III. Great Whirlpooles: See Gefner, pag. 216. whirlpoole ab Anglis dictus cetus balana eft-Videtur à vorticibus, quos turbinis inftar in aquâ excitat, nomen habere-Nec alius puto pifcis eft ille quem horlopole vocitant Angli, &c. Skinner. In Gefner, pag. 119. and in Olaus Wormius, there is a print of a monftrous whale, which the failors take for an ifland and fix their anchors in his skinny rind. This print Milton had in his mind, when he wrote the fimile in B. i. ver. 203. Canft thou draw out Leviathan - with an book? In the margin, a whale, or a whirlpool. Job xli. 1.

IV. Bright Scolopendraes armd with filver Scales. See Gefner, pag. 839.

V. Mighty Monoceros with immeasured tayles. The verfe is immeafured. "Tis not agreeable to Spenfer's manner to fay Monoceroffes. Mighty Monoceroffes with immeafurd tayles. This fea-fifh the Greeks called Mevoxégws, the fea-unicorn. But you must turn to Gefner, pag. 208. to know what fish Spenfer meant. VI. The dreadful fish that hath deferv'd the name of death, and like him lookes in dreadfull hew.] The Mors, or orf3 defcribed by Olaus Wormius, and Gefner, pag. 210. In the fame figure is the Zifius, or Ziphius, and the Mors. See pag. 211, 212. You must not confult your common dictionaries; these are all monfters. VII. The griefly Wafferman that makes his game, The flying fhips with swiftness to pursue.] Wallernir dæmon aquaticus. Wacht. See Gefner, pag. 439, &c. Eft inter beluas marinas homo marinus, eft et Triton, &c. and pag. 1000. Tritonem Germani vocare poterant ein walierman, ein Decman i. e. aquatilem vel marinum hominem. VIII. The horrible Sea-Satire, &c. See Gefner, pag. 1001. Pan vel Satyrus marinus.

And do you tell me of a woman's tongue-
Tush, tush, fear boys with bugs.

Shak. Tam. of a Shrew, Act, I.

Right as the humour of melancholye
Caufith many a man in flepe to crye,
For fere of beris, or of balis blake,
Or ellis that blacke buggys wol him take.
Ch. pag. 169. Urrys Edit.
Some Editions read the laft verse thus,
Or else that black devils woll him take.
But this reading is only an interpretation: bugs,
bugbears. See Junius.
XXVI.

And draw from on this iourney to proceede.] And to draw us from proceding on this journey; a Grecifm, from to proceede, anò т eßnia.

XXVII.

That through the fea the refounding plaints did fly:] So the two old quarto Editions, of the highest authority, we must read then,

That through the fea th' refounding plaints did fly. See note in B. iii. C. 7. St. 5. The old folio authorizes the reading, which I have admitted into the context: but I queftion its authority in this place; and wish now I had printed it otherwife. XXVIII.

For fhe is inly nothing ill apayd,] Chaucer in the Merchants Tale.

I pray you that you be not ill apaid.

i. e. diffatisfyed. Lidgate in the ftory of Thebes, Part III. fol. 374.

Whereof the women thrift [read, trift] and evil apaide.

i. e. fad and discontented. Milt. xii. 401.
So onely can high justice rest apaid.
i. e. satisfied.

i. e.

XXX. And now they nigh approched to the fted Whereas thofe mermayds dwelt:-) Famque adeo fcopulos Sirenum advecta fubibant Difficiles quondam, multorumque offibus albos.

Virg. v. 864.

Ulyffes relates his adventure with the Syrens,

ver. 201.

And lo! the Siren fhores like mifts arife.
Sunk were at once the winds; the air above,
And waves below at once forgot to move-

While to the fore the rapid veffel flies,
Our fwift approach the Siren quire defcries;
Celestial mufic warbles from their tongue,
And thus the fweet deluders tune the fong.
Oftay, O pride of Greece! Ulyffes ftay:
O ceafe thy courfe and listen to our lay.
Bleft is the man ordaind our voice to hear,
The fong inftructs the foul, and charms the ear.
Approach, thy foul fhall into raptures rife:
Approach, and learn new wisdom from the wife:
We know whate'er the kings of mighty name
Atchiev'd at Ilion in the field of fame;
Whate'er beneath the Juns bright journey lies.
Oftay, and learn new wisdom from the wife.

Sandys in his travels, pag. 251. mentions his arrival at the promontory of Minerva: defcribed by Seneca, Ep. 77.

Alta procellofo fpeculatur vertice Pallas.

‹ Where stood a renowned Athenæum flourishing in feveral excellencies of learning and eloquence. Infomuch as from hence grew the fable of the Sirens (fained to have inhabited hereabout) who fo inchaunted with the fweetneffe of their fongs and deepnefs of their fci⚫ence of both, thus boafting to Ulyffes, • Hither thy fhip (of Greeks thou glory) ftere— • But after that thefe ftudents had abused their gifts to the colouring of wrongs, the corrup❝tion of manners, and fubverfion of good government, the Sirens were fained to have been transformed into monfters, and with their melody and blandifhments to have inticed the 'paffenger to his ruin: fuch as came hither confuming their patrimonies, and poifoning their virtues with riot and effeminacy.'

ཝ

By the Sirens are imaged fenfual pleafures, hence Spenfer makes their number five: but the poets and mythologifts as to their number vary. I refer the curious reader to the Schol. on Hom. Od. ver. 39. to Hyginus, in Præfat. Ex Acheloo Melpomene Sirenes, &c. And Fab. cxli. to Natales Comes, Lib. vii. Cap. xiii. and to Barnes, Eurip. Helen. ver. 166.] Authors vary concerning the reafon of their transformation, as well as in what that transformation confifted.

VOL. II.

Vobis, Acheloides, unde

Pluma pedefque avium, cum virginis ora geratis? Ov. Met. v. 552

They were companions of Proferpina, and when he was taken away by Pluto, they through grief, and at their own requeft, were thus transformed. Compare Claud. de rapt. Proferp. iii. 254. But Natales Comes tells us, that by the perfuafion of Juno they had the impudence to challenge the Muses, who plucked their wings for them. See Suidas in "Amlega, and Paufanias in Boeoticis. Aufonius mentions this ftory of the Sirens contending with the Mufes, Édyll. ii. Gryphus ternarii numeri. Tres in Trinacria Siredones: omnia terna: Tres volucres, tres femideae, tres femipuellae: Ter tribus ad palmam juffae certare Camaenis Ore, manu, flatu: buxo, fide, voce canentes.

What idea the ancients had of the figure of these Sirens may be known, not only from the defcriptiom of them in the poets and mythologifts, but likewife from Fabret: ad Column. Traj. which the reader may likewife fee in Drakenborch's Edition of Silius Italicus, pag. 587. where the three Sirens are inchanting Ulyffes with their mufick, who appears (as he is paffing by) bound to the maft of the hip. I would refer likewife to Spanh. de Præftantiâ et Ufu Numifm. Antiq. p. 251. these poetical beings have the feet of birds, and the upper parts of a virgin. But fhould you afk why did not Spenfer follow rather the ancient poets and mythologifts, than the moderns in making them Mermaids? My answer is, Spenfer has a mythology of his own: nor would he leave his brethren the romance writers, where merely authority is to be put against authority. Boccace has given a fanction to this defcription. Gencal. Deorum. Lib. vii. Cap. 20. Let me add our old poets, as Gower, Fol. x. 2. and Chaucer, Rom. of the Rose, ver. 680. Voffius has followed it too, Sirenes dicebantur tria marina monftra, quorum unumquodque, ut Horatii verbis utar, Definit in pifcem mulier formofa fuperne. See Voff. Etymolog. in V. Sirenes. But th' upper halfe their hew retayned Atill, And their fweet skill

i. e. And they retained their fweet skill-They is often omitted in Spenfer: 'tis elliptically exprefied. See note on B. ii. C. 11. St. 1. Virginei vultus et vox humana remanfit. Ttt

Ov. Met. v. 563. The

The worldes fweet in-fo 'tis fpelt in the old bookes. G. Dougl. likewise spells it in. This is the port of rest

Perhaps he borrowed this from Taffo, xv. 63. as the former part from Homer.

Questo è il porto del mondo, e qui il ristoro
De le fue noie, e quel piacer fi fente—

XXX.

And did like an half theatre fulfill.] i. e. And did fulfill, or compleat the whole, like to an amphitheatre. This is taken from the famous bay of Naples, described by Virgil, i. 163. imitated by Taffo xv. 42. See Addifon's Travels. Fulfill, is not to be altered, but explained. Job. xxxix. 2. Canft thou number the months that they FULFILL? i. e. compleat.

XXXV.

When fuddenly a grofs fog overspread-] 'Tis plain that during the whole voyage of this knight, and his fober conductor, our poet had in view the voyage of Ulyffes; efpecially the xiith book of Homer's Odyffey, where the wife hero meets with the adventures of the Sirens, Scylla, and Charybdis; foon after follows his fhipwreck, and his arrival at the island of Calypfo.

Paft fight of fhore, along the urge we bound,
And all above is sky, and ocean all around:
When lo! a murky cloud the thund'rer forms
Full o'er our heads, and blackens heaven with forms.
Night dwells o'er all the deep-

Hom. Od. xii. 473.
Eripiunt fubito nubes caelumque diemque
Teucrorum ex oculis: ponto nox incubat atra.

Virg. i. 92.

That all things one and one as nothing was---
There was one blot of nature's works. Unus
erat toto naturae vultus in orbe. Ov. Met. i. 6.
Jam color unus ineft rebus. Faft. iv. 489.

XXXV.

For tombling,] i. e. least they should tumble.
XXXVI.

The ill-fafte owle-] The ill-faced owl. The Aritch, The fcrietch-owl, spy, ftrix.-The bellifh harpyes, prophets of fad deftiny: The poets call the harpyes dogs of Jupiter, infernal furies, minifters of divine vengeance. Virgil places them in hell, vi. 289. prophets of fad deftiny, obfcenae volucres, iii. 262. And Celaeno he calls Infelix vates.

Now near the shelves of Circes fhores they run,
(Circe the rich, and daughter of the fun)
A dangerous coaft-

From hence we heard, rebellowing to the main,
The roars of lyons that refufe the chain,
The grunts of bristled boars, the groans of bears,
And herds of howling wolves—

-which Circes power
With words and wicked herbs from human kind
Had alterd, and in brutal fhapes confind.

The reader may compare at his leifure Hom. Od. x. where Ulyffes lands at the Circean promontory in Italy, and vifits the palace of Circe. Never was a story better fuited for poetry; as it is both wonderful and entertaining, and the allegory inftructive-I believe too our poet had Ovid in his eye, Met. xiv. 255.

Mille lupi, mixtaeque lupis urfaeque leaeque
Occurfu fecere metum: fed nulla timenda;
Nullaque erat noftro factura in corpore vulnus:
Quin etiam blandas movere per aëra caudas.

XL. Such wondrous powre did in that flaff appeare All monsters to fubdew to him that did it beare.] The man who prudently and temperately rules his appetites and paffions, i. e. who has this Palmers faff, or the Moly, which Mercury gave to Ulyffes, will never be haunted by vain illufions, nor be made a beaft by fenfual inchantments.The fame kind of charmed ftaff Ubaldo bore when he went to the palace of Armida. See Taffo. xiv. 73. xv. 49. This ftaff has the virtues of the rod of Mercury, described by Virg. iv. 292.

XLII.

Whereas the bowre of bliffe was fituate; A place pickt out by choice of beft alyve.] From the beft of any in being. This Bowre of bliffe is mentioned above, B. ii. C. 1. St. 51. B. ii. C. 5. St. 27.

XLIII.

Goodly it was enclofed round about, As well their entred gueftes to keep within, As thofe unruly beafts to hold without] words feem fhuffled out of their places, which is an errour that has been already remarked. In the last verse the impropriety might eafily be avoided by making the words change places, As well their entred guests to hold within, As thofe unruly beafts to keep without.

XLIII. XLIV. XLV.

The Gate.] If the reader will take the trouble, or pleasure, to compare the defcription which Taflo has given of the palace of Armida, he will see how, in many particulars, our poet borrows, and how he varies. The Gates (fays the Italian poet) were of filver, on which were wrought the ftories of Hercules and Iole, of Antony and Cleopatra,

Suelte nuotar le Cicladi dırefti

Per l'onde, e i monti co i gran monti urtarfi.
The Ciclades feemd to fwim amid the maine,
And hill gainst hill, and mount gainft mountain fmote.
Pelago credas innare revulfas

Cycladas, aut montes concurrere montibus altos.

Virg. viii. 685. Spenser describes the expedition of Jafon, and his amours with Medea,

Ye might have feene the frothy billows fry
Under the hip-

Milton has this very expreffion, with the very fame figure, in his defcription of the Fool's Paradife, iii. 489.

Then might ye fee Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers, toft And fluttered into rags.

which is the fame manner of addrefs as Virgil ufes, Migrantes cernas. iv. 401. credas innare. viii. 685. So the great father of all poetical diction addreffes in the fecond perfon, you would fay, i. e. any one then prefent would have faid, Stc. φαίης κεν ζάκοτόν τινα ἔμμεναι, 11. γ' 220. Here was described likewife the murdered Abfyrtes, whom his fifter Medea tore limb from limb, and scattered them in various places, that

Cum palla, tabo munus imbutum, [paguánų pɛpay] novam Incendio nuptam abftulit.

Horat. Epod. v.

Nor

XLVII. XLVIII. XLIX. GENIUS.]This Genius is not that celeftial powBi. See notes on Arian, Epict. pag. 47. er that has charge over us-Επίτροπος, μυςαγωγός Απαντι Δαιμωνιανδρὶ συμπαραςαλεῖ. Ευθὺς γενομένῳ, μυςαγωγὸς τῇ βία. Menander. Muraywyds, is very elegantly applied by Menander: this Genius is the guide, the conductor, as the initiated had their Muraywyós. is it that Socratic Genius - προσημαινων ἅτε δέοι καὶ ἃ μὴ δέοι ποιεῖν. Xen. ἀπομ. βιβ. δ'. κεφ, ή. Ο δέ γέτί δεῖ αὐτὸς ποιεῖν, ὡς ἂν ἐισέλθωσιν ἐἰς τὸν βίον. ρων-Δάιμων καλεῖται· προτάτλει δὲ τοῖς ἐισπορευομένοις, Cebes. Unicuique noftrum paedagogum dari deum, &c. Senec. Epift. 110.-Not that Genius THAT 19 OURSELFE. Apul. de Deo Socrat. Nam quodam fignificatu et animus humanus, etiam nunc in corpore fitus, Daemon nuncupatur. The Stoics call the Mind, fometimes the governing power, fometimes Daemon, God, &c. :dáspwr öv ixásw προτάτην καὶ ἡγεμόνα ὁ Ζεὺς ἔδωκεν ἀπόσπασμα ἑαυτῶ [divinae particula aurae, Horat.] ros de ir o

ΕΚΑΣΤΟΥ ΝΟΥΣ ΚΑΙ ΛΟΓΟΣ Marc. Anton. L. iv.

S. 27. à ixáse veç 965. M. Anton. xi. 26. Servius Virg. G. i. 302. Genium dicebant antiqui naturalem deum uniufcujufque loci, vel rei, aut hominis.

This Genius they called Agdiftes. A deity of

Ttt z

this