Eftsoones the gard, which on his state did wait, As chained beare whom cruell dogs doe bait, With ydle force did faine them to withstand; And often semblaunce made to scape out of their hand. XXXVI. But they him layd full low in dungeon deepe, And to the Knight his Daughter dear he tyde XXXVII. His owne two hands the holy knotts did knitt, 1 Eftsoones, immediately. 2 Faytor, evil-doer. 3 Bains, bans. 4 Housling, sacramental. 5 Teade, torch. XXXVII. 6.- Bushy.] The torches burned at the marriages of the ancients were made of bunches of thorns, or of splitted pine, tied together. XXXVIII. Then gan they sprinckle all the posts with wine, XXXIX. During the which there was an heavenly noise In their trinall triplicities on hye: Yett wist no creature whence that hevenly sweet Himselfe thereby refte of his sences meet, And ravished with rare impression in his sprite. XXXIX. 5. — Trinall triplicities.] Some of the Christian Fathers have considered that there were various ranks and degrees among the angels in heaven. One of them divides them into three hierarchies, with various orders in each hierarchy: in the first are seraphim, cherubim, and thrones; in the second, dominions, mights, and powers; in the third, principalities, archangels, and angels. Milton has an allusion to the same triple division "the mighty regencies Of Seraphim, and Potentates, and Thrones PAR. LOST, book v. 750. Tasso also has "A Battel round of Squadrons three, they shew, And all by threes those Squadrons ranged were." JER. DEL., canto xviii. stanza 96. — Fairfax's Trans. XL. Great ioy was made that day of young and old, The usuall ioyes at knitting of loves band. And ever, when his eie did her behold, His heart did seeme to melt in pleasures manifold. XLI. Her ioyous presence, and sweet company, Yet swimming in that sea of blisfull ioy, XLII. Now, strike your sailes, yee iolly mariners, For we be come unto a quiet rode, Where we must land some of our passengers, And light this weary vessell of her lode. Well may she speede, and fairely finish her intent! * The connection between this first book of the Faerie Queene and the remainder of the poem is so slight that Hughes conjectures it to be a separate work of itself. We do not learn the particular enterprises in which the Red-cross Knight engaged after his marriage with Una. He appears occasionally in the subsequent books, but only incidentally, and not as taking any part in the main action. Warton considers it a defect in the Faerie Queene that the adventures, taken separately as the subject of each single book, have not always a mutual dependence upon each other, and consequently do not properly contribute to constitute one legitimate poem. Skill in the construction of the story is certainly not a prominent merit of the poem; but, as Campbell remarks, with as much of beauty as truth, "There is still a richness in his materials, even where their coherence is loose and their disposition confused. The clouds of his allegory may seem to spread into shapeless forms, but they are still the clouds of a glowing atmosphere. Though his story grows desultory, the sweetness and grace of his manner still abide by him."-ESSAY ON ENG. POETRY, p. 107. THE SECOND BOOK OF THE FAERIE QUEENE CONTAYNING THE LEGEND OF SIR GUYON, OR OF TEMPERAUNCE. I. RIGHT well I wote,1 most mighty Soveraine, Sith 2 none that breatheth living aire doth know Which I so much doe vaunt, yet no where show; But vouch antiquities, which no body can know. II. But let that man with better sence advize 3 1 Wote, know. 3 Advize, bear in mind. 4 Red, made known. |