Aeneid 4.659–692

Aen. 4.659Dīxit, et, ōs impressa torō, Moriēmur inultae,
660sed moriāmur ait.

She spoke, and pressing her face into the couch, said: 'I shall die unavenged, but let me die.

Note. ōs impressa torō: 'pressing her face into the couch', accusative of respect with the passive participle. Moriēmur inultae, sed moriāmur: 'I shall die unavenged, but let me die'; the future indicative followed by the jussive subjunctive. The plural is Dido's royal plural.

Aen. 4.660Sīc, sīc iuvat īre sub umbrās:
Hauriat hunc oculīs ignem crūdēlis ab altō
Dardanus, et nostrae sēcum ferat ōmina mortis.

So, so it pleases me to go into the shadows. Let the cruel Dardanian drink in this fire with his eyes from the deep, and carry with him the omen of my death.'

Note. Sīc, sīc: the doubled word is often taken to accompany two blows of the sword. hauriat … oculīs: 'let him drink in with his eyes'. crūdēlis … Dardanus: 'the cruel Dardanian', Aeneas. ōmina: the sight of the pyre's smoke will be an evil omen for his journey.

Aen. 4.663Dīxerat;

She had finished speaking;

Note. Dīxerat: pluperfect, marking the end of speech before the action.

Aen. 4.663atque illam media inter tālia ferrō
conlāpsam aspiciunt comitēs, ēnsemque cruōre
665spūmantem, sparsāsque manūs.

and in the middle of such words her companions see her fallen on the sword, and the sword foaming with blood, and her hands spattered.

Note. Vergil does not describe the blow itself; we see it through the attendants: illam … conlāpsam, 'her fallen'. ferrō: 'on the sword'. ēnsem … spūmantem: 'the sword foaming (with blood)'. sparsās … manūs: 'her spattered hands'.

Aen. 4.665It clāmor ad alta
ātria;

A cry goes up to the high halls;

Note. It clāmor: 'a cry goes up'. ātria: the halls of the palace.

Aen. 4.666concussam bacchātur Fāma per urbem.

Rumour runs wild through the shaken city.

Note. bacchātur Fāma: Rumour runs wild like a Bacchant, a figure introduced earlier in the book.

Aen. 4.667Lāmentīs gemitūque et fēmineō ululātū
tēcta fremunt;

The houses ring with lamentation and groaning and the wailing of women;

Note. fēmineō ululātū: 'with women's wailing'. tēcta fremunt: 'the houses roar'.

Aen. 4.668resonat magnīs plangōribus aethēr,
nōn aliter, quam sī immissīs ruat hostibus omnis
670Karthāgō aut antīqua Tyros, flammaeque furentēs
culmina perque hominum volvantur perque deōrum.

the sky echoes with loud mourning, just as if all Carthage or ancient Tyre were falling as the enemy broke in, and raging flames were rolling over the roofs of men and of gods.

Note. nōn aliter quam sī: 'just as if'. immissīs … hostibus: ablative absolute, 'the enemy having been let in'. Karthāgō aut antīqua Tyros: the simile looks forward to the destruction of Carthage by Rome in 146 BC. Tyros is a Greek nominative. culmina … hominum … deōrum: the roofs of houses and of temples.

Aen. 4.672Audiit exanimis, trepidōque exterrita cursū
unguibus ōra soror foedāns et pectora pugnīs
per mediōs ruit, ac morientem nōmine clāmat:
675Hoc illud, germāna, fuit?

Her sister heard it, breathless, and terrified, in a frightened rush, tearing her face with her nails and her breast with her fists, she runs through the middle of them and calls the dying woman by name: 'Was this what it meant, sister?

Note. Audiit … exanimis: 'breathless, she heard it'. unguibus ōra … foedāns et pectora pugnīs: chiasmus, the instruments framing the parts of the body; tearing the cheeks and beating the breast were gestures of mourning. Hoc illud … fuit?: 'was this what that meant?', i.e. was this the purpose of the rite?

Aen. 4.675Mē fraude petēbās?

Were you deceiving me?

Note. Mē fraude petēbās?: 'were you aiming to deceive me?'

Aen. 4.676Hoc rogus iste mihi, hoc ignēs āraeque parābant?

Is this what that pyre, this what the fires and altars were preparing for me?

Note. Hoc … hoc: the repeated pronoun, 'this was what…'. rogus iste: 'that pyre of yours'.

Aen. 4.677Quid prīmum dēserta querar?

Deserted, what shall I lament first?

Note. dēserta: 'abandoned', nominative with the subject. querar: deliberative subjunctive.

Aen. 4.677Comitemne sorōrem
sprēvistī moriēns?

Did you scorn your sister as your companion in dying?

Note. Comitemne sorōrem sprēvistī moriēns?: 'in dying, did you scorn your sister as a companion?'; comitem is predicative.

Aen. 4.678Eadem mē ad fāta vocāssēs:
īdem ambās ferrō dolor, atque eadem hōra tulisset.

You should have called me to the same fate: the same pain and the same hour would have carried us both off by the sword.

Note. vocāssēs = vocāvissēs, a past wish, 'you should have called'. ambās: 'both of us', feminine. tulisset: 'would have carried off'; the subjects are dolor and hōra.

Aen. 4.680Hīs etiam strūxī manibus, patriōsque vocāvī
vōce deōs, sīc tē ut positā crūdēlis abessem?

Did I build this with these hands too, and call aloud on our ancestral gods, so that I, cruel one, should be absent as you lay here?

Note. Hīs … manibus: 'with these hands'. struxī: 'I built' (the pyre). sīc tē ut positā … abessem: 'that I should be absent as you lay thus', ut of result; tē positā is ablative absolute. crūdēlis: nominative, Anna calling herself cruel.

Aen. 4.682Exstīnxtī tē mēque, soror, populumque patrēsque
Sīdōniōs urbemque tuam.

You have destroyed yourself and me, sister, and the people, and the Sidonian fathers, and your city.

Note. Exstīnxtī: syncopated perfect (= exstīnxistī), 'you have destroyed'. The list makes Dido's death the end of the whole city.

Aen. 4.683Date volnera lymphīs
abluam, et, extrēmus sī quis super hālitus errat,
685ōre legam.

Give me water to wash the wounds, and if any last breath still hovers, let me catch it with my lips.'

Note. Date … abluam: 'grant that I may wash', abluam a subjunctive attached to date without ut; lymphīs, 'with water'. extrēmus sī quis … hālitus: 'if any last breath'; quis is the indefinite after sī. ōre legam: 'let me catch it with my lips', a Roman custom of catching the last breath of the dying.

Aen. 4.685Sīc fāta, gradūs ēvāserat altōs,
sēmianimemque sinū germānam amplexa fovēbat
cum gemitū, atque ātrōs siccābat veste cruōrēs.

So saying, she had climbed the high steps, and holding her dying sister in her arms she cradled her with a groan and dried the dark blood with her dress.

Note. gradūs ēvāserat altōs: 'had climbed the high steps' (of the pyre). sēmianimem: 'half-alive'. cruōrēs: the plural of blood is poetic.

Aen. 4.688Illa, gravēs oculōs cōnāta attollere, rūrsus
dēficit;

Dido tried to lift her heavy eyes, but fails again;

Note. conāta attollere: 'having tried to raise'. dēficit: 'fails, faints'.

Aen. 4.689īnfīxum strīdit sub pectore vulnus.

the wound fixed deep in her breast hisses.

Note. īnfīxum strīdit … vulnus: 'the wound fixed deep hisses', the sound of the breath escaping through it.

Aen. 4.690Ter sēsē attollēns cubitōque adnīxa levāvit;

Three times, raising herself and leaning on her elbow, she lifted herself up;

Note. cubitō … adnīxa: 'propped on her elbow'. levāvit: supply 'herself'.

Aen. 4.691ter revolūta torō est, oculīsque errantibus altō
quaesīvit caelō lūcem, ingemuitque repertā.

three times she rolled back on the couch, and with wandering eyes looked for the light in the high sky, and groaned when she had found it.

Note. Ter … ter: the repetition is Homeric. quaesīvit caelō lūcem: 'sought the light in the sky', one last look at life. ingemuitque repertā: 'and groaned when it was found'.