even as a flower cropped by maiden’s finger, be it of delicate

violet or drooping hyacinth, unforsaken as yet of its

sparkling hue and its graceful outline, though its parent

earth no longer feeds it or supplies it with strength. Then 10

brought forth Æneas two garments stiff with gold and purple,

which Dido had wrought for him in other days with

her own hands, delighting in the toil, and had streaked

their webs with threads of gold. Of these the mourner

spreads one over his youthful friend as a last honour, 15

and muffles the locks on which the flame must feed: moreover