I was startled to come across a familiar phrase in an unfamiliar context, towards the end of Book III. Vergil’s description of dawn,
Iamque rubescebat stellis Aurora fugatisis translated by Dryden as
“And now the rising morn with rosy lightand by Fagles as
Adorns the skies, and puts the stars to flight;
The dawn was a red glow now, putting stars to flightI found this a vivid reminder of the opening stanza of Edward Fitzgerald’s 1859 translation of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám:
Awake! for Morning in the Bowl of NightGoing back to Virgil, I found the image again in Book V, near the beginning:
Has flung the Stone that puts the Stars to Flight:
And Lo! the Hunter of the East has caught
The Sultán's Turret in a Noose of Light.
(FitzGerald's note: 'Flinging a Stone into the Cup was the Signal for "To Horse!" in the Desert')
Postero cum primo stellas oriente fugaratfor which Fagles repeats the same phrase as before
clara dies
And next,but Dryden varies it a bit
once day broke in the East and put the stars to flight,
Now, when the following morn had chas’d awayNow, there are only a few ways one can translate "stella" and "fugare", so it's not terribly surprising that Dryden and Fagles came up with similar phrases. But what about Fitzgerald and Khayyám? Admittedly it's not quite the same image - Virgil has Dawn chasing away the stars, where Fitzgerald adds the stone flung into a bowl. But it would be awfully attractive to draw a link between Virgil and the 11th century Persian poet.
The flying stars, and light restor’d the day,
Alas, I don't think the link is there. This excellent site looks into the original of each of the Rubáiyát, and here Quatrain 1 is examined. The original text , transliteration, and translation by Edward Heron-Allen who first published the Calcutta manuscript is as follows:
| خورشید کمند صبح بر بام افگند کیخسرو روز مهره در جام افگند می خور که منادیِ سحرگهخیزان آوازهٔ اشرابوا در ایّام افگند |
khorshid kamand-e sobh bar baam afgand keykhosrow-e ruz mohre dar jaam afgand mey khor ke monaadi-ye sahargahkhizaan aavaaze-ye eshrabu dar ayyaam afgand |
The Sun casts the noose of morning upon the roofs, Kai Khosrú of the day, he throws a stone into the bowl: "Drink wine!" for the Herald of the Dawn, rising up, Hurls into the days the cry of "Drink ye!" |
A number of other translations are available here.
| Whinfield, 1883 The sun doth smite the roofs with Orient ray And, Khosrau like, his wine-red sheen display; Arise, and drink! the herald of the dawn Uplifts his voice, and cries, "Oh, drink to-day!" |
Payne, 1898 The sun on the light the lasso of morn hath cast; The monarch of day the wine in the hom hath cast: Up, drink, for the crier of dawn, arising from sleep, His call on the air for the day newborn hath cast. |
Thompson, 1906 The Sun flings morning's noose o'er dome and tower, Day's king Khosrau, wine in the bowl doth pour; Drink! For the rising Herald of the Morn Greeting the days proclaims the dawning hour. |
It seems pretty clear that Fitzgerald's translation is rather free, and in fact uses only the first two lines of the original Persian. There is also some debate about whether it is a stone or wine that is put into the bowl - I'm with Fitzgerald and Heron-Allen, it seems to me much more likely to be a stone as a good-morning signal.
Alas, it also seems pretty clear that the stars are Fitzgerald's and not Khayyám's. Indeed, on reflection I think that the stars are a direct lift from Virgil via Dryden by Fitzgerald, rather than from Virgil by Khayyám. A bit of a shame, but I'm satisfied to have tracked it down.
