Virgil, Aeneid I.209
Melphi speaks
spem voltu simulat, premit altum corde dolorem.
The priest translates
«He feigns hope on his face, and presses his grief deep down in his heart.»
And interprets
This verse recognises you. Perhaps you are the one who keeps everyone’s spirits up, at home or at work, while inside you carry a weight you show to no one. Melphi admires your strength: there is nobility in not unloading your fears on others. But be careful: grief pressed down too long ends up making itself felt in your body, your mood, your sleep. You do not have to fall apart in front of everyone; it is enough to find at least one place, or one person, where you can set the mask down. Even those who hold others up need holding up.
The historical translations
Annibal Caro (1581)
Così dicendo a’ suoi, pieno in sè stesso
D’alti e gravi pensier, tenea velato
Con la fronte serena il cor doglioso.
Così dicendo a’ suoi, pieno in sè stesso
D’alti e gravi pensier, tenea velato
Con la fronte serena il cor doglioso.
Theodore C. Williams (1910)
Such was his word, but vexed with grief and care,
feigned hopes upon his forehead firm he wore,
and locked within his heart a hero's pain.
Such was his word, but vexed with grief and care,
feigned hopes upon his forehead firm he wore,
and locked within his heart a hero's pain.
Source
Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneis, ed. J. B. Greenough (1900)
Virgil, Aeneid I.209