Litura
Vergil · P. Vergilius Maro · Latin text with translation

Aeneid, Liber Primus

The whole of Book 1: Juno's storm, the landing in Libya, Jupiter's prophecy of Rome, and Aeneas' welcome at Dido's Carthage.

756 lines. Every word carries its dictionary form, its parsing and what it is doing in the line, with literal, student and literary translations.

  1. 1Arma virumque canō, Trōiae quī prīmus ab ōrīsI sing of arms and of the man who first came from the shores of Troy
  2. 2Ītaliam, fātō profugus, Lāvīniaque vēnitto Italy, driven out by fate, and reached the Lavinian
  3. 3lītora, multum ille et terrīs iactātus et altōshores — a man much buffeted both on land and on the deep
  4. 4vī superum saevae memorem Iūnōnis ob īram;by the power of the gods above, because of the unrelenting anger of cruel Juno;
  5. 5multa quoque et bellō passus, dum conderet urbem,having endured much in war as well, until he could found a city
  6. 6īnferretque deōs Latiō, genus unde Latīnum,and bring his gods into Latium — from which came the Latin race,
  7. 7Albānīque patrēs, atque altae moenia Rōmae.the Alban fathers, and the walls of high Rome.
  8. 8Mūsa, mihī causās memorā, quō nūmine laesō,Muse, tell me the causes — what offence to her godhead,
  9. 9quidve dolēns, rēgīna deum tot volvere cāsūsor what grievance, drove the queen of the gods to force a man famed for piety
  10. 10īnsīgnem pietāte virum, tot adīre labōrēsthrough so many misfortunes, to face so many toils.
  11. 11impulerit. Tantaene animīs caelestibus īrae?Can there be such anger in the hearts of the gods?
  12. 12Urbs antīqua fuit, Tyriī tenuēre colōnī,There was an ancient city, held by settlers from Tyre —
  13. 13Karthāgō, Ītaliam contrā Tiberīnaque longēCarthage, facing Italy and the Tiber's mouths far away,
  14. 14ōstia, dīves opum studiīsque asperrima bellī,rich in resources and fierce in the pursuits of war,
  15. 15quam Iūnō fertur terrīs magis omnibus ūnamwhich Juno is said to have cherished above all other lands,
  16. 16posthabitā coluisse Samō; hīc illius arma,with Samos held second: here were her arms,
  17. 17hīc currus fuit; hoc rēgnum dea gentibus esse,here stood her chariot; even then the goddess intended this to be a kingdom over the nations,
  18. 18sī quā Fāta sinant, iam tum tenditque fovetque.if only the fates should allow it — already then she strove and nursed the hope.
  19. 19Prōgeniem sed enim Trōiānō ā sanguine dūcīBut she had heard that a race was springing from Trojan blood
  20. 20audierat, Tyriās ōlim quae verteret arcēs;which one day would overthrow the Tyrian towers;

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