Vergil EOYE

at regina gravi iamdudum saucia cura / vulnus alit venis et caeco carpitur igni.

But the queen, wounded for a long time now by serious distress, feeds the wound with her veins and is consumed by a hidden fire.

multa viri virtus animo multusque recursat / gentis honos: haerent infixi pectore vultus / verbaque, nec placidam membris dat cura quietem.

Often the courage of the man and often the honour of his people return to her mind: his face sticks fixed in her heart, his words too, and her distress gives no gentle rest to her limbs.

postera Phoebea lustrabat lampade terras / umentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram, / cum sic unanimam adloquitur male sana sororem:

The following dawn was illuminating the lands by the light of the sun and had dispersed the damp shadow from the sky, when she, out of her mind, thus addresses her like-minded sister:

‘Anna soror, quae me suspensam insomnia terrent!

‘Sister Anna, what dreams terrorise me in my state of anxiety!

quis novus hic nostris successit sedibus hospes, / quem sese ore ferens, quam forti pectore et armis!

What a man this new guest who has come to our home is, what a [noble] man he bears himself in his face, with how strong a chest and arms!

credo equidem, nec vana fides, genus esse deorum.

I truly believe, nor my belief is not vain, that his race is of the gods.

degeneres animos timor arguit.

Fear reveals degenerate minds.

heu, quibus ille / iactatus fatis!

Alas, by what fates he has been tossed around!

quae bella exhausta canebat!

What wars, endured to the end, he was singing of!

si mihi non animo fixum immotumque sederet / ne cui me vinclo vellem sociare iugali, / postquam primus amor deceptam morte fefellit; / si non pertaesum thalami taedaeque fuisset, / huic uni forsan potui succumbere culpae.

If it did not sit in my heart, fixed and unmoved, that I should not want to ally myself to any man by the bond of marriage, after first love deceived and cheated me by death; if I had not wearied of the bridal chamber and marriage torch, perhaps I could have yielded to this one weakness.

Anna, fatebor enim, miseri post fata Sychaei / coniugis et sparsos fraterna caede penates / solus hic inflexit sensus animumque labantem / impulit.

Anna, for I will confess, after the death of my miserable spouse Sychaeus and the household gods were spattered (with blood) by fraternal slaughter, this man alone stirred my feelings and drove my wavering spirit.

agnosco veteris vestigia flammae.

I recognise the vestiges of the old flame.

sed mihi vel tellus optem prius ima dehiscat / vel pater omnipotens adigat me fulmine ad umbras, / pallentes umbras Erebi noctemque profundam, / ante, pudor, quam te violo aut tua iura resolvo.

But I could wish that either lowest earth gape to me or all-powerful father drive me with lightning to the shadows, the pale shadows of Hades and deep night, before I violate you, shame, or break your laws.

ille meos, primus qui me sibi iunxit, amores / abstulit; ille habeat secum servetque sepulcro.’

That man, who first joined me to him, has stolen my affections; let him have them with him and let he keep them in his tomb.’

sic effata sinum lacrimis implevit obortis.

Having spoken out thus, she filled her bosom with tears which had risen.

Anna refert: ‘o luce magis dilecta sorori, / solane perpetua maerens carpere iuventa / nec dulces natos Veneris nec praemia noris?

Anna replied: "O beloved one, more than life to your sister, will you grieve alone and be worn away for the whole of your youth, and will you never know neither sweet children nor the rewards of Venus?

id cinerem aut manes credis curare sepultos?

Do you believe that ash and the spirits of the dead care for that?

esto: aegram nulli quondam flexere mariti, / non Libyae, non ante Tyro; despectus Iarbas / ductoresque alii, quos Africa terra triumphis / dives alit: placitone etiam pugnabis amori?

So be it: once, no husbands moved you in sickness, not in Libya, not before at Tyre; Iarbas was scorned, and other chiefs, whom the land of Africa, rich with triumphs, nourishes: even then will you fight a love which pleases you?

nec venit in mentem quorum consederis arvis?

And does it not come into your mind in whose lands you have settled?

hinc Gaetulae urbes, genus insuperabile bello, / et Numidae infreni cingunt et inhospita Syrtis; / hinc deserta siti regio lateque furentes / Barcaei.

On this side, the Gaetulian cities, a race unconquerable in war, and the unbridled Numidians and inhospitable Syrtis surround you; on the other side, there is an area deserted because of thirst and the raging Barcaeans far off.

quid bella Tyro surgentia dicam / germanique minas?

Why should I speak of the wars arising from Tyre and the threats of your brother?

dis equidem auspicibus reor et Iunone secunda / hunc cursum Iliacas vento tenuisse carinas.

I, to my mind, think that it was with gods as your protectors and with Juno favouring it that the Trojan ships held this course with the wind.

quam tu urbem, soror, hanc cernes, quae surgere regna / coniugio tali!

What a city, sister, you will see this be, what kingdom you will see rise by such a union!

Teucrum comitantibus armis / Punica se quantis attollet gloria rebus!

With the arms of the Trojans accompanying, to what high state will Carthaginian glory raise itself!

tu modo posce deos veniam, sacrisque litatis / indulge hospitio causasque innecte morandi, / dum pelago desaevit hiems et aquosus Orion, / quassataeque rates, dum non tractabile caelum.’

Just ask the gods for pardon, and after performing rites indulge in hospitality and weave reasons for delay, while winter and rainy Orion work out their anger on the sea, and while the ships are still battered, until the weather is not pliant.’

his dictis impenso animum flammavit amore / spemque dedit dubiae menti solvitque pudorem.

With these words she inflamed Dido’s heart with a heavy love and gave hope to her uncertain mind and released her conscience.

principio delubra adeunt pacemque per aras / exquirunt; mactant lectas de more bidentes / legiferae Cereri Phoeboque patrique Lyaeo, / Iunoni ante omnes, cui vincla iugalia curae.

First they arrive at shrines and seek peace among the altars; they sacrifice two-year-old sheep, chosen according to custom, to lawgiver Ceres and Phoebus and to father Lyaeus, and above all to Juno to whom the bonds of marriage are of concern.

ipsa tenens dextra pateram pulcherrima Dido / candentis vaccae media inter cornua fundit, / aut ante ora deum pingues spatiatur ad aras, / instauratque diem donis, pecudumque reclusis / pectoribus inhians spirantia consulit exta.

Most beautiful Dido herself, holding the bowl with her right hand, pours midway between the horns of the gleaming white cow, or before the faces of the gods paces towards the rich altars, and renews the day with gifts, and with the chests of the beasts opened, with her mouth wide she consults the yet-breathing entrails.

heu, vatum ignarae mentes!

Alas, the unknowing minds of prophets!

quid vota furentem, / quid delubra iuvant?

How do her vows, how do the shrines help her as she rages?

est molles flamma medullas / interea et tacitum vivit sub pectore vulnus.

Meanwhile a flame eats her soft marrow and a silent wound lives beneath her breast.

uritur infelix Dido totaque vagatur / urbe furens, qualis coniecta cerva sagitta, / quam procul incautam nemora inter Cresia fixit / pastor agens telis liquitque volatile ferrum / nescius: illa fuga silvas saltusque peragrat / Dictaeos; haeret lateri letalis harundo.

Unfortunate Dido burns and wanders through the whole city in her madness, like a deer which- when an arrow having been shot- unaware, far off in the forests of Crete, a shepherd, hunting with his arrows has pierced, and unknowing left the flying tip : she wanders through in flight the woods and the glades of Dicte; a deadly shaft sticks to her side.

nunc media Aenean secum per moenia ducit / Sidoniasque ostentat opes urbemque paratam, / incipit effari mediaque in voce resistit;

Now she leads Aeneas with her through the middle of the city and repeatedly shows him the Sidonian wealth and the city prepared [for him], begins to raise her voice and stops in the middle of her words;

nunc eadem labente die convivia quaerit, / Iliacosque iterum demens audire labores / exposcit pendetque iterum narrantis ab ore.

now as the day wavers she seeks the same banquets, and mad again she demands to hear the Trojan toils again and hangs on his face as he narrates.

post ubi digressi, lumenque obscura vicissim / luna premit suadentque cadentia sidera somnos, / sola domo maeret vacua stratisque relictis / incubat.

Afterwards, when they have parted, the moon, darkening in turn, suppresses its light and the setting stars advise sleep, she grieves alone in her empty home and lies on the abandoned beds.

illum absens absentem auditque videtque, / aut gremio Ascanium genitoris imagine capta / detinet, infandum si fallere possit amorem.

She, away from that absent man, both hears and sees him, or she, seized by the image of his father, holds back Ascanius in her lap, as if she might be able to escape the unspeakable love.

non coeptae adsurgunt turres, non arma iuventus / exercet portusve aut propugnacula bello / tuta parant: pendent opera interrupta minaeque / murorum ingentes aequataque machina caelo.

The towers which had been begun do not rise, nor do the young men train in weapons, nor do they prepare the harbour and defences to be safe for war; their works hang interrupted, and the huge threats to the walls, and the cranes reaching to the sky.

quam simul ac tali persensit peste teneri / cara Iovis coniunx nec famam obstare furori, / talibus adgreditur Venerem Saturnia dictis: / ‘egregiam vero laudem et spolia ampla refertis / tuque puerque tuus (magnum et memorabile numen), / una dolo divum si femina victa duorum est.

And as soon as the dear wife of Jupiter sensed that Dido was being held by such a sickness, and that her reputation was not standing in the way of her madness, the daughter of Saturn attacked Venus with such words: "Indeed you and your boy (a great and memorable divinity) bring back distinguished praise and ample spoils, if one woman is defeated by the trickery of two gods.

nec me adeo fallit veritam te moenia nostra / suspectas habuisse domos Karthaginis altae.

Nor did it indeed escape me that you, fearing my fortifications, have had suspicion of the homes of high Carthage.

sed quis erit modus, aut quo nunc certamine tanto?

But what will be the end, or where to now in such great conflict?

quin potius pacem aeternam pactosque hymenaeos / exercemus?

Why don't we instead pursue eternal peace and an agreed marriage?

habes tota quod mente petisti: / ardet amans Dido traxitque per ossa furorem.

You have what you sought with your whole mind: Dido burns with love and has dragged madness through her bones.

communem hunc ergo populum paribusque regamus / auspiciis; liceat Phrygio servire marito / dotalesque tuae Tyrios permittere dextrae.’

Therefore, let us rule this people together with equal authority; let Dido be allowed to be slave to a Phrygian husband and entrust the Tyrians as a dowry to your right hand.’

olli (sensit enim simulata mente locutam, / quo regnum Italiae Libycas averteret oras) / sic contra est ingressa Venus: ‘quis talia demens / abnuat aut tecum malit contendere bello?

To her (for she realised that she had spoken with feigned intent, so that she might diver the kingdom of Italy to Libyan shores) Venus began in response in this way: 'Who, mad, would refuse these things, or prefer to contend with you in war?

si modo quod memoras factum fortuna sequatur.

If only fortune would follow the deed which you suggest.

sed fatis incerta feror, si Iuppiter unam / esse velit Tyriis urbem Troiaque profectis, / miscerive probet populos aut foedera iungi.

But I am carried uncertain by the fates, whether Jupiter would want there to be once city for the Tyrians and those who set out from Troy, or approves of the peoples to be mixed or treaties to be formed.

tu coniunx, tibi fas animum temptare precando.

You are his wife, it is lawful for you to try his mind with a request.

perge, sequar.’

Proceed, I shall follow.’

tum sic excepit regia Iuno: / ‘mecum erit iste labor.

Then royal Juno responded in this way: "That task will be with me.

nunc qua ratione quod instat / confieri possit, paucis (adverte) docebo.

By what means can what is pressing come to pass, I will now teach in few words- pay attention.

venatum Aeneas unaque miserrima Dido / in nemus ire parant, ubi primos crastinus ortus / extulerit Titan radiisque retexerit orbem.

Aeneas and most miserable Dido are preparing to go into the forest in order to hunt, when the Titan [Hyperion ie the Sun] raises its first rising and reveals the earth with rays of light.

his ego nigrantem commixta grandine nimbum, / dum trepidant alae saltusque indagine cingunt, / desuper infundam et tonitru caelum omne ciebo.

Upon them I shall pour from above a black cloud, with hail mixed together, while the squadrons hurry and surround the glades with nets, and I shall shake the whole sky with thunder.

diffugient comites et nocte tegentur opaca: / speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem / devenient.

The companions will scatter in flight and they will be covered by thick night: Dido and the leader of the Trojans will come to the same cave.

adero et, tua si mihi certa voluntas, / conubio iungam stabili propriamque dicabo.

I shall be present and, if your will is fixed to me, I shall join them in stable marriage and dedicate her as his own.

hic hymenaeus erit.’

This will be the marriage.’

non adversata petenti / adnuit atque dolis risit Cytherea repertis.

Not having opposed her who was seeking, she agreed and laughed at the uncovered tricks.

at non infelix animi Phoenissa neque umquam / solvitur in somnos oculisve aut pectore noctem / accipit: ingeminant curae rursusque resurgens / saevit amor magnoque irarum fluctuat aestu.

But not the Phoenician, unhappy in her mind, never is she released into sleep or receives the night in her eyes or breast: her distresses redouble, and love, rising again, rages and tosses in a great tide of angry thoughts.

sic adeo insistit secumque ita corde volutat: / ‘en, quid ago?

In this very way she begins and considers thus within herself in her heart: ‘Look, what am I doing?

rursusne procos inrisa priores / experiar, Nomadumque petam conubia supplex, / quos ego sim totiens iam dedignata maritos?

Should I, laughed at, try the previous suitors again, and seek as suppliant the marriages of the Numidians, whom I so often already have disdained as husbands?

Iliacas igitur classes atque ultima Teucrum / iussa sequar?

Therefore, should I follow the Trojan fleets and the last orders of the Teucrians?

quiane auxilio iuvat ante levatos / et bene apud memores veteris stat gratia facti?

Would I, because it pleases them that they were previously relieved by my help, and gratitude for my old deed stands strong in their mindful [hearts]?

quis me autem, fac velle, sinet ratibusque superbis / invisam accipiet?

But who, suppose I wanted to, will allow it and will receive me, hated woman, in their arrogant ships?

nescis heu, perdita, necdum / Laomedonteae sentis periuria gentis?

Alas, do you not know, destroyed woman, and not yet realise the falsehoods of the Trojan race?

quid tum?

What then?

sola fuga nautas comitabor ovantes?

Shall I, alone in flight, accompany the cheering sailors?

an Tyriis omnique manu stipata meorum / inferar et, quos Sidonia vix urbe revelli, / rursus agam pelago et ventis dare vela iubebo?

Or shall I, surrounded by Tyrians and the whole band of my supporters, carry onwards, and, those whom I with difficulty tore away from the Sidonian city, should I lead them again on the sea, and shall I order them to set sail in the winds?

quin morere ut merita es, ferroque averte dolorem.

No, die as you have deserved, and divert grief with sword.

tu lacrimis evicta meis, tu prima furentem / his, germana, malis oneras atque obicis hosti.

You, sister, overcome by my tears, you were first to burden me in my madness with these evils and offer me to the enemy.

non licuit thalami expertem sine crimine vitam / degere more ferae, tales nec tangere curas; / non servata fides cineri promissa Sychaeo.’

I was not allowed to spend my life free from the marriage bed without offence, in the custom of a wild animal, nor to not touch such distresses; the faith promised to the ash of Sychaeus is not saved.’

tantos illa suo rumpebat pectore questus.

She was breaking out in such great laments from her chest.

Aeneas celsa in puppi iam certus eundi / carpebat somnos rebus iam rite paratis.

Aeneas, on the high stern, now certain of his going, was enjoying sleep, with things now properly prepared.

huic se forma dei vultu redeuntis eodem / obtulit in somnis rursusque ita visa monere est, / omnia Mercurio similis, vocemque coloremque / et crines flavos et membra decora iuventae: / ‘nate dea, potes hoc sub casu ducere somnos, / nec quae te circum stent deinde pericula cernis, / demens, nec Zephyros audis spirare secundos?

The form of the returning god with the same face presented itself to him in his sleep, and again it seemed to warn in this way, resembling Mercury in everything, both voice and complexion and his golden hair and attractive limbs of youth: 'Son of the goddess, can you prolong sleep in this emergency, and do you, out of your senses, not see what dangers then stand around you, and do you not hear Zephyrus blowing in favour?

illa dolos dirumque nefas in pectore versat / certa mori, variosque irarum concitat aestus.

That woman is turning over trickeries and a dreadful crime in her heart, determined to die, and is stirring various tides of angers.

non fugis hinc praeceps, dum praecipitare potestas?

Do you not flee from here headlong, while there is the possibility to flee?

iam mare turbari trabibus saevasque videbis / conlucere faces, iam fervere litora flammis, / si te his attigerit terris Aurora morantem.

At any moment you will see that the sea is disturbed by ships and savage torches gleam, at any moment the coasts to be hot with flames, if Dawn finds you delaying in these lands.

heia age, rumpe moras.

Hey, come on! break off delays.

varium et mutabile semper / femina.’

A woman is always an inconstant and changeable thing.’