The Æneid of Virgil Translated Into Scottish Verse. Gawin Douglas
ful of sense
The sacrifyce scho offerit, in hir presence,
A grisly thyng to tell, scho gan behald
In blak adyll the hallowyt watir cald
Changyt and altyr, and furthȝet wynys gude,
Onon returnyt into laithly blude.
This visioun sche to nane reveil wald,
Nor ȝyt to An, hir deir systir, it tald.
In wirschip eik, within hir palyce ȝet,
Of hir first husband, was a tempil bet
Of marbill, and hald in ful gret reverens,
With snaw quhite bendis, carpettis, and ensens,
And festuale burgeonys arrayt, on thar gys:
Tharin was hard vocis, spech, and cryis
Of hir said spous, clepand hir ful lowd,
Evir quhen the dyrk nycht dyd the erth schrowd;
And oft with wild scryke the nycht owle,
Heich on the rufe, alane, was hard ȝowle
With langsum voce and a ful petuus beir.
And eik bygane the feirful sawis seyr
Of the dyvynys, with terribil monysyngis,
Affrayt hir by mony grysly syngis.
And in hir sleip, wod wroth, in euery place
Hir semyt cruel Eneas gan hir chace;
And evir, hir thocht, scho was left al alane,
And, but cumpany, mony far way had gane,
To seik hir folkis in a wilsum land.
Lyke kyng Pentheus, in his wod rage dotand,
Thocht he beheld gret rowtis stand in staill
Of the Ewmenydes, fureys infernale,
And in the lyft twa sonnys schynand cleir;
The cite of Thebes gan dowbil to hym appeir:
Or lyke Orestes, son of Agamenon,
On theatreis, in farcis mony one,
Rowpyt and sung how he his moder fled,
With fyre brondis and blak serpentis ourcled,
And saw the furyis, and grisly goddis fed,
Sittand in the tempill port to wrek hir ded.
CAP. IX
Quhou Dydo queyn, hir purpos to covert, Of enchantment dyd contyrfait the art.
Thus quhen Dydo had caucht this frenasy,
Ourset with sorow and syk fantasy,
And determyt fermly that scho wald de;
The tyme quhen, and maner quhou it suld be,
Compasyng in hir breist, but mair abaid
Onto hir dolorus systir thus scho sayd,
Hir purpos by hir vissage dissymuland,
Schawand by hir cheir gude hope and glad sembland:
Systir germane, quod scho, away ȝour smart;
Beys of ȝour systeris weilfar glaid in hart.
I haue the way fundyn, quharby ȝone syre
Salbe to me rendryt at my desyre,
Or me delyvir from hys lufe al fre.
Neyr by the end of the gret occiane see,
Thar as the son declynys and goys doun,
At the far syde of Ethiope regioun,
A place thar is, quhar that the huge Atlas
On schuldyr rollys the round speir in cumpas,
Full of thir lemand starnys, as we se:
Thar dwellys, systir, as it is schaw to me,
Ane haly nun, a ful gret prophetes,
Born of the pepill of Massylyne, I ges,
And wardane of the ryal tempil, thai sa,
Set in the gardyngis hecht Hesperida,
And to the walkryfe dragon mete gave sche,
That kepyt the goldyn apyllis in the tre,
Strynkland to hym the wak hunny sweit,
And sleipryfe chesbow seyd, to quykkyn his spreit.
This woman hechtis, with hir enchantmentis,
From luffis bandis to lows al thar ententis
Quham so hir lyst, and bynd other sum alsso
In langsum amouris vehement payn and wo:
The rynnand fludis thar watir stop kan scho mak,
And eik the starnys turn thar cours abak;
And on the nycht the ded gastis assemmyll:
Vndir thi feyt the erd rayr and trymmyll
Thou most se, throw hir incantatioun,
And from the hillys treys discendyng down.
To wytnes the gret goddis draw I heyr,
And thy sweit hed, myne awyn systir deir,
Agane my wil, ful sayr constrenyt am I
Art magyk to excers or sossory.
Richt secretly intil our innar clos,
Vndir the oppyn sky, to this purpos
Pas on, and of treys thou byg a byng
To be a fyre, and tharapon thou hyng
Ȝon mannys sword, quhilk that wikkyt wight
Left stykand in our chawmyr this hyndir nyght;
Hys cote armour, and othir clethyng all,
And eik that maist wrachit bed coniugall,
Quharin I perychit and wes schent, allace!
For so the religyus commandyt has,
To omdo and distroy al maner thyng
Quhilk may ȝon wareit man to memor bring.
This sayd, scho held hir tong; and tharwithall
Hir vissage wolx als pail as ony wall.
Thocht Annes wenyt not hir systir wald
Graith sacryfice for hir ded body cald,
Nor that syk fury was in hyr breist consavyt;
For by na resson dred sche, nor persavyt
Now mor displesour or harmys apperand
Than for Sycheus ded, hir first husband:
Quharfor, scho hes hir command done ilk deill.
Bot quhen the gret byng was vp beildit weill
Of ayk treys and fyrryn schydis dry,
Within the secrete clos, vndyr the sky,
The place with flowris and garlandis stentis the queyn,
And crownys about with funerale bewis greyn:
Abuf the mowe the forsaid bed was maid,
Quharin the figur of Ene scho layd,
Hys clethyng, and hys sword at he had left,
Ramembryng weill the thyng that followyt eft.
Feill altaris stude about the fyre funerale,
And the religyus nun, with hair down skaill,
Thre hundreth goddis with hir mouth rowpyt sche;
Herebus, the grysly of the deyp hellys see,
Chaos, confoundar of Elymentis, alssua,
And the thrynfald goddes Proserpina,
The thre figuris of