The Fourth Book of Virgils Aeneid and the Ninth Book of Voltaires Henriad | Page 9

one look,
did all my tears obtain.
How name his crimes? did loves extremest

woe,
Move that hard heart, or cause one tear to flow!
But will
Jove's Queen who guards the nuptial vow,
460 Will mighty Jove
himself, such deeds allow?
Whom now confide in? Cast upon my shore,
Shipwreck'd, distress'd,
a friendly aid I bore:
Himself, his fleet, his friends, from ruin drew,

Nay, foolish woman! shar'd my kingdom too,
465 Now,--my rage to
very madness tends:
Now Lycian fates, now Phæbus he pretends,
} Nay mighty Jove
himself, thro' flitting air
} Sends down a god his dread command to
bear.
} A worthy object, truly, for his care!
470 A mighty thing, to
break the God's repose!
But go, such fates no longer I oppose;
Go, seek Ausonia in the hollow
wind,
And in the frothy surge a kingdom find.
Yes may you
find--just Heav'n my wishes serve!
475 Dash'd on some rock, the fate
that you deserve.
Then, when you call on injure! Dido's name,
I'll follow glaring in the
light'ning's flame;
When Death's cold hand this wretched soul shall
free, My ghost shall haunt you, wheresoe'er you be.
480 Yes
wretch--be sure--the vengeance will be paid.
'Twill reach my ear--'twill sooth my angry shade».
While yet she
spoke, she trembling turn'd away,
Broke from his sight, and shun'd
the light of day.
485 She left him struck with fear, with grief opprest;
Opposing thoughts revolv'd within his breast.
Her languid step her
maids supporting led,
And plac'd her fainting on the nuptial bed.
Much as he wish'd the mourner to console,
To speak soft comfort to
her wounded soul,
490 To grief, to doubt, to pow'rful love a prey,

Jove's sov'reign will, the hero must obey,
He views the fleet, his
brave companions cheers,
Hauls down the bark and to the ocean veers;

The sides well calk'd, the briny wave defy,
495 The living woods,
their shapeless limbs supply,
From the green oar the bleeding leaf they tear,
They run, they toil,
they press the phasing care.
In gath'ring numbers from the town they pour,
Wind o'er the plain,
and spread along the shore
500 Like ants, that forage for a future day,
500
And to their stores the plunder'd wheat convey;
In narrow columns
move the sable train;
These with main strength roll on the pond'rous
grain; These press the march, and these the loit'rers drive; 505 They go,
they come, their path seems all alive.
Ill fated Queen! what pangs your bosom tore,
What sighs you heav'd,
as on the moving shore,
The busy crews, assembling in your sight,

With dashing waves, their horrid shouts unite.
510 Love, in our heart!
how boundless is thy force!
To tears again, to pray'r she has recourse;
Love bends her soul each
suppliant art to try,
Each humble suit, ere she resolve, to die.
«See,
Anna, see, the crowded beach they hide,
515 See how they spread,
they swarm from ev'ry side;
Their open sails already court the wind,
The stern with wreaths the
joyful sailors bind.
Oh had I thought such ills could e'er ensue

Perhaps I should have learn'd to bear them too?
520 Now grant me,
Anna, grant this one request!
False man! his friendship you alone possest;
To you his heart was
open, none but you,
The soft access, the pliant moment knew.
Go
sister then, my haughty foe intreat,
525 Tell him to Troy I sent no

hostile fleet;
Nor yet, at Aulis, was I one that swore,
United vengeance to the
Dardan shore.
Have I disturb'd his father's sacred shade,
That to be
heard--not mere--in vain I've pray'd?
530 Tho' clos'd his ears to me,
can be deny
This last, this least request! where would he fly?
Bid him remain till
wintry storms subside,
Till kinder breezes, smooth the ruffled tide.

535 The nuptial vow, which he so vainly swore,
His plighted faith no longer I implore,
Nor yet his Latian kingdom to
forego:
Some fruitless space, some breathing time for woe,
'Till fate
have thought the wretch subdu'd to grieve, Is all I beg--Obtain this last
reprieve--
540 For pity gain it,--and the short delay
With all her parting soul, will Dido pay».
So pray'd the Queen, and
o'er and o'er again,
Pray'rs, sighs, and tears her sister urg'd in vain;

Unmov'd he stands by tears, by pray'rs by sighs,
545 The fates oppose,
the God his ear denies.
Thus from the rock, the patient work of years,
His knotted strength an
oak majestic rears,
When Alpine storms on ev'ry side contend,
Now
here, now there his rooted mass to bend,
550 Each labour'd limb
resounds, and from his head
The rustling spoils in heaps the ground o'erspread.
He grasps the rock
unmov'd, and proudly shoots
As high to heav'n his head, as down to
hell his roots. With storms as fierce the lab'ring Hero torn,
555 Now
here now there by swelling passion borne
Sunk in his soul a mighty load of woe,
His mind unshook--tears
unavailing flow.
'Twas then that Dido, sinking with her fate,
In all its horror view'd her
wretched state.
560 The light of heav'n grew odious to her sight,

She call'd on Death, and each religions rite
With horrid omens urg'd
the