But who can turne the ftreame of deftinee, To make one great by others loffe is bad ex cheat. XXVI. "Yet fhall they not escape fo freely all; For fome shall pay the price of others guilt: And he, the man that made Sansfoy to fall, Shall with his owne blood price that he hath fpilt. But what art thou, that telft of Nephews kilt?" "I, that do feeme not I, Dueffa ame,' Quoth fhe," how ever now, in garments gilt And gorgeous gold arrayd, I to thee came; Dueffa I, the daughter of Deceipt and Shame.” XXV. 5. the chayne of strong neceffitee, Which faft is tyde to Ioves eternall feat?] This is that golden chayne mentioned in Homer, Il. 9. 19. The eternal concatenation of caufes and effects. 'Tis the chain in Milton that links the universe to heaven. UPTON. XXV. 9. is bad excheat.] Excheat or efcheat (Fr. efcheute or efchoëtte) is a law term, and fignifies any lands or profits that fall to a lord within his manor by forfeiture, &c. Night here intimates that to rife upon the ruins of our neighbour is by no means defirable, as any fuch acceffion of fortune is in fome measure obtained by injury. CHURCH. XXVI. 4. Shall with his owne blood price] Price is here ufed as a verb, to pay the price of. Again, F. Q. i. ix. 37, "With thine own blood to price his blood." CHURCH, XXVII. Then, bowing downe her aged backe, fhe kist The wicked Witch, faying; " In that fayre face The false resemblaunce of Deceipt, I wist, Did closely lurke; yet fo true-feeming grace It carried, that I fcarfe in darkfome place Could it difcerne; though I the mother bee Of Falthood, and roote of Dueffaes race. O welcome, child, whom I have longd to fee, And now have feene unwares! Lo, now I go with thee." XXVIII. Then to her yron wagon fhe betakes, And with her beares the fowle welfavourd Through mirkefome aire her ready way the Her twyfold teme (of which two blacke as pitch, And two were browne, yet each to each unlich,) XXVII. 6. Τ. WARTON, though I the mother be Of Falfhood,] Hefiod, toy. 224. Νυξ ὀλοή· μετὰ τὴν δ ̓ ̓ΑΠΑΤΗΝ τέκε. XXVIII. 3. Through mirkefome aire] Mirkness is darknefs, and mirk is dark. See Gloff, Douglas's Virgil. See alfó The Complaynt of Scotland, edit. 1801, p. 65. "Mirknes and myft." Chaucer also uses mirk in the fame fense: In the North of England it is likewise used for dark. See Yorkshire Gloffary &c. by G. M. Gent. 1697. Shakspeare and Milton employ mirky for mirkefome, as the commentators have noticed. TODD. Did foftly fwim away, ne ever ftamp Unleffe fhe chaunft their ftubborne mouths to twitch; Then, foming tarre, their bridles they would champ, And trampling the fine element would fiercely ramp. XXIX. So well they fped, that they be come at length Unto the place, whereas the Paynim lay Devoid of outward fence and native ftrength, Coverd with charmed cloud from vew of day And fight of men, fince his late luckeleffe fray. His cruell wounds with cruddy bloud congeald They binden up fo wifely as they may, And handle foftly, till they can be heald: So lay him in her charett, clofe in night con ceald. XXX. And, all the while fhe ftood upon the ground, The wakefull dogs did never cease to bay; The very XXVIII. 8. Then, foming tarre,] Then foming what refembled tarre-Then as it were foming forth tarre. fame kind of expreffion Fairfax uses, C. x. 15. "The courfers pant and smoke with lukewarme sweat, "And foming creame their iron mouthfuls eat:" That is, foming what refembled creame. vi. 44. See alfo F. Q. i. "Where, foming wrath, their cruell tufks they whett." Again, F. Q. ii. v. 2. UPTON. XXX. 2. The wakefull dogs did never cease to bay ;] This alludes to an old fuperftitious belief, that dogs are quick As giving warning of th' unwonted found, With which her yron wheeles did them affray, And her darke griefly looke them much difmay. The meffenger of death, the ghaftly owle, With drery fkriekes did also her bewray ; And hungry wolves continually did howle At her abhorred face, fo filthy and so fowle. XXXI. Thence turning backe in filence fofte they stole, And brought the heavy corfe with easy pace To yawning gulfe of deepe Avernus hole: By that fame hole an entraunce,darke and bace, fighted, and quick-fcented, at the approach of gods or goddeffes. See Hom. Odyfl: a'. 162. UPTON. Compare Shakspeare's expreffion, "I'd rather be a dog, and bay the moon;" and fee the note on guarre, ft, xxxiv. TODD. XXX. 5. them much difmay.] There is an impropriety of expreffion in this line. He fhould have faid, "And her dark griefly looke did alfo much difmay them." JORTIN. He might have faid, " And her dark griefly looke did them difmay," as we find in F. Q, vi. x, 13. But difmay, if I miftake not, is here ufed for difmay'd; as I think it is in the two following paffages, F. Q. iii, x. 54. "That who fo ftraungely had him feene bestadd, "From Limbo lake him late efcaped fure would fay." And in his Daphnaida: "But without taking leave he forth did go, "With ftaggering fteps and difmal looks, difmay "As if that death he in the face had feen, &c." Our old English poets frequently drop a letter at the end of the line, for the fake of the rhyme. CHURCH. XXXI. 4. darke and bace,] Low. See Gloff. Douglafs's Virgil, V. bais, F. bas. low. So, in Hawes's Hift. of Graunde Amoure, 1554, Sign. B b. tower," TODD 1. "The base With fmoake and fulphur hiding all the place, Defcends to hell: there creature never past, That backe retourned without heavenly grace; But dreadfull Furies, which their chaines have braft, And damned Sprights fent forth to make ill men aghaft. XXXII. By that fame way the direfull Dames doe drive Their mournefull charett, fild with rusty blood, And downe to Plutoes house are come bilive: Which paffing through, on every fide them ftood The trembling ghofts with fad amazed mood, XXXI. 4. By that fame hole an entraunce, darke and bace, With Smoake and fulphur hiding all the place, Defcends to hell:] Virgil, Æn. vi. 237. 66 Spelunca alta fuit, vastoque inmanis hiatu, XXXI. 6. there creature never past, That backe retourned without heavenly grace;] Virgil, En, vi. 128. "Sed revocare gradum, fuperafque evadere ad auras, 1 XXXII. 5. The trembling ghofts &c.] The images in this ftanza are ftrongly painted, The reader at his leifure may compare Ovid's defcription of Orpheus's defcent into hell, or of Juno's who came to folicit one of the Furies to punish Athamas. For I believe that Spenfer, in thefe defcriptions, confulted both Ovid and Virgil. UPTON. Spenfer's painting is here much in the manner of Dante. The reader may compare the defcription of spectres, Purg. C. xxiii. " Negli occhi &c." Spenfer's ftony eyes are applied, with admirable effect, to an affrighted Knight, F. Q. i. ix. 24. TODD. |