Metamorphoses Book 1

In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas corpora;

My mind is bent to tell of bodies changed into new forms.

di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas) adspirate meis

Gods, for you yourselves have wrought the changes, breathe on my undertakings,

primaque ab origine mundiad mea perpetuum deducite tempora carmen!

and bring down my song in unbroken strains from the world’s very beginning until the present time.

Ante mare et terras et quod tegit omnia caelum

Before the sea and the lands and the sky that hangs over all,

unus erat toto naturae vultus in orbe,

the face of Nature was the same in the whole world,

quem dixere chaos: rudis indigestaque moles

which state have men called chaos: a rough, unordered mass of things,

nec quicquam nisi pondus iners congestaque eodemnon bene iunctarum discordia semina rerum.

nothing at all except lifeless bulk and warring seeds of ill-matched elements heaped in one.

nullus adhuc mundo praebebat lumina Titan,

No sun as yet was shining upon the world,

nec nova crescendo reparabat cornua Phoebe,

nor was the waxing moon renewing her slender horns;

nec circumfuso pendebat in aere tellus ponderibus librata suis,

nor was the earth hovering balanced by her own weight in the surrounding air,

nec bracchia longomargine terrarum porrexerat Amphitrite;

nor had the ocean stretched her arms along the far reaches of the lands.

utque erat et tellus illic et pontus et aer,

And, though there was both land and sea and air,

sic erat instabilis tellus, innabilis unda, lucis egens aer;

thus the land was unstable, the waves unswimmable; the air needing light

nulli sua forma manebat, obstabatque aliis aliud,

Nothing was retaining its shape; one thing was obstructing another

quia corpore in uno frigida pugnabant calidis, umentia siccis,

for within one body cold things were fighting with hot, and moist with dry,

mollia cum duris, sine pondere, habentia pondus.

soft things with hard, weight with weightless things.

Hanc deus et melior litem natura diremit.

God and a greater order of Nature ended this strife;

nam caelo terras et terris abscidit undas

for he split off land from sky, and sea from land,

et liquidum spisso secrevit ab aere caelum.

and separated the ethereal heavens from the dense air.

quae postquam evolvit caecoque exemit acervo,

When he had unwound these elements and freed them from the blind heap,

dissociata locis concordi pace ligavit:

he set them in separate spaces and bound them in harmonious peace

ignea convexi vis et sine pondere caeli

The fiery weightless element that forms the heavens

emicuit summaque locum sibi fecit in arce;

leaped up and made place for itself in the topmost height.

proximus est aer illi levitate locoque;

Next came the air in lightness and in place.

densior his tellus elementaque grandia traxit

The earth was heavier than these, and dragged with it the largest elements,

et pressa est gravitate sua;

and was compressed by its own weight.

circumfluus umor ultima possedit solidumque coercuit orbem.

The surrounding water took the last place, and enclosed the solid earth.

Sic ubi dispositam quisquis fuit ille deorum congeriem secuit sectamque in membra coegit,

Thus when he, whoever of the gods it was, had ordered and divided the mass, and collected it into separate parts,

principio terram, ne non aequalis ab omni parte foret, magni speciem glomeravit in orbis.

he first moulded the earth into a mighty ball so that it might be of like form on every side.

tum freta diffundi rapidisque tumescere ventis iussit

Then he bade the waters to spread and rise in waves beneath the rushing winds,

et ambitae circumdare litora terrae;

and fling themselves around the shores of the encircled earth.

addidit et fontes et stagna inmensa lacusque

Springs and standing pools and lakes he added,

fluminaque obliquis cinxit declivia ripis,

and hemmed down-flowing rivers within their shelving banks,

quae, diversa locis, partim sorbentur ab ipsa,

which, widely separated, are partly swallowed by the earth itself,

in mare perveniunt partim

and partly flow down to the sea;

ampoque recepta liberioris aquae pro ripis litora pulsant.

and being thus received into the expanse of a freer flood, beat now on shores instead of banks.

iussit et extendi campos, subsidere valles,

He bid plains to extend, valleys to subside,

fronde tegi silvas, lapidosos surgere montes,

woods to be clothed in leaves, rock-ribbed mountains to arise.

utque duae dextra caelum totidemque sinistra parte secant zonae,

And as the heavens is cut by two zones on the right and two on the left,

quinta est ardentior illis, sic onus inclusum numero distinxit eodem cura dei,

a fifth zone between, hotter than those, so did the providence of God mark off the enclosed mass with the same number of zones,

totidemque plagae tellure premuntur.

and the same number of strikes were pressed upon the earth.

quarum quae media est, non est habitabilis aestu;

The central zone of these is not habitable by reason of the heat;

nix tegit alta duas; totidem inter utramque locavit

deep snow covered two, two he placed between

temperiemque dedit mixta cum frigore flamma.

and gave them a temperate climate, mingling heat with cold.

Inminet his aer, qui, quanto est pondere terrae pondus aquae levius, tanto est onerosior igni.

The air hung over these, which is as much heavier than fire as the weight of water is lighter than the weight of earth.

illic et nebulas, illic consistere nubes iussit

There did he bid the mists and clouds to exist,

et humanas motura tonitrua mentes

and thunder, that should shake the minds of men,

et cum fulminibus facientes fulgura ventos.

and winds which produce lightning-bolts and flashes.

His quoque non passim mundi fabricator habendum aera permisit;

The world’s creator did not allot the air to these also, that they might hold it everywhere.

vix nunc obsistitur illis, cum sua quisque regat

Even now, they can scarce be prevented, though they control their blasts,

diverso flamina tractu, quin lanient mundum;

each in his separate tract, from tearing the world to pieces;

tanta est discordia fratrum.

of such a size as the discord between brothers.

Eurus ad Auroram Nabataeaque regna recessit

Eurus drew back to the dawn and to the realms of Nabatea,

Persidaque et radiis iuga subdita matutinis;

and Persia and the hills subject to the morning light.

vesper et occiduo quae litora sole tepescunt, proxima sunt Zephyro;

Evening and the shores which warm with the setting sun are the closest to Zephyrus:

Scythiam septemque triones horrifer invasit Boreas;

chilling Boreas invaded Scythia and the seven stars of the Great Bear

contraria tellus nubibus adsiduis pluviaque madescit ab Austro.

The land far opposite is wet with constant clouds and rain from Auster

haec super inposuit liquidum et gravitate carentem aethera

Above these all he placed the liquid, weightless ether,

nec quicquam terrenae faecis habentem.

which has naught of earthy dregs.

Vix ita limitibus dissaepserat omnia certis,

Hardly had he thus parted off all things within their determined bounds,

cum, quae pressa diu fuerant caligine caeca,

when the stars, which had long been crushed beneath the opaque darkness,

sidera coeperunt toto effervescere caelo;

began to blaze throughout the whole sky.

neu regio foret ulla suis animalibus orba,

And, that no region might be without its own animate beings

astra tenent caeleste solum formaeque deorum,

the stars and divine forms occupied the floor of heaven,

cesserunt nitidis habitandae piscibus undae,

the sea fell to the shining fishes for their home,

terra feras cepit, volucres agitabilis aer.

earth received the beasts, and the mobile air the birds.

Sanctius his animal mentisque capacius altae

A more sacred creature than these and more capable of lofty thought,

deerat adhuc et quod dominari in cetera posset:

one who could have dominion over all the rest, was lacking yet.

natus homo est, sive hunc divino semine fecit, ille opifex rerum, mundi melioris origo,

Then man was born: whether the god who made all else, the origin of a more perfect world, made man of his own divine seed

sive recens tellus seductaque nuper ab alto aethere

or whether the new earth, but recently drawn away from heavenly ether,

cognati retinebat semina caeli.

retained still some elements of its kindred sky

quam satus Iapeto, mixtam pluvialibus undis,

that which the son of Iapetus, having mixed it with streams of rain

finxit in effigiem moderantum cuncta deorum,

moulded into the likeness of the all-controlling gods.

pronaque cum spectent animalia cetera terram,

And, though other animals are prone, and fix their gaze upon the earth,

os homini sublime dedit caelumque videre iussit et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus:

he gave to man an uplifted face and bade them to look at the sky and, erect, raise their face to the stars.

sic, modo quae fuerat rudis et sine imagine,

So, the earth, which had but lately been a rough and formless thing,

tellus induit ignotas hominum conversa figuras.

having been inverted, clothed itself with forms of men before unknown.

Aurea prima sata est aetas, quae vindice nullo,

Golden was that first age, which, with no one to compel,

sponte sua, sine lege fidem rectumque colebat.

of its own will, without a law, kept faith and did right.

poena metusque aberant, nec verba minantia fixo aere legebantur,

There was no fear or punishment, nor threatening words were to be read, fixed in bronze;

nec supplex turba timebat iudicis ora sui,

nor was the suppliant throng fearful of its judge’s face;

sed erant sine vindice tuti.

but without defenders were secure

nondum caesa suis, peregrinum ut viseret orbem, montibus in liquidas pinus descenderat undas,

Not yet had the pine-tree, felled in the mountains, descended into the flowing waves to visit other lands;

nullaque mortales praeter sua litora norant;

and men knew no shores except their own.

nondum praecipites cingebant oppida fossae;

Not yet were towns surrounded with steep ditches;

non tuba derecti, non aeris cornua flexi,

no straight trumpets, no horns of curving brass,

non galeae, non ensis erat: sine militis usu

no swords and helmets. Without the use of armies

mollia securae peragebant otia gentes.

the nations, secure, passed their lives in gentle leisure

ipsa quoque inmunis rastroque intacta nec ullis saucia vomeribus

The earth herself, also, without compulsion and untouched by hoe nor wounded by any plowshare,

per se dabat omnia tellus,

of herself gave all things needful.

contentique cibis nullo cogente creatis

And men, content with food created without any compelling,

arbuteos fetus montanaque fraga legebant

gathered the arbutus fruit and strawberries from the mountain-sides,

cornaque et in duris haerentia mora

cornel-cherries and blackberries clinging onto the tough brambles,

et quae deciderant patula Iovis arbore glandes.

and acorns fallen from the spreading tree of Jove.

ver erat aeternum, placidique tepentibus auris

Spring was eternal, and gentle breezes with warm breath

mulcebant zephyri natos sine semine flores;

played with the flowers that sprang unplanted.

mox etiam fruges tellus inarata ferebat,

Soon the earth, untilled, also brought forth her crops

nec renovatus ager gravidis canebat aristis;

and the field, not renewed, was white with abundant corn.

flumina iam lactis, iam flumina nectaris ibant,

Streams of milk and streams of nectar now flowed,

flavaque de viridi stillabant ilice mella.

and yellow honey was trickling from the verdant oak.