Muse, tell me why, for what attaint of her deity, or in what vexation,
did the Queen of heaven drive one so excellent in goodness to circle
through so many afflictions, to face so many toils?
did the Queen of heaven drive one so excellent in goodness to circle
through so many afflictions, to face so many toils?
Virgil - Aeneid
And this is so with Virgil more,
perhaps, than with any other poet; for more, perhaps, than any other
poet Virgil depends on his poetical quality from first to last. Such a
translation can only have the value of a copy of some great painting
executed in mosaic, if indeed a copy in Berlin wool is not a closer
analogy; and even at the best all it can have to say for itself will be
in Virgil's own words, _Experiar sensus; nihil hic nisi carmina desunt. _
In this translation I have in the main followed the text of Conington
and Nettleship. The more important deviations from this text are
mentioned in the notes; but I have not thought it necessary to give a
complete list of various readings, or to mention any change except where
it might lead to misapprehension. Their notes have also been used by me
throughout.
Beyond this I have made constant use of the mass of ancient commentary
going under the name of Servius; the most valuable, perhaps, of all, as
it is in many ways the nearest to the poet himself. The explanation
given in it has sometimes been followed against those of the modern
editors. To other commentaries only occasional reference has been made.
The sense that Virgil is his own best interpreter becomes stronger as
one studies him more.
My thanks are due to Mr. EVELYN ABBOTT, Fellow and Tutor of Balliol, and
to the Rev. H. C. BEECHING, for much valuable suggestion and criticism.
THE AENEID
BOOK FIRST
THE COMING OF AENEAS TO CARTHAGE
I sing of arms and the man who of old from the coasts of Troy came, an
exile of fate, to Italy and the shore of Lavinium; hard driven on land
and on the deep by the violence of heaven, for cruel Juno's unforgetful
anger, and hard bestead in war also, ere he might found a city and carry
his gods into Latium; from whom is the Latin race, the lords of Alba,
and the stately city Rome.
Muse, tell me why, for what attaint of her deity, or in what vexation,
did the Queen of heaven drive one so excellent in goodness to circle
through so many afflictions, to face so many toils? Is anger so fierce
in celestial spirits?
* * * * *
There was a city of ancient days that Tyrian settlers dwelt in,
Carthage, over against Italy and the Tiber mouths afar; rich of store,
and mighty in war's fierce pursuits; wherein, they say, alone beyond all
other lands had Juno her seat, and held Samos itself less dear. Here was
her armour, here her chariot; even now, if fate permit, the goddess
strives to nurture it for queen of the nations. Nevertheless she had
heard a race was issuing of the blood of [20-53]Troy, which sometime
should overthrow her Tyrian citadel; from it should come a people, lord
of lands and tyrannous in war, the destroyer of Libya: so rolled the
destinies. Fearful of that, the daughter of Saturn, the old war in her
remembrance that she fought at Troy for her beloved Argos long ago,--nor
had the springs of her anger nor the bitterness of her vexation yet gone
out of mind: deep stored in her soul lies the judgment of Paris, the
insult of her slighted beauty, the hated race and the dignities of
ravished Ganymede; fired with this also, she tossed all over ocean the
Trojan remnant left of the Greek host and merciless Achilles, and held
them afar from Latium; and many a year were they wandering driven of
fate around all the seas. Such work was it to found the Roman people.
Hardly out of sight of the land of Sicily did they set their sails to
sea, and merrily upturned the salt foam with brazen prow, when Juno, the
undying wound still deep in her heart, thus broke out alone:
'Am I then to abandon my baffled purpose, powerless to keep the Teucrian
king from Italy? and because fate forbids me? Could Pallas lay the
Argive fleet in ashes, and sink the Argives in the sea, for one man's
guilt, mad Oilean Ajax? Her hand darted Jove's flying fire from the
clouds, scattered their ships, upturned the seas in tempest; him, his
pierced breast yet breathing forth the flame, she caught in a whirlwind
and impaled on a spike of rock. But I, who move queen among immortals, I
sister and wife of Jove, wage warfare all these years with a single
people; and is there any who still adores Juno's divinity, or will kneel
to lay sacrifice on her altars? '
Such thoughts inly revolving in her kindled bosom, the goddess reaches
Aeolia, the home of storm-clouds, the land laden with furious southern
gales. Here in a desolate cavern Aeolus keeps under royal dominion and
yokes in [54-85]dungeon fetters the struggling winds and loud storms.
They with mighty moan rage indignant round their mountain barriers. In
his lofty citadel Aeolus sits sceptred, assuages their temper and
soothes their rage; else would they carry with them seas and lands, and
the depth of heaven, and sweep them through space in their flying
course.
perhaps, than with any other poet; for more, perhaps, than any other
poet Virgil depends on his poetical quality from first to last. Such a
translation can only have the value of a copy of some great painting
executed in mosaic, if indeed a copy in Berlin wool is not a closer
analogy; and even at the best all it can have to say for itself will be
in Virgil's own words, _Experiar sensus; nihil hic nisi carmina desunt. _
In this translation I have in the main followed the text of Conington
and Nettleship. The more important deviations from this text are
mentioned in the notes; but I have not thought it necessary to give a
complete list of various readings, or to mention any change except where
it might lead to misapprehension. Their notes have also been used by me
throughout.
Beyond this I have made constant use of the mass of ancient commentary
going under the name of Servius; the most valuable, perhaps, of all, as
it is in many ways the nearest to the poet himself. The explanation
given in it has sometimes been followed against those of the modern
editors. To other commentaries only occasional reference has been made.
The sense that Virgil is his own best interpreter becomes stronger as
one studies him more.
My thanks are due to Mr. EVELYN ABBOTT, Fellow and Tutor of Balliol, and
to the Rev. H. C. BEECHING, for much valuable suggestion and criticism.
THE AENEID
BOOK FIRST
THE COMING OF AENEAS TO CARTHAGE
I sing of arms and the man who of old from the coasts of Troy came, an
exile of fate, to Italy and the shore of Lavinium; hard driven on land
and on the deep by the violence of heaven, for cruel Juno's unforgetful
anger, and hard bestead in war also, ere he might found a city and carry
his gods into Latium; from whom is the Latin race, the lords of Alba,
and the stately city Rome.
Muse, tell me why, for what attaint of her deity, or in what vexation,
did the Queen of heaven drive one so excellent in goodness to circle
through so many afflictions, to face so many toils? Is anger so fierce
in celestial spirits?
* * * * *
There was a city of ancient days that Tyrian settlers dwelt in,
Carthage, over against Italy and the Tiber mouths afar; rich of store,
and mighty in war's fierce pursuits; wherein, they say, alone beyond all
other lands had Juno her seat, and held Samos itself less dear. Here was
her armour, here her chariot; even now, if fate permit, the goddess
strives to nurture it for queen of the nations. Nevertheless she had
heard a race was issuing of the blood of [20-53]Troy, which sometime
should overthrow her Tyrian citadel; from it should come a people, lord
of lands and tyrannous in war, the destroyer of Libya: so rolled the
destinies. Fearful of that, the daughter of Saturn, the old war in her
remembrance that she fought at Troy for her beloved Argos long ago,--nor
had the springs of her anger nor the bitterness of her vexation yet gone
out of mind: deep stored in her soul lies the judgment of Paris, the
insult of her slighted beauty, the hated race and the dignities of
ravished Ganymede; fired with this also, she tossed all over ocean the
Trojan remnant left of the Greek host and merciless Achilles, and held
them afar from Latium; and many a year were they wandering driven of
fate around all the seas. Such work was it to found the Roman people.
Hardly out of sight of the land of Sicily did they set their sails to
sea, and merrily upturned the salt foam with brazen prow, when Juno, the
undying wound still deep in her heart, thus broke out alone:
'Am I then to abandon my baffled purpose, powerless to keep the Teucrian
king from Italy? and because fate forbids me? Could Pallas lay the
Argive fleet in ashes, and sink the Argives in the sea, for one man's
guilt, mad Oilean Ajax? Her hand darted Jove's flying fire from the
clouds, scattered their ships, upturned the seas in tempest; him, his
pierced breast yet breathing forth the flame, she caught in a whirlwind
and impaled on a spike of rock. But I, who move queen among immortals, I
sister and wife of Jove, wage warfare all these years with a single
people; and is there any who still adores Juno's divinity, or will kneel
to lay sacrifice on her altars? '
Such thoughts inly revolving in her kindled bosom, the goddess reaches
Aeolia, the home of storm-clouds, the land laden with furious southern
gales. Here in a desolate cavern Aeolus keeps under royal dominion and
yokes in [54-85]dungeon fetters the struggling winds and loud storms.
They with mighty moan rage indignant round their mountain barriers. In
his lofty citadel Aeolus sits sceptred, assuages their temper and
soothes their rage; else would they carry with them seas and lands, and
the depth of heaven, and sweep them through space in their flying
course.
