S Pilot well expert in perilous wave,
That to a ftedfaft ftarre his course hath

bent,

When foggy miftes or cloudy tempefts

have

The faithfull light of that faire lampe yblent,
And cover'd heaven with hideous dreriment,
Upon his card and compas firmes his eye,
The mayfters of his long experiment,
And to them does the fteddy helme apply,
Bidding his winged veffell fairely forward fly:

2.

So Guyon having loft his truftie guyde,

Late left beyond that Ydle lake, proceedes
Yet on his way, of none accompanyde;
And evermore himfelfe with comfort feedes
Of his own vertues and praife-worthie deedes.
So, long he yode, yet no adventure found,

That to a ftedfaft ftarre.] So all the editions. I think Spenser gave, "to the ftedfaft ftarre," meaning thereby the pole-ftar; as he calls it the faithfull light. CHURCH,

II.

Which fame of her fhrill trompet worthy reedes ; For ftill he traveild through wide waftfull ground, That nought but desert wildernesse shewed all around.

3.

At last he came unto a gloomy glade,

Cover'd with boughes and fhrubs from heavens light,
Whereas he fitting found in fecret shade

An uncouth, falvage, and uncivile wight,
Of griefly hew and fowle ill favour'd fight;

His face with fmoke was tand, and eies were bleard,
His head and beard with fout were ill bedight,
His cole-blacke hands did feeme to have ben feard
In fmythes fire-fpitting forge," and nayles like clawes
appeard.

4.

His yron cote, all overgrowne with ruft,
Was underneath enveloped with gold;
Whofe gliftring gloffe, darkned with filthy duft,
Well yet appeared to have beene of old
A worke of rich entayled and curious mould,
Woven with antickes and wyld ymagery;
And in his lap a maffe of coyne he told,

In fmythes fire-fpitting forge.] Spett feems anciently to have more fimply fignified difperfe, without the low idea which we at present affix to it. Thus Milton, in " Comus," ver. 131:

When the dragon woom

"Of Stygian darkness Spets her thickest gloom."

And Drayton, in the "Barons Wars," of an exhalation, “ Spetteth his lightening forth," B. ii. St. 35. T. WARTON. It is remarkable, however, that both Spenfer's own editions read, " fire-fpitting," not fpetting. TODD. It is "fire-spetting" in the folio 1611. C.

C

Well yet appeared.] So the first edition reads. Spenfer's fecond edition reads, lefs perfpicuoufly, "Well it appeared;" and has been followed by all the folios. TODD.

A worke of rich entayle.] Carving, Sculpture. So Chaucer, “Rom.

R." 162:

"An image of another entaile."

Ital. intagliare, intaglio. UPTON. To "entayl" is merely to cut as with a fword, in this vol. p. 184. C.

eye

And turned upfide downe, to feede his And covetous defire with his huge threasury.

5.

And round about him lay on every fide

Great heapes of gold that never could be spent ;
Of which fome were rude owre, not purifide
Of Mulcibers devouring element;

e

Some others were new driven, and distent Into great Ingowes and to wedges fquare; Some in round plates withouten moniment ;* But most were stampt, and in their metal bare The antique shapes of kings and kefars ftraung and rare.

6.

Soone as he Guyon faw, in great affright

And hafte he rofe for to remove aside

Those pretious hils from ftraungers envious fight,
And downe them poured through an hole full wide
Into the hollow earth, them there to hide.
But Guyon, lightly to him leaping, stayd
His hand that trembled as one terrifyde;

And though him selfe were at the fight dismayd,
Yet him perforce reftraynd, and to him doubtfull fayd:

7.

"What art thou, man, (if man at all thou art)

That here in defert haft thine habitaunce,

And these rich hils' of welth doest hide apart
From the worldes eye, and from her right usaunce?"

Some in round plates withouten moniment.] Spelt as the Ital. monimento: meaning here, image, fuperfcription, ornament; yvpiopa, gnorifma, monumentum. UPTON.

And thefe rich bils.] This is the reading of Spenfer's first edition: all other editions read "rich heapes." Mr. Upton, however, acknowledges that hils" is not improper here. Thus Barnefield, in his "Lady Pecunia," 1605, St. 14, has "mounts of money." TODD. Barnefield's poem was originally printed in 1598, an edition with which Todd was not acquainted; but the expreffion is the fame in both. C.

Thereat, with ftaring eyes fixed askaunce, In great difdaine he answerd: "Hardy Elfe, That dareft view my direfull countenaunce, I read thee rash and heedleffe of thy selfe, To trouble my still feate, and heapes of pretious pelfe.

8.

"God of the world and worldlings I me call,

Great Mammon, greatest god below the skye,
That of my plenty poure out unto all,
And unto none my graces do envye:
Riches, renowme, and principality,
Honour, estate, and all this worldes good,
For which men fwinck and fweat inceffantly,
Fro me do flow into an ample flood,

And in the hollow earth have their eternall brood.

9.

"Wherefore, if me thou deigne to serve and few, At thy commaund lo! all these mountaines bee: Or if to thy great mind, or greedy vew,

All these may not fuffife, there fhall to thee

Ten times fo much be nombred francke and free." "Mammon," (faid he) " thy godheads vaunt is vaine, And idle offers of thy golden fee;

To them that covet fuch eye-glutting gaine Proffer thy giftes, and fitter fervaunts entertaine.

IO.

"Me ill befits, that in derdoing armes

And honours fuit my vowed daies do fpend,
Unto thy bounteous baytes and pleafing charmes,
With which weake men thou witcheft, to attend ;
Regard of worldly mucke doth fowly blend,

& Me ill befits.] Not befits, as amended in the folios, but " befits," as the word is printed in the 4tos. 1590 and 1596. See the notes upon fits," vol. i. pp. 125, 186, 312. The meaning is the fame as befits, i. e. "it ill befeems, or befuits me." C.

And low abase the high heroicke spright,

That joyes for crownes and kingdomes to contend: Faire fhields, gay fteedes, bright armes be my delight; Those be the riches fit for an advent'rous knight."

II.

"Vaine glorious Elfe," (faide he) "doeft not thou weet, That money can thy wantes at will supply?

Shields, steeds, and armes, and all things for thee meet,
It can purvay in twinckling of an eye;

And crownes and kingdomes" to thee multiply.
Do not I kings create, and throw the crowne
Sometimes to him that low in duft doth ly,

And him that raignd into his rowme thrust downe, And whom I luft do heape with glory and renowne?"

I 2.

"All otherwise" (faide he) " I riches read,

And deeme them roote of all difquietnesse ; First got with guile, and then preferv'd with dread, And after spent with pride and lavishnesse, Leaving behind them griefe and heavineffe: Infinite mischiefes of them doe arize, Strife and debate, bloodfhed and bitterneffe, Outrageous wrong, and hellish covetize, That noble heart in great dishonour' doth despize.

13.

"Ne thine be kingdomes, ne the scepters thine;
But realmes and rulers thou doest both confound,
And loyall truth to treafon doest incline:

And crownes and kingdomes.] We only note this word "kingdomes" as a proof of the facility with which old printers confounded the letters m and w, a fruitful fource of errors, especially in the early editions of Shakespeare, (fee "Coriolanus," A. iii. Sc. 3, edit. Collier, 1858): in the 4to. F. Q.1590 "kingdomes" is misprinted kingdowes. C.

That noble heart in great dishonour.] "In" was afterwards needlessly altered to as; and a parenthesis introduced, which is entirely avoided by adopting the text of the 4to. of 1590. C.