15.

Goodly they all that knight doe entertayne,
Right glad with him to have increast their crew;
But to Duefs' each one himselfe did payne
All kindneffe and faire courtefie to fhew,
For in that court whylome her well they knew:
Yet the ftout Faery mongst the middeft crowd
Thought all their glorie vaine in knightly vew,
And that great Princeffe too exceeding prowd,
That to ftrange knight no better countenance allowd.
16.

Suddein uprifeth from her ftately place

The roiall Dame, and for her coche doth call:
All hurtlen forth; and fhe, with princely pace,
As faire Aurora in her purple pall

Out of the Eaft the dawning day doth call.

So forth fhe comes; her brightnes brode doth blaze. The heapes of people, thronging in the hall,

Doe ride each other upon her to gaze:

Her glorious glitterand light doth all mens eies amaze.

17.

So forth fhe comes, and to her coche does clyme,
Adorned all with gold and girlonds gay,

That feemd as fresh as Flora in her prime;
And ftrove to match, in roiall rich array,

d All hurtlen forth.] To "hurtle" has been a word in our poetry ever fince the time of Chaucer, and it generally means to dash or strike against violently. Shakespeare, in "Julius Cæfar," A. ii. Sc. 2, tells us, "The noise of battle hurtled in the air;" and he uses the participle burtling in a nearly corresponding sense in "As you like it." It was either not understood, or grofsly misprinted afterwards; for "hurtled" became burried in Shakespeare, fubfequently to the folio 1623; and in Spenfer "hurtlen" was altered to burlen in the folios 1609 and 1611, and fo it continued, as Todd mentions, until 1751, when the original word was restored. Drayton made no change in his folio 1611. "Hurtle" has been derived from the old Fr. heurteler. C.

Great Junoes golden chayre; the which, they say, The gods ftand gazing on, when she does ride To Joves high hous through heavens braf-paved way, Drawne of fayre Pecocks, that excell in pride, And full of Argus eyes their tayles difpredden wide.

18.

But this was drawne of fix unequall beasts,

On which her fix fage Counsellours did ryde,
Taught to obay their bestiall beheasts,
With like conditions to their kindes applyde :
Of which the first, that all the reft did guyde,
Was fluggish Idleneffe," the nourse of fin;
Upon a flouthfull Affe he chose to ryde,
Arayd in habit blacke, and amis thin;h
Like to an holy Monck, the service to begin.

19.

And in his hand his Porteffe still he bare,

e Great Junoes golden chayre.] The chaire or chariot of Juno, was famous among poets: hence Virgil, Æn. i. 21. Hic currus fuit, here at Carthage was her chaire. Spenfer fays golden chaire: Homer defcribes it chiefly of gold, Il. . 720. The which chayre, the gods ftand gazing on: he alludes perhaps to Homer's expreffion, lauμa idéolai.

UPTON.

f On which her fix fage Counsellours did ryde.] The moral allegory hints at the Seven deadly Sins, as they are called. The chief of all is Pride: the with her fix fage counsellours make up the number. See "The Parfon's Tale," (or rather Sermon,) in Chaucer, p. 197, edit. Urr. UPTON.

Was fluggish Idleneffe.] He calls Idleneffe the nourfe of Sin, and fo Chaucer, in the "Second Nonnes Prologue," v. I.

"The minifter and norice unto vices -.' He is pictured as an idle monk, arrayed in a black gown and amis; in his hand he has his porteffe. UPTON.

hand amis thin.] Milton has "amice gray," applied to the clothing of the morning, in "Par. Reg." iv. 12; and Richardfon ftates that the amis," or amice, is the first of the fix vestments common to the bishop and prefbyters, fastened round the neck and spread over the shoulders. The "porteffe," mentioned in line 1 of the next Stanza, was the fmall portable prayer, or service book: it was fpelt of old in various ways, portus, portis, porteffe, portafs, porthofe, &c. C.

That much was worne, but therein little redd;
For of devotion he had little care,

Still drownd in fleepe, and most of his daies dedd:
Scarfe could he once uphold his heavie hedd,
To looken whether it were night or day.
May feeme the wayne was very evill ledd,
When fuch an one had guiding of the way,
That knew not whether right he went, or else astray.

20.

From worldly cares himselfe he did efloyne,'
And greatly fhunned manly exercise;
From everie worke he chalenged effoyne,*
For contemplation fake: yet otherwise
His life he led in lawleffe riotise:
By which he grew to grievous malady;
For in his luftleffe limbs, through evill guife,
A shaking fever raignd continually.
Such one was Idleneffe, firft of this company.

21.

And by his fide rode loathfome Gluttony,
Deformed creature, on a filthie fwyne.
His belly was upblowne with luxury,
And eke with fatneffe fwollen were his eyne;
And like a Crane his necke was long and fyne,
With which he swallowed up exceffive feast,
For want whereof poore people oft did pyne:
And all the way, moft like a brutish beast,
He spued up his gorge,' that all did him deteaft.

iFrom worldly cares himfelfe he did efloyne.] Withdraw. A Gallicifm. See Cotgrave," S' eloigner de, to get him farre from." We have a kindred word, F. Q. iv. x. 24. "Difloign'd from common gaze," that is, far, or remote. Todd.

From everie worke he chalenged effoyne.] Excufe. This is a law phrafe fee Cowell's "Law Dict." Art. Eoine. TODD.

1 He pued up bis gorge.] Gorge, Fr. the throat. Here it means that which was swallowed. In Cotgrave's " Dictionary "it is translated,

22.

In greene vine leaves he was right fitly clad,
For other clothes he could not weare for heate;
And on his head an yvie girland had,

From under which faft trickled downe the sweat.
Still as he rode he fomewhat still did eat,
And in his hand did beare a bouzing can,"
Of which he fupt so oft, that on his feat
His dronken corfe he scarfe upholden can:
In fhape and life more like a monster then a man.

23.

Unfit he was for any worldly thing,

And eke unhable once to stirre or go;
Not meet to be of counsell to a king,

Whofe mind in meat and drinke was drowned fo,
That from his frend he feeldome knew his fo.
Full of difeafes was his carcas blew,

And a dry dropfie through his flesh did flow,"
Which by misdiet daily greater grew.

Such one was Gluttony, the second of that crew.
24.

And next to him rode luftfull Lechery

Upon a bearded gote, whofe rugged heare,

among other interpretations, "a meale, or gorgefull given unto birds, especially hawks." In other places of this poem it means fimply the throat or fwallow. See i. i. 19, i. xi. 13. So, in Hall's "Virgidemiarum," edit. 1597, p. 51, "The gorge of greedy man." TODD.

m And in his hand did beare a bouzing can.] A drinking can. Buyzen, to boufe: Sewel's "Dutch and Eng. Dict." 1691. See alfo Cotgrave's "Fr. Dict." in which boire is tranflated "to drinke, bouse, bib, fwill, &c." TODD.

"And a dry dropfie through his flesh did flow.] This line has occafioned doubt and difpute: Upton would read "dire dropfy," naturally enough not understanding how a "dry dropfy" could flow. T. Warton fuggefts that the poet may have meant a dropfy which was the cause of thirst; but may not Spenfer have written, not " dry dropfy," but " bydropfy," which was mifread by the old compofitor, and therefore printed as two words? C.

And whally eies (the figne of gelofy,)

Was like the person selfe whom he did beare :
Who rough, and blacke, and filthy, did appeare:
Unseemely man to please faire Ladies eye;
Yet he of Ladies oft was loved deare,
When fairer faces were bid ftanden by:
O! who does know the bent of womens fantafy?
25.

In a greene gowne he clothed was full faire,
Which underneath did hide his filthineffe;
And in his hand a burning hart he bare,
Full of vaine follies and new fanglenesse :
For he was false, and fraught with ficklenesse,
And learned had to love with fecret lookes;
And well could daunce; and fing with ruefulnesse;
And fortunes tell; and read in loving bookes,
And thousand other waies to bait his fleshly hookes.
26.

Inconftant man, that loved all he saw,

And lufted after all that he did love;
Ne would his loofer life be tide to law,

But joyd weake wemens hearts to tempt, and prove,
If from their loyall loves he might them move:
Which lewdnes fild him with reprochfull pain
Of that foule evill, which all men reprove,

That rotts the marrow, and confumes the braine. Such one was Lechery, the third of all this traine. 27.

And greedy Avarice by him did ride,

• And whally eies.] This paffage is quoted by Richardson, under "wall," and he derives "whally" from the A. S. Hwelan, contabefcere, putrefcere; but furely its origin is from the A. S. walwian, which means "to roll." The poet feems to refer to the fufpicious and rolling eyes of jealoufy when the eyes are rolled the white is much fhown; and a horfe with a whall eye is a horse with a white eye, or an eye in which the white greatly predominates. C.

: