by Virgil
The hapless woman deems the youth in stress of battle lost,
exstinctum et subito mentem turbata dolore
And, all bewildered in her mind by these so sudden woes,
se causam clamat crimenque caputque malorum, 600
Curses herself for head and spring whence all the evil flows;
multaque per maestum demens effata furorem
And crying many a bitter word, and mad with sorrow grown,
purpureos moritura manu discindit amictus
She riveth with her dying hand the queenly purple gown,
et nodum informis leti trabe nectit ab alta.
And knits the knot of loathly death from lofty beam on high.
quam cladem miserae postquam accepere Latinae,
But when the wretched Latin wives know all this misery,
filia prima manu flauos Lauinia crinis 605
Her daughter first, Lavinia, wastes the blossom of her hair,
et roseas laniata genas, tum cetera circum
And wounds her rosy cheeks; then they that stood about her there
turba furit, resonant late plangoribus aedes.
Run wild about, and all the house resoundeth with their wail.
hinc totam infelix uulgatur fama per urbem:
Thence through the city flies the sound of that unhappy tale,
demittunt mentes, it scissa ueste Latinus
And all hearts sink: Latinus goes with raiment rent and torn,
coniugis attonitus fatis urbisque ruina, 610
Stunned by his wife’s unhappy lot, and city lost and lorn,
canitiem immundo perfusam puluere turpans.
And scattering o’er his hoariness defilement of the dust;
Multaque se incusat, qui non acceperit ante
And often he upbraids himself that he took not to trust
Dardanium Aenean generumque adsciuerit ultro.
That Dardan lord, nor willingly had hallowed him his son.
Interea extremo bellator in aequore Turnus 614
Meanwhile across the outer plain war-Turnus followeth on
palantis sequitur paucos iam segnior atque
The last few stragglers, duller grown, and less and less his heart
iam minus atque minus successu laetus equorum.
Rejoices in his hurrying steed and their victorious part.
attulit hunc illi caecis terroribus aura
The air bore to him noise of men with doubtful terror blent,
commixtum clamorem, arrectasque impulit auris
And round about his hearkening ears confusèd murmur sent;
confusae sonus urbis et inlaetabile murmur.
The noise of that turmoilèd town, a sound of nought but woe:
‘ei mihi! quid tanto turbantur moenia luctu? 620
“Ah, me!” he cried, “what mighty grief stirs up the city so?
quisue ruit tantus diuersa clamor ab urbe?’
Why from the walls now goeth up this cry and noise afar?”
sic ait, adductisque amens subsistit habenis.
He spake, and, wildered, drew the rein and stayed the battle-car:
atque huic, in faciem soror ut conuersa Metisci
His sister met his questioning, as she in seeming clad
aurigae currumque et equos et lora regebat,
Of that Metiscus, all the rule of battle-chariot had,
talibus occurrit dictis: ‘hac, Turne, sequamur 625
And steeds and bridle: “Hereaway, O Turnus, drive we on
Troiugenas, qua prima uiam uictoria pandit;
The sons of Troy; where victory shows a road that may be won:
sunt alii qui tecta manu defendere possint.
For other hands there are, belike, the houses to defend.
ingruit Aeneas Italis et proelia miscet,
Æneas falls on Italy, and there doth battle blend;
et nos saeua manu mittamus funera Teucris.
So let our hands give cruel death to Teucrian men this day,
nec numero inferior pugnae neque honore recedes.’ 630
No less in tale: so shalt thou hold thine honour in the fray.”
Turnus ad haec:
But Turnus sayeth thereunto:
‘o soror, et dudum agnoui, cum prima per artem
“Sister, I knew thee long ago, when first by art and craft
foedera turbasti teque haec in bella dedisti,
Thou brok’st the troth-plight, and therewith amidst the battle went;
et nunc nequiquam fallis dea. sed quis Olympo
And now thou hidest God in vain. But whose will thee hath sent
demissam tantos uoluit te ferre labores? 635
From high Olympus’ house to bear such troubles, and so great?
an fratris miseri letum ut crudele uideres?
Was it to see thy brother’s end and most unhappy fate?
nam quid ago? aut quae iam spondet Fortuna salutem?
For what do I? What heal is left in aught that may befall?
uidi oculos ante ipse meos me uoce uocantem
Mine eyes beheld Murranus die, on me I heard him call:
Murranum, quo non superat mihi carior alter,
No dearer man in all the world is left me for a friend:
oppetere ingentem atque ingenti uulnere uictum. 640
Woe’s me I that mighty man of men a mighty death must end.
occidit infelix ne nostrum dedecus Vfens
Ufens is dead, unhappy too lest he our shame behold;
aspiceret; Teucri potiuntur corpore et armis.
E’en as I speak the Teucrians ward his arms and body cold.
exscindine domos (id rebus defuit unum)
And now — the one shame wanting yet — shall I stand deedless by
perpetiar, dextra nec Drancis dicta refellam?
Their houses’ wrack, nor let my sword cast back that Drances’ lie?
terga dabo et Turnum fugientem haec terra uidebit? 645
Shall I give back, and shall this land see craven Turnus fled?
usque adeone mori miserum est? uos o mihi, Manes,
Is death, then, such a misery? O rulers of the dead,
este boni, quoniam superis auersa uoluntas.
Be kind! since now the high God’s heart is turned away from me;
sancta ad uos anima atque istius inscia culpae
A hallowed soul I go adown, guiltless of infamy,
descendam magnorum haud umquam indignus auorum.’
Not all unworthy of the great, my sires of long ago.”
Vix ea fatus erat: medios uolat ecce per hostis 650
Scarce had he said when, here behold, from midmost of the foe,
uectus equo spumante Saces, aduersa sagitta
Comes Saces on his foaming steed, an arrow in his face,
saucius ora, ruitque implorans nomine Turnum:
Who, crying prayers on Turnus’ name, onrusheth to the place:
‘Turne, in te suprema salus, miserere tuorum.
“Turnus, in thee our last hope lies! pity thy wretched folk!
fulminat Aeneas armis summasque minatur
Æneas thundereth battle there, and threateneth with his stroke
deiecturum arces Italum excidioque daturum, 655
The overthrow of tower and town, and wrack of Italy.
iamque faces ad tecta uolant. in te ora Latini,
The flames are flying toward the roofs; all mouths of Latins cry
in te oculos referunt; mussat rex ipse Latinus
On thee; all eyes are turned to thee: yea, the king wavereth there,
quos generos uocet aut quae sese ad foedera flectat.
Whom shall he call his son-in-law, to whom for friendship fare.
praeterea regina, tui fidissima, dextra
The Queen to wit, thy faithfullest, is dead by her own hand,
occidit ipsa sua lucemque exterrita fugit. 660
And, fearful of the things to come, hath left the daylight land.
soli p
ro portis Messapus et acer Atinas
Messapus and Atinas keen alone upbear our might
sustentant acies. circum hos utrimque phalanges
Before the gates: round each of them are gathered hosts of fight
stant densae strictisque seges mucronibus horret
Thick-thronging, and a harvest-tide that bristles with the sword;
ferrea; tu currum deserto in gramine uersas.’
While here thou wendest car about the man-deserted sward.”
obstipuit uaria confusus imagine rerum 665
Bewildered then with images of diverse things he stood
Turnus et obtutu tacito stetit; aestuat ingens
In silent stare; and in his heart upswelled a mighty flood
uno in corde pudor mixtoque insania luctu
Of mingled shame and maddening grief: the Furies goaded sore
et furiis agitatus amor et conscia uirtus.
With bitter love and valour tried and known from time of yore.
ut primum discussae umbrae et lux reddita menti,
But when the cloud was shaken off and light relit his soul,
ardentis oculorum orbis ad moenia torsit 670
His burning eyeballs toward the town, fierce-hearted, did he roll,
turbidus eque rotis magnam respexit ad urbem.
And from the wheels of war looked back unto the mighty town;
Ecce autem flammis inter tabulata uolutus
And lo, behold, a wave of flame into a tongue-shape grown
ad caelum undabat uertex turrimque tenebat,
Licked round a tower, and ‘twixt its floors rolled upward unto heaven:
turrim compactis trabibus quam eduxerat ipse
A tower that he himself had reared with timbers closely driven,
subdideratque rotas pontisque instrauerat altos. 675
And set beneath it rolling-gear, and dight the bridges high.
‘iam iam fata, soror, superant, absiste morari;
“Now, sister, now the Fates prevail! no more for tarrying try.
quo deus et quo dura uocat Fortuna sequamur.
Nay, let us follow where the God, where hard Fate calleth me!
stat conferre manum Aeneae, stat, quidquid acerbi est,
Doomed am I to Æneas’ hand; doomed, howso sore it be,
morte pati, neque me indecorem, germana, uidebis
To die the death; ah, sister, now thou seest me shamed no more:
amplius. hunc, oro, sine me furere ante furorem.’ 680
Now let me wear the fury through ere yet my time is o’er.”
dixit, et e curru saltum dedit ocius aruis
He spake, and from the chariot leapt adown upon the mead,
perque hostis, per tela ruit maestamque sororem
And left his sister lone in grief amidst the foe to speed,
deserit ac rapido cursu media agmina rumpit.
Amidst the spears, and breaketh through the midmost press of fight,
ac ueluti montis saxum de uertice praeceps
E’en as a headlong stone sweeps down from off the mountain-height,
cum ruit auulsum uento, seu turbidus imber 685
Torn by the wind; or drifting rain hath washed it from its hold,
proluit aut annis soluit sublapsa uetustas;
Or loosed, maybe, it slippeth down because the years grow old:
fertur in abruptum magno mons improbus actu
Wild o’er the cliffs with mighty leap goes down that world of stone,
exsultatque solo, siluas armenta uirosque
And bounds o’er earth, and woods and herds and men-folk rolleth on
inuoluens secum: disiecta per agmina Turnus
Amidst its wrack: so Turnus through the broken battle broke
sic urbis ruit ad muros, ubi plurima fuso 690
Unto the very city-walls, where earth was all a-soak
sanguine terra madet striduntque hastilibus aurae,
With plenteous blood, and air beset with whistling of the shafts;
significatque manu et magno simul incipit ore:
There with his hand he maketh sign, and mighty speech he wafts:
‘parcite iam, Rutuli, et uos tela inhibete, Latini.
“Forbear, Rutulians! Latin men, withhold the points of fight!
quaecumque est fortuna, mea est; me uerius unum
Whatever haps, the hap is mine; I, I alone, of right
pro uobis foedus luere et decernere ferro.’ 695
Should cleanse you of the broken troth, and doom of sword-edge face.”
discessere omnes medii spatiumque dedere.
So from the midst all men depart, and leave an empty space;
At pater Aeneas audito nomine Turni
But now the Father Æneas hath hearkened Turnus’ name,
deserit et muros et summas deserit arces
And backward from the walls of war and those high towers he came.
praecipitatque moras omnis, opera omnia rumpit
He casts away all tarrying, sets every deed aside,
laetitia exsultans horrendumque intonat armis: 700
And thundering in his battle-gear rejoicing doth he stride:
quantus Athos aut quantus Eryx aut ipse coruscis
As Athos great, as Eryx great, great as when roaring goes
cum fremit ilicibus quantus gaudetque niuali
Amid the quaking oaken woods and glory lights the snows,
uertice se attollens pater Appenninus ad auras.
And Father Apennine uprears his head amidst the skies.
iam uero et Rutuli certatim et Troes et omnes
Then Trojan and Rutulian men turn thither all their eyes,
conuertere oculos Itali, quique alta tenebant 705
And all the folk of Italy, and they that hold the wall,
moenia quique imos pulsabant ariete muros,
And they that drive against its feet the battering engines’ fall
armaque deposuere umeris. stupet ipse Latinus
All men do off their armour then. Amazed Latinus stands
ingentis, genitos diuersis partibus orbis,
To see two mighty heroes, born in such wide-sundered lands.
inter se coiisse uiros et cernere ferro.
Meet thus to try what deed of doom in meeting swords may be.
atque illi, ut uacuo patuerunt aequore campi, 710
But they, when empty space is cleared amid the open lea,
procursu rapido coniectis eminus hastis
Set each on each in speedy wise, and with their war-spears hurled
inuadunt Martem clipeis atque aere sonoro.
Amid the clash of shield and brass break into Mavors’ world;
dat gemitum tellus; tum crebros ensibus ictus
Then groaneth earth; then comes the hail of sword-strokes thick and fast,
congeminant, fors et uirtus miscetur in unum.
And in one blended tangle now are luck and valour cast:
ac uelut ingenti Sila summoue Taburno 715
As when on mighty Sila’s side, or on Taburnus height,
cum duo conuersis inimica in proelia tauri
Two bulls with pushing horny brows are mingled in the fight:
frontibus incurrunt, pauidi cessere magistri,
The frighted herdsmen draw aback, and all the beasts are dumb
stat pecus omne metu mutum, mussantque iuuencae
For utter fear; the heifers too misdoubt them what shall come,
quis nemori imperitet, quem tota armenta sequantur;
Who shall be master of the grove and leader of the flock;
illi inter sese multa ui uulnera miscent 720
But each on each they mingle wounds with fearful might of shock,
cornuaque obnixi infigunt et sanguine largo
And gore and push home fencing horns, and with abundant blood
colla armosque lauant, gemitu nemus omne remugit:
Bathe neck and shoulder, till the noise goes bellowing thro
ugh the wood;
non aliter Tros Aeneas et Daunius heros
E’en so Æneas out of Troy, and he, the Daunian man,
concurrunt clipeis, ingens fragor aethera complet.
Smite shield on shield; and mighty clash through all the heavens there ran.
Iuppiter ipse duas aequato examine lances 725
’Tis Jupiter who holds the scales ‘twixt even-poisèd tongue;
sustinet et fata imponit diuersa duorum,
There in the balance needfully their sundered fates he hung,
quem damnet labor et quo uergat pondere letum.
Which one the battle-pain shall doom, in which the death shall lie.
Emicat hic impune putans et corpore toto
Now Turnus deems him safe, and forth with sword upreared on high,
alte sublatum consurgit Turnus in ensem
He springs, and all his body strains, and rises to the stroke,
et ferit; exclamant Troes trepidique Latini, 730
And smites: the Trojans cry aloud, and eager Latin folk,
arrectaeque amborum acies. at perfidus ensis
And both hosts hang ‘twixt hope and fear: but lo, the treacherous sword
frangitur in medioque ardentem deserit ictu,
Breaks in the middle of the blow and leaves its fiery lord: —
ni fuga subsidio subeat. fugit ocior Euro
And if the flight shall fail him now! — Swift as the East he flees
ut capulum ignotum dextramque aspexit inermem.
When in his right hand weaponless an unknown hilt he sees.
fama est praecipitem, cum prima in proelia iunctos 735
They say, that when all eager-hot he clomb his yokèd car
conscendebat equos, patrio mucrone relicto,
In first of fight, that then he left his father’s blade of war,
dum trepidat, ferrum aurigae rapuisse Metisci;
And caught in hand his charioteer Metiscus’ battle-glaive;
idque diu, dum terga dabant palantia Teucri,
And that was well while Trojan fleers backs to the smiting gave,
suffecit; postquam arma dei ad Volcania uentum est,
But when they meet Vulcanian arms, the very God’s device,
mortalis mucro glacies ceu futtilis ictu 740
Then shivereth all the mortal blade e’en as the foolish ice;
dissiluit, fulua resplendent fragmina harena.
And there upon the yellow sand the glittering splinters lie.
ergo amens diuersa fuga petit aequora Turnus
So diversely about the field doth wildered Turnus fly,
et nunc huc, inde huc incertos implicat orbis;
And here and there in winding ways he doubleth up and down,
undique enim densa Teucri inclusere corona
