Analysis of Certain Books Of Virgil's AEneis: Book II
They whisted all, with fixed face attent,
When Prince AEneas from the royal seat
Thus gan to speak: O Queen, it is thy will
I should renew a woe cannot be told,
How that the Greeks did spoil and overthrow
The Phrygian wealth and wailful realm of Troy;
Those ruthful things that I myself beheld,
And whereof no small part fell to my share;
Which to express, who could refrain from tears?
What Myrmidon? or yet what Dolopes?
What stern Ulysses' waged soldier?
And lo! moist night now from the welkin falls,
And stars declining counsel us to rest.
But since so great is thy delight to hear
Of our mishaps and Troy last decay,
Though to record the same my mind abhors
And plaint eschews, yet thus will I begin.
The Greek chieftains, all irk'd with the war,
Wherein they wasted had so many years,
And oft repuls'd by fatal destiny,
A huge horse made, high raised like a hill,
By the divine science of Minerva,-
Of cloven fir compacted were his ribs,-
For their return a feigned sacrifice,-
The fame whereof so wander'd it at point.
In the dark bulk they clos'd bodies of men,
Chosen by lot, and did enstuff by stealth
The hollow womb with armed soldiers.
There stands in sight an isle hight Tenedon,
Rich and of fame while Priam's kingdom stood,
Now but a bay and road unsure for ship.
Hither them secretly the Greeks withdrew,
Shrouding themselves under the desert shore;
And weening we they had been fled and gone,
And with that wind had fet the land of Greece,
Troy{:e} discharg'd her long continued dole.
The gates cast up, we issued out to play,
The Greekish camp desirous to behold,
The places void and the forsaken coasts.
Here Pyrrhus' band, there fierce Achilles', pight;
Here rode their ships, there did their battles join.
Astonied some the scathful gift beheld,
Behight by vow unto the chaste Minerve,
All wond'ring at the hugeness of the horse.
And first of all Tim?tes gan advise
Within the walls to lead and draw the same,
And place it eke amid the palace court,-
Whether of guile, or Troyes fate it would.
Capys, with some of judgment more discreet,
Will'd it to drown, or underset with flame,
The suspect present of the Greek's deceit,
Or bore and gauge the hollow caves uncouth;
So diverse ran the giddy people's mind.
Lo! foremost of a rout that follow'd him,
Kindled La?n hasted from the tower,
Crying far off: 'O wretched citizens,
What so great kind of frenzy fretteth you?
Deem ye the Greeks, our enemies, to be gone?
Or any Greekish gifts can you suppose
Devoid of guile? Is so Ulysses known?
Either the Greeks are in this timber hid,
Or this an engine is to annoy our walls,
To view our towers, and overwhelm our town.
Here lurks some craft. Good Troyans, give no trust
Unto this horse, for, whatsoever it be,
I dread the Greeks, yea, when they offer gifts.'
Scheme | AABAXXAXCCDEAXFXG HXIBJXXAXXX GAXKHLXXFAXAXAJXXMAAAMAXA XDXKLXXAEXAIX |
---|---|
Poetic Form | |
Metre | 1111111 1110010101 1111111111 1101011011 110111010 0100101111 1111111 011111111 1101110111 11001111 11010110 011111011 0101010111 1111110111 110101101 1101011101 0101111101 011011101 0111011101 0101110100 011111101 1001101010 111010011 11010110 011110111 0011111011 101101111 01011110 11011111 101111101 1101010111 1011000101 1001100101 011111101 0111110111 1101010101 0111110111 011010101 0101000101 111110101 1111111101 110111 11110011 111101101 01111101 0101110101 0111010101 101111111 111110101 11111111 0011010101 1101010111 1011010101 111011101 10111010 1011110100 111111011 110110100111 110111101 0111110101 1001101101 111101101101 111010001101 111111111 1011101011 1101111101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,793 |
Words | 514 |
Sentences | 27 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 17, 11, 25, 13 |
Lines Amount | 66 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 542 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 126 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:37 min read
- 44 Views
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"Certain Books Of Virgil's AEneis: Book II" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/17387/certain-books-of-virgil%27s-aeneis%3A-book-ii>.
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