CONTAYNING THE LEGEND OF BRITOMARTIs, or of CHASTITY.
But let that same delitious Poet lend
[mend,
A little leave unto a rusticke Muse
To sing his mistresse prayse; and let him
If ought amis her liking may abuse;
Ne let his fayrest Cynthia refuse
In mirrours more then one her selfe to see;
But either Gloriana let her chuse,
How then shall I, Apprentice to the skill
That whilome in divinest wits did rayne,
Presume so high to stretch mine humble quill?
Yet now my luckelesse lott doth me constrayne In th' one her rule, in th' other her rare
Or in Belphoebe fashioned to bee; [chastitee.
Guyon encountreth Britomart:
Fayre Florimell is chaced :
Duessaes traines and Malecas-
taes champions are defaced.
THE famous Briton Prince and Faery knight, After long wayes and perilous paines endur'd, Having their weary limbes to perfect plight Restord, and sory wounds right well recur'd,
Of the faire Alma greatly were procur'd
To make there lenger sojourne and abode;
But when thereto they might not be allur'd,
From seeking praise and deeds of armes abrode,
They courteous congé tooke, and forth together
yode.
Seeking adventures hard, to exercise
Their puissaunce, whylome full dernly tryde.
At length they came into a forest wyde,
Whose hideous horror and sad trembling sownd,
Full griesly seemd: Therein they long did
ryde,
The whiles faire Britomart, whose constant
mind
Would not so lightly follow beauties chace,
Ne reckt of Ladies Love, did stay behynd,
And them awayted there a certaine space,
Yet tract of living creature none they fownd,,
Save Beares, Lyons, and Buls, which romed To weet if they would turne backe to that place;
All suddenly out of the thickest brush,
Upon a milkwhite Palfrey all alone,
A goodly Lady did foreby them rush,
Whose face did seeme as cleare as Christall
But when she saw them gone she forward
As lay her journey, through that perlous Pace,
With stedfast corage and stout hardiment:
Ne evil thing she feard, ne evill thing she ment.
And eke, through feare, as white as whales bone: At last, as nigh out of the wood she came,
Her garments all were wrought of beaten gold, A stately Castle far away she spyde,
And all her steed with tinsell trappings shone, To which her steps directly she did frame.
Which fledd so fast that nothing mote him hold, That Castle was most goodly edifyde,
And scarse them leasure gave her passing to And plaste for pleasure nigh that forrest syde:
But faire before the gate a spatious playne,
Mantled with greene, it selfe did spredden wyde,
On which she saw six knights, that did dar-
Still as she fledd her eye she backward threw,
As fearing evill that poursewd her fast;
And her faire yellow locks behind her flew,
Loosely disperst with puff of every blast:
Fiers battaill against one with cruell might and
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