Z 626 Dido and Aeneas II, 5: "Stay, prince, and hear great Joves command". [Neapolitan translation]

SPIRIT:

Stay, prince, and hear great Joves command:

he summons thee this night away.

ÆNEAS:

To night?

SPIRIT:

To night?To night thou must forsake this land,

the angry God will brook no longer stay.

Joves commands thee, wast no more

in loves delights those precious hours,

allowed by the almighty powers

to gain th’ Hesperian shore

and ruined Troy restore.

ÆNEAS

Joves commands shall be obey’d,

to night our anchors shall be weighed.

But ah! what language can I try

my injured queen to pacify?

No sooner she resignes her heart,

but from her armes I’m forc’t to part.

How can so hard a fate be took?

One night enjoy’d, the next forsook.

Your be the blame, ye Gods, for I

obey your will, but with more ease cou’d dye.

• Artist:Henry Purcell
• Album:Purcell: Dido and Aeneas.