"Arms, and the man I sing"

Arms, and the man I sing, who, forc'd by fate,

And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate,

Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore.

Long labors, both by sea and land, he bore,

And in the doubtful war, before he won

The Latian realm, and built the destin'd town;

His banish'd gods restor'd to rites divine,

And settled sure succession in his line,

From whence the race of Alban fathers come,

And the long glories of majestic Rome.

O Muse! the causes and the crimes relate;

What goddess was provok'd, and whence her hate;

For what offense the Queen of Heav'n began

To persecute so brave, so just a man;

Involv'd his anxious life in endless cares,

Expos'd to wants, and hurried into wars!

Can heav'nly minds such high resentment show,

Or exercise their spite in human woe?

                                    —Virgil  (Virgilius Maro) (70–19 B.C.  )

                                                from The Aeneid, Book 1, Opening Lines                                                         
                                                   Translated by John Dryden (1631-1700)
                                                        Penguin Classics (1997)

COMMENTARY

“The order of history emerges from the history of order.” Eric Voegelin, Preface to Israel and Revelation,  vol 1 of Order and History,  ix.

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