The Æneids of Virgil, Done into English Verse

An epic narrative recounts a Trojan leader who, after his city's fall, leads a remnant on a divinely directed voyage seeking a new homeland. Facing divine hostility and human trials, he endures storms, tells of the city's destruction, forms a tragic bond with a foreign queen that is broken by duty, descends into the underworld to learn his people's destiny, and finally reaches Italy where he fights local peoples to secure a future community that will give rise to Rome. The poem spans twelve books, alternating travel episodes, intimate and political encounters, prophetic visions, and battles, while reflecting on fate, duty, pietas, and the human costs of founding an empire.