The Fourth Book of Virgil's Aeneid and the Ninth Book of Voltaire's HenriadVirgil
Philosophy
The Fourth Book of Virgil's Aeneid and the Ninth Book of Voltaire's Henriad
Virgil
Virgil. Aeneis; Voltaire, 1694-1778. Henriade
AEneas moves not with inferior grace,
Such heav'nly beauty beam'd upon his face.
O'er hills and rocks, and thro' the pathless wood,
From their old haunts they rouse the savage brood;
195 Here downward springs the shaggy goat, and here,
From the steep cliff down rush the bounding deep,
Dart from the hills, in panting herds unite,
Stretch o'er the plain and spread their dusty flight.
As thro' the vale Iulus winds his steed,
200 Leads on the chase, and passes all in speed,
A nobler prey his youthful vows implore,
The tawny lion or the foaming boar.
But murky clouds are gath'ring round the pole-,
In hollow murmur distant thunders roll;
205 The hail, the rain a mingled tempest pour,
Whole rivers swelling down the mountain roar,
The trembling youths of Troy, the Tyrian train,
Cytherea's grandson, scatter'd o'er the plain,
All fly the storm, and in one dark retreat
210 The Tyrian Queen and Trojan Hero meet.
Strait nuptial Juno, gives the fatal sign;
Pale flames the torch, and trembling Earth the shrine:
Night spread the veil;--and to the vow they swore
The murmuring air, ill omen'd witness bore.
215 The frighted Nymphs along the mountain height,
In doleful cries proclaim the genial rite.
That hour her death and all her sorrows wrought;
Then fame and honor vanish'd from her thought;
No more she struggles with a secret flame,
220 The crime is veil'd in wedlock's specious name.
Soon thro' the Lybian towns, Fame blew the deed;
Fame, that outstrips all other ills in speed,
That feeds on motion, strengthens as she flies,
225 Weak, timid first, but soon of monstrous size,
Her feet on earth, amid the clouds her head.
With Heav'n incens'd, her mother Earth 'tis said,
This sister added to the Giant brood,
With wings, with feet, with dreadful speed endu'd.
Huge horrid monster!----Ev'ry plume she wears
230 A watching eye conceal'd beneath it bears,
And strange to tell--on ev'ry feather hung
A gaping ear--a never ceasing tongue.
Sleep never enter'd yet those glaring eyes;
All night 'twixt earth and heav'n she buzzing flies;
235 All day sits watchful on the turrets height,
Or palace roof, the babbling town to fright.
Falsehood and truth, she spreads with equal real,
To gaping crouds rejoicing to reveal
What is, what was, and what has never been.
240 AEneas fled from Troy;--The Tyrian queen,
Her bed, her sceptre, with an exile shares;
And now forgetful of all other cares,
With shameful passion blindly led astray,
In love and joy they waste the hours away.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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