The Faerie Queene (96 page)

And guilefull meaties, through
Corybantes
slight,

The younger thrust the elder from his right:

Since which, thou
Ioue,
iniuriously hast held

The Heauens rule from
Titans
sonnes by might;

And them to hellish dungeons downe hast feld:

Witnesse ye Heauens the truth of all that I haue teld.

28
Whilst she thus spake, the Gods that gaue good eare

To her bold words, and marked well her grace,

Beeing of stature tall as any there

Of all the Gods, and beautifull of face,

As any of the Goddesses in place,

Stood all astonied, like a sort of Steeres;

Mongst whom, some beast of strange & forraine race,

Vnwares is chaunc't, far straying from his peeres:

So did their ghastly gaze bewray their hidden feares.

29
Till hauing pauz'd awhile,
Ioue
thus bespake;

Will neuer mortall thoughts ceasse to aspire,

In this bold sort, to Heauen claime to make,

And touch celestiall seates with earthly mire?

I would haue thought, that bold
Procrustes
hire,

Or
Typhons
fall, or proud
Ixions
paine,

Or great
Prometheus,
tasting of our ire,

Would haue suffiz'd, the rest for to restraine;

And warn'd all men by their example to refraine:

30
But now, this off-scum of that cursed fry,

Dare to renew the like hold enterprize,

And chalenge th'heritage of this our skie;

Whom what should hinder, but that we likewise

Should handle as the rest of her allies,

And thunder-driue to hell? With that, he shooke

His Nectar-deawed locks, with which the skyes

And all the world beneath for terror quooke,

And eft his burning levin-brond in hand he tooke.

31
But, when he looked on her louely face,

In which, faire beames of beauty did appeare,

That could the greatest wrath soone turne to grace

(Such sway doth beauty euen in Heauen beare)

He staide bis hand: and hauing chang'd his cheare,

He thus againe in milder wise began;

But ah! if Gods should striue with flesh yfere,

Then shortly should the progeny of Man

Be rooted out,
if loue
should doe still what he can:

32
But thee faire
Titans
child, I rather weene,

Through some vaine errour or inducement light,

To see that mortall eyes haue neuer seene;

Or through ensample of thy sisters might,

Bellona;
whose great glory thou doost spight,

Since thou hast seene her dreadfull power belowe,

Mongst wretched men (dismaide with her affright)

To bandie Crownes, and Kingdomes to bestowe:

And sure thy worth, no lesse then hers doth seem to showe.

33
But wote thou this, thou hardy
Titanesse,

That not the worth of any liuing wight

May challenge ought in Heauens interesse;

Much lesse the Title of old
Titans
Right:

For, we by Conquest of our soueraine might,

And by eternall doome of Fates decree,

Haue wonne the Empire of the Heauens bright;

Which to our selues we hold, and to whom wee

Shall worthy deeme partakers of our blisse to bee.

34
Then ceasse thy idle claime thou foolish gerle,

And seeke by grace and goodnesse to obtaine

That place from which by folly
Titan
fell;

There-to thou maist perhaps, if so thou faine

Haue
Ioue
thy gratious Lord and Soueraigne.

So, hauing said, she thus to him replide;

Ceasse
Saturnes
sonne, to seeke by proffers vaine

Of idle hopes t'allure mee to thy side,

For to betray my Right, before I haue it tride.

35
But thee, ô
Ioue,
no equall Iudge I deeme

Of my desert, or of my dewfull Right;

That in thine owne behalfe maist partiall seeme:

But to the highest him, that is behight

Father of Gods and men by equall might;

To weet, the God of Nature, I appeale.

There-at
Ioue
wexed wroth, and in his spright

Did inly grudge, yet did it well concede;

And bade
Dan Phoebus
Scribe her Appellation seale.

36
Eftsoones the time and place appointed were,

Where all, both heauenly Powers, & earthly wights,

Before great Natures presence should appeare,

For triall of their Titles and best Rights:

That was, to weet, vpon the highest hights

Of Arlo-hill
(Who knowes not
Arlo-hill?)

That is the highest head (in all mens sights)

Of my old father
Mole,
whom Shepheards quill

Renowmed hath with hymnes fit for a rurall skill.

37
And, were it not ill fitting for this file,

To sing of hilles & woods, mongst warres & Knights,

I would abate the sternenesse of my stile,

Mongst these sterne stounds to mingle soft delights;

And tell how
Arlo
through
Dianaes
spights

(Beeing of old the best and fairest Hill

That was in all this holy-Islands hights)

Was made the most vnpleasant, and most ill.

Meane while, ô
Clio,
lend
Calliope
thy quill.

38
Whylome, when
IRELAND
florished in fame

Of wealths and goodnesse, far aboue the rest

Of all that beare the
British
Islands name,

The Gods then vs'd (for pleasure and for rest)

Oft to resort there-to, when seem'd them best:

But none of all there-in more pleasure found,

Then
Cynthia;
that is soueraine Queene protest

Of woods and forrests, which therein abound,

Sprinkled with wholsom waters, more then most on ground.

39
But mongst them all, as fittest for her game,

Either for chace of beasts with hound or boawe,

Or for to shroude in shade from
Phœbus
flame,

Or bathe in fountaines that doe freshly flowe,

Or from high hilles, or from the dales belowe,

She chose this
Arlo;
where shee did resort

With all her Nymphes enranged on a rowe,

With whom the woody Gods did oft consort:

For, with the Nymphes, the Satyres loue to play & sport.

40
Amongst the which, there was a Nymph that hight

Molanna;
daughter of old father
Mole,

And sister vnto
Mulla,
faire and bright:

Vnto whose bed false
Bregog
whylome stole,

That Shepheard
Colin
dearely did condole,

And made her lucklesse loues well knowne to be.

But this
Molanna,
were she not so shole,

Were no lesse faire and beautifull then shee:

Yet as she is, a fairer flood may no man see.

41
For, first, she springs out of two marble Rocks,

On which, a groue of Oakes high mounted growes,

That as a girlond seemes to deck the locks

Of som faire Bride, brought forth with pompous showes

Out of her bowre, that many flowers strowes:

So, through the flowry Dales she tumbling downe,

Through many woods, and shady coverts flowes

(That on each side her siluer channell crowne)

Till to the Plaine she come, whose Valleyes shee doth drowne.

42
In her sweet streames,
Diana
vsed oft

(After her sweatie chace and toilesome play)

To bathe her selfe; and after, on the soft

And downy grasse, her dainty limbes to lay

In couert shade, where none behold her may:

For, much she hated sight of liuing eye.

Foolish God
Faunus,
though full many a day

He saw her clad, yet longed foolishly

To see her naked mongst her Nymphes in priuity.

43
No way he found to compasse his desire,

But to corrupt
Molanna,
this her maid,

Her to discouer for some secret hire:

So, her with flattering words he first assaid;

And after, pleasing gifts for her purvaid,

Queene-apples, and red Cherries from the tree,

With which he her allured and betraid,

To tell what time he might her Lady see

When she her selfe did bathe, that he might secret bee.

44
There-to hee promist, if shee would him pleasure

With this small boone, to quit her with a better;

To weet, that where-as shee had out of measure

Long lov'd the
Fanchin,
who by nought did set her,

That he would vndertake, for this to get her

To be his Loue, and of him liked well:

Besides all which, he vow'd to be her debter

For many moe good turnes then he would tell;

The least of which, this litte pleasure should excell.

45
The simple maid did yield to him anone;

And eft him placed where he close might view

That neuer any saw, saue onely one;

Who, for his hire to so foole-hardy dew,

Was of his hounds devour'd in Hunters hew.

Tho, as her manner was on sunny day,

Diana,
with her Nymphes about her, drew

To this sweet spring; where, doffing her array,

She bath'd her louely limbes, for
Ioue
a likely pray.

46
There
Faunus
saw that pleased much his eye,

And made his hart to tickle in his brest,

That for great ioy of some-what he did spy,

He could him not containe in silent rest;

But breaking forth in laughter, loud profest

His foolish thought. A foolish
Faune
indeed,

That couldst not hold thy selfe so hidden blest,

But wouldest needs thine owne conceit areed.

Babblers vnworthy been of so diuine a meed.

47
The Goddesse, all abashed with that noise,

In haste forth started from the guilty brooke;

And running straight where-as she heard his voice,

Enclos'd the bush about, and there him tooke,

Like darred Larke; not daring vp to looke

On her whose sight before so much he sought.

Thence, forth they drew him by the homes, & shooke

Nigh all to peeces, that they left him nought;

And then into the open light they forth him brought.

48
Like as an huswife, that with busie care

Thinks of her Dairie to make wondrous gaine,

Finding where-as some wicked beast vnware

That breakes into her Dayr'house, there doth draine

Her creaming pannes, and frustrate all her paine;

Hath in some snare or gin set close behind,

Entrapped him, and caught into her traine,

Then thinkes what punishment were best assign'd,

And thousand deathes deuiseth in her vengefull mind:

49
So did
Diana
and her maydens all

Vse silly
Faunus,
now within their baile:

They mocke and scorne him, and him foule miscall;

Some by the nose him pluckt, some by the taile,

And by his goatish beard some did him haile:

Yet he (poore soule) with patience all did beare;

For, nought against their wils might countervaile:

Ne ought he said what euer he did heare;

But hanging downe his head, did like a Mome appeare.

50
At length, when they had flouted him their fill,

They gan to cast what penaunce him to giue.

Some would haue gelt him, but that same would spill

The Wood-gods breed, which must for euer liue:

Others would through the riuer him haue driue,

And ducked deepe: but that seem'd penaunce light;

But most agreed and did this sentence giue,

Him in Deares skin to clad; & in that plight,

To hunt him with their hounds, him selfe saue how hee might.

51
But
Cynthia's
selfe, more angry then the rest,

Thought not enough, to punish him in sport,

And of her shame to make a gamesome iest;

But gan examine him in straighter sort,

Which of her Nymphes, or other close consort,

Him thither brought, and her to him betraid?

He, much affeard, to her confessed short,

That't was
Molanna
which her so bewraid.

Then all attonce their hands vpon
Molanna
laid.

52
But him (according as they had decreed)

With a Deeres-skin they couered, and then chast

With all their hounds that after him did speed;

But he more speedy, from them fled more fast

Then any Deere: so sore him dread aghast.

They after follow'd all with shrill out-cry,

Shouting as they the heauens would haue brast:

That all the woods and dales where he did flie,

Did ring againe, and loud reeccho to the skie.

53
So they him follow'd till they weary were;

When, back returning to
Molann
againe,

They, by commaund'ment of
Diana,
there

Her whelm'd with stones. Yet
Faunus
(for her paine)

Of her beloued
Fanchin
did obtaine,

That her he would receiue vnto his bed.

So now her waues passe through a pleasant Plaine,

Till with the
Fanchin
she her selfe doe wed,

And (both combin'd) themselues in one faire riuer spred.