by Virgil
From Sidon’s city, forcing them to spread their sails abroad?
quin morere ut merita es, ferroque auerte dolorem.
Nay, stay thy grief with steel, and die, and reap thy due reward!
tu lacrimis euicta meis, tu prima furentem
Thou, sister, conquered by my tears, wert first this bane to lay
his, germana, malis oneras atque obicis hosti.
On my mad soul, and cast my heart in that destroyer’s way.
non licuit thalami expertem sine crimine uitam 550
Why was I not allowed to live without the bridal bed,
degere more ferae, talis nec tangere curas;
Sackless and free as beasts afield, with no woes wearièd?
non seruata fides cineri promissa Sychaeo.’
Why kept I not the faith of old to my Sychæus sworn?”
Tantos illa suo rumpebat pectore questus:
Such wailing of unhappy words from out her breast was torn.
Aeneas celsa in puppi iam certus eundi
Æneas on the lofty deck meanwhile, assured of flight,
carpebat somnos rebus iam rite paratis. 555
Was winning sleep, since every need of his was duly dight;
huic se forma dei uultu redeuntis eodem
When lo! amid the dreams of sleep that shape of God come back,
obtulit in somnis rursusque ita uisa monere est,
Seemed once again to warn him thus: nor yet the face did lack
omnia Mercurio similis, uocemque coloremque
Nor anything of Mercury; both voice and hue was there,
et crinis flauos et membra decora iuuenta:
And loveliness of youthful limbs and length of yellow hair:
‘nate dea, potes hoc sub casu ducere somnos, 560
“O Goddess-born, and canst thou sleep through such a tide as this?
nec quae te circum stent deinde pericula cernis,
And seest thou not how round about the peril gathered is?
demens, nec Zephyros audis spirare secundos?
And, witless, hear’st not Zephyr blow with gentle, happy wind?
illa dolos dirumque nefas in pectore uersat
For treason now and dreadful deed she turneth in her mind,
certa mori, uariosque irarum concitat aestus.
Assured of death; and diversely the tide of wrath sets in.
non fugis hinc praeceps, dum praecipitare potestas? 565
Why fleest thou not in haste away, while haste is yet to win?
iam mare turbari trabibus saeuasque uidebis
Thou shalt behold the sea beat up with oar-blade, and the brand
conlucere faces, iam feruere litora flammis,
Gleam dire against thee, and one flame shall run adown the strand,
si te his attigerit terris Aurora morantem.
If thee tomorrow’s dawn shall take still lingering on this shore.
heia age, rumpe moras. uarium et mutabile semper
Up! tarry not! for woman’s heart is shifting evermore.”
femina.’ sic fatus nocti se immiscuit atrae. 570
So saying, amid the mirk of night he mingled and was lost.
Tum uero Aeneas subitis exterritus umbris
And therewithal Æneas, feared by sudden-flitting ghost,
corripit e somno corpus sociosque fatigat
Snatching his body forth from sleep, stirs up his folk at need:
praecipitis: ‘uigilate, uiri, et considite transtris;
“Wake ye, and hurry now, O men! get to the thwarts with speed,
soluite uela citi. deus aethere missus ab alto
And bustle to unfurl the sails! here sent from heaven again
festinare fugam tortosque incidere funis 575
A God hath spurred us on to flight, and biddeth hew atwain
ecce iterum instimulat. sequimur te, sancte deorum,
The hempen twine. O holy God, we follow on thy way,
quisquis es, imperioque iterum paremus ouantes.
Whatso thou art; and glad once more thy bidding we obey.
adsis o placidusque iuues et sidera caelo
O be with us! give gracious aid; set stars the heaven about
dextra feras.’ dixit uaginaque eripit ensem
To bless our ways!” And from the sheath his lightning sword flew out
fulmineum strictoque ferit retinacula ferro. 580
E’en as he spake: with naked blade he smote the hawser through,
idem omnis simul ardor habet, rapiuntque ruuntque;
And all are kindled at his flame; they hurry and they do.
litora deseruere, latet sub classibus aequor,
The shore is left, with crowd of keels the sight of sea is dim;
adnixi torquent spumas et caerula uerrunt.
Eager they whirl the spray aloft, as o’er the blue they skim.
Et iam prima nouo spargebat lumine terras
And now Aurora left alone Tithonus’ saffron bed,
Tithoni croceum linquens Aurora cubile. 585
And first light of another day across the world she shed.
regina e speculis ut primam albescere lucem
But when the Queen from tower aloft beheld the dawn grow white,
uidit et aequatis classem procedere uelis,
And saw the ships upon their way with fair sails trimmed aright,
litoraque et uacuos sensit sine remige portus,
And all the haven shipless left, and reach of empty strand,
terque quaterque manu pectus percussa decorum
Then thrice and o’er again she smote her fair breast with her hand,
flauentisque abscissa comas ‘pro Iuppiter! ibit 590
And rent her yellow hair, and cried, “Ah, Jove! and is he gone?
hic,’ ait ‘et nostris inluserit aduena regnis?
And shall a very stranger mock the lordship I have won?
non arma expedient totaque ex urbe sequentur,
Why arm they not? Why gather not from all the town in chase?
diripientque rates alii naualibus? ite,
Ho ye! why run ye not the ships down from their standing-place?
ferte citi flammas, date tela, impellite remos!
Quick, bring the fire! shake out the sails! hard on the oars to sea!
quid loquor? aut ubi sum? quae mentem insania mutat? 595
— What words are these, or where am I? What madness changeth me?
infelix Dido, nunc te facta impia tangunt?
Unhappy Dido! now at last thine evil deed strikes home.
tum decuit, cum sceptra dabas. en dextra fidesque,
Ah, better when thou mad’st him lord — lo whereunto are come
quem secum patrios aiunt portare penatis,
His faith and troth who erst, they say, his country’s house-gods held
quem subiisse umeris confectum aetate parentem!
The while he took upon his back his father spent with eld?
non potui abreptum diuellere corpus et undis 600
Why! might I not have shred him up, and scattered him piecemeal
spargere? non socios, non ipsum absumere ferro
About the sea, and slain his friends, his very son, with steel,
Ascanium patriisque epulandum ponere mensis?
Ascanius on his father’s board for dainty meat to lay?
uerum anceps pugnae fuerat fortuna. fuisset:
But doubtful, say ye, were the fate of battle? Yea, O yea!
quem metui moritura? faces in castra tulissem
What might I fear, who was to die? — if I had borne the fire
implessemque foros flammis natumque patremque 605
Among their camp, and filled his decks with flame, and son and sire
cum genere exstinxem, memet super ipsa dedissem.
Quenched with their whole folk, and myself had cast upon it all!
Sol, qui terrarum flammis opera omnia lustras,
— O Sun, whose flames on every deed earth doeth ev
er fall,
tuque harum interpres curarum et conscia Iuno,
O Juno, setter-forth and seer of these our many woes,
nocturnisque Hecate triuiis ululata per urbes
Hecate, whose name howled out a-nights o’er city crossway goes,
et Dirae ultrices et di morientis Elissae, 610
Avenging Dread Ones, Gods that guard Elissa perishing,
accipite haec, meritumque malis aduertite numen
O hearken! turn your might most meet against the evil thing!
et nostras audite preces. si tangere portus
O hearken these our prayers! and if the doom must surely stand,
infandum caput ac terris adnare necesse est,
And he, the wicked head, must gain the port and swim aland,
et sic fata Iouis poscunt, hic terminus haeret,
If Jove demand such fixèd fate and every change doth bar,
at bello audacis populi uexatus et armis, 615
Yet let him faint mid weapon-strife and hardy folk of war!
finibus extorris, complexu auulsus Iuli
And let him, exiled from his house, torn from Iulus, wend,
auxilium imploret uideatque indigna suorum
Beseeching help mid wretched death of many and many a friend.
funera; nec, cum se sub leges pacis iniquae
And when at last he yieldeth him to pact of grinding peace,
tradiderit, regno aut optata luce fruatur,
Then short-lived let his lordship be, and lovèd life’s increase.
sed cadat ante diem mediaque inhumatus harena. 620
And let him fall before his day, unburied on the shore!
haec precor, hanc uocem extremam cum sanguine fundo.
Lo this I pray, this last of words forth with my blood I pour.
tum uos, o Tyrii, stirpem et genus omne futurum
And ye, O Tyrians, ‘gainst his race that is, and is to be,
exercete odiis, cinerique haec mittite nostro
Feed full your hate! When I am dead send down this gift to me:
munera. nullus amor populis nec foedera sunto.
No love betwixt the peoples twain, no troth for anything!
exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus ultor 625
And thou, Avenger of my wrongs, from my dead bones outspring,
qui face Dardanios ferroque sequare colonos,
To bear the fire and the sword o’er Dardan-peopled earth
nunc, olim, quocumque dabunt se tempore uires.
Now or hereafter; whensoe’er the day brings might to birth.
litora litoribus contraria, fluctibus undas
I pray the shore against the shore, the sea against the sea,
imprecor, arma armis: pugnent ipsique nepotesque.’
The sword ‘gainst sword — fight ye that are, and ye that are to be!”
Haec ait, et partis animum uersabat in omnis, 630
So sayeth she, and everywise she turns about her mind
inuisam quaerens quam primum abrumpere lucem.
How ending of the loathèd light she speediest now may find.
tum breuiter Barcen nutricem adfata Sychaei,
And few words unto Barce spake, Sychæus’ nurse of yore;
namque suam patria antiqua cinis ater habebat:
For the black ashes held her own upon the ancient shore:
‘Annam, cara mihi nutrix, huc siste sororem:
“Dear nurse, my sister Anna now bring hither to my need,
dic corpus properet fluuiali spargere lympha, 635
And bid her for my sprinkling-tide the running water speed;
et pecudes secum et monstrata piacula ducat.
And bid her have the hosts with her, and due atoning things:
sic ueniat, tuque ipsa pia tege tempora uitta.
So let her come; but thou, thine head bind with the holy strings;
sacra Ioui Stygio, quae rite incepta paraui,
For I am minded now to end what I have set afoot,
perficere est animus finemque imponere curis
And worship duly Stygian Jove and all my cares uproot;
Dardaniique rogum capitis permittere flammae.’ 640
Setting the flame beneath the bale of that Dardanian head.”
sic ait. illa gradum studio celebrabat anili.
She spake; with hurrying of eld the nurse her footsteps sped.
at trepida et coeptis immanibus effera Dido
But Dido, trembling, wild at heart with her most dread intent,
sanguineam uoluens aciem, maculisque trementis
Rolling her blood-shot eyes about, her quivering cheeks besprent
interfusa genas et pallida morte futura,
With burning flecks, and otherwhere dead white with death drawn nigh
interiora domus inrumpit limina et altos 645
Burst through the inner doorways there and clomb the bale on high,
conscendit furibunda rogos ensemque recludit
Fulfilled with utter madness now, and bared the Dardan blade,
Dardanium, non hos quaesitum munus in usus.
Gift given not for such a work, for no such ending made.
hic, postquam Iliacas uestis notumque cubile
There, when upon the Ilian gear her eyen had been set,
conspexit, paulum lacrimis et mente morata
And bed well known, ‘twixt tears and thoughts awhile she lingered yet;
incubuitque toro dixitque nouissima uerba: 650
Then brooding low upon the bed her latest word she spake:
‘dulces exuuiae, dum fata deusque sinebat,
“O raiment dear to me while Gods and fate allowed, now take
accipite hanc animam meque his exsoluite curis.
This soul of mine and let me loose from all my woes at last!
uixi et quem dederat cursum Fortuna peregi,
I, I have lived, and down the way fate showed to me have passed;
et nunc magna mei sub terras ibit imago.
And now a mighty shade of me shall go beneath the earth!
urbem praeclaram statui, mea moenia uidi, 655
A glorious city have I raised, and brought my walls to birth,
ulta uirum poenas inimico a fratre recepi,
Avenged my husband, made my foe, my brother, pay the pain:
felix, heu nimium felix, si litora tantum
Happy, ah, happy overmuch were all my life-days’ gain,
numquam Dardaniae tetigissent nostra carinae.’
If never those Dardanian keels had drawn our shores anigh.”
dixit, et os impressa toro ‘moriemur inultae,
She spake: her lips lay on the bed: “Ah, unavenged to die!
sed moriamur’ ait. ‘sic, sic iuuat ire sub umbras. 660
But let me die! Thus, thus ’tis good to go into the night!
hauriat hunc oculis ignem crudelis ab alto
Now let the cruel Dardan eyes drink in the bale-fire’s light,
Dardanus, et nostrae secum ferat omina mortis.’
And bear for sign across the sea this token of my death.”
dixerat, atque illam media inter talia ferro
Her speech had end: but on the steel, amid the last word’s breath,
conlapsam aspiciunt comites, ensemque cruore
They see her fallen; along the blade they see her blood foam out,
spumantem sparsasque manus. it clamor ad alta 665
And all her hands besprent therewith: wild fly the shrieks about
atria: concussam bacchatur Fama per urbem.
The lofty halls, and Rumour runs mad through the smitten town.
lamentis gemituque et femineo ululatu
The houses sound with women’s wails and lamentable groan;
tecta fremunt, resonat magnis plangoribus aether,
The mighty clamour of their grief rings through the upper skies.
non aliter quam si immissis ruat hostibus omnis
’Twas e’en as if all Cart
hage fell mid flood of enemies,
Karthago aut antiqua Tyros, flammaeque furentes 670
Or mighty Tyre of ancient days, — as if the wildfire ran
culmina perque hominum uoluantur perque deorum.
Rolling about the roof of God and dwelling-place of man.
audiit exanimis trepidoque exterrita cursu
Half dead her sister heard, and rushed distraught and trembling there,
unguibus ora soror foedans et pectora pugnis
With nail and fist befouling all her face and bosom fair:
per medios ruit, ac morientem nomine clamat:
She thrust amidst them, and by name called on the dying Queen:
‘hoc illud, germana, fuit? me fraude petebas? 675
“O was it this my sister, then! guile in thy word hath been!
hoc rogus iste mihi, hoc ignes araeque parabant?
And this was what the bale, the fire, the altars wrought for me!
quid primum deserta querar? comitemne sororem
Where shall I turn so left alone? Ah, scorned was I to be
spreuisti moriens? eadem me ad fata uocasses,
For death-fellow! thou shouldst have called me too thy way to wend.
idem ambas ferro dolor atque eadem hora tulisset.
One sword-pang should have been for both, one hour to make an end.
his etiam struxi manibus patriosque uocaui 680
Built I with hands, on Father-Gods with crying did I cry
uoce deos, sic te ut posita, crudelis, abessem?
To be away, a cruel heart, from thee laid down to die?
exstinxti te meque, soror, populumque patresque
O sister, me and thee, thy folk, the fathers of the land,
Sidonios urbemque tuam. date, uulnera lymphis
Thy city hast thou slain —— O give, give water to my hand,
abluam et, extremus si quis super halitus errat,
And let me wash the wound, and if some last breath linger there,
ore legam.’ sic fata gradus euaserat altos, 685
Let my mouth catch it!” Saying so she reached the topmost stair,
semianimemque sinu germanam amplexa fouebat
And to her breast the dying one she fondled, groaning sore,
cum gemitu atque atros siccabat ueste cruores.
And with her raiment strove to staunch the black and flowing gore.
illa grauis oculos conata attollere rursus
Then Dido strove her heavy lids to lift, but back again
deficit; infixum stridit sub pectore uulnus.
They sank, and deep within her breast whispered the deadly bane:
ter sese attollens cubitoque adnixa leuauit, 690
Three times on elbow struggling up a little did she rise,
ter reuoluta toro est oculisque errantibus alto
