The Fourth Book of Virgil\'s Aeneid and the Ninth Book of Voltaire\'s Henriad
V >>
Virgil and Voltaire >> The Fourth Book of Virgil\'s Aeneid and the Ninth Book of Voltaire\'s Henriad
Thus when young Phoebus leaves the wintry plain,
From Lycia and the Xanthian flood, retires
To native Delos, and his sacred choirs;
185 Mingled in carols loud around his shrine,
Cretans and Greeks, and painted Scythians join.
Graceful on high the god o'er Cynthio glides,
His wanton locks with pliant gold divides,
With tender foliage crowns his radiant hair;
190 Wide sounds the dart bu spreading shoulders bear.
AEneas moves not with inferior grace,
Such heav'nly beauty beam'd upon his face.
O'er hills and rocks, and thro' the pathless wood,
From their old haunts they rouse the savage brood;
195 Here downward springs the shaggy goat, and here,
From the steep cliff down rush the bounding deep,
Dart from the hills, in panting herds unite,
Stretch o'er the plain and spread their dusty flight.
As thro' the vale Iulus winds his steed,
200 Leads on the chase, and passes all in speed,
A nobler prey his youthful vows implore,
The tawny lion or the foaming boar.
But murky clouds are gath'ring round the pole-,
In hollow murmur distant thunders roll;
205 The hail, the rain a mingled tempest pour,
Whole rivers swelling down the mountain roar,
The trembling youths of Troy, the Tyrian train,
Cytherea's grandson, scatter'd o'er the plain,
All fly the storm, and in one dark retreat
210 The Tyrian Queen and Trojan Hero meet.
Strait nuptial Juno, gives the fatal sign;
Pale flames the torch, and trembling Earth the shrine:
Night spread the veil;--and to the vow they swore
The murmuring air, ill omen'd witness bore.
215 The frighted Nymphs along the mountain height,
In doleful cries proclaim the genial rite.
That hour her death and all her sorrows wrought;
Then fame and honor vanish'd from her thought;
No more she struggles with a secret flame,
220 The crime is veil'd in wedlock's specious name.
Soon thro' the Lybian towns, Fame blew the deed;
Fame, that outstrips all other ills in speed,
That feeds on motion, strengthens as she flies,
225 Weak, timid first, but soon of monstrous size,
Her feet on earth, amid the clouds her head.
With Heav'n incens'd, her mother Earth 'tis said,
This sister added to the Giant brood,
With wings, with feet, with dreadful speed endu'd.
Huge horrid monster!----Ev'ry plume she wears
230 A watching eye conceal'd beneath it bears,
And strange to tell--on ev'ry feather hung
A gaping ear--a never ceasing tongue.
Sleep never enter'd yet those glaring eyes;
All night 'twixt earth and heav'n she buzzing flies;
235 All day sits watchful on the turrets height,
Or palace roof, the babbling town to fright.
Falsehood and truth, she spreads with equal real,
To gaping crouds rejoicing to reveal
What is, what was, and what has never been.
240 AEneas fled from Troy;--The Tyrian queen,
Her bed, her sceptre, with an exile shares;
And now forgetful of all other cares,
With shameful passion blindly led astray,
In love and joy they waste the hours away.
245 This, all around Fame glories to diffuse,
And to Iarba next her flight pursues,
To fan the flame that in his bosom glows.
To Jove himself, his birth the monarch owes;
A nymph his mother, by a forc'd embrace;
250 And to the God, the author of his race,
Their lofty domes an hundred temples raise,
An hundred shrines with flames perpetual blaze,
Hung round with wreaths: through all his vast domain,
The soil was rich with blood of victims skin.
255 He, by the dire report, to madness fir'd,
Vents his dark soul by jealous rage inspir'd,
Before the gods, while curling incense blaz'd,
His suppliant hands to Jove almighty rais'd.
"All potent Jove! those eyes that view the Moor
260 From painted coaches full libations pour,
See they not this? Or when thy thunder rolls
Do causeless fears, O Father, shake our souls?
Is there no vengeance in the bolt you poise?
Is all but fancied horror, empty noise?
265 A woman, wand'ring outcast on our shore,
Bargains a petty spot and owns no more,
Accepts a portion of our coast to till,
Ev'n from our pity; from our royal will;
And she--the offer of our hand disdains,
270 And she--AEneas in her court detains!
That Paris, with that woman crew, that wear
Those Phrygian bonnets on their scented hair,
Enjoys the spoil.--while I--thy power proclaim,
Adorn thy shrine, and feed on empty fame".
275 Thus, while he pray'd and bow'd before the shrine:
Th' Almighty hearing, throws his eyes divine
On Lybia's coast; there views the lovelest pair
Forgetting fame and ev'ry nobler care,
And quick commands the herald of the sky.
280 "Go, call the zephyrs, spread your pinnions, fly,
Fly to the Dardan chief who ling'ring waits
Mindless in Carthage of the promis'd fates;
Swift as the rushing wind, my order bear.
Not such a man--unworthy of her care,
285 His mother promis'd, when her powerful charms,
Twice, made me save him from the Grecian arms.
No--For Hesperia's realm a future king,
Thro' whom, from Teucer's blood untam'd to spring
A warlike race, the pregnant seeds to lay,
290 Of boundless empire, universal sway.
If he, unmov'd, such' proferr'd greatness sees,
Renouncing glory for ignoble ease.
} Julus too, must he forego his claim?
} Spoil'd by a father of his birthright fame,
295 } The pow'r, the glory, of the Roman name.
What mean these structures in a hostile place?
What hopes deceitful from his mind efface
Th' Ausonian offspring, the Lavinian land?
But let him sail--no more--bear my command".
300 Jove spoke--His son obey'd:--and to his feet
Bound the light wings of gold--wings ever fleet,
Which over earth and sea, through yielding air,
Swift as the wind the rapid herald bear;
305 And took the rod that calls the trembling ghost
To light, or binds it to the Stygian coast,
Gives balmy slumber, breaks the sweet repose,
Weighs down the lid of dying eyes that close.
Thro' storms and dripping clouds with this he glides;
Now o'er the summit and the hoary sides
310 Of Atlas hangs, pois'd on whose shoulders rest
The Heav'ns: his head eternal storms infest,
Crown'd with dark pines, inwrap'd with gloomy clouds;
Primeval snow his shaggy bosom shrouds,
Furrow'd with streams that down his chin descend,
315 And chains of ice from his broad beard that pend.
Here light the God--Balanc'd his equal wings,
And darting forward to the ocean flings.
Through misty air as nearer earth he drew,
Cutting the winds and whirling sands, he flew
320 Like birds, that hov'ring o'er the fishy main,
Drop from the sky', and skim the watry plain.
So from the height his mighty grandsire props,
Down on the pinion light Cyllenius drops;
And scarce his winged feet had touch'd the ground,
325 AEneas with the busy crew he found,
Planning new structures for the rising town.
Bright with a radiant gem his sword hung down,
A mantle graceful o'er his shoulder thrown
With sparkling gold and Tyrian purple shone.
330 'Twas Dido's present: thro' the blushing thread
The docile gold her taper fingers led.
The god accosts him.--"With uxorious care
The walls of Carthage does AEneas rear,
Himself forgotten and his future state?
335 But he that reigns--the pow'r who next to Fate,
Roles Earth and Heav'n, and moves them with a nod,
Thro' skies unclouded, he--the ruling God,
This to your ear commands me to convey;
Why on the Lybian shore this fond delay?
340 These rising tow'rs--If satisfied with these,
You barter glory for ignoble ease,
Your injur'd heir--your young Ascanius view,
Rome and th' Italian reign to him are due."
While thus the God convey'd what Jove resolv'd,
345 From human eyes in air his form dissolved.
AEneas stood with sacred terror chill'd;
His hair erect, his lips with horror seal'd;
Aw'd by the present God, the high command,
He burns to fly, and leave the much lov'd land.
350 But how alas!--What words, what soothing art?
How meet the Queen, the sad design impart?
Now here, now there, his wav'ring soul inclin'd;
He bends on ev'ry side his anxious mind:
And thus at length his doubting councils end.
355 He bids Cleanthus and the chiefs attend,
The crews assemble and the ships prepare,
In silence hid the object of their care;
While Dido yet the faithless dream deludes,
And not one doubt upon her bliss intrudes:
360 That he, mean while, the fittest time would seek,
The fittest place the sad reverse to speak.
In secret they, the pleasing task pursue;
But soon--(what can escape a lovers view)
Soon Dido saw the change, her boding mind
365 Fancied, foresaw, or felt what they desgn'd.
Trembling, alive to all she sees or hears,
Suspecting ev'ry thing, she doubts, she fears,
While Fame that wounded feeling never spar'd,
The crews on board announced, the fleet prepar'd:
379 Till mad'ning flames within her bosom rise;
Distracted, furious, o'er the town she flies,
Wild as the Woodnymph when the frantic rite
And Bacchanalian shout, to rage excite
Madder and louder as the God invades,
375 She hears him bounding thro' the midnight shades.
Dido, herself, at length, AEneas sought;
Could you, false man, conceive the cruel thought,
To hide a crime so great--unseen to go,--
Silent, unnotic'd--Would you leave me so?
380 Has love no charm, has plighted faith no tie?
Nor Dido doom'd a cruel death to dye.
And for yourself--unfeeling!--when die skies
With tempest low'r--when wintry blasts arise,
You tempt the dang'rous ocean--to explore
385 A distant, strange, unhospitable shore.
Had Troy herself existed, who would brave
For Troy herself, the treach'rous wintry wave.
'Tis me you fly--Oh, by your sacred vow,
By these sad tears, (they're all that's left me now
390 To move your heart); by all our solemn ties,
By what I've suffer'd, by our shortliv'd joys,
If gratitude has giv'n me any right,
If any charm in me once gave delight,
Do not desert the wreck yourself have made,
395 Nor from my falling state withdraw your aid.
If yet there's any pow'r in pray'rs like mine,
Oh pity me; recal that sad design--
See Africa pow'rs, my feeble realm pursue,
My Tyrians hearts are gone,--'Tis all for you,
400 To you I've sacrific'd my brightest claim,
My sacred honor--all my former fame:
Since the dear name of husband is forgot,
Think, cruel guest, of wretched Dido's lot.
What prospect in her ruin'd state remains?
405 Pygmalions vengeance--proud Iarba's chains.
Of you--of all that's dear in life bereft,
Oh were some pledge of mutual passion left:
Some young AEneas, in whose face alone
His father's dear resemblance I might own,
410 With infant grace my lonely court to cheer,
Not lost, not widow'd quite I should appear".
She ceas'd.--With eyes unmov'd,--o'er aw'd by Jove
He stood, and with contending passions strove.
At length he spoke. "For ever I confess
415 I owe you all that words could e'er express,
And in this grateful heart Eliza reigns,
While life itself, and memory remains.
Ne'er did I hope my voyage to conceal;
Never, (my words are few for all I feel),
420 Be not deceiv'd, no, never did I join
These nuptial ties, nor this alliance sign.
Had Fate, alas, allow'd me to dispose,
To end these troubles in the way I chose,
The ruins of my friends, the wreck of Troy,
425 Should all my care, and all my hope employ.
Then, sailing back to Asia's fertile shore,
For them, should Priam's city rise once more.
But now 'tis Italy Apollo shows,
'Tis Italy the Lycian fates propose,
430 My country's there, there all cry vows unite.
Far from your native soil, if you delight
In Afric's coast, these walls if you enjoy;
Allow Ansonia to the sons of Troy.
We too, in foreign lands a state may raise.
435 As oft as Night her humid veil displays,
Oft as the stars, in solemn glory rise,
My father's murm'ring ghost before my eyes
Brings young Ascanius, and upbraiding stands,
And claims th' Hesperian crown, the promised lands;
440 And even now--(on both their heads I swear)
From Joves high throne above, thro' flitting air,
} The thund'rer's will, the herald God declar'd;
} These eyes beheld him, and these ears have heard;
} He past these walls, and in broad day appear'd.
445 Then cease the wounding accent of complaint--
I follow not my will, but Heav'n's constraint".
She heard his words--but turning from his view,
Now here, now there, her eyes indignant threw.
She fix'd him with a scornful silent cast,
450 All over view'd him--and burst forth at last.
"No, faithless monster, no! Nor race divine,
Nor Dardan sire, nor Goddess mother thine!
Form'd in the flinty womb of rocks accurst,
455 Begot by Caucasus, by tygers nurst.
What need I more? why doubt of what is plain?
One sigh, one look, did all my tears obtain.
How name his crimes? did loves extremest woe,
Move that hard heart, or cause one tear to flow!
But will Jove's Queen who guards the nuptial vow,
460 Will mighty Jove himself, such deeds allow?
Whom now confide in? Cast upon my shore,
Shipwreck'd, distress'd, a friendly aid I bore:
Himself, his fleet, his friends, from ruin drew,
Nay, foolish woman! shar'd my kingdom too,
465 Now,--my rage to very madness tends:
Now Lycian fates, now Phaebus he pretends,
} Nay mighty Jove himself, thro' flitting air
} Sends down a god his dread command to bear.
} A worthy object, truly, for his care!
470 A mighty thing, to break the God's repose!
But go, such fates no longer I oppose;
Go, seek Ausonia in the hollow wind,
And in the frothy surge a kingdom find.
Yes may you find--just Heav'n my wishes serve!
475 Dash'd on some rock, the fate that you deserve.
Then, when you call on injure! Dido's name,
I'll follow glaring in the light'ning's flame;
When Death's cold hand this wretched soul shall free,
My ghost shall haunt you, wheresoe'er you be.
480 Yes wretch--be sure--the vengeance will be paid.
'Twill reach my ear--'twill sooth my angry shade".
While yet she spoke, she trembling turn'd away,
Broke from his sight, and shun'd the light of day.
485 She left him struck with fear, with grief opprest;
Opposing thoughts revolv'd within his breast.
Her languid step her maids supporting led,
And plac'd her fainting on the nuptial bed.
Much as he wish'd the mourner to console,
To speak soft comfort to her wounded soul,
490 To grief, to doubt, to pow'rful love a prey,
Jove's sov'reign will, the hero must obey,
He views the fleet, his brave companions cheers,
Hauls down the bark and to the ocean veers;
The sides well calk'd, the briny wave defy,
495 The living woods, their shapeless limbs supply,
From the green oar the bleeding leaf they tear,
They run, they toil, they press the phasing care.
In gath'ring numbers from the town they pour,
Wind o'er the plain, and spread along the shore
500 Like ants, that forage for a future day, 500
And to their stores the plunder'd wheat convey;
In narrow columns move the sable train;
These with main strength roll on the pond'rous grain;
These press the march, and these the loit'rers drive;
505 They go, they come, their path seems all alive.
Ill fated Queen! what pangs your bosom tore,
What sighs you heav'd, as on the moving shore,
The busy crews, assembling in your sight,
With dashing waves, their horrid shouts unite.
510 Love, in our heart! how boundless is thy force!
To tears again, to pray'r she has recourse;
Love bends her soul each suppliant art to try,
Each humble suit, ere she resolve, to die.
"See, Anna, see, the crowded beach they hide,
515 See how they spread, they swarm from ev'ry side;
Their open sails already court the wind,
The stern with wreaths the joyful sailors bind.
Oh had I thought such ills could e'er ensue
Perhaps I should have learn'd to bear them too?
520 Now grant me, Anna, grant this one request!
False man! his friendship you alone possest;
To you his heart was open, none but you,
The soft access, the pliant moment knew.
Go sister then, my haughty foe intreat,
525 Tell him to Troy I sent no hostile fleet;
Nor yet, at Aulis, was I one that swore,
United vengeance to the Dardan shore.
Have I disturb'd his father's sacred shade,
That to be heard--not mere--in vain I've pray'd?
530 Tho' clos'd his ears to me, can be deny
This last, this least request! where would he fly?
Bid him remain till wintry storms subside,
Till kinder breezes, smooth the ruffled tide.
535 The nuptial vow, which he so vainly swore,
His plighted faith no longer I implore,
Nor yet his Latian kingdom to forego:
Some fruitless space, some breathing time for woe,
'Till fate have thought the wretch subdu'd to grieve,
Is all I beg--Obtain this last reprieve--
540 For pity gain it,--and the short delay
With all her parting soul, will Dido pay".
So pray'd the Queen, and o'er and o'er again,
Pray'rs, sighs, and tears her sister urg'd in vain;
Unmov'd he stands by tears, by pray'rs by sighs,
545 The fates oppose, the God his ear denies.
Thus from the rock, the patient work of years,
His knotted strength an oak majestic rears,
When Alpine storms on ev'ry side contend,
Now here, now there his rooted mass to bend,
550 Each labour'd limb resounds, and from his head
The rustling spoils in heaps the ground o'erspread.
He grasps the rock unmov'd, and proudly shoots
As high to heav'n his head, as down to hell his roots.
With storms as fierce the lab'ring Hero torn,
555 Now here now there by swelling passion borne
Sunk in his soul a mighty load of woe,
His mind unshook--tears unavailing flow.
'Twas then that Dido, sinking with her fate,
In all its horror view'd her wretched state.
560 The light of heav'n grew odious to her sight,
She call'd on Death, and each religions rite
With horrid omens urg'd the dark design:
The milky juice flowed black upon the shrine;
And dire to tell, the sacred wine she bore
565 Fell from the cup in fleaks of clotted gore.
These horrid sighs, to her alone reveal'd,
Ev'n from her sister's friendship she conceal'd.
But more--a temple in the palace stood
With snow-white fleeces hang, with garlands strew'd,
570 Where to her former husband's honor'd shade
Assiduous worship, daily vows she paid:
There, when the night, unroll'd her sable pall
She hears his voice in doleful murmurs call,
While from the roof the fated owl alone
575 In deep complaint prolongs the funeral tone.
Beside, what ills had been foretold before,
Now on her mind, a dread impression bore.
Her aching eyes did broken slumbers close,
AEneas like a vengeful fury rose:
580 Alone--forsaken--distant from her home,
Driv'n o'er the desert--she appears to roam
With sinking steps,--abandoned--left behind,
Thro' burning sands her native Tyre to find.
So mad Pentheus saw two suns arise,
585 Two Thebes appear before his haggard eyes.
So wild Orestes flies his mother's rage,
With snakes, with torches arm'd across the stage,
To 'scape her vengeance whereso'er he goes,
Pale furies meet him and his flight oppose.
590 Now when despair had settled on her mind,
What way to meet the death that she design'd
Fill'd all her thoughts. Her sister she addrest
While treach'rous smiles beguil'd her soul distrest.
"Rejoice, my friend, while I the means impart,
595 To gain his love or drive him from my heart:
A place there is where AEthiopia ends,
And into ocean's lap the sun descends;
Where Atlas on his spreading shoulders bears,
And turns the shining glory of the spheres.
600 Thence comes a priestess, in Massyla rear'd,
Who for the watchful Dragon food prepar'd;
Th' Hesperian temple 'twas her charge to keep,
The drowsy flow'rs in liquid honey steep,
And watch the golden branches on the tree.
605 She, at her will, the lab'ring mind can free,
With mystic verse,--or deadly cares enforce,
Repell the stars--arrest the rivers course;
Raise the dead shade, the trembling mountain rend,
And make the wood with horrid sound descend.
610 By heav'n and thee, thou nearest to my heart,
Against my will I fly to magic art.
But in the inmost court, in open air,
A lofty pile thou, dearest friend, prepare,
There let his arms, my nuptial couch that grac'd,
615 There ev'ry thing he faithless left be plac'd;
And fast that bed--sad witness of my fall;
The priestess orders to destroy them all.
Of the sad deed be left no conscious trace--"
She ceas'd and smil'd,--but death was in her face.
620 Anna obey'd; prepar'd the pyre; her mind
Conceiv'd no fear of all the Queen design'd,
Nor with such deep despair, her spirit fraught,
Nor worse than when Sicheus fell she thought.
In open air, but in a court inclos'd,
625 Rich pine and cloven oak the pyre compos'd;
The Queen herself the lofty sides around,
With flow'rs of death, funereal fillets bound;
Then o'er the pyre, upon the nuptial bed,
His sword, his portrait, all he left, she spread;
630 Her spirit labour'd with the dread design;
All round were altars rais'd for rites divine.
There stands the priestess with dishevell'd hair;
(Her voice like thunder shakes the trembling air)
Thrice on the hundred gods aloud she calls,
635 Deep night and chaos, thrice her Voice appalls;
The triple form that Virgin Dian wears,
Infernal Hecate's threefold nature hears.
For stygian waters that surround the dead,
Enchanted juice, a baleful vapour shed.
640 Black drops of venom--potent herbs she steep'd,
With brazen scythes, by trembling Moonlight reap'd.
And from the filly's infant forehead shorn
A powerful philter from the mother torn.
The Queen her sacred off'ring in her hands,
645 With one foot bar'd, before the altar stands;
Her zone unbound releas'd her flowing vest;
The conscious gods her dying words attest,
The start that bear our fate, and if above
A pow'r remains, that pities injur'd love.
650 'Twas night when o'er the earth in soft repose,
All that exist, the load of life depose;
When woods are hush'd, and murmuring billows done,
When stars descending half their course have run;
In silence all--The beasts, the feather'd brood,
655 That swim the lake, or haunt the thicket wood,
All thro' the silent night, in balmy sleep
Their hearts reliev'd in sweet oblivion steep.
Not wretched Dido--night descends in vain
Her eyes unclos'd, and unrepriev'd her pain;
660 Rest flies her soul, and sleep her couch forsakes;
Care through the livelong night incessant wakes;
Now love, now rage, in midnight silence nurst,
Back on her soal with doubted fury burst.
From wave to wave of boiling passion borne,
665 "What now remains, she cries--despis'd, forlorn,
Must Dido now, poor suppliant wretch, implore,
And court the husband she disdain'd before;
Or must I on their fleet submissive wait;
And from those Dardan lords expect my fate?
670 Oh! yes!--by former favours I may guess
What gratitude they'll feel in my distress.
But if--which way! what means?--What pow'r have I?
How will their pride my humble suit deny?
Oh senseless being! have I yet to know,
675 How far, that perjur'd, Trojan race can go?
And then--alone attend their joyful crew,
Or with my Tyrian force their fleet pursue?
Yes,--and the men I scarce from home could tear,
680 Will they for me again the ocean dare.
No--meet the death you merit.--Let the sword--
'Tis all that's left, this sad relief afford.
Oh, sister, to my tears so weakly kind,
You nurst this fatal error in my mind,
} You wrought my fate, you gave me to my foe;
685 } As Nature free, unshar'd my days might flow,
} No guilty joy, no faithless partner know,
No pangs like these I bear,--and not to you,
Dear injur'd shade, Sicheus not untrue".
Long as the gloomy shades o'erhung the pole,
690 Such cares revolving prey'd upon her soul.