Quote#Nature
Arms, and the man I sing, who, forced by Fate
Quote byJohn Dryden · 1631–1700
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Works of Virgil (1697), Aeneis, Bk. I, ll. 1–4.
English (original)
Arms, and the man I sing, who, forced by Fate, And haughty Juno's unrelenting hate, Expell'd and exil'd, left the Trojan shore; Long labours both by sea and land he bore.
— John Dryden
More from John Dryden
But Shakespeare's magic could not copied be; Within that circle none durst walk but he.
All things are hush'd, as Nature's self lay dead, The Mountains seem to nod their drowsy head; The little Birds in dreams their Songs repeat, And sleeping Flowers, beneath the night-dew sweat; Even Lust and Envy sleep.
Thus all below is strength, and all above is grace.
An horrid stillness first invades the ear, And in that silence we the tempest fear.
So softly death succeeded life in her, She did but dream of heaven, and she was there.
Their heavenly harps a lower strain began, And in soft music mourn the fall of man.