SPENSER'S POETICAL WORKS.
THE LEGEND OF SIR GUYON, OR OF TEMPERANCE.
Guyon finds Mammon in a delve,1
Sunning his treasure hoar;
Is by him tempted, and led down
To see his secret store.
As pilot well expert in perilous wave,
That to a steadfast star his course hath bent,
When foggy mists or cloudy tempests have
The faithful light of that fair lamp yblent,2
And cover'd heaven with hideous dreriment;3
Upon his card and compass firms his eye,
The masters of his long experiment,
And to them does the steady helm apply,
Bidding his winged vessel fairly forward fly:
2 Obscured. 3 Dark
ness.
4 Fixes.
So Guyon having lost his trusty Guide,
Late left beyond that Idle Lake, proceeds
Yet on his way, of none accompanied;
And evermore himself with comfort feeds
Of his own virtues and praiseworthy deeds.
So, long he yode,1 yet no adventure found,
Which Fame of her shrill trumpet worthy reedes: 2
For still he travell'd through wide wasteful3 ground,
That nought but desert wilderness shew'd all around.
At last he came unto a gloomy glade,
Cover'd with boughs and shrubs from heaven's
Whereas he sitting found in secret shade [light
An uncouth, savage, and uncivil wight,
Of grisly hue and foul ill-favour'd sight; [blear'd,
His face with smoke was tann'd, and eyes were
His head and beard with soot were ill bedight,5
His coal-black hands did seem to have been sear'd
In smith's fire-spitting forge, and nails like claws
appear❜d.
His iron coat, all overgrown with rust,
Was underneath enveloped with gold;
Whose glist'ring gloss, darken'd with filthy dust,
Well yet appeared to have been of old
A work of rich entail and curious mould,
Woven with antics and wild imagery:
And in his lap a mass of coin he told,
And turned upside down, to feed his eye
And covetous desire with his huge treasury.
And round about him lay on every side
Great heaps of gold that never could be spent;
Of which some were rude ore, not purified,
Of1 Mulciber's2 devouring element;
Some others were new driven, and distent3
Into great ingots and to wedges square;
Some in round plates withouten moniment:4
But most were stamp'd, and in their metal bare
The antique shapes of Kings and Kaisers5 strange
and rare.
Soon as he Guyon saw, in great affright
And haste he rose for to remove aside
Those precious hills from stranger's envious sight,
And down them poured through an hole full wide
Into the hollow earth, them there to hide:
But Guyon, lightly to him leaping, stay'd
His hand that trembled as one terrified;
And though himself were at the sight dismay'd,
Yet him perforce restrain'd, and to him doubtful"
said;
'What art thou, man, (if man at all thou art,)
That here in desert hast thine habitance,
And these rich hills of wealth dost hide apart
From the world's eye, and from her right usance?'
Thereat, with staring eyes fixed askance,
In great disdain he answer'd; Hardy Elf,
That darest view my direful countenance!
I read thee rash and heedless of thyself,
To trouble my still seat and heaps of precious pelf.
✓ God of the world and worldlings I me call,
Great Mammon, greatest god below the sky,
That of my plenty pour out unto all,
And unto none my graces do envý:
1 By. 2 Vulcan.
Beaten out.
Doing bold deeds.
4 Pursuit.
5 Wealth; literally, dirt.
❝ Blemish.
Riches, renown, and principality,
Honour, estate, and all this worldës good,
For which men swink1 and sweat incessantly,
From me do flow into an ample flood,
And in the hollow earth have their eternal brood.
'Wherefore if me thou deign to serve and sue,2
At thy command lo! all these mountains be;
Or if to thy great mind, or greedy view,
All these may not suffice, there shall to thee
Ten times so much be number'd frank and free.'
'Mammon,' said he, 'thy godhead's vaunt is vain,
And idle offers of thy golden fee;
To them that covet such eye-glutting gain
Proffer thy gifts, and fitter servants entertain.
'Me ill befits, that in derdoing3 arms
And honour's suit my vowed days do spend,
Unto thy bounteous baits and pleasing charms,
With which weak men thou witchest, to attend;
Regard of worldly muck 5 doth foully blend®
And low abase the high heroic sprite,
That joys for crowns and kingdoms to contend;
Fair shields, gay steeds, bright arms, be my delight;
Those be the riches fit for an advent'rous knight.'
'Vain-glorious Elf,' said he, 'dost not thou weet,7
That money can thy wants at will supply?
Shields, steeds, and arms, and all things for thee
It can purvey in twinkling of an eye; [meet,
And crowns and kingdoms to thee multiply.
Do not I kings create, and throw the crown
Sometimes to him that low in dust doth lie,
|