Aeneid

Virgil

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

  1. Aeneas, faithful to a task divine,
  2. though yearning sore to remedy and soothe
  3. such misery, and with the timely word
  4. her grief assuage, and though his burdened heart
  5. was weak because of love, while many a groan
  6. rose from his bosom, yet no whit did fail
  7. to do the will of Heaven, but of his fleet
  8. resumed command. The Trojans on the shore
  9. ply well their task and push into the sea
  10. the lofty ships. Now floats the shining keel,
  11. and oars they bring all leafy from the grove,
  12. with oak half-hewn, so hurried was the flight.
  13. Behold them how they haste—from every gate
  14. forth-streaming!—just as when a heap of corn
  15. is thronged with ants, who, knowing winter nigh,
  16. refill their granaries; the long black line
  17. runs o'er the levels, and conveys the spoil
  18. in narrow pathway through the grass; a part
  19. with straining and assiduous shoulder push
  20. the kernels huge; a part array the file,
  21. and whip the laggards on; their busy track
  22. swarms quick and eager with unceasing toil.
  23. O Dido, how thy suffering heart was wrung,
  24. that spectacle to see! What sore lament
  25. was thine, when from the towering citadel
  26. the whole shore seemed alive, the sea itself
  27. in turmoil with loud cries! Relentless Love,
  28. to what mad courses may not mortal hearts
  29. by thee be driven? Again her sorrow flies
  30. to doleful plaint and supplication vain;
  31. again her pride to tyrant Love bows down
  32. lest, though resolved to die, she fail to prove
  33. each hope of living: “O Anna, dost thou see
  34. yon busy shore? From every side they come.
  35. their canvas wooes the winds, and o'er each prow
  36. the merry seamen hang their votive flowers.
  37. Dear sister, since I did forebode this grief,
  38. I shall be strong to bear it. One sole boon
  39. my sorrow asks thee, Anna! Since of thee,
  40. thee only, did that traitor make a friend,
  41. and trusted thee with what he hid so deep —
  42. the feelings of his heart; since thou alone
  43. hast known what way, what hour the man would yield
  44. to soft persuasion—therefore, sister, haste,
  45. and humbly thus implore our haughty foe:
  46. ‘I was not with the Greeks what time they swore
  47. at Aulis to cut off the seed of Troy;
  48. I sent no ships to Ilium. Pray, have I
  49. profaned Anchises' tomb, or vexed his shade?’
  50. Why should his ear be deaf and obdurate
  51. to all I say? What haste? May he not make
  52. one last poor offering to her whose love
  53. is only pain? O, bid him but delay
  54. till flight be easy and the winds blow fair.
  55. I plead no more that bygone marriage-vow
  56. by him forsworn, nor ask that he should lose
  57. his beauteous Latium and his realm to be.
  58. Nothing but time I crave! to give repose
  59. and more room to this fever, till my fate
  60. teach a crushed heart to sorrow. I implore
  61. this last grace. (To thy sister's grief be kind!)
  62. I will requite with increase, till I die.”
  1. Such plaints, such prayers, again and yet again,
  2. betwixt the twain the sorrowing sister bore.
  3. But no words move, no lamentations bring
  4. persuasion to his soul; decrees of Fate
  5. oppose, and some wise god obstructs the way
  6. that finds the hero's ear. Oft-times around
  7. the aged strength of some stupendous oak
  8. the rival blasts of wintry Alpine winds
  9. smite with alternate wrath: Ioud is the roar,
  10. and from its rocking top the broken boughs
  11. are strewn along the ground; but to the crag
  12. steadfast it ever clings; far as toward heaven
  13. its giant crest uprears, so deep below
  14. its roots reach down to Tartarus:—not less
  15. the hero by unceasing wail and cry
  16. is smitten sore, and in his mighty heart
  17. has many a pang, while his serene intent
  18. abides unmoved, and tears gush forth in vain.