Translated by James Atkinson
TO instigate Taranto’s prince, to arm
His valiant people for the mighty shock,
And save his brother from impending harm,
Imprisoned by the foe, disastrous stroke!
Forth sailed the vessel, breathing round a charm,
And keeping well at sea from sand or rock;
The goddess sat, in gold and azure veiled,
Upon the poop, from man and heaven concealed.
Capraia and Gorgona having past,
She turns towards the left the glittering prow;
Leghorn, then Elba, famous for its vast
Ferruginous mines; and low Faleria now,
And Piombino are behind her cast;
Countries which still to Ocean’s monarch bow;
Where still the eagle, with triumphant wings,
O’er mountain, plain, and sea his shadow flings.
* * * * *
In troops the dolphins joyfully escort
The sparkling bark upon its easy way;
Smiling the sea-nymphs lightly dance and sport
On every side, unceasing in their play;
She sees the Umbroné issuing from its port,
And Giglio to the southward, and the spray
Washing the dark and ruinous sides of steep
Mount Argentarius, mid the Tuscan deep.
Here to the right before the wind she steers,
And on the left the port of Hercules
Recedes; Civita Vecchia now appears,
And all the glittering coast the goddess sees;
Then Porto di Trajano, worn by years,
In miserable ruins, dome and frieze
Time whelms the tower, dissolves the marble bust,
The noblest works become a heap of dust.
The Tiber was not distant, when arose
From sleep the South-wind, which in Lybia reigns,
And, rushing to the shore, indignant blows
Across the sea, and every check disdains;
He sees the silver sails and inward glows
With daring thoughts,—above the watery plains
He flies, to ask the lovely vessel’s freight,
And finds the Queen of Beauty there in state.
* * * * *
The low flat coast of Ostia had receded,
And Anzio risen to view, when Beauty’s Queen
The rumor heard, and saw how gust succeeded
O’erwhelming gust, and blackened all the scene;
She saw the nymphs, how fleetly they proceeded
From the vexed, angry sea, with fearful mien;
Disdainful then she threw her veil aside,
And showed herself to heaven in all her beauty’s pride.
* * * * *
With crimson gowns, and turbans on the head,
Nettun’s fair damsels on the beach are seen;
She passes close Astura, where betrayed
In his disastrous flight was Corradin.
God, for that deed, a punishment has laid
Upon the land, which from that time has been
Desert and waste; now Mount Circell appears,
His feet amidst the sea, his head to heaven he rears.
Onward she goes, and rapid leaves behind
Ponzia and Palmarola, where of yore
By tyrant Rome the illustrious were confined,
Secret and lonely. Scattered on the shore
Gleam various towers; before the buxom wind
Swift flies the vessel, now is seen no more
Dim Terracena; now remote is found
Upon the left Gäeta,—place renowned.
Gäeta now is passed, and sailing on
She gaineth Procida, steering near its coast;
And then Puzzolo, long familiar known
For its sulphureous streets; that too is lost;
Then cometh Nisida, with an emerald zone,
Whence is beheld bright Naples and its boast,
The glorious bay; and seemingly with glee
The Queen of Ocean greets the Goddess of the Sea.