Under a veile that wimpled was full low, means a veil plaited after the manner of a wimple, which was a plaited linen drefs worn chiefly by the religious women about their necks. The word occurs in our Bible, If. iii. 22. The changeable forts of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crifping pins. Anglo-S. pinpel. Gall. guimple; perhaps originally from the Latin peplum. Chaucer ufes it frequently: the prioreffe goes her pilgrimage in this habit, Full femely her wimple pinched was. tural, as the reading of the first quarto. Pure, i. e. without blemish or fpot, 1 Peter i. 19. Innocent, i. e. without harm or guile, 1 Peter ii. 22. Revel. xiv. 5. Pure and undefiled. James i. 27. without spot and blameless. 2 Peter iii. 14. So our poet speaking of Belphoebe, B. 3. C. 6. St. 3. Pure and unspotted. Ibid. And all the world in their fubjection held, The poet opens the allegory himself sufficient; and this the reader may frequently obferve, fometimes cunningly and covertly; other times more openly. Adam was king of Eden, and univerfal king by parental authority; but by the prevailing power of that infernal fiend he forfeited his right. The restoration of loft Eden was reserved for the Meffiah, the second Adam, imaged in this Christian knight. Forwafted is Folios read, Forewafted, which is wrong. have explained the force of For in compofition, in the gloffary; to which I refer the reader. And wimpled he uses in the description of the wife right, fo both the old quarto editions: but the of Bath, 472. Upon an ambler efily fhe fatte All wimpled well. i. e. fays the gloffary, covered, wrapped up in a wimple.' The fame expreffion the learned Scotch Bishop ufes in his tranflation of Virgil; which is explained in the index, womplit, folded, wrapped, wymplit, gwymplit, wrapped, folded.' our poet ufes it, B. 7. c. 7. St. 5. For with a veile that wimpled every where Her head and face was hid. where inftead of that wimpled, I read ywimpled: the errour being occafioned by the printer's taking y for y. This black stole Una lays afide, when made a bride to the red-croffe knight: viz. at the myftical union between Chrift and his church compare Canto 12. St. 22. with Revel. xix. 8. But fhe wears her forrowful dress during her afflicted or perfecuted state, viz. a thousand two hundred and threefcore days: compare Canto VII. St. 44. with Revel. xi. 3. And they shall prophefie 1260 dayes clothed IN SACKCLOTH, or as our poet expreffes it IN A BLACK STOLE. It seems to me proper to give the reader this opening of the myftical character of Una. VI. Behind her farre away a dwarfe did lag, I There is fomething very pleafing, whether in poetry or painting, in ftrong and masterly oppofitions and contrafts. There are many of thefe contrafted images in Spenfer: fuch particularly is the picture of this chriftian hero accoutred only with things neceffary and convenient; with daily bread, Matt. vii. 11. James ii. 5. compare Agur's prayer, Prov. xxx. 8. feed me with food convenient for me.-who may be confidered likewife as oppofed to the grand figure of prince Arthur, who is painted out with proper pomp and magnificence to the full life, in Canto vii. St. 29. &c. for he is magnificence itself. Our chriftian hero is a clownish young man; for God hath chofen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, I Cor. i. 27, 28. Ibid. And ANGRY fove an hideous forme of raine I fhall (with critical liberty) fometimes take occafion to blame, as well as praife, especially if I fee, not the error of the prefs, but of the poet. And how comes it to pafs, that Spenfer which reading feems ambiguous, nor fo fcrip- here, though fpeaking of a storme, yet mytholoVOL. II. U u gically gically mentioning Jupiter and his leman, the Earth, fays ANGRY Jove? Jupiter et LAETO defcendit PLURIMUS imbre. Tum PATER omnipotens faecundis imbribus Aether Poftremo pereunt imbres, ubi eos PATER Aether Again, II. 990. Omnibus ille idem PATER eft, unde alma liquentes So other poets, Ἐρᾶ δ' ὁ σεμνὸς ἐρανὸς πληρώμενος Eurip. vid. Barnes. in Fragm. pag. 505. In finum MARITUS IMBER fluxit almae conjugis. Auct. Perrigil. Now in all these paffages which I have cited, and in others which might be added, there is no fuch epithet as ANGRY JOVE: and indeed, to speak freely, and with critical liberty, it feems to me an improper epithet, when he is fpeaking of his leman, his laetae conjugis; he might eafily have faid, And father fove an hideous florme—————— And thus faying he would have followed the beft authorities. Lucretius fpeaks of a ftorm as is plain from his expreffion praecipitavit. Nor is ever the epithet angry given to Jupiter on like occafion, but Pater, Frugifer, Urius, Imbricitor, Pluvius, Uvidus, &c. And in Greek, 'Eixáρios, Όμβριος, Τέτιος, Καταιβάτης, ΟυριΘ', κ. λ. Milton very elegantly, and chiefly after Homer [Iliad XIV. 346.] expreffes this poetical image, where Jupiter is the æther, i. e. the fiery fubftance, and Juno the air, i. e. the watry fubftance: for fire and water, i. e. hot and moist, are the principles of all things. -As Jupiter On Juno fmiles, when he impregns the clouds That fhed May flowers. VII. Whofe loftie trees, yclad with fommers pride, I muft bring my reader by degrees acquainted Did fpred fo broad, that they heav'ns light did hide. But our poet otherwife. Though in Hughes' edition 'tis printed, but without authority, Did fpread fo broad, they heaven's light did hide. Inftances of they omitted, the reader may fee in B 2. C. 11. St. 1. B. 1. C. 11. St. 9. Not perceable with power of any ftarr, is litterally almoft from Statius, X. 85. Milton in a Poem intitled Arcades has the fame image, Under the fhady roof Of branching elm ftar-proof. Both where the morning fun firft warmly fmote He feems pleafed with the image for he still perfues it, ix. 1086. Where higheft woods impenetrable To ftar or fun-light, fpread their umbrage broad, And brown as evening. Aftro, in Statius above cited, comprehends, as Milton, according to his learned allufion interprets, both far and fun-light. Having confidered the expreffion and imitation, let us not forget the continued allegory of our poet, who plainly appears to me to allude to the wilderness and labyrinth of this world with its amusing vanities. Our knight is got into a wood, where he amufes himself till he lofes his way: So it is in human life, VELUT SYLVIS, ubi paffim Palantes error certo de tramite pellit, Ille finiftrorfum, hic dextrorfum abit; unus utrique Error, fed varijs inludit partibus. Horat. ii. iii. 48. Ariosto, xxiv. 2, had his eye on this beautiful paffage of Horace, Gli Gli è, come una gran felva ove la via Conviene à forza à chi vi va fallire; Chi fù, chỉ giu, chi quà, chỉ là travia. More of the allegory I fhall speak of hereafter : but I must not forget that Dante opens his poem with this very fame allegory, mentions the trees which Cæfar ordered to be cut down in the grove of Marfeilles, L. iii. 440. As to Statius, in Theb. vi. 98, he seems plainly to have Ovid in his eye, who describes the various trees which affembled on the mountain of Thrace to hear the mufick of Orpheus. The paffage is too long to tranfcribe; the reader may confult it at his leifure, Ov. Met. Lib. x. Fab. 2. The reader too if he chooses it may confult Claud. de Rapt. Proferp. iii. 107, and the moral Inferno, Cantoi. Seneca, who introduces Creon running out into Nel mezzo del cammin di noftra vita Mi ritrovai per una felva oscura, Che la diritta via era fmarrita. VIII. Which therein Shrouded from the tempeft dred, Seem'd in their fong to fcorne the cruell sky.] i.e. from the dreadful or dreaded tempeft. Chaucer ufes drad, and dred, for dreaded, feared. So our poet above, St. 2. ydrad; and below, St. 38. And forth he cald out of deep darkness dred. Again, B. iii. C. 8. St. 83. Herfelfe not faved yet from daunger dred. And in several other paffages: which I the rather mention, because fome editors take dred for a substantive, and print it the tempeft's dred. But the two old quartos of the beft authority give it as I have printed it. The folios 1609, 1611, 1617, the tempeft's dred. Ibid. Much can they praife.-] The reader will find this expreffion very often, Much can they praifei. e. Much they praised. Some inftances I have given in the Gloffary, to which I refer. It is often used thus in Chaucer, and much oftener in G. Douglass, the tranflator of Virgil. The Greeks and Latins have exactly the fame idiom. -But I will not repeat here, what I have referved for the Gloffary. Methinks in this poetical description of various trees, Spenfer is fuperior to all the poets who have indulged their luxuriant fancy in fuch defcriptions, because his allegory fo naturally led him to the fubject: for what are these trees and labyrinths, but the various amufements and errors of human life? So Horace and Dante apply the fimilitude. But what fury poffeffes other poets to fuffer their Muse to run riot, and to expatiate, upon the very mentioning of trees? Let me except Virgil, G. ii. 440. En. vi. 180. xi. 135. and Homer, Il. xxiii. 118. where Mr. Pope's notes are well worth confulting. How chaft and fhort is Milton; Par. Loft, iv. 137. And likewife Taffo, Gierus. Liberat. Canto iii. St. 75, 76. Let me do justice to Lucan likewife, who is very fhort, where he a florid description of trees at the mentioning of a grove, at a time when Oedipus is in the utmost expectation of what Tirefias had been tranfacting in the grove. What I fhall further obferve fome authors, who have fuffered from their on this fubject, will relate chiefly to correcting tranfcribers. The elegant tranflator of Taffo had plainly Spenfer in view, and Chaucer likewife, in the Affemble of Foules, as well as his original, Downe came the facred palmes, the afhes wilde, From this paffage of Fairfax we may correct The bilder oke, and eke the hardie afhe, The olive of peace, and eke the dronken vine, Affemb. of Foules. Let me correct likewise a paffage in the Rom. of the Rofe, 1385. There were elmes great and ftrong, And other trees full many a paire. U u 2 Maple, Maple, thorn, beche, ewe, hafill, whipultree ; The trees were unctuous fir, And mountain afh, the mother of the spear, And laurels, which the gods for conquering chiefs ordain : How they were rank'd shall reft untold by me, IX. The laurell meed of mighty conquerours And poets fage.] Statius, Achil. i. 15. -Cui geminae forent vatumque ducumque Certatim laurus. Ibid. The eugh obedient to the bender's will.] Virg. G. ii. 448. -Ituraeos taxi torquentur in arcus. Chaucer, in the Affemble of Foules, v. 18. [pag. 415, Urry's edit.] has the fhortir ewe, which is an error as mentioned above for fhootir: As he fays the builder oke, i. e. the oak good for building; fo the fhootir ewe, i. e. the yew-tree Dryden red this paffage different from Urry; for good to make bows for fhooting: and thus Fair inftead of fax, in his elegant tranflation of Taffo, iii. 76. The fhewter eugh. Our forefathers, fo fatree; and that yew-trees might never be wantmous for their skill in the bow, used the yewing, they ordered one at leaft to be planted in every church-yard in England. Ibid. The mirrhe, fweet-bleeding in the bitter wound.] I fhall offer the reader two interpretations of this verfe: First, the myrrhe that affords its odorous gums, which furgeons ufe in dreffing of wounds. The fecond, the myrrhe that diftils a sweet gum from its wounded bark; or, as Milton expreffes it, weeps odorous gums and balms. Thus Ovid Met. x. 500, who relates the fable of Myrrha and of her transformation, Flet tamen, et tepidae manent ex arbore guttae. Hence Chaucer, in the Complaint of the Blacke Knight, 66. So bitter teris wept nat, as I finde, The woful Myrrhe through the barke and rinde. And Fairfax, in his admirable verfion of Taffo, iii. 76. though in this place he keeps not his eye ftrictly on his original, The Myrrhe that her foule fin doth ftill deplore. Ibid. The warlike beech.] The epithet warlike is added, perhaps, because their war-chariots were made of beech. Phyvos akwy, Hom. II. . 838. faginus The vine-propp elme.] i. e. the elm that props up axis, Virg. G. iii. 172. The buckler too was and fupports the vine. ·hic pampinus induit ulmos. Claud de Rapt. Prof. ii. 111. et amictae vitibus ulmi. made fometimes with this wood, as Pliny informs us, Nat. hift. vi. 49. Whether the ftaves of their spears were made of beech in our poet's time or before I know not: but he fays above, the afpine good for ftaves; so that poetical Ov. Met. x. 100. elegance requires a different explanation. XII. The XII. The danger bid, the place unknowne and wilde Spenfer, amongft the faults efcaped in the print, Milton had the fame beautiful idea in his mind, and perhaps this paffage, when he wrote the following in Comus, Virtue could fee to do what virtue would By her own radiant light, though fun and moon Invia virtuti nulla eft via -Non abbiate paura, In ogni luogo e parte, ove fi vada, Il brando e la virtù fa far la ftrada. Sub cavernis terrae; illic verò ei fpecus eft in imo cavâ fub petrâ, procul ab immortalibus diis mortalibufque hominibus. The very form of this Echidna, half woman and half ferpent, gave perhaps Spenfer the first hint thus to image this vile monster, Ημισυ μὲν νύμφην ελικώπιδα καλλιπάρηον, Dimidiam nympham, nigris oculis, pulcris genis; Halfe like a ferpent, horribly difplaide, Monftrum horrendum, informe, ingens— Let me add that the pause of the verfes, and the iteration of the letters, are not without their beauties.-full of vile difdaine, i. e. Such as would fill a man full of vile difdain: not what Berni Orl. Innam. L. ii. C. 7. St. 21. is in her, but what the occafions in you. Vida XIII. This is the wandring wood, this Errour's den: ὑπὸ κέυθεσι γαίης Ενθα δέ δι σπέος ἐςὶ κάτω κοίλῃ ὑπὸ πέτρῃ y. thus paints the infernal spirits, Pube tenus hominum facies; verum hifpida in an guem Definit ingenti finuata volumina caudâ. The one feem'd woman to the waift, and fair, Let me add what Dio writes of the monfter on It is very plain to me that Spenfer had Dante in view likewife. Fraud, fays Boccace, Geneal. L. i. C. 21. is the daughter of Erebus and Night, as Cicers obferves; [de Naturâ Deor. lib. iii. 17.] Her form and shape Dante thus de fcribes : |