Phineas 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 alumnus of the Muses formerly, now patron), nay plainly the greatest, vice is in us, sunk and buried deeper in our nature (thoroughly corrupted), in that we lay up injuries—nay, beneath a remembering heart—while the highest benefits we lay up only on the tongue and scarcely on the very edges of the lips. In retaining those, how tenacious, how pertinacious! In these (especially the divine), how slippery, and utterly 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 Israelite nation, pressed down by a more-than-iron tyranny (to the weariness of life)—O immortal God—of what sort, how great! The Egyptians, and even the king himself swelling with hatreds and most ferocious, worn down by very bloody plagues—how gentle and humane had they seen them become? the greatest armies of the enemies (indeed the whole strength of Egypt) they had beheld conquered without an enemy, destroyed without iron: they themselves, walled by the ramparts of the waves, had looked upon those pressed down and sunk by the masses; a rock, for the thirsty, liquefied into rivers; the ground, for the hungry, paved with heavenly bread and with most well-furnished banquets—nay rather (as now is the custom) quite covered with dishes heaped up to the elbows—they had 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.

yet by how dubious a forgetfulness have all these things utterly vanished! miracles indeed great and stupendous; but (as with us in the proverb) not lasting for three days. this is our fault today: that famous battle of the eighty-eighth year, nay rather a victory without battle, has entirely slipped from 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.

Hui! how quickly! we saw the Spaniards exulting before the battle, and, with words—nay, with writings of epinician odes—triumphing before they put to sea: but what we say of March—to begin the month with a rage more than leonine, and to go away 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 sulphureous one, indeed Tartarean—truly a machination never at any time even hoped for by any dae mone, lying open to divine eyes alone, laid open only by a divine hand—how quickly, how utterly it perished! hardly any monuments (and those certainly gnawn away and utterly contemned) of so horrendous a treason and so stupendous a liberation remain. the impudent Papists deny it, utterly deny it, and forswear 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,

nay, even we, though sluggish and enervated, vindicate the day illustrious for so great a benefaction from their lies and calumnies! therefore let fair judges pardon me, if I—the least of poets—about the greatest by far of all crimes, with crude (as they say) Minerva woven, for the perpetual memory of Jesuit Piety, to rouse the minds of Britons and to restore honor to God the Savior, have sent forth into the light a composition.
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 uncheerful countenance you will accept a little gift from a little fellow,

tuae dignitati devotissimo,

PHINEAS FLETCHER

most devoted to your dignity,

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 thrown open, the inmost door of Dis stands open
a great council, and the Stygian Quirites
summoned, the king himself drives them into the black inner sanctums.
they assemble; the divinities flit through the shadowy airs,
and the lofty 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 they fill all the benches to the proper number
(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, upbraiding the hesitating 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 expelled from heaven)
you see how Golden Peace soothes the peoples above?
wars are silent; she is silent, oppressed by chains cast upon her,
and the exiled Erinys returns from the lands to Erebus in vain.
meanwhile the shrines 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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indomitable, the minister holds the seized pulpit,
and, vanquished and victor, untiring, he calls new enemies.
and now he, spurring with threats, now setting forth gladsome things,
deftly he bends minds with monitions, 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 supernals into the lands, and with coruscant light
has dissolved the darkness, and has shaken off inert night.
Piety grows to the immense, and the love of religion refuses
bounds; Ignorance, impatient of light, flees, Impiety flees, and
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.
the celestial imperium suffers force, and rejoices to be drawn and to be rapt.
nay even, having overpassed the utmost peoples,
Virginia (our seat, O shades, for so many ages)
it approaches, and soon 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 it, she will scarcely leave this Acheron to us.
"we, on the contrary, through safe silences by unmindful sleep
are laid low meanwhile, and now in the midst of daylight supine
snoring, we, a pious throng, drag out festal quiet.
but if 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 we feel no pity for the prone empire and the tottering kingdom;
with scourges laid down and hatreds relaxed
we beg pardon, and we offer our right hands unarmed.
perhaps he, forgetful of the audacious deed and of his righteous 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 to their accustomed honor those who have slipped (forgetful of the sin),
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, 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 a seething tumult.
"where have such great spirits fallen? where has the pristine valor
withdrawn, with which you attempted with me to burst into the eternal light
and to break through the trembling heaven with arms?
now indeed, inglorious, do you set aside your felicitous 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 do you, unwarlike, yield to an enemy so often vanquished?
by you, by the powers subdued by the celestial thunderbolt,
and by the indomitable hatred, take up again your cast-aside weapons.
while it is lawful, while the brief time is at hand, enkindle the battles,
restore the battle-lines, and set back in place shattered Mars.

55
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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unless you do it, soon alone, and (what burns more) unavenged
forever (alas) in an empty cavern we shall be tormented by flames.
he indeed, by no—alas, by no—art violable,
secure he holds a kingdom without end, without soldiery;
by none is he assailed, by no enemy is he 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 it is contended, and in his own members he has a body
that is violable: now, O, rise up with all your weapons,
where the body lies open to a wound, naked without covering,
drive in the avenging blows, and bury the flames deep within.
the deadly day hastens, now 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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it presses on, when the members, bound to the head itself,
shall have put on a celestial nature, where glory surpasses desire
and splendor surpasses the spirit, where joys grow by loss,
and delights refuse measure and end.
but we, with eternal punishment and with 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;

70
pressed close, and covered with flames and living sulphur
we shall pay perpetual penalties in a hard prison.
here the soul, having already then endured the utmost dolors,
always fears greater ones, and complains that far removed is
the death which it admitted as present into 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, creeping through the dark-blue marrows, torments the mouths with gasping thirst, and licks the fibers and the entrails.
Death lives, and life dies, surviving amid a thousand evils,
and life itself trades places with death, and changes names,
since indeed, conscious of 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,

80
the mind reckons, when to a thousand years it has added a thousand years,
and the time past subtracts nothing from the time to come,
soon it even superadds the stars, even the sands,
and now it has even counted the stars, even the sands;
yet the penalty grows with the damage, 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 wretched, headlong it rushes; the unhappy, anxious,
provokes slow death; if perchance it might slip back,
and, scattered, be resolved again into nothing.
"let us equalize penalties with deserts, and for those who have suffered the utmost
yet more should the exactor owe for great ventures dared;

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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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let evils not fail the Tartarean caverns, and vengeance not fail heaven;
never, never will cruel Erebus seize the unavenged
or the undeserving: to have merited unspeakable
punishment will console him amid the very fires,
and, though they be immense, that by his deeds he has outdone 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

95
now come, O nobles, and pour out all stratagems,
consult, and with alacrity succor the fallen empire."
he had spoken; a roar follows, and amid the quivering
ranks low-set voices are broken with a murmurous sound.
like when one is soon to be hurled headlong into the Iberian ocean

100
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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when Phoebus hangs imminent, and to the tawny shores of Chamus
they gather, and ranks of flies mass through the airs,
a sound arises; the throngs, growing in a long order,
with little trumpets sharpen their voices, and, calling their comrades,
press the waves with a cloud; the vicinity with a hoarse din

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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 resound with kindled hums.
after their spirits settled, and the surge of sound slackened,
Equivocus takes it up, than whom no other is craftier
to counterfeit fathers among Tartarean tricks.
he once used to stuff the camps with an inert headcount,

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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.

110
the monk swelling in the belly, and at the same time the brothers joined in a column
shaven in face, and shaven with a crescent-shaped crown upon the head.
but now, under a happy auspice, the Jesuitic chief
was leading the columns, and, a veteran, widely laying waste all things,
everywhere he brings in great calamities 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 in the act of fighting, him speaking as well, the vain plebs admired,
it encircles and greets him with a favorable roar.
he rises, and with a not-cheerful mouth Aequivocus thus begins:
"O father, O prince of the shades, and power of Erebus,
as you supposed, we have spent 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 wiles have availed so much. nothing has been achieved
by all the expenditures of great works; rather, all things backward
rush for the worse, and what has slipped down is borne back into the good.
"no otherwise does an anchor hold a painted skiff in an adverse river,
if either the rope or the biting clasp’s fastenings

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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 it be loosened, and the channel’s current drags it headlong.
nor accuse anyone; whatever could be attempted openly
to be done, or, under pressure, whatever could be contrived more covertly by art.
that father of things, against whom we all strive in vain
(but it pleases to strive in vain) the great one makes 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 disperses, and displays the frauds to the sunlit heaven.
nay rather, kings accustomed to grow torpid in sluggish luxury,
now covered with Pallas’s arms, and potent by the Muses,
against us they meditate battles through the 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 lose our courage—and, though weary, do we lay down our mighty wraths?
nor is it lawful; we do not fail so, nor have we borne such things with you,
once having followed your standards to the heavens.
there is here—there is—a despiser of life and of mighty Olympus,
and a spirit who now spurns the proffered hall of light.

140
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,

140
and let the royal palace of heaven please him only when subdued.
do not doubt: never are these hearts broken, never
do they fail in spirit; sooner will he the vast
atria of heaven, leaving destitute the alumni of the eternal light,
abandon, and migrate to Erebus and the 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,

145
and change his radiant lights for Stygian flames.
but if there is the will to marshal the battle-lines, and to replenish again the shattered ranks,
and skillfully to scatter evil frauds,
I shall be no futile author of counsel, nor of arms.
nor, Father, shall we recall the ancient arts in vain,

150
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 endeavors to be undertaken by me, utterly not to be hoped-for by any of the former;
I will not in vain stimulate the sluggish brothers, and the monks following the distended belly:
while night, while the very abundant gloom pressing upon the lands
has lulled inert spirits,

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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,

155
the brothers’ labor was not ingrate; by slothful arts it had given everything secure to us, and, drawing the light hateful to the sky, or wrapping the shining one in darkness, it now pressed the day with cloud, now with night.
"but after Phoebus dispelled 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

160
The Tartarean filth, with light sent in, lay exposed,
nor does the unaccustomed soldier endure the open light.
now it is time to supply the unwarlike cohorts with different soldiery,
and to send out from the camp the brothers who have earned discharge.
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,

165
arms, and hands are pleasing: it delights to invade heaven itself,
and to thrust down the stars and the sun clinging to the pole.
already I seem to myself to drag forth anointed kings with a fortunate soldier,
and to tread underfoot the very tyrant of heaven beneath my feet,
nothing is hard with that soldier.

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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 is sacred, nor does anything closed remain; but far and wide they hold towns
with garrisons, and cities. now the thresholds of kings, now the sanctuaries they burst into,
or, flattering, with soft wiles they steal into the inmost hearts,
or they break them open with iron and slaughter.
these are rouge for old crone 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:

175
fitting them, they, for one lately effete, reconcile belated loves,
and replace the fallen grace and form.
if they did not do it (I call to witness the night and the unlovely light
of heaven), soon other seats, new realms throughout the world
would have to be sought for exiles, driven from the soil and the ether:

180
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;

180
Cocytus alone and Erebus would lie open to us.
nay, do you (great Father) unclose the Stygian caverns,
and send the barathrum and deep Orcus into the lands;
let the unaccustomed gods above marvel at all Avernus.
"here let him inspire the battles wonted for 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 ignite the Sarmatians and the icy Poles with Mars (War),
and German leaders, here let him puff up Iberian kings;
and let him spur the thirst for realms, and a breast satisfiable by no dominion,
and wrench it with dread fervor.
go forth, Stygian bands (the prince commands), go forth,

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 in your viperous hands, sow arms throughout the fields,
and scatter the seeds both of crimes and of a teeming war.
but I will seek the Tarpeian Father at the Tiberine streams,
and the council, the Latin one, clothed in murex, and marked by the 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, with an enormous crime and enormous slaughter accomplished
I shall return, and I shall supply the Stygian homes and the empty realms far and wide
with colonists gathered from every side.
but you, great father, draw together the floating Manes,
and stretch the headlong ways 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 rabid Orcus, with a wide gaping hiatus,
may snatch the minds fluttering thick, and hide them within."
he said, and joyless, with the threshold of Avernus broken,
he leapt out first, and invaded the open light.
misshapen Chaos follows, the whole abyss rushes,

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
foul, horrendous cohort. the pale lights of heaven tremble,
and the earth, bristling, quakes with an uncertain motion.
the father himself, Phoebus, with loosened reins
hurls his leaning chariot headlong, and, terrified, departs from heaven.
night of shades succeeds, and the heaven is left behind

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 presses the lands.
no differently, the South Winds sent forth from Aeolian confines
seize everything, and they mix lands and waves with tumult;
they wrench the arboreal fruits and the reaped harvest
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, with his eyes from afar, the mournful farmer
follows after his vows, and draws sighs with his whole heart.
he had sensed the arrival, and suddenly the earth seethed with heat,
and swells with hatreds, already swollen, pregnant with war;
around, shades flit, and they scatter deceits 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 ever-icy Poles with snows and ice,
and silently Jesuitical wholly steals into their hearts,
and now he inspires deceits and slaughters; but they
greedily seize the flames, and familiar Furies run through
the bones, and into the bosoms and into the entrails they creep.

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 Suevi,
and they burn to bind the Sarmatian peoples to the Roman pontiff,
and to expel Greek laws from the temples.
they, wily, foist a fictitious offspring of the king and stitched-together
charges of war, and counterfeits as 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 them, and they fill the Sarmatian fields with rumors.
by slaughters the war swells, and, unsated, it clings to the marrow of the realm;
ever the vanquished renews fresh battles,
the snows, now tinted purple with blood, have blushed,
and the tepid chills are dissolved 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 lands once by cognomen Greek—Greek, names most pleasing to the Pierian Muses,
now the Turk has safely settled through the subdued fields.
they visit with alacrity the places fecund with perennial war,
and inspire slaughter and battles in 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 fierce, now with his brow he menaces,
no youth of banquets and luxury, he does not delight in paternal indolence,
but wars—harsh ire sits at his heart—
and Turkish pride inflates his savage mind,
and he turns vast designs 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; with the anvils set in place, the bronzes shriek.
and now that fierce one, subjecting the Persians and rebellious Asia,
breathes Mars, entire, 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 stirs up much anger in himself.
alas, what slaughter for the Christ-worshipers, what due plague
hangs over? alas, how great a fear presses from so great an enemy,
unless you, Christ, turn aside the evil, you, Christ, the thunderbolts
scatter, and with your hand make sport of the vain attempts?

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 across the whole orb,
arriving at great Italy and the Tiberine streams,
the Equivocal One enters the funereal walls of Rome.
No delay; he goes beneath the familiar roofs of the mitred tyrant,
and wherever he advances in triumph, he wanders through the shadowed 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 unexpected crimes in Erebus or under the open sun,
and he awaits an opulent harvest.
Tell, Pierides, who now holds first the Italian fields?
By what steps at length, under what prince, did Rome strip the kings,
and, fitting to 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 a little sister, just now made by shaving, subjected to her brother?
is it thus that in decrepit time morals grow puerile,
so that they change the Augustus into a pontiff, and the monarch into a monk?
after the power of Latium, stretched forth through the whole orb,
had increased, and had subjected the lands to a single 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, settled,
but soon, headlong and rushing, turned upon itself, began to slip back,
and now it scarcely, scarcely sustains the exhausted city.
not otherwise do waves advance with alternating, rising billows,
and with ease 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 seas creep forward silently, soon they fill the shores,
and from their crest they look down upon the lands lying beneath, far off:
and now the uncertainties of the roads cling fast, soon, leaning downward, they withdraw,
and, seething with waves, little by little Nereus settles back into himself,
and hid his head in a channel known to no one.<

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 fathers’ hands celestial seeds are scattered everywhere,
the glad crop rises in the fields with interest, and the fields grow white with full harvests.
but at the same time the thistle was bristling in the shaggy fields,
and a grove of caltrops and darnel, at the same time the rough burs

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 wood, and poppies busied with Lethean sleeps.
indeed the enemy of men and of heaven, while rest
loosens the weary limbs for the farmers, in hostility mixed
with the wheat the vile bean, and sprinkled empty vetches.
the farmers marvel at darnel, they marvel at 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 deadly herbs in the midst of the harvests.
nay even, by the command of Christ, the Prochrist (Antichrist) at that same time,
still small, and enclosed, grew within the dark womb;
and now, thrusting, he had tried the passages, but the intact auspices of Rome
impede him, and stand in the way of his huge ventures.

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 imperium grew sluggish on the Latin fields,
and gradually yielded into Byzantine cities,
he springs forth, and now comes out stronger with a just age.
soon also, little by little accustomed to loosened reins,
with Maurice slain 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 takes his place upon the empty wheels.
and now a long rank of shaven pontiffs is drawn out,
and, binding the untutored rabble with magical and Stygian art,
he alone rules in the Italian hall.
and now, raging in spirit and hurling 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 of hand, the empty keys of Peter
casting away, girded with a sharp sword
he thunders, and terrifies cities far distant.
fool, what are the crackling thunderbolts of the eternal Father,
the celestial threats, and the inimitable divinity

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
ah, do you simulate with fatuous fires? and do you agitate the sagacious Venetians,
and the Britons, not to be terrified by non-fictitious fire?
but these, on the contrary, when they demand their due times
(not for them the voices, and the verbose thunderbolts of paper)
eager for weapons, and true 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 in flames, and they will munch flesh and entrails.
abroad, the old harlot of kings practices arms; arms and deceits
she exercises; at home, however, Circean songs and arts
unspeakable, by mixing dread with magical whispers.
but when the funereal lust, sated, grows languid,

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 a Lethean song.
Or they become asses, or foxes, or shaggy lions,
and also wolves, and also swine, and hydras hated by all.
she indeed is blind in the right, but keen in the left

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
by the light, misshapen Ignorance of a blind gate keeps watch,
and with mists she makes opaque the approaches and the threshold.
to her, her son Error sits as a companion; he receives
the wanderers with hospitality, and leads them around on every side
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 deceives those marveling by various empty games.
foolish Superstition, reverencing ancient customs, grasps the entrant,
and, rushing headlong with a hastening, murmuring voice,
wearies the gods above with vows and with prayers.
deeper within Crime holds sway, and fruitful

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
crimes, and they shove and snatch minds to nefarious deeds.
here the bold one infects the heavens, and, venerating Christ,
he proffers to the King such great sacred rites, mixed with hemlocks.
he takes into his mouth a lethal god, and a salvation imbued with death,
and with much venom he washes his sins.

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 the nails, and the rods, and the cross—your torments (O most excellent Jesus)—
and the spear driven back beneath the guiltless 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 liquid Iacchus,
and the gods whom he worships he himself devours, and, full of numina,
(ah crime!) he hides them in his veins, and puts them back into his belly.
here, having cursed the open heaven,
the wizard hurls you, Jesus—you—into murky 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
boldly commanding the shades, and with nefarious
mouth the Stygian Jove, he calls, and calls the whole Orcus from its seats.
he, not unmindful of the Romulid fathers and of the first city,
both fosters the she-wolves himself, and himself is fostered by them.
here, impure, forbidding offspring and chaste hymenaeals,

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 he, foul, maintains masculine whores;
(alas, a deed to be blushed at by earth and heaven, dared!) nay, soon that father
bestows the purple galero upon the emeriti, and bids them be grandees and pastors of the sheep,
soon the 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 he shields crimes with unchaste Muses.
nor is there rest; new crimes seethe; the unspeakable thirst for honors
and for coins seethes; shameless, it swells with haughtiness,
immense pride trampling kings laid low.
he had come hither, and, glad in spirit, reviewing the old 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 double-tongued man of falsehood entered the innermost chambers of Peter.
Over the affairs of the English and the Venetian tumult,
cares kept him burning, and were ever brewing new losses.
In him he kindled Stygian torches beneath the heart, and all the Furies
in his nefarious breast, 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 unbearded bands of brothers agglomerate,
they run together, the Jesuits distinguished by veteran leaders,
in long order; and in spirit prepared,
whether it may please to rely on guile or to trust in 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
his temples gleaming with the triple tiara, and grief in his visage.
after a preface, thus at last he unbound his angers and his lips:
"is there no shame, conquered, to desist from the enterprise? the weary
to fail, and almost to languish at the final act,
and not to be able to defer Rome’s impending 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
the fates forbid: that I should yield to uncertain fates?
a monk shut in hiding-places could overturn so many prizes,
could tear away so many nations from the Roman father?
but I, whom they venerate with body laid out, to whose sacred
feet even kings, coaxing, pour libations of kisses,

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 Christ’s throne, emulous of Christ himself,
so many evils daily, and ever-increasing losses I bear unavenged;
and shall anyone worship the Roman numen?
or as a suppliant suspend a gift at the watchful 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 the commands of the proud
they desert, the Batavian, recallable by no art,
escapes, and afar refuses baits and snares.
Gaul, compressed by so many evils, driven by so many calamities,
fails, and already has receded by more than its half.

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 hated race, and hostile to the Latin gods)
although feigning placid eyes, and makes his countenance serene,
heaps up immense grief within his mindful heart.
"and just as that man, unbroken by hunger and by 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 angers, and stroking his tail,
will gently try to seize with his hands the baits held out,
if once he has sated his mouth with unaccustomed gore,
soon the wonted spirit returns, he roars, horrid with wrath,
soon he devours fetters and bars, he snatches with a 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
he seizes the keeper, and, a mangling subduer, he steeps himself in his first rages.
what shall I recount of the Britons wholly divided in mind,
whom neither soft blandishments, nor harsh quarrels terrify,
nor thunderbolts that lay low kings themselves?
alas for the hated offspring, and woes greater than the Fates for the Latins

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! treason, varied in a hundred figures
with flames, with iron, and with black poison
does nothing: an unfeeling divinity turns aside the wounds.
nothing helps the Spanish youth, nothing the greatest fleet:
which the earth was amazed at, Neptune was amazed at, 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 sea grows wooded with pines!
nay, scattered over the whole sea it flees on the sloping surface,
and now the sailor, letting in the loosened ropes,
chides the winds as he hastens, and the delaying Eurus-winds.
with so many prayers it scarcely makes speed, and, redeemed, 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 of joy did that day bring, on which the star of Eliza
set, and released Rome from long-enduring pain!
she did set indeed, than which Rome saw no star of ours more blood-stained,
nor Britain a more auspicious star.
but at the same time there rises, the one whom we above all others

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, Phoebus rising from the icy North,
whom Pallas, whom all the Muses accompany as he goes;
Peace at the same time advances with a joyful Saturnian visage,
loosening the reins with her hand; Barbarism is dragged captive in chains,
and Bellona, groaning, her 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
not in vain does the threefold imperium, joined by one treaty,
terrify me; the fateful star of James terrifies,
nor in vain the name imposed from the omen of the wrestler.
nay rather, an offspring like to his father, inimical to the Latin,
assuming names for the pontiff, with a radiance dazzling 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 with his mouth the Henries and the Fredericks.
now too it pleases him to tame horses, and to gather the foaming mouths
into a knot, and to bend their sinuous necks,
and already now to cast the spear with tender upper arms.
nay even that younger one, but he is 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, with no glad omen, disturbs us, at whose
very name Rome has received a death-bearing blow,
and, languishing in a lethal wound, with a slow
pestilence falls, and dying beholds certain ruin.
she too, inferior in sex, not in heart, 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 shows to us a returning, fruitful Elisa,
a name hated, made greater than the fates and increased by disasters,
and promising an unconquered peace after the battles.
nor does empty terror drive me, for by her mouth
I foresee many Elisas for us, 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 bereft me, and has bidden me to dread things greater than the real,
or the father with the pen and the Muses—yet the son with arms—will level me, and will enshroud my walls in final 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,
which wool, tinctured with Assyrian poison-dye, paints,
which garments, thrown on, with gold and with pyrope imitating the stars,
adorn, modest with purple and scarlet,
to whom has so much concerning you been permitted? what right hand 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
could tear asunder the citadels? By what numen to cast down the towers,
and to fill the streets with vast ruin?"
he fell silent: and for a long time sad stupor fixed the faces of all
and, with anger mingled with grief, he presses his breast.
when 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 have increased: grief heaps up angers, anger heaps up grief;
and with alternating flames they ignite their breasts.
all the benches roar with menaces and mingled mourning.
but amid the very noises, both greatest in age
and, in scepters, a Jesuit powerful, to whom the rest submit

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 his
sight all fell silent, and they kept their faces
fixed. Equivocus, crafty, suggests words to the one speaking,
and as a guardian settles upon his heart and upon his 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 not at all less than God, now scant hope remains for the tottering
kingdom, nor does judgment deceive you:
the walls, having slipped, pledge a precipitate ruin.
therefore no time for tears, but rather we more swiftly all
patch the old, and set other citadels in place.

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 prevents that by your skill your Rome should long survive,
by which even now it survives? each one is for himself his supreme fate,
and the smith of his own lot. now, best one, in few words, father, receive our
plan by which it can be effected.
"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 girt by deep waters, but where with a sparse rampart,
and low they have encircled the walls with a thin crown,
he rushes in, and presses the incautious city with baleful arts,
just so the wavering hearts of the weak 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
she is to be tried by blandishments, and to be approached with impudent deceit.
the labor is on a slight thing, yet no slight lucre will follow.
she is conquered, and she conquers more swiftly; woman quickly learns
errors, and skillfully teaches them: that one, poured into a manly lap,
and, clasping the hesitator with snowy 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
her coaxing bosom lightly plucks at the soft breasts and chest,
soon she lords it over the mind now tamed; he drinks the poison,
and snatches errors into his spirit, and hides them deep within.
he who so many times, though hemmed in, so many times stood unconquered by the enemy,
who 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 an unarmed right hand,
leaving his hair and his strength in a mistress’s lap,
the unhappy man (to be overcome by no arms)
lies by feminine art without sword, without force, overcome without a wound.
to prelude with these weapons, father, did not seem a light matter.

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 allurements or by force,
he must be met with stratagems, and tamed by art.
"nor is a fitting handle lacking: there remains there by chance, and in the schools
rules Arminius, of crafty wit and of faith that is wavering,
whom a great crowd 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 kind, and hostile to the studies of quiet.
these are to be goaded by their accustomed hatreds, and by skills of fostering
to be laden with praises and gifts, so that for Iberian interests
they may show favor, and restore the scepter and obedience to the Spaniard.
"Next comes the labor against the Gauls 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
the turned-away, I will bring back again to Rome and to the mother.
It is easy for you to cut down the Parisian flowers,
and we will give the lilies to the Spanish lion to be trampled;
and, the crown struck off from the summit in the usual manner,
to transfer the wreaths 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 unhappy shoot from the Navarrese tree
must be cut back by the sword, and burned with final flames.
and while it is tender and can be bent, and the twig does not know to resist,
let the slip soon be inserted into the Iberian trunk,
forgetful of its first sap, with a Spanish graft.

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 it imbibe, let the shoots grow out on Spanish branches.
nay, rather, the branch which now remains widowed with the tree cut,
let it learn, if it is lawful, to grow into the Spanish bark,
and let double pietas grow with doubled love.
"here the prologue of a tragic scene: we are preparing 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
no vulgar crime, belated, one which no day will keep silent,
no day will credit; great and tremendous to all peoples
in its inception. In vain we wear down words and threats,
in vain we have projected all arts:
the supreme times of death press upon 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
a crime must be attempted. let whatever of iniquity
has stood in the way be removed. nor let the masked name of honor
or of crime terrify you; rather you are the moderator of honor,
you the rule of the just. through right, best father, for us,
and through wrong the way must be attempted, by which 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.
they are the foes, they are to be sought with weapons and with wiles,
and let them see, and let them tremble at, so great a vengeance exacted by the survivors.
nor is it my purpose only to remove with icy hemlocks
or to assail the king with arms, or with the knife: a 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,
a boy, will succeed to the ancestral scepters and hatreds.
but the king likewise, and likewise the inflexible seed,
but the magnates, and the fathers and the knights, and whatever everywhere
of the prudent populace there is, we shall truncate with a single stroke.

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
nay indeed, all tamed without a weapon, conquered without a wound,
by disgrace, father, one single hour will deliver the Britons.
how I can do this, give heed in a few words, I will teach.
"there stands a well-known house, built of ancient stone,
with sculptured 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, renowned, the Thames, begotten from Thame and the nymph Isis
bathes with its bending wave the walls of Luddun (London),
and sees the vast city run out beyond its walls,
and sees the growing towers ever shine splendidly.
and where it lets the South Winds in through wide-flung 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 front it looks down from on high upon the waves bowed low.
"that hither there flow, and to the foremost realms all converge,
both the nobles of the land and the fathers and the British commons.
he himself also, for the first time, James enters the senate with all his progeny,
the queen at the same time accompanying."

"hic lapsos revocant mores, Romaeque cruentas

"here mores recall the fallen, 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 penalties in blood.
but blind hiding-places below and great caverns
extend in vast reaches, the places teeming with much Lyaeus.
in these, silently, nitre and living sulphurs under 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 put them underneath, and I will fill the seats with Stygian dust.
"as soon as the benches grow beyond the just number,
and once the lofty house has swelled with a full senate,
I will bring down the roofs: it pleases me to catch with my ear from afar the horrendous crashes,
and the laws on bronze mingled with their bearers

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 them snatched away. it delights to see the half-burnt limbs of men,
and to discern all the kings flitting above in the aether;
the rent earth will groan, and the spaces of heaven, terror-struck, will spring apart,
but the Thames will plunge headlong and hide itself in a deep whirlpool,
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 the light is let in."
He had spoken. All applaud; more than all, he himself
the holy father praises the counsel; he himself thus with a joyful
face greets the patron of tottering Rome:
"may the gods be ever auspicious to the Fathers, and revered 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
yet you do not at all abandon the walls of Rome, by no means doomed to die,
since you have borne such spirits, and such great hearts.
Now, with the fates reversed, I behold Latium flourishing,
and Rome, effete, growing young again.
"but I—what praises at length for such ventures shall I

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 girt with victorious laurel.
I myself, for such deserts, will add marble altars,
I myself will often lay upon them vows for you and pious incense,
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 faith:
begin now to grow accustomed to heaven, and step into the open stars,
and learn now to be worshiped with upturned hands."
     meanwhile Aequivocus, seeking the Manes 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 contrived crime, at which heaven and earth
and the sterile shades would be ashamed, which had conquered all things, had even
overcome the Eumenides themselves, and would acquit from the whole charge.
but the Jesuit, mindful of the crime and of the nefarious undertaking,
devoted to lucifuge Jove and to the Latin Father

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
from the whole people he picks out the choicest hearts,
a progeny indeed worthy, Italian from a British mother.
this one derives a dread name from the torches by a sure omen,
that one, recalling winters, had portended great downpours,
and he threatens lights snatched away by perpetual 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
this man draws his names from ditches, this one from raucous crows.
to these the Jesuit unveils the nefas, and, laying open the whole
plan, and binding the Acherontic vows with horrendous curses,
he seals the savage slaughters by Jesus himself.
and now for them, with the bowels of their mother burst in the midst,

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, the hard mattocks (rustic weapons) they carry together,
neighbors to Orcus, a crime more dire than Orcus
they bury deep, and hide it further within.
and while they eagerly bend to the work, and the ruins grow,
they seemed beneath the deep night to have heard 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 perceive, and uncertain voices with a thin murmur.
they, fearing the neighboring Manes and Erebus,
scatter in trepidation, their minds flowing back with their blood.
and now, themselves like shades, they are avoided, like shadows,
and they avoid, 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
here, having slipped in mid-course and lying motionless
with his breath pressed, and his eyes shut, already he expects the scourges of the pursuing
Tisiphone, and the hooked hands, and the beatings.
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 in placid repose,
a terrene smoke, blackening the inmost parts,
invades the mind, and now fashions an empty shade,
a shade armed with a Stygian torch and dripping with gore,
all things are suddenly thrown into turmoil; he flies through the airs

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
exanimate and out of his mind with fear, and in vain he keeps reproaching
his re-loosened feet. The present image leaps upon him in triumph,
now chafing his back and heel; his voice, buried in his mouth,
fails, and by a deceitful gape it betrays its master.
as soon as the fears, brought back again, grow sluggish and are calmed in his heart,

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, few, and leave their hiding-places,
and uncertain of so great a fear, yet certain to proceed,
more cautiously with the ear pricked they were catching susurrations.
happy they go away, and with day arisen to the places near to Lyaeus
consecrated, they learn thoroughly to run out 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 collect, and greedily store away niter and sulfur,
and they conceal the crime with wood and with wicker thrown together.
and now the unspeakable wrong stood “fortunate,” and they upbraid
the senile steps of time, and the lingering light.
but why do I speak what is to be told 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
at this time do I rehearse the outrage? why do I recall the names, the vows to the Dirae,
and things to be celebrated in perpetual darkness?
but in vain shall I nevertheless conceal that at which the earth is astounded,
which the gods above shudder at, which Tartarus itself refuses
and forswears as an 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
will live for eternity; likewise Jesuit simplicity will live long,
and Rome, most pious in the world.
and now the longed-for day was at hand, on which, by ancient custom,
the nobles and the fathers assemble in a great senate.
the prince himself, 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 horse adorned with phalerae, or proud upon the chariot
he proceeds, and to his side clings his most beautiful consort,
a princess most fortunate both in progeny and in form.
Next he advances with serene face and countenance,
displaying the paternal 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 mingled with concordant peace,
Henry, and Charles shining with a placid countenance.
and at once the virgin bands, the fires of the magnates,
nymphs distinguished by beauty, she herself more beautiful,
Eliza leads in, her cheeks blazing, 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 with snows she mingled a rosy blush upon her face.
Not otherwise, thronged with numberless fires in the serene heaven,
and, silver, darting pure rays,
Cynthia outshines all the stars.
Soon the nobles’ trains swell, gleaming with great 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, distinguished with gems and gleaming with murex-purple,
crowded together they seek the council; as they go an outpoured
applause of men, and the clangor of trumpets, escorts them,
and the clamor, mixed 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, impatient of the neighboring crime,
flies off, driving on his yoke-mates with goads and threats,
and, now safe, hides in the opposite orb.
and wherever he flies, surveying 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, and the swift Araxes,
those who [drink] Phlegethon—he now releases all from every crime.
the stars scatter, and the Bear, vainly attempting the pathless seas,
is extinguished by gathered clouds.
and the night is apt for deeds and for crime, yet 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
at night, covering a torch sheathed in lead, and a hidden brand with a garment,
Facius revisits the storeroom and the crime.
and while he shapes a tragic work, and reconstructs the felony,
he both fears and hopes many things: on this side punishment, on that side rewards
solicit his breast; his viscera waver with 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 the Equivocator, restoring to his mind dinner and prayers
and blind obedience, and the Pope, props up his wavering resolve,
and with curses cast upon it he hardens his heart.
but meanwhile that father of things bent his eyes down from highest Olympus
who with a sure course guides the stars

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 heavens, and with his hand encloses the lands and the lawless seas.
seeing the frauds completed, and in blind caverns
crimes swelling, mature for a near birth,
soon he addresses the eagle, who is laid at the base of his throne
keeping watch, and with her wings bears 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 commands: "immediately seek the English slopes, messenger,
and, having approached the nobles who hold care for the highest affairs,
lay open the deceits with ambiguous speech,
and trouble their keen senses with a blind enigma.
I myself, while the voices turn beneath my lofty 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, whereby James
may unroll the unspeakable ventures, and the contrivings of the Tarpeian father."
He had spoken: but the bird cleaves the ether with light feathers,
swifter even than the wind, and swifter than the rapid fire of Jove.
and now at once the snowy towers of London rise up from 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
he beholds, and at once the nimble one keeps within view the towers he beholds.
here first the feather-bearing messenger, with wings drawn in,
stood still, and seeing the fair roofs gleam,
ruddy with baked-brick walls and with matching stone,
he enters, the splendid buildings which great expense has set in place.

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 paternal lauds of his heroic father,
progeny of a prudent father, himself more prudent.
him, when he brings forth counsel from a full breast,
the Britons admire rejoicing, the Iberians admire,
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 the British treasure (yet greater himself),
he too protects the Muses, and the leisures for the Muses,
where Camus with a slow stream scarcely fills the narrow banks,
and the father now fails with a decrepit river.
it is he who has with my lip worn smooth the 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, auspicious, permitted the modes to the rustic reed.
when it was arrived hither, the messenger, with changed countenance,
handed to the astonished hero the tablets, intricate, inscribed by art,
and, rushing forth to the middle of the city,
he again hid himself 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 script,
and again he gathers again all the words,
and now this, now that, now he turns over each point in his breast,
why do you, hero, vex yourself in vain? not even if Oedipus as guarantor
should pledge, could you hope to unfasten 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 so great a crime,
nor is it the least virtue to have ignored a profound wickedness,
which, when you know it well, let it not be for you merely to credit it.
after, when weary suspicion itself could extract nothing for the eyes 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
with all counsels having achieved nothing, they themselves report the enigmas to the king.
he, with an easy eye, the knots and the unspeakable windings of crimes
running through with his mind (while the light of light scatters
the clouds and opens the mind) soon lays open all
the monsters, and he alone unveils the nefas, and unravels 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, now in deepest night,
they seize the artificer of the crime; the house, big with deep nitrous
powder, lies open, and the crimes hidden far within are shown to the wondering Sun,
and to the open sky.
even so, as when the East winds are pressed within the very entrails,

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, rent, lies open, and gapes with a great chasm,
the terrified mountains leap asunder, and deep within their caverns
they admit Phoebus, and throw open the Furies and the shades.
formless Chaos and the Stygian Penates appear,
the abyss appears, and the innermost sanctuaries of dread 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 daylight, their sight smitten.
and now, together with the crime itself, the author of the crime
is dragged forth; around him all the populace streams as he goes:
their spirits cannot be sated by gazing on his brow
grim, and his squalid cheeks, and forest-like with 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
the faces, and the eyes recalling Tartarean torches.
he, however, both like one daring and like one fearing,
now to laugh at the crowd with a roar and with proud words,
and, fierce, with parted lips, to mock as he gapes;
now, on the contrary, to tremble with fear, and to wheel his tremulous gaze

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 right hand of the ready executioner
raging amidst the very gore, and now, frenzied, he beholds Erebus gaping,
and, perceiving dragons gliding among half-eaten limbs,
he shudders at the first 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 previously gave,

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
the minds which alone you seek again, father, receive.
so long as the most beautiful house will stand on eternal stone,
rescued from sulphurous dust, and from the ruins of so great a calamity,
so long as Nereus safeguards the English with the swollen ramparts of the waves,
and pounds the bluish cliffs 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 shall be among the Britons
you, great father, you we shall sing with our voice,
and deeds to be remembered we shall hand down through late-born descendants.
you, father, the brothers raging beneath the Aeolian rock—
you suppress them, 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
hearts; you shatter the vast mountains, turmoil‑driven to the shores,
and you inhibit the waters, O ruler, and draw back the rebellious.
you, father, you loosen bonds for the hibernal night,
and you slow the slow footsteps of the aestival sun.
at your bidding the returning flowers again—at your bidding the earth

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 pubescent, green locks grow on the crown of the beech.
at your commands the sun himself, in mid-course, between the Nemean Lion and ruddy Cancer,
hurls more pitiless fires, and from the swollen seed
he calls forth effete crops, and, arid with hard heat, cooks the tender shoots.

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 along an unknown track,
declines, and now the Ethiopians, and the streams of the Nile,
and, nearer, he looks down upon the deserted Libyan sands.
upon us the hastened old age of the exhausted year presses:
the vine-leafy fronds grow golden, and the recurved 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 of their loosened tresses.
you, Father, shatter the unconquered fleets which Iberia vaunts,
and you scatter into the upper air the vast commotions,
and now even Elisa, snatched away (a name sacred to me),
those who have merited a mighty disaster, and those 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 with calm the three scepters to James,
you, appeased, give back to us Eliza manifold.
hail, greatest hero, the glory of our age,
O honor of the English, prince, and blessed for the fatherland,
and father of the Muses. You the placid 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, fortunate, bring to the English-born joys greater than their vows,
and you establish eternal triumphs in your progeny.
you press Janus, split in two, with the barrier closed for us,
and, mighty in the arms of the Pierides, you lay low the funereal
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 tear down, and you pierce the harlot with an excessive wound.
receive the Muse, pubescent with tender down,
who among the scorned willows and the marshy sedge,
(she does not aspire to laurels and palms) learns to practice in prelude,
and, testing herself, grazes upon her innate 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 Chamus, with streams scarcely known to foreigners,
by soothing the rivers, bathes the regal gardens,
and with submissive waters venerates the royal temples.
Soon, when she has grown riper with feathered wings,
she will dare to sing of you, to set down your deeds, (princeps).

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

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