To ioy at his foolhappie overfight:

So doubly is diftreft twixt ioy and cares The dreadleffe corage of this Elfin Knight, Having efcapt fo fad enfamples in his fight.

II.

;

Yet fad he was, that his too haftie speed
The fayre Duefs' had forst him leave behind
And yet more fad, that Una, his deare Dreed,
Her truth had ftaynd with treason so unkind;
Yet cryme in her could never creature find:
But for his love, and for her own selfe fake,
She wandred had from one to other Ynd,
Him for to feeke, ne ever would forfake;
Till her unwares the fiers Sansloy did overtake :

III.

Who, after Archimagoes fowle defeat,
Led her away into a foreft wilde;

And, turning wrathfull fyre to luftfull heat,
With beastly fin thought her to have defilde,

Under favour, I think there should be no stop at all after doubt, which is here ufed, as Spenfer frequently ufes it, for fear. Ital. dotta. See F. Q. iii. iii. 14, iii. xii. 37, iv. ii. 46, iv. iv. 27, v. xi. 18. So Chaucer ufes it, p. 246. edit. Urr.. "For him my life lieth all in doubt.”

Ne ufually fignifies nor, but here it is ufed for not. See also F. Q. iv. vii. 46.

"Yet who was that Belphebe he ne wist:"

And F. Q. vi. x. 27, and Amoretti, Sonn. 5. The conftruction then is very juft and clear. The mariner—and yet in doubt (not yet recovered from his fear) dares not to rejoice &c.

"In doubt" is corrected from the Errata; fome editions. retain the errour, 66 it doubt," CHURCH.

II. 9. Till her unwares &c.]

See C. iii. ft. 33. CHURCH.

And made the vaffall of his pleasures vilde. Yet first he caft by treatie, and by traynes, Her to perfuade that stubborne fort to yilde: For greater conqueft of hard love he gaynes, That workes it to his will, then he that it conftraines.

IV.

With fawning wordes he courted her a while; And, looking lovely and oft fighing fore, Her conftant hart did tempt with diverse guile :

But wordes, and lookes, and fighes fhe did abhore;

As rock of diamond ftedfaft evermore.

66

III. 6. Yet firft he caft] Contrived. Repeatedly used in this fenfe by Spenfer. See F. Q. i. ii. 37, i. ix. 15, and many other places. Thus alfo Chaucer, Tale of Melib. p. 131. edit. Tyrwhitt. I pray you, that in this neceffitee and in this nede ye cafte you to overcome your heart." Milton employs this verb, Par. Loft, B. iii. 634, B. xii. 43. Caft is alfo ufed as a substantive for contrivance by Chaucer, Kn. Tale, 2470. ed. fupr.

"The derke trefons, and the caftes old." And thus, in The Abridgement of Goddes Statutes in myter, by Wm. Samuel, &c. 12mo. 1551. Sign. B. iii.

"Then Jofeph wrought a prety cafte

"Beniamin for to haue.'

It may not be improper to obferve that, to the theological verfifiers, enumerated by Mr. Warton, this rhymer may be added, if indeed he shall be thought worthy of mention in a future History of English poetry. W. Samuel ftyles himself "feruaunt to the Duke of Somerset hys grace." TODD.

IV. 5. As rock of diamond &c.] In like manner Milton has reprefented Chrift, Par. Reg. B. iv. 533.

"Proof against all temptation, as a rock
"Of adamant" TODD.

Yet, for to feed his fyrie luftfull eye,

He fnatcht the vele that hong her face before:

Then her beautie fhyne as brightest skye, gan

And burnt his beaftly hart t'enforce her chastitye.

V.

So when he faw his flatt'ring artes to fayle, And fubtile engines bett from batteree; With greedy force he gan the fort affayle, Whereof he weend poffeffed foone to bee, And win rich spoile of ranfackt chastitee. Ah heavens! that doe this hideous act behold, And heavenly Virgin thus outraged fee, How can ye vengeance iuft fo long withhold, And hurle not flashing flames upon that Paynim

bold?

VI.

The pitteous Mayden, carefull, comfortleffe, Does throw out thrilling fhriekes, and shrieking cryes;

(The last vaine helpe of wemens greate diftreffe,)

And with loud plaintes impórtuneth the skyes;

V. 5. And win rich Spoile &c.] Mr. Warton, by not having attended to the first edition which here reads win, has unjustly charged the poet with inaccuracy. It is true, the fecond edition reads with, which many editions have followed; but which may be fuppofed to have been, in the first inftance, an errour of the prefs. Of which he weend foon to be possessed, is not improper," fays Mr. Warton; "but, to be poffeffed WITH rich Spoile &c. is very inaccurate." TODD.

66

That molten ftarres doe drop like weeping

eyes;

And Phœbus, flying so most shameful fight, His blushing face in foggy cloud implyes, And hydes for fhame. What witt of mortall wight

Can now devife to quitt a thrall from such a

plight?

VII.

Eternall Providence, exceeding thought, Where none appeares can make her felfe a way!

VI. 5. That molten ftarres doe drop like weeping eyes ;
And Phabus, flying fo moft fhameful fight,

His blushing face in foggy cloud implyes,

And hydes for Shame.] Poetry often defcribes the fympathy of the fun, the ftars &c. on extraordinary occafions. Thus, when Marino's Jealousy is painted fallying out into the world, the following circumstances occur in the heavens, L'Adone, C. xii. ft. 29.

"Poria col ciglio inftupidir Natura,
"Inhorridire il bel pianeta eterno,

"Intorbidar le ftelle, e gli elementi, &c."

Thus alfo Milton, Par. Loft, B. x. 687.

"At that tafted fruit

"The fun, as from Thyeftean banquet, turn'd

"His courfe inttended ""

Milton, when a youth, appears to have been struck with the paffage in Spenfer before us; for, in his beautiful Ode on the Nativity, he has thus defcribed the fun :

"The ftars, with deep amaze,

VI. 7.

"Stand fix'd in ftedfaft gaze

"The fun himself witheld his wonted speed,

"And hid his head for fhame." TODD.

C. iv. ft. 31.

VII. 1.

CHURCH.

implyes,] Invelopes, hides. See

Eternall Providence, exceeding thought,

Where noue appeares can make her felfe a way!] Ex¬

A wondrous way it for this Lady wrought, From lyons clawes to pluck the gryped pray. Her fhrill outcryes and fhrieks fo loud did bray,

That all the woodes and foreftes did refownd:

A troupe of Faunes and Satyres far away Within the wood were dauncing in a rownd, Whiles old Sylvanus flept in fhady arber fownd:

VIII.

Who, when they heard that pitteous ftrained voice,

In hafte forfooke their rurall meriment,

ceeding thought, i. e. which paffeth all understanding. Philip. iv. 7. He has the fame fentiment, F. Q. iii. v. 27.

"Providence heavenly paffeth human thought,

"And doth for wretched mens reliefe make way." Can make-i. e. knows how to make herself a way:

"Fata viam invenient, aderitque vocatus Apollo." Soon after he fays, From lyons clawes, &c.-This too is agreeable to Scriptural expreffions, "I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." 11 Tim. iv. 17. And fee Pf. xxii. 21, XXXV. 17. UPTON.

VII. 8. dauncing in a rownd,] The name of a dance. So Comus's crew "beat the ground in a light fantaftick round." The fhaggy Sylvans are always reprefented as fond of dancing. See again, F. Q. iii. x. 44, 45. In A briefe Difcourfe of the true, but neglected, ofe of charact'ring the Degrees &c. in Muficke, by Thomas Rauenfcroft, Bachelar of Muficke, 4to. 1614, are given, both in poetry and musick, the Fayries Daunce, the Satyres Daunce, the Vrchins Daunce, the Elues Daunce: From The Satyres Daunce an extract may here perhaps be thought not inapposite:

"Round a, round a, keep your ring;

"To the glorious Sunne we fing,

"Hoe! hoe!

"He that weares the flaming rayes,

"And the imperiall crowne of bayes;

"Him with fhoutes and fongs we praife." TODD.