Pharsalia [Civil War] | Page 9

constellations sparkled through the
gloom: The pole was all afire, and torches flew Across the depths of

heaven; with horrid hair A blazing comet stretched from east to west
And threatened change to kingdoms. From the blue Pale lightning
flashed, and in the murky air The fire took divers shapes; a lance afar
Would seem to quiver or a misty torch; A noiseless thunderbolt from
cloudless sky Rushed down, and drawing fire in northern parts Plunged
on the summit of the Alban mount. The stars that run their courses in
the night Shone in full daylight; and the orbed moon, Hid by the shade
of earth, grew pale and wan. The sun himself, when poised in mid
career, Shrouded his burning car in blackest gloom And plunged the
world in darkness, so that men Despaired of day -- like as he veiled his
light From that fell banquet which Mycenae saw (21). The jaws of Etna
were agape with flame That rose not heavenwards, but headlong fell In
smoking stream upon the Italian flank. Then black Charybdis, from her
boundless depth, Threw up a gory sea. In piteous tones Howled the
wild dogs; the Vestal fire was snatched From off the altar; and the
flame that crowned The Latin festival was split in twain, As on the
Theban pyre (22), in ancient days; Earth tottered on its base: the mighty
Alps From off their summits shook th' eternal snow (23). In huge
upheaval Ocean raised his waves O'er Calpe's rock and Atlas' hoary
head. The native gods shed tears, and holy sweat Dropped from the
idols; gifts in temples fell: Foul birds defiled the day; beasts left the
woods And made their lair among the streets of Rome. All this we hear;
nay more: dumb oxen spake; Monsters were brought to birth and
mothers shrieked At their own offspring; words of dire import From
Cumae's prophetess were noised abroad. Bellona's priests with bleeding
arms, and slaves Of Cybele's worship, with ensanguined hair, Howled
chants of havoc and of woe to men. Arms clashed; and sounding in the
pathless woods Were heard strange voices; spirits walked the earth:
And dead men's ashes muttered from the urn. Those who live near the
walls desert their homes, For lo! with hissing serpents in her hair,
Waving in downward whirl a blazing pine, A fiend patrols the town,
like that which erst At Thebes urged on Agave (24), or which hurled
Lycurgus' bolts, or that which as he came From Hades seen, at haughty
Juno's word, Brought terror to the soul of Hercules. Trumpets like those
that summon armies forth Were heard re-echoing in the silent night:
And from the earth arising Sulla's (25) ghost Sang gloomy oracles, and
by Anio's wave All fled the homesteads, frighted by the shade Of

Marius waking from his broken tomb.
In such dismay they summon, as of yore, The Tuscan sages to the
nation's aid. Aruns, the eldest, leaving his abode In desolate Luca, came,
well versed in all The lore of omens; knowing what may mean The
flight of hovering bird, the pulse that beats In offered victims, and the
levin bolt. All monsters first, by most unnatural birth Brought into
being, in accursd flames He bids consume (26). Then round the walls
of Rome Each trembling citizen in turn proceeds. The priests, chief
guardians of the public faith, With holy sprinkling purge the open space
That borders on the wall; in sacred garb Follows the lesser crowd: the
Vestals come By priestess led with laurel crown bedecked, To whom
alone is given the right to see Minerva's effigy that came from Troy
(27). Next come the keepers of the sacred books And fate's predictions;
who from Almo's brook Bring back Cybebe laved; the augur too
Taught to observe sinister flight of birds; And those who serve the
banquets to the gods; And Titian brethren; and the priest of Mars,
Proud of the buckler that adorns his neck; By him the Flamen, on his
noble head The cap of office. While they tread the path That winds
around the walls, the aged seer Collects the thunderbolts that fell from
heaven, And lays them deep in earth, with muttered words Naming the
spot accursed. Next a steer, Picked for his swelling neck and beauteous
form, He leads to the altar, and with slanting knife Spreads on his brow
the meal, and pours the wine. The victim's struggles prove the gods
averse; But when the servers press upon his horns
He bends the knee and yields him to the blow. No crimson torrent
issued at the stroke, But from the wound a dark empoisoned stream
Ebbed slowly downward. Aruns at the sight Aghast, upon the entrails
of the beast Essayed to read the anger of the gods. Their very colour