Complete Works of Virgil

by Virgil

  Naught happens here but as the Gods ordain.

  It may not be, nor doth the Lord divine

  Of high Olympus nor the Fates design

  That thou should’st take Creusa. Seas remain

  To plough, long years of exile must be thine,

  Ere thou at length Hesperia’s land shalt gain, 937

  Where Lydian Tiber glides through many a peopled plain.

  CVI . “‘Wide rule and happy days await thee there,

  And royal marriage shall thy portion be.

  Weep not for lov’d Creusa, weep not; ne’er

  To Grecian women shall I bow the knee,

  Never in Argos see captivity,

  I, who my lineage from the Dardans tell,

  Allied to Venus. Now, by Fate’s decree,

  Here with the mother of the Gods I dwell. 946

  Farewell, and guard in love our common child. Farewell!’

  CVII . “So spake she, and with weeping eyes I yearned

  To answer, wondering at the words she said,

  When lo, the shadowy spirit, as I turned,

  Dissolved in air, and in a moment fled.

  Thrice round the neck with longing I essayed

  To clasp the phantom in a wild delight;

  Thrice, vainly clasped, the visionary shade

  Mocked me embracing, and was lost to sight, 955

  Swift as a wingèd wind or slumber of the night.

  CVIII . “Back to my friends I hasten. There, behold,

  Matrons and men, a miserable band,

  Gathered for exile. From each side they shoaled,

  Resolved and ready over sea and land

  My steps to follow, where the Fates command.

  Now over Ida shone the day-star bright;

  Greeks swarmed at every entrance; help at hand

  Seemed none. I yield, and, hurrying from the fight, 964

  Take up my helpless sire, and climb the mountain height.”

  BOOK THREE

  ARGUMENT

  In obedience to oracles the Trojans build a fleet and sail to Thrace (1-18). Seeking to found a city, they are warned away by the ghost of Polydorus and visit Anius in Ortygia (19-99). Apollo promises Æneas and his descendants world-wide empire if they return to “the ancient motherland” of Troy, — which Anchises declares to be Crete (100-144). They reach Crete, only to be again baffled. Drought and plague interrupt this second attempt to found a city. On the point of returning to ask Apollo for clearer counsel, Æneas in a dream is certified by the home-gods of Troy that the true motherland is Italy (145-207). Anchises owns his mistake, and recalls how Cassandra had in other days been mocked for prophesying that Troy should eventually be transplanted to Italy (208-225). Landing in the Strophades, they unwittingly wrong the Harpies, whose queen Celaeno thereupon threatens them with a portentous famine. Panic-stricken, they coast along to Actium, where they celebrate their national games and leave a defiance to the Greeks (226-342). At Buthrotum they find Helenus and Andromache in possession of the kingdom of Pyrrhus, and by them are entertained awhile and sent upon their way with gifts and guidance (343-577). The voyage from Dyrrhachium and the first glimpse of Italy. They land and propitiate Juno: then coast along till they sight Mount Ætna (578-666). After a description of the rescue of Achemenides and the escape from Polyphemus, the voyage and the story end with the death of Anchises at Drepanum (667-819).

  I . “When now the Gods have made proud Ilion fall,

  And Asia’s power and Priam’s race renowned

  O’erwhelmed in ruin undeserved, and all

  Neptunian Troy lies smouldering on the ground,

  In desert lands, to diverse exile bound,

  Celestial portents bid us forth to fare;

  Where Ida’s heights above Antandros frowned,

  A fleet we build, and gather crews, unware 1

  Which way the Fates will lead, what home is ours and where.

  II . “Scarce now the summer had begun, when straight

  My father, old Anchises, gave command

  To spread our canvas and to trust to Fate.

  Weeping, I leave my native port, the land,

  The fields where once the Trojan towers did stand,

  And, homeless, launch upon the boundless brine,

  Heart-broken outcast, with an exiled band,

  Comrades, and son, and household gods divine, 10

  And the great Gods of Troy, the guardians of our line.

  III . “Far off there lies, with many a spacious plain,

  The land of Mars, by Thracians tilled and sown,

  Where stern Lycurgus whilom held his reign;

  A hospitable shore, to Troy well-known,

  Her home-gods leagued in union with our own,

  While Fortune smiled. Hither, with fates malign,

  I steer, and landing for our purposed town

  The walls along the winding shore design, 19

  And coin for them a name ‘Æneadæ’ from mine.

  IV . “Due rites to Venus and the gods I bore,

  The work to favour, and a sleek, white steer

  To Heaven’s high King was slaughtering on the shore.

  With cornel shrubs and many a prickly spear

  Of myrtle crowned, it chanced a mound was near.

  Thither I drew, and strove with eager hold

  A green-leaved sapling from the soil to tear,

  To shade with boughs the altars, when behold 28

  A portent, weird to see and wondrous to unfold!

  V . “Scarce the first stem uprooted, from the wood

  Black drops distilled, and stained the earth with gore.

  Cold horror shook me, in my veins the blood

  Was chilled, and curdled with affright. Once more

  A limber sapling from the soil I tore;

  Once more, persisting, I resolved in mind

  With inmost search the causes to explore

  And probe the mystery that lurked behind; 37

  Dark drops of blood once more come trickling from the rind.

  VI . “Much-musing, to the woodland nymphs I pray,

  And Mars, the guardian of the Thracian plain,

  With favouring grace the omen to allay,

  And bless the dreadful vision. Then again

  A third tall shaft I grasp, with sinewy strain

  And firm knees pressed against the sandy ground;

  When O! shall tongue make utterance or refrain?

  Forth from below a dismal, groaning sound 46

  Heaves, and a piteous voice is wafted from the mound:

  VII . “‘Spare, O Æneas, spare a wretch, nor shame

  Thy guiltless hands, but let the dead repose.

  From Troy, no alien to thy race, I came.

  O, fly this greedy shore, these cruel foes!

  Not from the tree — from Polydorus flows

  This blood, for I am Polydorus. Here

  An iron crop o’erwhelmed me, and uprose

  Bristling with pointed javelins.’ — Mute with fear, 55

  Perplext, aghast I stood, and upright rose my hair.

  VIII . “This Polydorus Priam from the war

  To Thracia’s King in secret had consigned

  With store of gold, when, girt with siege, he saw

  Troy’s towers, and trust in Dardan arms resigned.

  But when our fortune and our hopes declined,

  The treacherous King the conqueror’s cause professed,

  And, false to faith, to friendship and to kind,

  Slew Polydorus, and his wealth possessed. 64

  Curst greed of gold, what crimes thy tyrant power attest!

  IX . “Now, freed from terror, to my father first,

  Then to choice friends the vision I declare.

  All vote to sail, and quit the shore accurst.

  So to his shade, with funeral rites, we rear

  A mound, and altars to the dead prepare,

  Wreathed with dark cypress. Round them, as of yore,
r />   Pace Troy’s sad matrons, with their streaming hair.

  Warm milk from bowls, and holy blood we pour, 73

  And thrice with loud farewell the peaceful shade deplore.

  X . “Soon as our ships can trust the deep once more,

  And South-winds chide, and Ocean smiles serene,

  We crowd the beach, and launch, and town and shore

  Fade from our view. Amid the waves is seen

  An island, sacred to the Nereids’ queen

  And Neptune, lord of the Ægean wave,

  Which, floating once, Apollo fixed between

  High Myconos and Gyarus, and gave 82

  For man’s resort, unmoved the blustering winds to brave.

  XI . “Hither we sail and on this island fair,

  Worn out, find welcome in a sheltered bay,

  And, landing, hail Apollo’s town with prayer.

  King Anius here, enwreath’d with laurel spray,

  The priest of Phoebus meets us on the way;

  With joy at once he recognised again

  His friend Anchises of an earlier day.

  And joining hands in fellowship, each fain 91

  To show a friendly heart the palace-halls we gain.

  XII . “There, in a temple built of ancient stone

  I worship: ‘Grant, Thymbrean lord divine,

  A home, a settled city of our own,

  Walls to the weary, and a lasting line,

  To Troy another Pergamus. Incline

  And harken. Save these Dardans sore-distrest,

  The remnant of Achilles’ wrath. Some sign

  Vouchsafe us, whom to follow? where to rest? 100

  Steal into Trojan hearts, and make thy power confessed.’

  XIII . “Scarce spake I, suddenly the bays divine

  Shook, and a trembling seized the temple door.

  The mountain heaves, and from the opening shrine

  Loud moans the tripod. Prostrate on the floor

  We hear a voice; ‘Brave hearts, the land that bore

  Your sires shall nurse their Dardan sons again.

  Seek out your ancient mother; from her shore

  Through all the world the Æneian house shall reign, 109

  And sons of sons unborn the lasting line sustain.’

  XIV . “Straight rose a joyous uproar; each in turn

  Ask what the walls that Phoebus hath designed?

  Which way to wander, whither to return?

  Then spake my sire, revolving in his mind

  The ancient legends of the Trojan kind,

  ‘Chieftains, give ear, and learn your hopes and mine;

  Jove’s island lies, amid the deep enshrined,

  Crete, hundred-towned, a land of corn and wine, 118

  Where Ida’s mountain stands, the cradle of our line.

  XV . “‘Thence Troy’s great sire, if I remember right,

  Old Teucer, to Rhoeteum crossed the flood,

  And for his future kingdom chose a site.

  Nor yet proud Ilion nor her towers had stood;

  In lowly vales sequestered they abode.

  Thence Corybantian cymbals clashed and brayed

  In praise of Cybele. In Ida’s wood

  Her mystic rites in secrecy were paid, 127

  And lions, yoked in pomp, their sovereign’s car conveyed.

  XVI . “‘Come then and seek we, as the gods command,

  The Gnosian kingdoms, and the winds entreat.

  Short is the way, nor distant lies the land.

  If Jove be present and assist our fleet,

  The third day lands us on the shores of Crete.’

  So spake he and on altars, reared aright,

  Due victims offered, and libations meet;

  A bull to Neptune and Apollo bright, 136

  To tempest a black lamb, to Western winds a white.

  XVII . “Fame flies, Idomeneus has left the land,

  Expelled his kingdom; that the shore lies clear

  Of foes, and homes are ready to our hand.

  Ortygia’s port we leave, and skim the mere;

  Soon Naxos’ Bacchanalian hills appear,

  And past Olearos and Donysa, crowned

  With trees, and Paros’ snowy cliffs we steer.

  Far-scattered shine the Cyclades renowned, 145

  And clustering isles thick-sown in many a glittering sound.

  XVIII . “Loud rise the shouts of sailors to the sky;

  ‘Crete and our fathers,’ rings for all to hear

  The cry of oarsmen. Through the deep we fly;

  Behind us sings the stern breeze loud and clear.

  So to the shores of ancient Crete we steer.

  There in glad haste I trace the wished-for town,

  And call the walls ‘Pergamea,’ and cheer

  My comrades, glorying in the name well-known, 154

  The castled keep to raise, and guard the loved hearth-stone.

  XIX . “Scarce stand the vessels hauled upon the beach,

  And bent on marriages the young men vie

  To till new settlements, while I to each

  Due law dispense and dwelling place supply,

  When from a tainted quarter of the sky

  Rank vapours, gathering, on my comrades seize,

  And a foul pestilence creeps down from high

  On mortal limbs and standing crops and trees, 163

  A season black with death, and pregnant with disease.

  XX . “Sweet life from mortals fled; they drooped and died.

  Fierce Sirius scorched the fields, and herbs and grain

  Were parched, and food the wasting crops denied.

  Once more Anchises bids us cross the main

  And seek Ortygia, and the god constrain

  By prayer to pardon and advise, what end

  Of evils to expect? what woes remain?

  What fate hereafter shall our steps attend? 172

  What rest for toil-worn men, and whitherward to wend?

  XXI . “’Twas night; on earth all creatures were asleep,

  When lo! the figures of our gods, the same

  Whom erst from falling Ilion o’er the deep

  I brought, scarce rescued from the midmost flame,

  Before me, sleepless for my country’s shame,

  Stood plain, in plenteousness of light confessed,

  Where streaming through the sunken lattice came

  The moon’s full splendour, and their speech addressed, 181

  And I in heart took comfort, hearing their behest.

  XXII . “‘Lo! what Apollo from Ortygia’s shrine

  Would sing, unasked he sends us to proclaim.

  We who have followed o’er the billowy brine

  Thee and thine arms, since Ilion sank in flame,

  Will raise thy children to the stars, and name

  Thy walls imperial. Thou build them meet

  For heroes. Shrink not from thy journey’s aim,

  Though long the way. Not here thy destined seat, 190

  So saith the Delian god, not thine the shores of Crete.

  XXIII . “‘Far off there lies, across the rolling wave,

  An ancient land, which Greeks Hesperia name;

  Her soil is fruitful and her people brave.

  Th’ OEnotrians held it once, by later fame

  The name Italia from their chief they claim.

  Thence sprang great Dardanus; there lies thy seat;

  Thence sire Iasius and the Trojans came.

  Rise, and thy parent with these tidings greet, 199

  To seek Ausonian shores, for Jove denies thee Crete.’

  XXIV . “Awed by the vision and the voice divine

  (’Twas no mere dream; their very looks I knew,

  I saw the fillets round their temples twine,

  And clammy sweat did all my limbs bedew)

  Forthwith, upstarting, from the couch I flew,

  And hands and voice together raised in prayer,

  And wine unm
ixt upon the altars threw.

  This done, to old Anchises I repair, 208

  Pleased with the rites fulfilled, and all the tale declare.

  XXV . “The two-fold race Anchises understands,

  The double sires, and owns himself misled

  By modern error ‘twixt two ancient lands.

  ‘O son, long trained in Ilian fates,’ he said,

  This chance Cassandra, she alone, displayed.

  Oft to Hesperia and Italia’s reign

  She called us. Ah! who listened or obeyed?

  Who dreamed that Teucrians should Hesperia gain? 217

  Yield we to Phoebus now, nor wisdom’s words disdain.’

  XXVI . “All hail the speech. We quit this other home,

  And leaving here a handful on the shore,

  Spread sail and scour with hollow keel the foam.

  The fleet was on mid ocean; land no more

  Was visible, naught else above, before

  But sky and sea, when overhead did loom

  A storm-cloud, black as heaven itself, that bore

  Dark night and wintry tempest in its womb, 226

  And all the waves grew rough and shuddered with the gloom.

  XXVII . “Winds roll the waters, and the great seas rise.

  Dispersed we welter on the gulfs. Damp night

  Has snatched with rain the heaven from our eyes,

  And storm-mists in a mantle wrapt the light.

  Flash after flash, and for a moment bright,

  Quick lightnings rend the welkin. Driven astray

  We wander, robbed of reckoning, reft of sight.

  No difference now between the night and day 235

  E’en Palinurus sees, nor recollects the way.

  XXVIII . “Three days, made doubtful by the blinding gloom,

  As many nights, when not a star is seen,

  We wander on, uncertain of our doom.

  At last the fourth glad daybreak clears the scene,

  And rising land, and opening uplands green,

  And rolling smoke at distance greet the view.

  No longer tarrying; to our oars we lean.

  Down drop the sails; in order ranged, each crew 244

  Flings up the foam to heaven, and sweeps the sparkling blue.