The Works of Christopher Marlowe Volume III Part 41

If to encamp on Tuscan Tiber's streams, I'll boldly quarter out the fields of Rome; What walls thou wilt be levell'd with the ground, These hands shall thrust the ram, and make them fly, Albeit the city thou wouldst have so raz'd Be Rome itself." Here every band applauded, And, with their hands held up, all jointly cried They'll follow where he please. The shouts rent heaven, As when against pine-bearing Ossa's rocks 390 Beats Thracian Boreas, or when trees bow[618] down And rustling swing up as the wind fets[619] breath.

When Caesar saw his army p.r.o.ne to war, And Fates so bent, lest sloth and long delay Might cross him, he withdrew his troops from France, And in all quarters musters men for Rome.

They by Lemannus' nook forsook their tents; They whom[620] the Lingones foil'd with painted spears, Under the rocks by crooked Vogesus; And many came from shallow Isara, 400 Who, running long, falls in a greater flood, And, ere he sees the sea, loseth his name; The yellow Ruthens left their garrisons; Mild Atax glad it bears not Roman boats,[621]

And frontier Varus that the camp is far, Sent aid; so did Alcides' port, whose seas Eat hollow rocks, and where the north-west wind Nor zephyr rules not, but the north alone Turmoils the coast, and enterance forbids; And others came from that uncertain sh.o.r.e 410 Which is nor sea nor land, but ofttimes both, And changeth as the ocean ebbs and flows; Whether the sea roll'd always from that point Whence the wind blows, still forced to and fro; Or that the wandering main follow the moon; Or flaming t.i.tan, feeding on the deep, Pulls them aloft, and makes the surge kiss heaven; Philosophers, look you; for unto me, Thou cause, whate'er thou be, whom G.o.d a.s.signs This great effect, art hid. They came that dwell 420 By Nemes' fields and banks of Satirus,[622]

Where Tarbell's winding sh.o.r.es embrace the sea; The Santons that rejoice in Caesar's love;[623]

Those of Bituriges,[624] and light Axon[625] pikes; And they of Rhene and Leuca,[626] cunning darters, And Sequana that well could manage steeds; The Belgians apt to govern British cars; Th' A[r]verni, too, which boldly feign themselves The Roman's brethren, sprung of Ilian race; The stubborn Nervians stain'd with Cotta's blood; 430 And Vangions who, like those of Sarmata, Wear open slops;[627] and fierce Batavians, Whom trumpet's clang incites; and those that dwell By Cinga's stream, and where swift Rhoda.n.u.s Drives Araris to sea; they near the hills, Under whose h.o.a.ry rocks Gebenna hangs; And, Trevier, thou being glad that wars are past thee; And you, late-shorn Ligurians, who were wont In large-spread hair to exceed the rest of France; And where to Hesus and fell Mercury[628] 440 They offer human flesh, and where Jove seems b.l.o.o.d.y like Dian, whom the Scythians serve.

And you, French Bardi, whose immortal pens Renown the valiant souls slain in your wars, Sit safe at home and chant sweet poesy.

And, Druides, you now in peace renew Your barbarous customs and sinister rites: In unfell'd woods and sacred groves you dwell; And only G.o.ds and heavenly powers you know, Or only know you nothing; for you hold 450 That souls pa.s.s not to silent Erebus Or Pluto's bloodless kingdom, but elsewhere Resume a body; so (if truth you sing) Death brings long life. Doubtless these northern men, Whom death, the greatest of all fears, affright not, Are blest by such sweet error; this makes them Run on the sword's point, and desire to die, And shame to spare life which being lost is won.

You likewise that repuls'd the Cac foe, March towards Rome; and you, fierce men of Rhene, 460 Leaving your country open to the spoil.

These being come, their huge power made him bold To manage greater deeds; the bordering towns He garrison'd; and Italy he fill'd with soldiers.

Vain fame increased true fear, and did invade The people's minds, and laid before their eyes Slaughter to come, and, swiftly bringing news Of present war, made many lies and tales: One swears his troops of daring hors.e.m.e.n fought Upon Mevania's plain, where bulls are graz'd; 470 Other that Caesar's barbarous bands were spread Along Nar flood that into Tiber falls, And that his own ten ensigns and the rest March'd not entirely, and yet hide the ground; And that he's much chang'd, looking wild and big, And far more barbarous than the French, his va.s.sals; And that he lags[629] behind with them, of purpose, Borne 'twixt the Alps and Rhene, which he hath brought From out their northern parts,[630] and that Rome, He looking on, by these men should be sack'd. 480 Thus in his fright did each man strengthen fame, And, without ground, fear'd what themselves had feign'd.

Nor were the commons only struck to heart With this vain terror; but the court, the senate, The fathers selves leap'd from their seats, and, flying, Left hateful war decreed to both the consuls.

Then, with their fear and danger all-distract, Their sway of flight carries the heady rout,[631]

That in chain'd[632] troops break forth at every port: You would have thought their houses had been fir'd, 490 Or, dropping-ripe, ready to fall with ruin.

So rush'd the inconsiderate mult.i.tude Thorough the city, hurried headlong on, As if the only hope that did remain To their afflictions were t' abandon Rome.

Look how, when stormy Auster from the breach Of Libyan Syrtes rolls a monstrous wave, Which makes the main-sail fall with hideous sound, The pilot from the helm leaps in the sea, And mariners, albeit the keel be sound, 500 s.h.i.+pwreck themselves; even so, the city left, All rise in arms; nor could the bed-rid parents Keep back their sons, or women's tears their husbands: They stayed not either to pray or sacrifice; Their household-G.o.ds restrain them not; none lingered, As loath to leave Rome whom they held so dear: Th' irrevocable people fly in troops.

O G.o.ds, that easy grant men great estates, But hardly grace to keep them! Rome, that flows With citizens and captives,[633] and would hold 510 The world, were it together, is by cowards Left as a prey, now Caesar doth approach.

When Romans are besieged by foreign foes, With slender trench they escape night-stratagems, And sudden rampire rais'd of turf s.n.a.t.c.hed up, Would make them sleep securely in their tents.

Thou, Rome, at name of war runn'st from thyself, And wilt not trust thy city-walls one night: Well might these fear, when Pompey feared and fled.

Now evermore, lest some one hope might ease 520 The commons' jangling minds, apparent signs arose, Strange sights appeared; the angry threatening G.o.ds Filled both the earth and seas with prodigies.

Great store of strange and unknown stars were seen Wandering about the north, and rings of fire Fly in the air, and dreadful bearded stars, And comets that presage the fall of kingdoms; The flattering[634] sky glittered in often flames, And sundry fiery meteors blazed in heaven, Now spear-like long, now like a spreading torch; 530 Lightning in silence stole forth without clouds, And, from the northern climate s.n.a.t.c.hing fire, Blasted the Capitol; the lesser stars, Which wont to run their course through empty night, At noon-day mustered; Phoebe, having filled Her meeting horns to match her brother's light, Struck with th' earth's sudden shadow, waxed pale; t.i.tan himself, throned in the midst of heaven, His burning chariot plunged in sable clouds, And whelmed the world in darkness, making men 540 Despair of day; as did Thyestes' town, Mycenae, Phoebus flying through the east.

Fierce Mulciber unbarred aetna's gate, Which flamed not on high, but headlong pitched Her burning head on bending Hespery.

Coal-black Charybdis whirled a sea of blood.

Fierce mastives howled. The vestal fires went out; The flame in Alba, consecrate to Jove, Parted in twain, and with a double point Rose, like the Theban brothers' funeral fire. 550 The earth went off her hinges; and the Alps Shook the old snow from off their trembling laps.[635]

The ocean swelled as high as Spanish Calpe Or Atlas' head. Their saints and household-G.o.ds Sweat tears, to show the travails of their city: Crowns fell from holy statues. Ominous birds Defiled the day; and wild beasts were seen,[636]

Leaving the woods, lodge in the streets of Rome.

Cattle were seen that muttered human speech; Prodigious births with more and ugly joints 560 Than nature gives, whose sight appals the mother; And dismal prophecies were spread abroad: And they, whom fierce Bellona's fury moves To wound their arms, sing vengeance; Cybel's[637] priests, Curling their b.l.o.o.d.y locks, howl dreadful things.

Souls quiet and appeas'd sighed from their graves; Clas.h.i.+ng of arms was heard; in untrod woods Shrill voices schright;[638] and ghosts encounter men.

Those that inhabited the suburb-fields Fled: foul Erinnys stalked about the walls, 570 Shaking her snaky hair and crooked pine With flaming top; much like that h.e.l.lish fiend Which made the stern Lycurgus wound his thigh, Or fierce Agave mad; or like Megaera That scar'd Alcides, when by Juno's task He had before look'd Pluto in the face.

Trumpets were heard to sound; and with what noise An armed battle joins, such and more strange Black night brought forth in secret. Sylla's ghost Was seen to walk, singing sad oracles; 580 And Marius' head above cold Tav'ron[639] peering, His grave broke open, did affright the boors.

To these ostents, as their old custom was, They call th' Etrurian augurs: amongst whom The gravest, Arruns, dwelt in forsaken Leuca[640]

Well-skill'd in pyromancy; one that knew The hearts of beasts, and flight of wandering fowls.

First he commands such monsters Nature hatch'd Against her kind, the barren mule's loath'd issue, To be cut forth[641] and cast in dismal fires; 590 Then, that the trembling citizens should walk About the city; then, the sacred priests That with divine l.u.s.tration purg'd the walls, And went the round, in and without the town; Next, an inferior troop, in tuck'd-up vestures, After the Gabine manner; then, the nuns And their veil'd matron, who alone might view Minerva's statue; then, they that kept and read Sibylla's secret works, and wash[642] their saint In Almo's flood; next learned augurs follow; 600 Apollo's soothsayers, and Jove's feasting priests; The skipping Salii with s.h.i.+elds like wedges; And Flamens last, with net-work woollen veils.

While these thus in and out had circled Rome, Look, what the lightning blasted, Arruns takes, And it inters with murmurs dolorous, And calls the place Bidental. On the altar He lays a ne'er-yok'd bull, and pours down wine, Then crams salt leaven on his crooked knife: The beast long struggled, as being like to prove 610 An awkward sacrifice; but by the horns The quick priest pulled him on his knees, and slew him.

No vein sprung out, but from the yawning gash, Instead of red blood, wallow'd venomous gore.

These direful signs made Arruns stand amazed, And searching farther for the G.o.ds' displeasure, The very colour scared him; a dead blackness Ran through the blood, that turned it all to jelly, And stained the bowels with dark loathsome spots; The liver swelled with filth; and every vein 620 Did threaten horror from the host of Caesar A small thin skin contained the vital parts; The heart stirred not; and from the gaping liver Squeezed matter through the caul; the entrails peered; And which (ay me!) ever pretendeth[643] ill, At that bunch where the liver is, appear'd A k.n.o.b of flesh, whereof one half did look Dead and discolour'd, th' other lean and thin.[644]

By these he seeing what mischiefs must ensue, Cried out, "O G.o.ds, I tremble to unfold 630 What you intend! great Jove is now displeas'd; And in the breast of this slain bull are crept Th' infernal powers. My fear transcends my words; Yet more will happen than I can unfold: Turn all to good, be augury vain, and Tages, Th' art's master, false!" Thus, in ambiguous terms Involving all, did Arruns darkly sing.

But Figulus, more seen in heavenly mysteries, Whose like aegyptian Memphis never had For skill in stars and tuneful planeting,[645] 640 In this sort spake: "The world's swift course is lawless And casual; all the stars at random range;[646]

Or if fate rule them, Rome, thy citizens Are near some plague. What mischief shall ensue?

Shall towns be swallow'd? shall the thicken'd air Become intemperate? shall the earth be barren?

Shall water be congeal'd and turn'd to ice?[647]

O G.o.ds, what death prepare ye? with what plague Mean ye to rage? the death of many men Meets in one period. If cold noisome Saturn 650 Were now exalted, and with blue beams s.h.i.+n'd, Then Ganymede[648] would renew Deucalion's flood, And in the fleeting sea the earth be drench'd.

O Phoebus, shouldst thou with thy rays now singe The fell Nemaean beast, th' earth would be fir'd, And heaven tormented with thy chafing heat: But thy fires hurt not. Mars, 'tis thou inflam'st The threatening Scorpion with the burning tail, And fir'st his cleys:[649] why art thou thus enrag'd?

Kind Jupiter hath low declin'd himself; 660 Venus is faint; swift Hermes retrograde; Mars only rules the heaven. Why do the planets Alter their course, and vainly dim their virtue?

Sword-girt Orion's side glisters too bright: War's rage draws near; and to the sword's strong hand Let all laws yield, sin bears the name of virtue: Many a year these furious broils let last: Why should we wish the G.o.ds should ever end them?

War only gives us peace. O Rome, continue The course of mischief, and stretch out the date 670 Of slaughter! only civil broils make peace."

These sad presages were enough to scare The quivering Romans; but worse things affright them.

As Maenas[650] full of wine on Pindus raves, So runs a matron through th' amazed streets, Disclosing Phoebus' fury in this sort; "Paean, whither am I haled? where shall I fall, Thus borne aloft? I seen Pangaeus' hill With h.o.a.ry top, and, under Haemus' mount, Philippi plains. Phoebus, what rage is this? 680 Why grapples Rome, and makes war, having no foes?

Whither turn I now? thou lead'st me toward th' east, Where Nile augmenteth the Pelusian sea: This headless trunk that lies on Nilus' sand I know. Now th[o]roughout the air I fly To doubtful Syrtes and dry Afric, where A Fury leads the Emathian bands. From thence To the pine-bearing[651] hills; thence[652] to the mounts Pyrene; and so back to Rome again.

See, impious war defiles the senate-house! 690 New factions rise. Now through the world again I go. O Phoebus, show me Neptune's sh.o.r.e, And other regions! I have seen Philippi."

This said, being tir'd with fury, she sunk down.

FOOTNOTES:

[579] Old ed. "launcht."--The forms "lanch" and "lance" are used indifferently.

[580] Alike.

[581] "Et ardenti _servilia_ bella sub aetna."

[582] "Nec polus adversi _calidus_ qua vergitur Austri."

[583] "_Obliquo_ sidere."

[584] Axis.

[585] Tumults.

[586]

"Summisque negatum, Stare diu."

[587] Far-fetched.

[588] "Exiguum dominos commisit asylum."

[589] "So old ed. in some copies which had been corrected at press; other copies 'Aezean.'"--_Dyce_.

[590] Carrae's.

[591] A somewhat weak translation of Lucan's most famous line:--"Victrix causa diis placuit, sed victa Catoni."

[592] As the line stands we must take "nod" and "fall" transitively ("though every blast make it nod and seem to make it fall"). The original has "At quamvis primo nutet casura sub Euro."

[593] "Fecunda virorum / Paupertas."

[594] "Ingens visa duci patriae _trepidantis_ imago."

[595] "Inde _moras_ solvit belli."

[596] "Sonipes."

[597] "Nuda jam crate fluentes / Invadunt clypeos."

[598] Silent.

[599] Prove.

[600] "Jactatis ... _Gracchis_."