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;

4

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 justice 3 run.

5 The championess them greeting, as she could,4
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 archèd 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 forgèd guile.
And open force and in her other hand 4
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.

6.

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

5 Land, ground.

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.

10 Therefore they mote not taste of fleshly food,
Ne feed on ought the which doth blood contain,
Ne drink of wine 4; 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.

II And of their vital blood, the which was shed

Into her pregnant bosom, forth she brought
The fruitful vine; whose liquor bloody red,
Having the minds of men with fury fraught,1
Mote in them stir up old rebellious thought
To make new war against the gods again:
Such is the pow'r of that same fruit, that nought
The fell 2 contagion may thereof restrain,

Ne within reason's rule her madding mood contain.3

12 There did the warlike maid herself repose,

Under the wings of Isis all that night;

And with sweet rest her heavy eyes did close,
After that long day's toil and weary plight:
Where whilst her earthly parts with soft delight
Of senseless sleep did deeply drowned lie,
There did appear unto her heavenly sprite
A wondrous vision, which did close imply 1
The course of all her fortune and posterity.

The maiden dreamed of flame and tempest, and saw in her dream first a crocodile, and then

13

a lion of great might,

That shortly did all other beasts subdue :

With that she wakèd full of fearful fright,

And doubtfully dismayed through that so uncouth

sight.

14 So thereupon long while she musing lay,

With thousand thoughts feeding her fantasy;

1 Fraught, filled.

2 Fell, fierce.

3 Contain, restrain.

4 Close imply, secretly infold.

5

5 Uncouth, strange.