And backward mutters of diffevering power This Milton tranflated from Ov. Met. xiv. 300. where the companions of Ulyffes are reftored to their fhape, Percutimurque caput CONVERSAE verbere virgae; Verbaq; dicuntur dielis contraria verbis. Sir Guyon overthrew the bowle of the wicked Genius, and broke his ftaff. St. 49. and likewife breaks the cup which the inchantress Exceffe offers, St. 57. Great mafters borrow, and what they borrow they make their own: little wits fteal, and make an unnatural kind of mixture by their stealth. When Spenfer borrows from Ariofto and Taffo; and when Mil ton borrows from Spenfer; 'tis not poverty puts them upon borrowing, but a love of imitation, and a defire of rivalship. LI. Therewith the heavens-] So the ft quarto; but rather with the 2d quarto and Folios, we fhould read, Thereto. LII. ; More fweet and holefome then the pleafaunt hill Of Rhodope, on which the nimphe, that bore A gyaunt babe, herfelf for griefe did kill Or the Theffalian Tempe, where of yore Fayre Daphne Phoebus' hart with love did gore; Or Ida, where the gods lov'd to repayre, Whenever they their heavenly bowres forlore; Or fweet Parnaffe, the haunt of Mufes fayre; Or Eden felfe, if ought with Eden mote compayre. When Sir Guyon and the Palmer had paffed the gate, kept by the wicked Genius, and were now entred A large and pacious plaine, they are entertained with fine profpects, ferene fky, &c. Let the reader at his leifure compare St. 50, 51. with Taffo, xv. St. 53, 54.- More fweet than the pleafaunt hill of Rhodope-Not Rhodope the hiftorical; but the poetical Rhodope, when Orpheus furg upon its head, and made all the trees of the creation to repair to his inchanting lyre. Such Rhodope as is described by Ovid, Met. x. $6, &c. Quicquid in Orpheo Rhodope fpectaffe theatro Dicitur. Mart. Spect. xx. On which hill (fays Spenfer) the nymph, that bore a giant babe, killed herfelf for grief.-The ftory told by Plutarch. de Fluviis, pag. 23. and alluded to by Ovid. Met. vi. 87. is as follows: That Hamus and Rhodope, both begotten by one father, and both in love with. each other, called themfelves Jupiter and Juno, for which arrogance they were transformed in thofe Thracian mountains, which bear their names. Rhodope is faid to have born a fon by Hæmus, named Hebrus. See Servius on Virg. i. 317. And to have had a gyant-babe by Neptune, named Athos. The poet poceeds and fays that this plain was more pleafant than Theffalian Tempe. See a defcription of this beau tiful place in Ælian, L. iii. C. 1. The famous river Peneus runs through Tempe, whofe for the ftory of Daphne; [which is Greek for banks being covered with laurel, gave occafion Pencus, and changed into the beloved tree of the laurel] who they fay was the daughter of the God of the poets.-Or than Ida, where the gods loved to repair: Jupiter often reforted to mount Ida; the three goddeffes likewife paid here their vifit to Paris. I LVIII. There the most dainty paradife-] The beauties of this inchanted island rife upon your ideas, according to their various compartments or divifions: this is Paradife - fuch as Milton defcribes, iv. 214, &c. The gardens of Venus, defcribed by Claudian, Nupt. Hon. & Mariæ. ver. 49, &c. The gardens of Alcinous, by Hom. Od. . 112. But above all the garden of Armida, as defcribed by Taffo, xvi. 9, &c. In lieto afpetto il bel giardin s'aperfe Here was all that variety, which conftitutes the nature of beauty: hill and dale, lawns and crystal rivers, &c. And that which all faire works doth most aggrace, The art, which all that wrought, appeared in no place. Which is litterally from Taflo, xvi. 9. E quel, che'l bello, e'l caro accrefce à l'opre, 10. St. 59. is likewife tranflated from Taffo, xvi. And if the reader likes the comparing of the copy with the original, he may fee many other beauties borrowed from the Italian poet. -The Fountain, St. 60. with the two bathing damfels, are taken from Taffo, xv. St. 55, &c. which he calls, Il fonte del rifo.-St. 58. Due donzellette garrule e lafcive.-But let us not overlook the expreffions, St. 60. Moft goodly it with curious ymageree was over-wrought-So the two quartos: but the Folio 1609, with pure imagaree; which is altered for the fake of the verfe. But 'tis plainly thus to be red, -with curious imag'ree. St. 63. Their fleecy flowres they fearfully did fleepe. This is altered in the 2d quarto and Folio 1609, into tenderly. St. 63. Thence to defend the funny beames, i. e. to keep off. Virg. Ecl. vii. 47. Solfitium defendere. Horat. i. Od. 17. defendere aeftatem. So the Italians ufe, difendere; the French, defendre. Chaucer has defended forbidden; Milt. xi. 86. that defended fruit, i. e. forbidden. -St. 64. And each the other from to rife restraine, i. e: from rifing, a Grecism, άrò tẽ åvasñvai. The whiles their fnowy limbs as through a vele, E'l lago à l'altre membre era un bel velo. -Sed prodidit unda latentem ; Mart. iv. Epigr. 22. viii. Ep. 68. Feminum lucet fic per bombycina corpus. His limbs appear more lovely through the tide: Addifon, Ovid. Met. iv. As that faire ftarre-] This is tranflated from Taffo, xv. 60. So are the three following ftanzas.- Fairfax in his tranflation had plainly Spenfer before him. I will refer my reader to Taffo and Fairfax, and fave myself the trouble of meerly tranfcribing. LXX. Birds, voices, inftruments, WINDES, waters, all agree.] Obferve here a beauty, not unknown to ancient poets, and those who copy from them; which is to bring together in a heap feveral images, and then to feparate them. See note on B. ii. C. 6. St. 13. and fee Cerda's note on Virg. G. iv. 339. All these images are feparated and diftinctly noted in the following stanza perhaps as 'tis written windes in this tanza, where the images are collected, we fhould read likewife windes in the following ftanza, where the images are separated. Now foft, now loud, unto the windes did call; The gentle warbling windes low anfwered to all. But all the copies read wind. Let the reader compare this with Tasso, xvi. 12. parting breath of their friends; fo the of her Of fcorched dew,-] meaning thofe cobweb kind lover dying with love. -Extremus fi quis fuper halitus errat ORE legam. Virg. iv. 684. Let us then fuppofe the words fhuffled out of their places, a frequent error in the printing of this book; and then how eafy 'tis to reduce these verses into order and good fenfe? And oft inclining downe with kiffes light, For feare of waking him, his EYES bederd; And through his humid LIPS did fucke his fpright. Lightly kiffed his eyes, least she should wake him and fucked his fpright through his humid lips. I think this correction proves itfelf: but we never alter the context; keeping all our corrections in the notes, and leaving them to the reader's determination. LXXIV. LXXV. The whiles fome one did chaunt-] The following fong is tranflated from Taffo, xvi. 14, 15. where he makes a ftrange bird fing in a human voice. Spenfer did very right I think, to leave his Italian mafter in this circumftance.--Perhaps Taffo had the following Epigr. in view, pag. 122. Edit. Steph. Τὸ ροδον ἀκμάζει βαιὸν χρόνον· ἦν δὲ παρέλθη [lego παρέλθης] Ζητῶν ἐυρήσεις ο εύδον, ἀλλὰ βάτον. Rofa viget brevi tempore: fi vero illud breve tempus as we have remarked elsewhere. LXXVI. In which they creeping did at laft difplay That wanton lady with her lover lofe,] I wrote in the margin of my book furvay: as Spenfer would have fpelt had he fo written. But the received reading is perhaps right, and the active is used in a paffive fignification, they did difplay, i. e. they had difplaied before their eyes: or rather, they did difplay each to the other, declared or fhewed. LXXVII. Nor the fine nets, which oft we woven fee of exhalations that fly about in hot weather. LXXVIII. And her faire eyes, fweet fmyling in delight, Qual raggio in onda le fcintilla un riso Taffo, xvi. 18, Adfpicies oculos tremulo fulgore micantes, "Ut fol à liquidâ faepe refulget aqua. Öv. Árt. Am. ii. 721. LXXIX. A feet regard and amiable grace, Nunc primùm opacat flore lanugo genas. Pacuvius. Juveni regio cùm fe affimulârat, Primùm pubefcenti, cujus venuftiffima pubertas. πρῶτον ὑπηνήτη] ἀρχομένῳ γενειάζειν· ὑπῆναι δὲ καλῶν ται οι τρίχες περὶ τὰ χειλη. Schol. Mr. Pope has very injudiciously omitted this in his tranflation, A beauteous youth, majestick and divine, He feemd; fair offspring of fome princely line. But Virgil did not omit this beautiful circumftance, who was not confined to the ftrictness of a tranflator. Ora puer primâ fignans intonfa juventa. Æn. ix. 181. As fmooth as Hebe's their unrazord lips. And in his defcription of Adam, iv. 300, "there is no indication (I transcribe Dr. Bentley's words) that Adam had a beard: not the "leaft down or bloffor on his chin, the first ac"cess to manhood, which the Greek and Latin poets dwell on, as the principal part of manly beauty and our Spenfer, B. ii. C. 12. St. 79. and B. iii. C.5. St. 29." I fhould not omit that in Xenophon's Cyrus, where Gobrias gives an account of his fon's death, in order to raife the pity of Cyrus, he mentions him as juft beginning to have a beard: agri yoxovTά To άρτι γενειάσκοντα τὸν ἄξιον παιδα. હૃદ ; St. 56. Havea la rete già fatta Vulcano Di fottil fil d'acciar, ma con tal' arte, Che faria ftata ogni fatica in vano Per ifmagliarne la più debil parte, Et era quella, che già piedi e mano Havea lagati à Venere et à Marte La fe il gelofo, et non ad altro effetto, Che per pigliarli infieme ambi nel letto. The history of this fubtle net is as follows, Vulcan made it to catch, and after being caught to expofe his wife and Mars: you may read the story in Hom. Od. xviii. and in Ovid. Met. Afterwards Mercury ftole it to catch his mistress Cloris he then left it as a prefent to be hung up in the temple of Anubis; and there it hung till Caligorant the giant ftole it. Aftolfo havAftolfo having defeated the giant, caught him in his own net, and took the net from him.-Ariofto by Caligorant and his net, had an hiftorical allufion to a famous fophift and heretic of his own times, who entangled people in his fophiftical nets of falfe logic this heretic and fophift became an orthodox and ufeful man afterwards, as Caligorant did, when foil'd by his own weapon, and well inftructed by Aftolfo. Arioflo's poem (like Spenfer's) is full of hiftorical allufions, as well as moral allegories. But I muft not forget that Ariofto has imaged the giant and net of Caligorant, from the giant Zambardo in Orl. Innam L. i. C. 6.-The Palmer framed this fubtile net formally for this fame purpose. Perhaps we must read, fermerly, heretofore. But if we keep the old reading, method, cunningly, defignedly: fecundum forthen formally may mean according to form, or mam, modum et artem: FORMALITER. LXXXVI. But one above the rest in speciall, That had an hog beene late, hight Grylle by name, Repyned greatly.] In fpeciall. Specialmente. Efpecially, particularly. This Grylle mentioned here is well known even to the English reader, from the Fables and dialogues of the Archbishop of Cambray; his name is characteristic of his manners and tafte. feù is the grunting of a hog: dyeu, not fo much as a grunt. Ariftoph. Plut. 17. So yea, grunnire, ygóñños, grunnitus. From the correfpondency of the name to the thing they have fuppofed Gryllus one of Ulyffes' crew, and to have been changed into a hog by Circe. As to the difference between Circe and Aerafia, 'tis meerly nominal, the moral is the fame. We read of Gryllus in the Romance of Palmerin D'Oliva. Part ii. Chap. XLIII. Where Palmerin thus bemoans himself, "Never did "Circe deal fo cruelly with Gryllus, and other "foldiers of the wife Ulyffes, as this villanous old hag hath done with me." Let me add Politian. Epift. L. i. Similes mihi GRYLLO videntur illi, qui cum Ulyffe difputat apud Plutarchum, [Περὶ τᾶ τὰ άλογα λόγῳ χρῆσθαι] nec ullis adduci rationibus poteft, ut è fue rurfus in hominem redire vellet, quem prius ex homine Circe mutaverat in fuem. Sir Guyon's reflection is agreeable for him to make upon this hoggifh choice, "See the "mind of beaftly man, that hath fo foon for"gotten the excellence of his creation." In his own image He Created thee in the image of God Express Milt. vii. 526. That now he choofeth with vile difference i. e. vilely distinguishing: pravo difcrimine. THUS are we come to the end of the 2d book. The 1ft book which we have already examined, was religious; this treats of the foundation of all moral virtue, Temperance. The connection of this book with the former, is visible, not only from the whole thread of the ftory, but from leffer inftances. See B. i. C. 12, St. 36. where the falfe prophet is bound, and yet efcapes, and is now gone forth to trouble Fairy land, whofe deftruction will not be accomplished, till the throne of the Fairy queen is established in righteoufnefs, and in all moral virtues. He [Archimago] must be loofed a little feafon—He shall be loofed out of prison. Com Compare Revel. xix. 20. xx. 3. with B. i. C. 12. St. 36. And B. ii. C. i. St. 1.-The falfe prophet and deceiver had almoft by his lies work'd the deftruction of Sir Guyon and the red-croffe knight, — B. ii. C. 1. St. 8. The Christian knight was well warned, and well armed against his fubtleties. Our moral knight is now his chief object; who is fent upon a high adventure by the Fairy queen, to bring captive to her court an inchantress named Acrafia, in whom is imaged fenfual pleasure or intemperance, fee C. 1. St. 51.-C. 2. St. 42, 43. -C. 9. St. 9. The various adventures which he meets with by the way, are fuch as fhow the virtues and happy effects of temperance, or the vices and ill confequences of intemperance. The opening with the adventure of the bloodyhanded babe, unites the beginning and end, and is conceived with great art. But I will not repeat the adventures, which lie obvious, and are fully, I hope, explained in the notes. How opportunely does Prince Arthur appear, the hero of the poem! who is feeking the Fairy queen, and by his adventures making himself worthy of that Glory to which he afpires. He preferves the life of Sir Guyon, and afterwards utterly extirpates that mifcreated crew of fcoundrels, which, with their meagre, melancholy captain, were befieging the castle of Alma.-Shall I guard the reader against one piece of poor curiofity? not enviously to pry into kitchens, out-houfes, finks, &c. while he is viewing a palace: nor to look for moles and freckles, while he is viewing a Medicean Venus. I will venture to fay, if he finds fome things too eafy, he will find other things too hard. Wisdom hath builded her house, he hath hewn out her feven pillars, Prov. ix. 1. This al legorical houfe is built with fome fpoils from the Pythagorean and Socratic writers.-Whilst the Prince is extirpating the foes of Alma, Sir Guyon fets forward on his queft, and attacks the inchantrefs in her own Ifland. And here our poet has introduced, keeping in view his general allegory, all thofe fpecious miracles, which Homer, mingling truth with fable, had given a poetical fanction to long before; as of Scylla and Charybdis, the fongs of the Syrens, floating Islands, men by enchantments and fenfuality turned into beafts, &c. which marvellous kind of ftories Romance writers feldom forget. Circe, Alcina, Armida, are all rifled to drefs up Acrafia. The characters in this book are the fage Palmer, the fober Guyon, the magnificent Prince Arthur, all well oppofed to the cunning Archimago, and furious Sarazins. Braggadochio and Trompart, are a kind of comic characters. Medina, Alma, Belphoebe, are quite oppofite to Medina's fifters, as likewise to Phaedria and Acrafia. I am thoroughly perfwaded myself, that Spenfer has many hiftorical allufions, and in this light I often confider his poem, as well as in that moral allegory, which is more obvious. In the last verse of this book, the Palmer says, But let us hence depart whilst weather ferves and wind. Sir Guyon and the Palmer leave the Ifland of Arcafia, taking the inchantress along with them, whom they immediately fend to the Queen of Fairy land: they then repair to the houfe of Alma, and join the Briton Prince. VOL. II. Uuu NOTES |