Dido. Æneas, pardon me; for I forgot That young Ascanius lay with me this night; Love made me jealous: but, to make amends, Wear the imperial crown of Libya, [Giving him her crown and sceptre. Sway thou the Punic sceptre in my stead, And punish me, Æneas, for this crime. En. This kiss shall be fair Dido's punishment. Dido. O, how a crown becomes Æneas' head! Stay here, Æneas, and command as king. En. How vain am I to wear this diadem, And bear this golden sceptre in my hand! A burgonet* of steel, and not a crown, A sword, and not a sceptre, fits Æneas. Dido. O, keep them still, and let me gaze my fill! Now looks Eneas like immortal Jove: O, that the clouds were here wherein thou fled'st,+ That thou and I unseen might sport ourselves! Heaven, envious of our joys, is waxen pale; And when we whisper, then the stars fall down, To be partakers of our honey talk. En. O Dido, patroness of all our lives, This is the harbour that Æneas seeks: Eneas may command as many Moors I burgonet] i. e. helmet. fled'st] Old ed. "fleest."-An allusion, I suppose, to the incident mentioned in the fifth book of the Iliad: when Venus, having carried off Eneas from the fury of Diomede, was pursued and wounded by the latter,"She, shrieking, from her arms cast down her son, And Phoebus, in impenetrable clouds Him hiding, lest the spear of some brave Greek Heaven] Old ed. "Heauens." § will] i. e. desire. Anna. What if the citizens repine thereat? Dido. Those that dislike what Dido gives in charge, Command my guard to slay for their offence. And I, the goddess of all these, command Ach. Eneas, for his parentage, deserves En. Ay, and, unless the Destinies be false, I shall be planted in as rich a land. Dido. Speak of no other land; this land is thine; Dido is thine, henceforth I'll call thee lord.— And from a turret I'll behold my love. En. Then here in me shall flourish Priam's race; And thou and I, Achates, for revenge For Troy, for Priam, for his fifty sons, Will lead an host against the hateful Greeks, [Exeunt all except DIDO and Carthaginian Lords. I must prevent him; wishing will not serve.— [Exit First Lord. What if I sink his ships? O, he will frown! * lives] Old ed. "loues." ↑ be our] Qy. "be 'mong our "? Affright me not; only Eneas' frown Is that which terrifies poor Dido's heart: Nor blazing comets threaten Dido's death; And he'll make me immortal with a kiss. Re-enter First Lord, with Attendants carrying tackling, &c. First Lord. Your nurse is gone with young Ascanius; And here's Eneas' tackling, oars, and sails. Dido. Are these the sails that, in despite of me, Is this the wood that grew in Carthage plains, Thou wouldst have leapt from out the sailors' hands, And told me that Eneas meant to go! The water is an element, no nymph. There's not so much as this base tackling too, *Pack'd] i. e. insidiously conspired. ye] Old ed. "he." fleet] i. e. float. § burst] i. e. broke. Enter Nurse,* with CUPID as ASCANIUS. Nurse. My Lord Ascanius, you must go with me. Cup. Whither must I go? I'll stay with my mother. Nurse. No, thou shalt go with me unto my house. I have an orchard that hath store of plums, A garden where are bee-hives full of honey, Cup. Come, come, I'll go. How far hence is your house? Nurse. But hereby, child; we shall get thither straight. Cup. Nurse, I am weary; will you carry me? Nurse. Ay, so you'll dwell with me, and call me mother. Cup. So you'll love me, I care not if I do. Nurse. That I might live to see this boy a man! How prettily he laughs! Go,‡ you wag! You'll be a twigger when you come to age.Say Dido what she will, I am not old; I'll be no more a widow; I am young; I'll have a husband, or else a lover. Cup. A husband, and no teeth! Nurse. O, what mean I to have such foolish thoughts? Foolish is love, a toy.-O sacred love! A grave, and not a lover, fits thy age. *Enter Nurse, &c.] Scene, the country. + services] See the quotation from Miller in Todd's Johnson's Dict. in v. Service, example 19. ↑ Go] "Read", says J. M. (Gent. Magazine for Jan. 1841), 'Go, go."" Enter ANEAS,* with a paper in his hand, drawing the platform of the city; ACHATES, SERGESTUS, CLOANTHUS, and ILIONEUS. En. Triumph, my mates! our travels are at end: Here will Æneas build a statelier Troy Whose wealthy streams may wait upon her towers, That load their thighs with Hybla's honey-spoils §) En. Not past four thousand paces at the most. Ili. But what shall it be call'd? Troy, as before? En. That have I not determin'd with myself. Clo. Let it be term'd Ænea, by your name. Serg. Rather Ascania, by your little son. En. Nay, I will have it called Anchisæon, Of my old father's name. Enter HERMES with ASCANIUS. Her. Eneas, stay; Jove's herald bids thee stay. En. Whom do I see? Jove's winged messenger! Welcome to Carthage' new-erected town. *Enter Eneas, &c.] Scene, an apartment in Dido's palace. + platform] i. e. ground-plan. clad] i. e. clothe. So Sir John Harington; "Yet sure she doth, with damned Core and Dathan, But feed and clad a synagogue of Sathan." Epigrams,-B. i. Ep. 88 [89], ed. folio. honey-spoils] Old ed. "honeys spoyles." their] Old ed. "her." Her. Why, cousin, stand you building cities here, And beautifying the empire of this queen, If that all glory hath forsaken thee, And thou despise the praise of such attempts, And young Iulus' more than thousand years, En. This was my mother that beguil'd the queen, And made me take my brother for my son: Asc. Eating sweet comfits with Queen Dido's maid, Who ever since hath lull'd me in her arms. En. Sergestus, bear him hence unto our ships, Lest Dido, spying him, keep him for a pledge. [Exit SERGESTUS with ASCANIUS. Her. Spend'st thou thy time about this little boy, And giv'st not ear unto the charge I bring? *stern] i. c. rudder. Do Trojans use to quit their lovers thus ? I die, if my Æneas say farewell. En. Then let me go, and never say farewell: Let me go; farewell [none]: I must from hence. Dido. These words are poison to poor Dido's soul: O, speak like my Eneas, like my love! Iar. If that be all, then cheer thy drooping Why look'st thou toward the sea? the time hath looks, Æneas, wherefore go thy men aboard? En. O, pardon me, if I resolve ‡ thee why! Dido. But yet Æneas will not leave his love. En. I am commanded by immortal Jove To leave this town and pass to Italy; And therefore must of force. Dido. These words proceed not from Æneas' heart. * Whenas] i. e. When. Achates] Qy. "Sergestus"? see p. 270, sec. col. resolve] i. e. satisfy, inform. been When Dido's beauty chain'd + thine eyes to her. Am I less fair than when thou saw'st me first? O, then, Æneas, 'tis for grief of thee! En. Oqueen of Carthage, wert thou ugly-black, Dido. The gods ! what gods be those that seek my death? Wherein have I offended Jupiter, That he should take Æneas from mine arms? Si bene quid § de te merui, fuit aut tibi quidquam Dido. Hast thou forgot how many neighbour kings Were in arms, up for making thee my love? How Carthage did rebel, Iarbas storm, And all the world call'd ** me a second Helen, For being entangled by a stranger's looks? And I be call'd a second Helena ! Had I a son by thee, the grief were less, That I might see Æneas in his face : Now if thou go'st, what canst thou leave behind, But rather will augment than ease my woe? En. In vain, my love, thou spend'st thy fainting breath: If words might move me, I were overcome. Dido. And wilt thou not be mov'd with Dido's words? Thy mother was no goddess, perjur'd man, O serpent, that came creeping from the shore, Why star'st thou in my face? If thou wilt stay, Leap in mine arms; mine arms are open wide; Ay, but he'll come again; he cannot go; this long] Altered by one of the modern editors to "thus long": but compare, "Where hast thou been this long?" p. 270, sec. col. But he shrinks back; and now, remembering me, Returns amain: welcome, welcome, my love! But where's Æneas? ah, he's gone, he's gone! Enter ANNA. Anna. What means my sister, thus to rave and cry? Dido. O Anna, my Eneas is aboard, And, leaving me, will sail to Italy! Once didst thou go, and he came back again : Now bring him back, and thou shalt be a queen, And I will live a private life with him. Anna. Wicked Eneas! Dido. Call him not wicked, sister: speak him fair, And look upon him with a mermaid's eye; |