The Works of Virgil Translated into English Blank Verse. With large Explanatory Notes, and Critical Observations. By Joseph Trapp |
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| 3. | BOOK the Third. |
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 | The Works of Virgil |  |
135
BOOK the Third.
141
When
Asia's State, by Heav'n's severe Decree,
And Priam's guiltless Realm was laid in Dust;
Proud Ilion fall'n, and all Neptunian Troy
Smoking in Ruins: Warn'd by Oracles
To seek long Exile, and deserted Coasts,
Beneath Antandros' Walls, and Ida's Rocks
We build our Fleet, and muster all our Force;
Uncertain which way Fate would call, and where
Fix'd Mansions would be given us. Scarce begun
Was the first Summer; When Anchises gave
Command to hoise our Sails, and yield to Fate.
Weeping I leave my Country-Shores, the Ports,
And Fields where Troy had stood; and exil'd launch
Into the Deep; with all our Crew, my Son,
Our Country-Deities, and mightier Gods.
And Priam's guiltless Realm was laid in Dust;
Proud Ilion fall'n, and all Neptunian Troy
Smoking in Ruins: Warn'd by Oracles
To seek long Exile, and deserted Coasts,
Beneath Antandros' Walls, and Ida's Rocks
142
Uncertain which way Fate would call, and where
Fix'd Mansions would be given us. Scarce begun
Was the first Summer; When Anchises gave
Command to hoise our Sails, and yield to Fate.
Weeping I leave my Country-Shores, the Ports,
And Fields where Troy had stood; and exil'd launch
Into the Deep; with all our Crew, my Son,
Our Country-Deities, and mightier Gods.
Sacred to Mars there lies a spacious Realm,
Till'd by the Thracians, and in former Times
Govern'd by stern Lycurgus; once to Troy
(While Fortune was) an hospitable Coast,
And Their protecting Gods ally'd to Ours.
Here I arrive; and on the winding Shore
Found my first Walls, by inauspicious Fates
Attempting; and the new Inhabitants
From my own Name Æneadæ I call.
To my Celestial Parent, and the Gods,
Conducters of my Enterprize, I paid
Religious Rites, and offer'd on the Shore
A shining Bull to Heav'n's Almighty King.
Near me, by chance, there stood a rising Ground,
And on it's Top a Grove of Cornel-Shrubs,
And Myrtle, horrid with thick pointed Spears.
Thither I went; and striving from the Mold
To pluck the branching Greens, with Boughs to shade
The new-built Altars, a portentous Sight
Dreadful and wond'rous to relate I saw.
For from That Plant, which first uprooted came,
Torn from the Soil, black Drops of Blood distill'd,
And stain'd the Ground with Gore; Me Horror chills
Shudd'ring, and Fear congeals my curdling Blood.
Again another Shrub I strive to rend
From Earth, t'explore the secret Cause: Again
Blood follows from the Bark. Much in my Thoughts
Revolving, I implore the Rural Nymphs,
And Mars, who o'er the Getic Fields presides,
The Omen to avert, and grant Success.
But when a third time more intent I strove,
Tugging, with Knees close press'd against the Sand;
(Shall I proceed, or stop?) a dismal Groan,
Resounding from the bottom of the Tomb,
Was heard; and to my Ears with Horrour came
These Accents. Why, Æneas, dost thou tear
My wretched Corps? Ah! spare me; nor pollute
Thy pious Hands with Guilt: Troy gave me Birth,
No Foreigner to Thee; Nor does This Blood
Flow from the Roots, and senseless Fibres: Fly,
Ah! fly These cruel Coasts, This greedy Shore.
For I am Polydore; an Iron Crop
Of Darts o'erwhelms me here transfix'd, and springs
In vegetable Jav'lins. Stun'd with Fear
I stood; up rose my Hair; and to my Mouth
My Speech with Terror cleav'd. This Polydore
The most unhappy Priam had long since,
In secret, with a pond'rous Mass of Gold,
Sent, to be nourish'd by the Thracian King;
When now, diffiding in his Arms, he saw
His City by the Foe beleaguer'd round.
The Thracian King, when all the Trojan Pow'rs
Were crush'd, and Heav'n had our distress'd Affairs
Abandon'd, closing with the Victor's Arms,
And Agamemnon's happier Fortune, breaks
All Faith, kills Polydore, and to his Wealth
Succeeds by Murder: To what dire Extremes
Wilt not Thou, execrable Thirst of Gold,
Urge mortal Breasts? Recover'd of my Fright,
First to my Father, then to all our chief
Selected Lords, the Prodigy I tell;
And ask their Resolution: All agree
Unanimous, to leave the barb'rous Coasts,
Polluted with inhospitable Crimes,
And spread our swelling Canvass to the Winds.
Therefore to Polydore we first perform
His Obsequies: A lofty Pile of Earth
Is rais'd; And Altars to the Manes built,
Mournful with fun'ral Wreaths, and gloomy Boughs
Of Cypress; With their Tresses scatter'd loose
(Such is th'accustom'd Rite) the Trojan Dames
Stand round; We offer Jars of tepid Milk,
And frothing Bowls of consecrated Blood;
Within the Grave compose his Soul to Rest,
Invoke him loud, and take our last Farewel.
Then soon as we might trust the Ocean's Face
With safety, and the Winds had smooth'd it's Waves,
Auster's soft Gales inviting to the Deep;
Our Crew their Vessels launch, and fill the Shore;
We leave the Port; and Land, and Towns retire.
Till'd by the Thracians, and in former Times
Govern'd by stern Lycurgus; once to Troy
(While Fortune was) an hospitable Coast,
And Their protecting Gods ally'd to Ours.
Here I arrive; and on the winding Shore
Found my first Walls, by inauspicious Fates
Attempting; and the new Inhabitants
143
To my Celestial Parent, and the Gods,
Conducters of my Enterprize, I paid
Religious Rites, and offer'd on the Shore
A shining Bull to Heav'n's Almighty King.
Near me, by chance, there stood a rising Ground,
And on it's Top a Grove of Cornel-Shrubs,
And Myrtle, horrid with thick pointed Spears.
Thither I went; and striving from the Mold
To pluck the branching Greens, with Boughs to shade
The new-built Altars, a portentous Sight
Dreadful and wond'rous to relate I saw.
For from That Plant, which first uprooted came,
Torn from the Soil, black Drops of Blood distill'd,
And stain'd the Ground with Gore; Me Horror chills
Shudd'ring, and Fear congeals my curdling Blood.
Again another Shrub I strive to rend
From Earth, t'explore the secret Cause: Again
Blood follows from the Bark. Much in my Thoughts
Revolving, I implore the Rural Nymphs,
And Mars, who o'er the Getic Fields presides,
The Omen to avert, and grant Success.
But when a third time more intent I strove,
Tugging, with Knees close press'd against the Sand;
(Shall I proceed, or stop?) a dismal Groan,
Resounding from the bottom of the Tomb,
Was heard; and to my Ears with Horrour came
144
My wretched Corps? Ah! spare me; nor pollute
Thy pious Hands with Guilt: Troy gave me Birth,
No Foreigner to Thee; Nor does This Blood
Flow from the Roots, and senseless Fibres: Fly,
Ah! fly These cruel Coasts, This greedy Shore.
For I am Polydore; an Iron Crop
Of Darts o'erwhelms me here transfix'd, and springs
In vegetable Jav'lins. Stun'd with Fear
I stood; up rose my Hair; and to my Mouth
My Speech with Terror cleav'd. This Polydore
The most unhappy Priam had long since,
In secret, with a pond'rous Mass of Gold,
Sent, to be nourish'd by the Thracian King;
When now, diffiding in his Arms, he saw
His City by the Foe beleaguer'd round.
The Thracian King, when all the Trojan Pow'rs
Were crush'd, and Heav'n had our distress'd Affairs
Abandon'd, closing with the Victor's Arms,
And Agamemnon's happier Fortune, breaks
All Faith, kills Polydore, and to his Wealth
Succeeds by Murder: To what dire Extremes
Wilt not Thou, execrable Thirst of Gold,
Urge mortal Breasts? Recover'd of my Fright,
First to my Father, then to all our chief
Selected Lords, the Prodigy I tell;
And ask their Resolution: All agree
Unanimous, to leave the barb'rous Coasts,
Polluted with inhospitable Crimes,
And spread our swelling Canvass to the Winds.
Therefore to Polydore we first perform
145
Is rais'd; And Altars to the Manes built,
Mournful with fun'ral Wreaths, and gloomy Boughs
Of Cypress; With their Tresses scatter'd loose
(Such is th'accustom'd Rite) the Trojan Dames
Stand round; We offer Jars of tepid Milk,
And frothing Bowls of consecrated Blood;
Within the Grave compose his Soul to Rest,
Invoke him loud, and take our last Farewel.
Then soon as we might trust the Ocean's Face
With safety, and the Winds had smooth'd it's Waves,
Auster's soft Gales inviting to the Deep;
Our Crew their Vessels launch, and fill the Shore;
We leave the Port; and Land, and Towns retire.
A sacred Island in mid Sea there lies,
And now inhabited; above the rest
Lov'd by Ægæan Neptune, and the Goddess
The Mother of the Nereids; which of old
Unfix'd and wand'ring round the Coasts and Shores,
Pious Apollo with high Mycone,
And Gya'ros bound, gave it to be unmov'd
With firm Foundations, and defy the Winds.
Here I arrive; This hospitable Coast
In it's safe Harbour, to relieve our Toils,
Receives us. At our Landing, we adore
Apollo's City: Anius meets us here,
At once the King of Men, and Priest of Heav'n,
Apollo's Priest; with consecrated Wreaths,
And holy Laurel crown'd. He knows, and owns
His ancient Friend Anchises: Hands we join
In Amity, and to his Court proceed.
In the God's Temple built with aged Stone
I worship: Settled Mansions to us give,
Thymbræan God; Give us, fatigu'd with Toil,
Sure Walls, a Race, a lasting City: Save
This other Troy, These Relicks of the Greeks,
And merciless Achilles. Heav'nly Pow'r,
Whom do we follow? Whither shape our Course?
Where fix our Seat, by thy Command? Indulge
Some Augury, and slide into our Breasts.
And now inhabited; above the rest
Lov'd by Ægæan Neptune, and the Goddess
The Mother of the Nereids; which of old
Unfix'd and wand'ring round the Coasts and Shores,
146
And Gya'ros bound, gave it to be unmov'd
With firm Foundations, and defy the Winds.
Here I arrive; This hospitable Coast
In it's safe Harbour, to relieve our Toils,
Receives us. At our Landing, we adore
Apollo's City: Anius meets us here,
At once the King of Men, and Priest of Heav'n,
Apollo's Priest; with consecrated Wreaths,
And holy Laurel crown'd. He knows, and owns
His ancient Friend Anchises: Hands we join
In Amity, and to his Court proceed.
In the God's Temple built with aged Stone
I worship: Settled Mansions to us give,
Thymbræan God; Give us, fatigu'd with Toil,
Sure Walls, a Race, a lasting City: Save
This other Troy, These Relicks of the Greeks,
And merciless Achilles. Heav'nly Pow'r,
Whom do we follow? Whither shape our Course?
Where fix our Seat, by thy Command? Indulge
Some Augury, and slide into our Breasts.
I scarce had spoke; All seem'd to tremble round,
The Doors, the Laurel of the God, and all
The Mount: The Tripos groan'd, and open flew
The most retir'd Apartments. Prone we bend
To Earth; and to our Ears These Accents came.
Ye hardy Trojans, The same Land, which first
Gave Birth to your Forefathers, shall again
Receive you in it's fertil Bosom; Seek
Your ancient Mother: Here th'Æneïan Line,
All Years to come, shall rule with Sov'reign Sway,
And his Sons Sons, and all their future Race.
The Doors, the Laurel of the God, and all
The Mount: The Tripos groan'd, and open flew
The most retir'd Apartments. Prone we bend
To Earth; and to our Ears These Accents came.
Ye hardy Trojans, The same Land, which first
Gave Birth to your Forefathers, shall again
Receive you in it's fertil Bosom; Seek
Your ancient Mother: Here th'Æneïan Line,
All Years to come, shall rule with Sov'reign Sway,
147
Thus Phœbus: Strait a mix'd, tumultuous Joy
Arises: All enquire what Walls were meant,
Which way the God directed us to steer
Our wand'ring Course, and whither to return.
My Father then revolving in his Mind
Ancient Records, Thus speaks: Ye Nobles, hear,
And learn your Hopes. The Isle of mighty Jove,
Crete, in the Middle of the Ocean lies:
There is th'Idæan Mountain, and the first
Originals of our Race. The Natives there
Possess'd an hundred Cities, wealthy Realms:
Hence our great Sire (if I remember right,)
Teucrus first landed on the Phrygian Coasts;
And for his Kingdom chose a Place: As yet
Ilium was not, nor stood the Trojan Tow'rs;
Th'Inhabitants in lowly Vallies liv'd.
Hence Cybele, the Mother of the Gods,
Protectress: Hence the Corybantian Brass,
And Ida's Grove; Hence Silence was observ'd
In sacred Rites; And Lions harness'd drew
Her Sov'reign Chariot. Let us then obey
The Gods' Commands, and follow where they lead;
Appease the Winds, and seek the Gnossian Coasts.
Nor is the Distance great; let Jove assist,
The third Day lands us on the Cretian Shores.
Arises: All enquire what Walls were meant,
Which way the God directed us to steer
Our wand'ring Course, and whither to return.
My Father then revolving in his Mind
Ancient Records, Thus speaks: Ye Nobles, hear,
And learn your Hopes. The Isle of mighty Jove,
Crete, in the Middle of the Ocean lies:
There is th'Idæan Mountain, and the first
Originals of our Race. The Natives there
Possess'd an hundred Cities, wealthy Realms:
Hence our great Sire (if I remember right,)
Teucrus first landed on the Phrygian Coasts;
148
Ilium was not, nor stood the Trojan Tow'rs;
Th'Inhabitants in lowly Vallies liv'd.
Hence Cybele, the Mother of the Gods,
Protectress: Hence the Corybantian Brass,
And Ida's Grove; Hence Silence was observ'd
In sacred Rites; And Lions harness'd drew
Her Sov'reign Chariot. Let us then obey
The Gods' Commands, and follow where they lead;
Appease the Winds, and seek the Gnossian Coasts.
Nor is the Distance great; let Jove assist,
The third Day lands us on the Cretian Shores.
He said; and paid the Gods their Honours due;
A Bull to Neptune; and a Bull to Thee,
Beauteous Apollo; to the stormy Pow'r
A sable Ewe; a white one to the smooth
Propitious Zephyrs. Fame reporting flies,
That, exil'd from his Realms, the Grecian Chief
Idomeneus had left the Coasts of Crete;
And now the Towns, abandon'd by our Foes,
Stood empty. We forsake Ortygia's Ports,
And fly upon the Sea: Then sail along
By Naxos, fam'd for Bacchanalian Hills,
Olearos, Donysa ever green,
And snowy Paros, and the Cyclades
Dispers'd among the Waves, and Seas thick sown
With various little Isles. A Noise confus'd
Of Sailors rises; All exhort to stand
For Crete, and seek th'Original of Troy.
A Gale, behind our Stern fresh springing, speeds
Our Voyage: On the ancient Coasts of Crete
At length we safe arrive. With eager haste
I lay Foundations of the long'd-for Town,
Call it Pergamea, and exhort our Friends,
Pleas'd with their Colony's new Name, to love
Their Homes, and rear a Fortress for Defence.
Scarce did our Vessels, drawn within the Port,
Rest on dry Land; The Youth to Nuptial Rites
Themselves apply'd, and till'd the new-found Soil;
Laws I assign'd them, and their fix'd Abodes.
When suddenly a dire malignant Plague
From Air infected, and the mortal Year
Seises their Blood, and blasts the Trees, and Corn.
They render their sweet Souls, or faintly drag
Their Bodies; Sirius burns the barren Fields;
The Pastures wither; And the sickly Grain
Denies us Food. My Father gives Advice
Again to pass the Ocean, and return
To Phœbus, and Ortygia's sacred Dome,
T'implore the Favour of the God, to ask
What End our Toils should find; by his Command
Whence we should seek Relief, or whither steer.
A Bull to Neptune; and a Bull to Thee,
Beauteous Apollo; to the stormy Pow'r
A sable Ewe; a white one to the smooth
Propitious Zephyrs. Fame reporting flies,
That, exil'd from his Realms, the Grecian Chief
Idomeneus had left the Coasts of Crete;
And now the Towns, abandon'd by our Foes,
Stood empty. We forsake Ortygia's Ports,
And fly upon the Sea: Then sail along
By Naxos, fam'd for Bacchanalian Hills,
Olearos, Donysa ever green,
And snowy Paros, and the Cyclades
149
With various little Isles. A Noise confus'd
Of Sailors rises; All exhort to stand
For Crete, and seek th'Original of Troy.
A Gale, behind our Stern fresh springing, speeds
Our Voyage: On the ancient Coasts of Crete
At length we safe arrive. With eager haste
I lay Foundations of the long'd-for Town,
Call it Pergamea, and exhort our Friends,
Pleas'd with their Colony's new Name, to love
Their Homes, and rear a Fortress for Defence.
Scarce did our Vessels, drawn within the Port,
Rest on dry Land; The Youth to Nuptial Rites
Themselves apply'd, and till'd the new-found Soil;
Laws I assign'd them, and their fix'd Abodes.
When suddenly a dire malignant Plague
From Air infected, and the mortal Year
Seises their Blood, and blasts the Trees, and Corn.
They render their sweet Souls, or faintly drag
Their Bodies; Sirius burns the barren Fields;
The Pastures wither; And the sickly Grain
Denies us Food. My Father gives Advice
Again to pass the Ocean, and return
To Phœbus, and Ortygia's sacred Dome,
T'implore the Favour of the God, to ask
What End our Toils should find; by his Command
Whence we should seek Relief, or whither steer.
'Twas Night; and Sleep possess'd the weary World.
Th'Effigies of our Trojan Country-Gods,
Whom from amidst the Fires of ruin'd Troy
I rescu'd, in my Sleep appear'd to stand
Before my Eyes; discover'd by the Light,
Where the full Moon profusely pour'd her Beams
Thro' the inserted Windows: Then they spoke,
And with such Words as These reliev'd my Cares.
Th'Effigies of our Trojan Country-Gods,
Whom from amidst the Fires of ruin'd Troy
150
Before my Eyes; discover'd by the Light,
Where the full Moon profusely pour'd her Beams
Thro' the inserted Windows: Then they spoke,
And with such Words as These reliev'd my Cares.
What Phœbus at Ortygia would unfold,
Thither should you repair, he here reveals
Unask'd; and Us to your Apartment sends.
We, who accompany from ruin'd Troy
You, and your Arms, and pass the swelling Deep
Under your Conduct, we to Heav'n will raise
Your future Progeny, and Empire give:
For mighty Nations seek you mighty Walls,
Nor e'er decline your Travel's tedious Toil.
Your Mansion must be chang'd: The Delian God
Assign'd you not These Coasts, the Shores of Crete.
There is a Place, by Greeks Hesperia call'd,
An ancient Land, renown'd in Arms, and rich
In fertil Glebe: The Oenotrians once possess'd,
And till'd the Soil; The Moderns now, 'tis said,
Have from their Chief the Land Italia nam'd.
This is your destin'd Seat; Hence Dardanus,
Iäsius hence; And from That Prince our Race
Descended: Rise, and to your aged Sire
With Joy relate These certain Tidings; Seek
The Realms of Coritus, Ausonian Realms;
Great Jove denies you the Dictæan Fields.
Thither should you repair, he here reveals
Unask'd; and Us to your Apartment sends.
We, who accompany from ruin'd Troy
151
Under your Conduct, we to Heav'n will raise
Your future Progeny, and Empire give:
For mighty Nations seek you mighty Walls,
Nor e'er decline your Travel's tedious Toil.
Your Mansion must be chang'd: The Delian God
Assign'd you not These Coasts, the Shores of Crete.
There is a Place, by Greeks Hesperia call'd,
An ancient Land, renown'd in Arms, and rich
In fertil Glebe: The Oenotrians once possess'd,
And till'd the Soil; The Moderns now, 'tis said,
Have from their Chief the Land Italia nam'd.
This is your destin'd Seat; Hence Dardanus,
Iäsius hence; And from That Prince our Race
Descended: Rise, and to your aged Sire
With Joy relate These certain Tidings; Seek
The Realms of Coritus, Ausonian Realms;
Great Jove denies you the Dictæan Fields.
Admonish'd thus by Vision of the Gods,
(Nor was it common Sleep; for plain I saw
Their Looks, their Forms, and Fillets of their Hair;
Then all my Limbs a clammy Sweat bedew'd:)
Eager I spring from Bed, and lift to Heav'n
My Hands with Pray'r, and on the holy Hearths
Offer pure Gifts. The Sacrifice perform'd;
Anchises joyful I acquaint, and all
In order tell. He, recollecting, owns
The double Parents, and ambiguous Race,
And his new Errour in the ancient Realms.
Then Thus: My Son, long exercis'd by Fate,
The Fate of Troy; To me These strange Events
None, but Cassandra, ever did foretel.
Now (I remember well) she oft pronounc'd
Those Kingdoms due to us; and often nam'd
Hesperia, and the Coasts of Italy.
But who would Then have thought the Trojan Race
Should ever at Hesperia's Shores arrive?
Or whom could Then by her prophetick Voice
Cassandra move? To Phœbus let us yield;
And better Measures, thus advis'd, pursue.
He said; we all with joyful Haste obey:
We leave a few behind; This Seat forsake;
Unfurl; and with our Vessels plough the Deep.
(Nor was it common Sleep; for plain I saw
152
Then all my Limbs a clammy Sweat bedew'd:)
Eager I spring from Bed, and lift to Heav'n
My Hands with Pray'r, and on the holy Hearths
153
Anchises joyful I acquaint, and all
In order tell. He, recollecting, owns
The double Parents, and ambiguous Race,
And his new Errour in the ancient Realms.
Then Thus: My Son, long exercis'd by Fate,
The Fate of Troy; To me These strange Events
None, but Cassandra, ever did foretel.
Now (I remember well) she oft pronounc'd
Those Kingdoms due to us; and often nam'd
Hesperia, and the Coasts of Italy.
154
Should ever at Hesperia's Shores arrive?
Or whom could Then by her prophetick Voice
Cassandra move? To Phœbus let us yield;
And better Measures, thus advis'd, pursue.
He said; we all with joyful Haste obey:
We leave a few behind; This Seat forsake;
Unfurl; and with our Vessels plough the Deep.
Now on the full extended Main, the Land
No more appear'd; but All was Sea, and Sky:
A dusky Cloud hung gather'd o'er my Head,
Bringing on Night, and Storm; Upon the Waves
Lay horrid Darkness: Boist'rous Winds confound
The rolling Sea, and mighty Billows rise.
We, scatter'd o'er the boundless Deep, are toss'd;
Tempests involve the Day; A Night of Rain
Obscures the Heav'ns: Repeated Light'nings flash
From bursting Clouds. We devious from our Course
Are driv'n; and wander o'er the darken'd Waves.
In the mid Sea, ev'n Palinure declares
Himself unable to distinguish Day
From Night, or know what Course we should pursue.
Three Days entire, uncertain of the Sun,
Darkling we rove; as many starless Nights:
On the fourth Morn scarce rising Land appears,
And distant Mountains op'ning roll the Smoke.
The Sails hang slack; our Crew with lab'ring Oars
Dash the curl'd Foam, and sweep the briny Waves.
No more appear'd; but All was Sea, and Sky:
A dusky Cloud hung gather'd o'er my Head,
Bringing on Night, and Storm; Upon the Waves
Lay horrid Darkness: Boist'rous Winds confound
The rolling Sea, and mighty Billows rise.
We, scatter'd o'er the boundless Deep, are toss'd;
Tempests involve the Day; A Night of Rain
Obscures the Heav'ns: Repeated Light'nings flash
From bursting Clouds. We devious from our Course
Are driv'n; and wander o'er the darken'd Waves.
In the mid Sea, ev'n Palinure declares
Himself unable to distinguish Day
From Night, or know what Course we should pursue.
155
Darkling we rove; as many starless Nights:
On the fourth Morn scarce rising Land appears,
And distant Mountains op'ning roll the Smoke.
The Sails hang slack; our Crew with lab'ring Oars
Dash the curl'd Foam, and sweep the briny Waves.
The Islands Strophades receive me first
Sav'd from the Tempest: Strophades the Greeks
Have nam'd them; Islands in th'Ionian Sea,
Which dire Celæno, and her Sister Plagues
The other Harpies haunt; excluded Now
From Phineus' Court, and forc'd by Fear to leave
Their former Banquets. Monsters more abhorr'd,
And Pests more execrable, by the Wrath
Of Gods, ne'er issu'd from the Stygian Lake.
Bodies of Birds with female Faces join'd;
A filthy Flux of Entrails; Hands with Claws
Hooky; and Visages for ever pale
With Hunger.
When, hither driv'n, we anchor'd in the Port;
Herds of fat Kine we saw, and browzing Goats,
Without a Keeper, straying o'er the Fields.
We rush among them with our Steel, invite
The Gods, and Jove himself to share the Prey;
Then spread our Tables on the winding Shore,
And there repos'd on plenteous Banquets feast.
When on a sudden from the Mountains Tops,
With horrible Descent, the Harpies come,
And shake their clatt'ring Wings; They snatch the Meat
Rav'nous, and all with tainting Touch defile:
An odious Scream, and noisom Stench, at once
Offend us. In a long Recess, beneath
An hollow Rock, fenc'd all around with Trees,
And gloomy Shade, a second time we spread
Our Tables, and on Altars lay the Fire.
A second time the Brood with hooky Claws,
And noisy Pinions, from their Coverts flock,
And from a diff'rent Quarter of the Sky;
And poison all our Feast. I then command
The Soldiers to betake them to their Arms,
And wage a War with That detested Race.
Just as commanded, they obey; conceal
Their Swords along the Grass, and hide their Shields.
Soon as descending with a Noise they came
Down on the crooked Shores, Misenus gave
The Trumpet's Signal from a lofty Rock;
Our Friends invade them, and new Battle try
With Those Sea-Birds accurst: Upon their Plumes,
And Bodies, no Impression they receive,
Invulnerable; but beneath the Stars
Speed their swift Flight, and leave the loathsom Print
Of their foul Feet, and the half-eaten Prey.
On a high Cliff alone Celæno sate,
Unlucky Prophetess; and Thus she spoke.
Sav'd from the Tempest: Strophades the Greeks
Have nam'd them; Islands in th'Ionian Sea,
Which dire Celæno, and her Sister Plagues
The other Harpies haunt; excluded Now
From Phineus' Court, and forc'd by Fear to leave
Their former Banquets. Monsters more abhorr'd,
And Pests more execrable, by the Wrath
Of Gods, ne'er issu'd from the Stygian Lake.
Bodies of Birds with female Faces join'd;
A filthy Flux of Entrails; Hands with Claws
Hooky; and Visages for ever pale
With Hunger.
When, hither driv'n, we anchor'd in the Port;
Herds of fat Kine we saw, and browzing Goats,
Without a Keeper, straying o'er the Fields.
We rush among them with our Steel, invite
The Gods, and Jove himself to share the Prey;
Then spread our Tables on the winding Shore,
156
When on a sudden from the Mountains Tops,
With horrible Descent, the Harpies come,
And shake their clatt'ring Wings; They snatch the Meat
Rav'nous, and all with tainting Touch defile:
An odious Scream, and noisom Stench, at once
Offend us. In a long Recess, beneath
An hollow Rock, fenc'd all around with Trees,
And gloomy Shade, a second time we spread
Our Tables, and on Altars lay the Fire.
A second time the Brood with hooky Claws,
And noisy Pinions, from their Coverts flock,
And from a diff'rent Quarter of the Sky;
And poison all our Feast. I then command
The Soldiers to betake them to their Arms,
And wage a War with That detested Race.
Just as commanded, they obey; conceal
Their Swords along the Grass, and hide their Shields.
Soon as descending with a Noise they came
Down on the crooked Shores, Misenus gave
The Trumpet's Signal from a lofty Rock;
Our Friends invade them, and new Battle try
With Those Sea-Birds accurst: Upon their Plumes,
And Bodies, no Impression they receive,
Invulnerable; but beneath the Stars
Speed their swift Flight, and leave the loathsom Print
Of their foul Feet, and the half-eaten Prey.
On a high Cliff alone Celæno sate,
157
War too, ye Offspring of Laomedon,
For slaughter'd Cattle, would you offer War?
And drive the harmless Harpies from their Realms?
Hear then, and in your Minds imprint my Words.
What Jove to Phœbus, Phœbus taught to Me,
The eldest Fury, I to You unfold.
For Italy you sail, and court the Winds;
At Italy you shall arrive, and there
Enter the Port: But never with it's Walls
Your fatal, promis'd City shall inclose;
'Till Famine dire, and Vengeance for our Wrongs
Force you for Food your Dishes to devour.
For slaughter'd Cattle, would you offer War?
And drive the harmless Harpies from their Realms?
Hear then, and in your Minds imprint my Words.
What Jove to Phœbus, Phœbus taught to Me,
The eldest Fury, I to You unfold.
For Italy you sail, and court the Winds;
At Italy you shall arrive, and there
Enter the Port: But never with it's Walls
Your fatal, promis'd City shall inclose;
'Till Famine dire, and Vengeance for our Wrongs
Force you for Food your Dishes to devour.
This said; with out-stretch'd Pinions back she flew
Into the Wood. Our Friends with sudden Fear
Are struck; Their Courage sinks, their Blood congeals:
And now no more of Arms; With Pray'rs, and Vows
They sue for Peace; whate'er Those Forms should prove,
Whether dire Goddesses, or Birds obscene.
But old Anchises, stretching from the Shore
His Hands, invokes the mighty Gods, devoting
Their Honours due: Ye Gods, forbid these Threats,
Avert such Ills, and save a pious Race.
He then commands to cut the twisted Cords,
And loose from Shore; the Southern Blasts extend
Our Sails; We fly upon the foaming Deep;
Which way soe'er our Pilot and the Winds
Direct our Course. And now amidst the Sea,
Woody Zacynthos to our Sight appears;
Dulichium, Same, Neritos with Rocks
Lofty: We fly the Cliffs of Ithaca,
Laertian Realms; and curse the native Soil
Of dire Ulysses. Next the cloudy Tops
Of Mount Leucate rise, and Phœbus' Fane
Dreaded by Mariners: We thither turn
Fatigu'd; and to the little Town proceed.
Our Anchors from the Prow are cast; The Sterns
Stand resting on the Shore. Beyond our hopes
Arriving here, we sacrifice to Jove;
And with the promis'd Fires his Altars blaze.
We celebrate upon the Actian Coasts
The Trojan Games: Our Friends along the Shore
With Trojan Wrestling exercise their Limbs
Naked, in slipp'ry Oil: They pleas'd reflect
On having pass'd so many Grecian Towns,
And steer'd the middle Course among our Foes.
Meanwhile the Sun rolls round the circling Year;
And icy Winter, harsh with Northern Winds,
Roughens the Sea: A Shield of hollow Brass
Which mighty Abas bore, upon the Posts
Adverse I fix; and This Inscription leave:
These Arms Æneas from the conqu'ring Greeks.
I then command our Crew to leave the Port,
And ply their Oars; With emulation fir'd
They dash the Sea, and sweep the briny Waves.
We soon lose Sight of high Phæacia's Tow'rs,
And coasting skim along Epirus' Shores;
Enter Chaonia's Harbour; and ascend
Buthrotus, lofty City. There a Fame
Of Things incredible surpriz'd our Ears;
That Trojan Helenus o'er Grecian Towns
Reign'd King, succeeding Pyrrhus; and possess'd
His Queen, and Throne: and that Andromache
Again was Consort to a Trojan Lord.
Amaz'd I burn with strong Desire, to greet
My Friend, and certain hear the strange Event.
I leave our Crew, our Navy, and the Port.
It chanc'd that then before the City's Walls,
Close in a Grove, near fancy'd Simois' Stream,
Andromache the mournful Off'rings paid,
And solemn Sacrifice at Hector's Tomb,
His empty Tomb; which, with two Altars built
On the green Turf, th'Incentives of her Grief,
She consecrated; and with Tears invok'd
His Manes. Me as soon as she beheld
Advancing towards her, and round me saw
The Trojan Arms; confounded, and amaz'd,
She stiffen'd at the Sight, and fainting fell:
After long time, at length scarce, fault'ring, spoke.
Your true Appearance? Come you, Goddess born,
Real, t'inform me? Live you? Or, if dead,
Where's Hector? Drown'd in Tears she spoke, and fill'd
The Place with Shrieks. To her o'erpower'd, with pain
I speak, and in few Words perplex'd reply.
I live indeed; and thro' all Perils drag
My Being; Doubt it not; for all you see
Is real.
You, torn alas! from such a Lord, what Chance
Befalls? Or else what Fortune more deserv'd?
And are You then, Hector's Andromache,
Become the Spouse of Pyrrhus? Prone to Earth
She bent her Eyes, and with low Voice reply'd.
Into the Wood. Our Friends with sudden Fear
Are struck; Their Courage sinks, their Blood congeals:
And now no more of Arms; With Pray'rs, and Vows
They sue for Peace; whate'er Those Forms should prove,
Whether dire Goddesses, or Birds obscene.
But old Anchises, stretching from the Shore
His Hands, invokes the mighty Gods, devoting
Their Honours due: Ye Gods, forbid these Threats,
Avert such Ills, and save a pious Race.
He then commands to cut the twisted Cords,
158
Our Sails; We fly upon the foaming Deep;
Which way soe'er our Pilot and the Winds
Direct our Course. And now amidst the Sea,
Woody Zacynthos to our Sight appears;
Dulichium, Same, Neritos with Rocks
Lofty: We fly the Cliffs of Ithaca,
Laertian Realms; and curse the native Soil
Of dire Ulysses. Next the cloudy Tops
Of Mount Leucate rise, and Phœbus' Fane
Dreaded by Mariners: We thither turn
Fatigu'd; and to the little Town proceed.
Our Anchors from the Prow are cast; The Sterns
Stand resting on the Shore. Beyond our hopes
Arriving here, we sacrifice to Jove;
And with the promis'd Fires his Altars blaze.
We celebrate upon the Actian Coasts
The Trojan Games: Our Friends along the Shore
With Trojan Wrestling exercise their Limbs
Naked, in slipp'ry Oil: They pleas'd reflect
On having pass'd so many Grecian Towns,
And steer'd the middle Course among our Foes.
159
And icy Winter, harsh with Northern Winds,
Roughens the Sea: A Shield of hollow Brass
Which mighty Abas bore, upon the Posts
Adverse I fix; and This Inscription leave:
These Arms Æneas from the conqu'ring Greeks.
I then command our Crew to leave the Port,
And ply their Oars; With emulation fir'd
They dash the Sea, and sweep the briny Waves.
We soon lose Sight of high Phæacia's Tow'rs,
And coasting skim along Epirus' Shores;
Enter Chaonia's Harbour; and ascend
Buthrotus, lofty City. There a Fame
Of Things incredible surpriz'd our Ears;
That Trojan Helenus o'er Grecian Towns
Reign'd King, succeeding Pyrrhus; and possess'd
His Queen, and Throne: and that Andromache
Again was Consort to a Trojan Lord.
Amaz'd I burn with strong Desire, to greet
My Friend, and certain hear the strange Event.
I leave our Crew, our Navy, and the Port.
It chanc'd that then before the City's Walls,
160
Andromache the mournful Off'rings paid,
And solemn Sacrifice at Hector's Tomb,
His empty Tomb; which, with two Altars built
161
She consecrated; and with Tears invok'd
His Manes. Me as soon as she beheld
162
The Trojan Arms; confounded, and amaz'd,
She stiffen'd at the Sight, and fainting fell:
After long time, at length scarce, fault'ring, spoke.
Your true Appearance? Come you, Goddess born,
Real, t'inform me? Live you? Or, if dead,
Where's Hector? Drown'd in Tears she spoke, and fill'd
The Place with Shrieks. To her o'erpower'd, with pain
I speak, and in few Words perplex'd reply.
I live indeed; and thro' all Perils drag
My Being; Doubt it not; for all you see
Is real.
You, torn alas! from such a Lord, what Chance
Befalls? Or else what Fortune more deserv'd?
163
Become the Spouse of Pyrrhus? Prone to Earth
She bent her Eyes, and with low Voice reply'd.
O! happy She, That Priameïan Maid,
Happy above the rest! who, doom'd to die
Beneath Troy's Walls, before an hostile Tomb,
Fell by no Lot to any Victor's Share;
Nor e'er ascended, as a Captive Queen,
His lordly Bed. I, toss'd thro' various Seas,
Far from my ruin'd Country, have endur'd
The haughty Achilléan Race, and bore
A Son in Servitude to That proud Youth;
Who afterwards, preferring in his Choice
Grecian Hermione, a Spartan Bride,
Transmitted me a Captive, to the Bed
Of Captive Helenus. But him, inflam'd
With Love, and Vengeance for his ravish'd Bride,
And wild with Guilt, Orestes unawares
Surpriz'd, and at his Country-Altars slew.
By Pyrrhus' Death the Kingdoms fell in part
Assign'd to Helenus; who all the Realms
From Trojan Chaon's Name Chaonia call'd,
And on These Mountains built the Trojan Tow'rs.
But You what Winds, what Fates have hither driv'n?
What God has brought you to our Coasts unknown?
How fares the young Ascanius? Does he live?
Does he yet live, and breath this vital Air?
Whom you, when Troy ------
Do's yet the Boy with Grief remember aught
Of his lost Mother? Does he, fir'd with Deeds
Of manly Virtue, copy out his Sire
Æneas, and his Uncle Hector's Fame?
Happy above the rest! who, doom'd to die
Beneath Troy's Walls, before an hostile Tomb,
Fell by no Lot to any Victor's Share;
Nor e'er ascended, as a Captive Queen,
His lordly Bed. I, toss'd thro' various Seas,
Far from my ruin'd Country, have endur'd
The haughty Achilléan Race, and bore
A Son in Servitude to That proud Youth;
Who afterwards, preferring in his Choice
Grecian Hermione, a Spartan Bride,
Transmitted me a Captive, to the Bed
Of Captive Helenus. But him, inflam'd
With Love, and Vengeance for his ravish'd Bride,
And wild with Guilt, Orestes unawares
Surpriz'd, and at his Country-Altars slew.
By Pyrrhus' Death the Kingdoms fell in part
Assign'd to Helenus; who all the Realms
From Trojan Chaon's Name Chaonia call'd,
And on These Mountains built the Trojan Tow'rs.
But You what Winds, what Fates have hither driv'n?
What God has brought you to our Coasts unknown?
How fares the young Ascanius? Does he live?
164
Whom you, when Troy ------
Do's yet the Boy with Grief remember aught
Of his lost Mother? Does he, fir'd with Deeds
Of manly Virtue, copy out his Sire
Æneas, and his Uncle Hector's Fame?
Weeping she spoke; and long Laments in vain
Protracted: When the Priameïan Prince,
Helenus, from the Town attended came,
With numerous Retinue. Soon he knows,
And owns his Friends, and joyful to his Walls
Conducts them; interrupting, all the Way,
His Speech with mingled Tears. I go, and view
His little Troy, Resemblance of the Great;
View the dry Banks of new-nam'd Xanthus' Stream,
And hug the Lintels of the Scæan Gate.
Nor less the Trojans share the friendly Town:
Them in large stately Rooms the King receives;
In the mid Court they feast with Bowls of Wine,
With massy Plate, and Banquets serv'd in Gold.
And now two Days were pass'd; the Winds invite
Our Canvass, and extend the swelling Sails;
Thus to the Prophet I address my Pray'r.
Trojan Interpreter of Heav'n, whose Skill
The sacred Oracle of Phœbus knows,
His Tripos, and his Laurel-Wreath, the Stars,
The Tongues of Birds, and Omens of their Flight;
Instruct me: For the Gods propitious all
My Voyage taught; and all their sacred Shrines
Persuaded me to seek th'Italian Coasts,
And find the Realms reserv'd for me by Fate.
Only Celæno, Harpy dire, predicts
Strange Prodigy; and (horrible to tell!)
Denounces vengeful Wrath, and Famine, Plague
Obscene. What Perils must I first escape?
And by what means surmount such mighty Toils?
Here Helenus, performing first the Rite
Accustom'd, sacrificing Oxen slain,
Implores the Favour of the Gods, unbinds
The Fillets of his consecrated Head;
And me sollicitous, in deep suspense
Revolving various Oracles, he leads
Strait to Thy Dome, O Phœbus: Then the Priest
Divine Thus opens his prophetick Mouth.
Protracted: When the Priameïan Prince,
Helenus, from the Town attended came,
With numerous Retinue. Soon he knows,
And owns his Friends, and joyful to his Walls
Conducts them; interrupting, all the Way,
His Speech with mingled Tears. I go, and view
His little Troy, Resemblance of the Great;
View the dry Banks of new-nam'd Xanthus' Stream,
And hug the Lintels of the Scæan Gate.
Nor less the Trojans share the friendly Town:
Them in large stately Rooms the King receives;
In the mid Court they feast with Bowls of Wine,
With massy Plate, and Banquets serv'd in Gold.
And now two Days were pass'd; the Winds invite
Our Canvass, and extend the swelling Sails;
Thus to the Prophet I address my Pray'r.
Trojan Interpreter of Heav'n, whose Skill
The sacred Oracle of Phœbus knows,
His Tripos, and his Laurel-Wreath, the Stars,
The Tongues of Birds, and Omens of their Flight;
Instruct me: For the Gods propitious all
My Voyage taught; and all their sacred Shrines
Persuaded me to seek th'Italian Coasts,
And find the Realms reserv'd for me by Fate.
165
Strange Prodigy; and (horrible to tell!)
Denounces vengeful Wrath, and Famine, Plague
Obscene. What Perils must I first escape?
And by what means surmount such mighty Toils?
Here Helenus, performing first the Rite
Accustom'd, sacrificing Oxen slain,
Implores the Favour of the Gods, unbinds
The Fillets of his consecrated Head;
And me sollicitous, in deep suspense
Revolving various Oracles, he leads
Strait to Thy Dome, O Phœbus: Then the Priest
Divine Thus opens his prophetick Mouth.
O Goddess-born, (For that you stem the Deep
Under the Conduct of the mightier Pow'rs,
Is manifest; So stands the Purpose fix'd
Of Jove, and such the Scheme of Fate's Decree:)
Few, among many, Things I will disclose;
That safe you may explore These foreign Seas,
And in th'Ausonian Harbour safe arrive:
The Fates permit not Helenus to know
The rest; and Juno's Pow'r forbids to speak.
First, from th'Italian Ports, which you so near
Imagine, ignorant, a long Extent
Of Ocean, and a Voyage difficult
Divide you: First Trinacrian Waves must bend
Your Oars; Ausonian Seas must be explor'd,
Th'infernal Lakes, Ææan Circe's Isle;
E'er you on Land secure can found your Walls.
The Sign I will foretell; Keep you in Mind
What I disclose. When anxious for your Fate
You shall beneath the Willows, on the Shore,
Fast by the secret River's gliding Stream,
Find a white Sow, and round her Teats her Young
Of the same Colour, lying on the Ground,
Thirty in Number; That shall be the Place
To found your City; There your certain Rest
From Toils. Nor you the future Famine fear,
Nor Dishes for your Food: The Fates will find
A Way; and Phœbus, when invok'd, assist.
But These near Borders of th'Italian Coasts,
Which next to Us are bounded by our Seas,
Avoid: The Cities by the hostile Greeks
Are all inhabited. The Locrians here,
Narician Colony, have built their Walls;
And with an armed Force Salentum's Fields
Lyctian Idomeneus has there possess'd:
Here Philoctetes, Melibœan Chief,
Little Petilia with a Wall secures.
But when your Ships rest wasted o'er the Main;
And you on Altars rais'd along the Shore
Pay your vow'd Off'rings; with a purple Veil
Cover your Head: left any hostile Face
Appearing, should disturb the solemn Rites,
The holy Fires, and Honour of the Gods.
This Form in Sacrificing let your Friends
With You observe; and let your future Race
Pious in this Religion persevere.
Under the Conduct of the mightier Pow'rs,
Is manifest; So stands the Purpose fix'd
Of Jove, and such the Scheme of Fate's Decree:)
Few, among many, Things I will disclose;
That safe you may explore These foreign Seas,
And in th'Ausonian Harbour safe arrive:
The Fates permit not Helenus to know
The rest; and Juno's Pow'r forbids to speak.
First, from th'Italian Ports, which you so near
Imagine, ignorant, a long Extent
Of Ocean, and a Voyage difficult
Divide you: First Trinacrian Waves must bend
Your Oars; Ausonian Seas must be explor'd,
166
E'er you on Land secure can found your Walls.
The Sign I will foretell; Keep you in Mind
What I disclose. When anxious for your Fate
You shall beneath the Willows, on the Shore,
Fast by the secret River's gliding Stream,
Find a white Sow, and round her Teats her Young
Of the same Colour, lying on the Ground,
Thirty in Number; That shall be the Place
To found your City; There your certain Rest
From Toils. Nor you the future Famine fear,
Nor Dishes for your Food: The Fates will find
A Way; and Phœbus, when invok'd, assist.
But These near Borders of th'Italian Coasts,
Which next to Us are bounded by our Seas,
Avoid: The Cities by the hostile Greeks
Are all inhabited. The Locrians here,
Narician Colony, have built their Walls;
And with an armed Force Salentum's Fields
Lyctian Idomeneus has there possess'd:
Here Philoctetes, Melibœan Chief,
Little Petilia with a Wall secures.
But when your Ships rest wasted o'er the Main;
And you on Altars rais'd along the Shore
Pay your vow'd Off'rings; with a purple Veil
167
Appearing, should disturb the solemn Rites,
The holy Fires, and Honour of the Gods.
This Form in Sacrificing let your Friends
With You observe; and let your future Race
Pious in this Religion persevere.
But when the Wind shall to Sicilia's Coast
Direct your Course, and strait Pelorus shew
It's narrow Passage; by a Circuit wide
Veer to the Left, the Left to Land and Sea;
Avoid the Right of Both. These Lands, 'tis said,
(So great the Changes made by Tract of Time)
With Ruin vast, and mighty Force convuls'd
Asunder broke: When Both were join'd in one
Continuous, intermediate came the Sea
With Rage impetuous; and with rushing Waves
Tore all Hesperia from Sicilia's Shores,
And by a narrow Frith the Fields and Towns
Divided. Scylla guards the Right, the Left
Implacable Charybdis; which, with Gulf
Voracious, thrice sucks in the broken Tides;
Then spouts them high, disgorg'd, into the Air,
Alternate, and with Billows beats the Stars.
But Scylla, with dark Caverns round inclos'd,
Uprears her Head, and draws among her Rocks
The Vessels: Human is her upper Part,
A Virgin's beauteous Face, and beauteous Breast,
Her nether Shape a monstrous Pristis join'd
To Tails of Dolphins, and the Wombs of Wolves.
'Tis better to survey Trinacria's Bounds,
And coast Pachynus, and with Voyage wide
To steer a winding Course; than once to see
In her vast Cave huge Scylla's hideous Form,
And Rocks rebellowing with cerulean Dogs.
Direct your Course, and strait Pelorus shew
It's narrow Passage; by a Circuit wide
Veer to the Left, the Left to Land and Sea;
Avoid the Right of Both. These Lands, 'tis said,
168
With Ruin vast, and mighty Force convuls'd
Asunder broke: When Both were join'd in one
Continuous, intermediate came the Sea
With Rage impetuous; and with rushing Waves
Tore all Hesperia from Sicilia's Shores,
And by a narrow Frith the Fields and Towns
Divided. Scylla guards the Right, the Left
Implacable Charybdis; which, with Gulf
Voracious, thrice sucks in the broken Tides;
Then spouts them high, disgorg'd, into the Air,
Alternate, and with Billows beats the Stars.
But Scylla, with dark Caverns round inclos'd,
Uprears her Head, and draws among her Rocks
The Vessels: Human is her upper Part,
A Virgin's beauteous Face, and beauteous Breast,
Her nether Shape a monstrous Pristis join'd
To Tails of Dolphins, and the Wombs of Wolves.
'Tis better to survey Trinacria's Bounds,
And coast Pachynus, and with Voyage wide
To steer a winding Course; than once to see
In her vast Cave huge Scylla's hideous Form,
And Rocks rebellowing with cerulean Dogs.
169
Besides; If Helenus has any Skill,
If any Faith, and if Apollo right
Inspires his Prophet; One thing, Goddess-born,
One thing, above the rest, I will advise,
And oft repeat it: With religious Pray'r
First Juno's Deity adore; to Her
Pay willing Sacrifices, and with Vows
Suppliant o'erpow'r the mighty Queen of Heav'n;
So, leaving Sicily, you shall at last
In Safety land upon th'Ausonian Shore.
When thither brought, you shall at Cumæ's Walls
Arrive, and entring see th'Avernian Lake,
The Lake Divine, resounding in the Woods;
A Prophetess you shall behold, with Rage
Enthusiastick, who beneath a Rock
Discloses Fate; and Characters, and Verse
Commits to Leaves. Whatever Lines on Leaves
The Virgin writes, she into Order just
Ranges, and lays them in her Grot secluse;
They in their Places rest unmov'd: But when,
The Door turn'd on it's Hinge, a Blast of Wind
Disturbs their Site; she never is concern'd
To catch them flying in her hollow Rock;
Never recalls them to their former Cells,
And marshals them no more: The Votaries
Depart untaught, and curse the Sibyl's Cave.
But let no Loss sustain'd by your Delay,
However great, deter you: Tho' your Friends
Impatient murmur, and the prosp'rous Gales
Invite your swelling Canvass; yet address
The holy Priestess, and with suppliant Pray'r
Intreat her to reveal your Fate by Speech,
By vocal Accents. She th'Inhabitants
Of Italy, and all your future Wars
Will teach, and how to suffer, or escape
Your ev'ry Labour: She, ador'd, will speed
Your Voyage. These are all the Things, which Fate
Permits my Voice t'inform you: Go, and raise
Great Troy, by deathless Actions, to the Stars.
If any Faith, and if Apollo right
Inspires his Prophet; One thing, Goddess-born,
One thing, above the rest, I will advise,
And oft repeat it: With religious Pray'r
First Juno's Deity adore; to Her
Pay willing Sacrifices, and with Vows
Suppliant o'erpow'r the mighty Queen of Heav'n;
So, leaving Sicily, you shall at last
In Safety land upon th'Ausonian Shore.
When thither brought, you shall at Cumæ's Walls
Arrive, and entring see th'Avernian Lake,
The Lake Divine, resounding in the Woods;
A Prophetess you shall behold, with Rage
Enthusiastick, who beneath a Rock
Discloses Fate; and Characters, and Verse
Commits to Leaves. Whatever Lines on Leaves
The Virgin writes, she into Order just
Ranges, and lays them in her Grot secluse;
They in their Places rest unmov'd: But when,
The Door turn'd on it's Hinge, a Blast of Wind
Disturbs their Site; she never is concern'd
170
Never recalls them to their former Cells,
And marshals them no more: The Votaries
Depart untaught, and curse the Sibyl's Cave.
But let no Loss sustain'd by your Delay,
However great, deter you: Tho' your Friends
Impatient murmur, and the prosp'rous Gales
Invite your swelling Canvass; yet address
The holy Priestess, and with suppliant Pray'r
Intreat her to reveal your Fate by Speech,
By vocal Accents. She th'Inhabitants
Of Italy, and all your future Wars
Will teach, and how to suffer, or escape
Your ev'ry Labour: She, ador'd, will speed
Your Voyage. These are all the Things, which Fate
Permits my Voice t'inform you: Go, and raise
Great Troy, by deathless Actions, to the Stars.
Thus when the friendly Prophet had advis'd;
He gives Command to carry to our Ships
Presents of polish'd Iv'ry, pond'rous Gold,
And Dodonæan Cauldrons, massy Plate,
A Coat of Mail compact with Hooks, and all
With triple Tissue wrought; a Helmet's Cone
With nodding Crest, the Helmet Pyrrhus wore:
My Father too with Presents he adorns,
Adds Steeds, and Pilots;
Refits our Oars, supplies our Crew with Arms.
Mean-while Anchises gives Command to spread
Our Canvass, nor retard the willing Winds.
Him with much Honour Thus the Royal Priest
Bespeaks. Anchises, favour'd with the Bed
Of Venus, Darling of the Gods, and twice
Rescu'd from ruin'd Troy; Before your Eyes
Behold Ausonia; make it with your Sails:
Yet still your Fleet must cruise along Those Coasts;
Far distant is That Part of Italy,
Which by Apollo is disclos'd: Go, blest
In your Son's Piety; Why speak I more?
And with my Words delay the rising Winds?
He gives Command to carry to our Ships
Presents of polish'd Iv'ry, pond'rous Gold,
And Dodonæan Cauldrons, massy Plate,
A Coat of Mail compact with Hooks, and all
With triple Tissue wrought; a Helmet's Cone
With nodding Crest, the Helmet Pyrrhus wore:
My Father too with Presents he adorns,
Adds Steeds, and Pilots;
Refits our Oars, supplies our Crew with Arms.
Mean-while Anchises gives Command to spread
171
Him with much Honour Thus the Royal Priest
Bespeaks. Anchises, favour'd with the Bed
Of Venus, Darling of the Gods, and twice
Rescu'd from ruin'd Troy; Before your Eyes
Behold Ausonia; make it with your Sails:
Yet still your Fleet must cruise along Those Coasts;
Far distant is That Part of Italy,
Which by Apollo is disclos'd: Go, blest
In your Son's Piety; Why speak I more?
And with my Words delay the rising Winds?
Nor less Andromache, with sad Farewel,
Brings to Ascanius Robes all wrought in Gold
With various Colours, and a Phrygian Cloak;
Loads him with rich embroider'd Vestments, nought
Inferiour in her Presents: Then she speaks.
Thou too, dear Youth, These Labours of my Hands
Receive, which long may testify the Love
Of Hector's Wife Andromache; Accept
These, the last Presents which thy Friends can give:
O Thou! the sole, surviving Image left
Of my Astyanax! Just so he look'd!
Such were his Gestures! such his Eyes, and Hands!
And now his Age had bloom'd with equal Years.
Brings to Ascanius Robes all wrought in Gold
With various Colours, and a Phrygian Cloak;
Loads him with rich embroider'd Vestments, nought
Inferiour in her Presents: Then she speaks.
Thou too, dear Youth, These Labours of my Hands
Receive, which long may testify the Love
Of Hector's Wife Andromache; Accept
These, the last Presents which thy Friends can give:
O Thou! the sole, surviving Image left
Of my Astyanax! Just so he look'd!
Such were his Gestures! such his Eyes, and Hands!
And now his Age had bloom'd with equal Years.
These at our last Farewell I thus address,
With rising Tears: Live happy, You, whose Toils
Already are completed: We from Fate
To Fate are summon'd; You have found your Rest:
You have no Ocean's wide Extent to plough,
No Italy, still flying, to pursue.
Xanthus in Imag'ry you see, and Troy
Which your own Hands have made; with more Success,
I hope, and less obnoxious to the Greeks.
If ever Tyber, and it's neighb'ring Fields
I see, and Walls allotted us by Fate;
Epirus, and Hesperia, kindred Realms,
By the same Founder Dardanus ally'd,
Ally'd by Fortune, we in future Times
Will in Affections make one Troy; and That
Shall be the Care of all our future Race.
With rising Tears: Live happy, You, whose Toils
172
To Fate are summon'd; You have found your Rest:
You have no Ocean's wide Extent to plough,
No Italy, still flying, to pursue.
Xanthus in Imag'ry you see, and Troy
Which your own Hands have made; with more Success,
I hope, and less obnoxious to the Greeks.
If ever Tyber, and it's neighb'ring Fields
I see, and Walls allotted us by Fate;
Epirus, and Hesperia, kindred Realms,
By the same Founder Dardanus ally'd,
Ally'd by Fortune, we in future Times
Will in Affections make one Troy; and That
Shall be the Care of all our future Race.
Close by Ceraunia's neighb'ring Coasts we sail;
From whence the nearest Passage o'er the Sea
To Italy. Mean-while the Sun declines,
And Ev'ning shades the Hills. Appointing Guards
By Lot to watch on Board, along the Shore
Upon the wish'd-for Land, we rest our Limbs,
And dewy Sleep relieves them. Nor as yet
Had Night, roll'd on by Hours, compleated half
It's Course: when Palinurus from his Bed
Rises industrious; all the Winds explores,
And in his Ear receives the Blasts; observes
The Stars all sliding in the silent Sky,
The rainy Hyades, and either Bear,
Arcturus, and Orion arm'd with Gold.
When all the Face of Heav'n he sees serene;
He gives the sounding Signal from his Ship:
We strike our Tents, and spread the Canvass Wings.
From whence the nearest Passage o'er the Sea
To Italy. Mean-while the Sun declines,
And Ev'ning shades the Hills. Appointing Guards
By Lot to watch on Board, along the Shore
Upon the wish'd-for Land, we rest our Limbs,
And dewy Sleep relieves them. Nor as yet
Had Night, roll'd on by Hours, compleated half
It's Course: when Palinurus from his Bed
Rises industrious; all the Winds explores,
173
The Stars all sliding in the silent Sky,
The rainy Hyades, and either Bear,
Arcturus, and Orion arm'd with Gold.
When all the Face of Heav'n he sees serene;
He gives the sounding Signal from his Ship:
We strike our Tents, and spread the Canvass Wings.
And now the Morning redden'd, and the Stars
Retreated; When at distance we beheld
The Hills obscure, and low Italian Plains.
Italia, first Achates crys aloud;
Italia all our Crew with joyful Shouts
Salute. Anchises then a Goblet crowns,
Fills it with Wine, and standing on the Deck
Aloft, invokes the Gods.
Ye Gods, Controulers of the Land, the Seas,
And Tempests; speed our Voyage by the Winds,
And breathe propitious. Strait the wish'd-for Gales
Swell fresh: The Harbour opens to our View
Now nearer; and Minerva's Temple high
Upon the Mountain rises to the Sight.
Our Crew contract their Sails, and make to Shore:
The Harbour Eastward bends into an Arch;
The Rocks foam, opposite, with dashing Waves;
Itself retires, and with a double Wall
The craggy Cliffs, rais'd high like Tow'rs, let down
Their Arms; And from the Shore the Temple flies.
Four Steeds (our first of Omens) here I saw
Of snow-white Colour, grazing on the Fields:
Then old Anchises; War, O foreign Land,
Thou dost denounce: These Steeds are arm'd for War.
But since accustom'd to the Rein they drew
The Chariot, and concordant Harness bore;
There still is Hope of Peace. We suppliant pray
To warlike Pallas; who receiv'd us first
Joyous; and here before the Altars wrap
Our Heads in Phrygian Veils: With solemn Rites
We then obey th'important Precepts giv'n
By Helenus; and, as by him advis'd,
To Grecian Juno pay the Honours due.
Our Vows religious orderly perform'd;
With quick Dispatch we shift our Sails, and leave
The Grecian Mansions, and suspected Fields.
Then next Tarentum's Bay is seen, renown'd
(If Fame be true) from Hercules: Oppos'd
To That, Lacinia's Temple rears it's Head;
And Caulon's Tow'rs; and Scylacæum fear'd
For Shipwrecks. Next, at distance, from the Main,
Trinacrian Ætna rises to our View;
The bellowing Sea, and beaten Rocks are heard
From far, and Noises breaking on the Shore:
The Shallows boil, and mix the Tide with Sand.
This is Charybdis, old Anchises crys;
These Helenus foretold, These dang'rous Rocks.
Veer off, my Friends; together ply your Oars.
Just as commanded, they obey; And first
The Fore-deck Palinurus to the Left
Turns round; Our gen'ral Crew with Oars, and Sails,
Make to the Left: High on a vaulted Wave
We mount to Heav'n; That sinking, down we fall,
Down to th'infernal Shades; Thrice roar'd the Rocks
Among their hollow Caverns; Thrice we saw
The dashing, broken Foam, and sprinkled Stars.
Retreated; When at distance we beheld
The Hills obscure, and low Italian Plains.
Italia, first Achates crys aloud;
Italia all our Crew with joyful Shouts
Salute. Anchises then a Goblet crowns,
Fills it with Wine, and standing on the Deck
Aloft, invokes the Gods.
Ye Gods, Controulers of the Land, the Seas,
And Tempests; speed our Voyage by the Winds,
And breathe propitious. Strait the wish'd-for Gales
Swell fresh: The Harbour opens to our View
Now nearer; and Minerva's Temple high
Upon the Mountain rises to the Sight.
Our Crew contract their Sails, and make to Shore:
The Harbour Eastward bends into an Arch;
The Rocks foam, opposite, with dashing Waves;
Itself retires, and with a double Wall
The craggy Cliffs, rais'd high like Tow'rs, let down
Their Arms; And from the Shore the Temple flies.
Four Steeds (our first of Omens) here I saw
Of snow-white Colour, grazing on the Fields:
Then old Anchises; War, O foreign Land,
Thou dost denounce: These Steeds are arm'd for War.
174
The Chariot, and concordant Harness bore;
There still is Hope of Peace. We suppliant pray
To warlike Pallas; who receiv'd us first
Joyous; and here before the Altars wrap
Our Heads in Phrygian Veils: With solemn Rites
We then obey th'important Precepts giv'n
By Helenus; and, as by him advis'd,
To Grecian Juno pay the Honours due.
Our Vows religious orderly perform'd;
With quick Dispatch we shift our Sails, and leave
The Grecian Mansions, and suspected Fields.
Then next Tarentum's Bay is seen, renown'd
(If Fame be true) from Hercules: Oppos'd
To That, Lacinia's Temple rears it's Head;
And Caulon's Tow'rs; and Scylacæum fear'd
For Shipwrecks. Next, at distance, from the Main,
Trinacrian Ætna rises to our View;
The bellowing Sea, and beaten Rocks are heard
From far, and Noises breaking on the Shore:
The Shallows boil, and mix the Tide with Sand.
This is Charybdis, old Anchises crys;
These Helenus foretold, These dang'rous Rocks.
Veer off, my Friends; together ply your Oars.
Just as commanded, they obey; And first
The Fore-deck Palinurus to the Left
175
Make to the Left: High on a vaulted Wave
We mount to Heav'n; That sinking, down we fall,
Down to th'infernal Shades; Thrice roar'd the Rocks
Among their hollow Caverns; Thrice we saw
The dashing, broken Foam, and sprinkled Stars.
Mean-while, amidst our Toils, the Wind, and Sun
Forsake us; And, unknowing of our Course,
We drive upon the Cyclops' Coasts: The Port
Fenc'd by it's Situation from the Winds,
And large itself: But Ætna Thunders nigh
In dreadful Ruins. With a Whirlwind's force
Sometimes it throws to Heav'n a pitchy Cloud,
Redden'd with Cinders, and involv'd in Smoke;
And tosses Balls of Flame, and licks the Stars.
Sometimes with loud Explosion high it hurls
Vast Rocks, and Entrails from the Mountain torn;
With roaring Noise slings molten Stones in Air,
And boils, and bellows, from it's lowest Caves.
'Tis said, the Bulk of huge Enceladus
Blasted with Light'ning, by This pond'rous Mount
Is crush'd; and Ætna, o'er him whelm'd, expires
Flame from it's burst Volcano's: And whene'er
He shifts his weary Side, Trinacria all
Groans trembling, and with Smoke obscures the Sky.
Forsake us; And, unknowing of our Course,
We drive upon the Cyclops' Coasts: The Port
Fenc'd by it's Situation from the Winds,
And large itself: But Ætna Thunders nigh
176
Sometimes it throws to Heav'n a pitchy Cloud,
Redden'd with Cinders, and involv'd in Smoke;
And tosses Balls of Flame, and licks the Stars.
177
Vast Rocks, and Entrails from the Mountain torn;
With roaring Noise slings molten Stones in Air,
And boils, and bellows, from it's lowest Caves.
178
Blasted with Light'ning, by This pond'rous Mount
Is crush'd; and Ætna, o'er him whelm'd, expires
Flame from it's burst Volcano's: And whene'er
He shifts his weary Side, Trinacria all
Groans trembling, and with Smoke obscures the Sky.
Shelter'd in Woods, that Night we bore the strange
And monstrous Prodigies; nor saw from whence
Those Noises came: For neither did the Stars
Appear, nor Light in all th'Expanse of Heav'n:
But Clouds o'ercast the Sky; and Dead of Night
Confin'd the Moon in Darkness. Now the Day
Returning with the Morning-Star arose,
And from the Pole Aurora's Dawn dispell'd
The dewy Shades: When issuing from the Woods
A strange unusual Figure of a Man,
With Looks emaciated, and wretched Garb,
Makes to the Shore, and suppliant spreads his Hands.
We turn ourselves, to mark him; Hideous Filth,
A Length of Beard, and Garments tagg'd with Thorns;
But for the rest, a Greek; and sent to Troy
In Grecian Wars. When he at distance saw
The Trojan Habits, and the Trojan Arms;
He stop'd a-while, confounded at the Sight;
Then headlong to the Shore, with Tears, and Pray'rs,
Flings himself forward: By the Stars, by Heav'n,
You I conjure, and by This vital Air,
Take me, Ye Trojans; to whatever Climes
You please, transport me; That will be enough:
One, I confess, I am of Grecian Race,
And came a Warriour to the Walls of Troy.
For which, if so That Injury require,
If such my Guilt; Disperse my mangled Limbs
O'er the wide Ocean: If I die, 'twill prove
Some Consolation, that I die by Men.
And monstrous Prodigies; nor saw from whence
179
Appear, nor Light in all th'Expanse of Heav'n:
But Clouds o'ercast the Sky; and Dead of Night
Confin'd the Moon in Darkness. Now the Day
Returning with the Morning-Star arose,
And from the Pole Aurora's Dawn dispell'd
The dewy Shades: When issuing from the Woods
A strange unusual Figure of a Man,
With Looks emaciated, and wretched Garb,
Makes to the Shore, and suppliant spreads his Hands.
We turn ourselves, to mark him; Hideous Filth,
A Length of Beard, and Garments tagg'd with Thorns;
But for the rest, a Greek; and sent to Troy
180
The Trojan Habits, and the Trojan Arms;
He stop'd a-while, confounded at the Sight;
Then headlong to the Shore, with Tears, and Pray'rs,
Flings himself forward: By the Stars, by Heav'n,
You I conjure, and by This vital Air,
Take me, Ye Trojans; to whatever Climes
You please, transport me; That will be enough:
One, I confess, I am of Grecian Race,
And came a Warriour to the Walls of Troy.
For which, if so That Injury require,
If such my Guilt; Disperse my mangled Limbs
O'er the wide Ocean: If I die, 'twill prove
Some Consolation, that I die by Men.
He said; and fix'd, and grov'ling on the Ground
Embrac'd our Knees. We urge him to declare
Who, and from whence he was, and how distress'd.
My Father's self, Anchises, in his Thoughts
Little deliberating, gives the Youth
His Hand; and with That present Pledge confirms
His wav'ring Mind: At length, reliev'd from Fear,
He Thus proceeds. To Ithaca my Birth
Is ow'd, and Achæmenides my Name;
Companion of Ulysses' hapless Toils.
Leaving my Father Adamastus, poor,
(And would to Heav'n That Fortune had remain'd)
I went to Troy. While here my frighted Friends
Forsook the cruel Mansions; me they left,
Unmindful, in the Cyclops' spacious Cave.
Dark is th'interior Grot, and vast; besmear'd
With Gore, and savage Feasts: Himself with Height
Immeasurable, stalks, and beats the Stars,
(Ye Gods, avert so great a Plague from Earth!)
Dire to the Sight, by no Address, or Speech
To be accosted. On raw, human Flesh,
And clotted Blood, he feeds. I saw him, stretch'd
In his mid Den, with Grasp prodigious seise
Two of our Number, and their Bodies dash
Against a Rock; The Floor bespatter'd swam
In Brains, and Blood: I saw him, as he chew'd
The Gobbets, dropping with black, ropy Gore;
And Limbs, yet living, sprawl'd between his Teeth.
Not unreveng'd indeed: nor did Ulysses
Patient endure it; or forget himself
In That Distress. For as He lay, with Neck
Reclin'd, immense, extended in his Cave,
Gorg'd with his Banquet, stupify'd with Wine,
Belching out gory Morsels in his Sleep,
Commix'd with crude, and indigested Draughts:
We, having first invok'd the mighty Gods,
And taking each his Post allotted, round
Inclose him all; and with our sharpen'd Steel
Bore out his broad, deep Eye, which single lay
Then hid beneath his griesly, frowning Front,
Wide as a Grecian Shield, or Phœbus' Lamp;
And, pleas'd, revenge the Manes of our Friends.
But fly, Ye Miserable; fly, and cut
Your Cables from the Shore.
For such, and huge, as Polypheme, who pens
His fleecy Flocks, and milks them in his Cave,
An hundred Cyclops more These winding Coasts
Inhabit round, and o'er the Mountains rove.
Thrice has the Moon renew'd her blunted Horns;
Since here in Woods, among the desert Dens
Of Beasts, I live; and from the Rocks behold
The monstrous Cyclops, trembling at the Sound
Of their big Voices, and their pond'rous Feet.
Berries, and stony Sloes the Trees afford,
Wretched Repast! and Herbage from the Mold
Pluck'd by the Roots sustains me. Gazing round,
Your Fleet I saw first steering to the Shore:
To That I soon resolv'd myself to join,
Whatever it should prove: It is enough
To have escap'd the execrable Race;
Do You by any Death. This Life destroy.
Embrac'd our Knees. We urge him to declare
Who, and from whence he was, and how distress'd.
My Father's self, Anchises, in his Thoughts
Little deliberating, gives the Youth
His Hand; and with That present Pledge confirms
His wav'ring Mind: At length, reliev'd from Fear,
He Thus proceeds. To Ithaca my Birth
181
Companion of Ulysses' hapless Toils.
Leaving my Father Adamastus, poor,
(And would to Heav'n That Fortune had remain'd)
I went to Troy. While here my frighted Friends
Forsook the cruel Mansions; me they left,
Unmindful, in the Cyclops' spacious Cave.
Dark is th'interior Grot, and vast; besmear'd
With Gore, and savage Feasts: Himself with Height
Immeasurable, stalks, and beats the Stars,
(Ye Gods, avert so great a Plague from Earth!)
Dire to the Sight, by no Address, or Speech
182
And clotted Blood, he feeds. I saw him, stretch'd
In his mid Den, with Grasp prodigious seise
Two of our Number, and their Bodies dash
Against a Rock; The Floor bespatter'd swam
In Brains, and Blood: I saw him, as he chew'd
The Gobbets, dropping with black, ropy Gore;
And Limbs, yet living, sprawl'd between his Teeth.
Not unreveng'd indeed: nor did Ulysses
Patient endure it; or forget himself
In That Distress. For as He lay, with Neck
Reclin'd, immense, extended in his Cave,
Gorg'd with his Banquet, stupify'd with Wine,
Belching out gory Morsels in his Sleep,
Commix'd with crude, and indigested Draughts:
We, having first invok'd the mighty Gods,
And taking each his Post allotted, round
Inclose him all; and with our sharpen'd Steel
Bore out his broad, deep Eye, which single lay
Then hid beneath his griesly, frowning Front,
183
And, pleas'd, revenge the Manes of our Friends.
But fly, Ye Miserable; fly, and cut
Your Cables from the Shore.
For such, and huge, as Polypheme, who pens
His fleecy Flocks, and milks them in his Cave,
An hundred Cyclops more These winding Coasts
Inhabit round, and o'er the Mountains rove.
Thrice has the Moon renew'd her blunted Horns;
Since here in Woods, among the desert Dens
Of Beasts, I live; and from the Rocks behold
The monstrous Cyclops, trembling at the Sound
Of their big Voices, and their pond'rous Feet.
Berries, and stony Sloes the Trees afford,
Wretched Repast! and Herbage from the Mold
Pluck'd by the Roots sustains me. Gazing round,
Your Fleet I saw first steering to the Shore:
To That I soon resolv'd myself to join,
Whatever it should prove: It is enough
To have escap'd the execrable Race;
Do You by any Death. This Life destroy.
He scarce had spoke; when on the Mountain's Top
Himself we saw, th'enormous Polypheme,
Shepherd among his Flocks, with Bulk immense
Moving along, and seeking the known Shores.
An eyeless Monster, hideous, vast, deform!
A Pine's huge Trunk directs his Hand, and firms
His Steps; His wooly Sheep attend his Walk,
(Those were his sole Delight) and from his Neck
His Pipe hangs down, the Solace of his Woe.
Soon as he reach'd the Ocean's Waves profound;
He rins'd his empty Socket from the Blood,
Gnashing his Teeth with Groans: Then stalk'd along
Thro' the mid Ocean; Nor did yet the Waves
Tinge his tall Sides. We trembling speed our Flight
With eager haste, receiving him on Board,
At his Request, who had so well deserv'd;
And silent cut the Cords, and sweep the Sea
With struggling Oars. He heard; and to the Sound
Quick turn'd his steps: But when he found his Hand
Short of it's Reach affected, and no Pow'r
To ford in close Pursuit th'Iönian Gulf;
He rais'd a hideous Yell; at which the Sea
Trembled, and all it's Waves: Italia quak'd;
And Ætna bellow'd from it's winding Caves.
Rous'd by the Noise, the whole Cyclopean Race
Rush from the Woods, and Mountains, to the Port;
And fill the Shore. We see th'Ætnæan Brood
(Dreadful Assembly!) stand, and sternly roll
Their Eyes in vain, and rear their tow'ring Heads
To Heav'n: As when, upon a Mountain's Top,
Aërial Oaks, or Cypress-Cones stand high,
The Thicket of Diana, or of Jove.
Fear wings our Friends precipitate, to tack
To any Point, and turn our Sails where-e'er
The Wind permits: But contrary th'Advice
Of Helenus directs them not to run
'Twixt Scylla, and Charybdis, either way
Bord'ring on Death: Consulting we resolve
Backwards to bend our Course. When Boreas, sent
From strait Pelorus, blows: I sail along
Close by Pantagia's Mouth of living Stone,
Megara's narrow Frith, and Tapsus low;
Such Coasts were shewn by Achæmenides
Companion of Ulysses' hapless Toils,
Which he before had wander'd, now review'd.
Against Sicania's Bay an Island lies,
Oppos'd to rough Plemmyrium, nam'd of old
Ortygia: Here, 'tis said, Alphëus, Stream
Of Elis, underneath the Ocean urg'd
His secret Way; now rushing thro' thy Mouth,
O Arethusa, in Sicilia's Sea
Loses his blended Waves. Advis'd, we pray
The mighty Deities who There preside:
And thence we pass along the fertil Soil
Of stagnating Helorus; Thence the Cliffs
Of high Pachynus stretch'd into the Main;
And Camarina, made by Fate unmov'd,
Appears at distance; The Geloian Fields,
And spacious Gela from the River nam'd.
Thence Agragas from far it's lofty Walls
Uprears, the Breeder once of gen'rous Steeds.
Thee too, with full extended Sails I leave,
Palmy Selinus; and the hidden Rocks
In Lilybéum's stony Shallows. Thence
The Port of Drepanum, a joyless Coast,
Receives me. Here alas! so many Storms
Escap'd, I lose the Solace of my Toils,
My Sire Anchises: Here you leave me, Best
Of Fathers, from such Dangers sav'd in vain.
Nor did Prophetick Helenus, amidst
So great a Number of predicted Woes,
Nor dire Celæno, That hard Fate foretel.
This was my last of Labours; This the Bound
Of my long Travels: Parting hence I came,
By Providence directing, to your Coasts.
Himself we saw, th'enormous Polypheme,
Shepherd among his Flocks, with Bulk immense
Moving along, and seeking the known Shores.
An eyeless Monster, hideous, vast, deform!
184
His Steps; His wooly Sheep attend his Walk,
(Those were his sole Delight) and from his Neck
His Pipe hangs down, the Solace of his Woe.
Soon as he reach'd the Ocean's Waves profound;
He rins'd his empty Socket from the Blood,
Gnashing his Teeth with Groans: Then stalk'd along
Thro' the mid Ocean; Nor did yet the Waves
Tinge his tall Sides. We trembling speed our Flight
With eager haste, receiving him on Board,
At his Request, who had so well deserv'd;
And silent cut the Cords, and sweep the Sea
With struggling Oars. He heard; and to the Sound
Quick turn'd his steps: But when he found his Hand
Short of it's Reach affected, and no Pow'r
185
He rais'd a hideous Yell; at which the Sea
Trembled, and all it's Waves: Italia quak'd;
And Ætna bellow'd from it's winding Caves.
Rous'd by the Noise, the whole Cyclopean Race
Rush from the Woods, and Mountains, to the Port;
And fill the Shore. We see th'Ætnæan Brood
(Dreadful Assembly!) stand, and sternly roll
Their Eyes in vain, and rear their tow'ring Heads
186
Aërial Oaks, or Cypress-Cones stand high,
The Thicket of Diana, or of Jove.
Fear wings our Friends precipitate, to tack
To any Point, and turn our Sails where-e'er
The Wind permits: But contrary th'Advice
Of Helenus directs them not to run
'Twixt Scylla, and Charybdis, either way
Bord'ring on Death: Consulting we resolve
Backwards to bend our Course. When Boreas, sent
From strait Pelorus, blows: I sail along
Close by Pantagia's Mouth of living Stone,
Megara's narrow Frith, and Tapsus low;
Such Coasts were shewn by Achæmenides
Companion of Ulysses' hapless Toils,
Which he before had wander'd, now review'd.
Against Sicania's Bay an Island lies,
Oppos'd to rough Plemmyrium, nam'd of old
Ortygia: Here, 'tis said, Alphëus, Stream
Of Elis, underneath the Ocean urg'd
187
O Arethusa, in Sicilia's Sea
Loses his blended Waves. Advis'd, we pray
The mighty Deities who There preside:
And thence we pass along the fertil Soil
Of stagnating Helorus; Thence the Cliffs
Of high Pachynus stretch'd into the Main;
And Camarina, made by Fate unmov'd,
Appears at distance; The Geloian Fields,
And spacious Gela from the River nam'd.
Thence Agragas from far it's lofty Walls
Uprears, the Breeder once of gen'rous Steeds.
Thee too, with full extended Sails I leave,
Palmy Selinus; and the hidden Rocks
In Lilybéum's stony Shallows. Thence
The Port of Drepanum, a joyless Coast,
Receives me. Here alas! so many Storms
Escap'd, I lose the Solace of my Toils,
My Sire Anchises: Here you leave me, Best
Of Fathers, from such Dangers sav'd in vain.
Nor did Prophetick Helenus, amidst
So great a Number of predicted Woes,
Nor dire Celæno, That hard Fate foretel.
This was my last of Labours; This the Bound
188
By Providence directing, to your Coasts.
Thus Prince Æneas, while All silent sate,
Alone related the Decrees of Heav'n,
And his own Voyages describ'd: He stop'd
At length, and ending here retir'd to Rest.
Alone related the Decrees of Heav'n,
And his own Voyages describ'd: He stop'd
At length, and ending here retir'd to Rest.
The End of the Third Book.
| The Works of Virgil | |