Her brother killed her husband ‘cause of greed.

And then the throne the evil man had seized.

Because of this, she had been forced to flee.

So, leaving Tyre behind she sailed to find

a place where she’d be safe from evil minds.

And after trav’ling far and wide, the queen

arrived inside Tunisia’s boundaries.

At that location, she and her companions met

a local noble king, Iarbas, who had said

if she would give him gold, she could control

the land a cattle’s backside could enfold.

And having paid the dues, again she ruled.

Her people treasured her as if she were a jewel.

This queen, her love of duty was so great;

Her beauty was the icing on the cake.

When men would see her kingdom they would say

it teemed with bees who served their queen all day.

They worked on projects, which would bring, they hoped,

great strength to this new land which they called home.

This happiness was smashed by sad romance

between the queen and an “enchanting” man:

a pious hero torn and worn by war

who reached her kingdom being blown off course

by gaping waves of rage of which the source

you know was Juno, yes, of course.

This man and his companions came to seek

a break from windy seas and things to eat.

And Dido greeted them with such a grand old feast

and heard the tales of all their stunning feats.

Venus loved her son so much.

She wondered whether all this luck

would give her son the time to rest enough.

Venus wasn’t taking any chances,

so she tried to think of what her plan was.

She decided that her other son could manage.

And so Dido was shot in the heart by Cupid.

And then she went from acting smart to stupid.

For that young man had filled her with such awe

so that she thought of nothing else at all.

And once, when everyone went out to hunt,

a thunder shower swept away the sun.

When people rushed inside, escaping rain,

the queen and man arrived inside a cave.

And then a feath’ry monst’rous rumor spread.

By night it went to Iarbas’s homestead.

And then that king began to howl and said:

“This whole affair is so unfair to me!

For years that queen refused to hear my pleas.”

But Jupiter indeed had heard his pleas.

He sent down Mercury

who told Aeneas he

would have to leave the queen

to found a great new race,

fulfill his destiny.

Aeneas went to ready all his ships.

And this made poor old Dido really miffed.

And so she went to him to talk

about the recent things she saw.

She gave him reasons why he should decide to stay,

and not decide to sacrifice it all for fate.

The case she made had failed.

And so the will of fate prevailed.

And so Aeneas left and sailed away.

And so the smitten queen’s poor heart did break.

And then she said she couldn’t take the pain.

She tricked her sister that she planned

to burn the things of that young man.

She lit a pyre on fire

and stabbed herself and died

But first she cursed Aeneas and his men

and vowed her people wouldn’t be close friends with them again.

By Gabriella Dansereau ‘26, Contributing Writer

26gdansereau@montroseschool.org