§86adsint ab imo Tartari fundo excitae §87Eumenides, ignem flammeae spargant comae, §88viperea saevae verbera incutiant manus,
Let the Eumenides be present, summoned from the deepest bottom of Tartarus, let their flaming hair scatter fire, and let their savage hands strike with viperous whips.
Go now, proud man, seek the seats of the heavenly gods, despise human things.
iam Styga et manes ferox
Do you now, fierce one, believe that you have escaped the Styx and the shades?
§91fugisse credis? hic tibi ostendam inferos,
Here I will show you the underworld.
§92revocabo in alta conditam caligine, §93ultra nocentum exilia, discordem deam §94quam munit ingens montis oppositi specus;
I will call back the one hidden in deep darkness, beyond the exiles of the guilty, the discordant goddess whom a huge cave of the opposite mountain protects.
§95educam et imo Ditis e regno extraham §96quicquid relictum est: veniet invisum Scelus §97suumque lambens sanguinem Impietas ferox §98Errorque et in se semper armatus Furor — §99hoc hoc ministro noster utatur dolor.
I will bring her forth and drag from the deepest realm of Dis whatever is left: hated Crime (Scelus) shall come, and fierce Impiety (Impietas) licking her own blood, and Error, and Madness (Furor) always armed against itself — let my grief use this, this agent.
§100Incipite, famulae Ditis, ardentem citae §101concutite pinum et agmen horrendum anguibus §102Megaera ducat atque luctifica manu §103vastam rogo flagrante corripiat trabem,
Begin, handmaidens of Dis, quickly shake the burning pine torch, and let Megaera lead the dreadful army with snakes, and with her sorrowful hand let her snatch a huge beam from the burning pyre.
§104hoc agite, poenas petite vitiatae Stygis.
Set about this, seek punishment for the violated Styx.
§105concutite pectus, acrior mentem excoquat §106quam qui caminis ignis Aetnaeis furit: §107ut possit animo captus Alcides agi, §108magno furore percitus, vobis prius §109insaniendum est.
Shake his chest, let a sharper fire burn his mind than that which rages in the furnaces of Etna: so that Alcides, deprived of reason, may be driven, stirred by great madness, you yourselves must first become insane.
Iuno, cur nondum furis?
Juno, why do you not yet rage?
§110me me, sorores, mente deiectam mea §111versate primam, facere si quicquam apparo §112dignum noverca; vota mutentur mea: §113natos reversus videat incolumes precor
Cast me, me first, sisters, down from my mind, and turn me, if I prepare to do anything worthy of a stepmother; let my vows be changed: I pray that, having returned, he may see his children safe, and return strong of hand.
I have found the day on which the hated virtue of Hercules may help us.
He conquered me: let him also conquer himself, and let him desire to die, having returned from the underworld.
§118Iove esse genitum, stabo at, ut certo exeant
Here let it benefit me that he was born of Jupiter.
§119emissa nervo tela, librabo manu, §120regam furentis arma, pugnanti Herculi §121tandem favebo — scelere perfecto licet §122admittat illas genitor in caelum manus.
But I shall stand by, so that the arrows shot from the string may go forth with certainty, I shall poise them with my hand, I shall guide the weapons of the raging man, and to Hercules as he fights I shall at last show favor — once the crime is completed, let his father admit those hands into heaven.
Wars must now be waged: the day brightens, and the bright Titan rises with a saffron dawn.
§125Iam rara micant sidera prono §126languida mundo; nox victa vagos §127contrahit ignes luce renata, §128cogit nitidum Phosphoros agmen: §129signum celsi glaciale poli §130septem stellis Arcados ursae §131lucem verso temone vocat.
Now rare stars twinkle in the declining and languid sky; conquered night contracts her wandering fires as light is reborn, and Phosphoros drives the shining flock: the icy sign of the high pole, with the seven stars of the Arcadian bear, calls back the light, turning its wagon.
§132Iam caeruleis evectus equis §133Titan summa prospicit Oeta; §134iam Cadmeis incluta Bacchis §135aspersa die dumeta rubent §136Phoebique fugit reditura soror.
Now carried on his blue horses, Titan looks down from the summit of Oeta; now the famous thickets of Cadmean Bacchus, sprinkled with daylight, grow red, and Phoebus' sister flees, destined to return.
Hard labor arises and rouses all cares and opens the houses.
§139Pastor gelida cana pruina §140grege dimisso pabula carpit; §141ludit prato liber aperto §142nondum rupta fronte iuvencus, §143vacuae reparant ubera matres; §144errat cursu levis incerto §145molli petulans haedus in herba.
The shepherd, in the cold white frost, having let out his flock, crops the pasture; the young bullock plays free in the open meadow, his forehead not yet broken by horns, the mothers, free of their young, restore their udders; the playful kid wanders with light and uncertain steps on the soft grass.
§146Pendet summo stridula ramo §147pinnasque novo tradere soli §148gestit querulos inter nidos §149Thracia paelex, §150turbaque circa confusa sonat §151murmure mixto testata diem.
Perched on the highest branch, chirping, and eager to surrender her wings to the new sun, amidst her complaining nests, is the Thracian mistress, and the confused crowd around her sounds, attesting the day with a mingled murmur.
The sailor, doubtful of life, commits his canvas to the winds, as the breeze fills the loose sails.
§155hic exesis pendens scopulis §156aut deceptos instruit hamos §157aut suspensus spectat pressa §158praemia dextra: §159sentit tremulum linea piscem.
Here, leaning out from the worn rocks, one prepares his deceptive hooks, or another, suspended, watches with a tight right hand his rewards: the line feels the trembling fish.
§160Haec, innocuae quibus est vitae §160btranquilla quies §161et laeta suo parvoque domus; §162spes immanis §163urbibus errant trepidique metus.
These are for those to whom of an innocent life the tranquil quiet is, and a home happy with its own little store; immense hope and trembling fears wander through the cities.
§164Ille superbos aditus regum §165duraeque fores expers somni §166colit, hic nullo fine beatas §167componit opes gazis inhians §168et congesto pauper in auro.
That man the proud entrances of kings and their hard doors, sleepless, courts; this one, without end, blessed wealth piles up, gaping at treasures, and poor amidst his heaped-up gold.
§169Illum populi favor attonitum §170fluctuque magis mobile vulgus §171aura tumidum tollit inani; §172hic clamosi rabiosa fori §173iurgia vendens §174improbus iras et. verba locat.
That one, the favor of the astonished people and the common crowd, more changeable than the wave, lifts up, swollen with empty air; this one, the furious of the noisy forum quarrels selling, wickedly lets out his anger and words.
Carefree quiet is known to few, who, mindful of swift-passing age, hold onto times that will never return.
§178dum fata sinunt, vivite laeti: §179properat cursu vita citato §179bvolucrique die §180rota praecipitis vertitur anni; §181durae peragunt pensa sorores §182nec sua retro fila revolvunt.
While the fates allow, live happy: life hastens on with a swift course, and in a flying day the wheel of the rushing year turns; the harsh sisters finish their spinning, nor do they wind back their threads.
But the race of men is carried along, meeting swift fates, uncertain of themselves: we seek the Stygian waters of our own accord.
§186nimium, Alcide, pectore forti §187properas maestos visere manes: §188certo veniunt tempore Parcae, §189nulli iusso cessare licet, §190nulli scriptum proferre diem: §191recipit populos urna citatos.
Too much, Alcides, with a brave breast, do you hasten to visit the mournful shades: at a fixed time the Parcae come, to no one is it permitted to delay when commanded, to no one to put off the written day: the urn receives the summoned peoples.
§192Alium multis gloria terris
Glory in many lands leads another...