Therefore refolving to revenge his blood They rofe in armes, and all in battell order ftood.

LII.

Which lawleffe multitude him comming to
In warlike wife when Artegall did vew,
He much was troubled, ne wift what to do:
For loth he was his noble hands t'embrew
In the bafe blood of fuch a rafcall crew;
And otherwife, if that he should retire,
He fear'd least they with fhame would him
purfew:

Therefore he Talus to them fent t'inquire The cause of their array, and truce for to defire.

LIII.

But foone as they him nigh approching fpide,
They gan with all their weapons him affay,
And rudely ftroke at him on every fide;
Yet nought they could him hurt, ne ought
difmay :

But when at them he with his flaile

gan lay, He like a swarm of flyes them overthrew : Ne of them durft come in his way, any

But here and there before his prefence flew,

multitude;" but they, who liftened with delight to the greatfwelling words of thefe profound reformers, have received no other compenfation for their contempt of established ufages and the collective wisdom of past times than the privilege (perhaps) of expreffing their "certain lofs of fo great expectation!"

TODD.

And hid themfelves in holes and bufhes from

his vew,

LIV.

As when a faulcon hath with nimble flight Flowne at a flush of ducks foreby the brooke, The trembling foule difmayd with dreadfull fight:

Of death, the which them almoft overtooke, Doe hide themselves from her aftonying looke Amongst the flags and covert round about. When Talus faw they all the field forfooke, And none appear'd of all that raskall rout, To Artegall he turn'd and went with him throughout.

LIV, 2.

foreby the brooke] That is, near to

the brook or by the brook. Some editions here unintelligibly

read foreby. TODD.

LIV. 8.

that rafkall rout,] See the note on

rafkall rout, F. Q. ii. ix. 15. TODD.

CANTO III.

The Spoufals of faire Florimell,
Where turney many Knights:,
There Braggadochio is uncas'd
In all the Ladies fights..

I.

AFTER long ftormes and tempefts over-blowne The funne at length his ioyous face doth cleare:

1

So whenas fortune all her spight hath showne, Some blisfull houres at laft muft needes

appeare;

Elfe fhould afflicted wights oft-times defpeire. So comes it now to Florimell by tourne,

After long forrowes fuffered whyleare,

In which captiv'd fhe many, moneths did

mourne,

To taft of ioy, and to wont pleasures to retourne:

II.

Who being freed from Proteus cruell band
By Marinell was unto him affide,

And by him brought againe to Faerie Land; Where he her fpous'd, and made his ioyous bride.

The time and place was blazed farre and wide, And folemne feaftes and giufts ordain'd therefore:

To which there did refort from every fide Of Lords and Ladies infinite great store; Ne any Knight was absent that brave courage bore.

III.

To tell the glorie of the feast that day,
The goodly fervice, the devicefull fights,
The bridegromes ftate, the brides most rich
aray,

The pride of Ladies, and the worth of Knights,
The royall banquets, and the rare delights,
Were worke fit for an herauld, not for me:

II. 7. To which there did refort from every fide

Of Lords and Ladies infinite great flore; &c.1 Compare this with the Orl. Innam. L. ii. Č. xx. 60, and Orl. Fur. C. xvii. 82. Tilts and tournaments are of the very effence of romance-writings; and poets, who copy from them, abound in thefe kind of defcriptions. UPTON.

III. 2. The goodly fervice, the devicefull fights,] By devicefull fights, Spenfer means, fights full of DEVICES, that is, mafques, triumphs, and other fpectacles, ufually exhibited in his time, with great coft and fplendour, at the nuptials of noble perfonages. Hence Milton, in L'Allegro, felects that species of " mafque and antique pageantry," which was celebrated at weddings. On thefe occafions there was conftantly an epithalamium; which is the reason that the author of The Arte of English Poefie feparately confiders the epithalamium as a fpecies of poetry, and accordingly delivers rules for its composition. T. WARTON.

III. 6. Were worke fit for an herauld,] Mr. Warton, in his Hiftory of English Poetry, fpeaking of the ancient heralds, fhews that at folemn tournaments they made an effential

But for fo much as to my lot here lights, That with this prefent treatise doth agree, True vertue to advance, fhall here recounted bee.

IV.

When all men had with full fatietie

Of meates and drinkes their appetites fuffiz'd,
To deedes of armes and proofe of chevalrie
They gan themselves addreffe, full rich
aguiz'd,

As each one had his furnitures deviz'd.
And first of all iffu'd Sir Marinell,

And with him fixe Knights more, which enterpriz'd

To chalenge all in right of Florimell, And to maintaine that she all others did excell.

V.

The firft of them was hight Sir Orimont,
A noble Knight, and tride in hard affayes:
The fecond had to name Sir Bellifont,
But fecond unto none in proweffe prayfe:
The third was Brunell, famous in his dayes:

part of the ceremony, where they had an opportunity of obferving accoutrements, armorial diftinctions, &c. They not only committed to writing the procefs of the lifts, but it was alfo their bufinefs, at magnificent feafts, to defcribe the number and parade of the dishes, the quality of the guests, the bril liant dreffes of the ladies, the courtesy of the knights, the revels, difguifings, banquets, and every other circumftance moft obfervable in the courfe of the folemnity. Spenfer here exprefly alludes to thefe heraldick details." Hift. Eng. Poet, vol, i. 332. 2d. edit. ToDD.