Una is the type, as St. George is the type of Chrift, fays, that Chrift gave himself for the Church, that he might fanctifie and cleanfe it with the waling of water by the word [τωλέτρῳ τῷ ὕδατος i. α. lavacro nuptiali aquae: the cuftom of the bride's washing on her marriage day, is alluded to likewife in Euripid. Phaeniff. 350.]-This myftical wathing meant, that the Church might have NO SPOT-but that it should be holy and without blemish. XXIII. The blazing brightness of her beautie's beame-] Truth now appears in all her brightnefs and beauty. Δεινὸς γὰρ ἂν παρεῖχεν ἔξωθας [ἡ φρόνησις] ἔ τι τοιῦτον ἑαυτῆς ἐναργὲς ἐἴδωλον παρέσχετο, εἰς ὄψιν ἰού. Plato in Phaedro. Quam illa [Sapienta] ardentes amores excitaret fui, fi videretur. Cicero de Fin. ii. 16. Forman quidem ipfam, et tanquam faciem honefti vides, quae fi oculis cerneretur, mirabiles amores (ut ait Plato) excitaret. Cic. de Off. i. 5. Dryden has expressed this very elegantly, For TRUTH has fuch a face and fuch a mien, As to be lov'd, needs only to be feen. But there is a particular reason why he mentions her beautie's beame, and light of her fun-fhyny face, for fo fhe is described in Revel. xiii. 1. A woman clothed with the fun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve fars. She is cloathed with the fun of truth and righteoufnefs; for fuch is the character of the chriftian church: under her feet is the moon; the emblem of change; this fhe has put under her feet; for the is not changeable, but ONE and the fame: on her head is a crown of twelve ftars; for her facred lore is taught and adorned by the preaching of Cowley, David. iii. the twelve apostles. As that faire farre the messenger of morne XXII. And widow-like fad wimple-] See note on, B. i. c. 1. St. 4. Una having laid afide her mourning, now puts on her marriage garment; all lilly white WITHOUTTEN SPOT or pride. Rev. xix. 7. The marriage of the lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready and to her was granted, that he should be arayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteoufnefs of Saints. This paffage plainly alludes to the myftical union of Chrift and his Church; and this too is the allegorical allufion of our poet. White WITHOUT SPOT, fo the Church is to be arrayed, and without pride; not like the fcarlet whore Dueffa. Sol. Song. iv. 7. Thou art all fair, there is NO SPOT in thee. St. Paul fpeaking of the church, of which Ibid. My RAGGED rimes are all too rude and bace.] I certainly would read, RUGGED rhimes, i. e. hard, rough, &c. for no authors in this fenfe, fay, verfus lacerati, RAGGED verses; but verfus feabri, duri, &c. i. e. RUGGED, rough rhimes. Nemo ex hoc viles putet veteros poetas, quod verfus eorum SCABRI nobis videntur. Macrob. L. vi. C. 3. verfus DUROS, Horat. Art. Poet. v. 446. verfus inculti et male nati, Hor. L. ii. Epift. i. 233. inculti et male nati, Hor. L. ii. Epift. i. 233. This correction is confirmed from B. iii. C. 2. St. 3. But ah! my rhimes too rude and RUGGED arre. To thee moft mighty king-] Spencer has not the authority of Homer orVirgil for introducing an epiftle in his epic poem, but he has the authority of Ariofto. See Canto xliv. 61. and of Chaucer in Troilus and Creff. v. 1316. Ibid. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old ferpent, Of that great emperour of all the west.] See B. i. which is the devil and Satan and BOUND HIM a C. 2. St. 22. 23. and the notes. XXVII. e. Witneffe the burning altars, which be fwore.] i. which he swore by. Spenfer often omits the prepofition. Tango aras, mediofque ignes, et numina teftor. Me pater Icarius viduo difcedere lecto. viduo lecto, my widowed bed, i. e. deferted, left by my husband. Or fhe may allude to the death of her first contracted fpoufe, See B. i. C. 2. St. 23. XXXI. By breaking of the band thousand years; and caft him into the botomless pit, and fout him up, and fet a feal upon him, that he Should deceive the nations no more, till the thoufand loofed a little feafon.-And when the thousand years years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be are expired, Satan fhall be loofed out of his prifon: AND SHALL GO OUT TO DECEIVE THE NA TIONS. Revel. xx. 2. 7. As St. George is the type of Michael, and our Saviour; fo is Archimago, of the common enemy of Chriftians. Compare this paffage of the Revelation with this Stanza of Spenfer, and with B. ii. C. 1. St. 1. And you will fee how neceffary 'tis to preferve the allegory that Archimago should be loofed out of his prison: you will likewife fee, that this poem is not unconnected; no cyclic or rhapfodical poem, but that 'tis one and many; 'tis one poem of many parts; and that the story cannot end, till the knights all return back to the Fairy court, to give an account of themfelves to their Fairy Queen. XXXVII His owne two hands, for fuch a turne most fitt, The houfling fire did kindle and provide, And holy water thereon fprinckled wide;] He alludes to the marriages of antiquity, which were folemnized, Sacramento ignis et aquae: the reafons for which, fee in Plutarch's Roman Queftions. -Houfling fire, i. e. Sacramental fire, or fire used in the facrament of marriage. Anglo-S. hurel, the Sacrament. hurl-dirce, the Communion Cup. Goth. hunfl, victima, facrificium. Chaucer uses the word frequent, as to ben housled, to receive the Sacrament. Shakespeare in Hamlet. Act. i. unhousel'd, i. e. not having received the Sacrament. "Tis very eafy to trace this word from the Latin, Haftia (from whence the confecrated wafer in the Roman church is called the Hoft) Hoftia, boftiola, Anglo-S. hurel, houfte.Thefe two elements, fire and water, were used in marriages; but the confecrated or holy water was not princked on the fire, as Spenfer feems to fay; but the water was sprinkled on the bride: So the two old quarto Editions, and folio of I wonder therefore Spenfer did not rather write, 1609. But the folio of 1617. reads By breaking off the band There is no diftinction between of and off in our old English books.-The practicke paine, means the practice and endeavour. XXXVI. And holy water fprinckled on the bride. For fhe was sprinkled, as I faid, with the holy water, and purified with the fire: and both the Sce Alex. ab Alexand. L. ii. C. 5. Stipulatione ergo man and woman touch'd these elements. facta et fponfione fecutâ, ignem et aquam in limine appofitam uterque tangere jubebatur, quâ etiam NOVA NUPTA ASPERGITUR: quafi eo foedere inexplica And bound him hand and foote with yron chaines ;] bili vinculo et mutuo nexu forent copulati. Haec But they him layd full low in dungeon deepe, VOL. II. Iii enim Ibid. At which the BUSHY TEADE, a groome did light, And facred lamp in fecret chamber hide, Where it should not be-quenched day nor night For feare of evil fates, but burnen ever bright.] Spenfer ufes here the Italian or Latin word, taeda: he fays BUSHY, because made of a bundle of thorns: Alex. ab Alexand. L. ii. C. v. Tertius vero anteit qui facem accenfam praefert, ex fpina albâ, quâ praelucente ad virum nupta deducitur. Catull. in Nupt. Jul. et Manl. Spineam quate tedam. Expectet puros fpinca teda dies. Ov. F. ii. 558. See the commentators on Catullus and Ovid : there is another reading pinea teda : THE BUSHY TEADE, becaufe made of fplitted pine, bundled together. So that Spenfer's epithet will not determine which of the readings [Spinea or Pinea] he preferred. He fays, and facred lampe in fecret chamber hide; here I believe Spenfer has a myftical meaning of his own, for 'tis neither a Roman, Grecian, nor Jewish custom, as far as I can find eandem verò facem, fub lecto viri pofuiffe, aut in fepulcro conburendam curaffe, foedum erat aufpicium et omen exitiale, maximaq; facere infortunia creditum: Alex. ab Alex. L. ii. C. v. But he feems to allude to the mystical meaning of the wife virgins' lamps in the parable, which like the typical fire in Levit. vi. 13. Shall ever he burning upon the altar OF LOVE: it shall never go XXXVIII. out. Then gan they fprinckle all the posts with wine.] With wine, fays Spenfer; with oil, fay others. Mos fuerat ut nubentes puellae, fimul quum veniffent ad Limen mariti, POSTES, antequam ingrederentur, ornarent laneis vittis et OLEO ungerent: et inde uxores dictae funt, quafi unxores. Servius on Virg. iv. 458. See Voffius, Etymol. UXOR. XXXVIII. The whiles one fung a fong of love and jollity.) Allud ing to the hymeneal fong, or epithalamium, not only among the Greeks and Romans, but fung likewife by the children of the bridegroom (as they are called, in Matt. ix. 15.) among the Jews.The following Stanza, During the which there was a heavenly noise— Plainly alludes to the fong fung at the marriage of the Lamb, And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, faying ALLELUIA-Let us be glad and rejoice and give honour to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, [Chrift typified in St.George] and his wife [the Church typified in Una] hath made herself ready. XXXIX. Singing before th' eternall majesty In their trinall triplicities on bye.] The fcripture mentions several orders and degrees of angels: from whence Dionyfius the Areopagite, and others, have diftributed them into nine orders, and these orders they have reduced to three hierarchies. Ex. gr. II. Hierarchy Dominions, Virtues, Powers. 1. Hierarchy to which S Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones. { Ill. Hierarchy belong Principalities, Archangels, Angels. This is the trimall triplicite, of Spenfer; tre vole Squadre, of Taflo; the triple degrees, of Milton. See Thom. Aquinas,Quaeft. cviii. De ordinatione Angelorum fecundum Hierarchias et Ordines. And DanteParad.Canto xxviii. Christian poetry could hardly exift without this fuperintendant, and fubordinate adminiftration of angelic orders: accordingly we scarce read a chriftian poet, but we fee allufions to these triple degrees, or trinall triplicities, as Spenfer calls them here, and in his hymneof Heavenly Love. -divifae acies, terna agmina, ternis Inftructa ordinibus. Sannaz. de Partu Virg. iii. 241. Leva più in sù l'ardite luci, e tutta Taffo xviii. 96. Here fhe awhile may make her fafe abode, Till be repaired have her tackles fpent,. And want fupplide: and then againe abroad On the long voiage, whereto fhe is bent.] i. e. And then he may go abroad-The fentence is elliptical. This veffel is bent to Fairy land, from which the several knights firft fet forth, and to which they are to return, to give an account of their various fucceffes and adventures. OUR poet having brought his veffel into harbour, to refit and repair; let us, like travellers, talk over the wonders we have feen, and the regions we have paffed over of fable, myftery, and allegory. However the wife, and the grave, may affect to despise wonderful tales; yet well related, with novelty and variety, they work upon the heart by fecret charms and philters, and never fail both to surprise and to delight. But delight and entertainment is not all; for a good poet fhould instruct; not in the narration of particular facts, like an hiftorian; but in exhibiting univerfal truths, as a philofopher: by fhewing the mo tives, caufes, and fprings of action; by bringing before your eyes TRUTH in her lovely form, and ERROR in her loathfome and filthy fhape; DECEIT fhould be ftripped, and HYPOCRISIE laid open and while wonderful stories and reprefentations of vifionary images engage the fancy, the poet fhould all along intend these only as initiations into the more facred myfteries of morals and religion. Left you should object to the probability of his ftories, the poet names the time, when these wonders were performed, viz. during the minority of prince Arthur; (who knows not the British Arthur ?) and mentions the very persons who performed them;-Prince Arthur, St. George, Sir Satyrane, Archimago, &c.-nay, he points out the very places, wherein the ad ventures were atchieved. if after fo circumstan tial a recital of time, place and perfons, you will ftill not believe him, you must be enrolled, 1 think, among the very miscreants; for as to his wonderful tales of enchantments, witches, apparitions, &c. all this is eafily accounted for by fupernatural affiftance. This first book bears a great resemblance to a tragedy, with a catastrophe not unfortunate. The red-croffeKnight and Una appear together on the stage, nothing feeming to thwart their happiness; but by the plots and pains of Archimago, they are feparated; hence fufpicions and diftreffes fhe with difficulty efcapes from a lawless Sarazin and Satyrs, and he is actually made a prisoner by a merciless giant. When unexpectedly prince Arthur, like fome god in a machine, appears, and releases the knight; who becomes a new man, and with new joy is contracted to his ever-faithful Una. If we confider the perfons or characters in the drama, we shall find them all confiftent with themfelves, yet masterly oppofed and contrafted: the fimplicity and innocence of Una may be fet in oppofition to the flaunting falfhood of the fcarlet whore: the pious knight is diametrically oppofite to the impious Sarazin: the fly hypocrite Archimago differs from the fophift Despair. And even in laudable characters, if there is a fameness, yet too there is a difference; as in the magnificence of prince Arthur, in the plainnefs of the christian knight, and in the honest behaviour of Sir Satyrane. How well adapted to their places are the paintings of the various scenes and decorations? Some appear horrible as the den of Error, hell, the giant, the cave of Defpair, the dragon, &c. others terrible and wonderful as the magical cottage of Archimago; the plucking of the bloody Iii 2 bough, bough, the Sarazin's fupernatural rescue and cure, &c. others are of the paftoral kind, as the pleasing profpects of the woods, and diverfions of the wood-born people, with old Sylvanus: or magnificent, as the defcription of prince Arthur, and the folemnizing of the contract of marriage between the knight and Una. The fcene lies chiefly in Fairy land (though we have a view of the houfe of Morpheus, B.i. C. 1. St. 39. and of hell, B. i. C. 5. St. 23.) And changes to the land of Eden, B. i. C. 11. and 12. Should we prefume to lift up the myfterious veil, wrought with fuch fubtle art and ornament, as fometimes to feem utterly to hide, fometimes lying fo tranfparent, as to be feen through fhould we take off, I fay, this fabulous covering, under it we might difcover a most useful moral; the beauty of truth, the foulnefs of error, fly hypocrify, the pride and cruelty of falfe religion; holinefs completed in virtues; and the church, if not in its triumphant, yet in its triumphing state. Quefti draghi fatati, questi incanti, Bern. Orl. Innam. L. i. C. xxv. St. r. Spenfer in his letter to Sir W. R. tells us his poem is a continued allegory: where therefore the moral allufion cannot be made apparent, we muft feek (as I imagine) for an historical allufion; and always we must look for more than meets the eye or ear; the words carrying one meaning with them, and the fecret fenfe another. NOTE S ΟΝ ΤΗΕ SECOND BOOK of the FAIRY QUEEN Containing the Legend of Sir Guyon, or of Temperaunce. R I. IGHT well I wote, most mighty foveraine, That all this famous antique hiftory Of fome th' aboundance of an ydle braine Will judged be, and painted forgery, Rather then matter of just memory. The poet is afraid left you fhould not take his tale for reality left you fhould believe his famous antique hiftory was the meer coinage of a fan-. ciful brain, and not matter of just memory, i. e. the fubject matter of true records and memorials. [Ital. memorie, memoirs. A. Gell. iv. 6. In veteribus memoriis fcriptum, &c.] He would have you think his fairy tale all true; more true than any hiftory in the world :-for history is particular; his poem is allegorical and univerfal; confequently philofophical: Refpicere exemplar vitae morumque jubebo Doctum imitatorem et VERAS hinc ducere voces. Horat. A. P. ver. 317. He tells you likewife of the probability of his antique history concerning Fairy-land; 'tis no reafon surely that there is no fuch place, because you have never discovered it with your carnal eye; have patience and you fhall have it dif covered: |