Virgil, Aeneid XI.425-427
Melphi speaks
Multa dies variisque labor mutabilis aevi
rettulit in melius, multos alterna revisens
lusit et in solido rursus Fortuna locavit.
The priest translates
«Many things have been turned to the better by time and by the shifting toil of changing years; many has Fortune, visiting them by turns, mocked, and then set again on solid ground.»
And interprets
This verse is a hand on your shoulder. If you are going through a bad patch, a failure, a disappointment in love, a lost job, it may seem that everything is over and nothing can be mended. Melphi reminds you that the wheel turns: time and effort have set right many situations that seemed lost, and the fortune that mocks you today may tomorrow put you back on your feet on solid ground. This is not the moment to give in at the first blow. Be careful, however, not to confuse hope with stubbornness: waiting for things to change makes sense only if meanwhile you keep working, with patience and clear eyes.
The historical translations
Che la tromba si senta? A la giornata
Il tempo stesso, il varïar de’ casi,
L’industria, le vicende, il moto e ’l giuoco
Potria de la fortuna in molte guise,
Come suol l’altre cose, ancor le nostre,
Cangiando, risarcire, e porre in saldo.
Time and the toil of shifting, changeful days
restore lost causes; ebbing tides of chance
deceive us oft, which after at their flood
do lift us safe to shore. If aid come not