UC-NRLF ^C 25 42b :'%v!f^: ^ ';-: '^ ^^f^:^ '•^•'^fn;-^^:^^;Sr^:^ -...^n. tmj*?> ^- "^■M^'' '''^'■'■■■■^f'''^AM'^ .-^5'^ if>Wy^'. ^^'.V >CX; ! " ' "^ - ,»^:;>y. ?^ ^'^: .-J'^m . ^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/essayonedmundspeOObackrich 7 m> W^J WK\ W> Wi ber tlealf4!ttle tt^tt ©rbtiung }n StralfutiJi Dftern 1872. Sm Xiamen be^ f^c^vevcolledium^ ^erau^gegebcn oou bem director Dr. trnjl jUranbt^ 1. Essay on Edmund Spenser and His Fairy Queen, especially with regard to the Language by Dr. W. Backe. . . , ; 2. (Sd()utnad^rtci^ten »om ^Director. • * - : etroffuttb, 1872. 3?ru(f ber tftnigUd^cn StegtevungS^Sud&bnKferei. ^d^^lct-^cti^i^ni^. ©itttcrfemcfter 1871/72. Prima. 1. stall Se^renS ani SrttfeeS. 2. gerbtnant Scrg a. ©tralfunl). 3. grieSric^ ©anrfrearDt a. gtoftocf. 4. Otto 2)ud)ateau aui Stralfunb. 5. mUxt (Siemann „ „ 6. ©rnft (^iigclbre^t „ „ 7. Matl geblftafect aiii SBe^nfen^agen. 8. SubiBtg ^empel auS ©tettin. 9. 3ultu8 ^iibner avi ©trnlfunb. 10. atobert JVnird aui Suttoiu. 11. ^aul Wlcmie auS ©tralfunb. 12. Sljeobor gjiftcrc au8 spafttfe. 13. ^aul @toa au« aSetgen. 14. ©mil 2imm auS ©tralfunb. 15. SRobert SBeftufal au8 ?3art^. Ober-Secunda. 1. ebuarb SBatf^ue auS Stralfunb. 2. £)ttD 53ranicnburg aiiS ©tralfunb. 3. SRein^^Blb SBranbt „ „ 4. Otto DarfWlag au8 2(Itfa6r«. 5. aeil^. 2)ietri(^ auS Sartb. 6. ^aul gun( au8 ©trdfunb. 7. gerbinaitb aarbc au8 ©tralfunb. 8. J^oitrabtn Wann au8 Sergen. 9. j&crmann Meier au9 >|>ubbemin. 10. ^idiarb 5Wie auS S^tralfunb. 11. SRic^arb 'JJeumann ani Sa^jife. 12. Cttc JRamelonj aui granjbutg. 13. florl Sft^Dbe au8 Sttt=2lbrenbiee. 14. ®uftaD Stctenfraitj au8 ©trolfunb. Unter-Secunda. 1. Rati Scug au8 ©tralfunb. 2. atuguft ®u):el «u9 ©tralfunb. 3. JRobcrt (Sirert au8 Jilludhewiti. 4. ^lar (Sa^lbeet au8 ©tralfunb. 5. 8fli(^arb ©ilorc au8 ®ra»5on). 6. ^^errnann QJronoiti au8 ©tralfunb. 7. iVarl .^anore „ „ 8. Hermann J^ennigS au8 aSolgaft. 9. emit jE)«mgborff au8 ©tralfunb. 10. Sofeannea m^ii au8 UBolgaft. 11. ©uftaB «afc^ „ 12. griebrt* .ftcSbabn au8 ©tralfunb. 13. $aul Softer au8 ©tralfunb. 14. granj Ariiger I. au8 Scbni^. 15. grang Airiiger 11. au8 ©traliunb. 16. (Robert SJareermann au8 fDJettntfe. tl7. Sari Semte au8 ©tralfunb. 18. emil mndt au8 „ 19. grife ^eter8 au8 granjburg. *20. SBernbatb 'i>i(^t au8 qJcferife. 21. grife ^Dtenberg au8 S3inj. 22. ©uftaB SRcelfe au8 ©tralfunb. 23. flarl ©(^iinrogge a. 9Jeuenfirc^en. 24. Dtto ©c$ul6 au8 ©tralfunb. 25. gerbtnanb Serge au8 ®obbin. 26. SlbBlf ©tut& au8 ailt=?Sleen. *27. grang SiburtiuS a. ®r..3){obrborf. 28. Jjieinricfe 3Stet^ au8 ©tralfunb. 29. A'acl aSenbel au8 galfen^agen. 30. gii(f)arb ©ert^^cim a. ©tralfunb. 31. (Srnft Sisencrgang auS „ Ober-Tertia. 1. SuliuS Sl§ren8 au8 ©tralfunb. 2. aSBit^elm Stntl^on^ au8 SSart^. 3. ftorl aSofed au8 ©tralfunb. 4. mar aSaier „ „ 5. ®rnft Srocfmann rtu8 ©tralfunb. 6. Slrnolb Srunft aug '-pafciBalt. 7. .g)erm.a3uf*en^agena. SacobSborf. 8. ®uftaB SBiiffom au8 ©ingft. 9. SjSaul Sfcan au8 granjburg. 10. $aul ©aimer au6 ©^ori^. 11. 3Kajc 8 „ „ 9. griebric^ S)ren)8 „ „ 10. 3uliu8 ©iirfoV , , 11. ©buarb T)un)abl „ 12. .fieinric^ gae(f8 au8 Sartb. 13. «"arl grant au8 ©tralfunb. 14. ernft ®arlDff au8 „ 15. SubjBtg ®enfc^orc au8 ©tralfunb. 16. Sllbert ®vono» 17. griebri^ .&arber „ „ 18. ®uftaB .^arbrat au8 ©tein^agen. 19. JEBil^. ^eBernidt au8 ©tralfunb. 20. aSernbarb .^einffen au8 ©olbberg. 21. Atari J^eibborii au8 ©tralfunb. 22. SRcbert §ec^t au8 SeplctB. 23. (Srnft .giiibncr au8 ©tralfunb. 24. .giermann B. ilb^ler a. ©tralfunb. 25. ernft Al'Dgbabn au8 +26. ®urt Sambe* au8 Sbcrn. 27. Dttc SiebenciB au8 ©tralfunb. 28. Smtl Sofenjtfe „ „ 29. iieoBclb 3Jiaurer „ „ 30. SouiS gjtiebbrcbt „ 31. Sluguft mutter „ 32. grcmm^clb !f>teri^ au3 jftrummen* bagen. 33. Otto (Ra8niu8 au8 ©tralfunb. 34. aSBtlbelni iRi^arbt au8 ©tralfunb. 35. Dtto SRo^l au8 ®tngft. 36. SBilbelm SRunge au8 ©tralfunb. 37. Sllbredbt ©ci^ettfc^ „ „ 38. SRid^arb ©cbeBen au8 ©c^bn^of. 39. Otto ©d)mtbt 40. S^riftian Sdjmibt „ „ 41. Aarl ©cbulg au« 2i<)ftfe. 42. JRobert ©c^rcebfe au8 ©tralfunb. 43. max ©eifert „ „ 44. gricbrid) ©tutb au8 3nt=5UIeen. 45. Suftua gufemibl au8 SRcftotf. •46. |>an8 a\!(jb«(f au8 ©tralfunb. 47. irnft 5Bi:tt.<)bul au8 gjeefentir. •48. Otto JCereefecr au8 ©agarb, •49. 3D^nae8 ffifilfen au8 ©tralfunb. 50. 5SIColf8borf. 5. Suorcig (iggert au6 fiobntfe. •6. aRalte (Sbrbe^er au8 ©tralfunb. 7. Otto eiermann „ „ 8. ^anS @ngel „ „ 9. aiBill;. ©ngelbrec^t „ 10. J^einrid) ©Bert „ „ 11. ©mil ©if^fom „ „ 12. .^ugo ©ronlanb au8 SDrofebon). 13. .^etnric^ J^arbrat a. ©tein^afltn. 14. ©alomo Sfrael au8 SBie*. 15. .^ermann 3uft au8 Stralfunfr. 16. max Mtiina au8 aSelgaft. 17. ®uftaB Atosba^n au8 ©tralfunb. 51Jiortfe jiVretie au8 ©tralfunb. 5Iiar Sambe* aui Sborn. Atari Sombarb au8 ©tralfunb. Otto I'utber „ „ Atari Otto „ aSalter ^aul ang grans SRaffe „ ®uftaB SRafforc au3 SSert^te. SuIiuS 5Rau(!b au8 ©tralfunb. granj SReimer „ „ .ffarl iRoBfc „ „ Atari SRuete „ „ Otto ©cfciimann „ „ ■JDiorij} ©orge au8 Siiffoa. Slbolf ©to^e au8 ©tralfunb. J^etnric^ £eufd; a. „ granj Scbc au8 „ ^an8 a?oltf8borff au8 ®rfmmen. teinric^ a?of au8 ©tralfunb. erm. ilBilfen „ „ Atari S5?alter aRaj: aSurmfee j, „ airnolb B. Bant^ier a. ®ranfebietb. Quarta B. ^aul aBitfforo au8 ©tralfunb. Slbalbcrt 3)renj8 a. „ Atari ©i.'rfe au8 9?ebbefi|. grang .!^art«ng au8 ©tralfunb. ®uftaB .fitter „ „ Qxid) Snfel „ „ Sllbert Allein iRiti^arb Atraag „ „ Sluguft Atriiger , „ Atari iJeitner au8 ©rinimen. Spaul 5)iarten8 au8 ©tralfunb. max mielevit „ .i^einricb ?Diiitler „ „ SRid^arb ^ici^t au8 aStetegaft. gde '-pietfe^ au8 ©tralfunb. griebrtc^ *^5lof^ au8 SBart^. 5Ri*arb SRaffcrc au8 ^afetg. max SRirfmann au8 ©tralfunb. iBilbelm ©c^rijber au8 !Reu.^Ieen. ^a\il a^tetb au8 ©tralfunb. t^aul av?eber „ „ griebridj iCeftpbal au8 ©tralfunb. |)an8 aSolter „ „ sWar 3uge „ „ Quinta A. Otto Slbel au8 ©tralfunb. ©uftaB aSaefell au8 ©tralfunb. griebri^ aSerg „ „ @buarba3oett^er„ „ Krnft a3ranbenburg a. ©tralfunb. .Hermann ©aim au8 „ Atari 2)an(frcarbt „ „ £oui8 !DreiB8 „ „ aRaj: (Sngel aSil^elm ©rafer „ „ William ©ronow „ „ ®uftaB ©iintel au8 SRicfetenberg. 5Rid)arb .^arfbuf{^ au8 ©tralfunb. 3ul'u8 .^ome^er au8 .ftafc^ott). max ■&orn au8 ©tralfunb. Sllbert Atbfter a. „ SRubclvb Atraien)8fi5 a. ©tralfunb. .^ermann Atiibler au8 „ aSilli. maa^ aui Atl.^fterbSbagen. ©mil 3)iarauarbt au8 ©tralfunb. spaul 3Relni8 aui Sobtewife. Atari 9Jieniann au8 ©tralfunb. ^au( i'euft „ ©uftaB Vmt „ spaul SRitter sRobert Sdjiu* „ sjBaul S^lucf „ max S*olg „ Atari S^iitt „ Atari ©cfeulfe au8 Atarfeifc. SRobert S^jietfer au8 ©tralfunb. @ri(^ Siebt au8 Sreefen. ©uftaB aSad^telin au8 ©tralfunb. SRobert aSaltber au8 SReubof. ©buarb asilfen au8 ©tralfunb. Quinta B. 1. A£arl Slrnbt au8 ©tralfunb. 2. SRob. Slbren8„ 3. Gmil aSiel „ . 4. Slug. aut au8 JSarnin. 9. gelir ^eingetmann au8 ©tralfunb . 10. .^cinrtc^ .^orn „ , 11. Slr^iur .feubcrt 12. Sllbert Sbartb 13. SBilbelm Atoc^ au8 a3el)renwaft«. 14. Otto ^raeft .iu8 ©tralfunb. 15. ©uftaB areljmfe a. „ 16. Atari Sebl au8 17. aicbert Se^jlcro a. „ 18. SRi^arfc Scotf ou8 ©tralfunb. 19. Atari fflierflenburg a. „ 20. sDiar iieterffen au8 21. SRobert >iJiert(j au8 AtrummenBaoen. 22. Otto Watt} au8 ©tralfunb. 23. (Srnft SReidjrcagen au8 ©tralfunb. 24. '|!aul SRarfonjgfn „ 25. Atari SRiiterbuf^ „ 26. ScbanneS Saegert „ „ 27. .^erm. ©d)iimann „ „ 28. Otto aSaltber au8 3Jeu^of. 29. SRubDl))b aSeioefeer ou8 ©agarb. .SO. ©mil ®erlad) au8 SiiWi^. Sexta A. 1. otto Sl68bagen au8 iRonnewt^. 2. .giermann 3lp»el au8 ©rimmen. 3. ai*ilbelui SriiCgam nu8 ©tralfunb. 4. Sllbert a3ii6ring „ „ 5. Otto a3urf^«rt „ „ 6. Atari 2iinfe „ „ 7. '-l^aul (Srfert „ „ 8. Slbalbcrt engel „ „ 9. Atari Srocrt „ „ 10. ©bsrbarb ©if^foro „ „ 11. Soui8 ©raap „ „ 12. Sluguft ©rbnlunb au8 Drofebott. 13. Sbuarb ©riinnialbt au8 ©tralfunb. 14. aBil^elm J^anom „ „ 15. Atari ^enntg „ „ 16. ^aul ^oltfretet „ „ 17. Stuguft .^laafe „ „ 18. ©alter Ato8ba^n „ „ 19. .«arl Airabbe au8 ©eeborf. 20. ©ottfrieb Atrufe a. .ftmmmen^agen. 21. ©uftaB Alurtb aug ©tralfunb. 22. Vaui meXjet „ 23. Otto 9Jell 24. .^crm. i^eterg „ „ 25. (Sbuarb SRbbl „ 26. Otto SRobrberg au8 SRid^tenbtrg. 27. Otto ©cbmurr au8 ©tralfunb. 28. ffSilt). Sc^murr „ „ 29 Otto Sd)rbber „ „ .30. JStatl ©diulu „ „ 31. SBilftelm ©d)ulfe au8 Atarfeift. 32. Atari ©tereert au8 ©tralfunb. 33. .^erm. aCeber „ „ 34. ©uftaB aSie* „ 35. Atari ffiittcnbcrg,, „ 36. Otto aSJitt^ang „ Sexta B. 1. Atari SBarten8 au8 ©tralfunb. 2. SRobert Seug „ „ 3. SRic^arb Darffd^lag au8 Stltfabre. 4. SHajv^iinfe au8 Sager^of. 5. Srnft galjrnbolg au8 ?Jafeig. 6. iiaul giirfteuciB aug ©tralfunb. 7. .^elnuit^ .f)efngelmanna. ,, 8. ai-ilt)elm ^cpp au8 „ 9. Sbeobcr Atempin a. „ 10. Seopolb Alriiger aug „ 11. Atlaug SDiaurer „ „ 12. 3uliu8 SB^eirtf „ ,, 13. Iiermann Sielmg au8 Sobfewift. 14. grang SRarfoiBSft) au8 ©tralfunb. 15. SRobert Wat^rfe aug aUittenbagen. 16. SubiBig ©c^lenger ang ©tralfunb. 17. -^tugo ©d)mibt „ „ 18. .Sari ©d^rbber au8 Atrummen^agen. 19. Sluguft ©cbi'ig aug ©tralfunb. 20. .Hermann ©tutb aug Sllt.^leen. 21. .Rarl a^ogt aug ©tralfunb. 22. Atari SBa^l „ „ 23. Ttax 3eben au8 ©agarb. 24. Slley. 3eben „ „ 25. aSernl^arb Bornoro au8 ©tralfunb. the unlearned. Cultivation of antiquity was spread over the English social life of those times like a poetical glimmer. It did not obtain such an influence, as to have endangered the national dovelopment of English literature; but it awoke a liking for graceful forms, and considerably ex])anded the limits of the phantastic world. The sterility after Chaucer invading English poetry for a long time, has been characterized by Warton by a beautiful comparison '). He draws a parallel between the narrator of the Canter- bury-Tales and a serene spring-day, whose warming sunbeam conjured forth buds and flowers, but which were destroyed by the coldness of winter once more returning. Following this metaphor, we may say that with the Elizabethan Era a prime began to dawn for English poetry, which never saw any winterly reaction, and in the productive atmosphere of which all trees joyfully throve and *) See vScherr p. 57, note 5. 1* blew side by side. The English call this time 'the golden age' of their literature, and, although many of its branches afterAvards came to a far greater degree of development, yet this denomination is very proper at least for the drama. We have already mentioned •) the introduction of printing in England; now we must add that it was a principal lever of literary movement taking place in that period. It was printing that gradually brought firmness and stability into language and orthography, qualities without which a literature, as soon as it passes over from tradition by word of mouth to written expression, cannot continue in development. Among the earliest productions of Enghsh poetry, there are to be mentioned the translations of the romances of chivalry. At Elizabeth's time the celebrated romances ofAmadis^) and Palmerin were translated, and Emanuel Ford and Henry Koberts wrote English original romances of this kind. But already a change of taste was preparing, and, while one part of the public was still delighted with the adventures of Amadis, Tristan, LancelQt and other heroes of chivalry, another was already amused with the inventions of Italian novelists. The acquaintance with those poets was followed by versions, and soon afterwards by imitations too, as for instance by Paynter's 'Palace of Pleasure', Whetstone's 'Heptameron', and Grimstone's 'Admirable Histories'. Early, however, the English romancers came on a strange by-way. Fashion disposed the novel-writers to compose in that baroque, nay ridiculous style, which was for a long time fashionable at Elizabeth's court ^). The Queen's erudition incited the courtiers to emulate in elaborating elegantly learned comphments. They were fishing in foreign literatures, in order to hunt out some poetical allegories, mythological figures, harmless or satirical quibbles and witty antitheses. By such trifles every day life, then, was trimmed up, and thus , that preposterous, bombastic superfluous ornament in language, that habit of playing on quibbling words began, which is to be found even in the best English poets of that time*), f. i. Shakspeare, and which, under the name of 'concetti-poetry', was carried forth to the zenith of insipidity, by the ItaUan so called Seicenti. As example we only alledge the romance 'Euphues', appearing about the year 1580; the hero is a young Athenian of this name, who, on his travels, also repaired to England. John Lily (1553 — 1600)^), the author of this book, had many followers; but soon the 'Euphuist romance' was supplanted by a new species, the pastoral romance. About the year 400 of the Christian era a Greek work of this kind, 'Daphnis and Chloe', came forth which is attributed to one Longos and appeared in print at first at Florence^. Some time ago this book had been translated into Latin, and had attracted the attention of Italian archae- ologists. Nevertheless it is possible that, still in a higher degree, Vergil's bucolic poetry has exerted ') See above p. 2. ') 'Dieses beriihinteste aller Ritterbiicher wurde hBchst wahrscheinlich zuerst in portugiesischer Sprache geschrie- ben und zwar von Vasio de Lobeira, welcber 1335 oder 1403 gestorben sein soil. Die alteste noch jetzt vorliegende Form gab dem buche der Spanier Gordia Ordonez de Montalvo, der unter der regierung Ferdinand's und Isabella's lebte. Eine franzosische ubersetzung (das 1, buch des remans entbaltend) erschien zu Paris 1540, eine italienische zu Venedig 1618. eine deutsche zu Frankfurt a. M. 1583. Vgl. iiber die Araadisliteratur und den Ritterroman iiberhaupt Brinkmeier: Abriss e. Gesh. d. span. Nationallit. S. 70 fg. und Clarus: Darstellung d. span. Lit. im Mittelalter, 1, 304 fg.' (Scherr, p. 57, Note 6.) •*) Cf. what has been above said p. 3. *) The same had place in Germany, for which see Herrig's Archiv f. n. Sprachen XLIV, p. 6. *) Von der manier Lily's kann es schon eine vorstellung geben, wenn wir horen, dass er bei gelegenheit des erscheinens seines helden am hofe von Neapel von diesem sagt, derselbe sei eher das tabernakel der Venus, als der tempel der Vesta gewesen und habe mehr fiir einen Atheisten als fiir einen Athenienser gepasst. Drayton, ein zeitge- nosse Lily's hat diesen gut kritisirt. indem er ihn einen nannte, welcher immer 'Von steinen, sternen, fischen, fliegen spricht, Mit worten spielt, mit miiss'gen bildern ficht'. (Scherr, p. 58, n. 7.) «) Anno 1598. • ') Cf. Demogest p. 133 sqq. influence upon modern pastoral romance; for the 'pastorelles' of the Provencal Troubadours were existing long before. The great master in novel-writing, Boccaccio, also produced 'Araeto', an eclogue in prose, yet interwoven with numerous verses. Thenceforth, this mixed form was always employed in pastoral romance, which shortly gained a very high rank in literature, inasmuch as it made advances towards sentimental idealism, and answered that calm desire that draws modern men out of the fictitious case of human society into the open air. In Italy the pastoral romance was soon joined by the pastoral drama, the former being particularly represented by Sannazaro's 'Arcadia', the latter by Tasso's 'Aminta' and Guarini's 'Pastor fido.' The most celebrated pastoral romances, however, have been produced in Spain and France. There it was Montemayor, who wrote his 'Diana', appearing in 1560, continued by Gil Polo, and imitated by Cervantes in his 'Galatea'; here it was d'Urf6, who composed 'I'Astr^e', whose first volume appeared in print in 1610, and which, the delight of the gentle readers of the seventeenth century, still in the following filled Jean Jacques Rousseau's ardent dreams of youth with the idyllic scenes and shapes of an imaginary world. It is probable that Montemayor's 'Diana' became known in England shortly alter its appearance; for it was this book that oifered the design of a similar fiction to the chivalrous courtier Sh* Pliilip Sidney^). His pastoral romance bears the title of 'Arcadia', or, as dedicated by the author to his sister, the Countess of Pembroke, that of 'The Countess of Pembroke's Arcadia'. It is the Arcadian world, cultivated already by his predecessors, into which Sir Philipp introduced his readers. But he took care to mix the pastoral element with a very strong heroic one, which reproduced all the oddness of the chivalrous romances, and yet, at least for the later taste, was not by far exciting enough to exclude insipidity and fatigue. The principal merit of the English romance is its language, which, though sometimes snatching at euphuist^) stiltSj yet, in general, does not want any graceful manner. Sidney, being considered as a paragon of English gentleman^), knew to estimate poetical talents of other men, without envy. At a time, when there was not yet a public, at least what we now use to signify by that term, and when, therefore, distinguished protectors decided on the existence or non- existence of a talented but poor man — Sir Philipp Sidney was stationed in the front-rank of the conspicuous men of his country, who, by benevolence and liberality encouraged literary production. Amongst his clients we meet a man, who generally is surnamed 'the Ariosto of England' — Edmund Spenser, whose life and works, particularly the 'Fairy Queen', shall be treated by us in the following dissertation.^) 1) Cf. Demogeot p. 133 sq. 2) See below. 3) See above p. 4. *) The usual description of Sir Philipp Sidney is 'the Gentle Minde.' (Todd, p. 426, v. 711, n.) '^) Cf. Allibone, Scherr, Todd, Kitchin, Spalding, Craik etc. Part L M p e n m e V. A. His Descent and Life. Ill Allibone there are cited fifty eight English authors under the name of 'Spencer, and six under that of 'Spenser'. As for the orthography of our Spenser's name, we have found it now written with s, now with c ; the most usual manner of spelling, however, is that of 'Spenser' '). Edmund Spenser was born in London^) in East Smithfield^) by the Tower, probably about the year 1553*). He immediately descended from the Spensers of Hurstwood, Lancashire"')? and cliiimed'') ') kindred with the family of Sir John Spenser of Althorp"). About his cliildhood we have found nothing. He entered as a isizar at Pembroke-Hall in Cambridge^), May 20. 1569'*';. We may conjecture from his writings, especially from his Letter ') Todd (p. XXXI, n. u.) says: 'TJie uaine is spelt botli ways, as well in the various publications of the poet which appeared while he lived, as iu ancient deeds relating to the honourable family from which he is descended. I have followed that orthography, to which we have been accustomed in respect to the poet's name, and which is copied from both his own editions of tlje Faerie Queene'. ») Prothal. 128 sqq. (in Todd p. 467): 'To mery London, my most kyndly nurse. That to me gave this lifes first native sourse. Though from another place I take my name. An house of auncient fame". •') Oldys's manuscript additions to Winstanlev's Lives of the most famous Knglish poets, copied by Isaac Heed Esqr. (Todd p. IX: Craik I, p. 507. *) Craik (I, p. .506) writes : 'Edmund Spenser has been supposed to have come before the world as a poet so early as the year 1569, when some soimets translated from Petrarch, which long afterwards were reprinted with his name, appear- ed in Vander Noodt's Theatre of Worldlings' (see below.); 'on the 20th of May in that year he was entered a sizar of Pembroke-Hall, Cambridge; ' (see below.) 'and in that same year, also, an entry in the Books of the Treasurer of the Queen's Chamber records that there was 'paid upon a bill signed by Mr. Secretary, dated at Windsor 18*> Octobris, to Edmund Spenser, that brought letters to the Queen's Majesty from Sir Henry Norris. (First published in Mr. Cunningham's Introduction (p. XXX) to his Extracts from the Accounts of the Kevels at Court, printed for the Shakespeare Society, 800. Lond. 1842.) It has been supposed that this entry refers to the poet. The date 1510, given as that of the year of his birth upon his monument in Westminster Abbey, erected long after his death, is out of the question: but the above-mentioned facts make it probable that he was born some years before 1,553, the date commonly .assigned'. •'•) See Allibone. *) Colin Clouts come home again, v. 536 sqq. (Todd, p. 452) : 'Ne lesse praisworthie are the sisters three. The honor of the noble familie: Of which I meanest boast my selfe to be, And most that unto them I am so nie: 'Phyllis, Charillis, and sweet Amaryllis". ') See Todd p. 397. Muiopotmos, dedication to Lady Carey, and Todd p. XXXI. «) Sir John Spencer (sic) died in 1580, and left five sons as well as six daughters. The family was soon after ennobled. At the present period, the family of Spenser is also rendered more particularly interesting in the literary history of this country, by the noble possessor of Althorpe's well-known and judicious accumulation of rare and valuable books, and by the tenderness of the old poet again awakened in the strains of a learned nephew of the Duke of Marl- borough, (Todd, p. XXXI, n. o.), *) See this page, n. 4. ">) That he was an unsuccessful candidate for a fellowship in Pembroke-Hall, in competition with Andrews, after- wards the well-known prelate, the best informed biographers of the poet have long since disproved. Todd, p. IX, n, e: 'See the Life of Spenser prefixed to the Edition of the Faerie Queene, in 1751; the Biographia Britannica, vol. 6. Art. Spenser etc.'). to Sir Walter Raleigh ') that, while at Cambridge, he studied Aristotle and Plato as well as the Greek and Latin poets. Jan. 16. 1573 , he proceeded to the degree of Bachelor of Arts , and June 26. 1576 2) to that of Master of Arts. That some disappointments, however, had occurred, in regard to Spenser's academical views; and that some disagreement had taken place between him and the master or tutor of the society, is rendered highly probable by a letter of Gabriel Harvey^), ~ the Hobbinol of his Shepheards Calender*), and the author of many ingenious poems'^), with whom he liad contracted a close friendship at the University, and whose correspondence with Spenser ^) is the chief source for our author's life and works. — He, therefore, left Cambridge soon after taking his M. A. degree, and went into the north of England, to pay a visit to his connections in Lancashire 0, perhaps not, as is vaguely asserted by most of his biographers, as a mere pensioner on their bounty, but perhaps as a tutor to some young friend^). There he found a fair damsel of no ordinary ac- complishments, and immediately fell deeply in love. Who this lady was, has been a fruitful subject of debate for more than two centuries, though his college -friend E. K.'-^) gives a broad hint"^) in the remark that Rosahnde ") is a feigned name, which, being well ordered (viz. per metathesin), will betray the very name of his mistress. According to a late American critic, Mr. Halpin '^) , the proper 'ordering' of Rosalinde is Rose Daniel, a sister of an historian and poet, Samuel Daniel. But this may pass. She subsequently rejected Sj)enser, and became the wife of another author, John Florio, the Resolute. In 1578'^) he was induced by Harvey's'*) advice''') to quit his obscure abode in the country, and to remove to London. Harvey, as it is generally allowed"'), introduced him to Sir Philip Sidney, who, justly appreciating the talents of Spenser, recommended him to his uncle, the powerful Earl of Leicester •'). The poet was also invited to the family-seat of Sidney at Penshurst in Kent, where he was probably employed in some literary service, and at least assisted, we may suppose '^), the Platonic and chivalrous studies of the gallant and learned youth who had thus kind- ly noticed him '°)' Some of his biographers have asserted^o) that, during this time, our i)oet was ') See below. *) 'Prefixed by Dr. Farmer, iu his own hand-writing, to the first volume of Hughes's second edition of Spenser, in the possession of Isaac Reed Esqr. See also Chalmers's Suppl. Apology etc. p. 23.' (Todd, p. IX, note c). •') See Todd p. IX sqq. and below. ^) See below. ») See below. «) See below. ') See above. ') See Todd p. X. „'•') 'Edward Kirke' (?) 'was a friend of Spenser, and compiled a 'Gloss' on the Shepheards Calender", (Kitchin, intr. p. VIII, note g.). '0) See what E. K, relates of this hard-hearted fair, in his notes on the first Eclogue, p. 365. The author of the Life of Spenser, prefixed to Church's edition of the Faerie Queene, observes, in consequence of E. K.'s information, 'that the name being well ordered will betray the very name of Spenser's Love and Mistress', that as Rose is a common Chris- tian name, so in Kent among the Gentry under Henry in Fuller's Worthies, we find in Canterbury the name of John Lynde'. If Rose I^ynde be the person designed, she has the honour also to have her poetical name adopted by Dr. Lodge, a contemporary poet with Spenser, who wrote a collection of Sonnets entitled 'Rosalind'; and by Shakspeare, who has pre- sented us with a very engaging Rosalind, iu 'As you like it'. ") See The Shepheards Calender, Eclogues April and June, and Colin Clout's Come Home Again. '*) See Atlantic Monthly, Boston, Nov. 1858, 677 in Allibone. '3) Cf. what Mr. Ball says in his Life of Speiiser prefixed to his edition of the Calender. ") See above. ") In Eclogue VI, v, 16 sqq. of the Shepheard's Calender, Hobbinal (Harvey) prays Colin Clout (Spenser) to 'forsake the soyle that so doth thee bewitch', and 'to the dales resort'. On this E. K. (see above) remarks: 'This is no poeticall fiction, but unfeignedly spoken of the poet selfe, who for speciall occasion of private affaires ('as I have been partly by himselfe informed') and for his more preferment, remooved out of the north partes, [andjcame into the south'. '») See Todd p. XL ") See below p. 8. «8) See Todd p. XL ") Eclogue 4, V. 21: Hob. Colin thou kenst, the southerne shepheards boye; Him love hath wonnded with a deadly darte. Glosse: Seemeth hereby that Colin pertaineth to some Southern noble man, and perhaps in Surrey or Kent, the rather because he so often names the Kentish downes, and before 'As lithe as lasse of Kent'. "*) See Todd p. XIX. See also the conclusion of Sp.'s letter to Harvey, dated from Leycester House 16 of Oct. 1579: 'Per mare, per terras, Vivus mortuusq; Tuus Jmmerito' (Todd p. XVIH.) 8 constituted Agent for tiie Earl of Leicester in France and other foreign countries. If not '), he did not, however, remain long a stranger to the business of active life. In July 1580 2), or in the be- ginning of August^) in the same year, on the appointment of Arthur*) Lord Grey of Wilton as Lord Lieutenant') or Lord Deputy^) of Ireland, Spenser accompanied his lordship to that country as his secretary — in all probabihty through Lord Leicester's influence '). In March of the following year, he was appointed to the office of Clerk in the Irish Court of Chancery; but Lord Grey being recalled in 1582, Spenser probably returned with him to England®). Of the manner he was employed for the next three or four years, nothing is known; but in 1586 he obtained from the crown a grant of 3028°) acres (including the castle and manor of Kil- colman) in the County of Cork, part of the territories forfeited by the Earl of Desmond. The grant is said to have been dated June '") 27. 1586 ; and, if it was procured, as is not improbable, through Lord Grey of Wilton, Lord Leicester and Sir Philip Sidney, it was the last kindness of that last friend and patron, whose untimely death took place in the battle of Zutphen, in 1587 ",'2 )_ j^^^ now Spenser seems to have passed a few years in literary ease and employment at Kilcolman Castle. This delightful retreat is thus described by an able topographer '^): 'Two miles Northwest of Done- raile is Kilcolman, a ruined castle of the Earls of Desmond ; but more celebrated for being the resi- dence of the immortal Spenser, where he composed his divine poem The Faerie Queene '*). The castle is now almost level with the ground. It was situated on the North side of a fine lake, in the midst of a vast plain, terminated to the East by the county of Waterford mountains; Bally- howra hills to the North, or, as Spenser terms them, the mountains of Mole; Nagle moun- tains to the South; and the mountains of Kerry to the West. It commanded a view of above half the breadth of Ireland, aiid must have been, when the adjacent uplands were wooded, a most pleasant and romantic situation ; from whence '^), no doubt , Spenser 'drew several parts of the sce- nery of his poem. The river Mulla, which he more than once has introduced into his poems, ran through his grounds'. Here, indeed , the poet has described himself, as ^'^) keeping his flock under And in the answer of his friend the passage: 'As for your speedy and hasty travell, methinks I dare stil wager al the books and writings in my study, which you know I esteeme of greater value than al the golde and silver in my purse or chest, that you wil not, that you shall not, I saye, bee gone over sea, for al your saying, neither the next nor the nexte weeke'. (Todd p. XVIII.) 1) By the date of Sp.'s next Letter to Harvey, we find him still in London; and an interval of less than six months only had elapsed, since his mention of an appointment; a period hardly sufficient to^have allowed him the exercise of such an appointment, even in a small degree, (Todd p. XIX). 2) Todd p. XXIII. 3) Craik p. 508. ") See below. &) Todd p. XXIII. «) Craik p. 508. ') Kitschin p. VI. «) See Craik I. p. 508, and Todd p. XXIII, ») Allibone means '3029' acres. 1°) Craik I. p. 508 says : 'July' ; but see Dr, Birch's Life of Spenser, prefixed to the edition of the Faerie Queene in 1751; and the Biograph. Brit. (Todd p. XXIV, n. d.), i') See below. ") Spenser tenderly bewailed Sidney's death in an elegy entitled 'Astrophel'. See below, ") Smith's Nat, et Civ. Hist, of the County and City of Cork, vol. I, p. 333, edit. Dublin, 1774 (Todd p. XXIV). '*) See below. '*) See the Sonnets to the Earl of Ormond and Lord Grey ; Colin Clouts come home again (Todd p. XXIV, n. h.) Faer. Qu. IV, XI, 41 : There was the Lifty rolling downe the lea; Of Areo-hill (who knowes not Arlo-hill?) The sandy Slane ; the stony Aubrian ; That is the highest head, in all mens sights, The spacious Shenan spreading liko a sea; Of my old father Mole, whom shepheards quill The pleasant Boyne; the fisty fruitfull Ban; Renowmed hath with hymnes fit for a rurall skill. Swift AwnidufF, which of the English man Is cal'de Blacke-water; and the Liffar deep; i6) Colin Clouts come home againe, v. 56 sqq: Sad Trowis, that once his people over-ran; One day (quoth he) I sat, (as was my trade) Strong Alio tombling from Slewlogher steep; Under the foote of Mole, that mountains hore. And Mulla mime, whose waves I whilom taught to weep. Keeping my sheepe emongst the cooly shade F, Q. Cant, of Mut. VI, 36: Of the greene alders by the Mullaes shore, etc. — That was, to wet, upon the highest hights 9 the foot of the mountain Mole, amongst the cooly shades of green alders by the shore of MuUa, and sounding his oaten pipe (as his custom was) to his fellow shepherd-swains. In 1588 being appointed Clerk of the Council ofMunster'), he, in the next year, received a visit of Sir Walter Raleigh-), with whom he had formed an intunacy^) on his first arrival in Ireland, llaleigh*) being at that time a captain in the Queen's army. To him he showed the first three Books of the Fairy Queen ^) in manuscript, and by him he was persuaded to return to Eng- land^). There Raleigh introduced him to Queen Elizabeth^), to whom the Faerie Queene was dedicated, and who in February 1591 bestowed on the author a pension of 50 £. a year^)"). Mr, Thomas Warton has, with much elegance, represented him forming the following poetical wish in regard to this plea- sant plot. The lines have not appeared in the late edition of Mr. Warton's Poems. They have been communicated to Mr. Todd by his nephew, the Rev. John Warton: Votum Spenseri: Hoc cecinit facili Spensems arundine carmen, Et propter cineres plurima balet ovis. Qua virides saltus lucida Mull a rigat: Exultent alii praedivite marmore manes, Dii facite, inter oves interque armenta canendo Qua reges, validi qua iacuere duces; Deficiam, et sylvis me premat atra dies; Ingentis qua late operosa per atria tenipli Ut mihi muscoso fiat de cespite bustum, Funereum ingeminant organa rite melos; Qua recubat prono quercus opaca iugo: Qua sub foruicibus sublimibus, ordine crebro, Quin ipso tumuli de vertice pullulet ultro Suspensum aureolis fulget aplustre notis: Laurus, et injussae prosiliant hederae: Mi sat erit, veteres Rosalinda agnoscat amores, Spissaque pascentes venerentur clausa capellae. Conseratet vernas ante sepulchra rosas. (Todd p. XXIV, n, i.) ') See AUibone. -) See below. ■"•) See Dr. Birch's Life of Spenser prefixed to the edit, of the F, Q. 1751, and Biogr. Brit. (Todd p. XXIV, n. j). *) Raleigh, while banished from court by the Earl of Essex (see Dr. Birch's Memoirs of Q. Eliz. Vol. I, p. 55 ?), seems to have spent some time at Kilkolman, and his visit forms one chief topic of the poem headed ' Colin Clouts Come Home Again*; Sp. calls him 'The Shepheard of the Ocean' v, 66 sqq. ^) See below. *) Raleigh had got the Queen's favour again and obtained from her the manor of Sherborne. Cf. Fair: Q. IV.. VII., VIII. and Todd p. XXXVIl sq. ') Spenser continnes thus in Colin etc, v. 60 sqq : 'There a straunge shepheard chaunst to find me out. And, when he heard the musicke which I made. Whether allured with my pipes delight, He found himselfe full greatly pleasd at it: Wliose pleasing sound yshrilled far about, Yet, aemuling my pipe, he tooke in houd Or thither led by chaunce, I know not right: My pipe, before that aemuled of many. Whom when I asked from what place he came. And plaid theron ; (for well that skill he cond;) And how he hight, himselfe he did ycleepe Himselfe as skillfull in that art as any. The Shepheard of the Ocean by name. He pip'd, I sung; and, when he sung, I piped; And said he came far from the main-sea deepe. By chauuge of turues, each making other mery; He, sitting me beside in that same shade. Neither envying other, nor envied, Provoked me to plaie some pleasant fit; So piped we, untill we both were weary'. And Colin Clout 184 sqq: 'The which to leave, thenceforth he counseld mee, Whose grace was great, and bounty most rewardfull. Unmeet for man, in whom was ought regardfull, And wend with him, his Cynthia' (sc. Elizabeth) 'to see; So what with hope of good, and hate of ill. He me perswaded forth with him to fare'. And Coulin Clout v. 358 sqq: 'The Shepheard of the Ocean (quoth he) All were my notes but rude and roughly dight: Unto that Goddesse grace me first enhanced. For not by measure of her owne great mynd. And to mine oaten pipe enclin'd her eare. And wondrous worth, she mott my simple song. That she thenceforth therein gan take delight. But joyd that country shepheard ought could fynd And it desir'd at timely houres to heare. Worth barkening to, emongst the learned throng', — s) Kitchin (I, p. VII) : 'Mother Hubberd's Tale v. 898 sqq. may be briefly noticed here, as having given occa- sion to a groundless tale about Lord Burleigh's dislike to Spenser, and his endeavour to stop his pension. Spenser, who loved and admired Archbishop Grindal (Sheph.'s Cal., Eel. VII, 213 sqq: the good Algrind), must have disliked Burleigh, who treated the Archbishop with no little severity; and on the other hand, Burleigh, Lord Leicester's rival at court, cannot have felt much goodwill towards one who was so closely attached to the party of his antagonist. Beyond this, there seems to be no ground for the tale'. ») Todd p. XXIX: 'Malone's discovery (Life of Dryden, p. 84) refutes the calumny which (Life of Spenser pre- fixed to the folio edition of his Works in 1679; Wirstanley's Lives of the English Poets; Hughes's Life of Spenser; Dr. Birch's Life of Spenser; Life of Spenser in the Universal Magazine, vol. XLIX etc.) several biographers of Spenser have thrown upon the character of Lord Burleigh, in their relation of the following pretended circumstances : That Burleigh told the Queen the pension was beyond example too great to be given to a 'ballad-maker": That the payment of the pension 9 10 Spenser appears to have remained in England till the beginning of the year 1592. He, then, returned to Ireland, where he lived on his estate till 1595, dividing his time between his fields and his Fairy Queen. Here tlie poet met witli a beautiful Irish girl, 'Elizabeth', probably Miss Nagle'), on whom he set his affections; and after a courtship, set forth in his 'Amoretti', or 'Sonnets', he married-)^) her in 1594*). The wedding '') took place on St. Barnabas's Day 6), as he tells us himself, in the city of Cork, near which Kilkolman Castle lies. He was , then , forty- one or forty-two years of age^)*^). In 1595 he visited London for the purpose of attending to some business, the most agreeable part of which was the publication of Books IV., V., and VI. of his great poem, which were given to the world in 1596^). He, then, returned to Ireland, as it is said '^), early in 1597, probably with the expectation of passing his days in comfort with his family at Kil- was intercepted by Burleigh ; That when the Queen, upon Spenser's presenting some poems to her, ordered him the gratuity of an hundred pounds, his Lordship asked, with some contempt of the poet, 'What! all this for a Song?' and that the Queen replied: 'Then give liim what is reason'. 'That Spenser, having long waited in vain for the fulfilment of the royal order, presented to her this ridiculous memorial : 'I was promis'd on a thne 'From that time unto this season 'To have reason for my rhinie; 'I receiv'd nor rhime nor reason'. That these magical numbers produced the desired effect in the immediate direction of payment to the insulted poet, as well as in the reproof of the adverse Lord Treasurer! Such is the substance of this marvellous opposition to the privilege conferred on Spenser by Elizabeth, varied and improved by the biographers; of which opposition the account originates, it seems, in the facetious (Dr. Birch's Life of Spenser, p. XIIL But indeed the biographer seems not to I'ely implicitly on Fuller's testimony) Dr. Fuller's 'Worthies of England' (a work published at the distance of more than seventy years after- wards), unsupported by requisite authority. The generosity of Elizabeth would, doubtless, have been the theme of Putteuham's admiration, if it had been shewn a little sooner; for, in his 'Art of English Poesie', published in 1589, he has written a chapter (VIII, p. 12), evi- dently with a view to excite her Majesty's attention to the neglected bards of that period, entitled 'In what reputation Poesie and Poets were in old time with Princes, and otherwise generally; and how they be now become contemptible, and for what causes': The object of the author, I say, is apparent by his enumeration of the bounty of preceding English monarchs to the poets: 'lu later times, how much were Jehan de Mehune and Guillaume de Loris made of by the French kinges; and Gelfrey Chaucer, father of our English poets, by Richard the second, who, as it was supposed, gave him the maner of new Holme in Oxfordshire. — And king Henry the 8. her Maiesties father, for a few Psalmes of David turned into English meetre by Sternhold, made him groome of his privy chamber, and gave him many other good gifts. And one Gray, what good estimation did he grow unto with the same king Henry, and afterward with the Duke of Sommerset, Protectouv, for making certaine merry Ballades, whereof one chiefly was 'The hunte is vp, the hunte is vp'. And Queene Mary, his daughter, for one Epithalamie or nuptiall Song made by Vargas, a Spanish Poet, at her marriage with king Phil- lip in Winchester, gave him during his life two hundred crownes pension'. — ') Of. Allibone, Todd etc. 2) Amoretti, or Sonnets LXVU: 'Lyke as a huntsman after weary chace. Thinking to quench her thirst as the next brooke: Seeing the game from him escapt away. There she, beholding me with niylder looke. Sits downe to rest him in some shady place. Sought not to fly, but fearlesse still did bide; With panting hounds beguiled of their pray: Till I in hand her yet halfe trembling tooke. So, after long pursuit and vaine assay. And with her owne goodwill her fyrmely tyde. When I all weary had the chace forsooke. Strange thing, me seemd. to see a beast so wyld, The gentle deer returnd the self-same way, So goodly wonne, with her owne will beguyld.' — 3) Allibone: 'Mr, Collier, in his edition of Spenser would have us believe that this was Sp.'s second marriage since his rejection bv llosalinde; but we imagine that the verdict of the reader will be: 'Not proven'. ^) Allibone: 1595. '-) The bridegroom celebrated his nuptials with this lovely being in those magnificent strains which have made this event for ever memorable in the chronicles of the marri.iges of poets : 'Spenser's Epithalamium on his own marriage, written perhaps in 1594', remarks an eminent critic, "is of a far higher mood than any thing we have named. It is a strain redolent of a bridegroom's joy and a poet's fancy. The English language seems to expand itself with a copiousness unknown before, while he pours forth the varied imagery of this splendid little poem. I do not know any other nuptial song, ancient or modern, of equal beauty. It is an intoxication of ecstasy, ardent, noble, and pure'. Hallam: Lit. Hist, of Europe, Pt. 2, 1550—1600, 4 th ed, 1854. H. 127 (All.) — 6) Epithalamium v. 2. die Januarij 1598^'. Juxtaq; Geffereum Chaucer, in eadem Ecclesia supradiet. (Honoratissimi Comitis Essexiae impensis) sepelit [ur]' Henry Capell has added apud diversorium in the paler ink with which his own name is written. It appears then that the testimony of Camden, in regard to the place of Sp.'s death, is correct; which was in King-street Westminster, as he relates; and not, as others (Gibber, Warton, Brydges) in opposition to his authority have reported, in King-street, Dublin. It appears also that he died at an inn or lodging-house, 'apud diversorium', in which he and his family had probably been fixed from the time of their arrival in England.' — Todd p. XLVII, n. y : 'In opposition to the monumental inscription in Westminster Abbey,' says Mr. Chalmers, 'I concur with Sir James Ware, and Mr. Malone, in saying, that Spenser died in 1599, though towards the end rather than the beginning of that year: For the preface of Belvidere, or. Garden of the Muses, which wasprinted in 1G(X). .speaks of Spenser as an extant poet etc. — ' 2* — 12 What became of the wife and children of Spenser ininietliately after his death, d'^ Kerke,'*) the Countesses of Cumberland and Warwick, ^'') the Ladies Elizabeth and Catherine Somerset. '") His W^ife and Children.'') ') 'It his worthy of remark, tl)at Joliu Wesley, in the plan which he orters to those Methodists who design to go through a course of ,academical learning', recommends, (together with the Historical Books of the Hebrew Bible, the Greek Testament, Homer's Odyssey, Veil. Paterculus, Euclid's Elements, etc. etc.) to students of the second year, Spenser's Faerie Queene. See the second volume of Whitehead's Life of the Rev. John Wesley, etc. 1796. (Todd p. LVIII, n. i.).' — 2) See above. 3) See Craik p. 508: 'It has been conjectured that he may have been the person in a letter to Queen Elisabeth from James VI of Scotland, dated at St. Andreas, the 2d of July, 1583 (the original of which is preserved among the Cotton MSS.) , where James says in the postscript, 'Madam, I have stayed Maister Spenser upon the letter qnilk is written with my awin hand, quilk sail be ready within twa days.' (Note by Mr. David Laing on p. 12 of his edition of Ben Jonson's Conversations with William Drummond, printed for the Shakespeare Society. 8vo. Lond. 1842,)' — *) See above p. 8; Todd; Scherr; Kitchin etc. — &) Ibidem. Todd, — «) Ibidem; Todd. — ') See above p. 9; Todd; Warton p. 804. 806, 909. 8) See above p, 9 n. 4; Todd; Warton 897, — o) Perhaps, however, his enemy (see above p 9, n, 8. 9; Todd; Warton,) If-) See above p. 7; Todd; Warton p. 841, 872. 884. 901. 931. 940, — ") See Todd p, LIX. — 12) See above p. 7, Todd etc. — ") See Todd p. XXXI. — ") See Todd. — '•') See Todd p. XLIII. — i«) See ibidem, — '") See above p. 11 sqq. — 14 His chief worshippers immediately after his death: — The Countess of Dorset,') Mason,-^) Camden, William Browne.^) — His love-affair with Rosalinde*) has sometimes been sneered at;^) but the mocker himself ought to confess that the principal fault was with the girl, though Spenser, in his modesty,**) finds fault only with his ambition. The same malevolent author attempts to ridicule his marriage.**) In like manner he has been reproached^) for having left behind his child in the flames, while he himself ran away. Even servility and wheedling"^) and inordinate desire ot money") has been cast in his teeth- yet imjustly.'-) More right are those who put in doubt his capacity as a statesman and politician, '^) although seldom any one has been more, than he, inspirited by perfect and passionate patriotism.'*) A practical statesman he was not born, that may be allowed; but the View of the State of Ireland '5) exhibits Spenser as a politician of very extensive knowledge and profound intelligence, particularly in regard of the political design of reducing Ireland to the due obedience of the English Crown."*) As for his character as an author, we have ample opportunities for studying it. At Cam- bridge his love for poetry grew strong, though vitiated at first by the bad taste of his friends, who worshipped the English hexameter,'') in a rude form, as a new revelation of poetic power and promise: but the strength of the poet was not likely to be held in such bands as these, and the Shepheard's Calender, published some three years after he left Cambridge, proves how entirely he had freed himself from these unnatural trammels. His studies, by natural affinity, led kim to those sources in which the highest poetry vras to be found. He was full of Biblical knowledge and feeling: we can trace the influence of the Hebrew poets and of the more unconscious poetry of the New Testa- ') See Todd p. LIV. — «) See Allibone. - 3) See Todd p. L V : In the note on Spenser's Life in the Biogr. Brit. Camden : 'Edmundus Spenser Londinensis Anglicoram Poetarum nostri seculi facile princeps, quod eins poemata fauentibus Musis et victuro genio conscripta comprobant. Obiit immatura morte anno salutis 1598, et prope Galfredum Chaucerum conditur; qui faelicissime poesin Anglicis litteris primus illustravit.' — William Browne's eulogium: 'A dampe of wonder and amazement strooke 'Fell from each Nymph; no Sepheard's cheek was dry; 'Thetis' attendants; many a heavy looke 'A doleful Dirge, and mournefuU Elegie. ToUow'd sweet Spencer, till the thickning ayre 'Flew to te shore.' — 'Sight's further passage stopp'd. A passionate tears [tear'.'] Britannia's Pastorals, edit. 1616. B. II. p. 27. And in another part of the same work : 'Had Colin Clout yet liv'd, (but he is gone!) 'His truest loves to his fair Rosaline, 'The best on earth could tune a lovers mone; 'Entic'd each shepheards ear to heare him play, etc. 'Whose sadder tones inforc'd the rocks to weepe, 'Heaven rest thy soule I if so a swaine may pray : 'And laid the greatest griefes in quiet sleepe: 'And, as thy workes live here, live*here for aye!" 'Who, when he sung (as I would do to mine) '') See above p. 7. — ^) Mr. Halpiu in Allibone. •) For instance that he subscribes himself in his letters to Harvey 'Immerito.' (Todd p. XII.) — ') Colin Clouts etc. p. 935. 936: — ») See Allibone. 'Not then to her that scorned thing so base, 'But to my selfe the blame that lookt so hie.' ») See above p. 11. — '«) Todd. — ") See Craik p. 520. — ") Spenser's religious character and opinions make a curious subject, which has not received much attention from his biographers. His connection with Sidney and Leicester, and afterwards with Essex, made him, no doubt, be regarded throughout his life as belonging to the puritanical party, but only to the more moderate section of it, which, although not unwilling to encourage a little grumbling at some things in the conduct of the dominant section of hierarchy, and even professing to see much reason in the objections made to certain outworks or appendages of the established system, stood still or drew back as soon as the opposition to the Church became really a war of principles. Spenser's puritanism seems almost as unnatural as his hexameters and pentameters. It was probably, for the greater part, the product of circumstances, rather than of conviction or any strong feeling, even while it lasted; and it never appears afterwards so prominent as in his Shepherd's Calendar, the first work that he published etc. (Craik I, p. 511 sq.). — ") See Todd. — •*) See above p. 13. — ") 'From this opinion the editor of Sir James Ware's works in English dissents. He allows that there are some things in it very well written, yet that, in the history and antiquity of the country, he is often miserably mistaken, and seems to have indulged rather the fancy and licence of a poet than the judgement and fidelity requisite for an histo- rian; besides his want of moderation.' (Todd p. XL VI sq.). — i^) See ibidem. — i') See below. — 15 — ment in all he wrote.') He knew and understood not only Plato and Aristotle, but the Homeric epics; was conversant with the chief Latin poets; studied and was master of Italian, in order that he might enjoy the free fancy of Ariosto and the more classical and colder muse of the Genisalemme Liberata. Drawing deep draughts of poetical life from the freshest of English poets, he delighted in all ways to proclaim himself the disciple of the ancient 'Tityrus,' the father of English poetry, Chaucer himself. By his coevals Spenser was seldom mentioned without the epithet of 'great' or 'learned. =^)' And, indeed, what poet of that period could pretend to his learning? Dr. Joseph Warton^) has assigned, in respect to their erudition, the fii'st place to Milton, the second to Spenser. To Dryden Milton acknowledged that Spenser was his original.^) In Cowly, in Dryden, in the facetious Butler, in Prior, in Pope, in Thomson, in Shenstone, in Gray, and in Akenside obligations of importance to the 'oaten reed' and the 'trumpet stern' of Spenser may without difficulty be traced.'') It is, indeed, a just observation, that more poets have sprung from Spenser than from all other English writers. Besides his epistles concerning whicli we refer to Mr. Todd's 'Some account of the Life of Spenser', and which are written in a most conversant and learned style, the only prose-Mriting, come down to us, is the above mentioned View of the State of Ireland, in which Spenser shows himself fis a most interesting writer in prose, and an antiquary of various and profound erudition.'') Another prose-work, a monument of his art of criticism, entitled 'The Enghsh poet,' has been lost. Perhaps, as Joseph Warton means,') he will have illustrated in this critical discourse, by examples drawn from the writings of his countrymen who were distinguished in either school, the manner both of tlie Provencal and Italian poetry. Among the Enghsh poets he stands lower only than Shakspeare, Chaucer and Milton; and, if we extend the parallel to the continent, his masterpiece is not unworthy of companionship Avith its Italian model, the chivalrous epic of Ariosto. But no comparison is needed for endearing, to the pure in heart, works which unite, as few such unite, rare genius'') with moral purity; or for recommending, to the lovers of poetry, poems which exhibit at once exquisite sweetness and felicity ') Cf. Todd, Kitchin. 2) 'See the Shepheards Content at the end of the 'Affectionate Shepheard', etc. 1.594. 4to. Speaking of love : 'By the great Collin lost his libertie; 'By the sweet Astrophel forwent his ioy. ' — See also Drayton's 'Shepheards Garland,' 1593: 'For learned Collin laies his pipes to gage, 'And is to fayrie gone a pilgrimage.' — And in the 'Lamentation of Troy etc' 1594,he is invoked as 'the only Homer living, ' and entreated to write the story 'with his fame-quickniugc quill.' — And Sir John Davies in his 'Orchestra' 1596, exclaims: '0 that I could old Gefferies Muse awake, 'Or borrow Colins fayre hero ike stile, 'Or smooth my rimes with Delias servants tile.' In Camden's Eemains published by Philipot, we are likewise presented with the following proof of tlie high esti- mation in which he was held while living. 'Upon Master Edmund Spencer the famous Poet, 'At Delphos shrine one did a doubt propound, 'Which by the Oracle must he released; ♦Whether of Poets were the best renown'd, 'Those that survive, or those that be deceased. 'The god made answer by divine suggestion, 'While Spenser is alive, it is no question.' Likewise William Smith etc. — (Todd p. LVI, note o.). — 3) Dr. Joseph Warton, Life of Pope, p. XXIV. — *) Todd p. LVI. — ' ») Ibidem 6) See above p. 14, but note 15, too. — ") Todd. — «) 'Dryden says expressly of Spenser (prose-works vol. 3. p. 94):' No man was ever born with a greater genius, — 16 — of language a luxuilant beauty of imagination which has hardly ever been surpassed, and a tender- ness of feeling never elsewhere joined with an imagination so vivid. Plato, Aristotle, Ariosto, and Chaucer') were his models, and his masters. He has cultivated nearly all branches of poetry, except the dramatic. He has written pastorals, sonnets, elegies, satires, epigrams, epics etc. C. Chronological Catalogue of His Works. a. Those spared by tune whose period of composing and moment of appearing is known. 1. The Shepheards Calender-: conteining twelve aegiogues, proportionable to the twelve monetlies. Entitled to the noble and vertuous gentleman, most worthie of all titles both of learning and chivalry, Maister Philip Sidney. Preceded by a letter from E. K. to G. Harvey, together with glosses of this commentator. 5 editions: 1579, 1581, 1586, 1591, 1597. 2. The Faerie Queene^') disposed into twelve Books, fashioning XH Moral Vertues, 1590, 4to. Contains Books I., H., and HI.; differs from the later editions. The second Part of the Faerie Queene; containing the foorth, fifth, and sixth Bookes, 1596, 4to. Both Parts, 1590—1596: Eari of Charlemont, Aug. 1865; W. N. Lettsom, Nov. 1865. Both Parts, known as second quarto edition, 1596, 2 vols. 4to. Faerie Queene, 1609, fol. J. Lilly's Bibl. Anglo- Curiosa, 1869. Known as first foho edition. After the six Books appears in this volume the first edition of Two Cantos of Mutabilitie.'') Again a folio edition 1611. Faerie Queene, new editions: Lon., 1866, 8vo; Globe ed. Book I. by Kitchin 1867, 12mo. 1869 etc.*) 3. Muiopotmos, or the Fate of the Buttei-flie 1590. — Dedicated to the right worthy and vertuous Ladie, the La: Carey. 4. Complaints, containing sundrie small Poems of the Worlds Vanitie, 1591, 4to, 92 leaves. Contents: a) The Ruines of Time. b) The Teares of the Muses. c) Virgils Gnat. d) Prosopopeia; or. Mother Hubberds Tale. e) The Ruines of Rome by Bellay.^) f) Muiopotmos, or the Tale of the Butterflie (dated 1590, in its title.) g) Vision of tlie Worlds Vanitie. h) Bellaye's Visions.*^) i) Petrarche's Visions. or bad more kuowledge to support it.' And it has been well observed by a very judicious critic (Neve's Cursory Kemarks on the ancient English Poets), that 'where the works of Spenser are original, they shew that he possessed energy, co- piousness, and sublimity sufficient, if he had taken no model to follow, that would rank him with Homer and Tasso and Milton; for his greatest excellence is in those images which are the immediate foundation of the sublime. Fear, confusion and astonishment, are delineated by him with a most masterly pen.' To these marks of elevated powers I may add the attractive minuteness of Spenser's descriptions, which rarely terminate in the object described, but give an agreeable activity to the mind in tracing the resemblance between the type and anti-type. This, as the learned translator (The Rev. Henry Boyd) of Dante has observed, is an excellency possessed by Spenser in an eminent degree ; and hence may be deduced the superiority of his descriptions over those of Thomson, Akenside, and almost all other modern poets." (Todd p. LVIII.), ') See AUibone. — *) See below. — •') See below. •») See Allibone and below. *) Joachim Bellay obtained the appellation of the P'rench Ovid. He was also called 'Pater elegantiarura. Pater omnium leporum.' He died in 1860. (Todd p. 435, L'Envoy 1.) 6) Already in l.^GO they had appeared in the 'Theatre for Wordlings' (see Todd p. X, and Allibone). ^) ibidem. 17 5. Prosopopeia; or, Mother Hubberds Tale, 1591, 4to. 6. Teares of the Muses, 1591, 4to. 7. Daphnaida, 1591, 4to; 1592, 4to. 8. Amoretti, or Sonnets, and Epithalamion, 1595, 12 mo.') 9. Colm Clovts Come Home Againe, 1595, 4to. Astrophel and other pieces are annexed to Colin Clovt.2) 10. Prothalamion, or a Spousall Verse, Lon., 1596, Uo.^) 11. Fowre Hymnes, Daphnaida, and Epithalamion, 1596, 4to.*) After his death appeared 12. A View of the State of Ireland, 1633.^) b. Works, whose time of appearing is unknown 13. His Letters to Harvey 1580. (?)6) 14. Astrophel. A pastoral elegie upon the death of the most noble and valorous Knight, Sir Philip Sidney. Dedicated to the most beautifull and vertuous Ladie the Countess of Essex. 1586. (?)^) 15. The Dolefull Lay of Clorinda.^) 16. The Mourning Muse of ThestyUs 1587 ?») 17. A Pastorall Aeglogue, upon the death of Sir Phillip Sidney, Knight, etc.'^) 18. Sonnets. Collected from the original publications in which they appeared.") 19. Poems. '^) 20. Loose verses, to be found in Mr. Todd's Account etc. a. p. XV in a Letter to Harvey: JambicumTrimetrum. Unhappie Verse ! the witnesse of my unhappie state, Say, that raging love dothe appall the weake stomacke : Make thy selfe fluttring wings of thy last flying Say, that lamenting love marreth the musicall. Thought , and fly forth unto my Love whersoever ^ell hir, that hu: pleasures were wonte to lull me '^^ ^^'- a^leepe Whether lying reastlesse in heavy bedde, or else Tell hir, that hu- beautie was wonte to feede mine eyes : Sitting so cheerelesse at the cheerfull boorde, or else Tell hir, that hir sweete tongue was wonte to make Playing alone carelesse on hir heavenlie virginals. me mirth. If in bed ; tell hir, that my eyes can take no reste : Now doe I nightly waste, wanting my kindely reste : If at boorde; tell hir, that my mouth can eate no Now doe I dayly starve, wanting my lively foode: meate: Now doe I alwayes dye, wanting thy timely mirth. If at hir virginals; tel hur, I can heare no mirth. ^^^ -^ j ^^^^^^ ^^^ ^.^ ^^^^.^^ ^^ ^^^^ chaunce? Asked why? say, Waking love sutfereth no sleepe: And if 1 starve, who will record my cursed end? And if I dye, who wiU saye, 'This was Immerito'? (i. in the same Letter, Todd p. XVI sq. Ad Ornatissimum virum, multis jam diu nominibus Clarissimum, G. H., Immerito sui, mox in Gallias Navigaturi, ^Evrvxeiv (sic!). Sic malus egfegium, sic non inimicus amicum, Salvere; ac coelo, post saecula multa, secundo Sicq; novus veterem jubet ipse Poeta Poetam Jam reduceni, coelo mage quam nunc ipse, secundo ') See Allibone. *) Ibidem. 3) Ibidem. *) Ibidem. ») See above p. 14; Allibone, and Todd. 6) See Todd. ') See Todd p, XXIV. 8) See Todd p. LI. *) In 1587 the following licence, among others, was granted by the Stationer's Company to John Wolf, printer, Tiz. 'The mourning Muses of Lod. Brysket upon the death of the most noble Sir Philip Sidney Knight etc.' (Todd p. 458, xwte.) '0) See Todd p. 461. ") See Todd p. 480. ") See Todd 481, and above. 3 18 Utier; Ecce deus (modo sit deus ille, renixum Qui vocet in scelus, et juratos perdat amores,) Ecce deus mihi clara dedit modo signa marinus, Et sua veligero lenis parat sequora ligno: Mox sulcando suas etiam pater iEolus iras Ponit, et ingentes animos Aquilonis Cuncta vijs sic apta meis; ego solus ineptus. Nam mihi nescio quo mens saucia vulnere, dudum Fluctuat ancipiti pelago, dum navita proram Invalidam validus rapit, hue Amor et rapit illuc; Consilijs Ratio melioribus usa decusq; Immortale levi diffissa Cupidinis arcu, Angimur hoc dubio, et portu vexamur in ipso. Magne pharetrati nunc tu contemptor Amoris (Id tibi dij nomen precor hand impune remittant) Hos nodos exsolve, et eris mihi magnus Apollo: Spiritus ad summos, scio, te generosus honores Existimulat, (sic!) majusq; docet spirare Poetam. Quam levis est Amor, et tamen hand levis est amor omnis. Ergo nihil laudi reputas aequale perenni, Praeq; sacro sancta splendoris imagine, tanti Caetera quae vecors uti numina vulgus adorat; Prsedia, Amicitias, Urbana peculia, Nummos, Quaeq, placent oculis, Formas, Spectacula, Amores, Conculcare soles ut humum, et ludibria senstis; Digna meo certe Harveio, sententia digna Oratore Amplo, et generoso pectore, quam non Stoica formidet veterum sapientia, vinclis Sancire aeternis; sapor hand tamen omnibus idem. Dicitur effseti proles facnnda Laertse, Quamlibet ignoti jactata per sequora coeli, Inq; procelloso longum exsul gurgite, ponto Prae tamen amplexu lachrymosae conjugis, ortus Caelestes, divumq; thoros sprevisse beatos: Tantiim Amor, et Mulier, vel amore potentior, Ulum; Tu tamen illudis (tua Magnificentia tanta est) Praeq; subumbrata splendoris imagine, tanti Praeq; illo, meritis famosis, nomine parto; Caetera quae vecors uti numina vulgus adorat, Praedia, Amicitias, Armenta, Peculia, Nummos, QuaBq; placent oculis, Formas, Spectacula, Amores, Quaeq; placent ori, quaeq; auribus, omnia temnis; Nae tu grande sapis! ('sapor at sapientia non est,') Omnis et in parvis bene qui scit desipuisse, Saepe supercilijs palmam sapientibus aufert; Ludit Aristippum modo tetrica turba sophorflm; Mitia purpureo moderantem verba tyranno, Ludit Aristippus dictamina vana sophorum, Quos levis emensi male torquet culicis umbra. Et quisquis placuisse studet heroibus actis, Desipuisse studet; sic gratia crescit ineptis. Deniq; laurigeris quisquis sua tempora vittis Insignire volet, populoq; placere faventi, Desipere insanus dicit, turpemq; pudendae Stultitiae laudem quaerit. Pater Ennius unus Dictus, innumeris sapiens; laudatur at ipse Carmina vesano fudisse loquentia vino: Nee tu, (pace tua,) nostri Cato maxime secli, Nomen honorati sacrum mereare Poetae, Quantumvis illustre canas, et nobile carmen, Ni stultire velis; sic 'stultorum omnia plena'! Tuta sed in medio superest via gurgite; nam qui Nee reliquis nimium vult desipuisse videri. Nee sapuisse nimis, sapientem dixeris, unum Hinc te merserit unda, illinc combusserit ignis; Nee tu delicias nimis aspernare fluentes, Nee sero Dominam venientem in vota, nee aurum, Si sapis, oblatum: Curijs ea Fabricijsq; Linque, viris miseris miseranda sophismata, quondam Grrande sui decus ij, nostri sed dedecus aevi; Nee sectare nimis; res utraq; crimine plena. Hoc bene qui callet (si quis tamen hoc bene callet) Scribe vel invito sapientem hunc Socrate solum. Vis facit una pios; justos facit altera, et alt'ra Egregie cordata, ac fortia pectora; verum 'Omne tulit punctum qui miscuit utile dulci.' Dij mihi dulce diu dederant, veriim utile nunquam; Utile nunc etiam, o utinam quoq; dulce dedissent! Dij mihi, quippe dijs sequalia maxima parvis, Ni nimis invideant mortalibus esse beatis, Dulce simul tribuisse queant, simul utile; tanta Sed Fortuna tua est, pariter quaeq; utile quaeq; Dulce dat ad placitum: saevo nos sydere nati Quaesitum imus earn per inhospita Caucasa long5, Perq; Pyrenaeos montes, Babylonaq; turpem; Quod si quaesitum nee ibi invenerimus, ingens ^quor inexhaustis permensi erroribus ultra Fluctibus in medijs socij quaeremus Ulyssis: Passibus inde deam fessis comitabimur aegram, Nobile cui furtum quaerenti defuit orbis: Namq; sinu pudet in patrio, tenebrisq; pudendis, Non nimis ingenio Juvenem infoelice virentes Officijs frustra deperdere vilibus annos; Frugibus et vacuas speratis cernere spicas. lb imus ergo statim; (quis eunti fausta precetur?) Et pede clivosas fesso calcabimus Alpes. Quis dabit interea conditas rore Britanno, Quis tibi Litterulas, quis carmen amore petulcum! Musa subOebalij desueta cacum ne(sic pro cacumine!?) mentis, Flebit inexliausto tam longa silentia planctu, Lugebitq; sacrum lacrymis Helicona tacentem; Harveiusq; bonus (charus licet omnibus idem) Idq; suo merito prope suavior omnibus, unus Angelus et Gabriel, quamvis comitatus amicis Innumeris, Geniumq; choro stipatus amaeno, 'Immerito' tamen unum absentem saepe requiret; Optabitq; 'Utinam mens his Edmundus adesset, Qui nova scripsisset, nee amores conticuisset Ipse suos;' et saepe animo verbisq; benignis Fausta precaretur, 'Deus ilium aliquando reducat 1' etc. 19 7-. Todd. p. XIX, hexameters') and pentameters: 'See yee the blindefoulded pretie god, that feathered archer Of lovers miseries which maketh his hloodie game? Wote ye why, hit moother with a veale hath covered his face? Truste nie, least he my Loove happely chaunce to heholde'. - Todd p. XX: 'That which 1 eate, did I joy, and that which 1 greedily gorged; 'As for those many goodly matsers leaft I for others'. — 8. Todd p. XLIII, note e : To the Countesses of Cumberland and Warwicke sisters: 'Sisters of spotlesse fame! of whom alone 'Malitiouse tongues take pleasure to speake well; 'How should I you commend, when ej^ther one 'All things in heaven and earth so far excell. 'The highest praise that I gan give is this, 'That one of you like to the other is'. c. Works falsely ascribed to him. 21. An Elegie,2) or Friends Passion, for his AstrophiU. Written upon the death of the Right Honourable Sir Philip Sidney Knight, Lord Governour of Flushing. 22. An Epitaph, upon the Right Honourable Sir Philip Sidney Knight: Lord Governour of Flushing.^) 23. Another of the same.*) 24. Brittain's Ida. London : printed for Thomas Walkley. 1628.^) d. The Lost Works of Spenser.^) 25. His translation of Ecclesiastes. 26. His translation of Canticum Canticorum. 27. The Dying Pelican. 28. The Hours of our Lord. 29. The Sacrifice of a Sinner. 30. The Seven Psalms. 31. Dreams. 32 The English Poet. 33. Legends. 34. The Court of Cupid. 35. The Hell of Lovers. 36. His Purgatory. 37. A Sennights Slumber. 38. Pageants. 39. Nine Comedies.') 40. Stemmata Dudleiana. 41. Epithalamion Thamesis. 42. Books VII.— XII. of the Fairy Queen, except the Two Cantos of Mutabilitie, and two stanzas of another Canto^). 1) See above p. 14. 2) Todd p. 462, note : 'This poem was written by Matthew Roydon, as we are informed in Nash's Preface to Greene's Arcadia, and in Engl. Parnassus.' ^) Todd p. 464. *) Todd p. 465. — 462 : 'To the two following pieces I am unable to assign their authors ; but no read«r will imagine them the productions of Spenser.' =") Todd p. 497, note: 'The printer's assertion is the only authority on which this Poem has been admitted into the editions of Spenser's Works, since its first publication in 1628. The criticks agree in believing that it was not written by Spenser.' — Cf. Allibone. *) See Todd p. LX, note r. ') We have above said, Spenser has not written any drama. For it is supposed, these nine comedies were not dramatic poems, but a series of lines in nine divisions like the Teares of the Muses, and that to each division was given the denomination of Comedy ;/th« author using that term in the wide sense in which it was employed by D^nte etc. (Cf. Todd p. XXII, note w.). ^) See below, , 3* Part II. Tlie Fairy Q;aeeii« A. When and where this Poem was composed and edited. E. K., the commentator on the Shepheards Calender, first published in 1579,') informs us, that, at the same time, the Dreams,^) the Legends^^) and the Court of Cupid*) were then finished by Spenser; and our author himself, in his Letter to Harvey, dated Apr. 10, 1580, mentions also that 'his Dreames and Dying Pellicane were then fully finished;' and that he designed soon 'to sette forthe a booke, entitled Epithalamion Thamesis.'^) Well then, these Legends, Court of Cupid, and Epithalamion are closely connected with circumstances admitted into the Fairy Queen; 6) and from the same Letter we see that he has really begun the Fairy Queen in 1580; for at the end of it he writes:') 'Nowe, my Dreames and, Dying Pelhcane, being fully finished, (as I partelye signified in my laste letters) and presentlye to bee imprinted, I wil in hande forthwith with my Faerie Queene, whyche I praye you hartily send me with al expedition ; and your friendly letters, and long expected judgement withal, whyche let not be shorte, but in all pointes such as you ordinarilye use, and I extraordinarily desire etc' But his friend's opinion of the Poem was not calculated to encourage the ardour of the poet. For in his reply Harvey writes:^) 'In good faith I had once againe nigh forgotten your Faerie Queene: howbeit, by good chaunce 1 have nowe sent hir home at the laste, neither in better nor worse case than I founde hir. And must you, of necessitie, have my judgement of hir in deede ? To be plaine ; I am voyde of al judgement, if your nine Comoedies, whereunto, in imitation of Herodotus, you give the names of the Nine Muses, (and in one mans fansie not unworthily,) come not neerer Ariostoes Comoedies, eyther for the finenesse of plausible elocution, or the larenesse of poetical invention, than that Elvish Queene doth to his Orlando Furioso; which, notwithstanding you wil needes seeme to emulate, and hope to overgo, as you flatly professed yourself in one of your last Letters. Besides that, you know it hath bene the usual practise of the most exquisite and odde wittes in all nations, and specially in Italie, rather to shewe and advaunce themselves that way than any other; as namely, those three dyscoursing heads, Bibiena, Machiavel, and Aretine, did, (to let Bembo and Ariosto passe,) with the great admiration and wonderment of the whole countrey; being indeede reputed matchable in all points, both for conceyt of witte and eloquent decyphering of matters, either with Aristophanes and Menander in Greek, or with Plautus and Terence in Latin, or with any other in any other tong. But I wil not stand greatly with you in your owne matters. If so be the Faery Queene be fairer in your eie than the Nine Muses, and Hobgoblin runne away with the garland from Apollo; raarke what I saye; and yet I will not say that [which] I thought; but there an end for this once, and fare you well till God, or some good Aungell, putte you in a better mind.' Spenser was not, however, to be discouraged by this injudicious opinion. At Kilcolman 1) See abore p. 16. *) See abore p. 29. ') See ibidem. *) See ibidem. ») See Todd p. XI. «) See the Fairy Queen IH., XH, 5« 6 etc. IV., H, 10, 11 etc. ') Todd p. XX. 8) See Todd p. XXn «q. 21 Castle, ') on the shore of a pleasant lake, with fine distant views of mountains all round, he busied himself with the composition of the first three Books of the Fairy Queen. Here he was visited^) by Sir Walter Raleigh, to whom he showed the manuscript. A poet himself, and the author of a poem^) in praise of the Queen, Raleigh could not but listen with dehght to the design which Spenser had formed. Encouraged by the judgement of this accomplished person, as he had, probably, long before been by that of Sidney,*) Spenser, as soon as the three Books were ready for the printer, went over to England in Raleigh's company,^) and committed them to the press in 1590. In 1596 Spenser visited London again,*') in order to print the second part of his Fairy Queen, containing the fourth, fifth and sixth Books; and a new edition of the former part accompa- nied it. Of the remaining six Books, which would have completed Spenser's original design, two imperfect Cantos 'Of Mutabilitie'^) are the only parts with which the public has been gratified.®) B. In what Metre the Fairy Queen is composed. This poem has been written in the nine-lined iambic strophe, that is in the Spenserian stanza, so called alter the inventor himself. Indeed, it is said to be a modification of the 'ottava rime' of Ariosto; but, although this may be partly true, the long nine-Kned stanza, ending with an Alexandrine, has an entirely independent character. Ariosto's verse runs rapidly on, answering to the lively style of the poet, and his quick transitions: but Spenser's stanza, with occasional weaknesses,^) arising from its greather length, has a melody, a dignity, and weight, which suit his m^taner of handling his subject and the gravity of his mind. It may be fairly said to be all his own, and to have been accepted at his hands by poets ever smce. How many English poets of name have written, often written their best works in the Spenserian stanza! We have mentioned Ariosto; it is time we take brief notice of the C. Sources and Argument of the Fairy Queen. As for Homer, Virgil, Aristotle, and other authors of antiquity, whose influence on this poem can often be seen in the turn of expression and the illustrations '°) employed, Spenser writes in his Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh, as follows: ') See above p. 8. ') gee aboye p. 9. 3) Entitled 'Cynthia'. See Spenser's Sonnet to Raleigh sent with the first three Books of the Faerie Queene, his Letter to him explaining the design of the Poem. Colin Clouts Come Home Again, ver. 166; and the Introduction to the third Book of the F. Q. This poem, which Spenser has higly commended, was never published, (Cf, Todd p. XXV, n. o.) *) Scherr p. 61, n. q: 'Hierueber ist uns eine sehr huebsche anecdote ueberliefert worden. Sp. theilte sra. goenner Sidn. proben aus der F. Q. mit, Kaum hatte Sir Philip einige stanzen gelesen, als er seinem hausmeister befahl, dem jungen dichter 50 pfund auszuzahlen, Nachdem er weiter gelesen, befahl er die summe zu verdoppeln, u. als d. hausmeister zoegerte, dieses freigebige gebot zu erfuellen, rief ihm d. ritter zu, er soUe 200 pf. auszahlen u. zwar auf der stelle; denn liesse ihm d. diener zeit, erst noch weiter zu lesen, so koennte er in versucbung gerathen, fuer ein sulches gedicht sein ganzes vermoegen hinzugeben.' *) See above p. 9. ') See above p. 10. ') See above p. 19. 8) Allibone : — 'which, both for forme and matter, appeare to be pareell of some following Booke of the F. Q, under the legend of Constance. Doubtless this was all that was written of the intended six additional Books of the Faerie Queene, which by some credulous persons are supposed to have been lost at sea, or to have perished by the fire at Kilcolman Castle in 1598.' — Todd: — 'which was soon after unfortunately lost by the disorder and abuse of his servant, whom he had sent before him into England.' — Fenton and Dryden are of AUibone's opinion. (Todd p. XLIY.) ») See below. 'o) gee below. 22 'The general end, therefore, of all the Booke is to fashion a gentleman or noble person in' vertuous and gentle discipline. ... In which I haue followed all the antique poets historicall; first Homere, who in the persons of Agamemnon and Ulysses hath ensampled a good gouernour and a vertuous man, the one in his Ilias, the other in his Odysseis; then Virgil, whose hke intention was to doe in the person of ^neas; after them ... I labour to pourtraict in Arthure, before he was king, the image of a braue Knight, perfected in the twelue priuate Morall Vertues, as Aristotle hath deuised; the which is the purpose of these first twelue bookes; which if I finde to be" well accepted, I may be perhaps encoraged to frame the other part of Polliticke Vertues in his person, after that hee came to be king.' From Chaucer') he drew largely, often literal imitations, though Chaucer painted persons, Spenser qualities. Still we see the influence of the Father of English poetry, which Spenser him- self willingly acknowledged, in every part of his writings. He was also well read in the old romances. The fundaments, therefore, of Spenser's epic building are the tales of King Arthur. The Fairy Queen Gloriaua, on the one hand the allegorical personification of true Glory, on the other hand, at the same time, very clearly referred to Queen Elizabeth, according to an established annual custom, held a magnificent feast, which continued twelve days, on each of which respectively twelve several com- plaints are presented before her. To redress the injuries which were the occasion of these several complaints, she despatches, with proper commissions, twelve different knights, each of whom, in the particular adventure allotted to him, proves an example of some particular virtue, as of Holiness, Temperance, Justice, Chastity, and has one complete book assigned to him, of which he is the hero. But besides these twelve knights, severally exemplifying twelve moral virtues, the Poet has constituted one principal knight or general hero, — Prince Arthur, — who represents Magnificence, the perfec- tion of all the rest. He, moreover, appears in every book, and at the end of his actions is to dis- cover and win Gloriana, or Glory. There is nothing, however, so striking as the relation in which the Fairy Queen stands to the two great Italian poets of the time, Ariosto and Tasso. Although Spenser borrowed very largely from the latter, to the extent of almost translating whole scenes, still there can be no doubt he owed more to the former ; for he was drawn towards the natural and fresh mind of Ariosto. It has been rightly remarked that Spenser drew literal imitations from Cliaucer, artificial fictions from Ariosto: that is, forms of expression may be found in abundance which are to be traced to the English poet, while such creations as Archimago and Duessa come from the Italian. But his design was, in several striking features, nobler and more arduous than that of the Italian poets. His deep seriousness is thoroughly unlike the mocking tone of the Orlando Furioso; he rose still higher than the Jerusalem Delivered in his earnest moral enthusiasm; and he aimed at something much beyond either of his masters, but unfortunately at something which marred the poetic effect of his work, when he framed it so that it should be really a series of ethical allegories. The First Book, by far the finest of all, both in idea and in execution, relates the Legend of the Red-Cross Knight, who is the type of Holiness^). He is the appointed champion of the per- ') See below, the notes. *) Spenser, in his Letter to Raleigh, says: 'Books I., II., and III. treat: The first of the Knight of the Red- crosse, in which I express Holynes: The seconde of Sir Guyon, in whom I sette forth Teinperaunce. The third of Brito- martis, a Lady Knight, in whom I picture Chastity. But because the beginning of the whole Worke seemeth abrupte and as depending upon other antecedents, it needs that ye know the occasion of these three knigths' seuerall Aduentures. For the methode of a poet historicall is not such, as of an historiographer. For an historiographer discourseth of affayres orderly as they were donne, accounting as well the times as the actions : but a poet thrusteth into the middest, even where it most 23 secuted Lady Una, the representative of Truth, the daughter of a king whose realm, described in obscure phrases, receives in one passage ') the name of Eden. In her service he penetrates into the labyrinth of Error; at last encountering Error herself, the Knight, with the aid of his heavenly ar- mour, overcomes and destroys her'-^). But, under the temptations of the enchanter Archimago, who is the Emblem of Hypocrisy, he is enticed away by the double-faced witch, false and frivolous, fair and foul — Duessa, or Falsehood is her name; and he, whom Error could not overcome, falls a victim to flattery and dissimulation^). The betrayed knight is plunged into severe suffering, and the unpro- tected lady is exposed to many dangers. At last, she meets with Prince Arthur^), who slays the Antichrist, the proud giant Orgoglio, who had captured him, and delivers the Knight from his dungeon. After this spiritual deliverance, he falls into the gloomiest state of despondency, into the 'Cave of Despair' s), and nearly ends his own life through consciousness of his failure and sinfulness. But Una saves him again, and carries him to the 'House of Mercy', where after due spiritual discipline, all remnants of pride, all earthly tendencies, all stains contracted by his contact with the false one, are washed or burnt away; and after a glimpse of a better world, he comes forth pure and chastened and restored to his spiritual health, wearing once more the heavenly armour. Thus prepared and equipped, he encounters the grim Dragon, at last destroys the last enemy, and triumphs gloriously. Thus has he overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil; and with his betrothment to Una the book ends 6) In the Second Book we have the Legend of Sir Guy on, illustrating the temptations and triumphs of Moral Purity, under the name of Temperance. The Legend of Britomart, or of Chastity^), is the theme of the Third Book, in which, besi- des the heroine, are introduced Belphoebe and Amoret, two of the most beautiful of those female characters whom the poet takes such pleasure in delineating. Next comes the Legend of Friendship, personified in the knights Cambel and Friamond. In it is the tale of Florimel, a version of an old tale of the romances ^) , embellished with an array of fine imagery, which is dwelt on with admiring dehght in one of the noblest odes of Collins. Yet this Fourth Book, and the two which follow, are generally allowed to be on the whole inferior to the first three. The falling ofl" is most perceptible when we pass to the concerneth him, and there recoursing to the things forepaste, and divining of things to come, maketh a pleasing analysis of all! The beginning therefore of my History, if it were to be told by a historiographer, should be the Twelfth Booke, which is the last'. ') See I, 7, 43. 2) By this Spenser wished to indicate the doubts and dangers which beset the soul of him who has just embra- ced the truth of the Gospel — the 'variations of Protestantism', in fact, and the risks of private judgement. When this danger has been safely passed , we find the Knight a prey to what may be called 'a Roman Catholic reaction'. (Cf. Todd p. XXI.) 3) 'The artifices of the Jesuits, which had met with so great success, and had already stopped the progress of the Reformation in most European countries, were felt in the form of underhand plots and deceits in England; and there can be no doubt that it is at these that Spenser points. Duessa is the Roman Church herself. She is described as dressed in scarlet, riding on the monster of the Apocalypse, which all reformed England regarded as the Rome of the Papacy. The guile of the magician misleads the hero, till he thinks that truth is false, and falsehood true. This is the guiding-line to all his subsequent troubles. He gives way to self-indulgence, falls into pride, and though he overcomes the Paynim Unbe- lief, he presently grows enervated through the false comrade who has taken Truth's place'. (Kitchin). *) In whom we may recognise that spiritual help which succours man in his worst straits, when he can no longer help himself. s) See Todd p. XLIX. *) The Red Cross Knight, St. George, is the pattern Englishman; he cannot be called by any one name; nor is Una more than an abstract quality ; but the Fairy Queen is Queen Elizabeth, as Spenser takes no small pains to let us know (see above); Duessa is Mary Queen of Scots, as we learn from a later Book; by the giant Orgoglio is probably intended Philip II, king of Spain; Prince Arthur is Lord Leicester. (Todd. Holinshed). '') This part of the poem abounds, beyond all the rest, in exquisite painting of picturesque landscapes; in soma of which, however, imitation of Tasso is obvious. (Spalding). 8) See aboTe. 24 — Fifth Book, containing the Legend of Sir Artegal, who is the emblem of Justice. This story, indeed, is told, not only with a strength of moral sentiment unsurpassed elsewhere by the poet, but also with some of his most striking exhibitions of personification: the interest however, is weak- ened by the constant anxiety to bring out that subordinate signification, in which the narrative was intended to celebrate the government of Spenser's patron Lord Grey in Ireland '). The Sixth Book, the Legend of Sir Calidore, or of Courtesy, is apt to dissatify us through its want of unity; although some of the scenes and figures are inspired with the poet's warmest glow of fancy ^). About the two Cantos of Mutabilitie and the fragment of another (VIII) Canto see above p. 19. — D. In what manner the Fairy Queen has been Received by the pubHc. When the Fairy Queen first appeared, the whole of England seems to have been moved by it. No such poet had arisen in this country for nearly two hundred years. Since Chaucer and the author of Piers Ploughman ^) there had been no great poem. The fifteenth century had been almost a blank, the darkest period of the English literary annals; the earlier part of the sixteenth had been occupied with great theological questions, which had engrossed men's mind, till the long reign of Elizabeth*) gave stability to the Reformation in England, and the first fervour of the Church writers subsided. The taste of society was favourable to a work which, with a strong theological element in it, still dealt with feats of chivalry and heroes of romance. The mind of the English was filled with a sense of poetry yet unexpressed. Great deeds, great discoveries had roused the spirit of the nation. The people were proud of their Queen and their freedom ; the new aristocracy was just feeling its strength; it was a time of most varied life. Nothing was wanted but a great poem to express the universal desire; and Spenser first and then Shakspeare appeared, to satisfy the national instinct. Drayton'), Fletcher^), Milton'), and perhaps Bunyan''), shew in their writings the effect of Spenser's genius. After the Restoration his influence cannot be so easily traced. Between 1650 and 1750 there are but few notices of him, and very few editions of his works"). ») See above p. 8. 13. 2) See Spalding. 3) Langland. ^) See above. '■') Michael Drayton 1563 — 1631. 6) John Fletcher 1576-1625. •) John Milton 1608-1674. s) John Buiiyan 1628—1688. ») Dryden (Preface to the trans, of Juvenal, 1693 foi.): '[In Fpic Poetry] the English have only to boast of Spen- ser and Milton, who neither of them wanted either genius or learning to have been perfect poets, and yet both of them are liable to many censures. For there is no uniformity in the design of Spenser; he aims at the accomplishment of no one action; he raises up a hero for every one of his adventures, and endows each of them with some particular moral vir- tue, which renders them all equal, without subordination or preference. Every one is most valiant in his own legend; only we must do him that justice to observe that magnanimity, which is the character of Prince Arthur, shines throughout the whole poem, and succours the rest, when they are in distress. The original of every knight was then living in the court of Queen Elizabeth ; and he attributed to each of them that virtue which he thought was most conspicuous in them — an inge- nious piece of flattery, though it turned not much to his account. Had he lived to finish the poem, in the six remaining legends, it had certainly been more of a piece, but could not have been perfect, because the model was not true. But Prince Arthur, or his chief patron, Sir Philip Sidney, whom he intended to make happy by the marriage of his Gloriana, dying before him, deprived the poet both of means and spirit to accomplish his design. For the rest, his obsolete language, and the ill choice of his stanza are faults but of the second magnitude; for, notwithstanding the first, he is still intelligible, at least after a little practise; and for the last, he is the more to be admired that, labouring under such a difficulty, his verses are so numerous, so various, and so harmonious that only Virgil , whom he •professedly imitated , has surpassed him among the Romans, and only Mr. Waller among the English'. (AUibone.) Dryden (Preface to his Fables). See also Edin. Rev., XXXVI, 7: 'Milton has acknowledged to me that Spenser ■was his original'. (AUibone.) Sir William Temple (Essay on Poetry: Miscellanea, 1689—90, 2 Pts. 8vo): -The religion of the Gentiles had — 25 After 1750 there was a revived interest in his poetry; and between 1751 and 1758 no fewer than four different editions appeared. The classics of the period treated Spenser as an ancient to be handled according to the then popular principles of classical criticism. They tried him by their been woven into the contexture of all the ancient poetry with an agreeable mixture, which made the modem affect to give that of Christianity a place also in their poems; but the true religion was not found to become fictitious so well as the false one had done, and all their attempts of this kind had seemed rather to debase religion than heighten poetry, Spenser endeavoured to supply this with morality, and make instruction, instead of story, the subject of an epic poem. His execu- tion was excellent, and his flights of fancy rery noble and high. But his design was poor; and his moral lay so bare that it lost the effect. It is true, the pill was gilded, but so thin that the colour and the taste were easily discovered', (Allibone.) Thomas Rymer: on Frag., etc,: 'Spenser may be reckoned the first of our heroic poets. He had a large spirit, a sharp judgment, and a genious for heroic poetry, perhaps above any that ever wrote since Virgil; but our misfortune is, he wanted a true idea, and lost himself by following an unfaithful guide. Though besides Homer and Virgil he had read Tasso, yet he rather suffered himself to be misled by Ariosto, with whom blindly rambling on marvels and adventures, he makes no conscience of probability ; all is fanciful and chimerical, without any uniformity, or without any foundation in truth : in a word, his poem is perfect Fairy land'. (Allibone.) — David Hume: Hist, of Eng., Reign of Elizabeth, Appendix: 'Unhappily for literature, at least, for the learned of this age, the queen's vanity lay more in shining by her own learning than in encouraging men of genius by her liberality. Spenser himself, the first English writer of his age, was long neglected, and after the death of Sir Philip Sidney, his patron was allowed to die almost for want. This poet contains great beauties, a sweet and harmonious versification, easy elocution, a fine imagination: yet does the perusal of his work become so tedious, that one never finishes it from the mere pleasure which it affords. It soon becomes a kind of task reading; and it requires some effort and resolution to carry us to the end of his long performance. This effect, of which every one is conscious, is usually ascribed to the change of manners. But manners have more changed since Homer's age, and yet that poet remains still the favourite of every reader of taste and judgment. Homer copied true natural manners, which, however rough or uncultivated, will always form an agreeable and interesting picture. But the pencil of the English poet was employed in drawing the affectations and conceits and fopperies of chivalry, which appear ridiculous as soon as they lose the recommendation of the mode. The tediousness of continued allegory, and that too seldom striking and ingenuous, has also contributed to render the Fairy Queen peculiarly tiresome; not to mention the too great frequency of its descriptions , and the languor of its stanza. Upon the whole, Spenser main- tains his place upon the shelves among our English classics; but he is seldom seen on the table; and there is scarcely any one, if he dares to be ingenuous, but will confess that, notwithstanding all the merit of the poet, he affords an enter- tainment with which the palate is soon satiated. Several writers of late have amused themselves in copying the style of Spenser; and no imitation has been so indifferent as not to bear a great resemblance to the original. His manner is so peculiar that it is almost impossible not to transfer some of it into the copy'. (Allibone). — Dr. Johnson: Rambler, No. 121, May 14, 1751: 'To imitate the fictions and sentiments of Spenser can incur no reproach; for allegory is perhaps one of the most pleasing vehicles of instruction. But I am very far from extending the same respect to his diction as his stanza. His style was in his own time allowed to be vicious, so darkened with old words and peculiarities of phrase, and so remote from common use, that Jonson boldly pronounces him to have written no lan- guage. [But did not Jonson refer to the Shepheardes Calendar?] His stanza is at once difficult and unpleasing; tiresome to the ear by its uniformity, and to the attention by its length. It was at first formed in imitation of the Italian poets, with- out due regard to the genius of our language'. (Allibone,) — Viscount de Chateaubriand: Sketches of Eng. Lit. I, 246 sq, : 'The poetry of Spenser is remarkable for brilliant imagination, fertile invention, and flowing rhythm; yet, with all these recommendations, it is cold and tedious. To the English reader the 'Faerie Queene' presents the charm of antiquated style, which never fails to please us in our own lan- guage, but which we cannot appreciate in a foreign tongue . . . Spenser is the author of a sort of essay on the manners and antiquities of Ireland (vide Nr. 11, supra,) which I prefer to his Faerie Queene', (Allibone), — Ellis : Specimens of Eng. Poet. : 'It is scarcely possible to accompany Spenser's allegorical heroes to the end of their excursions. They want flesh and blood, — a want for which nothing can compensate. The personification of ab- stract ideas furnishes the most brilliant images for poetry ; but these meteor forms, which startle and delight us, when our senses are flurried by passion, must not be submitted to our cool and deliberate examination', (Allibone). — Lord Macaulay: Edin. Rev., Dec. 1831, 451 — 2: The Pilgrim's Progress; repub. in his Crit. and Histor. Essays: 'Even Spenser himself, though assuredly one of the greatest poets that ever lived, could not succeed in the attempt to make allegory interesting. It was in vain that he lavished the riches of his mind on the House of Pride and the House of Tem- perance. One unpardonable fault, the fault of tediousness, pervades the whole of the Fairy Queen. We become sick of cardinal virtues and deadly sins, and long for the society of plain men and women. Of the persons who read the first canto, not one in ten reaches the end of the first book, and not one in a hundred perseveres to the end of the poem. Very few and very weary are those who are in at the death of the Blatant Beast, If the last six books, which are said to have been destroyed in Ireland, had been preserved, we doubt whether any heart less stout than that of a commentator would have held out to the end'. (Allibone). — Addison writes: 'Old Spenser next, warm'd with poetic rage. Where'er the poet's fancy led, pursued, In ancient times amus'd a barb'rous age; Thro' pathless fields and unfrequented floods. An age, that yet uncultivate and rude. To dens of dragons and enchanted woods. 26 own standard, and, as a classic, he was sorely deficient. At last some persons appeared as his cham- pions, and pointed out to an astonished age that the 'Gothick' poet could not be judged upon class- But now the mystic tale, that pleas'd of yore, Of arms and palfries, hattles, fields, and fights. Can charm an understanding age no more ; And damsels in distress, and courteous knights; The long-span allegories fulsome grow, But when we look too near, the shades decay, While the dull moral lyes too plain below. And all the pleasing landscapes fade away'. We view well pleased, at distance, all the sights. One these lines Pope comments: 'The character he gives of Spenser is false too, [as well as that of Chaucer;] and I have heard him say that he never read Spenser till fifteen years after he wrote it*. — (Spence's Anecdotes, sect. I, 1728 — 30). Let us hear Pope's own opinion of Spenser : 'After reading a Canto of Spenser two or three days ago to an old lady between seventy and eighty years of age, she said that I had been showing her a gallery of pictures. I don't know how it is, but she said very right : there is some- thing in Spenser that pleases one as strongly in one's old age as it dit in one's youth. I read the Faerie Queene, when I was about twelve, with infinite delight; and I think it gave me as much when I read it over about a year or two ago'. Ibid. 1743—44, See, also, Pope's Works, Bewles's ed., 11. '289. On another occasion he remarked: 'Spenser has ever been a favourite poet to me : he is like a mistress whose faults we see, but love her with them air. (Allibone). — Ashestiel MS. : Lockhart's Life of Scott, ch. I : 'But Spenser', Scott says, 'I could have read forever. Too young to trouble myself about the allegory, I considered all the knights and ladies and dragons and giants in their outward and exoteric sense; and God only knows how delighted I was to find myself in such society. As I had always a wonderful facility in retaining in my memory whatever verses pleased me, the quantity of Spenser's stanzas which I could repeat was really marvellous'. Later in life Scott did not hesitate to say: 'No author, perhaps, ever possessed and combined in so brilliant a degree the requisite qualities of a poet. Learned, according to the learning of his times, his erudition never appears to load or incumber his powers of imagination ; but even the fictions of the classics, worn out as they are by every pedant, become fresh and captivating themes when adopted by his fancy and accommodated to his plan. If that plan has now become to the reader of riper years somewhat tedious and involved, it must be allowed, on the other hand, that, from Cowley downwards, every youth of imagination has been enchanted with the splendid legends of the Faery Queen'. (Edin. Rev., Oct. 1803, 203: Todd's Edition of Spenser'.) — Southey was one of these 'youths': 'No young lady of the present generation falls to a new novel of Sir Walter Scott's with keener relish than I did that morning to the Faery Queen. . . The delicious landscapes which he luxuriates in describing brought every thing before my eyes. I could fancy such scenes as his lakes and forests, gardens and fountains, presented; and I felt, though I did not understand, the truth and purity of his feelings, and that love of the beautiful and the good which pervades his poetry'. (Recollections: Life and Corresp. of Southey. ch. XI. See, also, Malory, Sir Thomas.) — In his latfr years he writes: 'He is the great master of English versification, — incomparably the greatest master in our language. Without being insensible to the defects of the Fairy Queen, I am never weary of reading it'. (Southey to Landor, .Ian. 11, 1811: Southey's Life and Corresp., ch. XVI.) — See, also. Lander's Imaginary Conversations. Again: 'Do you love Spenser? I have him in my heart of hearts.' (To C. H. Townshend, Feb. 10, 1816: ibid., ch. XX.) — Southey is said to have read the Faery Queene through about thirty times. It will be observed that the tide is turning strongly in Spenser's favour: — we shall not oppose it: 'I have finished the 'Faerie Queene'. I never parted from a long poem with so much regret. He is a poet of a most musical ear, — of a tender heart, — of a peculiarly soft, rich, fertile and flowery fancy. His verse always flows with ease and nature, most abundantly and sweetly; his diffusion is not only pardonable, but agreeable. Grandeur and energy are not his characteristic qualities, He seems to me a most genuine poet, and to be justly placed after Shakspeare and Milton, and above all other English poets ... Sir Philip Sidney, Sir Walter Raleigh, Bacon, Shakspeare, and Spenser! What a glorious reign!' — (Sir James Mackintosh: Diary, April 6, 1812; see, also, April 2, 3, and 4: Life, ch. III.) — Campbell: Specimens of Brit. Poet: 'His command of imagery is wide, easy, and luxuriant. He threw the soul of harmony into our verse, and made it more warmly, tenderly, and magnificently descriptive than it ever was before, or, with a few exceptions, than it has ever been since. It must certainly be owned that in description he exhibits nothing of the brief strokes and robust power which characterize the very greatest poets; but we shall nowhere find more airy and expansive images of visionary things, a sweeter tone of sentiment, or finer flush in the colours of language, than in this Rubens of English poetry. His fancy teems exuberantly in minuteness of circumstance, like a fertile soil sending bloom and verdure through the utmost extremities of the foliage which it nourishes'. Hallam: Lit, Hi.st, of Europe, 4th. ed., 1854, H. 138—9, 142. And see Index: 'His versification is in many pass- 27 ical principles. And so the attack upon him for his inaccurate use of allegories, of mythologies, of metaphors, for his 'strong writing', which offended the taste of a fastidious and dissolute age, came ages beautifully harmonious; but he has frequently permitted himself, whether for the sake of variety or from some other cause, to baulk the ear in the conclusion of a stanza. The inferiority of the last three books to the former is surely very manifest. His muse gives gradual signs of weariness; the imagery becomes less vivid, the vein of poetical description less rich, the digressions more frequent and verbose . . . But we must not fear to assert, with the best judges of this anB of former ages, that Spenser is still the third name in the poetical literature of our country, and that he has not been sur- passed, except by Dante, in any other'. (Allibone). Horace Walpole to William Roscoe, April 4, 1795: Letters, ed. 1861, IX. 454. See, also, II, 257: 'To our tongue the sonnet is mortal, and the parent of insipidity. The imitation in some degree of it was extremely noxious to a true poet, our Spenser; and he was the more injudicious by lengthening his stanza in a language so barren of rhymes as ours, and in which several words whose terminations are of similar sounds are so rugged, uncouth, and unmusical. The consequence was, that many lines which he forced into the service to complete the quota of his stanza are unmeaning, or silly, or tending to weaken the thought he would express'. (Allibone). Coleridge : Remains I. 93. : 'Spenser's descriptions are not in the true sense of the word picturesque , but are composed of a wondrous series of images, as in our dreams. (Allibone). Headley remarks that 'Spenser's wori.s are an inexhaustible mine of the richest materials, forming in fact the very bullion of our language; and it is to be lamented that they are so rarely explored for present use'. (Select Beauties of Anc. Eng. Poets.) 'Lord Chatham, according to Mrs. A. Pitt, was always reading Spenser .... She said [to Mr. Grattan] he had never read but one book, — • The Fairy Queen. . . . 'He who knows Spenser', says Burke, 'has a good hold on the English tongue'. [Fox] liked a book of Spenser exceedingly, before something else'. (Recollec. by Samuel Rogers, 1859, 66, 181. — Allibone.) The religious character of the Faerie Queene has been referred to. We revert to the subject: 'The claim of Spenser to be considered as a sacred poet does by no means rest upon his hymns alone. . . . But whoever will atten- tively consider the Fairy Queen itself will find that it is, almost throughout, such as might have been expected from the author of those truly sacred hymns. It is a continual, deliberate endeavour to enlist the restless intellect and chivalrous feelings of an inquiring and romantic age on the side of goodness and faith, of purity and justice. . . . Spenser, then, was essentially a sacred poet ; but the delicacy and insinuating gentleness of his disposition were better fitted to the veiled than the direct mode of instruction. . . To Spenser, therefore, upon the whole, the English reader must revert as being pre-eminently the sacred poet of his country'. (Keble: Lon. Quar. Rev., 225, 228, 231: Sacred Poetry. — Allibone). Henry More: 'You tuned my ears to the melody of Spenser's Rhymes, a poet remarkable as well for divine moral- ity as fancy". (Allibone). Milton: "Our sage and serious Spenser, whom I dare be known to think a better teacher than Scotus or Aquinas'. (Allibone). Fletcher: 'To lackey him is all my pride's aspiring'. (Allibone). Quarles : 'Here's that creates a poet'. (Allibone). Ben Johnson: Masque of Queens: 'We will first honour her with a home-born testimony from the grave and diligent Spenser'. (Allibone). William Browne: Britannia's Pastoralls, 1613 — 15, 2 Pts. fol. 'Divinest Spenser, heav'u-bred, happy muse! Would any power into my braine infuse Thy worth, or all that poets had before, I could not praise till thou deserv'st no more.' Hazlitt: Lects. on the Eng. Poets, Lects. II. and III., (and see Appendix II., Milton's Eve.): 'The finest things in Spenser are, the character of Una, in the first Book; the Cave of Mammon, and the Cave of Despair; the account of Memory, of whom it is said, among other things, 'The wars he well remember'd of King Nine,- Of old Assarachus and Inachus dirine;' the description of Belphcebe; the story of Florimel and the Witch's Son; the Gardens of Adonis, and the Bower of Bliss; the Mask of Cupid; and Colin Clout's Vision, in the last Book. But some people will say that all this may be very fine, but that they cannot understand it on account of the allegory. They are afraid of (he allegory, as if they thought it would bite them ; they look at it as a child looks at a painted dragon, and think it will strangle them in its shining folds. This is very idle. If they do not meddle with the allegory, the allegory will not meddle with them. Without minding it at all , the whole is as plain as a pike-staff. It might as well be pretended that we cannot see Poussin's pictures for tlie allegory, as that the allegory prevents us from understanding Spenser. . . . The language of Spenser is full and copious to overflowing ; it is less pure and idiomatic than Chaucer's , and is enriched and adorned with phrases borrowed from the different languages of Europe, both ancient and modern. . . His versification is at once the most smooth and the most sounding in the language . . . Spenser is the most harmonious of our stanza-writers, as Dryden is the most sounding and varied of our rhymists'. Hallam : Lit. Hist, of Europe, 4 th. ed., 1854, II, 136: 'It has been justly observed by a living writer of the most ardent and enthusiastic genius, whose eloquence is as the rush of mighty waters . . . that no poet has ever had a more exquisite sense of the beautiful than Spenser' etc. (Allibone). 4* 28 — - at last to an end, — and Spenser returned to comparative oblivion. His position was assured, but his works have had little attention paid to them during the last century. Of late years there have been symptoms of a revived interest '). Part m. Spenser's Language, especially as we have it in the Cantos of tlie Fairy ^neen contained in tlie TanchnitK Collection Vol. CCCCC. > A. These Cantos Translated and Commented.'') Book I. Canto I. The patron of true Holinesse Foule Errour doth defeate; Hypocrisie, him to entrappe. Doth to his home entreate. A Gentle knight was pricking on the plaine, Ycladd in mightie arms and silver shielde, Wherein old dints of deepe woundes did remaine, The cruel markes of many' a bloody fielde; Yet armes till that time did he never wield; His angry steede did chide his foming bitt, As much disdayning to the curbe to yield: Full iolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt, As one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fttt. Der schutzherr wahrer frommigkeit bekaempft die garstige siinde; die heuchelei empfftngt ihn in ihrem hause, um ihn in ihre fallen zu Terstricken. I. Ein edler ritter sprengte auf der ebene daher, ange- than mit maechtiger ruestung und einem silberschil- de, worin alte spuren tiefer streiche verblieben, die grausamen zeichen mancher blutigen schlacht; doch waffen fuehrte er bis zu jener zeit nimmer; sein mu- thiges streitross knirschte in sein schaeumendes ge- biss, als ob es grossen widerwillen empfaende, der kinnkette sich zu fuegen; ein gar herrlicher ritter schien er, und schoen sass er da, wie einer, der fuer ritterliche tuniiere und hitzige kaempfe ge- schmueckt ist. 1) Cf. Kitchin. *)Printing the words as they are to be found in the Tauchnitz Collection, we shall only cite the more essential variations between this edition and the two others lying before us, by Todd and Kitchin, 3) Cf. Todd, Kitchin, Jortin etc. I. V. 1. A gentle Knight; — 'The Red Cross Knight, by whom is meant reformed England, (see C. X. 61, where he is called 'St. George of merry England'), has just been 'equipped with the 'armour which Una brought (that is the armour of a Christian man, specified by St. Paul, V. [VIJ Ephes.)' as Spenser tells Sir W. Raleigh in his Letter. The armour though new to the Knight, is old as Christendom. Thus equipped and guided by truth, he goes forth to fight against error and temptation, and above all to combat that spirit of falsehood, concerning which the England of 1558 had learnt so much from Philip II of Spain and Alexander of Parma. The diplomatic lying which preceded the Armada contrasted with the simple truthfulness of the English and Dutch statesmen , and had taught Englishmen to couple the name of Spain with all that was false, as well as with all that was cruel'. (Kitchin.) 29 n. And on his brest a bloodie crosse he bore, The deare remembrance of his dying Lord, For whose sweet sake that glorious badge he wore, And dead, as living, ever him ador'd: Upon his shield the like was also scor'd, For soveraine hope, which in his helpe he had. Eight, faithfuU, true he was in deede and word; But of his cheere did seeme to solemne sad; Yet nothing did he dread, but ever was ydrad. Upon a great adventiire he was bond. That greatest Gloriana to him gave, (That greatest glorious Queene of Faery lond) To winne him worshippe, and her grace to have. Which of all earthly things he most did crave. And ever as he rode, his hart did eanie To prove his puissance in battell brave Upon his foe, and his new force to learne; Upon his foe, a dragon horrible and steame. A lovely ladie rode him faire beside Upon a lowly asse more white then snow; Yet she much whiter; but the same did hide Under a vele, that wimpled was full low; And over all a blacke stole she did throw, As one that inly moumd; so was she sad. Und auf seiner brust trug er ein blutiges kreuz, das theure andenken an scinen sterbenden Herm, um dessen sanftmuth willen er dies ruehmliche ab- zeichen trug, und den er, mochte er leben oder ster- ben, immer anbetete: auf seinem schilde war dasselbe ebenfalls eingeschnitten , zum zeichen des unum- schraenkten vertrauens, das er in seine hilfe setzte. Kechtschaffen , treu, wahr war er in that und wort; nur zeigte sein antlitz zu feierlichen emst; gleich- wohl fuerchtete er nichts, sondem ward stets ge- fuerchtet. ni. Zii einem grossen abenteuerj war er verpflichtet, das die erhabene Gloriana ihm aufgab, (jeue erha- benste, ruhmvolle koenigin des Feenlandes) darait er sich auszeichnung erringe und ihre gunst erhalte, nach der er von alien irdischen dingen am moisten verlangte. Und immer wenn er ritt, schmachtete sein herz danach, seine macht in glaenzender sclilacht zu erproben an seinem feinde und seine neue kraft zu erfahren an seinem feinde, einem schrecklichen und grausen drachen. IV. Fine holde dame ritt ihm stattlich zur seite auf einem eselein, weisser denn schnee; doch sie viel weisser; aber dieselbe war in einen schleier gehuellt, der ganz herabgelassen war; und ueber alles hatte sie ein schwarzes gewand geworfen, wie jemand, der in tiefer trauer ist; auch war sie emst und sass schwer- II. Various readings: In Kitchin : v. 1. bloudie. v. 4- no commas. v. 7. no commas. V. 4. And dead etc.; — The comma misses the sense, and the obvious allusion to Rev. I. 17. 18: 'Eytu ti/ii o TtowTO? >««* l'o';f«ro<; xnt o ^div y.al iytvo^mjv vtxQoq, v.al tSov t^ojv iif.u fit; rove; uloivai; xoiv aioJViOf, xnl ?/(o xnq yJ.flt; tor ■d-uvutov xal toil (fiiov. V. 6. For soveraine hope, which etc.; — 'the shield was 'scored' with a cross, as a sign of the 'sovereign hope' which he had in the help to be given him by our Lord's death for him'. (Kitchin.) V. 7. Right, faithfull, true; — 'edd. 1590, 1596, have no commas, so making 'right' an adv., and giving the meaning 'right faithfull and true'. The reading 'right, faithfull, true,' is unlike Spenser; he would scarcely usfe 'right' for 'righteous;' and 'right' as an adv. is common with him; as 'light courteous,' 'right jolly'. So he also uses 'full,' and 'full soon,' etc. This form of the adverb (as in st. 4. 1. 1, below) comes from the Old Engl, adverbial form which ends in e, 'faire', 'righte', the e being dropped in modern spelling. See Morris, E. E. Specimens, Grammat. Introd. p. LV. (Kitchin. — See below). V. 8. of his cheere, etc.; — 'in countenance and bearing seemed too solemnly grave'. (Kitchin.) V. 9. ydrad; — 'p. p. of to 'dread', as 'yclad' of to 'clothe', etc. Spenser has been blamed for coining forms to suit his rhymes. But this ts not so. He uses old, not new forms', (Kitchin. — See below.) III. Various readings : In Kitchin : v. 3. without parenthesis. v. 4. worship. v. 5. behind 'crave' a semicolon. V. 2. greatest Gloriana; — 'Queen Elizabeth. So in the Letter to Sir W. Raleigh we read, 'In that Faery Queene I mean Glory in my generall intention, but in my particular I conceive the most excellent and glorious person of our soveraine the Queene'. It was court fashion to address the Virgin Queen under such names as Gloriana, Oriana, Diana, etc. Spenser also calls her Belphoebe, and Britomart; Raleigh styled her his Cynthia'. (Kitchin). V. 9. his foe, a dragon; — 'first the Devil, father of lies, then the powers of Spain and Rome, as the earthly exponents of falsehood'. (Kitchin). IV. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 1 comma behind 'beside'. v. 2. comma behind 'snow'. v. 3. comma behind ♦whiter'. v. 4. comma behind 'low'. v. 6. colon behind 'mournd'. 30 And heavie sate upon her palfrey slow; Seemed in heart some hidden care she had; And by her in a line a milke-white lambe she lad. muethig auf ihrem langsamen thiere; es schien, dass sie im herzen irgend einen verborgenen kummer hatte ; und mit sich fuelirte sie ein milchweisses lamm an einer leine. V. So pure and innocent, as that same lambe, She was in life and every veituous lore, And by descent from royall lynage came Of ancient kinges and queenes, that had of yore Their scepters strecht from east to westeme shore, And all the world in their subjection held; Till that infernal feend with foule uprore Forwasted all their land, and them expeld; Whom to avenge, she had this knight from far compeld. So rein und unschuldig, wie dies lamm, war sie im leben und jedem tugendhaften werk, und war aus dem fuerstlichen stamme alter koenige und koenigin- nen entsprossen, deren scepter sich weiland vom osten bis zur westkueste erstreckte, mit dem sie die ganze welt in ihrer dienstbarkeit hielten ; bis jener hoellische feind mit scheusslichem aufruhr ihr ganzes land ver- wuestete und sie vertrieb. Um an ihm sich zu rae- chen, hatte sie diesen ritter von feniher entboten. VI. Behind her farre away a dwarfe did lag. That lasie seemd, in being ever last. Or wearied with bearing of her bag Of needments at his backe. Thus as they past, The day with cloudes was suddeine overcast, And angry Jove an hideous storme of raine Did poure into his lemans lap so fast. That everie wight to shrowd it did constrain; And this faire couple eke to shroud themselves were fain. Hinter ihr in welter feme bewegte sich langsam ein zwerg , welcher traege schien , da er immer der letzte war, oder ermuedet davon, dass er ilir gepaeck auf seinem ruecken trug. Waehrend sie so daher- zogen, verdunkelte sich die sonne ploetzlich durch wolken, und Jupiter in seinem zorn stroemte einen schrecklichen platzregen in seiner geliebten schooss mit solcher gewalt herab, dass jedermann genoethigt war, sich su schuetzen; und dies schoene paar war ebenfalls gezwungen, sich zu bergen. V. 7. colon behind 'slow'. v. 9. no hyphen between 'milke' and 'white'. IV. V. 1. A lovely ladie; — 'Una, or Truth. 'Truth is one, error manifold' must have been the thought of Spen- ser's mind when he fixed on this name. Church says, 'Mr. Llwyd (in his Irish Diet.) says that Una is a Danish proper name of women ; and that one of that name was daughter to a king of Denmark. He adds that Una is still a proper name in Ireland' — where probably Spenser first found it in use and thence adopted it'. (Kitchin.) rode him faire beside; — 'rode fairly beside him'. For this adverbial form 'faire', see above, note on st. 2. 1. 7. (Kitchin.) V. 3. Yet she much whiter; — Hallam, Lit. of Eur. II. v. § 88, objects to this as strained. The 'asse more white than snow' is extravagant; but there is an excuse for Una's whiteness, because Spenser wished to give the impression of the surpassing purity and spotlessness of Truth. (Kitchin.) V. 4. Under a vele, that wimpled, etc.; — 'Her veil was plaited in folds, falling so as to cover her face'. (Kitchin.) 'A veil plaited. But the veil and the wimple were two diflerent articles in the dress of a nun' (Upton in Todd.) V. 6. so was she sad; — 'so grave she was*. (Kitchin.) V. 8. Seemed; 'impers. for 'it seemed'. Spenser very commonly omits the pronoun before impers. verbs'. (Kitchin. Cf. below.) V. 9. lad; 'led'. 'An old form'. (Kitchin, — Cf. below.) V. Various readings : In Kitchin : v. 4. 'Kings and Queenes.' v. 7. 'infernall.' V. 3. from royall lynage; — an allusion to Isaiah 49, 23: "i^n'ip-^ra Orj-'ni'liril --"Xl^iSi Q-'Db?: l-^t^T : ""ip r^ai.'^-Nb "rax niii^ '"^^-^3 r??!^! i^D^^ T^^.'^ ^??.l "V''"'--"*^^ V"!}^ °'^?^ 'Spenser's meaning is that Una, Truth, or the Reformed Church, derives her lineage from the Church Universal, not from the Papacy*. (Kitchin). VI. v. 1. a dwarfe; — 'the dwarf is probably intended to represent common sense, or common prudence of humble life. 'Such an one as might be attendant on Truth - cautious, nay timid, yet not afraid - feeble, but faithful, and in all his dangers devoted to his Lady and his Lord'. (Blackwood's Mag., Nov. 1834 in Kitchin). V. 4 sqq: Cf. Vergil, Georg. II. 325 sqq: Tum pater omnipotens fecundis imbribus Aether Coniugis in gremium laetae descendit, et omnes Magnus alit, magno commixtus corpore, fetus. Lucretius, de Rerum Natura I, 251 sq: Postremo pereunt imbres, ubi eos pater Aether In gremium matris Terrai praecipitavit. V. 9: Todd : ♦ — were fain — glad. Church'. 31 vn. Enforst to seeke some covert nigh at hand, A shadie grove not farr away they spide, That promist ayde the tempest to withstand; Whose loftie trees, yclad with sommers pride Did spred so broad, that heavens light did hide, Not perceable with power of any starr; And all within were pathes and alleles wide, With footing wome, and leading inward farr: Paire harbour that them seems; so in they entred ar. Gezwungen, irgend einen zufluchtsort zu suchen, der nahe bei der hand war, erspaehten sie einen schatti- gen hain in nicht weiter feme, welch er hilfe ver- sprach, dem sturm zu widerstehen; denn seine statt- lichen baeume, mit des sommers schmuck bekleidet, breiteten ihre aeste so v>eit aus, dass des himmels licht sich verbarg und keines sternes strahl hin- durchzudringen vermochte; und ganz im innem waren fusspfade und breite laubgaenge, von fussspuren be- treten und weit nach innen fuehrend. Ein schoener zufluchtsort scheint ihnen das zu sein, und so treten sie ein. vm. And foorth they passe, with pleasure forward led, loying to heare the birdes sweete harmony. Which therein shrouded from the tempest dred, Seemd in their song to scome the cruell sky. Much can they praise the trees so straight and hy: The sayling pine, the cedar proud and tall; The vine-propp elme, the poplar never dry; The builder oake, sole king of forrests all; The aspine good for staves, the cypresse funerall; Und lustig setzen sie ihren weg fort, an der voe- gel suessen harmonien sich erfreuend, welche, vor dem schrecklichen sturm geborgen, mit ihrem gesange das grause wetter zu schmaehen schienen. Laut prei- sen sie die baeume, so grade und hoch: die segelnde fichte, die stolze und schlanke ceder; die wein-stuet- zende ulme, die nimmer trockne pappel ; die bauende eiche, die alleiniger koenig aller waelder ist, die zu staeben geeignete espe, die die graeber ziereude cypresse ; VII. Various readings: v. 3. Kitchin has a colon. v. 4. Kitchin has no comma behind 'trees'. V. 6. 8. 9. Kitchin has 'starre*, 'farre', 'arre', and behind 'starre' a colon. V. 2. A shadie grove; — 'the wood of Error, which is at first enchanting, but soon leads those astray who wander in it. By it Spenser shadows forth the dangers surrounding the mind that escapes from the bondage of Koman authority, and thinks for itself; and also the ultimate triumph of the man who, with help of God's armour, tracks Error to its den, and slays it there'. (Kitchin). V. 5. that heavens light did hide; — So Ariosto, Orl. Fur. I, 37: 'E la foglia coi rami in modo e mista, Che '1 Sol non v'entra, non che minor vista*. V. 6. Not perceable with power of any starr; — 'Warton notices here that stars were supposed to have a malign influence on trees. But Spenser only wishes to convey an impression of great closeness and gloom in the grove'. (Kitchin). Cp. Statius Theb. X. 85 sq: ' — — — nulli penetrabilis astro Lucus iners — — — — — — — '. VIII, Various readings: v. 2. Kitchin has J instead of I. Kitchin has a comma at the end of the four last lines, V. 3. Todd: 'the rein', and a comma before these words. v. 7. Kitchin has 'vine prop'. V. 5. Todd; 'Much can they praise — The reader will find this expression very often, Much can they praise i. e. Much they praised. Upton'. (Cf. below.) Kitchin : = 'much they began to praise'. Spenser sometimes writes 'can' for 'gan'. So Church quotes Chaucer : 'Yet half for drede lean my visage hide'. Or perhaps 'can' is used as an auxiliary verb = do: then 'can praise' will = do praise. This description of trees is expanded from Chaucer's Assembly of Foules, 176. It has been objected to with some justice as not true to nature, and laboured, as so many different kinds of trees could not have grown together in a thick wood. But the passage suits well the general conception, as it causes a feeling of bewilderment of details, leading us on to the 'cave of Error', (Kitchin). V. 6. The sayling pine; — 'the pine whence sailing ships are made'. Chaucer, Assembly, 179, 'the saylynge firre'. The Latin poets use pinus 'per am'iy.f>o/ri%^ for ship, as — Hor. Epod. 16, 57 sq: 'Non hue Argoo contendit remige pinus, Neque inpudiea Colchis intulit pedem'. the cedar proud aud tall; — Ezekiel 31, 3: nasi b3t73 ^IJ^'m V\iy ns"> "pSaVa T^N ITCN rMTi 32 IX. The laurell, meed of mightie conquerours And poets sage; the firre that weepeth still; The willow, wome of forlome paramours; The eugh, obedient to the benders will; The birch for shaffces, the sallow for the mill; The mirrhe sweete-bleeding in the bitter wound; The warlike beech, the ash for nothing ill; The fruitful olive, and the platane round; The carver holme, the maple, seldom inward sound. Den lorbeerbaum, den preis maechtiger eroberer xmd weiser dichter; die immer weinende tanne; die von verlassenen liebhabem getragene weide; den eibenbaum, des beugers willen gehorsam; die zu wurfspiessen brauchbare birke; die fuet die muehle geeignete saalweide; die in die bittere wunde suess blutende myrrhe; die kriegerische buche, die fuer nichts untaugliche esche; den fruchtreichen oelbaum, und die runde platane; die zum schnitzen geeignete steineiche, den ahom, der selten innen gesund ist. and Ez. 31, 10: *• ^f^?^? 'i^sb □'I'l n-^nin^ V^'biJ iri'n?32r -jn^i n72ip2 nri^.j "n^p^ i^: m.ri.': ^:^^? 'iisn ob 15b Isaiah 2, 13: : imit "'iiVN-bs by-i a-^Nbsm n^a'-in TiinVti "'T^N-b3 b5>i Chaucer, Complaynte of a Loveres Lyfe, 67 : 'the cedres high'. (Kitchin). V. 7. the vine-propp elme; 'i. e. the elm that props up and supports the vine'. (Upton in Todd.) Kitchin: the elm in ancient Italy was largely used to train up the vine. So Chaucer, Assembly, 177, has 'the peler elme'. Ovid. Met, 10, 100: 'Pampineae vites, et amictae vitibus ulmi'. the poplar never dry; 'from its flourishing in damp spots, on river banks, etc' (Kitchin), V. 8. the builder oake; — 'Chaucer, Assembly, 176, hat the same epithet'. (Kitchin). V. 9. the cypresse funerall, Chaucer, Assembly, 179, 'The cipresse deth to pleyne'. Sir P. Sidney in his Arcadia has 'Cypress branches; wherewith in old time they were wont to dress graves'. There was a tradition that the Cross was made of cypress-wood. See the Squyre of Lowe Degree (quoted by Warton on Spenser; I. 139): 'Cypresse the first tre that Jesu chase (chose)'. Cp. also : Pliny, Nat. Hist. 16, 60 : 'Cupressus advena, et difficillime nascentium fuit .... Natu morosa, fructu super- vacua, baccis torva, folio amara, odore violenta, ac ne umbra quidem gratiosa, materie rara, ut paene fruticosi generis, Diti sacra, et ideo funebri signo ad domos posita'. Seneca, (Ed. 530 sqq: 'Cr. Est procul ab urbe lucus ilicibus niger, Dircea circa vallis irriguae loca. Cupressus altis exserens silvis caput Virente semper alligat trunco nemus; etc' Lucan. Ill, 440 sqq: 'Procumbunt orni, nodosa inpellitur ilex, Silvaque Dodones, et fluctibus aptior alnus, Et non plebeios luctus testata cupressus: Tunc primum posuere comas'. Claudian. De Raptu Proserp. 107 sqq: 'Apta fretis abies, bellis accommoda cornus, Quercus amica Jovi, tumulos tectura cupressus. Ilex plena favis, venturi praescia laurus: Fluctuat hie denso crispata cacumine buxus. Hie ederae serpunt, hie pampinus induit ulmos'. Statius, Theb. VI, 96 sqq: « — Aderat miserabile luco Taxus. et infandos belli potura cruores Excidium. Fugere ferae, nidosque tepentes Fraxinus, atque situ non expugnabile robur. Absiliunt (metus urget) aves. Cadit ardua fagus: Hinc audax abies, et odoro vulnere pinus Chaoniumque nemus, brumaeque illaesa cupressus, Scinditur, acclinant intonsa cacumina terrae Procumbunt piceae, flammis alimenta supremis, Alnus amica fretis, nee inhospita vitibus ulmus'. Ornique, iliceaeque trabes, metuendaque succo IX. Various readings : In Kitchin v. 6 : 'sweete bleeding'. V. 2. the firre that weepeth still; — 'distils resin' (Kitchin). V. 3. the willow, wome of forlorne paramours; — 'the badge of deserted lovers. See Percy's Reliques, I, 156, and John Heywood's Song of the Green Willow : 'All a green willow, willow. That one who most kind love on me should bestow. All a green willow is my garland. Most unkind unkindness to me she doth show. Alas! by what means may I make ye to know For all a green willow is my garland'. The unkindness for kindness that to me doth grow? So too Shakespeare, in Othello, puts this refrain into Desdemona's song. Beaumont and Fletcher, The Night Walker, Act. I,: 33 X. Led with delight, they thus beguile the way, Untill the blustring storme is overblowne; When, weening to retume, whence they did stray. They cannot finde that path, which first was showne. But wander too and fro in waies unknowne, Furthest from end then, when they neerest weene, That makes them doubt their wits be not their owne. So many paths, so many turnings scene. That which of them to take in diverse doubt they been. XI. At last resolving forward still to fare, Till that some end they finde, or in or out. That path they take, that beaten seemd most bare, And like to lead the labyrinth about; Which when by tract they hunted had throughout, At length it brought them to a hollowe cave Amid the thickest woods. The champion stout Eftsoones dismounted from his courser brave. And to the dwarfe awhile his needlesse spere he gave. Von wonne geleitet, betruegen sie in dieser weise den weg, bis der brausende sturm ausgetobt hat. Als sie, in der hoffnung, dahin zurueckzukehren, von wo aus sie sich verin-tea, jenen pfad nicht finden koen- nen, welcher ihnen zuerst erschienen war, sondem hin und her wandern in unbekannten wegen, dann gerade am weitesten vom ziele entfemt, wenn sie sich am naechsten waehnen: da ueberfaellt sie die furcht, sie seien nicht mehr bei verstande. So viele pfade, so viele windungen sehen sie, dass sie in man- cherlei zweifel sind , welche von ihnen sie einschla- gen sollen. Endlich beschliessen sie, immer vorwaerts zu Ziehen, bis sie irgend ein ende faenden, innerhalb oder aus- serhalb, und schlagen jenen pfad ein, der am moisten kahl getreten schien und sie scheinbar aus dem irr- garten hinausfuehrte ; als sie ihn allmahlig in seiner ganzen laenge durcheilt hatten, brachte er sie schliess- lich zu einer tiefen grube mitten im dichtesten walde. Der waclvre held stieg sogleich von seinem edlen renner hinab und gab dem zwerg einstweilen seine nutzlose lanze. XII. 'Be well aware,' quoth then that ladie milde, 'Least suddaine mischiefe ye too rash provoke: The danger hid, the place unknowne and wilde, Breedes dreadfull doubts: oft fire is without smoke, And perill without show; therefore your stroke. Sir Knight, with-hold, till further tryall made.' 'Ah, Ladie,' sayd he, 'shame were to revoke The forward footing for an hidden shade: Vertue gives her selfe light trough darknesse for to wade.' 'Seid wohl auf der hut,' sagte da die dame mild, 'dass ihr nicht ploetzliches unheil zu tollkuehn her- ausfordert: Die verborgene gefahr, der unbekannte und wilde ort erzeugt schrecklicho besorgnisse: oft ist feuer ohne ranch und gefahr ohne sichtbares an- zeichen; darum lasst ab von eurem unternehmen, Herr Ritter, bis fernere untersuchung angestellt ist'. 'Ach, Dame,' sagte er, 'schande waere es, den kecken schritt zurueckzuhalten wegen eines verborgenen schattens: tugend giebt selbst licht, um durch fin- sterniss zu dringen.' 'Here comes poor Frank; — We see your willow, and are sorry for't*. (Kitchin). V. 4. The eugh obedient to the benders will; — 'referring to the bows made of yew. Chaucer has it 'the sheter (shooter) ewe'. (Kitchin.) \. 5, The sallow for the mill; — Ovid, Met. 10. 96 has 'Amnicolaeque simul salices, et aquatica lotos etc.' V. 6. The mirrhe etc.; — 'the myrrh has a bitter taste, but the exudation from its bark is sweet of smell. Chaucer, Complaynte of a Loveres Lyfe, 66 : 'The myrre also that wepeth ever of kynde'. (Kitchin). V. 7. The warlike beech; — 'suitable for warlike arms, or because the war-chariots of the ancients were made of it'. (Kitchin.) V, 9. The carver holme; — 'good for carving. Chaucer, Assembly, 178, has 'holme to whippes lasshe'. (Kit.). Various readings : In Kitchin v. 4 : 'find'. v. 5 : 'wayes'. Various readings: In Kitchin: v, 6. 'hollow'. v. 2. or in or out; — 'either on the inside or the outside of the maze'. (Kitchin). V. 4. like to lead etc.; — 'likely to lead them out of the labyrinth'. (Kitchin). Various readings : In Kitchin : v. 6. 'triall' ; no inverted commas, V. 7. 8. 'It would be shame (shameful) to recall our forward movement for (fear of) a concealed shadow of evil'. Here again Spenser uses the impersonal verb without the neut, pron. ; — shame were = 'it were shame'. (Kitchin. — See below.) 5 X. XI. XII. 34 XIII. Tea, but,' quoth she; 'the perill of this place 1 better wot then you: Though nowe too late To wish you backe returne with foule disgrace, Yet wisedome warnes, whilest foot is in the gate, To stay the steppe, ere forced to retrate. This is the Wandring Wood, this Errours Den, A monster vile, whom God and man does hate: Therefore I read beware.' 'Fly, fly,' quoth then 'The fearefull dwarfe; 'this is'no place for living men.' 'Freilich,' sagte sie, 'aber die gefahr dieses platzes kenne ich besser, als ihr: Obgleich es jetzt zu spaet ist, zu wuenschen, dass ihr mit haesslichem schimpfe zurueckkehrt, so warnt doch weisheit, so lange der fuss noch im there weilt, den schritt zu hemmen, ehe man gezwungen ist, sich zurueckzuziehen. Dies ist der Irr-Wald, dies der Luege Hoehle, eines ruchlosen ungeheuers, welches Gott und menschen hassen: 'seid auf eurer hut.' 'Flieht, flieht,' sprach dann der furchtsame zwerg; 'dies ist kein ort fuer lebende menschen.' XIV. But, full of fire and greedy hardiment, The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide ; But forth unto the darksome hole he went. And looked in: his glistring armor made A litle glooming light, much like a shade; By which he saw the ugly monster plaine : Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide. But th' other halfe did womans shape retaine. Most lothsom, fllthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine. Aber voU feuer und ehrsueehtiger kuehnheit konnte der jugendliche ritter durch nichts zurueckgehalten werden; sondern vorwaerts zur dunkeln hoehle ging er und blickte hinein: seine glaenzende ruestung verursafthte einen schwachen duestern schein, fast gleich einem schatten, bei welchem er das haessliche unthier deutlich sah: halb gleich einer schlange in scheusslicher entringelung, halb frauengestalt , im hoechsten grade ekelhaffc, abscheulich, graesslich und voll ruchlosen uebermuths. XV. And, as she lay upon the durtie ground. Her huge long taile her den all overspred, Yet was in knots and many boughtes upwound, Pointed with mortall sting; of her there bred A thousand young ones, which she dayly fed. Sucking upon her poisnous dugs; each one Of sundrie shapes, yet all ill-favored: Soone as that uncouth light upon them shone, Into her mouth they crept, and suddain all gone. were Und wie sie da lag auf dem schmutzigen boden, bedeckte ihr riesig langer schweif ihre hoehle ganz und gar; doch war er in knoten und vielen windun- gen aufgeringelt und ausserdem an der spitze mit toedtlichem stachel verseheu; an tausend junge hatte sie, die sie taeglich an ihren giftigen bruesten saeugte; ein jedes von verschiedener gestalt, doch alle ungestalt: Sobald das ungewohnte licht sie be- schien, krochen sie in ihren rachen und waren ploetz- lich alle verschwunden. XIII. Various readings : In Kitchin and Todd : v, 9. 'is no' ; 'is'no', probably, is a misprint. V. 6. Wandring Wood; — 'the wood of wandering', (Kitchin). V. 8. '=» therefore I advise you to be cautious'. (Kitchin). XIV. V, '2. for ought; — 'by any arguments', or 'for any reasons'. (Kitchin). V. 4. — 'a passage worthy of Rembrandt's most gloomy pencil. The image of Error should be compared with Milton's delineation of Sin, P. L. 2. 650.' (Kitchin). V. 9. full of vile disdaine; — 'full of vileness breeding disdain'. She is Falsehood, half human, half bestial, half true and half untrue; parent of a countless brood of lies. Her shape is taken partly from Hesiod's Echidna, Theog. 301'. (Kitchin), and partly from the locusts in Rev. [). 7. sqq: Km r« otiotoii(f/.Tfi rdit' uy.ultifov otiout cTiTioit; riioi^iaaiitvoio, ct^ 7i6).f/inv, xal inl iu(; y.(q)u).ai; rcvTOJi' (tx; att(f)UVOt, ojtotot XQnao), y.aC xa n{ioi;oi7iu uvioii' oji; nuofiOina nt'd-^OiTimi', Krtl fi/ot' Toi^'^'i ''>'-i fj/Of"'" /^''«'>5<"'S >««' Ot otiovxa; uvrdiv W!; Xeoi'TO))' cJokj', Krd il-^ov O-otouy.w^ wc; do)t)(tx(t<; aidrj^oin;, xal tj (fiwvt) lojv nifQhywv hvioii' wc; (fo;i't/ «a»«TW)' IViTiwv ■jtoU.btv T(>f;forrw»' sli; nokfuov, Kut I'^ovoii' oinHii; o^iotaq axognCoiq, xid y.ivum tjv ^i' tuI-; oci>ru(; avtoiv adixijaai xoix; u}'d()0}7iov;; firjvaq ntvct. XV. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 6. 'eachone'. v. 7. 'ill favored'. V. 3. Todd: 'Many boughts. i. e. many circular folds. Upton', ^v. 4, ofher there bred; — 'there sprung from her as a mother;' 'she had a brood of, (Kitchin), V. 7, Of sundrie shapes; — *i, e. each of a shape different from all the rest; or each one able to vary its •shape — lies and rumours being many-formed'. (Kitchin). 35 XVI. Their dam upstart out of her deu eflfraide, And rushed forth, hurling her hideous taile About her cursed head; whose folds displaid Were stretcht now forth at length without entraile. She lookt about, and seing one in mayle. Armed to point, sought backe to turne againe; For light she hated as the deadly bale, Ay wont in desert darkness to remaine, Where plain none might her see, nor she see any plaine. Ihre mutter fuhr erschreckt aus ihrer hoehle her- aus und stuerzte vorwaerts, ihren scheusslichen schweif um ilir fluchwuerdigos haupt wtrbelnd; dessen ringel waren jetzt aufgerollt, und ohne verschlingung streckte sie ihn der laenge nach aus. Sie blickte umher, und da sie einen sah, der in voller ruestung und bis an die zaehne bewaffnet war, suchte sie wieder umzukehren; denn licht hasste sie wie das toedtliche unheil, da sie stets in oeder dunkelheit zu weilen pflegte, wo sie niemand deutlich sehen noch von je- mandem gesehen werden konnte. xvn. Which when the valiant Elfe perceiv'd, he lept As lyon fierce upon the flying pray, And with his trenchand blade her boldly kept From turning backe and forced her to stay: Therewith enrag'd she loudly gan to bray, And turning fierce her speckled taile advaunst, Tkreatning her angrie sting, him to dismay; Who, nought aghast, his mightie hand enhaunst; The stroke down from her head unto her shoulder glaunst. Als dies der wackere Elfe gewahrte, sprang er gleich einem wuethenden loewen auf die fliehende beute, hielt sie mit seiner scharfen klinge kuehn vom zurueckweichen ab und zwang sie zu bleiben. Aus wuth hierueber begann sie laut zu bruellen, und in- dem sie voller grimm ihrem gefleckten schweif eine andre richtung gab, stuerzte sie vor, ihren zornigen stachel schwingend, um ihn in schrecken zu setzen; doch er, durchaus nicht entmuthigt, erhob seine maechtige hand; der streich glitt von ihrem haupt zu ihrer schulter hemieder. xvin. Much daunted with that dint her sence was dazd ; Yet kindling rage her selfe she gathered round, And all attonce her beastly bodie raizd With doubled forces high above the ground: Tho, wrapping up her wrethed steme arownd, Lept fierce upon his shield, and her huge traine Grar sehr entsetzt war sie ueber diesen hieb, und ihre sinne wurden betaeubt; doch selbst ihre wuth anfachend schwoll sie rund auf und erhob auf einmal ihren thierleib mit verdoppelten kraeften hoch ueber den boden: dann rollte sie ihren ringelschweif rings- um zusammen, sprang wuethend auf seinen schild XVI. V. 1. upstart, out of her den effraide; — 'pret. of to upstart, to start up. Ed. 1590 puts a commaafter 'upstart', so connecting 'out of her den' with 'effraide', — she started up , frightened out of her den. Later edd. seem to have preferred the meaning 'started up (and rushed) out of her den, quite frightened'. (Kitchin, — As for 'upstart' see helow.) V. 4. without entraile; — - 'untwisted'. (Kitchin). T. 6. Armed to point; — 'armed cap-a-pie', at every point, Bailey in his Diet, says 'to point, completely; — as armed to point, Spenser'. The Fr. phrase a point=to a nicety, is probably the real origin of the phrase.' (Kit.). T. 7. the deadly bale; — 'Bale i? here used literally for poison, its genuine signification.' (T. Warton in Todd.) — XVII. Various readings: v. 7. Kitchin has 'angry'. V. 1. the valiant Elfe; — 'the Knight is described as coming from Faerie Land, C. X, 60, 61. The word 'elfe' is A. S. £elf, an elf. The A. S. had D un-se If en = mountain (or down) fairy; wse ter-ae If en = water-baby : whence the word usually is taken to signify a small sprite, like the Teut. Kobold, etc. E. K., the ingenious commen- tator on the Shepheards Calender, declares that elfs and goblins were originally Guelfs and Ghibeliues; the coincidence is curious, but the derivation absurd.' (Kitchin). V. 1. 2. he lept As lyon fierce; — cp. Horn. II. E, 299: 'AfKpl S'uq' avxw ^alvt ).(o>r w? felse'. V. 6. His gall did grate; — 'the gall was supposed to be the seat of anger (so Greek /okoq and /o At/ and Latin bilis, used for both), and the sense is 'his anger began to be stirred within him'. (Kitchin). XX. V. 1. Therewith etc.; — 'this passage is far too coarsely drawn to please the classical critics, who condemn it with averted faces'. (Kitchin). Thus, Dr. John Jortin, the author of the Remarks on Spenser's Poems says: 'Our Poet paints very strong here, as he does also in this Book, Canto VIII, 47, 48. where he describes Duessa. V. 6. 'The latter end of the sixteenth century was a time of great activity in polemical pamphleteering; and Spen- ser hints at the writings which sprang from the Roman Catholic reaction. He probably had in mind Cardinal Allen's book on Queen Elizabeth, and the famous Bull of Sixtus V, both of which had but just appeared, in the year 1588; — if he alludes at all to particular works. At any rate, he refers to the scurrilous attacks on the Queen, which had of late been published in great numbers by the English Jesuit refugees'. (Kitchin). V. 9. 'Parbreake is vomit' (Todd). XXI. Various readings: v. 3. Kitchin has: 'do'. V. 5. To avale is to abate, to sink down, Ital. avallare. (Upton in Todd. — See below.) Kitchin: 'When the inundation, towards the end, begins to abate'. In pd. 1590 the passage runs 'his later ebbe.' But Spenser himself corrected it, in the Errata, to 'spring'. — 37 Ten thousand kindes of creatures, partly male And partly female, of his fruitful seed: Such ugly monstrous shapes elswhere may no man reed. zehntausend arten von geschoepfen, theils maennlichen theils weiblichen geschlechts, aus seinem fruchtbaren saamen erzeugen, von so haesslicher, ungeheuerlicher gestalt, wie sie anderswo kein mensch sich vorstel- len kann. xxn. The same so sore annoyed has the knight, That, wel-nigh choked with the deadly stinke, His forces faile, ne can no lenger fight. Whose corage when the feend perceivd to shrinke, She poured forth out of her hellish sinke Her fruitfull cursed spawne of serpents small, (Deformed monsters, fowle, and blacke as inke,) Which swarming all about his legs did crall, And him encombred sore, but could not hurt at all. Dies plagte den ritter so graesslich, dass er, fast erstickt von dem toedtlichen gestank, seine kraefte schwinden fuehlt und nicht laenger zn kaempfen ver- mag. Als die feindinn seinen muth sinken sah, schuettete sie aus ihrer hoellischen kloake ihre zahl- reiche verfluchte brut kleiner schlangen aus, (miss- gestalte ungeheuer, kothig und schwarz wie dinte,) welche schwaermend rings um seine beine kroch und ihn zwar arg belaestigte, aber nicht im gering- sten verletzen konnte. xxin. As gentle shepheard in sweete eventide, When ruddy Phebus gins to welke in west, High on an hill, his flocke to vewen wide, Markes which doe byte their hasty supper best; A cloud of cumbrous gnattes doe him molest, All striving to infixe their feeble stinges, That from their noyance he no where can rest, But with his clownish hands their tender wings He brusheth oft, and oft doth mar their murmurings : Wie ein anmuthiger schaefer in lieblicher abend- stunde, wenn der goldgelbe Phoebus im westen zu sinken beginnt, hoch auf einem huegel, um seine heerde in der feme zu ueberschauen , acht giebt, welche ihr eiliges abendessen am besten abweiden; und dann eine wolke laestiger muecken ihn plagen, welche alle danach streben, ihren schwachen stachel ihm einzustossen , so dass er vor ihrer zudringlich- keit ntrgends ruhe hat, sondem mit seinen plumpen haenden ihre zarten fluegel oft abkehrt und oft ihr gesumme stoert: V, 7. 'A poetical figure, not a fact; though it was generally believed and related in Spenser's day by both histo- rians and poets'. — (Kitchin). — Cp. B. III. Canto VI, 8: So after Nilus' inundation Infinite shapes of creatures men do find. Informed in the mud, on which the sun hath sliin'd. Ovid. Met. I. 422. Sic ubi deseruit madidos septemfluus agros Inveniunt, et in his quaedam modo coepta per ipsum Nilus, et antiquo sua flumina reddidit alveo, Nascendi spatium, quaedam imperfecta, suisque Aethereoque recens esarsit sidere limus. Trunca vident humeris: et eodem corpore saepe Plurima cultores versis animalia glebis Altera pars vivit: rudis est pars altera tellus. Mela I. 9. Nilus — adeo efficacibus aquis ad generandum, ut — glebis etiam infundat animas, ex ipsaque humo vitalia effingat, etc. Macrobius VII, 16. Perfecta autem in exordio fieri potuisse testimonio sunt nunc quoque non pauca animantia, quae de terra et imbre perfecta nascuntur: ut in Aegypto mures, et aliis in locis ranae, serpentesque, etc. 'Spenser rightly calls the Nile Father. Pater is an appellation common to all Rivers, but more particu- larly to the Nile, as Broukhusius hat observed on Tibullus I. VIII. 23. and many before him'. ( Jortin). — XXII. Various readings: In Kitchin v. 2: 'welnigh'. v. 4. 'perceiv'd'. v. 7. no parenthesis. XXm. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. I: 'even-tide'. v. 2. 'Phoebus*. V. 1. Cp. Hom. II. B, 469 sqq: HvTi fiviufov uSiVMOiv fd-vfa noXXu, A'i If y.axn axnO-ftov noifAtjvim' rikuaxovatv fLiiri iv (MQivji, oTf TS yXnyoQ, ayyta dtvtt,, Toaaoi inl T()0)foaii. xnQrjxo/iiooji'Tfq j4](ui>oC Ev TifdCia iotctvto , Sia^oaiaai, /uffiKdirtq. V. 4. their hasty supper; — So Milton, Comus, 641 : 'The chewing flocks Had ta'en their supper on the savoury herb*. 38 XXIV. Thus ill bestedd, and fearefull more of shame Then of the certeine perill he stood in, Halfe furious unto his foe he came, Eesolvd in minde all suddenly to win, Or soone to lose, before he once would lin; And stroke at her with more than manly force, That from her body, full of fllthie sin. He raft her hatefull heade without remorse; A strearae of cole-black blood forth gushed from her corse. So uebel berathen, und mehr die schmach als die unzweifelhafte gefahr fuerchtend, in der er sich be- fand, stuerzte er sich halb rasend auf seinen feind, entschlossen, mit einem schlage den sieg davonzutra- gen Oder lieber bald zu unterliegen, als noch ein- mal abzulassen; und fuehrte auf sie einen streich mit mehr als menschlicher Icraft, so dass er von ihrem rumpfe, vol! von garstiger suende, ihr verhasstes haupt ohne mitleid trennte; ein strom kohlschwarzen blutes stroemte aus ihrem koerper hervor. XXV. Her scattred brood, soone as their parent deare They saw so rudely falling to the ground, Groning full deadly all with troublous feare Gathred themselves about her body round. Weening their wonted entrance to have found At her wide mouth; but, being there withstood. They flocked all about her bleeding wound. And sucked up their dying mothers bloud. Making her death their life, and eke her hurt their good. Sobald die zerstreute brut ihre theure mutter so ungestuem zu boden fallen sah, schaarte sie sich ins- gesammt, vor wirrer furcht ein ganz moerderisches geheul erhebend, rings um ihren leichnam, im wahne, ihren gewohnten eingang in den weiten rachen ge- funden'zu haben; da sie aber dort ein hinderniss trafen, sammelten sie sich um ihre blutende wunde herum und sogen ihrer sterbenden mutter blut ein, deren tod zu ihrem leben und selbst deren verderben zu ihrem vortheile verwendend. XXVI. That detestable sight him much amazde, To see th' unkindly impes, of heaven accurst, Devoure their dam; on whom while so he gazde, Having all satisfide their bloudy thurst. Their beUies swolne he saw with fulnesse burst. And bowels gushing forth: well worthy end Of such, as drunke her life the which them nurst. Now needefch him no lenger labour spend. His foes have slaine themselves, with whom he should contend. Dieser abscheuliche anblick, zu sehen wie die unna- tuerlichen, vom himmel verfluchten sprossen ihre mutter verschlangen, erfuellte ihn mit starrem entsetzen ; wie er so auf sie hinsah, gewalirte er, dass, nachdem sie alle ihren durst nach blut gestillt batten, ihre vor fuelle geschwoUenen baeuche barsten und eingeweide hervorquoll: ein tod, den sie wohl verdienten, sie, die das leben derjenigen tranken, die sie saeugte. Nun braucht er nicht laenger sich abzumueden ; seine feinde, mit denen er sonst haette kaempfen muessen, haben sich selbst getoedtet. xxvn. His lady seeing all, that chaunst, from farre, Approcht in hast to greet his victorie. And saide : 'Faire knight, borne under happie starre, Seine Herrin hatte alles, was sich zutrug, von feme gesehen; sie nahte in eile, seinen sieg zu be- glueckwuenschen, und sprach: 'Edler Eitter, der ihr XXIV. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 4. 'resolv'd'. v. 8. 'head'. v. 9. 'cole black'. 'bloud*. XXVI. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 1. The accent upon 'detestable' is not marked. v. 3. 'gazd'. ▼. 3. on whom etc.; — 'a cumbrous sentence = 'while he thus gazed on them, who had all satisfied their thirst for blood, he saw their bellies, swollen with fullness, burst etc.' (Kitchin.) V. 7, her life, the which them nurst; — 'the life of her who nursed them'. 'Which', in Spenser's day was used equivalently with 'who', and the article was not unfrequently placed before it. In this place it is relative to 'her', not to 'life*. The Fr. lequel answers exactly to this usage of 'the which'. In the Spectator, No. 78, there is a criticism on the Lord's Prayer, in which the writer is clearly unaware of this propriety of usage. 'In the first and best prayer chil- dren are taught, they learn to misuse us (who and which): 'Our Father, which art in heaven', should be 'Our Father, who etc.* (Kitchin. — See below.) V. 9. with whom he should contend; — 'should' = 'should have had to'; — 'his foes, with whom he otherwise would have had to contend, have slain themselves'. (Kitchin.) — XXVII. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 3. 'happy'. V. 1. that chaunst; — 'that had happened'. (Kitchin). 39 Who see your vanquisht foeb before you lye; Well worthie be you of that armory, Wherein ye have great glory wonne this day, And proov'd your strength on a strong enimie, Your first adventure; many, such I pray, And henceforth ever wish that like succeed it may!' unter gluecklichem stern geboren seid und eure be- siegten feinde vor euch liegen seht ; gar wuerdig seid ihr des waffenschmuckes, worin ihr heute grossen ruhm geemdtet und eure kraft an einem starken feinde er- probt habt. Dies war euer erstes abenteuer; viele solcher erfolge noch, so bete ich und wuensche, moe- get ihx in zukunft erringen'. XXVIII. Then mounted he upon his steede againe. And with the lady backward sought to wend: That path he kept, which beaten was most plaine, Ne ever would to any by-way bend; But still did follow one unto the end, The which at last out of the wood them brought. So foi-ward on his way (with God to frend) He passed forth, and new adventure sought; Long way he travelled, before he heard of ought. Darauf stieg er wieder anf sein streitross und suchte, mit der dame umzukehren: den pfad hielt er inne, welcher am meisten glatt getreten war, und wollte niemals in irgend einen nebenweg abbiegen; sondern immer den einen verfolgte er bis zum ende, der sie denn auch zuletzt aus dem walde heraus- fuehrte. So zog er denn mit Gottos beistand weiter auf seinem wege und suchte ein neues abenteuer; eine lange strecke ritt er dahin, bevor er von irgend etwas hoerte. XXIX. At length they chaunst to met upon the way An aged sire, in long blacke weedes yclad, His feete all bare, his beard all hoarie gray, And by his belt his booke he hanging had; Sober he seemde, and very sagely sad; And to the ground his eyes were lowly bent. Simple in shew, and voide of malice bad; And all the way he prayed, as he went, And often knockt his brest, as one that did repent. Schliesslich trafen sie zufaellig auf dem wege einen bejahrten mann, in lange schwarze gewaender geklei- det, seine fuesse ganz nackt, sein bart eisgrau, und in seinem guertel hatte er sein gebetbuch hangen; ruhig schien er, sehr weise und ernst, und seine au- gen waren demuethig auf die erde gerichtet, ohne falsch und ohne tueckische bosheit, dem anscheine nach; und den ganzen weg ueber betete er, wenn er ging, und schlug oft an seine brust, wie einer, der reue empfand. V. 3. borne under happy starre; — refers to the astrological belief, in nativities: Stat. Silv. III. 4 63; — — — '0 sidere dextro 'Edite, multa tibi Divum indulgentia favit'. V. 5, that armory; — the armour of a Christian man. — Eph. 6, 13 sqq: unx'iiQuv tov Ttvfttvaroq, o ioxi QfjfCi dfoii. V. 9. == 'and I wish that like (similar) success may henceforth follow it' ; literally, 'that lil^e may succeed it'. An- other instance of infringement of the natural order of words'. (Kitchin. — See below.) XXVIII, V. 7. Todd: 'with God to frend: To befriend him'. Kitchin: 'with God for a friend'. An 0. Eng. idiom corresponding 'to have one to my friend to my foe; or 'frend* may be a verb and= 'to befriend', — (See below.) XXIX. V, 2. An aged sire; — 'Archimago, the chief enchanter; who is also called Hypocrisy. From his connection with Duessa he may be intended either for tlie Pope, or the Spanish King (Philip II), or for the general spirit of lying and false religion. The whole adventure is drawn from Ariosto, Orl. Fur. 2. 12', 'Volta il cavallo, e ne la selva folta 'Sie schwenkt den gaul und treibt auf engem rauhen Lo caccia per un aspro e stretto calle; Holzweg ihn eiligst durch den dichten wald, E spesso il viso smorto addietro volta, Indem gar oft die augen rueckwaerts schauen; Chh le par che Rinaldo abbia alle spalle. Denn immer glaubt sie hinter sich Kinald. Fuggendo non avea fatto via molta, Nicht Lang' ist sie geflohn voll angst und grauen Che scontro un eremita in una valie, Da kommt durch's thai ein eremit gewallt. Ch'avea lunga la barba a mezzo il petto, Sein langer bart reicht auf die brust hornieder, Devoto e venerabile d'aspetto'. Und wuerdig ist sein ausehn, fromm und bieder'. 40 XXX. He faire the knight saluted, louting low, Who faire him quited, as that courteous was; And after asked him, if he did know Of straunge adventures, which abroad did pas. 'Ah! my dear sonne', quoth he, 'how should, alas! Silly old man, that lives in hidden cell, Bidding his beades all day for his trespas, Tydings of warre and worldly trouble tell? With holy father sits not with such thinges to mell. Er gruesste den ritter artig, indem er sich de- muethig vemeigte, und dieser erwiderte seinen gruss, wie es schicklich war; und darauf fragte er Ihn, ob er von fremden abenteuern wuesste, die sich in der fremde zutruegen. 'Ach! mein theurer Sohn', sagte er, 'ach, wie sollte ich schlichter alter mann, der in verborgener zelle lebt und um seiner suenden willen den ganzen tag seinen rosenkranz betet, nachrichten von krieg und weltlicher truebsalmelden? einem hei- ligen vater ziemt es nicht, sich in solche dinge zu mischen'. XXXI. 'But if of daunger, which hereby doth dwell, And homebredd evil ye desire to heare. Of a straunge man I can you tidings tell, That wasteth all this countrie farre and neare'. 'Of such', saide he, 'I chiefly doe inquere; And shall thee well rcwarde to shew the place. In which that wicked wight his dayes doth weare: For to all knighthood it is foule disgrace, That such a cursed creature lives so long a space'. 'Aber wenn ihr von einer gefahr, die hier in der naehe weilt, und von heimischem elend zu hoeren wuenscht, so kann ich euch von einem seltsamen manne berichten, der dies ganze land nah und fern ver- wuestet'. 'Nach solchen', antwortete jener, 'forsche ich hauptsaechlich, und ich werde dich gut belohnen, wenn du uns den ort zeigen willst, an welchem jener gottlose boesewicht seine tage hinbringt: denn fuer die ganze ritterschaft ist es ein schimpf, dass ein so verfluchtes geschoepf so langc zeit lebt'. XXXII. Tar hence', quoth he, 'in wastful wildernesse His dwelling is, by which no living wight May ever passe, but thorough great distresse'. 'Now', saide. the ladie, 'draweth toward night; And well I wote, that of your later fight Ye all forwearied be; for what so strong. But, wanting rest, will also want of might? The sunne, that measures heaven all day long, ,At night doth baite his steedes the ocean waves emong. 'Fern von hier', sagte er, 'in oeder wildniss ist seine wohnstaette, bei welcher kein sterblicher je- mals ohne grosses ungemach vorbeiziehen kann'. 'Jetzt', sagte die dame, 'neigt sich der tag; und ich weiss wohl, dass ihr von eurem letzten kampfe sehr ermuedet seid; denn was ist so stark, das nicht bei mangelnder ruhe auch der kraft entbehren wird? Selbst der sonnengott, der den ganzen tag ueber den himmel durcheilt, fuettert des abends seine rosse in den wellen des oceans'. XXX. Various readings : In Kitchin : v. 7. the accent is not marked. v. 9. 'things'. V. 1. 2. Todd: 'louting low; — This seems to have been a proverbial expression. 'They were very low in their low tings:' Ray. The word is used in the cause of servilely bowing often in Spenser, and in Chaucer and Skelton'. ' — "Who faire him quited; — Requited, payed him back his salutations again'. (Upton in Todd,) Kitchin: 'bowing humbly' (as a rustic, in sign of deep humility) to the knight, who returned his salute fairly, as was courteous from a superior'. 'As that' is exactly equivalent to our present use of 'as'. — (See below.) V. 6. Silly old man; — 'harmless, simple'. (Kitchin). V. 7. Bidding his beades; — 'saying his prayers'. (Kitchin). V, 9. Kitchin: '=it sits not' = 'it is not seemly'. Also in Chaucer. So the French 'il ne sied pas'. Some edi- tors, following ed. 1609, read 'fits'. — Todd: 'It sits not = 'tis not becoming. II sied, it sits well, 'tis becoming. So we say: it sits well on a person, Upton'. XXXI. Various readings: In Kitchin v. 2. 'homebred', v, 4. 'countrey'. V, 5. 'said', and a parenthesis, 'do'. v. 6. 'you' instead of 'thee'. V, 6. to shew the place; — 'for shewing', or 'if you will shew'. Like the Greek article with the inf. xov noiflv, 'for doing', for shewing', (Kitchin. — See below,) XXXII. Various readings: In Kitchin t. 1. 'quoth he' in a parenthesis. 'wastfull'. v, 4. '(sayd the lady)'. 41 XXXIII. 'Then with the sunne take, sir, your timely rest, And with new day new worke at once begin; Untroubled night, they say, gives counsell best'. 'Eight well, Sir Knight, ye have advised bin'. Quoth then that aged man; 'the way to win Is wisely to advise. Now day is spent: Therefore with me ye may take up your in For this same night'. The knight was well content: So with that godly father to his home they went. 'Groennt euch also, o Eitter, mit dem sonnengotte eure rechtzeitige ruhe und beginnt mit dem neuen tage zugleich die neue arbeit; guter rath kommt ueber nacht, sagt man'. 'Ein selu- guter rath, Herr Eitter, ist euch gegeben worden', sagte darauf der alte mann; 'weiser rath ist der weg zum ziele. Nun ist der tag dahin: daher moegt ihr bei mir fuer diese nacht eure wohnung aufschlagen'. Der ritter war es wolil zufrieden, und so giugen sie mit dem gottseli- gen vater nach seinem hause. XXXIV. A little lowly hermitage it was, Downe in a dale, hard by a forest's side. Far from resort of people, that did pas In traveill to and froe: a little wyde There was an holy chappell edify de, Wherein the hermite dewly wont to say His holy things each morne and eventyde: Thereby a christall stream e did gently play, Which from a sacred fountaine welled forth alway. Eine kleine bescheidene klause war es, tief in einem thai, dicht bei dem saume eines waldes, fern vom gewuehle der menschen, die reisend hin- und herzogen; in geringer entfernung war eine heilige kapelle erbaut, worin der klausner regelmaessig jeden morgen und abend seine heiligen gebete herzusagen pflegte: in der naehe trieb ein crystallner strom sein liebliches spiel, der aus einer heiligen quelle bestaen- dig hervorwallte. XXXIII. Various readings : v. 5- Kitchin has '(Quoth then that aged man)'. V. 3. night they say gives counsell best; — 'this is a proverb — "Ev I'vy.xl fiovXij, or 'La nuit donne conseil', or 'La notte e madre di pensieri'. Upton, Dryden refers to this passage when he writes: 'Well might the ancient poets then confer On Night the honored name of Counseller'. (Kitchin). XXXIV. Various readings: v. 2. Kitchin has 'forests'. v. 4. Kitchin has 'travell'. V. 4. a little wyde; — 'a little apart', or 'at a little distance'. (Kitchin). V. 5. edify de; — 'Built'. (Todd.) Kitchin: 'built; a Latinism (aedificare) — shewing, too, that in the sixteenth century the terms 'edi- fy', 'edification', had not caught thair modern technical and exclusive signification; and that in the time of the translators of the Bible the word conveyed St. Paul's meaning more exactly than it does now. Mr. Wright, in his Bible Word-Book, in referring to this passage says that 'Speuser affects archaisms'; perhaps it would be more exact to say that he here afl:ects Latinisms; for 'to edify', and 'edification', are used by others of his age in their first sense'. (See below), V. 6. wont to say; — '(was) wont*. (Kitchin). V, 9. 'So sacri fontes frequently occur in the ancient poets, they are call'd divini in some In- scriptions. Kai noTuiidii' tad-iO)r xiXuSt'jfiaTa, — (Aristophanes, Nub, 282). Heads of Rivers, and Fountains had temples and altars erected to them, and other divine honours paid to them. See Gruter s Inscript. No. 94. 1072. Fabretti, p. 432. Spon. Misc. Erud. Ant. p. 3L Frontinus, de Aquaed. p. 225. Pausanias VI, 22. Cicero de Nat. Deor. XX : — ergo et flumina et fontes. Itaque et Fontis delubrum Maso ex Corsica dedicavit et in augurum precatione Tiberinum, Spinonem, Almonem, Nodinum, alia propinquorum fluminum nomina videmus. Tacitus, Annal. XIV, 22 ; lisdem diebus nimia luxus cupido infamiam et periculum Neroni tulit, quia fontem aquae Marciae (Marsyae? in the notes), ad urbem deductae, nando incesserat'; videbaturque potus sacros, et caerimoniam loci corpora loto polluisse. Secutaque anceps valetudo iram Deum affirmavit. Seneca, Epist. XLI: Magnorum fluminum capita veneramur: subita et ex abdito vasti amnis eruptio aras habet ; coluntur aquarum calentium fontes: et stagna quaedam, vel opacitas vel immensa altitude sacravit. Homer, II, E, 77: — o? qu 2!xauavd'gov 'A(trixriQ htrvxro. Herat. Carm, III, XIII: fons Bandusiae, splendidior vitro etc. This was part of the religion of the Persians : Herodotus 1. 138 : 'Et; norufiov S^ ovcf ivovQtovai, ovxt inntvovai ov ;^«g«i; h'anorll^ovTai, ov^i akkov ovdiva. ntQtoqwati (ikXa ot^ovrut noTu/novc; fiaXtota, Strabo : Elt; tov tcotu^iov ovt ovQOvaw^ ovre vCitrovvai, Utqaai, ovdi lovovrat, ov3i vfxgov ixfiakXovat, oiiS aXXa z(uv dioxovvTO)!' flvai fxvaaQciv. Vid. Herodot. p. 588. Ed. Gronov. 6 42 XXXV. Arrived there, the litle house they fill, Ne looke for entertainement, where none was; Eest is their feast, and all thinges at their will: The noblest mind the best contentment has. With faire discourse the evening* so they pas; Eor that olde man of pleasing wordes had store, And well could file his tongue, as smooth as glas; He told of saintes and popes, and evermore He strowd an Ave-Mary after and before. Dort angelangt, fuellen sie das kleine haus mid suchen keine bewirthung, wo keine war; ruhe ist ihr labsal und so gut als haetten sie alles, was sie wuenschten; je edler der Sinn, desto zufriedener. Mit freundlichem gespraech bringen sie so den abend bin; denn jenem alten manne stand eine fuelle hol- der worte zu gebote, und wohl konnte er seine zunge glaetten, so glatt wie glas: er erzaehlte von heili- gen und paepsteu, und stets streute er vorher und nachher ein Ave-Maria ein. XXXVI. The drouping night thus creepeth on them fast; And the sad humor loading their eye-liddes. As messenger of Morpheus, on them cast Sweet slombring deaw, the which to sleep them biddes. Unto their lodgings then his guestes he riddes. Where when all drownd in deadly sleepe he findes. He to his studie goes; and there amiddes His magick bookes, and artes of sundrie kindes. He seeks out mighty charmes to trouble sleepy minds. Die hereinbrechende nacht beschleicht sie aufdiese weise schnell; und die truebe fluessiggeit beschwerte ihre augenlieder, als bote des Morpheus, und senkte suessen schlummertau auf sie herab, der sie zum schlafen einladet. Zu ihren gemaechern geleitet er sodann seine gaeste; und als er dort alles in todes- aehnlichen schlummer versenkt findet, geht er in sein studierzimmer ; und dort sucht er, inmitten seiner zauberbuecher und kuenste mancherlei art, maechtige zauberraittel aus, um schlafende seelen zu quaelen. Sook n. Canto IX.') The House of Temperance, in which Doth sober Alma dwell. Besieged of many foes, whom straunge- er knightes to flight compell. Das Haus der Maessigkeit, in welchem die besonnene Alma wohnt, belagert von vielen feinden, die fremde ritter zur flucht zwingen. Of all Gods workes, which doe this worlde adome, There is no one more faire and excellent Then is mans body, both for powre and forme. Whiles it is kept in sober government; But none then it more fowle and indecent, Distempred through misrule and passions bace; It grows a mohster, and incontinent Doth lose his dignity and native grace. Behold, who list, both one und other in this place. Von alien Gotteswerken, welche diese welt schmuek- ken, giebt es nicht eines, das schoener und herr- licher waere als der mensch, an kraft sowohl als an schoenheit, so lange er sich in besonnener beherrschung haelt; aber keines abscheulicher und haesslicher, wenn er durch unfug und niedrige leidenschaft entstellt ist; er wird ein ungeheuer und verliert unverzueglich seine wuerde und natuer- liche anmuth. Wem es beliebt, kann beides an die- ser stelle schauen. XXXV. V. 3. Kitchin : 'rest is a good as the having all things as they might wish'. V. 7. Todd: 'This expression we often find both in our poet, and in those old poets whom he imitated'. 'Tis a Gal- licism: Avoir la langue bien affilee. Upton'. XXXVI. Various readings: v. 2. Kitchin has: 'humour'; 'eye liddes'. V. 3. Morpheus; — 'the god of sleep, who sprinkles the 'slombring deaw' of sleep from his horn, or oif his wings, or from the branch he carries, dipped in Lethean stream. He is the god of dreams, as his name indicates; — the formative power in sleep'. (Kitchin. Cp. /to(>(p6o}, .uogcpt'j.) Motto. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 3. 'Besiegd'; 'straunger'. v. 4: ed. 1596 reads 'fight', I. Various readings : In Kitchin : v, 8. 'dignitie'. ') 'This Canto contains a special allegory within the main one. It shadows out, with many quaint fancies, the 43 II. After the Paynim brethren couquer'd were, The Briton prince recov'ring his stolne sword, , And Guyon his lost shield, they both yfere Forth passed on their way in fayre accord, Till him the prince with gentle court did bord; 'Sir knight, mote I of you this court'sy read. To weet why on j'our shield, so goodly scord, Beare ye the picture of that ladies head! Full lively is the semblaunt. though the substance dead'. Nachdem die Heiduischen brueder besiegt waren, der Britische fuerst sein gestohlenes schwert und Guyon seinen verlornen schild wiedererlangt hatten, zogen sie Ijeide fort aii/ ihrem wege zusammen in schoener eintracht, bis letzterer von dem fuersten mit artiger hoeflichkeit also angeredet wiu'do : 'Hen- Eitter, darf ich euch urn die gefaelligkeit ersuchen, mich wissen zu lassen, warum ihr auf eurem so praechtig gezierten schilde das bildniss von dieser dame haupt tragt? gar lebhaft ist der ausdruck, wenn auch das original todt ist'. III.') 'FajTe sir', sayd he, 'if in that picture dead Such life ye read, and vertue in vaine shew; What mote ye weene, if the trew lively-head Of that most glorious visage he 2) did vew! But yf the beauty of her mind ye knew, That is, her bounty, and imperiall powre, Thousand times fairer then her mortall hew, 0! how great wonder would your thoughts devoure, And infinite desire into your spirite p'oure! 'She is the mighty Queene of Faery, Whose faire retraitt I in my shield doe beare ; Shee is the flowre of grace and chastity. Throughout the world renowmed far and neare, My life, my liege, my soveraine, my deare. 'Edler Herr', sag-te er, 'wenn ihr in disem todten gemaelde solches leben findet und tugend in einem unbedeutenden schaustueck ; was muesstet ilir meinen, wenn ihr das wahre lebendige haupt dieses herrlich- sten aller antlitze saehet ! Aber wenn ihr die schoen- heit ihres gemuethes kenntet, d. h. ihre guete und herrschermacht, tausendmal herrlicher, als ihre sterb- liche huelle, — 0! wie grosse bewunderang wuerde sich eurer gedanken bemeistern und unendliches seh- nen in euer gemueth ausstroemen! IV 'Es ist die maechtige Feenkoeniginn , deren hol- des bildniss ich auf meinem schilde trage; sie ist die blume des liebreizes und der keuschheit, durch die ganze welt weit und nah beruehmt, mein leben, meine herrinn. meine fuerstinn, meino liebe, deren soul (Alma, auima) dwelling in ihe body (the House of Temperance). Body and soul are assaulted by many foes, wlio strive to occupy the senses, and so to get footing within, and to lead captive the soul. The subject became a favourite one with religious writers, and otliers. Fletcher's Purple Island is an allegorical poem on man: Bunyan's Mansoul is a spiritu- alised, or perliaps rather a Puritanised, form of the struggle liere pourtrayed. Tiie enemies here drawn are moral (according to Spenser's general conception of this Book): in Bunyan they are spiritual. The soul displays her dwelling-place to her visit- ors. The frame <>f it, described in stanzas 21 — 32, gives us the 'dwelling of clay' (st. 21), the mystical liarmonies of body aud soul (st. 22), the mouth (st. 23), the lips (st. 24), the tongue (st. 25), the teeth (st. 26), then eating and appetite (st. 27, 28), then the stomach, lungs, digestion, etc. (st. 29—32). After that come various moral qualities, seated in the breast (st. 33-43), especially Pray.s-dosire, or love of approbation (st. 36 — 39), and Modesty (st. 40—43). Tlien the men- tal qualities, seated in the brain. The head is first described, with the hair and eyes (st. 45, 46). Lastly are pourtrayed the three dwellers in the brain. Imagination (st. 49 — 52), Judgment )st. 53), and Memory (st. 54—58)'. (Kitchin). v. 9. in this place; — 'That is, in the opposite characters of Prince Arthur and the Two Brethren'. (Church in Todd), Kitcliin: 'i. e. in Book II, and especially in Canto VIII, we have 'both one and other' in the dignity and chiv- alric purity of Arthur and Guyon, and in the ungoverned baseness of Pyrochles and Cymocles'. II. In Kitchin: v. 4. 'faire'. v. G. curt'sie. v. 9. the substance dead; — 'i. e. it is only a picture of the living lady'. (Kitchin). ') St. 3—5. 'The praises of Queen Elizabeth; they run through the usual scale, but none the less express the genuine feeling of the time. Men were willing to erect her into a kind of Protestant Madonna, and to dedicate themselves to her service; tliat service being also felt to be the service of truth and liberty'. (Kitchin.) 2)" A misprint. Kitchin and Todd have 'ye'. III. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 1. 'Faire'; '(sayd he)'. v. 6. 'bountie'. v. 7. 'than'. IV. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 1. 'Faerie'. v. 2. 'retrait'. v. 3. 'chastitie'. v. 5. 'soveraigne*. v. 8. 'prayses'. 6* 44 Whose glory shineth as the morning starre, And with her light the earth enlumines cleare; Far reach her mercies, and her praises farre, As well in state of peace, as puissaunce in warre'. V, 'Thrise happy man', said then the Briton knight, '^Whom gracious lott and thy great valiaunce Have made thee soldier of that princesse bright. Which with her bounty and glad countenaunce Doth blesse her servaunts, and them high advaunce! How may straunge knight hope ever to aspire. By faithfull service and meete amenaunce Unto such blisse? sufficient were that hire For losse of thousand lives, to die at her desire'. ruhm glaenzt wie der morgenstern, und die mit ihrem glanze die erde [hell erleuchtet ; fern reicht ihre gnade und ihre ehre weit im frieden, wie ihre macht im kriege'. 'Dreimal gluecklicher mensch', sagte darauf der Britische ritter, 'den das guetige geschick und seine grosse tapferkeit zum kaempfer jener hehren fuerstinn gemacht hat, welche durch ihre guete und erfreuende gunst ihre diener segnet und sie hoch erhoeht! Wie darf ein unbekannter ritter hoflfen, durch treuen dienst und gchickliche fuehrung zu solcher seeligkeit zu ge- langen? auf ihren wunsch zu sterben, das waere hin- reichender lohn fuer den verlust von tausend leben. VI. Said Guyon: 'Noble lord, what meed so great. Or grace of earthly prince so soveraine, But by your wondrous worth and warlike feat Ye well may hope, and easily attaine? But were your will her sold to entertaine, And numbred be mongst Knights of Maydenhed, Great guerdon, well I wote, should you remaine. And in her favor high bee reckoned. As Arthegall and Sophy now beene honored'. Sprach Guyon: 'Edler gebieter, welcher preis ist so gross, Oder welche gunst eines irdisclfen fuersten so unumschraenkt, die ihr nicht durch euer wunder- sames verdienst und eure kriegerischen heldenthaten wohl hoffen moegt und leicht erlangen? Waere es vielmehr euer wille, in ihren sold zu treten und unter die ritter der jungfraeulichkeit gezaehlt zu werden, so wuerde, das weiss ich wohl, euch grosser lohn zu theil werden, und ihr wuerdet hoch in ihrer gunst stehen, wie Arthegall und Sophy jetzt geehrt werden'. VII. 'Certes', then said the prince, 'T God avow. That sith I armes and knighthood first did plight. My whole desire hath beene, and yet is now, To serve that queene with al my powre and might. Now hath the sunne with his lamp-burning light 'Fuerwahr', sagte darauf der fuerst, 'ich bekenne bei Gott, dass, seit ich zum ersten male den waffen und dem ritterthum mich angelobte, mein ganzes seh- nen gewesen ist und noch jetzt ist, jener koeniginn mit aller meiner macht und kraft zu dienen. Jetzt V. 2. — 'retraitt; Picture, portrait, Ital. ritratto'. (Church in Todd). V. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 1. '(said then the Briton knight)'. v. 2. 'lot.* V. 3. 'souldier'. v. 4. 'countenance*. v. 7. 'amenance*. v. 9. 'dye*. VI. v. 5. '= To receive her pay. Fr. solde, a soldier's pay*. Church in Todd.) V. 6. mongst Knights of Maydenhed; — 'the Order of the Garter may here be signified: but Spenser pro- bably only meant that all who entered the Queen's service became champions of her purity*. (Kitchin.) T. 9. Arthegall; — 'the hero of Book V, 'the legend of Artegall or of Justice'. Under his person is probably intended Arthur, Lord Grey of Wilton, Lord Deputy of Ireland, Spenser's honoured lord and patron'. (Kitchin. — See above.) Sophy; — 'would doubtless have been the hero of one of the latar unwritten books. "We may conjecture from the name that the book would have treated of the struggle between Wisdom {ao(pia) and Folly*. (Kitchin.) VII. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. L a parenthesis. v. 4. 'all*. V. 1. Certes, etc.; — 'there are two movements throughout the Faery Queene: 1) that of the several knights, the servants of the Queen , fulfilling each his own task of resisting some force of malignant evil ; and 2) that of Prince Arthur, who is gradually and very skilfully displayed before us, as the Briton Prince, in search for Gloriana, whom he had seen in a vision only. This latter movement forms the under- current, but was doubtless designed to become more and more clear as the action of the poem proceeded*. (Kitchin). V. 5. 6. 'Ed. 1590 reads : 'Seven times the sunne with his lamp-burning light Hath walkte about the world;* 45 Walkt round about the world, and I no lesse, Sith of that goddesse I have sought the sight, Yet no where can her find: such happinesse Heven doth to me envy and fortune favourlesse'. ist die Sonne mit ihrem leuchtenden glanze rund um die welt gewandert, und ich nicht minder, seit ich jene koeniginn zu erschauen suchte; dennoch kann ich sie nirgend finden: ein solches glueck beneidet mir der himmel und das unguenstige geschick'. VIII. 'Fortune, the foe of famous chevisaunce, Seldom', said Guyon, 'yields to vertue aide. But in her way throwes mischiefe and mischaunce. Whereby her course is stopt and passage staid. But you, faire sir, be not herewith dismaid. But constant keepe the way in which ye stand; Which were it not that I am els delaid With hard adventure, which I have in hand, I labour would to guide you through al Faery-land'. 'Das schicksal, der feind ruhmreicher untemeh- mung', sagte G-uyon, 'gewaehrt der tugend selten hilfe; vielmehr wirffc es ihr unheil und missgeschick in den weg, wodurch ihr lauf gehemmt und ihr gang behindert wird. Seid aber nicht verzagt hierueber, tapfrer herr, sondern bleibt bestaendig in dem wege, in dem ihr euch befindet; waere ich nicht durch ein beschwerliches abenteuer behindert, das ich vorhabe, wuerde ich raich bemuehen, euch durch das ganze Feenland zu leiten'. IX. 'Gramercy, sir', said he, 'but mote I weete What straunge adventure doe ye now pursew? Perhaps my succour or advizement meete Mote stead you much your purpose to subdew'. Then gan Sir Guyon all the story shew Of false Acrasia, and her wicked wiles; Which to avenge, the palmer him forth drew From Faery court. So talked they, the whiles They wasted had much way, and mesurd many miles. 'Besten dank, herr', sagte er, 'aber darf ich wis- sen, welches seltsame abenteuer ihr jetzt vorhabt? vielleicht mag meine hilfe oder ein nuetzlicher rath euch dabei ganz dienlich sein, euer vorhaben auszu- fuehren'. Darauf begann Herr Guyon die ganze ge- schichte zu erzaehlen von der gottlosen Acrasia und ihren gottlosen raenken, und wie ihn der pilger vom Feenhof fortzog, diese zu raechen. So sprachen sie, waehreud sie eine grosse strecke zuruecklegten und viele meilen durcheilten. X. And now faire Phoebus gan decline in haste His weary wagon to the -yesterne vale, Whenas they spide a goodly castle, plaste Foreby a river in a pleasaunt dale; Which choosing for that evenings hospitale, They thether marcht: but when they came in sight, And from their sweaty coursers did avale. They found the gates fast barred long ere night. And every loup fast lockt, as fearing foes despight. Und nun begann der herrliche Phoebus in eile seinen mueden wagen zum westlichen thale zu neigen, als sie ein huebsches schloss erspaehten, welches dicht an einem fluss in einem gefaelligen thale lag; dies waehlten sie zur herberge fuer jene nacht und zogen dorthin : aber als sie ankamen und von ihren schweiss- triefenden renneru stiegen, fanden sie die thore fest verriegelt, obgleich es lange noch nicht nacht war, und jede spalte fest verschlossen, als wenn man fein- destuecke fuerchtete. she-wing that Spenser at first meant to describe Prince Arthur as having already spent seven years in his quest of the Faery Queene ; but that on second thoughts he considered that too long a space, and altered it to one year'. (Kitchin.) VIII. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 2. 'Seldome (said Guyon).' v. 9. 'Faery land'. V. 1. Todd: 'Chevisaunce is enterprise, from the Fr. chevissaunce*. Kitchin: 'Fortune the foe, etc.; — 'cp. Seneca, Here. Fur. 523: '0 Fortuna, viris invida fortibus'. (Upton). There is probably an allusion to the popular old ballad of 'Fortune, my foe', of which the first verse has been preserved by Malone, beginning 'Fortune, my foe, why dost thou frown on me, And will my fortune never better be?' IX. V. 1. weete; — 'edd. 1590, 1596 read 'wote', but the cotemporary marginal corrector of ed. 1590 writes 'weete', which is required by the rhyme'. (Kitchin.) X. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 1. 'hast'. v. 3. 'plast'. v. 6. 'thither'. V. 5. hospitale; — 'Inn. Lat. hospitiolum'. (Church in Todd.) V. 7. avale; — 'Come down, dismount. Fr. avaller'. (Todd. — See below.) 46 XL Which when they saw, they weened fowle reproch Was to them doen, their eutraunce to forestall; Till that the squire gan nigher to approch, And wind his home under the castle wall, That with tlie noise it shooke as it would fall. Eftsoones forth looked from the highest spire The watch, and lowd unto the knights did call, To weete what they so rudely did require? Who gently answered, they entraunce did desire. Als sie das sahen, meinten sie, schimpfliche schmach wuerde ihnen angethan, da man ihren eintritt von voni herein hinderte; bis der ritter naeher heran- kam und unter der schlossmauer in seiti horn stiess, so dass sie bei dem schalle erbebte, als wollte sie einstuerzen. Zu wiederholten raalen spaehte der waech- ter vom hoechsten thurme aus und rief laut den rit- tem zu, um zu erfahren, was sie so ungestuem be- gehrten. Diese antworteten hoeflich, sie wuenschten einlass. XII. 'Fly, fly, good knights', said he, 'fly fast away, If that your lives you love, as meete ye should! Fly fast, and save youi'selves from neare decay; Here may ye not have entraunce, though we would. We would and would againe, if that we could; But thousand enemies about us rave, And with long siege us in this castle hould; Seven yeares this wize they us besieged have. And many good knights slaine that have us sought to save'. 'Flieht, flieht, gute ritter', sagte er, 'flieht sclmell weg, wenn ihr euer lebsn liebt, wie ihr es eigentlich solltet! Flieht schnell und rettet euch vor nahem missgeschick ; hier koennt ihr nicht eintreten, wenn wir auch wollten. Wir wuerden es sicherlich wollen, wenn wir koennten, aber tausend feinde rasen um uns herum und halten uns schon lange in diesem schlosse belagert ; sieben jahre haben sie uns in die- ser weise eingeschlossen und viale tapfre ritter er- schlagen, die uns zu erloesen versuchten'. XIII. Thus as he spoke, loe! with outragious cry A thousand villeins rownd about them swannd Out of the rockes and caves adioyning nye; Vile caitive wretches, ragged, rude, defoimd. All threatning death, all in straunge manner armd; Some with unweldy clubs, some with long speares, Some rusty knives, some staves in fler -warmd : Sterne was their looke, like wild amazed steares. Staring with hollow eies and stiff upstanding heares. Als er so sprach, siehe da schwaermten mit wue- thendem geschrei tausend kerle rund um sie her aus den felsen und nahe angrenzenden hoehlen her- aus; erbaermliche arme schelme, zerlumpt, roh, unge- stalt, alle tod drohend, alle in seltsamer weise be- waffnet; einige mit unbehueMichen knitteln, andre mit langen speeren, wieder andre hatten rostige mes- ser Oder in feuer gehaertete staebe: stan' war ihr blick, gleich dem wilder, rasender stiere, glotzend mit hohlen augen und steifen aufrecht stehenden haaren. XI. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 2. 'forstall'. v. 9. 'entrance'. Xin. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 2. 'round'. v. 3. 'adjoining'. v. 9. 'eyes'. V. 2. A thousand villeins; — 'these are the evil desires, vices, temptations, which beset man's moral nature. There is also a bye allusion to the outbreak of the 'villenage', jacquerie, etc., that with rude assault, and weapons of the field, attacked the feudal castles; possibly also a slight allusion to tlie wild Irish, of whom Spenser was presently to have such sad experiences. As, in Spenser's mind, the castle and its lord represented knowledge, virtue, civilisation, the part of the gentleman; so the rude clown and serfs represented ignorance, brutality, the ungentle character. We must not forget that Spenser was full of contempt for the 'raskall rout', and had no sympathy for any but the gentleman - class'. (Kitchin. — See above.) v. 7. staves in fier warmd; — cp. Statins, Theb. IV, 64: ' — Pars gesa manu, pars robora flammis Indurata diu' etc.' Q. Curtius, III, 2: 'Invicta belle manus, fundis, credo, et hastis igne duratis repellentur'. Vergil Aen. VII, 523: ' — — Non jam certamine agresti. Stipitibus duris agitur, sudibusve praeustis'. Arrian Jndica, c. 24: '.^oy;fa? di fq)OQtov nnxfni;, fityt&Oi, cw; JS«7r»/;|f?as ctKOtxti di ovr. fn^v aidtigttj, alka x6 ojti avtjjai nenvgtty.TO)/niv€)v to avro tnotft'. 47 XIV. Fiersly at first those knights they did assayle. And drove them to recoile: but, when againe They gave fresh charge, their forces gan to fayle, Unhable their encounter to sustaine; For with much puissaunce and impetuous maine Those champions broke on them, that forst them fly. Like scattered sheepe, whenas the shepherds swaine A lion and a tigre doth espye With greedy pace forth rushing from the forest nye. Grrimmig griifen sie zuerst die ritter an und zwan- gen sie, sich zurueckzuziehen : aber als sie wiederum einen emeuten angriff machten, begannen Dire kraefte zu schwinden, und sie waren nicht im stande, den zusammenstoss mit ihnen zu ertragen ; denn mit gros- ser macht and ungestuemer gewalt stuerzten unsere helden auf sie ein, so dass sie sie zur flucht zwan- gen, gleich zerstreuten schafen, wenn der schaefer einen loewen und einen tiger erspaeht, der in gierigem laufe aus dem nahen walde hervorbricht. XV. A while they fled, but soon retoumd againe With greater fury then before was found; And evermore their cruell capitaine Sought with his raskall routs t'enclose them rownd. And overroniie to tread them to the grownd: But soone the knights with their bright - burning blades Broke their rude troupes, and orders did confownd. Hewing and slashing at their idle shades; For though they bodies seem, yet substaunce from them fades. Eine zeit lang flohen sie, kehrten aber bald mit groesserer wuth wieder zurueck, als vorher; und im- mer mehr suchte sie ihr grausamer anfuehrer mit seinen schuftigen rotten ringsum einzuschliossen , sie zu ueberwaeltigen und zu boden zu treten : aber bald brachen die ritter mit ihren hell leuchtenden klingen ihre rohen schaaren und zerstoerten ihre reihen, in- dera sie auf ihre traegen schattengestalten mit aller gewalt einhieben ; denn obgleich sie koerper scheinen, schwindet ihnen doch die kraft. XVI. As when a swarm of gnats at eventide Out of the fennes of Allan doe arise. Their murmuring small trompetts sownden wide. Whiles in the aire their clustring army flies, That as a cloud doth seeme to dim the skies ; Ne man nor beast may rest or take repast For their sharpe wounds and noyous iniuries. Till the fierce northeme wind with blustring blast Doth blow them quite away, and in the ocean cast: Wie wenn ein mueckenschwarm zur abendzeit aus den suempfen von Allan sich erhebt und ihr gesumme weithin kleine trompetenstoesse hoeren laesst, wa«h- rend in der luffc ihre zusammengeballte schaar fliegt, welche, wie eine wolke, den himmel zu verdunkeln scheint; und weder mensch noch thier rasten oder ein mahl einnehmen kann vor ihren schmerzhaften stichen und ihrer laestigen zudringlichkeit, bis der un- gestueme nordwind mit brausendem wehen sie ganz wegblaest und in den ocean wirft: XIV. Various readings: In Kitchin : v. 1. 'assaile', v. 3. 'faile'. v. 5. 'such' instead of 'much'. T. 8. 'lyon'. XV. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 1, 'returnd'. v. 4. 'round'. V. 5. 'overrun', 'ground'. v. 7. 'confound'. V. 3. their cruell capitaine; — 'Maleger, afterwards described in c. XI. 20 — 22. He is the incarnation of evil and malignant passions, lord of all temptations, the moral aspect of Satan'. (Kitchin). V. 4. his raskall routs; — 'This expression appears to have been common for a mob of the lowest kind'. (Todd.) V. 5. overronne to tread them, etc.; — 'a Latin use, 'Superatos ad terram dejicere'. V. 6. bright-burning blades; — 'the metaphor is the same as that of the subst. 'brand', because a sword flashes like a blazing torch'. (Kitchin,) XVI. Various readings: In Kitchin: v, 2. 'do', v. 3. 'trompets'. v. 7. 'injuries.' V. 1. a swarm of gnats; — cp. above Horn. II. B, 469. V. 4. their clustring army; — cp. II. B, 89: '■ Borgvdov Si -ndTovxai in uvd-eaw elapivdlaiv', V, 2. the fennes of Allan; — 'an Irish experience of the poet. The 'Bog of Allen' is the general name for a set of turbaries, spread over a wide surface, across the centre of the country, from Wicklow Head to Galway, and from Howth Head to Sligo, all on the east bank of the Shannon*. (Kitchin.) 48 XVII. Thus when they had that troublous rout disperst, Unto the castle gate they come againe, And entraunce crav'd, which was denied erst. Now when report of that their perlous paine, And combrous conflict which they did sustaine, Came to the ladies eare which there did dwell, Shee forth issewed with a goodly traine Of squires and ladies equipaged well, And entertained them right fairely, as befell. So kamen sie, als sie jene laestige rotte zerstreut hatten, wieder zum schlossthor und begehrten einlase, der ihnen bisher abgeschlagen war. Jetzt, als die nachricht von ihrer gefahrvoUen anstrengung und dem beschwerlichen kampfe, dcm sie sich unterzogen hatten, zum ohre der dame gelangte, die dort wohnte, kam sie heraus mit einem stattlichen gefolge von rittern und edeldamen in praechtiger kleidung und bewirthete sie gar herrlich, wie es sich geziemte. XVIII. Alma she called was; a virgin bright. That had not yet felt Cupides wanton rage; Yet was shee woo'd of many a gentle knight, And many a lord of noble parentage, That sought with her to lincke in marriage: For shee was faire, as faire mote ever bee. And in the flowre now of her freshest age; Yet full of grace and goodly modestee, That even heven reioyced her sweete face to see. Alma ward sie genannt; eine herrliche jungfrau, die noch Cupido's muthwilliges treiben nicht gefuehlt hatte; doch war sie umworben von manchem feinen ritter und manchem herrn aus edler familie, welche sich mit ihr durch heirath zu verbinden begehrten: denn sie war schoen, so schoen man immer sein kann, und jetzt gerade in der bluethe ihres zarte- sten alters, doch voll von anmuth und lieblicher be- scheidenheit, so dass selbst der himmel innige freude empfand, ihr holdes antlitz zu schauen. XIX. In robe of lilly white she was arayd. That from her shoulder to her heele downe raught: The traine whereof loose far behind her strayd, Braunched with gold and perle most richly wrought, And borne of two faire damsels which were taught That service well: her yellow golden heare Was trimly woven, and in tresses wrought, Ne other tire she on her head did weare. But crowned with a garland of sweete rosiere. In ein lilienweisses gewand war sie gekleidet, wel- ches von der schulter bis zur ferse hinabreichte ; dessen schleppe rauschte lose weit hinter ihr her, war mit gold und hoechst kostbar gearbeiteten perlen besetzt und wurde von zwei schoenen zofen getragen, die indiesem dienst wohl unterwiesen waren : ihr goldgel- bes haar war kunstvoU geflochten und in locken ge- legt, und keinen andern schmuck trug sie auf ihrem haupte, als einen kranz lieblicher rosen. XX. Goodly shee entertaind those noble knights, And brought them up into her castle hall; Where gentle com't and gracious delight Shee to them made, with mildnesse virginall. Shewing herself e both wise and liberall. There when they rested had a season dew, They her besought of favour speciall Of that faire castle to affoord them vew: Shee graunted; and, them leading forth, the same did shew. Trefflich bewirthete sie die edlen ritter und fuehrte sie dann hinauf m ihre schlosshalle , wo sie ihnen feine unterhaltung und wonniges entzuecken bereitete, indem sie bei ihrer jungfraeulichen sanftmuth sich sowohl weise als freisinnig zeigte. Als sie sich dort eine angemessene zeit ausgeruht hatten, erbaten sie von ihr als besondere gunst, dass sie ihnen die be- sichtigung jenes schoenen schlosses gestatten moechte: sie gewaehrte die bitte und zeigte es ihnen, indem sie selbst ihnen zur fuehrerinn diente. XVII. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 7. no accent. T. 9. as befell; — 'as was proper and seemly', answering to the German phrase, 'Wie befohlen ist'. (Kitchin. — See below.) XVIII. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 3. 'she*. V. 1. Alma; — 'That is, The Mind'. (Church in Todd. — See above). XIX. V. 5. two faire damsels; — 'the commentators suggest Plato's im&vfjirixixfi and »9-i'/t»jrtx^ under proper govern- ance. But this is doubtful'. (Kitchin.) V. 9. — rosiere; — 'The rose-tree'. (Church in Todd.) 49 XXI. First she them led up to the castle wall, That was so high as foe might not it clime And all so faire and fensible withall; Not built of bricke, ne yet of stone and lime, But of thing like to that ^Egyptian slime, Whereof king Nine whilome built Babell towre; But, great pitty! that no lenger time So goodly workmanship should not endure! Soone it must turne to earth; no earthly thing is sure. Zuerst geleitete sie sie auf die schlossmauer; die war so hoch, dass ein feind sie nlcht erklimmen konnte, und alles so schoen und vertheidigungsfaehig dabei; nicht aus backstein war sie gebaut noch selbst aus stein und lehm, sondern aus einer masse, die jenem Aegyptischen erdharze aehnlich war, woraus koenig Ninus weiland den thurm zu Babel baute; aber, o jammer, dass so treffliche arbeit nicht laenger dauem sollte! bald soUte er zu staub werden; denn kein irdisches ding ist unvergaenglich. XXII. The frame thereof seemd partly circulare. And part triangulare: worke divine! Those two the first and last proportions are; The one imperfect, mortall, foeminine; Th' other immortall, perfect, masculine; And twixt them both a quadrate was the base, Proportiond equally by seven and nine; Nine was the circle sett in heavens place: All which compacted, made a goodly diapase. Der bau davon erschien theils kreisfoermig und theils dreieckig: goettlich werk! Diese beiden verhaeltnisse sind das erste und letzte: das eine ist unvollkommen, vergaenglich , weiblich; das andre un- sterblich, vollkommen, maennlich ; und zwischen ihnen beiden war ein viereck die basis, auf gleiche weise durch sieben und neun in verhaeltniss gebracht; neun war der Icreis, der an stelle des himmels angebracht war; alles zusammen gab eine schoene harmonie. XXI. Various readings: In Kitchin: v, 5. 'Aegytian'. V. 5. of thing like: — the 'clay* of which man is made. Gen. 2, 7: msn ■'H^i n'^'^n n7:uD3 T^sNa ns^i rjois«n-i73 -10:5? Dnxri-nN a'^rs'^N nin*' -i2f'''T TTV •:- •- -;• T-: -.— f t-; t ' • T T T 7 T V • v: T : :■ •- that ^Egyptian slime; — here Spenser wrote Aegyptian for Assyrian. Herodotus speaks of the bitumen or 'slime' found in the Cissian territory, and of that used for the walls of Babylon. Her. I. 179: ogvaoovcfc; a/in rrjv ruqiQov, inXCvO-fvov rrjv yijv ix Tof' ogvyfiaroq iy.qjfpnuii'^iv iXxvoki'tk; dh nXiv&ov^ Ixavui;, omrijour «i't«c; ^v y.ufdt'oirii,' /lexu di lAfiaTt, ;^p6««/ff J'ot uaq)uhco) &fQfteco "D.iov ^'Ey.to)(). — Ovid. Met, XIII, 41G sqq: Mittitur Astyanax illis de turribus, unde Pugnantem pro se, proavitaque regna tuentem, Saepe videre patrem monstratum a matre solebat. XLVI, Various readings : In Kitchin : v. 4. 'flam'd'. V, 1. The roofe; — 'the upper part of the skull.' (Kitchin.) V. 2. deckt with flowres and herbars; — 'hair and eyebrows.' (Kitchin,) V, 3, set in watches stead; — 'in the stead or place of watches,' (Upton in Todd, place of watchmen'. (Kitchin.) So Cic. de Nat. Deor. II, 56: 'Oculi tamquam speculatores altissimum locum obtinent, ex quo plurima conspicientes fiingantur suo munere*. 8 Cp. below.) 'in the 58 For they of living fire most subtilly Were made, and set in silver sockets bright, Cover'd with lids deviz'd of substance sly, That readily they shut and open might. 0, who can tell the prayses of that makers might! dig: denn sie waren aus lebensfeuer hoechst kuenst- lich bereitet und in glaenzende silberhoehlen gestellt, bedeckt mit schirmen, die aus feiner substanz erson- nen waren, so dass sie sich leicht schliessen und oeff- nen konnten. 0, wer kann das lob von jenes kuenst- lers macht verkuenden! XLYH. Ne can 1 tell, ne can I stay to tell, This parts great workemanship and wondrous powre. That all this other worldes worke doth excell, And likest is unto that heavenly towre That God hath built for his owne blessed bowre. Therein were divers rowmes, and divers stages; But three the chiefest and of greatest powre. In which there dwelt three honorable sages. The wisest men, I weene, that lived in their ages. Weder vermag ich zu erzaehlen, noch darf ich schweigen von der grossen kunst und wundersamen pracht dieses gebaeudetheiles , der die ganze uebrige welt uebertrifft und am besten zu vergleichen ist jenem himmlischen dom, den gott zu seiner eig- nen gesegneten wohnung erbaut hat. Darin waren verschiedene raeume und verschiedene abtheilungen, von denen jedoch drei die hauptsaechlichsten und maechtigsten waren; in diesen wohnten drei ehr- bare weise, die weisesten maenner, meine ich, ihres zeitalters. XLvm. Not he, whom Greece, the nourse of all good arts, By Phoebus doome the wisest thought alive. Might be compar'd to these by many parts: Nor that sage Pylian syre, which did survive Three ages, such as mortall men contrive. By whose advise old Priams cittie fell, With these in praise of poUicies mote strive. These three in these three rowmes did sondry dwell, And counselled faire Alma how to governe well. Nicht der, den Griechenland , die pflegerinn aller schoenen kuenste, nach des Phoebus ausspruch fuer den weisesten der lebenden hielt, koennte mit diesen in vielen punkten verglichen werden: noch jener weise mann aus Pylos, der drei zeitalter durchlebte, wie sie sterbliche menschen verleben, und durch des- sen rath des alten Priam's veste fiel, koennte mit diesen im ruhme der klugheit wetteifem. Diese drei wohnten in diesen drei raeumen, jeder fuer sich, und ertheilten der holden Alma rath, wie man gut regie- ren muesse. XLIX. The first of them could things to come foresee; The next could of thinges present best advize; The third things past could keep in memoree: Der erste von ihnen konnte zukuenftige dinge vor- hersehen; der andre konnte ueber gegenwaertige dinge am besten rath ertheilen; der dritte konnte V. 7, 'Sly' is here used in the sense of 'thin', 'fine'. (Todd.) XLVII. V. 4. likest is; — allusion to Gen. I. 27: : inS N-|2 D^n'TN Obsa ITjbiCa mNJTnN WTl'bSi Nl^l'il T T • :•: : •• : : - : t t t ■■• • v: -. : • y. 8. three honorable sages; — 'these are: 1) Imagination, looking on to the future; youthful, poetical. 2) Judgment, deciding calmly on the present; manly, philosophical. 3) Memory, looking back to the past; aged, historical,' (Kitchin.) XLVIII. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 8. 'roomes*. 'sundry'. V. 1. Not he, whom; — 'Socrates, whom the Delphic Oracle declared to be the wisest man alive. This, he says, was because he knew how ignorant he was.' (Kitchin.) V, 4. that sage Pylian syre; — 'Pylian Nestor, ■tqiy^qwv; he had ruled over three generations of men, and was appealed to throughout the siege of Troy as an oracle. His opinion was equal to that of the gods. His mediation re- conciled Agamemnon and Achilles, and his advice helped greatly towards the fall of Ilium.' (Kitchin.) V, 5. contrive; — 'Spenser abounds with Latinisms, which makes me think that contrive may be from con- t ere re, to wear out.' (Jortin in Todd.) XLIX. Various readings : In Kitchin : v. 6. 'For thy' — at any rate, a misprint. v. 7. 'prejudize'. V. 1. The first of them; — 'The allegorical persons here spoken of, are Imagination, Judgement, Memory.' (Church in Todd.) 59 So that no time uor reason could arize, But that the same could one of these comprize. Forthy the first did in the forepart sit, That nought mote hinder his quicke preiudize; He had a sharpe foresight and working wit That never idle was, ne once would rest a whit. vergangene dinge im gedaechtniss bewahren: so dass weder eine zeit noch ein verhaeltniss entstehen konnte, ohne dass einer von diosen das verstaendniss davon hatte. Daher sass der erste in dem vorderen raume, damit nichts seine schnelle einbildungskraft hindem moechte; er hatte eine scharfe sehergabe und einen durchdringenden verstand, der nimmer traege war noch je im geringsten rastete. L. His chamber was dispainted all within With sondry colours, in the which were writ Infinite shapes of thinges dispersed thin ; Some such as in the world were never yit, Ne can devized be of mortall wit; Some daily seene and knowen by their names, Such as in idle fantasies do flit: Infemall hags, centaurs, feendes, hippodames, Apes, lyons, aegles, owles, fooles, lovers, children, dames. Sein zimmer war innen ueberall mit absonderlichen farben bemalt, und es waren darin unendlich viele figu- ren der verschiedenartigsten gegenstaende zu sehen; zum theil von solchen, die noch nie in der welt wa- ren noch von sterblichem verstande ersonnen werden koennen ; zum theil von solchen, die taeglich zu sehen und deren namen bekannt sind, so wie sie in unbe- schaeftigter phantasie umherflattem: hoellische hexen, centauren, teufel, nilpferde, affen, loewen, adler, eulen, narren, liebhaber, lander, damen. LI. And all the chamber filled was with flyes Which buzzed all about, and made such sound That they encombred all mens eares and eyes; Like many swarmes of bees assembled round, After their hives with honny do abound. All theses were idle though tes and fantasies. Devices, dreames, opinions unsound, Shewes, visions, sooth-sayes, and prophesies ; And all that fained is, as leasings, tales, and lies. Emongst them all sate he which wonned there, That hight Phantastes by his nature trew; A man of yeares yet fresh, as mote appere, Of swarth complexion, and of crabbed hew, That him full of melancholy did shew; Bent hollow beetle browes, sharpe staring eyes That mad or foolish seerad: one by his vew Mote deeme him borne with ill-disposed skyes. When oblique Satunie sate in th'house of agonyes. Und das ganze zimmer war mit fliegen angefuellt, welche ueberall umhersummten und solchen laerm machten, dass sie aller ohren und augen belaestig- ten; in gleicher weise tummeln sich viele schwaerme im kreise versammelter bienen hinter iliren mit honig gefuellten stoecken. AUes dies waren muessige ge- danken und phantasieen, einfaelle, traeume, krank- hafte wahngebild'^, scbaustuecke, visionen, weissagun- gen und prophezeiungen ; und alles, was erdichtet ist, als aufschneidereien, raaehrchen und luegen. LH. Unter ihnen alien sass der, welcher dort wohnte, seinem eigentlichen wesen gemaess Phantastes ge- nannt ; ein noch junger mann, aber von dunkler farbe und muerrischem aussehen, was bewies, dass er voller melancholie war; mit gebogenen, tiefliegenden , her- abhaengenden augenbrauen und scharfen starrenden augen, die wahnwitzig oder wenigstens naerrisch er- schienen: man moechte bei seinem anblick meinen, er sei unter unguenstiger constellation geboren, als der tueckische Saturn im hause der kaempfe sich befand. T. 7. quicke prejudize; — 'the Imagination does not really judge, it prejudges; moving too fast for the Reason.' (Kitchin.) L. V. 3. Infinite shapes; — 'the creations of the imagination.' (Kitchin.) T. 8. hippodames; — Sea-horses, (Todd.) LI. V. 1. 2. flyes Which buzzed; — 'the idle thoughts and fantasies of imagination.' (Kitchin.) Lll. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 8. 'ill disposed'. V. 2. Phantastes; — The Imagination. (Church in Todd.) '(ffifiacitr}!;, from (pariaola, the 'fantastic* or imaginative faculty. Note the melancholy side of the qual- ity; what we call the 'sadness of youth'. (Kitchin.) T. 8, with ill-disposed skyes; — 'with the stars arranged unluckily ; so = 'borne under evill starre'. (Kitchin. — Cp. above,) 8* eo Lin. Whom Alma having shewed to her guestes, Thence brought them to the second rowme, whose wals Were painted faire with memorable gestes Of famous wisards ; and with picturals Of magistrates, of courts, of tribunals. Of commen wealthes, of states, of poUicy, Of lawes, of iudgementes, and of decretals, All artes, all science, all philosophy, And all that in the world was ay thought wittily. Nachdem ihn Alma ihren gaesten gezeigt hatte, brachte sie sie von dort in das zweite gemach, dessen waende herrlich bemalt waren mit denkwuerdigen tha- ten beruehmter weisen und mit bildem von obrigkeiten, lioefen, tribunalen, republiken, staaten, politik, ge- setzen, richterspruechen und verordnungen , alien kuensten, aller wissenschaft , aller weltweisheit und allem, was je in der welt fuer sinnreich gehalten ward. LIV. Of those that rowme was full; and them among There sate a man of ripe and perfect age, Who did them meditate all his life long. That through continual practise and usage He now was growne right wise and wondrous sage; Great plesure had those straunger knightes to see His goodly reason and grave personage, That his disciples both desyrd to bee: But Alma thence them led to th'hindmost rowme of three. Hiemit war das gemach angefuellt; und mitten darunter sass ein mann von reifem, vollendetem alter, der diese bilder sein ganzes leben hindurch betrach- tete, so dass er durch bestaendige uebung und ge- wohnheit nunmehr gar weise und wunderbar klug geworden war; grosses gefallen fanden die fremden ritter daran, seinen trefflichen verstand und emste erscheinung zu sehen, so dass beide seine schueler zu sein wuenschten; aber Alma fuehrte sie von dort fort in das hinterste der drei gemaecher. LY. That chamber seemed ruinous and old, And therefore was removed far behind. Dies zimmer schien verfallen und alt und war da- her weit nach hinten gelegt; doch waren die waende, V. 9, 'Oblique Saturne' was of all planets the most malign; Propertius, El. 4. 1. 84: 'Est grave Saturni sidus in omne caput'. He was considered oold and blighting; Virg. Georg. I, 336: Lucan I, 650 sq: 'Frigida Saturni sese quo Stella receptet'. ' — — summo si frigida cselo Stella nocens nigros Saturni accenderet ignes'. So Chaucer, Knightes Tale, 1. 1577, has 'pale Satumes the colde'. Saturn goes on to say, The fallyng of the toures and the walles Upon the mynour or the carpenter. I slowh Sarapsoun in schakyng the piler. And myne ben the maladies colde, The derke tresoun, and the castes olde; Myn lokyng is the fadir of pestilens'. (Knightes Tale, 1590—1004.) 'Myn is the drenchyng in the see so wan; Myn is the prisoun in the derke cote ;- Myn is the stranglyng and hangyng by the throte; The murmur, and the cherles rebellyng; The groynyng, and the pryve enpoysonyng, I do vengance and pleyn correctioun, Whyles I dwelle in the signe of the lyoun. Myn is the ruen of the hihe halles, th'house of agonyes; — 'in astrology 'house' is the iffut'oi; ovQavoii, the district of the heavens in which a planet rises. 'Agonyes' refers to the belief (alluded to in the Knightes Tale, 1592, 1593) that under Saturn strife and con- tention (uyoiviq) largely prevail. So the almanack called 'the Compost of Ptholomeus' tells us that 'the children of tlie sayd Saturne shall be great jangeleres and chyders . . . they will never forgyve tyll they be revenged of theyr quarell'; and again, 'When he doth reygne, there is moche debate'. (Quoted by Mr. Morris, on Chaucer's Knightes Tale, 1, 1585).' (Kitchin.) LIII. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 2. 'roome'. v. 2. second rowme; — 'the seat of the Judgment (or Reason) ; all civil, political, or philosophical learning.' (Kit.) V. 7. decretals; — 'Spenser probably only means 'decrees'; he would hardly allude to the Papa,l decretals; un- less he means by 'lawes', 'judgements', 'decretals' to signify all law civil or canon.' (Kitchin.) LIV. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 4. no accent marked, v. 6. 'straunger knights', v. 8. 'desir'd'. v. 9. 'roome'. V. 2. There sate a man; — The Judgement, (Church in Todd.) V. 9. hindmost rowme; — 'seat of memory.' (Kitchin.) 61 Yet were the wals, that did the same uphold, Bight firme and strong, though somwhat they declind ; And therein sat an old old man, halfe blind, And all decrepit in his feeble corse, Yet lively vigour rested in his mind. And recompenst them with a better scorse: Weake body well is chang'd for minds redoubled forse. die dasselbe stuetzten, recht fest und stark, obgleich sie sich etwas neigten. Und darin sass ein alter alter mann, halb blind, mit ganz abgelebtem, schwa- chem koerper ; doch lebendige kraft war seinem geiste geblieben und ersetzte die koerperkraefte durch einen bessem tausch: denn, wenn ein schwacher koerper gegen doppelte geisteskraft eingetauscht wird, so ist das ein guter tausch. LVI. This man of infinite remembrannce was, And things foregone through many ages held, Which he recorded still as they did pas, Ne suffred them to perish through long eld, As all things els the which this world doth weld; But laid them up in his immortall serine, Where they for ever incorrupted dweld. The warres he well remembred of king Nine, Of old Assaracus, and Inachus divine. Dieser mann hatte ein unbegrenztes gedaechtniss ; er behielt die vergangenen begebenheiten vieler zeit- alter und eriunerte sich ihrer noch so, wie sie sich zutrugen, duldete auch nicht, dass sie durch die laenge der zeit untergingen, wie alle sonstigen dinge dieser welt; sondern hob sie auf in seinem ewigen schrein, wo sie fuer immer in unverdorbenem zu- stande verblieben. So erinnerte er sich auch noch recht wohl der kriege des koenigs Ninus, des alten Assaracus und des goettlichen Inachus. Lvn. The yeares of Nestor nothing were to his, Ne yet Mathusalem, though longest liv'd; For he remembred both their infancis: Ne wonder then if that he were depriv'd Of native strength now that he them surviv'd. His chamber all was hangd about with rolls And old records from auncient times derivd. Some made in books, some in long parchment scrolls. That were all worm-eaten and full of canker holes. Die jahre Nestor's waren nichts im vergleich zu seinen, noch die Methusalem's , der doch am laeng- sten lebte; denn er erinnerte sich ihrer beider kind- heit: kein wunder also, dass er seiner ursprueng- lichen kraft beraubt war, da er sie jetzt noch ueber- lebte. Sein zimmer war ueberall mit jahrbuechem und alten denkschriften behaengt, die aus uralten- zeiten herstammten, und von denen einige in bue- chern, andre in langen pergamentrollen gearbeitet waren, die alle wurmstichig and voUer mottenloecher waren. Lvni. Amidst them all he in a chatre was sett. Tossing and turning them withouten end; But for he was unhable them to fett, A little boy did on him still attend Unter ihnen alien sass er auf einem stuhle, sie unaufhoerlich bin- und herwerfend und umwendend; aber da er nicht im stande war, sie alle selbst her- beizuholen, so war immer ein kleiner knabe bei ihm, LV. LVI. Various readings: In Kitchin: v, 5. *an old oldinan'. T, 8. scorse: — Exchange. (Church in Todd,) Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 1. 'remembrance'. V. 8. The warres . . . ofKing Nine; — 'these 'warres' exist only in imagination.' (Kitchin.) V. 9. old Assaracus; — mythical king of Troy, son of Tros, father of Capys, great-grandfather of Aeneas. (Lnebker, p. 63.) Inachus divine: a river god, and also king of Argos. He is called son of Oceanus and Tethys, and gives his name to the river Inachus. (Luebker, p. 453.) LVII. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 7. 'records' without the accent. 'deriv'd*. v. 3. 'infancies'. LVIII. Various readings: In Kitchin: v. 1. 'set'. v. 3. 'fet'. V. 3. But for; = But because. (Church in Todd.) = 'but for that', 'but inasmuch'. (Kitchin.) V. 8. 9. Todd: 'These two are known 'by their properties'. The old man, being of infinite remembrance, was hence called Eumnestes, from iv, bene, and fivrj/Lirj, memoria, fivfia&ilvai, meminisse. And the boy, that attended on this old man was called Anamnestes, from uva/iiva