Читать книгу The Æneid of Virgil, Translated into English Verse - Virgil - Страница 6

LXI .		Pensive he stood, and with a rising tear, "What lands, Achates, on the earth, but know Our labours? See our Priam! Even here Worth wins her due, and there are tears to flow, And human hearts to feel for human woe. Fear not," he cries, "Troy's glory yet shall gain Some safety." Thus upon the empty show He feeds his soul, while ever and again	541
	Deeply he sighs, and tears run down his cheeks like rain.

LXII .		He sees, how, fighting round the Trojan wall, Here fled the Greeks, the Trojan youth pursue, Here fled the Phrygians, and, with helmet tall, Achilles in his chariot stormed and slew. Not far, with tears, the snowy tents he knew Of Rhesus, where Tydides, bathed in blood, Broke in at midnight with his murderous crew, And drove the hot steeds campward, ere the food	550
	Of Trojan plains they browsed, or drank the Xanthian flood.

LXIII .		There, reft of arms, poor Troilus, rash to dare Achilles, by his horses dragged amain, Hangs from his empty chariot. Neck and hair Trail on the ground; his hand still grasps the rein; The spear inverted scores the dusty plain. Meanwhile, with beaten breasts and streaming hair, The Trojan dames, a sad and suppliant train, The veil to partial Pallas' temple bear.	559
	Stern, with averted eyes the Goddess spurns their prayer.

LXIV .		Thrice had Achilles round the Trojan wall Dragged Hector; there the slayer sells the slain. Sighing he sees him, chariot, arms and all, And Priam, spreading helpless hands in vain. Himself he knows among the Greeks again, Black Memnon's arms, and all his Eastern clan, Penthesilea's Amazonian train With moony shields. Bare-breasted, in the van,	568
	Girt with a golden zone, the maiden fights with man.

LXV .		Thus while Æneas, with set gaze and long, Hangs, mute with wonder, on the wildering scene, Lo! to the temple, with a numerous throng Of youthful followers, moves the beauteous Queen. Such as Diana, with her Oreads seen On swift Eurotas' banks or Cynthus' crest, Leading the dances. She, in form and mien, Armed with her quiver, towers above the rest,	577
	And tranquil pleasure thrills Latona's silent breast.

LXVI .		E'en such was Dido; so with joyous mien, Urging the business of her rising state, Among the concourse passed the Tyrian queen; Then, girt with guards, within the temple's gate Beneath the centre of the dome she sate. There, ministering justice, she presides, And deals the law, and from her throne of state, As choice determines or as chance decides,	586
	To each, in equal share, his separate task divides.

LXVII .		Sudden, behold a concourse. Looking down, His late-lost friends Æneas sees again, Sergestus, brave Cloanthus of renown, Antheus and others of the Trojan train, Whom the black squall had scattered o'er the main, And driven afar upon an alien strand. At once, 'twixt joy and terror rent in twain, Amazed, Æneas and Achates stand,	595
	And long to greet old friends and clasp a comrade's hand.

LXVIII .		Yet wildering wonder at so strange a scene Still holds them mute, while anxious thoughts divide Their doubtful minds, and in the cloud unseen, Wrapt in its hollow covering, they abide And note what fortune did their friends betide, And whence they come, and why for grace they sue, And on what shore they left the fleet to bide, For chosen captains came from every crew,	604
	And towards the sacred fane with clamorous cries they drew.

LXIX .		Then, audience granted, as the fane they filled, Thus calmly spake the eldest of the train, Ilioneus: "O queen, whom Jove hath willed To found this new-born city, here to reign, And stubborn tribes with justice to refrain, We, Troy's poor fugitives, implore thy grace, Storm-tost and wandering over every main— Forbid the flames our vessels to deface,	613
	Mark our afflicted plight, and spare a pious race.

LXX .		"We come not hither with the sword to rend Your Libyan homes, and shoreward drive the prey. Nay, no such violence our thoughts intend, Such pride suits not the vanquished. Far away There lies a place—Greeks style the land to-day Hesperia—fruitful and of ancient fame And strong in arms. OEnotrian folk, they say, First tilled the soil. Italian is the name	622
	Borne by the later race, with Italus who came.

LXXI .		"Thither we sailed, when, rising with the wave, Orion dashed us on the shoals, the prey Of wanton winds, and mastering billows drave Our vessels on the pathless rocks astray. We few have floated to your shore. O say, What manner of mankind is here? What land Is this, to treat us in this barbarous way? They grudge the very shelter of the sand,	631
	And call to arms and bar our footsteps from the strand!

LXXII .		"If human kind and mortal arms ye scorn, Think of the Gods, who judge the wrong and right. A king was ours, Æneas; ne'er was born A man more just, more valiant in the fight, More famed for piety and deeds of might. If yet he lives and looks upon the sun, Nor cruel death hath snatched him from the light, No fear have we, nor need hast thou to shun	640
	A Trojan guest, or rue kind offices begun.

LXXIII .		"Towns yet for us in Sicily remain, And arms, and, sprung from Trojan sires of yore, Our kinsman there, Acestes, holds his reign. Grant us to draw our scattered fleet ashore, And fit new planks and branches for the oar. So, if with king and comrades brought again, The Fates allow us to reach Italia's shore, Italia gladly and the Latian plain	649
	Seek we; but else, if thoughts of safety be in vain,

LXXIV .		"If thee, dear Sire, the Libyan deep doth hide, Nor hopes of young Iulus more can cheer, Back let our barks to the Sicanian tide And proffered homes and king Acestes steer." He spake; the Dardans answered with a cheer. Then Dido thus, with downcast look sedate; "Take courage, Trojans, and dismiss your fear. My kingdom's newness and the stress of Fate	658
	Force me to guard far off the frontiers of my state.

LXXV .		"Who knows not Troy, th' Æneian house of fame, The deeds and doers, and the war's renown That fired the world? Not hearts so dull and tame Have Punic folk; not so is Phoebus known To turn his back upon our Tyrian town. Whether ye sail to great Hesperia's shore And Saturn's fields, or seek the realms that own Acestes' sway, where Eryx reigned of yore,	667
	Safe will I send you hence, and speed you with my store.

LXXVI .		"Else, would ye settle in this realm, the town I build is yours; draw up your ships to land. Trojan and Tyrian will I treat as one. Would that your king Æneas here could stand, Driven by the gale that drove you to this strand! Natheless, to scour the country, will I send Some trusty messengers, with strict command To search through Libya to the furthest end,	676
	Lest, cast ashore, through town or lonely wood he wend."

LXXVII .		Roused by these words, long since the sire of Troy Yearned, like his friend, their comrades to surprise And burst the cloud. Then first with eager joy "O Goddess-born," the bold Achates cries, "How now—what purpose doth thy mind devise? Lo! all are safe—ships, comrades brought again; One only fails us, who before our eyes Sank in the midst of the engulfing main.	685
	All else confirms the tale thy mother told thee plain."

LXXVIII .		Scarce had he said, when straight the ambient cloud Broke open, melting into day's clear light, And bathed in sunshine stood the chief, endowed With shape and features most divinely bright. For graceful tresses and the purple light Of youth did Venus in her child unfold, And sprightly lustre breathed upon his sight, Beauteous as ivory, or when artists mould	694
	Silver or Parian stone, enchased in yellow gold.

LXXIX .		Then to the queen, all wondering, he exclaimed, "Behold me, Troy's Æneas; I am here, The man ye seek, from Libyan waves reclaimed. Thou, who alone Troy's sorrows deign'st to hear, And us, the gleanings of the Danaan spear, Poor world-wide wanderers and in desperate case, Hast ta'en to share thy city and thy cheer, Meet thanks nor we, nor what of Dardan race	703
	Yet roams the earth, can give to recompense thy grace.

LXXX .		"The gods, if gods the good and just regard, And thy own conscience, that approves the right, Grant thee due guerdon and a fit reward. What happy ages did thy birth delight? What godlike parents bore a child so bright? While running rivers hasten to the main, While yon pure ether feeds the stars with light, While shadows round the hill-slopes wax and wane,	712
	Thy fame, where'er I go, thy praises shall remain."

LXXXI .		So saying Æneas with his left hand pressed Serestus, and Ilioneus with his right, Brave Gyas, brave Cloanthus and the rest. Then Dido, struck with wonder at the sight Of one so great and in so strange a plight, "O Goddess-born! what fate through dangers sore, What force to savage coasts compels thy flight? Art thou, then, that Æneas, whom of yore	721
	Venus on Simois' banks to old Anchises bore?

LXXXII .		"Ay, well I mind me how in days of yore To Sidon exiled Teucer crossed the main, To seek new kingdoms and the aid implore Of Belus. He, my father Belus, then Ruled Cyprus, victor of the wasted plain, Since then thy name and Ilion's fate are known, And all the princes of Pelasgia's reign. Himself, a foe, oft lauded Troy's renown,	730
	And claimed the Teucrian sires as kinsmen of his own.

LXXXIII .		"Welcome, then, heroes! Me hath Fortune willed Long tost, like you, through sufferings, here to rest And find at length a refuge. Not unskilled In woe, I learn to succour the distrest." So to the palace she escorts her guest, And calls for festal honours in the shrine. Then shoreward sends beeves twenty to the rest, A hundred boars, of broad and bristly chine,	739
	A hundred lambs and ewes and gladdening gifts of wine.

LXXXIV .		Meanwhile with regal splendour they arrayed The palace-hall, where feast and banquet high All in the centre of the space is laid, And forth they bring the broidered tapestry, With purple dyed and wrought full cunningly. The tables groan with silver; there are told The deeds of prowess for the gazer's eye, A long, long series, of their sires of old,	748
	Traced from the nation's birth, and graven in the gold.

LXXXV .		But good Æneas—for a father's care No rest allows him—to the ships sends down Achates, to Ascanius charged to bear The welcome news, and bring him to the town. The father's fondness centres on the son. Rich presents, too, he sends for, saved of old From Troy, a veil, whose saffron edges shone Fringed with acanthus, glorious to behold,	757
	A broidered mantle, stiff with figures wrought in gold.

LXXXVI .		Fair Helen's ornaments, from Argos brought, The gift of Leda, when the Trojan shore And lawless nuptials o'er the waves she sought. Therewith the royal sceptre, which of yore Ilione, Priam's eldest daughter, bore; Her shining necklace, strung with costly beads, And diadem, rimmed with gold and studded o'er With sparkling gems. Thus charged, Achates heeds,	766
	And towards the ships forthwith in eager haste proceeds.

LXXXVII .		But crafty Cytherea planned meanwhile New arts, new schemes—that Cupid should conspire, In likeness of Ascanius, to beguile The queen with gifts, and kindle fierce desire, And turn the marrow of her bones to fire. Fierce Juno's hatred rankles in her breast; The two-faced house, the double tongues of Tyre She fears, and with the night returns unrest;	775
	So now to wingèd Love this mandate she addressed:

LXXXVIII .		"O son, sole source of all my strength and power, Who durst high Jove's Typhoean bolts disdain, To thee I fly, thy deity implore. Thou know'st, who oft hast sorrowed with my pain, How, tost by Juno's rancour, o'er the main Thy brother wanders. Him with speeches fair And sweet allurements doth the queen detain; But Juno's hospitality I fear;	784
	Scarce at an hour like this will she her hand forbear.

LXXXIX .		"Soft snares I purpose round the queen to weave, And wrap her soul in flames, that power malign Shall never change her, but her heart shall cleave Fast to Æneas with a love like mine. Now learn, how best to compass my design. To Tyrian Carthage hastes the princely boy, Prompt at the summons of his sire divine, My prime solicitude, my chiefest joy,	793
	Fraught with brave store of gifts, saved from the flames of Troy.

XC .		"Him on Idalia, lulled into a dream, Will I secrete, or on the sacred height Of lone Cythera, lest he learn the scheme, Or by his sudden presence mar the sleight. Take thou his likeness, only for a night, And wear the boyish features that are thine; And when the queen, in rapture of delight, Amid the royal banquet and the wine,	802
	Shall lock thee in her arms, and press her lips to thine,

XCI .		"Then steal into her bosom, and inspire Through all her veins with unsuspected sleight The poisoned sting of passion and desire." Young Love obeys, and doffs his plumage light, And, like Iulus, trips forth with delight. She o'er Ascanius rains a soft repose, And gently bears him to Idalia's height, Where breathing marjoram around him throws	811
	Sweet shade, and odorous flowers his slumbering limbs compose.

XCII .		Forth Cupid, at his mother's word, repairs, And merrily, for brave Achates led, The royal presents to the Tyrians bears. There, under gorgeous curtains, at the head Sate Dido, throned upon a golden bed. There, flocking in, the Trojans and their King Recline on purple coverlets outspread. Bread, heaped in baskets, the attendants bring,	820
	Towels with smooth-shorn nap, and water from the spring.

XCIII .		Within are fifty maidens, charged with care To dress the food, and nurse the flames divine. A hundred more, and youths like-aged, prepare To load the tables and arrange the wine. There, entering too, on broidered seats recline The Tyrians, crowding through the festive court. They praise the boy, his glowing looks divine, The words he feigned, the royal gifts he brought,	829
	The robe, the saffron veil with bright acanthus wrought.

XCIV .		Doomed to devouring Love, the hapless queen Burns as she gazes, with insatiate fire, Charmed by his presents and his youthful mien: He, fondly clinging to his fancied sire, Gave all the love that parents' hearts desire, Then seeks the queen. She, fixing on the boy Her eyes, her soul, impatient to admire, Now, fondling, folds him to her lap with joy;	838
	Weetless, alas! what god is plotting to destroy.

XCV .		True to his Paphian mother, trace by trace, Slowly the Love-god with prevenient art, Begins the lost Sychæus to efface, And living passion to a breast impart Long dead to feeling, and a vacant heart. Now, hushed the banquet and the tables all Removed, huge wine-bowls for each guest apart They wreathe with flowers. The noise of festival	847
	Rings through the spacious courts, and rolls along the hall.

XCVI .		There, blazing from the gilded roof, are seen Bright lamps, and torches turn the night to day. Now for the ponderous goblet called the Queen, Of jewelled gold, which Belus used and they Of Belus' line, and poured the wine straightway, And prayed, while silence filled the crowded hall: "Great Jove, the host's lawgiver, bless this day To these my Tyrians and the Trojans all.	856
	Long may our children's sons this solemn feast recall.

XCVII .		"Come, jolly Bacchus, giver of delight; Kind Juno, come; and ye with fair accord And friendly spirit hold the feast aright." So spake the Queen, and on the festal board The prime libation to the gods outpoured, Then lightly to her lips the goblet pressed, And gave to Bitias. Challenged by the word, He dived into the brimming gold with zest,	865
	And quaffed the foaming bowl, and after him, the rest.

XCVIII .		His golden lyre long-haired Iopas tunes, And sings what Atlas taught in loftiest strain; The suns' eclipses and the changing moons, Whence man and beast, whence lightning and the rain, Arcturus, watery Hyads and the Wain; What causes make the winter nights so long, Why sinks the sun so quickly in the main; All this he sings, and ravished at the song,	874
	Tyrians and Trojan guests the loud applause prolong.

XCIX .		With various talk the night poor Dido wore, And drank deep love, and nursed her inward flame, Of Priam much she asks, of Hector more, Now in what arms Aurora's offspring came, Of Diomede's horses and Achilles' fame. "Tell me," she says, "thy wanderings; stranger, come, Thy friends' mishaps and Danaan wiles proclaim; For seven long summers now have seen thee roam	883
	O'er every land and sea, far from thy native home."