The Aeneid of Virgil - Translated into English Verse by E. Fairfax Taylor by 70 BC-19 BC Virgil
page 248 of 490 (50%)
page 248 of 490 (50%)
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So oft to Turnus pledged, thy kinsman of the land?
L. "If Latins for Lavinia needs must find A foreign mate; if so the Fates constrain, And Faunus' words weigh heavy on thy mind, All lands, that yield not to the Latin reign, I count as foreign; so the Gods speak plain; And foreign then is Turnus, if we trace The first beginning of his princely strain. Greeks were his grandsires; Argos was the place Where old Acrisius ruled, where dwelt th' Inachian race." LI. So pleading, and so weeping, she essayed To move the king; but when her prayers were vain, Nor tears Latinus from his purpose stayed, And now the viper with its deadly bane Crept to her inmost parts, and through each vein The maddening poison to her heartstrings stole, Then, scared by monstrous phantoms of the brain, Poor queen! she raved, and maddening past control, Ran through the crowded streets in impotence of soul. LII. Like as a whip-top by the lash is sent In widening orbs to spin, when lads among The empty courtyards urge their merriment; And, scourged in circling courses by the thong It wheels and eddies, while the beardless throng Bend over, lost in ignorant surprise, And marvel, as the boxwood whirls along, Stirred by each stroke; so fast Amata flies |
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