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With that the prophet fill awhile did ftay.] Still, not as a lymphatick or agitated with the frantick fury of the Sibyl in Virgil; but fill and quiet as the prophet Helenus is described in the fame divine poet. The two ways of prophecying, the frantick and the ftill, are frequent ly mentioned,-Merlin's advice to Britomart is the advice which the Sibyl gave Aeneas,

Tu ne çede malis, fed contra audentior ito,
Quàm tua te fortuna finet.

Let no whit thee difmay the hard beginne, i. e. the hard and difficult beginning. So below, C. 5. St. 18. full reftore, for restoration fee critical obfervations on Shakespeare, pag. 330. The Mage proceeds telling her, how that tree must be deep enrooted, whofe branches should not ceafe growing till they had ftretched themselves to heaven. This is very poetical, and in the prophetical ftile. And there fhall come forth a rod sut of the ftem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, If. xi. 1. In the 1ft book of Herodotus, Aftyages is faid to have dreamt that he

faw a vine fhooting from his daughter's bowels, and fpreading its branches overAfia. - Britomart was defcended from Brutus, who boasted his original from Aeneas, Anchifes, and Affaracus, of the ancient Trojan blood, L'antico fangue che venne da Troja.

Arioft. iii. 17.

And no lefs the heavens brood.
Alfaraci proles, demissaeque ab Jove gentis
Virg. G. iii. 35.

Nomina.
Auguftus Caefar. DIVUM GENUS.

Aen. vi. 792.

Of those fame antique peres, Which Greeke and Afian rivers ftayned with THEIR blood.

This methinks clofes not well, and rather suits with the vanquish'd, than victors; but certainly 'tis ill-ominous : nor does Merlin allude only to the Trojans, but to the Romans likewife, the defcendants of the Trojans. Has not the printer therefore omitted one word, and be more poetical, and more prophetical, if we given us another of his own? And will it not

read?

Which Greeke and Afian rivers ftaynd with HOSTILE blood.

Compare this Episode with Ariofto, Canto 3. where Bradamante (a woman knight-errant, like Britomartis) enters the cave of Merlin, and is fhewn by Meliffa the heroes in defcent from her and Ruggiero.

XXV:

Way for themselves their purpose to pertake ?] Fata Sith fates can make

make way for themfelves for her to partake of viam invenient. Virg. iii. 395. Since the Fates can their purposes. Merlin's anfwer is very Stoical, yet we ought to co-operate with Fate: ovroquam ὁμογνωμονῆσαι, συνορέγεσθαι, ἁπλῶς συνθέλειν. So above,

-Submit thy ways unto his [Providence] will, And doe by all dew meanes thy defliny fulfill. XXVI.

And whylome by falfe Faries ftolne away.] See note on B. i. C. 10. St. 65.

XXVII.

But foothe he is the fonne of Gorlois.— Gorlois (according to Jeffry of Monmouth) was Duke of Cornwal, and was fucceeded by Cador his fon. This Gorlois had a beautiful wife named Igerna, whom Uther Pendragon enjoyed by the affiftance of the magician Mer

lin, and begot Arthur. When Gorlois was killed in battle, Uther married her. Thus according to Spenfer, Arthegall and Arthur were Brother's by the Mother's fide.- Buchanan [Hiftor. Rerum Scot. L. v.] has given us the original of this fabulous tradition of Uther's tranfformation into the person of Gorlois (a fable like that of Jupiter and Alcmena) which is, that

Uther himself invented the tale to cover the in

famy of his wife Igerna. Arthur was begot ten by Uther Pendragon, in Tindagel, or Tintogel caftle, in Cornwal. See Carew's furvey of Cornwal, p. 121. And compare hiftory of Prince Arthur, or Morte Arthur. Ibid.

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Where also proof of thy prow valiaunce, Thou then halt make, t'increase thy lovers pray.] Of thy prow valiaunce, i. e. of thy valiant prowefle. t'increafe thy lover's pray, to increase the booty and spoils of thy lover Arthegall. XXIX.

With thee yet fball he leave for memory
Of his late puiffaunce his ymage dead.] The con-
fru&tion is confufed by a figure called συγχυσις.
See inftances of like fort in a note on Introduc-
tion, B. ii. St. 3. Yet he dead fhall leave with thee,
for memory of his late puiffaunce, his image, which
living fhall reprefent him to thee as he really was.

That living him in all activity
To thee fhall reprefent.

in all activity, i. e. actually and really. This
is Spenfer's manner of expreffion. In difcourteous
wife, difcourteously, B. iii. C. 1. St. 55. In
complete wife, completely, B. iii. C. 2. St. 24.
In quiet wife, quietly, B. iii. C. 9. St. 2. In fe-
crete flore, B. iii. C. 3. St. 15. In fecrete counfell,
fecretly, B. iii. C. 3. St. 51. In filent reft, fi-
lently, B. vii. C. 6. St. 46. So in the Greek
language fubftantives with a prepofition prefixed
are ufed adverbially, ex. gr. in tax, celeriter.
ἂν δικῇ juβὲ. ἐπὶ σχολῆς, otiofe. ἐπ ̓ ἀληθείας, verd
Marc. xii. 32. ir naλy, i. e. naλãç. Paul. Galiv.
18. See note on B, i. C. 2. St. 39.

5

Ibid.

He from the head Of his coofen ConftantiusThe hiftorians, who treat of Arthur and his fucceffors, are fomewhat confufed and contradictory among themselves; and hereby they give for his poem, and not his poem for the hiftory. a very fair opening to a poet to make a history fucceffion of British kings down to Arthur. In my notes on B. ii. C. 10. I have given the Pendragon was Arthur's father, and fell in love And here I fhall refume the history. Uther with Igerna, the wife of Gorlois duke of Cornwall, whom, by Merlin's help, he enjoyed; and afterwards, upon the death of Gorlois, married. It seems not improper here to put the reader in mind, that during the reign of Uter Pendragon the Saxons were perpetually haraffing the Britons; under their leaders Octa and Eofa and this is the hiftorical part, that has chiefly reference to this Fairy poem. Gorlois had by his wife Igerna a fon named Cador, and likewife (as Spenfer has added) Arthegal. There is mention made of Arthegal of Warguit, i. e. Warwick, in Jeffry of Monmouth, B. ix. C. 12. among the heroes of Arthur's court and he is mentioned as a knight of the round table in Morte Arthur, or (as 'tis called) The History ed fighting against his traiterous nephew Modof Prince Arthur. Arthur was mortally woundred; and in the fame battle Modred himfelf was killed.. Arthur gave up the crown to his kinfman Conftantine, the fon of Cador duke of Cornwal. Conftantine having reigned three years was flain by Conan. After Conan reigned Wortiporius, who conquered the Saxons; after Wortiporius, Malgo.-'Tis now easy to see how Spenfer has feigned his ftory. Arthegal was the fon of Gorlois, duke: of Cornwal; he married Britomart and had by her a fon, whom he names not, but means Aurelius Conan: this fon of Arthegal fhall claim the crown of Britain, his due, from Conftantine, Arthur's kinfman; and having conquered the Saxons, fhall be fucceeded by his fon Vortipore, or Wortiporius, as Jeffry of Monmouth calls him. When Sir Richard Blackmore wrote his Prince Arthur, in order to compliment K. William III. as Virgil complimented Auguftus Caefar; Ariofto, Cardinal Hippolito; Spenfer, Q. Elizabeth; he introduced Uter Pendragon the father of Prince Arthur, fhewing in a vifion to his fon, and pointing out to him the heroes which should fucceed him in his throne.

The

The bright affembly, which furround the hill,
And with their numbers all the valley fill,
Are Albions heros, who in future days,
Their own, and Albion's name, to heav'n fhall raife.
The regal orders, that the reft outshine,
With glittering crowns, are the imperial line,
Which after you, on Albion's throne fhall fit,
Their names in Fate's eternal volumes writ.
The kings, that in the foremost rank appear,
IVho frowning and unpleasant afpects wear,
Whofe waning crowns with faded luftre fhine,
Shall after you fucceed-firft Conftantine,
Conanus, and the rest of British line:
Thefe look not with their native fplendor bright,
But dimly fhine with delegated light.
Heroick deeds, by great forefathers done,
Caft all their glory on them, not their own:
To narrow bounds their feanty empire fhrinks,
And Britons grandeur with their virtue finks.
At laft their crimes offended heav'n provoke
To crush their nation with the Saxon yake.
XXX.

Like as a lyon that in drowfie cave

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Their fondry kings to do their homage feverall.] Tis impofiible that the reader fhould understand this, without citing the authors whom Spenfer had in view. Malgo fucceeded Wortiporius; C one of the moft hand fome men in Britain; the fcourge of tyrants; of great valour and munificence. He poffeffed the whole ifland, to which he added the fix provincial islands, viz. Ireland, Ifeland, Godland [the ifle of Gothland in the Baltick] the Orkneys, Norway, and Dacia.' Jeffry of Monmouth, B. xi. C. 7. Hic [Malgo] SEX PROVINCIALES OCEANI INSULAS fibi fubjecit, Hiberniam videlicet, atque Ilandiam, Gotlandiam, Orcadas, Norvegiam at Daciam feu Danmarchiam. Johannes Rofs. Merlin fpeaks to Britomartis, as Meliffa fpoke to Bradamante, and Anchifes to Æneas: The Man is fhewn, though abfent, as if he were prefent.

XXXIII.

Untill a fraunger king-] viz. Gormund king of the Africans; who having fubdued Ireland, and therein fixt his throne: like a swift Otter, fell,

Hath long time flept, himselfe fo shall he shake.-]i. e. cruell, through emptiness, fwam over, to Our poet was indebted to Scripture for this truly great and poetical image: Juda is a lions whelpe: from the Spoyle my fonne thou art come on high: he layde him downe, and couched himselfe, lion, and as a lioneffe: who will stirre him up? Gen. xlix. 9. I believe Dryden had this fimile of Spenfer in view, in his Abfalom and Architophel.

And like a lion, flumbring in the way,

as a

Or fleep diffembling, while he waits his prey,
His fearless foes within his distance draws
Conftrains his roaring, and contracts his paws:
Till at the laft, his time for fury found,
He fhoots with fudden vengeance from the ground:
The proftrate vulgar paffes o'er and fpares,
But with a lordly rage his hunters tears.

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• Britain (with many one of his Norveyfes-he was an arch-pirate and captain of the Norwegians) and affifted the Saxons againft Careticus. The Saxons thus affifted by this ftranger king committed great devaftations, and forced the Britains to retire into Cornwal and Wales. Jeff. of Monm. B. xi. C. 8. and 10.-None of the books read, with many a one.

XXXV.

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XXXIX.

And Penda feeking him adowne to tread, Shall tread adowne and doe him fowly dye,] The conftruction is, And Ofwin fhall tread adowne Peanda, who fought to tread him adowne, and put him to a foul death. See Jeff. Monm. B. xii. Č. 13. XL.

Then fhall Cadwallin die,-] After Cadwallin reigned Cadwallader or Cadweldr Fendiged, the laft of the British kings: for the Saxons, having fubdued all the country on this fide the Severn, the British princes were called kings of Wales: for the Britons were defcended from the Gauls, and were called by their old family name; G only changed into W.

XLI.

-returning to his native place,] i. e. Intending to return. Jeffry of Monmouth writes, that the Britons were compelled by peftilence and famine to leave their country; that Cadwallader, fon of Cadwallo, with his people went into Armorica, [viz. Britain in France,] and after fome space defiring to return back was deterred by the voice of an Angel; For God (fays he) was unwilling the Britains fhould any longer reign in the island, before the time came which Merlin foretold to Arthur. He was withal told, that the Britains fhould again recover the island when the time decreed was come.' Jeffry of Monm. B. xii. C. 17. This prophecy of Merlin is mentioned below, St. xliv.

For twife foure hundred yeares fbal be fupplide,
Ere they to former rule reflor'd fhal bee,

Again St. 48.

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There fhall a raven come-] This manner of characterizing countries by their enfigns, is agreeable to the prophetical ftyle. 'Tis likewife the ftile in which Merlin's prophecies were written, according to Jeffrey of Monmouth, B. vii. C. 3. The Danes firft arrived in England in the year 787, and infefted this nation till the times of Harold, who was conquered by William of Normandy, The lion of Neuftria.-This Danifhe tyrant, Sir William Temple calls, A known ujurper, cruel in his nature, of Danish extraction, and thereby ungrateful to the English.

XLVIII.

So fhall the Briton blood their crowne againe reclame.] By the acceffion of Henry of Richmond to the crown, the prophecy of Merlin and of Cadwallader came to be fulfilled, that the Briton blood fhould reign again in Britain. Henry descended from the Tudors, was born in Mona, now called Anglesey.

And he [viz. Henry VII.] that was by heaven appointed to unite

(After that tedious war) the red rofe and the white, A Tudor was of thine, and native of thy MON. Drayton's Polyol. pag. 141.

This Prince is pointed out by Uter (the father of Prince Arthur) in the poem above mentioned, Our blood [the old british blood] the royal channel now regains,

Deriv'd thro' Tudor our brave offspring's veins;
Which with the Norman joyn'd, the confluent tide,
As long as that of time, shall downward glide.
From their embrace to rule Britannia fprings
A glorious race of queens and potent kings.
See the firft Tudor that afcends the throne
Zzz

Afur

After the glorious field at Bofworth won.

Prince Arthur, Book v. K. Henry VIIth's monument at Westminster hints at his descent from the Briton blood: at

the head there is a rofe crowned, fupported with a red dragon, the enfign of Cadwallader, the laft Briton king, from whom Henry of Richmond claim'd his defcent; and of this defcent he was fo fond, that his ftandard at the battle of Bofworth field was a red dragon. This ftandard is ftill commemorated by the infti

tution of a Perfivant at Arms, by the name of Rouge-dragon.-The following Stanza wants no explanation. Who knows not, that Q. Eliz. gave peace to the Netherlands, and fhook the caftles of the Caftilian king?

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Where I would read DIRA: for dura and dira are frequently confounded in the Mfl. Dira means full of horrour: or as Spenser expresses it in B. i. C. 8. St. 39.

And trembling horror ran through every joynt,
The close of this Stanza seems likewife imitated
from Virgil,

Ut primum ceffit furor et rapida ora quierunt.
At laft the fury paft to former hew,
SHEE turnd againe and chearful looks did fhew.
Spenfer among the Errata corrected it HEE.
But ftill the clofing verfe in this Stanza was
deficient; and this deficiency I have supplied

from the Folio Editions.

LI.

Now this, now that twixt them they did devize, And diverfe plots did frame to mafke in ftrange DEVISE.] So all the Editions except the Ift old quarto, from which I print. The errour is owing to the roving printer's eye, caught with the word above.

LII.

Ye fee that good king Uther now doth make
Strong warre upon the paynim brethren, hight
OCTA and OZA, whome hee lately brake
Befide Cayr Verolame-

This paffage is very material to fix the hiftorical point of time when these transactions are supposed to be carrying on. For this poem has

feveral walks, all leading to the ways of pleafing amufement and inftruction: and one of thefe walks (to give the poem an air of Truth) is Hiftory. The point of time which the poet fixes on is when Uther Pendragon King of Britain, was attacked by OCTA the fon of Hengist, and his kinfman Eofa. So the names are written by Jeffrey of Monmouth, B. viii. C. 18. And in C. 23. he mentions OCTA and EOSA being killed at VEROLAM. [i. e. an ancient town now St. Albans in Hertfordshire, deftroyed by the Saxons.] Other English hiftorians too mention Arthur's first appearance about the his brother, and by EBUSA (fo they likewife year 470. when Hengift was affifted by Octa write his name) his brother's fon, fettled in the north of Britain.

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The bold Bunduca, whofe victorious Exployts made Rome to quake, ftout Guendolen, Renowmed Martia, and redoubted Emmilen.] She whom Spenfer calls Bunduca, is written by others Boadicia, Bondicea, or Voadicia, a British Queen, mentioned by Tacitus, and well known to all readers of British history: See B. ii. C. 10. St. 54. Guendolen was the daughter of Corineus King of Cornwall. See B. ii. C. 10. St. 17. Renowmed Martia, is the fame whom St. 42. But the verfe is out of measure, and he calls dame Mertia the fayre, B. ii. C. 10.

is thus to be read,

Renowmed Marti' and redoubted Emmilen

See note on B. i. C. 4. St. 37. redoubted Emmilen: Who is this redoubted Emmilen? Is it the fame name as Emma? and does he mean the famous daughter of Charlemagne? or rather the mother of Sir Triftram, mention'd in B. vi. C. 2. St. 29.

LV.

In the laft field before Menevia,-] i. e. In the last battle before St. Davids, in the old British Henemenew, from which word the Latins called it Menevia. See Jeffry of Monmouth.-Great Ulfin here mentioned, is Sir Ulfius the friend of Uther Pendragon, whom you may read of in the hiftory of Prince Arthur, B. i. C. i, and 2,&c. The

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