Expelled his kingdom; that the shore lies clear
Of foes, and homes are ready to our hand.
Ortygia's port we leave, and skim the mere;
Soon Naxos' Bacchanalian hills appear,
And past Olearos and Donysa, crowned
With trees, and Paros' snowy cliffs we steer.
Far-scattered shine the Cyclades renowned,
And clustering isles thick-sown in many a glittering sound.

XVIII. "Loud rise the shouts of sailors to the sky;
'Crete and our fathers,' rings for all to hear
The cry of oarsmen. Through the deep we fly;
Behind us sings the stern breeze loud and clear.
So to the shores of ancient Crete we steer.
There in glad haste I trace the wished-for town,
And call the walls 'Pergamea,' and cheer
My comrades, glorying in the name well-known,
The castled keep to raise, and guard the loved hearth-stone.

XIX. "Scarce stand the vessels hauled upon the beach,
And bent on marriages the young men vie
To till new settlements, while I to each
Due law dispense and dwelling place supply,
When from a tainted quarter of the sky
Rank vapours, gathering, on my comrades seize,
And a foul pestilence creeps down from high
On mortal limbs and standing crops and trees,
A season black with death, and pregnant with disease.

XX. "Sweet life from mortals fled; they drooped and died.
Fierce Sirius scorched the fields, and herbs and grain
Were parched, and food the wasting crops denied.
Once more Anchises bids us cross the main
And seek Ortygia, and the god constrain
By prayer to pardon and advise, what end
Of evils to expect? what woes remain?
What fate hereafter shall our steps attend?
What rest for toil-worn men, and whitherward to wend?

XXI. "'Twas night; on earth all creatures were asleep,
When lo! the figures of our gods, the same
Whom erst from falling Ilion o'er the deep
I brought, scarce rescued from the midmost flame,
Before me, sleepless for my country's shame,
Stood plain, in plenteousness of light confessed,
Where streaming through the sunken lattice came
The moon's full splendour, and their speech addressed,
And I in heart took comfort, hearing their behest.

XXII. "'Lo! what Apollo from Ortygia's shrine
Would sing, unasked he sends us to proclaim.
We who have followed o'er the billowy brine
Thee and thine arms, since Ilion sank in flame,
Will raise thy children to the stars, and