The Faerie Queene (10 page)

Did softly swim away, ne euer stampe,

Vnlesse she chaunst their stubborne mouths to twitch;

Then foming tarre, their bridles they would champe,

And trampling the fine element, would fiercely rampe.

29
So well they sped, that they be come at length

Vnto the place, whereas the Paynim lay,

Deuoid of outward sense, and natiue strength,

Couerd with charmed cloud from vew of day,

And sight of men, since his late luckelesse fray.

His cruell wounds with cruddy bloud congealed,

They binden vp so wisely, as they may,

And handle softly, till they can be healed:

So lay him in her charet, close in night concealed.

30
And all the while she stood vpon the ground,

The wakefull dogs did neuer cease to bay,

As giuing warning of th'vnwonted sound,

With which her yron wheeles did them affay,

And her darke griesly looke them much dismay;

The messenger of death, the ghastly Owle

With drearie shriekes did also her bewray;

And hungry Wolues continually did howle,

At her abhorred face, so filthey and so fowle.

31
Thence turning backe in silence soft they stole,

And brought die heauie corse with easie pace

To yawning gulfe of deepe
Auernus
hole.

By that same hole an entrance darke and bace

With smoake and sulphure hiding all the place,

Descends to hell: there creature neuer past,

That backe returned without heauenly grace;

But dreadfull
Furies
, which their chaines haue brast,

And damned sprights sent forth to make ill men aghast.

32
By that same way the direfull dames doe driue

Their mournefull charet, fild with rusty blood,

And downe to
Plutoes
house are come biliue:

Which passing through, on euery side them stood

The trembling ghosts with sad amazed mood,

Chattring their yron teeth, and staring wide

With stonie eyes; and all the hellish brood

Of feends infernall flockt on euery side,

To gaze on earthly wight, that with the Night durst ride.

33
They pas the bitter waues of
Acheron,

Where many soules sit wailing woefully,

And come to fiery flood of
Phlegeton,

Whereas die damned ghosts in torments fry,

And with sharpe shrilling shriekes doe bootlesse cry,

Cursing high
Ioue, th
e which them thither sent

The house of endlesse paine is built thereby,

In which ten thousand sorts of punishment

The cursed creatures doe eternally torment.

34
Before the threshold dreadfull
Cerberus

His three deformed heads did lay along,

Curled with thousand adders venemous,

And lilled forth his bloudie flaming tong:

At them he gan to reare his bristles strong,

And felly gnarre, vntill dayes enemy

Did him appease; then downe his taile he hong

And suffered them to passen quietly:

For she in hell and heauen had power equally.

35
There was
Ixion
turned on a wheele,

For daring tempt the Queene of heauen to sin;

And
Sisyphus
an huge round stone did reele

Against an hill, ne might from labour lin;

There thirstie
Tantalus
hong by the chin;

And
Tityus
fed a vulture on his maw;

Typhœus
ioynts were stretched on a gin,

Theseus
condemned to endlesse slouth by law,

And fifty sisters water in leake vessels draw.

36
They all beholding worldly wights in place,

Leaue off their worke, vnmindfull of their smart,

To gaze on them; who forth by them doe pace,

Till they be come vnto the furthest part:

Where was a Caue ywrought by wondrous art,

Deepe, darke, vneasie, dolefull, comfortlesse,

In which sad
æsculapius
farre a part

Emprisond was in chaines remedilesse,

For that
Hippolytus
rent corse he did redresse.

37
Hippolytus
a iolly huntsman was,

That wont in charet chace the foming Bore;

He all bis Peeres in beautie did surpas,

But Ladies loue as losse of time forbore:

His wanton stepdame loued him the more,

But when she saw her offred sweets refused

Her loue she turnd to hate, and him before

His father fierce of treason false accused,

And with her gealous tennes his open eares abused.

38
Who all in rage his Sea-god syre besought,

Some cursed vengeance on his sonne to cast:

From surging gulf two monsters straight were brought,

With dread whereof his chasing steedes aghast,

Both charet swift and huntsman ouercast.

His goodly corps on ragged cliffs yrent,

Was quite dismembred, and his members chast

Scattered on euery mountaine, as he went,

That of
Hippolytus
was left no moniment.

39
His cruell stepdame seeing what was donne,

Her wicked dayes with wretched knife did end,

In death auowing th'innocence of her sonne.

Which hearing his rash Syre, began to rend

His haire, and hastie tongue, that did offend:

Tho gathering vp the relicks of his smart

By
Dianes
meanes, who was
Hippolyts
frend,

Them brought to
Æsculape,
that by his art

Did heale them all againe, and ioyned euery part.

40
Such wondrous science in mans wit to raine

When
Ioue
auizd, that could the dead reuiue,

And fates expired could renew againe,

Of endlesse life he might him not depriue,

But vnto hell did thrust him downe aliue,

With flashing thunderbolt ywounded sore:

Where long remaining, he did alwaies striue

Himselfe with salues to health for to restore,

And slake the heauenly fire, that raged euermore.

41
There auncient Night arriuing, did alight

From her nigh wearie waine, and in her armes

To Æ
sculapius
brought the wounded knight:

Whom hauing softly disarayd of armes,

Tho gan to him discouer all his harmes,

Beseeching him with prayer, and with praise,

If either salues, or oyles, or herbes, or charmes

A fordonne wight from dore of death mote raise,

He would at her request prolong her nephews daies.

42
Ah Dame (quoth he) thou temptest me in vaine,

To dare the thing, which daily yet I rew,

And the old cause of my continued paine

With like attempt to like end to renew.

Is not enough, that thrust from heauen dew

Here endlesse penance for one fault I pay,

But that redoubled crime with vengeance new

Thou biddest me to eeke? Can Night defray

The wrath of thundring
Ioue,
that rules both night and day?

43
Not so (quoth she) but sith that heauens king

From hope of heauen hath thee excluded quight,

Why fearest thou, that canst not hope for thing,

And fearest not, that more thee hurten might,

Now in the powre of euerlasting Night?

Goe to then, ô thou farre renowmed sonne

Of great
Apollo,
shew thy famous might

In medicine, that else hath to thee wonne

Great paines, & greater praise, both neuer to be donne.

44
Her words preuaild: And then the learned leach

His cunning hand gan to his wounds to lay,

And all things else, the which his art did teach:

Which hauing seene, from thence arose away

The mother of dread darknesse, and let stay

Aueugles
sonne there in the leaches cure,

And backe returning tooke her wonted way,

To runne her timely race, whilst
Phœbus
pure

In westerne waues his wearie wagon did recure.

45
The false
Duessa
leauing noyous Night,

Returnd to stately pallace of dame Pride;

Where when she came, she found the Faery knight

Departed thence, albe his woundes wide

Not throughly heald, vnreadie were to ride.

Good cause he had to hasten thence away;

For on a day his wary Dwarfe had spide,

Where in a dongeon deepe huge numbers lay

Of caytiue wretched thrals, that wayled night and day.

46
A ruefull sight, as could be seene with eie;

Of whom he learned had in secret wise

The hidden cause of their captiuitie,

How mortgaging their liues to
Couetise,

Through wastfull Pride, and wanton Riorise,

They were by law of that proud Tyrannesse

Prouokt with
Wrath,
and
Ernies
false surmise,

Condemned to that Dongeon mercilesse,

Where they should liue in woe, & die in wretchednesse.

47
There was that great proud king of
Babylon,

That would compell all nations to adore,

And him as onely God to call vpon,

Till through celestiall doome throwne out of dore,

Into an Oxe he was transform'd of yore:

There also was king
Croesus,
that enhaunst

His heart too high through his great riches store;

And proud
Antiochus,
the which aduaunst

His cursed hand gainst God, and on his altars daunst.

48
And them long time before, great
Nimrod
-was,

That first the world with sword and fire warrayd;

And after him old
Ninus
farre did pas

In princely pompe, of all the world obayd;

There also was that mightie Monarch layd

Low vnder all, yet aboue all in pride,

That name of natiue syre did fowle vpbrayd,

And would as
Ammons
sonne be magnifide

Till scornd of God and man a shamefull death he dide.

49
All these together in one heape were throwne,

Like carkases of beasts in butchers stall.

And in another corner wide were strowne

The antique mines of the
Romaines
fill:

Great
Romulus
the Grandsyre of them all,

Proud
Tarquin,
and too lordly
Lentulus,

Stout
scipio
, and stubborne
Hanniball,

Ambitious
Sylla,
and sterne
Marius,

High
Cæsar,
great
Pompey,
and fierce
Antonius.

50
Amongst these mighty men were wemen mixt,

Proud wemen, vaine, forgetfull of their yoke:

The bold
Semiramis,
whose sides transfixt

With sonnes owne blade, her fowle reproches spoke;

Faire
Sthenobæa
, that her selfe did choke

With wilfull cord, for wanting of her will;

High minded
Cleopatra,
that with stroke

Of Aspes sting her selfe did stoutly kill:

And thousands moe the like, that did that dongeon fill.

51
Besides the endlesse routs of wretched thralles,

Which thither were assembled day by day,

From all the world after their wofull falles,

Through wicked pride, and wasted wealthes decay.

But most of all, which in that Dongeon lay

Fell from high Princes courts, or Ladies bowres,

Where they in idle pompe, or wanton play,

Consumed had their goods, and thriftlesse howres,

And lastly throwne themselues into these heauy stowres.

52
Whose case when as the carefull Dwarfe had tould,

And made ensample of their mournefull sight

Vnto his maister, he no lenger would

There dwell in perill of like painefull plight,

But early rose, and ere that dawning light

Discouered had the world to heauen wyde,

He by a priuie Posterne tooke his flight,

That of no enuious eyes he mote be spyde:

For doubtlesse death ensewd, if any him descryde.

53
Scarse could he footing find in that fowle way,

For many corses, like a great Lay-stall

Of murdred men which therein strowed lay,

Without remorse, or decent funerall:

Which all through that great Princesse pride did fall

And came to shamefull end. And them beside

Forth ryding vnderneath the castell wall,

A donghill of dead carkases he spide,

The dreadfull spectacle of that sad house of
Pride.

From lawlesse lust by wondrous grace
   fayre Una is releast:
Whom saluage nation does adore,
   and leames her wise beheast.

1
As when a ship, that flyes faire vnder saile,

An hidden rocke escaped hath vnwares,

That lay in waite her wrack for to bewaile,

The Marriner yet halfe amazed stares

At perill past, and yet in doubt ne dares

To ioy at his foole-happie ouersight:

So doubly is distrest twixt ioy and cares

The dreadlesse courage of this Elfin knight,

Hauing escapt so sad ensamples in his sight

2
Yet sad he was that his too hastie speed

The faire
Duess'
had forst him leaue behind;

And yet more sad, that
Vna
his deare dreed

Her truth had staind with treason so vnkind;

Yet crime in her could neuer creature find,

But for his loue, and for her owne selfe sake,

She wandred had from one to other
Ynd,

Him for to seeke, ne euer would forsake,

Till her vnwares the fierce
Sansloy
did ouertake.

3
Who after
Archimagoes
fowle defeat,

Led her away into a forrest wilde,

And turning wrathfull fire to lustfull heat,

With beastly sin thought her to haue defilde,

And made the vassall of his pleasures vilde.

Yet first he cast by treatie, and by traynes,

Her to perswade, that stubbome fort to yilde:

For greater conquest of hard loue he gaynes,

That workes it to his will, then he that it constraines.

4
With fawning wordes he courted her a while,

And looking louely, and oft sighing sore,

Her constant hart did tempt with diuerse guile:

But wordes and lookes, and sighes she did abhore,

As rocke of Diamond stedfast euermore.

Yet for to feed his fyrie lustfull eye,

He snatcht the vele, that hong her face before;

Then gan her beautie shine, as brightest skye,

And burnt his beastly hart t'efforce her chastitye.

5
So when he saw his flatt'ring arts to fayle,

And subtile engines bet from batteree,

With greedy force he gan the fort assayle,

Whereof he weend possessed soone to bee,

And win rich spoile of ransackt chastetee.

Ah heauens, that do this hideous act behold,

And heauenly virgin thus outraged see,

How can ye vengeance iust so long withhold,

And hurle not flashing flames vpon that Paynim bold?

6
The pitteous maiden carefull comfortlesse,

Does throw out thrilling shriekes, & shrieking cryes,

The last vaine helpe of womens great distresse,

And with loud plaints importuneth the skyes,

That molten starres do drop like weeping eyes;

And
Phœbus
flying so most shamefull sight,

His blushing face in foggy cloud implyes,

And hides for shame. What wit of mortall wight

Can now deuise to quit a thrall from such a plight?

7
Eternall prouidence exceeding thought,

Where none appeares can make her selfe a way:

A wondrous way it for this Lady wrought,

From Lyons clawes to pluck the griped pray.

Her shrill outcryes and shriekes so loud did bray,

That all the woodes and forestes did resownd;

A troupe of
Faunes
and
Satyres
far away

Within the wood were dauncing in a rownd,

Whiles old
Syluanus
slept in shady arber sownd.

8
Who when they heard that pitteous strained voice,

In hast forsooke their rurall meriment,

And ran towards the fir rebownded noyce,

To weet, what wight so loudly did lament.

Vnto the place they come incontinent:

Whom when the raging Sarazin espide,

A rude, mishapen, monstrous rablement,

Whose like he neuer saw, he durst not bide,

But got his ready steed, and fist away gan ride.

9
The wyld woodgods arriued in the place,

There find the virgin dolefull desolate,

With ruffled rayments, and fiire blubbred fice,

As her outrageous foe had left her late,

And trembling yet through feare of former hate;

All stand amazed at so vncouth sight,

And gin to pittie her vnhappie state,

All stand astonied at her beautie bright,

In their rude eyes vnworthie of so wofull plight

10
She more amaz'd, in double dread doth dwell;

And euery tender part for feare does shake:

As when a greedie Wolfe through hunger fell

A seely Lambe firre from the flocke does take,

Of whom he meanes his bloudie feast to make,

A Lyon spyes fast running towards him,

The innocent pray in hast he does forsake,

Which quit from death yet quakes in euery lim

With chaunge of feare, to see the Lyon looke so grim.

11
Such fearefull fit assaid her trembling hart,

Ne word to speake, ne ioynt to moue she had:

The saluage nation feele her secret smart,

And read her sorrow in her count'nance sad;

Their frowning forheads with rough hornes yclad,

And rusticke horror all a side doe lay,

And gently graining, shew a semblance glad

To comfort her, and feare to put away,

There backward bent knees teach her humbly to obay.

12
The doubtfull Damzell dare not yet commit

Her single person to their barbarous truth,

But still twixt feare and hope amazd does sit,

Late learnd what harme to hastie trust ensu'th,

They in compassion of her tender youth,

And wonder of her beautie soueraine,

Are wonne with pitty and vnwonted ruth,

And all prostrate vpon the lowly plaine,

Do kisse her feete, and fawne on her with count'nance faine.

13
Their harts she ghesseth by their humble guise,

And yieldes her to extremitie of time;

So from the ground she fearelesse doth arise,

And walketh forth without suspect of crime:

They all as glad, as birdes of ioyous Prime,

Thence lead her forth, about her dauncing round,

Shouting, and singing all a shepheards ryme,

And with greene braunches strowing all the ground,

Do worship her, as Queene, with oliue girlond cround.

14
And all the way their merry pipes they sound,

That all the woods with doubled Eccho ring,

And with their horned feet do weare the ground,

Leaping like wanton kids in pleasant Spring.

So towards old
Syluanus
they her bring;

Who with the noyse awaked, commeth out,

To weet the cause, his weake steps gouerning,

And aged limbs on Cypresse stadle stout,

And with an yuie twyne his wast is girt about

15
Far off he wonders, what them makes so glad,

Or
Bacchus
merry fruit they did inuent,

Or
Cybeles
franticke rites haue made them mad;

They drawing nigh, vnto their God present

That flowre of faith and beautie excellent.

The God himselfe vewing that mirrhour rare,

Stood long amazd, and burnt in his intent;

His owne faire
Dryope
now he thinkes not faire,

And
Pholoe
fowle, when her to this he doth compaire.

16
The woodborne people fall before her flat,

And worship her as Goddesse of the wood;

And old
Syluanus
selfe bethinkes not, what

To thinke of wight so faire, but gazing stood,

In doubt to deeme her borne of earthly brood;

Sometimes Dame
Venus
selfe he seemes to see,

But
Venus
neuer had so sober mood;

Sometimes
Diana
he her takes to bee,

But misseth bow, and shaftes, and buskins to her knee.

17
By vew of her he ginneth to reuiue

His ancient loue, and dearest
Cyparisse,

And calles to mind his pourtraiture aliue,

How faire he was, and yet not faire to this,

And how he slew with glauncing dart amisse

A gentle Hynd, the which the louely boy

Did loue as life, aboue all worldly blisse;

For griefe whereof the lad n'ould after ioy,

But pynd away in anguish and selfe-wild annoy.

18
The wooddy Nymphes, faire
Hamadryades

Her to behold do thither runne apace,

And all the troupe of light-foot
Naiades,

Flocke all about to see her louely face:

But when they vewed haue her heauenly grace,

They enuie her in their malicious mind,

And fly away for feare of fowle disgrace:

But all the
Satyres
scorne their woody kind,

And henceforth nothing faire, but her on earth they find.

19
Glad of such lucke, the luckelesse lucky maid,

Did her content to please their feeble eyes,

And long time with that saluage people staid,

To gather breath in many miseries.

During which time her gentle wit she plyes,

To teach them truth, which worshipt her in vaine,

And made her th'Image of Idolatryes;

But when their boodesse zeale she did restraine

From her own worship, they her Asse would worship fayn.

20
It fortuned a noble warlike knight

By iust occasion to that forrest came,

To seeke his kindred, and the lignage right,

From whence he tooke his well deserued name:

He had in armes abroad wonne muchell fame,

And fild far landes with glorie of his might,

Plaine, faithfull, true, and enimy of shame,

And euer lou'd to fight for Ladies right,

But in vaine glorious frayes he lide did delight

21
A Satyres sonne yborne in forrest wyld,

By straunge aduenture as it did betyde,

And there begotten of a Lady myld,

Faire
Thyamis
the daughter of
Labryde,

That was in sacred bands of wedlocke tyde

To
Therion,
a loose vnruly swayne;

Who had more ioy to raunge the forrest wyde,

And chase the saluage beast with busie payne,

Then serue his Ladies loue, and wast in pleasures vayne.

22
The forlorne mayd did with loues longing burne,

And could not lacke her louers company,

But to the wood she goes, to serue her turne,

And seeke her spouse, that from her still does fly,

And followes other game and venery:

A Satyre chaunst her wandring for to find,

And kindling coles of lust in brutish eye,

The loyall links of wedlocke did vnbind,

And made her person thrall vnto his beastly kind.

23
So long in secret cabin there he held

Her captiue to his sensuall desire,

Till that with timely fruit her belly sweld,

And bore a boy vnto that saluage sire:

Then home he suffred her for to retire,

For ransome leauing him the late borne childe;

Whom till to ryper yeares he gan aspire,

He noursled vp in life and manners wilde,

Emongst wild beasts and woods, from lawes of men exilde.

24
For all he taught the tender ymp, was but

To banish cowardize and bastard fearc;

His trembling hand he would him force to put

Vpon the Lyon and the rugged Beare,

And from the she Beares teats her whelps to teare;

And eke wyld roring Buls he would him make

To tame, and ryde their backes not made to beare;

And the Robuckes in flight to ouertake,

That euery beast for feare of him did fly and quake.

25
Thereby so fearelesse, and so fell he grew,

That his owne sire and maister of his guise

Did often tremble at his horrid vew,

And oft for dread of hurt would him aduise,

The angry beasts not rashly to despise,

Nor too much to prouoke; for he would learne

The Lyon stoup to him in lowly wise,

(A lesson hard) and make the Libbard sterne

Leaue roaring, when in rage he for reuenge did earne.

26
And for to make his powre approued more,

Wyld beasts in yron yokes he would compell;

The spotted Panther, and the tusked Bore,

The Pardale swift, and the Tigre cruell;

The Antelope, and Wolfe both fierce and fell;

And them constraine in equall teme to draw.

Such ioy he had, their stubborne harts to quell,

And sturdie courage tame with dreadfull aw,

That his beheast they feared, as a tyrans law.

27
His louing mother came vpon a day

Vnto the woods, to see her little sonne;

And chaunst vnwares to meet him in the way,

After his sportes, and cruell pastime donne,

When after him a Lyonesse did runne,

That roaring all with rage, did lowd requere

Her children deare, whom he away had wonne:

The Lyon whelpes she saw how he did beare,

And lull in rugged armes, withouten childish feare.

28
The fearefull Dame all quaked at the sight,

And turning backe, gan fast to fly away,

Vntill with loue reuokt from vaine affright,

She hardly yet perswaded was to stay,

And then to him these womanish words gan say;

Ah
Satyrane,
my dearling, and my ioy,

For loue of me leaue off this dreadfull play;

To dally thus with death, is no fit toy,

Go find some other pky-fellowes, mine own sweet boy.