Book II

Virgil (70 BC–19 BC), translated by John Dryden · 1697

iambic pentameter · heroic couplets · 1094 lines · from The Aeneid

All were attentive to the godlike man,When from his lofty couch he thus began:“Great queen, what you command me to relateRenews the sad remembrance of our fate:An empire from its old foundations rent,And ev’ry woe the Trojans underwent;A peopled city made a desert place;All that I saw, and part of which I was:Not ev’n the hardest of our foes could hear,Nor stern Ulysses tell without a tear.And now the latter watch of wasting night,And setting stars, to kindly rest invite;But, since you take such int’rest in our woe,And Troy’s disastrous end desire to know,I will restrain my tears, and briefly tellWhat in our last and fatal night befell.

“By destiny compell’d, and in despair,The Greeks grew weary of the tedious war,And by Minerva’s aid a fabric rear’d,Which like a steed of monstrous height appear’d:The sides were plank’d with pine; they feign’d it madeFor their return, and this the vow they paid.Thus they pretend, but in the hollow sideSelected numbers of their soldiers hide:With inward arms the dire machine they load,And iron bowels stuff the dark abode.In sight of Troy lies Tenedos, an isle(While Fortune did on Priam’s empire smile)Renown’d for wealth; but, since, a faithless bay,Where ships expos’d to wind and weather lay.There was their fleet conceal’d. We thought, for GreeceTheir sails were hoisted, and our fears release.The Trojans, coop’d within their walls so long,Unbar their gates, and issue in a throng,Like swarming bees, and with delight surveyThe camp deserted, where the Grecians lay:The quarters of the sev’ral chiefs they show’d;Here Phoenix, here Achilles, made abode;Here join’d the battles; there the navy rode.Part on the pile their wond’ring eyes employ:The pile by Pallas rais’d to ruin Troy.Thymoetes first (’tis doubtful whether hir’d,Or so the Trojan destiny requir’d)Mov’d that the ramparts might be broken down,To lodge the monster fabric in the town.But Capys, and the rest of sounder mind,The fatal present to the flames designed,Or to the wat’ry deep; at least to boreThe hollow sides, and hidden frauds explore.The giddy vulgar, as their fancies guide,With noise say nothing, and in parts divide.Laocoon, follow’d by a num’rous crowd,Ran from the fort, and cried, from far, aloud:‘O wretched countrymen! what fury reigns?What more than madness has possess’d your brains?Think you the Grecians from your coasts are gone?And are Ulysses’ arts no better known?This hollow fabric either must inclose,Within its blind recess, our secret foes;Or ’tis an engine rais’d above the town,T’ o’erlook the walls, and then to batter down.Somewhat is sure design’d, by fraud or force:Trust not their presents, nor admit the horse.’Thus having said, against the steed he threwHis forceful spear, which, hissing as it flew,Pierc’d thro’ the yielding planks of jointed wood,And trembling in the hollow belly stood.The sides, transpierc’d, return a rattling sound,And groans of Greeks inclos’d come issuing thro’ the woundAnd, had not Heav’n the fall of Troy design’d,Or had not men been fated to be blind,Enough was said and done t’inspire a better mind.Then had our lances pierc’d the treach’rous wood,And Ilian tow’rs and Priam’s empire stood.Meantime, with shouts, the Trojan shepherds bringA captive Greek, in bands, before the king;Taken to take; who made himself their prey,T’ impose on their belief, and Troy betray;Fix’d on his aim, and obstinately bentTo die undaunted, or to circumvent.About the captive, tides of Trojans flow;All press to see, and some insult the foe.Now hear how well the Greeks their wiles disguis’d;Behold a nation in a man compris’d.Trembling the miscreant stood, unarm’d and bound;He star’d, and roll’d his haggard eyes around,Then said: ‘Alas! what earth remains, what seaIs open to receive unhappy me?What fate a wretched fugitive attends,Scorn’d by my foes, abandon’d by my friends?’He said, and sigh’d, and cast a rueful eye:Our pity kindles, and our passions die.We cheer the youth to make his own defence,And freely tell us what he was, and whence:What news he could impart, we long to know,And what to credit from a captive foe.

“His fear at length dismiss’d, he said: ‘Whate’erMy fate ordains, my words shall be sincere:I neither can nor dare my birth disclaim;Greece is my country, Sinon is my name.Tho’ plung’d by Fortune’s pow’r in misery,’Tis not in Fortune’s pow’r to make me lie.If any chance has hither brought the nameOf Palamedes, not unknown to fame,Who suffer’d from the malice of the times,Accus’d and sentenc’d for pretended crimes,Because these fatal wars he would prevent;Whose death the wretched Greeks too late lament;Me, then a boy, my father, poor and bareOf other means, committed to his care,His kinsman and companion in the war.While Fortune favour’d, while his arms supportThe cause, and rul’d the counsels, of the court,I made some figure there; nor was my nameObscure, nor I without my share of fame.But when Ulysses, with fallacious arts,Had made impression in the people’s hearts,And forg’d a treason in my patron’s name(I speak of things too far divulg’d by fame),My kinsman fell. Then I, without support,In private mourn’d his loss, and left the court.Mad as I was, I could not bear his fateWith silent grief, but loudly blam’d the state,And curs’d the direful author of my woes.’Twas told again; and hence my ruin rose.I threaten’d, if indulgent Heav’n once moreWould land me safely on my native shore,His death with double vengeance to restore.This mov’d the murderer’s hate; and soon ensuedTh’ effects of malice from a man so proud.Ambiguous rumours thro’ the camp he spread,And sought, by treason, my devoted head;New crimes invented; left unturn’d no stone,To make my guilt appear, and hide his own;Till Calchas was by force and threat’ning wrought:But why—why dwell I on that anxious thought?If on my nation just revenge you seek,And ’tis t’ appear a foe, t’ appear a Greek;Already you my name and country know;Assuage your thirst of blood, and strike the blow:My death will both the kingly brothers please,And set insatiate Ithacus at ease.’This fair unfinish’d tale, these broken starts,Rais’d expectations in our longing hearts:Unknowing as we were in Grecian arts.His former trembling once again renew’d,With acted fear, the villain thus pursued:

“‘Long had the Grecians (tir’d with fruitless care,And wearied with an unsuccessful war)Resolv’d to raise the siege, and leave the town;And, had the gods permitted, they had gone;But oft the wintry seas and southern windsWithstood their passage home, and chang’d their minds.Portents and prodigies their souls amaz’d;But most, when this stupendous pile was rais’d:Then flaming meteors, hung in air, were seen,And thunders rattled thro’ a sky serene.Dismay’d, and fearful of some dire event,Eurypylus t’ enquire their fate was sent.He from the gods this dreadful answer brought:

“O Grecians, when the Trojan shores you sought,Your passage with a virgin’s blood was bought:So must your safe return be bought again,And Grecian blood once more atone the main.”The spreading rumour round the people ran;All fear’d, and each believ’d himself the man.Ulysses took th’ advantage of their fright;Call’d Calchas, and produc’d in open sight:Then bade him name the wretch, ordain’d by fateThe public victim, to redeem the state.Already some presag’d the dire event,And saw what sacrifice Ulysses meant.For twice five days the good old seer withstoodTh’ intended treason, and was dumb to blood,Till, tir’d, with endless clamours and pursuitOf Ithacus, he stood no longer mute;But, as it was agreed, pronounc’d that IWas destin’d by the wrathful gods to die.All prais’d the sentence, pleas’d the storm should fallOn one alone, whose fury threaten’d all.The dismal day was come; the priests prepareTheir leaven’d cakes, and fillets for my hair.I follow’d nature’s laws, and must avowI broke my bonds and fled the fatal blow.Hid in a weedy lake all night I lay,Secure of safety when they sail’d away.But now what further hopes for me remain,To see my friends, or native soil, again;My tender infants, or my careful sire,Whom they returning will to death require;Will perpetrate on them their first design,And take the forfeit of their heads for mine?Which, O! if pity mortal minds can move,If there be faith below, or gods above,If innocence and truth can claim desert,Ye Trojans, from an injur’d wretch avert.’

“False tears true pity move; the king commandsTo loose his fetters, and unbind his hands:Then adds these friendly words: ‘Dismiss thy fears;Forget the Greeks; be mine as thou wert theirs.But truly tell, was it for force or guile,Or some religious end, you rais’d the pile?’Thus said the king. He, full of fraudful arts,This well-invented tale for truth imparts:‘Ye lamps of heav’n!’ he said, and lifted highHis hands now free, ‘thou venerable sky!Inviolable pow’rs, ador’d with dread!Ye fatal fillets, that once bound this head!Ye sacred altars, from whose flames I fled!Be all of you adjur’d; and grant I may,Without a crime, th’ ungrateful Greeks betray,Reveal the secrets of the guilty state,And justly punish whom I justly hate!But you, O king, preserve the faith you gave,If I, to save myself, your empire save.The Grecian hopes, and all th’ attempts they made,Were only founded on Minerva’s aid.But from the time when impious Diomede,And false Ulysses, that inventive head,Her fatal image from the temple drew,The sleeping guardians of the castle slew,Her virgin statue with their bloody handsPolluted, and profan’d her holy bands;From thence the tide of fortune left their shore,And ebb’d much faster than it flow’d before:Their courage languish’d, as their hopes decay’d;And Pallas, now averse, refus’d her aid.Nor did the goddess doubtfully declareHer alter’d mind and alienated care.When first her fatal image touch’d the ground,She sternly cast her glaring eyes around,That sparkled as they roll’d, and seem’d to threat:Her heav’nly limbs distill’d a briny sweat.Thrice from the ground she leap’d, was seen to wieldHer brandish’d lance, and shake her horrid shield.Then Calchas bade our host for flightAnd hope no conquest from the tedious war,Till first they sail’d for Greece; with pray’rs besoughtHer injur’d pow’r, and better omens brought.And now their navy plows the wat’ry main,Yet soon expect it on your shores again,With Pallas pleas’d; as Calchas did ordain.But first, to reconcile the blue-ey’d maidFor her stol’n statue and her tow’r betray’d,Warn’d by the seer, to her offended nameWe rais’d and dedicate this wondrous frame,So lofty, lest thro’ your forbidden gatesIt pass, and intercept our better fates:For, once admitted there, our hopes are lost;And Troy may then a new Palladium boast;For so religion and the gods ordain,That, if you violate with hands profaneMinerva’s gift, your town in flames shall burn,(Which omen, O ye gods, on Grecia turn!)But if it climb, with your assisting hands,The Trojan walls, and in the city stands;Then Troy shall Argos and Mycenae burn,And the reverse of fate on us return.’

“With such deceits he gain’d their easy hearts,Too prone to credit his perfidious arts.What Diomede, nor Thetis’ greater son,A thousand ships, nor ten years’ siege, had done:False tears and fawning words the city won.

“A greater omen, and of worse portent,Did our unwary minds with fear torment,Concurring to produce the dire event.Laocoon, Neptune’s priest by lot that year,With solemn pomp then sacrific’d a steer;When, dreadful to behold, from sea we spiedTwo serpents, rank’d abreast, the seas divide,And smoothly sweep along the swelling tide.Their flaming crests above the waves they show;Their bellies seem to burn the seas below;Their speckled tails advance to steer their course,And on the sounding shore the flying billows force.And now the strand, and now the plain they held;Their ardent eyes with bloody streaks were fill’d;Their nimble tongues they brandish’d as they came,And lick’d their hissing jaws, that sputter’d flame.We fled amaz’d; their destin’d way they take,And to Laocoon and his children make;And first around the tender boys they wind,Then with their sharpen’d fangs their limbs and bodies grind.The wretched father, running to their aidWith pious haste, but vain, they next invade;Twice round his waist their winding volumes roll’d;And twice about his gasping throat they fold.The priest thus doubly chok’d, their crests divide,And tow’ring o’er his head in triumph ride.With both his hands he labours at the knots;His holy fillets the blue venom blots;His roaring fills the flitting air around.Thus, when an ox receives a glancing wound,He breaks his bands, the fatal altar flies,And with loud bellowings breaks the yielding skies.Their tasks perform’d, the serpents quit their prey,And to the tow’r of Pallas make their way:Couch’d at her feet, they lie protected thereBy her large buckler and protended spear.Amazement seizes all; the gen’ral cryProclaims Laocoon justly doom’d to die,Whose hand the will of Pallas had withstood,And dared to violate the sacred wood.All vote t’ admit the steed, that vows be paidAnd incense offer’d to th’ offended maid.A spacious breach is made; the town lies bare;Some hoisting levers, some the wheels prepareAnd fasten to the horse’s feet; the restWith cables haul along th’ unwieldly beast.Each on his fellow for assistance calls;At length the fatal fabric mounts the walls,Big with destruction. Boys with chaplets crown’d,And choirs of virgins, sing and dance around.Thus rais’d aloft, and then descending down,It enters o’er our heads, and threats the town.O sacred city, built by hands divine!O valiant heroes of the Trojan line!Four times he struck: as oft the clashing soundOf arms was heard, and inward groans rebound.Yet, mad with zeal, and blinded with our fate,We haul along the horse in solemn state;Then place the dire portent within the tow’r.Cassandra cried, and curs’d th’ unhappy hour;Foretold our fate; but, by the god’s decree,All heard, and none believ’d the prophecy.With branches we the fanes adorn, and waste,In jollity, the day ordain’d to be the last.Meantime the rapid heav’ns roll’d down the light,And on the shaded ocean rush’d the night;Our men, secure, nor guards nor sentries held,But easy sleep their weary limbs compell’d.The Grecians had embark’d their naval pow’rsFrom Tenedos, and sought our well-known shores,Safe under covert of the silent night,And guided by th’ imperial galley’s light;When Sinon, favour’d by the partial gods,Unlock’d the horse, and op’d his dark abodes;Restor’d to vital air our hidden foes,Who joyful from their long confinement rose.Tysander bold, and Sthenelus their guide,And dire Ulysses down the cable slide:Then Thoas, Athamas, and Pyrrhus haste;Nor was the Podalirian hero last,Nor injur’d Menelaus, nor the fam’dEpeus, who the fatal engine fram’d.A nameless crowd succeed; their forces joinT’ invade the town, oppress’d with sleep and wine.Those few they find awake first meet their fate;Then to their fellows they unbar the gate.

“’Twas in the dead of night, when sleep repairsOur bodies worn with toils, our minds with cares,When Hector’s ghost before my sight appears:A bloody shroud he seem’d, and bath’d in tears;Such as he was, when, by Pelides slain,Thessalian coursers dragg’d him o’er the plain.Swoln were his feet, as when the thongs were thrustThro’ the bor’d holes; his body black with dust;Unlike that Hector who return’d from toilsOf war, triumphant, in Aeacian spoils,Or him who made the fainting Greeks retire,And launch’d against their navy Phrygian fire.His hair and beard stood stiffen’d with his gore;And all the wounds he for his country boreNow stream’d afresh, and with new purple ran.I wept to see the visionary man,And, while my trance continued, thus began:‘O light of Trojans, and support of Troy,Thy father’s champion, and thy country’s joy!O, long expected by thy friends! from whenceArt thou so late return’d for our defence?Do we behold thee, wearied as we areWith length of labours, and with toils of war?After so many fun’rals of thy ownArt thou restor’d to thy declining town?But say, what wounds are these? What new disgraceDeforms the manly features of thy face?’

“To this the spectre no reply did frame,But answer’d to the cause for which he came,And, groaning from the bottom of his breast,This warning in these mournful words express’d:‘O goddess-born! escape, by timely flight,The flames and horrors of this fatal night.The foes already have possess’d the wall;Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall.Enough is paid to Priam’s royal name,More than enough to duty and to fame.If by a mortal hand my father’s throneCould be defended, ’twas by mine alone.Now Troy to thee commends her future state,And gives her gods companions of thy fate:From their assistance walls expect,Which, wand’ring long, at last thou shalt erect.’He said, and brought me, from their blest abodes,The venerable statues of the gods,With ancient Vesta from the sacred choir,The wreaths and relics of th’ immortal fire.

“Now peals of shouts come thund’ring from afar,Cries, threats, and loud laments, and mingled war:The noise approaches, tho’ our palace stoodAloof from streets, encompass’d with a wood.Louder, and yet more loud, I hear th’ alarmsOf human cries distinct, and clashing arms.Fear broke my slumbers; I no longer stay,But mount the terrace, thence the town survey,And hearken what the frightful sounds convey.Thus, when a flood of fire by wind is borne,Crackling it rolls, and mows the standing corn;Or deluges, descending on the plains,Sweep o’er the yellow ear, destroy the painsOf lab’ring oxen and the peasant’s gains;Unroot the forest oaks, and bear awayFlocks, folds, and trees, and undistinguish’d prey:The shepherd climbs the cliff, and sees from farThe wasteful ravage of the wat’ry war.Then Hector’s faith was manifestly clear’d,And Grecian frauds in open light appear’d.The palace of Deiphobus ascendsIn smoky flames, and catches on his friends.Ucalegon burns next: the seas are brightWith splendour not their own, and shine with Trojan light.New clamours and new clangours now arise,The sound of trumpets mix’d with fighting cries.With frenzy seiz’d, I run to meet th’ alarms,Resolv’d on death, resolv’d to die in arms,But first to gather friends, with them t’ opposeIf fortune favour’d, and repel the foes;Spurr’d by my courage, by my country fir’d,With sense of honour and revenge inspir’d.

“Pantheus, Apollo’s priest, a sacred name,Had scap’d the Grecian swords, and pass’d the flame:With relics loaden, to my doors he fled,And by the hand his tender grandson led.‘What hope, O Pantheus? whither can we run?Where make a stand? and what may yet be done?’Scarce had I said, when Pantheus, with a groan:‘Troy is no more, and Ilium was a town!The fatal day, th’ appointed hour, is come,When wrathful Jove’s irrevocable doomTransfers the Trojan state to Grecian hands.The fire consumes the town, the foe commands;And armed hosts, an unexpected force,Break from the bowels of the fatal horse.Within the gates, proud Sinon throws aboutThe flames; and foes for entrance press without,With thousand others, whom I fear to name,More than from Argos or Mycenae came.To sev’ral posts their parties they divide;Some block the narrow streets, some scour the wide:The bold they kill, th’ unwary they surprise;Who fights finds death, and death finds him who flies.The warders of the gate but scarce maintainTh’ unequal combat, and resist in vain.’

“I heard; and Heav’n, that well-born souls inspires,Prompts me thro’ lifted swords and rising firesTo run where clashing arms and clamour calls,And rush undaunted to defend the walls.Ripheus and Iph’itas by my side engage,For valour one renown’d, and one for age.Dymas and Hypanis by moonlight knewMy motions and my mien, and to my party drew;With young Coroebus, who by love was ledTo win renown and fair Cassandra’s bed,And lately brought his troops to Priam’s aid,Forewarn’d in vain by the prophetic maid.Whom when I saw resolv’d in arms to fall,And that one spirit animated all:‘Brave souls!’ said I, ‘but brave, alas! in vain:Come, finish what our cruel fates ordain.You see the desp’rate state of our affairs,And heav’n’s protecting pow’rs are deaf to pray’rs.The passive gods behold the Greeks defileTheir temples, and abandon to the spoilTheir own abodes: we, feeble few, conspireTo save a sinking town, involv’d in fire.Then let us fall, but fall amidst our foes:Despair of life the means of living shows.’So bold a speech incourag’d their desireOf death, and added fuel to their fire.

“As hungry wolves, with raging appetite,Scour thro’ the fields, nor fear the stormy night;Their whelps at home expect the promis’d food,And long to temper their dry chaps in blood:So rush’d we forth at once; resolv’d to die,Resolv’d, in death, the last extremes to try.We leave the narrow lanes behind, and dareTh’ unequal combat in the public square:Night was our friend; our leader was despair.What tongue can tell the slaughter of that night?What eyes can weep the sorrows and affright?An ancient and imperial city falls:The streets are fill’d with frequent funerals;Houses and holy temples float in blood,And hostile nations make a common flood.Not only Trojans fall; but, in their turn,The vanquish’d triumph, and the victors mourn.Ours take new courage from despair and night:Confus’d the fortune is, confus’d the fight.All parts resound with tumults, plaints, and fears;And grisly Death in sundry shapes appears.Androgeos fell among us, with his band,Who thought us Grecians newly come to land.‘From whence,’ said he, ‘my friends, this long delay?You loiter, while the spoils are borne away:Our ships are laden with the Trojan store;And you, like truants, come too late ashore.’He said, but soon corrected his mistake,Found, by the doubtful answers which we make:Amaz’d, he would have shunn’d th’ unequal fight;But we, more num’rous, intercept his flight.As when some peasant, in a bushy brake,Has with unwary footing press’d a snake;He starts aside, astonish’d, when he spiesHis rising crest, blue neck, and rolling eyes;So from our arms surpris’d Androgeos flies.In vain; for him and his we compass’d round,Possess’d with fear, unknowing of the ground,And of their lives an easy conquest found.Thus Fortune on our first endeavor smil’d.Coroebus then, with youthful hopes beguil’d,Swoln with success, and a daring mind,This new invention fatally design’d.‘My friends,’ said he, ‘since Fortune shows the way,’Tis fit we should th’ auspicious guide obey.For what has she these Grecian arms bestow’d,But their destruction, and the Trojans’ good?Then change we shields, and their devices bear:Let fraud supply the want of force in war.They find us arms.’ This said, himself he dress’dIn dead Androgeos’ spoils, his upper vest,His painted buckler, and his plumy crest.Thus Ripheus, Dymas, all the Trojan train,Lay down their own attire, and strip the slain.Mix’d with the Greeks, we go with ill presage,Flatter’d with hopes to glut our greedy rage;Unknown, assaulting whom we blindly meet,And strew with Grecian carcasses the street.Thus while their straggling parties we defeat,Some to the shore and safer ships retreat;And some, oppress’d with more ignoble fear,Remount the hollow horse, and pant in secret there.

“But, ah! what use of valour can be made,When heav’n’s propitious pow’rs refuse their aid!Behold the royal prophetess, the fairCassandra, dragg’d by her dishevel’d hair,Whom not Minerva’s shrine, nor sacred bands,In safety could protect from sacrilegious hands:On heav’n she cast her eyes, she sigh’d, she cried,(’Twas all she could) her tender arms were tied.So sad a sight Coroebus could not bear;But, fir’d with rage, distracted with despair,Amid the barb’rous ravishers he flew:Our leader’s rash example we pursue.But storms of stones, from the proud temple’s height,Pour down, and on our batter’d helms alight:We from our friends receiv’d this fatal blow,Who thought us Grecians, as we seem’d in show.They aim at the mistaken crests, from high;And ours beneath the pond’rous ruin lie.Then, mov’d with anger and disdain, to seeTheir troops dispers’d, the royal virgin free,The Grecians rally, and their pow’rs unite,With fury charge us, and renew the fight.The brother kings with Ajax join their force,And the whole squadron of Thessalian horse.

“Thus, when the rival winds their quarrel try,Contending for the kingdom of the sky,South, east, and west, on airy coursers borne;The whirlwind gathers, and the woods are torn:Then Nereus strikes the deep; the billows rise,And, mix’d with ooze and sand, pollute the skies.The troops we squander’d first again appearFrom several quarters, and enclose the rear.They first observe, and to the rest betray,Our diff’rent speech; our borrow’d arms survey.Oppress’d with odds, we fall; Coroebus first,At Pallas’ altar, by Peneleus pierc’d.Then Ripheus follow’d, in th’ unequal fight;Just of his word, observant of the right:Heav’n thought not so. Dymas their fate attends,With Hypanis, mistaken by their friends.Nor, Pantheus, thee, thy mitre, nor the bandsOf awful Phoebus, sav’d from impious hands.Ye Trojan flames, your testimony bear,What I perform’d, and what I suffer’d there;No sword avoiding in the fatal strife,Expos’d to death, and prodigal of life;Witness, ye heavens! I live not by my fault:I strove to have deserv’d the death I sought.But, when I could not fight, and would have died,Borne off to distance by the growing tide,Old Iphitus and I were hurried thence,With Pelias wounded, and without defence.New clamours from th’ invested palace ring:We run to die, or disengage the king.So hot th’ assault, so high the tumult rose,While ours defend, and while the Greeks opposeAs all the Dardan and Argolic raceHad been contracted in that narrow space;Or as all Ilium else were void of fear,And tumult, war, and slaughter, only there.Their targets in a tortoise cast, the foes,Secure advancing, to the turrets rose:Some mount the scaling ladders; some, more bold,Swerve upwards, and by posts and pillars hold;Their left hand gripes their bucklers in th’ ascent,While with their right they seize the battlement.From their demolish’d tow’rs the Trojans throwHuge heaps of stones, that, falling, crush the foe;And heavy beams and rafters from the sides(Such arms their last necessity provides)And gilded roofs, come tumbling from on high,The marks of state and ancient royalty.The guards below, fix’d in the pass, attendThe charge undaunted, and the gate defend.Renew’d in courage with recover’d breath,A second time we ran to tempt our death,To clear the palace from the foe, succeedThe weary living, and revenge the dead.

“A postern door, yet unobserv’d and free,Join’d by the length of a blind gallery,To the king’s closet led: a way well knownTo Hector’s wife, while Priam held the throne,Thro’ which she brought Astyanax, unseen,To cheer his grandsire and his grandsire’s queen.Thro’ this we pass, and mount the tow’r, from whenceWith unavailing arms the Trojans make defence.From this the trembling king had oft descriedThe Grecian camp, and saw their navy ride.Beams from its lofty height with swords we hew,Then, wrenching with our hands, th’ assault renew;And, where the rafters on the columns meet,We push them headlong with our arms and feet.The lightning flies not swifter than the fall,Nor thunder louder than the ruin’d wall:Down goes the top at once; the Greeks beneathAre piecemeal torn, or pounded into death.Yet more succeed, and more to death are sent;We cease not from above, nor they below relent.Before the gate stood Pyrrhus, threat’ning loud,With glitt’ring arms conspicuous in the crowd.So shines, renew’d in youth, the crested snake,Who slept the winter in a thorny brake,And, casting off his slough when spring returns,Now looks aloft, and with new glory burns;Restor’d with poisonous herbs, his ardent sidesReflect the sun; and rais’d on spires he rides;High o’er the grass, hissing he rolls along,And brandishes by fits his forky tongue.Proud Periphas, and fierce Automedon,His father’s charioteer, together runTo force the gate; the Scyrian infantryRush on in crowds, and the barr’d passage free.Ent’ring the court, with shouts the skies they rend;And flaming firebrands to the roofs ascend.Himself, among the foremost, deals his blows,And with his ax repeated strokes bestowsOn the strong doors; then all their shoulders ply,Till from the posts the brazen hinges fly.He hews apace; the double bars at lengthYield to his ax and unresisted strength.A mighty breach is made: the rooms conceal’dAppear, and all the palace is reveal’d;The halls of audience, and of public state,And where the lonely queen in secret sate.Arm’d soldiers now by trembling maids are seen,With not a door, and scarce a space, between.The house is fill’d with loud laments and cries,And shrieks of women rend the vaulted skies;The fearful matrons run from place to place,And kiss the thresholds, and the posts embrace.The fatal work inhuman Pyrrhus plies,And all his father sparkles in his eyes;Nor bars, nor fighting guards, his force sustain:The bars are broken, and the guards are slain.In rush the Greeks, and all the apartments fill;Those few defendants whom they find, they kill.Not with so fierce a rage the foaming floodRoars, when he finds his rapid course withstood;Bears down the dams with unresisted sway,And sweeps the cattle and the cots away.These eyes beheld him when he march’d betweenThe brother kings: I saw th’ unhappy queen,The hundred wives, and where old Priam stood,To stain his hallow’d altar with his brood.The fifty nuptial beds (such hopes had he,So large a promise, of a progeny),The posts, of plated gold, and hung with spoils,Fell the reward of the proud victor’s toils.Where’er the raging fire had left a space,The Grecians enter and possess the place.

“Perhaps you may of Priam’s fate enquire.He, when he saw his regal town on fire,His ruin’d palace, and his ent’ring foes,On ev’ry side inevitable woes,In arms, disus’d, invests his limbs, decay’d,Like them, with age; a late and useless aid.His feeble shoulders scarce the weight sustain;Loaded, not arm’d, he creeps along with pain,Despairing of success, ambitious to be slain!Uncover’d but by heav’n, there stood in viewAn altar; near the hearth a laurel grew,Dodder’d with age, whose boughs encompass roundThe household gods, and shade the holy ground.Here Hecuba, with all her helpless trainOf dames, for shelter sought, but sought in vain.Driv’n like a flock of doves along the sky,Their images they hug, and to their altars fly.The Queen, when she beheld her trembling lord,And hanging by his side a heavy sword,‘What rage,’ she cried, ‘has seiz’d my husband’s mind?What arms are these, and to what use design’d?These times want other aids! Were Hector here,Ev’n Hector now in vain, like Priam, would appear.With us, one common shelter thou shalt find,Or in one common fate with us be join’d.’She said, and with a last salute embrac’dThe poor old man, and by the laurel plac’d.Behold! Polites, one of Priam’s sons,Pursued by Pyrrhus, there for safety runs.Thro’ swords and foes, amaz’d and hurt, he fliesThro’ empty courts and open galleries.Him Pyrrhus, urging with his lance, pursues,And often reaches, and his thrusts renews.The youth, transfix’d, with lamentable cries,Expires before his wretched parent’s eyes:Whom gasping at his feet when Priam saw,The fear of death gave place to nature’s law;And, shaking more with anger than with age,‘The gods,’ said he, ‘requite thy brutal rage!As sure they will, barbarian, sure they must,If there be gods in heav’n, and gods be just:Who tak’st in wrongs an insolent delight;With a son’s death t’ infect a father’s sight.Not he, whom thou and lying fame conspireTo call thee his; not he, thy vaunted sire,Thus us’d my wretched age: the gods he fear’d,The laws of nature and of nations heard.He cheer’d my sorrows, and, for sums of gold,The bloodless carcass of my Hector sold;Pitied the woes a parent underwent,And sent me back in safety from his tent.’

“This said, his feeble hand a javelin threw,Which, flutt’ring, seem’d to loiter as it flew:Just, and but barely, to the mark it held,And faintly tinkled on the brazen shield.

“Then Pyrrhus thus: ‘Go thou from me to fate,And to my father my foul deeds relate.Now die!’ With that he dragg’d the trembling sire,Slidd’ring thro’ clotter’d blood and holy mire,(The mingled paste his murder’d son had made,)Haul’d from beneath the violated shade,And on the sacred pile the royal victim laid.His right hand held his bloody falchion bare,His left he twisted in his hoary hair;Then, with a speeding thrust, his heart he found:The lukewarm blood came rushing thro’ the wound,And sanguine streams distain’d the sacred ground.Thus Priam fell, and shar’d one common fateWith Troy in ashes, and his ruin’d state:He, who the scepter of all Asia sway’d,Whom monarchs like domestic slaves obey’d.On the bleak shore now lies th’ abandon’d king,A headless carcass, and a nameless thing.

“Then, not before, I felt my curdled bloodCongeal with fear, my hair with horror stood:My father’s image fill’d my pious mind,Lest equal years might equal fortune find.Again I thought on my forsaken wife,And trembled for my son’s abandon’d life.I look’d about, but found myself alone,Deserted at my need! My friends were gone.Some spent with toil, some with despair oppress’d,Leap’d headlong from the heights; the flames consum’d the rest.Thus, wand’ring in my way, without a guide,The graceless Helen in the porch I spiedOf Vesta’s temple; there she lurk’d alone;Muffled she sate, and, what she could, unknown:But, by the flames that cast their blaze around,That common bane of Greece and Troy I found.For Ilium burnt, she dreads the Trojan sword;More dreads the vengeance of her injur’d lord;Ev’n by those gods who refug’d her abhorr’d.Trembling with rage, the strumpet I regard,Resolv’d to give her guilt the due reward:‘Shall she triumphant sail before the wind,And leave in flames unhappy Troy behind?Shall she her kingdom and her friends review,In state attended with a captive crew,While unreveng’d the good old Priam falls,And Grecian fires consume the Trojan walls?For this the Phrygian fields and Xanthian floodWere swell’d with bodies, and were drunk with blood?’Tis true, a soldier can small honour gain,And boast no conquest, from a woman slain:Yet shall the fact not pass without applause,Of vengeance taken in so just a cause;The punish’d crime shall set my soul at ease,And murm’ring manes of my friends appease.’Thus while I rave, a gleam of pleasing lightSpread o’er the place; and, shining heav’nly bright,My mother stood reveal’d before my sightNever so radiant did her eyes appear;Not her own star confess’d a light so clear:Great in her charms, as when on gods aboveShe looks, and breathes herself into their love.She held my hand, the destin’d blow to break;Then from her rosy lips began to speak:‘My son, from whence this madness, this neglectOf my commands, and those whom I protect?Why this unmanly rage? Recall to mindWhom you forsake, what pledges leave behind.Look if your helpless father yet survive,Or if Ascanius or Creusa live.Around your house the greedy Grecians err;And these had perish’d in the nightly war,But for my presence and protecting care.Not Helen’s face, nor Paris, was in fault;But by the gods was this destruction brought.Now cast your eyes around, while I dissolveThe mists and films that mortal eyes involve,Purge from your sight the dross, and make you seeThe shape of each avenging deity.Enlighten’d thus, my just commands fulfil,Nor fear obedience to your mother’s will.Where yon disorder’d heap of ruin lies,Stones rent from stones; where clouds of dust arise,Amid that smother Neptune holds his place,Below the wall’s foundation drives his mace,And heaves the building from the solid base.Look where, in arms, imperial Juno standsFull in the Scaean gate, with loud commands,Urging on shore the tardy Grecian bands.See! Pallas, of her snaky buckler proud,Bestrides the tow’r, refulgent thro’ the cloud:See! Jove new courage to the foe supplies,And arms against the town the partial deities.Haste hence, my son; this fruitless labour end:Haste, where your trembling spouse and sire attend:Haste; and a mother’s care your passage shall befriend.’She said, and swiftly vanish’d from my sight,Obscure in clouds and gloomy shades of night.I look’d, I listen’d; dreadful sounds I hear;And the dire forms of hostile gods appear.Troy sunk in flames I saw, nor could prevent;And Ilium from its old foundations rent;Rent like a mountain ash, which dar’d the winds,And stood the sturdy strokes of lab’ring hinds.About the roots the cruel ax resounds;The stumps are pierc’d with oft-repeated wounds:The war is felt on high; the nodding crownNow threats a fall, and throws the leafy honours down.To their united force it yields, tho’ late,And mourns with mortal groans th’ approaching fate:The roots no more their upper load sustain;But down she falls, and spreads a ruin thro’ the plain.

“Descending thence, I scape thro’ foes and fire:Before the goddess, foes and flames retire.Arriv’d at home, he, for whose only sake,Or most for his, such toils I undertake,The good Anchises, whom, by timely flight,I purpos’d to secure on Ida’s height,Refus’d the journey, resolute to dieAnd add his fun’rals to the fate of Troy,Rather than exile and old age sustain.‘Go you, whose blood runs warm in ev’ry vein.Had Heav’n decreed that I should life enjoy,Heav’n had decreed to save unhappy Troy.’Tis, sure, enough, if not too much, for one,Twice to have seen our Ilium overthrown.Make haste to save the poor remaining crew,And give this useless corpse a long adieu.These weak old hands suffice to stop my breath;At least the pitying foes will aid my death,To take my spoils, and leave my body bare:As for my sepulcher, let Heav’n take care.’Tis long since I, for my celestial wifeLoath’d by the gods, have dragg’d a ling’ring life;Since ev’ry hour and moment I expire,Blasted from heav’n by Jove’s avenging fire.’This oft repeated, he stood fix’d to die:Myself, my wife, my son, my family,Intreat, pray, beg, and raise a doleful cry.‘What, will he still persist, on death resolve,And in his ruin all his house involve!’He still persists his reasons to maintain;Our pray’rs, our tears, our loud laments, are vain.

“Urg’d by despair, again I go to tryThe fate of arms, resolv’d in fight to die:‘What hope remains, but what my death must give?Can I, without so dear a father, live?You term it prudence, what I baseness call:Could such a word from such a parent fall?If Fortune please, and so the gods ordain,That nothing should of ruin’d Troy remain,And you conspire with Fortune to be slain,The way to death is wide, th’ approaches near:For soon relentless Pyrrhus will appear,Reeking with Priam’s blood: the wretch who slewThe son (inhuman) in the father’s view,And then the sire himself to the dire altar drew.O goddess mother, give me back to Fate;Your gift was undesir’d, and came too late!Did you, for this, unhappy me conveyThro’ foes and fires, to see my house a prey?Shall I my father, wife, and son behold,Welt’ring in blood, each other’s arms infold?Haste! gird my sword, tho’ spent and overcome:’Tis the last summons to receive our doom.I hear thee, Fate; and I obey thy call!Not unreveng’d the foe shall see my fall.Restore me to the yet unfinish’d fight:My death is wanting to conclude the night.’Arm’d once again, my glitt’ring sword I wield,While th’ other hand sustains my weighty shield,And forth I rush to seek th’ abandon’d field.I went; but sad Creusa stopp’d my way,And cross the threshold in my passage lay,Embrac’d my knees, and, when I would have gone,Shew’d me my feeble sire and tender son:‘If death be your design, at least,’ said she,‘Take us along to share your destiny.If any farther hopes in arms remain,This place, these pledges of your love, maintain.To whom do you expose your father’s life,Your son’s, and mine, your now forgotten wife!’While thus she fills the house with clam’rous cries,Our hearing is diverted by our eyes:For, while I held my son, in the short spaceBetwixt our kisses and our last embrace;Strange to relate, from young Iulus’ headA lambent flame arose, which gently spreadAround his brows, and on his temples fed.Amaz’d, with running water we prepareTo quench the sacred fire, and slake his hair;But old Anchises, vers’d in omens, rear’dHis hands to heav’n, and this request preferr’d:‘If any vows, almighty Jove, can bendThy will; if piety can pray’rs commend,Confirm the glad presage which thou art pleas’d to send.’Scarce had he said, when, on our left, we hearA peal of rattling thunder roll in air:There shot a streaming lamp along the sky,Which on the winged lightning seem’d to fly;From o’er the roof the blaze began to move,And, trailing, vanish’d in th’ Idaean grove.It swept a path in heav’n, and shone a guide,Then in a steaming stench of sulphur died.

“The good old man with suppliant hands implor’dThe gods’ protection, and their star ador’d.‘Now, now,’ said he, ‘my son, no more delay!I yield, I follow where Heav’n shews the way.Keep, O my country gods, our dwelling place,And guard this relic of the Trojan race,This tender child! These omens are your own,And you can yet restore the ruin’d town.At least accomplish what your signs foreshow:I stand resign’d, and am prepar’d to go.’

“He said. The crackling flames appear on high.And driving sparkles dance along the sky.With Vulcan’s rage the rising winds conspire,And near our palace roll the flood of fire.‘Haste, my dear father, (’tis no time to wait,)And load my shoulders with a willing freight.Whate’er befalls, your life shall be my care;One death, or one deliv’rance, we will share.My hand shall lead our little son; and you,My faithful consort, shall our steps pursue.Next, you, my servants, heed my strict commands:Without the walls a ruin’d temple stands,To Ceres hallow’d once; a cypress nighShoots up her venerable head on high,By long religion kept; there bend your feet,And in divided parties let us meet.Our country gods, the relics, and the bands,Hold you, my father, in your guiltless hands:In me ’tis impious holy things to bear,Red as I am with slaughter, new from war,Till in some living stream I cleanse the guiltOf dire debate, and blood in battle spilt.’Thus, ord’ring all that prudence could provide,I clothe my shoulders with a lion’s hideAnd yellow spoils; then, on my bending back,The welcome load of my dear father take;While on my better hand Ascanius hung,And with unequal paces tripp’d along.Creusa kept behind; by choice we strayThro’ ev’ry dark and ev’ry devious way.I, who so bold and dauntless just before,The Grecian darts and shock of lances bore,At ev’ry shadow now am seiz’d with fear,Not for myself, but for the charge I bear;Till, near the ruin’d gate arriv’d at last,Secure, and deeming all the danger past,A frightful noise of trampling feet we hear.My father, looking thro’ the shades, with fear,Cried out: ‘Haste, haste, my son, the foes are nigh;Their swords and shining armour I descry.’Some hostile god, for some unknown offence,Had sure bereft my mind of better sense;For, while thro’ winding ways I took my flight,And sought the shelter of the gloomy night,Alas! I lost Creusa: hard to tellIf by her fatal destiny she fell,Or weary sate, or wander’d with affright;But she was lost for ever to my sight.I knew not, or reflected, till I meetMy friends, at Ceres’ now deserted seat.We met: not one was wanting; only sheDeceiv’d her friends, her son, and wretched me.

“What mad expressions did my tongue refuse!Whom did I not, of gods or men, accuse!This was the fatal blow, that pain’d me moreThan all I felt from ruin’d Troy before.Stung with my loss, and raving with despair,Abandoning my now forgotten care,Of counsel, comfort, and of hope bereft,My sire, my son, my country gods I left.In shining armour once again I sheatheMy limbs, not feeling wounds, nor fearing death.Then headlong to the burning walls I run,And seek the danger I was forc’d to shun.I tread my former tracks; thro’ night exploreEach passage, ev’ry street I cross’d before.All things were full of horror and affright,And dreadful ev’n the silence of the night.Then to my father’s house I make repair,With some small glimpse of hope to find her there.Instead of her, the cruel Greeks I met;The house was fill’d with foes, with flames beset.Driv’n on the wings of winds, whole sheets of fire,Thro’ air transported, to the roofs aspire.From thence to Priam’s palace I resort,And search the citadel and desert court.Then, unobserv’d, I pass by Juno’s church:A guard of Grecians had possess’d the porch;There Phoenix and Ulysses watch the prey,And thither all the wealth of Troy convey:The spoils which they from ransack’d houses brought,And golden bowls from burning altars caught,The tables of the gods, the purple vests,The people’s treasure, and the pomp of priests.A rank of wretched youths, with pinion’d hands,And captive matrons, in long order stands.Then, with ungovern’d madness, I proclaim,Thro’ all the silent street, Creusa’s name:Creusa still I call; at length she hears,And sudden thro’ the shades of night appears.Appears, no more Creusa, nor my wife,But a pale spectre, larger than the life.Aghast, astonish’d, and struck dumb with fear,I stood; like bristles rose my stiffen’d hair.Then thus the ghost began to soothe my grief‘Nor tears, nor cries, can give the dead relief.Desist, my much-lov’d lord, t’ indulge your pain;You bear no more than what the gods ordain.My fates permit me not from hence to fly;Nor he, the great controller of the sky.Long wand’ring ways for you the pow’rs decree;On land hard labours, and a length of sea.Then, after many painful years are past,On Latium’s happy shore you shall be cast,Where gentle Tiber from his bed beholdsThe flow’ry meadows, and the feeding folds.There end your toils; and there your fates provideA quiet kingdom, and a royal bride:There fortune shall the Trojan line restore,And you for lost Creusa weep no more.Fear not that I shall watch, with servile shame,Th’ imperious looks of some proud Grecian dame;Or, stooping to the victor’s lust, disgraceMy goddess mother, or my royal race.And now, farewell! The parent of the godsRestrains my fleeting soul in her abodes:I trust our common issue to your care.’She said, and gliding pass’d unseen in air.I strove to speak: but horror tied my tongue;And thrice about her neck my arms I flung,And, thrice deceiv’d, on vain embraces hung.Light as an empty dream at break of day,Or as a blast of wind, she rush’d away.

“Thus having pass’d the night in fruitless pain,I to my longing friends return again,Amaz’d th’ augmented number to behold,Of men and matrons mix’d, of young and old;A wretched exil’d crew together brought,With arms appointed, and with treasure fraught,Resolv’d, and willing, under my command,To run all hazards both of sea and land.The Morn began, from Ida, to displayHer rosy cheeks; and Phosphor led the day:Before the gates the Grecians took their post,And all pretence of late relief was lost.I yield to Fate, unwillingly retire,And, loaded, up the hill convey my sire.”

Words in this poem 161

peopled a.: Stocked with, or as with, people; inhabited.
disastrous a.: Full of unpropitious stellar influences; unpropitious; ill-boding. [Cf. F. désastreux. See Disaster.]
minerva n.: The goddess of wisdom, of war, of the arts and sciences, of poetry, and of spinning and weaving; -- identified with the Grecian Pallas Athene. [L.]
steed n.: A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
dire a.: Ill-boding; portentous; as, dire omens. [L. dirus; of uncertain origin.]
abode n.: Act of waiting; delay. [OE. abad, abood, fr. abiden to abide. See Abide. For the change of vowel, cf. abode, imp. of abide.]
isle v. t.: To cause to become an island, or like an island; to surround or encompass; to island.
wealth n.: Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
unbar v. t.: To remove a bar or bars from; to unbolt; to open; as, to unbar a gate. Heber. [1st pref. un- + bar.]
rode n.: Redness; complexion. [See Rud.]
pallas n.: Pallas Athene, the Grecian goddess of wisdom, called also Athene, and identified, at a later period, with the Roman Minerva.
sounder n.: One who, or that which; sounds; specifically, an instrument used in telegraphy in place of a register, the communications being read by sound.
explore v. t.: To seek for or after; to strive to attain by search; to look wisely and carefully for. [L. explorare to explore; ex out+plorare to cry out aloud,prob. orig., to cause to flow; perh. akin to E. flow: cf. F. explorer.]
laocoon n.: A priest of Apollo, during the Trojan war. (See 2.)
aloud adv.: With a loud voice, or great noise; loudly; audibly. [Pref. a- + loud.]
forceful a.: Full of or processing force; exerting force; mighty.
undaunted a.: Not daunted; not subdued or depressed by fear.
circumvent v. t.: To gain advantage over by arts, stratagem, or deception; to decieve; to delude; to get around. [L. circumventis, p. p. of circumvenire, to come around, encompass, decieve; circum + venire to come, akin to E. come.]
miscreant n.: One who holds a false religious faith; a misbeliever. [OF. mescreant, F. mécréant; pref. mes- (L. minus less) + p. pr. fr. L. credere to believe. See Creed.]
haggard a.: Wild or intractable; disposed to break away from duty; untamed; as, a haggard or refractory hawk. Shak [F. hagard; of German origin, and prop. meaning, of the hegde or woods, wild, untamed. See Hedge, 1st Haw, and -ard.]
rueful a.: Causing one to rue or lament; woeful; mournful; sorrowful.
defence n.: The act of defending, or the state of being defended; protection, as from violence or danger. [F. défense, OF. defense, fem., defens, masc., fr. L. defensa (cf. Fence.]
shall v. i.: To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
disclaim v. t.: To renounce all claim to deny; ownership of, or responsibility for; to disown; to disavow; to reject.
kinsman n.: A man of the same race or family; one related by blood.
favour n.: Kind regard; propitious aspect; countenance; friendly disposition; kindness; good will. [Written also favour.]
direful a.: Dire; dreadful; terrible; calamitous; woeful; as, a direful fiend; a direful day. [Dire + -ful.]
dwell v. i.: To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
insatiate a.: Insatiable; as, insatiate thirst. [L. insatiatus.]
fruitless a.: Lacking, or not bearing, fruit; barren; destitute of offspring; as, a fruitless tree or shrub; a fruitless marriage.
unsuccessful a.: Not successful; not producing the desired event; not fortunate; meeting with, or resulting in, failure; unlucky; unhappy.
wintry a.: Suitable to winter; resembling winter, or what belongs to winter; brumal; hyemal; cold; stormy; wintery. [AS. wintrig.]
stupendous a.: Astonishing; wonderful; amazing; especially, astonishing in magnitude or elevation; as, a stupendous pile. [L. stupendus astonishing, p. future pass. of stupere to be astonished at. Cf. Stupid.]
dreadful a.: Full of dread or terror; fearful.
atone v. t.: To set at one; to reduce to concord; to reconcile, as parties at variance; to appease.
rumour n.: A flying or popular report; the common talk; hence, public fame; notoriety. [F. rumeur, L. rumor; cf. rumificare, rumitare to rumor, Skr. ru to cry.]
bade: A form of the pat tense of Bid.
wrathful a.: Full of wrath; very angry; greatly incensed; ireful; passionate; as, a wrathful man.
dismal a.: Fatal; ill-omened; unlucky. [Formerly a noun; e. g., "I trow it was in the dismalle." Chaucer. Of uncertain origin; but perh. (as suggested by Skeat) from OF. disme, F. dîme, tithe, the phr]
avow v. t.: To bind, or to devote, by a vow. Wyclif. [OF. avouer, fr. LL. votare to vow, fr. L. votun. See Vote, n.]
broke v. i.: To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
weedy a.: Of or pertaining to weeds; consisting of weeds.
sire n.: A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
perpetrate v. t.: To do or perform; to carry through; to execute, commonly in a bad sense; to commit (as a crime, an offense); to be guilty of; as, to perpetrate a foul deed. [L. perpetratus, p.p. of perpetrare to effect, perpetrare; per + patrare to perform.]
fraudful a.: Full of fraud, deceit, or treachery; trickish; treacherous; fraudulent; -- applied to persons or things. I. Taylor.
ungrateful a.: Not grateful; not thankful for favors; making no returns, or making ill return for kindness, attention, etc.; ingrateful. South.
languish v. i.: To cause to dr Shak.
averse a.: Turned away or backward. [L. aversus, p. p. of avertere. See Avert.]
doubtfully adv.: In a doubtful manner.
sternly adv.: In a stern manner.
glaring a.: Clear; notorious; open and bold; barefaced; as, a glaring crime.
briny a.: Of or pertaining to brine, or to the sea; partaking of the nature of brine; salt; as, a briny taste; the briny flood. [From Brine.]
wield v. t.: To govern; to rule; to keep, or have in charge; also, to possess. [OE. welden to govern, to have power over, to possess, AS. geweldan, gewyldan, from wealdan; akin to OS. waldan, OFries. walda, G. walten, OHG. waltan, Icel. val]
horrid a.: Rough; rugged; bristling. [L. horridus. See Horror, and cf. Ordure.]
expect v. t.: To wait for; to await. [L. expectatum, to look out for, await, expect; ex + out spectare to look at. See Spectacle.]
wondrous adv.: In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
portent n.: That which portends, or foretoken; esp., that which portends evil; a sign of coming calamity; an omen; a sign. [L. portentum. See Portend.]
unwary a.: Not vigilant against danger; not wary or cautious; unguarded; precipitate; heedless; careless. [Cf. Unware.]
flitting n.: A flying with lightness and celerity; a fluttering.
glancing a.: Shooting, as light.
amazement n.: The condition of being amazed; bewilderment ; overwhelming wonder, as from surprise, sudden fear, horror, or admiration.
valiant a.: Vigorous in body; strong; powerful; as, a valiant fencer. [OE. valiant, F. vaillant, OF. vaillant, valant, originally p. pr. of OF. & F. valoir to be worth, L. valere to be strong. See Wield, and cf. Avail, Convalesce, ]
nameless a.: Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
ghost n.: The spirit; the soul of man. [OE. gast, gost, soul, spirit, AS. gast breath, spirit, soul; akin to OS. g spirit, soul, D. geest, G. geist, and prob. to E. gaze, ghastly.]
thessalian a.: Of or pertaining to Thessaly in Greece. [Cf. L. Thessalius.]
swoln: Contraction of Swollen, p. p.
afresh adv.: Anew; again; once more; newly. [Pref. a- + fresh.]
spectre n.: Something preternaturally visible; an apparition; a ghost; a phantom. [F. spectre, fr. L. spectrum an appearance, image, specter, fr. specere to look. See Spy, and cf. Spectrum.]
shalt: 2d per. sing. of Shall.
vesta n.: One of the great divinities of the ancient Romans, identical with the Greek Hestia. She was a virgin, and the goddess of the hearth; hence, also, of the fire on it, and the family round it. [L. Vesta, akin to Gr. ush to burn (see East), or perhaps to Skr. vas to dwell, and E. was.]
afar adv.: At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
frightful a.: Full of fright; affrighted; frightened.
unroot v. t.: To tear up by the roots; to eradicate; to uproot. [1st pref. un- + root.]
manifestly adv.: In a manifest manner.
splendour n.: Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
trumpets n.: A plant (Sarracenia flava) with long, hollow leaves.
honour n.: Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
whither adv.: To what place; -- used interrogatively; as, whither goest thou [OE. whider. AS. hwider; akin to E. where, who; cf. Goth. hvadre whither. See Who, and cf. Hither, Thither.]
scarce a.: Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
jove n.: The chief divinity of the ancient Romans; Jupiter. [L. Jupiter, gen. Jovis, OL. Jovis, nom. & gen. for Djovis; akin to E. Tuesday. See Tuesday, and cf. Jupiter.]
clamour n.: A great outcry or vociferation; loud and continued shouting or exclamation. [OF. clamour, clamur, F. clameur, fr. L. clamor, fr. clamare to cry out. See Claim.]
amidst prep.: In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
sundry a.: Several; divers; more than one or two; various. [OE. sundry, sondry, AS. syndrig, fr. sundor asunder. See Sunder, v. t.]
fatally adv.: In a manner proceeding from, or determined by, fate. Bentley.
vest n.: An article of clothing covering the person; an outer garment; a vestment; a dress; a vesture; a robe. [L. vestis a garment, vesture; akin to Goth. wasti, and E. wear: cf. F. veste. See Wear to carry on the person, and cf. Divest, Invest, Travesty.]
plumy a.: Covered or adorned with plumes, or as with plumes; feathery.
blindly adv.: Without sight, discernment, or understanding; without thought, investigation, knowledge, or purpose of one's own.
straggling a.: from Straggle, v.
defeat v. t.: To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
remount v. t.: To mount again.
pant v. i.: To breathe quickly or in a labored manner, as after exertion or from eagerness or excitement; to respire with heaving of the breast; to gasp. [Cf. F. panteler to gasp for breath, OF. panteisier to be breathless, F. pantois out of breath; perh. akin to E. phantom, the verb prob. orig. meaning, to have t]
prophetess n.: A female prophet. [Cf. F. prophétesse, L. prophetissa.]
sacrilegious a.: Violating sacred things; polluted with sacrilege; involving sacrilege; profane; impious. [From sacrilege: cf. L. sacrilegus.]
amid prep.: In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
rally v. t.: To collect, and reduce to order, as troops dispersed or thrown into confusion; to gather again; to reunite. [OF. ralier, F. rallier, fr. L. pref. re- + ad + ligare to bind. See Ra-, and 1st Ally.]
squadron n.: Primarily, a square; hence, a square body of troops; a body of troops drawn up in a square. [F. escadron, formerly also esquadron, or It. squadrone. See Squad.]
enclose v. t.: To inclose. See Inclose. [F. enclos, p. p. of enclore to enclose; pref. en- (L. in) + clore to close. See Close, and cf. Inclose, Include.]
odds n.: Difference in favor of one and against another; excess of one of two things or numbers over the other; inequality; advantage; superiority; hence, excess of chances; probability. [See Odd, a.]
mitre n.: A covering for the head, worn on solemn occasions by church dignitaries. It has been made in many forms, the present form being a lofty cap with two points or peaks. Fairholt.
phoebus n.: Apollo; the sun god.
strife n.: The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
argolic a.: Pertaining to Argolis, a district in the Peloponnesus.
scaling a.: Adapted for removing scales, as from a fish; as, a scaling knife; adapted for removing scale, as from the interior of a steam boiler; as, a scaling hammer, bar, etc.
postern n.: Originally, a back door or gate; a private entrance; hence, any small door or gate. [OF. posterne, posterle, F. poterne, fr. L. posterula, fr. posterus coming after. See Posterior.]
unseen a.: Not seen or discovered.
grandsire n.: Specifically, a grandfather; more generally, any ancestor. [OF. grantsire. See Grand, and Sire.]
swifter v. t.: To tighten, as slack standing rigging, by bringing the opposite shrouds nearer.
piecemeal adv.: In pieces; in parts or fragments. [OE. pecemele; pece a piece + AS. m, dat. pl. of m part. See Meal a portion.]
relent v. i.: To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce. [F. ralentir, fr. L. pref. re- re- + ad to + lentus pliant, flexible, slow. See Lithe.]
forky a.: Opening into two or more parts or shoots; forked; furcated.
charioteer n.: One who drives a chariot.
infantry n.: A body of children. B. Jonson. [F. infanterie, It. infanteria, fr. infante infant, child, boy servant, foot soldier, fr. L. infans, -antis, child; foot soldiers being formerly the servants and]
apace adv.: With a quick pace; quick; fast; speedily. [Pref. a- + pace. OE. a pas at a walk, in which a is the article. See Pace.]
unresisted a.: Not resisted; unopposed. Bentley.
sate v. t.: To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
despairing a.: Feeling or expressing despair; hopeless.
carcass n.: A dead body, whether of man or beast; a corpse; now commonly the dead body of a beast. [F. carcasse, fr. It. carcassa, fr. L. caro flesh + capsa chest, box, case. Cf. Carnal, Case a sheath.]
falchion n.: A broad-bladed sword, slightly curved, shorter and lighter than the ordinary sword; -- used in the Middle Ages. [OE. fauchon, OF. fauchon, LL. fälcio, fr. L. falx, falcis, a sickle, cf. Gr. falcon; cf. It. falcione. Cf. Defalcation.]
hoary a.: White or whitish."The hoary willows."
lukewarm a.: Moderately warm; neither cold nor hot; tepid; not ardent; not zealous; cool; indifferent. [See Luke.]
distain v. t.: To tinge with a different color from the natural or proper one; to stain; to discolor; to sully; to tarnish; to defile; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. desteinen, OF. desteindre to take away the color, F. déteindre; pref. des- (L. dis-) + F. teindre to tinge, dye, L. tingere. See Tinge, and cf. Stain.]
headless a.: Having no head; beheaded; as, a headless body, neck, or carcass. [AS. heáfodleás.]
graceless a.: Wanting in grace or excellence; departed from, or deprived of, divine grace; hence, depraved; corrupt.
bane v. t.: To be the bane of; to ruin. Fuller.
xanthian a.: Of or pertaining to Xanthus, an ancient town on Asia Minor; -- applied especially to certain marbles found near that place, and now in the British Museum.
nightly a.: Of or pertaining to the night, or to every night; happening or done by night, or every night; as, nightly shades; he kept nightly vigils.
heaves n.: A disease of horses, characterized by difficult breathing, with heaving of the flank, wheezing, flatulency, and a peculiar cough; broken wind.
snaky a.: Of or pertaining to a snake or snakes; resembling a snake; serpentine; winding.
refulgent a.: Casting a bright light; radiant; brilliant; resplendent; shining; splendid; as, refulgent beams. [L. refulgens, p. pr. of refulgere to flash back, to shine bright; pref. re- re- + fulgere to shine. See Fulgent.]
spouse v. t.: To wed; to espouse. [See Espouse, and Spouse, n.]
befriend v. t.: To act as a friend to; to favor; to aid, benefit, or countenance.
corpse n.: A human body in general, whether living or dead; -- sometimes contemptuosly. [OF. cors (sometimes written corps), F. corps, L. corpus; akin to AS. hrif womb. See Midriff, and cf. Corse, Corselet, Corps, Cuerpo.]
suffice v. i.: To be enough, or sufficient; to meet the need (of anything); to be equal to the end proposed; to be adequate. [OE. suffisen, OF. soufire, F. suffire (cf. suffisant, p.pr.), L. sufficere to put under, to substitute, to avail for, to suffice; sub under + facere to make. Se]
pitying a.: Expressing pity; as, a pitying eye, glance, or word.
blasted a.: Blighted; withered.
relentless a.: Unmoved by appeals for sympathy or forgiveness; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; unrelenting; unyielding; unpitying; as, a prey to relentless despotism.
conclude v. t.: To shut up; to inclose. [L. concludere, conclusum; con- + claudere to shut. See Close, v. t.]
went n.: Course; way; path; journey; direction.
shew n.: Show. [Obs. except in shewbread.]
betwixt prep.: In the space which separates; between. [OE. betwix, bitwix, rarely bitwixt, AS. betweox, betweohs, betweoh, betwih; pref. be- by + a form fr. AS. twa two. See Between.]
lambent a.: Playing on the surface; touching lightly; gliding over. [L. lambens, -enlis, p. pr. of lambere to lick; akin to lap. See Lap to drink by licking.]
peal v. i.: To appeal. Spencer.
streaming a.: Sending forth streams.
stench v. t.: To stanch. Harvey.
suppliant a.: Asking earnestly and submissively; entreating; beseeching; supplicating. [F., p.pr. of supplier to entreat, L. supplicare. See Supplicate, and cf. Supplicant.]
ceres n.: The daughter of Saturn and Ops or Rhea, the goddess of corn and tillage. [L., Ceres, also corn, grain, akin to E. create.]
guiltless a.: Free from guilt; innocent.
devious a.: Out of a straight line; winding; varying from directness; as, a devious path or way. [L. devius; de + via way. See Viaduct.]
dauntless a.: Incapable of being daunted; undaunted; bold; fearless; intrepid.
armour n.: Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
descry: , Discovery or view, as of an army seen at a distance.
offence n.: The act of offending in any sense; esp., a crime or a sin, an affront or an injury. [F., fr. L. offensa. See Offend.]
aspire v. t.: To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
soothe v. t.: To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
controller n.: One who, or that which, controls or restraines; one who has power or authority to regulate or control; one who governs. [From control, v.t.: cf. F. contrôleur.]
imperious a.: Commanding; ascendant; imperial; lordly; majestic. [L. imperiosus: cf. F. impérieux. See Imperial.]
dame n.: A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
lust v. i.: To list; to like. [AS. lystan. See Lust, n., and cf. List to choose.]
fraught n.: A freight; a cargo. [OE.fraight, fraght; akin to Dan. fragt, Sw. frakt, D. vracht, G. fracht, cf. OHG. fr merit, reward; perh. from corresponding to E. for + The root of E. own. Cf.]
morn n.: The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913; the first 160 of 161 words.

About this text

Book II is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Aeneid, Project Gutenberg ebook #228, the John Dryden translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Virgil, Book II, in The Aeneid (1697), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #228, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/virgil-aeneid/book-ii.html, id L14062.

Form and metre

Book II is 1094 lines in 27 verse paragraphs. It is in rhyming couplets, 69% of the lines: heroic couplets. The metre is iambic pentameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 93%). 96% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.1 syllables. 39 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 14% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.

See other poems in heroic couplets, other poems in iambic pentameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 AABBCC--DDEEFFGG man^A · began^A · relate^B · fate^B · rent^C · underwent^C · place · was · hear^D · tear^D · night^E · invite^E · woe^F · know^F · tell^G · befell^G
2 --AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHIIJJJKKJJLLMMNNOOPPQQ--RRSSTTUUVVWWXXXYYZZaabbccddeeffggffhhii despair · war · rear'd^A · appear'd^A · made^B · paid^B · side^C · hide^C · load^D · abode^D · isle^E · smile^E · bay^F · lay^F · greece^G · release^G · long^H · throng^H · survey^I · lay^I · show'd^J · abode^J · rode^J · employ^K · troy^K · hir'd^J · requir'd^J · down^L · town^L · mind^M · designed^M · bore^N · explore^N · guide^O · divide^O · crowd^P · aloud^P · reigns^Q · brains^Q · gone · known · inclose^R · foes^R · town^S · down^S · force^T · horse^T · threw^U · flew^U · wood^V · stood^V · sound^W · wound^W · design'd^X · blind^X · mind^X · wood^Y · stood^Y · bring^Z · king^Z · prey^a · betray^a · bent^b · circumvent^b · flow^c · foe^c · disguis'd^d · compris'd^d · bound^e · around^e · sea^f · me^f · attends^g · friends^g · eye^f · die^f · defence^h · whence^h · knowⁱ · foeⁱ
3 AABB--BBCCDDEE-FFGGHHGGIIJJKKLLL--MMNNOOPPQQRRSSSTT whate'er^A · sincere^A · disclaim^B · name^B · misery · lie · name^B · fame^B · times^C · crimes^C · prevent^D · lament^D · bare^E · care^E · war · support^F · court^F · name^G · fame^G · arts^H · hearts^H · name^G · fame^G · support^I · court^I · fate^J · state^J · woes^K · rose^K · more^L · shore^L · restore^L · ensued · proud · spread^M · head^M · stone^N · own^N · wrought^O · thought^O · seek^P · greek^P · know^Q · blow^Q · please^R · ease^R · starts^S · hearts^S · arts^S · renew'd^T · pursued^T
4 ----AABBCCDD- care · war · town · gone · winds^A · minds^A · amaz'd^B · rais'd^B · seen^C · serene^C · event^D · sent^D · brought
5 ----AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII--JJ--KKLLMMNN sought · bought · again · main · ran^A · man^A · fright^B · sight^B · fate^C · state^C · event^D · meant^D · withstood^E · blood^E · pursuit^F · mute^F · i^G · die^G · fall^H · all^H · prepare^I · hair^I · avow · blow · lay^J · away^J · remain · again · sire^K · require^K · design^L · mine^L · move^M · above^M · desert^N · avert^N
6 AA--BBCCDDEEEFFGGHHII--JJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQ--RRS-STTUUVV--WWXXYYXX commands^A · hands^A · fears · theirs · guile^B · pile^B · arts^C · imparts^C · high^D · sky^D · dread^E · head^E · fled^E · may^F · betray^F · state^G · hate^G · gave^H · save^H · made^I · aid^I · diomede · head · drew^J · slew^J · hands^K · bands^K · shore^L · before^L · decay'd^M · aid^M · declare^N · care^N · ground^O · around^O · threat^P · sweat^P · wield^Q · shield^Q · flight · war · besought^R · brought^R · main^S · again · ordain^S · maid^T · betray'd^T · name^U · frame^U · gates^V · fates^V · lost · boast · ordain^W · profane^W · burn^X · turn^X · hands^Y · stands^Y · burn^X · return^X
7 AABBB hearts^A · arts^A · son^B · done^B · won^B
8 AAABBCCCDDEE--FFGGHHIIJJKKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTT--UUVVWWXXYYZZ------aabb--cc--ddee--ff--gg portent^A · torment^A · event^A · year^B · steer^B · spied^C · divide^C · tide^C · show^D · below^D · course^E · force^E · held · fill'd · came^F · flame^F · take^G · make^G · wind^H · grind^H · aid^I · invade^I · roll'd^J · fold^J · divide^K · ride^K · knots^L · blots^L · around^M · wound^M · flies^N · skies^N · prey^O · way^O · there^P · spear^P · cry^Q · die^Q · withstood^R · wood^R · paid^S · maid^S · bare^T · prepare^T · rest · beast · calls^U · walls^U · crown'd^V · around^V · down^W · town^W · divine^X · line^X · sound^Y · rebound^Y · fate^Z · state^Z · tow'r · hour · decree · prophecy · waste · last · light^a · night^a · held^b · compell'd^b · pow'rs · shores · night^c · light^c · gods · abodes · foes^d · rose^d · guide^e · slide^e · haste · last · fam'd^f · fram'd^f · join · wine · fate^g · gate^g
9 AA-ABBCCDDEEFFGGGHHII-F--JJ repairs^A · cares^A · appears · tears^A · slain^B · plain^B · thrust^C · dust^C · toils^D · spoils^D · retire^E · fire^E · gore^F · bore^F · ran^G · man^G · began^G · troy^H · joy^H · whence^I · defence^I · are · war^F · own · town · disgrace^J · face^J
10 AABBCCDDAAEEFFGG--HH frame^A · came^A · breast^B · express'd^B · flight^C · night^C · wall^D · fall^D · name^A · fame^A · throne^E · alone^E · state^F · fate^F · expect^G · erect^G · abodes · gods · choir^H · fire^H
11 --AABBCCCDDEEEFF--GGHHIIJJKKLLMM afar · war · stood^A · wood^A · alarms^B · arms^B · stay^C · survey^C · convey^C · borne^D · corn^D · plains^E · pains^E · gains^E · away^F · prey^F · far · war · clear'd^G · appear'd^G · ascends^H · friends^H · bright^I · light^I · arise^J · cries^J · alarms^K · arms^K · oppose^L · foes^L · fir'd^M · inspir'd^M
12 AABBCC----DDEEFFAAGGHHII name^A · flame^A · fled^B · led^B · run^C · done^C · groan · town · come · doom · hands^D · commands^D · force^E · horse^E · about^F · without^F · name^A · came^A · divide^G · wide^G · surprise^H · flies^H · maintain^I · vain^I
13 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII--JJKKJJ inspires^A · fires^A · calls^B · walls^B · engage^C · age^C · knew^D · drew^D · led^E · bed^E · aid^F · maid^F · fall^G · all^G · vain^H · ordain^H · affairs^I · pray'rs^I · defile · spoil · conspire^J · fire^J · foes^K · shows^K · desire^J · fire^J
14 AA--BBCCCDDEEFF--GGHHIIJJKKLLMMLLNNNOOOPPQQRR----SSSTTUUVVVVWW appetite^A · night^A · food · blood · die^B · try^B · dare^C · square^C · despair^C · night^D · affright^D · falls^E · funerals^E · blood^F · flood^F · turn · mourn · night^G · fight^G · fears^H · appears^H · band^I · land^I · delay^J · away^J · store^K · ashore^K · mistake^L · make^L · fight^M · flight^M · brake^L · snake^L · spies^N · eyes^N · flies^N · round^O · ground^O · found^O · smil'd^P · beguil'd^P · mind^Q · design'd^Q · way^R · obey^R · bestow'd · good · bear · war · dress'd^S · vest^S · crest^S · train^T · slain^T · presage^U · rage^U · meet^V · street^V · defeat^V · retreat^V · fear^W · there^W
15 AABBCCDDBBEEFFGGHHIIFFJJ made^A · aid^A · fair^B · hair^B · bands^C · hands^C · cried^D · tied^D · bear^B · despair^B · flew^E · pursue^E · height^F · alight^F · blow^G · show^G · high^H · lie^H · see^I · free^I · unite^F · fight^F · force^J · horse^J
16 AABBCCDDEE--FFGGHHIIJJ--KKLLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUU--VVWW-- try^A · sky^A · borne^B · torn^B · rise^C · skies^C · appear^D · rear^D · betray^E · survey^E · first · pierc'd · fight^F · right^F · attends^G · friends^G · bands^H · hands^H · bear^I · there^I · strife^J · life^J · fault · sought · died^K · tide^K · thence^L · defence^L · ring^M · king^M · rose^N · oppose^N · race^O · space^O · fear^P · there^P · foes^Q · rose^Q · bold^R · hold^R · ascent^S · battlement^S · throw^T · foe^T · sides^U · provides^U · high · royalty · attend^V · defend^V · breath^W · death^W · succeed · dead
17 --AABBCCDDEEFFGG--HHIIJJKKLL------MMNNOOPPQQRRSSTTUUTTVVWWXXYYZZ----aabb free · gallery · known^A · throne^A · unseen^B · queen^B · whence^C · defence^C · descried^D · ride^D · hew^E · renew^E · meet^F · feet^F · fall^G · wall^G · beneath · death · sent^H · relent^H · loud^I · crowd^I · snake^J · brake^J · returns^K · burns^K · sides^L · rides^L · along · tongue · automedon · run · infantry · free · rend^M · ascend^M · blows^N · bestows^N · ply^O · fly^O · length^P · strength^P · conceal'd^Q · reveal'd^Q · state^R · sate^R · seen^S · between^S · cries^T · skies^T · place^U · embrace^U · plies^T · eyes^T · sustain^V · slain^V · fill^W · kill^W · flood^X · withstood^X · sway^Y · away^Y · between^Z · queen^Z · stood · brood · he · progeny · spoils^a · toils^a · space^b · place^b
18 AABBCCDDDEEFFGGHHIIJJKKJ-LLMMNNNNNNOOPPQQRRSS--TTUU enquire^A · fire^A · foes^B · woes^B · decay'd^C · aid^C · sustain^D · pain^D · slain^D · view^E · grew^E · round^F · ground^F · train^G · vain^G · sky^H · fly^H · lord^I · sword^I · mind^J · design'd^J · here^K · appear^K · find^J · join'd · embrac'd^L · plac'd^L · sons^M · runs^M · flies^N · galleries^N · pursues^N · renews^N · cries^N · eyes^N · saw^O · law^O · age^P · rage^P · must^Q · just^Q · delight^R · sight^R · conspire^S · sire^S · fear'd · heard · gold^T · sold^T · underwent^U · tent^U
19 AA-- threw^A · flew^A · held · shield
20 AABBCCCDDEEEAACCFF fate^A · relate^A · sire^B · mire^B · made^C · shade^C · laid^C · bare^D · hair^D · found^E · wound^E · ground^E · fate^A · state^A · sway'd^C · obey'd^C · king^F · thing^F
21 AABBCC--DDEEFFGGHHH-HIIJJKKLLMM--NNOOOPPQQ--RRSSTTU-U--VV----WWXXXYYYZZaabbbccddee----ffgghh blood^A · stood^A · mind^B · find^B · wife^C · life^C · alone · gone · oppress'd^D · rest^D · guide^E · spied^E · alone^F · unknown^F · around^G · found^G · sword^H · lord^H · abhorr'd^H · regard · reward^H · wind^I · behind^I · review^J · crew^J · falls^K · walls^K · flood^L · blood^L · gain^M · slain^M · applause · cause · ease^N · appease^N · light^O · bright^O · sight^O · appear^P · clear^P · above^Q · love^Q · break · speak · neglect^R · protect^R · mind^S · behind^S · survive^T · live^T · err^U · war · care^U · fault · brought · dissolve^V · involve^V · see · deity · fulfil · will · lies^W · arise^W · place^X · mace^X · base^X · stands^Y · commands^Y · bands^Y · proud^Z · cloud^Z · supplies^a · deities^a · end^b · attend^b · befriend^b · sight^c · night^c · hear^d · appear^d · prevent^e · rent^e · winds · hinds · resounds · wounds · crown^f · down^f · late^g · fate^g · sustain^h · plain^h
22 --AABB-CDDCC--EEFFGGHH--I-IJJKK fire · retire · sake^A · undertake^A · flight^B · height^B · die · troy^C · sustain^D · vein^D · enjoy^C · troy^C · one · overthrown · crew^E · adieu^E · breath^F · death^F · bare^G · care^G · wife^H · life^H · expire · fire · die^I · family · cry^I · resolve^J · involve^J · maintain^K · vain^K
23 AA--BBCCCDDEEEFFGGHH--IIJJKKKLL----MMNNOOPPQQQRR--SSSTTUU--VV try^A · die^A · give · live · call^B · fall^B · ordain^C · remain^C · slain^C · near^D · appear^D · slew^E · view^E · drew^E · fate^F · late^F · convey^G · prey^G · behold^H · infold^H · overcome · doom · call^I · fall^I · fight^J · night^J · wield^K · shield^K · field^K · way^L · lay^L · gone · son · she · destiny · remain^M · maintain^M · life^N · wife^N · cries^O · eyes^O · space^P · embrace^P · head^Q · spread^Q · fed^Q · prepare^R · hair^R · rear'd · preferr'd · bend^S · commend^S · send^S · hear^T · air^T · sky^U · fly^U · move · grove · guide^V · died^V
24 AABBCC--DD implor'd^A · ador'd^A · delay^B · way^B · place^C · race^C · own · town · foreshow^D · go^D
25 AABBCCDDEEFFGGHHII--JJKK----LLMMNNOONNPPQQRRSSRRTTUU high^A · sky^A · conspire^B · fire^B · wait^C · freight^C · care^D · share^D · you^E · pursue^E · commands^F · stands^F · nigh^G · high^G · feet^H · meet^H · bands^I · hands^I · bear · war · guilt^J · spilt^J · provide^K · hide^K · back · take · hung · along · stray^L · way^L · before^M · bore^M · fear^N · bear^N · last^O · past^O · hear^N · fear^N · nigh^P · descry^P · offence^Q · sense^Q · flight^R · night^R · tell^S · fell^S · affright^R · sight^R · meet^T · seat^T · she^U · me^U
26 AABBCCDD--EEFFGGHHII--JJ--KK----LLMMNNOOPPQQRRSSSSTTUUVVWWXXYY--ZZaaabb refuse^A · accuse^A · more^B · before^B · despair^C · care^C · bereft^D · left^D · sheathe · death · run^E · shun^E · explore^F · before^F · affright^G · night^G · repair^H · there^H · met^I · beset^I · fire · aspire · resort^J · court^J · church · porch · prey^K · convey^K · brought · caught · vests · priests · hands^L · stands^L · proclaim^M · name^M · hears^N · appears^N · wife^O · life^O · fear^P · hair^P · grief^Q · relief^Q · pain^R · ordain^R · fly^S · sky^S · decree^S · sea^S · past^T · cast^T · beholds^U · folds^U · provide^V · bride^V · restore^W · more^W · shame^X · dame^X · disgrace^Y · race^Y · gods · abodes · care^Z · air^Z · tongue^a · flung^a · hung^a · day^b · away^b
27 AABBCCDDEE--FF pain^A · again^A · behold^B · old^B · brought^C · fraught^C · command^D · land^D · display^E · day^E · post · lost · retire^F · sire^F

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
All were attentive to the godlike man,	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
When from his lofty couch he thus began:	10	···/˘···˘/
“Great queen, what you command me to relate	10	····˘/··˘/
Renews the sad remembrance of our fate:	10	˘/··˘/˘·/·
An empire from its old foundations rent,	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
And ev’ry woe the Trojans underwent;	10	·····/˘·˘/
A peopled city made a desert place;	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
All that I saw, and part of which I was:	10	··········
Not ev’n the hardest of our foes could hear,	10	···/˘·/···
Nor stern Ulysses tell without a tear.	10	··˘/˘·····
And now the latter watch of wasting night,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And setting stars, to kindly rest invite;	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
But, since you take such int’rest in our woe,	10	········/·
And Troy’s disastrous end desire to know,	10	··˘/˘·˘/··
I will restrain my tears, and briefly tell	10	··˘/···/˘·
What in our last and fatal night befell.	10	··/··/˘·˘/
“By destiny compell’d, and in despair,	10	·/˘˘˘/··˘/
The Greeks grew weary of the tedious war,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And by Minerva’s aid a fabric rear’d,	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
Which like a steed of monstrous height appear’d:	10	·····/˘·˘/
The sides were plank’d with pine; they feign’d it made	10	··········
For their return, and this the vow they paid.	10	··˘/······
Thus they pretend, but in the hollow side	10	··˘/···/˘·
Selected numbers of their soldiers hide:	10	˘/˘/˘··/˘·
With inward arms the dire machine they load,	10	·/˘···˘/··
And iron bowels stuff the dark abode.	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
In sight of Troy lies Tenedos, an isle	10	··········
(While Fortune did on Priam’s empire smile)	10	·/˘··/·/˘·
Renown’d for wealth; but, since, a faithless bay,	10	˘/·····/˘·
Where ships expos’d to wind and weather lay.	10	··˘/···/˘·
There was their fleet conceal’d. We thought, for Greece	10	····˘/····
Their sails were hoisted, and our fears release.	10	···/˘·/·˘/
The Trojans, coop’d within their walls so long,	10	·/˘·······
Unbar their gates, and issue in a throng,	10	˘/···/˘···
Like swarming bees, and with delight survey	10	·/˘···˘/˘/
The camp deserted, where the Grecians lay:	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
The quarters of the sev’ral chiefs they show’d;	10	·/˘·······
Here Phoenix, here Achilles, made abode;	10	·/˘·˘/˘·˘/
Here join’d the battles; there the navy rode.	10	···/˘··/˘·
Part on the pile their wond’ring eyes employ:	10	········˘/
The pile by Pallas rais’d to ruin Troy.	10	·······/˘·
Thymoetes first (’tis doubtful whether hir’d,	10	····/˘··/˘
Or so the Trojan destiny requir’d)	11	···/˘/˘˘˘/˘
Mov’d that the ramparts might be broken down,	10	···/···/˘·
To lodge the monster fabric in the town.	10	···/˘/˘···
But Capys, and the rest of sounder mind,	10	·······/˘·
The fatal present to the flames designed,	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
Or to the wat’ry deep; at least to bore	10	···/˘·····
The hollow sides, and hidden frauds explore.	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
The giddy vulgar, as their fancies guide,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
With noise say nothing, and in parts divide.	10	···/˘···˘/
Laocoon, follow’d by a num’rous crowd,	10	···/˘·····
Ran from the fort, and cried, from far, aloud:	10	········˘/
‘O wretched countrymen! what fury reigns?	10	·/˘/˘˘·/˘·
What more than madness has possess’d your brains?	10	···/˘·˘/··
Think you the Grecians from your coasts are gone?	10	···/˘·····
And are Ulysses’ arts no better known?	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
This hollow fabric either must inclose,	10	·/˘/˘/˘·˘/
Within its blind recess, our secret foes;	10	····˘///˘·
Or ’tis an engine rais’d above the town,	10	···/˘·····
T’ o’erlook the walls, and then to batter down.	11	········/˘·
Somewhat is sure design’d, by fraud or force:	10	//··˘/····
Trust not their presents, nor admit the horse.’	10	···/˘·˘/··
Thus having said, against the steed he threw	10	·/˘·······
His forceful spear, which, hissing as it flew,	10	·/˘··/˘···
Pierc’d thro’ the yielding planks of jointed wood,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And trembling in the hollow belly stood.	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
The sides, transpierc’d, return a rattling sound,	10	····˘/·/˘·
And groans of Greeks inclos’d come issuing thro’ the wound	12	·······/˘···
And, had not Heav’n the fall of Troy design’d,	10	········˘/
Or had not men been fated to be blind,	10	·····/˘···
Enough was said and done t’inspire a better mind.	12	˘/·······/˘·
Then had our lances pierc’d the treach’rous wood,	10	··//˘·····
And Ilian tow’rs and Priam’s empire stood.	10	·····/·/˘·
Meantime, with shouts, the Trojan shepherds bring	10	/····/˘/˘·
A captive Greek, in bands, before the king;	10	·/˘·······
Taken to take; who made himself their prey,	10	/˘····˘/··
T’ impose on their belief, and Troy betray;	11	·˘/··˘/··˘/
Fix’d on his aim, and obstinately bent	11	···········
To die undaunted, or to circumvent.	10	··˘/˘···˘/
About the captive, tides of Trojans flow;	10	···/˘··/˘·
All press to see, and some insult the foe.	10	······˘/··
Now hear how well the Greeks their wiles disguis’d;	10	········˘/
Behold a nation in a man compris’d.	10	˘/·/˘···˘/
Trembling the miscreant stood, unarm’d and bound;	10	/˘·/˘·˘/··
He star’d, and roll’d his haggard eyes around,	10	·····/˘···
Then said: ‘Alas! what earth remains, what sea	10	··˘/··˘/··
Is open to receive unhappy me?	10	·/˘·˘/˘/˘·
What fate a wretched fugitive attends,	10	···/˘/˘˘˘/
Scorn’d by my foes, abandon’d by my friends?’	10	····˘/˘···
He said, and sigh’d, and cast a rueful eye:	10	·······/˘·
Our pity kindles, and our passions die.	10	//˘/˘·//˘·
We cheer the youth to make his own defence,	10	········˘/
And freely tell us what he was, and whence:	10	·/˘·······
What news he could impart, we long to know,	10	····˘/····
And what to credit from a captive foe.	10	···/˘··/˘·
“His fear at length dismiss’d, he said: ‘Whate’er	11	····˘/··˘˘/
My fate ordains, my words shall be sincere:	10	··˘/····˘/
I neither can nor dare my birth disclaim;	10	·/˘·····˘/
Greece is my country, Sinon is my name.	10	···/˘·····
Tho’ plung’d by Fortune’s pow’r in misery,	10	···/˘··/˘˘
’Tis not in Fortune’s pow’r to make me lie.	10	···/˘·····
If any chance has hither brought the name	10	·/˘··/˘···
Of Palamedes, not unknown to fame,	9	·····˘/··
Who suffer’d from the malice of the times,	10	·/˘··/˘···
Accus’d and sentenc’d for pretended crimes,	10	˘/·/˘·˘/˘·
Because these fatal wars he would prevent;	10	···/˘···˘/
Whose death the wretched Greeks too late lament;	10	···/˘···˘/
Me, then a boy, my father, poor and bare	10	·····/˘···
Of other means, committed to his care,	10	·/˘·˘/˘···
His kinsman and companion in the war.	10	·/··˘/˘···
While Fortune favour’d, while his arms support	10	·/˘·····˘/
The cause, and rul’d the counsels, of the court,	10	·····/˘···
I made some figure there; nor was my name	10	···/˘·····
Obscure, nor I without my share of fame.	10	˘/········
But when Ulysses, with fallacious arts,	10	··˘/˘·˘/˘·
Had made impression in the people’s hearts,	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
And forg’d a treason in my patron’s name	10	···/˘··/˘·
(I speak of things too far divulg’d by fame),	10	······˘/··
My kinsman fell. Then I, without support,	10	·/······˘/
In private mourn’d his loss, and left the court.	10	·/˘·······
Mad as I was, I could not bear his fate	10	··········
With silent grief, but loudly blam’d the state,	10	·/˘··/˘···
And curs’d the direful author of my woes.	10	···/˘/˘···
’Twas told again; and hence my ruin rose.	10	··˘/···/˘·
I threaten’d, if indulgent Heav’n once more	10	·/˘·˘/˘···
Would land me safely on my native shore,	10	···/˘··/˘·
His death with double vengeance to restore.	10	···/˘/˘·˘/
This mov’d the murderer’s hate; and soon ensued	10	···/˘···˘/
Th’ effects of malice from a man so proud.	10	˘/·/˘·····
Ambiguous rumours thro’ the camp he spread,	10	˘/˘·˘·····
And sought, by treason, my devoted head;	10	···/˘·˘/˘·
New crimes invented; left unturn’d no stone,	10	··˘/˘·˘/··
To make my guilt appear, and hide his own;	10	····˘/····
Till Calchas was by force and threat’ning wrought:	10	··········
But why—why dwell I on that anxious thought?	10	·······/˘·
If on my nation just revenge you seek,	10	···/˘·˘/··
And ’tis t’ appear a foe, t’ appear a Greek;	12	···˘/···˘/··
Already you my name and country know;	10	˘/˘····/˘·
Assuage your thirst of blood, and strike the blow:	10	˘/········
My death will both the kingly brothers please,	10	·····/˘/˘·
And set insatiate Ithacus at ease.’	11	··˘/˘˘·····
This fair unfinish’d tale, these broken starts,	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
Rais’d expectations in our longing hearts:	10	··˘/˘·//˘·
Unknowing as we were in Grecian arts.	10	˘/˘····/˘·
His former trembling once again renew’d,	10	·/˘/˘·˘/˘/
With acted fear, the villain thus pursued:	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
“‘Long had the Grecians (tir’d with fruitless care,	10	···/˘/·/˘·
And wearied with an unsuccessful war)	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
Resolv’d to raise the siege, and leave the town;	10	˘/········
And, had the gods permitted, they had gone;	10	····˘/˘···
But oft the wintry seas and southern winds	10	···/˘··/˘·
Withstood their passage home, and chang’d their minds.	10	˘/·/˘·····
Portents and prodigies their souls amaz’d;	10	/··/˘˘··˘/
But most, when this stupendous pile was rais’d:	10	····˘/˘···
Then flaming meteors, hung in air, were seen,	10	·/˘/˘·····
And thunders rattled thro’ a sky serene.	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
Dismay’d, and fearful of some dire event,	10	˘/·/˘···˘/
Eurypylus t’ enquire their fate was sent.	11	·····˘/····
He from the gods this dreadful answer brought:	10	·····/˘/˘·
“O Grecians, when the Trojan shores you sought,	10	·/˘··/˘···
Your passage with a virgin’s blood was bought:	10	·/˘··/˘···
So must your safe return be bought again,	10	····˘/··˘/
And Grecian blood once more atone the main.”	10	·/˘···˘/··
The spreading rumour round the people ran;	10	·/˘·˘··/˘·
All fear’d, and each believ’d himself the man.	10	····˘/˘/··
Ulysses took th’ advantage of their fright;	10	˘/˘·˘/˘···
Call’d Calchas, and produc’d in open sight:	10	····˘/·/˘·
Then bade him name the wretch, ordain’d by fate	10	······˘/··
The public victim, to redeem the state.	10	·/˘/˘·˘/··
Already some presag’d the dire event,	10	˘/˘·/˘··˘/
And saw what sacrifice Ulysses meant.	10	···/˘·˘/˘·
For twice five days the good old seer withstood	10	········˘/
Th’ intended treason, and was dumb to blood,	10	˘/˘/˘·····
Till, tir’d, with endless clamours and pursuit	10	·/·/˘/˘·˘/
Of Ithacus, he stood no longer mute;	10	·······/˘·
But, as it was agreed, pronounc’d that I	10	····˘/˘/··
Was destin’d by the wrathful gods to die.	10	·/˘··/˘···
All prais’d the sentence, pleas’d the storm should fall	10	···/˘·····
On one alone, whose fury threaten’d all.	10	··˘/·/˘/˘·
The dismal day was come; the priests prepare	10	·/˘·····˘/
Their leaven’d cakes, and fillets for my hair.	10	·/˘··/˘···
I follow’d nature’s laws, and must avow	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
I broke my bonds and fled the fatal blow.	10	·······/˘·
Hid in a weedy lake all night I lay,	10	···/˘·····
Secure of safety when they sail’d away.	10	˘/·/˘···˘/
But now what further hopes for me remain,	10	···/˘···˘/
To see my friends, or native soil, again;	10	·····/˘·˘/
My tender infants, or my careful sire,	11	·/˘/˘··/˘/˘
Whom they returning will to death require;	11	··˘/˘····/˘
Will perpetrate on them their first design,	10	·/˘·····˘/
And take the forfeit of their heads for mine?	10	···/˘·····
Which, O! if pity mortal minds can move,	10	···/˘/˘···
If there be faith below, or gods above,	10	··········
If innocence and truth can claim desert,	10	·/˘˘····˘/
Ye Trojans, from an injur’d wretch avert.’	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
“False tears true pity move; the king commands	10	···/˘···˘/
To loose his fetters, and unbind his hands:	10	···/˘·˘/··
Then adds these friendly words: ‘Dismiss thy fears;	10	···/˘·˘/··
Forget the Greeks; be mine as thou wert theirs.	10	˘/········
But truly tell, was it for force or guile,	10	·/˘·······
Or some religious end, you rais’d the pile?’	10	··˘/˘·····
Thus said the king. He, full of fraudful arts,	10	·······/˘·
This well-invented tale for truth imparts:	10	··˘/˘···˘/
‘Ye lamps of heav’n!’ he said, and lifted high	10	·······/˘·
His hands now free, ‘thou venerable sky!	10	·····/˘˘˘·
Inviolable pow’rs, ador’d with dread!	10	˘/˘˘˘·˘/··
Ye fatal fillets, that once bound this head!	10	·/˘/˘·····
Ye sacred altars, from whose flames I fled!	10	·/˘/˘·····
Be all of you adjur’d; and grant I may,	10	··········
Without a crime, th’ ungrateful Greeks betray,	10	····˘/˘·˘/
Reveal the secrets of the guilty state,	10	˘/·/˘··/˘·
And justly punish whom I justly hate!	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
But you, O king, preserve the faith you gave,	10	····˘/····
If I, to save myself, your empire save.	10	·····/·/˘·
The Grecian hopes, and all th’ attempts they made,	10	·/˘···˘/··
Were only founded on Minerva’s aid.	10	·/˘/˘·˘/˘·
But from the time when impious Diomede,	11	·····˘/˘···
And false Ulysses, that inventive head,	10	··˘/˘·˘/˘·
Her fatal image from the temple drew,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
The sleeping guardians of the castle slew,	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Her virgin statue with their bloody hands	10	·/˘/···/˘·
Polluted, and profan’d her holy bands;	10	˘/˘····/˘·
From thence the tide of fortune left their shore,	10	·····/˘···
And ebb’d much faster than it flow’d before:	11	·/˘·/˘·····
Their courage languish’d, as their hopes decay’d;	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
And Pallas, now averse, refus’d her aid.	10	····˘/˘/··
Nor did the goddess doubtfully declare	10	···/˘/˘˘˘/
Her alter’d mind and alienated care.	10	·/˘··/˘·˘·
When first her fatal image touch’d the ground,	10	···/˘/˘···
She sternly cast her glaring eyes around,	10	·/˘··/˘···
That sparkled as they roll’d, and seem’d to threat:	10	·/˘·······
Her heav’nly limbs distill’d a briny sweat.	10	····˘/·/˘·
Thrice from the ground she leap’d, was seen to wield	10	··········
Her brandish’d lance, and shake her horrid shield.	10	·/˘····/˘·
Then Calchas bade our host for flight	9	····/˘···
And hope no conquest from the tedious war,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Till first they sail’d for Greece; with pray’rs besought	10	········˘/
Her injur’d pow’r, and better omens brought.	10	·/˘··/˘/˘·
And now their navy plows the wat’ry main,	10	···/˘··/˘·
Yet soon expect it on your shores again,	10	··˘/····˘/
With Pallas pleas’d; as Calchas did ordain.	10	········˘/
But first, to reconcile the blue-ey’d maid	10	···/˘·····
For her stol’n statue and her tow’r betray’d,	10	···/····˘/
Warn’d by the seer, to her offended name	10	······˘/˘·
We rais’d and dedicate this wondrous frame,	10	···/˘··/˘·
So lofty, lest thro’ your forbidden gates	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
It pass, and intercept our better fates:	10	····˘///˘·
For, once admitted there, our hopes are lost;	10	··˘/˘·/···
And Troy may then a new Palladium boast;	10	······˘/˘·
For so religion and the gods ordain,	10	··˘/˘···˘/
That, if you violate with hands profane	10	···/˘˘··˘/
Minerva’s gift, your town in flames shall burn,	10	˘/˘·······
(Which omen, O ye gods, on Grecia turn!)	10	·/˘·······
But if it climb, with your assisting hands,	10	······˘/˘·
The Trojan walls, and in the city stands;	10	·/˘····/˘·
Then Troy shall Argos and Mycenae burn,	10	···/˘·····
And the reverse of fate on us return.’	10	··˘/····˘/
“With such deceits he gain’d their easy hearts,	10	··˘/···/˘·
Too prone to credit his perfidious arts.	11	···/˘·˘/˘˘·
What Diomede, nor Thetis’ greater son,	10	·····/˘/˘·
A thousand ships, nor ten years’ siege, had done:	10	·/˘·······
False tears and fawning words the city won.	10	···/˘··/˘·
“A greater omen, and of worse portent,	10	·/˘/˘···/˘
Did our unwary minds with fear torment,	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
Concurring to produce the dire event.	10	˘/˘·˘/··˘/
Laocoon, Neptune’s priest by lot that year,	10	···/˘·····
With solemn pomp then sacrific’d a steer;	10	·/˘··/˘···
When, dreadful to behold, from sea we spied	10	·/˘·˘/····
Two serpents, rank’d abreast, the seas divide,	10	·/˘·˘/··˘/
And smoothly sweep along the swelling tide.	10	·/˘·˘/·/˘·
Their flaming crests above the waves they show;	10	·/˘·······
Their bellies seem to burn the seas below;	10	·/˘·······
Their speckled tails advance to steer their course,	10	·/˘·˘/····
And on the sounding shore the flying billows force.	12	···/˘··/˘/˘·
And now the strand, and now the plain they held;	10	··········
Their ardent eyes with bloody streaks were fill’d;	10	·/˘··/˘···
Their nimble tongues they brandish’d as they came,	10	·/˘··/˘···
And lick’d their hissing jaws, that sputter’d flame.	10	···/˘··/˘·
We fled amaz’d; their destin’d way they take,	10	··˘/·/˘···
And to Laocoon and his children make;	10	·······/˘·
And first around the tender boys they wind,	10	·····/˘···
Then with their sharpen’d fangs their limbs and bodies grind.	12	···/˘····/˘·
The wretched father, running to their aid	10	·/˘/˘/˘···
With pious haste, but vain, they next invade;	10	·/˘·····˘/
Twice round his waist their winding volumes roll’d;	10	·····/˘/˘·
And twice about his gasping throat they fold.	10	·····/˘···
The priest thus doubly chok’d, their crests divide,	10	···/˘···˘/
And tow’ring o’er his head in triumph ride.	10	·······/˘·
With both his hands he labours at the knots;	10	·····/˘···
His holy fillets the blue venom blots;	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
His roaring fills the flitting air around.	10	·/˘··/˘···
Thus, when an ox receives a glancing wound,	10	····˘/·/˘·
He breaks his bands, the fatal altar flies,	10	·····/˘/˘·
And with loud bellowings breaks the yielding skies.	10	···/˘··/˘·
Their tasks perform’d, the serpents quit their prey,	10	··˘/·/˘···
And to the tow’r of Pallas make their way:	10	··········
Couch’d at her feet, they lie protected there	10	······˘/˘·
By her large buckler and protended spear.	10	···/˘·····
Amazement seizes all; the gen’ral cry	10	˘/˘/˘·····
Proclaims Laocoon justly doom’d to die,	10	˘/···/˘···
Whose hand the will of Pallas had withstood,	10	········˘/
And dared to violate the sacred wood.	10	···/˘˘·/˘·
All vote t’ admit the steed, that vows be paid	11	···˘/······
And incense offer’d to th’ offended maid.	10	·/·/˘·˘/˘·
A spacious breach is made; the town lies bare;	10	·/˘·······
Some hoisting levers, some the wheels prepare	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
And fasten to the horse’s feet; the rest	10	·/˘··/˘···
With cables haul along th’ unwieldly beast.	10	·/˘·˘/····
Each on his fellow for assistance calls;	10	···/˘·˘/˘·
At length the fatal fabric mounts the walls,	10	···/˘/˘···
Big with destruction. Boys with chaplets crown’d,	10	··˘/˘·····
And choirs of virgins, sing and dance around.	10	···/˘·····
Thus rais’d aloft, and then descending down,	10	··˘/··˘/˘·
It enters o’er our heads, and threats the town.	10	·/˘·/·····
O sacred city, built by hands divine!	10	·/˘/˘···˘/
O valiant heroes of the Trojan line!	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
Four times he struck: as oft the clashing sound	10	·······/˘·
Of arms was heard, and inward groans rebound.	10	·····/˘·˘/
Yet, mad with zeal, and blinded with our fate,	10	·····/˘·/·
We haul along the horse in solemn state;	10	··˘/···/˘·
Then place the dire portent within the tow’r.	10	····/˘····
Cassandra cried, and curs’d th’ unhappy hour;	11	˘/˘···˘/˘/˘
Foretold our fate; but, by the god’s decree,	10	˘//·····˘/
All heard, and none believ’d the prophecy.	10	····˘/·/˘˘
With branches we the fanes adorn, and waste,	10	·/˘···˘/··
In jollity, the day ordain’d to be the last.	12	·/˘˘··˘/····
Meantime the rapid heav’ns roll’d down the light,	10	/··/˘·····
And on the shaded ocean rush’d the night;	10	···/˘/˘···
Our men, secure, nor guards nor sentries held,	10	/·˘/···/˘·
But easy sleep their weary limbs compell’d.	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
The Grecians had embark’d their naval pow’rs	10	·/˘·˘/·/˘·
From Tenedos, and sought our well-known shores,	10	······/···
Safe under covert of the silent night,	10	···/˘··/˘·
And guided by th’ imperial galley’s light;	10	·/˘·˘/˘/˘·
When Sinon, favour’d by the partial gods,	10	·······/˘·
Unlock’d the horse, and op’d his dark abodes;	10	˘/······˘/
Restor’d to vital air our hidden foes,	10	˘/·/˘·//˘·
Who joyful from their long confinement rose.	10	·/˘···˘/˘·
Tysander bold, and Sthenelus their guide,	10	··········
And dire Ulysses down the cable slide:	10	··˘/˘··/˘·
Then Thoas, Athamas, and Pyrrhus haste;	9	·········
Nor was the Podalirian hero last,	10	·······/˘·
Nor injur’d Menelaus, nor the fam’d	9	·/˘······
Epeus, who the fatal engine fram’d.	9	····/˘/˘·
A nameless crowd succeed; their forces join	10	·/˘·˘/·/˘·
T’ invade the town, oppress’d with sleep and wine.	11	·˘/··˘/····
Those few they find awake first meet their fate;	10	····˘/····
Then to their fellows they unbar the gate.	10	···/˘·˘/··
“’Twas in the dead of night, when sleep repairs	10	········˘/
Our bodies worn with toils, our minds with cares,	10	//˘···/···
When Hector’s ghost before my sight appears:	10	·/˘·····˘/
A bloody shroud he seem’d, and bath’d in tears;	10	·/˘·······
Such as he was, when, by Pelides slain,	9	·········
Thessalian coursers dragg’d him o’er the plain.	11	˘/˘˘/˘·····
Swoln were his feet, as when the thongs were thrust	10	··········
Thro’ the bor’d holes; his body black with dust;	10	·····/˘···
Unlike that Hector who return’d from toils	10	˘/·/˘·˘/··
Of war, triumphant, in Aeacian spoils,	9	··˘/˘····
Or him who made the fainting Greeks retire,	10	·····/˘·˘/
And launch’d against their navy Phrygian fire.	10	·····/˘/˘/
His hair and beard stood stiffen’d with his gore;	10	·····/˘···
And all the wounds he for his country bore	10	·······/˘·
Now stream’d afresh, and with new purple ran.	10	··˘/···/˘·
I wept to see the visionary man,	10	·····/˘·˘·
And, while my trance continued, thus began:	10	····˘/˘·˘/
‘O light of Trojans, and support of Troy,	10	···/˘·˘/··
Thy father’s champion, and thy country’s joy!	10	·/˘/˘··/˘·
O, long expected by thy friends! from whence	10	··˘/˘·····
Art thou so late return’d for our defence?	10	····˘/·/˘/
Do we behold thee, wearied as we are	10	··˘/·/˘···
With length of labours, and with toils of war?	10	···/˘·····
After so many fun’rals of thy own	10	···/˘·····
Art thou restor’d to thy declining town?	10	··˘/··˘/˘·
But say, what wounds are these? What new disgrace	10	········˘/
Deforms the manly features of thy face?’	10	·/·/˘/˘···
“To this the spectre no reply did frame,	10	···/˘·˘/··
But answer’d to the cause for which he came,	10	·/˘·······
And, groaning from the bottom of his breast,	10	·/˘··/˘···
This warning in these mournful words express’d:	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
‘O goddess-born! escape, by timely flight,	10	·/˘·˘/·/˘·
The flames and horrors of this fatal night.	10	···/˘··/˘·
The foes already have possess’d the wall;	10	··˘/˘·˘/··
Troy nods from high, and totters to her fall.	10	·····/˘···
Enough is paid to Priam’s royal name,	10	˘/···/·/˘·
More than enough to duty and to fame.	10	··˘/·/˘···
If by a mortal hand my father’s throne	10	···/˘··/˘·
Could be defended, ’twas by mine alone.	10	··˘/˘···˘/
Now Troy to thee commends her future state,	10	····˘/·/˘·
And gives her gods companions of thy fate:	10	····˘/˘···
From their assistance walls expect,	8	··˘/˘·˘/
Which, wand’ring long, at last thou shalt erect.’	10	········˘/
He said, and brought me, from their blest abodes,	10	········˘/
The venerable statues of the gods,	10	·/˘˘˘/····
With ancient Vesta from the sacred choir,	11	·/˘/˘··/˘/˘
The wreaths and relics of th’ immortal fire.	11	···/˘·˘/˘/˘
“Now peals of shouts come thund’ring from afar,	10	········˘/
Cries, threats, and loud laments, and mingled war:	10	····˘/·/˘·
The noise approaches, tho’ our palace stood	10	··˘/˘·//˘·
Aloof from streets, encompass’d with a wood.	10	˘/··˘/˘···

The first 400 of 1094 lines; the reader marks them all.

Notes from the edition 463

Notes by Henry S. Frieze, revised by Walter Dennison, from Virgil's Aeneid, Books I–XII (New York, 1902), Internet Archive scan; keyed to the Latin line numbers and placed beside the matching stretch of Dryden's English.

Stanza 1 Latin l. 1–249 After a brief introduction, Aeneas enters upon his narrative, which begins with the story of the wooden horse. The Greeks, now in the tenth year of the siege, disheartened by their ill success, resort to stratagem. On the night which precedes the burning of the city, they pretend to have abandoned the siege, and to have taken ship for Greece; they leave upon the plain, before the walls of Troy, an immense fabric of wood, made to resemble a horse, and of such size that it can be carried into the city only by enlarging the gate or breaking down a portion of the wall. Within this fabric are concealed many of the Grecian chiefs, while the army, under the conmiand of Agamemnon, instead of continuing the voyage, lies hidden beyond the island of Tenedos, a few miles from Troy. The Trojan multitude issues from the gates, and, gathering round the strange image, hesitate whether to convey it into the city or to destroy it. At this moment the cunning Sinon, who has purposely suffered himself to be made prisoner, is brought before King Priam, and by his artful story gains the confidence of the king, and leads him and his people to believe that the wooden horse, once placed within the citadel, will become, like the Palladium, the safeguard of Troy. The device of Sinon and the Greeks is aided by Minerva, who sends two serpents to slay the priest Laocoon for attempting to destroy the image consecrated to her. This prodigy confirms the Trojans in the purpose already formed, and by means of ropes and rollers they convey the wooden horse through the city up to the citadel. z. Conticnere:'(all) were silent'; a completed action; tenebant: an action continuing, intenti: may be rendered adverbially,'intently,''earnestly.'The beginning of this line has been found scratched upon the walls of Pompeii.
Stanza 1 Latin l. 4 ut: 'how,'interrogative, as in I, 466. The indirect question depends on renovare dolorem which here implies the notion of narrating.
Stanza 1 Latin l. 5 quaeque: 'and (the things) which'; the antecedent, ea understood, is in the same construction as dolorem
Stanza 1 Latin l. 6 fandO: 'while uttering'; a gerund in the ablative expressing the relation of time and equivalent to a present participle. This usage also occurs occasionally in prose.
Stanza 1 Latin l. 7 Myrmidonum, Dolopum: join with Quis as a partitive. The Myrmidons and Dolopians were Thessalian soldiers, followers of Achilles, and, after his death, of his son Pyrrhus, or Neoptolemus. They are specified here as being the most bloodthirsty enemies of Troy. Before miles sc. quis
Stanza 1 Latin l. 8 Temperet: ' could refrain.' See note on nesciatj I, 565. caelo: for cU caelo
Stanza 1 Latin l. 9 Praecipitat: sc. se, as in IX, 670; XI, 617; 'is swiftly descending.' On the journey of night through the heavens, see note on 1. 250. suadent: cf. IV, 81.
Stanza 1 Latin l. 10 amor: sc. esi tibi; 'if such a desire possesses you.' The infinitives COgnOscere and audire depend upon amor est, which has the governing power of cupis or vis; the infinitive is thus equivalent to the genitive of the gerund. (
Stanza 1 Latin l. 11 supremum laborem: 'the final disaster.'
Stanza 2 Latin l. 12 meminisse — refugit: 'though my mind shudders to recall it, and hath shrunk from it with grief.'The perfect may be used with the present, for while the mere act of shrinking is now past, the feeling of horror remains. Cf. also X, 726, 804.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 14 tot — annis: 'while so many years were passing by.'The present participle denotes an action which has been going on and is still continuing. (
Stanza 2 Latin l. 15 Instar: in apposition with equum, with the genitive depending upon it. It may be translated'as large as.'divina Palladis arte: the actual builder of the horse was Epeos. See below, 1. 264.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 16 intexunt: 'they construct.'abiete: an ablative of means, scanned here as a trisyllable, ab-ye-te. See note on I, 73, and cf. parietibus, 1. 442.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 17 Votum: sc. esse. The Greeks possibly indicated by some inscription on the image that it was a'votive offering,'or votum, to Minerva, and was intended to secure, through her favor, a safe return to their country. X8. flue: equivalent to in equum, lateri (1. 19) explains huc j»nd refers more definitely to the interior of the horse. Both terms limit includunt Trans, as if it were written huius in latus, yimm corpora: for viros ao. milite:'with soldiery'; used coUec- " ai. in conspectu: 'in sight,' i.e. of Troy. aa. Opum: for the genitive, see note on 1, 14. as. Nunc tantum sinus: ' at present there is only a bay '; it is no longer an opulent seaport, male fida: '• unsafe.' So male amicum below, 1. 735; male sana IV, 8. a4. Hue: join with provecti.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 25 abiisse: sc eos as subject. Hycenas: put for the whole of Greece, as in I, 284. a6. Teuoria: for Troia. luctu: the ablative of separation. See A. 243, a\ B. 214, I, a\ ( The woe occasioned by the ten years' siege is ' the long (continued) grief ' referred to. ay. Dorica: for Graeca, ag. tendebat:'encamped';'stretched' (his tents). See note on I, 469.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 30 locus: subject of erat understood.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 31 stupet, mirantur: ( Minervae: an objective genitive; 'the gift (offered) to Minerva.' 3a. Thymoetes: is mentioned in the Iliad, III, 146, as one of the elders of Troy. A soothsayer had predicted that a child should be born on a certain day who should cause the destruction of Troy. On that day both Paris, the son of Priam, and Munippus, the son of Thymoetes, were born. Hence Priam, supposing the prophecy had reference to Munippus, ordered both the infant and his mother, Cylla, to be put to death. Aeneas, therefore, is in doubt whether the advice of Thymoetes to carry the horse into the city is given out of resentment and treachery {dolo), or under the influence of fate {sic fata ferebarU)
Stanza 2 Latin l. 33 arce: see note on I, 2.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 34 ferebant: 'tended ' or'directed.'
Stanza 2 Latin l. 35 Capys: a Trojan chief, not mentioned by Homer, but by Virgil, I, 183, VI, 768, and elsewhere, quorum — menti: sc. eraf, 'who entertained a better purpose.' The expression is equivalent to quibus melior sententia erat
Stanza 2 Latin l. 36 pelagO: dative for in pelagm» See notes on I, 6 and 181. Fig. 12.— Athena (Farnese)
Stanza 2 Latin l. 37 -que: there are two plans suggested as to the disposition to be made of the horse: one, to destroy it at once; the other, to penetrate the fabric and ascertain what there is in it. These two main propositions are separated by aui. The first of them, however, contains two subordinate ideas as to the method of destroying the horse: some advise casting it into the sea; and others, burning it. Hence the propriety of 'que, rather than -ve, a reading sometimes adopted here.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 40 Primus: Laocodn was foremost, not in giving counsel, but in making any active demonstration. 4a. procnl: sc. clamat. insania: sc. est Uta ?
Stanza 2 Latin l. 43 Creditis: in vehement language the interrogative particles tUrum and ne are often omitted.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 44 carere dolis: cf. luctu, 1. 26. sic notns Ulizes: you should suspect that the craft of Ulysses is in some way connected with the wooden horse.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 46 machina — Inspectura: Virgil has in mind the siege towers of a later period, which, being rolled up to the walls of the besieged city, enabled the assailants from the several stories and from the summit of the tower to hurl their missiles, and to pass over upon planks to the battlements of the besieged. Thus the Greeks might have intended to use the wooden horse. For the use of the future participle here, ( Ventura desuper refers rather to the descent of those in the machina upon the city than to the fabric itself.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 47 urbi: poetical use of the dative for in urbem»
Stanza 2 Latin l. 48 aliquis: is occasionally employed, as here, in the sense of alius quis'some other.'
Stanza 2 Latin l. 49 quicquid — est: see note on I, 387. et:'even.'dona: see note on
Stanza 2 Latin l. 51 In latus inque — alYiun: he hurled the spear with such violence that it penetrated not only the frame, but even the inner cavities of the beast, feri: as in V, 818. compagibus: is joined with curvam (= curvatam) as an ablative of means; 'curving with jointed work.' 5a. ilia: the spear.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 53 gemitum: of the hollow sound given back by the wooden fabric. Cf. 111,555; IX, 709.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 54 si fata: sc. fuissent; ' if the fates of the gods had so willed.'Cf. 1. 433. si — fuisset: Mf our minds had not been perverse'; referring to the infatuation of the multitude.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 55 Impulerat: 'he had induced us'; put for the subjunctive, impu/isset, which would not so vividly have expressed the conviction of the narrator. (
Stanza 2 Latin l. 57 Ecce: a striking incident now diverts their attention from the horsQ, manus: see note on I. 2a&
Stanza 2 Latin l. 60 Hoc ipsum: ' this very purpose '; namely, that of being brought before King Priam, stniaret: ' might execute.' The subjunctive denotes the purpose of ObiuUrat
Stanza 2 Latin l. 61 fidens animi: . in atmmqae: 'for either issue'; for either of the alternatives expressed in the following lines. For the gender, A. 189, d',. 6a. yersare dolos:'to follow out his stratagems.'
Stanza 2 Latin l. 64 circumfusa ruit: more lively than circumfunditur; the youths ' gather rapidly round.' For the number of the verbs, see note above on 1. 31.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 65 ab tino — omnes: 'from one wicked act learn (to know) all the Greeks'; from the treachery of one, understand them all.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 68 Observe the spondaic verse.
Stanza 2 Latin l. 16 — The Greeks descending from the Wooden Horse (11. 259 sqq.) p. 430 J ( The natural order of the ideas is also reversed. This license is termed hysteron proteron. a6o. 86 promunt: for prodeunt, robore: see note on Italiam I, 2. 26a. Demissum per fanem:'along a rope let down.'
Stanza 3 Latin l. 69 Heu: the first object of Sinon is to gain the pity and confidence of the Trojans by pretending to have been cruelly treated by his countrymen.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 71 super: adverbially,'moreover.' 7a. poenas cum sanguine:'bloody punishment.'Cf. IV, 514; X, 617.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 73 conversi: sc. sunt et: in prose would stand before compressus. In poetry the conjunctions et ttec sed, enim, are sometimes, as here, placed after the first word of the second of the two coordinate sentences.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 74 quo sanguine cretus: 'of what lineage he is sprung.'Sit is understood.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 75 Quid ferat: 'what (information) he brings.'Cf. 1. 161; VIII, 119, memoret:'that he declare.'For the omission of m/, ( Hortari may be followed by either the infinitive or subjunctive; as here hy fori and memoret quae — captO: 80. HH;'what ground of confidence he has as a captive.'
Stanza 3 Latin l. 76 sanguine: he lays aside his pretended fear. Since this line is inconsistent with 1. 107 below, it is believed to have been interpolated here. The line occurs in its proper connection, III, 612.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 77 quodcumque fuerit: 'whatever the result shall have been'; put for erit, Quodcumque is used here substantively for quidquid
Stanza 3 Latin l. 78 me: subject of esse understood.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 79 Hoc: object oi fateor understood. Sinonem: the name is here an emphatic substitute for me, Cf. I, 48.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 80 Finxit: CLASS i; (H.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 81 Fando: ' by heresay.' aliquod — nomen: ' any mention.' 8a. Palamedis Belidae: ' Palamedes, the descendant of Belus.' '83. falsa sub proditione: ' under a false charge of treason.'
Stanza 3 Latin l. 84 infando indicio: 'on outrageous testimony.'Through the contrivance of UlysseSi a ktter, purporting to be signed by King Priam, and a cuantit of gold, were secreted in the tent of Palamedes; and these being produced against him, he was stoned to death by the Greeks, on the charge of correspondence with the enemy. 85« Demisere neci:'they condenmed to death'; so morti demiUere V, 692. Imnine: 'life/ A. 243, d\ B. 214, i, d\ ( It was his reputation for wisdom which had excited the jealousy of Ulysses. Supply et or quern before nunc — luget
Stanza 3 Latin l. 86 Illi — annis: conclusion of the condition introduced by si (1. 81). et: connects comitem and consanguinitate propinquum as two considerations on account of which Sinon was sent.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 87 Pauper: the term is calculated to excite compassion in the hearers, in arma: for in beUum.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 89 et nos: 'I also'; the plural, as in 1. 139. que — qne: cf. 1, 18.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 92 in tenebris: 'in gloomy solitude.'
Stanza 3 Latin l. 94 me: subject of fore understood, tulisset: ' should bring it about' The pluperfect subjunctive represents a future perfect indicative of the direct discourse. (
Stanza 3 Latin l. 95 argos: for Graeciam, Cf. I, 285. Palamedes was from Euboea.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 96 Odia: the hatred, namely, of Ulysses.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 97 Hinc: from this cause '; others regard it as temporal, ' from this time.' prima labes: ' the first ruinous step,' ' the beginning of misfortune.'
Stanza 3 Latin l. 98 99. The infinitives are historical. ( Cf. the language of Milton (Par. Lost, 5, 703): — «Tells the suggested cause and casts between Ambiguous words and jealousies.' COnscius: ' conscious (of wrong)'; i.e. conscius sibi sceleris; knowing his own guilt, and the danger of being exposed by me. arma: 'weapons'-, means for my destruction.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 100 Calchante ministro: 'with Calchas for his tool.'Sinon artfully breaks pff b«re, in ordr to «jcite the Trojans to further inquiries. lOX. Sed antem:'but indeed.'The phrase is colloquial, intended to give naturalness to the narration, ingrata:'unwelcome.'Sinon pretends to think that the narrative possesses no interest for the Trojans. zoa. si: nearly equivalent to quoniam. omnes: all the Greeks, whether such as Palamedes and Sinon or such as Ulysses.
Stanza 3 Latin l. 103 Id: i.e. me Achivum esse» lamdudmn: ' now at once.' It implies that the act has already been long delayed. X04. magno: for the case, A. 252, '/; ( With yelit and mercentur the protasis, si possint, is to be supplied. Z07. Prosequitur:'proceeds.'This verb in this sense, and without an object, seems to occur only here.
Stanza 4 Latin l. 109 Moliri: the term implies effort to overcome difficulties, bello: join with fessi, zzo. Fecissent:.'would that they had so done.'See note on I, 576. If they had gone away at that time, Sinon would not have been condemned as the victim for sacrifice. zzz. etintes:'when departing'; not actually on their way, but when on the point of going. ZX4. Suspensi:'uncertain'; not knowing what to do. scitantem:'to consult'; a present participle denoting purpose. See note on I, 519, Z15. adytis:'from the sanctuary.' iz6. placastis: for placavisHs, See note on I, 201. yirgine caesa:'by the sacrifice of a maiden.'For the construction, see note on L 413. The Grecian chiefs had assembled at Aulis before sailing for Troy, and being detained by contrary winds, were instructed to sacrifice Iphigenia, the daughter of Agamenmon, as a propitiatory offering to Diana. xz8. quaerendi: 9c, sunt, litandmn:'heaven must be appeased.' IZ9. Argolica: 'Grecian.' A Greek must now be slain, just as the victim at the beginning of the war was a Greek. Vulgi: 'of the multitude'; i.e. the common soldiery, vox: 'response.' ut: 'when.' See note on I, 216. lao, xaz. ima Ossa:'our inmost marrow.'Cf. Ill, 308; VI, 54. Z2Z. cui fata parent:'for whom the fates are preparing (death).'This and the following question depend on tremor which implies some such word as incertorum, quem poscat Apollo: Le. who it is that the oracle of Apollo means. Z22. Hie:'here'; as an adverb of time. Z23. Protrahit: Calchas pretends to be reluctant, ea niiinina divum: • these commands of the gods.' Ul3sses demands of Calchas what person is meant by this revelation of Apollo. Z24. iam canebant: ' were already foretelling.' xa5. Artificis:'of the plotter.'The cunning of Ulysses, as Sinon wished Fig. 13. — Head of Bull adoraed with Viitae 0. 133) the Trojans to understand, was exercised in turning the oracle to his private purpose by causing his tool, C'alchas, to single out Sinon as the victim, yentura: ' what was to come.' ia6. Bis quinos: cf. I, 71, 381, and notes, tectus:'concealing his thoughts'; possibly also in its literal sense,'shut up in his tent.'
Stanza 5 Latin l. 129 Composito: for ex composito, '■ by agreement '; i.e. with Ulysses.
Stanza 5 Latin l. 131 conversa et: equivalent to earum rerum. conversionem. See note on I.413. 'They (readily) suffered the turning of those ills, which each feared for himself, to the destruction of one unhappy wretch '; i.e. when once I had been declared the victim, they were all relieved from farther apprehensions for themselves.
Stanza 5 Latin l. 132 parari: historical infinitive.
Stanza 5 Latin l. 133 salsae fruges: for mola salsa,'the salted meal.'Cf. IV, 517. Grain, parched, crushed, and mixed with salt, was thrown upon the victim, yittae:'fillets,'or twisted bands of white and red wool.
Stanza 5 Latin l. 134 fateor: the term implies that it might be considered culpable to have shrunk from a sacrifice demanded by religion, vincula: the cords with which he was bound when being led to the altar. i35' 136' obscurus Delitui: 'I lay hid and unseen.' si — dedissent: 'if perchance they should set sail.' See note on 1. 94. dedissent is put by the law of sequence of tenses (after delitui) for the fut. perf. dederint. The clause is virtually in indirect discourse, depending upon the idea of thinking in Sinon's mind. There was the uncertainty whether the Greeks would, after all, set sail without having made the appointed sacrifice of one of their own countrymen.
Stanza 5 Latin l. 139 Quos: accusative of the person; poenas: of the thing;'from whom, perchance, they will also exact punishment.' A' 239, c\ B. 178, I, a\ (
Stanza 5 Latin l. 141 Quod: 'wherefore,'lit.'as to which.' A. 240 b\ (
Stanza 5 Latin l. 142 Per: the following clause suggests the object:'if there still be any inviolable pledge anywhere among men, by this I adjure thee.'For the sepa' ration of per from its case in adjurations, see note on IV, 314. quae lestet: clause of characteristic.
Stanza 5 Latin l. 143 laborum: for the case, A. 221, a\ (
Stanza 6 Latin l. 88 stabat regno: ' stood safe in his royal dignity.' regnm yigebat Conciliis: 'had weight in the assemblies of the princes.' The Grecian chiefs held frequent councils in their camp below Troy.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 91 haud ignota: '• things by no means unknown.' The cunning of Sinon shows itself in connecting his pretended misfortunes with the real ones of Palamedes, the account of which has doubtless already reached the Trojans. superis — ab oria: 'from the upper world'; from this region of the living to the lower world, sub umbras. Cf. IV, 660. For the tense after postquam see note on I, 216.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 144 animi: 'a spirit'; put for the person, non digna:'undeserved.'
Stanza 6 Latin l. 145 lacrimis: ablative of cause; ' by reason of these tears.' ultro:'besides,''moreover.'This word is capable of a variety of significations, arising from the fact that it means that'beyond'what is expected or required.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 148 amissos: 'whom you have given up/ hinc:'henceforth.'
Stanza 6 Latin l. 149 haec edissere vera: 'declare these things truthfully.'
Stanza 6 Latin l. 150 Quo: 'whereto/ «to what end.'
Stanza 6 Latin l. 151 quae religio, etc: 'what sacred token is it» or (if none) what engine of war?'
Stanza 6 Latin l. 154 aeterni ignes: sun, moon, and stars. Cf. Ill, 599; IX, 429.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 158 ferre sub auras: 'to bring to the light.'
Stanza 6 Latin l. 159 tegunt: sc. illi; i.e. the Greeks. x6o. promissis: the prose construction is in promissis mamas. Cf. VIII, 643.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 163 auxiliis: ablative of means. ex quo: 'from what time'; antecedent is in ex H/o, below, 1. 169.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 164 sed enim: as in I, 19.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 165 Fatale: 'fateful'; the Palladium was so termed because the fate of Troy depended on its preservation. It was a small, rude image of Pallas,. which was believed to have fallen from heaven, and was guarded by the Trojans with great care.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 168 vittas: the fillets round the head of the image.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 169 fluere, referri: historical infinitives. This metaphor seems to be drawn from the movement of a ship which the rowers have ceased to propel against the current, so that it again falls down the stream.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 171 ea signa: 'tokens of this,'i.e. of her displeasure. Cf. Ill, 505.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 172 simulacrum: the Palladium, arsere: would be regularly connected with the foregoing vix positum by -qtte, et or cum, Cf. 1. 692.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 173 Luminibus arrectis: ' from her starting eyeballs.'
Stanza 6 Latin l. 174 ipsa: the image itself, /r j. ter: see note on 1, 94. solo: (
Stanza 6 Latin l. 176 That an image should show such miraculous signs of anger is a sufficient reason to the minds of the Trojans, as Sinon is well aware, for the advice of Calchas and the hasty departure of the Greeks. There is, therefore, no difficulty now in believing that the Greeks have actually gone, and that what Sinon adds about the destination of the wooden horse is reasonable and true. Fig. 14. — Diomedes and Ulysses carrying off" the Palladium (11. 165 sqq.)
Stanza 6 Latin l. 178 Omina ni repetant Argis: 'unless they seek the omens again 10 Greece.' They had before sailing for Troy taken the omens at Aulis. Virgil may have in mind the practice of Roman generals, who, under certain circumstances, went back to Rome to renew the auspices, niunen: ' the favor of heaven.'
Stanza 6 Latin l. 180 quod petiere — parant: 'as to the fact that they have sought — (it is because) they are preparing.' ( Arma, deos: i.e. reSnforcements for war and the favor of the gods.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 183 moniti: 'being instructed'; namely, by Calchas. pro:'in place of.'Here Sinon comes to the most delicate part of his story; he must give a plausible reason both for the building of the horse and for its vast size, and he must make such suggestions as shall induce the Trojans to take it into the city.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 184 quae piaret: 'to atone for.'See note on I, 20.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 185–186 The emphasis is on immensam, which should be joined to attol- lere. They were not only advised to build this in place of the Palladium, but to build it of vast dimensions, so that the Trojans might not get it into the city to serve as a new Palladium, and that they might be tempted through • suspicion to lay violent hands upon it, and thus incur the anger of Minerva.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 186 roboribus: ablative expressing the means oi attoUere, caelo: dative for ad caelum. See note on Laiio, I, 6.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 187 portis: the instrumental ablative of way by which. A. 258, g\ (
Stanza 6 Latin l. 188 Neu: 'or lest'; = et ne. antiqua sub leligione: under the same religious security as that which they had enjoyed under the Palladium.
Stanza 6 Latin l. 189 Nam — violasset: this is the continuation, in the oblique form, of what Calchas had stated. An idea of saying is implied in the foregoing verb iussit (1. 1 86). For the subjunctive, see note on 1. 94. XQo. omen: i.e. the fate or destruction indicated by the omen, ipsiui: refers to Calchas.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 155 enses: the sacrificial knives. All the holy objects Sinon appeals to are witnesses of the outrage he has suffered, and of his being bound by no tie of loyalty to his countrymen.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 179 quod — avexere: 'which (says Sinon) they brought away (of old) upon the sea.'The indicative mood shows this statement to be the language of Sinon, not of Calchas, which would have been quoted indirectly, and be put therefore in the subjunctive mood.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 193 Ultro: 'beyond'what you would expect; i.e.'actually,''even.'Sec note on 1. 145. X94. nostrof: refers to the Greeks, ea fata:'such fates,'namely, as the exitiutn in 1. 190. This calamity would await the posterity of the Greeks if the horse should be received into the city l the Trojans.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 198 mille: a round number. In the Iliad, 11 924 sqq., the number of the Grecian ships is stated as 11 86. X99. HiC: see note on 1. 122. maius: even a greater event than the adventure of Sinon.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 201 ductus sorte: though priest of Apollo, Laocoon had been appointed by lot on this day to make sacrifices to Neptune.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 202 SoUemnes: 'sacrificial/'where the sacrifices are customarily made/ Note the derivation.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 203 Ecce: cf. L 57. gemini: 'two'; implying similarity. Cf. I, 162. a Tenedo: they come from Tenedos as an omen that the enemy is coming from its concealment there to destroy the city.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 204 immensis orbibus.' an ablative of description, limiting angues
Stanza 8 Latin l. 205 Incumbunt pelago: ' they breast the sea '; with tranquilla per alta, pariter: ' side by side.' ad litora tendunt: ' make for the shore.'
Stanza 8 Latin l. 207 Sanguineae: 'bloody'; of the color of blood, pars cetera: all except the head and breast, pontum Pone legit:'courses the sea behind.'
Stanza 8 Latin l. 208 sinuatque: in connection with legit may be translated as a present participle, ' curving.' YOlumine: ' in folds '; referring to the undulating curves made by the long bodies of serpents in propelling themselves over the waves.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 209 sonitus spumante salo: note the alliterative effect. The repetition of the f-sound is intentional, in imitation of the plashing of the waves, arva: ' the shores.'
Stanza 8 Latin l. 210 oculos: see note on I, 228.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 212 visu exsangues: 'terrified by the sight.'agmine certo:'in an undeviating course'; indicating that they had been sent, by a higher power, expressly to destroy Laocodn, and were not merely seeking for prey.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 215 morsu depascitur: 'devours.' 2x6. Post: adverbially for /0j/'7. ipsum: refers to Laoco5n. auzilio: dative of the end or purpose. See note on I, 22.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 218 medium: sc. eum;'around his body. collO:'around his neck. For the dative, B. 187, i, «
Stanza 8 Latin l. 219 superant: 'rise above him.'capite:'with their heads.'Qtvolw mine, 1. 208, for a similar use of the singular for the pluraL
Stanza 8 Latin l. 221 vittas: see note on I, 228.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 223 quales mugitus: sc. est. If Virgil was familiar with the famous statue of Laocodn, now preserved in the Vatican, he chose rather, with true poetic faste, to transfer the spirit of that great work to his description than to adhere to the original in respect to all its details.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 225 At: in transition, delubra summa:'the lofty shrine'; the same as arcem in the following line.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 220 arcem: for templum. It was situated on the summit of the Acropolis. 227. Sub pedibus: the statues of Minerva are often represented with ser' pents coiled at the feet. Fig. 15. — Laocodn and his Children attacked by the Serpents (II. 212 sqq.) aa8, 22g, noYUS payor: 'new terror'; no longer apprehension for out personal safety, as in 1. 212, but fear of the goddess who has punished Laocoon, and thus shown the danger of committing any outrage upon the wooden horse, cunctis: for the dative, I, N.; ( Insinuat: sc. se, scelus ezpendisse: for sceleris poenam sohnsse
Stanza 8 Latin l. 231 Laeserit: for the mood, see note on I, 388. tergo: for corporis
Stanza 8 Latin l. 232 adsedes: 'to the shrine/
Stanza 8 Latin l. 233 conclamant: ' exclaim with one voice/
Stanza 8 Latin l. 234 Diyidimus — nrbia: 'we divide the walls and disclose to view the buildings.'The muri are the city walls; the moenia, the buildings within.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 235 Accingunt: scj; ' apply themselves.' Cf. 1, 210. rotanun lapsus: ' the gliding wheels '; pat for the simple term rotas, Cf. 1, 301. coUo: ' about the neck'; dative.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 237 Scandit: 'climbs'or'mounts'; a bold figure, indicating the diffi' culties overcome in conducting the wooden horse through the walls and to the smnmit of the citadeL
Stanza 8 Latin l. 238 amiia: for armatis, as in I, 506. -For the ablative, (
Stanza 8 Latin l. 239 Sacra canunt: hjrmns were sung at the sacred festivals of the Romans by choirs of boys and girls.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 240 The dat. urbi in governed by inlabitur. minans: 'towering'; as in 1, 162.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 242 dardanidum: see note on I, 565.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 243 Substitit: 'halted.'Stumbling on the threshold was considered an evil omen, utero: the ablative of place. The shock of the sudden halt caused the weapons of the Greeks secreted within the horse to clash and rattle.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 244 Instamus: cf. 1, 423, and below, L 491. immemores, caeci:'thoughtless'and'blind'in respect to the circumstances which should have awakened suspicion, namely, the stumbling of the horse and the noise of the arms from within.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 245 Sistere is followed by the accusative with in, or by the ablative either with or without 11». Cf. X, 323.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 246 Tunc etiam: 'then also'as an additional warning.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 247 credita: is better joined with ora than with Cassandra, For the dative Teucris, see note on «//1, 1, 440.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 248 esset: relative clause of characteristic expressing the cause of miseru See note on I, 388. Others make it concessive.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 249 Telanms: see note on 1, 417.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 250 vertitur: the sky itself is conceived to revolve, while the earth stands still, ruit oceano:'ascends from the ocean'; i.e. Night rises in her chariot from the eastern ocean when the sun sinks in the west. Cf. V, 721; and for this sense of ruit, VI, 539; VIII, 369.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 252 Myrmidonum: for Graiorum, dolos: refers especially to the stratagem of the wooden horse, per moenia: ' throughout the city'; not the fortifications merely. See note on 1. 234.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 254 phalanx: here = ' host'or'army.'instructis nayibus:'with their ships drawn up in order.' They advanced in regular array, in order to be ready for an enemy, and to effect a simultaneous landirtg.
Stanza 8 Latin l. 255 arnica — lunae: 'toe friendly stillness of the silent moon'; i.e.'friendly,' or'favorable ' to the projects of the Greeks. According to the poatHomeric tradition, Troy was taken at the time of full moon. We should infer from 11. 340, 360, 397, 420, etc., that the moon was sometimes shining, and sometimes obscured.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 250–437 While the city is buried in slumber, the Grecian fleet returns silently from the island of Tenedos, and Sinon, seeing the signal torch on board the ship of Agamemnon, opens the wooden horse. The leaders issue forth and commence the attack on the city, setting fire to it in various places with the aid of Sinon, and are soon joined by their whole army at the Scaean gate. Aeneas is warned of the danger in a dream by the shade of Hector, and is roused from sleep by the increasing noise of the conflict and of the flames. He arms himself and hastens from the palace of his father, and, being joined by Coroebus and other warriors, undertakes to defend the city. After a momentary success, his party is defeated, Coroebus and others are slain, and he is left with only two companions, with whom he proceeds to the palace of Priam.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 256 nota: 'well known'; for the Greeks had been ten years encamped upon the shores.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 257 extulerat etc: intensive for the perfect:'suddenly raised the signal flame '; the signal by which Sinon was to understand when to open the horse, defensus:'protected ' from discovery in his nocturnal movements.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 259 Laxat: this verb is adapted to both objects, Danaos and ciausira, by zeugma: 'releases the Greeks, and loosens the bolts.' A
Stanza 9 Latin l. 263 primus: this should probably be understood literally, and, in that case, would show that the speaker, in mentioning the names rapidly, was reminded at the moment when Machaon's name occurred, that he was d to have issued first from the horse.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 264 doli (i.e. equi) fabricator: he was directed by Minerv9, See 1, 15.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 266 portis: ablative of the way by which. See note on 1. 187. omnes 80Ci08: those who have just landed from the ships.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 267 conscia: 'confederate'; implying that those already in the city and those just arrived have a mutual understanding of the plan of attack.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 268 Cf. in 522. aegris: 'sorrow-laden'; said of men, as compared with the gods. Fig. 17. — Achilles dragging Hector's Body about the Walls of Troy (11. 272 sqq.)
Stanza 9 Latin l. 269 dono divom: 'by the blessing of the gods.'lines of Vision of Bellay: — Cf. Spenser, opening ' It was the time when rest, soft sliding downe From heaven's height into men's heavy eyes. In the forgetfulnes of sleepe doth drowne The carefull thoughts of mortall miseries.'
Stanza 9 Latin l. 270 In somnis: 'in slumber.'Cf. 1. 302. Aeneas is repeatedly favored with warnings by visions and dreams.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 271 largos fletus: ' a flood of tears.' Cf. I, 465.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 272 Saptatus bigis, ut quondam: '(appearing) as formerly (he was), when dragged by the chariot.'Aeneas had seen the corpse of Hector in this condition after it had been brought back to Troy by Priam. The ghosts of the slain are conceived to have the appearance of their disfigured and mutilated bodies. See VI, 494.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 273 per — tlHnentes: for loris per pedes tumentes traiecHs, lora: the Greek accusatiye, used with somewhat more boldness than usual, as it is ap' plied not to a part of the person, nor even to the dress. Cf. note on I, 228. The ordinary Greek accusative here would have been pedes accompanied by loris in the ablative.
Stanza 9 Latin l. 274 Ei mihi: . quails: refers to the appearance of Hector's person.
Stanza 10 Latin l. 275 redit: the present in vivid narration. A. 276, d\, qui redit i may be rendered ' returning.' ezuvias: 'the spoils'; those, namely, which had been taken from the body of Patroclus, whom Hector had slain in battle, and who had worn the armor of his friend Achilles. Hence, they are called here 'the spoils of Achilles.' For the accusative, (
Stanza 10 Latin l. 276 iaculatus: 'after he had hurled.'puppibiis:'upon the ships.'The ships were drawn up from the water, with the stems toward the land, and surrounded on the land side by fortifications.
Stanza 10 Latin l. 278 quae plurima: see note on I, 419. The wounds are those wantonly inflicted on the dead body' of Hector by the Greeks, aftd the mutilations received when it was dragged by the chariot of Achilles. Ultro: 'at once,' 'first'; lit., 'of my own accord,' without waiting to be first addressed by the ghost; join with cotnpellare, flens ipse: ' myself also weeping '; as well a' he. 28a. morae: in his dream Aeneas does not realize that Hector is dead, but fancies that he has been long absent, and anxiously waited for.
Stanza 10 Latin l. 283 exspectate: vocative by attraction for the nominative. I. ut:'how'; i.e.'how gladly'; join with aspicimus
Stanza 10 Latin l. 287 nihil: the object of respondit understood, nec — morator:'nor heeds my useless inquiries.'
Stanza 10 Latin l. 291 Sat — datum: 'enough has been done by thee for thy country and for Priam.'(Qua) dextra:'by (any) right hand'; i.e. by human prowess.
Stanza 10 Latin l. 296 2$7. The vision seems to bring the figure of Vesta with the fillets round her head, and other sacra which pertained to her worship, from the penetralia or sanctuary of the house. Among the Penates of the city or state appear to have been included Jupiter, Juno, and Vesta; perhaps, also, Neptune, Apollo, and other great gods. These are also called Dei Magni, See III, 12, and VIII, 679.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 290 a culmine: 'from the summit'; from top to bottom. Cf. below, L 603.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 292 hac: 'with this'; i.e. with mine. For the construction, (
Stanza 11 Latin l. 293 Sacra: sc. sua, A limiting word pertaining equally to two substantives is sometimes expressed only with the last. Cf. surgentem, I, 366. The Penates of Troy are those which pertain to the whole state in common, as distinguished from those of individual families.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 294 comites: 'as companions'; in apposition with hos, his: dative, moenia: for urbem.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 295 The order is: quae magna ponto pererratOy denique statues. Although this city was Lavinium, the poet seems to have Rome in mind.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 298 Diyersolucta: 'with manifold sounds of woe.'Cf. XII, 620.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 302 snmini fastigia tecti: 'the battlements on the top of the roof.'Cf. below, 1. 458, and note.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 303 arrectis auribus: cf. 1, 152; II, 206..
Stanza 11 Latin l. 304 veluti cum, etc: as the shepherd, ignorant (inscius) of the remote cause of the devastation around him, is amazed {stupet), so Aeneas, at first stupefied by what he hears and sees, does not comprehend the origin and nature of the uproar. Cf. X, 405; XII, 521. furentibus austris: ablative absolute, expressing time. Austris is used for winds in general, as in I, 536.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 305 rapidus montano fltiinine: '(made) impetuous by the mountain tfood.' With this and the following line cf. Spenser, Faerie Queene, II, 11, ' Like a great water-flood, that, tombling low From the high mountaines, threates to overflow With suddein fury all the fertile playne.'
Stanza 11 Latin l. 306 boam labores: by metonymy for segetes
Stanza 11 Latin l. 307 inscius: 'ignorant (of the cause).'
Stanza 11 Latin l. 309 fides: 'the truth,'or'the fact'; namely, that the Greeks had got possession of the city. Est is to be supplied.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 310 Deiphobi: his death is described in VI, 509 sqq. 3x1. Vulcano: \,t.igni. See note on I, 215. proximiis:'next'to the house of Delphobus. 3x2. Ucalegon: a bold metonymy for the'house of Ucalegon.'Cf. Ill, 275. Sigea freta:'the Sigean waters'; about four miles northwest from Troy.
Stanza 11 Latin l. 333 Oppositi: 'opposed'; i.e. to the Trojans who attempt to resist, stat Stricta: a lively substitute for est stricta; suggesting the position of the blade firmly grasped, and raised for the blow, mucrone comsco: ablative of description.
Stanza 12 Latin l. 314 nec sat rationis {est mihi)i'nor have I sufficient deliberation';'I have not a clear purpose in seizing arms'; do not consider what is to be done or gained in fighting. 3x5. bello: dsXiye for ad M/um, arcem:'the citadel.'
Stanza 12 Latin l. 317 pulchmm: the predicate accusative with esse understood, of which mart is subject. A. 189, /. succurrit, etc.:'the thought comes over me'; in the midst of the excitement I have one thought only:'that it is glorious to die in arms.'
Stanza 12 Latin l. 319 arcis Phoebique: priest of the citadel only so far as he was priest of Apollo, whose temple» like those of the other tutelary gods, was on the citadel.
Stanza 12 Latin l. 320 Sacra, deos: cf. L 293. yictos: as in I, 68.
Stanza 12 Latin l. 321 trahit: Meads.' Cf. 1. 457. cursu tendit: 'hastens'; lit. 'holds (his way) with running.' limina: ' (my) threshold '; the house of Anchises and Aeneas. The arrival of Panthus with the sacra is a fulfillment of the words of Hector's ghost: Troy commits to thee her gods. See 1. 293. The poet leaves us to understand that the child and the sacred objects are left by Panthus at the palace of Anchises. See 1. 717.
Stanza 12 Latin l. 322 res summa: 'the common weal.'Quo loco:'in what condition.'Pantha: the Latin vocative, from the Greek UdvOov, quam prendimus arcem?'what stronghold are we to seize?'The present is used for the future, as not infrequently in animated discourse. Cf. Ill, 88.
Stanza 12 Latin l. 325 Fuimus, fuit: an impressive way of saying,'we have ceased to be Trojans; Ilium no longer exists.' A. 279, a\ ( Dardaniae: dative.
Stanza 12 Latin l. 329 Sinon: see note on 1. 259. miscet:'scatters all around.'
Stanza 12 Latin l. 330 Insultans: expresses the joy Sinon feels in the success of his stratagem, as well as his contempt for the victims of it. alii:'others,'as opposed to that portion of the Greeks who have descended from the horse, bipatentibus portis:'at the wide-open gates.'Cf. 1. 266.
Stanza 13 Latin l. 331 Milia quot: sc. the antecedent M, the subject of adsunt understood. See note on I, 430. Mycenis: (
Stanza 13 Latin l. 332 alii: another portion of the main body from the ships, angosta via' nmi:'the narrow passageways.'See note on I, 422.
Stanza 13 Latin l. 334 primi: those who are foremost, or at the gate.
Stanza 13 Latin l. 335 caeco marte: 'in the blind conflict.'Cf. IX, 518.
Stanza 13 Latin l. 336 numine diyum: not by his own deliberate purpose, for he had not sat rationis in armis
Stanza 13 Latin l. 344 gener: • as a (future) son-in-law.'
Stanza 13 Latin l. 346 Audierit: cf. the use of esset, 1. 248.
Stanza 13 Latin l. 347 Q1108 ubi vidi: see note on I, 72. audere:'venturing upon.'
Stanza 13 Latin l. 348 super: as in I, 29.'Besides'the enthusiasm they ahready manifest, I seek to enkindle more, and so'begin with these words.'his: ablative of manner.
Stanza 13 Latin l. 349 Pectora: z&animiy 1. 144, put for persons, audentem: sc. m. si YObis, etc.: sc. the indicative, est since there is no uncertainty, extrema: ' a last hazard.' cupido Certa: ' a fixed resolve.'
Stanza 13 Latin l. 403 Priameia: 'daughter of Priam.'
Stanza 14 Latin l. 350 sequi: for the infinitive depending on cupido, see note on 1. 10.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 351 Excessere: -the ancients believed that the capture of a city or country was preceded by the departure of its tutelary gods.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 352 quibus: 'through whom'; ablative of means.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 353 moriamur ruamtis: Met us die, and (to that end) rush into the midst of the enemy.' Also taken as an instance of hysteron proteron. See on 1. 259. Cf. Ill, 662.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 354 Una salus: predicate nominative:'to hope for no safety (is) the only safety of the conquered.'
Stanza 14 Latin l. 357 caecos: ' blind,'or ' furious'from hunger.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 360 nox atra: the moon is at times obscured. See 11. 397, 420, and 621. But night in general, whether with or without a moon, may be understood as'dark,'contrasted with day.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 361 fando: 'in speech.'
Stanza 14 Latin l. 364–365 -que -que: 'both — and.'See note on I, 18. inertia:'lifeless,'referring to the corpses of the slain; or'helpless,'with reference to the bodies of old men, women, and children, and persons unfit for war.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 366 poenas dant sanguine: 'suffer punishment with blood'; i.e. suffer death. Cf. 1. 72.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 369 pavor: A. 359, /. plurima imago: 'many a vision '; innumerable corpses, representations of death, everywhere seen.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 371 Androgeos: a Grecian hero, not mentioned in Homer, credens: sc. nos esse
Stanza 14 Latin l. 372 ultro: 'at once,''first'; as in 1. 279; without being first adessed.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 376 Responsa Fida: 'reliable answers.'
Stanza 14 Latin l. 377 sensit delapsus: lit.'having fallen., he perceived (it)'; a Greek idiom for sensU se delapsum esse
Stanza 14 Latin l. 375 aspris: for asperis. sentibus: ablative of place where..80. bimi mteQ9: 'wilb firni trfi4,' Se note on I, 193, 38X. Attollentem iras: ' rears its angry crest.' /ras is equivalent to ira turn caput, colla: Greek accusative. 383. densis, etc.:'and we surround them with our serried arms'; the verb is used in the middle sense; lit.'we poured ourselves about them.'Cf. implentur I» 215; and teguntur, L 227.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 384 qua: connects the verbs circumjundimur and sternimus
Stanza 14 Latin l. 385 Adspirat: 'smiles upon.'labori:'conflict.'
Stanza 14 Latin l. 386 successu, animisque: ablatives of cause; both success and boldness of spirit make the youth exult.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 389 insignia: 'martial ornaments'; the arms by which the Greeks were distinguished from the Trojans, especially their helmets and shields.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 391 deinde: see note on I, 195.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 392 clipei insigne decorum: 'the shield with its beautiful device'; inngne is a noun. Shields were often adorned with raised work in metal. For the accusative, see note on 1. 275.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 402 nihil fas {est) fidere, etc: 'alas, men may not put their trust in unwilling gods'; i.e. the Trojans, in putting on Greek armor, placed themselves under the protection of the divinities who were unfavorable to them. The sentiment is intended to introduce the incident which immediately follows, and which turns the tide of success against the Trojans.
Stanza 14 Latin l. 410 delubri culmine: a party of Trojans was hurling down missiles from the top of the temple of Minerva on the citadel.
Stanza 15 Latin l. 337 tristis erinys: 'the grim Fury'; the gloomy spirit of conflict. 339. Addont se socios: cf. VI, 778. 34I- agglomerant: sc. se;'gather around.'nostro: for mea. as in L 139. 343. insano:'frantic'
Stanza 15 Latin l. 396 haud numine nostro: ablative of attendant circumstance;'under an unfavorable divinity'; lit.'under a divinity not our own.'The possessive sometimes has the force of secundus
Stanza 15 Latin l. 400 Fida: 'safe,'as affording a retreat to the ships.
Stanza 15 Latin l. 401 condnntur: for se condunt, Cf. 1. 383.
Stanza 15 Latin l. 404 Crinibus: see note on I, 480. a templo Minenrae: she had fled to the shrine of Miner\'a for refuge, adytis: ' from the inner sanctuary.'This was the outrage referred to in I, 41, which provoked the wrath of Minerva against Ajax Oilefis.
Stanza 15 Latin l. 407 speciem: 'spectacle.'Coroebus: see 11. 341 sqq. funata mente: ablative absolute.
Stanza 15 Latin l. 408 periturus: see note on 1. 46.
Stanza 15 Latin l. 409 densis armis: ablative of manner, as in 1. 383. Eis or hosHbus in the dative, is understood after incurrimus.
Stanza 15 Latin l. 411 obruimur: for the quantity of the last syllable, see note on pavor, 1. 369.
Stanza 15 Latin l. 412 Armorum facie, etc: 'on account of the appearance of our arms, and the mistake arising from o\ir Grecian crests' so fades is usd in V 761
Stanza 16 Latin l. 413 ereptae virginis: 'a the rescue of the virgin'; a subjective genitive, like iubarum above. For the use of the participle, (
Stanza 16 Latin l. 414 Undique: with coUectu acerrimus: Ajaxwas angered by the loss of Cassandra.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 416 adversi: ' opposed (to each other) ' and hence ' opposing.' turbine mpto: ' when a whirlwind bursts forth '; ablative absolute, expressing time. Fig. 18. — The Tabula Iliaca This stone tablet represents scenes from the Trojan war. Only a portion, showins the walled ci, is reproduced here. The upper scene represents the strife and bloodsheo that followed immediately after the Greeks descended from the horse (II. 265 sqa.). The scene just below represents a court in the palace of Priam. The aged ruler is seated upon an altar, from which Pyrrhus is about to tear him (11. 506 sqq.). On the right, Menelaus seeks to kill Helen. In the foreground at the left. Aeneas receives the Penates from a priest (cf. IL siS-' 321). Directly in front. Aeneas, guided by Mercury, is issuing from the city gate, bearing his father on his shoulder and leadmg Ascanius. Just behind is Creusa. Cf. fl. 721 sqq.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 418 equis: with laetus' Cf. tegmine, I, 275. The winds are sometimes described as riding on horses.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 419 imo fundo: cf. I, 84 and 125.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 420 si quos: = quoscumque, per umbram: cf. 1. 397.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 421 insidiis: see 11. 389 sqq.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 422 primi: ' the foremost'; those in front. Cf. 1. 334. mentita: 'deceptive,' with the regular active use of deponents, M'ntUQ$ is understoocl also with clifeou
Stanza 16 Latin l. 423 Adgnoscunt: 'they recognize'; they perceive that our arms and shields are theirs, though worn by enemies, ora sono discordia signant: ' they (the primi, 1. 422) mark our speech, differing (from theirs) in sound.' Virgil seems to have regarded the speech {ora) of the Greeks and Trojans as being dialects of the same language.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 424 Ilicet: 'instantly/ ' thereupon.'
Stanza 16 Latin l. 425 dextra: cf. I, 98. ad aram: the great altar stood at the foot of the steps in front of the pronaos, not within the temple itself.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 426 unus: emphatic, as in I, 15.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 428 Dis aliter visum: he deserved to live, but the gods willed it differently. Cf. below, 1. 430.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 429 a sociis: 'by their friends'on the summit of the temple, who are ignorant of tneir real character. See 1. 410. Panthu: see 1. 322.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 430 infula: put by metonymy for the priestly office.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 431 flmni' meomm {civiunt), Aeneas speaks as if burning Troy were a funeral pile, in which his slain countrymen had been consumed.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 432 vestro: may be referred both to Troy, implied in Jliaci and to vieorum.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 433 vices Danaum: ' encounters with the Greeks.'Vitayisse, meruisse: the subject, mey is omitted, fata fuissent: contain the notion of ' decreeing,''conmianding'; hence, the following subjunctive with ut
Stanza 16 Latin l. 434 manu: 'bymyhand'; i.e. by my bold deeds.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 435 Iphitus et Pelias mecum: sc. divelluntur; 'are separated (from the rest) with me.'
Stanza 16 Latin l. 436 volnere ulixi: ' the wound of,'i.e. ' inflicted by, Ulysses.'
Stanza 16 Latin l. 438–558 Aeneas is now attracted by the noise of the combatants to the palace of Priam. On reaching the palace, he finds the great body of the Greeks, led on by Pyrrhus, making a furious assault on the front. He effects an entrance by a private postern gate, and ascending to the roof, aids the defenders in hurling down missiles and masses of the building material on the assailants. From the roof he sees the Greeks under Pyrrhus finally burst through the principal gate, and rush into the interior courts. He sees Pyrrhus slay Polites, a son of Priam, at the feet of his father, and Priam himself, after a feeble resistance, near the family altar.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 438 ecu, etc: 'as if other battles were nowhere going on'; i.e. as if all the fighting were concentrated here. (
Stanza 16 Latin l. 440 Sic: explanatory of the foregoing words, and qualifies im/omitum ri4fns apd obsessMm, larteiK; ' copfUt.' For the participle after cermmus seeH.613,4; ( TheGrccks make an attack on the front of the palace in two divisions. One party, headed by Pyrrhus, storms the gate, under cover of their shields. These they join together above their heads, by lapping one shield over another, like the tiles or shingles of a roof, forming thus a testudo under the shelter of which they are safe from the missiles hurled down upon them by the defenders (11. 441 and 469 sqq.). The other party attempts, by scaling ladders, to gain the battlements (11. 442-444).
Stanza 16 Latin l. 441 acta testudine: 'with an advancing testudo.'limen: ' the gate.'44a. parietibus: for the case, see note on I, 226. On the pronunciation of the word here, paryetibus cf. note on abiete 1. 16. postes sub ipsos:'close to the very posts'; i.e. of the palace gate.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 443 nituntur: ' they climb'; referring to the assailants, gradibus: 'on the steps' of the ladders. Join sinistris with obiciunt, 'They present their shields with their left hands against the missiles (of the defenders), shielding themselves (thus, while) they grasp the battlements with their right hands.'
Stanza 16 Latin l. 444 fastigia: ' battlements ' of the parapet. See note on 1. 458.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 445 tecta Culmina: refers to the whole rooBng, including also the gilded rafters, auratas irabes, underneath the tiles.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 446 His telis: 'with such weapons,' or missiles, as these.' Notice the emphatic position of His, ultima: ' the end of things '; when they see that things have come to the last extremity.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 447 extrema in morte: 'in death's extremity.'
Stanza 16 Latin l. 449 alii: these are Trojans in the vestibule and court, standing ready with drawn swords to meet the enemy, if they should burst through the doors. imas fores:'the doors below,'as distinguished from the roof where Aeneas stood.
Stanza 16 Latin l. 451 Instaurati animi: refers both to himself and to his two companions. 45a. vim: ' force '; i.e. new impulse.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 453 Limen erat, etc: this passage serves to explain how Aeneas and his comrades made their way into the palace in the rear, while the host of Greeks was swarming round the front walls and the principal entrance. Limen, fores, and postes all refer to the private entrance in the rear {relicti a tergo). Within this were corridors, affording an easy communication {pervitis usus) of the various buildings or parts of the palace with each other {inter se).
Stanza 17 Latin l. 456 incomitata: in a more public place the custom of the Trojans and Greeks would have required the matron to be attended by a female servant.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 457 soceros: Priam and Hecuba. So pa/res, below, 1. 579.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 458 Evado: 'I make my way'; by the private passage just described. ad summi fastigia culminis: ' to the battlements on the top of the roof.' Cf. 1. 302, and note. The poet has in mind a roof resting in the rear, on the colonnade which surrounds the courts, and sloping upward to the top, or terrace, of the outer wall, where it is fortiBed with a battlemented parapet, interrupted here and there with turrets. From this roof, or terrace Aeneas commands the view both of what is going on outside of the palace in front of the walls and gate, and also in the courts within.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 460 turrim: object of conyellimus, L 464. in praedpiti: ' on the edge.' stmimis Bdnctam tectis: ' rising with lofty roof.' 46a: solitae: scsunt.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 463 qua summa labantis etc: 'where the topmost stories afforded yielding joints.'The summa tabulaia, ' highest flooring'or ' highest stories'of the palace, served as the base, or floor, of the tower; and if the tower was of wood, it could be easily thrown down in one mass, when loosened and separated at that point.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 464 altis sedibus: 'from its lofty foundations'; the tabulata and iecta, or palace roof, just mentioned.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 468 interea: refers to the time occupied in tearing up the tower, and in the replacing of the Greeks destroyed by its fall.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 469 Vestibulilin: 'the entrance'into the atrium, or flrst court. See note on L 449.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 470 exsultat: ' springs to and fro '; indicates the swift movements of the warrior, telia et luce aena: ' with the gleaming of brazen weapons.' A case of hendiadys (see note on I, 61).
Stanza 17 Latin l. 471 qualis ubi: the full expression would be talisy qualis est coluber ubi, etc See note on I, 316. 47a. snb terra: is contrasted with in lucem. tomidum: he is supposed to be swollen by eating venomous herbs.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 473 positis exuviis: 'his old skin laid aside.'
Stanza 17 Latin l. 475 arduus ad solem: 'uprising toward the sun.'ore: ablative of place.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 477 scyria pubes: 'the Scyrian band'; followers of Pyrrhus, from the island of Scyros, one of the Cyclades, which was ruled over by Lycomedes, the grandfather of Pyrrhus.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 478 succedunt tecto: 'advance to the palace.'They hurl flrebrands up to the battlements, to prevent the Trojans from casting down missiles on Pyrrhus and the other assailants.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 480 Limina: the lintel and threshold, for the door, permmpit, yellit: the present denotes the continuance of the act, the ' attempt to break ' and 'wrench,' contrasted with cavavit and dedit (11. 481, 482), which denote the completion of the act. postes: •= fores, 'the door.' cardine: the hole in the lintel and threshold, in which the pivots at the top and bottom of the doer turned. See Fig. 19.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 481 Aeratos: 'bronze,''covered with bronze.'Of. I, 448, 449. 48a. ore: limits fenestram; ' an opening with a broad mouth.' See note on siivis, I, 164.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 483 adparet: through this opening the great central apartments are at once visible to the Greeks; for the vestibule admitted directly to the courts, which were connected by open passages, so that the eye could range through the whole at one view.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 485 Armatos: the armed guards defending the vestibule, mentioned in L 449. vidcnt: refers to the Greeks.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 487 cavae aedes: a second court, or square, around which the more private apartments were built, was often called cavaedium, but Virgil may not necessarily have been thinking of this part of the Roman liouse in the expression, cavae aedes, 49Z. Instat yi patria:'presses on with his father's fury'; with the impetuosity inherited from his father, the wrathful Achilles. 49a. sufferre:'to withstand (him).'ariete: pronounced here ar-ye-te. See note on 1. 16. The battering-ram in its primitive form is probably meant, i.e. a long stick of timber, wielded by men without the aid of machinery, crebro: as below, 1. 627.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 493 cardine, postes: see above, 1. 480. Join cardine mth emoH;'started from the socket.'
Stanza 17 Latin l. 495 milite: used as a collective noun. See note on 1. ao.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 496 aggeribus ruptis: 'the barriers burst.'The Po in many places was kept within its channel, like the lower Mississippi at the present day, by embankments; and Virgil was familiar with the disastrous floods produced by a crevasse or breach in the dike.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 497 exiit: i.e. from its channel.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 498 cmniilo: 'in a mass'; ablative of manner, as in I, 105.
Stanza 17 Latin l. 499 Vidi ipse: 'I myself saw.' Aeneas, who had been repelling the storming party of Greeks from the battlements, was compelled to witness the entrance of Neoptolemus and the other assailants at the gate, without the power to render help.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 501 nurus: 'daughters'; put for both the daughters and daughters-inlaw of Hecuba, per aras: usually explained as equivalent to inUr aras.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 504 Barbarico: 'barbaric'; because the gold and spoils which adorned the door posts were trophies captured from foreign or barbarian enemies of the The first illustration is designed to show the general shape of the ancient door. The Posits was the upright pillar (a, ), at whose ends were fastened bronze pivots (shown on an enlarged scale in the annexed cut. b). These pivots moved in bronze sockets {cardines) made in the threshold and lintel. The third cut presents a horizontal cross section of the door with the threshold (11. 480 sqq.). Trojans. It was customary to hang such spoils on the door posts of houses, as well as of temples. Cf. V, 393; VII, 183. The same use of 'barbaric' occurs in Milton, Par. Lost, II, 3: — • Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, Showers on her kings barbaric pearl and gold.'
Stanza 18 Latin l. 506 fuerint: see note on videat, I, 181. The fate of Priam has just been indicated in general terms, but it is natural to ask the particulars of his death, reqniras: (
Stanza 18 Latin l. 507 uti: temporal, as «1/, in 1. 67.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 509 Arma: especially the AfV. dill: yornvnih desueta. senior:'the aged king.'
Stanza 18 Latin l. 510 umeris: dative. See note on 1, 412. ferrum: accusative with cingri. hir, which has a middle force. See note on exuviate, 1. 275. 5x1. fertur: Ms hurrying'; but he is interrupted by Hecuba. See 1. 515. moriturus: cf. periturus, 1. 408. 51a. Aedibns in mediis:'in the midst of the palace'; in the inner court. See note on 1. 487. nudo sub axe:'under the open vault.' 5x5. nequiquam:'in vain'; for, in the end, its sacredness failed to save them, circum: see note on I, 32.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 516 FtaedpittB: =sepragcipian/es, 5x7. sedebant: it was the custom to flee for refuge, in time of peril, to the altars and images of the gods.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 519 mens: 'purpose.' sax. auzilio: for the ablative, see note on 1. 44. def ensoribus istis:'such defenses as those (weapons) of thine.'
Stanza 18 Latin l. 522 non, si, etc: 'not even if my Hector were now here.'For not even Hector could now help us with arms; it is only the altar, and the gods, that can save us.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 525 sacra in sede: i.e. on the altar, or steps of the altar.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 526 Polites has been defending the entrance to the palace, in company with those mentioned in 1. 449. I'yrrhus, from whom he has already received a deadly wound, is on the point of dispatching him. Pyrrhi de caede:'from the death-dealing hand of I'yrrhus.'
Stanza 18 Latin l. 528 Porticibus: 'along the porticoes'; the ablative of the way or route. His flight is through the colonnades which surround the courts, and also across the courts, vacua: either ' empty,' referring to some of the courts not yet occupied by the Greeks, or 'open,' 'spacious.' Cf. 1. 761. luatrat: ' traverses.' 5'9. infesto mlnere:'with deadlj aim'; join with insequitur
Stanza 18 Latin l. 530 iam iam: 'now, even now.' -que: connects insequitur with the following verbs, premit: ' is close upon him.'
Stanza 18 Latin l. 533 in media morte tenetur: i.e. death is all around him; his son lies before him dead, and his own death is imminent.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 535 ausis: 'reckless deeds.'
Stanza 18 Latin l. 536 ai: as in I, 603. curet: clause of characteristic.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 538 coram: equivalent to oculis meis.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 539 foedasti: ' hast violated.' It implies both the outrage to his nature as a father, and the deBling of his person with the blood of the slain; for the touch, or even the presence, of a corpse rendered the individual religiously impure.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 540 quo: . mentiris:'you falsely pretend'; for you would dishonor such a father.
Stanza 18 Latin l. 541 in hoste: 'in respect to (toward) his enemy.' inra fidemque supplicis erubuit: ' he respected (lit. ' blushed at ') a suppliant's rights, a suppliant's trust.' 54a. sepnlcro: dative of the purpose;'for burial.'
Stanza 18 Latin l. 543 hectoreum: see note on I, 200.
Stanza 19 Latin l. 544 senior: of. 1. 509. sine ictu:'without force'or'effect.'
Stanza 20 Latin l. 547 ergo: 'so then.' The particle expresses bitter irony. The future here is almost equivalent to an imperative.
Stanza 20 Latin l. 549 Degenerem: a scornful allusion to the comparison between father and son, just made by Priam, 11. 540 sqq.
Stanza 20 Latin l. 550 Hoc dicens: 'while saying this.'trementem: not with fear, but with age. See L 509.
Stanza 20 Latin l. 552 Implicnit comam laeva: for comae laevam, Cf. 1. 723.
Stanza 20 Latin l. 553 extulit: 'raised on high.'lateri: dative for in latus. See note on 1. 18. capulo tonus:'up to the hilt.'For the position of tenus, see note on I, 13.
Stanza 20 Latin l. 555 Sortetolit: 'befell by fate.'
Stanza 20 Latin l. 556 populis, terris: ablative, denoting the cause of superbum.
Stanza 20 Latin l. 639 Sanguis and vires are also thus connected in V, 396. stant robore. etc.: 'whose strength remains firm in its own vigor'; needing the aid of none. For the ablative, see note on regno I, 268.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 558 sine nomine: 'without a name'; because deprived of the head, that by which the individual is distinguished.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 559–631 Aeneas is reminded, by the fate of Priam and his house, of his own father and family, and is hastening homeward, when he discovers the Grecian Helen, the cause of all these misfortunes, hiding in the temple of Vesta. He stops, and is on the point of taking vengeance by putting her to death, but he is deterred by his mother, who appears to him in her own form, and reveals to him the gods at work in the destruction of Troy. He submits to fate, and, guarded by Venus, arrives at his home in safety
Stanza 21 Latin l. 559 turn primum: Aeneas is now for the first time awakened to all the horrors of his own situation, and that of his family. 56a. snbiit: ' came to my mind '; c, mentem, Cf. 1. 575. Creusa: wife of Aeneas, and daughter of Priam.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 563 domtu: has the last syllable long under the ictus. See note on pavor 1. 369. casus: 'the fortune'; as in I, 623.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 564 Respicio: 'I look about.'He has been absorbed in the scene in the court below, and the death of Priam. Now he withdraws his eyes to consider what is going on around him on the battlements, sit: subjunctive mood in indirect question, quaecopia:'what force?'
Stanza 21 Latin l. 566 Ad terram etc: ' they have cast themselves (from the battlements) to the ground.' The perfect definite is used here with reference to the preceding historical present.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 567 The pcissage, as far as 1. 587, appears inconsistent with VI, 510-527, and is said to have been set aside by Tucca and Varius, the critics to whom the manuscript of Virgil was committed by Augustus. Hence, it is wanting in the best manuscripts; but it is regarded as Virgilian by recent commentators, and is retained in practically all texts, adeo: Virgil often joins this particle with iam. It may be translated, '• so now.' super anns eram: for supereram, limina: 'shrine.'
Stanza 21 Latin l. 568 senrantem: 'keeping'; i.e. holding, as a place of refuge, secure on account of its sacredness.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 570 erranti: he has left the battlements of the palace, but is still on the Acropolis, seeking to escape to his own house, without coming in contact with the enemy. Hence he pursues a devious course, looking about cautiously, ocuios per cuncta ferenti
Stanza 21 Latin l. 571 eversa Pergama: ' the overthrow of Troy.' See note on 1. 413. 57a. poenas Danaum: ' punishment inflicted by the Greeks.' What genitive? Cf. /i.rt, 1. 436. coniugis: Menelaus.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 573 communis Erinys: because she had been the cause of the ten yearswar, which had been attended with many disasters to the Greeks, and was now closing with the destruction of Troy.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 574 aris sedebat: i.e. on the steps of the altar, invisa: 'odious,' «hatcfuL' 575« ignes: 'fury'; the fires 'of passion, subit ira: 'wrath enters (my «oul).'
Stanza 21 Latin l. 577 Mycenas: put for Graeciam, Cf. I, 65a
Stanza 21 Latin l. 578 trlnmplio: ablative absolute, with /f/.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 579 coniugiumque: =coniugem. Cf. XI, 270. patres: «parents'; z&soceros, L 457.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 580 comitata: cf. I, 312, and note, turba, ministris: ablative of means. In the Odyssey, books IV and XV, Helen is reinstated as queen in the palace of Menelaus at Sparta. It should be remarked that the impression given by Virgil of Helen is widely different from that which we get from the Iliad and Odyssey, where she is represented rather as the victim of misfortune than as a deliberate evil-doer. See Fig. 18.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 581 58a. The future perfects express the bitter indignation with which he conceives of her about to return in triumph after having occasioned all this woe. Fig. 20. — Menelaus pursues Helen (1. 580)
Stanza 21 Latin l. 583 Non ita: Mt shall not b tlis.'
Stanza 21 Latin l. 584 Feminea: possessive, as Hecioreum, L 543.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 585 Bxstiiudsae: the infinitive depends upon an idea of saying, implied in laudabor, which is equivalent to cum laude dicar, nefaa: metonymy for fufariam.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 587 Ultricis flammae: 'with avenging fury.' See note on I, 215. satiasse: 'to have appeased.' The Manes of the slain cannot be quiet in the lower world until they are revenged. 59a pura luce:'in clear light'; not in a cloud, as gods often appear. 59Z. confetfsa: put for the present, as comitata, 1. 580; 'her godhead manifest '; not disguised, as in I, 314 sqq. 59a. quanta: 'so great as'; for the gods are conceived to be of lofty stature, dextra: she seized the hand with which he was about to slay Helen, prehensum Continnit: sc. me See note on I, 69. FRIEZE'S AENEID — 27
Stanza 21 Latin l. 595 nostri: Venus is represented as including herself with the tttmily of Aeneas. Cf. I, 250.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 596 prius: 'first'; i.e. before you think of slaying Helen, ubi: interrogative.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 597 ni: in prose would be joined to superet
Stanza 21 Latin l. 599 resistat: see note on I, 58.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 600 tulerint, hauserit: the perfects suppose the completion of the action at the present time.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 601 tibi: ethical.'Not the hateful form of Helen, as you think, not the guilty Parisy but the stern will of the gods, is overthrowing this dominion for thee.' 60a. -ve: trans.' nor.'
Stanza 21 Latin l. 604 Aspice: Venus now causes Aeneas to see all that the gods see. The great gods themselves are destro3ring the city.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 605 tibi I dative of reference, equivalent to the genitive of possession. A.235,'j; B.i88,i,n.. umida caligat:'gathers misty.'
Stanza 21 Latin l. 606 ne qua parentis iussa time: 'fear not to follow any commands of thy mother'; for now that your eyes are opened to things invisible, you may understand that her counsels are safe.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 609 undantem: 'rising in waves.'mixto pnlyere:'mingled with dust.'6zo. Neptnnus: Neptune had built the walls of Troy for Laomedon, the father of Priam, and was defrauded by that king of his stipulated reward. Hence his hostility to Troy, tridenti: join with emoUt' 6ia. Scaeas: the Scaean gate was on the west side of Troy, looking toward the sea. By this the Grecians were still pouring into the city. Cf. 1. 330. 613. Prima:'foremost'; as leader ofithe Greeks.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 615 lam: now at length even Pallas joins in the destruction. She usually aids in building, not destroying, respice: cf. 1. 564. His attention had been directed thus far by Venus to the walls and the gate, where Neptune and Juno are acting; now he turns to behold Minerva, who sits upon the top of the citadel, probably on the pediment of her own temple.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 616 nimbo effulgens et impone saeva: 'bright with her storm-cloud and Gorgon grim.' The nimdus refers to the aegis of Zeus, which the goddess often wore, and from which, if shaken, proceeded storm and VT gx lightning. The Gorgon's head was in the center of the 6x7. ipse pater: even Jupiter, though not unfriendly to the frcjans» must execute the decree of destiny. 6x9. Bripe fagam:'hasten your flight'; while flight is still possible. 6ao. limine: for the case, see note on 1. 244.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 622 dirae facies: ' fearful forms '; the gods now made visible to Aeneas, and exerting their powers against Troy.
Stanza 21 Latin l. 624 Turn vero: 'then indeed '; when my eyes were thus opened, visum (es) I ' was seen.'
Stanza 21 Latin l. 625 Neptonia: Troy is thus called because Neptune constructed its walls.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 626 Ac veluti Cum: 'even as when.'
Stanza 22 Latin l. 627 ferro bipennibus: hendiadys for ferreis bipennibus. See note on I, 61. accisam: Xmaisornum. instant: with infinitive, as I, 423.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 628 minatur: ' threatens to fall.'
Stanza 22 Latin l. 629 oomam: 'leaf-crown'; the foliage of trees is often so called. Tsr' lice: join with nutat as an ablative of manner.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 630 snpremum: 'for the last time'; adverbially. Cf. Ill, 68. 63Z. ingis'from the hilltops'; ]om y/iih avulsa
Stanza 22 Latin l. 632–746 Anchises at first refuses to join Aeneas in his flight, but yields at last to the signs and warnings sent by Jupiter. While they are making their way out of the city, Crefisa, the wife of Aeneas, is separated from her companions and lost; but she is not missed until they reach the place of rendezvous, outside of the gate.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 632 Descendo: Aeneas descends from the Acropolis to his father's palace, ducente deo: 'under the guidance of the divine one (Venus).' Cf L62a
Stanza 22 Latin l. 633 Expedior, recedunt: Aeneas, by the divine agency of his mother, is carried safely through the fire and the enemy, weapons and flames moving aside from him.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 635 Antiquas: the necessity of forsaking his home is the more painful, as it has been the abode of a long line of ancestors.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 636 primnm: in both instances agrees with quern. Aeneas must carry his father; for he had been formerly disabled by a stroke of lightning. See 11. 648, 649.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 638 integer aevi: ' unimpaired in age.' (
Stanza 22 Latin l. 640 agitate: 'urge forward '; implying both planning and executing. 642. Satis superque: there is an ellipsis oi est — qtiod;'it is enough and more, that I have seen,' etc The plural as in 1. 89. una: G. 97» 3; ( Troy had been captured and sacked by Hercules during the reign of Laomedon. Anchises has survived that capture.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 643 superavimiu: for superfuimus; as in 1. 597.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 644 Sic — positum: 'thus lying, yea, thus.'He reclines on a couch, in the position of one dead, or dying. Cf. IV, 681. adfati:'having bid farewell to my body.'It was the custom, inunediately on the decease of a Roman, for the nearest relative at the bedside to call on the dead by name, and utter three times in a loud voice the word vaU, See note on vocatos, I, 219.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 645 mann: 'by violence '; 'in conflict '; i.e. by provoking the enemy to attack me. miserebitor:'the enemy will show compassion'; i.e. they will put me out of my misery by slaying me, while seeking to plunder my house and person.
Stanza 22 Latin l. 646 inutilis iactura sepulcri: 'the loss of burial is a light thing,'lit.'easy (to bear).'This sentiment is very unusual for a Greek or Roman, but not unnatural for an old man in despair. Cf. IV, 620; VI, 333.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 603 Opes: ' might/ ' power/ aculmine: cf. L 290, and note.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 649 Fulminis adflavit ventis: 'breathed upon me with the blasts of Ughtning.'See note on I, 45. Anchises was struck with lightning, and thus crippled, for divulging to mortals his amour with the goddess Venus.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 650 perstabat: figuratively;'he persisted.'fizus: used literally;'fixed'in his position and place. Cf. 1. 654.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 651 Nos: cf. L 139; the plural for the singular, effusi lacrimia (sumus): equivalent to effusi in lacrimas;'we were dissolved in tears.' 653» 653. ne — yellet: the purpose of the entreaty implied in the foregoing words.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 653 fato urgent! inceptoque: 'to add fresh weight to the fate (death) already impending.'
Stanza 23 Latin l. 654 haeret: by a kind of zeugma is both figurative and literal in its use respectively with incepto and sedibus, in: prepositions belonging alike to two terms are sometimes joined by the poets to the second, instead of the first. See note on L 293.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 655 in arma feror: 'I rush to arms';'to the combat.'
Stanza 23 Latin l. 656 iam: after every plan has been tried in vain to save my father, fcnrtuna:'resource.'
Stanza 23 Latin l. 658 Speias = exspectavisfi; ad in IV, 419. tantum nefas: 'so impious a thought'; as that a son should forsake his father in peril.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 660 sedet hoc animo: sc. tidi;'this is fixed in your desire.'For parallel expressions, cf. IV, 15; V, 418; VII, 368.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 661 iati leto: 'to that death (which you choose).'
Stanza 23 Latin l. 664 Hoc erat (iUud) quod: 'was it this for which?'Cf. IV, 675. Fof the accusative quodt see note on 1. 141. quod Eripis: equivalent to a substantive idea, ' your saving me,' subject of erat of which hoc is predicate. For the use of the present, cf. note on 1. 275.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 667 in alterius sanguine: ' in the blood of each other/ mactatos:. cemam: the present subjunctive is used, since the time of the main thought is really present;'this is, I now see, the purpose of,'etc
Stanza 23 Latin l. 669 revisam: see note on memoret L 75.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 670 Numquam: is an emphatic substitute for non'
Stanza 23 Latin l. 671 dipeo: dative. The arm passes through the leather straps, the inser' tcria, which are fastened across the middle of the shield, and the hand grasps the handle between the center and the circumference. Observe the imperfect tense in this passage, as in 1. 588.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 674 patri: for ad patrem.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 676 expertus: 'taught by experience.' sumptis in amiis: ' in taking up arms.' See note on 1. 413.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 678 quondam: 'once'called, but now not treated as your wife.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 680 dicta: see note on I, iii. 68a. levis apex: ' a light, pointed flame.'It was the appearance of a 6ame, pointed like the peak of a priest's cap, and called'light,'because it was unsubstantial, vertice — summo:'from the crown of his head'; his head being uncovered.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 683 tactu innozia: ' harmless with its touch.'
Stanza 23 Latin l. 685 metn: join with /«t/iVt. trepidare: the historical infinitive. See note on L 99.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 686 sanctos: because sent by the gods. 688. caelo: iox ad caelum; as in 1. 186.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 690 Aspice: ' look upon us '; i.e. with favor, hoc tantum f so. peto ate; 'this only I ask of thee '; one look of pity.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 691 haec omina finna: Anchises thinks he sees in this prodigy a token of divine favor, but desires some additional sign to confirm his hope. 69a. It is customary for the poets to treat as coordinate two clauses, of which the first is introduced by vix the second by et as in III, 8, V, 857, or by -que, as in the present passage, or by no conjunction at all, as in II, 172, III, 90. In all these cases the second clause is logically dependent on the first in a temporal sense; i.e. the second clause may be translated as if it were introduced by cum, Cf. I, 586.
Stanza 23 Latin l. 696 Idaea silva: in the pine forest on Mount Ida, south of Troy. The course of the meteor showed that the family of Anchises must flee to Mount Ida.
Stanza 24 Latin l. 693 Intonuit is impersonal, and laerum is an adverb; Mt thundered os the left,' — a good omen in Roman augury.
Stanza 24 Latin l. 694 Join multa tum luce ynihfacem ducenu 69s' tecti: the palace of Anchises.
Stanza 24 Latin l. 697 Signantem: ' marking (its) path'; to be joined with r/rzm. tuiii:'at the same time.'longo limite: ablative of manner oi dai lucem, sulcus: 'its track'; like a furrow in the air. Servius, the Virgilian commentator (see Introd., p. 26), interpreted the brightness of the star as indicating the future glory of the house of Aeneas, its track {sulcus) that there was to be a journey by sea, and the smoke, that they were to experience the horrors of war.
Stanza 24 Latin l. 699 se tollit ad auras: 'lifts himself up'; from his couch. See 1. 644.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 704 tibi: A. 235, «; (
Stanza 25 Latin l. 705 clarior: refers to the roaring of the conflagration.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 706 aestus, etc: 'the flames roll nearer their burning floods.'
Stanza 25 Latin l. 707 cervici: ( Imponere: passive voice, but with middle sense, equivalent to impone te, Cf. 1. 383.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 708 subibo: so. te, nmeris: the ablative of means, iste: see note on 1. 521.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 711 longe: 'at some distance.'Cf. I. 725. The parties must not go in one body, as that would be more likely to attract the attention of the enemy. 71a. advertite: with the ablative of animus instead of the accusative is very rare. Trans, as if animos advertite vestros ad ea quae dicam
Stanza 25 Latin l. 713 egressis: 'as you go out of the city,' etc.; lit. 'to those having gone forth.' A. 235, b\ B. 188, 2, a\. 713,7x4. templum — Cereris: iox templum Ceteris desertum
Stanza 25 Latin l. 717 sacra: see Hector's admonition, L 293. The sacred objects had been conveyed to the house of Anchises by Panthus. See 1. 320.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 720 Abluero: to engage in religious rites, or to Fig. 22. — Aeneas flee- i the sacred things, without first washing the ing with Anchises. Miving,' i.e. running, water, was deemed and Ascanms
Stanza 25 Latin l. 721 latos umeros iniecta: 'stooping (to receive the burden).'See Figs. 18 and 22.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 722 super: adverbial, instemor: middle force. Cf. 1. 707.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 725 Pone: cf. X, 226. opaca locorum:'obscure Dlapes.'See note 00 I. 422-
Stanza 25 Latin l. 727 adveno glomerati et agmine: 'crowded together in an opposing phalanx.'The ablative with ex expresses the composition of the crowd, the material of which it is composed.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 729 Suspenstun: «anxious.' comiti: seel. 711.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 731 Evasisse: «to have passed through in safety.' Aeneas now relates the sudden panic which the near approach of a party of Greeks occasioned, and which led, in the confusion of the moment, to the separation of Creusa from the rest of the party.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 735 mihi: . nescio qnod = a/iuod; «some.' ( IV, 8.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 736 Confusam eripnit: equivalent to confudit et eripuii. Cf. I, 69. ciirsu: cf. I, 157.
Stanza 25 Latin l. 737 nota fatone: « from the familiar direction.'
Stanza 25 Latin l. 794 sonmo: for somnio, ' a dream/ Cf. a similar thought in Wordsworth, Laodamia: — ' Forth sprang the impassioned queen her lord to clasp; Again that consummation she essayed, But unsubstantial form eludes her grasp As often as the eager grasp was made/
Stanza 26 Latin l. 745 tantum: 'so much'; 'so early'; i.e. making the day so short in winter.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 746 yel quae mora, etc: refers to the ' winter nights/ hngermg and retarded in their progress to the dawn.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 748 Nee non et: as in 1. 707.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 750 Hulta — multa: observe the chiastic order of the words in this line.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 751 filius Aurorae: i.e. Memnon. See note on 1. 489. 75a. quantua: 'of what stature'; heroes were conceived to tower above common men.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 753 Immo age: ' nay, come (these disconnected details do but irritate our curiosity), recount to us from their very beginning the wiles of the Greeks.'origine: does not refer to the beginning of the siege of Troy, but to the final stratagem which led immediately to the sack of Troy; for it is with this stratagem of the'' wooden horse " that Aeneas begins his narrative in the Second Book. 755' saptima aeatas: = sepHmus annus. See introductory note to Third Book. Aeneas recounts to Dido the capture and sack of Troy.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 703 vestro in numine, etc: ' Troy is in thy divine keepmg.' Cf. IX, 247. That which survives of the family of Anchises and of the Trojan race represents Troy, and is destined to found a new Troy in another land.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 738–740 The irregular construction and arrangement are occasioned by deep emotion. Below (1. 788), the ghost of Credsa reveals to Aeneas that she is in the service of the goddess Cybele, but leaves him uncertain how she was taken away; and this is still a mystery at the time when Aeneas is telling the story. « Alas ! did my wife Creusa, torn from me, unhappy wretch ! by fate, remain behind? did she wander from the path? did she sit down weary? (It is) uncertain.' The questions are probably direct. The first interrogative, -ne, would come regularly after misero. For the case of misero, see note on 1. 735. nee connects incertum {est) and est reddita
Stanza 26 Latin l. 741 Nec amisaam respezi animumve reflezi: «but I did not look back for the lost one, or turn my thoughts (to her).' respezi: in its literal sense. 74a. Cereris: «the temple of Ceres.' See 1. 714. Apollo, III, 275. For the omission of ad, see note on I, 2.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 744 Defuit — fefellit: «she alone was missing, and was lost by her companions,' etc.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 745 aniens: causal; « in my madness.' -que: is joined, in scanning, with the following verse. See note on I, 332.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 746 eversa: see note on 1. 413.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 747–804 Aeneas returns through the city, and wanders everywhere in search of Creusa, even venturing into the midst of the Greeks, who now hold complete possession. The shade of Creiisa appears to him, consoles his grief, assures him of her happiness, and predicts his final settlement in Italy. He returns to his friends, who have been joined in the meantime by a multitude of fugitives, and conducts them to Mount Ida.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 748 recondo: cf. the use of occulit, I, 312.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 749 cingor: with middle sense. Cf. 1. 383. Aeneas had given his weap919 to (lis attendants while carrying his fattier' 75a Stat: sc mihi senUnHa; '\ determine.' Cf. sedet L 66a 751. capnt: for vitam.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 753 Qua: sec note on I, 83.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 754 Obsenrata seqnor per noctem: ' I trace and follow my footsteps back in the darkness'; join retro with sequor, Imnine lustro: 'scan with my eyes.' Cf. VIII, 153.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 755 Horror: put for the objects which occasion horror.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 756 si forte, si forte: 'if by chance, if (but) by chance.'The repetition denotes the mingled feelings of hope and fear. A. 334./; G. 460, I, (Jf)\ ( I). 7S9. aestus: as in L 706. 76Z. porticibns, asylo: both ablative of place where. The temple of Juno was a place of refuge and safety, especially on the present occasion, because that goddess was reverenced more than any other by the Argives.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 764 menaae: perhaps small tables and tripods of bronze, or of gold and silver.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 765 aaro solid!: 'of solid gold '; for ex auro solido, Cf. I, 655. 771. sine fine: 'incessantly.'
Stanza 26 Latin l. 773 maior: the ghost of the dead was supposed to be larger than the living person.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 774 stetenmt: has the penultimate syllable shortened by systole. ( This was the original quantity.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 775 adfari, demere: see note on 1. 99. The line is repeated in III, 153.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 779 Fas: may be rendered'fate.'ant: instead of nee. See note on 1. 602.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 780 Longa — ezsilia: 'distant wanderings'; far from your native land. Sc. sunt obeunda
Stanza 26 Latin l. 781 Lydius: the Tiber was often called Etruscan, or Tuscan, because it rises in Etruria; and Lydius is here used by Virgil as S3monymous with Etruscus, because, according to tradition, the Etruscans were from Lydia, in Asia Minor. 78a. virum: as in I, 264, for hominum; join with arva
Stanza 26 Latin l. 783 res laetae: 'auspicious fortunes.'regia coniunz: Lavinia, the daughter of King Latinus, was destined to be the wife of Aeneas.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 784 Parta: 'destined for thee.' The participle must also be supplied with res and regnum. See note on I, 553. Creusae: objective genitive; ' tears for CreUsa.' See note on lacrimae rerunty I, 462.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 785 Cf. 1. 7. Creiisa rejoices that her fate will not be like that of Andromache, and other Trojan princesses, who are about to be carried away as slaves. See III, 325-327.
Stanza 26 Latin l. 788 Genetriz: Cybele. 79a. coUo: is the dative with circumdare, which is separated by tmesis, rhe lines occur again in VI, 700 sqq.
Stanza 27 Latin l. 797 matresqne yirosque: 'both matrons and men'; in apposition with numerum
Stanza 27 Latin l. 798 pubem: 'a band'; in apposition with the foregoing accusatives, and denoting, as in VII, 219, the whole body of the followers of Aeneas.
Stanza 27 Latin l. 799 animis: ' in spirit.' Their resolution is fixed. Cf. XII, 788. opibus: ' in fortune.' They have gathered money, provisions, and the remnants of their movable property.
Stanza 27 Latin l. 800 yelim: ( General relatives regularly take the indicative in direct discourse, dedncere: the proper expression to denote the planting of a colony.
Stanza 27 Latin l. 801 Lncifer: a name applied to the planet Venus as morning star; which, as the evening star, is Hesperus, or Vesper. Cf. I, 374.
Stanza 27 Latin l. 803 portamm: all the gates were now guarded by the Greeks, opis: ' of (giving) aid '; of delivering my country.
Stanza 27 Latin l. 804 Cessi: 'l yielded to fate.' monies petiyi: cf. L 636 Fig. «3.— Present View of the Height upon which Troy was built [Taken from Schuchardt» Schliemann's ExcaTations. By permission of the publishers. Note. — The investigations of Dr. Schliemann, followed by those of Dr. D6rpfeld and others in 1893-94, have made it evident beyond any reasonable doubt that the site of ancient Troy was on the hill now called Hissarlik, situated about three miles and a half from the northwestern shore of the Troad, and between the Scamander and the Simois. which came together a short distance northwest of the hill. The excavations made under the eye of these experts have brought to lisrht nine successive strata, the remains of nine settlements that have occupied this site. Of these, the lowest five strata are prehistoric, the second stratum dating, it is estimated, from about 3000 B.C. The sixth stratum is the most important and the most interesting, since this is the one that actually represents the Pergamos of Homer and the ancient Troia of Virgil. Remains of seven large buildings were discovered, of a construction that resembles that of the ancient sites of Tiryns and of Mycenae, the home of Agamemnon. Upon the acropolis were found remains of an ancient temple, surrounded by a wall of fortification, having a strong tower at the northeast angle. Traces of fire were also discovered.

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

More by Virgil

The Aeneid The Georgics