9. And, back retyrd;—when it was drawn back (out) again it drew with it his life-blood.

54, 1. Notice the poetic iteration. Fletcher seems (says Church) to have admired and copied it, Purple Island, c. xii. 59.

"So up he rose upon his stretched sails,

Fearlesse expecting his approaching death:

So up he rose that th' ayer," &c.

Milton also seems to have had it in mind when he wrote, "Down their arms,

Down fell both spear and shield, down they as fast."

55, 4. for dread which she misdeemd;-through fear which she misconceived,' lest the dragon were not really dead; or lest in his downfall he had crushed her knight.

CANTO XII.

The watchman on the walls tells to the waking city the fall of the dragon; the people all come forth to see, and lead the Knight with joy to the palace. There, in spite of Duessa's false letter, and Archimago, her messenger, the Red Cross Knight and Una are solemnly betrothed with mighty rejoicings. Lastly, the Knight departs to fulfil his six years' service to the Faery Queene, leaving Una to await his return.

1, 3. Vere the maine shete;-alter the direction of the mainsail, so as to alter the ship's course. Notice that Spenser, the friend of Raleigh and other seafaring heroes, who had himself travelled by sea, has a fresh English delight in sailors' phrases.

4. afore;-ahead.

3, 1. hasty joy, and feeble speed;-eager of heart, but feeble with old age. 7. out of bond; - without consultation, at once.

5, 3. And sad habiliments, &c.;—' in sober-coloured clothes (as in days of trouble) which became them well.'

6, 7. a goodly band Of tall young men ;-alluding to the Queen's band of pensioners; "Some of the handsomest and tallest young men, of the best families and fortunes, that could be found." Warton.

7. all bable armes to sound;— all proper to bear arms;' to clash them together?

6, 2. him before themselves prostrating low;— inverted order; ' prostrating themselves low before him.'

7, 3. And to the maydens, &c.;—and sang a joyous lay in notes well in tune with the sounding timbrels of the maidens.'

8, 8. in her self-resemblance well beseene; who looking well in her resemblance to her proper self;' that is, she was a king's daughter, and so in wearing their sportive coronet, she seemed like herself—-seemed, as she indeed was, a queen.

9, 1. the raskall many;-Spenser was in sympathies, lineage, and associates, a gentleman,' and to him the shopmen and labourers of his day were but racaille, the rascal rout. Many'=rout, troop; subst. not acj.

6

P

9. Ne durst, &c.;-'they' understood from them' in the line before. 10, 11. Notice the poetic relief given by these lighter stanzas, between the heavy fighting of the previous canto, and the noble gravity of the conclusion. 10, 3. Warnd him not touch;—' warned his comrades not to touch him,

the dragon.'

11, 9. be did spread of land;—' over how many acres of land his body lay extended.' So the *novem jugera' which Enceladus covered in the

shades.

13, 8. of great name ; —' of great value.'

9. fitting purpose frame;- make suitable discourse.

14. This stanza is probably a glancing compliment to the frugality of Queen Elizabeth's court.

15, 1. Then, when with meates, &c.;-this from Homer's frequent

αὔταρ ἐπεὶ πόσιος καὶ ἐδητύος ἐξ ἔρον ἕντο.

3. That auncient Lord, &c.;- the king began to find fit occasion to ask the Red Cross Knight of his adventures,' &c.

8. as is before exprest;—as has been related throughout the book. 16, 2. did passionate;—' did express in a feeling manner;' they shewed in their faces the mixed feeling of pleasure and pity. Church.

17, 1. that royall Pere; -' pere' is used here as a term of honour, a peer of kings.'

4. That I note; that I wot not,' know not.

praise or pitty;-these are verbs; the sign 'to' being omitted, as is common in Spenser.

9. devize of ease;-'plan rest.' This verb is not usually followed

by 'of.'

18, 8. Gainst that proud Paynim king;-after long chastening of the heart, and complete reception of Truth, the champion of reformation is to go on, without resting, to attack the great power of Spain.

that works her teene;-'who is plotting the harm of the English Queen.' See Gloss. Teene.

19, 7. the terme, &c. ;— as soon as this period of six years shall end.' 20, 2. In sort as ;-' in such sort as,' 'even as.'

5. to bis Dame; to be his wife;' had her to wife,' is the same construction. Dame' in the sixteenth century signified a married lady. 21, 5. the morning starre;-cp. Solomon's Song 6. 10.

22, 7. withoutten spot or pride;-without colour of any kind or pride of ornament or embroidery. Drawn from the Church of Christ, Rev. 19. 7. 8. woven neare;-'closely woven.'

23, 7. All were she;- although she had been.'

24, 5. Who;-her sire, the king.

9. A Messenger, &c. ;-so do the consequences of sin follow him who has given way to it, and would dash the happiest moments. But the knight meets the consequences with pure truthfulness, frankly confesses his past ill-doing, and by boldly facing the evil escapes from it. The allegory probably also alludes to the attempts made to call back England into obedience to the Roman See. Sixtus V, at this time Pope, was known to be very eager for the recovery of this country, and had made more than one overture to Queen Elizabeth before he blessed the Armada.

25, 1. All in the open ball, &c.;-cp. Chaucer's Squiers Tale, v. 96. 4. bis passage right;-his way straight forward.

5. Till fast, &c.-till he stopped still right before the king.

6. great bumblesse he did make ;- ' he made great show of humility.' 7. whereon his foot, &c.;-the ground on which the king's foot was fixed.

8. did betake; -delivered into his (the king's) hands. See Gloss. Betake.

9. be disclosing;—the king unfastening the letter.'

26, 4. that great Emperour of all the West;-Duessa regards herself as heir of the Carlovingian Empire. Or Spenser by this phrase may mean only to indicate Rome.

6

27, 5. Witnesse the burning altars, &c. ;—she calls to witness the altars on which sacrifices were burning (as ratification of the marriage rites, by which altars he had sworn (a Latinism, as in ‘jurare Deos,' for 'jurare per Deos'); and witness also the heavens guilty of' his perjury, i. e. charged with the guilt of it, charged to avenge it. The Greeks swore by the altar, touching the slab (altare) as they pronounced the words of their oath. related, in the well-known story, to have sworn in this manner.

Hannibal is

7. Which though;-a Latin construction' and though he has often polluted them' (the heavens and the altars). The more natural form of argument would be, And as he has polluted them, I will all the more appeal to them.'

28, 9. well to fare; -the right usage of the infinitive, connected with 'farewell,' the imperative.

29, 7. mine onely sake; the sake of me alone.'

8. adventurest ;-' didst adventure,' for adventuredst.'

30, 3. What bevens, &c. ;-' what (mean these) heavens?' &c., or what are these heavens, these altars, &c. which she invokes.'

9. With crime doe not it cover;-'do not conceal it in a criminal

manner.'

·

31, 3. by grave intendiment ;- by grave attention to my words,' animi intentio.' The older glossaries give 'knowledge, meaning,' &c., as the sense of the word.

32, 4. royall richly dight;—' dressed with the richness of royalty.'

5. That easy was, &c. ;-' that it was easy for her to dazzle,' &c. 8. Unwares me wrought; —' turned me without my knowledge,' 'made me subject to her will.'

33, 4. pardon me to show; -' give me leave to shew.' This construction with 'to pardon,' is not now used.

34, 3. unprovided scath;

--

unforeseen hurt.'.

5. the practicke paine; the artful, well-skilled pains.'

35, 3. Bad on that Messenger, &c. ; -' ordered (the retainers) to lay violent hands on the messenger.'

5. Attacht that faitor false;—' seized on that false vagabond.' See Gloss. Faytor.

7. As chained beare, &c.;-bear-baiting was the favourite sport of Englishmen at this period, and down to the Commonwealth.

36, 7. the late forbidden bains;—the banns of marriage. Spenser seems

to consider that the word is equivalent to 'bands' or 'bonds,' as he says, just after,

"his daughter dear he tyde

With sacred vowes," &c.

Abp. Cranmer speaks of banns of marriage as being customary in 1548; and they are of much higher antiquity. They are mentioned in the Sarum Manuale. See Gloss. Bains.

37, 4. The bousling fire ;—in Roman marriages the husband received his bride home with fire and water (types of purification, or symbols of domestic life and welcome). Perhaps the bousel or busel, which is generally used of the Eucharist, is here regarded as derived from house, and the "housling fire" as 'the sacred hearth fire.' Spenser seems here to be describing old Roman rather than Christian marriage rites.

6. the bushy teade;-the nuptial torch, which preceded the bride on her way to the bridegroom's house (the dades vuμpikai of Aristoph. Pax. 1318).

7. sacred lamp;-this custom seems to be invented by Spenser in this connection. The ever-burning lamp was usually lighted before some sacred shrine, not in the bridal chamber.

9. burnen ;-notice the old form of the inf. verb. 38, 1. sprinckle all the posts with wine; So -'postes aspergere vino.' Claud., de Nupt. Honorii et Mariae, 209, has "pars nectariis adspergere tecta Fontibus," &c.

3. They all perfumde;—' they (being) all perfumed,' taken absolutely. 5. did sweat with great aray;—' the whole house was hot and busy with much preparation.' Or 'sweat' refers to rich odours.

39, 5. their trinall triplicities;—the angels, according to the scholastic conceptions, were arranged in triads and nines. These conceptions are drawn from the pseudo-Dionysius, whose book on the Celestial Hierarchy furnished St. Thomas Aquinas with this arrangement.

These threefold three orders corresponded also to universe, each sphere being moved by one order.

3.

Thrones,

Powers,

Angels.

the nine spheres of the Dante often alludes to this, especially in the Paradiso, c. 28. So Tasso, Gier. Lib. 18.96; and

Milton, Par. Lost, 5. 748,

"Seraphim and Potentates and Thrones

In their triple degrees."

6. heavenly sweet;- sweetness.'

and Greek neut. adj. is used.

'sweet' is here used as the Latin

41, 9. Una left to mourne;-type of the Church militant here below. 42, 6. tackles spent ;-' her worn-out tackling or rigging.'

GLOSSARY.

The Roman numerals denote the Canto, the Arabic the Stanza.

A.

About, i. 11, abouts, ix. 36, to the edge, or out of; A.S. abútan, lit. around on the outside. Or perhaps, in this place, to the end; Fr. à bout. Accord, x. 50; xii. 15, to grant.

Acquit, vii. 52; viii. I, to release. Fr. acquitter, forensic Lat. acquietare, to render the debtor quiet. Here to release a prisoner. Address, ii. II, to dress; but x. II, to direct. Fr. adresser, It. drizzare, Lat. dirigere. "His way with me addrest," is directed his steps in my company.' Chaucer, Clerkes Tale, 8864, uses dress in the same sense: "But to Griselde agen I wol me dresse."

Afflicted (Introduction, 4), lowly. It. afflitto.

Affronted, viii. 13. to be met with opposition. It. affrontare.

Standing far afore," at a distance in front

Aftersend, v. 10, to send after. These compounds are not rare in Spenser. Aghast, ix. 21, it terrified (pret. or elliptical for 'did aghast'); we now use only the adj. Chaucer uses the verb to agast—

66

That me agasteth in my dreme (quod she)."

Legend of Dido, 246. Horne Tooke, Div. of Purley, part I. chap. x., says "Aghast, agast, may be the p.p. agazed

All the whole army stood agazed on him.'"

Henry VI. pt. I, i. 1. But agazed, and Fuller's phrase (Worthies, Bucks) "men's minds stood at a gaze," are both erroneous as derivations. The Goth. verb us-gaisjan, to horrify, contains the root whence it comes, us being the Ger. aus, and gaisjan connected with Ger. geist; cp. Sc. gousty, desolate, dreary. Agraste, x. 18, shewed grace or favour to. It. aggratiare.

Albe, v. 45, although; so the now rare albeit. In Faery Queene, Bk. V. ii. 6, he writes" albee he rich or poor," whether he be.

Alight, iii. 20, fallen; used as an adj., is alight,' where we now should say has lighted.' Chaucer, Prol. 723, has "whan we were alight." xii. 25, to come to a stop; of one halting in a hasty course, not of one dismounting.

All, x. 47; xii. 23, although.

Als, ix. 18, also. A.S. ealswa.

Amate, ix. 45, to stupify; to be or make stupid, as a dreamer, from