Statius: SILVAE

Et familiaritas nostra qua gaudeo, Melior, vir optime nec minus in iudicio litterarum quam in omni vitae colore tersissime, et ipsa opusculorum quae tibi trado condicio sic posita est ut totus hic ad te liber meus etiam sine epistola spectet. primum enim habet Glauciam nostrum, cuius gratissima infantia, et qualem plerumque infelices sortiuntur--apud te complexus amabam--iam non tibi. huius amissi recens vulnus, ut scis, epicedio prosecutus sum adeo festinanter ut excusandam habuerim affectibus tuis celeritatem.

And our intimacy, by which I rejoice, Melior, most excellent man, and no less fastidious in the judgment of letters than in every colour of life, and even the very condition of the little works which I deliver to you is so placed that this whole little book of mine looks toward you even without a letter. For it first contains our Glaucia, whose most delightful infancy, and such as the unlucky commonly obtain by lot — I used to love her embraced at your house — now no longer for you. I have pursued the recent wound of this loss, as you know, with an epicedium so hurriedly that I must plead the swiftness as excusable by your affections.

nec nunc eam apud te iacto qui nosti, sed et ceteris indico, ne quis asperiore lima carmen examinet et a confuso scriptum et dolenti datum, cum paene supervacua sint tarda solacia. Polli mei villa Surrentina quae sequitur debuit a me vel in honorem eloquentiae eius diligentius dici, sed amicus ignovit. in arborem certe tuam Melior, et psittacum scis a me leves libellos quasi epigrammatis loco scriptos.

nor do I now vaunt it before you, who know it, but I make it known to others, lest anyone probe the poem with a harsher file, and, written in confusion and given to one who grieves, since slow consolations are almost superfluous. My Pollius’s Surrentine villa, which follows, ought to have been described by me more diligently, even in honor of his eloquence, but a friend pardoned it. Into your tree, certainly, Melior, and into the parrot you know, I have set light little booklets of mine, as it were in the place of epigrams.

eandem exigebat stili facilitatem leo mansuetus, quem in amphitheatro prostratum frigidum erat sacratissimo Imperatori, ni statim traderem. ad Vrsum quoque nostrum, iuvenem candidissimum et sine iactura desidiae doctissimum, scriptam de amisso puero consolationem super ea quae ipsi debeo huic libro libenter inserui, quia honorem eius tibi laturus accepto est. cludit volumen genethliacon Lucani, quod Polla Argentaria, rarissima uxorum, cum hunc diem forte consuleremus, imputari sibi voluit.

the same facility of style was demanded by the tame lion, which, if I had not immediately handed it over, would have lain prostrate and cold in the amphitheatre before the most sacred Emperor. To our Ursus also, a most fair youth and most learned without any taint of sloth, I gladly inserted into this book a written consolation on the lost boy, besides those things I personally owe him, because he, about to carry his honour to you, accepted it. He closes the volume with Lucan’s genethliacon, which Polla Argentaria, most rare of wives, when by chance we consulted this day, wished to have attributed to herself.

ego non potui maiorem tanti auctoris habere reverentiam quam quod laudes eius dicturus hexametros meos timui. Haec qualiacumque sunt, Melior carissime, si tibi non displicuerint, a te publicum accipiant; si minus, ad me revertantur.

I could not feel a greater reverence for so illustrious an auctor than that I feared my hexameters about to speak his laudation. These things, of whatever sort they be, most dear Melior, if they do not displease you, let them be received by you for the public; if they do, let them be returned to me.

I. GLAVCIAS ATEDII MELIORIS DELICATVS

1. GLAVCIAS, ATEDII MELIORIS DELICATE

     Quod tibi praerepti, Melior, solamen alumni
improbus ante rogos et adhuc vivente favilla
ordiar? abruptis etiam nunc flebile venis
vulnus hiat, magnaeque patet via lubrica plagae,
cum iam egomet cantus et verba medentia saevus            5
consero, tu planctus lamentaque fortia mavis
odistique chelyn surdaque averteris aure.
intempesta cano: citius me tigris abactis
fetibus orbatique velint audire leones.
nec si tergeminum Sicula de virgine carmen            10
affluat aut silvis chelys intellecta ferisque,
mulceat insanos gemitus. stat pectore demens
luctus et admoto latrant praecordia tactu.
    Nemo vetat: satiare malis aegrumque dolorem
libertate doma.

     What I foreordained for you, Melior, a pupil's solace
shall I, shameless before the pyres and while the embers yet live,
set forth? even now, with veins torn open, a lamenting wound
gapes, and the slippery path of a great wound lies open,
since now I myself establish songs and words that heal, fierce            5
you prefer laments and brave plaints
and you hate the chelys and you turn away your deaf ear.
I sing untimely: sooner let tigers, driven from their litters,
and bereft lions wish to hear. Nor if a threefold Sicilian song
flowed, or the chelys understood by forests and beasts,            10
would it soothe the frantic groans. Madness stands in my breast
and, with touch applied, the heart-strings bark. No one forbids: to sate ills and tame sick grief
with liberty is enough.

iam flendi expleta voluptas, 15

now the pleasure of weeping fulfilled, 15

iamque preces fessus non indignaris amicas?
iamne canam? lacrimis en et mea carmine in ipso
ora natant tristesque cadunt in verba liturae.
ipse etenim tecum nigrae sollemnia pompae
spectatumque Vrbi scelus et puerile feretrum            20
produxi; saevos damnati turis acervos
plorantemque animam supra sua funera vidi;
teque patrum gemitus superantem et brachia matrum
complexumque rogos ignemque haurire parantem
vix tenui similis comes offendique tenendo.            25
et nunc heu vittis et frontis honore soluto
infaustus vates versa mea pectora tecum
plango lyra: ~et diu~ comitem sociumque doloris,
si merui luctusque tui consortia sensi,
iam lenis patiare precor: me fulmine in ipso            30

and now, wearied by prayers, do you not begrudge friendly ones?
shall I now sing? behold, even in my song my cheeks swim with tears
and sad smears fall upon my words.
for I myself brought you forth with black procession rites
and the crime shown to the City and the boyish bier 20
to be viewed; I saw heaps of cruel incense condemned
and a grieving spirit above its own funerals;
and I saw you surpassing the fathers’ groans and the arms of mothers
and embracing the pyres and preparing to drink in the fire
and scarcely like a slight companion do I offend by holding on. 25
and now, alas, with your fillets and the honor of your brow undone
I, an ill-omened bard, turn my chest with you
and lament with the lyre: ~and long~ a comrade and partner of sorrow,30

audivere patres; ego iuxta busta profusis
matribus atque piis cecini solatia natis,
et mihi, cum proprios gemerem defectus ad ignes
(quem, Natura!) patrem. nec te lugere severus
arceo, sed confer gemitus pariterque fleamus.            35
    Iamdudum dignos aditus laudumque tuarum,
o merito dilecte puer, primordia quaerens
distrahor. hinc anni stantes in limine vitae,
hinc me forma rapit, rapit inde modestia praecox
et pudor et tenero probitas maturior aevo.            40
o ubi purpureo suffusus sanguine candor
sidereique orbes radiataque lumina caelo
et castigatae collecta modestia frontis
ingenuique super crines mollisque decorae
margo comae?

the fathers heard; I, beside the pyres, sang comforts to mothers poured out and to pious children, and for myself, as I bewailed the father lost to the very flames (whom, O Nature!), I groaned for my own. Nor do I sternly forbid you to grieve, but let us join our lamentations and weep together.            35
    Long now am I torn, seeking worthy approaches and the beginnings of your praises,
O rightly beloved youth, pulled apart. On one side the years stand upon the threshold of life,
on another my beauty seizes me; seized therefrom is precocious modesty,
and shame, and a probity more mature than tender age.            40
O where is the whiteness suffused with purple blood,
and the orbs of the stars and the lights radiating from the sky,
and the chastened, gathered modesty of the brow,
and the ingenuous grace over the locks and the soft adornment — the border of the hair?

blandis ubinam ora arguta querelis 45

where, with blandishing complaints, are those argute mouths 45

osculaque impliciti vernos redolentia flores,
et mixtae risu lacrimae penitusque loquentis
Hyblaeis vox mixta favis? cui sibila serpens
poneret et saevae vellent servire novercae.
nil veris adfingo bonis. heu lactea colla, 50
brachiaque et numquam domini sine pondere cervix!
o ubi venturae spes non longinqua iuventae,
atque genis optatus honos iurataque multum
barba tibi?

and kisses, and spring-flowers fragrant on entwined lips,
and tears mixed with laughter and the voice wholly speaking
of Hybla, mixed with honey? to whom a hissing serpent
would be set and the stern stepmother would wish to serve.
I invent nothing of true goods. alas, milky necks, 50
arms too, and a neck never without the weight of a master!
O where is the not-distant hope of coming youth,
and the honor desired on your cheeks and the oft-sworn
beard for you?

cuncta in cineres gravis intulit hora
hostilisque dies: nobis meminisse relictum. 55
quis tua colloquiis hilaris mulcebit amatis
pectora, quis curas mentisque arcana remittet?
accensum quis bile fera famulisque tumentem
leniet ardentique in se deflectet ab ira?
inceptas quis ab ore dapes libataque vina 60

the moment, heavy, reduced all to ashes
and a hostile day: to us was left remembrance. 55
who, cheerful in your colloquies, will soothe the beloved
breasts, who will remit cares and the secrets of the mind?
who will soften one inflamed with savage bile and swelling with servants
and divert the burning anger back upon himself?
who will, from your lips, complete the begun banquets and the libated wines 60

auferet et dulci turbabit cuncta rapina?
quis matutinos abrumpet murmure somnos
impositus stratis, abitusque morabitur artis
nexibus, atque ipso revocabit ad oscula poste?
obvius intranti rursus quis in ora manusque            65
prosiliet brevibusque umeros circumdabit ulnis?
muta domus, fateor, desolatique penates,
et situs in thalamis et maesta silentia mensis!
    Quid mirum, tanto si te pius altor honorat
funere? tu domino requies portusque senectae,            70
tu modo deliciae, dulces modo pectore curae.
non te barbaricae versabat turbo catastae,
nec mixtus Phariis venalis mercibus infans
compositosque sales meditataque verba locutus
quaesisti lascivus erum tardeque parasti.            75

will plunder also bear away and with sweet theft disturb all?
who will break the morning sleeps with a murmur
laid upon the couches, and will the departure linger bound by ceremony,
and will even at the very door call back to kisses?
obliging the entrant, who again will leap upon his face and hands            65
and with short arms will clasp his shoulders round the elbows?
a mute house, I confess, and the Penates desolate,
and fixed places in the bridal-chamber and the sad silences of the table!
    What wonder, if a father so great honors you with a funeral?
you are rest and port to your lord in old age,            70
you now delights, now sweet cares in the heart.
no barbarian tumult of the market-stand ever set you to spinning,
nor was a slave-boy mixed among Pharian wares for sale
and having put together witty sallies and practiced words spoken,
did you, wanton, seek a master and secure him late.            75

hic domus, hinc ortus, dominique penatibus olim
carus uterque parens atque in tua gaudia liber,
ne quererere genus. raptum sed protinus alvo
sustulit exsultans ac prima lucida voce
astra salutantem dominus sibi mente dicavit, 80
amplexusque sinu tulit et genuisse putavit.
fas mihi sanctorum venia dixisse parentum,
tuque oro, Natura, sinas, cui prima per orbem
iura animis sancire datum: non omnia sanguis
proximus aut serie generis demissa propago 85
alligat; interius nova saepe adscitaque serpunt
pignora conexis. natos genuisse necesse est,
elegisse iuvat.

here the house, there the birth, and each a dear parent and in your joys a child,
do not bewail the kindred. But straightaway the ravisher lifted him from his womb
exulting, and with his first clear cry
the stars saluting, the master in his mind consecrated him to himself, 80
and, clasping him to his breast, carried him off and thought he had begotten him.
By the sanction and pardon of the holy ones it is right that I called them parents,
and I beg you, Nature, allow it — to you first through the world
was given the right to establish laws for souls: not all does nearest blood
or progeny descended in the series bind; often within, new and adopted
pledges creep in joined by ties. Children must be sired,
but it pleases to have chosen.

tenero sic blandus Achilli
semifer Haemonium vincebat Pelea Chiron.
nec senior Peleus natum comitatus in arma 90

thus bland Chiron, a semigod of Haemonia, was conquering tender Achilles, son of Peleus.
nor did aged Peleus accompany his son into arms 90

Troica, sed claro Phoenix haerebat alumno.
optabat longe reditus Pallantis ovantis
Evander, fidus pugnas spectabat Acoetes.
cumque procul nitidis genitor cessaret ab astris,
fluctivagus volucrem comebat Persea Dictys.            95
quid referam altricum victas pietate parentes?
quid te post cineres deceptaque funera matris
tutius Inoo reptantem pectore, Bacche?
iam secura patris Tuscis regnabat in undis
Ilia, portantem lassabat Romulus Accam.            100
vidi ego transertos alieno in robore ramos
altius ire suis. et te iam fecerat illi
mens animusque patrem, necdum moresve decorve:
tu tamen et vinctas etiam nunc murmure voces
vagitumque rudem fletusque infantis amabas.            105

Trojan, yet a Phoenix clung to the bright nursling.
Evander longed from afar for the returns of Pallas rejoicing;
faithful Acoetes watched the battles.
and when far off the father withdrew from the shining stars,
the wave-wandering Persea, Dictys, tended the winged one.            95
what shall I recount of foster-parents conquered by piety?
what of you, Bacchus, more safely creeping in Ino’s breast
after the ashes and your mother’s deceived funerals?
now Ilia ruled secure from her father’s Tuscan waves
Acca, bearing Romulus, grew weary.            100
I have seen branches transplanted into alien oak
grow higher than their own. and already mind and spirit
had made you a father to that one, not yet his manners or his grace:
you, however, even now loved the bound murmuring voices
and the rude wailing and the infant’s sobs.            105

    Ille, velut primos exspiraturus ad austros
mollibus in pratis alte flos improbus exstat,
sic tener ante diem vultu gressuque superbo
vicerat aequales multumque reliquerat annos.
sive catenatis curvatus membra palaestris            110
staret, Amyclaea conceptum matre putares;
Oebaliden illo praeceps mutaret Apollo,
Alcides pensaret Hylan: seu gratus amictu
Attica facundi decurreret orsa Menandri,
laudaret gavisa sonum crinemque decorum            115
fregisset rosea lasciva Thalia corona;
Maeonium sive ille senem Troiaeque labores
diceret aut casus tarde remeantis Vlixis,
ipse pater sensus, ipsi stupuere magistri.
    Scilicet infausta Lachesis cunabula dextra            120

    He, like a wanton flower about to breathe his last toward the southern winds
upright in soft meadows, so, tender before his day with proud face and gait
had vanquished his equals and had left many years behind.
or if, bent with chains, his limbs stood bowed by the wrestling grounds            110
you would have thought him conceived by an Amyclaean mother; Apollo would forthwith in that man change into an Oebalidian,
Hercules would weigh Hylas: or, pleasing in his garb,
the Attic beginnings of eloquent Menander would run down, rejoicing he would praise the sound and the comely hair            115
were playful Thalia to have broken the rosy crown; or that man would tell of the Maeonian old man and the toils of Troy
or the misfortunes of Ulysses returning slowly homeward,
the very father of feeling, the very teachers themselves were struck senseless.
    Clearly ill-omened Lachesis with her right hand the cradle

attigit, et gremio puerum complexa fovebat
Invidia: illa genas et adultum comere crinem,
et monstrare artes et verba infigere, quae nunc
plangimus. Herculeos annis aequare labores
coeperat adsurgens, sed adhuc infantia iuxta;            125
iam tamen et validi gressus mensuraque maior
cultibus et visae puero decrescere vestes,
cum tibi quas vestes, quae non gestamina mitis
festinabat erus? brevibus constringere laenis
pectora et angusta telas artare lacerna;            130
enormes non ille sinus, sed semper ad annos
texta legens modo puniceo velabat amictu,
nunc herbas imitante sinu, nunc dulce rubenti
murice, nunc vivis digitos incendere gemmis
gaudebat; non turba comes, non munera cessant:            135

she touched him, and, embracing the boy upon her lap, cherished him
with envy: she would comb his cheeks and the hair of the grown man,
and display arts and fix words upon him, which now
we bewail. He had begun, rising, to equal Herculean labors in years,
but infancy was still beside him;            125
yet even so his stride was greater and his measure larger
than his garments, and the clothes seen on the boy grew too small,
for what garments for you, what not trappings, did the gentle
master hurry to bring? to bind the breast with short bands
and to tighten woven cloaks with a narrow mantle;            130
not huge folds that mantle, but ever choosing weaves
he sometimes veiled him with a purple robe of Tyrian dye,
now with a fold imitating herbs, now delighting to set ablaze
his fingers with living gems’ sweet redness of murex;
companions were no mere crowd, nor did gifts cease:            135

sola verecundo deerat praetexta decori.
    Haec fortuna domus. subitas inimica levavit
Parca manus. quo, diva, feros gravis exseris ungues?
non te forma movet, non te lacrimabilis aetas?
hunc nec saeva viro potuisset carpere Procne,            140
nec fera crudeles Colchis durasset in iras,
editus Aeolia nec si foret iste Creusa;
torvus ab hoc Athamas insanos flecteret arcus;
hunc quamquam Hectoreos cineres Troiamque perosus
turribus e Phrygiis flesset missurus Vlixes.            145
    Septima lux, et iam frigentia lumina torpent,
iam complexa manu crinem tenet infera Iuno.
ille tamen Parcis fragiles urgentibus annos
te vultu moriente videt linguaque cadente
murmurat; in te omnes vacui iam pectoris efflat            150

only a praetexta was lacking to bashful beauty.
    Such was the fortune of the house. The hostile hand of the Parca lifted up sudden blows.
Wherefore, goddess, dost thou thrust forth thy fierce heavy claws?
Does not form move thee, does not pitiable age move thee?
neither could savage Procne have been able to rend this one from a man,            140
nor would the brute Colchian have hardened into cruel wrath,
nor would one sprung from Aeolia, even if that were Creusa;
grim Athamas would not from this man bend his insane bows;
this one, though hating Hector’s ashes and Troy, Ulysses, grieving, would have bewailed him, about to send [him] from Phrygian towers.            145
    The seventh light, and now the chilling eyes grow numb,
now Lower Juno, having clasped him with her hand, holds his hair.
He, however, with the Fates pressing on his fragile years, sees thee with a dying face and with his tongue falling
murmurs; into thee he breathes forth all now of his empty breast            150

reliquias, solum meminit solumque vocantem
exaudit, tibique ora movet, tibi verba relinquit,
et prohibet gemitus consolaturque dolentem.
gratum est, Fata, tamen quod non mors lenta iacentis
exedit puerile decus, manesque subivit            155
integer et nullo temeratus corpora damno,
qualis erat.
    Quid ego exsequias et prodiga flammis
dona loquor maestoque ardentia funera luxu?
quod tibi purpureo tristis rogus aggere crevit,
quod Cilicum flores, quod munera graminis Indi,            160
quodque Arabes Phariique Palaestinique liquores
arsuram lavere comam? cupit omnia ferre
prodigus et totos Melior succendere census,
desertas exosus opes; sed non capit ignis
invidus, atque artae desunt in munera flammae.            165

he remembers the relics, remembers only alone and hears only the one calling,
and turns his face to you, leaves words to you,
and forbids groans and consoles the mourner.
It is pleasing, Fata, nonetheless, that death did not consume the slowly lying
boyish beauty, and the manes arose            155
whole and untainted by any damage to the body,
as it had been.
    Why do I speak of funerary rites and lavish offerings to flames
and of burning obsequies with mournful luxury?
that sombre pyre which grew with a purple heap for you,
that which Cilician flowers, that the gifts of Indian grass,            160
and which Arabian and Pharian and Palestinian waters
washed to burn his hair? he, prodigal, desires to bear all things away
and to set alight better fortunes with whole estates,
hating deserted riches; but envious fire will not take hold,
and there are lacking fierce flames for the offerings.            165

Horror habet sensus. qualem te funere summo
atque rogum iuxta, Melior placidissime quondam,
extimui! tune ille hilaris comisque videri?
unde animi saevaeque manus et barbarus horror,
dum modo fusus humi lucem aversaris iniquam, 170
nunc torvus pariter vestes et pectora rumpis
dilectosque premis visus et frigida lambis
oscula?

A horror seizes my senses. Such as I feared for you at the last funeral
and beside the pyre, Melior, once most placid,
I was terrified! Was that man then to appear cheerful and courteous?
whence these feelings and cruel hands and barbarous dread,
while but now, cast upon the ground, you turned away from the unequal light, 170
now stern alike you tear your garments and your breasts
and press your beloved looks and with cold lips you lick
kisses?

erant illic genitor materque iacentis
maesta, sed attoniti te spectavere parentes.
quid mirum? plebs cuncta nefas et praevia flerunt 175
agmina, Flaminio quae limite Molvius agger
transvehit, immeritus flammis dum tristibus infans
traditur et gemitum formaque aevoque meretur:
talis in Isthmiacos prolatus ab aequore portus
naufragus imposita iacuit sub matre Palaemon; 180

there lay his father and his mother beside him, sad, but his parents looked at you struck with amazement.
what wonder? the whole populace bewailed every outrage and the advanced throngs 175
the columns which the Molvian rampart across the Flaminian boundary transported, while the undeserving infant, allotted to the mournful flames,
is delivered and earns a groan for both his beauty and his age:
such, borne from the sea to the Isthmian havens, the shipwrecked Palaemon lay placed beneath his mother. 180

sic et in anguiferae ludentem gramine Lernae
rescissum squamis avidus bibit anguis Ophelten.
    Pone metus letique minas desiste vereri:
illum nec terno latrabit Cerberus ore,
nulla soror flammis, nulla adsurgentibus hydris            185
terrebit; quin ipse avidae trux navita cumbae
interius steriles ripas et adusta subibit
litora, ne puero dura ascendisse facultas.
    Quid mihi gaudenti proles Cyllenia virga
nuntiat? estne aliquid tam saevo in tempore laetum?            190
noverat effigies generosique ardua Blaesi
ora puer, dum saepe domi nova serta ligantem
te videt et similes tergentem pectore ceras.
hunc ubi Lethaei lustrantem gurgitis oras
Ausonios inter proceres seriemque Quirini            195

thus, the eager snake Opheltes drank up, torn by its scales, him playing on the grass of Lerna.
    Put aside fears and the threats of death, cease to be afraid:
neither will Cerberus bark at him with his threefold mouth,
nor will any sister with flames, nor any rising hydra terrify;
    nay the grim helmsman of the eager skiff himself will bear the hull
within under the sterile banks and the scorched shores,
so that the boy have no hard power to climb ashore.
    What does the offspring of the Cyllenian rod announce to me rejoicing?
Is there anything so glad in so savage a time?            190
the boy had known your likeness and the lofty face of noble Blaesus,
while often at home he sees you binding new garlands
and smoothing similar waxen tablets with your breast.
When they led him, purifying, to the shores of Lethe's flood
among the Ausonian chiefs and the ranks of Quirinus,            195

adgnovit, timide primum vestigia iungit
accessu tacito summosque lacessit amictus,
inde magis sequitur; neque enim magis ille trahentem
spernit et ignota credit de stirpe nepotum.
mox ubi delicias et rari pignus amici            200
sensit et amissi puerum solacia Blaesi,
tollit humo magnaque ligat cervice diuque
ipse manu gaudens vehit et, quae munera mollis
Elysii, steriles ramos mutasque volucres
porgit et optunso pallentes germine flores.            205
nec prohibet meminisse tui, sed pectora blandus
miscet et alternum pueri partitur amorem.
    Hic finis rapto. quin tu iam vulnera sedas
et tollis mersum luctu caput? omnia functa
aut moritura vides: obeunt noctesque diesque            210

he recognized, at first timidly joining footsteps
with a silent approach and he plucks at the outermost cloak,
then follows more boldly; for that man does not scorn
the one who draws him and believes him of an unknown line of grandchildren.
soon when he perceived the delights and the rare pledge of a friend            200
and the comforts of Blaesus for the lost boy,
he lifts him from the earth and binds him with a great neckband and for a long time
himself, rejoicing with his hand, bears him, and, what soft gifts
of Elysium, offers barren branches and mute birds
and pale flowers with their crushed germ budding.            205
nor does he forbid remembering you, but blending hearts with flattering words
he shares between them the alternate love of the boy.
    Here the seizure is at an end. Why do you not now calm your wounds
and lift the head sunk in grief? Do you see all things performed
or about to die: nights and days alike pass away            210

astraque, nec solidis prodest sua machina terris.
nam populus mortale genus, plebisque caducae
quis fleat interitus? hos bella, hos aequora poscunt;
his amor exitio, furor his et saeva cupido,
ut sileam morbos; hos ora rigentia Brumae, 215
illos implacido letalis Sirius igni,
hos manet imbrifero pallens Autumnus hiatu.
quicquid init ortus, finem timet. ibimus omnes,
ibimus: immensis urnam quatit Aeacus umbris.
Ast hic quem gemimus, felix hominesque deosque 220
et dubios casus et caecae lubrica vitae
effugit, immunis fatis.

and the stars, nor does its machine profit the solid lands.
for the people, a mortal genus, and of the fleeting plebs
who would weep the demise? wars claim these, seas these demand;
for some love is destruction, frenzy for others and savage desire,
lest I speak of diseases; these the faces stiffen with Winter, 215
those by implacable Sirius' lethal fire,
these await pale Autumn with its rain-bearing yawns.
whatever begins at birth, fears an end. we will go all,
we will go: Aeacus shakes the urn for the immense shades.
But this one whom we lament, fortunate, has fled both men and gods 220
and the dubious chances and the blind slippery things of life
he avoids, immune to the fates.

non ille rogavit,
non timuit meruitve mori: nos anxia plebes,
nos miseri; quibus unde dies suprema, quis aevi
exitus incertum, quibus instet fulmen ab astris, 225

he neither begged,
nor feared nor merited death: we, the anxious plebs,
we wretched ones; for whom from where the final day, what end of life is
uncertain, for whom a thunderbolt threatens from the stars, 225

quae nubes fatale sonet. nil flecteris istis?
sed flectere libens. ades huc emissus ab atro
limine, cui soli cuncta impetrare facultas,
Glaucia!

what cloud may sound the fatal omen. will you not be bent to these?
but willingly to bend. be present here, sent forth from the dark
threshold, to whom alone the faculty to obtain all things is granted, Glaucia!

(insontes animas nec portitor arcet,
nec durae comes ille ferae) tu pectora mulce, 230
tu prohibe manare genas noctesque beatas
dulcibus alloquiis et vivis vultibus imple
et periisse nega, desolatamque sororem,
qui potes, et miseros perge insinuare parentes.

(soothe the innocent souls — neither does the ferryman bar them off,
nor that companion of the savage beast) you soothe the hearts, 230
you forbid tears from flowing down cheeks and fill the blessed nights
with sweet addresses and living visages and deny that she has perished, and that her sister is desolate,
as you are able, and go on to insinuate this to the miserable parents.

II. VILLA SVRRENTINA POLLII FELICIS

CHAPTER 2. VILLA SURRENTINA OF POLLIUS FELIX

     Est inter notos Sirenum nomine muros
saxaque Tyrrhenae templis onerata Minervae
celsa Dicarchei speculatrix villa profundi,
qua Bromio dilectus ager, collesque per altos
uritur et prelis non invidet uva Falernis.            5
huc me post patrii laetum quinquennia lustri,
cum stadio iam pigra quies canusque sederet
pulvis, ad Ambracias conversa gymnade frondes,
trans gentile fretum placidi facundia Polli
detulit et nitidae iuvenilis gratia Pollae,            10
flectere iam cupidum gressus qua limite noto
Appia longarum teritur regina viarum.
    Sed iuvere morae. placido lunata recessu
hinc atque hinc curvas perrumpunt aequora rupes.
dat natura locum montique intervenit unum            15

     There is among the well-known walls called Sirenum
and the rocks, a villa lofty, watchful of the deep, Dicarcheus’ seat,
and laden with Tyrrhenian temples of Minerva;
where the field beloved of Bromius, and the hills through their heights,
are burned, and the vine begrudges not the Falernian grapes in contests.            5
hither, after the five-year lustrum of my native land, in gladness,
when at the stadion sluggish rest and hoary dust already sat,
turned toward the groves of Ambracia’s gymnasium,
the eloquence of placid Pollius bore me across the friendly strait
and the youthful grace of shining Polla.            10
to bend now my eager steps by that known boundary
where the Appian, queen of long roads, is worn away.
    But delays pleased me. With a placid, lunate recess
here and there the rocks thrust through the curving waters.
Nature assigns the place, and a single mountain intervenes            15

litus et in terras scopulis pendentibus exit.
gratia prima loci, gemina testudine fumant
balnea, et e terris occurrit dulcis amaro
nympha mari. levis hic Phorci chorus udaque crines
Cymodoce viridisque cupit Galatea lavari.            20
ante domum tumidae moderator caerulus undae
excubat, innocui custos laris; huius amico
spumant templa salo. felicia rura tuetur
Alcides; gaudet gemino sub numine portus:
hic servat terras, hic saevis fluctibus obstat.            25
mira quies pelagi: ponunt hic lassa furorem
aequora et insani spirant clementius austri;
hic praeceps minus audet hiems, nulloque tumultu
stagna modesta iacent dominique imitantia mores.
inde per obliquas erepit porticus arces,            30

the shore issues into the lands with overhanging cliffs.
the prime grace of the place, baths steam beneath a twin vault,
and from the lands a nymph, sweet against the bitter sea, comes to the sea.
here the light chorus of Phorcus — Cymodoce with wet locks and green Galatea — longs to be washed.            20
before the house the blue lord of the swelling wave keeps watch, a harmless guardian of the hearth; at his friendly presence the shrines foam with salt. Alcides watches the fortunate fields; the harbor rejoices under a twin divinity:
here he preserves the lands, here he opposes the savage waves.            25
wondrous is the peace of the sea: here the weary waters lay down their fury
and the raging south winds breathe more mildly;
here headlong winter dares less, and with no tumult modest pools lie
and imitate the manners of their master.
thence a portico winds off, and through oblique ways steals the citadels,            30

urbis opus, longoque domat saxa aspera dorso.
qua prius obscuro permixti pulvere soles
et feritas inamoena viae, nunc ire voluptas:
qualis, si subeas Ephyres Baccheidos altum
culmen, ab Inoo fert semita tecta Lyaeo.            35
    Non, mihi si cunctos Helicon indulgeat amnes
et superet Piplea sitim largeque volantis
ungula sedet equi reseretque arcana pudicos
Phemonoe fontes vel quos meus auspice Phoebo
altius immersa turbavit Pollius urna,            40
innumeras valeam species cultusque locorum
Pieriis aequare modis. vix ordine longo
suffecere oculi, vix, dum per singula ducor,
suffecere gradus. quae rerum turba!

the work of the city, and with a long ridge tames the harsh rocks.
where before the suns, mingled with obscure dust,
and the unlovely wildness of the road, now it is a pleasure to go:
such as, if you were to climb the lofty summit of Bacchic Ephyre,
the path from Ino brings roofed ways to Lyaeus.            35
    No, even if all the streams of Helicon were indulgent to me
and the Piplean spring should quench thirst in abundance and the hoof
of the flying horse sat firm and unlocked hidden things for the modest
Phemonoe, or those fountains which, by my auspice of Phoebus,
the Pollian urn plunged deeper and stirred up,            40
I could not rival the innumerable sights and cultivated aspects of these places
with Pierian measures. Scarcely would my eyes be sufficient in long order,
scarcely, while I am led through each thing, would my steps suffice.
What a crowd of matters!

locine
ingenium an domini mirer prius? haec domus ortus 45

here then, should I marvel first at the genius of the place or of the lord? this house’s origin 45

aspicit et Phoebi tenerum iubar; illa cadentem
detinet exactamque negat dimittere lucem,
cum iam fessa dies et in aequora montis opaci
umbra cadit vitreoque natant praetoria ponto.
haec pelagi clamore fremunt, haec tecta sonoros            50
ignorant fluctus terraeque silentia malunt.
his favit natura locis, hic victa colenti
cessit et ignotos docilis mansuevit in usus.
mons erat hic ubi plana vides; et lustra fuerunt,
quae nunc tecta subis; ubi nunc nemora ardua cernis,            55
hic nec terra fuit: domuit possessor, et illum
formantem rupes expugnantemque secuta
gaudet humus. nunc cerne iugum discentia saxa
intrantesque domos iussumque recedere montem.
iam Methymnaei vatis manus et chelys una            60

and it beholds the tender radiance of Phoebus; she detains the setting
ray and refuses to dismiss the spent light,
when now the day is weary and into the seas the shady
shadow of the hill falls and the praetorial halls float on the glassy sea.
these roar with the clamour of the deep, these prefer the roofs to noisy            50
waves and choose the silence of the land.
Nature favored these places, here, conquered, yielded to the tiller
and, teachable, the earth tamed unknown things into uses.
Here was a mountain where you see plains; and there were grazing-lands,
which you now pass under the roofs; where now you see steep groves            55
here there was not even earth: the proprietor subdued it, and earth
rejoices, following the rock he shapes and conquers.
Now behold a ridge of learning stones coming apart
and houses entering and the mountain commanded to withdraw.
already the hand and lyre of the Methymnaean bard together            60

Thebais et Getici cedat tibi gloria plectri:
et tu saxa moves, et te nemora alta sequuntur.
    Quid referam veteres ceraeque aerisque figuras?
si quid Apellei gaudent animasse colores,
si quid adhuc vacua tamen admirabile Pisa            65
Phidiacae rasere manus, quod ab arte Myronis
aut Polycleteo iussum est quod vivere caelo,
aeraque ab Isthmiacis auro potiora favillis,
ora ducum ac vatum sapientumque ora priorum,
quos tibi cura sequi, quos toto pectore sentis            70
expers curarum atque animum virtute quieta
compositus semperque tuus.
    Quid mille revolvam
culmina visendique vices? sua cuique voluptas
atque omni proprium thalamo mare, transque iacentem
Nerea diversis servit sua terra fenestris:            75

The glory of Thebes and of the Getic plectrum yield to you:
and you move rocks, and high groves follow you.
    What shall I tell of the old forms in wax and bronze?
if the colours of Apelles delight to seem alive,
if still the admirable, yet empty, Pisaean            65
Phidian hands have scraped away that which by the art of Myron
or of Polyclitus was commanded to live in heaven,
and bronzes and Isthmian gold are preferred to embers,
the faces of leaders and of seers and of the wise of old,
70
free from anxieties and with a mind by virtue made calm    Why should I turn over a thousand
roofs and the alternations of places to be visited? Each has its pleasure
and its sea proper to every chamber, and across the lying75

haec videt Inarimen, illinc Prochyta aspera paret;
armiger hac magni patet Hectoris, inde malignum
aera respirat pelago circumflua Nesis;
inde vagis omen felix Euploea carinis,
quaeque ferit curvos exerta Megalia fluctus;            80
angitur et domino contra recubante proculque
Surrentina tuus spectat praetoria Limon.
una tamen cunctis procul eminet una diaetis,
quae tibi Parthenopen derecto limite ponti
ingerit: hic Grais penitus delecta metallis            85
saxa; quot Eoae respergit vena Syenes,
Synnade quot maesta Phrygiae fodere secures
per Cybeles lugentis agros, ubi marmore picto
candida purpureo distinguitur area gyro;
hic et Amyclaei caesum de monte Lycurgi             90
quod viret et molles imitatur rupibus herbas;
hic Nomadum lucent flaventia saxa Thasosque
et Chios et gaudens fluctus spectare Carystos:
omnia Chalcidicas turres obversa salutant.
macte animo quod Graia probas, quod Graia frequentas            95

this beholds Inarim, that way rugged Prochyta yields;
here lies the armor-bearer of great Hector, there the sea-breathed
malignant airs of Nesis blow around the waters;
thence the lucky omen of Euploea wanders on shifting keels,
and Megalia lashes the curved waves with her outstretched flank;            80
and, pressed close by her master and lying back at a distance,
your praetorial Limon of Surrentum looks on.
Yet one hill alone rises distinguished above all the dwellings,
which Parthenope into the open sea casts on a straight boundary:
here, wholly chosen for Greek mines, are rocks;            85
as many as the Eastern spring sprinkles Syene with veins,
as many as Synnada mournful Phrygia strikes with the axe
through the fields of grieving Cybele, where a courtyard
white with painted marble is marked with purple whirls;
here too that wood of Amyclae felled from Lycurgus’ mount             90
which greens and imitates soft herbs on the rocks;
here the shining yellow stones of the Nomads and Thasos
and Chios, and joyful Carystos beholding the waves:
all the turrets of Chalcis greet one another face to face.
Rejoice in spirit in what is Greek you approve, what is Greek you frequent            95

arva, nec invideant quae te genuere Dicarchi
moenia: nos docto melius potiemur alumno.
    Quid nunc ruris opes pontoque novalia dicam
iniecta et madidas Baccheo nectare rupes?
saepe per autumnum iam pubescente Lyaeo            100
conscendit scopulos noctisque occulta sub umbra
palmite maturo rorantia lumina tersit
Nereis et dulces rapuit de collibus uvas.
saepe et vicino sparsa est vindemia fluctu,
et Satyri cecidere vadis, nudamque per undas            105
Dorida montani cupierunt prendere Panes.
    Sis felix, tellus, dominis ambobus in annos
Mygdonii Pyliique senis nec nobile mutes
servitium, nec te cultu Tirynthia vincat
aula Dicarcheique sinus, nec saepius isti            110

fields, and may the walls that the Dicarchi begot you not envy you:
we shall possess them better with a learned pupil.
    What now shall I tell of the riches of the countryside and of fallows thrown into the sea
and of rocks drenched with Bacchic nectar?
often through autumn, with Lyaeus now waxing            100
she would climb the crags, and in the night's secret shade
wipe her dew-wet eyes with a ripe vine-branchoften the vintage itself was scattered by the neighboring wave,
and Satyrs fell into the shoals, and Doric hill-men desired to seize Panes naked through the waves            105
    Be fortunate, earth, to both your masters for years:
do not change your noble servitude to the old men Mygdon and Pylius,
nor let the Tirynthian court bind you by its cultivation
and the Dicarchic bay, nor more often to that            110

blanda Therapnaei placent vineta Galesi.
hic ubi Pierias exercet Pollius artes,
seu volvit monitus quos dat Gargettius auctor,
seu nostram quatit ille chelyn, seu dissona nectit
carmina, sive minax ultorem stringit iambon:            115
hinc levis e scopulis meliora ad carmina Siren
advolat, hinc motis audit Tritonia cristis.
tunc rapidi ponunt flatus, maria ipsa vetantur
obstrepere, emergunt pelago doctamque trahuntur
ad chelyn et blandi scopulis delphines aderrant.            120
    Vive, Midae gazis et Lydo ditior auro,
Troica et Euphratae supra diademata felix,
quem non ambigui fasces, non mobile vulgus,
non leges, non castra terent; qui pectore magno
spemque metumque domas voto sublimior omni,             125
exemptus fatis indignantemque refellens
Fortunam; dubio quem non in turbine rerum
deprendet suprema dies, sed abire paratum
ac plenum vita. nos, vilis turba, caducis
deservire bonis semperque optare parati,            130

the charming vineyards of Therapnaean Galesus delight.
here where Pollius practices Pierian arts,
whether he rolls the counsels which Gargettius gives as author,
or he shakes our chelys, or he weaves discordant
songs, or, menacing, he twangs the avenging iambus:            115
from here a light wind from the rocks flies to better Siren
songs, from here Tritonian hears with ruffled crests.
then the swift blasts lie down, the seas themselves are forbidden
to roar, they rise from the deep and are drawn, taught, to the chelys
and flattering dolphins swim up to the rocks.            120
    Live, richer than Midas in treasures and Lydian gold,
blessed above Trojan and Euphratean diadems,
whom neither ambiguous fasces, nor a fickle crowd,
nor laws, nor camps wear down; who with a great heart
masters hope and fear, loftier than every wish,             125
removed from fates and refuting indignant Fortune;
whom no final day will seize in the whirl of affairs,
but ready to go and full of life. We, a worthless throng,
to serve perishable goods and always ready to desire,            130

spargimur in casus: celsa tu mentis ab arce
despicis errantes humanaque gaudia rides.
tempus erat cum te geminae suffragia terrae
diriperent, celsusque duas veherere per urbes,
inde Dicarcheis multum venerande colonis            135
hinc adscite meis, pariterque his largus et illis
ac iuvenile calens plectrique errore superbus.
at nunc discussa rerum caligine verum
aspicis. illo alii rursus iactantur in alto,
et tua securos portus placidamque quietem            140
intravit non quassa ratis. sic perge, nec umquam
emeritam in nostras puppem demitte procellas.
tuque, nurus inter longae . . .            147

we are scattered into mishaps: you from the high citadel of your mind
look down on the wandering and laugh at human joys.
there was a time when the twin votes of the earth
would rend you, and you, lofty one, were borne through two cities,
thence much venerated by Dicarchean colonists            135
hither be enrolled among my people, and equally lavish to these and to those
and youthful, hot with the error of the plectrum and proud.
but now, the mist of things having been dispersed, you see the true state.
then others again are cast upon the deep,
and your unstirred ship entered secure harbors and placid rest            140
having not been a shattered raft. Thus go on, and never
send deserved storms down upon our stern.
and you, daughter-in-law among the long . . .            147

    . . . praecordia curae,
non frontem vertere minae, sed candida semper
gaudia et in vultu curarum ignara voluptas;            150
non tibi sepositas infelix strangulat area
divitias avidique animum dispendia torquent
fenoris: expositi census et docta fruendi
temperies. non ulla deo meliore cohaerent
pectora, non alias docuit concordia mentes.            155
discite securi, quorum de pectore mixtae            143

    . . . the inmost heart by care,
not to turn your brow to threats, but always a radiant
joy, and on the face a pleasure ignorant of cares;            150
not that unhappy usury strangles hoarded riches for you
and the losses of interest twist the covetous mind;
the exposed estates and a learned temperance of enjoying
temperance. No breasts cleave to any god more fitly,
nor has concord taught other minds.            155
learn, O secure ones, whose mingled from the breast            143

in longum coiere faces sanctusque pudicae
servat amicitiae leges amor. ite per annos
saeculaque et priscae titulos praecedite famae.

torches joined together for a long time, and holy Love keeps the laws of chaste
friendship. Go through the years and the ages and precede the titles of ancient fame.

III. ARBOR ATEDII MELIORIS

CHAPTER 3. THE TREE OF ATEDIUS MELIOR

     Stat, quae perspicuas nitidi Melioris opacet
arbor aquas complexa lacus; quae robore ab imo
incurvata vadis redit inde cacumine recto
ardua, ceu mediis iterum nascatur ab undis
atque habitet vitreum tacitis radicibus amnem.            5
quid Phoebum tam parva rogem? vos dicite causas,
Naides, et faciles, satis est, date carmina Fauni.
    Nympharum tenerae fugiebant Pana catervae;
ille quidem it, cunctas tamquam velit, et tamen unam
in Pholoen. silvis haec fluminibusque sequentis            10
nunc hirtos gressus, nunc improba cornua vitat.
iamque et belligerum Iani nemus atraque Caci
rura Quirinalesque fuga suspensa per agros
Caelica tesca subit; ibi demum victa labore,
fessa metu, qua nunc placidi Melioris aperti            15

     There stands a tree, whose boughs, embracing the pellucid waters, shade the shining lake of Melior;
which, bowed by strength from the very root, returns from the depths and rises thence with a straight summit
lofty, as if born anew again from the middle of the waves
and were to dwell above the glassy river with silent roots.            5
why should I ask Phoebus about so small a matter? You tell the causes, Naiads, and easy ones suffice; give songs to the Fauns.
    Tender bands of nymphs were fleeing the throng of Pan;
he indeed goes, as though he desired them all, and yet pursues one into Pholoe. Following woods and rivers,            10
now he avoids shaggy steps, now shuns his wanton horns.
And now the warlike grove of Janus and the black fields of Cacus
and the Quirinal heights, suspended in flight across the fields,
and the Caelian [places] he enters; there at last, conquered by toil,
worn out by fear, where now the open places of placid Melior lie            15

stant sine fraude lares, flavos collegit amictus
artius et niveae posuit se margine ripae.
insequitur velox pecorum deus et sua credit
conubia; ardenti iamiam suspiria librat
pectore, iam praedae levis imminet. ecce citatos            20
advertit Diana gradus, dum per iuga septem
errat Aventinaeque legit vestigia cervae.
paenituit vidisse deam, conversaque fidas
ad comites: 'numquamne avidis arcebo rapinis
hoc petulans foedumque pecus, semperque pudici            25
decrescet mihi turba chori?' sic deinde locuta
depromit pharetra telum breve, quod neque flexis
cornibus aut solito torquet stridore, sed una
emisit contenta manu laevamque soporae
Naidos aversa fertur tetigisse sagitta.             30
illa diem pariter surgens hostemque protervum
vidit et in fontem, niveos ne panderet artus,
sic tota cum veste ruit, stagnisque sub altis
Pana sequi credens ima latus implicat alga.
quid faceret subito deceptus praedo? nec altis            35

the household gods stand without deceit, a yellow cloak
he gathered close and placed himself on the snowy margin of the bank.
The swift god of the herds follows and trusts his own
nuptials; now he balances sighs in his burning breast,
now the light spoil threatens. Lo Diana observes the pursued            20
and turns her steps, while she wanders over seven ridges
and reads the footprints of the Aventine hind.
She was ashamed to have seen the goddess, and having turned she entrusted
to her faithful companions: 'Shall I never repel this wanton herd
from greedy rapine, and will the foul crowd always and the chaste            25
of my dance diminish?' Thus having spoken she draws down
from her quiver a short shaft, which neither by bent
bows nor by its accustomed whistle is hurled, but she sent it forth
single, content in her hand, and the arrow, turned away from the slumbering
Naiads, is said to have touched them.              30
She, rising at the same time, saw the arrogant enemy
and rushed into the spring, so that she might not expose her snowy limbs;
thus with her whole robe she fell in, and under the deep pools
thinking Pan to follow, the lowest seaweed entwines her side.
What would the deceived marauder suddenly do? Nor from the depths            35

credere corpus aquis hirtae sibi conscius audet
pellis, et a tenero nandi rudis. omnia questus
immitem Bromium, stagna invida et invida tela,
primaevam visu platanum, cui longa propago
innumeraeque manus et iturus in aethera vertex,            40
deposuit iuxta vivamque adgessit harenam
optatisque aspergit aquis et talia mandat:
'vive diu nostri pignus memorabile voti,
arbor, et haec durae latebrosa cubilia nymphae
tu saltem declinis ama, preme frondibus undam.            45
illa quidem meruit, sed ne, precor, igne superno
aestuet aut dura feriatur grandine; tantum
spargere tu laticem et foliis turbare memento.
tunc ego teque diu recolam dominamque benignae
sedis et inlaesa tutabor utramque senecta,            50

the shaggy skin, conscious, dares to trust its body to the waters,
and raw from tender age at swimming. All lamenting the ruthless Bromius, the hateful pools and hateful snares,
the primeval plane‑tree at the sight, whose long offshoot
and innumerable hands and a crown about to mount the air            40
he laid down beside the living sand and sprinkled it with the desired waters
and entrusts these words: 'Live long, pledge memorable of my vow,
tree, and you at least, dwelling of the hard nymph, bow and cherish, press the wave with your foliage.            45
She indeed merited it, but I pray that she not, by heavenly fire,
be seared or be struck by harsh hail; only
remember to shed resin and to stir the water with your leaves.
Then I will long recall you and guard you both and the mistress of the kindly
seat, and both in uninjured old age I will protect.'            50

ut Iovis, ut Phoebi frondes, ut discolor umbra
populus et nostrae stupeant tua germina pinus.'
sic ait. illa dei veteres animata calores
uberibus stagnis obliquo pendula trunco
incubat atque umbris scrutatur amantibus undas. 55
sperat et amplexus, sed aquarum spiritus arcet
nec patitur tactus. tandem eluctata sub auras
libratur fundo rursusque enode cacumen
ingeniosa levat, veluti descendat in imos
stirpe lacus alia.

that the fronds of Jove, that of Phoebus, that the variegate shade
of the poplar and the shoots of our pine may marvel at your germination.'
Thus she spoke. She, enlivened by the god's ancient heats,
with her trunk hanging obliquely over the fat pools
reposes and, in loving shadows, scans the waves. 55
She hopes and embraces, but the breath of the waters keeps her off
and does not permit contact. At last, having struggled up beneath the airs

iam nec Phoebeia Nais            60
odit et exclusos invitat gurgite ramos.
    Haec tibi parva quidem genitali luce paramus
dona, sed ingenti forsan victura sub aevo.
tu cuius placido posuere in pectore sedem
blandus honos hilarisque tamen cum pondere virtus,            65

now neither the Phoebean Naiad            60
hates and entices the outcast branches with her gulf.
    These small gifts indeed we prepare for you at your natal light,
but perhaps to live on through a mighty age.
you, in whose placid breast bland honour has set a seat
and cheerful yet with weightful virtue,            65

cui nec pigra quies nec iniqua potentia nec spes
improba, sed medius per honesta et dulcia limes,
incorrupte fidem nullosque experte tumultus
et secrete, palam quod digeris ordine vitam,
idem auri facilis contemptor et optimus idem 70
comere divitias opibusque immittere lucem;
hac longum florens animi morumque iuventa
Iliacos aequare senes, et vincere persta
quos pater Elysio, genetrix quos detulit annos:
hoc illi duras exoravere sorores, 75
hoc, quae te sub teste situm fugitura tacentem
ardua magnamimi revirescet gloria Blaesi.

to whom neither slothful rest nor unjust power nor wicked hope,
but a middle boundary through honest and sweet things,
uncorrupt faith and storms experienced by none,
and privately, openly, that life which you order in sequence,
the same an easy scorner of gold and likewise the best to 70
consume riches and to thrust light into powers;
by this flourishing youth of soul and of character long may equal
the elders of Ilium, and persist to conquer those
whom father brought to Elysium, whom mother bestowed years upon:
this the hard sisters entreated for him, 75
this, she who, placed under you as witness, about to flee in silence,
great glory of Blaesus will revive the lofty spirit.

IV. PSITTACVS EIVSDEM

4. THE PARROT OF THE SAME

Psittace dux volucrum, domini facunda voluptas,
humanae sollers imitator, psittace, linguae,
quis tua tam subito praeclusit murmura fato?
hesternas, miserande, dapes moriturus inisti
nobiscum, et gratae carpentem munera mensae 5
errantemque toris mediae plus tempore noctis
vidimus. adfatus etiam meditataque verba
reddideras. at nunc aeterna silentia Lethes
ille canorus habes.

Parrot, leader of the birds, the eloquent delight of your master,
clever imitator of the human tongue, parrot, what fate so suddenly
has shut off your murmurs?
wretched one, on the morrow you, about to die, entered the banquets with us,
and plucking the grateful gifts of the table 5
and wandering among the couches through the greater part of the night
we saw you. You had even addressed us and returned contemplated words.
but now you, that melodious one, have the eternal silences of Lethe.

cedat Phaethontia vulgi
fabula: non soli celebrant sua funera cygni.            10
    At tibi quanta domus rutila testudine fulgens,
conexusque ebori virgarum argenteus ordo,
argutumque tuo stridentia limina cornu
et querulae iam sponte fores! vacat ille beatus
carcer, et augusti nusquam convicia tecti.            15

cedat Phaethontia vulgi
fabula: non soli celebrant sua funera cygni.            10
    But let the Phaethontian tale yield to the common crowd:
not only swans celebrate their own funerals.            10
    But for you, what a house gleaming with red tortoiseshell,
and a silver array of ivory-bound rods intertwined,
and thresholds shrilling at your beak’s sharp note
and the doors already complaining of their own accord! that blessed
prison stands empty, and the august roof’s reproaches are nowhere to be found.            15

    Huc doctae stipentur aves quis nobile fandi
ius natura dedit: plangat Phoebeius ales,
auditasque memor penitus demittere voces
sturnus, et Aonio versae certamine picae,
quique refert iungens iterata vocabula perdix,            20
et quae Bistonio queritur soror orba cubili:
ferte simul gemitus cognataque ducite flammis
funera, et hoc cunctae miserandum addiscite carmen:
'occidit aeriae celeberrima gloria gentis
psittacus, ille plagae viridis regnator Eoae;            25
quem non gemmata volucris Iunonia cauda
vinceret aspectu, gelidi non Phasidis ales,
nec quas umenti Numidae rapuere sub austro;
ille salutator regum nomenque locutus
Caesareum et queruli quondam vice functus amici,            30

    Here let the learned birds be marshalled who by nature were given the noble right of speaking:
let the Phoebean bird beat its breast,
and the starling, mindful, let it wholly let fall the sounds it has learned,
and the magpies, turned by Aonian contest,
and he who repeats by joining reiterated words, the partridge,            20
and she who laments, sister bereft of her Bistonian nest:
bring at once your groans and lead kin-funeral flames
and all learn this lamentable song to be pitied:
'has perished the most famed glory of the aerial race,
the parrot, that green sovereign of the eastern strand;            25
whom no gem-tailed Junoean bird would surpass in sight, nor the chill bird of Phasis,
nor those which the damp Numidian south winds carried off;
he who hailed kings and uttered the name
Caesar, and once served in the plaintive office of friend,            30

nunc conviva levis monstrataque reddere verba
tam facilis, quo tu, Melior dilecte, recluso
numquam solus eras. at non inglorius umbris
mittitur: Assyrio cineres adolentur amomo
et tenues Arabum respirant gramine plumae 35
Sicaniisque crocis; senio nec fessus inerti
scandet odoratos phoenix felicior ignes.'

Now a light guest and shown how to return words so readily
— so facile a thing, by which you, Melior, dear one, with the door unbarred
were never alone. Yet he is not sent inglorious to the shades:
his ashes are burned with Assyrian amomum,
and the delicate plumes breathe of Arab grass
and Sicilian saffron; nor, worn by inert old age,
will the phoenix, more fortunate, fail to climb the fragrant fires.

V. LEO MANSVETVS

V. LEO THE GENTLE

     Quid tibi monstrata mansuescere profuit ira?
quid scelus humanasque animo dediscere caedes
imperiumque pati et domino parere minori?
quid, quod abire domo rursusque in claustra reverti
suetus et a capta iam sponte recedere praeda            5
insertasque manus laxo dimittere morsu?
occidis, altarum vastator docte ferarum,
non grege Massylo curvaque indagine clausus,
non formidato supra venabula saltu
incitus aut caeco foveae deceptus hiatu,            10
sed victus fugiente fera. stat cardine aperto
infelix cavea, et clausas circum undique portas
hoc licuisse nefas placidi tumuere leones.
tum cunctis cecidere iubae, puduitque relatum
aspicere, et totas duxere in lumina frontes.            15

     What profit to you did rage gain from being shown how to be tamed?
what profit to unlearn crime and bloodshed in a human heart
and to endure command and obey a lesser master?
what profit, that you were wont to leave the house and return again to your bonds,
and to withdraw of your own will from booty once taken            5
and to loosen inserted hands from a slackening bite?
You perish, skilled devastator of altars and of beasts,
not enclosed by a Massylan band or by a curved net of pursuit,or deceived by a blind pit’s gape,            10
but vanquished by a beast in flight. The unhappy cage stands with its hinge open,
and the doors locked all around, and that crime was allowed, that the gentle lions rose up.
Then all their manes fell flat, and they were ashamed to look upon what had been brought low,
and they brought whole brows into the light.            15

at non te primo fusum novus obruit ictu
ille pudor: mansere animi, virtusque cadenti
a media iam morte redit, nec protinus omnes
terga dedere minae. sicut sibi conscius alti
vulneris adversum moriens it miles in hostem 20
attollitque manum et ferro labente minatur,
sic piger ille gradu solitoque exutus honore
firmat hians oculos animamque hostemque requirit.
magna tamen subiti tecum solacia leti,
victe, feres, quod te maesti populusque patresque, 25
ceu notus caderes tristi gladiator harena,
ingemuere mori; magni quod Caesaris ora
inter tot Scythicas Libycasque, e litore Rheni
et Pharia de gente feras, quas perdere vile est,
unius amissi tetigit iactura leonis.

But that shame did not, struck down at first by a new blow, overwhelm you: spirits remained, and courage, falling from the midst of death, returns, nor immediately did all the threats give up their backs. Just as a soldier, conscious of a deep wound, dying, goes at the enemy 20
and lifts his hand and, the sword dripping, threatens, so that sluggish one, stripped of his customary step and honour, steadies his gaping eyes and seeks both life and foe. Yet great consolations of sudden death you, conquered, will carry with you, namely that the sorrowful people and the fathers, as if you were a known gladiator fallen in the sad arena, groaned to die; because the faces of great Caesar, amid so many Scythian and Libyan beasts, from the shore of the Rhine and of the Pharian race—beasts whose slaughter is base—were touched by the loss of one lion.

VI. CONSOLATIO AD FLAVIVM VRSVM DE AMISSIONE PVERI DELICATI

6. CONSOLATION TO FLAVIUS URSUS ON THE LOSS OF A DELICATE BOY

     Saeve nimis, lacrimis quisquis discrimina ponis
lugendique modos. miserum est primaeva parenti
pignera surgentesque (nefas!) accendere natos;
durum et deserti praerepta coniuge partem
conclamare tori, maesta et lamenta sororum            5
et fratrum gemitus; alte haec tamen at procul intrat
altius in sensus, maioraque vulnera vincit
plaga minor. famulum (quia rerum nomina caeca
sic miscet Fortuna manu nec pectora novit),
sed famulum gemis, Vrse, pium, sed amore fideque             10
has meritum lacrimas, cui maior stemmate iuncto
libertas ex mente fuit.

     Too cruel, whoever sets limits to tears
and bounds to the modes of mourning. It is wretched
for a very young parent to inflame her pledges
and her rising children (a sacrilege!),
and harsh to cry aloud the portion of a bed deprived of its spouse,
and the sad lamentations of sisters            5
and the groans of brothers; yet these enter deeply though from afar,
they penetrate more deeply into the senses, and a lesser wound overcomes a greater plague. A servant (for Fortune thus mixes, with blind hand, the names of things and does not know hearts),
yet you bewail a servant, Ursus, a dutiful one, deserving of these tears by love and fidelity,             10
to whom, though joined to a higher lineage, liberty was native in spirit.

ne comprime fletus,
ne pudeat; rumpat frenos dolor iste diesque,
si tam dura placent, hominem gemis (heu mihi! subdo
ipse faces), hominem, Vrse, tuum, cui dulce volenti 15
servitium, cui triste nihil, qui sponte sibique
imperiosus erat. quisnam haec in funera missos
castiget luctus?

do not restrain your tears,
do not be ashamed; let that grief and those days burst the reins,
if such harsh things please, you groan for a man (ah me! I set beneath me
my very torches), a man, Vrse, your own, to whom service was sweet when willing 15
to whom nothing was grievous, who by his own will was master of himself and to himself;
who will chastise these lamentations sent to funerals?

gemit inter bella peremptum
Parthus equum, fidosque canes flevere Molossi,
et volucres habuere rogum cervusque Maronem. 20

the Parthian laments his horse slain amid wars,
and the Molossian hounds bewailed their faithful dogs,
and the birds made a funeral pyre, and the stag Maro. 20

quid, si nec famulus? vidi ipse habitusque notavi
te tantum cupientis erum, sed maior in ore
spiritus et tenero manifesti in sanguine mores.
optarent multum Graiae cuperentque Latinae
sic peperisse nurus. non talem Cressa superbum 25
callida sollicito revocavit Thesea filo,
nec Paris Oebalios talis visurus amores
rusticus invitas deiecit in aequora pinus.
non fallo aut cantus assueta licentia ducit:
vidi et adhuc video, qualem nec bella caventem 30
litore virgineo Thetis occultavit Achillen,
nec circum saevi fugientem moenia Phoebi
Troilon Haemoniae deprendit lancea dextrae.
qualis eras!

what, if not even a servant? I myself saw and marked the bearing
of you, desiring only a master, yet greater in countenance
a spirit and virtues manifest in tender blood.
much would Greek women wish and Latin women desire
that so they had borne daughters-in-law. Not such a Cretan, proud,
the cunning one recalled Theseus with a beguiling thread,
nor Paris, about to behold such Oebalian loves,
a rustic pine cast unwilling into the waters.
not, I am not mistaken, does a licence accustomed to song lead;
I saw and still see one whom neither wars, fearing the shore,
Thetis hid from Achilles on the maiden strand,
nor did Troilon of Haemonia seize, with the spear of his right hand,
the walls fleeing around the savage Phoebus.
such as you were!

procul en cunctis puerisque virisque
pulchrior et tantum domino minor! illius unus 35

Behold him afar from all, more beautiful than boys and men and only younger than his lord! his one 35

ante decor, quantum praecedit clara minores
luna faces quantumque alios premit Hesperos ignes.
non tibi femineum vultu decus oraque supra
mollis honos, qualis dubiae post crimina formae
de sexu transire iubent: torva atque virilis            40
gratia; nec petulans acies, blandique severo
igne oculi, qualis bellis iam casside, visu
Parthenopaeus erat; simplexque horrore decoro
crinis, et obsessae nondum primoque micantes
flore genae: talem Ledaeo gurgite pubem             45
educat Eurotas, teneri sic integer aevi
Elin adit primosque Iovi puer approbat annos.
nam pudor unde notae, mentis tranquillaque morum
temperies teneroque animus maturior aevo
carmine quo pandisse queam? saepe ille volentem            50
castigabat erum studioque altisque iuvabat
consiliis; tecum tristisque hilarisque nec umquam
ille suus, vultumque tuo sumebat ab ore:
dignus et Haemonium Pyladen praecedere fama
Cecropiamque fidem. sed laudum terminus esto,            55

before that beauty, as much as the bright moon surpasses lesser torches
and as much as the West-winds’ fires press down others.
No womanly grace or soft honor sits upon your face above
the sort that bids one change sex after doubts of form: a stern and manly            40
grace; nor a wanton glance, nor eyes whose charm is severe
with fire, such as Parthenopaeus once was in war, in helmet seen;
and hair plain in its dread beauty, and cheeks not yet beset, still glowing
with first bloom: thus does Eurotas rear the Ledaean youth             45
untouched in tender age; Elinus approaches him, and the boy approves
the first years of Jove. For whence praise of modesty, the calm of mind
and temperate ways and a spirit more ripe in tender years
should I be able to unfold by song? That man oft chastised the willing            50
his master, and aided with zeal and lofty counsels;
with you he was neither sad nor merry alone, nor ever wholly his,
and he took expression from your mouth: worthy too was he to surpass Pylades of Haemonian fame
and to pledge Cecropian faith. But let there be an end to praises,            55

quem fortuna sinit: non mente fidelior aegra
speravit tardi reditus Eumaeus Vlixis.
    Quis deus aut quisnam tam tristia vulnera casus
eligit? unde manus Fatis tam certa nocendi?
o quam divitiis censuque exutus opimo            60
fortior, Vrse, fores! si vel fumante ruina
ructassent dites Vesuvina incendia Locroe,
seu Pollentinos mersissent flumina saltus,
seu Lucanus Acir seu Thybridis impetus altas
in dextrum torsisset aquas, paterere serena            65
fronte deos; sive alma fidem messisque negasset
Cretaque Cyreneque et qua tibi cumque beato
larga redit Fortuna sinu.

whom fortune permits: not more faithful in mind, sick with longing, did Eumaeus hope for the tardy return of Ulysses.
What god or what fate chose such sad wounds? whence hands so sure of harming for the Fates?
O how, stripped of riches and of abundant wealth by census,60
stronger, O Urse, were your doors! if even the Vesuvian fires, rich though smoking, had belched forth ruin on Locroe,
or Pollentine rivers had swallowed the glades,
or Lucanus’ Acir or the rushes of the Thybris had turned their deep waters to the right,
let the serene ones endure the gods with calm brow; whether the kindly land denied faith and its harvests
and Crete and Cyrene and whatever broad Fortune returns to you with a blessed embrace.

sed gnara dolorum
Invidia infelix animi vitalia vidit
laedendique vias. 70

but skillful in sorrows
unhappy Envy beheld the vital things of the mind and the ways of wounding. 70

    Vitae modo carcer adultae:
nectere temptabat iuvenum pulcherrimus ille
cum tribus Eleis unam trieterida lustris.
attendit torvo tristis Rhamnusia vultu,
ac primum implevitque toros oculisque nitorem
addidit ac solito sublimius ora levavit,             75
heu! misero letale favens: seseque videndo
torsit et invidia, mortemque amplexa iacenti
iniecit nexus carpsitque immitis adunca
ora verenda manu. quinta vix Phosphoros ora
rorantem sternebat equum: iam litora duri            80
saeva, Philete, senis durumque Acheronta videbas,
quo domini clamate sono!

As if but now a prison of adult life:
that most comely of youths strove to bind
with three Eleian triennial lustrums one.
Rhamnusia, grim, bent close with a sad visage,
and first filled the couches, added brightness to the eyes
and lifted the face more proudly than her wont, 75
ah! favoring death for the wretched man: and seeing herself
she writhed with envy, and death, embraced as it lay,
threw on bonds and cruelly plucked with hooked hand
his venerable mouth. Scarce did the fifth Phosphoros spread
the dewy face and scatter light on the horse: already you saw, Philete, the savage
shores, and stern Acheron, to which cry aloud, O master, with voice!

non saevius atros
nigrasset planctu genetrix sibi saeva lacertos,
nec pater; et certe qui vidit funera frater
erubuit vinci. sed nec servilis adempto 85
ignis: odoriferos exhausit flamma Sabaeos
et Cilicum messes Phariaeque exempta volucri
cinnama et Assyrio manantes gramine sucos,
et domini fletus: hos tantum hausere favillae,
hos bibit usque rogus; nec quod tibi Setia canos 90

not more cruelly had the mother blackened her savage arms with dark lamentation,
nor the father; and certainly the brother who saw the funerals blushed to be overcome. But not even the servile fire being taken away: 85
the flame exhausted the fragrant Sabaean
and Cilician harvests and the Pharian bird‑seized
cinnamon and the juices flowing from Assyrian grass,
and the master's weeping: these only the ashes drained,
these the pyre drank continuously; nor that which to you Setian gray 90

restinxit cineres, gremio nec lubricus ossa
quod vallavit onyx, miseris acceptius umbris
quam gemitus.
Sed et ipse iuvat: quid terga dolori,
Vrse, damus? quid damna foves et pectore iniquo
vulnus amas? ubi nota reis facundia raptis? 95
quid caram crucias tam saevis luctibus umbram?
eximius licet ille animi meritusque doleri:
solvisti.

he quenched the ashes, and not the smooth onyx that enclosèd the bones in his bosom—more welcome to the miserable shades than a groan.
But he himself also gives help: why do we, Urse, yield our backs to pain? why do you cherish losses and love a wound in an unjust heart? where is eloquence known to the seized for the guilty? 95
why do you torment the dear shade with such savage griefs? though that man was eminent in spirit and worthy of sorrow: you have released him.

subit ille pios carpitque quietem
Elysiam clarosque illic fortasse parentes
invenit; aut illi per amoena silentia Lethes 100
forsan Avernales adludunt undique mixtae
Naides, obliquoque notat Proserpina vultu.
Pone, precor, questus; alium tibi Fata Phileton,
forsan et ipse dabit, moresque habitusque decoros
monstrabit gaudens similemque docebit amari.

he approaches and wins the pious peace of Elysium
and there perhaps finds his renowned parents; or there through pleasant silences the Lethe‑mixed
Avernian Naiads perhaps sport on every side
and Proserpina marks him with an oblique glance. 100
Put away, I pray, your laments; the Fates may grant you another Phileton,
perhaps he himself will give [him], and, rejoicing, will display decorous manners and bearing
and will teach that he is to be loved likewise.

VII. GENETHLIACON LVCANI AD POLLAM

7. GENETHLIACON OF LUCAN TO POLLA

     Lucani proprium diem frequentet
quisquis collibus Isthmiae Diones
docto pectora concitatus oestro
pendentis bibit ungulae liquorem.
ipsi quos penes est honor canendi,            5
vocalis citharae repertor Arcas,
et tu Bassaridum rotator Euhan,
et Paean et Hyantiae sorores
laetae purpureas novate vittas,
crinem comite, candidamque vestem            10
perfundant hederae recentiores.
docti largius evagentur amnes,
et plus Aoniae virete silvae,
et, si qua patet aut diem recepit,
sertis mollibus expleatur umbra.            15

     Let whoever, roused in his breast by the learned east-wind of the Isthmian hills,
and drinking the pendent hoof's liquor, frequent Lucan's own day.
To those on whom the honour of singing rests,            5
Arcas, discoverer of the singing cithara,
and thou, Euhan, whirler of the Bassarids,
and Paean and the Hyantian sisters
joyful, renew your purple fillets,10
fresher ivy shall pour over them.
May learned rivers flow more lavishly forth,
and may the Aonian woods grow greener still,
and, if any glade lies open or has received the day,
may it be filled with garlands soft.            15

centum Thespiacis odora lucis
stent altaria victimaeque centum,
quas Dirce lavat aut alit Cithaeron.
Lucanum canimus, favete linguis;
vestra est ista dies, favete, Musae,            20
dum qui vos geminas tulit per artes,
et vinctae pede vocis et solutae,
Romani colitur chori sacerdos.
    Felix heu nimis et beata tellus,
quae pronos Hyperionis meatus            25
summis Oceani vides in undis
stridoremque rotae cadentis audis;
quae Tritonide fertilis Athenas
unctis, Baetica, provocas trapetis:
Lucanum potes imputare terris!             30
hoc plus quam Senecam dedisse mundo
aut dulcem generasse Gallionem.
attollat refluos in astra fontes
Graio nobilior Melete Baetis;
Baetim, Mantua, provocare noli.            35

may a hundred fragrant altars of Thespian light
stand, and a hundred victims there,
which Dirce washes or Cithaeron nourishes.
We sing Lucan; be favorable with your tongues;
this day is yours, be favorable, O Muses,            20
while he who bore you through twin arts,
and bound in foot of voice and loosened,
is worshipped as priest of the Roman choir.
    O too fortunate and blessed earth,
who seest the forward courses of Hyperion            25
in the highest waves of Ocean, and hearest
the shriek of the falling wheel;
you, Baetica, fertile with Tritonian offerings,
rouse Athens with anointed rites, challenge the presses:
you can ascribe Lucan to the lands!             30
this more than giving Seneca to the world
or begetting sweet Gallio.
Let Melete, more noble than the Greek, lift her springs back into the stars
by the Baetis; Mantua, do not challenge Baetis.            35

    Natum protinus atque humum per ipsam
primo murmure dulce vagientem
blando Calliope sinu recepit.
tum primum posito remissa luctu
longos Orpheos exuit dolores            40
et dixit: 'puer o dicate Musis,
longaevos cito transiture vates,
non tu flumina nec greges ferarum
nec plectro Geticas movebis ornos,
sed septem iuga Mariumque Thybrim            45
et doctos equites et eloquente
cantu purpureum trahes senatum.
nocturnas alii Phrygum ruinas
et tardi reducis vias Vlixis
et puppem temerariam Minervae            50

    Newborn at once and wailing upon the very earth
with his first sweet murmur Calliope received him
in her gentle bosom.
then first, grief put aside and lament relaxed,
she laid aside long Orphic pains            40
and said: 'O boy, be dedicated to the Muses,
a long‑lived vates soon to pass through time,nor with the plectrum stir Getic ash‑trees,
but the seven ridges and the Marius Tiber            45
and learned horsemen and, with eloquent
song, you will draw along the purple senate.
Others will sing the nocturnal ruin of Phrygia
and the slow returnings of Ulysses' ways
and the rash prow of Minerva            50

trita vatibus orbita sequantur:
tu carus Latio memorque gentis
carmen fortior exeris togatum.
ac primum teneris adhuc in annis
ludes Hectora Thessalosque currus            55
et supplex Priami potentis aurum,
et sedes reserabis inferorum;
ingratus Nero dulcibus theatris
et noster tibi proferetur Orpheus.
dices culminibus Remi vagantis            60
infandos domini nocentis ignes.
hinc castae titulum decusque Pollae
iucunda dabis adlocutione.
mox coepta generosior iuventa
albos ossibus Italis Philippos            65

may the beaten track follow the poets:
you, dear to Latium and mindful of your gens,
shall exercise a mightier song in the toga.
and first, while yet tender in years,
you will play Hector and the Thessalian chariots            55
and (as) suppliant of powerful Priam the gold,
and you will unbolt the seats of the underworld;
ungrateful Nero to the pleasant theatres,
and our Orpheus will be brought forth for you.
you will tell on the summits of wandering Remus            60
the unspeakable fires of a harm-doing lord.
thence the title and honor of chaste Polla
you will give with a pleasing address.
Soon, in a nobler youth begun,
you will set forth white Philipps for Italic bones            65

et Pharsalica bella detonabis,
quo fulmen ducis inter arma divi,
libertate gravem pia Catonem
et gratum popularitate Magnum.
tu Pelusiaci scelus Canopi            70
deflebis pius et Pharo cruenta
Pompeio dabis altius sepulcrum.
haec primo iuvenis canes sub aevo,
ante annos Culicis Maroniani.
cedet Musa rudis ferocis Enni            75
et docti furor arduus Lucreti,
et qui per freta duxit Argonautas,
et qui corpora prima transfigurat.
quid? maius loquar: ipsa te Latinis
Aeneis venerabitur canentem.            80

and you will thunder forth the Pharsalian wars,
where the leader's thunderbolt among the arms of the divine struck,
the pious Cato, weighty with liberty,
and Magnus, pleasing in popularity.
you, pious, will bewail the crime of Pelusian Canopus            70
and will give bloody Pharos to Pompey a loftier tomb.
these things, when first a youth, you will sing beneath your years,
before the years of Maro the Culicid.
the Muse of rude, fierce Ennius will yield            75
and the lofty frenzy of learned Lucretius,
and he who led the Argonauts across the seas,
and he who first transmutes bodies.
what? shall I say more: the very Latin Aeneids will revere you singing.            80

    Nec solum dabo carminum nitorem,
sed taedis genialibus dicabo
doctam atque ingenio tuo decoram
qualem blanda Venus daretque Iuno
forma, simplicitate, comitate,            85
censu, sanguine, gratia, decore,
et vestros hymenaeon ante postes
festis cantibus ipsa personabo.
    O saevae nimium gravesque Parcae!
o numquam data longa fata summis!            90
cur plus, ardua, casibus patetis?
cur saeva vice magna non senescunt?
sic gnatum Nasamonii Tonantis
post ortus obitusque fulminatos
angusto Babylon premit sepulcro;             95
sic fixum Paridis manu trementis
Peliden Thetis horruit cadentem;
sic ripis ego murmurantis Hebri
non mutum caput Orpheos sequebar.
sic et tu (rabidi nefas tyranni!)            100

    Not only will I give the lustre of songs,
but with nuptial torches I will dedicate you,
learned and adorned by your own ingenium,
such as bland Venus and likewise Juno would grant
in form, in simplicity, in courtesy,            85
in rank, in blood, in grace, in beauty,
and before your doors I myself will celebrate your hymeneal
with festive songs I shall personate it myself.
    O Fates too savage and too heavy!
O long life never granted to the highest!            90
why do you, exalted ones, lie open to further calamities?
why do the fierce vicissitudes not age through great succession?
thus Babylon presses in a narrow tomb
the son of the Nasamonean Thunderer, after his rising and his thunder-struck death;             95
thus Thetis shuddered at the falling of the trembling Pelide, fixed by Paris' hand;
thus along the murmuring banks of the Hebrus
I followed the not-silent head of Orpheus.
thus also you (mad wicked tyrant!)            100

iussus praecipitem subire Lethen,
dum pugnas canis arduaque voce
das solacia grandibus sepulcris,
(o dirum scelus! o scelus!) tacebis.'
    Sic fata est leviterque decidentes            105
abrasit lacrimas nitente plectro.
    At tu, seu rapidum poli per axem
famae curribus arduis levatus
qua surgunt animae potentiores,
terras despicis et sepulcra rides;            110
seu pacis merito nemus reclusi
felix Elysii tenes in oris,
quo Pharsalica turba congregatur,
et te nobile carmen insonantem
Pompei comitantur et Catones;            115

ordered to descend headlong into Lethe,
while with a dog’s bark and lofty voice
you give consolations to mighty sepulchres,
(O dire crime! O crime!) you will be silent.'
    Thus was the fate, and lightly descending            105
he brushed away tears with a gleaming plectrum.
    But you, whether borne aloft upon the swift axle of heaven
by the arduous chariots of fameyou despise lands and mock tombs;            110
or, fortunate, you hold the grove of peace rightly opened
on the shores of Elysium,
where the Pharsalian throng is gathered,
and Pompeys and Catones accompany you, resounding your noble song;            115

(tu magna sacer et superbus umbra
nescis Tartaron et procul nocentum
audis verbera pallidumque visa
matris lampade respicis Neronem),
adsis lucidus, et vocante Polla            120
unum, quaeso, diem deos silentum
exores: solet hoc patere limen
ad nuptas redeuntibus maritis.
haec te non thiasis procax dolosis
falsi numinis induit figura,            125
ipsum sed colit et frequentat ipsum
imis altius insitum medullis;
at solacia vana subministrat
vultus, qui simili notatus auro
stratis praenitet incubatque somno            130

(you, great, sacred and proud shade
know you not Tartarus and from afar the guilty
hear the lashes and with your mother's pale lamp seen
do you look back upon Nero),
be present, luminous, and, Polla calling            120
one, I beg, day entreat the gods to be silent:
this threshold is wont to lie open
for husbands returning to their nuptials.
this is not the thiasus' bold deceitful
guise of a false divinity that clothes you,            125
but he himself both worships and frequents you himself,
deeper implanted in the lowest marrows;
yet a vain visage supplies consolations,
a face, marked with similar gold,
on the spread couch lies before and presses on sleep            130

securae. procul hinc abite, Mortes:
haec vitae genialis est origo.
cedat luctus atrox genisque manent
iam dulces lacrimae, dolorque festus,
quicquid fleverat ante, nunc adoret.

secure ones. away hence, Deaths:
this is the genial origin of life.
let fierce lament yield and remain
now sweet tears, and sorrow made festal,
whatever had been wept before, now adore.