Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

?

But he, rememb'ring me, shrinks back again :
See where he comes; welcome! welcome, my love!
ANNA. Ah, sister, leave these idle fantasies:
Sweet sister! cease; remember who you are.
DIDO. Dido I am, unless I be deceiv'd;
And must I rave thus for a runagate?
Must I make ships for him to sail away
Nothing can bear me to him but a ship,
And he hath all my fleet. What shall I do,
But die in fury of this oversight?
Aye, I must be the murd'rer of myself;
No, but I am not; yet I will be straight.
Anna, be glad; now have I found a mean
To rid me from these thoughts of lunacy:
Not far from hence there is a woman famous'd for arts,
Daughter unto the nymphs Hesperides,

Who will'd me sacrifice his 'ticing reliques :

Go, Anna, bid my servants bring me fire. [Exit Anna.

Enter IARBAS.

IAR. How long will Dido mourn a stranger's flight That hath dishonour'd her and Carthage both? How long shall I with grief consume my days, And

reap no guerdon for my truest love?

DIDO. Iarbas, talk not of Æneas; let him go;
Lay to thy hands, and help me make a fire,
That shall consume all that this stranger left;
For I intend a private sacrifice,

To cure my mind, that melts for unkind love.
IAR. But, afterwards, will Dido grant me love?
DIDO. Aye, aye, Iarbas, after this is done,

None in the world shall have my love but thou;

[They make a fire.

So, leave me now; let none approach this place.

[Exit Iarbas.

Now, Dido, with these reliques burn thyself,
And make Æneas famous through the world
For perjury and slaughter of a queen.

Here lies the sword that in the darksome cave
He drew, and swore by, to be true to me:
Thou shalt burn first; thy crime is worse than his.
Here lies the garment which cloth'd him in
When first he came on shore; perish thou too!
These letters, lines, and perjur'd papers, all
Shall burn to cinders in this precious flame.
And now, ye gods, that guide the starry frame,
And order all things at your high dispose,
Grant, though the traitors land in Italy,
They may be still tormented with unrest;
And, from mine ashes, let a conqueror rise,.
That may revenge this treason to a queen,
By ploughing up his countries with the sword.
Betwixt this land and that be never league,
Littora littoribus contraria, fluctibus undas
Imprecor: arma armis: pugnent ipsique nepotes :*
Live, false Æneas! truest Dido dies!

Sic, sic juvat ire sub umbras.

[She casts herself into the fire.

• Virgil.

Enter ANNA.

ANNA. O help, Iarbas! Dido, in these flames,
Hath burnt herself! ah, me! unhappy me!
Enter IARBAS, running.

IAR. Cursed Iarbas ! die to expiate
The grief that tires upon thine inward soul:
Dido, I come to thee. Ah, me, Æneas!

[Kills himself.
ANNA. What can my tears or cries prevail me now?
Dido is dead, Iarbas slain; Iarbas, my dear love!
O sweet Iarbas! Anna's sole delight;
What fatal destiny envies me thus,

To see my sweet larbas slay himself?
But Anna now shall honour thee in death,
And mix her blood with thine; this shall I do,
That gods and men may pity this my death,
And rue our ends, senseless of life or breath:
Now, sweet Iarbas, stay! I come to thee.

[Kills herself.

THE END OF VOL. II

[graphic][merged small]

KIT MARLOWE'S WORKS.

VOLUME II.

EDWARD THE SECOND.

DOCTOR FAUSTUS.

THE MASSACRE AT PARIS.

DIDO QUEEN OF CARTHAGE.

« ZurückWeiter »