During Aeneas and Dido’s marriage ceremony in Book IV.160-172, Vergil creates a feeling of uneasiness and sets an ominous scene through his use of alliteration, imagery, and references to a theme of flame.
The first line starts with the repetition of the letter “m” in an example of alliteration. Vergil writes, “magno misceri murmure” to describe the great rumbling mixed in with the sky (IV.160). Out of the five total words in this line, three start with the letter “m”. The reader’s attention is drawn to the pattern at the beginning of these three sequential words and emphasizes them in the reader’s mind. The repeated “m” sound simulates the rumbling in the sky as a sign of a storm and bad things coming. The loud, roaring sounds of the sky start the scene off on a concerning note and are highlighted through the pattern of alliteration.
Vergil continues the scene with the thunderstorm metaphor and paints this tumultuous scene using imagery. He narrates the storm coming in saying, “insequitur commixta grandine nimbus” (IV.161). His careful choice of words in “grandine” and “nimbus” emphasize the roughness of the storm that has arrived as Aeneas and Dido find themselves in the cave together. We see the rainstorm and hail following the two and trapping them in the cave. Vergil forms connections in our minds as we imagine the storm arriving just as the two are united.
The vivid picture is continued through auditory imagery. As the storm rolls in, the sounds of the river rushing are echoed with the words, “ruunt de montibus amnes” (IV.164). As the river rushes from the mountains, it adds to the natural phenomena and frantic chaos of the scene. In addition, as the lightning from the storm strikes, nymphs are heard howling from the peak of the mountains: “ulularunt vertice Nymphae” (IV. 168). The sounds in this passage build up to the climax of Aeneas and Dido’s union at the lightning strike and the reader feels a sort of intensity building throughout this scene.
For a wedding of such powerful and important characters, Vergil creates a setting that is completely opposite to what we would imagine a perfect wedding would look like. Instead of white clouds and a sunny day, “fulsere ignes”, fire flashes, which seems like a bad omen to the events that are about to take place (IV. 167). The previous lines in Book IV show Dido talking to her sister Anna about her burning passion for Aeneas. The idea of burning creates a sort of crazy and uncontrollable atmosphere. However in the beginning it is still related to tentative love, which makes the burning something softer. When Vergil references this theme of fire and uses it in a negative connotation while relating it to the storm, we reach the stage of frantic love that eventually leads to disaster. Vergil reflects in ending the scene with a foreboding line that says, “Ille dies primus leti primusque malorum causa fuit” (IV.169). The first day of their union presents a future of death and bad things to come.