[The hero speaks beneath tearful eyes]

O nymph please hear

The tedium of our fate

A procession of torment

Born in war and hate

.

Troy was our city

Fallen into ruin

Trojans are we sailors driven before

Winds of ill-fortune

.

Have you heard of Aeneas

Famous once

Blessed once

Of good name

.

My own household gods

Borne through many trials

Piously rescued from their foes

We brought them here under sails

.

To fruitful Italy we are bound

From heaven’s king I have fallen [1]

Harried by waves as by a hound

Twenty sails set out from Ilium [2]

Guided by Fate to whom I am bound

And my goddess-mother Love

But seven sail to be found

.

I stand distressed

Wandering the unknown

Exiled from Europe and Asia

My home

End 10

.

Notes

-0. Overall, much of this migratory epic can be seen as mere crass justification for Roman conquest and dominion, and it is. But, there is a real sense of wounded nomadism authentic in this account, which this reader takes as reflecting a deeper tradition that antedated the Roman state, as claimed in the text. The claim of Trojan descent, may be regarded as dubiously adopted to justify dominion over the Hellenic world, which is explicitly stated throughout the text.

-1. By descent, Aeneas, through Venus is understood to be a son of the Eternal God of Heaven, the Creator standing outside of Time. This is not so obvious to the modern mind, who has been taught religion on a materialistic basis. However, Arуan cosmology assigned much the same function to the pantheon of gods as Christians do to the chorus of angels, being messengers from beyond the field of Time, and like fallen angels, capable of disputing the Eternal Will.

-2. Troy