Classic Poem

SCENE ONE

   Enter CUPID as ASCANIUS . CUPID :
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 . IARBAS :
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 :
Iarbas, know, that thou, of all my wooers, –
 And yet have I had many mightier kings, –
 Hast had the greatest favours I could give.
 I fear me, Dido hath been counted light
 In being too familiar with Iarbas;
 Albeit the gods do know, no wanton thought
 Had ever residence in Dido's breast. IARBAS :
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. CUPID :
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 .
 No more, my child; now talk another while,
 And tell me where learn'dst thou this pretty song. CUPID :
My cousin Helen taught it me in Troy. DIDO :
How lovely is Ascanius when he smiles! CUPID :
Will Dido let me hang about her neck? DIDO :
Ay, wag, and give thee leave to kiss her too. CUPID :
What will you give me now? I'll have this fan. DIDO :
Take it, Ascanius, for thy father's sake. IARBAS :
Come, Dido, leave Ascanius; let us walk. DIDO :
Go thou away; Ascanius shall stay. IARBAS :
Ungentle queen, is this thy love to me? DIDO :
O stay, Iarbas, and I'll go with thee! CUPID :
And if my mother go, I'll follow her. DIDO :
Why stay'st thou here? Thou art no love of mine. IARBAS :
Iarbas, die, seeing she abandons thee! DIDO :
No; live, Iarbas. What hast thou deserv'd,
 That I should say thou art no love of mine?
 Something thou hast deserv'd. – Away, I say!
 Depart from Carthage; come not in my sight. IARBAS :
Am I not king of rich Gaetulia? DIDO :
Iarbas, pardon me, and stay a while. CUPID :
Mother, look here. DIDO :
What tell'st thou me of rich Gaetulia?
 Am not I queen of Libya? Then depart. IARBAS :
I go to feed the humour of my love,
 Yet not from Carthage for a thousand worlds. DIDO :
Iarbas! IARBAS :
Doth Dido call me back? DIDO :
No; but I charge thee never look on me. IARBAS :
Then pull out both mine eyes, or let me die.
   Exit . ANNA :
Wherefore doth Dido bid Iarbas go? DIDO :
Because his loathsome sight offends mine eye,
 And in my thoughts is shrin'd another love.
 O Anna, didst thou know how sweet love were,
 Full soon wouldst thou abjure this single life! ANNA ( aside ):
Poor soul, I know too well the sour of love:
 O, that Iarbas could but fancy me! DIDO :
Is not Æneas fair and beautiful? ANNA :
Yes, and Iarbas foul and favourless. DIDO :
Is he not eloquent in all his speech? ANNA :
Yes, and Iarbas rude and rustical. DIDO :
Name not Iarbas: but, sweet Anna, say,
 Is not Æneas worthy Dido's love? ANNA :
O sister, were you empress of the world,
 Æneas well deserves to be your love!
 So lovely is he, that, where'er he goes,
 The people swarm to gaze him in the face. DIDO :
But tell them, none shall gaze on him but I,
 Lest their gross eye-beams taint my lover's cheeks.
 Anna, good sister Anna, go for him,
 Lest with these sweet thoughts I melt clean away. ANNA :
Then sister, you'll abjure Iarbas' love? DIDO :
Yet must I hear that loathsome name again?
 Run for Æneas, or I'll fly to him.
   Exit ANNA . CUPID :
You shall not hurt my father when he comes. DIDO :
No, for thy sake I'll love thy father well.
 O dull-conceited Dido, that till now
 Didst never think Æneas beautiful!
 But now, for quittance of this oversight,
 I'll make me bracelets of his golden hair;
 His glistering eyes shall be my looking-glass;
 His lips an altar, where I'll offer up
 As many kisses as the sea hath sands;
 Instead of music I will hear him speak;
 His looks shall be my only library;
 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? ACHATES :
That will Æneas show your majesty. DIDO :
Æneas, art thou there? ÆNEAS :
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. ÆNEAS :
So much have I receiv'd at Dido's hands,
 As, without blushing, I can ask no more.
 Yet, queen of Afric, are my ships unrigg'd,
 My sails all rent in sunder with the wind,
 My oars broken, and my tackling lost,
 Yea, all my navy split with rocks and shelves;
 Nor stern nor anchor have our maimed fleet;
 Our masts the furious winds strook overboard:
 Which piteous wants if Dido will supply,
 We will account her author of our lives. DIDO :
Æneas, I'll repair thy Trojan ships,
 Conditionally that thou wilt stay with me,
 And let Achates sail to Italy:
 I'll give thee tackling made of rivell'd gold,
 Wound on the barks of odoriferous trees;
 Oars of massy ivory, full of holes,
 Through which the water shall delight to play;
 Thy anchors shall be hew'd from crystal rocks,
 Which, if thou lose, shall shine above the waves;
 The masts, whereon thy swelling sails shall hang,
 Hollow pyramides of silver plate;
 The sails of folded lawn, where shall be wrought
 The wars of Troy, – but not Troy's overthrow;
 For ballass, empty Dido's treasury:
 Take what ye will, but leave Æneas here.
 Achates, thou shalt be so newly clad,
 As sea-born nymphs shall swarm about thy ships,
 And wanton mermaids court thee with sweet songs,
 Flinging in favours of more sovereign worth
 Than Thetis hangs about Apollo's neck,
 So that Æneas may but stay with me. ÆNEAS :
Wherefore would Dido have Æneas stay? DIDO :
To war against my bordering enemies.
 Æneas, think not Dido is in love;
 For, if that man could conquer me,
 I had been wedded ere Æneas came.
 See where the pictures of my suitors hang;
 And are not these as fair as fair may be? ACHATES :
I saw this man at Troy, ere Troy was sack'd. SERGESTUS :
I this in Greece, when Paris stole fair Helen. ILIONEUS :
This man and I were at Olympia's games. SERGESTUS :
I know this face; he is a Persian born:
 I travell'd with him to Ætolia. CLOANTHUS :
And I in Athens with this gentleman,
 Unless I be deceiv'd, disputed once. DIDO :
But speak, Æneas; know you none of these? ÆNEAS :
No, madam; but it seems that these are kings. DIDO :
All these, and others which I never saw,
 Have been most urgent suitors for my love;
 Some came in person, others sent their legates,
 Yet none obtain'd me. I am free from all;
 And yet, God knows, entangled unto one.
 This was an orator, and thought by words
 To compass me, but yet he was deceiv'd;
 And this a Spartan courtier, vain and wild:
 But his fantastic humours pleas'd not me:
 This was Alcion, a musician,
 But, play'd he ne'er so sweet, I let him go:
 This was the wealthy king of Thessaly;
 But I had gold enough, and cast him off:
 This, Meleager's son, a warlike prince;
 But weapons gree not with my tender years.
 The rest are such as all the world well knows:
 Yet now I swear, by heaven and him I love,
 I was as far from love as they from hate. ÆNEAS :
O, happy shall he be whom Dido loves! DIDO :
Then never say that thou art miserable,
 Because, it may be, thou shalt be my love.
 Yet boast not of it, for I love thee not, –
 And yet I hate thee not. – O, if I speak,
 I shall betray myself! – Æneas, come:
 We two will go a-hunting in the woods;
 But not so much for thee, – thou art but one, –
 As for Achates and his followers.
   Exeunt .

SCENE TWO

   Enter JUNO to ASCANIUS , who lies asleep . JUNO :
Here lies my hate, Æneas' cursed brat,
 The boy wherein false Destiny delights,
 The heir of Fury, the favourite of the Fates,
 That ugly imp that shall outwear my wrath,
 And wrong my deity with high disgrace.
 But I will take another order now,
 And raze th' eternal register of Time.
 Troy shall no more call him her second hope,
 Nor Venus triumph in his tender youth;
 For here, in spite of heaven, I'll murder him,
 And feed infection with his let-out life.
 Say, Paris, now shall Venus have the ball?
 Say, vengeance, now shall her Ascanius die?
 O, no! God wot, I cannot watch my time,
 Nor quit good turns with double fee down told!
 Tut, I am simple, without mind to hurt,
 And have no gall at all to grieve my foes!
 But lustful Jove and his adulterous child
 Shall find it written on confusion's front,
 That only Juno rules in Rhamnus town.
   Enter VENUS . VENUS :
What should this mean? My doves are back return'd,
 Who warn me of such danger prest at hand
 To harm my sweet Ascanius' lovely life.
 Juno, my mortal foe, what make you here?
 Avaunt, old witch! and trouble not my wits. JUNO :
Fie, Venus, that such causeless words of wrath.
 Should e'er defile so fair a mouth as thine!
 Are not we both sprung of celestial race,
 And banquet, as two sisters, with the gods?
 Why is it, then, Displeasure should disjoin
 Whom kindred and acquaintance co-unites? VENUS :
Out, hateful hag! Thou wouldst have slain my son,
 Had not my doves discover'd thy intent.
 But I will tear thy eyes fro forth thy head,
 And feast the birds with their blood-shotten balls,
 If thou but lay thy finger on my boy. JUNO :
Is this, then, all the thanks that I shall have
 For saving him from snakes' and serpents' stings,
 That would have kill'd him, sleeping, as he lay?
 What, though I was offended with thy son,
 And wrought him mickle woe on sea and land,
 When, for the hate of Trojan Ganymede,
 That was advanced by my Hebe's shame,
 And Paris' judgment of the heavenly ball,
 I muster'd all the winds unto his wrack,
 And urg'd each element to his annoy?
 Yet now I do repent me of his ruth,
 And wish that I had never wrong'd him so.
 Bootless I saw it was to war with fate
 That hath so many unresisted friends:
 Wherefore I chang'd my counsel with the time,
 And planted love where envy erst had sprung. VENUS :
Sister of Jove, if that thy love be such
 As these thy protestations do paint forth,
 We two, as friends, one fortune will divide.
 Cupid shall lay his arrows in thy lap,
 And to a sceptre change his golden shafts;
 Fancy and modesty shall live as mates,
 And thy fair peacocks by my pigeons perch.
 Love my Æneas, and desire is thine;
 The day, the night, my swans, my sweets, are thine. JUNO :
More than melodious are these words to me,
 That overcloy my soul with their content.
 Venus, sweet Venus, how may I deserve
 Such amorous favours at thy beauteous hand?
 But, that thou mayst more easily perceive
 How highly I do prize this amity,
 Hark to a motion of eternal league,
 Which I will make in quittance of thy love.
 Thy son, thou know'st, with Dido now remains
 And feeds his eyes with favours of her court;
 She, likewise, in admiring spends her time,
 And cannot talk nor think of aught but him;
 Why should not they, then, join in marriage,
 And bring forth mighty kings to Carthage town,
 Whom casualty of sea hath made such friends?
 And, Venus, let there be a match confirm'd
 Betwixt these two, whose loves are so alike;
 And both our deities, conjoin'd in one,
 Shall chain felicity unto their throne. VENUS :
Well could I like this reconcilement's means;
 But much I fear, my son will ne'er consent,
 Whose armed soul, already on the sea,
 Darts forth her light to Lavinia's shore. JUNO :
Fair queen of love, I will divorce these doubts,
 And find the way to weary such fond thoughts.
 This day they both a-hunting forth will ride
 Into the woods adjoining to these walls;
 When, in the midst of all their gamesome sports,
 I'll make the clouds dissolve their watery works,
 And drench Silvanus' dwellings with their showers.
 Then in one cave the queen and he shall meet,
 And interchangeably discourse their thoughts,
 Whose short conclusion will seal up their hearts
 Unto the purpose which we now propound. VENUS :
Sister, I see you savour of my wiles;
 Be it as you will have for this once.
 Meantime Ascanius shall be my charge;
 Whom I shall bear to Ida in mine arms,
 And couch him in Adonis' purple down.
   Exeunt .
SCENE THREE

   Enter DIDO , ÆNEAS , ANNA , IARBAS , ACHATES , CUPID as ASCANIUS , and FOLLOWERS . DIDO :
Æneas, think not but I honour thee,
 That thus in person go with thee to hunt.
 My princely robes, thou see'st, are laid aside,
 Whose glittering pomp Diana's shrouds supplies;
 All fellows now, dispos'd alike to sport;
 The woods are wide, and we have store of game.
 Fair Trojan, hold my golden bow a while,
 Until I gird my quiver to my side.
 Lords, go before; we two must talk alone. IARBAS ( aside ):
Ungentle, can she wrong Iarbas so?
 I'll die before a stranger have that grace.
 'We two will talk alone' – what words be these? DIDO :
What makes Iarbas here of all the rest?
 We could have gone without your company. ÆNEAS :
But love and duty led him on perhaps
 To press beyond acceptance to your sight. IARBAS :
Why, man of Troy, do I offend thine eyes?
 Or art thou griev'd thy betters press so nigh? DIDO :
How now, Gaetulian! Are ye grown so brave,
 To challenge us with your comparisons?
 Peasant, go seek companions like thyself,
 And meddle not with any that I love.
 Æneas, be not mov'd at what he says;
 For otherwise he will be out of joint. IARBAS :
Women may wrong by privilege of love;
 But, should that man of men, Dido except,
 Have taunted me in these opprobrious terms,
 I would have either drunk his dying blood,
 Or else I would have given my life in gage. DIDO :
Huntsmen, why pitch you not your toils apace,
 And rouse the light-foot deer from forth their lair? ANNA :
Sister, see, see Ascanius in his pomp,
 Bearing his hunt-spear bravely in his hand! DIDO :
Yea, little son, are you so forward now? CUPID :
Ay, mother; I shall one day be a man,
 And better able unto other arms.
 Meantime these wanton weapons serve my war,
 Which I will break betwixt a lion's jaws. DIDO :
What, dar'st thou look a lion in the face? CUPID :
Ay, and outface him too, do what he can. ANNA :
How like his father speaketh he in all! ÆNEAS :
And mought I live to see him sack rich Thebes,
 And load his spear with Grecian princes' heads,
 Then would I wish me with Anchises' tomb,
 And dead to honour that hath brought me up. IARBAS ( aside ):
And might I live to see thee shipp'd away,
 And hoist aloft on Neptune's hideous hills,
 Then would I wish me in fair Dido's arms,
 And dead to scorn that hath pursu'd me so. ÆNEAS :
Stout friend Achates, dost thou know this wood? ACHATES :
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,
 Bearing her bow and quiver at her back. ÆNEAS :
O, how these irksome labours now delight,
 And overjoy my thoughts with their escape!
 Who would not undergo all kind of toil,
 To be well stor'd with such a winter's tale? DIDO :
Æneas, leave these dumps, and let's away,
 Some to the mountains, some unto the soil,
 You to the valleys, – thou ( to IARBAS ) unto the house.
   Exeunt all except IARBAS . IARBAS :
Ay, this it is which wounds me to the death,
 To see a Phrygian, far-fet o' the sea,
 Preferr'd before a man of majesty.
 O love! O hate! O cruel women's hearts,
 That imitate the moon in every change,
 And, like the planets, ever love to range!
 What shall I do, thus wronged with disdain?
 Revenge me on Æneas or on her?
 On her? Fond man, that were to war 'gainst heaven,
 And with one shaft provoke ten thousand darts.
 This Trojan's end will be thy envy's aim,
 Whose blood will reconcile thee to content,
 And make love drunken with thy sweet desire.
 But Dido, that now holdeth him so dear,
 Will die with very tidings of his death:
 But time will discontinue her content,
 And mould her mind unto new fancy's shapes.
 O God of heaven, turn the hand of Fate
 Unto that happy day of my delight!
 And then – what then? 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.
   Exit .

SCENE FOUR

   The storm. Enter ÆNEAS and DIDO in the cave, at several times . DIDO :
Æneas! ÆNEAS :
Dido! DIDO :
Tell me, dear love, how found you out this cave? ÆNEAS :
By chance, sweet queen, as Mars and Venus met. DIDO :
Why, that was in a net, where we are loose;
 And yet I am not free, – O, would I were! ÆNEAS :
Why, what is it that Dido may desire
 And not obtain, be it in human power? DIDO :
The thing that I will die before I ask,
 And yet desire to have before I die. ÆNEAS :
It is not aught Æneas may achieve? DIDO :
Æneas, no, although his eyes do pierce. ÆNEAS :
What, hath Iarbas anger'd her in aught?
 And will she be avenged on his life? DIDO :
Not anger'd me, except in angering thee. ÆNEAS :
Who, then, of all so cruel may he be
 That should detain thy eye in his defects? DIDO :
The man that I do eye where'er I am,
 Whose amorous face, like Paean, sparkles fire,
 Whenas he butts his beams on Flora's bed.
 Prometheus hath put on Cupid's shape,
 And I must perish in his burning arms.
 Æneas, O Æneas, quench these fiames! ÆNEAS :
What ails my queen? Is she faln sick of late? DIDO :
Not sick, my love; but sick I must conceal
 The torment that it boots me not reveal.
 And yet I'll speak, – and yet I'll hold my peace.
 Do shame her worst, I will disclose my grief:
 Æneas, thou art he – what did I say?
 Something it was that now I have forgot. ÆNEAS :
What means fair Dido by this doubtful speech? DIDO :
Nay, nothing; but Æneas loves me not. ÆNEAS :
Æneas' thoughts dare not ascend so high
 As Dido's heart, which monarchs might not scale. DIDO :
It was because I saw no king like thee,
 Whose golden crown might balance my content;
 But now that I have found what to affect,
 I follow one that loveth fame 'fore me,
 And rather had seem fair [in] Sirens' eyés,
 Than to the Carthage queen that dies for him. ÆNEAS :
If that your majesty can look so low
 As my despised worths that shun all praise,
 With this my hand I give to you my heart,
 And vow, by all the gods of hospitality,
 By heaven and earth, and my fair brother's bow,
 By Paphos, Capys, and the purple sea
 From whence my radiant mother did descend,
 And by this sword that sav'd me from the Greeks,
 Never to leave these new-upreared walls,
 Whiles Dido lives and rules in Juno's town,
 Never to like or love any but her! DIDO :
What more than Delian music do I hear,
 That calls my soul from forth his living seat
 To move unto the measures of delight?
 Kind clouds, that sent forth such a courteous storm
 As made disdain to fly to fancy's lap!
 Stout love, in mine arms make thy Italy,
 Whose crown and kingdom rests at thy command:
 Sichaeus, not Æneas, be thou call'd;
 The king of Carthage, not Anchises' son:
 Hold, take these jewels at thy lover's hand,
   Giving jewels, etc .
 These golden bracelets, and this wedding-ring,
 Wherewith my husband woo'd me yet a maid,
 And be thou king of Libya by my gift.
   Exeunt to the cave .