He long concealed the deed with wanton, feigned excuse, And mocked his sister, sick at heart, with empty hopes. In vain: for in the visions of the night the shade, The pallid shade of her unburied husband came; The cruel altar and his piercèd breast he showed, And all the hidden guilt of that proud house revealed. He bade her speed her flight and leave her fatherland, And showed, to aid her cause, deep buried in the earth, An ancient treasure, store of silver and of gold Uncounted. Thus forewarned the queen prepared her flight And bade her comrades join her enterprise. They came, Whom hatred or consuming terror of the prince Inspired. A fleet of ships at anchor chanced to lie In waiting. These they seized and quickly filled with gold; Pygmalion’s treasure, heaped with greedy care, was reft Away upon the sea, a woman leading all. They reached at last the place where now the mighty walls And newly rising citadel of Carthage stand. But who and whence are ye? and whither do ye fare? _Æneas_ (372-385): O goddess, if beginning at the first the tale Of direful woes on land and deep I should relate, The day, before my story’s end, would sink to rest. From Troy (perchance the name of Troy has reached your ears) Borne over many seas, the fitful tempest’s will Has brought us to these shores. Æneas am I called, The Pious, for that in my ships I ever bear My country’s gods, snatched from our burning Troy. My fame O’erleaps the stars. My quest is Italy, a land And race that mighty Jove hath promised me. For this, With score of vessels staunch I braved the Phrygian sea, By Venus’ star directed and by fate impelled. But oh, alas for Venus’ star, alas for fate! Scarce seven shattered barks survive the waves, and I— And I, a beggared stranger, wander helpless here, A fugitive from all the world. _Venus_ (387-401): Whoe’er thou art, Full sure am I the gods must love thee well, since thou Through dangers manifold hast reached this Tyrian realm. But haste thee and with heart of cheer seek out the queen. For lo, thy friends are rescued and thy fleet restored, Unless in vain my parents taught me augury. For see, those joyous swans are fluttering to the earth, Which, swooping from the sky, but now the bird of Jove Was harrying. As they, with fluttering wings and cries Of joy regain the earth, so, by this token know, Thy ships and comrades even now are safe in port, Or with full sails the harbor’s mouth are entering. Then fare thee on, and follow where the path of fate May lead. As Venus vanishes from the temple steps she is illumined in rosy light. _Æneas_ (402-409):