by Virgil
And given us gift of godhead’s life in house of ocean’s ground.
at puer Ascanius muro fossisque tenetur
Lo now, the boy Ascanius by dyke and wall is bound
tela inter media atque horrentis Marte Latinos.
Amid the spears, the battle-wood that Latins forth have sent.
iam loca iussa tenent forti permixtus Etrusco
And now the horse of Arcady, with stout Etruscans blent,
Arcas eques; medias illis opponere turmas,
Holdeth due tryst. Now is the mind of Turnus firmly set
ne castris iungant, certa est sententia Turno. 240
To thrust between them, lest thy camp they succour even yet.
surge age et Aurora socios ueniente uocari
Wherefore arise, and when the dawn first climbs the heavenly shore
primus in arma iube, et clipeum cape quem dedit ipse
Call on thy folk, and take thy shield unconquered evermore,
inuictum ignipotens atque oras ambiit auro.
The Fire-lord’s gift, who wrought its lips with circling gold about:
crastina lux, mea si non inrita dicta putaris,
Tomorrow’s light, unless thou deem’st my words are all to doubt,
ingentis Rutulae spectabit caedis aceruos.’ 245
Shall see Rutulian death in heaps a-lying on the land.”
dixerat et dextra discedens impulit altam
Therewith departing, forth she thrust the tall ship with her hand,
haud ignara modi puppim: fugit illa per undas
As one who had good skill therein, and then across the seas
ocior et iaculo et uentos aequante sagitta.
Swifter than dart she fled, or shaft that matcheth well the breeze,
inde aliae celerant cursus. stupet inscius ipse
And straight the others hastened on. All mazed was he of Troy,
Tros Anchisiades, animos tamen omine tollit. 250
Anchises’ seed, but yet the sign upraised his heart with joy,
tum breuiter supera aspectans conuexa precatur:
And, looking to the hollow heaven, in few words prayed he thus
‘alma parens Idaea deum, cui Dindyma cordi
“Kind Ida-Mother of the Gods, whose heart loves Dindymus
turrigeraeque urbes biiugique ad frena leones,
And towered towns, and lions yoked and tamed to bear the bit,
tu mihi nunc pugnae princeps, tu rite propinques
Be thou my battle-leader now, and do thou further it,
augurium Phrygibusque adsis pede, diua, secundo.’ 255
This omen, and with favouring foot the Trojan folk draw nigh.”
tantum effatus, et interea reuoluta ruebat
But while he spake, Day, come again, had run adown the sky,
matura iam luce dies noctemque fugarat;
With light all utter perfect wrought, and driven away the night.
principio sociis edicit signa sequantur
Then folk he biddeth follow on the banners of the fight,
atque animos aptent armis pugnaeque parent se.
And make them ready for the play and shape their hearts for war.
Iamque in conspectu Teucros habet et sua castra 260
But he, aloft upon the poop, now sees them where they are,
stans celsa in puppi, clipeum cum deinde sinistra
His leaguered Teucrians, as his left uprears the blazing shield;
extulit ardentem. clamorem ad sidera tollunt
And then, the sons of Dardanus up to the starry field
Dardanidae e muris, spes addita suscitat iras,
Send forth the cry, and hope is come to whet their battle-wrath.
tela manu iaciunt, quales sub nubibus atris
Thick flies their spear-storm: ’tis as when the Strymon cranes give forth
Strymoniae dant signa grues atque aethera tranant 265
Their war-sign on the mirky rack, and down the heavens they run
cum sonitu, fugiuntque Notos clamore secundo.
Sonorous, fleeing southern breeze with clamour following on.
at Rutulo regi ducibusque ea mira uideri
But wondrous to Rutulian king and dukes of Italy
Ausoniis, donec uersas ad litora puppis
That seemed, until they look about, and lo, the keels they see
respiciunt totumque adlabi classibus aequor.
Turned shoreward; yea, a sea of ships onsetting toward the shore.
ardet apex capiti cristisque a uertice flamma 270
Yea, and the helm is all ablaze, beams from the crest outpour,
funditur et uastos umbo uomit aureus ignis:
The golden shield-boss wide about a world of flame doth shed.
non secus ac liquida si quando nocte cometae
E’en so, amid the clear of night, the comets bloody-red
sanguinei lugubre rubent, aut Sirius ardor
Blush woeful bright; nor otherwise is Sirius’ burning wrought,
ille sitim morbosque ferens mortalibus aegris
When drought and plagues for weary men the birth of him hath wrought,
nascitur et laeuo contristat lumine caelum. 275
And that unhappy light of his hath saddened all the heaven.
Haud tamen audaci Turno fiducia cessit
But nought from Turnus’ hardy heart was high hope ever driven
litora praecipere et uenientis pellere terra.
To take the strand of them and thrust those comers from the shore:
[ultro animos tollit dictis atque increpat ultro:]
Eager he chid, hot-heart, with words men’s courage he upbore:
‘quod uotis optastis adest, perfringere dextra.
“Lo, now your prayers have come about, that hand meet hand in strife,
in manibus Mars ipse uiris. nunc coniugis esto 280
And Mars is in the brave man’s hand: let each one’s home and wife
quisque suae tectique memor, nunc magna referto
Be in his heart! Call ye to mind those mighty histories,
facta, patrum laudes. ultro occurramus ad undam
The praises of our father-folk! Come, meet them in the seas,
dum trepidi egressisque labant uestigia prima.
Amid their tangle, while their feet yet totter on the earth:
audentis Fortuna iuuat.’
For Fortune helpeth them that dare.”
haec ait, et secum uersat quos ducere contra 285
So saying, he turneth in his mind with whom on these to fall,
uel quibus obsessos possit concredere muros.
And unto whom to leave meanwhile the leaguering of the wall.
Interea Aeneas socios de puppibus altis
Meanwhile Æneas from his ships high-built his folk doth speed
pontibus exponit. multi seruare recursus
Ashore by bridges: many men no less the back-draught heed
languentis pelagi et breuibus se credere saltu,
Of the spent seas, and, trusting shoals, they make the downward leap;
per remos alii. speculatus litora Tarchon, 290
And others slide adown the oars. Tarchon the shore doth sweep,
qua uada non sperat nec fracta remurmurat unda,
Espying where the waves break not, nor back the sea doth roar,
sed mare inoffensum crescenti adlabitur aestu,
But where the sea-flood harmlessly with full tide swims ashore,
aduertit subito proras sociosque precatur:
And thither straight he lays his keels, and prays unto his folk:
‘nunc, o lecta manus, ualidis incumbite remis;
“O chosen, on the stark oars lay! now up unto the stroke;
tollite, ferte rates, inimicam findite rostris 295
Bear on the ships, and with your beaks cleave ye this foeman’s earth;
hanc terram, sulcumque sibi premat ipsa carina.
And let the very keels themselves there fu
rrow them their berth.
frangere nec tali puppim statione recuso
On such a haven nought I heed, though ship and all we break,
arrepta tellure semel.’ quae talia postquam
If once we gain the land.” Therewith, as such a word he spake,
effatus Tarchon, socii consurgere tonsis
His fellows rise together hard on every shaven tree,
spumantisque rates aruis inferre Latinis, 300
In mind to bear their ships befoamed up on the Latin lea,
donec rostra tenent siccum et sedere carinae
Until their tynes are high and dry, and fast is every keel
omnes innocuae. sed non puppis tua, Tarchon:
Unhurt: save, Tarchon, thine alone, that winneth no such weal;
namque inflicta uadis, dorso dum pendet iniquo
For on the shallows driven aground, on evil ridge unmeet,
anceps sustentata diu fluctusque fatigat,
She hangeth balanced a long while, and doth the waters beat;
soluitur atque uiros mediis exponit in undis, 305
Then, breaking, droppeth down her men amidmost of the waves,
fragmina remorum quos et fluitantia transtra
Entangled in the wreck of oars, and floating thwarts and staves;
impediunt retrahitque pedes simul unda relabens.
And in the back-draught of the seas their feet are caught withal.
Nec Turnum segnis retinet mora, sed rapit acer
No dull delay holds Turnus back; but fiercely doth he fall,
totam aciem in Teucros et contra in litore sistit.
With all his host, on them of Troy, and meets them on the strand.
signa canunt. primus turmas inuasit agrestis 310
The war-horns sing. Æneas first breaks through the field-folk’s band,
Aeneas, omen pugnae, strauitque Latinos
— Fair omen of the fight — and lays the Latin folk alow.
occiso Therone, uirum qui maximus ultro
Thero he slays, most huge of men, whose own heart bade him go
Aenean petit. huic gladio perque aerea suta,
Against Æneas: through the links of brass the sword doth fare,
per tunicam squalentem auro latus haurit apertum.
And through the kirtle’s scaly gold, and wastes the side laid bare.
inde Lichan ferit exsectum iam matre perempta 315
Then Lichas smites he, ripped erewhile from out his mother dead,
et tibi, Phoebe, sacrum: casus euadere ferri
And hallowed, Phoebus, unto thee, because his baby head
quo licuit paruo? nec longe Cissea durum
Had ‘scaped the steel: nor far from thence he casteth down to die
immanemque Gyan sternentis agmina claua
Hard Cisseus, Gyas huge, who there beat down his company
deiecit leto; nihil illos Herculis arma
With might of clubs; nought then availed that Herculean gear,
nec ualidae iuuere manus genitorque Melampus, 320
Nor their stark hands, nor yet their sire Melampus, though he were
Alcidae comes usque grauis dum terra labores
Alcides’ friend so long as he on earth wrought heavy toil.
praebuit. ecce Pharo, uoces dum iactat inertis,
Lo Pharo! while a deedless word he flingeth mid the broil,
intorquens iaculum clamanti sistit in ore.
The whirring of the javelin stays within his shouting mouth.
tu quoque, flauentem prima lanugine malas
Thou, Cydon, following lucklessly thy new delight, the youth
dum sequeris Clytium infelix, noua gaudia, Cydon, 325
Clytius, whose first of fallow down about his cheeks is spread
Dardania stratus dextra, securus amorum
Art well-nigh felled by Dardan hand, and there hadst thou lain dead,
qui iuuenum tibi semper erant, miserande iaceres,
At peace from all the many loves wherein thy life would stray,
ni fratrum stipata cohors foret obuia, Phorci
Had not thy brethren’s serried band now thrust across the way
progenies, septem numero, septenaque tela
E’en Phorcus’ seed: sevenfold of tale and sevenfold spears they wield:
coniciunt; partim galea clipeoque resultant 330
But some thereof fly harmless back from helm-side and from shield,
inrita, deflexit partim stringentia corpus
The rest kind Venus turned aside, that grazing past they flew;
alma Venus. fidum Aeneas adfatur Achaten:
But therewithal Æneas spake unto Achates true:
‘suggere tela mihi, non ullum dextera frustra
“Reach me my shafts: not one in vain my right hand now shall speed
torserit in Rutulos, steterunt quae in corpore Graium
Against Rutulians, of all those that erst in Ilian mead
Iliacis campis.’ tum magnam corripit hastam 335
Stood in the bodies of the Greeks.” Then caught he a great spear
et iacit: illa uolans clipei transuerberat aera
And cast it, and it flew its ways the brazen shield to shear
Maeonis et thoraca simul cum pectore rumpit.
Of Mæon, breaking through his mail, breaking his breast withal:
huic frater subit Alcanor fratremque ruentem
Alcanor is at hand therewith, to catch his brother’s fall
sustentat dextra: traiecto missa lacerto
With his right hand; but through his arm the spear without a stay
protinus hasta fugit seruatque cruenta tenorem, 340
Flew hurrying on, and held no less its straight and bloody way,
dexteraque ex umero neruis moribunda pependit.
And by the shoulder-nerves the hand hung down all dead and vain.
tum Numitor iaculo fratris de corpore rapto
Then Numitor, his brother’s spear caught from his brother slain,
Aenean petiit: sed non et figere contra
Falls on Æneas; yet to smite the mighty one in face
est licitum, magnique femur perstrinxit Achatae.
No hap he had, but did the thigh of great Achates graze.
Hic Curibus fidens primaeuo corpore Clausus 345
Clausus of Cures, trusting well in his young body’s might,
aduenit et rigida Dryopem ferit eminus hasta
Now cometh, and with stiff-wrought spear from far doth Dryops smite
sub mentum grauiter pressa, pariterque loquentis
Beneath the chin; home went its weight, and midst his shouting’s birth
uocem animamque rapit traiecto gutture; at ille
From rent throat snatched both voice and life, and prone he smote the ear
fronte ferit terram et crassum uomit ore cruorem.
And from his mouth abundantly shed forth the flood of gore.
tris quoque Threicios Boreae de gente suprema 350
Three Thracians also, men whose stem from Boreas came of yore,
et tris quos Idas pater et patria Ismara mittit,
Three whom their father Idas sent, and Ismara their land,
per uarios sternit casus. accurrit Halaesus
In various wise he fells. And now Halesus comes to hand,
Auruncaeque manus, subit et Neptunia proles,
And his Aruncans: Neptune’s seed now cometh thrusting in,
insignis Messapus equis. expellere tendunt
Messapus, excellent of horse. Hard strife the field to win!
nunc hi, nunc illi: certatur limine in ipso 355
On this side and on that they play about Ausonia’s door.
Ausoniae. magno discordes aethere uenti
As whiles within the mighty heaven the winds are making war,
proelia ceu tollunt animis et uiribus aequis;
And equal heart they have thereto, and equal might they wield:
non ipsi inter se, non
nubila, non mare cedit;
Yields none to none, nor yields the rack, nor aught the waters yield;
anceps pugna diu, stant obnixa omnia contra:
Long hangs the battle; locked they stand, all things are striving then:
haud aliter Troianae acies aciesque Latinae 360
Not otherwise the Trojan host and host of Latin men
concurrunt, haeret pede pes densusque uiro uir.
Meet foot to foot, and man to man, close pressing in the fray.
At parte ex alia, qua saxa rotantia late
But in another place, where erst the torrent in its way
intulerat torrens arbustaque diruta ripis,
Had driven the rolling rocks along and torn trees of the banks,
Arcadas insuetos acies inferre pedestris
Did Pallas see the Arcadian folk, unused to fight in ranks
ut uidit Pallas Latio dare terga sequaci, 365
Of footmen, turn their backs before the Latins in the chase,
aspera aquis natura loci dimittere quando
Since they forsooth had left their steeds for roughness of the place:
suasit equos, unum quod rebus restat egenis,
Wherefore he did the only deed that failing Fortune would,
nunc prece, nunc dictis uirtutem accendit amaris;
Striving with prayers and bitter words to make their valour good:
‘quo fugitis, socii? per uos et fortia facta,
“Where flee ye, fellows? Ah, I pray, by deeds that once were bold,
per ducis Euandri nomen deuictaque bella 370
By name of King Evander dear, by glorious wars of old,
spemque meam, patriae quae nunc subit aemula laudi,
By my own hope of praise that springs to mate my father’s praise,
fidite ne pedibus. ferro rumpenda per hostis
Trust not your feet! with point and edge ye needs must cleave your ways
est uia. qua globus ille uirum densissimus urget,
Amidst the foe. Where yon array of men doth thickest wend,
hac uos et Pallanta ducem patria alta reposcit.
Thither our holy fatherland doth you and Pallas send:
numina nulla premunt, mortali urgemur ab hoste 375
No Gods weigh on us; mortal foes meet mortal men today;
mortales; totidem nobis animaeque manusque.
As many hands we have to use, as many lives to pay.
ecce maris magna claudit nos obice pontus,
Lo, how the ocean shuts us in with yonder watery wall!
deest iam terra fugae: pelagus Troiamne petamus?’
Earth fails for flight — what! seaward then, or Troyward shall we fall?”
haec ait, et medius densos prorumpit in hostis.
Thus said, forthwith he breaketh in amid the foeman’s press,
