Gawin Douglas - The Æneid of Virgil Translated Into Scottish Verse

Wyth thir wordys the spreit of Dido queyn,
The quhilk tofor in lufe wes kyndlyt grene,
Now al in fyre the flambe of lufe furth blesys;
Hir doutsum mynd with gude hope so scho esys
That al the schame and dreid wes blaw away;
And to the tempill furth held tha baith tway.
Eftir the serymonys of thar payane gys,
Beneuolence and gude luk, syndry wys,
Thai sekyng and thai sers at ilke altar;
And twyntris, walit for sacrifyce, heir and thar
Thai brytnyt; and sum in honour dyd addres
Of the law ledar Ceres, the goddes;
To Phebus, and to Bachus part alsso;
Bot principaly onto the queyn Juno,
Quhilk heth in cuyr the band of mariage.
Hir self, most gudly queyn Dido of Cartage,
Held in hir richt hand a cowp full of wyne;
Betwix the hornys twa furthȝet it syne
Of ane ontamyt ȝong quy, quhite as snaw:
And, othir quhilis, wald scho raik on raw,
Or pays tofor the altaris, wyth fat offerandis
Ay chargyt full; and oft, with hir awyn handis,
Renew and beyt the sacrifyce all day;
And rich gyftis geif Troianys; and wald ay
The beistis costis, as thai debowellit wer,
And thar entralis behald flekkyr and steir,
Accordyng the auld vsans to that effect,
Sum augury to persaue or gude aspect.
O wallaway! of spamen and dyvynys
The blynd myndis, quhilkis na way diffynys
The fors ne strenth of Luf with hys hard bandis!
Quhat avalyt thir sacrifice and offerandis?
Quhat helpis to vyssy tempillis in luffis rage?
Behald onhappy Dido of Cartage
In this meyn sesson byrnyng hait as gleyd:
The secrete wound deip in hir mynd gan spreyd,
And of hoyt amouris the subtell quent fyre
Waistis and consumys merth, banys, and lyre.
Our all the cite enragyt scho heir and thar
Wandris, as ane strykkyn hynd, quhom the stalkar,
Or scho persave, from far betis with hys flane
Amyd the woddis of Creyt, and lattis remane
The braid hed, onknaw the beste was hyt:
Scho skypping furth, as to eschew the byt,
Gan throu the forest fast and gravys glyde;
Bot evir the dedly schaft stykkis in hir syde.
Sum tyme the queyn Ene with hir dyd leid
Throu owt the wallys onto euery steid,
The tresour al and riches of Sydony
Schawyng to hym; and offerit al reddy
The cite of Cartage at hys commandment:
Begyn scho wald to tell furth hir entent,
And in the myd word stop, and hald hir styll.
And quhen the evyn come, it wes hir will
To seik ways hym to feste, as scho dyd ayr;
And, half myndles, agane scho langis sayr
For tyll enquyre and heir the sege of Troy,
And in a stair behaldis hym for joy.
Eftir all wes voydyt, and the licht of day
Ay mair and mair the moyn quynchit away,
And the declynyng of the starris brycht
To sleip and rest persuadis euery wight,
Within hir chalmyr alane scho langis sayr,
And thocht al waist for lak of hir luffar.
Amyd a voyd bed scho hir laid adoun,
And of hym absent thinkis scho heris the sown;
Hys voce scho heris, and hym behaldis sche,
Thocht he, God wait, far from hir presens be:
And sum tyme wald scho Ascanyus, the page,
Caucht in the figur of hys faderis ymage,
And in hir bosum brace, gif scho tharby
The lufe ontellabill mycht swik or satisfy.
The wark and wallys begun ar not vpbrocht;
The ȝounkeris dedis of armys excersis nocht;
Nothir fortres nor turettis suyr of weir
Now graith tha mair; for al the wark, but weir,
Cessis and is stoppyt, baith of pynnakillis hie,
And byg towris, semyt to rys in the skie.

Alsswyth as Juno, with syk maleys ourtane,
Persauyt hir deir frend that remeid was nane,
Nothir fame ne honour the rage resyst mycht,
Saturnus douchtir with syk wordis on hyght
Begouth to carp onto Venus, I wys;
A huge honour and lawd ȝe sal of this
Raport, and richt large spulȝe beir away,
Thou and thi child forsuyth, quod scho, bath tway:
O Lord, quhou gret power and notabil mycht,
Gif that, of twa hie goddis throu the slycht,
A sylly woman sal ourcummyn be!
Not so, I wys, hes thou dissavyt me,
Bot that I knaw thou had in feir and dreid
Our cite, and held the lugyng suspek, in deid,
Of our renownyt hie burgh of Cartage.
Bot on quhat wys sall sesyng al this rage?
Or now quhat nedis sa gret stryfe and contak?
Far rather perpetuell pes lat ws mak,
And knyt vp band of mariage thartill,
Sen thou hes gottin al thyne hartis will;
For Dido byrnys in hait lufe al atanys,
The brym fury glydis throu owt hir banys.
Lat ws thir pepill to ws common, for thy,
Be frendly favouris govern equaly;
So that it lesum be Dido remane
In spousage bund, and serve a lord Troiane,
And suffir Tirreanys, and al Lyby land,
Be geif in dowry to thi son in hand.
Than Venus, knawing hir spech of fenȝeit mynd,
To that effect scho mycht the Troiane kynd,
And werys to cum furth of Itail alsswa,
With hald and kepe from boundis of Lybia,
Answerd and sayd: quhat wikkyt wyght wald euer
Refuys syk proffyr, or ȝyt with the had levir
Contend in bataill, or stand at debait,
Gif that, as thou rehersis, the deid algait
Als sovirly mycht follow fortunabill?
Bot I affeir me les the fatis onstabill,
Nor Jupiter, consent not, ne aggre,
That bot a cite to Tyryanys suld be
And eik to folkis from Troy in vayage cummyn,
Or list appreif thai pepillis all and summyn
Togiddir myddill, or joyn in lyge or band.
Thou art hys spows; til the to tak on hand
Is lefull with request hys mynd to assay.
Pas on befor, I follow the perfay.
Than Juno queyn syk answer maid agane:
This laubour I tak on hand, al myne alane.
Bot on quhat wys, sen tyme is convenabill,
The fasson quhou this stant to do maist habill,
Hark, at schort wordys that poynt I sal ȝou say.
Eneas and onsilly Dido, baith tway,
To forest grathis in huntyng furth to wend,
To morow, als fast as Titan doith ascend,
And our the warld gan hys bemys spreid.
Quhen that the rangis and the faid on breid
Dynnys throu the gravys, sersyng the woddis wyde,
And setis set the glen on euery syde,
I sal apon thame a myrk schour down skaill
Of weit and wynd, mydlit wyth fellon haill,
And all the hevyn with thundyrris blast sa steir
That all thar falloschip sall withdraw for feir.
Enclosyt with a myst als dyrk as nycht
Dido and eik the Troiane duke full rycht,
Alanerly, bot be thame selvyn twane,
Togiddir sal entir in a cave of stane:
Thar sal I be reddy, and, but delay,
Gif thi mynd be ferm tharto the ilk day,
In sovir wedlok I sal conioyn hir thar,
To be his propir spous for euermair:
Apon this wys thar wedding salbe wrocht.
Affermys all hir wil, contrarying nocht,
Of Cetheron Venus the goddes brycht,
Lauchyng scho fund had so controvit a slycht.

Furth of the sey, with this, the dawyng spryngis.
As Phebus rays, fast to the ȝettis thringis
The chos gallandis, and huntmen thame besyde,
With ralys and with nettys strang and wyde,
And huntyng sperys styf with hedis braid:
From Massillyne horsmen thik thiddir raid,
With rynnyng hundis, a full huge sort.
Nobillys of Cartage, hovand at the port,
The Queyn awatys that lang in chawmyr dwellys:
Hyr fers steyd stude stampyng, reddy ellys,
Rungeand the fomy goldyn byt gynglyng;
Of gold and pal wrocht hys rych harnasyng:
And scho, at last, of palyce yschit owt,
With huge menȝe walking hir abowt,
Lappyt in a brusyt mantill of Sydony,
With gold and perle the bordour al bewry,
Hyngand by hir syde the cays with arowis grund;
Hir bricht tressis envolupyt war and wond
Intil a quayf of fyne gold wyrin threid;
The goldyn button claspyt hir purpour weid:
And furth scho passyt with all hir cumpany.
The Troiane pepill forgaderit by and by,
Joly and glaid the fresch Ascanyus ȝyng.
Bot first of all, maist gudly, hym self thar kyng
Enee gan entir in falloschip, but dout,
And onto thame adionyt hys large rowt.
Lyke quhen Apollo list depart or ga
Furth of hys wyntring realm of Lysya,
And leif the flude Exanthus for a quhile,
To vissy Delos, his moderis land and ile,
Renowand ryngis and dansys, mony a rowt;
Mixt togiddir, hys altaris standing about,
The pepil of Creit, and thame of Driopes,
And eik the payntit folkis Agathirces,
Schowtand on thar gys with clamour and vocis hie:
Apon thi top, mont Cynthus, walkis he,
Hys wavand haris, sum tyme, doyng doun thryng
With a soft garland of lawrer sweit smellyng;
And vmquhile thame gan balmyng and enoynt,
And into gold addres, at full gude poynt;
Hys grundyn dartis clattering by hys syde.
Als fresch, als lusty dyd Eneas ryde;
With als gret bewte in hys lordly face.
And eftyr thai ar cummyn to the chace,
Amang the montanys in the wild forest,
The rynnyng hundis of cuppillys sone thai kest,
And our the clewys and the holtis, belyve,
The wild beistis doun to the dail thai dryve.
Lo! thar the rays, rynnyng swyft as fyre,
Drevyn from the hyghtis, brekkis out at the swyre:
Ane othir part, syne ȝondyr mycht thou se
The herd of hartis with thar hedis hie,
Ourspynnerand with swyft cours the plane vaill,
The hepe of duste vpstowryng at thair taill,
Fleand the hundis, levand the hie montanys.
And Ascanyus, the child, amyd the planys,
Joyus and blith hys startling steid to assay,
Now makis his rynk ȝondir, and now this way
Now prekis furth by thir, and now by thame;
Langyng, amang faynt frayt beistis ontame,
The fomy bair, doun from the hyllis hycht,
Or the dun lyoun discend, recontyr he mycht.
In the meyn quhile, the hevynnys al about
With fellon noys gan to rummyll and rowt.
A bub of weddir followyt in the tayll,
Thik schour of rayn myddillit ful of haill.
The Tyriane menȝe skales wydequhar,
And al the gallandis of Troy fled heir and thar;
And eik with thame the ȝong Ascanyus,
Nevo to kyng Dardan and to Venus.
For feir, to diuers stedis throu the feildis,
Thai seik to haldis, howsis, hyrnys and beildis:
The ryveris rudly ruschit our hillis bedene.
Within a cave is entrit Dido queyn,
And eik the Troiane duke, al thame alane,
By aventur, as thai eschewyt the rane.
Erth, the first moder, maid a takyn of wo,
And eik of wedlok the pronuba Juno,
And of thar cuplyng wittering schew the ayr:
The flambe of fyreslaucht lychtnyt heir and thar
And on the hillys hie toppis, but les,
Sat murnand nymphis, hait Oreades.
This wes the formaste day of hir glaidnes,
And first morrow of hir wofull distres.
For nother the fasson nor the maner sche
Attendis now, nor fame, ne honeste;
Ne, from thens furthwart, Dido ony mor
Musis on lufe secrete, as of befor,
Bot clepis it spousage; and, with that fayr name,
Clokyt and hyd hir cryme of oppyn schame.