.
Enter to them Iarbas.
IARBUS. How now, Aeneas sad? What means these dumps?
AENEAS. Iarbas, I am clean besides myself.
Jove hath heaped upon me such a desperate charge,
Which neither art nor reason may achieve,
Nor I devise by what means to contrive.
IARBUS. As how, I pray? May I entreat you tell?
AENEAS. With speed he bids me sail to Italy,
Whenas I want both rigging for my fleet
And also furniture for these my men.
IARBUS. If that be all, then cheer thy drooping looks,
For I will furnish thee with such supplies.
Let some of those thy followers go with me,
And they shall have what thing soe'er thou need'st.
AENEAS. Thanks, good Iarbas, for thy friendly aid.
Achates and the rest shall wait on thee,
Whilst I rest thankful for this courtesy.
Exit Iarbas and Aeneas' train.
Now will I haste unto Lavinian shore
And raise a new foundation to old Troy.
Witness the gods, and witness heaven and earth,
How loath I am to leave these Libyan bounds,
But that eternal Jupiter commands. .
Enter Dido, with Attendants, to Aeneas.
DIDO. I fear I saw Aeneas' little son
Led by Achates to the Trojan fleet.
If it be so, his father means to fly.
But here he is. Now, Dido, try thy wit.
Aeneas, wherefore go thy men aboard?
Why are thy ships new rigged? Or to what end,
Launched from the haven, lie they in the road?
Pardon me, though I ask. Love makes me ask.
AENEAS. O, pardon me if I resolve thee why.
Aeneas will not feign with his dear love.
I must from hence. This day, swift Mercury,
When I was laying a platform for these walls,
Sent from his father Jove, appeared to me,
And in his name rebuked me bitterly
For lingering here, neglecting Italy.
DIDO. But yet Aeneas will not leave his love.
AENEAS. I am commanded by immortal Jove
To leave this town and pass to Italy,
And therefore must of force.
DIDO. These words proceed not from Aeneas' heart.
AENEAS. Not from my heart, for I can hardly go.
And yet I may not stay. Dido, farewell.
DIDO. Farewell? Is this the 'mends for Dido's love?
Do Trojans use to quit their lovers thus?
Fare well may Dido, so Aeneas stay;
I die if my Aeneas say farewell.
AENEAS. Then let me go and never say farewell.
DIDO. 'Let me go!', 'Farewell!', 'I must from hence!'
These words are poison to poor Dido's soul.
O speak like my Aeneas, like my love.
Why look'st thou toward the sea? The time hath been
When Dido's beauty chained thine eyes to her.
Am I less fair than when thou saw'st me first?
O, then, Aeneas, 'tis for grief of thee.
Say thou wilt stay in Carthage with thy queen,
And Dido's beauty will return again.
Aeneas, say how canst thou take thy leave?
Wilt thou kiss Dido? O, thy lips have sworn
To stay with Dido. Canst thou take her hand?
Thy hand and mine have plighted mutual faith.
Therefore, unkind Aeneas, must thou say,
"Then let me go, and never say farewell"?
AENEAS. O Queen of Carthage, wert thou ugly black,
Aeneas could not choose but hold thee dear.
Yet must he not gainsay the gods' behest.
DIDO. The gods? What gods be those that seek my death?
Wherein have I offended Jupiter
That he should take Aeneas from mine arms?
O, no! The gods weigh not what lovers do.
It is Aeneas calls Aeneas hence,
And woeful Dido, by these blubbered cheeks,
By this right hand, and by our spousal rites,
Desires Aeneas to remain with her.
Si bene quid de te merui, fuit aut tibi quidquam
Dulce meum, miserere domus labentis, et istam,
Oro, si quis adhuc precibus locus, exue mentem.
[If I was ever kind to you, or if anything about me made you happy,
please, please, if it is not too late to beg you, have pity for the ruin
of a home, and change your mind.]
AENEAS.