Aeneid 4.522–552

Aen. 4.522Nox erat, et placidum carpēbant fessa sopōrem
corpora per terrās, silvaeque et saeva quiērant
aequora: cum mediō volvuntur sīdera lāpsū,
525cum tacet omnis ager, pecudēs pictaeque volucrēs,
quaeque lacūs lātē liquidōs, quaeque aspera dūmīs
rūra tenent, somnō positae sub nocte silentī
.

It was night, and weary bodies throughout the earth were enjoying peaceful sleep, and the woods and the savage seas had fallen quiet: the time when the stars roll on in the middle of their course, when every field is silent, the flocks and the bright-coloured birds, both those that keep the wide clear lakes and those that keep the countryside rough with thorn-bushes, laid to rest in sleep under the silent night.

Note. Nox erat: a famous night-scene, where the peace of all nature contrasts with Dido's sleeplessness. quierant = quiēverant (syncope). cum … volvuntur: cum of time with the indicative. quaeque … quaeque: 'both those which… and those which', referring to the birds and flocks. positae: 'laid to rest', agreeing with the feminine volucrēs and pecudēs.

Aen. 4.529At nōn īnfēlīx animī Phoenissa, nec umquam
530Solvitur in somnōs, oculīsve aut pectore noctem
accipit: ingeminant cūrae, rūrsusque resurgēns
saevit amor, magnōque īrārum flūctuat aestū.

But not the unhappy-hearted Phoenician queen; she never relaxes into sleep or takes the night into her eyes or her heart: her cares redouble, and love rises again and rages, and she surges on a great tide of anger.

Note. At nōn: 'but not' (supply 'the Phoenician queen'). īnfēlīx animī: 'unhappy in heart', genitive of respect, a poetic usage. oculīsve aut pectore: she takes in the night neither through her eyes (sleep) nor her heart (peace). magnō īrārum … aestū: 'on a great tide of anger', the sea image for passion.

Aen. 4.533Sīc adeō īnsistit, sēcumque ita corde volūtat:
Ēn, quid agō?

So she persists, and turns things over in her heart like this: 'Look, what am I doing?

Note. secumque … volūtat: 'turns over in her heart'. Ēn, quid agō?: a deliberative question, 'look, what am I to do?'; the present indicative here has the force of a deliberative subjunctive.

Aen. 4.534Rūrsusnē procōs inrīsa priōrēs
535experiar, Nomadumque petam cōnūbia supplex,
quōs ego sim totiēns iam dēdignāta marītōs?

Am I, a laughing-stock, to try my former suitors again, and beg as a suppliant for marriage with Nomads, whom I have scorned so many times already as husbands?

Note. Rūrsusne … experiar … petam: deliberative subjunctives, 'am I to try again…?'. inrīsa: 'mocked', nominative with the subject. Nomadum: genitive plural of Nomades, the Numidians; one of her rejected suitors was the Numidian king Iarbas. quōs … sim … dēdignāta: subjunctive in a causal relative clause, 'whom I have scorned'.

Aen. 4.537Īliacās igitur classēs atque ultima Teucrum
iussa sequar?

Shall I then follow the Trojan fleet and the Trojans' every command?

Note. Īliacās classēs: 'the Trojan fleet'. Teucrum = Teucrōrum. ultima … iussa: 'every last command', i.e. the meanest orders. sequar: deliberative subjunctive.

Aen. 4.538Quiane auxiliō iuvat ante levātōs,
et bene apud memorēs veteris stat grātia factī?

Because they are glad to have been helped by my aid before, and gratitude for an old kindness stands firm in their grateful minds?

Note. Quiane …?: bitterly ironic, 'Is it because…?'. iuvat ante levātōs: 'it pleases them, having been helped before'; supply eōs. bene … stat grātia: 'gratitude stands firm'. The irony is that the Trojans clearly feel no such gratitude.

Aen. 4.540Quis mē autem, fac velle, sinet, ratibusve superbīs
invīsam accipiet?

But who, suppose I wanted it, will allow me, or take me, a hated woman, on their proud ships?

Note. fac velle: 'suppose that I want it', fac as an imperative of supposition with an infinitive. ratibusve superbīs: 'on their proud ships', ablative of place. invīsam: 'hated', agreeing with the understood mē.

Aen. 4.541Nescīs heu, perdita, necdum
Lāomedontēae sentīs periūria gentis?

Do you not know, lost woman, alas, do you not yet feel the perjuries of the race of Laomedon?

Note. perdita: vocative, 'lost woman', addressed to herself. Lāomedontēae … gentis: Laomedon, an early king of Troy, cheated Apollo and Neptune of their pay for building the walls; 'Laomedontean' means faithless, oath-breaking.

Aen. 4.543Quid tum, sōla fugā nautās comitābor ovantēs,
an Tyriīs omnīque manū stīpātā meōrum
545īnferar, et, quōs Sīdōniā vix urbe revellī,
rūrsus agam pelagō, et ventīs dare vēla iubēbō?

What then? Shall I go alone, in flight, with the exultant sailors, or set off surrounded by my Tyrians and my whole band, and drive again over the sea those whom I barely tore away from the city of Sidon, and order them to spread their sails to the winds?

Note. Quid tum?: 'What then?'. sōla fugā: 'alone, in flight'; fugā is ablative of manner. Tyriīs … stīpāta: 'surrounded by my Tyrians'. quōs Sīdōniā vix urbe revellī: she had led her people from Tyre (Sidon is used loosely for Phoenicia).

Aen. 4.547Quīn morere, ut merita es, ferrōque āverte dolōrem.

No, die as you have deserved, and end your pain with the sword.

Note. Quīn: 'nay rather, no'. morere: present imperative of the deponent morior. ut merita es: 'as you have deserved'.

Aen. 4.548Tū lacrimīs ēvicta meīs, tū prīma furentem
hīs, germāna, malīs onerās atque obicis hostī.

You, sister, overcome by my tears, you first loaded me in my madness with these evils and threw me to the enemy.

Note. Tū … tū: the repeated pronoun turns the blame on Anna, who had urged her to marry Aeneas. furentem: 'me in my madness'. hostī: 'to the enemy', i.e. Aeneas, now so called.

Aen. 4.550Nōn licuit thalamī expertem sine crīmine vītam
dēgere, mōre ferae, tālēs nec tangere cūrās!

I was not allowed to live my life without marriage and without blame, like a wild creature, and never to know such cares!

Note. Nōn licuit …!: an exclamation of regret, 'was I not allowed…!'. thalamī expertem: 'without marriage', expers with the genitive. mōre ferae: 'like a wild creature', meaning living alone, free of the bonds of love.

Aen. 4.552Nōn servāta fidēs cinerī prōmissa Sychaeō!

The faith I promised to the ashes of Sychaeus has not been kept!'

Note. nōn servāta fidēs: supply est; she had sworn loyalty to her dead husband. cinerī … Sychaeō: 'to the ashes of Sychaeus', the name used as an adjective in apposition.