Dido. May I entreat thee to discourse at large, And truly too, how Troy was overcome? For many tales go of that city's fall, And scarcely do agree upon one point:110 Some say Antenor did betray the town; Others report 'twas Sinon's perjury; But all in this, that Troy is overcome, And Priam dead; yet how, we hear no news.
Æn. A woful tale bids Dido to unfold, Whose memory, like pale Death's stony mace, Beats forth my senses from this troubled soul, And makes Æneas sink at Dido's feet.
Dido. What, faints Æneas to remember Troy, In whose defence he fought so valiantly?120 Look up, and speak.
Æn. Then speak Æneas, with Achilles' tongue: And, Dido, and you Carthaginian peers, Hear me; but yet with Myrmidons' harsh ears, Daily inured to broils and massacres, Lest you be mov'd too much with my sad tale. The Grecian soldiers, tir'd with ten years' war, Began to cry, "Let us unto our ships, Troy is invincible, why stay we here?" With whose outcries Atrides being appalled130 Summon'd the captains to his princely tent; Who, looking on the scars we Trojans gave, Seeing the number of their men decreas'd, And the remainder weak and out of heart, Gave up their voices to dislodge the camp, And so in troops all marched to Tenedos; [468] Where when they came, Ulysses on the sand Assayed with honey words to turn them back; And, as he spoke, to further his intent, The winds did drive huge billows to the shore,140 And heaven was darkened with tempestuous clouds; Then he alleg'd the gods would have them stay, And prophesied Troy should be overcome: And therewithal he call'd false Sinon forth, A man compact of craft and perjury, Whose ticing tongue was made of Hermes' pipe, To force an hundred watchful eyes to sleep; And him, Epeus having made the horse, With sacrificing wreaths upon his head, Ulysses sent to our unhappy town;150 Who, grovelling in the mire of Xanthus' banks, His hands bound at his back, and both his eyes Turned up to heaven, as one resolved to die, Our Phrygian shepherd haled within the gates, And brought unto the court of Priamus; To whom he used action so pitiful, Looks so remorseful, vows so forcible, As therewithal the old man overcome, Kissed him, embraced him, and unloosed his bands; And then—O Dido, pardon me!160
Dido. Nay, leave not here; resolve me of the rest.
Æn. O, th' enchanting words of that base slave Made him to think Epeus' pine-tree horse A sacrifice t' appease Minerva's wrath! The rather, for that one Laocoon, Breaking a spear upon his hollow breast, Was with two wingèd serpents stung to death. Whereat aghast, we were commanded straight With reverence to draw it into Troy: In which unhappy work was I employed;170 These hands did help to hale it to the gates, Through which it could not enter, 'twas so huge,— O, had it never enter'd, Troy had stood! But Priamus, impatient of delay, Enforced a wide breach in that rampired wall Which thousand battering-rams could never pierce, And so came in this fatal instrument: At whose accursèd feet, as overjoyed, We banqueted, till, overcome with wine, Some surfeited, and others soundly slept.180 Which Sinon viewing, caus'd the Greekish spies To haste to Tenedos, and tell the camp: Then he unlocked the horse; and suddenly, From out his entrails, Neoptolemus, Setting his spear upon the ground, leapt forth, And, after him, a thousand Grecians more, In whose stern faces shined the quenchless [469] fire That after burnt the pride of Asia. By this, the camp was come unto the walls, And through the breach did march into the streets,190 Where, meeting with the rest; "Kill, kill!" they cried. Frighted with this confusèd noise, I rose, And, looking from a turret, might behold Young infants swimming in their parents' blood, Headless carcases pilèd up in heaps, Virgins half-dead, dragged by their golden hair, And with main force flung on a ring [470] of pikes, Old men with swords thrust through their agèd sides, Kneeling for mercy to a Greekish lad,200 Who with steel pole-axes dash'd out their brains. Then buckled I mine armour, drew my sword, And thinking to go down, came Hector's ghost, [471] With ashy visage, blueish sulphur eyes, His arms torn from his shoulders, and his breast Furrowed with wounds, and, that which made me weep, Thongs at his heels, by which Achilles' horse Drew him in triumph through the Greekish camp, Burst from the earth, crying "Æneas, fly! Troy is a-fire, the Grecians have the town!"210
Dido. O Hector, who weeps not to hear thy name?
Æn. Yet flung I forth, and, desperate of my life, Ran in the thickest throngs, and with this sword Sent many of their savage ghosts to hell. At last came Pyrrhus, fell and full of ire, His harness [472] dropping blood, and on his spear The mangled head of Priam's youngest son; And, after him, his band of Myrmidons, With balls of wild-fire in their murdering paws, Which made the funeral flame that burnt fair Troy;220 All which hemmed me about, crying, "This is he!"
Dido. Ah, how could poor Æneas scape their hands?
Æn. My mother Venus, jealous of my health, Convey'd me from their crookèd nets and bands; So I escaped the furious Pyrrhus' wrath: Who then ran to the palace of the king, And at Jove's altar finding Priamus, About whose withered neck hung Hecuba, Folding his hand in hers, and jointly both Beating their breasts, and falling on the ground, He, with his falchion's point raised up at once,230 And with Megæra's eyes, star'd in their face, Threatening a thousand deaths at every glance: To whom the agèd king thus, trembling, spoke; "Achilles' son, remember what I was, Father of fifty sons, but they are slain; Lord of my fortune, but my fortune's turned: King of this city, but my Troy is fired; And now am neither father, lord, or king: Yet who so wretched but desires to live? O, let me live, great Neoptolemus!"240 Not moved at all, but smiling at his tears, This butcher, whilst his hands were yet held up, Treading upon his breast, struck off his hands.