English Translation:
Nor is it useful for those who test the seas to break faith;
that place exacts the punishments for treachery,
especially when Love has been wounded, because the mother of Love,
having risen naked, as it is said, from the Cytherian waters.
Having been ruined, fear that I will ruin him, and that I will injure
him who injures me,
and let the shipwrecked enemy not drink the waters of the sea.
Live, I pray! Thus I desire to harm you less than by death;
rather, you will be considered as the cause of my own death.
Envision, do it, that you are being seized (may there be no importance
in omens!)
by a rushing storm; what will you disposition be?
Further on, the perjuries of your false tongue will come rushing to
you;
As well as Dido having been summoned by Trojan deceit to die.
The shade of your deceived wife will stand before your eyes
Heavy of heart and bloody with hair poured out
Commentary:
violasse: perfect active infinitive
Fidem: accusative, sing, feminine; direct object of violasse
temptantibus: present active participle; dative, plural, masculine
aequora: accusative, plural, neuter; object of temptantibus
prodest: 3rd person, singular, present, active, indicative; impersonal and takes dative; from prosum, prodesse
perfidiae: dative of reference with exigit
praecipve: take adverbially, ‘especially’
laesus: 3rd person, singular, perfect, passive, indicative; est is implied and Amor is the subject
Cytheriacis: ‘Cytherian’, referring to Venus and her birthplace, on the shores of Cytheria
Fertur: 3rd person, singular, present, passive, indicative; impersonal and paranthetical; ‘It is considered’
perdita: perfect, passive, participle; feminine, nominative, singular, describing Dido
perdam: present, active, subjunctive 1st sing; in a clause of fearing
noceamve: present, active, subjunctive, 1st person, singular, also with timeo in a clause of fearing
nocenti: present active partciple, dative singular – object of noceam which takes a dative
bibat: 3rd person, singular, present, active, subjunctive; jussive subjunctive
melius: comparative adverb of bonus, a, um; here Dido want’s Aeneas to come away in a better condition suffering from her harm than from the harm that death will bring. Thus the translation of melius as ‘less’
funere: funus funeris, neuter, ablative, singular; ablative of means
perdam: 1st person, singular, present, active, subjunctive; optative subjunctive ‘would that I harm you’
ferere: 2nd person, singular, future, passive, indicative
finge: present active imperative, ‘fix in your mind’; introduces an indirect statement
age: present active imperatives
te: accusative subject in indirect discourse
nullum: predicate nominative with sit, neuter, nominative, singular
sit: optative subjunctive; 3rd person, singular, present, active, subjunctive
deprendi: present passive infinitive; main verb in indirect discourse
erit: 3rd person, singular, future, active, indicative
occurrent: 3rd person, plural, future, active, indicative
periuria: neuter, plural, nominative; subject of occurrent
Dido: feminine, nominative, singular, also subject of occurrent
coacta: perfect, passive, participle; feminine, nominative, singular; modifying Dido
mori: present passive infinitive; gerundive; neuter, accusative singular; object of coacta
coniugis: feminine, genitive, singular; with imago
deceptae: perfect passive participle; genitive, singular, modifying coniugis
tristis: feminine nominative singular, modifying imago
effusis: perfect passive participle, ablative plural, modifying comis
sanguinolenta: feminine, nominative, singular, modifying imago