Aeneid 12.887–918

Aen. 12.887Aenēās īnstat contrā tēlumque coruscat
ingēns arboreum et saevō sīc pectore fātur:
Quae nunc deinde mora est?

Aeneas presses on against him and brandishes his huge spear like a tree, and speaks thus from his savage heart: 'What delay is there now?

Note. telum … arboreum: 'his tree-like spear'. Quae nunc deinde mora est: 'what delay is there now, then?'

Aen. 12.889Aut quid iam, Turne, retractās?

Or why, Turnus, do you still hang back?

Note. retractās: 'hold back, shrink from (the fight)'.

Aen. 12.890Nōn cursū, saevīs certandum est comminus armīs.

We must fight hand to hand with savage arms, not by running.

Note. certandum est: impersonal gerundive, 'one must fight'. comminus: 'at close quarters'.

Aen. 12.891Verte omnīs tētē in faciēs et contrahe quidquid
sīve animīs sīve arte valēs;

Turn yourself into every shape, and gather whatever you can do by courage or by craft;

Note. tētē: emphatic doubled tē. Verte omnīs … in faciēs: 'turn yourself into every shape', like the sea-god Proteus.

Aen. 12.892optā ardua pennīs
astra sequī clausumve cavā tē condere terrā.

pray to follow the high stars on wings, or to hide yourself shut away in the hollow earth.'

Note. opta: 'choose, pray'. clausumve … tē condere terrā: 'or to hide yourself shut up in the hollow earth'.

Aen. 12.894Ille caput quassāns Nōn mē tua fervida terrent
895dicta, ferōx: dī mē terrent et Iuppiter hostis.

Turnus, shaking his head, said: 'It is not your hot words that frighten me, you brute: it is the gods who frighten me, and Jupiter my enemy.'

Note. ferōx: vocative, 'fierce one', said with contempt. Iuppiter hostis: Turnus now senses that Jupiter is against him.

Aen. 12.896Nec plūra effātus saxum circumspicit ingēns,
saxum antīquum ingēns, campō quod forte iacēbat,
līmes agrō positus, lītem ut discerneret arvīs.

Saying no more, he looks round and sees a huge stone, a huge ancient stone that happened to lie on the plain, set there as a boundary-mark to settle quarrels over the fields.

Note. saxum … ingēns, saxum antīquum ingēns: the repetition makes the stone grow as we read. līmes agrō positus: a boundary-stone, set to settle disputes over land (lītem … discerneret).

Aen. 12.899Vix illud lēctī bis sex cervīce subīrent,
900quālia nunc hominum prōdūcit corpora tellūs:
ille manū raptum trepidā torquēbat in hostem
altior īnsurgēns et cursū concitus hērōs.

Twelve picked men could hardly lift it on their necks, men of such bodies as the earth produces now: he snatched it up in his hand and hurled it at his enemy, rising up higher and running at speed, the hero.

Note. lēctī bis sex: 'twelve picked men'. quālia nunc hominum prōdūcit corpora tellūs: 'such bodies of men as the earth produces now', i.e. weaker men than the heroes of old, a Homeric idea.

Aen. 12.903Sed neque currentem sē nec cognōscit euntem
tollentemve manūs saxumve immāne moventem;

But he does not know himself as he runs or goes, or as he lifts his hands and moves the enormous stone;

Note. Turnus does not know himself: his strength fails him. tollentemve … saxumve: -ve, 'or'.

Aen. 12.905genua labant, gelidus concrēvit frīgore sanguis.

his knees give way, his blood has frozen cold.

Note. concrēvit frīgore sanguis: 'his blood froze with cold', from fear.

Aen. 12.906Tum lapis ipse virī, vacuum per ināne volūtus,
nec spatium ēvāsit tōtum neque pertulit ictum.

Then the man's stone itself, rolling through the empty air, did not cover the whole distance or carry home its blow.

Note. virī: Turnus. per ināne: 'through the empty air'.

Aen. 12.908Ac velut in somnīs, oculōs ubi languida pressit
nocte quiēs, nēquīquam avidōs extendere cursūs
910velle vidēmur et in mediīs cōnātibus aegrī
succīdimus, nōn lingua valet, nōn corpore nōtae
sufficiunt vīrēs, nec vōx aut verba sequuntur:
sīc Turnō, quācumque viam virtūte petīvit,
successum dea dīra negat.

And as in dreams, when at night slack sleep has weighed down our eyes, we seem to want in vain to run on eagerly, and in the middle of our efforts we sink down helpless; the tongue has no power, the familiar strength fails the body, and no voice or words follow: so for Turnus, wherever he sought a way by courage, the dread goddess denies success.

Note. The dream simile: in a nightmare we try to run and cannot. velle vidēmur: 'we seem to want'. sīc Turnō … successum dea dīra negat: 'so the dread goddess (the Dira) denies Turnus success'.

Aen. 12.914Tum pectore sēnsūs
915vertuntur variī.

Then his feelings change and veer within his breast.

Note. sēnsūs vertuntur variī: 'shifting thoughts turn in his breast'.

Aen. 12.915Rutulōs aspectat et urbem
cūnctāturque metū lētumque īnstāre tremēscit;

He gazes at the Rutulians and the city, and hesitates in fear, and trembles at the spear coming at him;

Note. lētum … īnstāre: 'that death is upon him'.

Aen. 12.917nec quō sē ēripiat, nec quā vī tendat in hostem,
nec currūs usquam videt aurīgamve sorōrem.

he sees neither where to escape, nor with what force to attack his enemy, nor his chariot anywhere, nor his sister the charioteer.

Note. quō sē ēripiat … quā vī tendat: indirect questions after videt. aurīgamve sorōrem: Juturna, who had driven his chariot disguised as Metiscus.