Till to the perilous bridge she came; and there
Talus desired that he might have prepared
The way to her, and those two losels1 scared :
But she thereat was wroth, that for despite 2
The glancing sparkles through her beaver glared,
And from her eyes did flash out fiery light,

Like coals that through a silver censer sparkle bright.

39 She stayed not to advise which way to take;
But, putting spurs unto her fiery beast,
Thorough the midst of them she way did make.
The one of them, which most her wrath increased,
Upon her spear she bore before her breast,
Till to the bridge's further end she passed;
Where falling down his challenge he released 3:
The other over side the bridge she cast
Into the river, where he drunk his deadly last.

40 As when the flashing levin haps to light

Upon two stubborn oaks, which stand so near
That way betwixt them none appears in sight;
The engine, fiercely flying forth, doth tear

Th' one from the earth, and through the air doth

bear;

The other it with force doth overthrow

Upon one side, and from his roots doth rear :
So did the championess these two there strow,
And to their sire their carcasses left to bestow.

1 Losels, good-for-nothings.

2 Despite, vexation.

3 His challenge he released, i.e. he withdrew his accusation.

4 Levin, lightning.

XVII.

After visiting the temple of Isis, Britomart slays Radigund and frees her lover.

I NOUGHT is on earth more sacred or divine,

That gods and men do equally adore,

Then this same virtue that doth right define :

For th' heavens themselves, whence mortal men

implore

Right in their wrongs, are ruled by righteous lore
Of highest Jove, who doth true justice deal
To his inferior gods, and evermore

Therewith contains 1 his heavenly common-weal :
The skill whereof to princes' hearts he doth reveal.

2 Well therefore did the antique world invent
That Justice was a god of sovereign grace,
And altars unto him and temples lent,2
And heavenly honours in the highest place;
Calling him great Osiris,3 of the race

Of th' old Ægyptian kings that whilom were;
With feigned colors shading a true case;

For that Osiris, whilst he lived here,

The justest man alive and truest did appear.

1 Contains, restrains, governs.

2 Lent, furnished.

3 Osiris, one of the principal

divinities of Egypt; the husband and brother of Isis.

4 Shading, shadowing forth.

3 His wife was Isis; whom they likewise made
A goddess of great pow'r and sovereignty,
And in her person cunningly did shade

That part of justice which is equity,
Whereof I have to treat here presently:
Unto whose temple whenas Britomart
Arrived, she with great humility

Did enter in, ne would that night depart;
But Talus mote not be admitted to her part.

4 There she received was in goodly, wise Of many priests, which duly did attend Upon the rites and daily sacrifice,

All clad in linen robes with silver hemmed1;

And on their heads with long locks comely kembed 2

They wore rich mitres shaped like the moon,
To show that Isis doth the moon portend;
Like as Osiris signifies the sun :

For that they both like race in equal justice3 run.

5 The championess them greeting, as she could,a ·
Was thence by them into the temple led;
Whose goodly building when she did behold
Borne upon stately pillars, all dispread
With shining gold, and arched over head,
She wond'red at the workman's passing 5 skill,
Whose like before she never saw nor read;

1 Hemmed, edged.

2 Kembed, combed. Prof. Child says: "The Egyptian priests were bald, while the Jewish priests, as

4 As she could, as she knew how.

Upton remarks, were forbidden to shave their heads."

3 In equal justice, i.e. with the same regularity.

5 Passing, surpassing.

And thereupon long while stood gazing still,

But thought that she thereon could never gaze her fill.

6 Thenceforth unto the idol1 they her brought;
The which was framèd all of silver fine,

So well as could with cunning hand be wrought,
And clothed all in garments made of line,2
Hemmed all about with fringe of silver twine:
Upon her head she wore a crown of gold;
To show that she had pow'r in things divine:
And at her feet a crocodile was rolled,

That with her wreathèd tail her middle 3 did enfold.

7 One foot was set upon the crocodile,

And on the ground the other fast did stand;

So meaning to suppress both forged guile
And open force and in her other hand

She stretched forth a long, white, slender wand.
Such was the goddess: whom when Britomart
Had long beheld, herself upon the land 5

She did prostráte, and with right humble heart
Unto herself her silent prayers did impart.

8 To which the idol as it were inclining,
Her wand did move with amiable look,

By outward show her inward sense designing:
Who well perceiving how her wand she shook,

1 The idol, the image of Isis.

2 Line, linen.

3 Middle, waist.

4 In her other hand, i.e. in one of her two hands.

5 Land, ground.

6 Designing, signifying.

It as a token of good fortune took.

By this the day with damp was overcast,
And joyous light the house of Jove forsook:
Which when she saw, her helmet she unlaced,
And by the altar's side herself to slumber placed.

9 For other beds the priests there usèd none,

But on their mother Earth's dear lap did lie,
And bake1 their sides upon the cold hard stone,
T'enure themselves to sufferance 2 thereby,
And proud rebellious flesh to mortify:
For, by the vow of their religion,
They tièd were to steadfast chastity
And continence of life; that, all forgon,3
They mote the better tend to their devotion.

IO Therefore they mote not taste of fleshly food,
Ne feed on ought the which doth blood contain,
Ne drink of wine; for wine they say is blood,
Even the blood of giants, which were slain
By thund'ring Jove in the Phlegrean plain 5:
For which the Earth, (as they the story tell,)
Wroth with the gods, which to perpetual pain
Had damned her sons which gainst them did rebel,
With inward grief and malice did against them
swell :

1 Bake, i.e. make hard. 2 Sufferance, suffering.

3 All forgon, all foregone, i.e. everything given up.

4 Therefore they mote not, etc. The priests of Isis did not abstain

from flesh of all kinds, and they drank wine sparingly.

5 Phlegrean plain: the volcanic plain extending along the coast of Campania, Italy, from Cuma to Capua.