And rend in peeces with his ravenous pawes,
If ever he transgrest the fatall Stygian lawes.
That houses forme within was rude and strong,
Who it to rob and ransacke did intend.
Then Mammon, turning to that warriour, said;
'Loe! here the worldes blis: loe! here the end,
To which al men doe ayme, rich to be made:
Such grace now to be happy is before thee laid.'
Lyke an huge cave hewne out of rocky clifte,
From whose rough vaut the ragged breaches Certes,' (sayd he). 'I n'ill thine offred grace,
Embost with massy gold of glorious guifte,
And with rich metall loaded every rifte,
That heavy ruine they did seeme to threatt;
And over them Arachne high did lifte
Her cunning web, and spred her subtile nett,
Enwrapped in fowle smoke and clouds more
black then Jett.
Ne to be made so happy doe intend :-
Another blis before mine eyes I place,
Another happines, another end.
To them that list these base regardes I lend;
But I in armes, and in atchievements brave,
Do rather choose my flitting houres to spend,
And to be Lord of those that riches have,
Then them to have my selfe, and be their ser-
vile sclave.'
Thereat the feend his gnashing teeth did grate,
And griev'd so long to lacke his greedie pray;
For well he weened that so glorious bayte
Would tempt his guest to take thereof assay;
Had he so doen, he had him snatcht away,
More light then Culver in the Faulcons fist.
Eternall God thee save from such decay!
But, whenas Mammon saw his purpose mist,
Him to entrap unwares another way he wist.
Thence forward he him ledd, and shortly brought
In all that rowme was nothing to be seene
But huge great yron chests, and coffers strong,
All bard with double bends, that none could Unto another rowme, whose dore forthright
Them to efforce by violence or wrong: [weene To him did open, as it had beene taught.
On every side they placed were along;
Therein an hundred raunges weren pight,
But all the grownd with sculs was scattered, And hundred fournaces all burning bright:
And dead mens bones, which round about were By every fournace many feendes did byde,
flong;
Deformed creatures, horrible in sight;
And every feend his busie paines applyde
To melt the golden metall, ready to be tryde.
Whose lives, it seemed, whilome there were shed,
And their vile carcases now left unburied.
They forward passe; ne Guyon yet spoke
Till that they came unto an yron dore, [word,
Which to them opened of his owne accord,
And shewd of richesse such exceeding store,
As eie of man did never see before,
Ne ever could within one place be fownd,
Though all the wealth which is, or was of yore,
Could gathered be through all the world arownd,
And that above were added to that under
grownd.
The charge thereof unto a covetous Spright
Commaunded was, who thereby did attend,
And warily awaited day and night,
From other covetous feends it to defend,
But, when an earthly wight they present saw Glistring in armes and battailous aray,
From their whot work they did themselves withdraw
Soone as those glitterand armes he did espye, That with their brightnesse made that darknes light,
To wonder at the sight; for till that day
They never creature saw that cam that way:
Their staring eyes sparckling with fervent fyre
And ugly shapes did nigh the man dismay,
That, were it not for shame, he would retyre;
Till that him thus bespake their soveraine Till Mammon did his hasty hand withhold,"
His harmefull club he gan to hurtle hye,
And threaten batteill to the Faery knight;
Who likewise gan himselfe to batteill dight,
And counseld him abstaine from perilous fight;
For nothing might abash the villein bold,
Ne mortall steele emperce his miscreated mould.
[eye,
Behold, thou Faeries sonne, with mortall
That living eye before did never see.
The thing, that thou didst crave so earnestly, So having him with reason pacifyde,
To weet whence all the wealth late shewd by And that fiers Carle commaunding to forbeare,
Proceeded, lo! now is reveald to thee. [mee
He brought him in. The rowme was large
Here is the fountaine of the worldes good:
Now, therefore, if thou wilt enriched bee,
Avise thee well, and chaunge thy wilfull mood,
Least thou perhaps hereafter wish, and be
withstood.'
He brought him, through a darksom narrow strayt,
As it some Gyeld or solemne Temple weare.
Many great golden pillours did upbeare
The massy roofe, and riches huge sustayne;
And every pillour decked was full deare
With crownes, and Diademes, and titles vaine,
Which mortall Princes wore whiles they on
earth did rayne.
A route of people there assembled were,
Of every sort and nation under skye,
Which with great uprore preaced to draw nere
To th' upper part, where was advaunced hye
A stately siege of soveraine majestye;
And thereon satt a woman, gorgeous gay
And richly cladd in robes of royaltye,
That never earthly Prince in such aray
His glory did enhaunce, and pompous pryde
display.
To a broad gate all built of beaten gold:
The gate was open; but therein did wayt
A sturdie villein, stryding stiffe and bold,
As if the highest God defy he would:
In his right hand an yron club he held,
But he himselfe was all of golden mould,
Yet had both life and sence, and well could Yet was not that same her owne native hew,
weld
[queld. But wrought by art and counterfetted shew,
That cursed weapon, when his cruell foes he Thereby more lovers unto her to call:
Her face right wondrous faire did seeme to
bee,
[threw
That her broad beauties beam great brightn s
Through the dim shade, that all men might
Disdayne he called was, and did disdayne
To be so cald, and who so did him call:
Sterne was his looke, and full of stomacke
vayne;
His portaunce terrible, and stature tall,
Far passing th' hight of men terrestriall,
Like an huge Gyant of the Titans race; ['small,
That made him scorne all creatures great and
And with his pride all others powre deface:
More fitt emongst black fiendes then men to
have his place.
Nath'lesse most hevenly faire in deed and rew
She by creation was, till she did fall;
Thenceforth she sought for helps to cloke her
crime withall,
There, as in glistring glory she did sitt,
She held a great gold chaine ylincked well,
Whose upper end to highest heven was knitt,
And lower part did reach to lowest Hell;
And all that preace did rownd about her swell
To catchen hold of that long chaine, thereby
To climbe aloft, and others to excell:
That was Ambition, rash desire to sty,
And every linck thereof a step of dignity.
With hearbs and fruits, whose kinds mote not
Not such as earth out of her fruitfull woomb
Throwes forth to men, sweet and well savored,
Some thought to raise themselves to high But direfull deadly black, both leafe and bloom,
By riches and unrighteous reward; [degree Fitt to adorne the dead, and deck the drery
Some by close shouldring; some by flatteree;
Others through friendes; others for base regard,
And all by wrong waies for themselves pre-
pard:
Those that were up themselves kept others low; Those that were low themselves held others hard,
There mournfull Cypresse grew in greatest
And trees of bitter Gall, and Heben sad;
Dead sleeping Poppy, and black Hellebore;
Cold Coloquintida, and Tetra mad;
Ne suffred them to ryse or greater grow;
But every one did strive his fellow downe to Mortall Samnitis, and Cicuta bad,
Which whenas Guyon saw, he gan inquire, What meant that preace about that Ladies throne,
And what she was that did so high aspyre?
Him Mammon answered; 'That goodly one,
Whom all that folke with such contention
Doe flock about, my deare, my daughter is:
Honour and dignitie from her alone
Derived are, and all this worldes blis,
With which th' unjust Atheniens made to dy
Wise Socrates; who, thereof quaffing glad,
To the fayre Critias, his dearest Belamy!
Pourd out his life and last Philosophy
The Gardin of Proserpina this hight;
And in the midst thereof a silver seat,
With a thick Arber goodly over-dight,
In which she often usd from open heat
Her selfe to shroud, and pleasures to entreat:
For which ye men doe strive; few gett, but Next thereunto did grow a goodly tree,
With braunches broad dispredd and body great,
Clothed with leaves, that none the wood mote
Then gan the cursed wretch alowd to cry, The warlike Elfe much wondred at this tree, Accusing highest Jove and gods ingrate, So fayre and great that shadowed all the And eke blaspheming heaven bitterly, As author of unjustice, there to let him dye.
And his broad braunches, laden with rich fee, Did stretch themselves without the utmost bound
Of this great gardin, compast with a mound;
Which over-hanging, they themselves did
In a blacke flood, which flow'd about it round.
That is the river of Cocytus deepe,
In which full many soules do endlesse wayle
and weepe.
Which to behold he clomb up to the bancke, And looking downe saw many damned wightes In those sad waves, which direfull deadly
Plonged continually of cruell Sprightes,
That with their piteous cryes, and yelling
shrightes,
He lookt a litle further, and espyde
Another wretch, whose carcas deepe was drent
Within the river, which the same did hyde;
But both his handes, most filthy feculent,
Above the water were on high extent,
And faynd to wash themselves incessantly,
Yet nothing cleaner were for such intent,
But rather fowler seemed to the eye;
So lost his labour vaine and ydle industry.
The knight him calling asked who he was? Who, lifting up his head, him answerd thus ;
'I Pilate am, the falsest Judge, alas! And most unjust; that, by unrighteous And wicked doome, to Jewes despiteous They made the further shore resounden wide. Delivered up the Lord of life to dye, Emongst the rest of those same ruefull sightes, And did acquite a murdrer felonous; One cursed creature he by chaunce espide, [side. The whiles my handes I washt in purity, That drenched lay full deepe under the Garden The whiles my soule was soyld with fowle in
Deepe was he drenched to the upmost chin,
Yet gaped still as coveting to drinke
Of the cold liquor which he waded in ;
Infinite moe tormented in like paine
He there beheld, too long here to be told:
Ne Mammon would there let him long remayne,
And stretching forth his hand did often thinke For terrour of the tortures manifold, To reach the fruit which grew upon the In vhich the damned soules he did behold, [mouth, But roughly him bespake : "Thou fearefull foole, But both the fruit from hand, and flood from Why takest not of that same fruite of gold ?? Did fly abacke, and made him vainely swincke; Ne sittest downe on that same silver stoole, The whiles he sterv'd with hunger, and with To rest thy weary person in the shadow coole ?? drouth,
He daily dy de, yet never throughly dyen couth. All which he did to do him deadly fall
In frayle intemperaunce through sinfull bayt;
To which if he inclyned had at all, [wayt,
That dreadfull feend, which did behinde him
Would him have rent in thousand peeces strayt:
But he was wary wise in all his way,
And well perceived his deceiptfull sleight,
Ne suffred lust his safety to betray.
So goodly did beguile the Guyler of his pray.
And now he has so long remained theare, That vitall powres gan wexe both weake and wan For want of food and sleepe, which two upbeare,
Nay, nay, thou greedy Tantalus,' (quoth he) Like mightie pillours, this frayle life of man,
'Abide the fortune of thy present fate; And unto all that live in high degree, Ensample be of mind intemperate,
To teach them how to use their present state.
That none without the same enduren can: For now three dayes of men were full out. wrought,
Since he this hardy enterprize began:
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