His actis aliud Genitor secum ipse volutat, Iuturnamque parat fratris dimittere ab armis. 845 Dicuntur geminae pestes cognomine Dirae, Quas et Tartaream Nox intempesta Megaeram Harum unam celerem demisit ab aethere summo Quae quondam in bustis aut culminibus desertis Nocte sedens serum canit importuna per umbras: 865 Hanc versa in faciem Turni se pestis ob ora Fertque refertque sonans, clipeumque everberat alis. Illi membra novus solvit formidine torpor, Arrectaeque horrore comae, et vox faucibus haesit. At, procul ut Dirae stridorem adgnovit et alas, 870 Infelix crines scindit Iuturna solutos, Unguibus ora soror foedans et pectora pugnis : "Quid nunc te tua, Turne, potest germana iuvare? Aut quid iam durae superat mihi? qua tibi lucem Arte morer? talin' possum me opponere monstro? 875 Iam iam linquo acies. Ne me terrete timentem, Obscenae volucres; alarum verbera nosco Letalemque sonum, nec fallunt iussa superba Magnanimi Iovis. Haec pro virginitate reponit? Quo vitam dedit aeternam? cur mortis adempta est 880 Condicio? Possem tantos finire dolores 885 Nunc certe, et misero fratri comes ire per umbras. Aeneas instat contra telumque coruscat "Quae nunc deinde mora est, aut quid iam, Turne, 890 Non cursu, saevis certandum est comminus armis. 300 Qualia nunc hominum producit corpora tellus; Sed neque currentem se nec cognoscit euntem, Tollentemve manus saxumque immane moventem; 905 Genua labant, gelidus concrevit frigore sanguis. Tum lapis ipse viri, vacuum per inane volutus, Nec spatium evasit totum, neque pertulit ictum. Ac velut in somnis, oculos ubi languida pressit Nocte quies, nequiquam avidos extendere cursus 910 Velle videmur, et in mediis conatibus aegri Succidimus; non lingua valet, non corpore notae Cunctaturque metu, telumque instare tremescit; Eminus intorquet. Murali concita numquam 930 Ingens ad terram duplicato poplite Turnus. cantem Protendens "Equidem merui, nec deprecor" inquit; "Utere sorte tua. Miseri te si qua parentis Tangere cura potest, oro, fuit et tibi talis Anchises genitor-Dauni miserere senectae, 935 Et me, seu corpus spoliatum lumine mavis, Redde meis. Vicisti, et victum tendere palmas Ausonii videre; tua est Lavinia coniunx: Ulterius ne tende odiis." Stetit acer in armis Aeneas, volvens oculos, dextramque repressit; 940 Et iam iamque magis cunctantem flectere sermo Coeperat, infelix umero cum apparuit alto Balteus et notis fulserunt cingula bullis Pallantis pueri, victum quem vulnere Turnus Straverat atque umeris inimicum insigne gerebat. 945 Ille, oculis postquam saevi monumenta doloris Exuviasque hausit, furiis accensus, et ira 950 Terribilis: "Tune hinc spoliis indute meorum NOTES BOOK I Ille ego, qui quondam gracili modulatus avena Ut quamvis avido parerent arva colono, Gratum opus agricolis: at nunc horrentia Martis. THE above verses are usually placed, in the editions of Virgil, at the begin. ning of the Aeneid, but printed in a form different from that of the text, as an indication that there is a question as to their authenticity, and as to their proper connection with the poem. They were known to Servius, the great commentator on Virgil, and seem not unworthy of the poet. But, on the other hand, the lines are not found in the best manuscripts, while "all antiquity," as Ribbeck says, “recognizes the words arma virumque as the beginning of the poem." They were thus understood by Propertius and quoted by Ovid, contemporaries practically of the poet, and by the later writers, Martial and Persius. It is possible that these four lines were prefixed by the poet to one or more copies of the first book presented to personal friends. At any rate, although they may be Virgilian, they should not form part of the text. Trans. I, that poet who formerly tuned my song with the slender pipe, and (then) coming forth from the wood (i.e. dismissing sylvan or pastoral themes) taught the neighboring fields to fulfill the desire of the husbandman, however greedy (i.e. made his labors fruitful through the teachings of my poems on husbandry), a work (of song) acceptable to the tillers of the soil: yet now sing the bristling arms of Mars.' ego: sc. cano. vicina: neighboring,' near by the woods, implying that the subjects of the Bucolics and Georgics are nearly related. horrentia: the idea of 'terrible' or 'dreadful' is occasionally associated, as perhaps here, with the literal meaning of horrens. |