§1.2.1Di maris et caeli—quid enim nisi vota supersunt?— §1.2.2solvere quassatae parcite membra ratis, §1.2.3neve, precor, magni subscribite Caesaris irae!
Gods of the sea and of the sky—for what is left but prayers?— forbear to break the members of our shattered ship, and do not, I pray, subscribe to the wrath of great Caesar!
§1.2.4saepe premente deo fert deus alter opem.
Often when one god oppresses, another god brings help.
Mulciber stood against Troy, Apollo stood for Troy; Venus was favorable to the Teucrians, Pallas was unfavorable.
Saturnia, closer to Turnus, hated Aeneas; yet he was safe by the divinity of Venus.
Often fierce Neptune pursued cautious Ulysses; often Minerva snatched him from her own uncle.
And for us, although we are far different from them, who forbids some divinity to be near when a god is angry?
§1.2.13verba miser frustra non proficientia perdo.
Wretchedly I lose useless words that do not profit.
§1.2.14ipsa graves spargunt ora loquentis aquae, §1.2.15terribilisque Notus iactat mea dicta, precesque §1.2.16ad quos mittuntur, non sinit ire deos.
The heavy waters spray the very mouth of me speaking, and the terrible Notus tosses my words, and does not allow my prayers to go to the gods to whom they are sent.
Therefore, the same winds, lest I be harmed in one cause alone, carry away both our sails and our prayers, I know not where.
§1.2.19me miserum, quanti montes volvuntur aquarum!
Wretched me, what great mountains of waters are rolled!
Now, now, you would think they are about to touch the highest stars, what great valleys sink down when the sea is parted!
§1.2.22iam iam tacturas Tartara nigra putes,
Now, now, you would think they are about to touch black Tartarus.
§1.2.23quocumque aspicio, nihil est, nisi pontus et aer, §1.2.24fluctibus hic tumidus, nubibus ille minax.
Wherever I look, there is nothing but sea and air, the former swollen with waves, the latter threatening with clouds.
§1.2.25inter utrumque fremunt inmani murmure venti.
Between both, the winds roar with a monstrous murmur.
§1.2.26nescit, cui domino pareat, unda maris.
The wave of the sea knows not which master to obey.
§1.2.27nam modo purpureo vires capit Eurus ab ortu, §1.2.28nunc Zephyrus sero vespere missus adest, §1.2.29nunc sicca gelidus Boreas bacchatur ab Arcto, §1.2.30nunc Notus adversa proelia fronte gerit.
For at one time Eurus takes strength from the red dawn, now Zephyrus, sent from the late evening, is present, now cold Boreas rages from the dry Bear, now Notus wages battle with opposing face.
§1.2.31rector in incerto est nec quid fugiatve petatve §1.2.32invenit: ambiguis ars stupet ipsa malis,
The pilot is in uncertainty, nor does he find what to flee or what to seek: his very art is dumbfounded by ambiguous evils.
§1.2.33scilicet occidimus, nec spes est ulla salutis, §1.2.34dumque loquor, vultus obruit unda meos.
Indeed we perish, nor is there any hope of safety, and while I speak, the wave overwhelms my face.
The billow will crush this soul, and with a mouth praying in vain we shall receive the waters that are about to kill us.
But my devoted wife grieves for nothing else than for me being an exile: this one thing of our misfortune she knows and groans for.
She knows not that our bodies are tossed in the immense sea, she knows not that we are driven by the winds, she knows not that death is at hand.
§1.2.41o bene, quod non sum mecum conscendere passus, §1.2.42ne mihi mors misero bis patienda foret!
O well, that I did not allow her to embark with me, lest death had to be suffered twice by wretched me!
But now, although I may perish, since she is free from danger, I shall certainly survive in my half part.
§1.2.45ei mihi, quam celeri micuerunt nubila flamma!
Alas for me, with what swift flame did the clouds flash!
§1.2.46quantus ab aetherio personat axe fragor!
What a great crash resounds from the ethereal axis!
§1.2.47nec levius tabulae laterum feriuntur ab undis, §1.2.48quam grave balistae moenia pulsat onus.
Nor are the planks of the sides struck less lightly by the waves than a heavy load of a ballista strikes the walls.
§1.2.49qui venit hic fluctus, fluctus supereminet omnes: §1.2.50posterior nono est undecimoque prior.
The wave which comes here towers above all waves: it is after the ninth and before the eleventh.
§1.2.51nec letum timeo; genus est miserabile leti.
Nor do I fear death; the kind of death is wretched.
§1.2.52demite naufragium, mors mihi munus erit.
Take away the shipwreck; death will be a gift to me.
§1.2.53est aliquid, fatove suo ferrove cadentem §1.2.54in solida moriens ponere corpus humo, §1.2.55et mandare suis aliqua et sperare sepulcrum §1.2.56et non aequoreis piscibus esse cibum,
It is something, for one falling by his own fate or by iron, to lay down his dying body on the solid ground, and to entrust some things to his own people, and to hope for a grave, and not to be food for the fish of the sea.