Virgil, Aeneid VII.44-45
Melphi speaks
Maior rerum mihi nascitur ordo,
maius opus moveo.
The priest translates
«A greater order of things is born for me; I set a greater work in motion.»
And interprets
It is no accident that this line came out for you: it announces a change of scale. Something is closing and something wider is about to begin, at work, in a relationship, in the way you look at your life. If you feel a little daunted, that is natural: every new chapter asks for more strength than the last. But the line is full of energy, not anxiety. It is the right time to raise your eyes, to accept a bigger commitment, to stop thinking of yourself as small. Just be careful not to set off unprepared: great works ask for order even before they ask for courage.
The historical translations
Annibal Caro (1581)
Ch’altr’ordine di cose, altro lavoro,
E maggior opra ordisco. Era signore,
Ch’altr’ordine di cose, altro lavoro,
E maggior opra ordisco. Era signore,
Theodore C. Williams (1910)
Events of grander march impel my song,
and loftier task I try. Latinus, then
Events of grander march impel my song,
and loftier task I try. Latinus, then
Source
Publius Vergilius Maro, Aeneis, ed. J. B. Greenough (1900)
Virgil, Aeneid VII.44-45