The Latin:
O nauis, referent in mare te noui
fluctus. O quid agis? Fortiter occupa
portum. Nonne uides ut
nudum remigio latus,
et malus celeri saucius Africo
antemnaque gemant ac sine funibus
uix durare carinae
possint imperiosius
aequor? Non tibi sunt integra lintea,
non di, quos iterum pressa uoces malo.
Quamuis Pontica pinus,
siluae filia nobilis,
iactes et genus et nomen inutile:
nil pictis timidus nauita puppibus
fidit. Tu, nisi uentis
debes ludibrium, caue.
Nuper sollicitum quae mihi taedium,
nunc desiderium curaque non leuis,
interfusa nitentis
uites aequora Cycladas.
The Translation:
Oh ship, new waves bring you back
on the sea. Oh, how do you fare?
Bravely take the harbor!
Do you not see the side, stripped of its oars,
and badly wounded by the swift Southwest,
the mast groaning and the keels
without binds, scarcely able to hold
the too-powerful waters?
You do not have sound sails,
no gods, to whom you call while badly pressed
Though you boast Pontic pine,
the noble sylvan daughter,
both its name and its race, it is useless
No wary sailor would sail on your painted
prow. You must beware, or else
you will be the wind's toy.
You, who before was vexing and dull to me,
is now my passion and my weighty care,
you must avoid the waters
between the glistening Cyclades
So in case you missed it in the title, this is actually a conceit, or an extended metaphor, specifically for Rome and its long Civil wars. I couldn't say why, but it seems to be a very popular metaphor to use. As I mentioned before in the Ode to Vergil, the opening storm in the Aeneid is also a metaphor for the Civil Wars. They must have felt really strongly about this metaphor, because Jesus Christ, they use it over and bloody over again.
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