The Works of Christopher Marlowe

But I cried out, "Eneas, false Æneas, stay *!"
Then he
gan
his hand, which, yet held up,
wag
Made me suppose he would have heard me speak;
Then gan they drive into the ocean:
Which when I view'd, I cried, "Eneas, stay!
Dido, fair Dido wills Eneas stay!"
Yet he, whose heart['s] of adamant or flint,
My tears nor plaints could mollify a whit.
Then carelessly I rent my hair for grief:
Which seen to all, though he beheld me not,
They gan to move him to redress my ruth,
And stay a while to hear what I could say;
But he, clapp'd under hatches, sail'd away.

Dido. O Anna, Anna, I will follow him!
Anna. How can you go, when he hath all your
fleet?

Dido. I'll frame me wings of wax, like Icarus,
And, o'er his ships, will soar unto the sun,
That they may melt, and I fall in his arms;
Or else I'll make a prayer unto the waves,
That I may swim to him, like Triton's niece.
O Anna,† fetch Arion's harp,
That I may tice a dolphin to the shore,
And ride upon his back unto my love!
Look, sister, look! lovely Æneas' ships!
See, see, the billows heave 'em § up to heaven,
And now down fall the keels into the deep!
O sister, sister, take away the rocks!
They'll break his ships. O Proteus, Neptune,

Jove,

Save, save Æneas, Dido's liefest | love!
Now is he come on shore, safe without hurt:
But, see, Achates wills him put to sea,
And all the sailors merry-make for joy;
But he, remembering me, shrinks back again :
See, where he comes! welcome, welcome, my
love!

Anna. Ah, sister, leave these idle fantasies! Sweet sister, cease; remember who you are. Dido. Dido I am, unless I be deceiv'd: And must I rave thus for a runagate ? Must I make ships for him to sail away? Nothing can bear me to him but a ship, And he hath all my ¶ fleet.-What shall I do, But die in fury of this oversight? Ay, I must be the murderer of myself:

* stay] "Should be omitted", says J. M. (Gent. Magazine for Jan. 1841).

↑ Anna] Qy. "Anna, Anna"? compare Dido's speech above.

Arion's] Old ed. "Orions."

§ 'em Old ed. "him." liefest] i. e. dearest. my] Old ed. "thy."

Enter Attendants with wood and torches.

Dido. Iarbas,* talk not of Æneas; let him go: Lay to thy hands, and help me make a fire, That shall consume all that this stranger left; For I intend a private sacrifice,

To cure my mind, that melts for unkind love. Iar. But, afterwards, will Dido grant me love? Dido. Ay, ay, Iarbas; after this is done, None in the world shall have my love but thou. [They make a fire. So, leave me now; let none approach this place. [Exeunt IARBAS and Attendants.

Now, Dido, with these relics burn thyself,

And make Æneas famous through the world
For perjury and slaughter of a queen.
Here lie[s] the sword that in the darksome cave
He drew, and swore by, to be true to me:
Thou shalt burn first; thy crime is worse than
his.

Here lie[s] the garment which I cloth'd him in
When first he came on shore: perish thou too.
These letters, lines, and perjur'd papers, all
Shall burn to cinders in this precious flame.
And now, ye gods, that guide the starry frame,
And order all things at your high dispose,
Grant, though the traitors land in Italy,
They may be still tormented with unrest;
And from mine ashes let a conqueror rise,
That may revenge this treason to a queen
By ploughing up his countries with the sword!
Betwixt this land and that be never league;
Litora litoribus + contraria, fluctibus undas

Imprecor, arma armis; pugnent ipsique nepotes!
Live, false Æneas truest Dido dies;
Sic, sic juvat ire sub umbras.*

[Throws herself into the flames.

Re-enter ANNA.

Anna. O, help, Iarbas! Dido in these flames Hath burnt herself! ay me, unhappy me!

Re-enter IARBAS, running.

Iar. Cursed Iarbas, die to expiate

The grief that tires upon + thine inward soul !— Dido, I come to thee.-Ay me, Eneas!

[Stabs himself, and dies.

* Sic, sic juvat ire sub umbras] Virgil, Æn. iv. 660.

A tires upon] Equivalent here to-preys upon (a term in falconry).

Anna. What can my tears or cries prevail* me now?

Dido is dead!

Iarbas slain, Iarbas my dear love!
O sweet Iarbas, Anna's sole delight!
What fatal Destiny envies me thus,
To see my sweet Iarbas slay himself?
But Anna now shall honour thee in death,
And mix her blood with thine; this shall I do,
That gods and men may pity this my death,
And rue our ends, senseless of life or breath:
Now, sweet Iarbas, stay! I come to thee.
[Stabs herself, and dies.

* prevail] i. e. avail.

Hero and Leander. By Christopher Marloe. London, Printed by Adam Islip, for Edward Blunt. 1598. 4to.

Hero and Leander: Begunne by Christopher Marloe: Whereunto is added the first booke of Lucan translated line for line by the same Author. Ut Nectar, Ingenium. At London Printed for John Flasket, and are to be solde in Paules Church-yard, at the signe of the Blacke-beare. 1600. 4to.

Hero and Leander: Begunne by Christopher Marloe, and finished by George Chapman. Ut Nectar, Ingenium. At London. Imprinted for John Flasket, and are to be sold in Paules Church-Yard, at the signe of the blacke Beare. 1606. 4to.

Hero and Leander: Begunne by Christopher Marloe, and finished by George Chapman. Ut Nectar, Ingenium. At London. Imprinted for Ed. Blunt and W. Barret, and are to be sold in Pauls Church-yard, at the signe of the blacke Beare. 1609. 4to.

Hero and Leander: Begunne by Christopher Marloe, and finished by George Chapman. Ut Nectar, Ingenium. London. Printed by W. Stansby for Ed. Blunt and W. Barret, and are to be sold in Pauls Church-yard, at the signe of the Blacke Beare. 1613, 4to.

Hero and Leander: Begun by Christopher Marloe, and finished by George Chapman. Ut Nectar, Ingenium. London, Printed by A. M. for Richard Hawkins: and are to bee sold at his Shop in Chancerie-Lane, neere Serieants Inne. 1629. 4to.

Hero and Leander: Begun by Christopher Marloe, and finished by George Chapman. Ut Nectar, Ingenium. London: Printed by N. Okes for William Leake, and are to be sold at his shop in Chancery-lane neere the Roules. 1637. 4to.

TO THE RIGHT-WORSHIPFUL* SIR THOMAS WALSINGHAM, KNIght.

Sir, we think not ourselves discharged of the duty we owe to our friend when we have brought the breathless body to the earth; for, albeit the eye there taketh his ever-farewell of that beloved object, yet the impression of the man that hath been dear unto us, living an after-life in our memory, there putteth us in mind of farther obsequies due unto the deceased; and namely of the performance of whatsoever we may judge shall make to his living credit and to the effecting of his determinations prevented by the stroke of death. By these meditations (as by an intellectual will) I suppose myself executor to the unhappily deceased author of this poem; upon whom knowing that in his lifetime you bestowed many kind favours, entertaining the parts of reckoning and worth which you found in him with good countenance and liberal affection, I cannot but see so far into the will of him dead, that whatsoever issue of his brain should chance to come abroad, that the first breath it should take might be the gentle air of your liking; for, since his self had been accustomed thereunto, it would prove more agreeable and thriving to his right children than any other foster countenance whatsoever. At this time seeing that this unfinished tragedy happens under my hands to be imprinted, of a double duty, the one to yourself, the other to the deceased, I present the same to your most favourable allowance, offering my utmost self now and ever to be ready at your worship's disposing:

EDWARD BLUNT.

*To the right-worshipful, &c.] I give this Dedication as it stands in the two earliest 4tos. Some variations, not worth noting, occur in the later 4tos.

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The Works of Christopher Marlowe: With Some Account of the Author, and Notes ...