belive as that the hailsum day wolx lycht
Dressit him furth to spy and haue a sycht
To quhatkyn costis he with the wynd was blaw,
Quha thame inhabit, quhidder wild bestis or men—
For al semyt bot wilderness til hym then—
And as he fand schupe till hys feris to schaw,
Hys navy dern amyd the thyk wod schaw,
Vnderneth the holkit hyngand rochis hie,
Dekkit about with mony semly tre,
Quhois schaddowis dyrk hyd weill the schippis ilkane.
And he bot with a fallow furth is gane,
With traste Achates; in athiris hand yfeir
The braid steil heid schuke on the huntyng speir.
Amyd the wod hys moder met thame tway
Semand a maid in vissage and aray
With wapynnys like the virgynys of Spartha
Or the stowt wench of Trace, Harpalica,
Hastand the horss hir fadir to reskew,
Spedyar than Hebrun, the swyft flude, dyd persew;
For Venus eftyr the gyss and maner thar
Ane active bow apon hir schuldir bar
As scho had bene a wild hunteress,
With wynd waving hir haris lowsit of tress,
Hir skyrt kiltit til hir bair kne,
And first of other, onto thame thus spak sche:
“Howe, say me ȝongkeris, saw ȝe walkand heir
By aventur ony of my sisteris deyr,
The cayss of arrowis tachit by hir syde,
And cled in to the spottit lynx hyde,
Eftir the fomy bayr, in thar solace?”
Thus said Venus, and hir son agane
Answeris and said, “Trewly, maide, in plane
Nane of thi systeris dyd I heir ne se.
Bot, O thou virgyne, quham sal I cal the?
Thy vissage semys na mortale creatur
Nor thi voce sovndis not lyke to humane nature:
A goddess art thou suythly to my syght.
Quhidder thou be Dyane, Phebus systir brycht,
Or than sum goddess of thir nymphis kynd,
Maistress of woddis, beis to ws happy and kynd,
Releve our lang travell quhat euer thou be,
And vndir quhat art of this hevyn sa hie
Or at quhat cost of the warld finaly
Sal we arrive, thou tech wss by and by;
Of men and land onknaw we are drive will
By wynd and storm of sey cachit hiddertill;
And mony fair sacrifice and offerand
Befor thyne altar sal de of my rycht hand.”
Venus answerd, “I denȝe not to ressaue
Sik honour certis, quhilk feris me nocht to haue,
For to the madynnys of Tyre this is the gyiss
To beir a cayss of arowis on this wyss,
With rede botynys on thar schankis hie.
This is the realm of Punyce quhilk ȝe se,
The pepill of Tyre, and the cite, but mor,
Belt be the folk discend from Agenor.
Inhabit with pepill ondantabill in bataill,
Quhar Dido quene rewlis the empyre,
Hydder, for hir brodir, fled from the realm of Tyre;
Lang war the iniuris, the dowtis lang tobe tald,
Bot I the vmaste of the mater sall hald.
Ane husband, quhilk Sycheus hecht, had sche,
Rychast in all the grond of Phenyce
And strangly luffit of the silly Dido,
For be hir fader, as was the maner tho,
By chans scho was in cleyn virginite
Weddit to hym. Bot of Tyre the cuntre
In heretage held Pigmalyon hir brodir,
In wikkitnes cruel abufe all othir,
Quhilk, but offence or occasioun of greif,
For blynd cwatyce of gold throu his myscheif,
Befor the altar, slely with a knyfe,
Or he was war, reft Sycheus the lyfe,
And, of the gret luf of his systir suyr,
Concelyt this cruel deid lang vndir cuyr—
That fals man, by dissaitfull wordis fair,
With vaynhope trumpit the wofull luffar.
Bot of hir husband bygravit the ymage
To hir apperis in sleip, with pail vissage,
On mervellus wyss, and gan at lenth declare
Quhou he was cruelly slane at the altare.
He schew the knyf outthrow hys breist threst,
And all the hyd cryme of hir howss manyfest,
Syne in gret haist exortis hir to fle
And leif hir native land, and tak the see,
And, forto help hir onwart by the way,
Vnder the erth quhar ald hurdis hyd lay,
Of siluer and gold revelit a huge weght.
Dido, heirat commovit I ȝou hecht,
For hir departing falloschip reddy maid;
Togidder conuenys but ony langar abaid
All thai quhilk hatis the cruell tyrrantis dedis,
Or ȝit his fellon violence sair dredis.
Thai tuke, and chargit full of gold but mayr.
The tresour of the wrachit Pigmaleon
Is thus caryit our the sey onone.
A woman captane is of all this deid.
To ȝone place ar thai cummyn, thou may tak heid,
Quhar now rysis ȝone large wallis stowt
Of New Cartage, with hie towris abowt.
Als mekill grond thai bocht at the first tyde
As thai mycht compas with a bullis hyde;
Ȝondir cheif castell standing on the bra
Into thar langage clepit is Byrsa,
And of this deid his name beris witnes ȝit.
Bot quhat be ȝhe, finaly wald I wyt?
Or of quhat cuntre cummyn? Or pass wald quhar?”
Sche sperand this, Eneas sichand sair,
The voce drawand deip from his breist within,
Said, “O thou goddess, gif I suld begyn
And tell our labour from the formast end,
To heir our storyis set thou myght attend,
Or I maid end, Vesper, the evyn starn brycht,
Suld cloyss the hevin and end the days lycht.
We ar of ancyant Troy (gif euer ȝe
The name of Troy has hard in this cuntre),
And caryit throuowt diuerss seys alswa,
And now by fortoune to cost of Lybia
Drevyn with tempest. Rewthfull Ene am I,
That Troiane golddis tursys in my navy,
My fame is knaw abufe the eliment.
I seik Itale and our auld cuntre fer
And lynage cum from hyast Iupiter.
With schippis twyss ten the Phyrgyane see,
My modir a goddes techand the way, tuke we,
Followand destany quhilk was to me grant.
Of all our floyt, from wynd and wallys skant
Sevin evil perbrakit salue remanys with me.
Onkend and mysterfull in desertis of Lybe
I wandir, expellit from Europ and Asia.”
Venus na mair sufferit hym pleyn or say;
Amyd hys dolorus playntis thus spak sche:
“Quhat evir thou art, I trast weill at thou be
Favorit with the goddis, and drawis this hailsum ayr,
Quhilk is the spreit of lyfe, to thy weilfair,
Sen thou art cummyn to Cartage the cyte.
Now hald thy way and at the quenys entre
Present thy self. I schaw the for certane
Thy ferys ar salf, thy navy is cummyn agane,
In salfty brocht fre of north wyndis als,
Less than my parentis taucht me spaying craft fals.
Behald twelf swannys in randoun glaid and fair
Quham, newly from the regioun of the air,
Hass sair effrayt amyd the skyis brycht;
Now with lang range to lycht thai beyn adrest
And spyis the erth about quhar thai sall rest.
As thai return, thar weyngis swouchand iolely,
And with thar courss circlys about the sky,
Cryand or syngand efter thar awyn gyss:
Thy schippys and falloschip on the sammyn wyss
Owdir ar herbryit in the havyn, I wyss,
Or with bent saill entris in the port be this.
Now pass thy way evyn furth that sammyn went.”
Thus said sche, and turnand incontinent,
Hir nek schane lyke onto the royss in May,
Hyr hevynly haris glitterand brycht and gay,
Kest from hir forhed a smell gloryus and sweit,
Hir habyt fell down coveryng to hir feit,
And in hir passage a verray god dyd hir kyth.
And fra that he knew hys moder alswith
With sik wordis he followys as scho dyd fle:
“Quhy art thou cruell to thy son,” quod he,
“Dissavand hym sa oft with fals sembland?
Quhy grantis thou nocht we mycht ioyn hand in hand
And fortill heir and rendir vocis trew?”
Thus he reprevys, bot sche is went adew.
Than to the cyte he haldis furth the way,
Bot Venus with a sop of myst baith tway
And with a dyrk clowd closyt rownd abowt,
That na man suld thame se nor twich but dowt,
Ne by the ways stop or ellis deir,
Or ȝit the cawsis of thar cummyn speir.
Hyr self vplyft to Paphum passyt swith
To vissy hir restyng place, ioly and blith;
Quharin thar doith ane hundreth altaris stand,
Hait byrnnyng full of Saba sens all howris,
And smellyng sweit with fresch garlandis of flowris.
Mony expondis Achates for thochtfull cuyr or solicitud, quhilk all tymys is feyr and companȝeon to princis and gret men.
Harpalica douchter to Ligurgus kyng of Trace, hir fader beand tane be the pepil of Getya, assemblit hir power and with sa gret haist persewit thame that scho semyt in swiftness to forryn the swiftast flude of Trace, callit Hebrun; and with mair agilite and hardyment than is almaste tobe belevit, reskewit hir fader and ourcome hir aduersaris.
Thus said scho forto dissimyll hyr self, or than becauss that in Cypir was scho wirscheppit only wyth insens and flouris and nayn other sacrifyce, sa that it was onlefull ony blud war sched in hir tempyll.
Of Agenor ȝe sal knaw that Iupiter engendrit Ephaphus, quhilk gat Belus the first, that engendrit this Agenor, and he begat Phenix, fra quham the realm of Tyre was namyt Phenycia and the pepil bath of Tyre and Cartage Phenycianys or Punycianys. This Phenix begat Belus the secund, otherwyss callit Methres, and he was fader to this Pygmaleon and Queyn Dido, otherwyss nemmyt Elissa. This ilk Phenix also engendrit Philistenes, quhilk begat this Sycheus, otherwyss callit Sicarbas, spouss to this ilk Dido and gret preste to Hercules.
Sum sais scho gave alss mekyll gold as wald gang in a bul hid for this grund; sum haldis opynyon that in thai dais the monye was mad of cuyrbulȝe or leddyr, and this castell hes his naym therfra, for in the langage of Affrik, “byrsa” betakynnys leddyr or a hyd. Bot Seruyus is of Virgillis opynion, sayand Dido maid carve the bull hid in sa small twhangis that it cumpassyt abowt the spass of xxii stageis, that is, thre myllis quarter less.
That Eneas heyr commendis his self, it is not to be tayn that he said this for arrogans bot forto schaw his styll, as a kyng or prince onknawin in an onkowth land may but repreif reherss his estate and dygnite to mak him be tretyt as afferis. And alss, becauss he trastyt he spak wyth a goddess, that scho suld nocht aschaym to remayn and talk wyth hym therfor; and becauss scho was a woman, he schew that he was a man of autorite, wyth quham thai nedis nocht ascham to speyk, for he was that man quhilk by the common voce was clepit Eneas full of pyete. And for that Virgill clepis hym swa all thro this buyk, and I interpret that term quhylys for “rewth,” quhils for “devotion” and quhilis for “pyete” and “compassion,” tharfor ȝe sall knaw that pyete is a vertw or gud deid be the quhilk we geif our dylligent and detfull lawbour to our natyve cuntre and onto thaim beyn conionyt to vs in neyr degre. And this vertw, pyete, is a part of iustyce and hes ondyr hym twa other vertwys: amyte, callyt frendschip, and liberalyte.
Varo sais that Eneas, fra his departing of Troy quhil he coym in the feldis of Lawrentum, all the day saw the starn of Venus, and quhen he was thiddir cummyn he saw it na mair, quharby he ondirstud that was his grund fatayll.
The Egill be poetis is fenȝeit tobe Iovis fowle, and that he maid minstration to him of the thunder and wapynnys the tyme of the batale betwix the god Dis and the Gyantis. Bot war it lefull to compar prophane fabillis to Haly Scriptour, Sanct Iohne the Ewangelist is verray Iovis egill and clepit son of thundir.
| Virgil's Aeneid translated into Scottish verse | |