Aeneid 6.268–281

Aen. 6.268Ībant obscūrī sōlā sub nocte per umbram,
perque domōs Dītis vacuās et inānia regna:
270quāle per incertam lūnam sub lūce malignā
est iter in silvīs, ubi caelum condidit umbrā
Iuppiter, et rēbus nox abstulit ātra colōrem.

They went in darkness under the lonely night through the shadow, through the empty halls of Dis and his hollow kingdom: like a journey in the woods under the grudging light of an uncertain moon, when Jupiter has hidden the sky in shade and black night has taken the colour from things.

Note. Ībant obscūrī sōlā sub nocte per umbram: a famous hypallage (transferred epithet): it is the travellers who are alone, the night that is dark, but Vergil swaps the adjectives. The slow spondees enact the groping walk. domōs Dītis vacuās et inānia regna: empty halls, since they are filled only with shadows. Quāle per incertam lūnam sub lūce malignā / est iter in silvīs: the simile of a walk in a wood by a dim, 'grudging' moon. rēbus nox abstulit ātra colōrem: in darkness, things lose their colour.

Aen. 6.273Vestibulum ante ipsum, prīmīsque in faucibus Orcī
Lūctūs et ultrīcēs posuēre cubīlia Cūrae;

Before the very entrance, in the first jaws of Orcus, Grief and avenging Cares have set their beds;

Note. Vestibulum ante ipsum: the forecourt of the house of Dis. Here Vergil sets out a list of personified evils that afflict human life, like the Greek poet Hesiod's children of Night. Lūctus et ultrīcēs … Cūrae: 'Grief and avenging Cares', the pains of conscience. posuēre cubīlia: 'have set their beds', they live here.

Aen. 6.275pallentēsque habitant Morbī, trīstisque Senectūs,
et Metus, et malesuāda Famēs, ac turpis Egestās,
terribilēs vīsū fōrmae: Lētumque, Labōsque;

there live pale Diseases and sad Old Age, and Fear, and Hunger that urges to crime, and ugly Poverty, shapes terrible to see: and Death, and Toil;

Note. pallentēs … Morbī: present participle, 'pale' Diseases. trīstis … Senectūs: Old Age. Metus et malesuāda Famēs: Hunger, which urges to crime (male-suāda, 'badly persuading'). turpis Egestās: Poverty. terribilēs vīsū fōrmae: the supine in -ū with an adjective, 'terrible to see'. Lētumque Labōsque: Labōs is the old form of labor (labor#2), 'Toil'.

Aen. 6.278tum cōnsanguineus Lētī Sopor, et mala mentis
Gaudia, mortiferumque adversō in līmine Bellum,
280ferreīque Eumenidum thalamī, et Discordia dēmēns,
vīpereum crīnem vittīs innexa cruentīs.

then Sleep, Death's brother, and the wicked Joys of the mind, and on the threshold opposite death-bringing War, and the iron chambers of the Furies, and mad Discord, her snaky hair bound with bloody ribbons.

Note. cōnsanguineus Lētī Sopor: Sleep, Death's brother, as in Homer. mala mentis / Gaudia: 'the wicked joys of the mind', pleasures that lead to crime. mortiferumque … Bellum: War stands on the threshold opposite. ferreīque Eumenidum thalamī: the iron chambers of the Furies; ferreī is scanned as two syllables (synizesis). Discordia dēmēns / vīpereum crīnem vittīs innexa cruentīs: Discord, mad, 'having her snaky hair bound with bloody ribbons': innexa is a perfect participle with a middle sense, taking a Greek accusative (crīnem).