Supreme ruler of gods, pity, I beg, The Arcadian king, and hear a father's prayer: If by thy will my son… — Virgil
Supreme ruler of gods, pity, I beg,
The Arcadian king, and hear a father's prayer:
If by thy will my son survives, and fate
Spares him, and if I live to see him still,
To meet him yet again, I pray for life;
There is no trouble I cannot endure.
But, Fortune, if you threaten some black day,
Now, now let me break off my bitter life
While all's in doubt, while hope of what's to come
Remains uncertain, while I hold you here,
Dear boy, my late delight, my only one—
And may no graver message ever come
To wound my ears.
At vos, o superi, et divum tu maxime rector
Juppiter, Arcadii, quaeso, miserescite regis
Et patrias audite preces: si numina vestra
Incolumem Pallanta mihi, si fata reseruant,
Si visurus eum vivo et venturus in unum:
Vitam oro, patiar quemvis durare laborem.
Sin aliquem infandum casum, Fortuna, minaris,
Nunc, nunc o liceat crudelem abrumpere vitam,
Dum curae ambiguae, dum spes incerta futuri,
Dum te, care puer, mea sola et sera voluptas,
Complexu teneo, gravior neu nuntius auris
Vulneret.
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