Virgil, Aeneid VI.727
Melphi speaks
mens agitat molem et magno se corpore miscet.
The priest translates
«Mind sets the mass in motion and mingles with the great body.»
And interprets
This line tells you something simple: inside every great thing there is a thought that moves it. If lately you feel buried under a heap of commitments, a house to put in order, a job that looks like a mountain, the weight is not what decides. The mind you bring to it decides. You do not need to push harder; you need to understand what you truly want to move. When the intention is clear, even the heaviest matter starts to shift, a little at a time. Be careful not to mistake effort for meaning: find the meaning first, and the effort will grow lighter.
The historical translations
Annibal Caro (1581)
E regge un, che v’è dentro, o spirto o mente
O anima che sia de l’universo;
Che sparsa per lo tutto e per le parti
Di sì gran mole, di sè l’empie, e seco
Si volge, si rimescola e s’unisce.
E regge un, che v’è dentro, o spirto o mente
O anima che sia de l’universo;
Che sparsa per lo tutto e per le parti
Di sì gran mole, di sè l’empie, e seco
Si volge, si rimescola e s’unisce.
Theodore C. Williams (1910)
Are nourished by one Life; one primal Mind,
Immingled with the vast and general frame,
Fills every part and stirs the mighty whole.
Are nourished by one Life; one primal Mind,
Immingled with the vast and general frame,
Fills every part and stirs the mighty whole.
Source
Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneis, ed. J. B. Greenough (1900)
Virgil, Aeneid VI.727