272
THE TRAGEDY OF DIDO, QUEEN OF CARTHAGE.
ACT V.
For being entangled by a stranger's looks 1 So thou wouldst prove as true as Paris did, Would, as fair Troy was, Carthage might be
sack'd,
And I be call'd a second Helena ! Had I a son by thee, the grief were less, That I might see JEneaa in his face : Now if thou go'st, what canst thou leave
behind,
But rather will augment than ease my woe ? jEn. In vain, my love, thou spend'st thy faint- ing 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, Nor Dardanus the author of thy stock ; But thou art sprung from Scythian Caucasus, And tigers of Hyrcania gave thee suck. Ah, foolish Dido, to forbear this long ! * Wast thou not wreck'd upon this Libyan shore, And cam'st to Dido like a fisher swain ? Repair'd not I thy ships, made thee a king, And all thy needy followers noblemen ?
serpent, that came creeping from the shore, And I for pity harbour'd in my bosom,
Wilt thou now slay me with thy venom'd sting, And hiss at Dido for preserving thee ? Go, go, and spare not ; seek out Italy :
1 hope that that which love forbids me do, The rocks and sea-gulfs will perform at large, And thou shalt perish in the billows' ways, To whom poor Dido doth bequeath revenge : Ay, traitor ! and the waves shall cast thee up, Where thou and false Achates first set foot ; Which if it chance, I'll give ye burial,
And weep upon your lifeless carcasses,
Though thou nor he will pity me a whit.
Why star'st thou in my face? If thou wilt
stay,
Leap in mine arms ; mine arms are open wide ; If not, turn from me, and I'll turn from thee ; For though thou hast the heart to say farewell, I have not power to stay thee. [Exit JE Is he gone ?
Ay, but he'll come again ; he cannot go ; He loves me too-too well to serve me so : Yet he that in my sight would not relent, Will, being absent, be obdurate still. By this, is he got to the water-side ; And, see, the sailors take him by the hand ;
thit long] Altered by one of the modern editors to " thus long " : but compare, " Where hast thou been this longl" p. 270, sec. coL
But he shrinks back ; and now, remembering me, Returns amain : welcome, welcome, my love ! But where's JEneas ? ah, he's gone, he's gone !
Enter ANNA.
Anna. What means my sister, thus to rave and cry?
Dido.. Anna, my JEneaa 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 queeii, 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 ; Tell him, I never vow'd at Aulis' gulf The desolation of his native Troy, Nor sent a thousand ships unto the walls, Nor ever violated faith to him ; Request him gently, Anna, to return : I crave but this, he stay a tide or two, That I may learn to bear it patiently ; If he depart thus suddenly, I die. Run, Anna, run ; stay not to answer me.
Anna. I go, fair sister : heavens grant good success ! [Exit.
Enter Nurse.
Nurse. Dido, your little son Ascanius Is gone ! he lay with me last night, And in the morning he was stoln from me : I think, some fairies have beguiled me.
Dido. cursed hag and false dissembling
wretch,
That slay'st me with thy harsh and hellish tale ! Thou for some petty gift hast let him go, And I am thus deluded of my boy. Away with her to prison presently,
Enter Attendants. Trait'ress too keend * and cursed sorceress !
Nurse. I know not what you mean by treason, I; I am as true as any one of yours.
Dido. Away with her ! suffer her not to speak. [Exit Nurse with Attendants. My sister comes : I like not her sad looks.
Re-otter AN WA.
Anna. Before I came, JSneas was aboard, And, spying me, hois'd up the sails amain ;
- keend] i. e., I suppose, kenned, known, manifest (the
modern editors print "keen").
