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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, | 5 |
| 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. | |
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| Capraia and Gorgona having past, | |
| She turns towards the left the glittering prow; | 10 |
| 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, | 15 |
| 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; | 20 |
| 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. | |
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| Here to the right before the wind she steers, | 25 |
| 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; | 30 |
| Time whelms the tower, dissolves the marble bust, | |
| The noblest works become a heap of dust. | |
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| The Tiber was not distant, when arose | |
| From sleep the South-wind, which in Lybia reigns, | |
| And, rushing to the shore, indignant blows | 35 |
| 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. * * * * * | 40 |
| 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 | 45 |
| 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; | 50 |
| 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, | 55 |
| His feet amidst the sea, his head to heaven he rears. | |
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| 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 | 60 |
| 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. | |
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| Gäeta now is passed, and sailing on | 65 |
| 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, | 70 |
| The glorious bay; and seemingly with glee | |
| The Queen of Ocean greets the Goddess of the Sea. | |
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