Fletcher: LOCUSTAE VEL PIETAS IESUITICA

Magnum illud (optime Musarum pridem alumne, nunc patrone) imo plane maximum nobis vitium inest, altius naturae (penitus corruptae) defixum, et defossum, cum iniurias imo, et memori sub corde, beneficia summa tantum lingua, et primoribus vix labris repon imus. in illis retinendis quam tenaces, pertinaces! in his (praesertim divinis) quam lubrici, et prorsus elumbes!

That great (most excellent fosterling of the Muses once, now patron), nay plainly the greatest fault is in us, embedded deeper in our (utterly corrupted) nature and buried, since we lay up injuries—yes, beneath the remembering heart—whereas the highest benefits only with the tongue, and scarcely with the very tips of the lips, do we store. in keeping those, how tenacious, how pertinacious! in these (especially the divine), how slippery, and downright spineless!

illa gentis Israeliticae tyrannide plusquam ferrea (ad vitae taedium) depressae in liberatatem vindicatio (proh Deus immortalis) qualis, quanta! Aegyptios, regemque adeo ipsum tumentem odiis ferocemque plurimis, cruentisque admodum plagis maceratos, quam lenes viderant, et humanos? maximos hostium exercitus (totumque adeo Aegypti robur) sine hoste devictos, sine ferro deletos conspexerant: fluctuum ipsi moenibus vallati, illos molibus depressos et demersos spectaverant: rupem sitientibus in flumina liquatam, solum esurientibus pane coelesti, epulisque instructissimis constratum, imo (ut nunc moris est) ferculis in cubitos coacervatis plane contectum degustarant.

that vindication into liberty of the Israelitish nation, depressed by a more-than-iron tyranny (to the weariness of life) — ah, immortal God — what, how great! The Egyptians, and even the king himself swelling with hatreds and most ferocious, worn down by very bloody plagues, how gentle had they seen them, and humane? they had beheld the greatest armies of the enemy (and indeed the whole strength of Egypt) conquered without an enemy, destroyed without iron: they themselves walled by the ramparts of the waves, those others pressed down and sunk by the masses: the rock, for the thirsty, liquefied into rivers, the ground, for the hungry, strewn with heavenly bread and with banquets most well-furnished, nay (as now is the custom) quite covered over with courses heaped up to the elbows, had they tasted.

quam dubita tamen oblivione haec omnia prorsus evanuerunt! miracula sane magna, et stu penda; sed (ut nobis in proverbio est) non ad triduum durantia. id nobis hodie vitii est: celebris illa anni octogesimi octavi pugna, imo potius sine pugna victoria, penitus nobis excidit.

how, however, through what fickle forgetfulness have all these things utterly vanished! miracles indeed great and stupendous; but (as we have it in the proverb) not lasting for three days. this is our fault today: that celebrated battle of the year eighty-eight, nay rather a victory without a battle, has completely slipped our memory.

hui! quam cito! vidimus Hispanos ante praelium ovantes, dictisque, imo scriptis §pinik¤oiw priusquam solverunt triumphantes: sed quod nos de Martio dicimus, rabie plusquam leonina mensem auspicari, abire vel agnella leniorem, id divino adiutorio classi Invictae contigit.

Ah! how quickly! We saw the Spaniards exulting before the battle, and in their sayings—nay, in §pinik¤oiw writings—triumphing before they set sail: but what we say of March, that he begins the month with a more-than-leonine rage, and departs even gentler than a little ewe-lamb, this by divine aid befell the Invincible Fleet.

quin et sulphurea quidem illa, Tartarea imo sane nullo unquam dae mone vel sperata machinatio divinis solum oculis patens, divina solum manu patefacta quam cito, quam prorsus intercidit! vix ulla (atque illa certe exesa, penitusque contempta) proditionis tam horrendae, liberationis tam stupendae monumenta restant. negant impu dentes Papistae, pernegant, eiurantque.

nay, even that sulfurous, Tartarean—indeed, truly by no demon ever even hoped-for—machination, lying open to the divine eyes alone, laid open only by the divine hand: how quickly, how utterly it was cut off! scarcely any monuments remain (and those certainly eaten away and utterly contemned) of so horrendous a treason, of so stupendous a liberation. the impudent Papists deny it, utterly deny it, and abjure it.

quin et nos diem tanto beneficio illustrem quam pigri et enervosi ab illorum mendaciis, calumniisque vindicamus! ignoscent igitur mihi aequi iudices, si poetarum minimus scelerum omnium longe maximum, crassa (ut aiunt) Minerva contextum ad perpetuam Iesuiticae Pietatis memoriam, ad animos Britannorum excitandos, honoremque Deo Servatori restaurandum, in lucem emiserim.
ignoscent alii, tu vero equitum nobilissime, aliquod fraterni, sive paterni potius genii vestigium agnosces, et vultu non illaeto munusculum accipies ab homonuculo,

indeed, even we, sluggish and enervated as we are, vindicate the day, illustrious for so great a benefaction, from their lies and calumnies! equitable judges will therefore pardon me, if I, the least of poets, for by far the greatest of all crimes, with a “crass Minerva” (as they say) woven, for the perpetual memory of Jesuit Piety, to arouse the spirits of the Britons, and to restore honor to God the Savior, have brought it to light.
others will pardon, but you, most noble of the knights, will recognize some trace of a fraternal, or rather a paternal, genius, and with a not un-cheerless countenance you will receive the little gift from a homunculus,

tuae dignitati devotissimo,

PHINEAS FLETCHER

to your dignity most devoted,

PHINEAS FLETCHER

panditur inferni limen, patet intima Ditis
ianua, concilium magnum, Stygiosque Quirites
accitos, rex ipse nigra in penetralia cogit.
olli conveniunt, volitant umbrosa per auras
numina, Tartareoque tumet domus alta senatu.

the threshold of hell is opened, the inmost door of Dis lies open,
a great council, and the Stygian Quirites
summoned, the king himself drives into the black inner chambers.
to him they gather; the numina flit through shadowy airs,
and the high house swells with a Tartarean senate.

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confidunt, numeroque omnes subsellia iusto
(concilium horrendum) insternunt, causamque fluendi
intenti expectant. solio tum Lucifer alto
insurgens, dictis umbras accendit amaris,
manesque increpitans cunctantes: "cernitis," inquit,

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they take confidence, and in due number they spread out all the benches
(a dreadful council), and, intent, they await the cause for flowing forth.
Then Lucifer, rising from his high throne,
inflames the shades with bitter words,
and, chiding the lingering Manes: "You perceive," he says,

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"(coelo infensa cohors, exosa, expulsaque caelo)
cernitis, ut superas mulcet Pax aurea gentes?
bella silent, silet iniectis oppressa catenis
inque Erebum frustra e terris redit exul Erinnys.
divino interea resonant sacraria verbo,

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"(a cohort hostile to heaven, hated and driven out from heaven)
do you perceive how Golden Peace soothes the peoples above?
wars are silent; silent too, pressed down by chains cast upon her,
and into Erebus, in vain, from the lands the banished Erinys returns.
meanwhile the sanctuaries resound with the divine word,

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indomitus possessa tenet suggesta minister,
et victus victorque novos vocat impiger hostes.
et nunc ille minis stimulans, nunc laeta reponens,
scite animos flectit monitis, et corda remulcet.
"quin etiam sancti vulgata scientia scripti

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the indomitable minister holds the seized pulpits,
and, conquered and conqueror, tirelessly calls up new enemies.
and now he, spurring with threats, now setting forth cheerful things,
skillfully bends minds with admonitions, and soothes hearts.
"nay, even the common knowledge of holy Scripture

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invexit superos terris, et luce corusca
dissolvit tenebras, noctemque excussit inertem.
crescit in immensum Pietas, finesque recusat
relligionis amor; fugit Ignorantia, lucis
impatiens, fugit Impietas, artusque pudendos

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has brought the supernal gods to the lands, and with coruscant light
has dissolved the shadows, and has shaken off the slothful night.
Piety grows to the immense, and the love of religion refuses
bounds; Ignorance, impatient of light, flees, Impiety flees, and her shameful limbs

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nuda Superstitio, et nunquam non devius Error.
vim patitur, gaudetque trahi coeleste rapique
imperium. quin et gentes emensa supremas,
Virginiam (nostras, umbrae, tot secula sedes)
aggreditur, mox Cocytum Stygiasque paludes

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naked Superstition, and Error never not devious.
it suffers force, and rejoices that the celestial empire be drawn and snatched.
nay indeed, having traversed the furthest nations,
it assails Virginia (our, O shades, seat for so many ages)
and soon the Cocytus and the Stygian marshes

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tranabit, vix hunc nobis Acheronta relinquet.
"nos contra immemori per tuta silentia somno
sternimur interea, et media iam luce supini
stertentes, festam trahimus, pia turba, quietem.
quod si animos sine honore acti sine fine laboris

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she will cross, she will scarcely leave to us this Acheron.
"we, on the contrary, meanwhile are laid low by unmindful sleep through safe silences,
and now in the middle of daylight, lying supine and snoring, we, a pious throng, drag on a festal repose.
but if the spirits, driven without honor, without end of labor

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poenitet, et proni imperii regnique labantis
nil miseret, positis flagris, odiisque remissis
oramus veniam, et dextras praebemus inermes.
fors ille audacis facti, et iustae immemor irae,
placatus, facilesque manus et foedera iunget.

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we repent, and the prone empire and the tottering kingship
we pity not at all; with scourges laid aside, and hatreds relaxed,
we beg pardon, and we offer unarmed right hands.
perhaps he, unmindful of the audacious deed and of just ire,
once placated, will join ready hands and treaties.

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fors solito lapsos (peccati oblitus) honori
restituet, coelum nobis soliumque relinquet.
at me nulla dies animi, coeptique prioris
dissimilem arguerit: quin nunc rescindere coelum,
et coniurato victricem milite pacem

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perhaps he will restore the lapsed (oblivious of sin) to their accustomed honor,
and will leave to us heaven and the throne.
but no day will prove me unlike in spirit, and in my former undertaking
nay rather, now to tear open heaven,
and, with a sworn soldiery, to establish a victorious peace

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rumpere, ferventique iuvat miscere tumultu.
"quo tanti cecidere animi? quo pristina virtus
cessit, in aeternam qua mecum irrumpere lucem
tentastis, trepidumque armis perfringere coelum?
nunc vero indecores felicia ponitis arma,

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to break it, and it pleases to mingle in fervent tumult.
"whither have such mighty spirits fallen? whither has your pristine valor
withdrawn, with which you attempted to irrupt with me into the eternal light,
and to shatter with arms the trembling heaven?
now indeed, inglorious, you lay down your fortunate arms,

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et toties victo imbelles conceditis hosti.
per vos, per domitas coelesti fulmine vires,
indomitumque odium, proiecta resumite tela.
dum fas, dum breve tempus adest, accendite pugnas,
restaurite acies, fractumque reponite Martem.

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and you, unwarlike, yield to an enemy so often defeated.
by you, by the forces tamed by the celestial thunderbolt,
and your untamed hatred, take up again your cast-aside weapons.
while it is right, while a brief time is at hand, kindle the battles,
restore the battle-lines, and put back in place shattered War.

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ni facitis, mox soli, et (quod magis urit) inulti
aeternum (heu) vacuo flammis cruciabimur antro.
ille quidem nulla, heu, nulla violabilis arte,
securum sine fine tenet, sine milite regnum;
a nullo petitur, nullo violatur ab hoste.

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if you do not do this, soon alone, and (what burns more) unavenged,
forever (alas) in an empty cavern we shall be tormented by flames.
he indeed, by no art—alas, by no art—violable,
holds a secure kingdom without end, a kingdom without soldiery;
by no one is he assailed, by no enemy violated.

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competitur tamen, inque suis violabile membris
corpus habet: nunc o totis consurgite telis,
qua patet ad vulnus nudum sine tegmine corpus,
imprimite ultrices, penitusque recondite flammas.
accelerat funesta dies, iam limine tempus

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nevertheless he is contested, and in his own members he has a violable body:
now, O rise up with all your weapons,
where the body stands open to a wound, naked without covering,
drive in the avenging blows, and hide the flames deep within.
the funereal day hastens; already time is at the threshold

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insistit, cum nexa ipso cum vertice membra
naturam induerint coelestem, ubi gloria votum
atque animum splendor superent, ubi gaudia damno
crescant, deliciaeque modum, finemque recusent.
at nos supplicio aeterno, Stygiisque catenis

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presses on, when the limbs, bound together with the head itself,
shall have put on a celestial nature, where glory and splendor surpass
the vow and the spirit, where joys increase by loss,
and the delights refuse measure and end.
But we, with eternal punishment and Stygian chains

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compressi, flammis et vivo sulphure tecti
perpetuas duro solvemus carcere poenas.
hic anima, extremos iam tum perpesse dolores,
maiores semper metuit, queriturque remotam,
quam toto admisit praesentem pectore mortem;

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compressed, and covered with flames and living sulphur,
we shall pay perpetual penalties in a hard prison.
here the soul, having already then endured utmost pains,
always fears greater ones, and complains of death removed,
the death which it admitted as present with its whole breast;

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oraque caeruleas perreptans flamma medullas
torquet anhela siti, fibrasque atque ilia lambit.
mors vivit, moriturque inter mala mille superstes
vita, vicesque ipsa cum morte, et nomina mutat
cum vero nullum moriendi conscia finem

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and the flame, crawling through the cerulean marrows,
torments the mouths, panting with thirst, and licks the fibers and the entrails.
death lives, and life, surviving amid a thousand evils, dies,
and it exchanges vicissitudes with death itself, and even changes names,
while, conscious that there is in truth no end of dying

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mens reputat, cum mille annis mille addidit annos,
praeteritumque nihil venturo detrahit aevum,
mox etiam stellas, etiam superaddit arenas,
iamque etiam stellas, etiam numeravit arenas;
poena tamen damno crescit, per flagra, per ignes,

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the mind reckons, when to a thousand years it has added a thousand years,
and the time past detracts nothing from the time to come,
soon it even superadds the stars, even the sands,
and now it has even numbered the stars, even the sands;
yet the penalty grows with the loss, through scourges, through fires,

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per quicquid miserum est, praeceps ruit, anxia lentam
provocat infelix mortem; si forte relabi
possit, et in nihilum rursus dipersa resolvi.
"aequemus meritis poenas, atque ultima passis
plura tamen magnis exactor debeat ausis;

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through whatever is miserable, headlong she rushes; anxious, the unhappy one provokes slow
death; if perchance she could slip back, and, dispersed, be resolved again into nothing.
"let us match penalties to deserts, and for those who have suffered the ultimate
yet the exactor should owe more for great daring deeds;

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Tartareis mala speluncis, vindictaque coelo
deficiat. nunquam, nunquam crudelis inultos
immeritosve Erebus capiet: meruisse nefandum
supplicium medios inter solabitur ignes,
et, licet immensos, factis superasse dolores.

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to Tartarean caves consign the evils, and let vengeance not fail Heaven;
never, never shall cruel Erebus seize the unavenged or the undeserving:
the having deserved unspeakable punishment will solace him in the midst of the fires,
and, though they be immense, that by his deeds he has surpassed the pains.

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nunc agite, o proceres, omnesque effundite technas,
consulite, imperioque alacres succurrite lapso."
dixerat, insequitur fremitus, trepidantiaque inter
agmina submissae franguntur murmure voces.
qualis ubi oceano mox praecipitandus Ibero

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now come, O nobles, and pour out all stratagems,
consult, and with alacrity succor the tottering empire."
he had spoken; a rumble follows, and amid the trembling
ranks the subdued voices are broken by the murmur.
such as when, soon to be hurled headlong into the Iberian Ocean

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immineat Phoebus, flavique ad litora Chami
conveniunt, glomerantque per auras agmina muscae,
fit sonitus; longo crescentes ordine turbae
buccinulis voces acuunt, sociosque vocantes
undas nube premunt; strepitu vicinia rauco

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Phoebus hangs imminent, and to the tawny shores of Cham
the flies convene, and they mass their ranks through the airs,
a sound arises; the throngs, growing in a long order,
with little bugles they sharpen their voices, and calling their comrades
they press the waters with a cloud; with raucous din the vicinity

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completur, resonantque accensis litora bombis.
postquam animi posuere, sonique relanguit aestus,
excipit Aequivocus, quo non astutior alter
Tartareos inter technas effingere patres.
illi castra olim numero farcibat inerti,

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it is filled, and the shores resonate with kindled bombinations.
after their spirits settled, and the surge of sound grew slack,
Aequivocus takes over, than whom no other is more astute
to fashion fathers amid Tartarean stratagems.
he in former times would cram the camp with an inert number,

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crescens in ventrem monachus, simul agmine iuncti
tonsi ore, et tonsi lunato vertice fratres.
at nunc felici auspicio Iesuitica princeps
agmina ducebat, veteranoque omnia late
depopulans, magnas passim infert milite clades.

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a monk swelling in the belly, and at the same time, joined in marching order,
brothers shaven of face, and shaven with a crescent-shaped crown upon the head.
But now, under a felicitous auspice, the Jesuitic leader
was leading the ranks, and, laying waste far and wide with veteran soldiery,
he everywhere brings great defeats with his soldiery.

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illum etiam pugnantem, illum admirata loquentem
circuit et fremitu excepit plebs vana secundo.
surgit, et haud laeto Aequivocus sic incipit ore:
"o pater, o princeps umbrarum, Erebique potestas,
ut rebare, omnes nequicquam insumpsimus artes:

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even him fighting, even him speaking, admiring,
the vain rabble encircles and receives him with a favoring roar.
he rises, and Aequivocus thus begins with a not-glad countenance:
"o father, o prince of shades, and power of Erebus,
as you reckoned, we have expended all our arts in vain:

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nil tanti valuere doli. nihil omnibus actum
magnorum impensis operum, verum omnia retro
deterius ruere, inque bonum sublapsa referri.
"non secus adverso pictum tenet amne phaselum
anchora, si funem aut mordaces fibula nexus

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no stratagems availed so much. nothing has been accomplished, with the great expenditures of all our works,
but rather everything rushes backward for the worse, and, having slipped down, is borne back into the good.
"just so an anchor holds a painted skiff against the adverse stream
if the rope or the biting clasp’s fastening

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solverit, atque illum prona trahit alveus unda.
nec quenquam accusa, tentatum est quicquid aperta
ut fieri, aut pressa potuit quod tectius arte.
ille pater rerum, cui frustra obnitimur omnes
(sed frustra iuvat obniti) vim magnus inanem

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should loosen, and the sloping wave of the channel drags it headlong.
nor accuse anyone; whatever could be attempted openly
to be done, or what could be contrived more covertly with close-pressed art.
that father of things, against whom we all strive in vain
(but it pleases to strive in vain), the great one makes the force void

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discutit, et coelo fraudes ostendit aprico.
quin soliti lento reges torpescere luxu,
Palladiis nunc tecti armis, Musisque potentes,
in nos per mediam meditantur praelia pacem.
nec tamen aeternos obliti absiste timere

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he shatters it, and he shows the frauds to the sunlit sky.
nay, the kings accustomed to grow torpid in sluggish luxury,
now covered with Palladian arms, and powerful by the Muses,
are plotting battles against us through the very midst of peace.
nor yet, forgetful of the eternal ones, cease to fear

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unquam animos -- fessique ingentes ponimus iras?
nec fas, non sic deficimus, nec talia tecum
gessimus, in coelos olim tua signa sequuti.
est hic, est vitae, et magni contemptor Olympi,
quique oblatam animus lucis nunc respuat aulam,

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ever our spirits -- and, weary, do we lay down our immense wraths?
nor is it lawful; we do not thus fail, nor did we wage such things with you,
once having followed your standards into the heavens.
there is here, there is, a despiser of life and of great Olympus,
and a spirit who now rejects the proffered court of light,

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et domiti tantum placeat cui regia coeli.
ne dubita, nunquam fractis haec pectora, nunquam
deficient animis: prius ille ingentia coeli
atria, desertosque aeternae lucis alumnos
destituens, Erebum admigret noctemque profundam,

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and to whom the royal palace of heaven would please only when subdued.
do not doubt, never with these hearts broken, never
will they fail in spirit: sooner would he, abandoning the vast atria of heaven
and leaving the alumni of eternal light deserted, migrate to Erebus and profound night,

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et Stygiis mutet radianta lumina flammis.
quod si acies, fractasque iterum supplere catervas
est animus, sciteque malas dispergere fraudes,
non ego consilii, armorum non futilis author.
nec veteres frustra, genitor, revocabimus artes,

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and let him exchange his radiant lights for Stygian flames.
but if there is resolve for the battle-line, and to replenish again the broken ranks,
and to skillfully disperse evil frauds,
I am no futile author of counsel, nor of arms.
nor, father, shall we recall the ancient arts in vain,

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sed nova, sed nulli prorsus speranda priorum
aggredienda mihi conamina. non ego lentos
nequicquam adstimulem fratres, alvumque sequentes
distentam monachos: dum nox, dum plurima terris
incumbens caligo animos sopivit inertes,

150
but new, but by none of the former at all to be hoped-for,
endeavors must be undertaken by me. I will not
uselessly stimulate the slow brothers, and monks following the
distended belly: while night, while the very great darkness incumbent upon the lands
has lulled inert minds,

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non ingratus erat fratrum labor, omnia nobis
artibus ignavis dederat secura, trahensque
invisam coelo lucem, tenebrisve nitentem
involvens, iam nube diem, iam nocte premebat.
"at nebulas postquam Phaebus dimovit inanes,

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not thankless was the brethren's labor, everything for us
by slothful arts had made secure, and dragging
a light hateful to heaven, or wrapping the one shining
in darkness, now with cloud it pressed the day, now with night.
"but after Phoebus removed the empty mists,

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Tartareae immisso patuerunt lumine sordes,
nec patitur lucem miles desuetus apertam.
nunc alio imbelles tempus supplere cohortes
milite, et emeritos castris emittere fratres.
nunc Iessuitarum sanctum prudentia numen

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The Tartarean filths lay open with the light sent in,
nor does the soldier, unaccustomed, endure the open light.
now it is time to supply the unwarlike cohorts
with other soldiery, and to send forth from the camp the brothers who have served out their time.
now the holy numen of the Jesuits’ prudence

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arma, manusque placent: iuvat ipsum invadere coelum,
sideraque haerentemque polo detrudere solem.
iam mihi sacratos felici milite reges
protrahere, atque ipsum coeli calcare tyrannum
sub pedibus videor. nihil isto milite durum,

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arms, and hands please; it delights to invade heaven itself,
and to thrust down the stars and the sun clinging to the pole.
now I seem to myself to drag forth sacred kings with a fortunate soldiery,
and to tread the very tyrant of heaven beneath my feet, I seem.
nothing is hard with that soldiery,

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nil sanctum, clausumque manet, quin oppida late
praesidiis, urbesque tenent. iam limina regum,
iamque adyta irrumpunt, vel mollibus intima blandi
corda dolis subeunt, vel ferro et caede refringunt.
hi vetulae fucum Romae, pigmentaque rugis

170
nothing sacred, nor closed, remains; indeed they hold towns far and wide
with garrisons, and cities. now they burst into the thresholds of kings,
and now into the adyta; either, flattering, they insinuate themselves with soft
wiles into the inmost hearts, or with iron and slaughter they break them open.
these provide rouge for old-woman Rome, and pigments for wrinkles

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aptantes, seros effoetae nuper amores
conciliant, lapsumque decus formamque reponunt.
ni facerent (noctem coelique inamabile lumen
testor) mox aliae sedes, nova regna per orbem
exulibus quaerenda, soloque atque aethere pulsis:

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fitting them, they lately conciliate belated loves for the effete,
and replace the fallen honor and the form.
if they were not doing this (I call to witness the night and the unlovely light
of heaven), soon other seats, new realms throughout the orb
would have to be sought for the exiles, driven from soil and from ether:

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Cocytus tantum nobis Erebusque pateret.
quin tu (magne pater) Stygias reclude cavernas,
ac barathrum in terras Orcumque immitte profundum;
insueti totum superi mirentur Avernum.
"hic solita infidis inspiret praelia Turcis;

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Only Cocytus and Erebus would stand open to us.
nay rather do you (great father) unbar the Stygian caverns,
and let the barathrum, the abyss, and deep Orcus loose upon the lands;
let the gods above, unaccustomed, marvel at Avernus wholly laid open.
"here let him breathe the wonted battles into the faithless Turks;

185
Sarmatas hic, gelidosque incendat Marte Polonos,
Germanosque duces, hic reges inflet Iberos;
regnorumque sitim, et nullo saturabile pectus
imperio stimulet, diroque intorqueat aestu.
ite foras, Stygiae (princeps iubet) ite catervae,

185
Here let him, with Mars, set ablaze the Sarmatians and the icy Poles,
and the German leaders, here let him inflate the Iberian kings;
and let him stimulate the thirst of kingdoms, and a breast satiable by no dominion,
and wrench it with dire seething.
go forth, Stygian cohorts (the Prince commands), go,

190
vipereas inferte manus, serite arma per agros,
et scelerum et foeti dispergite semina belli.
ast ego Tarpeium Tiberina ad flumina patrem,
conciliumque petam solus, mea regna, Latinum,
murice vestitum, rubeoque insigne galero.

190
bring your viperine hands to bear, sow arms throughout the fields,
and scatter the seeds both of crimes and of a fecund war.
but I, to the Tarpeian Father by the Tiberine streams,
and I alone will seek the council, my realm, Latium,
clad in purple, and ensigned with a red galero.

195
mox scelere ingenti atque ingenti caede peracta
regrediar, Stygiasque domus et inania late
undique collectis supplebo regna colonis.
at tu, magne pater, fluitantes contrahe manes,
praecipitesque vias latosque extende meatus,

195
soon, a huge crime and a huge slaughter accomplished,
I shall return, and the Stygian homes and the empty realms
I shall supply far and wide with colonists gathered from everywhere.
but you, great father, draw together the drifting shades,
and stretch out the headlong roads and the broad passages.

200
ut patulo densum volitantes Orcus hiatu
corripiat rabidus mentes, intusque recondat."
dixit, et illaeti perfracto limine Averni
exiliit primus, lucemque invasit apertam.
insequitur deforme Chaos, ruit omne barathrum,

200
so that, with a yawning wide gape, rabid Orcus may seize the minds
fluttering in a dense swarm, and hide them within."
he said, and—the threshold of Avernus broken—the joyless,
he leapt out first, and invaded the open light.
misshapen Chaos follows; the whole abyss rushes headlong,

205
foeda, horrenda cohors. trepidant pallentia coeli
lumina, et incerto tellus tremit horrida motu.
ipse pater pronos laxatis Phaebus habenis
praecipitat currus, et caelo territus exit.
succedit nox umbrarum, coelumque relictum

205
a foul, horrendous cohort. the pallid lights of heaven tremble,
and the earth shudders, horrid, with an uncertain motion.
the father himself, Phoebus, with the reins loosened, headlong
pitches his chariot, and, terrified, departs from the sky.
a night of shadows succeeds, and the sky is abandoned

210
invadit, multaque premit caligine terras.
non secus Aeoliis emissi finibus Austri
omnia corripiunt, terrasque undasque tumultu
miscent; arboreos foetus, segetemque resectam
turbine convellunt rapido, verruntque per auras.

210
it invades, and with much gloom it presses the lands.
not otherwise do the South Winds, sent forth from Aeolian borders,
seize everything, and mix lands and waves with tumult;
the arboreal offspring, and the reaped sown-field,
they tear up with a rapid whirlwind, and sweep them through the airs.

215
ast oculis longe moestus sua vota colonus
insequitur, totoque trahit suspiria corde.
senserat adventum, subitoque inferbuit aestu
terra, odiisque tumet, foeto iam turgida bello,
circum umbrae volitant, fraudesque et crimina spargunt.

215
but, from afar with his eyes, the sorrowful cultivator pursues his prayers,
and draws sighs from his whole heart.
the land had sensed the coming, and suddenly seethed with heat;
it swells with odium, now big with war,
around, shades flit, and they scatter frauds and crimes.

220
hic gelidos semper nivibus glacieque Polonos
exacuit, taciteque subit Iesuitica totus
pectora, iamque dolos caedesque inspirat; at illa
arripiunt avide flammas, notaeque per ossa
discurrunt furiae, inque sinus inque ilia serpunt.

220
here he whets the Poles, ever icy with snows and ice,
and silently he steals wholly into Jesuitical breasts,
and now he breathes in deceits and slaughters; but they
greedily seize the flames, and familiar furies course through the bones,
and they creep into the bosoms and into the entrails.

225
iamque in cognatos meditantur bella Suevos,
Sarmaticasque ardent Romano adnectere gentes
pontifici, et Graecas templis expellere leges.
fictitam regis sobolem, consutaque belli
crimina supponunt, vafri, mentitaque veris

225
and now they are plotting wars against their kindred Swedes,
and burn to bind the Sarmatian peoples to the Roman Pontiff,
and to expel the Greek laws from the temples.
they foist a feigned offspring of the king, and stitched‑together charges
of war, crafty, and lies in place of truths

230
texunt, Sarmaticosque implent rumoribus agros.
caedibus accrescit bellum, regnique medullis
haeret inexpletum; semper nova praelia victus
integrat, erubuere nives iam sanguine tinctae
purpureo, et tepida solvuntur frigora caede.

230
they weave lies, and they fill the Sarmatian fields with rumors.
by slaughters the war accretes, and clings insatiate to the marrow of the kingdom;
the vanquished ever renews fresh battles,
the snows have already blushed, dyed with purple blood,
and the frosts are loosened, warmed to thaw by slaughter.

235
ast alii Graias olim cognomine terras
Graias, Pieriis gratissima nomina Musis,
nunc domitos tutus consedit Turca per agros.
invisunt alacres bello loca foeta perenni,
et tenero caedem inspirant et praelia regi.

235
but others—the Grecian lands, once by cognomen "Grecian,"
Grecian, names most pleasing to the Pierian Muses—
now the Turk sits safely settled through the tamed fields.
they eagerly visit places teeming with perennial war,
and breathe slaughter and battles into the tender king.

240
nunc oculo, nunc voce ferox, nunc fronte minatur,
non epulis luxuve puer, non ille paterna
desidia gaudet, sed bella, sed aspera cordi
ira sedent, saevamque superbia Turcica mentem
inflat, et ingentes volvit sub pectore motus.

240
now with his eye, now with his voice ferocious, now he menaces with his brow,
not a boy of banquets and luxury, not he rejoices in paternal
sloth; but wars, but harsh ire sit at his heart;
and Turkish pride inflates his savage mind,
and he revolves vast motions beneath his breast.

245
aut is linigeras aptabit classibus alas,
aut galeas finget clypeosque, et (fulmina belli)
tormenta, impositis strident incudibus aera.
et nunc ille ferox Persas Asiamque rebellem
subiciens, totum spirat de pectore Martem,

245
or he will fit linen-bearing wings to the fleets,
or he will fashion helmets and shields, and (the thunderbolts of war)
engines; the bronzes shriek with the anvils set on them.
and now that fierce one, subjecting the Persians and rebellious Asia,
breathes all of Mars from his breast,

250
exultansque animis multa se suscitat ira.
heu quae Christicolis caedes, quam debita pestis
imminet? heu quantus tanto timor instat ab hoste,
ni tu, Christe, malum avertas, tu fulmina, Christe,
dispergas, et vana manu conamina ludas?

250
and exulting in spirit he rouses much wrath in himself.
alas, what slaughter for the Christians, what due pestilence
hangs over? alas, how great a fear presses from so great a foe,
unless you, Christ, turn aside the evil, you the thunderbolts, Christ,
scatter, and with your hand make sport of the vain endeavors?

255
interea toto dum bella seruntur in orbe,
Italiam Aequivocus magnam et Tiberina fluenta
adveniens intrat feralis moenia Romae.
nec mora, nota subit mitrati tecta tyranni,
quaque incedit ovans, adytisque vagatur opacis,

255
meanwhile, while wars are being sown through the whole orb,
the Equivocal One, arriving, enters great Italy and the Tiberine currents,
the deathly walls of Rome.
nor delay: he goes beneath the well-known roofs of the mitered tyrant,
and wherever he advances, exultant, he wanders through the shadowy adyta.

260
insperata Erebo vel aperto crimina sole
gaudet ubique tuens, messemque expectat opimam.
dicite, Pierides, quis nunc tenet Itala primus
arva? quibus tandem gradibus, quo principe reges
exuit, et pingues aptans sibi Roma cucullos

260
he rejoices everywhere, beholding crimes unexpected either in Erebus or beneath the open sun,
and he awaits an opulent harvest.
tell, Pierides, who now holds the Italian fields as first?
by what steps at length, under what princeps did she strip off kings,
and Rome, fitting for herself fat cowls

265
subiicitur raso modo facta sororcula fratri?
siccine decrepiti puerascunt tempore mores,
pontifice Augustum ut mutent, monachoque monarchum?
postquam res Latii totum porrecta per orbem
creverat, et terras urbi subiecerat uni,

265
is the little sister, only just made shaven, subjected to her brother?
is it thus that manners in decrepit time become boyish,
so that they change the Augustus into a pontiff, and the monarch into a monk?
after the State of Latium, extended through the whole orb,
had grown, and had subjected the lands to one city,

270
substitit, et iusto librata in pondere sedit,
at mox prona ruens, in se conversa, relabi
coepit, et effoetam vix iam, vix sustinet urbem.
haud secus alternis crescentes fluctibus undae
incedunt, facilesque Actae superantia clivos

270
it halted, and, balanced at a just weight, it settled,
but soon, prone, rushing headlong, turned upon itself, it began to slip back,
and now can scarcely, scarcely support the exhausted city.
not otherwise do waves advance, swelling with alternating billows,
and, without difficulty, overtop the slopes of Acte

275
aequora prorepunt tacite, mox litora complent,
subiectasque procul despectant vertice terras:
iamque viarum incerta haerent, mox prona recedunt,
defervensque undis paulatim in se ipse residit
Nereus, et nulli noto caput abdidit alveo.<

275
the waters creep forth silently, soon they fill the shores,
and from their crest they look down afar upon the subjacent lands:
and now the uncertain courses of the roads stick fast, soon prone they recede,
and, defervescing from the waves, Nereus little by little subsides into himself,
and hid his head in no channel known to anyone.<

280
interea patrum manibus coelestia passim
semina sparguntur, surgit cum foenore campis
laeta seges, plenisque albescunt messibus arva.
at simul hirsutis horrebat carduus agris,
et tribuli loliique nemus, simul aspera lappae

280
meanwhile by the hands of the fathers celestial seeds are everywhere
scattered, the glad crop rises in the fields with interest,
and the fields whiten with full harvests.
but at the same time the thistle bristled in shaggy fields,
and a grove of caltrop and darnel, at the same time the rough burdock

285
sylva, et lethaeos operata papavera somnos.
quippe hominum coelique hostis, dum membra colonis
fessa quies laxat, tritico vilemque faselum
miscuit infestus, viciasque aspersit inanes.
mirantur lolium agricolae, mirantur avenas,

285
the forest, and poppies that have wrought Lethean slumbers.
for indeed the enemy of men and of heaven, while rest
relaxes the farmers’ weary limbs, malevolent he mixed into the wheat the cheap bean,
and sprinkled barren vetches.
the farmers marvel at the darnel, they marvel at the oats,

290
mortiferasque horrent mediis in messibus herbas.
quin etiam imperio Christi Pro-christus eodem
parvus adhuc, claususque utero succrevit opaco;
iamque vias trudens tentaverat, integra Romae
auspicia impediunt, ausisque ingentibus obstant.

290
and they shudder at death-bringing herbs in the midst of the harvests.
indeed even by the command of Christ the Pro-Christ likewise,
still small, and shut within a dark womb, grew up;
and now, pushing at the ways, he had tried them—Rome’s auspices,
intact, impede, and they stand in the way of mighty undertakings.

295
at Latiis postquam imperium segnesceret arvis,
inque Bisantinas sensim concederet urbes,
exilit, et iusto prodit iam firmior aevo.
mox etiam laxis paulatim assuetus habenis,
Mauricio scelere extincto, duce et auspice Phoca,

295
but after the empire in the Latin fields grew sluggish,
and little by little withdrew into Byzantine cities,
he springs forth, and now, stronger in due age, comes forth.
soon also, gradually accustomed to lax reins,
with Maurice extinguished by crime, with Phocas as leader and auspice,

300
excutit aurigam, inque rotas succedit inanes.
et nunc rasorum longus producitur ordo
pontificum, magicaque rudem, Stygiaque popellum
arte ligans, Itala solus dominatur in aula.
iamque furens animis, et torquens fulmina, sceptrum

300
he shakes off the charioteer, and steps into the empty wheels.
and now a long order of shaven pontiffs is led forth,
binding the untrained, petty populace with magical and Stygian art,
he alone lords it in the Italian hall.
and now, raging in spirit, and twisting thunderbolts, the scepter

305
Paulus habet, clavesque manu violentus inanes
proiiciens Petri, gladio succinctus acuto
intonat, et longe distantes territat urbes.
stulte, quid aeterni crepitantia fulmina patris,
coelestesque minas, et non imitable numen

305
Paul holds it, and, violent in hand, hurling the empty keys of Peter,
girded with a sharp sword, he thunders,
and he frightens cities far distant.
Fool, why the rattling thunderbolts of the eternal Father,
and the heavenly threats, and the inimitable numen?

310
ignibus, ah, fatuis simulas? Venetosque sagaces,
et non fictitio terrendos igne Britannos
exagitas? ast hi contra, cum debita poscunt
tempora (non illi voces, verbosaque chartae
fulmina) tela alacres, verasque in moenia Romae

310
with fires, ah, fatuous, do you simulate? And the sagacious Venetians,
and the Britons not to be terrified by a fictitious fire,
do you harry? but these, in return, when they demand
their due times (not for them voices, nor the thunderbolts of verbose paper),
brisk for missiles, and real ones, against the walls of Rome

315
incutient flammas, carnesque et viscera mandent.
arma foris regum meretrix vetula, arma dolosque
exercet, Circaea domi sed carmina et artes
infandas magicis dirum miscendo susurris.
at cum feralis languet saturata libido,

315
they will hurl flames, and they will chew flesh and viscera.
outside, the old harlot of kings practices arms and tricks,
but at home Circean songs and unspeakable arts,
mixing dread with magic whispers.
but when the funereal libido, satiated, languishes,

320
in facies centum, centum in miracula rerum
corpora Lethaeo transformat adultera cantu.
aut asini fiunt, vulpesve, hirtive leones,
atque lupi, atque sues, atque exosae omnibus hydrae.
illi capta quidem dextro, sed acuta sinistro

320
into a hundred faces, into a hundred miracles of things
the adulteress transforms bodies by Lethean song.
or they become asses, or foxes, or shaggy lions,
and wolves, and swine, and hydras hateful to all.
they indeed with the right ear stopped, but the left keen

325
lumine, deformis caecae Ignorantia portae
excubat, et nebulis aditus et limen opacat.
filius huic Error comes assidet; ille vagantes
excipit hospitio, et longis circum undique ducit
porticibus, veterumque umbras simulacraque rerum

325
in the light, hideous Ignorance of the blind gate keeps watch,
and with mists it obscures the approaches and the threshold.
to her, her son Error sits as companion; he receives the wanderers
with hospitality, and leads them around on all sides through long porticoes,
and the shades and simulacra of ancient things

330
mirantes variis fallit per inania ludis.
intrantem prensat mores venerata vetustos
stulta Superstitio, properanteque murmura voce
praecipitans, voti superos precibusque fatigat.
interius Scelus imperitat, foecundaque regnant

330
he deludes the wondering with various empty games.
foolish Superstition, revering ancient mores, seizes the entrant,
and, headlong, with a hurrying, murmuring voice,
wearies the gods above with vow and with prayers.
within, Crime commands, and fecund forces reign

335
flagitia, et mentes trudunt, rapiuntque nefandas.
inficit hic coelos audax, Christumque venerans
porrigit immistis regi sacra tanta cicutis.
lethalem ille deum, atque imbutam morte salutem
ore capit, multoque lavat peccata veneno.

335
flagitious crimes, and they thrust and seize nefarious minds.
this bold one infects the heavens, and, venerating Christ,
he proffers to the King such sacred rites with hemlocks mixed in.
he takes into his mouth a lethal god, and salvation steeped in death,
and washes sins with much poison.

340
hic clavos, virgasque, crucemque, tua (optime Iesu)
supplicia, hastamque innocuo sub corde refixam,
hic truncum, hic saxum (saxo contemptior ipso)
propitium implorat supplex, Stygiisque ululantes
speluncis flexo veneratur poplite manes.

340
here nails, and rods, and the cross, your (O best Jesus)
torments, and the spear driven beneath the innocent heart,
here a trunk, here a stone (more contemptible than the stone itself)
he as a suppliant implores to be propitious, and in Stygian, howling
caverns with knee bent he venerates the Manes.

345
hic Cereri et fluido procumbit stultus Iaccho,
quosque colit vorat ipse deos, et numina plenus
(ah scelus!) abscondit venis, alvoque reponit.
hic caligantes, coelum execratus apertum,
te magicos, Iesu, te immitens sagus in ignes,

345
here the fool prostrates himself to Ceres and to flowing Iacchus,
and the gods whom he worships he himself devours, and, full of divinities,
(ah crime!) he hides them in his veins, and puts them back in his belly.
here, his sight darkening, having cursed the open heaven,
the sorcerer, hurling you, Jesus, into magical fires,

350
umbras imperiis audax, Stygiumque nefando
ore Iovem, totumque vocat de sedibus Orcum.
Romulidum ille patrum, primaeque haud immemor urbis,
et fovet ipse lupas, atque ipse fovetur ab illis.
hic sobolem impurus prohibens castosque hymenaeos,

350
bold with commands he calls the shades, and the Stygian Jove with an unspeakable
mouth, and calls the whole Orcus from its seats.
he, not unmindful of the fathers of the Romulids and of the first city,
even himself cherishes the she-wolves, and he himself is cherished by them.
here, impure, forbidding offspring and chaste hymeneals,

355
ah, pathicos ardet pueros, et mascula turpis
scorta alit; (heu facinus terris coeloque pudendum
ausus!) purpureo quin mox pater ille galero
emeritos donat, proceresque, oviumque magistros
esse iubet, mox dura pater Musisque tremenda

355
ah, he burns for pathic boys, and, shameful, he nourishes
male harlots; (alas, a deed to be blushed at by earth and sky,
dared!) nay rather, soon that father bestows the purple galero
upon the emeriti, and orders them to be peers and masters of the sheep;
soon a father harsh and dreadful to the Muses

360
laudat, et incestis tutatur crimina Musis.
nec requies, fervent nova crimina, fervet honorum
nummorumque infanda sitis; tument improba fastu
conculcans stratos immensa superbia reges.
venerat huc, laetusque animi vetera agmina lustrans

360
he praises, and with unchaste Muses he safeguards crimes.
nor is there rest; new crimes seethe, the unspeakable thirst for honors
and for coins seethes; there swells, wicked with haughtiness,
immense arrogance trampling kings laid low.
he had come here, and, glad in spirit, reviewing the veteran ranks

365
Aequivocus falsi subiit penetralia Petri.
quem super Anglorum rebus, Venetoque tumultu
ardentem curae, et semper nova damna coquebant.
huic Stygias sub corde faces, omnesque nefando
pectore succendit furias, ille improbus ira

365
The equivocator of falsehood entered the penetralia of Peter.
About him, burning over the affairs of the English and the Venetian tumult,
cares were always cooking up ever-new harms.
For him, beneath his heart, he lit Stygian torches, and all the Furies
in his nefarious breast he kindled, that wicked man in wrath

370
concilium vocat. agglomerant imberbia fratrum
agmina, concurrunt veteranis ordine longo
insignes ducibus Iesuitae, animisque parati
sive dolo libeat seu Marti fidere aperto
duscumbunt, sedet in mediis diademate Paulus

370
he calls a council. the beardless ranks of brothers mass together,
the Jesuits, distinguished with veteran leaders in long order, run up,
and ready in spirit, whether it please to rely on guile or to trust to open Mars,
they take their seats; Paul sits in the midst with a diadem

375
tempora praefulgens triplici, vultuque dolorem.
praefatus, sic tandem iras atque ora resolvit:
"nil pudet incepto victos desistere? fessos
deficere, extremoque fere languere sub actu,
nec posse instantem Romae differre ruinam?

375
blazing at his temples with the triple crown, and in his countenance, pain.
having prefaced, thus at last he unloosed his wraths and his lips:
"Does nothing shame you—beaten—to desist from the enterprise? weary
to fail, and almost to grow faint at the very last act,
and not to be able to defer Rome’s imminent ruin?

380
fata vetant: mene incertis concedere fatis?
inclusus latebris monachus tot vertere praedas,
tot potuit patri Romano avellere gentes?
ast ego, quem strato venerantur corpore, sacris
blanda etiam pedibus libantes oscula reges,

380
fates forbid: am I to concede to uncertain fates?
a monk enclosed in hiding-places to overturn so many spoils,
could he tear away so many nations from the Roman father?
but I, whom with body prostrate they venerate, in sacred rites,
even kings libating gentle kisses upon the feet,

385
quem superi, quem terra tremit manesque profundi,
qui solio Christi assideo, Christo aemulus ipsi,
tot mala quotidie, et semper crescentia inultus
damna fero: et quisquam Romanum numen adoret?
aut vigiles supplex munus suspendat ad aras?

385
whom the gods above, whom the earth and the deep shades tremble at,
I who sit at the throne of Christ, emulous of Christ himself,
I bear so many evils every day, and ever-growing losses unavenged:
and shall anyone adore the Roman numen?
or as a suppliant suspend a gift at the vigilant altars?

390
iam Veneti iuga detrectant, et iussa superbi
destituunt, Batavus nulla revocabilis arte
effugit, longeque escas laqueosque recusat.
Gallia tot compressa malis, tot cladibus acta
deficit, et iam dimidia plus parte recessit.

390
now the Venetians refuse the yokes, and desert the commands of the haughty;
the Batavian, recallable by no art, slips away, and from afar refuses baits and snares.
Gaul, compressed by so many evils, driven by so many disasters,
fails, and already has withdrawn by more than half its part.

395
ille Navarrena infelix ex arbore ramus
(exosum genus, et divis hostile Latinis)
quanquam oculos fingens placidos, vultusque serenat,
aggerat ingentem memori sub corde dolorem.
"et velut ille fame et vinclis infractus ahenis,

395
that unhappy branch from the Navarrese tree
(a race detested, and hostile to the Latin gods),
although feigning gentle eyes and smoothing his features,
he heaps up a vast grief beneath his mindful heart.
"and just as that man, unbroken by hunger and bronze fetters,

400
oblitusque leo irarum, caudamque remulcens
porrectas manibus captabit leniter escas,
si semel insueto saturaverit ora cruore,
mox soliti redeunt animi, fremit horridus ira,
vincula mox et claustra vorat, rapit ore cruento

400
and the lion, forgetful of his rages, fawning with his tail,
will gently catch the baits held out by hands,
if once he has sated his jaws with unaccustomed blood,
soon his wonted spirit returns; he rages, grim with wrath,
soon he devours chains and bars, he snatches with his blood-stained mouth

405
custodem, et primas domitor lacer imbuit iras.
quid referam tota divisos mente Britannos,
quos neque blanditiae molles, non aspera terrent
iurgia, non ipsos sternentia fulmina reges?
heu sobolem invisam, et fatis maiora Latinis

405
the custodian, and the lacerated tamer he imbues with his first wraths.
why should I recount the Britons wholly divided in mind,
whom neither soft blandishments, nor harsh altercations frighten,
nor the thunderbolts that prostrate kings themselves?
alas, a detested offspring, and greater than the Latin fates

410
fata Britannorum! centum variata figuris
proditio flammis, ferroque, atroque veneno
nil agit: insensum detorquet vulnera numen.
nil Hispana iuvat pubes, nil maxima classis:
quam tellus stupuit, stupuit Neptunus euntem,

410
the fates of the Britons! treachery, varied in a hundred forms,
accomplishes nothing with flames, with iron, and with black poison:
the unfeeling divinity deflects the wounds.
the Spanish youth avails nothing, nor the greatest fleet:
which the Earth stood amazed at, Neptune stood amazed as it went,

415
miratus liquidum sylvescere pinibus aequor!
quin toto disiecta mari fugit aequore prono,
iamque relaxatos immittens navita funes,
increpitat ventos properans, Eurosque morantes.
tot precibus properat aegre, frustraque redempta.

415
amazed that the liquid plain grows sylvan with pines!
nay, scattered over the whole sea she flees with the slanting sea in her favor,
and now the mariner, paying out the slackened ropes,
chides the winds as he hastens, and the delaying Eurus-winds.
with so many prayers he hurries on with difficulty, and the reprieve redeemed is in vain.

420
quid laeti tulit illa dies, qua sidus Elisae
occidit, et longo solvit e Roma dolore!
occidit illa quidem, qua nullam Roma cruentam
nostra magis vidit, faustamve Britannia stellam.
sed simul exoritur, quem nos magis omnibus unum

420
what gladness did that day bring, on which the star of Elissa
set, and released Rome from long pain!
she did set indeed—one than which our Rome saw no star more blood-stained,
nor Britain a more auspicious star.
but at the same time there rises, whom we more than all, the one

425
horremus, gelida consurgens Phoebus ab Arcto,
quem Pallas, quem Musae omnes comitantur euntem;
Pax simul incedit laeto Saturnia vultu,
lora manu laxans, trahitur captiva catenis
Barbaries, positoque gemens Bellona flagello.

425
we shudder, as Phoebus rises from the icy North,
whom Pallas, whom all the Muses accompany as he goes;
Peace at the same time advances with a joyful Saturnian face,
loosening the reins with her hand, Barbarism is dragged captive in chains,
and Bellona, groaning, with the scourge laid aside.

430
non me nequicquam iunctum uno foedere triplex
imperium terret, terret fatale Iacobi,
nec frustra impositam luctantis ab omine nomen.
quin similis patri soboles inimica Latino
nomina pontifici assumens, radiante superbos

430
nor does the triple empire, joined by one covenant, terrify me to no purpose;
the fatal doom of James terrifies, nor in vain the name imposed from the omen of one wrestling.
nay rather, the offspring like his father, hostile to the Latin
pontiff, assuming the names, with radiance overawes the proud

435
Henricos puer et Fredericos exprimit ore.
nunc et equos domitare libet, spumantiaque ora
colligere in nodum, sinuosaque flectere colla,
et teneris hastam iam nunc iactare lacertis.
quin etiam ille minor, sed non minus ille timendus

435
the boy expresses the Henries and the Fredericks with his mouth.
now too it pleases him to tame horses, and to collect the foaming mouths into a knot,
and to bend their sinuous necks,
and already now to brandish the spear with tender upper arms.
indeed even that younger one, yet no less to be feared

440
Carolus, haud laeto turbat nos omine, cuius
mortiferam accepit primo sub nomine plagam
Roma, et lethali languens in vulnere, lenta
peste cadit, certamque videt moribunda ruinam.
illa etiam inferior sexu, non pectore, terret,

440
Charles disturbs us with an omen not glad, under whose
first of the name Rome received a death-bringing blow,
and, languishing in a lethal wound, falls by a slow
pestilence, and dying sees a certain ruin.
she too, inferior in sex, not in breast, terrifies,

445
quae reducem nobis foecundam ostentat Elisam,
invisum, maius fatis ac cladibus auctum
nomen, et invictam spondens post praelia pacem.
nec me vanus agit terror, quippe illius ore
praevideo multas nobis, nisi fallor, Elisas.

445
who displays to us a fruitful Elisa returning,
a detested name, grown greater than the fates and augmented by disasters,
and promising an undefeated peace after the battles.
nor does empty fear drive me, for from her mouth
I foresee for us many Elisas, unless I am mistaken.

450
"quae mihi spes ultra? vel me praesaga mali mens
abstulit, et veris maiora pavescere iussit,
vel calamo pater et Musis, sed filius armis
sternet, et extremis condet mea moenia flammis.
"hei mihi! sidereae turres, tuque aemula coeli

450
"what hope remains for me beyond? either a mind presaging evil
has carried me away, and has ordered me to fear things greater than the realities,
or the father with the reed-pen and the Muses, but the son with arms,
will lay me low, and will bury my walls in utmost flames.
"ah me! starry towers, and you, rival of heaven

455
urbs, antiqua deum sedes, reginaque terrae,
quam lana Assyrio pingit fucata veneno,
quam vestes auro stellasque imitante pyropo
illusae decorant, ostro coccoque pudentes,
cui tantum de te licuit? quae dextera sacras

455
city, ancient seat of the gods, and queen of the land,
whom wool, dyed with Assyrian dye, paints in color,
whom garments, inworked and adorned with gold and with pyrope imitating the stars,
decorate, modest in purple and scarlet,
to whom has so much of you been permitted? what right hand [has] the sacred

460
dilacerare arces potuit? quo numine turres
deiicere, ingentique vias complere ruina?"
conticuit: tristisque diu stupor omnibus ora
defixit, mistoque sinus premit ira dolore.
ut rediere animi, strepitus, iunctaeque querelis

460
who could lacerate the citadels? by what numen to cast down the towers,
and to fill the ways with enormous ruin?"
she fell silent: and for a long time a sad stupor fastened all faces
and, with anger mixed with grief, she presses her bosom.
as their spirits returned, a clamor, and complaints joined

465
increbuere minae: dolor iras, ira dolorem
aggerat, alternisque incendunt pectora flammis.
tota minis mistoque fremunt subsellia luctu.
at sonitus inter medios, et maximus aevo
et sceptris Iesuita potens, cui caetera parent

465
the menaces grew loud: grief heaps up ire, ire heaps up grief,
and with alternate flames they inflame the hearts.
all the benches roar with menaces and mingled mourning.
but amid the noises, and greatest in age
and powerful in sceptres, the Jesuit, to whom the rest obey

470
agmina, consurgens ultro sese obtulit: illo
conspecto siluere omnes, atque ora tenebant
affixi. verba Aequivocus versuta loquenti
suggerit, et cordi custos orique residit.
"o pater, o hominum princeps, o maxime divum

470
to the ranks, rising unbidden he presented himself: at the sight of him
all fell silent, and held their faces fixed.
Equivocus suggests cunning words to the speaker,
and, as guardian, settles upon heart and mouth.
"O father, O prince of men, O greatest of the gods"

475
conditor, haud minor ipse Deo, iam parva caduco
spes superest regno, neque te sententia fallit:
moenia praecipitem spondent sublapsa ruinam.
nulla igitur lacrymis tempus, quin ocyus omnes
sarcimus veteres, aliasque reponimus arces.

475
founder, yourself by no means lesser than God, now scant hope remains for the falling
kingdom, nor does judgment deceive you: the subsided walls promise headlong ruin.
therefore no time for tears, but rather more swiftly we all
repair the old, and re-establish other citadels.

480
quid prohibet quin arte diu tua Roma supersit,
qua vel nunc superest? fatum sibi quisque supremum est,
et sortis faber ipse suae. nunc, optime, nostram
qua fieri possit paucis, pater, accipe mentem.
"ut qui armis hostile parat rescindere vallum,

480
what forbids that by your art your Rome may long subsist,
by which even now it subsists? each person is to himself the supreme fate,
and the very craftsman of his own lot. now, O best one, receive, father,
in a few words, our plan by which it can be brought to pass.
"as one who with arms prepares to cut down the enemy rampart,

485
non ubi confertis armantur moenia turmis,
aut altis cinguntur aquis, sed qua aggere raro,
atque humiles tenui muros cinxere corona,
irruit, incautamque malis premit artibus urbem,
non secus infirmi nutantia pectora sexus

485
not where the walls are armed with crowded troops,
or are girdled by deep waters, but where with a sparse rampart,
and a thin corona has encircled the lowly walls,
he rushes in, and presses the incautious city with evil arts,
not otherwise the wavering hearts of the infirm sex

490
blanditiis tentanda, doloque adeunda procaci.
in tenui labor, at lucrum non tenue sequetur.
vincitur, et vincit citius; cito foemina discit
errores, sciteque docet: gremio illa virili
infusa, et niveis cunctantem amplexa lacertis,

490
to be tempted by blandishments, and to be approached with impudent deceit.
the labor is slight, but no slight gain will follow.
she is overcome, and she overcomes more quickly; quickly a woman learns
errors, and cleverly teaches them: she, poured into a manly lap,
and, embracing the hesitator with snow-white arms,

495
blanda sinus leviter molles et pectora vellit,
mox domitae imperitat menti, bibit ille venenum,
et rapit errores animo, penitusque recondit.
qui toties septus, toties invictus ab hoste
consitit, armatum qui dente atque ungue leonem

495
with bland allure she lightly plucks at his soft lap and chest,
soon she lords it over the subdued mind; he drinks the venom,
and snatches the errors into his spirit, and stores them deep within.
he who so often, beset, so often stood unconquered by the enemy,
who has confronted the lion armed with tooth and claw

500
Manoides dextra impavidus lacerabat inermi,
pellicis in gremio crinem roburque relinquens,
foeminea infelix (nullis superandus ab armis)
arte, sine ense iacet, sine vi, sine vulnere victus.
his, pater, haud levibus visum est praeludere telis.

500
the son of Manoah, fearless, was tearing with his right hand, unarmed,
leaving his hair and his strength in the concubine’s lap,
unhappy, by a woman’s art (to be overcome by no arms),
he lies without sword, without force, conquered without a wound.
with these weapons, father, it did not seem a slight prelude.

505
et quoniam illecebris flecti frangive recusat
vi Batavus, technis subeundus, et arte domandus.
"apta nec ansa deest: manet illic forte, scholisque
imperitat vafri ingenii fideique labantis
Arminius, quem magna stupet sequiturque caterva,

505
and since the Batavian refuses to be bent or broken by enticements,
he must be approached by stratagems, and mastered by craft.
"nor is a suitable handle lacking: there, by chance, Arminius remains, and in the schools
he lords it—of wily wit and wavering faith—whom a great throng marvels at and follows,

510
amphibium genus, et studiis hostile quietis.
hi suetis stimulandi odiis, scitisque fovendi
laudibus ac donis onerandi, rebus Iberis
ut faveant, sceptrum Hispano obsequiumque reponant.
"Proximus in Gallos labor et, quos agmine pleno

510
an amphibious race, and in their pursuits hostile to quiet.
these men, accustomed to goading hatreds, and skilled at fostering them,
are to be loaded with praises and gifts, so that they may favor Iberian affairs
and restore the scepter and obedience to the Spaniard.
"Next the labor is upon the Gauls also, and those whom with a full column

515
aversos, iterum ad Romam matremque reducam.
Parisios vobis facile succidere flores,
liliaque Hispano dabimus calcandi leoni;
et trunca, ad solitum decusso vertice morem,
stemmata radicemque arvis transferre Granatis.

515
I will lead back the estranged, again to Rome their mother.
It will be easy for you to fell the Parisian flowers,
and we will give the lilies to the Spanish lion for trampling;
and, lopped, the head struck off according to the usual custom,
to transfer the emblems and the root to the fields of Granada.

520
ille Navarrena infelix ex arbore planta
ense recidenda est, flammisque urenda supremis.
dumque tener flectique potest, nescitque reniti
surculus, in truncum mox immittatur Iberum.
oblitus primi Hispanum propagine succum

520
that unlucky plant from the Navarrese tree
must be cut back with the sword, and be burned with final flames.
and while it is tender and can be bent, and does not know how to resist,
the shoot, let it soon be inserted into the Iberian trunk.
forgetful of its first sap, the Spanish sap by propagation

525
imbibat, Hispanis excrescant germina ramis.
quin modo qui secta viduus manet arbore ramus,
Hispano discat, si fas, inolescere libro,
et duplex pietas duplicato crescat amore.
"hic tragicae prologus scenae: maiora paramus,

525
let him imbibe it, let offshoots grow out upon Spanish branches.
nay rather, now let the bough which remains widowed, the tree having been cut,
learn, if it be lawful, to in-graft into the Spanish bark,
and let double piety grow with a doubled love.
"here is the prologue of a tragic scene: we prepare greater things,

530
non facinus vulgare sero, quod nulla tacebit,
credet nulla dies, magnum populisque tremendum
omnibus incepto. nequicquam verba minasque
conterimus, nequicquam artes proiecimus omnes:
tempora nos urgent mortis suprema, supremum

530
I do not weave a vulgar deed, one which no time will keep silent,
no day will believe, great and to all peoples tremendous
in its inception. In vain we grind down words and menaces;
in vain we have put forth all our arts:
the supreme moments of death press us, the supreme

535
tendandum scelus est. tollatur quicquid iniqui
obstiterit. nec te larvati nomen honesti
terreat aut sceleris; quin tu moderator honesti,
regula tu iusti. per fas, pater optime, nobis
perque nefas tentanda via est, qua frangere duros

535
the crime must be undertaken. Let whatever of inequity
has stood in the way be removed. Nor let the name of honor
or of crime in masquerade terrify you; nay, you the moderator of honor,
you the rule of the just. Through right, best father, for us
and through wrong the way must be tried, whereby to break the hard

540
possimus, Latiumque ipsis inferre Britannis.
illi hostes, illi telisque dolisque petendi,
vindicatam reliqui tantam videantque, tremantque.
nec mihi mens solum gelidis auferre cicutis
aut armis regem, cultrove invadere: magnum,

540
we may be able, and to bring Latium upon the Britons themselves.
those are the foes, those to be assailed with weapons and with wiles,
let them see, and let them tremble at, so great a vengeance taken for what remains.
nor is my design only to carry off the king with icy hemlocks
or with arms, to invade him with the knife: great,

545
sed prius auditum est facinus. certissimus ultor
et sceptris odiisque puer succedet avitis.
sed regem pariter, pariterque inflexile semen,
sed proceres, patresque equitesque et quicquid ubique
prudentis vulgi est, ictu truncabimus uno.

545
but first, a deed has been heard: a most certain avenger,
and a boy, will succeed to the ancestral scepters and hatreds.
but the king as well, and likewise the inflexible seed,
but the nobles, and the Fathers and the knights, and whatever everywhere
of the prudent crowd there is, we will lop off with a single blow.

550
quin domitos sine telo omnes, sine vulnere victos
flagitio, pater, una uno dabit hora Britannos.
qua facere id possim, paucis adverte, docebo.
"stat bene nota domus, saxo constructo vetusto,
marmore caelato, et Pariis formosa columnis,

550
indeed, all the Britons, subdued without a weapon, conquered without a wound,
by disgrace, father, one single hour will hand over.
in what way I can do this, attend briefly, I will teach.
"there stands a well-known house, built of ancient stone,
with carved marble, and beautiful with Parian columns,

555
qua celebris Thamo generatus et Iside nympha
Thamesis inflexo Ludduni moenia fluctu
alluit, ingentemque excurrere moenibus urbem,
crescentesque videt semper splendescere turres.
quaque Austros patulis immittit aperta fenestris,

555
where the celebrated Thames, begotten of Thame and the nymph Isis
bathes with its bending flood the walls of Luddun,
and sees the vast city extend beyond its walls,
and sees the towers, ever growing, shine splendid;
and where it lets in the South winds through wide-open windows,

560
fronte superba alte submissas despicit undas.
"huc fluere, et primis omnes concurrere regnis
et proceres terrae et patres plebemque Britannae.
ipse etiam primum tota cum prole senatum
regina simul ingreditur comitante Iacobus.

560
with a proud brow, from on high it looks down upon the submissive waves.
"hither flow, and to the foremost realm all run together
both the nobles of the land and the fathers and the British commons.
James himself too, for the first time, with all his offspring,
enters the senate, the queen at the same time accompanying.

"hic lapsos revocant mores, Romaeque cruentas

"here they recall the lapsed morals, and Rome's bloody

565
imponunt leges, et poenas sanguine poscunt.
at latebrae subter caecae magnisque cavernae
excurrunt spatiis, multo loca foeta Lyaeo.
his tacite nitrum et viventia sulphura tectis

565
they impose laws, and demand punishments in blood.
but beneath, blind hiding-places and great caverns
stretch forth in vast expanses, places fecund with much Lyaeus.
in these, silently, nitre and living sulphurs beneath the roofs

570
subiiciam, Stygioque implebo pulvere sedes.
"ut numero primum crescunt subsellia iusto,
et semel intumuit pleno domus alta senatu,
tecta ruam: iuvat horrendos procul aure fragores
excipere, et mistas latoribus aere leges

570
I will set them beneath, and I will fill the seats with Stygian dust.
"as soon as the benches grow in number beyond the just measure,
and once the lofty house has swelled with a full senate,
I will bring down the roofs: it delights me to catch with the ear from afar the horrendous crashes,
and the laws, together with their bearers, commingled with bronze

575
correptas spectare. iuvat semusta virorum
membra, omnesque supra volitantes aethere reges
cernere: rupta gemet tellus, et territa coeli
dissilient spatia, ast alto se gurgite praeceps
Thamisis abscondet, mirabitur aethera Pluto,

575
to behold the snatched-up decrees. It delights to see the half-burnt
limbs of men, and to discern all the kings hovering above in the aether
to discern: the ruptured earth will groan, and the terrified spaces of heaven
will spring asunder; but headlong in a deep whirlpool
the Thames will hide itself; Pluto will marvel at the aether,

580
et trepidi fugient immisso lumine manes."
dixerat. applaudunt omnes, magis omnibus ipse
consilium laudat sanctus pater, ipse labantis
patronum Romae laeto sic ore salutat:
"dii patribus fausti semper, cultique Latinis,

580
and the trembling shades will flee when light is let in."
He had spoken. All applaud; more than all, the holy father himself
praises the plan; he himself thus with a joyful face greets
the patron of tottering Rome:
"may the gods be ever auspicious to the Fathers, and worshiped by the Latins,

585
non omnino tamen moriturae moenia Romae
deseritis, tales cum animos, et tanta tulistis
pectora. iam versis Latium florescere fatis
aspicio, effoetamque iterum iuvenescere Romam.
"ast ego quas tandem laudes pro talibus ausis,

585
nevertheless you do not abandon the walls of Rome, by no means wholly about-to-die,
since you have borne such spirits and have brought such great hearts.
now, with the fates reversed, I behold Latium flourishing,
and effete Rome growing young again.
"but I—what lauds at last for such audacious exploits,

590
quae paria inveniam? quin tu mox aureus aede
stabis, victrici succinctus tempora lauro.
ipse ego marmoreas, meritis pro talibus, aras
adiiciam, ipse tibi vota, et pia thura frequenter
imponam, et summos iam nunc meditabor honores.

590
what equals shall I find? nay, you will soon stand golden in the temple,
your temples encircled with victorious laurel.
I myself will add marble altars, in return for such deserts,
I myself will often lay upon them vows and pious incense for you,
and even now I will contemplate the highest honors.

595
     "salve praesidium fidei columenque Latinae:
incipe iam coelo assuesci, stellasque patentes
ingreditor, manibusque coli iam disce supinis."
     interea Aequivocus manes atque infima Ditis
regna petens magnis Erebum rumoribus implet,

595
     "hail, bulwark of the faith and column of the Latin;
begin now to grow accustomed to heaven, and enter the open stars,
and now learn to be worshiped with upturned hands."
     meanwhile Aequivocus, seeking the shades and the lowest realms of Dis,
fills Erebus with great rumors,

600
inventum facinus, cuius caelumque solumque
atque umbras pudeat steriles, quod cuncta, quod ipsas
vicerat Eumenidas, totoque a crimine solvat.
at Iesuita memor sceleris, coeptique nefandi,
lucifugae devota Iovi patrique Latino

600
a devised crime, at which heaven and earth
and the barren shades would be ashamed, which had conquered all things, even the
Eumenides themselves, and would free him from the whole charge.
but the Jesuit, mindful of the crime and of the nefarious undertaking,
devoted to the light-shunning Jove and to Father Latinus

605
pectora de tota excerpit lectissima gente,
digna quidem proles Itala de matre Britanna.
hic dirum a facibus certo trahit omine nomen,
ille hyemes referens, magnos portenderat imbres,
raptaque perpetua minitatur lumina nocte.

605
he selects the choicest hearts from the whole people,
indeed a worthy offspring, Italian from a British mother.
this one derives a dire name from the torches by a sure omen,
that one, bearing winters, had portended great rains,
and threatens lights snatched away by everlasting night.

610
hic trahit a fossis, raucis hic nomina corvis.
his Iesuita nefas aperit, totumque recludens
consilium, horrendisque ligans Acherontica diris
vota, truces ipso caedes obsignat Iesu.
iamque illi, ruptae media inter viscera matris,

610
here one draws names from fosses, here from hoarse crows.
to these the Jesuit opens the nefarious deed, and, laying open the whole
plan, and binding Acherontic vows with horrendous curses,
he seals the truculent slaughters by Jesus himself.
and now for them, amid the mother’s entrails burst asunder,

615
accelerant, duros (agrestia tela) ligones
convectant, Orco vicini, dirius Orco
infodiunt alte scelus, interiusque recondunt.
dumque operi incumbunt alacres, crescuntque ruinae,
nescio quos multa visi sub nocte susurros

615
they hasten, they convey hard mattocks (rustic weapons),
neighbors to Orcus, more dire than Orcus,
they bury the crime deep, and hide it further within.
and while they eagerly bend to the work, and the ruins grow,
under the deep night they seemed to catch I-know-not-what whispers

620
percipere, et tenui incertas cum murmure voces.
vicinos illi manes, Erebumque timentes
diffugiunt trepidi, refluunt cum sanguine mentes.
iamque umbris similes ipsi vitantur, ut umbrae,
et vitant, ipsique timent, ipsique timentur.

620
to catch, with a faint murmur, indistinct voices.
they, fearing the nearby shades and Erebus,
scatter in trepidation, their minds ebbing with their blood.
and now, themselves like shades, they are shunned, like shades,
and they shun, and they themselves fear, and they themselves are feared.

625
hic medio lapsus cursu immotusque recumbens
pressa anima, clausisque oculis, iam flagra sequentis
Tisiphones, uncasque manus, et verbera sperat.
ille cavas quaerit latebras, cupaque receptus
nitrosa trepidos intra se contrahit artus.

625
this one, having fallen in mid-course and lying motionless,
with breath pressed, and with eyes shut, already expects the scourges
of pursuing Tisiphone, and the hooked hands, and the lashes.
that one seeks hollow hiding-places, and, received into a nitrous cask,
he draws his trembling limbs together within it.

630
sic cum membra silent placida resoluta quiete,
terrenus nigra inficiens praecordia fumus
invadit mentem, iamque umbram effingit inanem,
taeda umbram Stygia armatam, sanieque madentem,
omnia turbantur subito, volat ille per auras

630
thus, when the limbs are silent, loosened by placid quiet,
earthly smoke, blackening the inmost heart,
invades the mind, and now fashions an empty shade,
a shade armed with a Stygian torch and dripping with gore,
everything is suddenly thrown into turmoil; he flies through the air

635
exanimis demensque metu, frustraque refixos
increpat usque pedes. praesens insultat imago,
iam tergum calcemque terens, vox ore sepulta
deficit, et dominum fallaci prodit hiatu.
ut reduci mox corde metus sedantur inertes,

635
lifeless and crazed with fear, and in vain he keeps chiding
his feet, refixed. The present image leaps upon him,
now treading his back and heel; his voice, buried in his mouth,
fails, and a treacherous gape betrays its master.
as soon as, with his heart recovered, the sluggish fears are calmed,

640
paulatim apparent rari latebrasque relinquunt,
incertique metus tanti, sed pergere certi,
cautius arrecta captabant aure susurros.
laeti abeunt, ortoque die vicina Lyaeo
sacrata ediscunt latis excurrere cellis.

640
gradually they appear, a few at a time, and leave their hiding-places,
uncertain about so great a fear, yet certain to proceed,
more cautiously, with ears pricked, they were catching whispers.
gladly they depart, and with day arisen they learn that the neighbors consecrated to Lyaeus
pour forth from broad cellars.

645
conducunt, nitrumque avide sulphurque recondunt,
et ligno scelus et coniecto vimine celant.
iamque nefas felix stabat, promptumque seniles
temporis increpitant gressus, lucemque morantem.
sed quid ego nullo effandum, sed nullo tacendum

645
they bring together, and eagerly store away nitre and sulphur,
and they hide the crime with wood and with wicker thrown together.
and now the impious deed stood fortunate, and they upbraid the senile
steps of time, and the light delaying.
but why do I pursue what is to be uttered by no one, yet by no one to be kept silent?

650
tempore flagitium repeto? quid nomina, Diris
vota, et perpetuis repeto celebranda tenebris?
at frustra celabo tamen quod terra stupescit,
quod superi exhorrent, quod Tartarus ipse recusat
eiuratque nefas: incisum marmore crimen

650
do I at this time recall the outrage? why do I recall the names, vows to the Furies,
and things to be forever commemorated in perpetual darkness?
yet in vain shall I conceal what makes the earth stupefied,
what the gods above abhor, what Tartarus itself refuses
and forswears as abomination: a crime incised in marble

655
vivet in aeternum, pariter Iesuitica longum
simplicitas vivet, rerumque piissima Roma.
iamque optata dies aderat, qua more vetusto
conveniunt magno proceresque patresque senatu.
ipse sacris princeps devinctus tempora gemmis,

655
it will live forever; likewise Jesuitic simplicity will live long,
and Rome, most pious of things.
and now the longed-for day was at hand, on which by ancient custom
magnates and Fathers assemble in great senate.
he himself, the princeps, his temples bound with sacred gems,

660
aut phalerato insignis equo, curruve superbus
ingreditur, laterique haeret pulcherrima coniux,
et sobole et forma fortunatissima princeps.
proximus incedit facie vultuque sereno
ille animum ostantans patrium matrisque decores,

660
either distinguished on a caparisoned horse, or proud upon a chariot,
he advances; and to his side clings his most beautiful spouse,
a princess most fortunate both in offspring and in form.
Next advances, with serene face and countenance,
that one displaying his father’s spirit and his mother’s graces,

665
mistaque concordi felicia praelia pace,
Henricus, placidoque refulgens Carolus ore.
virgineasque simul, magnatum incendia, turmas,
insignes forma nymphas, formosior ipsa
flagrantes perfusa genas inducit Elisa,

665
and happy battles mixed with concordant peace,
Henry, and Charles refulgent with a placid face.
and at once the maiden bands, the magnates’ blazes,
nymphs distinguished by beauty—she herself more beautiful—
Elisa leads them in, her cheeks aflame, suffused.

670
et nivibus roseum commiscuit ore pudorem.
haud secus innumeris coelo stipata sereno
ignibus incedit, radiosque argentea puros
diiaculans, cunctis praefulget Cynthia stellis.
mox procerum accrescunt multo splendentia luxu

670
and in her face she commingled a rosy blush with snows.
not otherwise, thronged with innumerable fires in the serene sky,
she advances, and the argent Cynthia, hurling pure rays,
outshines all the stars.
soon the displays of the nobles increase, shining with much luxury

675
agmina, gemmisque insignes et murice fulgent,
conciliumque petunt conferti, effusus euntes
prosequitur plaususque virum, clangorque tubarum,
et faustis mistus precibus ferit ardua clamor
sidera, tota fremit festis urbs quassa triumphis.

675
the ranks, and, distinguished with gems and murex-purple, they gleam,
and packed together they seek the council; as they go, an outpoured
applause of men, and the blare of trumpets, escorts them,
and a clamor, mingled with auspicious prayers, strikes the lofty
stars; the whole city, shaken with festal triumphs, roars.

680
nox erat, et Facii titan scelerisque propinqui
avolat impatiens, stimulisque minisque iugales
exagitans, latet adverso iam tutus in orbe.
quaque volat, patulae lustrans tot crimina terrae,
nullum aequale videt, Thracesque Getasque cruentos,

680
it was night, and the Titan of the torch and of the neighboring crime
flies off impatient, goads and menaces driving his yoke-mates,
and, now safe, he hides in the opposite orb.
and wherever he flies, scanning so many crimes of the broad earth,
he sees none equal—and the bloody Thracians and Getae,

685
quique Platam, Gangem, rapidum qui potat Oraxem,
qui Phlegetonta, omnes omni iam crimine solvit.
diffugiunt stellae, nequicquam impervia tentans
aequora collectis nebulis extinguitur ursa.
manibus et sceleri nox apta, at nigrior ipsa

685
and those who drink the Plata, the Ganges, those who drink the swift Araxes,
those who [drink] the Phlegethon—she now releases all from every crime.
the stars scatter; vainly attempting the pathless seas,
the Bear is extinguished by gathered clouds.
and night is apt for hands and for crime, but blacker than herself

690
nocte facem plumbo septam, taedamque latentem
veste tegens, cellam Facius crimenque revisit.
dumque opus effingit tragicum, facinusque retexit,
multa timet speratque: hinc poena, hinc praemia pectus
sollicitant, dubio desciscunt viscera motu.

690
by night, a torch sealed with lead, and covering a hidden pine-torch
with a garment, Facius revisits the cell and the crime.
and while he fashions the tragic work, and reweaves the deed,
he both fears and hopes many things: here penalty, there rewards
solicit his breast, his inmost viscera defect in a doubtful motion.

695
iamque vacillantem Aequivocus coenamque precesque
coecumque obsequium menti, Papamque reponens
fulcit, et iniectis obfirmat pectora diris.
ast oculos summo interea deflexit Olympo
ille pater rerum, certo qui sidera cursu

695
and now Equivocus, restoring to his mind the dinner and the prayers
and the blind obedience, and the Pope, props up the wavering one,
and, with dire imprecations cast upon him, he hardens his breast.
but meanwhile from highest Olympus he bent his eyes,
that father of things, who keeps the stars to a fixed course

700
magna rotat, terrasque manu et maria improba claudit.
confectasque videns fraudes, caecisque cavernis
crimina vicino matura tumescere partu,
mox aquilam affatur, solio quae sternitur imo
advigilans, liquidasque alis mandata per auras

700
he wheels the great spheres, and with his hand encloses the lands and the unruly seas.
and seeing the frauds brought to completion, and in blind caverns
crimes swelling, mature for a birth at hand,
soon he addresses the eagle, who, keeping watch, is laid at the lowest part of the throne,
and with her wings conveys the mandates through the liquid airs

705
praecipitat: "confestim Anglos pete nuncia clivos,
et proceres summis curam de rebus habentes
aggressa, ambiguo fraudes sermone recludas,
atque acres coeco turbes aenigmate sensus.
ipse ego dum voces alto sub pectore versant,

705
he gives command: "at once, messenger, seek the English slopes,
and, having approached the magnates who hold care for the highest affairs,
lay open the frauds with ambiguous discourse,
and trouble their acute senses with a blind enigma.
I myself, while the voices are turning beneath my deep breast,

710
ipse oculos mentemque dabo, qua infanda Iacobus
ausa, et Tarpeii evolvat conamina patris."
dixerat: at levibus volucris secat aethera pennis,
ocyor et vento, et rapido Iovis ocyor igne.
iamque simul niveas Luddini assurgere longe

710
I myself will give eyes and mind, by which James
may disclose the unspeakable ventures, and unroll the endeavors of the Tarpeian father."
She had spoken: and the bird cleaves the aether with light pinions,
swifter than the wind, and swifter than the rapid fire of Jove.
and now at once the snow-white towers of London to rise afar

715
aspicit, aspectasque simul tenet impigra turres.
penniger hic primum contractis nuncius alis
constitit, et formosa videns fulgescere tecta
coctilibus muris, parilique rubentia saxo,
ingreditur, magno posuit quae splendida sumptu

715
she beholds, and at once the tireless one holds in her gaze the towers she has seen.
here first the wing-bearing messenger, with wings drawn in,
halted, and seeing the beautiful roofs gleam
with baked-brick walls, and reddening with matching stone,
she enters, the city which has set splendid works at great expense

720
qui patriis maior succrevit laudibus herois,
prudentis soboles patris prudentior ipse.
hunc, ubi consilium pleno de pectore promit,
mirantur Britones laeti, mirantur Iberi,
et laudant animos trepidi, metuuntque sagaces.

720
who grew up greater than the praises of his heroic father,
offspring of a prudent father, himself more prudent.
this man, when he brings forth counsel from a full breast,
the joyful Britons marvel, the Iberians marvel likewise,
and the timorous praise his spirit, and the sagacious fear him.

725
ille etiam gazam (maior tamen ipse) Britannam,
ille etiam Musas tutatur, et otia Musis,
Chamus ubi angustas tardo vix flumine ripas
complet, decrepitoque pater iam deficit amne.
ille mihi labro teretes trivisse cicutas,

725
he too safeguards the British treasure (yet he himself is greater),
he too protects the Muses, and the leisure for the Muses,
where Chamus with a tardy stream scarcely fills the narrow banks
and the father now fails with a decrepit river.
he made me wear smooth with my lip the polished hemlock-pipes,

730
ille modos faustus calamo permisit agresti.
huc ubi perventum est, mutato nuntius ore
perplexa attonito descriptas arte tabellas
tradidit heroi, et mediae sese ocyus urbi
proripiens, suetis iterum se condidit astris.

730
he auspiciously permitted measures to the rustic reed.
hither, when this point was reached, the messenger, with altered countenance,
handed to the astonished hero the tablets, perplexing, delineated with art,
and, swiftly, rushing into the city’s midst,
he hid himself again in his accustomed stars.

735
ille legens caeci stupuit vestigia scripti,
atque iterum voces iterumque recolligit omnes,
iamque hoc, iamque illud, iam singula pectore versat,
quid te frustra, heros, angis? non si Oedipus author
spondeat, hos animo speres rescindere nodos.

735
he, reading, was astonished at the traces of the blind writing,
and again the words, again he gathers them all,
and now this, and now that, now he turns each over in his breast,
why do you, hero, vex yourself in vain? not even if Oedipus as authority
should pledge, should you hope to unloose these knots in your mind.

740
non minimum est crimen crimen praesumere tantum,
nec virtus minima est scelus ignorasse profundum,
quod bene cum scieris, non sit tibi credere tantum.
postquam fessa oculos nihil ipsa excerpere nigris
suspicio scriptis potuit, nihil omnibus actum

740
it is no small crime to presume such a crime,
nor is it the least virtue to have been ignorant of a profound wickedness,
which, when you have well come to know it, let it not suffice you merely to credit it.
after weary Suspicion could with her eyes extract nothing from the black writings,
nothing had been accomplished by all.

745
consiliis, ipsi referunt aenigmata regi.
ille oculo nodos facili scelerumque nefandas
percurrens animo ambages (dum nubila spargit
lux lucis, mentemque aperit) mox omnia pandit
monstra, aperitque nefas solus, tenebrasque resolvit.

745
in counsel, they themselves report the enigmas to the king.
he, with an easy eye, and in mind running through the knots and the unspeakable convolutions of crimes
(while the light of light scatters the clouds and opens the mind), soon lays open all the monstrosities,
and he alone lays bare the nefarious crime, and resolves the darkness.

750
quin medias inter technas iam nocte profunda
artificem sceleris prendunt, patet alto nitroso
pulvere foeta domus, penitusque recondita soli
crimina miranti, et coelo ostenduntur aperto.
non secus atque Euris media inter viscera pressis

750
nay rather, right amid the contrivances, with night now deep,
they apprehend the artificer of the crime; the house, teeming with deep nitrous
powder, lies open, and the crimes hidden deep are shown to the wondering Sun,
and to the open sky.
not otherwise than as, with the East-winds (Euri) pressed amid the very viscera

755
rupta patet tellus, magnoque fatiscit hiatu,
dissultant pavidi montes, penitusque cavernis
immittunt Phoebum, furiasque umbrasque recludunt.
apparent deforme Chaos Stygiique penates,
apparet barathrum, et diri penetralia Ditis,

755
the earth, burst asunder, lies open, and yawns with a great chasm,
the mountains, panic-struck, leap apart, and deep within their caverns
they admit Phoebus, and unclose the Furies and the shades.
hideous Chaos and the Stygian Penates appear,
the barathrum appears, and the inner sancta of dire Dis,

760
miranturque diem perculso lumine manes.
iamque ipso pariter cum crimine, criminis author
protrahitur, circum populus fluit omnis euntem:
expleri nequeunt animi frontemque tuendo
torvam, squalentesque genas, nemorosaque setis

760
and the shades marvel at the day, their sight stricken.
and now, together with the crime itself, the author of the crime
is dragged forth; around him, as he goes, all the populace flows:
their spirits cannot be sated, as they gaze on his grim brow
and squalid cheeks, and a nemorous thicket of bristles.

765
ora, et Tartareas referentia lumina taedas.
ille autem audenti similis, similisque timenti,
nunc fremitu turbam et dictis ridere superbis,
diductisque ferox inhiantem illudere labris;
nunc contra trepidare metu, tremulosque rotare

765
faces, and eyes recalling Tartarean torches.
he, however, like one daring, and like one fearing,
now to laugh at the crowd with a roar and with haughty words,
and, fierce, with lips drawn wide, to mock the gaping crowd;
now on the contrary to tremble with fear, and to roll his trembling eyes

770
circum oculos, iam flagra miser dextramque parati
carnificis medios inter saevire cruores
sentit, iamque Erebum spectat furibundus hiantem,
et semesa inter labentes membra dracones
percipiens, aeternae horret primordia poenae.

770
around his eyes, now the wretch feels the scourges and the ready right hand
of the executioner raging in the midst of the gore,
and now, frenzied, he beholds Erebus gaping,
and, perceiving dragons among limbs slipping and half-devoured,
he shudders at the beginnings of eternal punishment.

775
o pater, o terrae et summi regnator Olympi,
quas tibi pro meritis laudes, quae munera laeti
tanta servati dabimus de clade Britanni?
non nos, non miseri (nec tanta superbia lapsis)
sufficimus meritis: sed, quas prius ipse dedisti,

775
O father, O ruler of earth and of highest Olympus,
what praises to you for your merits, what gifts, rejoicing,
shall we Britons, saved from so great a disaster, give?
not we, not wretches (nor is there such arrogance for the fallen)
are sufficient to your merits: but those which you yourself gave before,

780
quas iterum solas repetis, pater, accipe mentes.
dum domus aeterno stabit pulcherrima saxo,
pulvere sulphureo, et tanti erepta ruinis,
dum tumidis Nereus undarum moenibus Anglos
sospitet, et tundat liventes aequore clivos,

780
which again alone you seek, father, receive the minds.
so long as the most beautiful house shall stand on eternal stone,
snatched from sulfurous dust, and from the ruins of so great a downfall,
so long as Nereus with the swelling ramparts of the waves keeps the English safe,
and beats the livid slopes with the sea,

785
semper honos, semperque tuum solenne Britannis
nomen erit. te, magne pater, te voce canemus,
factaque per seros dabimus memoranda nepotes.
tu, pater, Aeolia fratres sub rupe furentes
tu premis, inmensoque domas luctantia claustro

785
ever honor, and ever your solemn name will be among the Britons.
you, great father, you we shall sing with our voice,
and we will hand down memorable deeds to late posterity.
you, father, press the brethren raging beneath the Aeolian rock,
and with an immense enclosure you subdue the struggling.

790
pectora, tu vastos turbata ad litora montes
frangis, aquasque inhibes, rector, retrahisque rebelles.
tu, pater, hibernae tu laxas vincula nocti,
et lenta aestivo tardas vestigia soli.
te reduces iterum flores te terra iubente

790
their hearts; you shatter the vast mountains, troubled at the shores,
and you restrain the waters, ruler, and draw back the rebellious ones.
you, father, you loosen the bonds for the winter night,
and you slow the lagging footsteps of the summer sun.
by you, at your command, the earth brings back the returning flowers

795
pubescit, virides crinescunt vertice fagi.
imperiis sol ipse tuis immitior ignes
diiaculat Nemeum medius, Cancrumque rubentem
inter, et effoetas tumido de semine fruges
evocat, ac teneras duro coquit aridus aestu.

795
it grows downy, green tresses grow on the crown of the beech.
at your commands the sun himself hurls more merciless fires
midway, between the Nemean [Lion] and ruddy Cancer,
and calls forth effete crops from the swollen seed,
and, arid, cooks the tender shoots with hard heat.

800
mox iterum ignoto dilapsus tramite Phoebus
declinat, iamque Aethiopes, Nilique fluenta,
desertasque Libum propior despectat arenas.
nos anni premit effoeti properata senectus:
flavent pampineae frondes, salicesque recurvae,

800
soon again Phoebus, having slipped down by an unknown track,
declines, and now the Ethiopians and the waters of the Nile,
and the deserted Libyan sands he looks down upon, being nearer.
us the hastened old age of the exhausted year presses:
the vine-leafy fronds grow yellow, and the bending willows,

805
decrepitae fluxis calvescunt crinibus ulmi.
tu, pater, invictas quas iactat Iberia classes
frangis, et ingentes dispergis in aethera motus,
iamque etiam erepta (sacro mihi nomine) Elisa,
ingentem meritos cladem, ingentemque timentes

805
the decrepit elms grow bald with their loosened locks.
you, father, break the invincible fleets which Iberia vaunts,
and you scatter vast commotions into the aether,
and now too, with Elisa—her name sacred to me—snatched away,
men deserving a mighty disaster, and fearing a mighty one

810
restituis, placidoque ferens tria septra Iacobo,
multiplicem nobis reddis placatus Elisam.
salve, summe heros, aetatis gloria nostrae,
o decus Anglorum, princeps, patriaeque beatus
Musarumque pater. placidam tu pacis olivam

810
you restore, and, bearing the three scepters to James in calm,
you, appeased, give back to us Eliza in manifold wise.
hail, greatest hero, the glory of our age,
O honor of the English, prince, a blessing to the fatherland,
and father of the Muses. You the gentle olive of peace

815
Angligenis infers felix, maioraque votis
gaudia, et aeternos firmas in prole triumphos.
tu bifidum clauso nobis premis obice Ianum,
Pieridumque potens armis, feralia sacrae
moenia prosternis Romae, regumque lupanar

815
you, auspicious, bring to the English-born joys greater than prayers,
and you make firm eternal triumphs in progeny.
you keep twin-gated Janus closed with a bolt for us,
and, powerful in the arms of the Pierides, you lay low the deathly
walls of sacred Rome, and the brothel of kings

820
diruis, et nimio meretricem vulnere figis.
accipe pubentem tenera lanugine Musam,
quae salices inter spretas, ulvamque palustrem,
(non lauros palmasque ambit) proludere discit,
et tentans sese innatos depascitur ignes,

820
you raze, and with an excessive wound you pierce the harlot.
receive the pubescent Muse with tender down,
who among despised willows and marshy pondweed,
(she does not aspire to laurels and palms) learns to rehearse,
and, trying herself, feeds upon her inborn fires,

825
qua pater externis Chamus vix cognita rivis
flumina demulcens, regales alluit hortos,
templaque submissis veneratur regia lymphis.
mox ubi pennatis crevit maturior alis,
te canere audebit, tua (princeps) condere facta;

825
where father Cham, soothing the rivers with rills scarcely known to foreigners,
bathes the regal gardens, and venerates the royal temples with humbled waters.
Soon, when he has grown more mature with feathered wings,
he will dare to sing of you, to set down your deeds, O princeps;

830
exhaustoque tumens Helicone, undantia pleno
carmina diffundet fluvio. coelum audiet omne,
audiet omne nemus, resonabilis accinet Eccho.

830
and, swelling with Helicon exhausted, he will pour out undulating
songs in a full river. All heaven will hear,
all the grove will hear, resonant Echo will sing in accompaniment.