4.

"Unto old Timon he me brought bylive;*

Old Timon, who in youthly yeares hath beene In warlike feates th' expertest man alive, And is the wifeft now on earth I weene: His dwelling is low in a valley greene, Under the foot of Rauran' moffy hore, From whence the river Dee, as filver cleene, His tombling billowes rolls with gentle rore; There all my daies he traind mee up in vertuous lore.

5.

"Thether the great magicien Merlin came,

As was his ufe, ofttimes to visitt mee;
For he had charge my difcipline to frame,
And Tutors nouriture to oversee.
Him oft and oft I afkt in privity,

Of what loines and what lignage I did spring;
Whofe aunfwere bad me ftill affured bee,

That I was fonne and heire unto a king,

As time in her just term the truth to light fhould bring."

6.

"Well worthy impe," faid then the Lady gent,
"And Pupil fitt for such a tutors hand!
But what adventure, or what high intent,
Hath brought you hether into Fary land,

Aread, Prince Arthure, crowne of Martiall band?”

be me brought bylive.] Quickly, Speedily. "Bylive," or belive, generally means with activity. C.

f Under the foot of Rauran.] In Selden's illuftration of "Dinas Emris," where Merlin prophefied, he adds, " Rauran-Vaur hill is there by in Merioneth: whence the origin of that fiction of the Mufes belt pupil, the noble Spenser, in fuppofing Merlin vfually to vifit his old Timon, whose dwelling he places low in a valley greene, under the foot of RAURAN, &c." Drayton's "Polyolb." Song X. Illuftr. TODD.

& Aread, Prince Arthure.] Arthur and Una have been hitherto represented as entire strangers to each other; and it does not appear how Una became acquainted with the name of this new knight. T. WArton.

"Full hard it is," (qd. he) "to read aright The course of heavenly cause, or understand The secret meaning of th' eternall might,

That rules mens waies, and rules the thoughts of living wight.

7.

"For whether he, through fatal deepe forefight,
Me hither fent for caufe to me ungheft;

Or that fresh bleeding wound, which day and night
Whilome doth rancle in my riven brest,
With forced fury following his behest,

Me hether brought by wayes yet never found,
You to have helpt I hold my felfe yet bleft."

"Ah! courteous Knight," (quoth fhe) "what fecret

wound

Could ever find to grieve the gentlest hart on ground?"

8.

"Dear Dame," (quoth he) "you sleeping sparkes awake,
Which, troubled once, into huge flames will grow;
Ne ever will their fervent fury flake,
Till living moysture into smoke do flow,
And wafted life doe lye in afhes low:
Yet fithens filence leffeneth not my fire,

But, told, it flames; and, hidden, it does glow;
I will revele what ye fo much defire.

Ah, Love! lay down thy bow, the whiles I may

refpyre.

9.

"It was in fresheft flowre of youthly yeares,

When corage first does creepe in manly cheft,
Then first that cole" of kindly heat appeares
To kindle love in every living breft:

h Then first that cole.] The fecond and all the later editions read "the cole." But "that cole" alludes to the fleeping Sparkes in the preceding Stanza. CHURCH.

But me had warnd old Timons wife beheft,i
Those creeping flames by reason to subdew,
Before their rage grew to fo great unrest,
As miferable lovers use to rew,

Which still wex old in woe, whiles wo ftil wexeth new.

IO.

"That ydle name of love, and lovers life,
As loffe of time, and vertues enimy,

I ever fcorn'd, and joyd to stirre up ftrife,
In middeft of their mournfull Tragedy;
Ay wont to laugh when them I heard to cry,
And blow the fire which them to afhes brent:
Their God himselfe, grievd at my libertie,
Shott many a dart at me with fiers intent;
But I them warded all with wary government.

II.

"But all in vaine: no fort can be fo ftrong,
Ne fleshly breft can armed be fo fownd,
But will at last be wonne with battrie long,
Or unawares at difadvantage fownd.
Nothing is fure that growes on earthly grownd;
And who moft truftes in arme of fleshly might,
And boastes in beauties chaine not to be bownd,
Doth fooneft fall in difaventrous fight,

And yeeldes his caytive neck to victours most despight.

12.

'Enfample make of him your haplesse joy,

And of my felfe now mated, as ye fee ;*
Whose prouder vaunt that proud avenging boy

i old Timons wife behest.] The first edition reads Cleons. Spenfer [feems to have] doubted whether to take the name of Prince Arthur's tutor from glory, or from honour. But he corrected Cleons among the errors of the prefs. UPTON.

k now mated, as ye fee.] To "mate" of old meant to confound, or deftroy, and examples of its ufe in this fenfe are innumerable. C.

Did foone pluck downe, and curbd my

libertee.

For on a day, prickt forth with jollitee
Of loofer life and heat of hardiment,
Raunging the forest wide on courser free,

The fields, the floods, the heavens, with one confent, Did feeme to laugh on me,' and favour mine intent. 13.

"Forwearied with my fportes," I did alight

From loftie fteed, and downe to fleepe me layd:
The verdant gras my couch did goodly dight,
And pillow was my helmett fayre displayd;
Whiles every fence the humour sweet embayd,
And flombring foft my hart did steale away,
Me feemed, by my fide a royall Mayd
Her daintie limbes full foftly down did lay :
So fayre a creature yet faw never funny day.

14.

"Moft goodly glee and lovely blandishment
She to me made, and badd me love her deare;
For dearely fure her love was to me bent,
As, when just time expired, should appeare.
But whether dreames delude, or true it were,
Was never hart so ravisht with delight,

Ne living man like wordes did ever heare,
As fhe to me delivered all that night;

And at her parting faid, She Queene of Faries hight."

'Did feeme to laugh on me.] The text of the first edition is “a me;" but it is corrected to 66 on me' among the errata at the end.

C.

Forwearied with my fportes.] Forwearied in the edit. 1611, which is, doubtless, right; the meaning being, that he was over-wearied. Church and Todd tell us that the edits. of 1751 and 1758 read "For wearied;" but how ftrange it is that they fhould not have known that the 4to. 1590 has precifely the fame text. C.

She Queene of Faries hight.] She was called the Queen of Fairies. Nothing can well be more common than this ufe of the word. C.

15.

"When I awoke, and found her place devoyd,

And nought but preffed gras where she had lyen,
I forrowed all so much as earst I joyd,

And washed all her place with watry eyen.
From that day forth I lov'd that face divyne;
From that day forth I caft in carefull mynd,
To feek her out with labor and long tyne,
And never vowd to reft° till her I fynd:

Nyne monethes I feek in vain, yet ni'll that vow unbynd."P

16.

Thus as he fpake, his vifage wexed pale,

And chaunge of hew great paffion did bewray; Yett ftill he ftrove to cloke his inward bale, And hide the smoke that did his fire display, Till gentle Una thus to him gan fay: "O happy Queene of Faries! that haft fownd, Mongst many, one that with his proweffe may Defend thine honour, and thy foes confownd. True loves are often fown, but feldom grow on grownd."

17.

"Thine, O! then," faid the gentle Redcroffe knight, "Next to that Ladies love, shalbe the place, O fayreft virgin! full of heavenly light, Whose wondrous faith, exceeding earthly race, Was firmeft fixt in myne extremest case. And you, my Lord, the Patrone of my life,

Of that great Queene may well gaine worthie grace;

• And never vowd to reft.] Impreffions after the first put “vowd" in the present tenfe. There can furely be no doubt about the meaning, which Church and Todd thought it neceffary to explain. C.

P yet ni'll that vow unbynd.] It was unufual of old to print ne will with an apostrophe, but we give it as in the 4to. 1590: properly it ought to be n'ill, the letters omitted being e and w. On page 224 of vol. i. we have seen "nill" printed without the apoftrophe. C.