Aeneid
- 1.335.501
or feared his cruelty. They seized his ships,
- 1.335.502
which haply rode at anchor in the bay,
- 1.335.503
and loaded them with gold; the hoarded wealth
- 1.335.504
of vile and covetous Pygmalion
- 1.335.505
they took to sea. A woman wrought this deed.
- 1.335.506
Then came they to these lands where now thine eyes
- 1.335.507
behold yon walls and yonder citadel
- 1.335.508
of newly rising Carthage. For a price
- 1.335.509
they measured round so much of Afric soil
- 1.335.510
as one bull's hide encircles, and the spot
- 1.335.511
received its name, the Byrsa. But, I pray,
- 1.335.512
what men are ye? from what far land arrived,
- 1.335.513
and whither going?” When she questioned thus,
- 1.335.514
her son, with sighs that rose from his heart's depths,
- 1.335.515
this answer gave:
- 1.372.516
“Divine one, if I tell
- 1.372.517
my woes and burdens all, and thou could'st pause
- 1.372.518
to heed the tale, first would the vesper star
- 1.372.519
th' Olympian portals close, and bid the day
- 1.372.520
in slumber lie. Of ancient Troy are we—
- 1.372.521
if aught of Troy thou knowest! As we roved
- 1.372.522
from sea to sea, the hazard of the storm
- 1.372.523
cast us up hither on this Libyan coast.
- 1.372.524
I am Aeneas, faithful evermore
- 1.372.525
to Heaven's command; and in my ships I bear
- 1.372.526
my gods ancestral, which I snatched away
- 1.372.527
from peril of the foe. My fame is known
- 1.372.528
above the stars. I travel on in quest
- 1.372.529
of Italy, my true home-land, and I
- 1.372.530
from Jove himself may trace my birth divine.
- 1.372.531
With twice ten ships upon the Phryglan main
- 1.372.532
I launched away. My mother from the skies
- 1.372.533
gave guidance, and I wrought what Fate ordained.
- 1.372.534
Yet now scarce seven shattered ships survive
- 1.372.535
the shock of wind and wave; and I myself
- 1.372.536
friendless, bereft, am wandering up and down
- 1.372.537
this Libyan wilderness! Behold me here,
- 1.372.538
from Europe and from Asia exiled still!”
- 1.372.539
But Venus could not let him longer plain,
- 1.372.540
and stopped his grief midway:
- 1.387.541
“Whoe'er thou art,
- 1.387.542
I deem that not unblest of heavenly powers,
- 1.387.543
with vital breath still thine, thou comest hither
- 1.387.544
unto our Tyrian town. Go steadfast on,
- 1.387.545
and to the royal threshold make thy way!
- 1.387.546
I bring thee tidings that thy comrades all
- 1.387.547
are safe at land; and all thy ships, conveyed
- 1.387.548
by favoring breezes, safe at anchor lie;
- 1.387.549
or else in vain my parents gave me skill
- 1.387.550
to read the skies. Look up at yonder swans!
- 1.387.551
A flock of twelve, whose gayly fluttering file,
- 1.387.552
erst scattered by Jove's eagle swooping down
- 1.387.553
from his ethereal haunt, now form anew
- 1.387.554
their long-drawn line, and make a landing-place,
- 1.387.555
or, hovering over, scan some chosen ground,
- 1.387.556
or soaring high, with whir of happy wings,
- 1.387.557
re-circle heaven in triumphant song:
- 1.387.558
likewise, I tell thee, thy Iost mariners
- 1.387.559
are landed, or fly landward at full sail.
- 1.387.560
Up, then! let yon plain path thy guidance be,”
- 1.402.561
She ceased and turned away. A roseate beam
- 1.402.562
from her bright shoulder glowed; th' ambrosial hair
- 1.402.563
breathed more than mortal sweetness, while her robes
- 1.402.564
fell rippling to her feet. Each step revealed
- 1.402.565
the veritable goddess. Now he knew
- 1.402.566
that vision was his mother, and his words
- 1.402.567
pursued the fading phantom as it fled:
- 1.402.568
“Why is thy son deluded o'er and o'er
- 1.402.569
with mocking dreams,—another cruel god?
- 1.402.570
Hast thou no hand-clasp true, nor interchange
- 1.402.571
of words unfeigned betwixt this heart and thine?”
- 1.402.572
Such word of blame he spoke, and took his way
- 1.402.573
toward the city's rampart. Venus then
- 1.402.574
o'erveiled them as they moved in darkened air,—
- 1.402.575
a liquid mantle of thick cloud divine,—
- 1.402.576
that viewless they might pass, nor would any
- 1.402.577
obstruct, delay, or question why they came.
- 1.402.578
To Paphos then she soared, her Ioved abode,
- 1.402.579
where stands her temple, at whose hundred shrines
- 1.402.580
garlands of myrtle and fresh roses breathe,
- 1.402.581
and clouds of orient sweetness waft away.
- 1.418.582
Meanwhile the wanderers swiftly journey on
- 1.418.583
along the clear-marked road, and soon they climb
- 1.418.584
the brow of a high hill, which close in view
- 1.418.585
o'er-towers the city's crown. The vast exploit,
- 1.418.586
where lately rose but Afric cabins rude,
- 1.418.587
Aeneas wondered at: the smooth, wide ways;
- 1.418.588
the bastioned gates; the uproar of the throng.
- 1.418.589
The Tyrians toil unwearied; some up-raise
- 1.418.590
a wall or citadel, from far below
- 1.418.591
lifting the ponderous stone; or with due care
- 1.418.592
choose where to build, and close the space around
- 1.418.593
with sacred furrow; in their gathering-place
- 1.418.594
the people for just governors, just laws,
- 1.418.595
and for their reverend senate shout acclaim.
- 1.418.596
Some clear the harbor mouth; some deeply lay
- 1.418.597
the base of a great theatre, and carve out
- 1.418.598
proud columns from the mountain, to adorn
- 1.418.599
their rising stage with lofty ornament.
- 1.418.600
so busy bees above a field of flowers
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Perseus Latin. CTS URN phi0690.phi003.perseus-eng2. Via the Perseus Digital Library / Open Greek and Latin TEI corpora. Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0. Source.