"Seek not to know," the ghost replied with tears, "The sorrows of thy sons in future years. This youth (the… — Virgil
"Seek not to know," the ghost replied with tears,
"The sorrows of thy sons in future years.
This youth (the blissful vision of a day)
Shall just be shown on earth, and snatched away.
The gods too high had raised the Roman state:
Were but their gifts as permanent as great!
What groans of men shall fill the Martian field!
How fierce a blaze his flaming pile shall yield!
What funeral pomp shall floating Tiber see,
When, rising from his bed, he views the sad solemnity!
No youth shall equal hopes of glory give,
No youth afford so great a cause to grieve;
The Trojan honor, and the Roman boast,
Admired when living, and adored when lost!
Mirror of ancient faith in early youth!
Undaunted worth, inviolable truth!
No foe, unpunished, in the fighting field
Shall dare thee, foot to foot, with sword and shield;
Much less in arms oppose thy matchless force,
When thy sharp spurs shall urge thy foaming horse.
Ah! couldst thou break through fate's severe decree,
A new Marcellus shall arise in thee!"
O nate, ingentem luctum ne quaere tuorum;
Ostendent terris hunc tantum fata, neque ultra
Esse sinent. Nimium vobis Romana propago
Visa potens, Superi, propria haec si dona fuissent.
Quantos ille virum magnam Mavortis ad urbem
Campus aget gemitus, vel quae, liberine, videbis
Funera, cum tumulum praeterlabere recentem!
Nec puer Iliaca quisquam de gente Latinos
In tantum spe tollet avos, nec Romula quondam
Ullo se tantum tellus iactabit alumno.
Heu pietas, heu prisca fides, invictaque bello
Dextera! Non illi se quisquam impune tulisset
Obvius armato, seu cum pedes iret in hostem,
Seu spumantis equi foderet calcaribus armos.
Heu, miserande puer, si qua fata aspera rumpas,
Tu Marcellus eris.
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