§827Sed quicquid id est, utinam nox sit!
But whatever this is, would that it were night!
§828trepidant, trepidant §829pectora magno percussa metu: §830ne fatali cuncta ruina §831quassata labent iterumque, deos §832hominesque premat deforme chaos, §833iterum terras et mare cingens §834et vaga picti sidera mundi §835natura tegat.
Tremble, tremble do our hearts, struck by a great fear: lest all things, shaken by fatal ruin, should fall again, and upon gods and men shapeless chaos press, again girding lands and sea, and the wandering stars of the painted world nature should cover.
§836non aeternae facis exortu §837dux astrorum saecula ducens §838dabit aestatis brumaeque notas, §839non Phoebeis obvia flammis §840dement nocti Luna timores §841vincetque sui fratris habenas, §842curro brevius limite currens; §842bibit in unum §843congesta sinum turba deorum, §844hic qui sacris pervius astris §845secat obliquo tramite zonas §846flectens longos signifer annos, §847lapsa videbit sidera labens; §848hic qui nondum vere benigno §849reddit Zephyrovela tepenti, §850Aries praeceps ibit in undas, §851per quas pavidam vexerat Hellen; §852hic qui nitido Taurus cornu §853praefert Hyadas, secum Geminos §854trahet et curvi bracchia Cancri; §855Leo flammiferis aestibus ardens §856iterum e caelo cadet Herculens, §857cadet in terras Virgo relictas §858iustaeqne cadent pondera Librae §859secumque trahent Scorpion acrem; §860et qui nervo tenet Haemonio §861pinnata senex spicula Chiron, §862rupto perdet spicula nervo; §863pigram referens hiemem gelidus §864cadet Aegoceros frangetque tuam, §865quisquis es, urnam; tecum excedent §866ultima caeli sidera Pisces, §867Plostraque numquam perfusa mari §868merget condens omnia gurges; §869et qui medias dividit Vrsas, §870fluminis instar lubricus Anguis §871magnoque minor iuncta Draconi §872frigida duro. Cynosura gelu, §873custosque sui tardus plaustri §874iam non stabilis ruet Arctophylax.
No longer by the rising of his eternal torch will the leader of the stars, leading the ages, give the signs of summer and winter; no longer will the Moon, meeting Phoebus' flames, take away the fears from the night and overcome the reins of her own brother, running in her shorter course; into a single gulf the heaped crowd of gods will go: this sign-bearer which, passable for the sacred stars, cuts the zones with its oblique path, turning the long years, will see the fallen stars, falling itself; this Aries, which does not yet in benign spring restore the sails to the warm Zephyr, will go headlong into the waves through which he had carried the trembling Helle; this Taurus, which on his shining horn bears the Hyades, will drag with himself the Gemini and the arms of the curved Cancer; the Herculean Lion, burning with flame-bearing heats, will fall again from heaven; the Virgin will fall into the lands she once abandoned, and the weights of the just Balance will fall, dragging with them the fierce Scorpion; and the old man Chiron, who holds on his Haemonian bowstring the feathered arrows, will lose his arrows, the string being broken; cold Capricorn, bringing back the sluggish winter, will fall, and will break your urn, whoever you are; with you will depart the Pisces, the last stars of heaven; and the Wagons, never drenched in the sea, the gulf that buries all things will submerge; and the slippery Snake, which divides the Bears between them like a river, and the cold Cynosure, smaller than the great Dragon and bound to it in hard frost, and the slow Arctophylax, guardian of his wagon, no longer stable, will rush down.
Have we, out of so great a population, seemed worthy to be crushed by the world with its poles overturned?
§878in nos aetas ultima venit?
Has the final age come upon us?
Oh, we created with a hard lot, whether we, wretched ones, have lost the sun, or have driven it away!
§882abeant questus, discedo, timor: §883vitae est avidus quisquis non vult §884mundo secum pereunte mori.
Let complaints depart, leave me, fear: greedy for life is whoever does not wish to die when the world is perishing with him.
Atreus: I walk equal to the stars, and touching the high pole with proud head above all others.
Now I hold the glories of the kingdom, now my father's throne; I dismiss the gods above: I have reached the height of my prayers.
§889bene est, abunde est.
It is well, it is abundant.
iam sat est etiam mihi.
Now it is enough even for me.
§890sed cur satis sit? pergam et impleto patre
But why should it be enough?
I will go on, and when the father is filled with the death of his own... lest shame should in any way hinder, the day has receded: go on while the heaven is empty.
§893utinam quidem tenere fugientes deos §894possem et coaetos trahere, ut ultricem dapem §895omnes viderent— quod sat est, videat pater.
Would indeed that I could hold back the fleeing gods and drag them assembled, so that they all might see the avenging feast— yet, which is enough, let the father see it.
Even though the day is unwilling, I will scatter for you the darkness under which your miseries lie hidden.
§898nimis diu conviva securo iaces §899hilarique vultu, iam satis mensis datum est §900satisque Baccho: sobrio tanta ad mala §901opus est Thyeste.
Too long do you lie as a guest with a carefree mind and a cheerful face; now enough has been given to the tables and enough to Bacchus: for such great evils there is need of a sober Thyestes.
turba familiaris, fores §902templi relaxa, festa patefiat domus.
Servants, open the doors of the temple, let the festive house be opened.
§903libet videre, capita natorum intuens §904quos det colores, verba quae primus dolor §905effundat aut ut spiritu expulso stupens §906corpus rigescat.
I want to see what colors he shows as he gazes upon the heads of his sons, what words his first grief pours out, or how, his breath driven out, his body stiffens in amazement.
fructus hic operis mei est.
This is the fruit of my labor.
§907miserum videre nolo, sed dum fit miser.
I do not wish to see him wretched, but while he is becoming wretched.
§908aperta multa tecta conlucent face.
The opened halls shine with many a torch.
He himself lies reclined on purple and gold, supporting his head, heavy with wine, with his left hand.
§911eructat.
He belches.
o me caelitum excelsissimum,
Oh, I, the highest of the gods, and king of kings!
§912regumque regem! vota transcendi mea.
I have surpassed my prayers.
§913satur est, capaci ducit argento merum— §914ne parce potu: restat etiamnunc cruor §915tot hostiarum; veteris hunc Bacchi color §916abscondet— hoc, hoc mensa cludatur scypho
He is full, he draws pure wine from a capacious silver vessel— do not spare the drink: there remains even now the blood of so many victims; the color of old Bacchus will hide this—with this, with this cup let the feast be closed.
Let the father drink the blood of his own children mixed: he would have drunk mine.
ecce, iam cantus ciet §919festasque voces nec satis menti imperat.
Look, now he stirs up songs and festive voices, nor does he sufficiently command his mind.
Thyestes: Hearts dulled by long evils, now lay aside anxious cares.
§922fugiat maeror fugiatque pavor, §923fugiat trepidi comes exilii §924tristis egestas §925rebusque gravis pudor afflictis: §926magis unde cadas quam quo refert.
Let grief flee, let fear flee, let flee, the companion of anxious exile, sad poverty and shame heavy in adversity: it matters more from where you fall than to where.
§927Magnum, ex alto culmine lapsum §928stabilem in plano figere gressum; §929magnum, ingenti strage malorum §930pressum fracti pondera regni §931non inflexa cervice pati §932nec degenerem victumque malis §933rectum impositas ferre ruinas.
It is a great thing, having fallen from a high peak, to set a firm step on flat ground; a great thing, pressed by a huge heap of evils, to bear the weight of a broken kingdom with unbent neck, and not base and conquered by misfortunes, to bear the ruins imposed upon one, upright.