§1894fregit nostri dextera nati: §1895date Bistoniae verbera matres §1895bgelidusque sonet planctibus Hebrus: §1896flete Alciden.
my son's right hand broke it: give blows, Thracian mothers, and let cold Hebrus resound with laments: mourn Alcides.
§1897quod non stabulis' nascitur infans §1898nec vestra greges viscera carpunt; §1899fleat Antaeo libera tellus §1900et rapta fero plaga Geryonae: §1901mecum miserae plangite gentes, §1902audiat ictus utraque Tethys, §1903vos quoque, mundi turba citati, §1904flete Herculeos. numina, casus: §1905vestrum Alcides cervice meus §1906mundum, superi, caelumque tulit, §1907cum stelligeri vector Olympi §1908pondere liber spiravit Atlans: §1909ubi nunc vestrae, Iuppiter, arces?
because no infant monster is born in your stables, nor do they devour your flesh as flocks; let the land freed from Antaeus mourn, and the region snatched from fierce Geryon: mourn with me, miserable nations, let both Tethys hear the blows, you too, crowd of the swiftly-moving universe, weep, deities, for Hercules' fate: O gods above, my Alcides bore your world and your heaven on his neck, when Atlas, the bearer of starry Olympus, freed from the weight, drew breath: where are your citadels now, Jupiter?
§1910ubi promissi regia mundi?
where is the promised palace of the universe?
Indeed, Alcides died as a mortal, indeed he is buried.
How often he spared your weapons and your torches, whenever fire had to be scattered!
At least hurl your torch at me, and think of me as Semele.
Do you already hold the Elysian homes, my son, already§ do you hold the shore to which nature calls all peoples?
§1919an post raptum Styx atra canem §1920praeclusit iter teque in primo §1921limine Ditis fata morantur?
Or, after the dog was stolen, did dark Styx block your way, and does fate delay you at the very threshold of Dis?
What confusion now possesses the shadows, my son, and the spirits?
§1924fugit abducta navita cumba §1925et Centauris Thessala motis §1926ferit attonitos ungula manes §1927anguesque suos hydra sub undas §1928territa mersit
Does the ferryman flee, his boat snatched away, and does the Thessalian hoof of the stirred-up Centaurs strike the astonished spirits, and did the terrified Hydra submerge her snakes beneath the waves?
§1929teque labores, o nate. timent?
And do your labors fear you, my son?
§1930fallor, fallor vaesana furens.
I am mistaken, mistaken, raging madly.
§1931nec te manes umbraeque timent.
Neither the spirits nor the shadows fear you.
§1932non Argolico rapta leoni §1933fulva pellis contecta iuba §1934laevos operit dira lacertos §1935vallantque ferae tempora dentes: §1936donum pharetrae cessere tuae t §1937telaque mittet iam dextra minor; §1938vadis inermis, nate, per umbras, §1939ad quas semper mansurus eris.
The terrible yellow skin, snatched from the Argolic lion and covered with its mane, no longer covers your left arm, nor do the beast's teeth protect your temples: the gifts of your quiver have departed, and a lesser right hand will now send the arrows; you go unarmed, my son, through the shadows, among which you will remain forever.
§1940Quid me tenentem regna siderei poli ' §1941caeloque tandem redditum planctu iubes §1942sentire fatum? parce: iam virtus mihi §1943in astra et ipsos fecit ad superos iter.
Why do you bid me, who hold the realms of the starry sky and am at last restored to heaven, to feel mortality through your lamentation? Spare me: now my virtue has made for me a path to the stars and to the gods themselves.
§1944Vnde, unde sonus trepidas aures
Whence, whence does this sound strike my trembling ears?
§1945ferit? unde meas inhibet lacrimas
Whence does this crash restrain my tears?
§1946fragor? agnosco victum esse chaos.
I recognize that Chaos has been conquered.
Do you return to me again from the Styx, my son, and has dreadful death been broken more than once?
Have you conquered again the places of death and the sad shallows of the infernal boat?
§1951pervius est Acheron iam languidus §1952et remeare licet soli tibi §1953nec te fata tenent post funera?
Is Acheron, now sluggish, passable, and is it allowed for you alone to return, and do the fates not hold you after death?
Or did Pluto block your way, and, trembling for his kingdom, fear for himself?
§1956certe ego te vidi flagrantibus §1957impositum silvis, cum plurimus §1958in caelum fureret flammae metus: §1959arsisti.
Certainly I saw you placed upon the burning woods, when the greatest dread of flame raged into the sky: you burned.
cur te, cur ultima §1960non tenuere tuas umbras loca?
Why, why did the lowest places not hold your shadow?
§1961quid timuere tui manes, precor?
What did your ghost fear, I pray?
§1962umbra quoque es Diti nimis horrida?
Or are you, even as a shadow, too dreadful for Dis?
§1963HERC Non me gementis stagna Cocyti tenent §1964nec puppis umbras furva transvexit meas; §1965iam parce, mater, questibus: manes semel §1966umbrasque vidi; quicquid in nobis tui §1967mortale fuerat, ignis evictus tulit: §1968paterna caelo, pars data est flammis tua.
The pools of groaning Cocytus do not hold me nor has the dark boat carried my shadow across; spare now your complaints, mother: once did I see the ghosts and shadows; whatever in me was mortal, of yours, the conquered fire has taken away: the father's part is in heaven; your part was given to the flames.
§1969proinde planctus pone, quos nato paret §1970genetrix inerti; luctus in turpes eat: §1971virtus in astra tendit, in mortem timor.
Therefore lay aside the laments which a mother prepares for an inactive son; let grief go to the base: virtue strives to the stars, fear to death.
§1972praesens ab astris, mater, Alcides cano: §1973poenas, cruentus iam tibi Eurystheus dabit; §1974curru superbum vecta transcendes caput.
Present from the stars, mother, I, Alcides, declare: cruel Eurystheus will now pay the penalty to you; carried in a chariot, you will trample over his proud head.
It is fitting for me now to enter the celestial region: Alcides has conquered the infernal places again.
§1977Mane parumper, cessit, ex oculis, abit, §1978in astra fertur, fallor an voltus putat §1979vidisse natum? misera mens incredula est.
Stay a little while! He has departed, vanished from my eyes, he is gone, he is borne to the stars. Am I mistaken, or does my sight think it saw my son? My miserable mind is incredulous.
§1980es numen et te mundus aeternum tenet,
You are a deity, and the universe holds you eternally.
I believe in your triumphs. I will seek the kingdom of Thebes, and sing of the new deity added to the temples.
§1983Numquam Stygias fertur ad umbras §1984inclita virtus: vivunt fortes §1985nec Lethaeos saeva per amnes §1986vos fata trahent, sed cum summas §1987exiget horas consumpta dies, §1988iter ad superos gloria pandet.
Never is illustrious virtue carried to the Stygian shadows: the brave live on, nor will cruel fates drag you through the streams of Lethe, but when the consumed day demands your final hours, glory will open the way to the gods above.
§1989sed tu, domitor magne ferarum §1990orbisque simul pacator, ades; §1991nunc quoque nostras respice terras, §1992et si qua novo belua voltu §1993quatiet populos terrore gravi, §1994tu fulminibus frange trisulcis: §1995fortius ipso genitore tuo §1996fulmina mitte.
But you, great tamer of wild beasts and peace-bringer of the world alike, be present; now also look back upon our lands, and if any beast with a new shape shakes the peoples with heavy terror, shatter it with your three-forked thunderbolts: hurl thunderbolts more strongly than your father himself.