Aeneid

Virgil

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

  1. He scarce had said, when moving o'er the crest
  2. of a high hill a giant shape we saw:
  3. that shepherd Polyphemus, with his flocks
  4. down-wending to the well-known water-side;
  5. huge, shapeless, horrible, with blinded eye,
  6. bearing a lopped pine for a staff, he made
  7. his footing sure, while the white, fleecy sheep,
  8. sole pleasure now, and solace of his woes,
  9. ran huddling at his side.
  10. Soon to the vast flood of the level brine
  11. he came, and washed the flowing gore away
  12. from that out-hollowed eye; he gnashed his teeth,
  13. groaning, and deep into the watery way
  14. stalked on, his tall bulk wet by scarce a wave.
  15. We fled in haste, though far, and with us bore
  16. the truthful suppliant; cut silently
  17. the anchor-ropes, and, bending to the oar,
  18. swept on with eager strokes clean out to sea.
  19. Aware he was, and toward our loud halloo
  20. whirled sudden round; but when no power had he
  21. to seize or harm, nor could his fierce pursuit
  22. o'ertake the Ionian surges as they rolled,
  23. he raised a cry incredible; the sea
  24. with all its billows trembled; the wide shore
  25. of Italy from glens and gorges moaned,
  26. and Aetna roared from every vaulted cave.