The Faerie Queene (37 page)

And mournefull meed of ioyes delicious:

But Palmer, if it mote thee so aggrate,

Let them returned be vnto their former state.

86
Streight way he with his vertuous staffe them strooke,

And streight of beasts they comely men became;

Yet being men they did vnmanly looke,

And stared ghastly, some for inward shame,

And some for wrath, to see their captiue Dame:

But one aboue the rest in speciall,

That had an hog beene late, hight
Grille
by name,

Repined greatly, and did him miscall,

That had from hoggish forme him brought to naturall.

87
Said
Guyon,
See the mind of beastly man,

That hath so soone forgot the excellence

Of his creation, when he life began,

That now he chooseth, with vile difference,

To be a beast, and lacke intelligence.

To whom the Palmer thus, The donghill kind

Delights in filth and foule incontinence:

Let
Grill
be
Grill,
and haue his hoggish mind,

But let vs hence depart, whilest wether serues and wind.

CONTAYNING,
THE LEGBND OF BRITOMARTIS.
OR
OF CHASTITIE.

1
It falles me here to write of Chastity,

That fairest vertue, farre aboue the rest;

For which what needs me fetch from
Faery

Forreine ensamples, it to haue exprest?

Sith it is shrined in my Soueraines brest,

And form'd so liuely in each perfect part,

That to all Ladies, which haue it profest,

Need but behold the pourtraict of her hart,

If pourtrayd it might be by any liuing art.

2
But liuing art may not least part expresse,

Nor life-resembling pencill it can paint,

All were it
Zeuxis
or
Praxiteles:

His dædale hand would faile, and greatly faint,

And her perfections with his error taint:

Ne Poets wit, that passeth Painter farre

In picturing the parts of beautie daint,

So hard a workmanship aduenture darre,

For fear through want of words her excellence to marre.

3
How then shall I, Apprentice of the skill,

That whylome in diuinest wits did raine,

Presume so high to stretch mine humble quill?

Yet now my lucklesse lot doth me constraine

Hereto perforce. But ô dred Soueraine

Thus farre forth pardon, sith that choicest wit

Cannot your glorious pourtraict figure plaine

That I in colourd showes may shadow it,

And antique praises vnto present persons fit

4
But if in liuing colours, and right hew,

Your selfc you couet to see pictured,

Who can it doe more liuely, or more trew,

Then that sweet verse, with
Nectar
sprinckeled,

In which a gracious seruant pictured

His
Cynthia,
his heauens fairest h'ght?

That with his melting sweetnesse rauished,

And with the wonder of her beames bright,

My senses lulled are in slomber of delight.

5
But let that same delirious Poet lend

A little leaue vnto a rusricke Muse

To sing his mistresse prayse, and let him mend,

If ought amis her liking may abuse:

Ne let his fairest
Cynthia
refuse,

In mirrours more then one her selfe to see,

But either
Gloriana
let her chuse,

Or in
Belphœbe
fashioned to bee:

In th'one her rule, in th'other her rare chastitee.

Guyon encountreth Britomart,
   faire Florimell is chaced:
Duessaes traines and Malecastaes
   champions are defaced.

1
The famous Briton Prince and Faerie knight,

After long wayes and perilous paines endured,

Hauing their wearie limbes to perfect plight

Restord, and sory wounds right well recured,

Of the faire
Alma
greatly were procured,

To make there lenger soiourne and abode;

But when thereto they might not be allured,

From seeking praise, and deeds of armes abrode,

They courteous conge tooke, and forth together yode.

2
But the captiu'd
Acrasia
he sent,

Because of trauell long, a nigher way,

With a strong gard, all reskew to preuent,

And her to Faerie court safe to conuay,

That her for witnesse of his hard assay,

Vnto his
Faerie
Queene he might present:

But he himselfe betooke another way,

To make more triall of his hardiment,

And seeke aduentures, as he with Prince
Arthur
went.

3
Long so they trauelled through wastefull wayes,

Where daungers dwelt, and perils most did wonne,

To hunt for glorie and renowmed praise;

Full many Countries they did ouerronne,

From the vprising to the setting Sunne,

And many hard aduentures did atchieue;

Of all the which they honour euer wonne,

Seeking the weake oppressed to relieue,

And to recouer right for such, as wrong did grieue.

4
At last as through an open plaine they yode,

They spide a knight, that towards pricked fake,

And him beside an aged Squire there rode,

That seem'd to couch vnder his shield three-square,

As if that age bad him that burden spare,

And yield it those, that stouter could it wield:

He them espying, gan himselfe prepare,

And on his arme addresse his goodly shield

That bore a Lion passant in a golden field.

5
Which seeing good Sir
Guyon,
deare besought

The Prince of grace, to let him runne that turne.

He graunted: then the Faery quickly raught

His poinant speare, and sharpely gan to spurne

His fomy steed, whose fierie feete did burne

The verdant grasse, as he thereon did tread;

Ne did the other backe his foot returne,

But fiercely forward came withouten dread,

And bent bis dreadfull speare against the others head.

6
They bene ymet, and both their points arriued,

But
Guyon
droue so furious and fell,

That seem'd both shield & plate it would haue riued;

Nathelesse it bore his foe not from his sell,

But made him stagger, as he were not well:

But
Guyon
selfe, ere well he was aware,

Nigh a speares length behind his crouper fell,

Yet in his fall so well him selfe he bare,

That mischieuous mischance his life & limbes did spare.

7
Great shame and sorrow of that fall he tooke;

For neuer yet, sith warlike armes he bore,

And shiuering speare in bloudie field first shooke,

He found himselfe dishonored so sore.

Ah gentlest knight, that euer armour bore,

Let not thee grieue dismounted to haue beene,

And brought to ground, that neuer wast before;

For not thy fault, but secret powre vnseene,

That speare enchaunted was, which layd thee on the greene.

8
But weenedst thou what wight thee ouerthrew,

Much greater griefe and shamefuller regret

For thy hard fortune then thou wouldst renew,

That of a single damzell thou wert met

On equall plaine, and there so hard beset;

Euen the famous
Britomart
it was,

Whom straunge aduenture did from
Britaine
fet,

To seeke her louer (loue farre sought alas,)

Whose image she had seene in
Venus
looking glas.

9
Full of disdainefull wrath, he fierce vprose,

For to reuenge that foule reprochfull shame,

And snatching his bright sword began to close

With her on foot, and stoutly forward came;

Die rather would he, then endure that same.

Which when his Palmer saw, he gan to feare

His toward perill and vntoward blame,

Which by that new rencounter he should reare:

For death sate on the point of that enchaunted speare.

10
And hasting towards him gan faire perswade,

Not to prouoke misfortune, nor to weene

His speares default to mend with cruell blade;

For by his mightie Science he had seene

The secret vertue of that weapon keene,

That mortall puissance mote not withstand:

Nothing on earth mote alwaies happie beene.

Great hazard were it, and aduenture fond,

To loose long gotten honour with one euill hond.

11
By such good meanes he him discounselled,

From prosecuting his reuenging rage;

And eke the Prince like treaty handeled,

His wrathfull will with reason to asswage,

And laid the blame, not to his carriage,

But to his starting steed, that swaru'd asyde,

And to the ill purueyance of his page,

That had his furnitures not firmely tyde:

So is his angry courage fairely pacifyde.

12
Thus reconcilement was betweene them knit,

Through goodly temperance, and affection chaste,

And either vowd with all their power and wit,

To let not others honour be defaste,

Of friend or foe, who euer it embaste,

Ne armes to beare against the others syde:

In which accord the Prince was also plaste,

And with that golden chaine of concord tyde.

So goodly all agreed, they forth yfere did ryde.

13
O goodly vsage of those antique times,

In which the sword was seruant vnto right;

When not for malice and contentious crimes,

But all for praise, and proofe of manly might,

The martiall brood accustomed to fight:

Then honour was the meed of victorie,

And yet the vanquished had no despight:

Let later age that noble vse enuie,

Vile rancour to auoid, and cruell surquedrie.

14
Long they thus trauelled in friendly wise,

Through countries waste, and eke well edifyde,

Seeking aduentures hard, to exercise

Their puissance, whylome full dernely tryde:

At length they came into a forrest wyde,

Whose hideous horror and sad trembling sound

Full griesly seem'd: Therein they long did ryde,

Yet tract of liuing creatures none they found,

Saue Beares, Lions, & Buls, which romed them around.

15
All suddenly out of the thickest brush,

Vpon a milke-white Palfrey all alone,

A goodly Ladie did foreby them rush,

Whose face did seeme as cleare as Christall stone,

And eke through feare as white as whales bone:

Her garments all were wrought of beaten gold,

And all her steed with tinsell trappings shone,

Which fled so fast, that nothing mote him hold,

And scarse them leasure gaue, her passing to behold.

16
Still as she fled, her eye she backward threw,

As fearing euill, that pursewd her fast;

And her faire yellow locks behind her flew,

Loosely disperst with puffe of euery blast:

All as a blazing starre doth farre outcast

His hearie beames, and flaming lockes dispred,

At sight whereof the people stand aghast:

But the sage wisard telles, as he has red,

That it importunes death and dolefull drerihed.

17
So as they gazed after her a while,

Lo where a griesly Foster forth did rush,

Breathing out beastly lust her to defile:

His tyreling iade he fiercely forth did push,

Through thicke and thin, both ouer banke and bush

In hope her to attaine by hooke or crooke,

That from his gorie sides the bloud did gush:

Large were his limbes, and terrible his looke,

And in his clownish hand a sharp bore speare he shooke.

18
Which outrage when those gentle knights did see,

Full of great enuie and fell gealosy,

They stayd not to auise, who first should bee,

But all spurd after fast, as they mote fly,

To reskew her from shamefull villany.

The Prince and
Guyon
equally byliue

Her selfe pursewd, in hope to win thereby

Most goodly meede, the fairest Dame aliue:

But after the foule foster
Timias
did striue.

19
The whiles faire
Britomart,
whose constant mind,

Would not so lightly follow beauties chace,

Ne reckt of Ladies Loue, did stay behind,

And them awayted there a certaine space,

To weet if they would turne backe to that place:

But when she saw them gone, she forward went,

As lay her iourney, through that perlous Pace,

With stedfast courage and stout hardiment;

Ne euill thing she fear'd, ne euill thing she ment.

20
At last as nigh out of the wood she came,

A stately Castle farre away she spyde,

To which her steps directly she did frame.

That Castle was most goodly edifyde,

And plaste for pleasure nigh that forrest syde:

But faire before the gate a spatious plaine,

Mantled with greene, it selfe did spredden wyde,

On which she saw sixe knights, that did darraine

Fierce battell against one, with cruell might and maine.

21
Mainly they all attonce vpon him laid,

And sore beset on euery side around,

That nigh he breathlesse grew, yet nought dismaid,

Ne euer to them yielded foot of ground

All had he lost much bloud through many a wound,

But stoutly dealt his blowes, and euery way

To which he turned in his wrathfull stound,

Made them recoile, and fly from dred decay,

That none of all the sixe before, him durst assay.

22
like dastard Curres, that hauing at a bay

The saluage beast embost in wearie chace,

Dare not aduenture on the stubborne pray,

Ne byte before, but rome from place to place,

To get a snatch, when turned is his face.

In such distresse and doubtfull ieopardy,

When
Britomart
him saw, she ran a pace

Vnto his reskew, and with earnest cry,

Bad those same sixe forbeare that single enimy.

23
But to her cry they list not lenden eare,

Ne ought the more their mightie strokes surceasse,

But gathering him round about more neare,

Their direfull rancour rather did encreasse;

Till that she rushing through the thickest preasse,

Perforce disparted their compacted gyre,

And soone compeld to hearken vnto peace:

Tho gan she myldly of them to inquyre