ix. 49. Criftâque tegit galea aurea rubrâ. Presently after Selinis, fhould rather be Selinus, Palmofa Selinus. Virg. iii. 705. a town in Cilicia, fo named. But Spenfer seldom takes a proper name without altering it. The fimile of the almond tree is exceeding elegant, and much after the caft of that admired image in Homer II. p. 51, &c. He fays, Her tender locks do tremble every one At everie little breath, that under heaven is blowne. From the 2d edition in quarto: and the folios, I have printed it, Whose tender locks Which is almoft literally from Homer, Τό δέ τε πνοιαν δονέωσι Παντόιων ἀνέμων, καί τε βρύει ἄνθεϊ λευκῷ. His warlike fhield all clofely cover'd was,— i. e. refplendent, fhining bright. And thus Ariofto, whom our poet had in view, Canto ii. 55. 56. D'un bel drappo di feta havea coperto This warlike fhield, is the fame as the magical fhield of Atlant, which came afterwards into the poffeffion of Ruggiero; 'twas always kept covered uniefs upon very extraordinary occafions. See Ariofto, xxii. 81, 82. The tranflator of Ariofto fays, 'tis imaged from the story of Medufa's head. One would think that Homer was the father of Romance writers: this fhield feems imaged from the Ægis of Jupiter, filled with the dreadful figures of Horror and Flight; which Minerva the goddess of wisdom usually bore. The dreadful Egis blazes in their eye: Hom. Odyff. xvii. 330. Here all the terrors of grim war appear; Hom. Il. v. 'Tis imaged likewife from the shield which Minerva gave to Perfeus, when the fent him to attack the Gorgon: [Albricus, de Deor. imagin. calls it Chryftallinum fcutum. See Ovid. Met. iv. 782.] 'Tis truth and wisdom, which shews all deformity in its proper hue, frightens away all falfhoods. What a fine complement does Spenmonfters, and prevails over all illufions and fer pay his Fairy Queen, in the clofe of St. 36. fuppofing her in poffeffion of this fhield?-now what fo refplendent as truth? 'tis light itself.all of diamond perfect pure and SHEENE. Che SPLENDEA, Tanto c' humana vifta nal foftiene. Arioft. xxii. 81. Taffo fpeaking of the fhield of the archangel calls it, fcudo di lucidiffimo diamante. And Fairfax his tranflator, who is a great imitator of Spenfer, and caught his poetic fire and fancy chiefly from him, fays, The facred angell tooke his target SHEENE. Ναφε καὶ μέμνησ' ἐπιδεῖν, ἄρθρα ταυτα τῶν φρενῶν. The fame to wight-] to wight, i. e. to any creature. None of the copies read, The fame to fight, which I fhould like better. But pray read over the whole ftanza- The fame to wight be never wont difclofe, Or when the flying heavens he would affray : As when her face is ftaynd with magicke arts conftraint. This is the reading of the 1st and 2d quarto editions: the others vary in nothing but the fpelling. First then I fhould like much better fight, instead of wight, the verfe and fenfe run off eafier. A gentle youth, his dearely loved squire, His fpear of heben wood behind him bare, Whofe harmfull head, thrife heated in the fire,-] Örl. Furios. ii. 55. This gentle youth, the Squire of prince Arthur, D'un bel drappo di feta havea coperto Lo fcudo in braccio il cavalier celefte. Fuor che queste tre volte, tutto 'l refto Lo tenea fotto un velo in modo afcofo, Ch' a difcoprirlo effer potea ben presto, Che del fuo aiuto foffe bifognofo. Ibid. xxii. 83. But what follows? His fhield like the magical fhield of Ruggiero, was never difclofed to fight unless to difmay monfters, or daunt unequal ar mies-or WHEN HE WOULD AFFRIGHT THE HEAVENS. What can lead prince Arthur to affright the heavens? Spenfer furely never would fay this: he had red the poets to better purpofe. In Virgil, Drances hints at Turnus being a meer swaggerer, and as one braving, and AFFRIGHTING, as it were, THE HEAVENS, xi. 35I. Dum Troïa tentat Caftra fugae fidens, et CAELUM TERRITAT AR MIS. And would Spenser apply this to his heroe?- The fame to fight he never wont difclofe, As when her face is flaynd with magicke arts conftraint. Now this is exactly what Statius fays of the fhield of Mars, Theb. vi. 666. Qualis Biftoniis clypeus Mavortis in arvis is Timias: we shall see more of him hereafter: our poet has cloudily enwrapped in his allegorical device,' his honoured friend, Sir W. R. ebony wood fays Spenfer; blackness, images Prince Arthur's fpear was made of the black death and deftruction; and he does not altogether lose fight of Jeffry of Monmouth, and the romance writer of the life of prince Arthur, who tell us the name of his fpear was called Roan; from its tawny, blackifh caft: it comes from Ravus, ravanus, rovano, roano, ROAN.Whofe harmeful head, thrife heated in the fire, i. e. hardened in the fire: which was an ancient cuftom. Sil. Ital. iii. 304. Contenti parcâ durasse haftilia flammâ. See Lipf. Poliorcet. L. iv. C. 4. Sudes, lignum in capite acutum, leviter et igne duratum. Virg. vii. 824. Sudibufve praeustis. Ibid. Who under him did amble as the aire.] So the Ift read trample; which doubtlefs was Spenfer's quarto; but the 2d quarto, and all the folios, either firft original reading, or afterwards his correction.-He never fet his honoured Squire very poetical, on an ambling nag: but trampling the ground, is Quadrupedante putrem fonitu quatit ungula campum. Virg. viii. 596. -Solido graviter fonat ungula cornu. Virg. G. iii. 88. Their bridles they would champ, And trampling the fine element would fiercely ramp. B. i. Č. 5. St. 28. Who taught his trampling feed with equall steps to B. ii. C. 1. St. 7. tread. On goodly courfer thondring with his feet. XXXVIII. B. ii. C. 3. St. 11. To tempt the cause it felfe for to bewray;] There may appear fome difficulty in these verses; but the words explained, the fenfe will the more eafily be feen. Faire-feeling, I have thus printed: purpose is difcourfe; faine is chearful: in the laft line the pronoun is omitted; which embarrasses the fentence, unless we will fuppofe, for perfpicuity, the poet wrote, To tempt her th' cause itselfe for to bewray. i. e. He in a prudent and wife manner began to use words, which felt faire and comfortable, and fitting or fuiting his chearful difcourfe for her humour, in order to tempt her to discover the cause itself. XXXIX. The carefull cold beginneth for to creep, Ibid. But he, that never would, Could never :] Pars fanitatis, VELLE fanari, fuit. Seneca, Hippol. 249. Quid tibi opus eft, ut fis bonus? VELLE. Seneca, . Deññoar dis xj yeyove, diwedaras. is mári, Epift. lxxx. "Ισθι ὅτι ἐδέν ἔτιν ἀναγωγότερον ἀνθρωπίνης ἀπονυσάξαι, καὶ ἀπόλωλεν. Arrian. L. iv. C. 9. XLIII. THE forlorne maiden, whom your eies have feene The laughing flocke-] Perhaps, THIS forlorne maiden-dering. maiden-dunts. Prefently after, Which PHISON and Euphrates floweth by, And GEHONS golden waves-PISON is one of the rivers of Paradife, Gen. ii. 11. the name of the And in my heart his yron arrow fteep,] The itera- fecond river is GIHON : v. 13. And the fourth ri tion of letters is really pretty in the first line.In the fecond line he fays, his iron arrow, not its: giving to Gold a kind of being. So above, St. 25. Tempestuous Fortune hath spent all her fpight, In me confumpfit vires Fortuna malignas. That fudden cold did ronne through every vaine, Now let the ftony dart of fenceleffe cold B. i. C. 7. St. 22. So in feveral other places, as in B. ii. C. 1. St. 42. So Homer and Hefiod, arraι Top, cor congelatur. Λύπῃ παχνωθεῖσ ̓ ἢ 'πο συμφορᾶς τινος ; XLI. O but, quoth fhe, great griefe will not be tould,] Curae leves loquuntur, ingentes ftupent. ver is Euphrates, V. 14. He omits the name of one of the rivers: and fpells (according to his cuftom) fcarce any according to modern or the ufual fpelling. Should he not rather have faid? Which Gehon and Euphrates floweth by, And Phifons golden waves— In allufion to Gen. ii. v. 11, 12. But Spenfer seems to have been determined by the iteration of the letters, Gehon's golden waves.--This defcripthe Old Serpent, (bred in the lakes of Tartary, tion of Paradife; and the mention just after of i. e. Tartarus, hell.-da le Tartaree grotte, Arioft. xxxi. 86. le Tartaree porte. Taffo iv. 11.) makes the allegory very plain. XLIV. He has them now four years befiegd-] The poet elegantly uses a round number; the allufion is to Řevel. xi. 2. For it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city fhall they tread under foot forty and two months. See too Revel. xii. 6. And the woman [Una] fled into the wilderness, where he hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threefcore days. And v. 14. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, [divine power and ftrength affifting her in her perfecuted ftate] that he might fly into the wilderness, into her place: where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, [i. e. three years and a half, or 1260 days] from the face of THE SERPENT. [the old dragon; under whofe perfecution both Una and her parents now are.] XLV. Loe where your 'foe lies fretcht in monftrous length;], Loe where your foes lie fretcht in monftrous length; that dura belli. Dneori. dɲeorig. fad, dreery. Chaucero, Dreri. Belgis, treurigh. Dreopignýrre, Sorrowfulnese, dreerineffe. Chaucero, Drerineffe: Somner.-I would therefore read, And of my dolefull difaventurous DREARE. i. e. unfortunate dreerineffe, forrow. he uses it in this fenfe below, C. 8. St. 40. A rueful spectacle of death and ghaftly DRERE. Which I think proves the truth of this correction: difaventurous, is according to the Italian fpelling; difavventurato, difavventura. If we fuppose the word not to be corrupted then for the That parents deare from tyrants power deliver rhyme's fake, 'tis fpelt DEARE, from the A. S. might.] So B. i. C. 1o. St. 9. That, to redeeme thy woefull parents head Both these places I fhould have altered had I XLVII. Dæɲe. Daɲe. nocumentum, damnum; Kiliano, Dere, deyre. Depian. nocere: to hurt. The Lancaftrians yet have it to deere. Kiliano deeren: Somner.-Shakespear ufes dear in this fense frequently, as in Hamlet: Would I had met my dearest foe in heav'n. In this latter fenfe then fhe fays, now he hath left you here to be the record of his loffe, and of of my burt. But the oppofition is ftronger in the former fense: and I have here offered the reader two readings, and two explanations, and he, after all, is to please himself. XLIX. An enchaunter bad A fresh unproved knight.] i. e. never before tried His fenfe abufed-] See B. i. C. 1. St. 47. Take in battle. See note on B. i. C. 1. St. 3. XLVIII. And ye, the forlorne reliques of his powre, His biting fword, and his devouring Speare,] This apoftrophe of Una to her knight's fword and fpear is not without its elegance and pathos-His biting fword, is from Horace, L. iv. Od. 6. Ille MORDACI velut icta ferro. His devouring Spear, from fcripture. My fword fhall devour flesh, Deut. xxxii. 42. The fword devoureth one as well as another, 2 Sam. xi. 25. Ye fhall be devoured with the fword: If. i. 20.-Let us more critically examine what follows, And of my dolefull difaventurous DEARÉ, Is fhe not wrong? and would fhe not say? Now he hath left you here to be the record of his loffe, and of my SORROW: not DEARE but DREARE. A very eafy corruption, and yet none of the books take notice of it: the adjective, according to the genius of all languages, is ufed fubftantively, as in Horace, Acuta belli; dura fugae, notice above St. 48. how Una apoftrophizes her beloved red-croffe knight's fword and spearhere detefting the thought, that her honour fhould be mifdeemed, the apoftrophizes the heavens, Be judge ye heavens, that all things right efteeme, This is exactly after the manner, and indeed feems an imitation of Virg. ii. 431. where Æneas makes a folemn proteftation of his loyalty to the cause of Troy: Iliaci cineres, et flamma extrema meorum, There is a very elegant imitation of this paffage of Virgil, in Tafso, viii. 24. Voi chiamo in teftimonio, ò del mio caro And T CANTO III. PHEN tooke that fquire an borne of bugle fmall, Which bong adowne his fide in twifled gold, And taffelles gay-] Milton had plainly this paffage in view in his poem entitled Arcades, where he fays The taffeld horn.-A horne of bugle: the etymology of both these words feems from the Latin, buculae cornu; or bugle may come from bugan, curvare, fee Junius. And then it means a bent or crooked horn. And drinketh of his bugle horne the wine. Ch. Frankl. tale. This inchanted horn is taken from the horn of Roland, mentioned by Turpin in his hiftory of Charles the Great. Chap. xxii. (which explains a paffage in Don Quixote, B. iv. ch. xxii. In Roncesvalles [where Charles the Great was defeated] is to be seen Orlando's horn, as big as a great beam.') Hence the Italian poets, Boyardo and Ariosto, have given their knights this horn. Bianco era il corno, e di ricco lavoro, Di fmalto colorito, e di fin' cro E veramente valeva un teforo, Di tante ricche pietre era adornato : Boyardo Orl. innam. Fol. 82. & Berni, L. i. Il corno per incanto è fabbricato. Ibid. St. 27. VIII. VI. Her many-headed beaft.] See above C. 7. St. 7. And every head with fyrie tongue did flame, For feven great heads out of his body grew. And there was given unto him a mouth fpeaking great things and blafphemies, Revel. xiii. 5. And a mouth Speaking great things. Dan. vii. 8. And he fhall fpeak great words against the most high, ver. 25. every head was crowned on his creaft, Behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns, and feven crowns upon his heads. Revel. And xii. 3. And bloody mouthed with late cruell feaft, Behold a fourth beaft, dreadfull-and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, &c. Dan. vii. 7. 19. The fourth beaft fhall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and fhall devour the whole earth, and fhall tread it down and break it in pieces, ver. 23. And power was given him over all kindreds and Eee tongues |