Virgil, Aeneid VI.539
Melphi speaks
Nox ruit, Aenea; nos flendo ducimus horas.
The priest translates
«Night is rushing on, Aeneas; and we spend the hours weeping.»
And interprets
This line touches your shoulder gently. You have a right to your grief, your memories, your longing for what has been: no one takes them from you. But time is running, and a journey awaits you. If for weeks you have kept going back to the same wound, the same lost chance, the same person, perhaps it is time to lift your head. It does not mean forgetting; it means no longer letting the past eat the hours of the present. The days ahead of you are precious and will not come back. Weep as much as you need, then set out again: there is still road, and still light to reach.
The historical translations
Annibal Caro (1581)
Enea, già notte fassi, e noi piangendo
Consumiam l’ore. Ecco siam giunti al loco
Enea, già notte fassi, e noi piangendo
Consumiam l’ore. Ecco siam giunti al loco
Theodore C. Williams (1910)
But Sibyl spoke the warning: “Night speeds by,
And we, Aeneas, lose it in lamenting.
But Sibyl spoke the warning: “Night speeds by,
And we, Aeneas, lose it in lamenting.
Source
Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneis, ed. J. B. Greenough (1900)
Virgil, Aeneid VI.539