by Virgil
Parthian or Cretan — and in darkling flight
The shaft, with cureless venom in its sting,
Screams through the shadows; so, arrayed in might, 991
Swift to the earth came down the daughter of the Night.
CXII . But when Troy’s host and Turnus’ ranks were known,
Shrunk to the semblance of a bird in size,
Which oft on tombs or ruined roofs alone
Sits late at night, and with ill-omened cries
Vexes the darkness; so in dwarfed disguise
The foul fiend, shrieking around Turnus’ head,
Flaps on his shield, and flutters o’er his eyes.
Strange torpor numbs the Daunian’s limbs with dread; 1000
The stiffening hair stands up, and all his voice is dead.
CXIII . The rustling wings Juturna knew, and tore
Her comely face, and rent her scattered hair,
And smote her breast: “O cruel me! what more
For Turnus can a sister now? What care
Or craft thy days can lengthen? Can I dare
To face this fiend? At last, at last I go,
And quit the field. Foul birds, avaunt, nor scare
My fluttering soul. Too well the sounds of woe, 1009
Those beating wings, — too well great Jove’s behest I know.
CXIV . “This for my robbed virginity? Ah, why
Did immortality the Sire bestow,
And grudge a mortal’s privilege — to die?
Else, sure this moment could I end my woe,
And with my hapless brother pass below.
Immortal I? What joy hath aught beside,
Thou, Turnus, dead? Gape, Earth, and let me go,
A Goddess, to the shades!” She spake, and sighed, 1018
And, veiled in azure mantle, plunged beneath the tide.
CXV . But fierce Æneas on his foeman pressed.
His tree-like spear he poises for the fray,
And pours the pent-up fury of his breast.
“Why stay’st thou, Turnus? Wherefore this delay?
Fierce arms, not swiftness, must decide the day.
Shift as thou wilt, and every shape assume;
Exhaust thy courage and thy craft, and pray
For wings to soar with, or in earth’s dark womb 1027
Sink low thy recreant head, and hide thee from thy doom.”
CXVI . Thus he; but Turnus shook his head, and said,
“Ruffian! thy threats are but as empty sound;
They daunt not Turnus; ’tis the gods I dread,
And Jove my enemy.” Then, glancing round,
He marked a chance-met boulder on the ground,
Huge, grey with age, set there in ancient days
To clear disputes, — a barrier and a bound.
Scarce twelve picked men the ponderous mass could raise, 1036
Such men as Earth brings forth in these degenerate days.
CXVII . That stone the Daunian lifted, straining hard
With hurrying hand, and all his height updrew,
And at Æneas hurled the monstrous shard;
So heaving, and so running, scarce he knew
His running, or how huge a weight he threw.
Cold froze his blood; beneath his trembling frame
The weak knees tottered. Through the void air flew
The stone, nor all the middle space o’ercame, 1045
Short of its mark it fell, nor answered to its aim.
CXVIII . As oft in dreams, when drowsy night doth load
The slumbering eyes, still eager, but in vain,
We strive to race along a lengthening road,
And faint and fall, amidmost of the strain;
The feeble limbs their wonted aid disdain,
Mute is the tongue, nor doth the voice obey,
Nor words find utterance; so with fruitless pain
Poor Turnus strives; but, struggle as he may, 1054
The baffling fiend is there, and mocks the vain essay.
CXIX . Then, tost with diverse passions, dazed with fear,
Towards friends and town he throws an anxious glance.
No car he sees, no sister-charioteer.
Desperate of flight, nor daring to advance,
Aghast, and shuddering at the lifted lance,
He falters. Then Æneas poised at last
His spear, and hurled it, as he marked his chance.
Less loud the stone from battering engine cast, 1063
Less loud through ether bursts the levin-bolt’s dread blast.
CXX . Like a black whirlwind flew the deadly spear,
Right thro’ the rim the sevenfold shield it rent
And breastplate’s edge, nor stayed its onset ere
Deep in the thigh its hissing course was spent.
Down on the earth, his knees beneath him bent,
Great Turnus sank: Rutulia’s host around
Sprang up with wailing and with wild lament:
From neighbouring hills their piercing cries rebound, 1072
And every wooded steep re-echoes to the sound.
CXXI . Then, looking up, his pleading hands he rears:
“Death I deserve, nor death would I delay.
Use, then, thy fortune. If a father’s tears
Move thee, for old Anchises’ sake, I pray,
Pity old Daunus. Me, or else my clay,
If so thou wilt, to home and kin restore.
Thine is the victory. Latium’s land to-day
Hath seen her prince the victor’s grace implore. 1081
Lavinia now is thine; the bitter feud give o’er.”
CXXII . Wrathful in arms, with rolling eyeballs, stood
Æneas, and his lifted arm withdrew;
And more and more now melts his wavering mood,
When lo, on Turnus’ shoulder — known too true —
The luckless sword-belt flashed upon his view;
And bright with gold studs shone the glittering prey,
Which ruthless Turnus, when the youth he slew,
Stripped from the lifeless Pallas, as he lay, 1090
And on his shoulders wore, in token of the day.
CXXIII . Then terribly Æneas’ wrath upboils,
His fierce eyes fixt upon the sign of woe.
“Shalt thou go hence, and with the loved one’s spoils?
’Tis Pallas — Pallas deals the deadly blow.
And claims this victim for his ghost below.”
He spake, and mad with fury, as he said,
Drove the keen falchion through his prostrate foe.
The stalwart limbs grew stiff with cold and dead, 1099
And, groaning, to the shades the scornful spirit fled.
The Latin Texts
Cremona, a city in northern Italy — believed to be an early place of study for Virgil
LIST OF LATIN TEXTS
In this section of the eBook, readers can view the original Latin texts of Virgil’s works. You may wish to Bookmark this page for future reference.
CONTENTS
PRONOUNCING LATIN
ECLOGA
GEORGICON
AENEID
PRONOUNCING LATIN
Here is a brief guide to pronouncing Ancient Latin, allowing you to voice aloud Virgil’s original text.
Vowels
Each vowel is pronounced as either a short or long sound. A Latin dictionary will need to be consulted to find out whether a particular vowel is a long or short syllable.
short a – cat
long a – father
short e – let
long e – late
short i – lick
long i – weep
short o – hot
long o – only
short u – loot
Dipthongs
ae –pronounced like eye
au – ow!
oe – oi!
Consonants
v is always pronounced as w
c is always
hard like cat and kill
i before a vowel is a consonant, pronounced as y – you
b before t or s is pronounced as p in pink
r is rolled, like a Spanish r
g is hard like great
Combined Consonants
ch makes a k sound and never like ch in church
ph is hard like the ph in uphill and never f as in philosophy
th is hard and separate like the th in hot house, never soft like the
ECLOGA
The original Latin text of ‘The Eclogues’
CONTENTS
I. MELIBOEUS, TITYRUS
II.
III. MENALCAS, DAMOETAS, PALAEMON
IV.
V. MENALCAS, MOPSUS
VI.
VII. MELIBOEUS, CORYDON, THYRSIS
VIII. DAMON, ALPHESIBOEUS
IX. LYCIDAS, MOERIS
X.
I. MELIBOEUS, TITYRUS
M. TITYRE, tu patulae recubans sub tegmine fagi
silvestrem tenui Musam meditaris avena;
nos patriae fines et dulcia linquimus arva:
nos patriam fugimus; tu, Tityre, lentus in umbra
formosam resonare doces Amaryllida silvas.
T. O Meliboee, deus nobis haec otia fecit:
namque erit ille mihi semper deus; illius aram
saepe tener nostris ab ovilibus imbuet agnus.
Ille meas errare boves, ut cernis, et ipsum
ludere, quae vellem, calamo permisit agresti
M. Non equidem invideo; miror magis: undique totis
usque adeo turbatur agris. En, ipse capellas
protinus aeger ago; hanc etiam vix, Tityre, duco:
hic inter densas corylos modo namque gemellos,
spem gregis, ah, silice in nuda conixa reliquit.
Saepe malum hoc nobis, si mens non laeva fuisset,
de caelo tactas memini praedicere quercus: —
[saepe sinistra cava praedixit ab ilice cornix.]
Sed tamen, iste deus qui sit, da, Tityre, nobis.
T. Urbem, quam dicunt Romam, Meliboee, putavi
stultus ego huic nostrae similem, quo saepe solemus
pastores ovium teneros depellere fetus:
sic canibus catulos similis, sic matribus haedos
noram, sic parvis componere magna solebam:
verum haec tantum alias inter caput extulit urbes,
quantum lenta solent inter viburna cupressi.
M. Et quae tanta fuit Romam tibi causa videndi?
T. Libertas; quae sera, tamen respexit inertem,
candidior postquam tondenti barba cadebat;
respexit tamen, et longo post tempore venit,
postquam nos Amaryllis habet, Galatea reliquit:
namque, fatebor enim, dum me Galatea tenebat,
nec spes libertatis erat, nec cura peculi:
quamvis multa meis exiret victima saeptis,
pinguis et ingratae premeretur caseus urbi,
non umquam gravis aere domum mihi dextra redibat.
M. Mirabar, quid maesta deos, Amarylli, vocares,
cui pendere sua patereris in arbore poma:
Tityrus hinc aberat. Ipsae te, Tityre, pinus,
ipsi te fontes, ipsa haec arbusta vocabant.
T. Quid facerem? Neque servitio me exire licebat,
nec tam praesentis alibi cognoscere divos.
hic illum vidi iuvenem, Meliboee, quot annis
bis senos cui nostra dies altaria fumant;
hic mihi responsum primus dedit ille petenti:
‘pascite, ut ante, boves, pueri, submittite tauros.’
M. Fortunate senex, ergo tua rura manebunt,
et tibi magna satis, quamvis lapis omnia nudus
limosoque palus obducat pascua iunco!
Non insueta gravis temptabunt pabula fetas,
nec mala vicini pecoris contagia laedent.
Fortunate senex, hic, inter flumina nota
et fontis sacros, frigus captabis opacum!
hinc tibi, quae semper, vicino ab limite, saepes
Hyblaeis apibus florem depasta salicti
saepe levi somnum suadebit inire susurro;
hinc alta sub rupe canet frondator ad auras;
nec tamen interea raucae, tua cura, palumbes,
nec gemere aeria cessabit turtur ab ulmo.
T. Ante leves ergo pascentur in aequore cervi,
et freta destituent nudos in litore pisces,
ante pererratis amborum finibus exsul
aut Ararim Parthus bibet, aut Germania Tigrim,
quam nostro illius labatur pectore voltus.
M. At nos hinc alii sitientis ibimus Afros,
pars Scythiam et rapidum Cretae veniemus Oaxen,
pauperis toto divisos orbe Britannos.
En umquam patrios longo post tempore finis,
pauperis et tuguri congestum caespite culmen,
post aliquot mea regna videns mirabor aristas?
Impius haec tam culta novalia miles habebit,
barbarus has segetes? En, quo discordia civis
produxit miseros! His nos consevimus agros!
Insere nunc, Meliboee, piros, pone ordine vitis.
Ite meae, felix quondam pecus, ite capellae.
Non ego vos posthac, viridi proiectus in antro,
dumosa pendere procul de rupe videbo;
carmina nulla canam; non, me pascente, capellae,
florentem cytisum et salices carpetis amaras.
T. Hic tamen hanc mecum poteras requiescere noctem
fronde super viridi: sunt nobis mitia poma,
castaneae molles, et pressi copia lactis;
et iam summa procul villarum culmina fumant,
maioresque cadunt altis de montibus umbrae.
II.
FORMOSUM pastor Corydon ardebat Alexim,
delicias domini, nec quid speraret habebat;
tantum inter densas, umbrosa cacumina, fagos
adsidue veniebat. Ibi haec incondita solus
montibus et silvis studio iactabat inani:
O crudelis Alexi, nihil mea carmina curas?
Nil nostri miserere? Mori me denique coges.
nunc etiam pecudes umbras et frigora captant;
nunc viridis etiam occultant spineta lacertos,
Thestylis et rapido fessis messoribus aestu
alia serpyllumque herbas contundit olentis.
at mecum raucis, tua dum vestigia lustro,
sole sub ardenti resonant arbusta cicadis.
Nonne fuit satius tristis Amaryllidis iras
atque superba pati fastidia, nonne Menalcan,
quam vis ille niger, quamvis tu candidus esses?
o formose puer, nimium ne crede colori!
alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur.
Despectus tibi sum, nec qui sim quaeris, Alexi,
quam dives pecoris, nivei quam lactis abundans.
mille meae Siculis errant in montibus agnae;
lac mihi non aestate novum, non frigore defit;
canto quae solitus, si quando armenta vocabat,
Amphion Dircaeus in Actaeo Aracimtho.
Nec sum adeo informis: nuper me in litore vidi,
cum placidum ventis staret mare; non ego Daphnim
iudice te metuam, si numquam fallit imago.
O tantum libeat mecum tibi sordida rura
atque humilis habitare casas, et figere cervos,
haedorumque gregem viridi compellere hibisco!
Mecum una in silvis imitabere Pana canendo.
Pan primus calamos cera coniungere pluris
instituit; Pan curat ovis oviumque magistros.
Nec te paeniteat calamo trivisse labellum:
haec eadem ut sciret, quid non faciebat Amyntas?
est mihi disparibus septem compacta cicutis
fistula, Damoetas dono mihi quam dedit olim,
et dixit moriens: ‘Te nunc habet ista secundum.’
dixit Damoetas, invidit stultus Amyntas.
Praeterea duo,
nec tuta mihi valle reperti,
capreoli, sparsis etiam nunc pellibus albo,
bina die siccant ovis ubera; quos tibi servo:
iam pridem a me illos abducere Thestylis orat;
et faciet, quoniam sordent tibi munera nostra.
Huc ades, O formose puer: tibi lilia plenis
ecce ferunt Nymphae calathis; tibi candida Nais,
pallelltis violas et summa papavera carpens,
narcissum et florem iungit bene olentis anethi;
tum casia atque aliis intexens suavibus herbis,
mollia luteola pingit vaccinia calta.
Ipse ego cana legam tenera lanugine mala,
castaneasque nuces, mea quas Amaryllis amabat;
addam cerea pruna: honos erit huic quoque pomo;
et vos, O lauri, carpam, et te, proxima myrte,
sic positae quoniam suavis miscetis odores.
Rusticus es, Corydon: nec munera curat Alexis,
nec, si muneribus certes, concedat Iollas.
Heu, heu, quid volui misero mihi! Floribus austrum
perditus et liquidis inmisi fontibus apros.
Quem fugis, ah, demens? Habitarunt di quoque silvas,
Dardaniusque Paris. Pallas, quas condidit arces,
ipsa colat; nobis placeant ante omnia silvae.
Torva leaena lupum sequitur; lupus ipse capellam;
florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella;
te Corydon, o Alexi: trahit sua quemque voluptas.
Aspice, aratra iugo referunt suspensa iuvenci,
et sol crescentis decedens duplicat umbras:
me tamen urit amor; quis enim modus adsit amori?
Ah, Corydon, Corydon, quae te dementia cepit!
Semiputata tibi frondosa vitis in ulmo est;
quin tu aliquid saltem potius, quorum indiget usus,
viminibus mollique paras detexere iunco?
Invenies alium, si te hic fastidit, Alexim.
III. MENALCAS, DAMOETAS, PALAEMON
M. DIC mihi, Damoeta, cuium pecus, an Meliboei?
D. Non, verum Aegonis; nuper mihi tradidit Aegon.
M. Infelix o semper, ovis, pecus, ipse Neaeram
dum fovet, ac ne me sibi praeferat illa veretur,
hic alienus ovis custos bis mulget in hora,
et sucus pecori et lac subducitur agnis.
D. Parcius ista viris tamen obicienda memento:
