The Aeneid Virgil (the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT) đ
- Author: Virgil
Book online «The Aeneid Virgil (the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT) đ». Author Virgil
With purple blushing, and the day arise.
Then water in his hollow palm he took
From Tiberâs flood, and thus the powârs bespoke:
âLaurentian nymphs, by whom the streams are fed,
And Father Tiber, in thy sacred bed
Receive Aeneas, and from danger keep.
Whatever fount, whatever holy deep,
Conceals thy watâry stores; whereâer they rise,
And, bubbling from below, salute the skies;
Thou, king of horned floods, whose plenteous urn
Suffices fatness to the fruitful corn,
For this thy kind compassion of our woes,
Shalt share my morning song and evâning vows.
But, O be present to thy peopleâs aid,
And firm the gracious promise thou hast made!â
Thus having said, two galleys from his stores,
With care he chooses, mans, and fits with oars.
Now on the shore the fatal swine is found.
Wondârous to tell!â âShe lay along the ground:
Her well-fed offspring at her udders hung;
She white herself, and white her thirty young.
Aeneas takes the mother and her brood,
And all on Junoâs altar are bestowâd.
The follâwing night, and the succeeding day,
Propitious Tiber smoothâd his watâry way:
He rollâd his river back, and poisâd he stood,
A gentle swelling, and a peaceful flood.
The Trojans mount their ships; they put from shore,
Borne on the waves, and scarcely dip an oar.
Shouts from the land give omen to their course,
And the pitchâd vessels glide with easy force.
The woods and waters wonder at the gleam
Of shields, and painted ships that stem the stream.
One summerâs night and one whole day they pass
Betwixt the greenwood shades, and cut the liquid glass.
The fiery sun had finishâd half his race,
Lookâd back, and doubted in the middle space,
When they from far beheld the rising towârs,
The tops of sheds, and shepherdsâ lowly bowârs,
Thin as they stood, which, then of homely clay,
Now rise in marble, from the Roman sway.
These cots (Evanderâs kingdom, mean and poor)
The Trojan saw, and turnâd his ships to shore.
âTwas on a solemn day: thâ Arcadian states,
The king and prince, without the city gates,
Then paid their offârings in a sacred grove
To Hercules, the warrior son of Jove.
Thick clouds of rolling smoke involve the skies,
And fat of entrails on his altar fries.
But, when they saw the ships that stemmâd the flood,
And glitterâd throâ the covert of the wood,
They rose with fear, and left thâ unfinishâd feast,
Till dauntless Pallas reassurâd the rest
To pay the rites. Himself without delay
A javâlin seizâd, and singly took his way;
Then gainâd a rising ground, and callâd from far:
âResolve me, strangers, whence, and what you are;
Your busâness here; and bring you peace or war?â
High on the stern Aeneas took his stand,
And held a branch of olive in his hand,
While thus he spoke: âThe Phrygiansâ arms you see,
Expellâd from Troy, provokâd in Italy
By Latian foes, with war unjustly made;
At first affiancâd, and at last betrayâd.
This message bear: âThe Trojans and their chief
Bring holy peace, and beg the kingâs relief.â
Struck with so great a name, and all on fire,
The youth replies: âWhatever you require,
Your fame exacts. Upon our shores descend.
A welcome guest, and, what you wish, a friend.â
He said, and, downward hasting to the strand,
Embracâd the stranger prince, and joinâd his hand.
Conducted to the grove, Aeneas broke
The silence first, and thus the king bespoke:
âBest of the Greeks, to whom, by fateâs command,
I bear these peaceful branches in my hand,
Undaunted I approach you, thoâ I know
Your birth is Grecian, and your land my foe;
From Atreus thoâ your ancient lineage came,
And both the brother kings your kindred claim;
Yet, my self-conscious worth, your high renown,
Your virtue, throâ the neighbâring nations blown,
Our fathersâ mingled blood, Apolloâs voice,
Have led me hither, less by need than choice.
Our founder Dardanus, as fame has sung,
And Greeks acknowledge, from Electra sprung:
Electra from the loins of Atlas came;
Atlas, whose head sustains the starry frame.
Your sire is Mercury, whom long before
On cold Cylleneâs top fair Maia bore.
Maia the fair, on fame if we rely,
Was Atlasâ daughter, who sustains the sky.
Thus from one common source our streams divide;
Ours is the Trojan, yours thâ Arcadian side.
Raisâd by these hopes, I sent no news before,
Nor askâd your leave, nor did your faith implore;
But come, without a pledge, my own ambassador.
The same Rutulians, who with arms pursue
The Trojan race, are equal foes to you.
Our host expellâd, what farther force can stay
The victor troops from universal sway?
Then will they stretch their powâr athwart the land,
And either sea from side to side command.
Receive our offerâd faith, and give us thine;
Ours is a genârous and experiencâd line:
We want not hearts nor bodies for the war;
In council cautious, and in fields we dare.â
He said; and while spoke, with piercing eyes
Evander viewâd the man with vast surprise,
Pleasâd with his action, ravishâd with his face:
Then answerâd briefly, with a royal grace:
âO valiant leader of the Trojan line,
In whom the features of thy father shine,
How I recall Anchises! how I see
His motions, mien, and all my friend, in thee!
Long thoâ it be, âtis fresh within my mind,
When Priam to his sisterâs court designâd
A welcome visit, with a friendly stay,
And throâ thâ Arcadian kingdom took his way.
Then, past a boy, the callow down began
To shade my chin, and call me first a man.
I saw the shining train with vast delight,
And Priamâs goodly person pleasâd my sight:
But great Anchises, far above the rest,
With awful wonder firâd my youthful breast.
I longâd to join in friendshipâs holy bands
Our mutual hearts, and plight our mutual hands.
I first accosted him: I sued, I sought,
And, with a loving force, to Pheneus brought.
He gave me, when at length constrainâd to go,
A Lycian quiver and a Gnossian bow,
A vest embroiderâd, glorious to behold,
And two rich bridles, with their bits of gold,
Which my sonâs coursers in obedience hold.
The league you ask, I offer, as your right;
And, when tomorrowâs sun reveals the light,
With swift supplies you shall be sent away.
Now celebrate with us this solemn day,
Whose holy rites admit no long delay.
Honour our annual feast; and take your seat,
With friendly welcome, at a homely treat.â
Thus having said, the bowls (removâd for fear)
The youths replacâd, and soon restorâd the cheer.
On sods of turf he set the soldiers round:
A maple throne, raisâd higher from the ground,
Receivâd the Trojan chief; and, oâer the bed,
A lionâs shaggy hide
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