Aeneid

Primary

But anxious cares already seiz'd the queen:

Primary

She fed within her veins a flame unseen;

Primary

The hero's valor, acts, and birth inspire

Primary

Her soul with love, and fan the secret fire.

Primary

His words, his looks, imprinted in her heart,

Primary

Improve the passion, and increase the smart.

Primary

Now, when the purple morn had chas'd away

Primary

The dewy shadows, and restor'd the day,

Primary

Her sister first with early care she sought,

Primary

And thus in mournful accents eas'd her thought:

Primary

"My dearest Anna, what new dreams affright

Primary

My lab'ring soul! what visions of the night

Primary

Disturb my quiet, and distract my breast

Primary

With strange ideas of our Trojan guest!

Primary

His worth, his actions, and majestic air,

Primary

A man descended from the gods declare.

Primary

Fear ever argues a degenerate kind;

Primary

His birth is well asserted by his mind.

Primary

Then, what he suffer'd, when by Fate betray'd!

Primary

What brave attempts for falling Troy he made!

Primary

Such were his looks, so gracefully he spoke,

Primary

That, were I not resolv'd against the yoke

Primary

Of hapless marriage, never to be curst

Primary

With second love, so fatal was my first,

Primary

To this one error I might yield again;

Primary

For, since Sichaeus was untimely slain,

Primary

This only man is able to subvert

Primary

The fix'd foundations of my stubborn heart.

Primary

And, to confess my frailty, to my shame,

Primary

Somewhat I find within, if not the same,

Primary

Too like the sparkles of my former flame.

Primary

But first let yawning earth a passage rend,

Primary

And let me thro' the dark abyss descend;

Primary

First let avenging Jove, with flames from high,

Primary

Drive down this body to the nether sky,

Primary

Condemn'd with ghosts in endless night to lie,

Primary

Before I break the plighted faith I gave!

Primary

No! he who had my vows shall ever have;

Primary

For, whom I lov'd on earth, I worship in the grave."

Primary

She said: the tears ran gushing from her eyes,

Primary

And stopp'd her speech. Her sister thus replies:

Primary

"O dearer than the vital air I breathe,

Primary

Will you to grief your blooming years bequeath,

Primary

Condemn'd to waste in woes your lonely life,

Primary

Without the joys of mother or of wife?

Primary

Think you these tears, this pompous train of woe,

Primary

Are known or valued by the ghosts below?

Primary

I grant that, while your sorrows yet were green,

Primary

It well became a woman, and a queen,

Primary

The vows of Tyrian princes to neglect,

Primary

To scorn Hyarbas, and his love reject,

Primary

With all the Libyan lords of mighty name;

Primary

But will you fight against a pleasing flame!

Primary

This little spot of land, which Heav'n bestows,

Primary

On ev'ry side is hemm'd with warlike foes;

Primary

Gaetulian cities here are spread around,

Primary

And fierce Numidians there your frontiers bound;

Primary

Here lies a barren waste of thirsty land,

Primary

And there the Syrtes raise the moving sand;

Primary

Barcaean troops besiege the narrow shore,

Primary

And from the sea Pygmalion threatens more.

Primary

Propitious Heav'n, and gracious Juno, lead

Primary

This wand'ring navy to your needful aid:

Primary

How will your empire spread, your city rise,

Primary

From such a union, and with such allies?

Primary

Implore the favor of the pow'rs above,

Primary

And leave the conduct of the rest to love.

Primary

Continue still your hospitable way,

Primary

And still invent occasions of their stay,

Primary

Till storms and winter winds shall cease to threat,

Primary

And planks and oars repair their shatter'd fleet."

Primary

These words, which from a friend and sister came,

Primary

With ease resolv'd the scruples of her fame,

Primary

And added fury to the kindled flame.

Primary

Inspir'd with hope, the project they pursue;

Primary

On ev'ry altar sacrifice renew:

Primary

A chosen ewe of two years old they pay

Primary

To Ceres, Bacchus, and the God of Day;

Primary

Preferring Juno's pow'r, for Juno ties

Primary

The nuptial knot and makes the marriage joys.

Primary

The beauteous queen before her altar stands,

Primary

And holds the golden goblet in her hands.

Primary

A milk-white heifer she with flow'rs adorns,

Primary

And pours the ruddy wine betwixt her horns;

Primary

And, while the priests with pray'r the gods invoke,

Primary

She feeds their altars with Sabaean smoke,

Primary

With hourly care the sacrifice renews,

Primary

And anxiously the panting entrails views.

Primary

What priestly rites, alas! what pious art,

Primary

What vows avail to cure a bleeding heart!

Primary

A gentle fire she feeds within her veins,

Primary

Where the soft god secure in silence reigns.

Primary

Sick with desire, and seeking him she loves,

Primary

From street to street the raving Dido roves.

Primary

So when the watchful shepherd, from the blind,

Primary

Wounds with a random shaft the careless hind,

Primary

Distracted with her pain she flies the woods,

Primary

Bounds o'er the lawn, and seeks the silent floods,

Primary

With fruitless care; for still the fatal dart

Primary

Sticks in her side, and rankles in her heart.

Primary

And now she leads the Trojan chief along

Primary

The lofty walls, amidst the busy throng;

Primary

Displays her Tyrian wealth, and rising town,

Primary

Which love, without his labor, makes his own.

Primary

This pomp she shows, to tempt her wand'ring guest;

Primary

Her falt'ring tongue forbids to speak the rest.

Primary

When day declines, and feasts renew the night,

Primary

Still on his face she feeds her famish'd sight;

Primary

She longs again to hear the prince relate

Primary

His own adventures and the Trojan fate.

Primary

He tells it o'er and o'er; but still in vain,

Primary

For still she begs to hear it once again.

Primary

The hearer on the speaker's mouth depends,

Primary

And thus the tragic story never ends.

Primary

Then, when they part, when Phoebe's paler light

Primary

Withdraws, and falling stars to sleep invite,

Primary

She last remains, when ev'ry guest is gone,

Primary

Sits on the bed he press'd, and sighs alone;

Primary

Absent, her absent hero sees and hears;

Primary

Or in her bosom young Ascanius bears,

Primary

And seeks the father's image in the child,

Primary

If love by likeness might be so beguil'd.

Primary

Meantime the rising tow'rs are at a stand;

Primary

No labors exercise the youthful band,

Primary

Nor use of arts, nor toils of arms they know;

Primary

The mole is left unfinish'd to the foe;

Primary

The mounds, the works, the walls, neglected lie,

Primary

Short of their promis'd heighth, that seem'd to threat the sky,

Primary

But when imperial Juno, from above,

Primary

Saw Dido fetter'd in the chains of love,

Primary

Hot with the venom which her veins inflam'd,

Primary

And by no sense of shame to be reclaim'd,

Primary

With soothing words to Venus she begun:

Primary

"High praises, endless honors, you have won,

Primary

And mighty trophies, with your worthy son!

Primary

Two gods a silly woman have undone!

Primary

Nor am I ignorant, you both suspect

Primary

This rising city, which my hands erect:

Primary

But shall celestial discord never cease?

Primary

'T is better ended in a lasting peace.

Primary

You stand possess'd of all your soul desir'd:

Primary

Poor Dido with consuming love is fir'd.

Primary

Your Trojan with my Tyrian let us join;

Primary

So Dido shall be yours, Aeneas mine:

Primary

One common kingdom, one united line.

Primary

Eliza shall a Dardan lord obey,

Primary

And lofty Carthage for a dow'r convey."

Primary

Then Venus, who her hidden fraud descried,

Primary

Which would the scepter of the world misguide

Primary

To Libyan shores, thus artfully replied:

Primary

"Who, but a fool, would wars with Juno choose,

Primary

And such alliance and such gifts refuse,

Primary

If Fortune with our joint desires comply?

Primary

The doubt is all from Jove and destiny;

Primary

Lest he forbid, with absolute command,

Primary

To mix the people in one common land-

Primary

Or will the Trojan and the Tyrian line

Primary

In lasting leagues and sure succession join?

Primary

But you, the partner of his bed and throne,

Primary

May move his mind; my wishes are your own."

Primary

"Mine," said imperial Juno, "be the care;

Primary

Time urges, now, to perfect this affair:

Primary

Attend my counsel, and the secret share.

Primary

When next the Sun his rising light displays,

Primary

And gilds the world below with purple rays,

Primary

The queen, Aeneas, and the Tyrian court

Primary

Shall to the shady woods, for sylvan game, resort.

Primary

There, while the huntsmen pitch their toils around,

Primary

And cheerful horns from side to side resound,

Primary

A pitchy cloud shall cover all the plain

Primary

With hail, and thunder, and tempestuous rain;

Primary

The fearful train shall take their speedy flight,

Primary

Dispers'd, and all involv'd in gloomy night;

Primary

One cave a grateful shelter shall afford

Primary

To the fair princess and the Trojan lord.

Primary

I will myself the bridal bed prepare,

Primary

If you, to bless the nuptials, will be there:

Primary

So shall their loves be crown'd with due delights,

Primary

And Hymen shall be present at the rites."

Primary

The Queen of Love consents, and closely smiles

Primary

At her vain project, and discover'd wiles.

Primary

The rosy morn was risen from the main,

Primary

And horns and hounds awake the princely train:

Primary

They issue early thro' the city gate,

Primary

Where the more wakeful huntsmen ready wait,

Primary

With nets, and toils, and darts, beside the force

Primary

Of Spartan dogs, and swift Massylian horse.

Primary

The Tyrian peers and officers of state

Primary

For the slow queen in antechambers wait;

Primary

Her lofty courser, in the court below,

Primary

Who his majestic rider seems to know,

Primary

Proud of his purple trappings, paws the ground,

Primary

And champs the golden bit, and spreads the foam around.

Primary

The queen at length appears; on either hand

Primary

The brawny guards in martial order stand.

Primary

A flow'r'd simar with golden fringe she wore,

Primary

And at her back a golden quiver bore;

Primary

Her flowing hair a golden caul restrains,

Primary

A golden clasp the Tyrian robe sustains.

Primary

Then young Ascanius, with a sprightly grace,

Primary

Leads on the Trojan youth to view the chase.

Primary

But far above the rest in beauty shines

Primary

The great Aeneas, the troop he joins;

Primary

Like fair Apollo, when he leaves the frost

Primary

Of wint'ry Xanthus, and the Lycian coast,

Primary

When to his native Delos he resorts,

Primary

Ordains the dances, and renews the sports;

Primary

Where painted Scythians, mix'd with Cretan bands,

Primary

Before the joyful altars join their hands:

Primary

Himself, on Cynthus walking, sees below

Primary

The merry madness of the sacred show.

Primary

Green wreaths of bays his length of hair inclose;

Primary

A golden fillet binds his awful brows;

Primary

His quiver sounds: not less the prince is seen

Primary

In manly presence, or in lofty mien.

Primary

Now had they reach'd the hills, and storm'd the seat

Primary

Of salvage beasts, in dens, their last retreat.

Primary

The cry pursues the mountain goats: they bound

Primary

From rock to rock, and keep the craggy ground;

Primary

Quite otherwise the stags, a trembling train,

Primary

In herds unsingled, scour the dusty plain,

Primary

And a long chase in open view maintain.

Primary

The glad Ascanius, as his courser guides,

Primary

Spurs thro' the vale, and these and those outrides.

Primary

His horse's flanks and sides are forc'd to feel

Primary

The clanking lash, and goring of the steel.

Primary

Impatiently he views the feeble prey,

Primary

Wishing some nobler beast to cross his way,

Primary

And rather would the tusky boar attend,

Primary

Or see the tawny lion downward bend.

Primary

Meantime, the gath'ring clouds obscure the skies:

Primary

From pole to pole the forky lightning flies;

Primary

The rattling thunders roll; and Juno pours

Primary

A wintry deluge down, and sounding show'rs.

Primary

The company, dispers'd, to converts ride,

Primary

And seek the homely cots, or mountain's hollow side.

Primary

The rapid rains, descending from the hills,

Primary

To rolling torrents raise the creeping rills.

Primary

The queen and prince, as love or fortune guides,

Primary

One common cavern in her bosom hides.

Primary

Then first the trembling earth the signal gave,

Primary

And flashing fires enlighten all the cave;

Primary

Hell from below, and Juno from above,

Primary

And howling nymphs, were conscious of their love.

Primary

From this ill-omen'd hour in time arose

Primary

Debate and death, and all succeeding woes.

Primary

The queen, whom sense of honor could not move,

Primary

No longer made a secret of her love,

Primary

But call'd it marriage, by that specious name

Primary

To veil the crime and sanctify the shame.

Primary

The loud report thro' Libyan cities goes.

Primary

Fame, the great ill, from small beginnings grows:

Primary

Swift from the first; and ev'ry moment brings

Primary

New vigor to her flights, new pinions to her wings.

Primary

Soon grows the pigmy to gigantic size;

Primary

Her feet on earth, her forehead in the skies.

Primary

Inrag'd against the gods, revengeful Earth

Primary

Produc'd her last of the Titanian birth.

Primary

Swift is her walk, more swift her winged haste:

Primary

A monstrous phantom, horrible and vast.

Primary

As many plumes as raise her lofty flight,

Primary

So many piercing eyes inlarge her sight;

Primary

Millions of opening mouths to Fame belong,

Primary

And ev'ry mouth is furnish'd with a tongue,

Primary

And round with list'ning ears the flying plague is hung.

Primary

She fills the peaceful universe with cries;

Primary

No slumbers ever close her wakeful eyes;

Primary

By day, from lofty tow'rs her head she shews,

Primary

And spreads thro' trembling crowds disastrous news;

Primary

With court informers haunts, and royal spies;

Primary

Things done relates, not done she feigns, and mingles truth with

Primary

lies.

Primary

Talk is her business, and her chief delight

Primary

To tell of prodigies and cause affright.

Primary

She fills the people's ears with Dido's name,

Primary

Who, lost to honor and the sense of shame,

Primary

Admits into her throne and nuptial bed

Primary

A wand'ring guest, who from his country fled:

Primary

Whole days with him she passes in delights,

Primary

And wastes in luxury long winter nights,

Primary

Forgetful of her fame and royal trust,

Primary

Dissolv'd in ease, abandon'd to her lust.

Primary

The goddess widely spreads the loud report,

Primary

And flies at length to King Hyarba's court.

Primary

When first possess'd with this unwelcome news

Primary

Whom did he not of men and gods accuse?

Primary

This prince, from ravish'd Garamantis born,

Primary

A hundred temples did with spoils adorn,

Primary

In Ammon's honor, his celestial sire;

Primary

A hundred altars fed with wakeful fire;

Primary

And, thro' his vast dominions, priests ordain'd,

Primary

Whose watchful care these holy rites maintain'd.

Primary

The gates and columns were with garlands crown'd,

Primary

And blood of victim beasts enrich'd the ground.

Primary

He, when he heard a fugitive could move

Primary

The Tyrian princess, who disdain'd his love,

Primary

His breast with fury burn'd, his eyes with fire,

Primary

Mad with despair, impatient with desire;

Primary

Then on the sacred altars pouring wine,

Primary

He thus with pray'rs implor'd his sire divine:

Primary

"Great Jove! propitious to the Moorish race,

Primary

Who feast on painted beds, with off'rings grace

Primary

Thy temples, and adore thy pow'r divine

Primary

With blood of victims, and with sparkling wine,

Primary

Seest thou not this? or do we fear in vain

Primary

Thy boasted thunder, and thy thoughtless reign?

Primary

Do thy broad hands the forky lightnings lance?

Primary

Thine are the bolts, or the blind work of chance?

Primary

A wand'ring woman builds, within our state,

Primary

A little town, bought at an easy rate;

Primary

She pays me homage, and my grants allow

Primary

A narrow space of Libyan lands to plow;

Primary

Yet, scorning me, by passion blindly led,

Primary

Admits a banish'd Trojan to her bed!

Primary

And now this other Paris, with his train

Primary

Of conquer'd cowards, must in Afric reign!

Primary

(Whom, what they are, their looks and garb confess,

Primary

Their locks with oil perfum'd, their Lydian dress.)

Primary

He takes the spoil, enjoys the princely dame;

Primary

And I, rejected I, adore an empty name."

Primary

His vows, in haughty terms, he thus preferr'd,

Primary

And held his altar's horns. The mighty Thund'rer heard;

Primary

Then cast his eyes on Carthage, where he found

Primary

The lustful pair in lawless pleasure drown'd,

Primary

Lost in their loves, insensible of shame,

Primary

And both forgetful of their better fame.

Primary

He calls Cyllenius, and the god attends,

Primary

By whom his menacing command he sends:

Primary

"Go, mount the western winds, and cleave the sky;

Primary

Then, with a swift descent, to Carthage fly:

Primary

There find the Trojan chief, who wastes his days

Primary

In slothful not and inglorious ease,

Primary

Nor minds the future city, giv'n by fate.

Primary

To him this message from my mouth relate:

Primary

'Not so fair Venus hop'd, when twice she won

Primary

Thy life with pray'rs, nor promis'd such a son.

Primary

Hers was a hero, destin'd to command

Primary

A martial race, and rule the Latian land,

Primary

Who should his ancient line from Teucer draw,

Primary

And on the conquer'd world impose the law.'

Primary

If glory cannot move a mind so mean,

Primary

Nor future praise from fading pleasure wean,

Primary

Yet why should he defraud his son of fame,

Primary

And grudge the Romans their immortal name!

Primary

What are his vain designs! what hopes he more

Primary

From his long ling'ring on a hostile shore,

Primary

Regardless to redeem his honor lost,

Primary

And for his race to gain th' Ausonian coast!

Primary

Bid him with speed the Tyrian court forsake;

Primary

With this command the slumb'ring warrior wake."

Primary

Hermes obeys; with golden pinions binds

Primary

His flying feet, and mounts the western winds:

Primary

And, whether o'er the seas or earth he flies,

Primary

With rapid force they bear him down the skies.

Primary

But first he grasps within his awful hand

Primary

The mark of sov'reign pow'r, his magic wand;

Primary

With this he draws the ghosts from hollow graves;

Primary

With this he drives them down the Stygian waves;

Primary

With this he seals in sleep the wakeful sight,

Primary

And eyes, tho' clos'd in death, restores to light.

Primary

Thus arm'd, the god begins his airy race,

Primary

And drives the racking clouds along the liquid space;

Primary

Now sees the tops of Atlas, as he flies,

Primary

Whose brawny back supports the starry skies;

Primary

Atlas, whose head, with piny forests crown'd,

Primary

Is beaten by the winds, with foggy vapors bound.

Primary

Snows hide his shoulders; from beneath his chin

Primary

The founts of rolling streams their race begin;

Primary

A beard of ice on his large breast depends.

Primary

Here, pois'd upon his wings, the god descends:

Primary

Then, rested thus, he from the tow'ring height

Primary

Plung'd downward, with precipitated flight,

Primary

Lights on the seas, and skims along the flood.

Primary

As waterfowl, who seek their fishy food,

Primary

Less, and yet less, to distant prospect show;

Primary

By turns they dance aloft, and dive below:

Primary

Like these, the steerage of his wings he plies,

Primary

And near the surface of the water flies,

Primary

Till, having pass'd the seas, and cross'd the sands,

Primary

He clos'd his wings, and stoop'd on Libyan lands:

Primary

Where shepherds once were hous'd in homely sheds,

Primary

Now tow'rs within the clouds advance their heads.

Primary

Arriving there, he found the Trojan prince

Primary

New ramparts raising for the town's defense.

Primary

A purple scarf, with gold embroider'd o'er,

Primary

(Queen Dido's gift,) about his waist he wore;

Primary

A sword, with glitt'ring gems diversified,

Primary

For ornament, not use, hung idly by his side.

Primary

Then thus, with winged words, the god began,

Primary

Resuming his own shape: "Degenerate man,

Primary

Thou woman's property, what mak'st thou here,

Primary

These foreign walls and Tyrian tow'rs to rear,

Primary

Forgetful of thy own? All-pow'rful Jove,

Primary

Who sways the world below and heav'n above,

Primary

Has sent me down with this severe command:

Primary

What means thy ling'ring in the Libyan land?

Primary

If glory cannot move a mind so mean,

Primary

Nor future praise from flitting pleasure wean,

Primary

Regard the fortunes of thy rising heir:

Primary

The promis'd crown let young Ascanius wear,

Primary

To whom th' Ausonian scepter, and the state

Primary

Of Rome's imperial name is ow'd by fate."

Primary

So spoke the god; and, speaking, took his flight,

Primary

Involv'd in clouds, and vanish'd out of sight.

Primary

The pious prince was seiz'd with sudden fear;

Primary

Mute was his tongue, and upright stood his hair.

Primary

Revolving in his mind the stern command,

Primary

He longs to fly, and loathes the charming land.

Primary

What should he say? or how should he begin?

Primary

What course, alas! remains to steer between

Primary

Th' offended lover and the pow'rful queen?

Primary

This way and that he turns his anxious mind,

Primary

And all expedients tries, and none can find.

Primary

Fix'd on the deed, but doubtful of the means,

Primary

After long thought, to this advice he leans:

Primary

Three chiefs he calls, commands them to repair

Primary

The fleet, and ship their men with silent care;

Primary

Some plausible pretense he bids them find,

Primary

To color what in secret he design'd.

Primary

Himself, meantime, the softest hours would choose,

Primary

Before the love-sick lady heard the news;

Primary

And move her tender mind, by slow degrees,

Primary

To suffer what the sov'reign pow'r decrees:

Primary

Jove will inspire him, when, and what to say.

Primary

They hear with pleasure, and with haste obey.

Primary

But soon the queen perceives the thin disguise:

Primary

(What arts can blind a jealous woman's eyes!)

Primary

She was the first to find the secret fraud,

Primary

Before the fatal news was blaz'd abroad.

Primary

Love the first motions of the lover hears,

Primary

Quick to presage, and ev'n in safety fears.

Primary

Nor impious Fame was wanting to report

Primary

The ships repair'd, the Trojans' thick resort,

Primary

And purpose to forsake the Tyrian court.

Primary

Frantic with fear, impatient of the wound,

Primary

And impotent of mind, she roves the city round.

Primary

Less wild the Bacchanalian dames appear,

Primary

When, from afar, their nightly god they hear,

Primary

And howl about the hills, and shake the wreathy spear.

Primary

At length she finds the dear perfidious man;

Primary

Prevents his form'd excuse, and thus began:

Primary

"Base and ungrateful! could you hope to fly,

Primary

And undiscover'd scape a lover's eye?

Primary

Nor could my kindness your compassion move.

Primary

Nor plighted vows, nor dearer bands of love?

Primary

Or is the death of a despairing queen

Primary

Not worth preventing, tho' too well foreseen?

Primary

Ev'n when the wintry winds command your stay,

Primary

You dare the tempests, and defy the sea.

Primary

False as you are, suppose you were not bound

Primary

To lands unknown, and foreign coasts to sound;

Primary

Were Troy restor'd, and Priam's happy reign,

Primary

Now durst you tempt, for Troy, the raging main?

Primary

See whom you fly! am I the foe you shun?

Primary

Now, by those holy vows, so late begun,

Primary

By this right hand, (since I have nothing more

Primary

To challenge, but the faith you gave before;)

Primary

I beg you by these tears too truly shed,

Primary

By the new pleasures of our nuptial bed;

Primary

If ever Dido, when you most were kind,

Primary

Were pleasing in your eyes, or touch'd your mind;

Primary

By these my pray'rs, if pray'rs may yet have place,

Primary

Pity the fortunes of a falling race.

Primary

For you I have provok'd a tyrant's hate,

Primary

Incens'd the Libyan and the Tyrian state;

Primary

For you alone I suffer in my fame,

Primary

Bereft of honor, and expos'd to shame.

Primary

Whom have I now to trust, ungrateful guest?

Primary

(That only name remains of all the rest!)

Primary

What have I left? or whither can I fly?

Primary

Must I attend Pygmalion's cruelty,

Primary

Or till Hyarba shall in triumph lead

Primary

A queen that proudly scorn'd his proffer'd bed?

Primary

Had you deferr'd, at least, your hasty flight,

Primary

And left behind some pledge of our delight,

Primary

Some babe to bless the mother's mournful sight,

Primary

Some young Aeneas, to supply your place,

Primary

Whose features might express his father's face;

Primary

I should not then complain to live bereft

Primary

Of all my husband, or be wholly left."

Primary

Here paus'd the queen. Unmov'd he holds his eyes,

Primary

By Jove's command; nor suffer'd love to rise,

Primary

Tho' heaving in his heart; and thus at length replies:

Primary

"Fair queen, you never can enough repeat

Primary

Your boundless favors, or I own my debt;

Primary

Nor can my mind forget Eliza's name,

Primary

While vital breath inspires this mortal frame.

Primary

This only let me speak in my defense:

Primary

I never hop'd a secret flight from hence,

Primary

Much less pretended to the lawful claim

Primary

Of sacred nuptials, or a husband's name.

Primary

For, if indulgent Heav'n would leave me free,

Primary

And not submit my life to fate's decree,

Primary

My choice would lead me to the Trojan shore,

Primary

Those relics to review, their dust adore,

Primary

And Priam's ruin'd palace to restore.

Primary

But now the Delphian oracle commands,

Primary

And fate invites me to the Latian lands.

Primary

That is the promis'd place to which I steer,

Primary

And all my vows are terminated there.

Primary

If you, a Tyrian, and a stranger born,

Primary

With walls and tow'rs a Libyan town adorn,

Primary

Why may not we- like you, a foreign race-

Primary

Like you, seek shelter in a foreign place?

Primary

As often as the night obscures the skies

Primary

With humid shades, or twinkling stars arise,

Primary

Anchises' angry ghost in dreams appears,

Primary

Chides my delay, and fills my soul with fears;

Primary

And young Ascanius justly may complain

Primary

Of his defrauded and destin'd reign.

Primary

Ev'n now the herald of the gods appear'd:

Primary

Waking I saw him, and his message heard.

Primary

From Jove he came commission'd, heav'nly bright

Primary

With radiant beams, and manifest to sight

Primary

(The sender and the sent I both attest)

Primary

These walls he enter'd, and those words express'd.

Primary

Fair queen, oppose not what the gods command;

Primary

Forc'd by my fate, I leave your happy land."

Primary

Thus while he spoke, already she began,

Primary

With sparkling eyes, to view the guilty man;

Primary

From head to foot survey'd his person o'er,

Primary

Nor longer these outrageous threats forebore:

Primary

"False as thou art, and, more than false, forsworn!

Primary

Not sprung from noble blood, nor goddess-born,

Primary

But hewn from harden'd entrails of a rock!

Primary

And rough Hyrcanian tigers gave thee suck!

Primary

Why should I fawn? what have I worse to fear?

Primary

Did he once look, or lent a list'ning ear,

Primary

Sigh'd when I sobb'd, or shed one kindly tear?-

Primary

All symptoms of a base ungrateful mind,

Primary

So foul, that, which is worse, 'tis hard to find.

Primary

Of man's injustice why should I complain?

Primary

The gods, and Jove himself, behold in vain

Primary

Triumphant treason; yet no thunder flies,

Primary

Nor Juno views my wrongs with equal eyes;

Primary

Faithless is earth, and faithless are the skies!

Primary

Justice is fled, and Truth is now no more!

Primary

I sav'd the shipwrack'd exile on my shore;

Primary

With needful food his hungry Trojans fed;

Primary

I took the traitor to my throne and bed:

Primary

Fool that I was- 't is little to repeat

Primary

The rest- I stor'd and rigg'd his ruin'd fleet.

Primary

I rave, I rave! A god's command he pleads,

Primary

And makes Heav'n accessary to his deeds.

Primary

Now Lycian lots, and now the Delian god,

Primary

Now Hermes is employ'd from Jove's abode,

Primary

To warn him hence; as if the peaceful state

Primary

Of heav'nly pow'rs were touch'd with human fate!

Primary

But go! thy flight no longer I detain-

Primary

Go seek thy promis'd kingdom thro' the main!

Primary

Yet, if the heav'ns will hear my pious vow,

Primary

The faithless waves, not half so false as thou,

Primary

Or secret sands, shall sepulchers afford

Primary

To thy proud vessels, and their perjur'd lord.

Primary

Then shalt thou call on injur'd Dido's name:

Primary

Dido shall come in a black sulph'ry flame,

Primary

When death has once dissolv'd her mortal frame;

Primary

Shall smile to see the traitor vainly weep:

Primary

Her angry ghost, arising from the deep,

Primary

Shall haunt thee waking, and disturb thy sleep.

Primary

At least my shade thy punishment shall know,

Primary

And Fame shall spread the pleasing news below."

Primary

Abruptly here she stops; then turns away

Primary

Her loathing eyes, and shuns the sight of day.

Primary

Amaz'd he stood, revolving in his mind

Primary

What speech to frame, and what excuse to find.

Primary

Her fearful maids their fainting mistress led,

Primary

And softly laid her on her ivory bed.

Primary

But good Aeneas, tho' he much desir'd

Primary

To give that pity which her grief requir'd;

Primary

Tho' much he mourn'd, and labor'd with his love,

Primary

Resolv'd at length, obeys the will of Jove;

Primary

Reviews his forces: they with early care

Primary

Unmoor their vessels, and for sea prepare.

Primary

The fleet is soon afloat, in all its pride,

Primary

And well-calk'd galleys in the harbor ride.

Primary

Then oaks for oars they fell'd; or, as they stood,

Primary

Of its green arms despoil'd the growing wood,

Primary

Studious of flight. The beach is cover'd o'er

Primary

With Trojan bands, that blacken all the shore:

Primary

On ev'ry side are seen, descending down,

Primary

Thick swarms of soldiers, loaden from the town.

Primary

Thus, in battalia, march embodied ants,

Primary

Fearful of winter, and of future wants,

Primary

T' invade the corn, and to their cells convey

Primary

The plunder'd forage of their yellow prey.

Primary

The sable troops, along the narrow tracks,

Primary

Scarce bear the weighty burthen on their backs:

Primary

Some set their shoulders to the pond'rous grain;

Primary

Some guard the spoil; some lash the lagging train;

Primary

All ply their sev'ral tasks, and equal toil sustain.

Primary

What pangs the tender breast of Dido tore,

Primary

When, from the tow'r, she saw the cover'd shore,

Primary

And heard the shouts of sailors from afar,

Primary

Mix'd with the murmurs of the wat'ry war!

Primary

All-pow'rful Love! what changes canst thou cause

Primary

In human hearts, subjected to thy laws!

Primary

Once more her haughty soul the tyrant bends:

Primary

To pray'rs and mean submissions she descends.

Primary

No female arts or aids she left untried,

Primary

Nor counsels unexplor'd, before she died.

Primary

"Look, Anna! look! the Trojans crowd to sea;

Primary

They spread their canvas, and their anchors weigh.

Primary

The shouting crew their ships with garlands bind,

Primary

Invoke the sea gods, and invite the wind.

Primary

Could I have thought this threat'ning blow so near,

Primary

My tender soul had been forewarn'd to bear.

Primary

But do not you my last request deny;

Primary

With yon perfidious man your int'rest try,

Primary

And bring me news, if I must live or die.

Primary

You are his fav'rite; you alone can find

Primary

The dark recesses of his inmost mind:

Primary

In all his trusted secrets you have part,

Primary

And know the soft approaches to his heart.

Primary

Haste then, and humbly seek my haughty foe;

Primary

Tell him, I did not with the Grecians go,

Primary

Nor did my fleet against his friends employ,

Primary

Nor swore the ruin of unhappy Troy,

Primary

Nor mov'd with hands profane his father's dust:

Primary

Why should he then reject a just!

Primary

Whom does he shun, and whither would he fly!

Primary

Can he this last, this only pray'r deny!

Primary

Let him at least his dang'rous flight delay,

Primary

Wait better winds, and hope a calmer sea.

Primary

The nuptials he disclaims I urge no more:

Primary

Let him pursue the promis'd Latian shore.

Primary

A short delay is all I ask him now;

Primary

A pause of grief, an interval from woe,

Primary

Till my soft soul be temper'd to sustain

Primary

Accustom'd sorrows, and inur'd to pain.

Primary

If you in pity grant this one request,

Primary

My death shall glut the hatred of his breast."

Primary

This mournful message pious Anna bears,

Primary

And seconds with her own her sister's tears:

Primary

But all her arts are still employ'd in vain;

Primary

Again she comes, and is refus'd again.

Primary

His harden'd heart nor pray'rs nor threat'nings move;

Primary

Fate, and the god, had stopp'd his ears to love.

Primary

As, when the winds their airy quarrel try,

Primary

Justling from ev'ry quarter of the sky,

Primary

This way and that the mountain oak they bend,

Primary

His boughs they shatter, and his branches rend;

Primary

With leaves and falling mast they spread the ground;

Primary

The hollow valleys echo to the sound:

Primary

Unmov'd, the royal plant their fury mocks,

Primary

Or, shaken, clings more closely to the rocks;

Primary

Far as he shoots his tow'ring head on high,

Primary

So deep in earth his fix'd foundations lie.

Primary

No less a storm the Trojan hero bears;

Primary

Thick messages and loud complaints he hears,

Primary

And bandied words, still beating on his ears.

Primary

Sighs, groans, and tears proclaim his inward pains;

Primary

But the firm purpose of his heart remains.

Primary

The wretched queen, pursued by cruel fate,

Primary

Begins at length the light of heav'n to hate,

Primary

And loathes to live. Then dire portents she sees,

Primary

To hasten on the death her soul decrees:

Primary

Strange to relate! for when, before the shrine,

Primary

She pours in sacrifice the purple wine,

Primary

The purple wine is turn'd to putrid blood,

Primary

And the white offer'd milk converts to mud.

Primary

This dire presage, to her alone reveal'd,

Primary

From all, and ev'n her sister, she conceal'd.

Primary

A marble temple stood within the grove,

Primary

Sacred to death, and to her murther'd love;

Primary

That honor'd chapel she had hung around

Primary

With snowy fleeces, and with garlands crown'd:

Primary

Oft, when she visited this lonely dome,

Primary

Strange voices issued from her husband's tomb;

Primary

She thought she heard him summon her away,

Primary

Invite her to his grave, and chide her stay.

Primary

Hourly 't is heard, when with a boding note

Primary

The solitary screech owl strains her throat,

Primary

And, on a chimney's top, or turret's height,

Primary

With songs obscene disturbs the silence of the night.

Primary

Besides, old prophecies augment her fears;

Primary

And stern Aeneas in her dreams appears,

Primary

Disdainful as by day: she seems, alone,

Primary

To wander in her sleep, thro' ways unknown,

Primary

Guideless and dark; or, in a desart plain,

Primary

To seek her subjects, and to seek in vain:

Primary

Like Pentheus, when, distracted with his fear,

Primary

He saw two suns, and double Thebes, appear;

Primary

Or mad Orestes, when his mother's ghost

Primary

Full in his face infernal torches toss'd,

Primary

And shook her snaky locks: he shuns the sight,

Primary

Flies o'er the stage, surpris'd with mortal fright;

Primary

The Furies guard the door and intercept his flight.

Primary

Now, sinking underneath a load of grief,

Primary

From death alone she seeks her last relief;

Primary

The time and means resolv'd within her breast,

Primary

She to her mournful sister thus address'd

Primary

(Dissembling hope, her cloudy front she clears,

Primary

And a false vigor in her eyes appears):

Primary

"Rejoice!" she said. "Instructed from above,

Primary

My lover I shall gain, or lose my love.

Primary

Nigh rising Atlas, next the falling sun,

Primary

Long tracts of Ethiopian climates run:

Primary

There a Massylian priestess I have found,

Primary

Honor'd for age, for magic arts renown'd:

Primary

Th' Hesperian temple was her trusted care;

Primary

'T was she supplied the wakeful dragon's fare.

Primary

She poppy seeds in honey taught to steep,

Primary

Reclaim'd his rage, and sooth'd him into sleep.

Primary

She watch'd the golden fruit; her charms unbind

Primary

The chains of love, or fix them on the mind:

Primary

She stops the torrents, leaves the channel dry,

Primary

Repels the stars, and backward bears the sky.

Primary

The yawning earth rebellows to her call,

Primary

Pale ghosts ascend, and mountain ashes fall.

Primary

Witness, ye gods, and thou my better part,

Primary

How loth I am to try this impious art!

Primary

Within the secret court, with silent care,

Primary

Erect a lofty pile, expos'd in air:

Primary

Hang on the topmost part the Trojan vest,

Primary

Spoils, arms, and presents, of my faithless guest.

Primary

Next, under these, the bridal bed be plac'd,

Primary

Where I my ruin in his arms embrac'd:

Primary

All relics of the wretch are doom'd to fire;

Primary

For so the priestess and her charms require."

Primary

Thus far she said, and farther speech forbears;

Primary

A mortal paleness in her face appears:

Primary

Yet the mistrustless Anna could not find

Primary

The secret fun'ral in these rites design'd;

Primary

Nor thought so dire a rage possess'd her mind.

Primary

Unknowing of a train conceal'd so well,

Primary

She fear'd no worse than when Sichaeus fell;

Primary

Therefore obeys. The fatal pile they rear,

Primary

Within the secret court, expos'd in air.

Primary

The cloven holms and pines are heap'd on high,

Primary

And garlands on the hollow spaces lie.

Primary

Sad cypress, vervain, yew, compose the wreath,

Primary

And ev'ry baleful green denoting death.

Primary

The queen, determin'd to the fatal deed,

Primary

The spoils and sword he left, in order spread,

Primary

And the man's image on the nuptial bed.

Primary

And now (the sacred altars plac'd around)

Primary

The priestess enters, with her hair unbound,

Primary

And thrice invokes the pow'rs below the ground.

Primary

Night, Erebus, and Chaos she proclaims,

Primary

And threefold Hecate, with her hundred names,

Primary

And three Dianas: next, she sprinkles round

Primary

With feign'd Avernian drops the hallow'd ground;

Primary

Culls hoary simples, found by Phoebe's light,

Primary

With brazen sickles reap'd at noon of night;

Primary

Then mixes baleful juices in the bowl,

Primary

And cuts the forehead of a newborn foal,

Primary

Robbing the mother's love. The destin'd queen

Primary

Observes, assisting at the rites obscene;

Primary

A leaven'd cake in her devoted hands

Primary

She holds, and next the highest altar stands:

Primary

One tender foot was shod, her other bare;

Primary

Girt was her gather'd gown, and loose her hair.

Primary

Thus dress'd, she summon'd, with her dying breath,

Primary

The heav'ns and planets conscious of her death,

Primary

And ev'ry pow'r, if any rules above,

Primary

Who minds, or who revenges, injur'd love.

Primary

"'T was dead of night, when weary bodies close

Primary

Their eyes in balmy sleep and soft repose:

Primary

The winds no longer whisper thro' the woods,

Primary

Nor murm'ring tides disturb the gentle floods.

Primary

The stars in silent order mov'd around;

Primary

And Peace, with downy wings, was brooding on the ground

Primary

The flocks and herds, and party-color'd fowl,

Primary

Which haunt the woods, or swim the weedy pool,

Primary

Stretch'd on the quiet earth, securely lay,

Primary

Forgetting the past labors of the day.

Primary

All else of nature's common gift partake:

Primary

Unhappy Dido was alone awake.

Primary

Nor sleep nor ease the furious queen can find;

Primary

Sleep fled her eyes, as quiet fled her mind.

Primary

Despair, and rage, and love divide her heart;

Primary

Despair and rage had some, but love the greater part.

Primary

Then thus she said within her secret mind:

Primary

"What shall I do? what succor can I find?

Primary

Become a suppliant to Hyarba's pride,

Primary

And take my turn, to court and be denied?

Primary

Shall I with this ungrateful Trojan go,

Primary

Forsake an empire, and attend a foe?

Primary

Himself I refug'd, and his train reliev'd-

Primary

'T is true- but am I sure to be receiv'd?

Primary

Can gratitude in Trojan souls have place!

Primary

Laomedon still lives in all his race!

Primary

Then, shall I seek alone the churlish crew,

Primary

Or with my fleet their flying sails pursue?

Primary

What force have I but those whom scarce before

Primary

I drew reluctant from their native shore?

Primary

Will they again embark at my desire,

Primary

Once more sustain the seas, and quit their second Tyre?

Primary

Rather with steel thy guilty breast invade,

Primary

And take the fortune thou thyself hast made.

Primary

Your pity, sister, first seduc'd my mind,

Primary

Or seconded too well what I design'd.

Primary

These dear-bought pleasures had I never known,

Primary

Had I continued free, and still my own;

Primary

Avoiding love, I had not found despair,

Primary

But shar'd with salvage beasts the common air.

Primary

Like them, a lonely life I might have led,

Primary

Not mourn'd the living, nor disturb'd the dead."

Primary

These thoughts she brooded in her anxious breast.

Primary

On board, the Trojan found more easy rest.

Primary

Resolv'd to sail, in sleep he pass'd the night;

Primary

And order'd all things for his early flight.

Primary

To whom once more the winged god appears;

Primary

His former youthful mien and shape he wears,

Primary

And with this new alarm invades his ears:

Primary

"Sleep'st thou, O goddess-born! and canst thou drown

Primary

Thy needful cares, so near a hostile town,

Primary

Beset with foes; nor hear'st the western gales

Primary

Invite thy passage, and inspire thy sails?

Primary

She harbors in her heart a furious hate,

Primary

And thou shalt find the dire effects too late;

Primary

Fix'd on revenge, and obstinate to die.

Primary

Haste swiftly hence, while thou hast pow'r to fly.

Primary

The sea with ships will soon be cover'd o'er,

Primary

And blazing firebrands kindle all the shore.

Primary

Prevent her rage, while night obscures the skies,

Primary

And sail before the purple morn arise.

Primary

Who knows what hazards thy delay may bring?

Primary

Woman's a various and a changeful thing."

Primary

Thus Hermes in the dream; then took his flight

Primary

Aloft in air unseen, and mix'd with night.

Primary

Twice warn'd by the celestial messenger,

Primary

The pious prince arose with hasty fear;

Primary

Then rous'd his drowsy train without delay:

Primary

"Haste to your banks; your crooked anchors weigh,

Primary

And spread your flying sails, and stand to sea.

Primary

A god commands: he stood before my sight,

Primary

And urg'd us once again to speedy flight.

Primary

O sacred pow'r, what pow'r soe'er thou art,

Primary

To thy blest orders I resign my heart.

Primary

Lead thou the way; protect thy Trojan bands,

Primary

And prosper the design thy will commands."

Primary

He said: and, drawing forth his flaming sword,

Primary

His thund'ring arm divides the many-twisted cord.

Primary

An emulating zeal inspires his train:

Primary

They run; they snatch; they rush into the main.

Primary

With headlong haste they leave the desert shores,

Primary

And brush the liquid seas with lab'ring oars.

Primary

Aurora now had left her saffron bed,

Primary

And beams of early light the heav'ns o'erspread,

Primary

When, from a tow'r, the queen, with wakeful eyes,

Primary

Saw day point upward from the rosy skies.

Primary

She look'd to seaward; but the sea was void,

Primary

And scarce in ken the sailing ships descried.

Primary

Stung with despite, and furious with despair,

Primary

She struck her trembling breast, and tore her hair.

Primary

"And shall th' ungrateful traitor go," she said,

Primary

"My land forsaken, and my love betray'd?

Primary

Shall we not arm? not rush from ev'ry street,

Primary

To follow, sink, and burn his perjur'd fleet?

Primary

Haste, haul my galleys out! pursue the foe!

Primary

Bring flaming brands! set sail, and swiftly row!

Primary

What have I said? where am I? Fury turns

Primary

My brain; and my distemper'd bosom burns.

Primary

Then, when I gave my person and my throne,

Primary

This hate, this rage, had been more timely shown.

Primary

See now the promis'd faith, the vaunted name,

Primary

The pious man, who, rushing thro' the flame,

Primary

Preserv'd his gods, and to the Phrygian shore

Primary

The burthen of his feeble father bore!

Primary

I should have torn him piecemeal; strow'd in floods

Primary

His scatter'd limbs, or left expos'd in woods;

Primary

Destroy'd his friends and son; and, from the fire,

Primary

Have set the reeking boy before the sire.

Primary

Events are doubtful, which on battles wait:

Primary

Yet where's the doubt, to souls secure of fate?

Primary

My Tyrians, at their injur'd queen's command,

Primary

Had toss'd their fires amid the Trojan band;

Primary

At once extinguish'd all the faithless name;

Primary

And I myself, in vengeance of my shame,

Primary

Had fall'n upon the pile, to mend the fun'ral flame.

Primary

Thou Sun, who view'st at once the world below;

Primary

Thou Juno, guardian of the nuptial vow;

Primary

Thou Hecate hearken from thy dark abodes!

Primary

Ye Furies, fiends, and violated gods,

Primary

All pow'rs invok'd with Dido's dying breath,

Primary

Attend her curses and avenge her death!

Primary

If so the Fates ordain, Jove commands,

Primary

Th' ungrateful wretch should find the Latian lands,

Primary

Yet let a race untam'd, and haughty foes,

Primary

His peaceful entrance with dire arms oppose:

Primary

Oppress'd with numbers in th' unequal field,

Primary

His men discourag'd, and himself expell'd,

Primary

Let him for succor sue from place to place,

Primary

Torn from his subjects, and his son's embrace.

Primary

First, let him see his friends in battle slain,

Primary

And their untimely fate lament in vain;

Primary

And when, at length, the cruel war shall cease,

Primary

On hard conditions may he buy his peace:

Primary

Nor let him then enjoy supreme command;

Primary

But fall, untimely, by some hostile hand,

Primary

And lie unburied on the barren sand!

Primary

These are my pray'rs, and this my dying will;

Primary

And you, my Tyrians, ev'ry curse fulfil.

Primary

Perpetual hate and mortal wars proclaim,

Primary

Against the prince, the people, and the name.

Primary

These grateful off'rings on my grave bestow;

Primary

Nor league, nor love, the hostile nations know!

Primary

Now, and from hence, in ev'ry future age,

Primary

When rage excites your arms, and strength supplies the rage

Primary

Rise some avenger of our Libyan blood,

Primary

With fire and sword pursue the perjur'd brood;

Primary

Our arms, our seas, our shores, oppos'd to theirs;

Primary

And the same hate descend on all our heirs!"

Primary

This said, within her anxious mind she weighs

Primary

The means of cutting short her odious days.

Primary

Then to Sichaeus' nurse she briefly said

Primary

(For, when she left her country, hers was dead):

Primary

"Go, Barce, call my sister. Let her care

Primary

The solemn rites of sacrifice prepare;

Primary

The sheep, and all th' atoning off'rings bring,

Primary

Sprinkling her body from the crystal spring

Primary

With living drops; then let her come, and thou

Primary

With sacred fillets bind thy hoary brow.

Primary

Thus will I pay my vows to Stygian Jove,

Primary

And end the cares of my disastrous love;

Primary

Then cast the Trojan image on the fire,

Primary

And, as that burns, my passions shall expire."

Primary

The nurse moves onward, with officious care,

Primary

And all the speed her aged limbs can bear.

Primary

But furious Dido, with dark thoughts involv'd,

Primary

Shook at the mighty mischief she resolv'd.

Primary

With livid spots distinguish'd was her face;

Primary

Red were her rolling eyes, and discompos'd her pace;

Primary

Ghastly she gaz'd, with pain she drew her breath,

Primary

And nature shiver'd at approaching death.

Primary

Then swiftly to the fatal place she pass'd,

Primary

And mounts the fun'ral pile with furious haste;

Primary

Unsheathes the sword the Trojan left behind

Primary

(Not for so dire an enterprise design'd).

Primary

But when she view'd the garments loosely spread,

Primary

Which once he wore, and saw the conscious bed,

Primary

She paus'd, and with a sigh the robes embrac'd;

Primary

Then on the couch her trembling body cast,

Primary

Repress'd the ready tears, and spoke her last:

Primary

"Dear pledges of my love, while Heav'n so pleas'd,

Primary

Receive a soul, of mortal anguish eas'd:

Primary

My fatal course is finish'd; and I go,

Primary

A glorious name, among the ghosts below.

Primary

A lofty city by my hands is rais'd,

Primary

Pygmalion punish'd, and my lord appeas'd.

Primary

What could my fortune have afforded more,

Primary

Had the false Trojan never touch'd my shore!"

Primary

Then kiss'd the couch; and, "Must I die," she said,

Primary

"And unreveng'd? 'T is doubly to be dead!

Primary

Yet ev'n this death with pleasure I receive:

Primary

On any terms, 't is better than to live.

Primary

These flames, from far, may the false Trojan view;

Primary

These boding omens his base flight pursue!"

Primary

She said, and struck; deep enter'd in her side

Primary

The piercing steel, with reeking purple dyed:

Primary

Clogg'd in the wound the cruel weapon stands;

Primary

The spouting blood came streaming on her hands.

Primary

Her sad attendants saw the deadly stroke,

Primary

And with loud cries the sounding palace shook.

Primary

Distracted, from the fatal sight they fled,

Primary

And thro' the town the dismal rumor spread.

Primary

First from the frighted court the yell began;

Primary

Redoubled, thence from house to house it ran:

Primary

The groans of men, with shrieks, laments, and cries

Primary

Of mixing women, mount the vaulted skies.

Primary

Not less the clamor, than if- ancient Tyre,

Primary

Or the new Carthage, set by foes on fire-

Primary

The rolling ruin, with their lov'd abodes,

Primary

Involv'd the blazing temples of their gods.

Primary

Her sister hears; and, furious with despair,

Primary

She beats her breast, and rends her yellow hair,

Primary

And, calling on Eliza's name aloud,

Primary

Runs breathless to the place, and breaks the crowd.

Primary

"Was all that pomp of woe for this prepar'd;

Primary

These fires, this fun'ral pile, these altars rear'd?

Primary

Was all this train of plots contriv'd," said she,

Primary

"All only to deceive unhappy me?

Primary

Which is the worst? Didst thou in death pretend

Primary

To scorn thy sister, or delude thy friend?

Primary

Thy summon'd sister, and thy friend, had come;

Primary

One sword had serv'd us both, one common tomb:

Primary

Was I to raise the pile, the pow'rs invoke,

Primary

Not to be present at the fatal stroke?

Primary

At once thou hast destroy'd thyself and me,

Primary

Thy town, thy senate, and thy colony!

Primary

Bring water; bathe the wound; while I in death

Primary

Lay close my lips to hers, and catch the flying breath."

Primary

This said, she mounts the pile with eager haste,

Primary

And in her arms the gasping queen embrac'd;

Primary

Her temples chaf'd; and her own garments tore,

Primary

To stanch the streaming blood, and cleanse the gore.

Primary

Thrice Dido tried to raise her drooping head,

Primary

And, fainting thrice, fell grov'ling on the bed;

Primary

Thrice op'd her heavy eyes, and sought the light,

Primary

But, having found it, sicken'd at the sight,

Primary

And clos'd her lids at last in endless night.

Primary

Then Juno, grieving that she should sustain

Primary

A death so ling'ring, and so full of pain,

Primary

Sent Iris down, to free her from the strife

Primary

Of lab'ring nature, and dissolve her life.

Primary

For since she died, not doom'd by Heav'n's decree,

Primary

Or her own crime, but human casualty,

Primary

And rage of love, that plung'd her in despair,

Primary

The Sisters had not cut the topmost hair,

Primary

Which Proserpine and they can only know;

Primary

Nor made her sacred to the shades below.

Primary

Downward the various goddess took her flight,

Primary

And drew a thousand colors from the light;

Primary

Then stood above the dying lover's head,

Primary

And said: "I thus devote thee to the dead.

Primary

This off'ring to th' infernal gods I bear."

Primary

Thus while she spoke, she cut the fatal hair:

Primary

The struggling soul was loos'd, and life dissolv'd in air.