KOTLYAREVSKY, Ivan

Eneyida

Aeneas was a lively fellow
And quite a Cossack for a lad,
For mischief he was more than mellow
While courage above all he had.

But when the Greeks felt very bitter
And made of Troy a heap of litter
He took a bag, and with a lust -
With some good Troyans whom he gathered
Whose hides were tough and necks well lethered -
He showed old Troy a cloud of dust.

He quickly built some boats of timber,
Then launched them in the quiet sea
And filling them with muscle limber
He hit the foam where eyes could see.

But cackling Juno , dog- gone -daughter,
Kept cackling like a hen for water;
- That's how Aeneas lacked her grace -
A long long time she had been praying:
She wished his soul would stop delaying
The trip to that unearthly place.

Translation: W. Semenyna