<div style="background:#fff;border:#bbb dashed 1px;padding:5px"><a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=537966" style="color:#000;text-decoration:none"><div style="margin:10px 0"><strong>Æneid, Book VIII. Line 18</strong></div><div style="margin:10px 0">Thus Italy was moved -- nor did the chief<br>Æneas in his mind less tumult feel. <br>On every side his anxious thought he turns, <br>Restless, unfix'd, not knowing which to choose.<br>And as a cistern that in brim of brass<br>Confines the crystal flood, if chance the sun<br>Smite on it, or the moon's resplendent orb.<br>The quivering light now flashes on the walls,<br>Now leaps uncertain to the vaulted roof:<br>Such were the wavering motions of his mind.<br>'Twas night -- and weary nature sunk to rest.<br>The birds, the bleating flocks, were heard no more.<br>At length, on the cold ground, beneath the damp<br>And dewy vault fast by the river's brink, <br>The father of his country sought repose,<br>When lo! among the spreading poplar boughs,<br>Forth from his pleasant stream, propitious rose<br>The god of Tiber: clear transparent gauze<br>Infolds his loins, his brows with reeds are crown'd:<br>And these his gracious words to soothe his care:<br>'Heaven-born, who bring'st our kindred home again,<br>Rescued, and givest eternity to Troy,<br>Long have Laurentum and the Latian plains <br>Expected thee; behold thy fix'd abode.<br>Fear not the threats of war, the storm is past,<br>The gods appeased. For proof that what thou hear'st<br>Is no vain forgery or delusive dream,<br>Beneath the grove that borders my green bank,<br>A milk-white swine, with thirty milk-white young<br>Shall greet thy wondering eyes. Mark well the place;<br>For 'tis thy place of rest, there and thy toils:<br>There, twice ten years elapsed, fair Alba's walls<br>Shall rise, fair Alba, by Ascanius' hand.<br>Thus shall it be -- now listen, while I teach<br>The means to accomplish these events at hand<br>The Arcadians here, a race from Pallas sprung,<br>Following Evander's standard and his fate,<br>High on these mountains, a well chosen spot,<br>Have built a city, for their grandsire's sake<br>Named Pallenteum. These perpetual war<br>Wage with the Latians: join'd in faithful league <br>And arms confederate, and them to your camp. <br>Myself between my winding banks will speed <br>Your well oar'd barks to stem the opposing tide.<br>Rise, goddess born, arise; and with the first<br>Declining stars seek Juno in thy prayer,<br>And vanquish all her wrath with suppliant vows <br>When conquest crowns thee, then remember me<br>I am the Tiber, whose cærulean stream<br>Heaven favors; I with copious flood divide<br>These grassy banks, and cleave the fruitful meads<br>My mansion, this -- and lofty cities crown<br>My fountain head.' -- He spoke and sought the deep,<br>And plunged his form beneath the closing flood.<br>Æneas at the morning dawn awoke,<br>And, rising, with uplifted eye beheld <br>The orient sun, then dipped his palms, and scoop'd <br>The brimming stream, and thus address'd teh skies:<br>'Ye nymphs, Laurentian nymphs, who feed the source<br>Of many a stream, and thou, with thy blest flood,<br>O Tiber, hear, accept me, and afford,<br>At length afford, a shelter from my woes.<br>Where'er in secret cavern under ground<br>Thy waters sleep, where'er they spring to light,<br>Since thou hast pity for a wretch like me,<br>My offerings and my vows shall wait thee still:<br>Great horned Father of Hesperian floods,<br>Be gracious now, and ratify thy word.'<br>He said, and chose two galleys from his fleet,<br>Fits them with oars, and clothes the crew in arms<br>When lo! astonishing and pleasing sight,<br>The milk-white dam, with her unspotted brood,<br>Lay stretch'd upon the bank, beneath the grove.<br>To thee, the pious Prince, Juno, to thee <br>Devotes them all, all on thine altar bleed.<br>That live-long night old Tiber smooth'd his flood,<br>And so restrain'd it that it seem'd to stand<br>Motionless as a pool, or silent lake, <br>That not a billow might resist their oars.<br>With cheerful sound of exhortation soon<br>Their voyage they begin; the pitchy keel<br>Slides through the gentle deep, the quiet stream<br>Admires the unwonted burden that it bears,<br>Well polish'd arms, and vessels painted gay.<br>Beneath the shade of various trees, between<br>The umbrageous branches of the spreading groves,<br>They cut their liquid way, nor day nor night<br>They slack their course, unwinding as they go<br>The long meanders of the peaceful tide.<br>The glowing sun was in meridian height,<br>When from afar they saw the humble walls,<br>And the few scatter'd cottages, which now<br>The Roman power has equall'd with the clouds;<br>But such was then Evander's scant domain.<br>They steer to shore, and hasten to the town.<br>It chanced the Arcadian monarch on that day,<br>Before the walls, beneath a shady grove,<br>Was celebrating high, in solemn feast,<br>Alcides and his tutelary gods.<br>Pallas, his son, was there, and there the chief<br>Of all his youth; with these, a worthy tribe,<br>His poor but venerable senate, burnt<br>Sweet incense, and their altars smoked with blood.<br>Soon as they saw the towering masts approach,<br>Sliding between the trees, while the crew rest<br>Upon their silent oars, amazed they rose,<br>Not without fear, and all forsook the feast.<br>But Pallas undismay'd, his javelin seized,<br>Rush'd to the bank, and from a rising ground<br>Forbade them to disturb the sacred rites.<br>'Ye stranger youth! What prompts you to explore<br>This untried way? and whither do ye steer?<br>Whence, and who are you? Bring ye peace or war?'<br>Æneas from his lofty deck holds forth <br>The peaceful olive branch, and thus replies:<br>'Trojans and enemies to the Latian state,<br>Whom they with unprovoked hostilities<br>Have driven away, thou seest. We seek Evander<br>Say this -- and say beside, the Trojan chiefs <br>Are come, and seek his friendship and his aid.'<br>Pallas with wonder heard that awful name,<br>And 'Whosoe'er thou art,' he cried, 'come forth:<br>Bear thine own tidings to my father's ear,<br>And be a welcome guest beneath our roof.'<br>He said, and, press'd the stranger to his breast:<br>Then led him from the river to the grove,<br>Where, courteous, thus Æneas greets the king:<br>'Best of the Grecian race, to whom I bow<br>(So wills my fortune) suppliant, and stretch forth<br>In sign of amity this peaceful branch,<br>I fear'd thee not, although I knew thee well<br>A Grecian leader, born in Arcady,<br>And kinsman of the Atridæ. Me my virtue,<br>That means no wrong to thee -- the Oracles,<br>Our kindred families allied of old,<br>And I thy renown diffused through every land,<br>Have all conspired to bind in friendship to thee,<br>And send me not unwilling to thy shores.<br>Dardanas, author of the Trojan state, <br>(So say the Greeks,) was fair Electra's son;<br>Electra boasted Atlas for her sire,<br>Whose shoulders high sustain the ethereal orbs.<br>Your sire is Mercury, whom Maia bore,<br>Sweet Maia, on Cylene's hoary top.<br>Her, if we credit aught tradition old,<br>Atlas of yore, the self-same Atlas, claim'd<br>His daughter. Thus united close in blood,<br>Thy race and ours one common sire confess.<br>With these credentials fraught, I would not send<br>Ambassadors with artful phrase to sound<br>And win thee by degrees -- but came myself --<br>Me, therefore, me thou seest; my life the stake:<br>'Tis I, Æneas, who implore thine aid.<br>Should Daunia, that now aims the blow at thee<br>Prevail to conquer us, nought then, they think, <br>Will hinder, but Hesperia must be theirs,<br>All theirs, from upper to the nether sea.<br>Take then our friendship, and return us thine.<br>We too have courage, we have noble minds,<br>And youth well tried, and exercised arms.'<br>Thus spoke Æneas. --He with fix'd regard<br>Survey'd him speaking, features, form, and mien<br>Then briefly thus -- 'Thou noblest of thy name,<br>How gladly do I take thee to my heart,<br>How gladly thus confess thee for a friend!<br>In thee I trace Anchises; his thy speech,<br>Thy voice, thy countenance. For I well remember<br>Many a day since, when Priam journey'd forth<br>To Salamis, to see the land where dwelt <br>Hesione, his sister, he push'd on<br>E'en to Arcadia's frozen bounds. 'Twas then<br>The bloom of youth was glowing on my cheek;<br>Much I admired the Trojan chiefs, and much<br>Their king, the son of great Laomedon,<br>But most Anchises, towering o'er them all. <br>A youthful longing seized me to accost<br>The hero, and embrace him; I drew near,<br>And gladly led him to the walls of Pheneus.<br>Departing, he distinguish'd me with gifts,<br>A costly quiver stored with Lycian darts, <br>A robe inwove with hold, with gold imboss'd<br>Two bridles, those which Pallas uses now. <br>The friendly league thou hast solicited <br>I give thee, therefore, and to-morrow all<br>My chosen youth shall wait on your return.<br>Meanwhile, since thus in friendship ye are come,<br>Rejoice with us, and join to celebrate<br>These annual rites, which may not be delay'd,<br>And be at once familiar at our board.'<br>He said, and bade replace the feast removed;<br>Himself upon a grassy bank disposed <br>The crew; but for Æneas order'd forth<br>A couch spread with a lion's tawny shag,<br>And bade him share the honors of his throne.<br>The appointed youth with glad alacrity <br>Assist the laboring priest to load the board<br>With roasted entrails of the slaughter'd beeves<br>Well kneaded bread and mantling bowls. We pleased,<br>Æneas and the Trojan youth regale <br>On the huge length of a well pastured chine.<br>Hunger appeased, and tables all despatch'd <br>Thus spake Evander: 'Superstition here,<br>In this old solemn feasting, has no part.<br>No, Trojan friend, from utmost danger saved,<br>In gratitude this worship we renew.<br>Behold that rock which nods above the vale,<br>Thos bulks of broken stone dispersed around,<br>How desolate the shatter'd cave appears,<br>And what a ruin spreads the incumber'd plain<br>Within this pile, but far within, was once <br>The den of Cacus; dire his hateful form<br>That shunn'd the day, half monster and half man.<br>Blood newly shed stream'd ever on the ground<br>Smoking, and many a visage pale and wan<br>Nail'd at his gate, hung hideous to the sight.<br>Vulcan begot the brute: vast was his size,<br>And from his throat he belch'd his father's fires.<br>But the day came that brought us what we wish'd,<br>The assistance and the presence of a God. <br>Flush'd with his victory, and the spoils he won<br>From triple-form'd Geryon lately slain,<br>The great avenger, Hercules, appear'd.<br>Hither he drove his stately bulls, and pour'd <br>His herds along the vale. But the sly thief<br>Cacus, that nothing might escape his hand<br>Of villainy or fraud, drove from the stalls<br>Four of the lordliest of his bulls, and four <br>The fairest of his heifers: by the tail<br>He dragg'd them to his den, that, there conceal'd,<br>No footsteps might betray the dark abode.<br>And now, his herd with provender sufficed,<br>Alcides would be gone: they as they went <br>Still bellowing loud, made the deep echoing woods<br>And distant hills resound: when, hark! one ox, <br>Imprison'd close within the vast recess,<br>Lows in return, and frustrates all his hope.<br>Then fury seized Alcides, and his breast<br>With indignation heaved; grasping his club <br>Of knotted oak, swift to the mountain top<br>He ran, he flew. Then first was Cacus seen<br>To tremble, and his eyes bespoke his fears.<br>Swift as an eastern blast, he sought his den, <br>And dread, increasing, wing'd him as he went.<br>Drawn up in iron slings above the gate,<br>A rock was hung enormous. Such his haste,<br>He burst the chains, and dropp'd it at the door,<br>Then grapplied it with iron work within<br>Of bolts and bars by Vulcan's art contrived.<br>Scarce was he fast, when, panting for revenge,<br>Came Hercules; he gnash'd his teeth with rage,<br>And quick as lightning glanced his eyes around <br>In quest of entrance. Fiery rod and stung <br>With indignation, thrice he wheel'd his course<br>About the mountain; thrice, but thrice in vain,<br>He strove to force the quarry at the gate,<br>And thrice sat down, o'erwearied in the vale.<br>There stood a pointed rock abrupt and rude,<br>That high o'erlook'd the rest, close at the back<br>Of the fell monster's den, when birds obscene<br>Of ominous note resorted, choughs and daws.<br>This, as it lean'd obliquely to the left, <br>Threatening with stream below, he from the right<br>Push'd with his utmost strength, and to and fro<br>He shook the mass, loosening its lowest base;<br>Then shoved it from its seat; down fell the pile;<br>Sky thunder'd at the fall; the banks give way, <br>The affrighted stream flows upward to his source.<br>Behold the kennel of the brute exposed,<br>The gloomy vault laid open. So, if chance<br>Earth yawning to the centre should disclose <br>The mansions, the pale mansions of the dead,<br>Loathed by the gods, such would the gulf appear,<br>And the ghosts tremble at the sight of day.<br>The monster braying with unusual din<br>Within his hollow lair, and sore amazed <br>To see such sudden inroads of the light,<br>Alcides press'd him close with what at hand<br>Lay readiest, stumps of trees, and fragments huge<br>Of millstone size. He, (for escape was none), <br>Wondrous to tell! forth from his gorge discharged <br>A smoky cloud that darken'd all the den;<br>Wreath after wreath he vomited again,<br>The smothering vapor mix'd with fiery sparks<br>No sight could penetrate the veil obscure.<br>The hero, more provoked, endured not this, <br>But with a headlong leap he rush'd to where<br>The thickest cloud enveloped his abode.<br>There grasp'd he Cacus, spite of all his fires,<br>Till, crush'd within his arms, the monster show<br>His bloodless throat, now dry with panting hard,<br>And his press'd eyeballs start. Soon he tears down<br>The barricade of rock, the dark abyss<br>Lies open; and the imprison'd bulls, the theft <br>He had with oaths dednied, are brought to light;<br>By the heels the miscreant carcass is dragg'd forth.<br>His face, his eyes, all terrible, his breast<br>Beset with bristles, and his sooty jaws <br>Are view'd with wonder never to be cloy'd.<br>Hence the celebrity thou seest, and hence<br>This festal day Potitius first enjoin'd <br>Posterity: these solemn rites he first,<br>With those who bear the great Pinarian name,<br>To Hercules devoted; in the grove <br>This altar built, deem'd sacred in the highest <br>By us, and sacred ever to be deem'd.<br>Come, then, my friends, and bind your youthful brows<br>In praise of such deliverance, and hold forth<br>The brimming cup; your deities and ours<br>Are now the same, then drink, and freely too.'<br>So saying, he twisted round his reverend locks <br>A variegated poplar wreath, and fill'd<br>His right hand with a consecrated bowl. <br>At once all pour libations on the board,<br>All offer prayer. And now, the radiant sphere<br>Of day descending, eventide drew near.<br>When first Potitius with the priests advanced,<br>Begirt with skins, and torches in their hands.<br>High piled with meats of savory taste, they ranged<br>The chargers, and renew'd the grateful feast.<br>Then came the Salii, crown'd with poplar too,<br>Circling the blazing altars; here the youth<br>Advanced, a choir harmonious, there were heard<br>The reverend seers responsive; praise they sung,<br>Much praise in honor of Alcides' deeds;<br>How first with infant grip two serpents huge<br>He strangled, sent from Juno; next they sung<br>How Troja and Œchalia he destroy'd,<br>Fair cities both, and many a toilsome task<br>Beneath Eurystheus (so his stepdame will'd) <br>Achieved victorious. Thou, the cloud-born pair,<br>Hylæus fierce and Pholus, monstrous twins,<br>Thou slew'st the minotaur, the plague of Crete,<br>And the vast lion of the Nemean rock,<br>Thee hell, and Cerberus, hell's porter, fear'd,<br>Stretch'd in his den upon his half-gnaw'd bones.<br>Thee no abhorred form, not e'en the vast<br>Typhœus could appal, though clad in arms.<br>Hail, true-born son of Jove, among the gods<br>At length enroll'd, nor least illustrious thou,<br>Haste thee propitious, and approve our songs<br>Thus hymn'd the chorus; above all they sing<br>The cave of Cacus, and the flames he breathed <br>The whole grove echoes, and the hills rebound.<br>The rites perform'd, all hasten to the town.<br>The king, bending with age, held as he went<br>Æneas and his Pallas by the hand,<br>With much variety of pleasing talk<br>Shortening the way. Æneas, with a smile,<br>Looks round him, charm'd with the delightful scene,<br>And many a question asks, and much he learns<br>Of heroes far renown'd in ancient times.<br>Then spake Evander. These extensive groves,<br>Were once inhabited by fauns and nymphs,<br>Produced beneath their shades, and a rude race<br>Of men, the progeny uncouth of elms<br>And knotted oaks. They no refinement knew<br>Of laws or manners civilized, to yoke<br>The steer, with forecast provident to store<br>The hoarded grain, or manage what they had,<br>But browsed like beasts upon the leafy boughs,<br>Or fed voracious on their hunted prey.<br>An exile from Olympus, and expell'd<br>His native realm by thunder-bearing Jove,<br>First Saturn came. He from the mountains drew<br>This herd of men untractable and fierce,<br>And gave them laws: and call'd his hiding-place,<br>This growth of forests, Latium. Such the peace<br>His land possess'd, the golden age was then, <br>So famed in story; till by slow degrees<br>Far other times, and of far different hue,<br>Succeeded, thirst of gold and thirst of blood.<br>Then came Ausonian bands, and armed hosts<br>From Sicily, and Latium often changed <br>Her master and her name. At length arose<br>Kings, of whom Tybris of gigantic form<br>Was chief: and we Italians since have call'd<br>The river by his name: thus Albula<br>(So was the country call'd in ancient days)<br>Was quite forgot. Me from my native land<br>An exile, through the dangerous ocean driven,<br>Resistless fortune and relentless fate<br>Placed where thou seest me. Phoebus, and<br>The nymph Carmentis, with maternal care<br>Attendant on my wanderings, fix'd me here.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">[Ten lines omitted.]</div><div style="margin:10px 0">He said, and show'd him the Tarpeian rock,<br>And the rude spot where now the Capitol <br>Stands all magnificent and bright with gold,<br>Then overgrown with thorns. And yet e'en then<br>The swains beheld that sacred scene with awe;<br>The grove, the rock, inspired religious fear.<br>This grove, he said, that crowns the lofty top<br>Of this fair hill, some deity, we know,<br>Inhabits, but what deity we doubt.<br>The Arcadians speak of Jupiter himself<br>That they have often seen him, shaking here<br>His gloomy Ægis, while the thunder storms<br>Came rolling all around him. Turn thine eyes,<br>Behold that ruin: those dismantled walls,<br>Where once two towns, Janiculum----, <br>By Janus this, and that by Saturn built,<br>Saturnia. Such discourse brought them beneath<br>The roof of poor Evander; thence they saw,<br>Where now the proud and stately forum stands,<br>The grazing herds wide scatter'd o'er the field.<br>Soon as he enter'd -- Hercules, he said,<br>Victorious Hercules, on this threshold trod,<br>These walls contain'd him, humble as they are.<br>Dare to despise magnificence, my friend,<br>Prove thy divine descent by worth divine,<br>Nor view with haughty scorn this mean abode.<br>So saying, he led Æneas by the hand,<br>And placed him on a cushion stuff'd with leaves,<br>Spread with the skin of a Lybistian bear.</div><div style="margin:10px 0">[The episode of Venus and Vulcan omitted.]</div><div style="margin:10px 0">While thus in Lemnos Vulcan was employ'd,<br>Awaken'd by the gentle dawn of day,<br>And the shrill song of birds benearth the eaves<br>Of his low mansion, old Evander rose.<br>His tunic, and the sandals on his feet,<br>And his good sword well girded to his side,<br>A panther's skin dependent from his left,<br>And over his right shoulder thrown aslant,<br>Thus was he clad. Two mastiffs follow'd him,<br>His whole retinue and his nightly guard.</div><div style="margin:10px 0"><br /></a><br />poem by <a href="http://en.citatepedia.ro/by.php?a=Virgil">Virgil</a>, translated by William Cowper<div class=q> <img src="https://www.citatepedia.ro/g/32share.png" style="float:left" alt="Share"> <script type="text/javascript" src="//s7.addthis.com/js/300/addthis_widget.js#pubid=citatepedia" async="async"></script><div style="display:inline-block" class="addthis_sharing_toolbox" data-url="http://en.citatepedia.ro/comments.php?id=537966" data-title="Æneid, Book VIII. Line 18 de Virgil" data-description="Thus Italy was moved -- nor did the chief Æneas in his mind less tumult feel. On every side his anxious thought he turns, Restless, unfix'd, not knowing which to choose. And as a cistern that in brim of brass Confines the crystal flood, if chan..."></div> </div> </div>

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