of the labyrinth. — About — A. S. abutan, for onbutan = on + be + utan, on by the outside. = 7. Does. —A singular for a plural verb; a not infrequent solecism in Spenser's time. 8. Read 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 = full of vileness exciting disdain. XV. 3. Boughtes = bends, folds. 8. Uncouth = par. of cunnan. unknown, strange. A. S. un, not, and cuth, known, past without fold or entanglement. 6. Armed to point = armed at every point, completely. 7. Bale = XVII. evil, destruction. A. S. bealu, disaster, destruction. = 1. Elfe the knight, so called because coming from fairyland. 3. Trenchand = trenchant, cutting. Fr. trencher, to cut. The and is an old participial form. . mouthfuls, little lumps. O. Fr. gobet, a morsel of food; from gob, a gulp, with diminutive suffix et. 6. Full of bookes and papers. - A reference no doubt to the numerous scurrilous attacks by Roman Catholic writers upon Queen Elizabeth and Protestantism. 9. Parbreake averted face! vomit. This stanza is to be contemplated only with XXI. 5. To avale to fall, sink. O. Fr. avaler, from Lat. ad vallem, to the valley, downward. Cf. avalanche. 7. Ten thousand kindes of creatures. This was commonly believed by the writers of Spenser's day. 9. Reed XXII. 3. Ne = nor. 5. Sinke = a receptable for filth. XXIII. 2. Phœbus 7. Noyance the sun. To welke: annoyance. O. Fr. anoi - Lat. in odio, in hatred. XXIV. 1. Ill bestedd: == 5. Lin = cease. A. S. linnan, to cease. 8. Raft reft; preterit of reave. A. S. reofan, to deprive. XXVI. 2. Impes. See stanza iii., line 1. 7. Her life the which them nurst. The which refers to her. In 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. XXX. 1. 2. Quite 6. Silly Archimago, or Hypocrisy. bowing. A. S. lutan, to stoop. to requite, to satisfy a claim. = = prayer; 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 A. S. bed, a prayer, from A. S. biddan, to pray. 9. Sits not - it sits not, is not becoming. To mell = to meddle, interfere with. Lat. misculare, to mix. through. A. S. thurh. Cf. Ger. durch. know. A. S. witan, to know. a bear is to make the dogs bite him; to bait a horse is to make him eat. 7. In inn. A. S. inn, a lodging. = 5. Edifyde built. O. Fr. edifier, Lat. ædificare, to build, 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 "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. "Of four infernal rivers, that disgorge Into the burning lake their baleful streams: = 2. Sprights spirits. Sprite is the more correct spelling. From Fr. esprit, spirit. 5. Fray = frighten, terrify. A short form for affray. O. Fr. effraier, to frighten, XXXIX. scatter. = 6. Tethys 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 XLII. 3. Mought might. A. S. mugan, to be able. 6. That forced = that he forced. 7. Dryer braine. — Spenser seems to consider a 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 = a diverting or distracting dream. Lat. dis, apart, and vertere, to turn. 5. Starke = stiff, rigid. A. S. stearc, strong, stiff. XLVI. 5. In sort as = See stanza iv., line 5. in the manner that. 6. To prove his sense, and tempt her faigned truth of his senses, and try her professed sincerity. = then. See stanza xviii., line 5.- Can 8. Tho 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 to die. Rew: =rue, lament. LII. I. Your own dear sake, etc. - This is false. See introduction for 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. LIII. 5. Doubtfull exciting doubt, suspicions. 8. Shend reproach, spurn. rue, lament. = LIV. 1. It fell not all to ground it was not all lost or thrown away. craftily deluded out of an opportunity to exer CANTO II. = I. 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. regn (Ger. regen) became ren = rain. - 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. star. VI. 4. Gall: the seat of anger, as was anciently supposed. 6. Hesperus the evening star usually; but here evidently the morning 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 Phoebus 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 = drowsyhood or drowsiness. The suffix head and hood, as in godhead, manhood, is derived from the A. S. had, state, condition. 6. Bowre chamber; often a lady's apartment. A. S. bur, a chamber, from buan, to build. 9. Stowre peril, disturbance, battle. O. Fr. estur, estor; Old Norse, styrr, stir, tumult, battle. |