Virgil: AENEID

At regina gravi iamdudum saucia cura
vulnus alit venis et caeco carpitur igni.
multa viri virtus animo multusque recursat
gentis honos; haerent infixi pectore vultus
verbaque nec placidam membris dat cura quietem. 5
postera Phoebea lustrabat lampade terras
umentemque Aurora polo dimoverat umbram,
cum sic unanimam adloquitur male sana sororem:
'Anna soror, quae me suspensam insomnia terrent!
quis novus hic nostris successit sedibus hospes, 10
quem sese ore ferens, quam forti pectore et armis!

But the queen, long since wounded by a grave care,
nourishes the wound in her veins and is consumed by a blind fire.
much of the man’s virtue returns to her mind and much the honor of his race;
his features and words cling, fixed in her breast,
nor does care grant placid rest to her limbs. 5
the next day was illumining the lands with a Phoebean lamp,
and Dawn had removed the moist shadow from the sky,
when thus, not sound of mind, she addresses her sister of one mind:
‘Anna, sister, what dreams terrify me, held in suspense!
what new guest is this who has come to our seats, 10
how he presents himself in countenance, how strong in breast and in arms!’

credo equidem, nec vana fides, genus esse deorum.
degeneres animos timor arguit. heu, quibus ille
iactatus fatis!

I indeed believe, nor is the faith vain, that his lineage is of the gods.
fear convicts degenerate spirits. alas, by what fates
he has been tossed!

quae bella exhausta canebat!
si mihi non animo fixum immotumque sederet 15

what wars, brought to the end, he was singing!
if it did not sit fixed and unmoved in my mind 15

ne cui me vinclo vellem sociare iugali,
postquam primus amor deceptam morte fefellit;
si non pertaesum thalami taedaeque fuisset,
huic uni forsan potui succumbere culpae.
Anna (fatebor enim) miseri post fata Sychaei 20
coniugis et sparsos fraterna caede penatis
solus hic inflexit sensus animumque labantem
impulit. agnosco veteris vestigia flammae.

that I would not wish to join myself to anyone with the marital bond,
after my first love deceived me, cheated by death;
if I had not grown weary of the bedchamber and the torch,
to this one fault perhaps I could have succumbed.
Anna (for I will confess) after the fates of wretched Sychaeus 20
of my husband, and my Penates spattered by a brother’s slaughter,
he alone has bent my feelings and drove my wavering spirit.
I recognize the traces of the old flame.

sed mihi vel tellus optem prius ima dehiscat
vel pater omnipotens adigat me fulmine ad umbras, 25
pallentis umbras Erebo noctemque profundam,
ante, pudor, quam te violo aut tua iura resolvo.
ille meos, primus qui me sibi iunxit, amores
abstulit; ille habeat secum servetque sepulcro.'
sic effata sinum lacrimis implevit obortis. 30

but for me, may the deepest earth gape open first,
or may the Omnipotent Father drive me with his thunderbolt to the shades, 25
the pallid shades in Erebus and the profound night,
before, O Modesty, I violate you or unloose your laws.
he who first joined me to himself has taken away my loves;
let him have them with him and keep them in the sepulcher.'
thus having spoken, she filled her bosom with tears that had arisen. 30

Anna refert: 'o luce magis dilecta sorori,
solane perpetua maerens carpere iuventa
nec dulcis natos Veneris nec praemia noris?
id cinerem aut manis credis curare sepultos?
esto: aegram nulli quondam flexere mariti, 35
non Libyae, non ante Tyro; despectus Iarbas
ductoresque alii, quos Africa terra triumphis
dives alit: placitone etiam pugnabis amori?

Anna replies: 'O sister, more dear than light,
are you alone, mourning, to waste your youth forever,
nor know sweet children nor the rewards of Venus?
do you believe that ash or buried shades care for that?
be it so: no husbands formerly swayed you in your sickness, 35
neither in Libya nor before in Tyre; Iarbas scorned,
and other leaders whom the African land, rich in triumphs,
nourishes: will you even fight against a love that is pleasing?'

nec venit in mentem quorum consederis arvis?
hinc Gaetulae urbes, genus insuperabile bello, 40
et Numidae infreni cingunt et inhospita Syrtis;
hinc deserta siti regio lateque furentes
Barcaei. quid bella Tyro surgentia dicam
germanique minas?

does it not come into mind in whose fields you have settled?
from here the Gaetulian cities, a race insuperable in war, 40
and the unbridled Numidians encircle, and the inhospitable Syrtis;
from here a region desert with thirst and the Barcaeans raging far and wide.
why should I speak of the wars rising from Tyre and your brother’s menaces?

dis equidem auspicibus reor et Iunone secunda 45

with the gods as auspices indeed I reckon, and with Juno favorable 45

hunc cursum Iliacas vento tenuisse carinas.
quam tu urbem, soror, hanc cernes, quae surgere regna
coniugio tali! Teucrum comitantibus armis
Punica se quantis attollet gloria rebus!

that the Iliac keels have held this course with the wind.
what a city, sister, you will see this to be, what kingdoms will rise
by such a marriage! With the arms of the Teucrians accompanying,
to how great things will Punic glory raise itself!

tu modo posce deos veniam, sacrisque litatis 50
indulge hospitio causasque innecte morandi,
dum pelago desaevit hiems et aquosus Orion,
quassataeque rates, dum non tractabile caelum.'

only ask the gods for pardon, and, the sacred rites having been duly offered, 50
indulge hospitality and weave causes for delaying,
while the storm rages on the sea and watery Orion,
and the ships are battered, while the sky is not tractable.'

His dictis impenso animum flammavit amore
spemque dedit dubiae menti solvitque pudorem. 55
principio delubra adeunt pacemque per aras
exquirunt; mactant lectas de more bidentis
legiferae Cereri Phoeboque patrique Lyaeo,
Iunoni ante omnis, cui vincla iugalia curae.
ipsa tenens dextra pateram pulcherrima Dido 60
candentis vaccae media inter cornua fundit,
aut ante ora deum pinguis spatiatur ad aras,
instauratque diem donis, pecudumque reclusis
pectoribus inhians spirantia consulit exta.
heu, vatum ignarae mentes!

With these words she inflamed her mind with lavish love,
and gave hope to her doubtful mind and loosed her modesty. 55
to begin, they approach the shrines and seek peace through the altars;
they sacrifice, according to custom, chosen bidental victims
to law-bearing Ceres, to Phoebus, and to father Lyaeus,
to Juno before all, to whom the yoke-bonds of marriage are a care.
she herself, most beautiful Dido, holding a patera in her right hand, 60
pours a libation between the mid horns of a gleaming white cow,
or before the faces of the gods she walks to the rich altars,
and she renews the day with gifts, and, the breasts of the flocks laid open,
gaping, she consults the breathing entrails.
alas, the minds of seers unknowing!

quid vota furentem, 65

what do vows avail the frenzied, 65

quid delubra iuvant? est mollis flamma medullas
interea et tacitum vivit sub pectore vulnus.
uritur infelix Dido totaque vagatur
urbe furens, qualis coniecta cerva sagitta,
quam procul incautam nemora inter Cresia fixit 70
pastor agens telis liquitque volatile ferrum
nescius: illa fuga silvas saltusque peragrat
Dictaeos; haeret lateri letalis harundo.

what do the shrines avail? meanwhile a soft flame eats into the marrows
and the silent wound lives beneath her breast.
unhappy Dido burns and, raging, wanders through the whole
city, like a hind shot by an arrow,
whom, incautious, a shepherd, driving with missiles, has fixed from afar amid the Cretan groves, 70
and, unknowing, has left the winged iron;
she in flight ranges through the Dictaean woods and glades;
the lethal reed clings to her side.

nunc media Aenean secum per moenia ducit
Sidoniasque ostentat opes urbemque paratam, 75
incipit effari mediaque in voce resistit;
nunc eadem labente die convivia quaerit,
Iliacosque iterum demens audire labores
exposcit pendetque iterum narrantis ab ore.
post ubi digressi, lumenque obscura vicissim 80

now she leads Aeneas with her through the midst of the walls
and displays Sidonian opulence and the city prepared, 75
she begins to speak and halts in mid-utterance;
now, as the day slips, she seeks the same banquets,
and, mad, again demands to hear the Iliac labors
and hangs again upon the narrator’s lips.
afterward, when they have parted, and in turn the darkness veils the light 80

luna premit suadentque cadentia sidera somnos,
sola domo maeret vacua stratisque relictis
incubat. illum absens absentem auditque videtque,
aut gremio Ascanium genitoris imagine capta
detinet, infandum si fallere possit amorem. 85
non coeptae adsurgunt turres, non arma iuventus
exercet portusve aut propugnacula bello
tuta parant: pendent opera interrupta minaeque
murorum ingentes aequataque machina caelo.

The moon presses, and the falling stars persuade slumbers,
alone in the house she mourns and broods upon the empty couches left behind.
though absent, she both hears and sees him absent,
or she holds Ascanius in her lap, captivated by the likeness of his begetter,
if she might be able to beguile the unspeakable love. 85
the towers begun do not rise, the youth do not exercise arms
nor do they make ready harbors or ramparts safe for war:
the works hang interrupted, and the huge menaces of the walls
and the machine made level with the sky.

Quam simul ac tali persensit peste teneri 90
cara Iovis coniunx nec famam obstare furori,
talibus adgreditur Venerem Saturnia dictis:
'egregiam vero laudem et spolia ampla refertis
tuque puerque tuus (magnum et memorabile numen),
una dolo divum si femina victa duorum est. 95
nec me adeo fallit veritam te moenia nostra
suspectas habuisse domos Karthaginis altae.
sed quis erit modus, aut quo nunc certamine tanto?
quin potius pacem aeternam pactosque hymenaeos
exercemus?

As soon as the dear spouse of Jove perceived that she was held by such a pestilence, 90
and that report did not stand in the way of the frenzy, the Saturnian addresses Venus with such words:
'Truly fine praise and ample spoils you and your boy (a great and memorable numen) bring back,
if a woman has been conquered by the guile of two gods acting as one. 95
Nor does it at all escape me that, in fear, you have held our walls and the homes of lofty Carthage suspect.
But what will be the measure, or to what end now in such great a contest?
Why do we not rather establish eternal peace and covenanted hymeneals?
let us pursue it?

habes tota quod mente petisti: 100

you have what you sought with your whole mind: 100

ardet amans Dido traxitque per ossa furorem.
communem hunc ergo populum paribusque regamus
auspiciis; liceat Phrygio servire marito
dotalisque tuae Tyrios permittere dextrae.'

Dido, loving, burns and has drawn the fury through her bones.
therefore let us rule this people in common and with equal auspices;
let her be permitted to serve a Phrygian husband
and to entrust the Tyrians, as dowry, to your right hand.'

Olli (sensit enim simulata mente locutam, 105
quo regnum Italiae Libycas averteret oras)
sic contra est ingressa Venus: 'quis talia demens
abnuat aut tecum malit contendere bello?
si modo quod memoras factum fortuna sequatur.
sed fatis incerta feror, si Iuppiter unam 110
esse velit Tyriis urbem Troiaque profectis,
miscerive probet populos aut foedera iungi.

To her (for she sensed that she had spoken with a feigned mind, 105
to divert the kingdom of Italy to Libyan shores) thus in counter Venus entered: 'who, demented, would refuse such things or choose rather to contend with you in war?
if only Fortune should follow upon the deed which you recount.
but I am borne uncertain by the Fates, whether Jupiter wills one city to be for the Tyrians and for those who have set out from Troy, 110
or approves that the peoples be mixed or that treaties be joined.

tu coniunx, tibi fas animum temptare precando.
perge, sequar.' tum sic excepit regia Iuno:
'mecum erit iste labor. nunc qua ratione quod instat 115

you are his consort; to you it is right to try his mind by entreaty.
go on, I will follow.' then regal Juno thus took it up:
'with me shall be that labor. now by what method that which is imminent 115

confieri possit, paucis (adverte) docebo.
venatum Aeneas unaque miserrima Dido
in nemus ire parant, ubi primos crastinus ortus
extulerit Titan radiisque retexerit orbem.
his ego nigrantem commixta grandine nimbum, 120
dum trepidant alae saltusque indagine cingunt,
desuper infundam et tonitru caelum omne ciebo.

how it can be brought to pass, in a few words (pay attention) I will teach.
to hunt Aeneas and most wretched Dido together
are preparing to go into the grove, when tomorrow’s dawn
shall have brought forth its first risings and Titan with his rays shall have revealed the orb.
upon these a black cloud, mingled with hail, 120
while the wings are in a flutter and the glades are girded with a ring of toils,
from above I will pour in, and I will rouse all the sky with thunder.

diffugient comites et nocte tegentur opaca:
speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem
devenient. adero et, tua si mihi certa voluntas, 125
conubio iungam stabili propriamque dicabo.
hic hymenaeus erit.' non adversata petenti
adnuit atque dolis risit Cytherea repertis.

the companions will scatter and be covered by dark night:
Dido the leader and the Trojan will come down to the same cave.
I shall be present, and, if your will is certain to me, 125
I will join them in a stable connubium and dedicate her as his own.
‘Here will be the wedding.’ Not opposing the one asking,
Cytherea nodded assent and smiled at the tricks discovered.

Oceanum interea surgens Aurora reliquit.
it portis iubare exorto delecta iuventus, 130
retia rara, plagae, lato venabula ferro,
Massylique ruunt equites et odora canum vis.
reginam thalamo cunctantem ad limina primi
Poenorum exspectant, ostroque insignis et auro
stat sonipes ac frena ferox spumantia mandit. 135
tandem progreditur magna stipante caterva
Sidoniam picto chlamydem circumdata limbo;
cui pharetra ex auro, crines nodantur in aurum,
aurea purpuream subnectit fibula vestem.

Meanwhile rising Dawn left the Ocean.
with the radiance arisen the chosen youth goes forth from the gates, 130
loose-meshed nets, toils, hunting-spears with broad iron,
the Massylian horsemen rush, and the keen-scented force of hounds.
the foremost of the Phoenicians await the queen, delaying in her chamber, at the thresholds,
and a steed, distinguished by purple and gold, stands and, fierce, champs the foaming bits. 135
at length she advances, with a great throng crowding about,
enfolded in a Sidonian cloak with a pictured hem;
she has a quiver of gold, her hair is knotted into gold,
a golden fibula fastens the purple garment.

nec non et Phrygii comites et laetus Iulus 140

and likewise the Phrygian companions and joyful Iulus 140

incedunt. ipse ante alios pulcherrimus omnis
infert se socium Aeneas atque agmina iungit.
qualis ubi hibernam Lyciam Xanthique fluenta
deserit ac Delum maternam invisit Apollo
instauratque choros, mixtique altaria circum 145
Cretesque Dryopesque fremunt pictique Agathyrsi;
ipse iugis Cynthi graditur mollique fluentem
fronde premit crinem fingens atque implicat auro,
tela sonant umeris: haud illo segnior ibat
Aeneas, tantum egregio decus enitet ore.

they advance. he himself, before the others, most beautiful of all, puts himself forward as a comrade, Aeneas, and joins the ranks.
just as when Apollo leaves wintry Lycia and the streams of the Xanthus and visits his mother Delos and renews the choruses, and, mingled, around the altars the Cretans and the Dryopes and the painted Agathyrsi roar; 145
he himself strides on the ridges of Cynthus and with soft foliage presses his flowing hair, shaping it and entwining it with gold; his weapons sound on his shoulders: not slower than him was Aeneas going, so much splendor shines on his distinguished countenance.

150
postquam altos ventum in montis atque invia lustra,
ecce ferae saxi deiectae vertice caprae
decurrere iugis; alia de parte patentis
transmittunt cursu campos atque agmina cervi
pulverulenta fuga glomerant montisque relinquunt. 155

150
after they come into the high mountains and the pathless lairs,
lo, wild she-goats, cast down from the summit of a rock, speed down the ridges;
from another side others cross at a run the open fields,
and the ranks of stags mass in dusty flight and leave the mountains. 155

at puer Ascanius mediis in vallibus acri
gaudet equo iamque hos cursu, iam praeterit illos,
spumantemque dari pecora inter inertia votis
optat aprum, aut fulvum descendere monte leonem.

but the boy Ascanius in the midst of the vales rejoices in his keen horse,
and now these at a run, now he passes those,
and with vows he longs that a foaming boar be given among the inert herds,
or that a fulvous lion descend from the mountain.

Interea magno misceri murmure caelum               160
incipit, insequitur commixta grandine nimbus,
et Tyrii comites passim et Troiana iuventus
Dardaniusque nepos Veneris diversa per agros
tecta metu petiere; ruunt de montibus amnes.
speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem               165
deveniunt. prima et Tellus et pronuba Iuno
dant signum; fulsere ignes et conscius aether
conubiis summoque ulularunt vertice Nymphae.
ille dies primus leti primusque malorum
causa fuit; neque enim specie famave movetur               170

Meanwhile the sky begins to be mixed with a great murmuring               160
and a storm-cloud follows, commingled with hail; and the Tyrian companions everywhere and the Trojan youth,
and the Dardanian grandson of Venus, sought shelters in fear here and there through the fields;
torrents rush down from the mountains. To the selfsame cavern Dido and the Trojan leader
come down. Earth first, and Juno as brideswoman,              165
give the signal; fires flashed, and the aether, conscious of the wedlock,
and the Nymphs ululated on the highest summit.
That day was the first cause of death and first of misfortunes;
for neither by appearance nor by rumor is she moved.               170

nec iam furtivum Dido meditatur amorem:
coniugium vocat, hoc praetexit nomine culpam.

Nor now does Dido meditate a furtive love:
she calls it marriage; with this name she cloaks her fault.

Extemplo Libyae magnas it Fama per urbes,
Fama, malum qua non aliud velocius ullum:
mobilitate viget virisque adquirit eundo,               175
parva metu primo, mox sese attollit in auras
ingrediturque solo et caput inter nubila condit.
illam Terra parens ira inritata deorum
extremam, ut perhibent, Coeo Enceladoque sororem
progenuit pedibus celerem et pernicibus alis,               180
monstrum horrendum, ingens, cui quot sunt corpore plumae,
tot vigiles oculi subter (mirabile dictu),
tot linguae, totidem ora sonant, tot subrigit auris.
nocte volat caeli medio terraeque per umbram
stridens, nec dulci declinat lumina somno;               185

At once Rumor goes through the great cities of Libya,
Rumor, than which no other evil is swifter:
she thrives by mobility and acquires strength by going,               175
small at first from fear, soon she lifts herself into the breezes
and strides upon the soil and hides her head among the clouds.
Her the Earth, mother, irritated by the wrath of the gods,
bore last, as they report, sister to Coeus and Enceladus,
swift in feet and with nimble wings,               180
a monster horrendous, huge; to whom as many feathers as there are on her body,
so many watchful eyes beneath (wondrous to say),
so many tongues, just so many mouths resound, so many ears she pricks up.
By night she flies, screeching, through the shadow between sky and earth,
nor does she lower her eyes to sweet sleep;               185

luce sedet custos aut summi culmine tecti
turribus aut altis, et magnas territat urbes,
tam ficti pravique tenax quam nuntia veri.
haec tum multiplici populos sermone replebat
gaudens, et pariter facta atque infecta canebat: 190
venisse Aenean Troiano sanguine cretum,
cui se pulchra viro dignetur iungere Dido;
nunc hiemem inter se luxu, quam longa, fovere
regnorum immemores turpique cupidine captos.
haec passim dea foeda virum diffundit in ora. 195
protinus ad regem cursus detorquet Iarban
incenditque animum dictis atque aggerat iras.

By daylight she sits as a guardian either on the summit of the highest roof
or on tall towers, and she terrifies great cities,
as tenacious of fiction and depravity as a messenger of truth.
then she was filling peoples with manifold speech,
rejoicing, and she sang alike of things done and undone: 190
that Aeneas had come, sprung from Trojan blood,
to whom, as a husband, fair Dido deigns to join herself;
now they cherish the winter between them in luxury, however long it is,
unmindful of their kingdoms and seized by shameful cupidity.
these things the foul goddess diffuses everywhere into the mouths of men. 195
straightway she deflects her course to King Iarbas
and with her words she inflames his spirit and heaps up his wraths.

Hic Hammone satus rapta Garamantide nympha
templa Iovi centum latis immania regnis,
centum aras posuit vigilemque sacraverat ignem,         200
excubias divum aeternas, pecudumque cruore
pingue solum et variis florentia limina sertis.
isque amens animi et rumore accensus amaro
dicitur ante aras media inter numina divum
multa Iovem manibus supplex orasse supinis:               205
'Iuppiter omnipotens, cui nunc Maurusia pictis
gens epulata toris Lenaeum libat honorem,
aspicis haec? an te, genitor, cum fulmina torques
nequiquam horremus, caecique in nubibus ignes
terrificant animos et inania murmura miscent?               210

Here, sired by Hammon from a ravished Garamantian nymph,
he set up to Jove a hundred temples in his broad realms, vast,
a hundred altars he established and had consecrated the wakeful fire,         200
the eternal watches of the gods; and the soil was rich with the blood of herd-beasts,
and the thresholds blooming with varied garlands.
And he, frenzied in mind and inflamed by the bitter rumor,
is said, before the altars amid the presences of the gods,
as a suppliant with upturned hands, to have prayed many things to Jove:
               205
'Jupiter all-powerful, to whom now the Maurusian race,
having feasted on painted couches, pours a Lenaean honor,
do you behold these things? Or you, father, when you hurl your thunderbolts,
do we shudder in vain, and do blind fires in the clouds
terrify our spirits and mingle empty murmurs?'               210

femina, quae nostris errans in finibus urbem
exiguam pretio posuit, cui litus arandum
cuique loci leges dedimus, conubia nostra
reppulit ac dominum Aenean in regna recepit.
et nunc ille Paris cum semiviro comitatu, 215
Maeonia mentum mitra crinemque madentem
subnexus, rapto potitur: nos munera templis
quippe tuis ferimus famamque fovemus inanem.'

a woman who, wandering within our borders, set a scanty city for a price,
to whom we gave a shore to be ploughed and to whom we gave the laws of the place,
has rejected our connubial union and received lord Aeneas into her realms.
and now that Paris, with his half-man retinue, 215
fastened beneath the chin with a Maeonian mitre and his dripping hair,
enjoys the rapine: while we indeed bear gifts to your temples and foster an inane fame.'

Talibus orantem dictis arasque tenentem
audiit Omnipotens, oculosque ad moenia torsit               220
regia et oblitos famae melioris amantis.
tum sic Mercurium adloquitur ac talia mandat:
'vade age, nate, voca Zephyros et labere pennis
Dardaniumque ducem, Tyria Karthagine qui nunc
exspectat fatisque datas non respicit urbes,               225
adloquere et celeris defer mea dicta per auras.
non illum nobis genetrix pulcherrima talem
promisit Graiumque ideo bis vindicat armis;
sed fore qui gravidam imperiis belloque frementem
Italiam regeret, genus alto a sanguine Teucri               230

As he prayed with such words and was holding the altars,
the Omnipotent heard, and turned his eyes toward the royal walls and the lovers forgetful of better fame.               220
Then thus he addresses Mercury and gives such mandates:
'Go, come now, my son, call the Zephyrs and glide on your pinions,
and speak to the Dardanian leader, who now in Tyrian Carthage
waits and does not regard the cities granted by the Fates,               225
address him and carry down my words swiftly through the breezes.
Not such a one did his most beautiful mother promise to us
and for that reason twice deliver from the arms of the Greeks;
but that he would rule Italy, big with empires and roaring with war,
the Teucrian race from lofty blood               230

proderet, ac totum sub leges mitteret orbem.
si nulla accendit tantarum gloria rerum
nec super ipse sua molitur laude laborem,
Ascanione pater Romanas invidet arces?
quid struit?

would bring forth, and would put the whole orb under laws.
if the glory of such great things inflames him not,
nor moreover does he himself toil at a labor for his own praise,
does the father begrudge Ascanius the Roman citadels?
what does he contrive?

aut qua spe inimica in gente moratur 235
nec prolem Ausoniam et Lavinia respicit arva?
naviget! haec summa est, hic nostri nuntius esto.'

or with what hope does he linger among a hostile people 235
nor regard the Ausonian progeny and the Lavinian fields?
let him sail! this is the sum; let this be our message.'

Dixerat. ille patris magni parere parabat
imperio; et primum pedibus talaria nectit
aurea, quae sublimem alis sive aequora supra 240
seu terram rapido pariter cum flamine portant.
tum virgam capit: hac animas ille evocat Orco
pallentis, alias sub Tartara tristia mittit,
dat somnos adimitque, et lumina morte resignat.

He had spoken. He for his great father’s command was preparing to obey;
and first he fastens to his feet the golden talaria,
which on wings bear him aloft whether above the seas 240
or the land, equally with the rushing blast. Then he takes his wand: with this he calls forth
from Orcus the pale souls, sends others down beneath to gloomy Tartarus,
he gives sleep and takes it away, and with death he unseals the eyes.

illa fretus agit ventos et turbida tranat 245
nubila. iamque volans apicem et latera ardua cernit
Atlantis duri caelum qui vertice fulcit,
Atlantis, cinctum adsidue cui nubibus atris
piniferum caput et vento pulsatur et imbri,
nix umeros infusa tegit, tum flumina mento 250

Relying on that, he drives the winds and swims through the turbulent 245
clouds. And now, flying, he discerns the apex and the steep flanks
of Atlas the dour, who with his summit supports the sky,
of Atlas, whose pine-bearing head, continually girdled with dark clouds,
is beaten by wind and by rain; snow, poured in, covers his shoulders,
then streams from his chin 250

praecipitant senis, et glacie riget horrida barba.
hic primum paribus nitens Cyllenius alis
constitit; hinc toto praeceps se corpore ad undas
misit avi similis, quae circum litora, circum
piscosos scopulos humilis volat aequora iuxta. 255
haud aliter terras inter caelumque volabat
litus harenosum ad Libyae, ventosque secabat
materno veniens ab avo Cyllenia proles.
ut primum alatis tetigit magalia plantis,
Aenean fundantem arces ac tecta novantem 260
conspicit.

they rush headlong from the old man’s chin, and his bristling beard is rigid with ice.
here first, the Cyllenian, poised upon paired wings,
took his stand; from here headlong with his whole body toward the waves
he launched himself, like a bird which around the shores, around
fish-rich crags flies low close beside the waters. 255
not otherwise he was flying between earth and sky
toward the sandy shore of Libya, and he was cleaving the winds,
the Cyllenian offspring coming from his maternal grandsire.
as soon as with winged soles he touched the huts,
he beholds Aeneas founding citadels and renewing roofs. 260

atque illi stellatus iaspide fulva
ensis erat Tyrioque ardebat murice laena
demissa ex umeris, dives quae munera Dido
fecerat, et tenui telas discreverat auro.
continuo invadit: 'tu nunc Karthaginis altae 265

and on him was, starred with tawny jasper,
a sword; and a cloak blazed with Tyrian murex,
let down from his shoulders—rich gifts which Dido
had made, and had picked out the webs with fine gold.
immediately he assails him: 'you now of lofty Carthage 265

fundamenta locas pulchramque uxorius urbem
exstruis? heu, regni rerumque oblite tuarum!
ipse deum tibi me claro demittit Olympo
regnator, caelum et terras qui numine torquet,
ipse haec ferre iubet celeris mandata per auras: 270
quid struis?

are you laying foundations and, uxorious, constructing a beautiful city? alas, forgetful of your kingdom and of your affairs! the ruler of the gods himself sends me down to you from bright Olympus, he who by his numen turns heaven and earth, he himself bids me carry these commands through the swift airs: 270
what are you contriving?

aut qua spe Libycis teris otia terris?
si te nulla movet tantarum gloria rerum
[nec super ipse tua moliris laude laborem,]
Ascanium surgentem et spes heredis Iuli
respice, cui regnum Italiae Romanaque tellus 275
debetur.' tali Cyllenius ore locutus
mortalis visus medio sermone reliquit
et procul in tenuem ex oculis evanuit auram.

or with what hope do you wear away idleness on Libyan lands?
if the glory of so great affairs moves you not,
[nor moreover do you yourself undertake toil for your own praise,]
look to Ascanius rising and the hopes of the heir, Iulus,
to whom the kingdom of Italy and the Roman land is owed.' 275
having spoken thus with such words, the Cyllenian,
appearing mortal, left in mid-discourse
and far off vanished from sight into thin air.

At vero Aeneas aspectu obmutuit amens,
arrectaeque horrore comae et vox faucibus haesit. 280
ardet abire fuga dulcisque relinquere terras,
attonitus tanto monitu imperioque deorum.
heu quid agat? quo nunc reginam ambire furentem
audeat adfatu?

But indeed Aeneas, at the sight, was struck dumb, out of his mind,
and his hair stood on end with horror and his voice stuck in his throat. 280
he burns to depart in flight and to leave the sweet lands,
thunderstruck by so great a monition and command of the gods.
alas, what is he to do? with what address now should he dare to approach the raging queen
by what speech?

quae prima exordia sumat?
atque animum nunc huc celerem nunc dividit illuc 285
in partisque rapit varias perque omnia versat.
haec alternanti potior sententia visa est:
Mnesthea Sergestumque vocat fortemque Serestum,
classem aptent taciti sociosque ad litora cogant,
arma parent et quae rebus sit causa novandis 290

what first exordium should he take up?
and now he divides his swift mind here, now there 285
into various parts he snatches it and turns it through all things.
to him, wavering, this counsel seemed weightier:
He calls Mnestheus and Sergestus and brave Serestus,
that they silently fit out the fleet and marshal the comrades to the shores,
prepare arms, and what may be the cause for renewing affairs 290

dissimulent; sese interea, quando optima Dido
nesciat et tantos rumpi non speret amores,
temptaturum aditus et quae mollissima fandi
tempora, quis rebus dexter modus. ocius omnes
imperio laeti parent et iussa facessunt. 295

let them dissemble; he meanwhile, since most excellent Dido
does not know and does not hope that such great loves are being broken,
will try approaches and what times are most soft for speaking,
what right method for the matters. Swiftly all, glad at the command,
obey and fulfill the orders. 295

At regina dolos (quis fallere possit amantem?)
praesensit, motusque excepit prima futuros
omnia tuta timens. eadem impia Fama furenti
detulit armari classem cursumque parari.
saevit inops animi totamque incensa per urbem 300
bacchatur, qualis commotis excita sacris
Thyias, ubi audito stimulant trieterica Baccho
orgia nocturnusque vocat clamore Cithaeron.

But the queen sensed in advance the deceits (who could beguile a lover?), and was first to catch the coming movements, fearing everything though all was safe. That same impious Fame, while she raged, brought word that the fleet was being armed and a course made ready. She rages, bereft of mind, and, inflamed, through the whole city she Bacchic-raves, like a Thyiad stirred by shaken sacred rites, when the trieteric orgies, Bacchus being heard, spur her on, and nocturnal Cithaeron calls her with shouting.
saevit inops animi totamque incensa per urbem 300

tandem his Aenean compellat vocibus ultro:
'dissimulare etiam sperasti, perfide, tantum 305
posse nefas tacitusque mea decedere terra?
nec te noster amor nec te data dextera quondam
nec moritura tenet crudeli funere Dido?
quin etiam hiberno moliri sidere classem
et mediis properas Aquilonibus ire per altum, 310

at last she addresses Aeneas with these words of her own accord:
'did you even hope, perfidious one, to dissimulate so great a nefarious deed 305
and to depart from my land in silence? does neither our love hold you, nor the right hand once given,
nor Dido, who is destined to die by a cruel death? nay even do you set the fleet in motion under a wintry
constellation and hasten to go through the deep amid the North Winds, 310

crudelis? quid, si non arva aliena domosque
ignotas peteres, et Troia antiqua maneret,
Troia per undosum peteretur classibus aequor?
mene fugis?

cruel one? What, if you were not seeking foreign fields and unknown homes,
and ancient Troy still remained, would Troy be sought by fleets across the wave-tossed sea?
Is it me you flee?

per ego has lacrimas dextramque tuam te
(quando aliud mihi iam miserae nihil ipsa reliqui), 315
per conubia nostra, per inceptos hymenaeos,
si bene quid de te merui, fuit aut tibi quicquam
dulce meum, miserere domus labentis et istam,
oro, si quis adhuc precibus locus, exue mentem.
te propter Libycae gentes Nomadumque tyranni 320
odere, infensi Tyrii; te propter eundem
exstinctus pudor et, qua sola sidera adibam,
fama prior. cui me moribundam deseris hospes
(hoc solum nomen quoniam de coniuge restat)?
quid moror?

by these tears and by your right hand, I beg you
(since I, wretched, have now left to myself nothing else), 315
by our connubials, by the hymeneals begun,
if in anything I have merited well of you, or if anything
of mine was sweet to you, have mercy on a house slipping, and that
purpose of yours, I pray, if there is still any place for prayers, put off.
because of you the Libyan peoples and the tyrants of the Nomads 320
hate me, the Tyrians are hostile; because of you this same
my modesty is extinguished and my prior fame, by which alone I used to approach the stars.
to whom do you, guest, abandon me, dying
(since this name alone remains from “spouse”)?
why do I delay?

an mea Pygmalion dum moenia frater 325

or while my brother Pygmalion assails my walls 325

destruat aut captam ducat Gaetulus Iarbas?
saltem si qua mihi de te suscepta fuisset
ante fugam suboles, si quis mihi parvulus aula
luderet Aeneas, qui te tamen ore referret,
non equidem omnino capta ac deserta viderer.' 330

or shall Gaetulian Iarbas destroy me or lead me captive?
at least if any offspring from you had been conceived for me
before the flight, if some little Aeneas were playing for me in the palace
who would at least recall you in his face,
I would not indeed seem altogether captured and deserted.' 330

Dixerat. ille Iovis monitis immota tenebat
lumina et obnixus curam sub corde premebat.
tandem pauca refert: 'ego te, quae plurima fando
enumerare vales, numquam, regina, negabo
promeritam, nec me meminisse pigebit Elissae 335
dum memor ipse mei, dum spiritus hos regit artus.

She had spoken. He, by Jupiter’s monitions, held his eyes unmoved and, straining, pressed the care down beneath his heart.
at last he relates a few words: ‘I will never, O queen, deny you to have deserved the very many things which you are able to enumerate in speech,
nor will I be loath to remember Elissa 335
so long as I am mindful of myself, so long as spirit rules these limbs.’

pro re pauca loquar. neque ego hanc abscondere furto
speravi (ne finge) fugam, nec coniugis umquam
praetendi taedas aut haec in foedera veni.
me si fata meis paterentur ducere vitam 340
auspiciis et sponte mea componere curas,
urbem Troianam primum dulcisque meorum
reliquias colerem, Priami tecta alta manerent,
et recidiva manu posuissem Pergama victis.

for the matter I will speak a few words. nor did I hope to hide this flight by stealth (do not suppose it), nor did I ever proffer the torches of a spouse or come into these covenants.
if the fates allowed me to lead my life under my own auspices and to compose my cares of my own accord, 340
I would tend the Trojan city first and the sweet relics of my people, the high roofs of Priam would remain, and I would have set up a renewed Pergama with my own hand for the vanquished.

sed nunc Italiam magnam Gryneus Apollo, 345

but now to great Italy Grynean Apollo, 345

Italiam Lyciae iussere capessere sortes;
hic amor, haec patria est. si te Karthaginis arces
Phoenissam Libycaeque aspectus detinet urbis,
quae tandem Ausonia Teucros considere terra
invidia est? et nos fas extera quaerere regna. 350
me patris Anchisae, quotiens umentibus umbris
nox operit terras, quotiens astra ignea surgunt,
admonet in somnis et turbida terret imago;
me puer Ascanius capitisque iniuria cari,
quem regno Hesperiae fraudo et fatalibus arvis. 355
nunc etiam interpres divum Iove missus ab ipso
(testor utrumque caput) celeris mandata per auras
detulit: ipse deum manifesto in lumine vidi
intrantem muros vocemque his auribus hausi.

Italy the lots of Lycia have ordered to take up; here is love, here is fatherland. if the citadels of Carthage hold you, a Phoenician woman, and the sight of the Libyan city, what, pray, is the envy that the Teucrians settle on Ausonian land? it is fas for us too to seek foreign realms. 350
me my father Anchises, as often as night covers the lands with dewy shades, as often as the fiery stars arise, warns in dreams and frightens with his troubled image; me the boy Ascanius and the wrong to his dear person, whom I defraud of the realm of Hesperia and the fated fields. 355
now even the interpreter of the gods, sent by Jove himself (I call both heads to witness) has brought the mandates through the swift airs: I myself saw the god in manifest light entering the walls and I drank in the voice with these ears.

desine meque tuis incendere teque querelis; 360

cease inflaming me and yourself with your complaints; 360

Italiam non sponte sequor.'

I follow Italy not of my own accord.'

Talia dicentem iamdudum aversa tuetur
huc illuc volvens oculos totumque pererrat
luminibus tacitis et sic accensa profatur:
'nec tibi diva parens generis nec Dardanus auctor, 365
perfide, sed duris genuit te cautibus horrens
Caucasus Hyrcanaeque admorunt ubera tigres.
nam quid dissimulo aut quae me ad maiora reservo?
num fletu ingemuit nostro?

As he was saying such things she, long since turned away, watches him,
rolling her eyes here and there and ranges all over him
with silent eyes, and thus inflamed she speaks forth:
'Nor is a goddess the parent of your lineage nor Dardanus the founder, 365
perfidious one, but the bristling Caucasus begot you on hard crags,
and Hyrcanian tigresses pressed their teats to you.
For why do I dissemble, or to what greater things do I reserve myself?
Did he groan at my weeping?'

num lumina flexit?
num lacrimas victus dedit aut miseratus amantem est? 370
quae quibus anteferam? iam iam nec maxima Iuno
nec Saturnius haec oculis pater aspicit aequis.

Did he turn his eyes?
Did he, overcome, shed tears or did he pity the lover? 370
Which things shall I prefer to which? Now, now neither greatest Juno
nor the Saturnian father regards these things with equal eyes.

nusquam tuta fides. eiectum litore, egentem
excepi et regni demens in parte locavi.
amissam classem, socios a morte reduxi 375

nowhere is faith safe. cast out on the shore, in need,
I received you and, mindless, placed you in a part of my realm.
the fleet lost, I brought back your comrades from death 375

(heu furiis incensa feror!): nunc augur Apollo,
nunc Lyciae sortes, nunc et Iove missus ab ipso
interpres divum fert horrida iussa per auras.
scilicet is superis labor est, ea cura quietos
sollicitat. neque te teneo neque dicta refello: 380
i, sequere Italiam ventis, pete regna per undas.

(alas, set ablaze by furies I am borne along!): now the augur Apollo,
now the Lycian lots, now too the interpreter of the gods, sent by Jove himself,
bears the horrid orders through the airs.
of course that is the toil for the gods above; that care troubles the tranquil
I neither detain you nor refute your words: 380
go, follow Italy on the winds, seek the kingdoms through the waves.

spero equidem mediis, si quid pia numina possunt,
supplicia hausurum scopulis et nomine Dido
saepe vocaturum. sequar atris ignibus absens
et, cum frigida mors anima seduxerit artus, 385
omnibus umbra locis adero. dabis, improbe, poenas.

I indeed hope, if the pious divine powers can do anything,
that you will drink down penalties upon the crags and will often call Dido by name.
I will follow, absent, with black fires; and, when cold death has separated my limbs from my soul, 385
in all places I as a shade will be present. You, shameless one, will pay the penalties.

audiam et haec Manis veniet mihi fama sub imos.'
his medium dictis sermonem abrumpit et auras
aegra fugit seque ex oculis avertit et aufert,
linquens multa metu cunctantem et multa parantem 390

'I shall hear, and even this report will come to me, to the Manes deep below.'
With these words she breaks off the discourse in mid-speech and, sick at heart, flees into the open air,
and she turns herself away from his eyes and carries herself off,
leaving him, for fear, long hesitating and preparing many things 390

dicere. suscipiunt famulae conlapsaque membra
marmoreo referunt thalamo stratisque reponunt.

to speak. The handmaids take her up, and her collapsed limbs
they carry back to the marble bedchamber and place her on the bed.

At pius Aeneas, quamquam lenire dolentem
solando cupit et dictis avertere curas,
multa gemens magnoque animum labefactus amore               395
iussa tamen divum exsequitur classemque revisit.
tum vero Teucri incumbunt et litore celsas
deducunt toto navis. natat uncta carina,
frondentisque ferunt remos et robora silvis
infabricata fugae studio.                                                            400
migrantis cernas totaque ex urbe ruentis:
ac velut ingentem formicae farris acervum
cum populant hiemis memores tectoque reponunt,
it nigrum campis agmen praedamque per herbas
convectant calle angusto; pars grandia trudunt               405

But pious Aeneas, although he desires to soothe the grieving one
by consoling, and to avert her cares with words,
groaning much and his spirit shaken by great love               395
nevertheless carries out the commands of the gods and revisits the fleet.
Then indeed the Teucrians press on and along the shore the lofty
ships they launch down along the whole shore. The tarred keel swims,
and they carry leafy oars and oaks from the woods
unwrought, in zeal for flight.                                                            400
you might see migrants and men rushing out from the whole city:
and just as ants, mindful of winter, when they pillage a huge heap of grain
and store it under a roof, the black column goes across the fields
and they convoy their booty through the grass on a narrow path; some shove great loads               405

obnixae frumenta umeris, pars agmina cogunt
castigantque moras, opere omnis semita fervet.
quis tibi tum, Dido, cernenti talia sensus,
quosve dabas gemitus, cum litora fervere late
prospiceres arce ex summa, totumque videres 410
misceri ante oculos tantis clamoribus aequor!
improbe Amor, quid non mortalia pectora cogis!

straining, they bear the grain on their shoulders; part marshal the ranks and castigate delays, and with work every path seethes.
what feelings then, Dido, as you beheld such things,
and what groans were you giving, when from the highest citadel you looked out and saw the shores seething far and wide,
and the whole sea before your eyes to be mingled with such great clamors! 410
shameless Love, to what do you not compel mortal hearts!

ire iterum in lacrimas, iterum temptare precando
cogitur et supplex animos summittere amori,
ne quid inexpertum frustra moritura relinquat. 415

she is compelled to go again into tears, again to try by praying,
and, a suppliant, to submit her spirit to Love,
lest, about to die in vain, she leave anything untried. 415

'Anna, vides toto properari litore circum:
undique convenere; vocat iam carbasus auras,
puppibus et laeti nautae imposuere coronas.
hunc ego si potui tantum sperare dolorem,
et perferre, soror, potero. miserae hoc tamen unum 420
exsequere, Anna, mihi; solam nam perfidus ille
te colere, arcanos etiam tibi credere sensus;
sola viri mollis aditus et tempora noras.

'Anna, you see hurrying all around the whole shore:
from every side they have gathered; now the canvas calls the breezes,
and the sailors, joyful, have set garlands upon the sterns.
if I was able to expect so great a grief,
I shall also be able to endure it, sister. Yet do this one thing for wretched me, 420
carry it out, Anna; for that perfidious man used to cherish you alone,
even to entrust to you his arcane feelings;
you alone knew the man's soft approaches and times.

i, soror, atque hostem supplex adfare superbum:
non ego cum Danais Troianam exscindere gentem 425
Aulide iuravi classemve ad Pergama misi,
nec patris Anchisae cinerem manisve revelli:
cur mea dicta negat duras demittere in auris?
quo ruit? extremum hoc miserae det munus amanti:
exspectet facilemque fugam ventosque ferentis. 430

Go, sister, and as a suppliant address the proud enemy:
I did not with the Danaans swear at Aulis to extirpate the Trojan race 425
nor did I send a fleet to Pergama,
nor did I violate the ashes and the Manes of his father Anchises:
why does he refuse to let my words sink into his hard ears?
whither does he rush? Let him grant this last gift to a wretched lover:
let him wait for an easy flight and for winds that bear him. 430

non iam coniugium antiquum, quod prodidit, oro,
nec pulchro ut Latio careat regnumque relinquat:
tempus inane peto, requiem spatiumque furori,
dum mea me victam doceat fortuna dolere.
extremam hanc oro veniam (miserere sororis), 435
quam mihi cum dederit cumulatam morte remittam.'

I no longer beg for the old marriage, which he has betrayed,
nor that he should be without fair Latium and relinquish his kingdom:
I ask for empty time, a requiem and a space for my fury,
until my Fortune teaches me, vanquished, to grieve.
this last pardon I beg (have pity on your sister), 435
which, when he has given to me, I will repay, heaped up, with my death.'

Talibus orabat, talisque miserrima fletus
fertque refertque soror. sed nullis ille movetur
fletibus aut voces ullas tractabilis audit;
fata obstant placidasque viri deus obstruit auris. 440
ac velut annoso validam cum robore quercum
Alpini Boreae nunc hinc nunc flatibus illinc
eruere inter se certant; it stridor, et altae
consternunt terram concusso stipite frondes;
ipsa haeret scopulis et quantum vertice ad auras 445
aetherias, tantum radice in Tartara tendit:
haud secus adsiduis hinc atque hinc vocibus heros
tunditur, et magno persentit pectore curas;
mens immota manet, lacrimae volvuntur inanes.

With such words she was beseeching, and such lamentations the most miserable sister bears and bears back;
but by no tears is he moved, nor, tractable, does he heed any voices;
the fates oppose, and a god blocks the man’s placid ears. 440
And just as, when Alpine Boreas with blasts now from here, now from there,
strive among themselves to uproot an oak strong with aged timber,
a creaking goes forth, and the high leaves
strew the earth from the shaken trunk;
she herself clings to the crags, and as much as with her crown she to the ethereal breezes 445
so much with root she stretches into Tartarus:
not otherwise by incessant voices on this side and on that the hero
is pounded, and in his great breast he feels the cares through and through;
his mind remains unmoved, tears roll in vain.

Tum vero infelix fatis exterrita Dido                              450
mortem orat; taedet caeli convexa tueri.
quo magis inceptum peragat lucemque relinquat,
vidit, turicremis cum dona imponeret aris,
(horrendum dictu) latices nigrescere sacros
fusaque in obscenum se vertere vina cruorem;               455
hoc visum nulli, non ipsi effata sorori.
praeterea fuit in tectis de marmore templum
coniugis antiqui, miro quod honore colebat,
velleribus niveis et festa fronde revinctum:
hinc exaudiri voces et verba vocantis                              460

Then indeed unhappy Dido, terrified by the fates,                              450
prays for death; it wearies her to behold the vaults of heaven.
the more, that she might carry through the undertaking and relinquish the light,
she saw, when she was placing gifts upon the incense-burning altars,
(horrendous to say) the sacred libations blacken
and the poured wines turn themselves into obscene gore;               455
this vision she disclosed to no one, not even to her sister herself.
Moreover, there was within the halls a temple of marble
of her ancient consort, which she cherished with wondrous honor,
wreathed with snowy fleeces and festal foliage:
from here voices and the words of one calling were heard                              460

visa viri, nox cum terras obscura teneret,
solaque culminibus ferali carmine bubo
saepe queri et longas in fletum ducere voces;
multaque praeterea vatum praedicta priorum
terribili monitu horrificant. agit ipse furentem 465
in somnis ferus Aeneas, semperque relinqui
sola sibi, semper longam incomitata videtur
ire viam et Tyrios deserta quaerere terra,
Eumenidum veluti demens videt agmina Pentheus
et solem geminum et duplices se ostendere Thebas, 470
aut Agamemnonius scaenis agitatus Orestes,
armatam facibus matrem et serpentibus atris
cum fugit ultricesque sedent in limine Dirae.

the apparitions of the man are seen, when dark night held the lands,
and the lone owl upon the rooftops with funereal song
often to complain and to draw out her voices into long weeping;
and many prophecies of the prior vates besides
with terrible monition horrify her. Fierce Aeneas himself harries her, raging, 465
in dreams, and she always seems to be left
alone to herself, always to go unaccompanied a long way
and to seek the Tyrians in a deserted land,
just as the frenzied Pentheus sees the ranks of the Eumenides
and a twin sun and Thebes show themselves in duplicate, 470
or Agamemnonian Orestes, driven upon the stages,
when he flees his mother armed with torches and black serpents,
and the avenging Dirae sit upon the threshold.

Ergo ubi concepit furias evicta dolore
decrevitque mori, tempus secum ipsa modumque               475
exigit, et maestam dictis adgressa sororem
consilium vultu tegit ac spem fronte serenat:
'inveni, germana, viam (gratare sorori)
quae mihi reddat eum vel eo me solvat amantem.
Oceani finem iuxta solemque cadentem                              480
ultimus Aethiopum locus est, ubi maximus Atlas
axem umero torquet stellis ardentibus aptum:
hinc mihi Massylae gentis monstrata sacerdos,
Hesperidum templi custos, epulasque draconi
quae dabat et sacros servabat in arbore ramos,               485

Therefore when, vanquished by dolor, she conceived furies and decreed to die,
she exacts of herself the time and the method,               475
and, having addressed her sad sister with words,
she hides her counsel with her countenance and makes her brow serene with hope:
“I have found, sister, a way (congratulate your sister)
which will either render him back to me, or release me, a lover, from him.
Next to the end of Ocean and the setting sun                              480
is the furthest place of the Ethiopians, where greatest Atlas
turns the axis on his shoulder, fitted with burning stars:
from there a priestess of the Massylian people has been pointed out to me,
a guardian of the temple of the Hesperides, and who used to give banquets to the dragon
and kept the sacred branches on the tree,               485

spargens umida mella soporiferumque papaver.
haec se carminibus promittit solvere mentes
quas velit, ast aliis duras immittere curas,
sistere aquam fluviis et vertere sidera retro,
nocturnosque movet Manis: mugire videbis 490
sub pedibus terram et descendere montibus ornos.
testor, cara, deos et te, germana, tuumque
dulce caput, magicas invitam accingier artis.

sprinkling moist honeys and sleep-bringing poppy.
this one promises by incantations to loosen the minds
whom she wills, but to others to send in harsh cares,
to stay the water in rivers and to turn the stars backward,
and she moves the nocturnal Manes: you will see 490
the earth bellow beneath the feet and ash-trees descend from the mountains.
I call to witness, dear one, the gods and you, sister, and your
sweet head, that, unwilling, I gird myself for magical arts.

tu secreta pyram tecto interiore sub auras
erige, et arma viri thalamo quae fixa reliquit 495
impius exuviasque omnis lectumque iugalem,
quo perii, super imponas: abolere nefandi
cuncta viri monimenta iuvat monstratque sacerdos.'
haec effata silet, pallor simul occupat ora.
non tamen Anna novis praetexere funera sacris 500

you, raise a secret pyre beneath the open air in the inner house,
and the arms of the man which the impious one left fastened in the bridal chamber, 495
and all his cast-off spoils, and the yoked/nuptial bed
on which I perished, you should place on top: it is pleasing to abolish
all the tokens of the unspeakable man, and the priestess shows the way.'
Having spoken these things, she is silent; at once pallor seizes her face.
yet Anna did not suppose that she was veiling funerals with new rites 500

germanam credit, nec tantos mente furores
concipit aut graviora timet quam morte Sychaei.
ergo iussa parat.

she trusts her sister, nor does she conceive such great frenzies in her mind
or fear things graver than the death of Sychaeus.
therefore she prepares the orders.

At regina, pyra penetrali in sede sub auras
erecta ingenti taedis atque ilice secta,                              505
intenditque locum sertis et fronde coronat
funerea; super exuvias ensemque relictum
effigiemque toro locat haud ignara futuri.
stant arae circum et crinis effusa sacerdos
ter centum tonat ore deos, Erebumque Chaosque               510
tergeminamque Hecaten, tria virginis ora Dianae.
sparserat et latices simulatos fontis Averni,
falcibus et messae ad lunam quaeruntur aenis
pubentes herbae nigri cum lacte veneni;
quaeritur et nascentis equi de fronte revulsus               515

But the queen, a pyre in the inner seat raised up toward the airs,
erected huge, hewn with pine-torches and holm-oak,                              505
arrays the place with garlands and crowns it with funereal frond;
upon the spoils and the sword left behind
and the effigy she places on the couch, not unaware of the future.
Altars stand around, and a priestess, hair let down,
thunders with her mouth the three hundred gods, and Erebus and Chaos,               510
and triple-formed Hecate, the three faces of maiden Diana.
She had also sprinkled waters simulated from the fount of Avernus,
and luxuriant herbs, reaped with bronze sickles by the moon, are sought
with the black milk of venom;
and also is sought, torn from the forehead of a newborn horse,               515

et matri praereptus amor.
ipsa mola manibusque piis altaria iuxta
unum exuta pedem vinclis, in veste recincta,
testatur moritura deos et conscia fati
sidera; tum, si quod non aequo foedere amantis 520
curae numen habet iustumque memorque, precatur.

and a love snatched away from a mother.
she herself, with sacrificial meal and with pious hands, near the altars,
having freed one foot from its bonds, in a garment ungirded,
about to die she calls the gods and the stars conscious of fate
to witness; then, if any divinity, just and mindful, has regard for the 520
cares of lovers under an unequal pact, she prays.

Nox erat et placidum carpebant fessa soporem
corpora per terras, silvaeque et saeva quierant
aequora, cum medio volvuntur sidera lapsu,
cum tacet omnis ager, pecudes pictaeque volucres, 525
quaeque lacus late liquidos quaeque aspera dumis
rura tenent, somno positae sub nocte silenti.
[lenibant curas et corda oblita laborum.]
at non infelix animi Phoenissa, neque umquam
solvitur in somnos oculisve aut pectore noctem 530
accipit: ingeminant curae rursusque resurgens
saevit amor magnoque irarum fluctuat aestu.
sic adeo insistit secumque ita corde volutat:
'en, quid ago?

It was night, and weary bodies throughout the lands were plucking placid sleep,
and the woods and the savage seas had grown quiet, when the stars are rolled in mid-course,
when every field is silent, the herds and the painted birds, 525
those which hold the lakes far and wide, limpid, and those which hold the rough
countrysides amid brambles, are set in sleep beneath the silent night.
[they were softening cares and hearts forgetful of labors.]
But not so the Phoenician woman, unhappy in spirit, nor ever
is she loosed into sleeps, nor with eyes or with breast does she receive the night: 530
cares redouble, and love, rising again, rages,
and with a great flood-tide of angers heaves. Thus indeed she persists and thus she turns it over in her heart:
‘Lo, what am I to do?

rursusne procos inrisa priores
experiar, Nomadumque petam conubia supplex, 535

Shall I again, derided, try the former suitors,
and as a suppliant seek the connubial bonds of the Nomads? 535

quos ego sim totiens iam dedignata maritos?
Iliacas igitur classis atque ultima Teucrum
iussa sequar? quiane auxilio iuvat ante levatos
et bene apud memores veteris stat gratia facti?

those whom I have already so often disdained as husbands?
So then shall I follow the Iliac fleets and the ultimate orders of the Teucrians?
Is it because he helps those formerly relieved by his aid,
and favor stands well with those mindful of the old deed?

quis me autem, fac velle, sinet ratibusve superbis 540
invisam accipiet? nescis heu, perdita, necdum
Laomedonteae sentis periuria gentis?
quid tum?

but who, grant that I should wish it, will let me, or in their proud ships 540
receive me, hated? do you not know, alas, ruined one, and do you not yet
perceive the perjuries of the Laomedontean race?
what then?

sola fuga nautas comitabor ovantis?
an Tyriis omnique manu stipata meorum
inferar et, quos Sidonia vix urbe revelli, 545
rursus agam pelago et ventis dare vela iubebo?
quin morere ut merita es, ferroque averte dolorem.

Shall I alone, in flight, accompany the sailors exulting?
Or, packed round by Tyrians and by the whole band of my people,
shall I be borne in, and those whom from the Sidonian city I scarcely tore away, 545
shall I again drive over the sea and bid them give sails to the winds?
Nay, die as you have merited, and with iron avert your pain.

tu lacrimis evicta meis, tu prima furentem
his, germana, malis oneras atque obicis hosti.
non licuit thalami expertem sine crimine vitam 550

you, overcome by my tears, you first, sister,
load me, raging, with these evils and cast me before the enemy.
it was not permitted to me to live a life without reproach, unwedded to the marriage-bed 550

degere more ferae, talis nec tangere curas;
non servata fides cineri promissa Sychaeo.'

to live in the manner of a wild beast, nor to touch such cares; the faith promised to Sychaeus' ash has not been kept.'

Tantos illa suo rumpebat pectore questus:
Aeneas celsa in puppi iam certus eundi
carpebat somnos rebus iam rite paratis.                              555
huic se forma dei vultu redeuntis eodem
obtulit in somnis rursusque ita visa monere est,
omnia Mercurio similis, vocemque coloremque
et crinis flavos et membra decora iuventa:
'nate dea, potes hoc sub casu ducere somnos,               560
nec quae te circum stent deinde pericula cernis,
demens, nec Zephyros audis spirare secundos?
illa dolos dirumque nefas in pectore versat
certa mori, variosque irarum concitat aestus.
non fugis hinc praeceps, dum praecipitare potestas?               565

Such great laments she was bursting from her own breast:
Aeneas, on the lofty stern, now certain of going,
was taking slumber, with the things now duly prepared.                              555
to him the form of a god, with the same countenance of one returning,
offered itself in sleep and, seen again, thus began to admonish,
in all things like Mercury—both voice and color
and the blond hair and limbs comely with youth:
‘son of a goddess, can you draw sleep under this crisis,               560
and do you not discern what perils then stand around you,
madman, nor hear the Zephyrs breathing favorable [winds]?
she turns in her breast wiles and a dire nefarious deed,
resolved to die, and she stirs up various surges of angers.
do you not flee hence headlong, while there is the power to precipitate your escape?’               565

iam mare turbari trabibus saevasque videbis
conlucere faces, iam fervere litora flammis,
si te his attigerit terris Aurora morantem.
heia age, rumpe moras. varium et mutabile semper
femina.' sic fatus nocti se immiscuit atrae. 570

now you will see the sea stirred by ships’ timbers and fierce torches gleam,
now the shores seethe with flames,
if Aurora touches you lingering in these lands. Come on, come, break off delays. ever various and mutable is woman.' So speaking, he mingled himself with black night. 570

Tum vero Aeneas subitis exterritus umbris
corripit e somno corpus sociosque fatigat
praecipitis: 'vigilate, viri, et considite transtris;
solvite vela citi. deus aethere missus ab alto
festinare fugam tortosque incidere funis 575
ecce iterum instimulat. sequimur te, sancte deorum,
quisquis es, imperioque iterum paremus ovantes.

Then indeed Aeneas, terrified by sudden shades,
snatches his body from sleep and urges his comrades headlong:
“keep vigil, men, and take your seats at the thwarts;
loosen the sails with speed. A god sent from the high aether
behold again urges us to hasten our flight and cut the twisted ropes 575
we follow you, holy one of the gods, whoever you are,
and at your command again we obey, exulting.”

adsis o placidusque iuves et sidera caelo
dextra feras.' dixit vaginaque eripit ensem
fulmineum strictoque ferit retinacula ferro. 580
idem omnis simul ardor habet, rapiuntque ruuntque;
litora deseruere, latet sub classibus aequor,
adnixi torquent spumas et caerula verrunt.

Be present, O, and propitiously help, and with your right hand bear the stars in the sky.' He spoke and from the scabbard he snatches his lightning-like sword, and with the drawn iron he strikes the cables. 580
At once the same ardor possesses all, and they seize and rush;
they have abandoned the shores, the sea lies hidden beneath the fleets,
straining they churn the foams and sweep the cerulean.

Et iam prima novo spargebat lumine terras
Tithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile. 585
regina e speculis ut primam albescere lucem
vidit et aequatis classem procedere velis,
litoraque et vacuos sensit sine remige portus,
terque quaterque manu pectus percussa decorum
flaventisque abscissa comas 'pro Iuppiter! ibit 590
hic,' ait 'et nostris inluserit advena regnis?
non arma expedient totaque ex urbe sequentur,
diripientque rates alii navalibus?

And now with first light she was scattering the lands with new radiance,
Aurora, leaving Tithonus’s saffron couch. 585
the queen from her watchtowers, when she saw the first light whiten
and the fleet proceed with sails trimmed,
and sensed the shores and the harbors empty without a rower,
thrice and four times, having struck with her hand her comely breast,
and having torn her golden locks, 'By Jupiter! he will go 590
this man,' she said, 'and will the newcomer have mocked our realms?
will they not make ready arms and from the whole city pursue,
and will others tear the ships from the dockyards?

ite,
ferte citi flammas, date tela, impellite remos!
quid loquor? aut ubi sum?

go,
bring swift flames, give weapons, impel the oars!
what am I saying? or where am I?

quae mentem insania mutat? 595

what insanity changes the mind? 595

infelix Dido, nunc te facta impia tangunt?
tum decuit, cum sceptra dabas. en dextra fidesque,
quem secum patrios aiunt portare penatis,
quem subiisse umeris confectum aetate parentem!

Unhappy Dido, do impious deeds touch you now?
Then it was fitting, when you were giving scepters. Lo, the right hand and faith—
he whom they say carries with him his ancestral Penates,
who has borne upon his shoulders his father worn out with age!

non potui abreptum divellere corpus et undis 600
spargere? non socios, non ipsum absumere ferro
Ascanium patriisque epulandum ponere mensis?
verum anceps pugnae fuerat fortuna.

Could I not have torn apart the snatched-away body and scatter it upon the waves? 600
Could I not consume with iron his comrades, not even Ascanius himself, and set him for banqueting upon the paternal tables?
But the fortune of the fight would have been two-edged.

fuisset:
quem metui moritura? faces in castra tulissem
implessemque foros flammis natumque patremque 605
cum genere exstinxem, memet super ipsa dedissem.
Sol, qui terrarum flammis opera omnia lustras,
tuque harum interpres curarum et conscia Iuno,
nocturnisque Hecate triviis ululata per urbes
et Dirae ultrices et di morientis Elissae, 610

so be it:
whom should I, about to die, have feared? I would have borne torches into the camp
and would have filled the decks with flames, and both the son and the father 605
together with his race I would have extinguished, and upon it itself I would have given myself besides.
Sun, who with flames illumine all the works of the lands,
and you, Juno, interpreter of these cares and conscious witness,
and Hecate at nocturnal crossroads, howled-to through the cities,
and avenging Dirae and the gods of dying Elissa, 610

accipite haec, meritumque malis advertite numen
et nostras audite preces. si tangere portus
infandum caput ac terris adnare necesse est,
et sic fata Iovis poscunt, hic terminus haeret,
at bello audacis populi vexatus et armis, 615
finibus extorris, complexu avulsus Iuli
auxilium imploret videatque indigna suorum
funera; nec, cum se sub leges pacis iniquae
tradiderit, regno aut optata luce fruatur,
sed cadat ante diem mediaque inhumatus harena. 620
haec precor, hanc vocem extremam cum sanguine fundo.
tum vos, o Tyrii, stirpem et genus omne futurum
exercete odiis, cinerique haec mittite nostro
munera.

receive these things, and turn the divinity, merited by my wrongs, and hear our prayers. if it is necessary that the unspeakable head touch the ports and swim to the lands, and thus the fates of Jove demand, let the terminus stick here, but, harassed by war and by the arms of an audacious people, 615
exiled from his borders, torn from the embrace of Iulus, let him implore for aid and see the unworthy funerals of his own; nor, when he has surrendered himself under the laws of iniquitous peace, let him enjoy either kingdom or the desired light, but let him fall before his day and lie unburied in the midst of the sand. 620
these things I pray, this final voice with my blood I pour out. then you, o Tyrians, the stock and the whole race to come, exercise with hatreds, and send these as offerings to my ashes.

nullus amor populis nec foedera sunto.
exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor 625

let there be no love between the peoples nor treaties.
let some avenger arise from our bones 625

qui face Dardanios ferroque sequare colonos,
nunc, olim, quocumque dabunt se tempore vires.
litora litoribus contraria, fluctibus undas
imprecor, arma armis: pugnent ipsique nepotesque.'

who with torch and iron may pursue the Dardanian colonists,
now, hereafter, at whatever time strength shall present itself.
I imprecate shores opposite to shores, waves against billows,
arms against arms: let them and their descendants fight.'

Haec ait, et partis animum versabat in omnis, 630
invisam quaerens quam primum abrumpere lucem.
tum breviter Barcen nutricem adfata Sychaei,
namque suam patria antiqua cinis ater habebat:
'Annam, cara mihi nutrix, huc siste sororem:
dic corpus properet fluviali spargere lympha, 635
et pecudes secum et monstrata piacula ducat.
sic veniat, tuque ipsa pia tege tempora vitta.

She said these things, and was turning her mind to all sides, 630
seeking to break off the hateful light as soon as possible.
then briefly she addressed Barca, the nurse of Sychaeus,
for her own the black ash of the ancient fatherland held:
'Anna, my dear nurse, bring my sister here:
tell her to hasten to sprinkle her body with riverine water, 635
and to lead with her the flocks and the appointed expiations shown.
so let her come, and you yourself piously veil your temples with a fillet.

sacra Iovi Stygio, quae rite incepta paravi,
perficere est animus finemque imponere curis
Dardaniique rogum capitis permittere flammae.' 640

the sacred rites to Stygian Jove, which, duly begun, I have prepared,
it is my intent to complete, and to impose an end upon my cares,
and to commit the pyre of the Dardanian head to the flame.' 640

sic ait. illa gradum studio celebrabat anili.
at trepida et coeptis immanibus effera Dido
sanguineam volvens aciem, maculisque trementis
interfusa genas et pallida morte futura,
interiora domus inrumpit limina et altos 645
conscendit furibunda rogos ensemque recludit
Dardanium, non hos quaesitum munus in usus.

So she spoke. That one was hastening her step with aged zeal.
but Dido, trembling and wild at the immense undertakings,
rolling a blood-red gaze, and with quivering spots
suffused through her cheeks, and pale at the death to come,
bursts through the inner thresholds of the house and, raging, mounts the high 645
pyres and unsheathes the Dardanian sword—
a gift not sought for these uses.

hic, postquam Iliacas vestis notumque cubile
conspexit, paulum lacrimis et mente morata
incubuitque toro dixitque novissima verba: 650
'dulces exuviae, dum fata deusque sinebat,
accipite hanc animam meque his exsolvite curis.
vixi et quem dederat cursum Fortuna peregi,
et nunc magna mei sub terras ibit imago.
urbem praeclaram statui, mea moenia vidi, 655

here, after she beheld the Iliac garments and the well-known couch
and, lingering a little with tears and with her mind,
she leaned upon the couch and spoke her last words: 650
'sweet relics, while the fates and the god permitted,
receive this spirit and release me from these cares.
I have lived, and the course which Fortune had given I have completed,
and now the great image of me will go beneath the earth.
I established a most illustrious city, I have seen my walls, 655

ulta virum poenas inimico a fratre recepi,
felix, heu nimium felix, si litora tantum
numquam Dardaniae tetigissent nostra carinae.'
dixit, et os impressa toro 'moriemur inultae,
sed moriamur' ait. 'sic, sic iuvat ire sub umbras. 660
hauriat hunc oculis ignem crudelis ab alto
Dardanus, et nostrae secum ferat omina mortis.'
dixerat, atque illam media inter talia ferro
conlapsam aspiciunt comites, ensemque cruore
spumantem sparsasque manus. it clamor ad alta 665
atria: concussam bacchatur Fama per urbem.

avenged, I exacted penalties for my husband from my inimical brother;
happy—alas, too happy—if only the Dardanian keels had never
touched our shores.' She spoke, and, her face pressed to the couch, 'we shall die
unavenged—but let us die,' she says. 'Thus, thus it pleases to go beneath the shades.' 660
let the cruel Dardanian drink in with his eyes this fire from the deep,
and carry with him the omens of our death.'
She had spoken, and her companions behold her collapsed upon the blade
in the midst of such things, and the sword foaming with gore
and her hands bespattered. The clamor goes to the lofty
halls: Rumor raves, Bacchant-like, through the shaken city.665

lamentis gemituque et femineo ululatu
tecta fremunt, resonat magnis plangoribus aether,
non aliter quam si immissis ruat hostibus omnis
Karthago aut antiqua Tyros, flammaeque furentes 670

with lamentations and groaning and feminine ululation
the roofs roar, the aether resounds with great plangors,
no otherwise than if, with enemies admitted, all
Carthage or ancient Tyre were rushing to ruin, and the raging flames 670

culmina perque hominum volvantur perque deorum.
audiit exanimis trepidoque exterrita cursu
unguibus ora soror foedans et pectora pugnis
per medios ruit, ac morientem nomine clamat:
'hoc illud, germana, fuit? me fraude petebas? 675
hoc rogus iste mihi, hoc ignes araeque parabant?

and the raging flames roll over the rooftops of men and of gods.
She heard, lifeless, and terrified in a trembling rush,
the sister, defiling her face with her nails and her breast with fists,
rushes through the midst, and calls the dying one by name:
'Was this it, sister? Were you aiming at me by deceit? 675
was this what that pyre, was this what the fires and altars were preparing for me?

quid primum deserta querar? comitemne sororem
sprevisti moriens? eadem me ad fata vocasses,
idem ambas ferro dolor atque eadem hora tulisset.

What first, abandoned, should I lament? Did you, dying, spurn your sister, your companion?
You should have called me to the same fates; the same grief and the same hour would have borne us both by the sword.

his etiam struxi manibus patriosque vocavi 680
voce deos, sic te ut posita, crudelis, abessem?
exstinxti te meque, soror, populumque patresque
Sidonios urbemque tuam. date, vulnera lymphis
abluam et, extremus si quis super halitus errat,
ore legam.' sic fata gradus evaserat altos, 685

with these hands too I built it, and with my voice I called the ancestral gods, 680
was it thus, cruel one, that I should be absent from you as you lay?
you have extinguished yourself and me, sister, and the Sidonian people and fathers,
and your city. grant, that I may wash the wounds with waters, and, if any last breath still wanders above,
I may gather it with my mouth.' thus having spoken, she had climbed the high steps, 685

semianimemque sinu germanam amplexa fovebat
cum gemitu atque atros siccabat veste cruores.
illa gravis oculos conata attollere rursus
deficit; infixum stridit sub pectore vulnus.
ter sese attollens cubitoque adnixa levavit, 690
ter revoluta toro est oculisque errantibus alto
quaesivit caelo lucem ingemuitque reperta.

and, embracing her half-alive sister in her bosom, she was cherishing her
with a groan and was drying the black gore with her garment.
She, trying to lift her heavy eyes, again
fails; the wound, fixed beneath her breast, hisses.
Thrice lifting herself and, propped upon her elbow, she raised herself, 690
thrice she was rolled back on the couch, and with wandering eyes she
sought the light in the high heaven, and groaned when it was found.

Tum Iuno omnipotens longum miserata dolorem
difficilisque obitus Irim demisit Olympo
quae luctantem animam nexosque resolveret artus.               695
nam quia nec fato merita nec morte peribat,
sed misera ante diem subitoque accensa furore,
nondum illi flavum Proserpina vertice crinem
abstulerat Stygioque caput damnaverat Orco.
ergo Iris croceis per caelum roscida pennis               700
mille trahens varios adverso sole colores
devolat et supra caput astitit. 'hunc ego Diti
sacrum iussa fero teque isto corpore solvo':
sic ait et dextra crinem secat, omnis et una
dilapsus calor atque in ventos vita recessit.               705

Then omnipotent Juno, pitying the long grief
and the difficult death, sent Iris down from Olympus
to loose the struggling soul and the bound members.               695
For since she was perishing neither by fate nor by a death deserved,
but wretched before her day and suddenly inflamed by frenzy,
not yet had Proserpina taken from her crown the golden hair
and condemned her head to Stygian Orcus.
therefore Iris, dewy with saffron wings through the sky,               700
drawing a thousand various colors against the sun,
flies down and stood above her head. 'This lock, sacred to Dis,
I, commanded, bear, and I release you from that body':
so she speaks and cuts the hair with her right hand, and all at once
the warmth slipped away and life withdrew into the winds.               705