Claudian: DE RAPTU PROSERPINAE: Liber I Liber II Liber III

Inventa secuit primus qui nave profundum,
et rudibus remis sollicitavit aquas,
qui dubiis ausus committere flatibus alnum,
quas natura negat, praebuit arte vias.
Tranquillis primum trepidus se credidit undis,

He who first cut the deep with a ship,
and with rude oars agitated the waters,
who, daring to commit the alder-boat to doubtful breezes,
provided by art the ways which nature denies.
At first, fearful, he entrusted himself to tranquil waves,

litora securo tramite summa legens:
mox longos temptare sinus et linquere terras
et leni coepit pandere vela Noto.
Ast ubi paulatim praeceps audacia crevit
cordaque languentem dedidicere metum,

skimming the topmost shores by a safe course:
soon he began to venture the long bays and to leave the lands
and began to spread sails to the gentle Notus (the South Wind).
But when, little by little, headlong audacity grew
and hearts unlearned their languishing fear,

iam vagus irrumpit pelagus caelumque secutus
Aegaeas hiemes Ioniumque domat.

now, roving, he bursts into the sea, and, having followed the sky,
he tames the Aegean winters and the Ionian Sea.

LIBER PRIMUS

BOOK ONE

Inferni raptoris equos afflataque curru
sidera Taenario caligantesque profundae
Iunonis thalamos audaci promere cantu
mens congesta iubet. Gressus removete, profani.
Iam furor humanos nostro de pectore sensus

The horses of the infernal ravisher and the stars breathed upon by the Taenarian chariot,
and the darkling bridal chambers of Deep Juno, my mind, heaped with themes,
bids me to set forth with an audacious song. Remove your steps, you profane.
Now frenzy expels the human senses from my breast

expulit et solum spirant praecordia Phoebum.
Iam mihi cernuntur trepidis delubra moveri
sedibus et claram dispergere limina lucem
adventum testata Dei. Iam magnus ab imis
auditur fremitus terris templumque remugit

has driven them out, and my breast breathes only Phoebus.
Now the shrines are seen by me to move from their trembling seats,
and the thresholds scatter bright light, attesting the advent of the God.
Now a great roaring is heard from the deepest earth, and the temple bellows back

Cecropium sanctasque faces extollit Eleusis.
Angues Triptolemi strident et squamea curvis
colla levant attrita iugis lapsuque sereno
erecti roseas tendunt ad carmina cristas.
Ecce procul ternis Hecate variata figuris

Eleusis raises the Cecropian and sacred torches.
The snakes of Triptolemus hiss, and their scaly necks,
worn by the curved yokes and by a serene gliding,
erect, they stretch their rosy crests toward the songs.
Behold, afar, Hecate, variegated with triple forms

exoritur laetusque simul procedit Iacchus
crinali florens hedera, quem Parthica velat
tigris et auratos in nodum colligit ungues.
Ebria Maeonius firmat vestigia thyrsus.
Di, quibus innumerum vacui famulantur Averni

Iacchus rises and at once proceeds joyful,
flowering with crinal ivy, whom a Parthian tigress veils
and gathers her aurate claws into a knot.
The drunken Maeonian thyrsus steadies his footsteps.
Gods, to whom the innumerable hosts of empty Avernus do service

vulgus iners, opibus quorum donatur avaris
quidquid in orbe perit, quos Styx liventibus ambit
interfusa vadis et quos fumantia torquens
aequora gurgitibus Phlegethon perlustrat anhelis;
vos mihi sacrarum penetralia pandite rerum

the inert mob, at whose avaricious riches whatever in the world perishes is given over,
whom the Styx, poured between livid shallows, encircles,
and whom Phlegethon, twisting its smoking waters, traverses with panting whirlpools;
open for me the innermost sanctuaries of sacred things

et vestri secreta poli: qua lampade Ditem
flexit Amor, quo ducta ferox Proserpina raptu
possedit dotale Chaos, quantasque per oras
sollicito genetrix erraverit anxia cursu:
unde datae populis fruges et glande relicta

and the secrets of your heaven: by what lamp Love bent Dis,
by what abduction, led, fierce Proserpina
possessed Chaos as her dowry; and through how many shores
the mother, anxious, wandered with solicitous course:
whence crops were given to peoples and, the acorn left behind

cesserit inventis Dodonia quercus aristis.
Dux Erebi quondam tumidas exarsit in iras
proelia moturus superis, quod solus egeret
conubiis sterilesque diu consumeret annos,
impatiens nescire torum nullasque mariti

the Dodonaean oak has yielded to the discovered ears of grain.
The Leader of Erebus once blazed into swelling wraths,
about to set battles in motion against the gods above, because he alone was in want
of wedlock and for a long time consumed barren years,
impatient that the bed was unknown and that there were no rights of a husband

inlecebras nec dulce patris cognoscere nomen.
Iam quaecumque latent ferali monstra barathro
in turmas aciemque ruunt contraque Tonantem
coniurant Furiae crinitaque sontibus hydris
Tisiphone, quatiens infausto lumine pinum,

the allurements of a husband, nor to know the sweet name of father.
Now whatever monsters lie hidden in the funereal abyss
rush into troops and battle-line, and against the Thunderer
the Furies conspire, and Tisiphone, haired with guilty hydras,
shaking a pine-torch with ill-omened light,

armatos ad castra vocat pallentia Manes.
Paene reluctatis iterum pugnantia rebus
rupissent elementa fidem penitusque revulso
carcere laxatis pubes Titania vinclis
vidisset caeleste iubar rursusque cruentus

he calls to the camp the pale armed Shades.
Almost, with things again reluctant, the elements, fighting, would have
broken their faith, and, the prison utterly torn open,
with the bonds loosened, the Titanian youth
would have seen the celestial radiance, and again the bloody

Aegaeon positis aucto de corpore nodis
obvia centeno vexasset fulmina motu.
Sed Parcae vetuere minas orbique timentes
ante pedes soliumque ducis fudere severam
canitiem genibusque suas cum supplice fletu

Aegaeon, with the knots set, from his augmented body,
would have harried the confronting thunderbolts with a hundredfold motion.
But the Fates forbade the threats, and, fearing for the world,
before the leader’s feet and throne they poured out their austere
gray locks, and at his knees their own tears with suppliant weeping

admovere manus, quarum sub iure tenentur
omnia, quae seriem fatorum pollice ducunt,
longaque ferratis evolvunt saecula fusis.
Prima fero Lachesis clamabat talia regi
incultas dispersa comas: "O maxime noctis

they moved their hands, under whose jurisdiction are held
all things, hands which with the thumb draw forth the series of fates,
and unroll long ages on iron spindles.
First fierce Lachesis was shouting such things to the king,
her unkempt locks disheveled: "O greatest of Night

arbiter umbrarumque potens, cui nostra laborant
stamina, qui finem cunctis et semina praebes
nascendique vices alterna morte rependis,
qui vitam letumque regis (nam quidquid ubique
gignit materies, hoc te donante creatur

arbiter and potent over the shades, for whom our threads labor,
who furnish to all things their end and their seeds,
and with alternate death you balance the turns of being born,
who rule life and death (for whatever matter begets everywhere,
this, by your giving, is created

debeturque tibi, certis ambagibus aevi
rursus corporeos animae mittuntur in artus),
ne pete firmatas pacis dissolvere leges,
quas dedimus nevitque colus, neu foedera fratrum
civili converte tuba. Cur impia tollis

and it is owed to you that, by the fixed circuits of time,
souls are again sent into corporeal limbs),
do not seek to dissolve the established laws of peace,
which we have given and the distaff has woven, nor turn the covenants of brothers
into civil war by the trumpet. Why do you raise impious things

signa? Quid incestis aperis Titanibus auras?
Posce Iovem: dabitur coniunx." Vix ille pepercit
erubuitque preces animusque relanguit atrox,
quamvis indocilis flecti: ceu turbine rauco
cum gravis armatur Boreas glacieque nivali

standards? Why do you open the air to unchaste Titans?
"Ask Jove: a spouse will be given." He scarcely relented
and he blushed at the prayers, and his savage spirit slackened,
though untaught to be bent: as when with a hoarse whirlwind
when weighty Boreas arms himself with snowy ice

hispidus et Getica concretus grandine pennas
disrumpit, pelagus, silvas camposque sonoro
flamine rapturus, si forte adversus aenos
Aeolus obiciat postes, vanescit inanis
impetus et fractae redeunt in claustra procellae.

hispid and congealed with Getic hail he would burst his wings,
about to snatch the sea, the woods, and the fields with a sonorous
blast, if perchance Aeolus should set against him brazen posts;
the vain onset vanishes, and the broken squalls return
into their bars.

Tum Maia genitum, qui fervida dicta reportet,
imperat acciri. Cyllenius astitit ales
somniferam quatiens virgam tectusque galero.
Ipse rudi fultus solio nigraque verendus
maiestate sedet. Squalent immania foedo

Then he orders that the son of Maia, who may report back the fervid words, be summoned;
the Cyllenian winged one stood by,
shaking the somniferous rod and covered with his cap.
He himself, propped on a rough throne, sits, awe-inspiring in black majesty.
Immense things are squalid with foul

sceptra situ; sublime caput maestissima nubes
asperat et dirae riget inclementia formae.
Terrorem dolor augebat. Tunc talia celso
ore tonat (tremefacta silent dicente tyranno
atria; latratum triplicem compescuit ingens

the scepters are foul with mold; a most mournful cloud roughens the lofty head,
and the inclement harshness of his dread form stands rigid.
Pain was increasing the terror. Then with lofty visage he thunders such words (
the halls, made to tremble, fall silent as the tyrant speaks;
the mighty one restrained the triple barking

ianitor et presso lacrimarum fonte resedit
Cocytos tacitisque Acheron obmutuit undis
et Phlegethonteae requierunt murmura ripae):
"Atlantis Tegeaee nepos, commune profundis
et superis numen, qui fas per limen utrumque

and the janitor sat down, the fount of tears pressed shut;
Cocytus and Acheron grew mute with silent waves,
and the murmurs of the Phlegethontean bank came to rest):
"Tegean descendant of Atlas, the common numen to the depths
and the gods above, you who have right of passage across either threshold

solus habes geminoque facis commercia mundo,
i celer et proscinde Notos et iussa superbo
redde Iovi: tantumne tibi, saevissime frater,
in me iuris erit? Sic nobis noxia vires
cum caelo Fortuna tulit? Num robur et arma

you alone hold, and you effect commerce between the twin worlds;
go swift, and cleave the South Winds, and render the commands to proud Jove:
will so much right over me be yours, most savage brother?
has noxious Fortune taken away our strength along with the sky?
surely not strength and arms

perdidimus, si rapta dies? An forte iacentes
ignavosque putas, quod non Cyclopia tela
stringimus aut vanas tonitru deludimus auras?
Nonne satis visum, quod grati luminis expers
tertia supremae patior dispendia sortis

have we perished, if the day is snatched away? Or perhaps you think us lying and cowardly, because we do not draw Cyclopean weapons or delude the empty airs with thunder? Has it not seemed enough that, bereft of welcome light, I suffer the third losses of the supreme lot?

100

informesque plagas, cum te laetissimus ornet
signifer et vario cingant splendore Triones?
Sed thalamos etiam prohibes? Nereia glauco
Neptunum gremio complectitur Amphitrite.
Te consanguineo recipit post fulmina fessum

and shapeless tracts, when the most joyous Sign-bearer adorns you
and the Triones gird you with varied splendor?
But do you even forbid marriage-chambers? The Nereid Amphitrite
embraces Neptune in her glaucous lap.
Your kinswoman receives you, weary after the thunderbolts

105

Iuno sinu. Quid enim narrem Latonia furta?
Quid Cererem magnamque Themin?

Juno in her bosom. For what indeed should I recount the thefts of the Latonian?
What of Ceres and great Themis?

Tibi tanta creandi
copia, te felix natorum turba coronat.
Ast ego deserta maerens inglorius aula
implacidas nullo solabor pignore curas?

To you so great an abundance of creating;
a happy crowd of offspring crowns you.
But I, deserted, mourning, inglorious in the hall,
shall I solace implacable cares with no pledge?

110

Non adeo toleranda quies. Primordia testor
noctis et horrendae stagna intemerata paludis,
si dictis parere negas, patefacta ciebo
Tartara, Saturni veteres laxabo catenas,
obducam tenebris solem, compage soluta

No, such repose is not to be tolerated. I call to witness
the primordial beginnings of night and the unsullied pools of the horrendous swamp,
if you deny obedience to my words, I will rouse the opened Tartarus,
I will loosen the ancient chains of Saturn,
I will cover the sun with darkness, the structure unbound

115

lucidus umbroso miscebitur axis Averno."
Vix ea fatus erat, iam nuntius astra tenebat.
Audierat mandata pater secumque volutat
diversos ducens animos, quae tale sequatur
coniugium Stygiosque velit pro sole recessus.

the bright axis will be mingled with shadowy Avernus."
Hardly had he spoken these things, already the messenger was holding the stars.
The father had heard the mandates and revolves them with himself,
drawing diverse spirits, what course to follow—such a marriage—
and whether to desire Stygian recesses in place of the sun.

120

Certa requirenti tandem sententia sedit.
Hennaeae Cereri proles optata virebat
unica, nec tribuit subolem Lucina secundam
fessaque post primos haeserunt viscera partus
infecunda quidem; sed cunctis altior exstat

A sure decision at last settled for the one seeking.
For Hennaean Ceres the longed-for offspring was flourishing,
an only one; nor did Lucina bestow a second offspring,
and after the first birth her wearied womb stuck fast,
indeed infertile; but she stands out higher than all

125

matribus et numeri damnum Proserpina pensat.
Hanc fovet, hanc sequitur: vitulam non blandius ambit
torva parens, pedibus quae nondum proterit arva
nec nova lunatae curvavit germina frontis.
Iam matura toro plenis adoleverat annis

and Proserpina compensates the mothers for the loss of number.
This one she cherishes, this one she follows: a grim dam does not woo a heifer more fondly
which has not yet with her feet trampled the fields
nor has she curved the new shoots of her lunate brow.
Now mature for the couch she had grown up with full years

130

virginitas, tenerum iam pronuba flamma pudorem
sollicitat mixtaque tremit formidine votum.
Personat aula procis: pariter pro virgine certant
Mars clipeo melior, Phoebus praestantior arcu.
Mars donat Rhodopen, Phoebus largitur Amyclas

virginity—now the nuptial flame stirs her tender modesty,
and her vow trembles with mingled fear.
The hall resounds with suitors: side by side they contend for the maiden—
Mars better with the shield, Phoebus more preeminent with the bow.
Mars grants Rhodope, Phoebus bestows Amyclae

135

et Delon Clariosque Lares. Hinc aemula Iuno,
hinc poscit Latona nurum. Despexit utrumque
flava Ceres raptusque timens (heu caeca futuri!)
aethera deseruit; furtim sua pignora terris
commendat fidis Siculasque relegat in oras,

and Delos and the Clarian Lares. Here rival Juno,
here Latona demands a daughter-in-law. Golden Ceres looked down on both
and, fearing abductions (alas, blind to the future!),
she deserted the aether; stealthily she entrusts her pledges to faithful lands
and relegates them to the Sicilian shores,

140

ingenio confisa loci. Trinacria quondam
Italiae pars una fuit, sed pontus et aestus
mutavere situm. Rupit confinia Nereus
victor et abscissos interluit aequore montes
parvaque cognatas prohibent discrimina terras.

trusting in the genius of the place. Trinacria once
was one part of Italy, but sea and tide
have changed its site. Nereus
as victor broke the confines and, with the sea, washes between the mountains cut off,
and slight divisions keep kindred lands apart.

145

Nunc illam socia ruptam tellure trisulcam
opposuit natura mari. Caput inde Pachyni
respuit Ionias praetentis rupibus iras,
hinc latrat Gaetula Thetis Lilybaeaque pulsat
brachia consurgens; hinc indignata teneri

Now nature has set it, trisulcate, torn from kindred earth, opposed to the sea.
From there the head of Pachynus spits back the Ionian wraths with cliffs stretched before it,
on this side Gaetulian Thetis bays and, rising up, beats the arms of Lilybaeum;
on this side, indignant to be held

150

concutit obiectum rabies Tyrrhena Pelorum.
In medio scopulis se porrigit Aetna perustis:
Aetna Giganteos numquam tacitura triumphos,
Enceladi bustum, qui saucia terga revinctus
spirat inexhaustum flagranti vulnere sulphur,

Tyrrhenian rage shakes Pelorus set before it.
In the middle Aetna stretches itself with scorched crags:
Aetna never to be silent of the Gigantean triumphs,
the tomb of Enceladus, who, his wounded back bound,
breathes inexhaustible sulfur from a blazing wound,

155

et quotiens detractat onus cervice rebelli
in laevum dextrumque latus, tunc insula fundo
vertitur et dubiae nutant cum moenibus urbes.
Aetnaeos apices solo cognoscere visu,
non aditu temptare licet. Pars cetera frondet

and whenever he tries to pull off the burden from his rebellious neck
to the left and to the right side, then the island on its foundation
is turned, and the wavering cities sway with their walls.
the Aetnaean apices to recognize by sight alone,
it is not permitted to attempt by approach. The remaining part is leafy

160

arboribus, teritur nullo cultore cacumen.
Nunc movet indigenas nimbos piceaque gravatum
foedat nube diem, nunc motibus astra lacessit
terrificis damnisque suis incendia nutrit.
Sed quamvis nimio fervens exuberet aestu,

with trees, and the summit is trodden by no cultivator.
Now it sets native clouds in motion and, weighed down with a pitchy cloud,
befouls the day; now with terrifying movements it assails the stars
and with its own harms it nourishes the fires.
But although, seething, it overflows with excessive heat,

165

scit nivibus servare fidem pariterque favillis.
Durescit glacies tanti secura vaporis,
arcano defensa gelu fumoque fideli
lambit contiguas innoxia flamma pruinas.
Quae scopulos tormenta rotant? Quae tanta cavernas

it knows how to keep faith with snows and equally with embers.
The ice hardens, secure from so great a vapor,
defended by a secret chill and by faithful smoke,
the innoxious flame licks the contiguous hoarfrosts.
What engines roll the crags? What so great the caverns

170

vis glomerat? quo fonte ruit Vulcanius amnis?
Sive quod obicibus discurrens ventus opertis
offenso rimosa furit per saxa meatu,
dum scrutatur iter, libertatemque reposcens
putria multivagis populatur flatibus antra;

what force conglomerates? from what source does the Vulcanian river rush?
or is it because, with the barriers closed, the wind running to and fro,
its passage impeded, rages through the cracked rocks by a riven channel,
while it searches out a path, and, reclaiming liberty,
lays waste the rotten caverns with its many-wandering blasts;

175

seu mare sulphurei ductum per viscera montis
oppressis ignescit aquis et pondera librat.
Hic ubi servandum mater fidissima pignus
abdidit, ad Phrygios tendit secura Penates
turrigeramque petit Cybelen sinuosa draconum

or the sea, drawn through the bowels of a sulfurous mountain,
as the waters, being pressed, take fire and poise the weights.
Here, where a most faithful mother hid away the pledge to be kept,
secure she makes for the Phrygian Penates
and seeks turret-crowned Cybele in the sinuous coils of the dragons

180

membra regens, volucri qui pervia nubila tractu
signant et placidis humectant frena venenis.
Frontem crista tegit, pingunt maculosa virentes
terga notae, rutilum squamis intermicat aurum.
Nunc spiris Zephyros tranant, nunc arva volatu

guiding their limbs—those who with winged sweep
inscribe the pervious clouds and moisten the reins with placid venoms.
A crest covers the brow; dappled marks paint their green
backs, and rutilant gold flickers among the scales.
Now with coils they swim the Zephyrs, now the fields by flight

185

inferiora secant. Cano rota pulvere labens
sulcatam fecundat humum. Flavescit aristis
orbita.

they cut the lower regions. The hoary wheel, gliding in dust,
fecundates the furrowed soil. With ears of grain the track grows golden.

Surgentes condunt vestigia fruges,
vestit iter comitata seges. Iam linquitur Aetna
totaque decrescit refugo Trinacria visu.

The up-springing crops cover the footprints,
the attendant cornfield clothes the path. Now Aetna is left behind
and all Trinacria dwindles to the receding view.

190

Heu quotiens praesaga mali violavit oborto
rore genas! Quotiens oculos ad tecta retorsit
talia voce movens: "Salve, gratissima tellus,
quam nos praetulimus caelo: tibi gaudia nostri
sanguinis et caros uteri commendo labores.

Alas, how often, presaging evil, did she stain her cheeks with the dew that had arisen!
How often did she turn her eyes back toward the roofs,
uttering such words: "Hail, most dear land,
which we have preferred to heaven: to you I commend the joys of our
blood and the dear labors of the womb.

195

Praemia digna manent. Nullos patiere ligones
et nullo rigidi versabere vomeris ictu,
sponte tuus florebit ager. Cessante iuvenco
ditior oblatas mirabitur incola messes."
Sic ait et fulvis tetigit serpentibus Idam.

Worthy rewards await. You will suffer no hoes,
and by no stroke of the rigid ploughshare will you be turned,
of its own accord your field will blossom. With the steer at rest
the inhabitant, richer, will marvel at the offered harvests."
So she spoke and touched Ida with tawny serpents.

200

Hic sedes augusta Deae templique colendi
religiosa silex, densis quam pinus obumbrat
frondibus, et nulla lucos agitante procella
stridula coniferis modulatur carmina ramis.
Terribiles intus thiasi vesanaque mixto

Here the august seat of the Goddess, and the religious stone of a temple to be venerated,
which a pine shades with dense fronds, and, with no storm agitating the groves,
a stridulous voice modulates songs upon coniferous branches.
Within, terrible thiasi and raving, with mingled

205

concentu delubra gemunt. Ululatibus Ide
bacchatur; timidas inclinant Gargara silvas.

with concert the shrines groan. With ululations Ida
raves in Bacchic frenzy; the Gargara incline the timid woods.

Postquam visa Ceres, mugitum tympana frenant,
conticuere chori: Corybas non impulit ensem,
non buxus, non aera sonant blandasque leones

After Ceres was seen, the drums rein in their bellowing,
the choruses fell silent: the Corybas did not brandish the sword,
not the boxwood, not do the bronzes resound, and the gentle lions

210

submisere iubas. Adytis gavisa Cybebe
exilit et pronas extendit ad oscula turres.
Viderat haec dudum summa speculatus ab arce
Iuppiter ac Veneri mentis penetralia pandit:
"Curarum, Cytherea, tibi secreta fatebor.

they lowered their manes. From the adyta, rejoicing, Cybebe
leaps forth and stretches the leaning towers toward kisses.
Jupiter had seen these things long since, having kept watch from the highest citadel,
and he opens to Venus the penetralia of his mind:
"Of my cares, Cytherea, I will confess to you the secrets.

215

Candida Tartareo nuptum Proserpina regi
iam pridem est decreta dari. Sic Atropos urget,
sic cecinit longaeva Themis. Nunc matre remota
rem peragi tempus. Fines invade Sicanos
et Cereris prolem patulis illudere campis,

Fair Proserpina to wed the Tartarean king
has long since been decreed to be given. Thus Atropos urges,
thus age-old Themis has chanted. Now, with the mother removed,
it is time for the matter to be accomplished. Invade the Sicilian borders
and make sport with the offspring of Ceres in the broad fields,

220

crastina puniceos cum lux detexerit ortus,
coge tuis armata dolis, quibus urere cuncta,
me quoque saepe, soles. Cur ultima regna quiescunt?
Nulla sit immunis regio nullumque sub umbris
pectus inaccensum Veneri. Iam tristis Erinys

when tomorrow’s light has unveiled the crimson risings,
marshal, you, armed with your wiles—by which you are wont to burn all things,
me too, often. Why do the furthest realms lie quiet?
Let no region be immune, and no breast beneath the shades
unkindled for Venus. Now the grim Erinys

225

sentiat ardores, Acheron Ditisque severi
ferrea lascivis mollescant corda sagittis."
Accelerat praecepta Venus iussuque parentis
Pallas et inflexo quae terret Maenala cornu
addunt se comites. Divino semita gressu

let Acheron and stern Dis feel the ardors, let iron hearts be softened by lascivious arrows."
Venus hastens the commands, and at their father's bidding
Pallas and she who terrifies Maenalus with her curved bow
add themselves as companions. The pathway with divine step

230

claruit, augurium qualis laturus iniquum
praepes sanguineo dilabitur igne cometes
prodigiale rubens: non illum navita tuto,
non impune vident populi, sed crine minaci
nuntiat aut ratibus ventos aut urbibus hostes.

it blazed forth, such as, about to bear an ill-omened augury,
the swift comet glides with sanguine fire,
prodigiously glowing red: neither does the mariner behold it safely,
nor do the peoples see it with impunity, but with menacing hair
it announces either winds for ships or enemies for cities.

235

Devenere locum, Cereris quo tecta nitebant
Cyclopum firmata manu: stant ardua ferro
moenia, ferrati postes immensaque nectit
claustra chalybs. Nullum tanto sudore Pyragmon
nec Steropes construxit opus; non talibus umquam

They came down to the place, where the roofs of Ceres were shining,
strengthened by the hand of the Cyclopes: lofty walls of iron stand,
iron-clad doorposts, and steel fastens immense bars.
No work did Pyracmon nor Steropes construct with so great sweat;
nor ever with such

240

spiravere Notis animae nec flumine tanto
incoctum maduit lassa cervice metallum.
Atria cingit ebur; trabibus solidatur aenis
culmen et in celsas surgunt electra columnas.
Ipsa domum tenero mulcens Proserpina cantu

the bellows breathed with South Winds, nor in so great a river did the tempered metal grow wet upon a weary neck.
Ivory encircles the atria; with bronze beams the roof is made firm,
and amber rises into lofty columns.
Proserpina herself, soothing the house with tender song

245

irrita texebat rediturae munera matri.
Hic elementorum seriem sedesque paternas
insignibat acu: veterem qua lege tumultum
discrevit Natura parens et semina iussis
discessere locis: quidquid leve, fertur in altum,

she was weaving fruitless gifts for her mother who would return.
Here she was marking with the needle the sequence of the elements and the paternal seats;
by what law Nature the parent separated the ancient tumult, and the seeds withdrew to their commanded places;
whatever is light is borne on high,

250

in medium graviora cadunt, incanduit aer,
legit flamma polum, fluxit mare, terra pependit.
Nec color unus erat: stellas accendit in auro,
ostro fundit aquas. Attollit litora gemmis
filaque mentitos iam iam caelantia fluctus

the heavier things fall into the middle, the air grew incandescent,
the flame claimed the pole, the sea flowed, the earth hung suspended.
Nor was there a single color: he kindles the stars in gold,
pours out the waters in purple. He raises the shores with gems
and the threads, even now embossing the feigned waves

255

arte tument. Credas inlidi cautibus algam
et raucum bibulis inserpere murmur harenis.
Addit quinque plagas. Mediam subtegmine
rubro obsessam fervore notat; squalebat inustus
limes et assiduo sitiebant stamina sole:

by art they swell. You would think seaweed dashed against the crags
and a hoarse murmur creeping into the thirsty sands.
He adds five zones. He marks the middle, beleaguered by heat, with a red weft;
the scorched border was squalid, and the threads were parched by the unremitting sun:

260

vitales utrimque duas, quas mitis oberrat
temperies habitanda viris; in fine supremo
torpentes traxit geminas brumaque perenni
foedat et aeterno contristat frigore telas.
Nec non et patrui pingit sacraria Ditis

the two vital ones on either side, which a gentle temperateness roves over, fit to be inhabited by men; at the topmost boundary he drew the twin torpid zones, and with perennial winter he defiles and saddens the webs with eternal cold. Nor does he fail also to paint the sanctuaries of his uncle Dis

265

fatalesque sibi Manes. Nec defuit omen;
praescia nam subitis maduerunt fletibus ora.
Coeperat et vitreis summo iam margine texti
Oceanum sinuare vadis; sed cardine verso
cernit adesse deas imperfectumque laborem

and the fated Manes for herself. Nor did an omen fail; for, foreknowing, her face grew wet with sudden tears. She had also begun to make the Ocean curve with shallows along the glassy top edge of the textile; but, the hinge turned, she perceives the goddesses present and the work unfinished.

270

deserit et niveos infecit purpura vultus
per liquidas succensa genas castaeque pudoris
illuxere faces. Non sic decus ardet eburnum,
Lydia Sidonio quod femina tinxerit ostro.
Merserat unda diem; sparso nox umida somno

it leaves, and purple dyed the snowy faces
through limpid, kindled cheeks, and the torches of chaste modesty
shone forth. Not thus does ivory adornment burn,
which a Lydian woman has tinted with Sidonian purple.
The wave had submerged the day; the moist night, with sleep strewn

275

languida caeruleis invexerat otia bigis,
iamque viam Pluto superas molitur ad auras
germani monitu. Torvos invisa iugales
Allecto temone ligat, qui pascua mandunt
Cocyti pratisque Erebi nigrantibus errant

had borne in languid leisure on cerulean two-horse chariots,
and now Pluto, at his brother’s admonition, sets about a way to the upper airs.
Allecto binds to the pole the grim, detested yoke-pair,
who chew the pastures of Cocytus and wander through the black meadows of Erebus

280

stagnaque tranquillae potantes marcida Lethes
aegra soporatis spumant oblivia linguis.
Orphnaeus crudele micans Aethonque sagitta
ocior et Stygii sublimis gloria Nycteus
armenti Ditisque nota signatus Alastor

and, drinking the pools of tranquil Lethe,
the withered, sickly oblivions foam from soporous tongues.
Orphnaeus, flashing cruelly, and Aethon,
swifter than the arrow, and Nycteus, the lofty glory of the Stygian,
herd, and Alastor marked by the brand of Dis

285

stabant ante fores iuncti saevumque fremebant
crastina venturae spectantes gaudia praedae.

they stood before the doors, coupled, and were growling savagely,
gazing at the morrow’s joys of prey to come.