LXXV. "Be near us now, and O, vouchsafe thine aid, And bid fair stars their kindly beams afford To light our pathway through the deep." He prayed, And from the scabbard snatched his flaming sword, And, swift as lightning, cleft the twisted cord. Fired by their chief, like ardour fills the crew, They scour, they scud and, hurrying, crowd on board. Bare lies the beach; ships hide the sea from view, And strong arms lash the foam and sweep the sparkling blue. LXXVI. Now rose Aurora from the saffron bed Of old Tithonus, and with orient ray Sprinkled the earth. Forth looks the Queen in dread, And from her watch-tower marks the twilight grey Glow with the shimmering whiteness of the day, The harbour shipless and the shore all bare, The fleet with full-squared canvas under weigh. Then thrice and four times, frantic with despair, She beats her beauteous breast, and rends her golden hair. LXXVII. "Ah! Jove, shall he escape me? Shall he mock My queenship? He, an alien, flout my sway? Will no one arm and chase them, or undock The ships? Bring fire; get weapons, quick! Away! Swing out the oars! Ah me! what do I say? Where am I? O, what madness turns my brain? Poor Dido, hath thy folly found its prey? Thy sins, alas! they sting thee, but in vain. They should have done so then, when yielding him thy reign. LXXVIII. "Lo, there his honour and the faith he swore, Who takes Troy's gods the partners of his flight, And erst from Troy his aged parent bore. O, had I torn him piecemeal, as I might, And strewn him on the waves, and slain outright His friends, and for the father's banquet spread The murdered boy! But doubtful were the fight. Grant that it had been, whom should Dido dread, What fear had death for me, self-destined to be dead? LXXIX. "These hands the firebrands at his feet had cast, And filled with flames his hatches. Sire and son And all their race had perished with the past, And I, too, perished with them. O great Sun, Whose torch reveals whate'er on Earth is done, Juno, who know'st the passion that devours Poor Dido; Hecate, where crossways run Night-howled in cities; ye avenging Powers, Friends, Furies, Gods that guard Elissa's dying hours! LXXX. "Mark this, compassionate these woes, and bow To supplication. If the Fates demand-- Curst be his head!--that he escape me now, And touch his haven, and float up to land. If so Jove wills, and fixt his edicts stand, Then, scourged with warfare by a daring race, In vain for succour let him stretch his hand, And see his people perish with disgrace, An exile, torn from home and from his son's embrace.