Richibi’s Weblog

    “Dawn“ (1873) 

 

           Fyodor Vasilyev

 

                     _______

 

 

 

                Thus did the God th’ unwary youth advise; 

 

Helios / Phoebus / Apollo tells his

son Phaeton, th’ unwary youth, 

that he shouldn’t try to ride the 

Chariot of the Sun himself

                But he still longs to travel through the skies. 

 

Phaeton, however, is inclined to

disregard his father’s advice

                When the fond father (for in vain he pleads)
                At length to the Vulcanian Chariot leads. 

 

Vulcanian, of Vulcan, god of fire,

metal, metalworkers

 

Vulcan, according to Ovid here, 

built the Chariot of the Sun 

                A golden axle did the work uphold, 

 

the axle is the principal part, the 

beam between the wheels, that 

holds the chariot together, that 

did the work, which is to say

the chariot, uphold

                Gold was the beam, the wheels were orb’d with gold.
                The spokes in rows of silver pleas’d the sight,
                The seat with party-colour’d gems was bright; 

 

the chariot was made of precious 

metals and gems, was therefore 

bright, resplendent

 

                Apollo shin’d amid the glare of light. 

 

Apollo, Sun god, would surely, as 

well as the chariot, be radiant, 

glowing

 

note that the Sun god is called 

Apollo here, where earlier he’d

been called Phoebus, the Latin 

name replacing the Greek, but

upon further investigation I found

that it was Dryden who’d made 

the switch, Ovid had called the 

Sun god Phoebus in the original

Latin text

                The youth with secret joy the work surveys, 

 

Phaeton is beside himself, eager 

with anticipation

                When now the moon disclos’d her purple rays; 

 

purple rays, tinged with the colours 

of dawn

 

see above

                The stars were fled, for Lucifer had chased
                The stars away, and fled himself at last. 

 

Lucifer, the Morning Star, the

planet Venus, as it appears in 

the East before sunrise

having suspected Dryden of having

replaced with Lucifer another name 

from the original Latin text, I was 

surprised to discover that Lucifer

had been indeed translated faithfully 

from Ovid’s poem, which means that 

the Christian name we’re familiar 

with as another name for Satan has 

to have been adopted from the 

Ancients and modified to fit the new 

Christian mythology, the biblical

narrative 

Lucifer, a god in his own right in

Antiquity, had been the son of 

Aurora, goddess of the Dawn

 

do you love it

                Soon as the father saw the rosy morn,
                And the moon shining with a blunter horn, 

 

blunter, less incandescent, dulled

by the advancing light

 

horn, a lesser phase of the moon, 

when it is either waxing or waning, 

thus resembling a horn

                He bid the nimble Hours, without delay,
                Bring forth the steeds; the nimble Hours obey: 

 

the Hours, or Horae, goddesses 

of the Seasons, horae is the 

Greek word for seasons

                From their full racks the gen’rous steeds retire, 

 

retire, come away, from their stalls

in the stables

                Dropping ambrosial foams, and snorting fire. 

 

ambrosial, especially fragrant, or

tasty

                Still anxious for his son, the God of day,
                To make him proof against the burning ray,
                His temples with celestial ointment wet,
                Of sov’reign virtue to repel the heat; 

 

celestial ointment, ambrosia,

elixir of the gods

 

sov’reign virtue, exceedingly effective

attribute

                Then fix’d the beamy circle on his head, 

 

beamy circle, radiant halo of

solar rays

                And fetch’d a deep foreboding sigh, and said,
                “Take this at least, this last advice, my son,
                Keep a stiff rein, and move but gently on:
                The coursers of themselves will run too fast,
                Your art must be to moderate their haste.
                Drive ’em not on directly through the skies,
                But where the Zodiac’s winding circle lies,
                Along the midmost Zone; but sally forth
                Nor to the distant south, nor stormy north.
                The horses’ hoofs a beaten track will show,
                But neither mount too high, nor sink too low.
                That no new fires, or Heav’n or Earth infest;
                Keep the mid way, the middle way is best.
                Nor, where in radiant folds the serpent twines,
                Direct your course, nor where the altar shines. 

 

serpent twines, serpentine, tortuous

entanglements

altar, probably alter, or other, light 

sources, the moon, for instance,

the Morning Star, do not be 

distracted by bright lights, 

Phoebus / Apollo advises

                Shun both extreams; the rest let Fortune guide, 
                And better for thee than thy self provide! 

 

Fortune, or Fortuna, goddess of Fate,

will be of greater help to you, Phoebus 

/ Apollo tells his son, than you, thy self,

can provide for yourself 

 

compare this last fatherly advice,

incidentally, to that of Polonius to

Laertes, his own son, act I, scene 

3, lines 55 to 81 in Shakespeare’s 

Hamlet, proof that Shakespeare 

was not only well acquainted 

with Ovid, but also much 

admired him

 

                See, while I speak, the shades disperse away,
                Aurora gives the promise of a day; 

 

Aurora, goddess of the Dawn

                I’m call’d, nor can I make a longer stay. 

 

I’m call’d, the time has come to 

mount the Chariot of the Sun, 

the morning breaks, I must, or

you must, in my stead, go

                Snatch up the reins; or still th’ attempt forsake,
                And not my chariot, but my counsel, take,
                While yet securely on the Earth you stand;
                Nor touch the horses with too rash a hand.
                Let me alone to light the world, while you
                Enjoy those beams which you may safely view.” 

 

should you choose to my counsel, take, 

from the Earth you may safely view my 

beams while I alone … light the world, 

Phoebus / Apollo implores his son

                He spoke in vain; the youth with active heat
                And sprightly vigour vaults into the seat;
                And joys to hold the reins, and fondly gives
                Those thanks his father with remorse receives.

 

for better, or for worse

 

stay tuned

 

 

R ! chard