=

of the labyrinth. - About A. S. abutan, for onbutan by the outside.

= on + be + utan, on

8. Eftsoones = soon after, immediately. A. S. eftsone. XII. 7. Shame were to revoke

=

it were shame to recall.

XIII. 4. In the gate in the way.

=

7. Does. A singular for a plural verb; a not infrequent solecism in Spenser's time.

=

8. Read
XIV. 1. Greedy hardiment

advise. A.S. raedan, to advise. Cf. stanza i. line 7.

venture.

7. Displaide

to fold.

=

hardihood, or intrepidity, eager for ad

=

unfolded. O. Fr. despleier

=

Lat. dis, apart, and plicare,

9. Full of vile disdaine

XV. 3. Boughtes

8. Uncouth =

par. of cunnan.

=

=

full of vileness exciting disdain.

bends, folds.

unknown, strange. A. S. un, not, and cuth, known, past

without fold or entanglement.

armed at every point, completely.

evil, destruction. A. S. bealu, disaster, destruction. XVII. 1. Elfe

the knight, so called because coming from fairyland. trenchant, cutting. Fr. trencher, to cut. The and is

9. Traine = snare. Fr. traine. From Lat. trahere, to draw.

mouthfuls, little lumps. O. Fr. gobet, a morsel of

A reference no doubt to the numerous scurrilous attacks by Roman Catholic writers upon Queen Elizabeth and Protestantism.

to fall, sink. O. Fr. avaler, from Lat. ad vallem, Cf. avalanche.

7. Ten thousand kindes of creatures. This was commonly believed by

the writers of Spenser's day.

8. Raft

Lat. in odio, in hatred.

reft; preterit of reave. A. S. reofan, to deprive.

XXVI. 2. Impes. See stanza iii., line 1.

In

7. Her life the which them nurst. The which refers to her. Spenser's day which was often used for who; as "Our Father which art in heaven."

9. Should contend =was to contend, or should have contended.

XXVII. 1. Chaunst happened.

3. Borne under happie starre.

A reference to astrology, or the belief

in the influence of the stars upon the destiny of man. 5. Armory armor. See introduction.

9. That like succeed it may = that like victories may succeed or follow it. XXVIII. 2. To wend = to go. A. S. wendan, to go. Of special interest as supplying the preterit of to go.

4. Ne = nor.
7. With God to frend

XXIX.

XXX. 1.

2. Quite

2.

=

=

Louting = bowing. A. S. lutan, to stoop.

to requite, to satisfy a claim.

6. Silly simple, harmless. "The word has much changed its meaning," says Skeat. "It meant timely; then lucky, happy, blessed, innocent, simple, foolish." A. S. saelig, happy, prosperous. Cf. Ger. selig. 7. Bidding his beades saying, or praying his prayers. Beade = prayer; A. S. bed, a prayer, from A. S. biddan, to pray. Cf. Ger. Gebet. 9. Sits not

=

=

it sits not, is not becoming.

To mell = to meddle, interfere with.

Lat. misculare, to mix.

=

Cf. Fr. il sied, it is becom

O. Fr. meller, mesler, from

XXXII. 3. Thorough through. A. S. thurh. Cf. Ger. durch. 5. Wote know.

A. S. witan, to know.

thoroughly weary. See stanza v., line 8.

9. Doth baite: doth feed. Literally bait: to make to bite. To bait a bear is to make the dogs bite him; to bait a horse is to make him eat.

XXXIII. 7. In inn. A. S. inn, a lodging.

=

built. O. Fr. edifier, Lat. ædificare, to build,

5. Edifyde building, and facere, to make.

6. Wont =was wont.

to be used to.

Wont is properly a past par. of won, to dwell,

=

XXXV. 9. Ave-Mary: Ave Maria, an invocation to the Virgin Mary. XXXVI. 2. And the sad humor, etc. = the sweet 66 slombring deaw,"

cast on them by Morpheus, the god of sleep and dreams.

5. Riddes conducts, removes. A. S. hredan, to deliver.

=

XXXVII. 4. Blacke Plutoes griesly Dame. Pluto is the god of the infernal regions, or realms of darkness; hence the epithet black. His wife is Proserpine, whom Pluto carried off as she was gathering flowers in Sicily. As the inflicter of men's curses on the dead, she is called grisly, hideous. 8. Great Gorgon Not Medusa, a sight of whom turned the beholder to stone, but Demo-gorgon, an evil divinity that ruled the spirits of the lower world.

=

=

9. Cocytus: A river of the infernal region, a branch of the Styx. The former is known as the river of lamentation, the latter as the river of hate. The other two rivers of Hades are Acheron, the river of grief, and Phlegethon, the river of burning. So Milton speaks

XXXVIII.

2. Sprights = spirits. Sprite is the more correct spelling. From Fr. esprit, spirit.

=

7. Cynthia

frighten, terrify. A short form for affray. O. Fr. effraier, Low. Lat. exfrigidare.

=

Lat. dis, apart, and spargere, to

the wife of Oceanus, and daughter of Uranus and Terra.

=

the goddess of the moon; called also Diana and Artemis. XL. 4. Dogges before them farre doe lye dogs lie at a distance in front of them.

9. Takes keepe

takes heed or care.

=

=

XLII. 3. Mought might. A. S. mugan, to be able.

6. That forced = that he forced.

7. Dryer braine. - Spenser seems to consider a "dry brain" the source of troubled dreams.

XLIII. 3. Hecaté = an infernal divinity, who at night sends from the lower world all kinds of demons and phantoms.

9. Sleepers sent = sleeper's sensation.

XLIV. 2. Diverse dreame

dis, apart, and vertere, to turn.

4. Carke =

5. Starke:

9. Afore

anxiety, care.

= a diverting or distracting dream. Lat.

A. S. care, care.

stiff, rigid. A. S. stearc, strong, stiff. = before. A. S. onforan, in front, before. XLV. 9. Stole : = a long robe. See stanza iv., line 5.

XLVI. 5. In sort as in the manner that.

6. Borne without her dew =

due qualities of a real woman.

born unnaturally; or, perhaps, without the

6. To prove his sense, and tempt her faigned truth of his senses, and try her professed sincerity.

8. Tho

=

then. See stanza xviii., line 5.- Can

pity, compassion.

= to test the evidence

LI. 4. The blind god = Cupid, the god of love. daunt. O. Fr. amatir, from mat, weak, dull.

7. Die

LII. I.

See introduction for

Your own dear sake, etc.-This is false. an account of Una's coming to the court of the Faery Queene. 3. To bereave = to take away, to deprive her of.

to rob.

9. Frayes frightens. See stanza xxxviii., line 5.

A. S. be, and reafian,

8. Shend reproach, spurn. A. S. scendan, to reproach. rue, lament.

1. It fell not all to ground it was not all lost or thrown away. 7. Beguiled of her art craftily deluded out of an opportunity to exer

I.

CANTO II.

=

I. The northern wagoner: Boötes, the son of Ceres and Iasion, who, being plundered of all his possessions by his brother Pluto, invented the plough, to which he yoked two oxen, and cultivated the soil to procure subsistence for himself. As a reward for this discovery, he was translated to heaven by his mother, with the plough and yoke of oxen, where he constitutes a constellation in the northern heavens. The name Boötes means ox-driver, and he is here represented as the driver of Charles's Wain or Wagon, one of the names of the cluster of seven stars, commonly called the Dipper, in the constellation of Ursa Major or the Great Bear.

2. His sevenfold_teme= Charles's Wain or Wagon. Wain, A. S. waegn, which passed into the form waen by the loss of g, just as the A. S. rain. regn (Ger. regen) became ren = Stedfast starre= the Pole star, which, not setting in our latitude, "was in ocean waves yet never wet."

7. Phœbus fiery carre = the sun, which in mythology was regarded as the chariot driven daily by the sun-god Phœbus across the sky.

III, IV, V. These stanzas relate a vile imposture practised by Archimago on the Red Cross Knight, whereby the latter was led to believe in the wanton unfaithfulness of Una.

VI. 4. Gall the seat of anger, as was anciently supposed.

6. Hesperus

=

=

the evening star usually; but here evidently the morning star. In both cases the planet Venus is meant.

VII. 1. Rosy-fingered Morning. This is a frequent Homeric phrase.

"Soon as the rosy-finger'd queen appeared,

Aurora, lovely daughter of the dawn,

Towards the camp of Greece they took their way,

And friendly Phœbus gave propitious gales."

Iliad, Book I., 1. 619.

2. Aged Tithones

the spouse of Eos, or Morning. According to the myth, Eos, in asking immortality for her beloved Tithonus, forgot to ask at the same time eternal youth; and hence, in his old age, he became decrepit. 4. Titan: the sun; so called as the offspring of Hyperion, one of the

Titans.

=

5. Drousyhed

6. Bowre

=

drowsyhood or drowsiness. The suffix head and hood,

as in godhead, manhood, is derived from the A. S. had, state, condition. chamber; often a lady's apartment. A. S. bur, a chamber, from buan, to build.

9. Stowreperil, disturbance, battle. O. Fr. estur, estor; Old Norse, styrr, stir, tumult, battle.