Allecto's Black Light

Latin

Talibus Allecto dictis exarsit in iras,

at iuveni oranti subitus tremor occupat artus,

deriguere oculi: tot Erinys sibilat hydris

tantaque se facies aperit; tum flammea torquens

lumina cunctantem et quaerentem dicere plura

reppulit et geminos erexit crinibus anguis

verberaque insonuit rabidoque haec addidit ore:

“En ego victa situ, quam veri effeta senectus

arma inter regum falsa formidine ludit.

Respice ad haec: adsum dirarum ab sede sororum,

bella manu letumque gero.”

Sic effata facem iuveni coniecit et atro

lumine fumantis fixit sub pectore taedas.

Olli somnum ingens rumpit pavor, ossaque et artus

perfundit toto proruptus corpore sudor;

arma amens fremit, arma toro tectisque requirit;

saevit amor ferri et scelerata insania belli,

ira super: magno veluti cum flamma sonore

virgea suggeritur costis undantis aëni

exsultantque aestu latices, furit intus aquaï

fumidus atque alte spumis exuberat amnis,

nec iam se capit unda, volat vapor ater ad auras.

Ergo iter ad regem polluta pace Latinum

indicit primis iuvenum et iubet arma parari,

tutari Italiam, detrudere finibus hostem:

se satis ambobus Teucrisque venire Latinisque.

English Translation

And so he set Allecto’s wrath ablaze,

But fear snaked through the youth and seized his limbs;

His eyes froze: Raw Strife hissed through Hydral jaws; 

Her form unfurled. She fixed her fiery eyes,

And thrust him backward though he gaped and pled. 

Twin snakes emerged from Fury’s amber roots;

Whips crackled; words frothed from her rabid mouth:

“Behold me, weary, ‘whom Old Age derides' 

‘Of rumor scared,’ yet ‘barren of truth,’ ‘as kings contend;’

Look here: I’ve flown from Fury-sister depths,

And cradle wars and ruin in my palms.”

She spoke these words and hurled a firebrand

Of pitch pine; black light smoldered in his heart.

A panic breaks sweet sleep; and sticky sweat

Secretes he, drenching tendons through and bones. 

For arms he roars, mad, arms he clamors for

Beneath his pillow, within palace walls.

His lust for battle bubbles, wicked curse of war,

As twig-flames crown a cauldron carved of bronze

And liquid leaps up loudly; within streams             

Of steam seethe and sprout from the urn in spumes,                

Black smoke flies to the breezes, uncontained.             

With peace defiantly defiled, he shows the path

Toward King Latinus to his leading youth,

Commands they arm, guard Italy, and fend

Off foes; he’ll take on Troy and Latium both.