Dido

“ But while Æneas marvelled to see these things lo! there came, with a great throng of youths behind her, Dido, most beautiful of women, fair as Diana, when, on the banks of Eurotas or on the hills of Cynthus, she leads the dance with a thousand nymphs of the mountains about her. On her shoulder she bears a quiver, and overtops them all, and her mother, even Latona, silently rejoices to behold her. So fair and seemly to see was Dido as she bare herself right nobly in the midst, being busy in the work of her kingdom. ”

“ Dido. Not all the world can take thee from mine arms. Æneas may command as many Moors As in the sea are little water-drops: And now, to make experience of my love,— Fair sister Anna, lead my lover forth, And, seated on my jennet, let him ride, As Dido's husband, through the Punic streets; And will [528] my guard, with Mauritanian darts To wait upon him as their sovereign lord. ”

“ 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. ”

“ And thou, Æneas, Dido's treasury,
In whose fair bosom I will lock more wealth
Than twenty thousand Indias can afford.
O, here he comes! Love, love, give Dido leave
To be more modest than her thoughts admit,
Lest I be made a wonder to the world.
Enter Æneas, Achates, Sergestus, Ilioneus, and Cloanthus.
Achates, how doth Carthage please your lord?
Ach. That will Æneas shew your majesty.
Dido. Æneas, art thou there?
Æn. I understand, your highness sent for me.
Dido. No; but, now thou art here, tell me, in sooth,
In what might Dido highly pleasure thee. ”

“ Dido. These words are poison to poor Dido's soul: O, speak like my Æneas, like my love! [Pg 368] Why look'st thou toward the sea? the time hath been When Dido's beauty chain'd [547] thine eyes to her. Am I less fair than when thou saw'st me first? O, then, Æneas, 'tis for grief of thee! Say thou wilt stay in Carthage with thy [548] queen, And Dido's beauty will return again. Æneas, say, how can'st thou take thy leave? Wilt thou kiss Dido? O, thy lips have sworn120 To stay with Dido! canst thou take her hand? Thy hand and mine have plighted mutual faith ”

“ Dido. The man that I doe eye where ere I am, Whose amorous face like Pean sparkles fire, When as he buts his beames on Floras bed, Prometheus hath put on Cupids shape, And I must perish in his burning armes: Æneas, O Æneas, quench these flames.
Æn. What ailes my Queene, is she falne sicke of late?
Dido. Not sicke my loue, but sicke, I must conceale The torment, that it bootes me not reueale; And yet Ile speake, and yet Ile hold my peace, Doe shame her worst, I will disclose my griefe: Æneas, thou art he, what did I say? ”

“ Is that which terrifies poor Dido's heart:
Not bloody spears, appearing in the air,
Presage the downfall of my empery,
Nor blazing comets threaten Dido's death;
It is Æneas' frown that ends my days.
If he forsake me not, I never die;
For in his looks I see eternity,
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 Æneas' tackling, oars, and sails.
Dido. Are these the sails that, in despite of me,
Pack'd [130] with the winds to bear Æneas hence? ”

“ Oh! the noble way he hath with him, and how his very carriage doth announce him a brave and most valiant warrior, in deed and in spirit! I do firmly believe him to be the offspring of some race of gods; for churlish hearts are ever cowardly of their very nature." Such were Dido's words; and I think she did come to love him so, quite as much because she was herself brave and generous-hearted, and that her instinct did push her to love her fellow, as to win help and service of him in case of need. ”

“ Achates, thou shalt be so meanly clad, As Seaborne Nymphes shall swarme about thy ships, And wanton Mermaides court thee with sweete songs, Flinging in fauours of more soueraigne worth, Then Thetis hangs about Apolloes necke, So that Æneas may but stay with me.
Æn. Wherefore would Dido haue Æneas stay?
Dido. To warre against my bordering enemies: Æneas, thinke not Dido is in loue: For if that any man could conquer me, I had been wedded ere Æneas came: See where the pictures of my suiters hang, And are not these as faire as faire may be? ”

“ Had ever residence in Dido's breast.
Iar. But Dido is the favour I request.
Dido. Fear not, Iarbas; Dido may be thine.
Anna. Look, sister, how Æneas' little son
Plays with your garments and embraceth you.
Cup. No, Dido will not take me in her arms;
I shall not be her son, she loves me not.
Dido. Weep not, sweet boy; thou shalt be Dido's son:
Sit in my lap, and let me hear thee sing. [Cupid sings. [64]
No more, my child; now talk another while,
And tell me where learn'dst thou this pretty song.
Cup. My cousin Helen taught it me in Troy.
Dido. How lovely is Ascanius when he smiles! ”

“ Dido. Speak of no other land; this land is thine; Dido is thine, henceforth I'll thee lord.— Do as I bid thee, sister; lead the way; And from a turret I'll behold my love.
Æn. Then here in me shall flourish Priam's race; And thou and I, Achates, for revenge For Troy, for Priam, for his fifty sons, Our kinsmen's lives [529] and thousand guiltless souls,90 Will lead an host against the hateful Greeks, And fire proud Lacedæmon o'er their heads. ”

“ But Troy is not; what shall I say I am? Illio. Renowned Dido; 'tis our General, warlike Æneas. Dido. Warlike Æneas, and in these base robes? Go fetch the garment which Sicheus wore: Brave Prince, welcome to Carthage and to me, Both happy that Æneas is our guest: Sit in this chair and banquet with a Queen, Æneas is Æneas, were he clad In weeds as bad as ever Irus wore. Æn. 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 fortunes' mean; Too mean to be companion to a Queen. Dido. ”

“ This Meleagers sonne, a warlike Prince, But weapons gree not with my tender yeares: The rest are such as all the world well knowes, Yet how I sweare by heauen and him I loue, I was as farre from loue, as they from hate.
Æn. O happie shall he be whom Dido loues.
Dido. Then neuer say that thou art miserable, Because it may be thou shalt be my loue: Yet boast not of it, for I loue thee not, And yet I hate thee not: O if I speake I shall betray my selfe: Æneas speake, We two will goe a hunting in the woods, But not so much for thee, thou art but one, As for Achates, and his followers. Exeunt. ”

“ Heauens enuious of our ioyes is waxen pale, And when we whisper, then the starres fall downe, To be partakers of our honey talke.
Æn. O Dido, patronesse of all our liues, When I leaue thee, death be my punishment, Swell raging seas, frowne wayward destinies, Blow windes, threaten ye Rockes and sandie shelfes, This is the harbour that Æneas seekes, Lets see what tempests can anoy me now. ”

“ By the time six-thirty boomed from the College clock-tower, Pringle was absorbing a thrilling work of fiction, and Dido, her death, and everything connected with her, had faded from his mind like a beautiful dream. ”

“ It wasn't the first time neither, sir, I've known a fellow moonstruck in the tropics, for 'tis another guess matter altogether from your hazy bit o' white paper yonder: why, if you hang a fish in it for an hour or two, 'twill stink like a lucifer match, and be poison to eat. Well, sir, that night, sure enough, up comes Dido with a rug to lie upon, and turns in upon the spars under the bulwarks, and in five minutes he was fast asleep, snoring with his face to the moon. So the watch, being tricky inclined ways on account of the breeze, took into their heads to give him a fright. ”

“ And he told her all that had befallen him, even to the day when his father Anchises died.
THE LOVE AND DEATH OF QUEEN DIDO By Alfred J. Church
Much was Queen Dido moved by the story, and much did she marvel at him that told it, and scarce could sleep for thinking of him. And the next day she spake to Anna, her sister, “O my sister, I have been troubled this night with ill dreams, and my heart is disquieted within me. What a man is this stranger that hath come to our [426] shores! How noble of mien! How bold in war! Sure I am that he is of the sons of the gods. ”

“ Then she shred the lock, and Queen Dido gave up the ghost.
THE RACE OF THE FOUR GALLEYS By H. L. Havell
On the night when Dido was keeping her last sorrowful vigil Æneas lay sleeping on the deck of his galley, having made all things ready for a start next day. But in his dreams he saw the youthful form of Mercury standing by him, perfect in grace and beauty, and heard these warning words: “Canst thou sleep, Æneas, on the very brink of peril? Away, fly from this coast, before thy path is beset with sword and brand. A woman’s heart is a fickle and slippery thing.” ”

“ While Mercury is giving his message, Dido, followed by her maidens, comes forth from the temple, and as she catches the import of his words, stands horror-stricken upon the temple steps, unnoticed by Æneas or his men, whose faces are turned intently toward Mercury. ”

“ Anna. 'Twas time to run; Æneas had been gone;
The sails were hoising up, and he aboard.
Dido. Is this thy love to me?
Æn. O princely Dido, give me leave to speak!
I went to take my farewell of Achates.
Dido. How haps Achates bid me not farewell?
Acha. Because I fear'd your grace would keep me here.
Dido. To rid thee of that doubt, aboard again:
I charge thee put to sea, and stay not here.
Ach. Then let Æneas go aboard with us.
Dido. Get you aboard; Æneas means to stay.
Æn. The sea is rough, the winds blow to the shore.
Dido. O false Æneas! now the sea is rough ”

“ Enter Cupid [63] as Ascanius.
Cup. Now, Cupid, cause the Carthaginian queen
To be enamour'd of thy brother's looks:
Convey this golden arrow in thy sleeve,
Lest she imagine thou art Venus' son;
And when she strokes thee softly on the head,
Then shall I touch her breast and conquer her.
Enter Dido, Anna, and Iarbas.
Iar. How long, fair Dido, shall I pine for thee?
'Tis not enough that thou dost grant me love,
But that I may enjoy what I desire:
That love is childish which consists in words.
Dido. ”

“ Dido. How now Getulian, are ye growne so braue, To challenge vs with your comparisons? Pesant, goe seeke companions like thy selfe, And meddle not with any that I loue: Æneas, be not moude at what he sayes, For otherwhile he will be out of ioynt.
Iar. Women may wrong by priuiledge of loue: But should that man of men (Dido except) Haue taunted me in these opprobrious termes, I would haue either drunke his dying bloud, Or els I would haue giuen my life in gage? ”

“ Æn. The sea is rough, the windes blow to the shoare.
Dido. O false Æneas, now the sea is rough, But when you were abourd twas calme enough, Thou and Achates ment to saile away.
Æn. Hath not the Carthage Queene mine onely sonne? Thinkes Dido I will goe and leaue him here? ”

“ Dick’s blue eyes beamed kindly on Dido as he replied, quickly: “There’s a good girl, don’t let us talk about that. I’m a useless fellow, and if I have been of the least service to any one, the gratitude is all on my side. ”

“ Why, let vs build a Citie of our owne, And not stand lingering here for amorous lookes: Will Dido raise old Priam forth his graue, And build the towne againe the Greekes did burne? No no, she cares not how we sinke or swimme, So she may haue Æneas in her armes. ”

“ There was an old Latin play on the subject of Dido, written by
John Rightwise and played before Cardinal Wolsey + again before
Queen Elizabeth in 1564. There is also another Latin play on this
subject Dido, tragedia nova so quatuor pri*ibus ***
**************** Virgilii disampla Antwerp ed, 1559.
THE Tragedie of Dido Queene of Carthage:
Played by the Children of her Maiesties Chappell.
Written by Christopher Marlowe, and Thomas Nash. Gent.
Actors
Iupiter. Ascanius. Ganimed. Dido. Venus. Anna. Cupid. Achates. Iuno. Ilioneus. Mercurie. Iarbas. Hermes. Cloanthes. Æneas. Sergestus. ”

“ Meane time, Ascanius shall be my charge,
Whom I will beare to Ida in mine armes,
And couch him in Adonis purple downe, Exeunt.
Enter Dido, Æneas, Anna, Iarbus, Achates, and followers.
Dido. Æneas, thinke not but I honor thee,
That thus in person goe with thee to hunt:
My princely robes thou seest are layd aside,
Whose glittering pompe Dianas shrowdes supplies,
All fellowes now disposde alike to sporte,
The woods are wide, and we haue store of game:
Faire Troian, hold my golden bowe awhile,
Vntill I gird my quiuer to my side:
Lords goe before, we two must talke alone. ”

“ Iarbas shall but love:
So doth he now, though not with equal gain;
That resteth in the rival of thy pain,
Who ne'er will cease to soar till he be slain. [Exeunt.
The storm. Enter Æneas, [93] and Dido in the cave, at several times.
Dido. Æneas!
Æn. Dido!
Dido. Tell me, dear love, how found you out this cave?
Æn. By chance, sweet queen, as Mars and Venus met,
Dido. Why, that was in a net, where [94] we are loose ”

“ Corpus Christi Hall, Maidstone, Feb. 8. 1850.
Burning the Dead.—Your correspondent "T." (No. 14. p. 216.) can hardly have overlooked the case of Dido, in his inquiry "whether the practice of burning the dead has ever been in vogue amongst any people, excepting the inhabitants of Europe and Asia?" According to all classical authorities, Dido was founder and queen of Carthage in Africa, and was burned at Carthage on a funeral pile. ”