At the ancient temple of Ceres without the walls. The fugitives come straggling in in various bands, a motley array, Æneas and his immediate followers among the rest. Æneas watches them as they come and gather about him, counting and identifying them. He now discovers that Creüsa is missing. _Æneas_ (738-748): Alas, Creüsa, by what wretched fate Hast thou been overwhelmed? Where art thou now? Hast wandered from the way, or, spent with toil, Hast thou given o’er the journey? Woe is me! My eyes shall never more behold thy face! What god or man is guilty of this crime? Or what more cruel deed have I beheld In all our stricken town? To his friends: Behold, my friends, To you my son and sire and household gods Do I commend, while I reseek the streets And ruined dwellings of our fallen Troy, If haply I may find her once again. He puts on his full armor, and rushes back through the dark gate into the city. SCENE 4 A deserted street in Troy, lit up fitfully by smoldering fires. Æneas enters, peering through the gloom on all sides, and calling loudly upon the name of his wife. Suddenly a shadowy form appears before him. _The Ghost of Creüsa_ (776-789): What boots it to indulge this storm of grief, O dearest husband? For be sure of this, That not without permission of the gods Have these things come to pass. ‘Twas not allowed That thy Creüsa should go hence with thee, Nor does Olympus’ ruler suffer it. To distant lands, long exiled must thou roam, Must plow the water of the vasty deep, Until thou come to that far western land, Where Lydian Tiber’s gently murmuring stream Rolls down through rich and cultivated fields. There joyful state and kingdom wait for thee, There one who is allotted for thy wife. Then dry the tears which now affection sheds For thy well-loved Creüsa, once thy wife; For ‘tis not mine to see the haughty seats Of Myrmidonian or Dolopian foes; Nor shall I go to serve the Grecian dames, Proud princess of Dardania that I am, By marriage made the child of Venus’ self. But Cybele, great mother of the gods, Detains me still upon these Trojan shores. Then look thy last upon me, and farewell, And let our common son employ your love. Æneas starts forward with a cry to embrace the ghost, but it eludes his grasp and vanishes from sight. He sorrowfully turns away and leaves the scene. SCENE 5 The gray dawn breaks; Mount Ida looms dimly in the distance; the exiles a weary, discouraged band of men, women, and children, take their way out into the unknown world. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Transcriber's note: 1. Silently corrected simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors. 2. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.