§541navem nunc facilis nunc equitem pati.
easily supporting now a ship, now a horseman.
§542illic quae viduis gentibus imperat, §543aurato religans ilia balteo, §544detraxit ^ spolium nobile corpori §545et peltam et nivei vincula pectoris. §546victorem posito suspiciens genu.
There, she who rules over the husbandless nations, binding her flanks with a golden belt, delivered from her body the noble spoils, both the shield and the bands of her snow-white breast, looking up at her conqueror with bended knee.
§547Qua spe praecipites actus ad inferos, §548audax ire vias inremeabiles, §549vidisti Siculae regna Proserpinae?
Driven by what hope to the precipitous depths below, daring to go on paths from which there is no return, did you see the realms of Sicilian Proserpina?
§550illic nulla noto nulla favonio §551consurgunt tumidis fluctibus aequora: §552non illic geminum Tyndaridae genus §553succurrunt timidis sidera navibus:
There, by no south wind, by no west wind, do the seas rise with swelling waves; the twin offspring of Tyndareus, those stars, do not bring aid there to fearful ships.
§554stat pigro pelagus gurgite languidum, §555et cum Mors avidis pallida dentibus §556gentes innumeras manibus intulit, §557uno tot populi remige transeunt.
The sluggish sea stands still with inert whirlpool, and when pale Death with greedy teeth has brought countless nations to the shades, so many peoples cross over with a single oarsman.
May you conquer the laws of fierce Styx and the irreversible spindles of the Parcae.
§560hic qui rex populis pluribus imperat, §561bello cum peteres Nestoream Pylon, §562tecum conseruit pestiferas manus §563telum tergemina cuspide praeferens: §564effugit tenui vulnere saucius §565et mortis dominus pertimuit mori.
The king who here rules over many peoples, when in war you sought Nestorean Pylos, joined pestilential hands in battle with you, bearing before him a weapon with a threefold point; he fled, wounded by a slight blow, and the lord of death feared greatly to die.
§566fatum rumpe manu, tristibus inferis §567prospectus pateat lucis et invius §568limes det faciles ad superos vias.
Break fate with your hand; let a view of the light lie open to the gloomy shades below, and let the impassable boundary grant easy ways to the worlds above.
§569Immites potuit flectere cantibus §570umbrarum dominos et prece supplici §571Orpheus, Eurydicen dum repetit suam.
Orpheus was able to bend with songs the unmerciful lords of the shades, and with suppliant prayer, while he sought back his Eurydice.
§572quae silvas et aves saxaque traxerat §573ars, quae praebuerat fluminibus moras, §574ad cuius sonitum constiterant ferae, §575mulcet non solitis vocibus inferos §576et surdis resonat clarius in locis,
That art which had drawn woods and birds and rocks, which had offered delays to rivers, at whose sound the wild beasts had stood still, soothes the underworld with unaccustomed voices and echoes more clearly in deaf places.
§577deflent Eurydicen Threiciae nurus, §578deflent et lacrimis difficiles dei, §579et qui fronte nimis crimina tetrica §580quaerunt ac veteres excutiunt reos §581flentes Eurydicen iuridici sedent,
The Thracian brides weep for Eurydice, and even the gods, hard to be moved to tears, weep for her; and those judges who with too severe brow inquire into crimes and examine ancient defendants sit weeping for Eurydice.
§582tandem mortis ait 'vincimur' arbiter, §583'evade ad superos, lege tamen data: §584tu post terga tui perge viri comes, §585tu non ante tuam respice coniugem, §586quam cum clara deos obtulerit dies §587Spartam que aderit ianua Taenari. ' §588odit verus amor nec patitur moras: §589munus dum properat cernere, perdidit.
At last the arbiter of death says, "We are conquered;" "go forth to the worlds above, yet under a condition given:" "do you, wife, follow as companion behind the back of your husband;" "do you, husband, look not back at your wife before" "the bright day has offered the gods, and" "the gate of Taenarus, near Sparta, is reached." True love hates delay and does not suffer waiting; while he hastens to behold the gift, he lost her.
That palace which could be conquered by song, this palace will be able to be conquered by force.
§592O lucis almae rector et caeli decus, §593qui alterna curru spatia flammifero ambiens §594inlustre latis exeris terris caput, §595da, Phoebe, veniam, si quid inlicitum tui §596videre vultus: iussus in lucem extuli §597arcana mundi, tuque, caelestum arbiter §598parensque, visus fulmine opposito tege; §599et tu, secundo maria qui sceptro regis, §600imas pete undas, quisquis ex alto aspicit §601terrena, facie pollui metuens nova, §602aciem reflectat oraque in caelum erigat §603portenta fugiens: hoc nefas cernant duo,
O ruler of the nurturing light and glory of heaven, who, circling alternate spaces in your fiery chariot, show your illustrious head to the wide lands, grant pardon, Phoebus, if your face has seen anything unlawful; ordered, I have brought to light the secrets of the world; and you, judge and father of heavenly beings, cover your sight with your thunderbolt interposed; and you, who rule the seas with the second sceptre, seek the deepest waves; whoever from on high looks down on earthly things, fearing to be polluted by a new sight, let him turn away his gaze and raise his face to heaven, fleeing the monster.
§604qui advexit et quae iussit, in poenas meas
Let two alone behold this crime: he who brought it, and she who ordered it.
For my punishments and labors, the earth does not lie open enough through Juno's hatred.
§607ignota Phoebo quaeque deterior polus §608obscura diro spatia concessit Iovi; §609et, si placerent tertiae sortis loca,
I saw things inaccessible to all, unknown to Phoebus, and the dark spaces which the inferior pole yielded to the dread Jupiter; and, if the regions of the third lot pleased me, I could have reigned.
§610regnare potui: noctis aeternae chaos §611et nocte quiddam gravius et tristes deos §612et fata vidi, morte contempta redi.
The chaos of eternal night, and something more heavy than night, and the gloomy gods, and the fates I saw; having despised death, I returned.
§613quid restat aliud? vidi et ostendi inferos.
What else remains? I saw and showed the underworld.
Give, if there is anything beyond; already for a long time you allow our hands to rest, Juno; what do you order to be conquered?
But why does a hostile soldier hold the temples, and why does the terror of arms beset the sacred threshold?
§618Vtrumne visus vota decipiunt meos. §619an ille domitor orbis et Graium decus §620tristi silentem nubilo liquit domum?
Does my vision deceive my prayers, or has that subduer of the world and glory of the Greeks left his silent home with a gloomy cloud?
§621estne ille natus? membra laetitia stupent.
Is that my son? My limbs are numb with joy.
O son, sure but late salvation of Thebes, do I hold you brought forth into the air, or do I, deceived, enjoy a empty shadow?
Is it you? I recognize the muscles and shoulders and the hand noble for its high club.
§626Vnde iste, genitor, squalor et lugubribus
Whence comes this squalor, father, and why is my wife clad in mourning garments?
§627amicta coniunx? unde tam foedo obsiti
Whence are my children beset with such foul filth?
§628paedore nati? quae domum clades gravat?
What disaster weighs down our house?
Your father-in-law has been slain, Lycus has possessed the kingdom; he seeks the children, your father, and your wife for death.
§631Ingrata tellus, nemo ad Herculeae domus
Ungrateful land, does no one to the house of Hercules