How does Virgil build up tension in the death of Nisus?

How does Virgil build up tension in the death of Nisus?

1. 'me, me, adsum'

   • 'It's me, me, I'm here'
   • Repetition portrays desperation

2. 'o Rutuli!'

   • 'Rutulians'
   • Vocative case: calling on enemy
     • desperation
     • Exclamation: vivid + dramatic

3. 'omnis, nihil'

   • 'It is all, none of it'
   • Juxtaposition of all and nothing
     • depicts chaos of war
       • adds tension

4. 'amicum'

   • 'friend'
   • Emphatic positioning
     • last word of line
     • depicts distance between N + E

5. 'dabat'

   • 'he was still saying'
   • Imperfect tense
     • fast pace of actions/ events

6. 'aut tantum potuit perferre dolorem'

   • 'nor could he tolerate so much grief'
   • poignant
   • emphasis on N + E's close friendship
   • Juxtaposition of hard and soft sounds
     • N about to break out into tears?
     • crying?

7. 'purpures... flos'

   • Metaphor
     • vivid + poignant
       • N is not in a comfortable situation
         • N is not emotionally stable
           • Tension: what next?
   • E's death
   • 'purple flower'

8. 'moratur... instant'

   • 'He wants... He presses on'
   • N lost identity
     • foreshadow death

9. 'it auor'

   • 'the blood trickled'
     • E's death
   • Empathic positioning
     • at start
     • show slow death
   • detailed description
     • grotesque death
     • E is humanised: no longer divinely beautiful

10. 'moriens animam abstulit hosti'

    • 'as he died, he stole his enemy's life spirit too'
    • Assonance of 'a'
      • powerful ending
    • avenged E's death
      • faithful friend
        • powerful thoughts
    • even when he died, he caused harm to enemy
      • faithful soldier
        • loss of a hero: tense+ poignant