Beseige[s] th' offspring of our kingly loins: Charge him from me to turn his stormy powers, And fetter them in Vulcan's sturdy brass, That durst thus proudly wrong our kinsman's peace. [Exit HERMES. Venus, farewell: thy son shall be our care.— Come, Ganymede, we must about this gear. [Exeunt JUPITER and GANYMEDE.* Ven. Disquiet seas, lay down your swelling looks,

And court Æneas with your calmy cheer, Whose beauteous burden well might make you proud,

Had not the heavens, conceiv'd with hell-born clouds,

Veil'd his resplendent glory from your view:
For my sake, pity him, Oceanus,

That erst-while issu'd from thy watery loins,
And had my being from thy bubbling froth.
Triton, I know, hath fill'd his trump with Troy,
And therefore will take pity on his toil,
And call both Thetis and Cymodoce +
To succour him in this extremity.

Enter ENEAS, ASCANIUS, ACHATES, and others. What, do I see my son now come on shore? Venus, how art thou compass'd with content, The while thine eyes attract their sought-for joys!

Great Jupiter, still honour'd mayst thou be
For this so friendly aid in time of need!
Here in this bush disguisèd will I stand,
Whiles my Æneas spends himself in plaints,
And heaven and earth with his unrest acquaints.
En. You sons of care, companions of my

course,

Priam's misfortune follows us by sea,

And Helen's rape doth haunt ye § at the heels.

* Exeunt Jupiter and Ganymede.] On their going out, we are to suppose that the scene is changed to a wood on the sea-shore. In the third act we find;

"En. Stout friend Achates, dost thou know this wood?
Ach. As I remember, here you shot the deer
That sav'd your famish'd soldiers' lives from death,
When first you set your foot upon the shore;
And here we met fair Venus, virgin-like," &c.

+ Cymodoce] Old ed. "Cimodoce ".-I give, with the modern editors, "Cymodoce," as it comes nearest the trace of the letters; and she doubtless was one of the Nereids: but, according to the passage in Virgil's En. (1. 144.), the name ought to be "Cymothoe."

What, do I see, &c.] Perhaps this line should be pointed,

How many dangers have we overpass'd!
Both barking Scylla, and the sounding rocks,
The Cyclops' shelves, and grim Ceraunia's seat,
Have you o'ergone, and yet remain alive.
Pluck up your hearts, since Fate still rests our
friend,

And changing heavens may those good days return,

Which Pergama did vaunt in all her pride.

Ach. Brave prince of Troy, thou only art our god,

That by thy virtues free'st us from annoy,*
And mak'st our hopes survive to coming+ joys:
Do thou but smile, and cloudy heaven will clear,
Whose night and day descendeth from thy
brows.

Though we be now in extreme misery,
And rest the map of weather-beaten woe,
Yet shall the agèd sun shed forth his hair,‡
To make us live unto our former heat,
And every beast the forest doth send forth
Bequeath her young ones to our scanted food.
Asc. Father, I faint; good father, give me

meat.

En. Alas, sweet boy, thou must be still a

while,

Till we have fire to dress the meat we kill'd!—
Gentle Achates, reach the tinder-box,
That we may make a fire to warm us with,

And roast our new-found victuals on this shore. Ven. See, what strange arts necessity finds out !

How near, my sweet Eneas, art thou driven !

[Aside.

En. Hold; take this candle, and go light a

fire;

You shall have leaves and windfall boughs enow, Near to these woods, to roast your meat withal.Ascanius, go and dry thy drenched limbs, Whiles I with my Achates rove abroad,

To know what coast the wind hath driven us on, Or whether men or beasts inhabit it.

[Exeunt ASCANIUS and others. Ach. The air is pleasant, and the soil most fit For cities and society's supports; Yet much I marvel that I cannot find

No steps of men imprinted in the earth.

compare what immediately follows, "have we overpass'd" -"Have you o'ergone."

* annoy] Qy "annoys "-for a rhyme?

t coming] Old ed. " cunning." The words are very often confounded by our early printers.

this hair] i. e. his blazing tresses. Old ed. "air,”— a misprint which has occurred before; see note, p. 251.

Ven. Now is the time for me to play my
part.-
[Aside.

Ho, young men ! saw you, as you came,*
Any of all my sisters wandering here,
Having a quiver girded to her side,
And clothed in a spotted leopard's skin?

En. I neither saw nor heard of any such.
But what may I, fair virgin, call your name,
Whose looks set forth no mortal form to view,
Nor speech bewrays aught human in thy birth?
Thou art a goddess that delud'st our eyes,
And shroud'st thy beauty in this borrow'd
shape;

But whether thou the Sun's bright sister be,
Or one of chaste Diana's fellow-nymphs,
Live happy in the height of all content,

And lighten our extremes with this one boon,
As to instruct us under what good heaven

Are ballassèd with billows' watery weight.
But hapless I, God wot, poor and unknown,
Do trace these Libyan deserts, all despis'd,
Exil'd forth Europe and wide Asia both,
And have not any coverture but heaven.

Ven. Fortune hath favour'd thee, whate'er thou be,

In sending thee unto this courteous coast.
A' God's name, on! and haste thee to the court,
Where Dido will receive ye with her smiles;
And for thy ships, which thou supposest lost,
Not one of them hath perish'd in the storm,
But are arrived safe, not far from hence:
And so, I leave thee to thy fortune's lot,
Wishing good luck unto thy wandering steps.

En. Achates, 'tis my mother that is fled; I know her by the movings of her feet.-+

call'd

On which by tempests' fury we are cast:
Tell us, O, tell us, that are ignorant !

And this right hand shall make thy altars crack
With mountain-heaps of milk-white sacrifice.

Ven. Such honour, stranger, do I not affect:
It is the use for Tyrian + maids to wear
Their bow and quiver in this modest sort,⚫
And suit themselves in purple for the nonce,+
That they may trip more lightly o'er the
lawnds,§

And overtake the tuskèd boar in chase.
But for the land whereof thou dost inquire,
It is the Punic kingdom, rich and strong,
Adjoining on Agenor's stately town,
The kingly seat of Southern Libya,
Whereas Sidonian Dido rules as queen.
But what are you that ask of me these things?
Whence may you come, or whither will you go?

En. Of Troy am I, Eneas is my name;
Who, driven by war from forth my native world,
Put sails to sea to seek out Italy;

And my divine descent from sceptred Jove: With twice twelve Phrygian ships I plough'd the deep,

And made that way my mother Venus led;
But of them all scarce seven do anchor safe,
And they so wreck'd and welter'd by the waves,
As every tide tilts 'twixt their oaken sides;
And all of them, unburden'd of their load,

* came] Qy. "came along "?

+ Tyrian] Old ed. "Turen."

for the nonce] i. e. for the occasion.

§ lawnds] i. e. lawns.

Whereas] i. e. Where.

[Exit.

Too cruel, why wilt thou forsake me thus,
Or in these shades‡ deceiv'st mine eyes so oft?
Why talk we not together hand in hand,
And tell our griefs in more familiar terms?
But thou art gone, and leav'st me here alone,
To dull the air with my discoursive moan.

[Exeunt.

Enter IARBAS,& followed by ILIONEUS, CLOANTHUS,|
SERGESTUS, and others. T

Ili. Follow, ye Trojans, follow this brave lord,
And plain** to him the sum of your distress.
Iar. Why, what are you, or wherefore do you
sue?

Ili. Wretches of Troy, envied of the winds,+tt That crave such favour at your honour's feet As poor distressèd misery may plead : Save, save, O, save our ships from cruel fire, That do complain the wounds of thousand waves, And spare our lives, whom every spite pursues! We come not, we, to wrong your Libyan gods, Or steal your household Lares from their shrines;

*ballassed] i. e. ballasted.

I know her by the movings of her feet] Every reader will of course perceive that these words answer to "Et vera incessu patuit dea," in Virgil's celebrated description of Venus reassuming the marks of divinity (En. 1. 405),— a description, of which our poet did not venture to borrow more, lest the audience should have smiled at its inappropriateness to the actor who "boy'd" the goddess. shades] "Quid natum totiens, crudelis tu quoque, falsis

Ludis imaginibus?" Virgil, En. 1. 407.

Our hands are not prepar'd to lawless spoil,
Nor armed to offend in any kind;

Such force is far from our unweapon'd thoughts,
Whose fading weal, of victory forsook,
Forbids all hope to harbour near our hearts.
Iar. But tell me, Trojans, Trojans if you be,
Unto what fruitful quarters were ye bound,
Before that Boreas buckled with your sails?

Clo. There is a place, Hesperia term'd by us,
An ancient empire, famousèd for arms,
And fertile in fair Ceres' furrow'd wealth,
Which now we call Italia, of his name
That in such peace long time did rule the same.
Thither made we;

When, suddenly, gloomy Orion rose,
And led our ships into the shallow sands,
Whereas the southern wind with brackish
breath

Dispers'd them all amongst the wreckful rocks:
From thence a few of us escap'd to land;
The rest, we fear, are folded in the floods.

Iar. Brave men-at-arms, abandon fruitless

fears,

Since Carthage knows to entertain distress.

Serg. Ay, but the barbarous sort do threat

our ships,

And will not let us lodge upon the sands;
In multitudes they swarm unto the shore,
And from the first earth interdict our feet.

Iar. Myself will see they shall not trouble ye:
Your men and you shall banquet in our court,
And every Trojan be as welcome here
As Jupiter to silly Baucis'+ house.
Come in with me; I'll bring you to my queen,
Who shall confirm my words with further deeds.
Serg. Thanks, gentle lord, for such unlook'd-

for grace:

Might we but once more see Æneas' face, Then would we hope to quite such friendly turns,

As shall § surpass the wonder of our speech.

[Exeunt.

Enter NEAS, ACHATES, ASCANIUS, and others. En. Where am I now? these should be Carthage-walls.

Ach. Why stands my sweet Eneas thus amaz'd?

En. O my Achates, Theban Niobe,

Who for her sons' death wept out life and breath,
And, dry with grief, was turn'd into a stone,
Had not such passions in her head as I!
Methinks,

That town there should be Troy, yon Ida's hill,
There Xanthus' stream, because here's Priamus;
And when I know it is not, then I die.

Ach. And in this humour is Achates too;
I cannot choose but fall upon my knees,
And kiss his hand. O, where is Hecuba?
Here she was wont to sit; but, saving air,
Is nothing here; and what is this but stone? §

* Whereas] i. e. Where.

Enter Eneas, &c.] I cannot satisfy myself about the exact location which the poet intended to give this scene (according to Virgil, it should take place within the temple of Juno). Presently a change of scene is supposed; see note T. p. 256.

and others] Not in old ed.

§ stone] i. e. (as plainly appears from what follows) a statue,-in opposition to Virgil, who makes Æneas see, in the temple of Juno built by Dido, a picture of Priam, &c.

En. O, yet this stone doth make Eneas weep! And would my prayers (as Pygmalion's did) Could give it life, that under his conduct We might sail back to Troy, and be reveng'd On these hard-hearted Grecians which rejoice That nothing now is left of Priamus! O, Priamus is left, and this is he!

Come, come aboard; pursue the hateful Greeks. Ach. What means Æneas?

En. Achates, though mine eyes say this is

stone,

Yet thinks my mind that this is Priamus;
And when my grieved heart sighs and says no,
Then would it leap out to give Priam life.-
O, were I not at all, so thou mightst be !—
Achates, see, King Priam wags his hand!
He is alive; Troy is not overcome !

Ach. Thy mind, Æneas, that would have it so, Deludes thy eye-sight; Priamus is dead.

En. Ah, Troy is sack'd, and Priamus is dead! And why should poor Æneas be alive?

Asc. Sweet father, leave to weep; this is not he, For, were it Priam, he would smile on me.

sort] i. e. rabble.
Baucis'] Old ed. "Vausis."
quite) i. e. requite.

§ shall Qy. "all"?

Ach. Eneas, see, here come the citizens: Leave to lament, lest they laugh at our fears.

Enter CLOANTHUS, SERGESTUS, ILIONEUS, and others.* En. Lords of this town, or whatsoever style Belongs unto your name, vouchsafe of ruth To tell us who inhabits this fair town, What kind of people, and who governs them; For we are strangers driven on this shore, And scarcely know within what clime we are. Ili. I hear Æneas' voice, but see him not,t For none of these can be our general.

Ach. Like Ilioneus‡ speaks this nobleman,
But Ilioneus goes not in such robes.

Serg. You are Achates, or I [am] deceiv'd.
Ach. Æneas, see, Sergestus, or his ghost!
Ili. He names§ Eneas; let us kiss his feet.
Clo. It is our captain; see, Ascanius!
Serg. Live long Æneas and Ascanius!
En. Achates, speak, for I am overjoy'd.
Ach. O Ilioneus, art thou yet alive?

Ili. Blest be the time I see Achates' face!
Clo. Why turns Æneas from his trusty friends?
En. Sergestus, Ilioneus, and the rest,

Your sight amaz'd me. O, what destinies
Have brought my sweet companions in such
plight?

O, tell me, for I long to be resolv'd! ||

Ili. Lovely Æneas, these are Carthage-walls; And here Queen Dido wears th' imperial crown, Who for Troy's sake hath entertain'd us all, And clad us in these wealthy robes we wear. Oft hath she ask'd us under whom we serv'd; And, when we told her, she would weep for grief, Thinking the sea had swallow'd up thy ships; And, now she sees thee, how will she rejoice! Serg. See, where her servitors pass through the hall, T

Bearing a banquet: Dido is not far.

* and others] Not in old ed. (Æneas presently says, "Sergestus, Ilioneus, and the rest,

Your sight amaz'd me.")

+ but see him not] i. e. but I cannot discover Æneas among persons so meanly clad: Dido afterwards (next col.) says,

"Warlike Eneas, and in these base robes!" (Virgil, as the reader will recollect, makes Venus cover Eneas and Achates with a cloud, which is not dissolved till they meet Dido.)

Ilioneus] Is it necessary to observe that a wrong quantity is given to this name?

§ names] Old ed. "meanes."

resolv'd] i. e. satisfied, informed.

See, where her servitors pass through the hall, &c.] Here, or at any rate, a little after, a change of scene is supposed, -to the hall of Dido's palace.

Ili. Look, where she comes; Æneas, view* her well.

En. Well may I view her; but she sees not

me.

Enter DIDO, ANNA, IARBAS, and train.

Dido. What stranger art thou, that dost eye me thus ?

En. Sometime I was a Trojan, mighty queen; But Troy is not :—what shall I say I am? Ili. Renowmèd+ Dido, 'tis our general, Warlike Æneas.

Dido. Warlike Eneas, and in these base

robes!

Go fetch the garment which Sichæus ware.

[Exit an Attendant who brings in the garment,
which ENEAS puts on.

Brave prince, welcome to Carthage and to me,
Both happy that Æneas is our guest.
Sit in this chair, and banquet with a queen:
Eneas is Eneas, were he clad

In weeds as bad as ever Irus ware.

En. This is no seat for one that's comfortless: May it please your grace to let Æneas wait; For though my birth be great, my fortune's

mean,

Too mean to be companion to a queen.

Dido. Thy fortune may be greater than thy birth:

Sit down, Æneas, sit in Dido's place;
And, if this be thy son, as I suppose,
Here let him sit.-Be merry, lovely child.
En. This place beseems me not; O, pardon

me!

Dido. I'll have it so; Eneas, be content.
Asc. Madam, you shall be my mother.
Dido. And so I will, sweet child.-Be merry,

man:

Here's to thy better fortune and good stars.

[Drinks.

En. In all humility, I thank your grace. Dido. Remember who thou art; speak like thyself:

Humility belongs to common grooms.

En. And who so miserable as Eneas is?
Dido. Lies it in Dido's hands to make thee

blest?

Then be assur'd thou art not miserable.
En. O Priamus, O Troy, O Hecuba!
Dido. May I entreat thee to discourse at large,
And truly too, how Troy was overcome?

*view] Old ed. "viewd." Renomwed] See note H, p. 11.

For many tales go of that city's fall,
And scarcely do agree upon one point :
Some say Antenor did betray the town;
Others report 'twas Sinon's perjury;
But all in this, that Troy is overcome,
And Priam dead; yet how, we hear no news.
En. A woful tale bids Dido to unfold,
Whose memory, like pale Death's stony mace,
Beats forth my senses from this troubled soul,
And makes Eneas sink at Dido's feet.

Dido. What, faints Eneas to remember Troy,
In whose defence he fought so valiantly?
Look up, and speak.

En. Then speak, Æneas, with Achilles' tongue:
And, Dido, and you Carthaginian peers,
Hear me; but yet with Myrmidons' harsh ears,
Daily inur'd to broils and massacres,

Lest you be mov'd too much with my sad tale.
The Grecian soldiers, tir'd with ten years' war,
Began to cry, "Let us unto our ships,
Troy is invincible, why stay we here?"
With whose outcries Atrides being appall'd,
Summon'd the captains to his princely tent;
Who, looking on the scars we Trojans gave,
Seeing the number of their men decreas'd,
And the remainder weak and out of heart,
Gave up their voices to dislodge the camp,
And so in troops all march'd to Tenedos :*
Where when they came, Ulysses on the sand
Assay'd with honey words to turn them back;
And, as he spoke, to further his intent,

The winds did drive huge billows to the shore, And heaven was darken'd with tempestuous clouds;

Then he alleg'd the gods would have them stay,
And prophesied Troy should be overcome:
And therewithal he call'd false Sinon forth,
A man compact of craft and perjury,
Whose ticing tongue was made of Hermes' pipe,
To force an hundred watchful eyes to sleep;
And him, Epeus † having made the horse,

in troops all march'd to Tenedos] An odd mistake on the part of the poet; similar to that which is attributed to the Duke of Newcastle in Smollet's Humphry Clinker (vol. i. 236, ed. 1783), where his grace is made to talk about "thirty thousand French marching from Acadia to Cape Breton." (The following passage of Sir J. Harington's Orlando Furioso will hardly be thought sufficient to vindicate our author from the imputation of a blunder in geography;

"Now had they lost the sight of Holland shore,

And marcht with gentle gale in comely ranke," &c. B. x. st. 16.) Epeus] I cannot resist the present opportunity of citing from Quintus Smyrnæus a striking passage in which this personage is mentioned;

With sacrificing wreaths upon his head, Ulysses sent to our unhappy town;

Who, grovelling in the mire of Xanthus' banks,
His hands bound at his back, and both his eyes
Turn'd up to heaven, as one resolv'd to die,
Our Phrygian shepherd[s] hal'd within the gates,
And brought unto the court of Priamus;
To whom he us'd action so pitiful,
Looks so remorseful,* vows so forcible,
As therewithal the old man overcome,
Kiss'd him, embrac'd him, and unloos'd his bands;
And then-O Dido, pardon me!

Dido. Nay, leave not here; resolve me of the rest.

En. O, the enchanting words of that base slave

Made him to think Epeus' pine-tree horse
A sacrifice t' appease Minerva's wrath!
The rather, for that one Laocoon,
Breaking a spear upon his hollow breast,
Was with two wingèd serpents stung to death.
Whereat aghast, we were commanded straight
With reverence to draw it into Troy:
In which unhappy work was I employ'd;
These hands did help to hale it to the gates,
Through which it could not enter, 'twas so huge,—
O, had it never enter'd, Troy had stood !
But Priamus, impatient of delay,
Enforc'd a wide breach in that rampir'd wall
Which thousand battering-rams could never pierce,
And so came in this fatal instrument:
At whose accursed feet, as overjoy'd,
We banqueted, till, overcome with wine,
Some surfeited, and others soundly slept.
Which Sinon viewing, caus'd the Greekish spies
To haste to Tenedos, and tell the camp:
Then he unlock'd the horse; and suddenly,
From out his entrails, Neoptolemus,
Setting his spear upon the ground, leapt forth,
And, after him, a thousand Grecians more,
In whose stern faces shin'd the quenchless fire
That after burnt the pride of Asia.