For well I know their faithless hearts and lying tongues.
And ever, mid the anxious watches of the night,
The savage threats of Juno agitate my soul.
If only this fair queen might feel the pulse of love
For this my hero son, then would her purposes
Of amity be fixed, and my anxiety
Be set at rest.—But how accomplish my design?
Suddenly her face is lighted with a new thought. She goes to Cupid and addresses him with insinuating gentleness.
Venus, to Cupid (664-688):
O son, my comrade and my only source of might,