Aeneid

Virgil

Vergil. The Aeneid of Virgil. Williams, Theodore, C, translator. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1910.

  1. The tale was told us that Idomeneus,
  2. from his hereditary kindgom driven,
  3. had left his Crete abandoned, that no foe
  4. now harbored there, but all its dwellings lay
  5. untenanted of man. So forth we sailed
  6. out of the port of Delos, and sped far
  7. along the main. The maenad-haunted hills
  8. of Naxos came in view; the ridges green
  9. of fair Donysa, with Olearos,
  10. and Paros, gleaming white, and Cyclades
  11. scattered among the waves, as close we ran
  12. where thick-strewn islands vex the channelled seas
  13. with rival shout the sailors cheerly called:
  14. “On, comrades! On, to Crete and to our sires!”
  15. Freely behind us blew the friendly winds,
  16. and gave smooth passage to that fabled shore,
  17. the land of the Curetes, friends of Jove.
  18. There eagerly I labored at the walls
  19. of our long-prayed-for city; and its name
  20. was Pergamea; to my Trojan band,
  21. pleased with such name, I gave command to build
  22. altar and hearth, and raise the lofty tower.
  1. But scarce the ships were beached along the strand
  2. (While o'er the isle my busy mariners
  3. ploughed in new fields and took them wives once more, —
  4. I giving homes and laws) when suddenly
  5. a pestilence from some infectious sky
  6. seized on man's flesh, and horribly exhaled
  7. o'er trees and crops a fatal year of plague.
  8. Some breathed their last, while others weak and worn
  9. lived on; the dog-star parched the barren fields;
  10. grass withered, and the sickly, mouldering corn
  11. refused us life. My aged father then
  12. bade us re-cross the waves and re-implore
  13. Apollo's mercy at his island shrine;
  14. if haply of our weariness and woe
  15. he might vouchsafe the end, or bid us find
  16. help for our task, or guidance o'er the sea.
  1. 'T was night, and sleep possessed all breathing things;
  2. when, lo! the sacred effigies divine,
  3. the Phrygian gods which through the flames I bore
  4. from fallen Troy, seemed in a vision clear
  5. to stand before me where I slumbering lay,
  6. bathed in bright beams which from the moon at full
  7. streamed through the latticed wall: and thus they spoke
  8. to soothe my care away. “Apollo's word,
  9. which in far Delos the god meant for thee,
  10. is uttered here. Behold, he sends ourselves
  11. to this thy house, before thy prayer is made.
  12. We from Troy's ashes have companioned thee
  13. in every fight; and we the swollen seas,
  14. guided by thee, in thine own ships have crossed;
  15. our power divine shall set among the stars
  16. thy seed to be, and to thy city give
  17. dominion evermore. For mighty men
  18. go build its mighty walls! Seek not to shun
  19. the hard, long labors of an exile's way.
  20. Change this abode! Not thine this Cretan shore,
  21. nor here would Delian Phoebus have thee bide.
  22. There is a land the roving Greeks have named
  23. Hesperia. It is a storied realm
  24. made mighty by great wars and fruitful land.
  25. Oenotrians had it, and their sons, 't is said,
  26. have called it Italy, a chieftain's name
  27. to a whole region given. That land alone
  28. our true abode can be; for Dardanus
  29. was cradled there, and old Iasius,
  30. their blood the oldest of our ancient line.
  31. Arise! go forth and cheer thy father gray
  32. with the glad tidings! Bid him doubt no more!
  33. Ausonia seek and Corythus; for Jove
  34. denies this Cretan realm to thine and thee.”
  35. I marvelled at the heavenly presences
  36. so vocal and so bright, for 't was not sleep;
  37. but face to face I deemed I could discern
  38. each countenance august and holy brow,
  39. each mantled head; and from my body ran
  40. cold sweat of awe. From my low couch I sprang,
  41. lifting to heaven my suppliant hands and prayer,
  42. and o'er my hearth poured forth libations free.
  43. After th' auspicious offering, I told
  44. Anchises the whole tale in order due.
  45. He owned our stock two-branched, of our great sires
  46. the twofold line, and that his thought had strayed,
  47. in new confusion mingling ancient names;
  48. then spoke: “O son, in Ilium's doom severe
  49. afflicted ever! To my ears alone
  50. this dark vicissitude Cassandra sang.
  51. I mind me now that her wild tongue foretold
  52. such destiny. For oft she called aloud
  53. ‘Hesperia!’ oft ‘Italia's kingdom!’ called.
  54. But who had faith that Teucer's sons should come
  55. to far Hesperia? What mortal ear
  56. gave heed to sad Cassandra's voice divine?
  57. Now Phoebus speaks. Obedient let us be,
  58. and, warned by him, our happier Iot pursue!”
  59. He spoke: with heart of hope we all obeyed;
  60. again we changed abode; and, leaving there
  61. a feeble few, again with spreading sails
  62. we coursed in hollow ship the spacious sea.