Book 4

1 But anxious cares already seiz'd the queen:
2 She fed within her veins a flame unseen;
3 The hero's valor, acts, and birth inspire
4 Her soul with love, and fan the secret fire.
5 His words, his looks, imprinted in her heart,
6 Improve the passion, and increase the smart.
7 Now, when the purple morn had chas'd away
8 The dewy shadows, and restor'd the day,
9 Her sister first with early care she sought,
10 And thus in mournful accents eas'd her thought:

11 "My dearest Anna, what new dreams affright
12 My lab'ring soul! what visions of the night
13 Disturb my quiet, and distract my breast
14 With strange ideas of our Trojan guest!
15 His worth, his actions, and majestic air,
16 A man descended from the gods declare.
17 Fear ever argues a degenerate kind;
18 His birth is well asserted by his mind.
19 Then, what he suffer'd, when by Fate betray'd!
20 What brave attempts for falling Troy he made!
21 Such were his looks, so gracefully he spoke,
22 That, were I not resolv'd against the yoke
23 Of hapless marriage, never to be curst
24 With second love, so fatal was my first,
25 To this one error I might yield again;
26 For, since Sichaeus was untimely slain,
27 This only man is able to subvert
28 The fix'd foundations of my stubborn heart.
29 And, to confess my frailty, to my shame,
30 Somewhat I find within, if not the same,
31 Too like the sparkles of my former flame.
32 But first let yawning earth a passage rend,
33 And let me thro' the dark abyss descend;
34 First let avenging Jove, with flames from high,
35 Drive down this body to the nether sky,
36 Condemn'd with ghosts in endless night to lie,
37 Before I break the plighted faith I gave!
38 No! he who had my vows shall ever have;
39 For, whom I lov'd on earth, I worship in the grave."

40 She said: the tears ran gushing from her eyes,
41 And stopp'd her speech. Her sister thus replies:
42 "O dearer than the vital air I breathe,
43 Will you to grief your blooming years bequeath,
44 Condemn'd to waste in woes your lonely life,
45 Without the joys of mother or of wife?
46 Think you these tears, this pompous train of woe,
47 Are known or valued by the ghosts below?
48 I grant that, while your sorrows yet were green,
49 It well became a woman, and a queen,
50 The vows of Tyrian princes to neglect,
51 To scorn Hyarbas, and his love reject,
52 With all the Libyan lords of mighty name;
53 But will you fight against a pleasing flame!
54 This little spot of land, which Heav'n bestows,
55 On ev'ry side is hemm'd with warlike foes;
56 Gaetulian cities here are spread around,
57 And fierce Numidians there your frontiers bound;
58 Here lies a barren waste of thirsty land,
59 And there the Syrtes raise the moving sand;
60 Barcaean troops besiege the narrow shore,
61 And from the sea Pygmalion threatens more.
62 Propitious Heav'n, and gracious Juno, lead
63 This wand'ring navy to your needful aid:
64 How will your empire spread, your city rise,
65 From such a union, and with such allies?
66 Implore the favor of the pow'rs above,
67 And leave the conduct of the rest to love.
68 Continue still your hospitable way,
69 And still invent occasions of their stay,
70 Till storms and winter winds shall cease to threat,
71 And planks and oars repair their shatter'd fleet."

72 These words, which from a friend and sister came,
73 With ease resolv'd the scruples of her fame,
74 And added fury to the kindled flame.
75 Inspir'd with hope, the project they pursue;
76 On ev'ry altar sacrifice renew:
77 A chosen ewe of two years old they pay
78 To Ceres, Bacchus, and the God of Day;
79 Preferring Juno's pow'r, for Juno ties
80 The nuptial knot and makes the marriage joys.
81 The beauteous queen before her altar stands,
82 And holds the golden goblet in her hands.
83 A milk-white heifer she with flow'rs adorns,
84 And pours the ruddy wine betwixt her horns;
85 And, while the priests with pray'r the gods invoke,
86 She feeds their altars with Sabaean smoke,
87 With hourly care the sacrifice renews,
88 And anxiously the panting entrails views.
89 What priestly rites, alas! what pious art,
90 What vows avail to cure a bleeding heart!
91 A gentle fire she feeds within her veins,
92 Where the soft god secure in silence reigns.

93 Sick with desire, and seeking him she loves,
94 From street to street the raving Dido roves.
95 So when the watchful shepherd, from the blind,
96 Wounds with a random shaft the careless hind,
97 Distracted with her pain she flies the woods,
98 Bounds o'er the lawn, and seeks the silent floods,
99 With fruitless care; for still the fatal dart
100 Sticks in her side, and rankles in her heart.
101 And now she leads the Trojan chief along
102 The lofty walls, amidst the busy throng;
103 Displays her Tyrian wealth, and rising town,
104 Which love, without his labor, makes his own.
105 This pomp she shows, to tempt her wand'ring guest;
106 Her falt'ring tongue forbids to speak the rest.
107 When day declines, and feasts renew the night,
108 Still on his face she feeds her famish'd sight;
109 She longs again to hear the prince relate
110 His own adventures and the Trojan fate.
111 He tells it o'er and o'er; but still in vain,
112 For still she begs to hear it once again.
113 The hearer on the speaker's mouth depends,
114 And thus the tragic story never ends.

115 Then, when they part, when Phoebe's paler light
116 Withdraws, and falling stars to sleep invite,
117 She last remains, when ev'ry guest is gone,
118 Sits on the bed he press'd, and sighs alone;
119 Absent, her absent hero sees and hears;
120 Or in her bosom young Ascanius bears,
121 And seeks the father's image in the child,
122 If love by likeness might be so beguil'd.

123 Meantime the rising tow'rs are at a stand;
124 No labors exercise the youthful band,
125 Nor use of arts, nor toils of arms they know;
126 The mole is left unfinish'd to the foe;
127 The mounds, the works, the walls, neglected lie,
128 Short of their promis'd heighth, that seem'd to threat the sky,

129 But when imperial Juno, from above,
130 Saw Dido fetter'd in the chains of love,
131 Hot with the venom which her veins inflam'd,
132 And by no sense of shame to be reclaim'd,
133 With soothing words to Venus she begun:
134 "High praises, endless honors, you have won,
135 And mighty trophies, with your worthy son!
136 Two gods a silly woman have undone!
137 Nor am I ignorant, you both suspect
138 This rising city, which my hands erect:
139 But shall celestial discord never cease?
140 'T is better ended in a lasting peace.
141 You stand possess'd of all your soul desir'd:
142 Poor Dido with consuming love is fir'd.
143 Your Trojan with my Tyrian let us join;
144 So Dido shall be yours, Aeneas mine:
145 One common kingdom, one united line.
146 Eliza shall a Dardan lord obey,
147 And lofty Carthage for a dow'r convey."
148 Then Venus, who her hidden fraud descried,
149 Which would the scepter of the world misguide
150 To Libyan shores, thus artfully replied:
151 "Who, but a fool, would wars with Juno choose,
152 And such alliance and such gifts refuse,
153 If Fortune with our joint desires comply?
154 The doubt is all from Jove and destiny;
155 Lest he forbid, with absolute command,
156 To mix the people in one common land-
157 Or will the Trojan and the Tyrian line
158 In lasting leagues and sure succession join?
159 But you, the partner of his bed and throne,
160 May move his mind; my wishes are your own."

161 "Mine," said imperial Juno, "be the care;
162 Time urges, now, to perfect this affair:
163 Attend my counsel, and the secret share.
164 When next the Sun his rising light displays,
165 And gilds the world below with purple rays,
166 The queen, Aeneas, and the Tyrian court
167 Shall to the shady woods, for sylvan game, resort.
168 There, while the huntsmen pitch their toils around,
169 And cheerful horns from side to side resound,
170 A pitchy cloud shall cover all the plain
171 With hail, and thunder, and tempestuous rain;
172 The fearful train shall take their speedy flight,
173 Dispers'd, and all involv'd in gloomy night;
174 One cave a grateful shelter shall afford
175 To the fair princess and the Trojan lord.
176 I will myself the bridal bed prepare,
177 If you, to bless the nuptials, will be there:
178 So shall their loves be crown'd with due delights,
179 And Hymen shall be present at the rites."
180 The Queen of Love consents, and closely smiles
181 At her vain project, and discover'd wiles.

182 The rosy morn was risen from the main,
183 And horns and hounds awake the princely train:
184 They issue early thro' the city gate,
185 Where the more wakeful huntsmen ready wait,
186 With nets, and toils, and darts, beside the force
187 Of Spartan dogs, and swift Massylian horse.
188 The Tyrian peers and officers of state
189 For the slow queen in antechambers wait;
190 Her lofty courser, in the court below,
191 Who his majestic rider seems to know,
192 Proud of his purple trappings, paws the ground,
193 And champs the golden bit, and spreads the foam around.
194 The queen at length appears; on either hand
195 The brawny guards in martial order stand.
196 A flow'r'd simar with golden fringe she wore,
197 And at her back a golden quiver bore;
198 Her flowing hair a golden caul restrains,
199 A golden clasp the Tyrian robe sustains.
200 Then young Ascanius, with a sprightly grace,
201 Leads on the Trojan youth to view the chase.
202 But far above the rest in beauty shines
203 The great Aeneas, the troop he joins;
204 Like fair Apollo, when he leaves the frost
205 Of wint'ry Xanthus, and the Lycian coast,
206 When to his native Delos he resorts,
207 Ordains the dances, and renews the sports;
208 Where painted Scythians, mix'd with Cretan bands,
209 Before the joyful altars join their hands:
210 Himself, on Cynthus walking, sees below
211 The merry madness of the sacred show.
212 Green wreaths of bays his length of hair inclose;
213 A golden fillet binds his awful brows;
214 His quiver sounds: not less the prince is seen
215 In manly presence, or in lofty mien.

216 Now had they reach'd the hills, and storm'd the seat
217 Of salvage beasts, in dens, their last retreat.
218 The cry pursues the mountain goats: they bound
219 From rock to rock, and keep the craggy ground;
220 Quite otherwise the stags, a trembling train,
221 In herds unsingled, scour the dusty plain,
222 And a long chase in open view maintain.
223 The glad Ascanius, as his courser guides,
224 Spurs thro' the vale, and these and those outrides.
225 His horse's flanks and sides are forc'd to feel
226 The clanking lash, and goring of the steel.
227 Impatiently he views the feeble prey,
228 Wishing some nobler beast to cross his way,
229 And rather would the tusky boar attend,
230 Or see the tawny lion downward bend.

231 Meantime, the gath'ring clouds obscure the skies:
232 From pole to pole the forky lightning flies;
233 The rattling thunders roll; and Juno pours
234 A wintry deluge down, and sounding show'rs.
235 The company, dispers'd, to converts ride,
236 And seek the homely cots, or mountain's hollow side.
237 The rapid rains, descending from the hills,
238 To rolling torrents raise the creeping rills.
239 The queen and prince, as love or fortune guides,
240 One common cavern in her bosom hides.
241 Then first the trembling earth the signal gave,
242 And flashing fires enlighten all the cave;
243 Hell from below, and Juno from above,
244 And howling nymphs, were conscious of their love.
245 From this ill-omen'd hour in time arose
246 Debate and death, and all succeeding woes.

247 The queen, whom sense of honor could not move,
248 No longer made a secret of her love,
249 But call'd it marriage, by that specious name
250 To veil the crime and sanctify the shame.

251 The loud report thro' Libyan cities goes.
252 Fame, the great ill, from small beginnings grows:
253 Swift from the first; and ev'ry moment brings
254 New vigor to her flights, new pinions to her wings.
255 Soon grows the pigmy to gigantic size;
256 Her feet on earth, her forehead in the skies.
257 Inrag'd against the gods, revengeful Earth
258 Produc'd her last of the Titanian birth.
259 Swift is her walk, more swift her winged haste:
260 A monstrous phantom, horrible and vast.
261 As many plumes as raise her lofty flight,
262 So many piercing eyes inlarge her sight;
263 Millions of opening mouths to Fame belong,
264 And ev'ry mouth is furnish'd with a tongue,
265 And round with list'ning ears the flying plague is hung.
266 She fills the peaceful universe with cries;
267 No slumbers ever close her wakeful eyes;
268 By day, from lofty tow'rs her head she shews,
269 And spreads thro' trembling crowds disastrous news;
270 With court informers haunts, and royal spies;
271 Things done relates, not done she feigns, and mingles truth with lies.

[lineation error; no break -- DR]

273 Talk is her business, and her chief delight
274 To tell of prodigies and cause affright.
275 She fills the people's ears with Dido's name,
276 Who, lost to honor and the sense of shame,
277 Admits into her throne and nuptial bed
278 A wand'ring guest, who from his country fled:
279 Whole days with him she passes in delights,
280 And wastes in luxury long winter nights,
281 Forgetful of her fame and royal trust,
282 Dissolv'd in ease, abandon'd to her lust.

283 The goddess widely spreads the loud report,
284 And flies at length to King Hyarba's court.
285 When first possess'd with this unwelcome news
286 Whom did he not of men and gods accuse?
287 This prince, from ravish'd Garamantis born,
288 A hundred temples did with spoils adorn,
289 In Ammon's honor, his celestial sire;
290 A hundred altars fed with wakeful fire;
291 And, thro' his vast dominions, priests ordain'd,
292 Whose watchful care these holy rites maintain'd.
293 The gates and columns were with garlands crown'd,
294 And blood of victim beasts enrich'd the ground.
295 He, when he heard a fugitive could move
296 The Tyrian princess, who disdain'd his love,
297 His breast with fury burn'd, his eyes with fire,
298 Mad with despair, impatient with desire;
299 Then on the sacred altars pouring wine,

300 He thus with pray'rs implor'd his sire divine:
301 "Great Jove! propitious to the Moorish race,
302 Who feast on painted beds, with off'rings grace
303 Thy temples, and adore thy pow'r divine
304 With blood of victims, and with sparkling wine,
305 Seest thou not this? or do we fear in vain
306 Thy boasted thunder, and thy thoughtless reign?
307 Do thy broad hands the forky lightnings lance?
308 Thine are the bolts, or the blind work of chance?
309 A wand'ring woman builds, within our state,
310 A little town, bought at an easy rate;
311 She pays me homage, and my grants allow
312 A narrow space of Libyan lands to plow;
313 Yet, scorning me, by passion blindly led,
314 Admits a banish'd Trojan to her bed!
315 And now this other Paris, with his train
316 Of conquer'd cowards, must in Afric reign!
317 (Whom, what they are, their looks and garb confess,
318 Their locks with oil perfum'd, their Lydian dress.)
319 He takes the spoil, enjoys the princely dame;
320 And I, rejected I, adore an empty name."

321 His vows, in haughty terms, he thus preferr'd,
322 And held his altar's horns. The mighty Thund'rer heard;
323 Then cast his eyes on Carthage, where he found
324 The lustful pair in lawless pleasure drown'd,
325 Lost in their loves, insensible of shame,
326 And both forgetful of their better fame.
327 He calls Cyllenius, and the god attends,
328 By whom his menacing command he sends:
329 "Go, mount the western winds, and cleave the sky;
330 Then, with a swift descent, to Carthage fly:
331 There find the Trojan chief, who wastes his days
332 In slothful not and inglorious ease,
333 Nor minds the future city, giv'n by fate.
334 To him this message from my mouth relate:
335 'Not so fair Venus hop'd, when twice she won
336 Thy life with pray'rs, nor promis'd such a son.
337 Hers was a hero, destin'd to command
338 A martial race, and rule the Latian land,
339 Who should his ancient line from Teucer draw,
340 And on the conquer'd world impose the law.'
341 If glory cannot move a mind so mean,
342 Nor future praise from fading pleasure wean,
343 Yet why should he defraud his son of fame,
344 And grudge the Romans their immortal name!
345 What are his vain designs! what hopes he more
346 From his long ling'ring on a hostile shore,
347 Regardless to redeem his honor lost,
348 And for his race to gain th' Ausonian coast!
349 Bid him with speed the Tyrian court forsake;
350 With this command the slumb'ring warrior wake."

351 Hermes obeys; with golden pinions binds
352 His flying feet, and mounts the western winds:
353 And, whether o'er the seas or earth he flies,
354 With rapid force they bear him down the skies.
355 But first he grasps within his awful hand
356 The mark of sov'reign pow'r, his magic wand;
357 With this he draws the ghosts from hollow graves;
358 With this he drives them down the Stygian waves;
359 With this he seals in sleep the wakeful sight,
360 And eyes, tho' clos'd in death, restores to light.
361 Thus arm'd, the god begins his airy race,
362 And drives the racking clouds along the liquid space;
363 Now sees the tops of Atlas, as he flies,
364 Whose brawny back supports the starry skies;
365 Atlas, whose head, with piny forests crown'd,
366 Is beaten by the winds, with foggy vapors bound.
367 Snows hide his shoulders; from beneath his chin
368 The founts of rolling streams their race begin;
369 A beard of ice on his large breast depends.
370 Here, pois'd upon his wings, the god descends:
371 Then, rested thus, he from the tow'ring height
372 Plung'd downward, with precipitated flight,
373 Lights on the seas, and skims along the flood.
374 As waterfowl, who seek their fishy food,
375 Less, and yet less, to distant prospect show;
376 By turns they dance aloft, and dive below:
377 Like these, the steerage of his wings he plies,
378 And near the surface of the water flies,
379 Till, having pass'd the seas, and cross'd the sands,
380 He clos'd his wings, and stoop'd on Libyan lands:
381 Where shepherds once were hous'd in homely sheds,
382 Now tow'rs within the clouds advance their heads.
383 Arriving there, he found the Trojan prince
384 New ramparts raising for the town's defense.
385 A purple scarf, with gold embroider'd o'er,
386 (Queen Dido's gift,) about his waist he wore;
387 A sword, with glitt'ring gems diversified,
388 For ornament, not use, hung idly by his side.

389 Then thus, with winged words, the god began,
390 Resuming his own shape: "Degenerate man,
391 Thou woman's property, what mak'st thou here,
392 These foreign walls and Tyrian tow'rs to rear,
393 Forgetful of thy own? All-pow'rful Jove,
394 Who sways the world below and heav'n above,
395 Has sent me down with this severe command:
396 What means thy ling'ring in the Libyan land?
397 If glory cannot move a mind so mean,
398 Nor future praise from flitting pleasure wean,
399 Regard the fortunes of thy rising heir:
400 The promis'd crown let young Ascanius wear,
401 To whom th' Ausonian scepter, and the state
402 Of Rome's imperial name is ow'd by fate."
403 So spoke the god; and, speaking, took his flight,
404 Involv'd in clouds, and vanish'd out of sight.

405 The pious prince was seiz'd with sudden fear;
406 Mute was his tongue, and upright stood his hair.
407 Revolving in his mind the stern command,
408 He longs to fly, and loathes the charming land.
409 What should he say? or how should he begin?
410 What course, alas! remains to steer between
411 Th' offended lover and the pow'rful queen?
412 This way and that he turns his anxious mind,
413 And all expedients tries, and none can find.
414 Fix'd on the deed, but doubtful of the means,
415 After long thought, to this advice he leans:
416 Three chiefs he calls, commands them to repair
417 The fleet, and ship their men with silent care;
418 Some plausible pretense he bids them find,
419 To color what in secret he design'd.
420 Himself, meantime, the softest hours would choose,
421 Before the love-sick lady heard the news;
422 And move her tender mind, by slow degrees,
423 To suffer what the sov'reign pow'r decrees:
424 Jove will inspire him, when, and what to say.
425 They hear with pleasure, and with haste obey.

426 But soon the queen perceives the thin disguise:
427 (What arts can blind a jealous woman's eyes!)
428 She was the first to find the secret fraud,
429 Before the fatal news was blaz'd abroad.
430 Love the first motions of the lover hears,
431 Quick to presage, and ev'n in safety fears.
432 Nor impious Fame was wanting to report
433 The ships repair'd, the Trojans' thick resort,
434 And purpose to forsake the Tyrian court.
435 Frantic with fear, impatient of the wound,
436 And impotent of mind, she roves the city round.
437 Less wild the Bacchanalian dames appear,
438 When, from afar, their nightly god they hear,
439 And howl about the hills, and shake the wreathy spear.
440 At length she finds the dear perfidious man;
441 Prevents his form'd excuse, and thus began:
442 "Base and ungrateful! could you hope to fly,
443 And undiscover'd scape a lover's eye?
444 Nor could my kindness your compassion move.
445 Nor plighted vows, nor dearer bands of love?
446 Or is the death of a despairing queen
447 Not worth preventing, tho' too well foreseen?
448 Ev'n when the wintry winds command your stay,
449 You dare the tempests, and defy the sea.
450 False as you are, suppose you were not bound
451 To lands unknown, and foreign coasts to sound;
452 Were Troy restor'd, and Priam's happy reign,
453 Now durst you tempt, for Troy, the raging main?
454 See whom you fly! am I the foe you shun?
455 Now, by those holy vows, so late begun,
456 By this right hand, (since I have nothing more
457 To challenge, but the faith you gave before;)
458 I beg you by these tears too truly shed,
459 By the new pleasures of our nuptial bed;
460 If ever Dido, when you most were kind,
461 Were pleasing in your eyes, or touch'd your mind;
462 By these my pray'rs, if pray'rs may yet have place,
463 Pity the fortunes of a falling race.
464 For you I have provok'd a tyrant's hate,
465 Incens'd the Libyan and the Tyrian state;
466 For you alone I suffer in my fame,
467 Bereft of honor, and expos'd to shame.
468 Whom have I now to trust, ungrateful guest?
469 (That only name remains of all the rest!)
470 What have I left? or whither can I fly?
471 Must I attend Pygmalion's cruelty,
472 Or till Hyarba shall in triumph lead
473 A queen that proudly scorn'd his proffer'd bed?
474 Had you deferr'd, at least, your hasty flight,
475 And left behind some pledge of our delight,
476 Some babe to bless the mother's mournful sight,
477 Some young Aeneas, to supply your place,
478 Whose features might express his father's face;
479 I should not then complain to live bereft
480 Of all my husband, or be wholly left."

481 Here paus'd the queen. Unmov'd he holds his eyes,
482 By Jove's command; nor suffer'd love to rise,
483 Tho' heaving in his heart; and thus at length replies:
484 "Fair queen, you never can enough repeat
485 Your boundless favors, or I own my debt;
486 Nor can my mind forget Eliza's name,
487 While vital breath inspires this mortal frame.
488 This only let me speak in my defense:
489 I never hop'd a secret flight from hence,
490 Much less pretended to the lawful claim
491 Of sacred nuptials, or a husband's name.
492 For, if indulgent Heav'n would leave me free,
493 And not submit my life to fate's decree,
494 My choice would lead me to the Trojan shore,
495 Those relics to review, their dust adore,
496 And Priam's ruin'd palace to restore.
497 But now the Delphian oracle commands,
498 And fate invites me to the Latian lands.
499 That is the promis'd place to which I steer,
500 And all my vows are terminated there.
501 If you, a Tyrian, and a stranger born,
502 With walls and tow'rs a Libyan town adorn,
503 Why may not we- like you, a foreign race-
504 Like you, seek shelter in a foreign place?
505 As often as the night obscures the skies
506 With humid shades, or twinkling stars arise,
507 Anchises' angry ghost in dreams appears,
508 Chides my delay, and fills my soul with fears;
509 And young Ascanius justly may complain
510 Of his defrauded and destin'd reign.
511 Ev'n now the herald of the gods appear'd:
512 Waking I saw him, and his message heard.
513 From Jove he came commission'd, heav'nly bright
514 With radiant beams, and manifest to sight
515 (The sender and the sent I both attest)
516 These walls he enter'd, and those words express'd.
517 Fair queen, oppose not what the gods command;
518 Forc'd by my fate, I leave your happy land."

519 Thus while he spoke, already she began,
520 With sparkling eyes, to view the guilty man;
521 From head to foot survey'd his person o'er,
522 Nor longer these outrageous threats forebore:
523 "False as thou art, and, more than false, forsworn!
524 Not sprung from noble blood, nor goddess-born,
525 But hewn from harden'd entrails of a rock!
526 And rough Hyrcanian tigers gave thee suck!
527 Why should I fawn? what have I worse to fear?
528 Did he once look, or lent a list'ning ear,
529 Sigh'd when I sobb'd, or shed one kindly tear?-
530 All symptoms of a base ungrateful mind,
531 So foul, that, which is worse, 'tis hard to find.
532 Of man's injustice why should I complain?
533 The gods, and Jove himself, behold in vain
534 Triumphant treason; yet no thunder flies,
535 Nor Juno views my wrongs with equal eyes;
536 Faithless is earth, and faithless are the skies!
537 Justice is fled, and Truth is now no more!
538 I sav'd the shipwrack'd exile on my shore;
539 With needful food his hungry Trojans fed;
540 I took the traitor to my throne and bed:
541 Fool that I was- 't is little to repeat
542 The rest- I stor'd and rigg'd his ruin'd fleet.
543 I rave, I rave! A god's command he pleads,
544 And makes Heav'n accessary to his deeds.
545 Now Lycian lots, and now the Delian god,
546 Now Hermes is employ'd from Jove's abode,
547 To warn him hence; as if the peaceful state
548 Of heav'nly pow'rs were touch'd with human fate!
549 But go! thy flight no longer I detain-
550 Go seek thy promis'd kingdom thro' the main!
551 Yet, if the heav'ns will hear my pious vow,
552 The faithless waves, not half so false as thou,
553 Or secret sands, shall sepulchers afford
554 To thy proud vessels, and their perjur'd lord.
555 Then shalt thou call on injur'd Dido's name:
556 Dido shall come in a black sulph'ry flame,
557 When death has once dissolv'd her mortal frame;
558 Shall smile to see the traitor vainly weep:
559 Her angry ghost, arising from the deep,
560 Shall haunt thee waking, and disturb thy sleep.
561 At least my shade thy punishment shall know,
562 And Fame shall spread the pleasing news below."

563 Abruptly here she stops; then turns away
564 Her loathing eyes, and shuns the sight of day.
565 Amaz'd he stood, revolving in his mind
566 What speech to frame, and what excuse to find.
567 Her fearful maids their fainting mistress led,
568 And softly laid her on her ivory bed.

569 But good Aeneas, tho' he much desir'd
570 To give that pity which her grief requir'd;
571 Tho' much he mourn'd, and labor'd with his love,
572 Resolv'd at length, obeys the will of Jove;
573 Reviews his forces: they with early care
574 Unmoor their vessels, and for sea prepare.
575 The fleet is soon afloat, in all its pride,
576 And well-calk'd galleys in the harbor ride.
577 Then oaks for oars they fell'd; or, as they stood,
578 Of its green arms despoil'd the growing wood,
579 Studious of flight. The beach is cover'd o'er
580 With Trojan bands, that blacken all the shore:
581 On ev'ry side are seen, descending down,
582 Thick swarms of soldiers, loaden from the town.
583 Thus, in battalia, march embodied ants,
584 Fearful of winter, and of future wants,
585 T' invade the corn, and to their cells convey
586 The plunder'd forage of their yellow prey.
587 The sable troops, along the narrow tracks,
588 Scarce bear the weighty burthen on their backs:
589 Some set their shoulders to the pond'rous grain;
590 Some guard the spoil; some lash the lagging train;
591 All ply their sev'ral tasks, and equal toil sustain.

592 What pangs the tender breast of Dido tore,
593 When, from the tow'r, she saw the cover'd shore,
594 And heard the shouts of sailors from afar,
595 Mix'd with the murmurs of the wat'ry war!
596 All-pow'rful Love! what changes canst thou cause
597 In human hearts, subjected to thy laws!
598 Once more her haughty soul the tyrant bends:
599 To pray'rs and mean submissions she descends.
600 No female arts or aids she left untried,
601 Nor counsels unexplor'd, before she died.
602 "Look, Anna! look! the Trojans crowd to sea;
603 They spread their canvas, and their anchors weigh.
604 The shouting crew their ships with garlands bind,
605 Invoke the sea gods, and invite the wind.
606 Could I have thought this threat'ning blow so near,
607 My tender soul had been forewarn'd to bear.
608 But do not you my last request deny;
609 With yon perfidious man your int'rest try,
610 And bring me news, if I must live or die.
611 You are his fav'rite; you alone can find
612 The dark recesses of his inmost mind:
613 In all his trusted secrets you have part,
614 And know the soft approaches to his heart.
615 Haste then, and humbly seek my haughty foe;
616 Tell him, I did not with the Grecians go,
617 Nor did my fleet against his friends employ,
618 Nor swore the ruin of unhappy Troy,
619 Nor mov'd with hands profane his father's dust:
620 Why should he then reject a just!
621 Whom does he shun, and whither would he fly!
622 Can he this last, this only pray'r deny!
623 Let him at least his dang'rous flight delay,
624 Wait better winds, and hope a calmer sea.
625 The nuptials he disclaims I urge no more:
626 Let him pursue the promis'd Latian shore.
627 A short delay is all I ask him now;
628 A pause of grief, an interval from woe,
629 Till my soft soul be temper'd to sustain
630 Accustom'd sorrows, and inur'd to pain.
631 If you in pity grant this one request,
632 My death shall glut the hatred of his breast."
633 This mournful message pious Anna bears,
634 And seconds with her own her sister's tears:
635 But all her arts are still employ'd in vain;
636 Again she comes, and is refus'd again.
637 His harden'd heart nor pray'rs nor threat'nings move;
638 Fate, and the god, had stopp'd his ears to love.

639 As, when the winds their airy quarrel try,
640 Justling from ev'ry quarter of the sky,
641 This way and that the mountain oak they bend,
642 His boughs they shatter, and his branches rend;
643 With leaves and falling mast they spread the ground;
644 The hollow valleys echo to the sound:
645 Unmov'd, the royal plant their fury mocks,
646 Or, shaken, clings more closely to the rocks;
647 Far as he shoots his tow'ring head on high,
648 So deep in earth his fix'd foundations lie.
649 No less a storm the Trojan hero bears;
650 Thick messages and loud complaints he hears,
651 And bandied words, still beating on his ears.
652 Sighs, groans, and tears proclaim his inward pains;
653 But the firm purpose of his heart remains.

654 The wretched queen, pursued by cruel fate,
655 Begins at length the light of heav'n to hate,
656 And loathes to live. Then dire portents she sees,
657 To hasten on the death her soul decrees:
658 Strange to relate! for when, before the shrine,
659 She pours in sacrifice the purple wine,
660 The purple wine is turn'd to putrid blood,
661 And the white offer'd milk converts to mud.
662 This dire presage, to her alone reveal'd,
663 From all, and ev'n her sister, she conceal'd.
664 A marble temple stood within the grove,
665 Sacred to death, and to her murther'd love;
666 That honor'd chapel she had hung around
667 With snowy fleeces, and with garlands crown'd:
668 Oft, when she visited this lonely dome,
669 Strange voices issued from her husband's tomb;
670 She thought she heard him summon her away,
671 Invite her to his grave, and chide her stay.
672 Hourly 't is heard, when with a boding note
673 The solitary screech owl strains her throat,
674 And, on a chimney's top, or turret's height,
675 With songs obscene disturbs the silence of the night.
676 Besides, old prophecies augment her fears;
677 And stern Aeneas in her dreams appears,
678 Disdainful as by day: she seems, alone,
679 To wander in her sleep, thro' ways unknown,
680 Guideless and dark; or, in a desart plain,
681 To seek her subjects, and to seek in vain:
682 Like Pentheus, when, distracted with his fear,
683 He saw two suns, and double Thebes, appear;
684 Or mad Orestes, when his mother's ghost
685 Full in his face infernal torches toss'd,
686 And shook her snaky locks: he shuns the sight,
687 Flies o'er the stage, surpris'd with mortal fright;
688 The Furies guard the door and intercept his flight.

689 Now, sinking underneath a load of grief,
690 From death alone she seeks her last relief;
691 The time and means resolv'd within her breast,
692 She to her mournful sister thus address'd
693 (Dissembling hope, her cloudy front she clears,
694 And a false vigor in her eyes appears):
695 "Rejoice!" she said. "Instructed from above,
696 My lover I shall gain, or lose my love.
697 Nigh rising Atlas, next the falling sun,
698 Long tracts of Ethiopian climates run:
699 There a Massylian priestess I have found,
700 Honor'd for age, for magic arts renown'd:
701 Th' Hesperian temple was her trusted care;
702 'T was she supplied the wakeful dragon's fare.
703 She poppy seeds in honey taught to steep,
704 Reclaim'd his rage, and sooth'd him into sleep.
705 She watch'd the golden fruit; her charms unbind
706 The chains of love, or fix them on the mind:
707 She stops the torrents, leaves the channel dry,
708 Repels the stars, and backward bears the sky.
709 The yawning earth rebellows to her call,
710 Pale ghosts ascend, and mountain ashes fall.
711 Witness, ye gods, and thou my better part,
712 How loth I am to try this impious art!
713 Within the secret court, with silent care,
714 Erect a lofty pile, expos'd in air:
715 Hang on the topmost part the Trojan vest,
716 Spoils, arms, and presents, of my faithless guest.
717 Next, under these, the bridal bed be plac'd,
718 Where I my ruin in his arms embrac'd:
719 All relics of the wretch are doom'd to fire;
720 For so the priestess and her charms require."

721 Thus far she said, and farther speech forbears;
722 A mortal paleness in her face appears:
723 Yet the mistrustless Anna could not find
724 The secret fun'ral in these rites design'd;
725 Nor thought so dire a rage possess'd her mind.
726 Unknowing of a train conceal'd so well,
727 She fear'd no worse than when Sichaeus fell;
728 Therefore obeys. The fatal pile they rear,
729 Within the secret court, expos'd in air.
730 The cloven holms and pines are heap'd on high,
731 And garlands on the hollow spaces lie.
732 Sad cypress, vervain, yew, compose the wreath,
733 And ev'ry baleful green denoting death.
734 The queen, determin'd to the fatal deed,
735 The spoils and sword he left, in order spread,
736 And the man's image on the nuptial bed.

737 And now (the sacred altars plac'd around)
738 The priestess enters, with her hair unbound,
739 And thrice invokes the pow'rs below the ground.
740 Night, Erebus, and Chaos she proclaims,
741 And threefold Hecate, with her hundred names,
742 And three Dianas: next, she sprinkles round
743 With feign'd Avernian drops the hallow'd ground;
744 Culls hoary simples, found by Phoebe's light,
745 With brazen sickles reap'd at noon of night;
746 Then mixes baleful juices in the bowl,
747 And cuts the forehead of a newborn foal,
748 Robbing the mother's love. The destin'd queen
749 Observes, assisting at the rites obscene;
750 A leaven'd cake in her devoted hands
751 She holds, and next the highest altar stands:
752 One tender foot was shod, her other bare;
753 Girt was her gather'd gown, and loose her hair.
754 Thus dress'd, she summon'd, with her dying breath,
755 The heav'ns and planets conscious of her death,
756 And ev'ry pow'r, if any rules above,
757 Who minds, or who revenges, injur'd love.

758 "'T was dead of night, when weary bodies close
759 Their eyes in balmy sleep and soft repose:
760 The winds no longer whisper thro' the woods,
761 Nor murm'ring tides disturb the gentle floods.
762 The stars in silent order mov'd around;
763 And Peace, with downy wings, was brooding on the ground
764 The flocks and herds, and party-color'd fowl,
765 Which haunt the woods, or swim the weedy pool,
766 Stretch'd on the quiet earth, securely lay,
767 Forgetting the past labors of the day.
768 All else of nature's common gift partake:
769 Unhappy Dido was alone awake.
770 Nor sleep nor ease the furious queen can find;
771 Sleep fled her eyes, as quiet fled her mind.
772 Despair, and rage, and love divide her heart;
773 Despair and rage had some, but love the greater part.

774 Then thus she said within her secret mind:
775 "What shall I do? what succor can I find?
776 Become a suppliant to Hyarba's pride,
777 And take my turn, to court and be denied?
778 Shall I with this ungrateful Trojan go,
779 Forsake an empire, and attend a foe?
780 Himself I refug'd, and his train reliev'd-
781 'T is true- but am I sure to be receiv'd?
782 Can gratitude in Trojan souls have place!
783 Laomedon still lives in all his race!
784 Then, shall I seek alone the churlish crew,
785 Or with my fleet their flying sails pursue?
786 What force have I but those whom scarce before
787 I drew reluctant from their native shore?
788 Will they again embark at my desire,
789 Once more sustain the seas, and quit their second Tyre?
790 Rather with steel thy guilty breast invade,
791 And take the fortune thou thyself hast made.
792 Your pity, sister, first seduc'd my mind,
793 Or seconded too well what I design'd.
794 These dear-bought pleasures had I never known,
795 Had I continued free, and still my own;
796 Avoiding love, I had not found despair,
797 But shar'd with salvage beasts the common air.
798 Like them, a lonely life I might have led,
799 Not mourn'd the living, nor disturb'd the dead."
800 These thoughts she brooded in her anxious breast.
801 On board, the Trojan found more easy rest.
802 Resolv'd to sail, in sleep he pass'd the night;
803 And order'd all things for his early flight.

804 To whom once more the winged god appears;
805 His former youthful mien and shape he wears,
806 And with this new alarm invades his ears:
807 "Sleep'st thou, O goddess-born! and canst thou drown
808 Thy needful cares, so near a hostile town,
809 Beset with foes; nor hear'st the western gales
810 Invite thy passage, and inspire thy sails?
811 She harbors in her heart a furious hate,
812 And thou shalt find the dire effects too late;
813 Fix'd on revenge, and obstinate to die.
814 Haste swiftly hence, while thou hast pow'r to fly.
815 The sea with ships will soon be cover'd o'er,
816 And blazing firebrands kindle all the shore.
817 Prevent her rage, while night obscures the skies,
818 And sail before the purple morn arise.
819 Who knows what hazards thy delay may bring?
820 Woman's a various and a changeful thing."
821 Thus Hermes in the dream; then took his flight
822 Aloft in air unseen, and mix'd with night.

823 Twice warn'd by the celestial messenger,
824 The pious prince arose with hasty fear;
825 Then rous'd his drowsy train without delay:
826 "Haste to your banks; your crooked anchors weigh,
827 And spread your flying sails, and stand to sea.
828 A god commands: he stood before my sight,
829 And urg'd us once again to speedy flight.
830 O sacred pow'r, what pow'r soe'er thou art,
831 To thy blest orders I resign my heart.
832 Lead thou the way; protect thy Trojan bands,
833 And prosper the design thy will commands."
834 He said: and, drawing forth his flaming sword,
835 His thund'ring arm divides the many-twisted cord.
836 An emulating zeal inspires his train:
837 They run; they snatch; they rush into the main.
838 With headlong haste they leave the desert shores,
839 And brush the liquid seas with lab'ring oars.

840 Aurora now had left her saffron bed,
841 And beams of early light the heav'ns o'erspread,
842 When, from a tow'r, the queen, with wakeful eyes,
843 Saw day point upward from the rosy skies.
844 She look'd to seaward; but the sea was void,
845 And scarce in ken the sailing ships descried.
846 Stung with despite, and furious with despair,
847 She struck her trembling breast, and tore her hair.
848 "And shall th' ungrateful traitor go," she said,
849 "My land forsaken, and my love betray'd?
850 Shall we not arm? not rush from ev'ry street,
851 To follow, sink, and burn his perjur'd fleet?
852 Haste, haul my galleys out! pursue the foe!
853 Bring flaming brands! set sail, and swiftly row!
854 What have I said? where am I? Fury turns
855 My brain; and my distemper'd bosom burns.
856 Then, when I gave my person and my throne,
857 This hate, this rage, had been more timely shown.
858 See now the promis'd faith, the vaunted name,
859 The pious man, who, rushing thro' the flame,
860 Preserv'd his gods, and to the Phrygian shore
861 The burthen of his feeble father bore!
862 I should have torn him piecemeal; strow'd in floods
863 His scatter'd limbs, or left expos'd in woods;
864 Destroy'd his friends and son; and, from the fire,
865 Have set the reeking boy before the sire.
866 Events are doubtful, which on battles wait:
867 Yet where's the doubt, to souls secure of fate?
868 My Tyrians, at their injur'd queen's command,
869 Had toss'd their fires amid the Trojan band;
870 At once extinguish'd all the faithless name;
871 And I myself, in vengeance of my shame,
872 Had fall'n upon the pile, to mend the fun'ral flame.
873 Thou Sun, who view'st at once the world below;
874 Thou Juno, guardian of the nuptial vow;
875 Thou Hecate hearken from thy dark abodes!
876 Ye Furies, fiends, and violated gods,
877 All pow'rs invok'd with Dido's dying breath,
878 Attend her curses and avenge her death!
879 If so the Fates ordain, Jove commands,
880 Th' ungrateful wretch should find the Latian lands,
881 Yet let a race untam'd, and haughty foes,
882 His peaceful entrance with dire arms oppose:
883 Oppress'd with numbers in th' unequal field,
884 His men discourag'd, and himself expell'd,
885 Let him for succor sue from place to place,
886 Torn from his subjects, and his son's embrace.
887 First, let him see his friends in battle slain,
888 And their untimely fate lament in vain;
889 And when, at length, the cruel war shall cease,
890 On hard conditions may he buy his peace:
891 Nor let him then enjoy supreme command;
892 But fall, untimely, by some hostile hand,
893 And lie unburied on the barren sand!
894 These are my pray'rs, and this my dying will;
895 And you, my Tyrians, ev'ry curse fulfil.
896 Perpetual hate and mortal wars proclaim,
897 Against the prince, the people, and the name.
898 These grateful off'rings on my grave bestow;
899 Nor league, nor love, the hostile nations know!
900 Now, and from hence, in ev'ry future age,
901 When rage excites your arms, and strength supplies the rage
902 Rise some avenger of our Libyan blood,
903 With fire and sword pursue the perjur'd brood;
904 Our arms, our seas, our shores, oppos'd to theirs;
905 And the same hate descend on all our heirs!"

906 This said, within her anxious mind she weighs
907 The means of cutting short her odious days.
908 Then to Sichaeus' nurse she briefly said
909 (For, when she left her country, hers was dead):
910 "Go, Barce, call my sister. Let her care
911 The solemn rites of sacrifice prepare;
912 The sheep, and all th' atoning off'rings bring,
913 Sprinkling her body from the crystal spring
914 With living drops; then let her come, and thou
915 With sacred fillets bind thy hoary brow.
916 Thus will I pay my vows to Stygian Jove,
917 And end the cares of my disastrous love;
918 Then cast the Trojan image on the fire,
919 And, as that burns, my passions shall expire."

920 The nurse moves onward, with officious care,
921 And all the speed her aged limbs can bear.
922 But furious Dido, with dark thoughts involv'd,
923 Shook at the mighty mischief she resolv'd.
924 With livid spots distinguish'd was her face;
925 Red were her rolling eyes, and discompos'd her pace;
926 Ghastly she gaz'd, with pain she drew her breath,
927 And nature shiver'd at approaching death.

928 Then swiftly to the fatal place she pass'd,
929 And mounts the fun'ral pile with furious haste;
930 Unsheathes the sword the Trojan left behind
931 (Not for so dire an enterprise design'd).
932 But when she view'd the garments loosely spread,
933 Which once he wore, and saw the conscious bed,
934 She paus'd, and with a sigh the robes embrac'd;
935 Then on the couch her trembling body cast,
936 Repress'd the ready tears, and spoke her last:
937 "Dear pledges of my love, while Heav'n so pleas'd,
938 Receive a soul, of mortal anguish eas'd:
939 My fatal course is finish'd; and I go,
940 A glorious name, among the ghosts below.
941 A lofty city by my hands is rais'd,
942 Pygmalion punish'd, and my lord appeas'd.
943 What could my fortune have afforded more,
944 Had the false Trojan never touch'd my shore!"
945 Then kiss'd the couch; and, "Must I die," she said,
946 "And unreveng'd? 'T is doubly to be dead!
947 Yet ev'n this death with pleasure I receive:
948 On any terms, 't is better than to live.
949 These flames, from far, may the false Trojan view;
950 These boding omens his base flight pursue!"

951 She said, and struck; deep enter'd in her side
952 The piercing steel, with reeking purple dyed:
953 Clogg'd in the wound the cruel weapon stands;
954 The spouting blood came streaming on her hands.
955 Her sad attendants saw the deadly stroke,
956 And with loud cries the sounding palace shook.
957 Distracted, from the fatal sight they fled,
958 And thro' the town the dismal rumor spread.
959 First from the frighted court the yell began;
960 Redoubled, thence from house to house it ran:
961 The groans of men, with shrieks, laments, and cries
962 Of mixing women, mount the vaulted skies.
963 Not less the clamor, than if- ancient Tyre,
964 Or the new Carthage, set by foes on fire-
965 The rolling ruin, with their lov'd abodes,
966 Involv'd the blazing temples of their gods.

967 Her sister hears; and, furious with despair,
968 She beats her breast, and rends her yellow hair,
969 And, calling on Eliza's name aloud,
970 Runs breathless to the place, and breaks the crowd.
971 "Was all that pomp of woe for this prepar'd;
972 These fires, this fun'ral pile, these altars rear'd?
973 Was all this train of plots contriv'd," said she,
974 "All only to deceive unhappy me?
975 Which is the worst? Didst thou in death pretend
976 To scorn thy sister, or delude thy friend?
977 Thy summon'd sister, and thy friend, had come;
978 One sword had serv'd us both, one common tomb:
979 Was I to raise the pile, the pow'rs invoke,
980 Not to be present at the fatal stroke?
981 At once thou hast destroy'd thyself and me,
982 Thy town, thy senate, and thy colony!
983 Bring water; bathe the wound; while I in death
984 Lay close my lips to hers, and catch the flying breath."
985 This said, she mounts the pile with eager haste,
986 And in her arms the gasping queen embrac'd;
987 Her temples chaf'd; and her own garments tore,
988 To stanch the streaming blood, and cleanse the gore.
989 Thrice Dido tried to raise her drooping head,
990 And, fainting thrice, fell grov'ling on the bed;
991 Thrice op'd her heavy eyes, and sought the light,
992 But, having found it, sicken'd at the sight,
993 And clos'd her lids at last in endless night.

994 Then Juno, grieving that she should sustain
995 A death so ling'ring, and so full of pain,
996 Sent Iris down, to free her from the strife
997 Of lab'ring nature, and dissolve her life.
998 For since she died, not doom'd by Heav'n's decree,
999 Or her own crime, but human casualty,
1000 And rage of love, that plung'd her in despair,
1001 The Sisters had not cut the topmost hair,
1002 Which Proserpine and they can only know;
1003 Nor made her sacred to the shades below.
1004 Downward the various goddess took her flight,
1005 And drew a thousand colors from the light;
1006 Then stood above the dying lover's head,
1007 And said: "I thus devote thee to the dead.
1008 This off'ring to th' infernal gods I bear."
1009 Thus while she spoke, she cut the fatal hair:
1010 The struggling soul was loos'd, and life dissolv'd in air.