After such words and tears, he flung free reinTo the swift fleet, which sped along the waveTo old Euboean Cumae's sacred shore.They veer all prows to sea; the anchor flukeMakes each ship sure, and shading the long strandThe rounded sterns jut o'er. ImpetuouslyThe eager warriors leap forth to landUpon Hesperian soil. One strikes the flintTo find the seed-spark hidden in its veins;One breaks the thick-branched trees, and steals awayThe shelter where the woodland creatures bide;One leads his mates where living waters flow.Aeneas, servant of the gods, ascendsThe templed hill where lofty Phoebus reigns,And that far-off, inviolable shrineOf dread Sibylla, in stupendous cave,O'er whose deep soul the god of Delos breathesProphetic gifts, unfolding things to come.Here are pale Trivia's golden house and grove.
Sic fatur lacrimans, classique immittit habenas,et tandem Euboïcis Cumarum adlabitur oris.Obvertunt pelago proras; tum dente tenaciancora fundabat naves, et litora curvaepraetexunt puppes. Iuvenum manus emicat ardenslitus in Hesperium; quaerit pars semina flammaeabstrusa in venis silicis, pars densa ferarumtecta rapit silvas, inventaque flumina monstrat.At pius Aeneas arces, quibus altus Apollopraesidet, horrendaeque procul secreta Sibyllaeantrum immane petit, magnum cui mentem animumqueDelius inspirat vates, aperitque futura.Iam subeunt Triviae lucos atque aurea tecta.
Here Daedalus, the ancient story tells,Escaping Minos' power, and having madeHazard of heaven on far-mounting wings,Floated to northward, a cold, trackless way,And lightly poised, at last, o'er Cumae's towers.Here first to earth come down, he gave to theeHis gear of wings, Apollo! and ordainedVast temples to thy name and altars fair.On huge bronze doors Androgeos' death was done;And Cecrops' children paid their debt of woe,Where, seven and seven,—0 pitiable sight!—The youths and maidens wait the annual doom,Drawn out by lot from yonder marble urn.Beyond, above a sea, lay carven Crete:—The bull was there; the passion, the strange guile;And Queen Pasiphae's brute-human son,The Minotaur—of monstrous loves the sign.Here was the toilsome, labyrinthine maze,Where, pitying love-lorn Ariadne's tears,The crafty Daedalus himself betrayedThe secret of his work; and gave the clueTo guide the path of Theseus through the gloom.0 Icarus, in such well-graven sceneHow proud thy place should be! but grief forbade:Twice in pure gold a father's fingers stroveTo shape thy fall, and twice they strove in vain.Aeneas long the various work would scan;But now Achates comes, and by his sideDeiphobe, the Sibyl, Glaucus' child.Thus to the prince she spoke:“Is this thine hourTo stand and wonder? Rather go obtainFrom young unbroken herd the bullocks seven,And seven yearling ewes, our wonted way.”Thus to Aeneas; his attendants hasteTo work her will; the priestess, calling loud,Gathers the Trojans to her mountain-shrine.
Daedalus, ut fama est, fugiens Minoïa regna,praepetibus pennis ausus se credere caelo,insuetum per iter gelidas enavit ad Arctos,Chalcidicaque levis tandem super adstitit arce.Redditus his primum terris, tibi, Phoebe, sacravitremigium alarum, posuitque immania templa.In foribus letum Androgeo: tum pendere poenasCecropidae iussi—miserum!—septena quotanniscorpora natorum; stat ductis sortibus urna.Contra elata mari respondet Gnosia tellus:hic crudelis amor tauri, suppostaque furtoPasiphaë, mixtumque genus prolesque biformisMinotaurus inest, Veneris monumenta nefandae;hic labor ille domus et inextricabilis error;magnum reginae sed enim miseratus amoremDaedalus ipse dolos tecti ambagesque resolvit,caeca regens filo vestigia. Tu quoque magnampartem opere in tanto, sineret dolor, Icare, haberes.Bis conatus erat casus effingere in auro;bis patriae cecidere manus. Quin protinus omniaperlegerent oculis, ni iam praemissus Achatesadforet, atque una Phoebi Triviaeque sacerdos,Deiphobe Glauci, fatur quae talia regi:“Non hoc ista sibi tempus spectacula poscit;”“nunc grege de intacto septem mactare iuvencos”“praestiterit, totidem lectas de more bidentes.”Talibus adfata Aenean (nec sacra moranturiussa viri), Teucros vocat alta in templa sacerdos.
Deep in the face of that Euboean cragA cavern vast is hollowed out amain,With hundred openings, a hundred mouths,Whence voices flow, the Sibyl's answering songs.While at the door they paused, the virgin cried:“Ask now thy doom!—the god! the god is nigh!”So saying, from her face its color flew,Her twisted locks flowed free, the heaving breastSwelled with her heart's wild blood; her stature seemedVaster, her accent more than mortal man,As all th' oncoming god around her breathed:“On with thy vows and prayers, 0 Trojan, on!For only unto prayer this haunted caveMay its vast lips unclose.” She spake no more.An icy shudder through the marrow ranOf the bold Trojans; while their sacred KingPoured from his inmost soul this plaint and prayer:“Phoebus, who ever for the woes of TroyHadst pitying eyes! who gavest deadly aimTo Paris when his Dardan shaft he hurledOn great Achilles! Thou hast guided meThrough many an unknown water, where the seasBreak upon kingdoms vast, and to the tribesOf the remote Massyli, whose wild landTo Syrtes spreads. But now; because at lastI touch Hesperia's ever-fleeting bound,May Troy's ill fate forsake me from this day!0 gods and goddesses, beneath whose wrathDardania's glory and great Ilium stood,Spare, for ye may, the remnant of my race!And thou, most holy prophetess, whose soulForeknows events to come, grant to my prayer(Which asks no kingdom save what Fate decrees)That I may stablish in the Latin landMy Trojans, my far-wandering household-gods,And storm-tossed deities of fallen Troy.Then unto Phoebus and his sister paleA temple all of marble shall be given,And festal days to Phoebus evermore.Thee also in my realms a spacious shrineShall honor; thy dark books and holy songsI there will keep, to be my people's law;And thee, benignant Sibyl for all timeA company of chosen priests shall serve.O, not on leaves, light leaves, inscribe thy songs!Lest, playthings of each breeze, they fly afarIn swift confusion! Sing thyself, I pray.”So ceased his voice;
Excisum Euboicae latus ingens rupis in antrum,quo lati ducunt aditus centum, ostia centum;unde ruunt totidem voces, responsa Sibyllae.Ventum erat ad limen, cum virgo. “Poscere fata”“tempus” ait; “deus, ecce, deus!” Cui talia fantiante fores subito non voltus, non color unus,non comptae mansere comae; sed pectus anhelum,et rabie fera corda tument; maiorque videri,nec mortale sonans, adflata est numine quandoiam propiore dei. “Cessas in vota precesque,”“Tros” ait “Aenea? Cessas? Neque enim ante dehiscent”“attonitae magna ora domus.” Et talia fataconticuit. Gelidus Teucris per dura cucurritossa tremor, funditque preces rex pectore ab imo:“Phoebe, graves Troiae semper miserate labores,”“Dardana qui Paridis direxti tela manusque”“corpus in Aeacidae, magnas obeuntia terras”“tot maria intravi duce te, penitusque repostas”“Massylum gentes praetentaque Syrtibus arva,”“iam tandem Italiae fugientis prendimus oras;”“hac Troiana tenus fuerit Fortuna secuta.”“Vos quoque Pergameae iam fas est parcere genti,”“dique deaeque omnes quibus obstitit Ilium et ingens”“gloria Dardaniae. Tuque, O sanctissima vates,”“praescia venturi, da, non indebita posco”“regna meis fatis, Latio considere Teucros”“errantisque deos agitataque numina Troiae.”“Tum Phoebo et Triviae solido de marmore templum”“instituam, festosque dies de nomine Phoebi.”“Te quoque magna manent regnis penetralia nostris:”“hic ego namque tuas sortes arcanaque fata,”“dicta meae genti, ponam, lectosque sacrabo,”“alma, viros. Foliis tantum ne carmina manda,”“ne turbata volent rapidis ludibria ventis;”“ipsa canas oro.” Finem dedit ore loquendi.
the virgin through the cave,Scarce bridled yet by Phoebus' hand divine,Ecstatic swept along, and vainly stoveTo fing its potent master from her breast;But he more strongly plied his rein and curbUpon her frenzied lips, and soon subduedHer spirit fierce, and swayed her at his will.Free and self-moved the cavern's hundred adoorsSwung open wide, and uttered to the airThe oracles the virgin-priestess sung:“Thy long sea-perils thou hast safely passed;But heavier woes await thee on the land.Truly thy Trojans to Lavinian shoreShall come—vex not thyself thereon—but, oh!Shall rue their coming thither! war, red war!And Tiber stained with bloody foam I see.Simois, Xanthus, and the Dorian hordeThou shalt behold; a new Achilles nowIn Latium breathes,—he, too, of goddess born;And Juno, burden of the sons of Troy,Will vex them ever; while thyself shalt sueIn dire distress to many a town and tribeThrough Italy; the cause of so much illAgain shall be a hostess-queen, againA marriage-chamber for an alien bride.Oh! yield not to thy woe, but front it ever,And follow boldly whither Fortune calls.Thy way of safety, as thou least couldst dream,Lies through a city of the Greeks, thy foes.”
At, Phoebi nondum patiens, immanis in antrobacchatur vates, magnum si pectore possitexcussisse deum; tanto magis ille fatigatos rabidum, fera corda domans, fingitque premendo.Ostia iamque domus patuere ingentia centumsponte sua, vatisque ferunt responsa per auras:“O tandem magnis pelagi defuncte periclis!”“Sed terrae graviora manent. In regna Lavini”“Dardanidae venient; mitte hanc de pectore curam;”“sed non et venisse volent. Bella, horrida bella,”“et Thybrim multo spumantem sanguine cerno.”“Non Simois tibi, nec Xanthus, nec Dorica castra”“defuerint; alius Latio iam partus Achilles,”“natus et ipse dea; nec Teucris addita Iuno”“usquam aberit; cum tu supplex in rebus egenis”“quas gentes Italum aut quas non oraveris urbes!”“Causa mali tanti coniunx iterum hospita Teucris”“externique iterum thalami.”“Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito,”“qua tua te Fortuna sinet. Via prima salutis,”“quod minime reris, Graia pandetur ab urbe.”
Thus from her shrine Cumaea's prophetessChanted the dark decrees; the dreadful soundReverberated through the bellowing cave,Commingling truth with ecstasies obscure.Apollo, as she raged, flung loosened rein,And thrust beneath her heart a quickening spur.When first her madness ceased, and her wild lipsWere still at last, the hero thus began:“No tribulations new, 0 Sibyl blest,Can now confront me; every future painI have foretasted; my prophetic soulEndured each stroke of fate before it fell.One boon I ask. If of th' infernal KingThis be the portal where the murky waveOf swollen Acheron o'erflows its bound,Here let me enter and behold the faceOf my loved sire. Thy hand may point the way;Thy word will open wide yon holy doors.My father through the flames and falling spears,Straight through the centre of our foes, I boreUpon these shoulders. My long flight he sharedFrom sea to sea, and suffered at my sideThe anger of rude waters and dark skies,—Though weak—0 task too great for old and gray!Thus as a suppliant at thy door to stand,Was his behest and prayer. On son and sire,0 gracious one, have pity,—for thy ruleIs over all; no vain authorityHadst thou from Trivia o'er th' Avernian groves.If Orpheus could call back his loved one's shade,Emboldened by the lyre's melodious string:If Pollux by the interchange of deathRedeemed his twin, and oft repassed the way:If Theseus—but why name him? why recallAlcides' task? I, too, am sprung from Jove.”
Talibus ex adyto dictis Cumaea Sibyllahorrendas canit ambages antroque remugit,obscuris vera involvens: ea frena furenticoncutit, et stimulos sub pectore vertit Apollo.Ut primum cessit furor et rabida ora quierunt,incipit Aeneas heros: “Non ulla laborum,”“O virgo, nova mi facies inopinave surgit;”“omnia praecepi atque animo mecum ante peregi.”“Unum oro: quando hic inferni ianua regis”“dicitur, et tenebrosa palus Acheronte refuso,”“ire ad conspectum cari genitoris et ora”“contingat; doceas iter et sacra ostia pandas.”“Illum ego per flammas et mille sequentia tela”“eripui his umeris, medioque ex hoste recepi;”“ille meum comitatus iter, maria omnia mecum”“atque omnes pelagique minas caelique ferebat,”“invalidus, vires ultra sortemque senectae.”“Quin, ut te supplex peterem et tua limina adirem,”“idem orans mandata dabat. Gnatique patrisque,”“alma, precor, miserere;—potes namque omnia, nec te”“nequiquam lucis Hecate praefecit Avernis;—”“si potuit Manes arcessere coniugis Orpheus,”“Threïcia fretus cithara fidibusque canoris,”“si fratrem Pollux alterna morte redemit,”“itque reditque viam totiens. Quid Thesea, magnum”“quid memorem Alciden? Et mi genus ab Iove summo.”
Thus, to the altar clinging, did he pray:The Sibyl thus replied: “Offspring of Heaven,Anchises' son, the downward path to deathIs easy; all the livelong night and dayDark Pluto's door stands open for a guest.But 0! remounting to the world of light,This is a task indeed, a strife supreme.Few, very few, whom righteous Jove did bless,Or quenchless virtue carried to the stars,Children of gods, have such a victory won.Grim forests stop the way, and, gliding slow,Cocytus circles through the sightless gloom.But if it be thy dream and fond desireTwice o'er the Stygian gulf to travel, twiceOn glooms of Tartarus to set thine eyes,If such mad quest be now thy pleasure—hearWhat must be first fulfilled. A certain treeHides in obscurest shade a golden bough,Of pliant stems and many a leaf of gold,Sacred to Proserpine, infernal Queen.Far in the grove it hides; in sunless valeDeep shadows keep it in captivity.No pilgrim to that underworld can passBut he who plucks this burgeoned, leafy gold;For this hath beauteous Proserpine ordainedHer chosen gift to be. Whene'er it is culled,A branch out-leafing in like golden gleam,A second wonder-stem, fails not to spring.Therefore go seek it with uplifted eyes!And when by will of Heaven thou findest it,Reach forth and pluck; for at a touch it yields,A free and willing gift, if Fate ordain;But otherwise no mortal strength avails,Nor strong, sharp steel, to rend it from the tree.Another task awaits; thy friend's cold clayLies unentombed. Alas! thou art not ware(While in my house thou lingerest, seeking light)That all thy ships are by his death defiled.Unto his resting-place and sepulchre,Go, carry him! And sable victims bring,In expiation, to his mournful shade.So at the last on yonder Stygian groves,And realms to things that breathe impassable,Thine eye shall gaze.” So closed her lips inspired.
Talibus orabat dictis, arasque tenebat,cum sic orsa loqui vates: “Sate sanguine divom,”“Tros Anchisiade, facilis descensus Averno;”“noctes atque dies patet atri ianua Ditis;”“sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras,”“hoc opus, hic labor est. Pauci, quos aequus amavit”“Iuppiter, aut ardens evexit ad aethera virtus,”“dis geniti potuere. Tenent media omnia silvae,”“Cocytusque sinu labens circumvenit atro.”“Quod si tantus amor menti, si tanta cupido est,”“bis Stygios innare lacus, bis nigra videre”“Tartara, et insano iuvat indulgere labori,”“accipe, quae peragenda prius. Latet arbore opaca”“aureus et foliis et lento vimine ramus,”“Iunoni infernae dictus sacer; hunc tegit omnis”“lucus, et obscuris claudunt convallibus umbrae.”“Sed non ante datur telluris operta subire,”“auricomos quam quis decerpserit arbore fetus.”“Hoc sibi pulchra suum ferri Proserpina munus”“instituit. Primo avulso non deficit alter”“aureus, et simili frondescit virga metallo.”“Ergo alte vestiga oculis, et rite repertum”“carpe manu; namque ipse volens facilisque sequetur,”“si te fata vocant; aliter non viribus ullis”“vincere, nec duro poteris convellere ferro.”“Praeterea iacet exanimum tibi corpus amici—”“heu nescis—totamque incestat funere classem,”“dum consulta petis nostroque in limine pendes.”“Sedibus hunc refer ante suis et conde sepulchro.”“Duc nigras pecudes; ea prima piacula sunto:”“sic demum lucos Stygis et regna invia vivis”“aspicies.” Dixit, pressoque obmutuit ore.
Aeneas then drew forth, with downcast eyes,From that dark cavern, pondering in his heartThe riddle of his fate. His faithful friendAchates at his side, with paces slow,Companioned all his care, while their sad soulsMade mutual and oft-renewed surmiseWhat comrade dead, what cold and tombless clay,The Sibyl's word would show.But as they mused,Behold Misenus on the dry sea-sands,By hasty hand of death struck guiltless down!A son of Aeolus, none better knewTo waken heroes by the clarion's call,With war-enkindling sound. Great Hector's friendIn happier days, he oft at Hector's sideStrode to the fight with glittering lance and horn.But when Achilles stripped his fallen foe,This dauntless hero to Aeneas gaveAllegiance true, in not less noble cause.But, on a day, he chanced beside the seaTo blow his shell-shaped horn, and wildly daredChallenge the gods themselves to rival song;Till jealous Triton, if the tale be true,Grasped the rash mortal, and out-flung him far'mid surf-beat rocks and waves of whirling foam.Now from all sides, with tumult and loud cry,The Trojans came,—Aeneas leading allIn faithful grief; they hasten to fulfilThe Sibyl's mandate, and with many a tearBuild, altar-wise, a pyre, of tree on treeHeaped high as heaven: then they penetrateThe tall, old forest, where wild creatures bide,And fell pitch-pines, or with resounding blowsOf axe and wedge, cleave oak and ash-tree through,Or logs of rowan down the mountains roll.
Aeneas maesto defixus lumina voltuingreditur, linquens antrum, caecosque volutateventus animo secum. Cui fidus Achatesit comes, et paribus curis vestigia figit.Multa inter sese vario sermone serebant,quem socium exanimem vates, quod corpus humandumdiceret. Atque illi Misenum in litore sicco,ut venere, vident indigna morte peremptum,Misenum Aeoliden, quo non praestantior alteraere ciere viros, Martemque accendere cantu.Hectoris hic magni fuerat comes, Hectora circumet lituo pugnas insignis obibat et hasta:postquam illum vita victor spoliavit Achilles,Dardanio Aeneae sese fortissimus herosaddiderat socium, non inferiora secutus.Sed tum, forte cava dum personat aequora concha,demens, et cantu vocat in certamina divos,aemulus exceptum Triton, si credere dignum est,inter saxa virum spumosa inmerserat unda.Ergo omnes magno circum clamore fremebant,praecipue pius Aeneas. Tum iussa Sibyllae,haud mora, festinant flentes, aramque sepulchricongerere arboribus caeloque educere certant.Itur in antiquam silvam, stabula alta ferarum;procumbunt piceae, sonat icta securibus ilex,fraxineaeque trabes cuneis et fissile roburscinditur, advolvunt ingentis montibus ornos.
Aeneas oversees and shares the toil,Cheers on his mates, and swings a woodman's steel.But, sad at heart with many a doubt and care,O'erlooks the forest wide; then prays aloud:“0, that the Golden Bough from this vast groveMight o'er me shine! For, 0 Aeolides,The oracle foretold thy fate, too well!”Scarce had he spoken, when a pair of dovesBefore his very eyes flew down from heavenTo the green turf below; the prince of TroyKnew them his mother's birds, and joyful cried,“0, guide me on, whatever path there be!In airy travel through the woodland fly,To where yon rare branch shades the blessed ground.Fail thou not me, in this my doubtful hour,0 heavenly mother!” So saying, his steps lie stayed,Close watching whither they should signal give;The lightly-feeding doves flit on and on,Ever in easy ken of following eyes,Till over foul Avernus' sulphurous throatSwiftly they lift them through the liquid air,In silent flight, and find a wished-for restOn a twy-natured tree, where through green boughsFlames forth the glowing gold's contrasted hue.As in the wintry woodland bare and chill,Fresh-budded shines the clinging mistletoe,Whose seed is never from the parent treeO'er whose round limbs its tawny tendrils twine,—So shone th' out-leafing gold within the shadeOf dark holm-oak, and so its tinsel-bractRustled in each light breeze. Aeneas graspedThe lingering bough, broke it in eager haste,And bore it straightway to the Sibyl's shrine.
Nec non Aeneas opera inter talia primushortatur socios, paribusque accingitur armis.Atque haec ipse suo tristi cum corde volutat,aspectans silvam inmensam, et sic voce precatur:“Si nunc se nobis ille aureus arbore ramus”“ostendat nemore in tanto, quando omnia vere”“heu nimium de te vates, Misene, locuta est.”Vix ea fatus erat, geminae cum forte columbaeipsa sub ora viri caelo venere volantes,et viridi sedere solo. Tum maximus herosmaternas agnoscit aves, laetusque precatur:“Este duces, O, si qua via est, cursumque per auras”“dirigite in lucos, ubi pinguem dives opacat”“ramus humum. Tuque, O, dubiis ne defice rebus,”“diva parens.” Sic effatus vestigia pressit,observans quae signa ferant, quo tendere pergant.Pascentes illae tantum prodire volando,quantum acie possent oculi servare sequentum.Inde ubi venere ad fauces grave olentis Averni,tollunt se celeres, liquidumque per aëra lapsaesedibus optatis geminae super arbore sidunt,discolor unde auri per ramos aura refulsit.Quale solet silvis brumali frigore viscumfronde virere nova, quod non sua seminat arbos,et croceo fetu teretis circumdare truncos,talis erat species auri frondentis opacailice, sic leni crepitabat brattea vento.Corripit Aeneas extemplo avidusque refringitcunctantem, et vatis portat sub tecta Sibyllae.
Meanwhile the Trojans on the doleful shoreBewailed Misenus, and brought tribute thereOf grief's last gift to his unheeding clay.First, of the full-sapped pine and well-hewn oakA lofty pyre they build; then sombre boughsAround it wreathe, and in fair order rangeFunereal cypress; glittering arms are piledHigh over all; on blazing coals they liftCauldrons of brass brimmed o'er with waters pure;And that cold, lifeless clay lave and anointWith many a moan and cry; on their last couchThe poor, dead limbs they lay, and mantle o'erWith purple vesture and familiar pall.Then in sad ministry the chosen few,With eyes averted, as our sires did use,Hold the enkindling torch beneath the pyre:They gather up and burn the gifts of myrrh,The sacred bread and bowls of flowing oil;And when in flame the dying embers fall,On thirsty ash they pour the streams of wine.Good Corynaeus, in an urn of brassThe gathered relics hides; and three times round,With blessed olive branch and sprinkling dew,Purges the people with ablution cold,In lustral rite; oft chanting, “Hail! Farewell!”Faithful Aeneas for his comrade builtA mighty tomb, and dedicated thereTrophy of arms, with trumpet and with oar,Beneath a windy hill, which now is called“Misenus,”—for all time the name to bear.
Nec minus interea Misenum in litore Teucriflebant, et cineri ingrato suprema ferebant.Principio pinguem taedis et robore sectoingentem struxere pyram, cui frondibus atrisintexunt latera, et ferales ante cupressosconstituunt, decorantque super fulgentibus armis.Pars calidos latices et aëna undantia flammisexpediunt, corpusque lavant frigentis et unguunt.Fit gemitus. Tum membra toro defleta reponunt,purpureasque super vestes, velamina nota,coniciunt. Pars ingenti subiere feretro,triste ministerium, et subiectam more parentumaversi tenuere facem. Congesta cremanturturea dona, dapes, fuso crateres olivo.Postquam conlapsi cineres et flamma quievitreliquias vino et bibulam lavere favillam,ossaque lecta cado texit Corynaeus aëno.Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda,spargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivae,lustravitque viros, dixitque novissima verba.At pius Aeneas ingenti mole sepulcrumimponit, suaque arma viro, remumque tubamque,monte sub aërio, qui nunc “Misenus” ab illodicitur, aeternumque tenet per saecula nomen.
After these toils, they hasten to fulfilWhat else the Sibyl said. Straightway they findA cave profound, of entrance gaping wide,O'erhung with rock, in gloom of sheltering grove,Near the dark waters of a lake, wherebyNo bird might ever pass with scathless wing,So dire an exhalation is breathed outFrom that dark deep of death to upper air:—Hence, in the Grecian tongue, Aornos called.Here first four youthful bulls of swarthy hideWere led for sacrifice; on each broad browThe priestess sprinkled wine; 'twixt the two hornsOutplucked the lifted hair, and cast it forthUpon the holy flames, beginning soHer offerings; then loudly sued the powerof Hecate, a Queen in heaven and hell.Some struck with knives, and caught in shallow bowlsThe smoking blood. Aeneas' lifted handSmote with a sword a sable-fleeced eweTo Night, the mother of th' Eumenides,And Earth, her sister dread; next unto thee,O Proserpine, a curst and barren cow;Then unto Pluto, Stygian King, he builtAn altar dark, and piled upon the flamesThe ponderous entrails of the bulls, and pouredFree o'er the burning flesh the goodly oil.Then lo! at dawn's dim, earliest beam beganBeneath their feet a groaning of the ground:The wooded hill-tops shook, and, as it seemed,She-hounds of hell howled viewless through the shade,To hail their Queen. “Away, 0 souls profane!Stand far away!” the priestess shrieked, “nor dareUnto this grove come near! Aeneas, on!Begin thy journey! Draw thy sheathed blade!Now, all thy courage! now, th' unshaken soul!”She spoke, and burst into the yawning caveWith frenzied step; he follows where she leads,And strides with feet unfaltering at her side.
His actis, propere exsequitur praecepta Sibyllae.Spelunca alta fuit vastoque immanis hiatu,scrupea, tuta lacu nigro nemorumque tenebris,quam super haud ullae poterant impune volantestendere iter pennis—talis sese halitus atrisfaucibus effundens supera ad convexa ferebat:[unde locum Grai dixerunt nomine Aornon.]quattuor hic primum nigrantis terga iuvencosconstituit, frontique invergit vina sacerdos;et summas carpens media inter cornua saetasignibus imponit sacris, libamina prima,voce vocans Hecaten, Caeloque Ereboque potentem.Supponunt alii cultros, tepidumque cruoremsuscipiunt pateris. Ipse atri velleris agnamAeneas matri Eumenidum magnaeque sororiense ferit, sterilemque tibi. Proserpina, vaccam.Tum Stygio regi nocturnas inchoat aras,et solida imponit taurorum viscera flammis,pingue superque oleum infundens ardentibus extis.Ecce autem, primi sub lumina solis et ortus,sub pedibus mugire solum, et iuga coepta moverisilvarum, visaeque canes ululare per umbram,adventante dea. “Procul O procul este, profani,”conclamat vates, “totoque absistite luco;”“tuque invade viam, vaginaque eripe ferrum:”“nunc animis opus, Aenea, nunc pectore firmo.”Tantum effata, furens antro se immisit aperto;ille ducem haud timidis vadentem passibus aequat.
Ye gods! who rule the spirits of the dead!Ye voiceless shades and silent lands of night!0 Phlegethon! 0 Chaos! let my song,If it be lawful, in fit words declareWhat I have heard; and by your help divineUnfold what hidden things enshrouded lieIn that dark underworld of sightless gloom.
Di, quibus imperium est animarum, umbraeque silentes,et Chaos, et Phlegethon, loca nocte tacentia late,sit mihi fas audita loqui; sit numine vestropandere res alta terra et caligine mersas!
They walked exploring the unpeopled night,Through Pluto's vacuous realms, and regions void,As when one's path in dreary woodlands windsBeneath a misty moon's deceiving ray,When Jove has mantled all his heaven in shade,And night seals up the beauty of the world.In the first courts and entrances of HellSorrows and vengeful Cares on couches lie:There sad Old Age abides, Diseases pale,And Fear, and Hunger, temptress to all crime;Want, base and vile, and, two dread shapes to see,Bondage and Death: then Sleep, Death's next of kin;And dreams of guilty joy. Death-dealing WarIs ever at the doors, and hard therebyThe Furies' beds of steel, where wild-eyed StrifeHer snaky hair with blood-stained fillet binds.
Ibant obscuri sola sub nocte per umbram,perque domos Ditis vacuas et inania regna:quale per incertam lunam sub luce malignaest iter in silvis, ubi caelum condidit umbraIuppiter, et rebus nox abstulit atra colorem.Vestibulum ante ipsum, primisque in faucibus OrciLuctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae;pallentesque habitant Morbi, tristisque Senectus,et Metus, et malesuada Fames, ac turpis Egestas,terribiles visu formae: Letumque, Labosque;tum consanguineus Leti Sopor, et mala mentisGaudia, mortiferumque adverso in limine Bellum,ferreique Eumenidum thalami, et Discordia demens,vipereum crinem vittis innexa cruentis.
There in the middle court a shadowy elmIts ancient branches spreads, and in its leavesDeluding visions ever haunt and cling.Then come strange prodigies of bestial kind:Centaurs are stabled there, and double shapesLike Scylla, or the dragon Lerna bred,With hideous scream; Briareus clutching farHis hundred hands, Chimaera girt with flame,A crowd of Gorgons, Harpies of foul wing,And giant Geryon's triple-monstered shade.Aeneas, shuddering with sudden fear,Drew sword and fronted them with naked steel;And, save his sage conductress bade him knowThese were but shapes and shadows sweeping by,His stroke had cloven in vain the vacant air.
In medio ramos annosaque brachia panditulmus opaca, ingens, quam sedem Somnia volgovana tenere ferunt, foliisque sub omnibus haerent.Multaque praeterea variarum monstra ferarum:Centauri in foribus stabulant, Scyllaeque biformes,et centumgeminus Briareus, ac belua Lernaehorrendum stridens, flammisque armata Chimaera,Gorgones Harpyiaeque et forma tricorporis umbrae.Corripit hic subita trepidus formidine ferrumAeneas, strictamque aciem venientibus offert,et, ni docta comes tenues sine corpore vitasadmoneat volitare cava sub imagine formae,inruat, et frustra ferro diverberet umbras.
Hence the way leads to that Tartarean streamOf Acheron, whose torrent fierce and foulDisgorges in Cocytus all its sands.A ferryman of gruesome guise keeps wardUpon these waters,—Charon, foully garbed,With unkempt, thick gray beard upon his chin,And staring eyes of flame; a mantle coarse,All stained and knotted, from his shoulder falls,As with a pole he guides his craft, tends sail,And in the black boat ferries o'er his dead;—Old, but a god's old age looks fresh and strong.To those dim shores the multitude streams on—Husbands and wives, and pale, unbreathing formsOf high-souled heroes, boys and virgins fair,And strong youth at whose graves fond parents mourned.As numberless the throng as leaves that fallWhen autumn's early frost is on the grove;Or like vast flocks of birds by winter's chillSent flying o'er wide seas to lands of flowers.All stood beseeching to begin their voyageAcross that river, and reached out pale hands,In passionate yearning for its distant shore.But the grim boatman takes now these, now those,Or thrusts unpitying from the stream away.Aeneas, moved to wonder and deep awe,Beheld the tumult; “Virgin seer!” he cried,.“Why move the thronging ghosts toward yonder stream?What seek they there? Or what election holdsThat these unwilling linger, while their peersSweep forward yonder o'er the leaden waves?”To him, in few, the aged Sibyl spoke:“Son of Anchises, offspring of the gods,Yon are Cocytus and the Stygian stream,By whose dread power the gods themselves do fearTo take an oath in vain. Here far and wideThou seest the hapless throng that hath no grave.That boatman Charon bears across the deepSuch as be sepulchred with holy care.But over that loud flood and dreadful shoreNo trav'ler may be borne, until in peaceHis gathered ashes rest. A hundred yearsRound this dark borderland some haunt and roam,Then win late passage o'er the longed-for wave.”Aeneas lingered for a little space,Revolving in his soul with pitying prayerFate's partial way. But presently he seesLeucaspis and the Lycian navy's lord,Orontes; both of melancholy brow,Both hapless and unhonored after death,Whom, while from Troy they crossed the wind-swept seas,A whirling tempest wrecked with ship and crew.
Hinc via, Tartarei quae fert Acherontis ad undas.Turbidus hic caeno vastaque voragine gurgesaestuat, atque omnem Cocyto eructat harenam.Portitor has horrendus aquas et flumina servatterribili squalore Charon, cui plurima mentocanities inculta iacet; stant lumina flamma,sordidus ex umeris nodo dependet amictus.Ipse ratem conto subigit, velisque ministrat,et ferruginea subvectat corpora cymba,iam senior, sed cruda deo viridisque senectus.Huc omnis turba ad ripas effusa ruebat,matres atque viri, defunctaque corpora vitamagnanimum heroum, pueri innuptaeque puellae,impositique rogis iuvenes ante ora parentum:quam multa in silvis autumni frigore primolapsa cadunt folia, aut ad terram gurgite ab altoquam multae glomerantur aves, ubi frigidus annustrans pontum fugat, et terris immittit apricis.Stabant orantes primi transmittere cursum,tendebantque manus ripae ulterioris amore.Navita sed tristis nunc hos nunc accipit illos,ast alios longe submotos arcet harena.Aeneas, miratus enim motusque tumultu,“Dic” ait “O virgo, quid volt concursus ad amnem?”“Quidve petunt animae, vel quo discrimine ripas”“hae linquunt, illae remis vada livida verrunt?”Olli sic breviter fata est longaeva sacerdos:“Anchisa generate, deum certissima proles,”“Cocyti stagna alta vides Stygiamque paludem,”“di cuius iurare timent et fallere numen.”“Haec omnis, quam cernis, inops inhumataque turba est;”“portitor ille Charon; hi, quos vehit unda, sepulti.”“Nec ripas datur horrendas et rauca fluenta”“transportare prius quam sedibus ossa quierunt.”“Centum errant annos volitantque haec litora circum;”“tum demum admissi stagna exoptata revisunt.”Constitit Anchisa satus et vestigia pressit,multa putans, sortemque animo miseratus iniquam.Cernit ibi maestos et mortis honore carentesLeucaspim et Lyciae ductorem classis Oronten,quos, simul ab Troia ventosa per aequora vectos,obruit Auster, aqua involvens navemque virosque.
There, too, the helmsman Palinurus strayed:Who, as he whilom watched the Libyan stars,Had fallen, plunging from his lofty seatInto the billowy deep. Aeneas nowDiscerned his sad face through the blinding gloom,And hailed him thus: “0 Palinurus, tellWhat god was he who ravished thee awayFrom me and mine, beneath the o'crwhelming wave?Speak on! for he who ne'er had spoke untrue,Apollo's self, did mock my listening mind,And chanted me a faithful oracleThat thou shouldst ride the seas unharmed, and touchAusonian shores. Is this the pledge divine?”Then he, “0 chieftain of Anchises' race,Apollo's tripod told thee not untrue.No god did thrust me down beneath the wave,For that strong rudder unto which I clung,My charge and duty, and my ship's sole guide,Wrenched from its place, dropped with me as I fell.Not for myself—by the rude seas I swear—Did I have terror, but lest thy good ship,Stripped of her gear, and her poor pilot lost,Should fail and founder in that rising flood.Three wintry nights across the boundless mainThe south wind buffeted and bore me on;At the fourth daybreak, lifted from the surge,I looked at last on Italy, and swamWith weary stroke on stroke unto the land.Safe was I then. Alas! but as I climbedWith garments wet and heavy, my clenched handGrasping the steep rock, came a cruel hordeUpon me with drawn blades, accounting me—So blind they were!—a wrecker's prize and spoil.Now are the waves my tomb; and wandering windsToss me along the coast. 0, I implore,By heaven's sweet light, by yonder upper air,By thy lost father, by Iulus dear,Thy rising hope and joy, that from these woes,Unconquered chieftain, thou wilt set me free!Give me a grave where Velia's haven lies,For thou hast power! Or if some path there be,If thy celestial mother guide thee here(For not, I ween, without the grace of godsWilt cross yon rivers vast, you Stygian pool)Reach me a hand! and bear with thee along!Until (least gift!) death bring me peace and calm.”Such words he spoke: the priestess thus replied:“Why, Palinurus, these unblest desires?Wouldst thou, unsepulchred, behold the waveOf Styx, stern river of th' Eumenides?Wouldst thou, unbidden, tread its fearful strand?Hope not by prayer to change the laws of Heaven!But heed my words, and in thy memoryCherish and keep, to cheer this evil time.Lo, far and wide, led on by signs from Heaven,Thy countrymen from many a templed townShall consecrate thy dust, and build thy tomb,A tomb with annual feasts and votive flowers,To Palinurus a perpetual fame!”Thus was his anguish stayed, from his sad heartGrief ebbed awhile, and even to this day,Our land is glad such noble name to wear.
Ecce gubernator sese Palinurus agebat,qui Libyco nuper cursu, dum sidera servat,exciderat puppi mediis effusus in undis.Hunc ubi vix multa maestum cognovit in umbra,sic prior adloquitur: “Quis te, Palinure, deorum”“eripuit nobis, medioque sub aequore mersit?”“Dic age. Namque mihi, fallax haud ante repertus,”“hoc uno responso animum delusit Apollo,”“qui fore te ponto incolumem, finesque canebat”“venturum Ausonios. En haec promissa fides est?”Ille autem: “Neque te Phoebi cortina fefellit,”“dux Anchisiade, nec me deus aequore mersit.”“Namque gubernaclum multa vi forte revolsum,”“cui datus haerebam custos cursusque regebam,”“praecipitans traxi mecum. Maria aspera iuro”“non ullum pro me tantum cepisse timorem,”“quam tua ne, spoliata armis, excussa magistro,”“deficeret tantis navis surgentibus undis.”“Tris Notus hibernas immensa per aequora noctes”“vexit me violentus aqua; vix lumine quarto”“prospexi Italiam summa sublimis ab unda.”“Paulatim adnabam terrae; iam tuta tenebam,”“ni gens crudelis madida cum veste gravatum”“prensantemque uncis manibus capita aspera montis”“ferro invasisset, praedamque ignara putasset.”“Nunc me fluctus habet, versantque in litore venti.”“Quod te per caeli iucundum lumen et auras,”“per genitorem oro, per spes surgentis Iuli,”“eripe me his, invicte, malis: aut tu mihi terram”“inice, namque potes, portusque require Velinos;”“aut tu, si qua via est, si quam tibi diva creatrix”“ostendit—neque enim, credo, sine numine divom”“flumina tanta paras Stygiamque innare paludem—”“da dextram misero, et tecum me tolle per undas,”“sedibus ut saltem placidis in morte quiescam.”Talia fatus erat, coepit cum talia vates:“Unde haec, o Palinure, tibi tam dira cupido?”“Tu Stygias inhumatus aquas amnemque severum”“Eumenidum aspicies, ripamve iniussus adibis?”“Desine fata deum flecti sperare precando.”“Sed cape dicta memor, duri solatia casus.”“Nam tua finitimi, longe lateque per urbes”“prodigiis acti caelestibus, ossa piabunt,”“et statuent tumulum, et tumulo sollemnia mittent,”“aeternumque locus Palinuri nomen habebit.”His dictis curae emotae, pulsusque parumpercorde dolor tristi: gaudet cognomine terrae.
The twain continue now their destined wayUnto the river's edge. The Ferryman,Who watched them through still groves approach his shore,Hailed them, at distance, from the Stygian wave,And with reproachful summons thus began:“Whoe'er thou art that in this warrior guiseUnto my river comest,—quickly tellThine errand! Stay thee where thou standest now!This is ghosts' land, for sleep and slumbrous dark.That flesh and blood my Stygian ship should bearWere lawless wrong. Unwillingly I tookAlcides, Theseus, and Pirithous,Though sons of gods, too mighty to be quelled.One bound in chains yon warder of Hell's door,And dragged him trembling from our monarch's throne:The others, impious, would steal awayOut of her bride-bed Pluto's ravished Queen.”Briefly th' Amphrysian priestess made reply:“Not ours, such guile: Fear not! This warrior's armsAre innocent. Let Cerberus from his caveBay ceaselessly, the bloodless shades to scare;Let Proserpine immaculately keepThe house and honor of her kinsman King.Trojan Aeneas, famed for faithful prayerAnd victory in arms, descends to seekHis father in this gloomy deep of death.If loyal goodness move not such as thee,This branch at least” (she drew it from her breast)“Thou knowest well.”Then cooled his wrathful heart;With silent lips he looked and wondering eyesUpon that fateful, venerable wand,Seen only once an age. Shoreward he turned,And pushed their way his boat of leaden hue.The rows of crouching ghosts along the thwartsHe scattered, cleared a passage, and gave roomTo great Aeneas. The light shallop groanedBeneath his weight, and, straining at each seam,Took in the foul flood with unstinted flow.At last the hero and his priestess-guideCame safe across the river, and were moored'mid sea-green sedges in the formless mire.
Ergo iter inceptum peragunt fluvioque propinquant.Navita quos iam inde ut Stygia prospexit ab undaper tacitum nemus ire pedemque advertere ripae,sic prior adgreditur dictis, atque increpat ultro:“Quisquis es, armatus qui nostra ad flumina tendis,”“fare age, quid venias, iam istinc, et comprime gressum.”“Umbrarum hic locus est, somni noctisque soporae;”“corpora viva nefas Stygia vectare carina.”“Nec vero Alciden me sum laetatus euntem”“accepisse lacu, nec Thesea Pirithoumque,”“dis quamquam geniti atque invicti viribus essent.”“Tartareum ille manu custodem in vincla petivit,”“ipsius a solio regis, traxitque trementem;”“hi dominam Ditis thalamo deducere adorti.”Quae contra breviter fata est Amphrysia vates:“Nullae hic insidiae tales; absiste moveri;”“nec vim tela ferunt; licet ingens ianitor antro”“aeternum latrans exsanguis terreat umbras,”“casta licet patrui servet Proserpina limen.”“Troius Aeneas, pietate insignis et armis,”“ad genitorem imas Erebi descendit ad umbras.”“Si te nulla movet tantae pietatis imago,”“at ramum hunc” (aperit ramum, qui veste latebat)“adgnoscas.” Tumida ex ira tum corda residunt.Nec plura his. Ille admirans venerabile donumfatalis virgae, longo post tempore visum,caeruleam advertit puppim, ripaeque propinquat.Inde alias animas, quae per iuga longa sedebant,deturbat, laxatque foros; simul accipit alveoingentem Aenean. Gemuit sub pondere cymbasutilis, et multam accepit rimosa paludem.Tandem trans fluvium incolumis vatemque virumqueinformi limo glaucaque exponit in ulva.
Here Cerberus, with triple-throated roar,Made all the region ring, as there he layAt vast length in his cave. The Sibyl then,Seeing the serpents writhe around his neck,Threw down a loaf with honeyed herbs imbuedAnd drowsy essences: he, ravenous,Gaped wide his three fierce mouths and snatched the bait,Crouched with his large backs loose upon the ground,And filled his cavern floor from end to end.Aeneas through hell's portal moved, while sleepIts warder buried; then he fled that shoreOf Stygian stream, whence travellers ne'er return.
Cerberus haec ingens latratu regna trifaucipersonat, adverso recubans immanis in antro.Cui vates, horrere videns iam colla colubris,melle soporatam et medicatis frugibus offamobicit. Ille fame rabida tria guttura pandenscorripit obiectam, atque immania terga resolvitfusus humi, totoque ingens extenditur antro.Occupat Aeneas aditum custode sepulto,evaditque celer ripam inremeabilis undae.
Now hears he sobs, and piteous, lisping criesOf souls of babes upon the threshold plaining;Whom, ere they took their portion of sweet life,Dark Fate from nursing bosoms tore, and plungedIn bitterness of death. Nor far from these,The throng of dead by unjust judgment slain.Not without judge or law these realms abide:Wise Minos there the urn of justice moves,And holds assembly of the silent shades,Hearing the stories of their lives and deeds.Close on this place those doleful ghosts abide,Who, not for crime, but loathing life and lightWith their own hands took death, and cast awayThe vital essence. Willingly, alas!They now would suffer need, or burdens bear,If only life were given! But Fate forbids.Around them winds the sad, unlovely waveOf Styx: nine times it coils and interflows.Not far from hence, on every side outspread,The Fields of Sorrow lie,—such name they bear;Here all whom ruthless love did waste awayWander in paths unseen, or in the gloomOf dark myrtle grove: not even in deathHave they forgot their griefs of long ago.Here impious Phaedra and poor Procris bide;Lorn Eriphyle bares the vengeful woundsHer own son's dagger made; Evadne here,And foul Pasiphaë are seen; hard by,Laodamia, nobly fond and fair;And Caeneus, not a boy, but maiden now,By Fate remoulded to her native seeming.Here Tyrian Dido, too, her wound unhealed,Roamed through a mighty wood. The Trojan's eyesBeheld her near him through the murky gloom,As when, in her young month and crescent pale,One sees th' o'er-clouded moon, or thinks he sees.Down dropped his tears, and thus he fondly spoke:“0 suffering Dido! Were those tidings trueThat thou didst fling thee on the fatal steel?Thy death, ah me! I dealt it. But I swearBy stars above us, by the powers in Heaven,Or whatsoever oath ye dead believe,That not by choice I fled thy shores, 0 Queen!Divine decrees compelled me, even as nowAmong these ghosts I pass, and thread my wayAlong this gulf of night and loathsome land.How could I deem my cruel taking leaveWould bring thee at the last to all this woe?0, stay! Why shun me? Wherefore haste away?Our last farewell! Our doom! I speak it now!”Thus, though she glared with fierce, relentless gaze,Aaeneas, with fond words and tearful plea,Would soothe her angry soul. But on the groundShe fixed averted eyes. For all he spokeMoved her no more than if her frowning browWere changeless flint or carved in Parian stone.Then, after pause, away in wrath she fled,And refuge took within the cool, dark grove,Where her first spouse, Sichaeus, with her tearsMingled his own in mutual love and true.Aeneas, none the less, her guiltless woeWith anguish knew, watched with dimmed eyes her way,And pitied from afar the fallen Queen.
Continuo auditae voces, vagitus et ingens,infantumque animae flentes in limine primo,quos dulcis vitae exsortes et ab ubere raptosabstulit atra dies et funere mersit acerbo;hos iuxta falso damnati crimine mortis.Nec vero hae sine sorte datae, sine iudice, sedes:quaesitor Minos urnam movet; ille silentumconciliumque vocat vitasque et crimina discit.Proxuma deinde tenent maesti loca, qui sibi letuminsontes peperere manu, lucemque perosiproiecere animas. Quam vellent aethere in altonunc et pauperiem et duros perferre labores!Fas obstat, tristisque palus inamabilis undaealligat, et noviens Styx interfusa coërcet.Nec procul hinc partem fusi monstrantur in omnemlugentes campi: sic illos nomine dicunt.Hic, quos durus amor crudeli tabe peredit,secreti celant calles et myrtea circumsilva tegit; curae non ipsa in morte relinquunt.His Phaedram Procrimque locis, maestamque Eriphylencrudelis nati monstrantem volnera, cernit,Evadnenque et Pasiphaën; his Laodamiait comes, et iuvenis quondam, nunc femina, Caeneus,rursus et in veterem fato revoluta figuram.Inter quas Phoenissa recens a volnere Didoerrabat silva in magna; quam Troius herosut primum iuxta stetit adgnovitque per umbrasobscuram, qualem primo qui surgere menseaut videt, aut vidisse putat per nubila lunam,demisit lacrimas, dulcique adfatus amore est:“Infelix Dido, verus mihi nuntius ergo”“venerat exstinctam, ferroque extrema secutam?”“Funeris heu tibi causa fui? Per sidera iuro,”“per superos, et si qua fides tellure sub ima est,”“invitus, regina, tuo de litore cessi.”“Sed me iussa deum, quae nunc has ire per umbras,”“per loca senta situ cogunt noctemque profundam,”“imperiis egere suis; nec credere quivi”“hunc tantum tibi me discessu ferre dolorem.”“Siste gradum, teque aspectu ne subtrahe nostro.”“Quem fugis? Extremum fato, quod te adloquor, hoc est.”Talibus Aeneas ardentem et torva tuentemlenibat dictis animum, lacrimasque ciebat.Illa solo fixos oculos aversa tenebat,nec magis incepto voltum sermone movetur,quam si dura silex aut stet Marpesia cautes.tandem corripuit sese, atque inimica refugitin nemus umbriferum, coniunx ubi pristinus illirespondet curis aequatque Sychaeus amorem.Nec minus Aeneas, casu concussus iniquo,prosequitur lacrimis longe, et miseratur euntem.