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Front Page  Titles (by Subject) ACT III. - The Works of Christopher Marlowe, vol. 2
ACT III. - Christopher Marlowe, The Works of Christopher Marlowe, vol. 2 [1593]Edition used:The Works of Christopher Marlowe, ed. A.H. Bullen (London: John C. Nimmo, 1885). Vol. 2.
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ACT III.
SCENE I.
EnterCupidasAscanius.
Cup.- Now, Cupid, cause the Carthaginian queen
- To be enamour'd of thy brother's looks:
- Convey this golden arrow in thy sleeve,
- Lest she imagine thou art Venus' son;
- And when she strokes thee softly on the head,
- Then shall I touch her breast and conquer her.
- EnterDido, Anna, andIarbas.
Iar.- How long, fair Dido, shall I pine for thee?
- 'Tis not enough that thou dost grant me love,
- But that I may enjoy what I desire:
- That love is childish which consists in words.
10
Dido.- Iarbas, know, that thou, of all my wooers,—
- And yet have I had many mightier kings,—
- Hast had the greatest favours I could give.
- I fear me, Dido hath been counted light
- In being too familiar with Iarbas;
- Albeit the gods do know, no wanton thought
Iar.- But Dido is the favour I request.
Dido.- Fear not, Iarbas; Dido may be thine.
Anna.- Look, sister, how Æneas' little son
20 - Plays with your garments and embraceth you.
Cup.- No, Dido will not take me in her arms;
- I shall not be her son, she loves me not.
Dido.- Weep not, sweet boy; thou shalt be Dido's son:
- Sit in my lap, and let me hear thee sing.
- [Cupidsings
- No more, my child; now talk another while,
- And tell me where learn'dst thou this pretty song.
Cup.- My cousin Helen taught it me in Troy.
Dido.- How lovely is Ascanius when he smiles!
Cup.- Will Dido let me hang about her neck?
30
Dido.- Ay, wag; and give thee leave to kiss her too.
Cup.- What will you give me now? I'll have this fan.
Dido.- Take it, Ascanius, for thy father's sake.
Iar.- Come, Dido, leave Ascanius; let us walk.
Dido.- Go thou away; Ascanius shall stay.
Iar.- Ungentle queen, is this thy love to me?
Dido.- O, stay, Iarbas, and I'll go with thee!
Cup.- An if my mother go, I'll follow her.
Dido.- Why stay'st thou here? thou art no love of mine.
Iar.- Iarbas, die, seeing she abandons thee!
40
Dido.- No; live, Iarbas: What hast thou deserved,
- That I should say thou art no love of mine?
- Something thou hast deserved.—Away, I say!
- Depart from Carthage; come not in my sight.
Iar.- Am I not king of rich Gætulia?
Dido.- Iarbas, pardon me, and stay a while.
Cup.
Dido.- What tell'st thou me of rich Gætulia?
- Am not I queen of Libya? then depart.
Iar.- I go to feed the humour of my love,
50 - Yet not from Carthage for a thousand worlds.
Dido.
Iar.
Dido.- No; but I charge thee never look on me.
Iar.- Then pull out both mine eyes, or let me die.
- [Exit.
Anna.- Wherefore doth Dido bid Iarbas go?
Dido.- Because his loathsome sight offends mine eye,
- And in my thoughts is shrined another love.
Anna.- Poor soul, I know too well the sour of love:
60 - O, that Iarbas could but fancy me!
- [Aside
Dido.- Is not Æneas fair and beautiful?
Anna.- Yes; and Iarbas foul and favourless.
Dido.- Is he not eloquent in all his speech?
Anna.- Yes; and Iarbas rude and rustical.
Dido.- Name not Iarbas: but, sweet Anna, say,
- Is not Æneas worthy Dido's love?
Anna.- O sister, were you empress of the world,
- Æneas well deserves to be your love!
- So lovely is he, that, where'er he goes,
70 - The people swarm to gaze him in the face.
Dido.- But tell them, none shall gaze on him but I,
- Lest their gross eye-beams taint my lover's cheeks.
- Anna, good sister Anna, go for him,
- Lest with these sweet thoughts I melt clean away.
Anna.- Then, sister, you'll abjure Iarbas' love?
Dido.- Yet must I hear that loathsome name again?
- Run for Æneas, or I'll fly to him.
- [ExitAnna.
Cup.- You shall not hurt my father when he comes.
Dido.- No; for thy sake I'll love thy father well.—
80 - O dull-conceited Dido, that till now
- Didst never think Æneas beautiful!
- But now, for quittance of this oversight,
- I'll make me bracelets of his golden hair;
- His glistering eyes shall be my looking-glass;
- His lips an altar, where I'll offer up
- As many kisses as the sea hath sands;
- Instead of music I will hear him speak;
- His looks shall be my only library;
- And thou, Æneas, Dido's treasury,
90 - In whose fair bosom I will lock more wealth
- Than twenty thousand Indias can afford.
- O, here he comes! Love, love, give Dido leave
- To be more modest than her thoughts admit,
- Lest I be made a wonder to the world.
- Enteræneas, Achates, Sergestus, Ilioneus, andCloanthus.
- Achates, how doth Carthage please your lord?
Ach.- That will Æneas show your majesty.
Dido.
Æn.- I understand your highness sent for me.
Dido.- No; but, now thou art here, tell me, in sooth,
100 - In what might Dido highly pleasure thee.
Æn.- So much have I receiv'd at Dido's hands,
- As, without blushing, I can ask no more:
- Yet, queen of Afric, are my ships unrigg'd,
- My sails all rent in sunder with the wind,
- My oars broken, and my tackling lost,
- Yea, all my navy split with rocks and shelves;
- Nor stern nor anchor have our maimèd fleet;
- Our masts the furious winds struck overboard.
- Which piteous wants if Dido will supply,
110 - We will account her author of our lives.
Dido.- Æneas, I'll repair thy Trojan ships,
- Conditionally that thou wilt stay with me,
- And let Achates sail to Italy:
- I'll give thee tackling made of rivelled gold,
- Wound on the barks of odoriferous trees;
- Oars of massy ivory, full of holes,
- Through which the water shall delight to play;
- Thy anchors shall be hewed from crystal rocks,
- Which, if thou lose, shall shine above the waves;
120 - The masts, whereon thy swelling sails shall hang,
- Hollow pyramides of silver plate;
- The sails of folded lawn, where shall be wrought
- The wars of Troy,—but not Troy's overthrow;
- For ballace, empty Dido's treasury:
- Take what ye will, but leave Æneas here.
- Achates, thou shalt be so seemly clad,
- As sea-born nymphs shall swarm about thy ships.
- And wanton mermaids court thee with sweet songs,
- Flinging in favours of more sovereign worth
130 - Than Thetis hangs about Apollo's neck,
- So that Æneas may but stay with me.
Æn.- Wherefore would Dido have Æneas stay?
Dido.- To war against my bordering enemies.
- Æneas, think not Dido is in love;
- For, if that any man could conquer me,
- I had been wedded ere Æneas came
- See, where the pictures of my suitors hang;
- And are not these as fair as fair may be?
Ach.- I saw this man at Troy, ere Troy was sack'd.
140
Æn.- I this in Greece, when Paris stole fair Helen.
Ili.- This man and I were at Olympia's games,
Serg.- I know this face; he is a Persian born:
- I travell'd with him to Ætolia.
Cloan.- And I in Athens with this gentleman,
- Unless I be deceived, disputed once.
Dido.- But speak, Æneas; know you none of these?
Æn.- No, madam; but it seems that these are kings.
Dido.- All these, and others which I never saw,
- Have been most urgent suitors for my love;
150 - Some came in person, others sent their legates,
- Yet none obtained me: I am free from all;
- And yet, God knows, entangled unto one.
- This was an orator, and thought by words
- To compass me: but yet he was deceiv'd:
- And this a Spartan courtier, vain and wild;
- But his fantastic humours pleased not me:
- This was Alcion, a musician;
- But, play'd he ne'er so sweet, I let him go.
- This was the wealthy king of Thessaly;
160 - But I had gold enough, and cast him off:
- This, Meleager's son, a warlike prince;
- But weapons gree not with my tender years:
- The rest are such as all the world well knows:
- Yet now I swear, by heaven and him I love,
- I was as far from love as they from hate.
Æn.- O, happy shall he be whom Dido loves!
Dido.- Then never say that thou art miserable,
- Because, it may be, thou shalt be my love;
- Yet boast not of it, for I love thee not,—
170 - And yet I hate thee not.—O, if I speak,
- I shall betray myself! [Aside.]—Æneas, come:
- We two will go a-hunting in the woods;
- But not so much for thee,—thou art but one,—
- As for Achates and his followers.
- [Exeunt
SCENE II.
EnterJunotoAscanius, who lies asleep.
Juno.- Here lies my hate, Æneas' cursèd brat,
- The boy wherein false Destiny delights,
- The heir of Fury, the favourite of the Fates,
- That ugly imp that shall outwear my wrath,
- And wrong my deity with high disgrace.
- But I will take another order now,
- And raze th' eternal register of Time:
- Troy shall no more call him her second hope,
- Nor Venus triumph in his tender youth;
- For here, in spite of Heaven, I'll murder him,
10 - And feed infection with his let-out life.
- Say, Paris, now shall Venus have the ball?
- Say, vengeance, now shall her Ascanius die?
- O no! God wot, I cannot watch my time,
- Nor quit good turns with double fee down told:
- Tut, I am simple, without mind to hurt,
- And have no gall at all to grieve my foes!
- But lustful Jove and his adulterous child
- Shall find it written on confusion's front,
- That only Juno rules in Rhamnus town.
20 - EnterVenus.
Ven.- What should this mean? my doves are back return'd
- Who warn me of such danger prest at hand
- To harm my sweet Ascanius' lovely life.—
- Juno, my mortal foe, what make you here?
Juno.- Fie, Venus, that such causeless words of wrath
- Should e'er defile so fair a mouth as thine!
- Are not we both sprung of celestial race,
- And banquet, as two sisters, with the gods?
- Why is it, then, displeasure should disjoin
30 - Whom kindred and acquaintance co-unites?
Ven.- Out, hateful hag! thou wouldst have slain my son,
- Had not my doves discovered thy intent:
- But I will tear thy eyes fro forth thy head,
- And feast the birds with their blood-shotten balls,
- If thou but lay thy fingers on my boy.
Juno.- Is this, then, all the thanks that I shall have
- For saving him from snakes' and serpents' stings,
- That would have killed him, sleeping, as he lay?
- What, though I was offended with thy son,
40 - And wrought him mickle woe on sea and land,
- When, for the hate of Trojan Ganymede,
- That was advancèd by my Hebe's shame,
- And Paris' judgment of the heavenly ball,
- I mustered all the winds unto his wreck,
- And urg'd each element to his annoy?
- Yet now I do repent me of his ruth,
- And wish that I had never wrong'd him so.
- Bootless, I saw, it was to war with fate
- That hath so many unresisted friends:
50 - Wherefore I changed my counsel with the time,
- And planted love where envy erst had sprung.
Ven.- Sister of Jove, if that thy love be such
- As these thy protestations do paint forth,
- We two, as friends, one fortune will divide:
- Cupid shall lay his arrows in thy lap,
- And to a sceptre change his golden shafts;
- Fancy and modesty shall live as mates,
- And thy fair peacocks by my pigeons perch:
- Love my Æneas, and desire is thine;
60 - The day, the night, my swans, my sweets, are thine.
Juno.- More than melodious are these words to me,
- That overcloy my soul with their content.
- Venus, sweet Venus, how may I deserve
- Such amorous favours at thy beauteous hand?
- But, that thou mayst more easily perceive
- How highly I do prize this amity,
- Hark to a motion of eternal league,
- Which I will make in quittance of thy love.
- Thy son, thou know'st, with Dido now remains,
70 - And feeds his eyes with favours of her court;
- She, likewise, in admiring spends her time,
- And cannot talk nor think of aught but him:
- Why should not they, then, join in marriage,
- And bring forth mighty kings to Carthage-town,
- Whom casualty of sea hath made such friends?
- And, Venus, let there be a match confirm'd
- Betwixt these two, whose loves are so alike;
- And both our deities, conjoin'd in one,
- Shall chain felicity unto their throne.
80
Ven.- Well could I like this reconcilement's means;
- But much I fear my son will ne'er consent,
- Whose armèd soul, already on the sea,
- Darts forth her light [un]to Lavinia's shore.
Juno.- Fair queen of love, I will divorce these doubts,
- And find my way to weary such fond thoughts.
- This day they both a-hunting forth will ride
- Into the woods adjoining to these walls;
- When, in the midst of all their gamesome sports,
- I'll make the clouds dissolve their watery works,
90 - And drench Silvanus' dwellings with their showers;
- Then in one cave the queen and he shall meet,
- And interchangeably discourse their thoughts,
- Whose short conclusion will seal up their hearts
- Unto the purpose which we now propound.
Ven.- Sister, I see you savour of my wiles:
- Be it as you will have [it] for this once.
- Meantime Ascanius shall be my charge;
- Whom I will bear to Ida in mine arms,
- And couch him in Adonis' purple down.
100 - [Exeunt.
SCENE III.
EnterDido, æneas, Anna, Iarbas, Achates, CupidasAscanius, and Followers.
Dido.- Æneas, think not but I honour thee,
- That thus in person go with thee to hunt:
- My princely robes, thou see'st, are laid aside,
- Whose glittering pomp Diana's shroud supplies;
- All fellows now, disposed alike to sport;
- The woods are wide, and we have store of game.
- Fair Trojan, hold my golden bow a while,
- Until I gird my quiver to my side.—
- Lords, go before; we two must talk alone.
Iar.- Ungentle, can she wrong Iarbas so?
10 - I'll die before a stranger have that grace.
- “We two will talk alone”—what words be these!
- [Aside.
Dido.- What makes Iarbas here of all the rest?
- We could have gone without your company.
Æn.- But love and duty led him on perhaps
- To press beyond acceptance to your sight.
Iar.- Why! man of Troy, do I offend thine eyes?
- Or art thou grieved thy betters press so nigh?
Dido.- How now, Gætulian! are you grown so brave,
- To challenge us with your comparisons?
20 - Peasant, go seek companions like thyself,
- And meddle not with any that I love.—
- Æneas, be not moved at what he says;
Iar.- Women may wrong by privilege of love;
- But, should that man of men, Dido except,
- Have taunted me in these opprobrious terms,
- I would have either drunk his dying blood,
- Or else I would have given my life in gage.
29
Dido.- Huntsmen, why pitch you not your toils apace,
- And rouse the light-foot deer from forth their lair?
Anna.- Sister, see, see Ascanius in his pomp,
- Bearing his hunt-spear bravely in his hand!
Dido.- Yea, little son, are you so forward now?
Cup.- Ay, mother; I shall one day be a man,
- And better able unto other arms;
- Meantime these wanton weapons serve my war,
- Which I will break betwixt a lion's jaws.
Dido.- What? dar'st thou look a lion in the face?
Cup.- Ay; and outface him too, do what he can.
40
Anna.- How like his father speaketh he in all!
Æn.- And mought I live to see him sack rich Thebes,
- And load his spear with Grecian princes' heads,
- Then would I wish me with Anchises' tomb,
Iar.- And might I live to see thee shipp'd away,
- And hoist aloft on Neptune's hideous hills,
- Then would I wish me in fair Dido's arms,
- And dead to scorn that hath pursu'd me so.
- [Aside.
Æn.- Stout friend Achates, dost thou know this wood?
50
Ach.- As I remember, here you shot the deer
- That saved your famish'd soldiers' lives from death,
- When first you set your foot upon the shore;
- And here we met fair Venus, virgin—like.
- Bearing her bow and quiver at her back.
Æn.- O, how these irksome labours now delight,
- And overjoy my thoughts with their escape!
- Who would not undergo all kind of toil,
- To be well—stor'd with such a winter's tale?
Dido.- Æneas, leave these dumps, and let's away.
60 - Some to the mountains, some unto the soil,
- You to the valleys,—thou unto the house.
- [Exeunt all exceptIarbas.
Iar.- Ay, this it is which wounds me to the death,
- To see a Phrygian, far—fet o'er the sea,
- Preferr'd before a man of majesty.
- O love! O hate! O cruel women's hearts,
- That imitate the moon in every change,
- And, like the planets, ever love to range!
- What shall I do, thus wronged with disdain?
- Revenge me on Æneas or on her?
70 - On her! fond man, that were to war 'gainst heaven,
- And with one shaft provoke ten thousand darts.
- This Trojan's end will be thy envy's aim,
- Whose blood will reconcile thee to content,
- And make love drunken with thy sweet desire.
- But Dido, that now holdeth him so dear,
- Will die with very tidings of his death:
- But time will discontinue her content,
- And mould her mind unto new fancy's shapes,
- O God of heaven, turn the hand of Fate
80 - Unto that happy day of my delight!
- And then—what then? Iarbas shall but love:
- So doth he now, though not with equal gain;
- That resteth in the rival of thy pain,
- Who ne'er will cease to soar till he be slain.
- [Exit
SCENE IV.
The storm. Enter AEneas and Dido in the cave, at several times
Dido.
Æn.
Dido.- Tell me, dear love, how found you out this cave?
Æn.- By chance, sweet queen, as Mars and Venus met
Dido.- Why, that was in a net, where we are loose;
- And yet I am not free,—O, would I were!
Æn.- Why, what is it that Dido may desire
- And not obtain, be it in human power?
Dido.- The thing that I will die before I ask,
- And yet desire to have before I die.
10
Æn.- It is not aught Æneas may achieve?
- Dido, Æneas! no; although his eyes do pierce.
Æn.- What, hath Iarbas anger'd her in aught?
- And will she be avenged on his life?
Dido.- Not anger'd me, except in angering thee.
Æn.- Who, then, of all so cruel may he be
- That should detain, thy eye in his defects?
Dido.- The man that I do eye where'er I am;
- Whose amorous face, like Pæan, sparkles fire,
- Whenas he butts his beams on Flora's bed.
20 - Prometheus hath put on Cupid's shape,
- And I must perish in his burning arms:
- Æneas, O Æneas, quench these flames!
Æn.- What ails my queen? is she faln sick of late?
Dido.- Not sick, my love; but sick I must conceal
- The torment that it boots me not reveal:
- And yet I'll speak,-and yet I'll hold my peace.
- Do shame her worst, I will disclose my grief:
- Æneas, thou art he-what did I say?
- Something it was that now I have forgot
30
Æn.- What means fair Dido by this doubtful speech?
Dido.- Nay, nothing; but Æneas loves me not.
Æn.- Æneas' thoughts dare not ascend so high
- As Dido's heart, which monarchs might not scale.
Dido.- It was because I saw no king like thee,
- Whose golden crown might balance may content;
- But now that I have found what to affect
- I follow one that loveth fame 'fore me,
- And rather had seem fair [in] Sirens' eyes,
- Than to the Carthage queen that dies for him.
40
Æn.- If that your majesty can look so low
- As my despised worths that shun all praise,
- With this my hand I give to you my heart,
- And vow, by all the gods of hospitality,
- By heaven and earth, and my fair brother's bow,
- By Paphos, Capys, and the purple sea
- From whence my radiant mother did ascend,
- And by this sword that sav'd me from the Greeks,
- Never to leave these new-upreared walls,
- Whiles Dido lives and rules in Juno's town,-
50 - Never to like or love any but her!
- Dido, What more than Delian music do I hear,
- That calls my soul from forth his living seat
- To move unto the measures of delight?
- Kind clouds, that sent forth such a courteous storm
- As made disdain to fly to fancy's lap!
- Stout love, in mine arms make thy Italy,
- Whose crown and kingdom rests at thy command:
- Sichæus, not Æneas, be thou call'd;
- The king of Carthage, not Anchises' son.
60 - Hold, take these jewels at thy lover's hand,
- [Giving jewels, &c.
- These golden bracelets, and this wedding-ring,
- Wherewith my husband woo'd me yet a maid,
- And be thou king of Libya by my gift.
- [Exeunt to the care.
- “Upon which altar I will offer up
- My daily sacrifice of sighs and tears.'
- “Manet alta mente repostum
- Judicium Paridis spretæque injuria formæ,
- Et genus invisum, et rapti Ganimedis honores.”
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