Complete Works of Edmund Spenser

In lieu whereof graunt, O great Soveraine ! That she, whose conquering beautie doth captive

My trembling hart in her eternall chaine, One drop of grace at length will to me give, That I her bounden thrall by her may live, And this same life, which first fro me she reaved,

May owe to her, of whom I it receaved.

And you, faire Venus dearling, my deare dread! Fresh flowre of grace, great Goddesse of my life, [read, When your faire eyes these fearefull lines shal Deigne to let fall one drop of dew reliefe, That may recure my harts long pyning griefe, And shew what wondrous powre your beauty hath,

That can restore a damned wight from death.

AN HYMNE OF HEAVENLY LOVE.

LOVE, lift me up upon thy golden wings, From this base world unto thy heavens hight, Where I may see those admirable things Which there thou workest by thy soveraine might,

Farre above feeble reach of earthly sight,
That I thereof an heavenly Hymne may sing
Unto the God of Love, high heavens king.
Many lewd layes (ah! woe is me the more!)
In praise of that mad fit which fooles call
love,

I have in th' heat of youth made heretofore,
That in light wits did loose affection move;
But all those follies now I do reprove,
And turned have the tenor of my string,
The heavenly prayses of true love to sing.
And ye that wont with greedy vaine desire
To reade my fault, and, wondring at my flame,
To warme your selves at my wide sparckling
fire,
[ blame,
Sith now that heat is quenched, quench my
And in her ashes shrowd my dying shame;
For who my passed follies now pursewes,
Beginnes his owne, and my old fault renewes.
BEFORE THIS WORLDS GREAT FRAME, in

which al things

With him he raignd, before all time prescribed,
In endlesse glorie and immortall might,
Together with that third from them derived,
Most wise, most holy, most almightie Spright!
Whose kingdomes throne no thought of
earthly wight
[verse

Can comprehend, much lesse my trembling
With equall words can hope it to reherse.
Yet, O most blessed Spirit! pure lampe of
light,

Eternall spring of grace and wisedome trew,
Vouchsafe to shed into my barren spright
Some little drop of thy celestiall dew,

That may my rymes with sweet infuse embrew,

And give me words equall unto my thought, To tell the marveiles by thy mercie wrought. Yet being pregnant still with powrefull grace, And full of fruitfull love, that loves to get Things like himselfe, and to enlarge his race, His second brood, though not in powre so great,

Yet full of beautie, next he did beget An infinite increase of Angels bright, All glistring glorious in their Makers light. To them the heavens illimitable hight (Not this round heaven, which we from hence behold,

Adornd with thousand lamps of burning light, And with ten thousand gemmes of shyning gold,)

He gave as their inheritance to hold,
That they might serve him in eternall blis,
And be partakers of those joyes of his.
There they in their trinall triplicities
About him wait, and on his will depend,
Either with nimble wings to cut the skies,
When he them on his messages doth send,
Or on his owne dread presence to attend,
Where they behold the glorie of his light,
And caroll Hymnes of love both day and
night.

Both day, and night, is unto them all one;
For he his beames doth still to them extend,
That darknesse there appeareth never none;
Ne hath their day, ne hath their blisse, an end,
But there their termelesse time in pleasure
spend ;

Ne ever should their happinesse decay,
Had not they dar'd their Lord to disobay.
But pride, impatient of long resting peace,
Did puffe them up with greedy bold ambition,
That they gan cast their state how to increase
Above the fortune of their first condition,

And sit in Gods owne seat without commission:
The brightest Angell, even the Child of Light,
Drew millions more against their God to fight
Th' Almighty, seeing their so bold assay,
Kindled the flame of His consuming yre,
And with His onely breath them blew away
From heavens hight, to which they did aspyre,
To deepest hell, and lake of damned fyre,
Where they in darknesse and dread horror
dwell,

But man, forgetfull of his Makers grace
No lesse then Angels whom he did ensew,
Fell from the hope of promist heavenly place,
Into the mouth of death, to sinners dew,
And all his off-spring into thraldome threw,
Where they for ever should in bonds remaine
Of never-dead yet ever-dying paine;
Till that great Lord of Love, which him at
first

Made of meere love, and after liked well,
Seeing him lie like creature long accurst
In that deepe horror of despeyred hell,
Him, wretch, in doole would let no lenger
But cast out of that bondage to redeeme,
And pay the price, all were his debt extreeme.

dwell,

Out of the bosome of eternall blisse,
In which he reigned with his glorious syre,
He downe descended, like a most demisse
And abject thrall, in fleshes fraile attyre,
That He for him might pay sinnes deadly hyre,
And him restore unto that happie state
In which he stood before his haplesse fate.
In flesh at first the guilt committed was,
Therefore in flesh it must be satisfyde;
Nor spirit, nor Angell, though they man sur-
[guyde,

Hating the happie light from which they fell.
So that next off-spring of the Makers love,
Next to Himselfe in glorious degree,
Degendering to hate, fell from above
Through pride, (for pride and love may ill Could make amends to God for mans mis-

agree)

And now of sinne to all ensample bee:
How then can sinfull flesh itselfe assure,
Sith purest Angels fell to be impure?

But that Eternall Fount of love and grace,
Still flowing forth His goodnesse unto all,
Now seeing left a waste and emptie place
In His wyde Pallace, through those Angels fall,
Cast to supply the same, and to enstall
A new unknowen Colony therein,
Whose root from earths base groundworke
shold begin.

nought,

Therefore of clay, base, vile, and next to
[might,
Yet form'd by wondrous skill, and by His
According to an heavenly patterne wrought,
Which He had fashiond in his wise foresight,
He man did make, and breathd a living spright
Into his face most beautifull and fayre,
Endewd with wisedomes riches, heavenly, rare.
Such He him made, that he resemble might
Himselfe, as mortall thing immortall could;
Him to be Lord of every living wight
He made by love out of His owne like mould,
In whom He might His mightie selfe behould;
For Love doth love the thing belov'd to see,
That like itselfe in lovely shape may bee.

pas,

But onely man himselfe, who selfe did slyde:
So, taking flesh of sacred virgins wombe,
For mans deare sake he did a man become.
And that most blessed bodie, which was borne
Without all blemish or reprochfull blame,
He freely gave to be both rent and torne
Of cruell hands, who with despightfull shame
Revyling him, that them most vile became,
At length him nayled on a gallow-tree,
And slew the Just by most unjust decree.
O huge and most unspeakable impression
Of loves deepe wound, that pierst the piteous
hart
Of that deare Lord with so entyre affection,
Dolours of death into his soule did dart,
And, sharply launching every inner part,
Doing him die that never it deserved,
To free his foes, that from his heast had

swerved!

What hart can feele least touch of so sore launch, [wound? Or thought can think the depth of so deare Whose bleeding sourse their streames yet never staunch

But stil do flow, and freshly still redound, To heale the sores of sinfull soules unsound, And clense the guilt of that infected cryme Which was enrooted in all fleshly slyme.

blessed Well of Love! O Floure of Grace! And love our brethren; thereby to approve glorious Morning-Starre! O Lampe of How much, himselfe that loved us, we love.

Light!

ost lively image of thy Fathers face,
ternall King of Glorie, Lord of Might,
eeke Lambe of God, before all worlds be-
hight,

ow can we thee requite for all this good?
what can prize that thy most precious
blood?

Then rouze thy selfe, O Earth! out of thy

soyle,

In which thou wallowest like to filthy swyne, And doest thy mynd in durty pleasures moyle, Unmindfull of that dearest Lord of thyne; Lift up to him thy heavie clouded eyne, That thou his soveraine bountie mayst behold, And read, through love, his mercies manifold. Beginne from first, where he encradled was In simple cratch, wrapt in a wad of hay, Betweene the toylefull Oxe and humble Asse, [gaine? And in what rags, and in how base aray, d it beene wrong to aske his owne with The glory of our heavenly riches lay, gave us life, he it restored lost; en life were least, that us so litle cost.

nought thou ask'st in lieu of all this love,
love of us, for guerdon of thy paine:
me! what can us lesse then that behove?
d he required life of us againe,

t he our life hath left unto us free, [band
ee that was thrall, and blessed that was
ought demaunds but that we loving bee,
he himselfe hath lov'd us afore-hand,
d bound therto with an eternall band,
m first to love that us so dearely bought,
d next our brethren, to his image wrought.

im first to love great right and reason is,
ho first to us our life and being gave,
nd after, when we fared had amisse,

wretches from the second death did save;
id last, the food of life, which now we have,
ren he himselfe, in his deare sacrament,
feede our hungry soules, unto us lent.

en next, to love our brethren, that were
made

'that selfe mould, and that selfe Makers hand,
hat we, and to the same againe shali fade,
here they shall have like heritage of land,
ow ever here on higher steps we stand,
Which also were with selfe-same price re-
deemed

That we, how ever of us light esteemed.

And were they not, yet since that loving Lord
Commaunded us to love them for his sake,
Even for his sake, and for his sacred word,
Which in his last bequest he to us spake,
We should them love, and with their needs
partake;

Knowing that, whatsoere to them we give,
We give to him by whom we all doe live.

Such mercy he by his most holy reede
Unto us taught, and to approve it trew,
Ensampled it by his most righteous deede,
Shewing us mercie (miserable crew!)

That we the like should to the wretches shew,

When him the silly Shepheards came to see,
Whom greatest Princes sought on lowest
knee.

From thence reade on the storie of his life,
His humble carriage, his unfaulty wayes,
His cancred foes, his fights, his toyle, his

strife,

His paines, his povertie, his sharpe assayes,
Through which he past his miserable dayes,
Offending none, and doing good to all,
Yet being malist both of great and small.
And looke at last, how of most wretched wights
He taken was, betrayd, and false accused;
How with most scornefull taunts, and fell des-
pights,

He was revyld, disgrast, and foule abused;
How scourgd, how crownd, how buffeted, how
brused;

And lastly, how twixt robbers crucifyde,
With bitter wounds through hands, through
feet, and syde!

Then let thy flinty hart, that feeles no paine,
Empierced be with pittifull remorse,
And let thy bowels bleede in every vaine,
At sight of his most sacred heavenly corse,
So torne and mangled with malicious forse;
And let thy soule, whose sins his sorrows
wrought,

Melt into teares, and grone in grieved thought.
With sence whereof, whilest so thy softened

All other loves, with which the world doth

blind

Weake fancies, and stirre up affections base,
Thou must renounce and utterly displace,
And give thy selfe unto him full and free,
That full and freely gave himselfe to thee.
Then shalt thou feele thy spirit so possest,
And ravisht with devouring great desire
Of his deare selfe, that shall thy feeble brest
Inflame with love, and set thee all on fire
With burning zeale, through every part entire,
That in no earthly thing thou shalt delight,
But in his sweet and amiable sight.
Thenceforth all worlds desire will in thee dye,
And all earthes glorie, on which men do gaze,

Seeme durt and drosse in thy pure-sighted eye,
Compar'd to that celestiall beauties blaze,
Whose glorious beames all fleshly sense doth

daze

With admiration of their passing light,
Blinding the eyes, and lumining the spright.

Then shall thy ravisht soule inspired bee
With heavenly thoughts farre above humane
skil,

And thy bright radiant eyes shall plainely see
Th' Idee of his pure glorie present still
Before thy face, that all thy spirits shall fill
With sweete enragement of celestiall love,
Kindled through sight of those faire things
above.

AN HYMNE OF HEAVENLY BEAUTIE

RAPT with the rage of mine own ravisht
thought,

Through contemplation of those goodly sights,
And glorious images in heaven wrought,
Whose wondrous beauty, breathing sweet de-
lights

Of this wyde universe, and therein reed
The endlesse kinds of creatures which by name
Thou canst not count, much lesse their natures
aime;

All which are made with wondrous wise respect,
And all with admirable beautie deckt.

First, th' Earth, on adamantine pillers founded
Amid the Sea, engirt with brasen bands;
Then th' Aire still flitting, but yet firmely

bounded

On everie side, with pyles of flaming brands, Never consum'd, nor quencht with mortall hands;

Do kindle love in high conceipted sprights;
I faine to tell the things that I behold,
But feele my wits to faile, and tongue to fold.
Vouchsafe then, O thou most Almightie
Spright!
I flow,
From whom all guifts of wit and knowledge
To shed into my breast some sparkling light
Of thine eternall Truth, that I may show
Some litle beames to mortall eyes below
And, last, that mightie shining christall wall,
Of that immortall beautie, there with thee,
Wherewith he hath encompassed this All.
Which in my weake distraughted mynd I see: By view whereof it plainly may appeare,
That with the glorie of so goodly sight That still as every thing doth upward tend,
The hearts of men, which fondly here admyre And further is from earth, se still more cleare
Faire seeming shewes, and feed on vaine And faire it growes, till to his perfect end
Transported with celestiall desyre [delight, Of purest beautie it at last ascend; [ayre,
Of those faire formes, may lift themselves up Ayre more then water, fire much more then
And heaven then fire, appeares more pure and

hyer,

fayre.

And learne to love, with zealous humble dewty,
Th'eternall fountaine of that heavenly beauty.
Looke thou no further, but affixe thine eye
Beginning then below, with th' easie vew
On that bright shynie round still moving
Of this base world, subject to fleshly eye,
Masse,
[Skye,
From thence to mount aloft, by order dew,
The house of blessed God, which men call
To contemplation of th' immortall sky;
All sowd with glistring stars more thicke then
Of the soare faulcon so I learne to fly,
That flags awhile her fluttering wings beneath, Whereof each other doth in brightnesse passe,
grasse,
Till she her selfe for stronger flight can breath. But those two most, which, ruling night and
Then looke, who list thy gazefull eyes to feed
With sight of that is faire, looke on the frame As King and Queene, the heavens Empire sway;

day,

And tell me then, what hast thou ever seene
hat to their beautie may compared bee,
Or can the sight that is most sharpe or keene
Endure their Captains flaming head to see?
How much lesse those, much higher in degree,
And so much fairer, and much more then these,

is these are fairer then the land and seas?

or farre above these heavens, which here we
‣ others farre exceeding these in light, [see,
ot bounded, not corrupt, as these same bee,
it infinite in largenesse and in hight,
moving, uncorrupt, and spotlesse bright,
Lat need no Sunne t' illuminate their spheres,
it their owne native light farre passing theirs.
id as these heavens still by degrees arize,
till they come to their first Movers bound,
at in his mightie compasse doth comprize,
id carrie all the rest with him around;
those likewise doe by degrees redound,
idrise more faire, till they at last arive
the most faire, whereto they all do strive.
ire is the heaven where happy soules have
full enjoyment of felicitie,

How much more those essentiall parts of his.
His truth, his love, his wisedome, and his blis,
His grace, his doome, his mercy, and his
might,

By which he lends us of himselfe a sight!
Those unto all he daily doth display,
And shew himselfe in th' image of his grace,
As in a looking-glasse, through which he may
Be seene of all his creatures vile and base,
That are unable else to see his face, [bright,
His glorious face! which glistereth else so
That th' Angels selves can not endure his
sight.

sustaine

But we, fraile wights! whose sight cannot [shyne, The Suns bright beames when he on us doth But That their points rebutted backe againe Are duld, how can we see with feeble evne The glory of that Majestie Divine, [darke, In sight of whom both Sun and Moone are Compared to his least resplendent sparke? The meanes, therefore, which unto us is lent [place, Him to behold, on his workes to looke,< hence they doe still behold the glorious face Which he hath made in beauty excellent, the Divine Eternall Majestie;

And in the same, as in a brasen booke,
To in every nooke

id pure Intelligences from God inspyred.
et fairer is that heaven, in which doe raine
he soveraine Powres and mightie Potentates,
'hich in their high protections doe containe
Il mortall Princes and imperiall States;
nd fayrer yet, whereas the royall Seates
nd heavenly Dominations are set,
rom whom all earthly governance is fet.
et farre more faire be those bright Cherubins,
Which all with golden wings are overdight,
And those eternall burning Seraphins,
Which from their faces dart out fierie light;
Yet fairer then they both, and much more
bright,

Be th' Angels and Archangels, which attend
On Gods owne person, without rest or end.
These thus in faire each other farre excelling,
As to the Highest they approch more neare,
Yet is that Highest farre beyond all telling,
Fairer then all the rest which there appeare,
Though all their beauties joynd together

were;

How then can mortall tongue hope to expresse
The image of such endlesse perfectnesse?
Cease then, my tongue! and lend unto my
mynd

Leave to bethinke how great that beautie is,
Whose utmost parts so beautifull I fynd;

For all thats good is beautifull and faire
Thence gathering plumes of perfect speculation,
To impe the wings of thy high flying mynd,
Mount up aloft through heavenly contem-
plation,
[soule do blynd,
From this darke world, whose damps the
And, like the native brood of Eagles kynd,
On that bright Sunne of Glorie fixe thine eyes,
Clear'd from grosse mists of fraile infirmities.
Humbled with feare and awfull reverence,
Before the footestoole of his Majestie
Throw thy selfe downe, with trembling inno-
Ne dare looke up with córruptible eye [cence,
On the dred face of that great Deity,
For feare, lest if he chaunce to looke on thee,
Thou turne to nought, and quite confounded
be.

But lowly fall before his mercie seate,
Close covered with the Lambes integrity
From the just wrath of his avengefull threate
That sits upon the righteous throne on hy;
His throne is built upon Eternity,
More firme and durable then steele or brasse,
Or the hard diamond, which them both doth
passe.

His scepter is the rod of Righteousnesse,
With which he bruseth all his foes to dust,
And the great Dragon strongly doth represse,

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