Interea magno misceri murmure caelum
incipit, insequitur commixta grandine nimbus,
et Tyrii comites passim et Troiana iuuentus
Dardaniusque nepos Veneris diuersa per agros
tecta metu petiere; ruunt de montibus amnes.
speluncam Dido dux et Troianus eandem
deueniunt. prima et Tellus et pronuba Iuno
dant signum; fulsere ignes et conscius aether
conubiis summoque ulularunt uertice Nymphae.
ille dies primus leti primusque malorum
causa fuit; neque enim specie famaue mouetur
nec iam furtiuum Dido meditatur amorem:
coniugium uocat, hoc praetexit nomine culpam.


Meanwhile much murmur mixed the sky above;
Now followed hail and mixèd raincloud too;
From ev’ry side the Persian nobles, youth
Of Troy, and Venus’ grandson strewn through fields
Seek shelter in their fear; still torrents rush.
They came to the same cave; Dido and chief
From Troy. Primeval Earth, Matron Juno
They give the sign; the lightning flares and sky
Is witness to their love; on peaks, nymphs shriek.
That day was cause of death, of all her ills;
No longer did she care for face or fame
No more she nursed the hope of secret love:
She named it ‘marriage’, thus she hid her guilt.

-Virgil, Aeneid IV, ll. 160-172 (translation by self)