Great Venus, Queen of beauty and of grace,
The joy of Gods and men, that under sky
Doft faireft fhine, and most adorn thy place,
That with thy fmiling look doft pacify
The raging feas, and mak'ft the ftorms to fly :
Thee Goddess, thee the winds, the clouds do fear,
And when thou fpredft thy mantle forth on high,
The waters play, and pleafant lands appear,
And heavens laugh, and all the world fhews joyous chear.
XLV.
Then doth the Dedale earth throw forth to thee
Out of her fruitful lap abundant flowres :
And then all living wights, foon as they fee
The Spring break forth out of his lufty bowes,
They all do learn to play the paramours;
First do the merry birds, thy pretty pages,
Privily pricked with thy luftful powres,
Chirp loud to thee out of their leafy cages,
And thee their mother call to cool their kindly rages.
XLVI.
Then do the falvage beafts begin to play
Their pleasant frisks, and loath their wonted food :
The Lions roar, the Tigers loudly bray,
The raging Bulls rebellow through the wood,
And breaking forth, dare tempt the deepeft flood,
To come where thou doft draw them with defire:
So all things else, that nourish vital blood,
Soon as with fury thou doft them infpire,
In generation feek to quench their inward fire.
XLVII.
So all the world by thee at first was made,
And daily yet thou doft the fame repair :
Ne ought on earth that merry is and glad,
Ne ought on earth that lovely is and fair,
But thou the fame for pleasure didft prepare.
Thou art the root of all that joyous is,
Great God of men and women, Queen of th' air,
Mother of laughter, and well-fpring of blifs,
O grant that of my Love at lait I may not mifs.
So did he fay but I with murmur foft,
That none might hear the forrow of my heart,
Yet inly groaning deep and fighing oft,
Befought her to grant eafe unto my fmart,
And to my wound her gracious help impart,
Whilft thus I fpake, behold with happy eye
I fpide, where at the idols feet apart
A bevy of fair damzels clofe did lie,
Waiting whenas the anthem fhould be fung on high.
XLIX.
The firft of them did feem of riper years,
And graver countenance than all the reft;
Yet all the reft were eke her equal peers,
Yet unto her obeyed all the beft.
Her name was Womanhood, that she exprest
By her fad femblant and demeanure wife :
For ftedfast still her eyes did fixed reft,
Ne rov'd at random after gazers guife,
Whose luring baits ofttimes do heedlefs hearts entise.
L.
And next to her fate goodly Shamefac'dness;
Ne ever durft her eyes from ground uprear,
Ne ever once did look up from her deís,
As if fome blame of evil she did fear,
That in her cheeks made rofes oft appear:
And her against fweet Chearfulness was plac'd,
Whofe eyes like twinkling ftars in evening clear, Were deckt with fmiles, that all fad humours chac'd, . And darted forth delights, the which her goodly grac'd. LI.
And next to her fate fober Modefty,
Holding her hand upon her gentle heart;
And her against fate comely Courtesy,
That unto every perfon knew her part;
And her before was feated overthwart
Soft Silence, and fubmifs Obedience,
Both linkt together never to difpart,
Both gifts of God not gotten but from thence,
Both girlonds of his Saints against their foes offence. :
Thus fate they all around in feemly rate :
And in the midft of them a goodly maid,
Ev'n in the lap of Womanhood there fate,
The which was all in lilly white arrayd,
With filver ftreams amongst the linnen ftrayd;
Like to the Morn, when firft her fhining face
Hath to the gloomy world it felf bewrayd :
That fame was faireft Amoret in place,
Shining with beauties light, and heavenly vertues grace.
LIII.
Whom foon as I beheld, my heart 'gan throb,
And wade in doubt, what beft were to be done :
For facriledge me feem'd the church to rob;
And folly feem'd to leave the thing undone,
Which with fo ftrong attempt I had begun.
Tho fhaking off all doubt and fhamefac'd fear,
Which ladies Love I heard had never won
'Mongst men of worth, I to her ftepped near,
And by the lilly hand her labour'd up to rear.
LIV.
Thereat that formoft matron me did blame;
And fharp rebuke, for being over bold;
Saying it was to Knight unfeemly shame,
Upon a reclufe virgin to lay hold,
That unto Venus fervices was fold.
To whom I thus; Nay but it fitteth best,
For Cupids man with Venus maid to hold :
For ill your Goddefs fervices are drest
By virgins, and her facrifices let to reft.
With that my fhield I forth to her did show,
Which all that while I clofely had conceald;
On which when Cupid with his killing bow
And cruel fhafts emblazond fhe beheld,
At fight thereof fhe was with terror queld,
And faid no more: but I which all that while
The pledge of faith, her hand engaged held,
Like wary Hind within the weedy foil,
For no intreaty would forgo fo glorious fpoil.
LVI.
And evermore upon the Goddess face
Mine eye was fixt, for fear of her offence:
Whom when I faw with amiable grace
To laugh on me, and favour my pretence,
I was embolden'd with more confidence:
And nought for nicenefs nor for envy fparing,
In presence of them all forth led her thence,
All looking on, and like astonisht ftaring,
Yet to lay hand of her, not one of all them daring.
LVII.
She often prayd, and often me befought,
Sometime with tender tears to let her go,
Sometime with witching fmiles: but yet for nought,
That ever fhe to me could fay or do,
Could the her wifhed freedom from me woe,
But forth I led her through the temple gate,
By which I hardly paft with much ado:
But that fame Lady which me friended late
In entrance, did me alfo friend in my retrate.
LVIII.
No lefs did Danger threaten me with dread,
Whenas he faw me, maugre all his powre,
That glorious spoil of beauty with me lead,
Than Cerberus, when Orpheus did recoure
His Leman from the Stygian Princes bowre.
But evermore my fhield did me defend,
Against the storm of every dreadful ftoure:
Thus fafely with my Love I thence did wend.
So ended he his tale, where I this canto end.
Marinells former wound is heal'd,
He comes to Proteus ball,
Where Thamis doth the Medway wed,
And feafts the Sea-gods all.
ut ah for pity! that I have thus long
Left a fair Lady languishing in pain:
Now well away, that I have doen fuch wrong,
To let fair Florimell in bands remain,
In bands of love, and in fad thraldroms chain;
From which unless fome heavenly powre her free
By miracle, not yet appearing plain,
She longer yet is like captiv'd to be:
That ev'n to think thereof, it inly pities me:
II.
Here need you to remember, how erewhile
Unlovely Proteus, miffing to his mind
That virgins love to win by wit or wile
Her threw into a dungeon deep and blind,
And there in chains her cruelly did bind,
In hope thereby her to his bent to draw:
For whenas neither gifts nor graces kind,
Her constant mind could move at all he faw,
He thought her to compel by cruelty and awe.
III.
Deep in the bottom of an huge great rock
The dungeon was, in which her bound he left,
That neither iron bars, nor brazen lock
Did need to guard from force, or fecret theft
Of all her Lovers, which would her have reft.
For wall'd it was with waves, which rag'd and roar'd
As they the cliff in pieces would have cleft:
Befides ten thousand monfters foul abhord
Did wait about it, gaping griefly, all begor'd.
|