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(From Æneid) Translated by C. P. Cranch
CLOSE to the neighboring Ceraunia now | |
| We sail, whence lies our way to Italy, | |
| The shortest course by sea. Meanwhile the sun | |
| Goes down; the shadowy mountains hide in night. | |
| On the earth’s welcome lap we throw ourselves, | 5 |
| Beside the waves, the watch being set on board, | |
| And here and there along the sandy beach | |
| Refresh ourselves with food. Our weary limbs | |
| Are bathed in sleep. Not yet the night had reached | |
| Her middle course, when Palinurus leaves | 10 |
| His bed,—no sluggard he,—and all the winds | |
| Essays, listening to catch their sounds; and notes | |
| In the still sky the softly gliding stars, | |
| Arcturus, and the rainy Hyades, | |
| And the two Bears, and armed Orion bright | 15 |
| With gold. And when he sees that all is still | |
| Amid the heavens serene, he from the stern | |
| Gives the clear signal. Then we strike our tents, | |
| And try the voyage, with our wingéd sails. | |
| And now Aurora reddens in the east; | 20 |
| The stars had vanished; when, far off, we see | |
| The dusky mountains and the long low shore | |
| Of Italy. And “Italy” rings first | |
| Achates’ voice, and Italy with shouts | |
| Of joy my comrades greet. My father then | 25 |
| Wreathes a great cup, and fills it up with wine, | |
| And, standing in the stern, invokes the gods: | |
| “Ye potent deities of sea and land, | |
| And of the storms, grant us a passage safe, | |
| And favoring breezes.” Soon the wished-for winds | 30 |
| Freshen, and wider grows the harbor now; | |
| Minerva’s temple on a height appears; | |
| We furl the sails, and turn our prows to land. | |
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