[Fol. D7v; p. 60] Canto 5
The faithfull knight in equall field subdewes his faithlesse foe, Whom false Duessa saues, and for his cure to hell does goe.
iAnd is with child of glorious great intent,Can neuer rest, vntill it forth haue broughtTh'eternall brood of glorie excellent:Such restlesse passion did all night tormentThe flaming corage of that Faery knight,Deuizing, how that doughtie turnamentWith greatest honour he atchieuen might;Still did wake, and still did watch for dawning light.
iiOf greatest heauen gan to open faire,And Phœbus fresh, as bridegrome to his mate,Came dauncing forth, shaking his deawie haire:And hurls his glistring beames through gloomy aire.Which when the wakeful Elfe perceiu'd, streight wayHe started vp, and did him selfe prepaire,In sun-bright armes, and battailous array:For with that Pagan proud he combat will that day.
iiiWhere earely waite him many a gazing eye,To weet what end to straunger knights may fall.There many Minstrales maken melody,[Fol. D8r; p. 61] To driue away the dull melancholy,And many Bardes, that to the trembling chordCan tune their timely voyces cunningly,And many Chroniclers, that can recordOld loues, and warres for Ladies doen by many a Lord.
ivIn wouen maile all armed warily,And sternly lookes at him, who not a pinDoes care for looke of liuing creatures eye.They bring them wines of Greece and Araby,And daintie spices fetcht from furthest Ynd,To kindle heat of corage priuily:And in the wine a solemne oth they byndT'obserue the sacred lawes of armes, that are assynd.
vWith royall pomp and Princely maiestie;She is ybrought vnto a paled greene,And placed vnder stately canapee,The warlike feates of both those knights to see.On th'other side in all mens open vewDuessa placed is, and on a treeSans-foy his shield is hangd with bloudy hew:Both those the lawrell girlonds to the victor dew.
viAnd vnto battaill bad them selues addresse:Their shining shieldes about their wrestes they tye,And burning blades about their heads do blesse,The instruments of wrath and heauinesse:With greedy force each other doth assayle,And strike so fiercely, that they do impresseDeepe dinted furrowes in the battred mayle;The yron walles to ward their blowes are weake & fraile.
viiAnd heaped blowes like yron hammers great:For after bloud and vengeance he did long.The knight was fiers, and full of youthly heat:And doubled strokes, like dreaded thunders threat:For all for prayse and honour he did fight.Both stricken strike, and beaten both do beat,That from their shields forth flyeth firie light,And helmets hewen deepe, shew marks of eithers might.
viiiAs when a Gryfon seized of his pray,A Dragon fiers encountreth in his flight,Through widest ayre making his ydle way,That would his rightfull rauine rend away:With hideous horrour both together smight,And souce so sore, that they the heauens affray:The wise Southsayer seeing so sad sight,Th'amazed vulgar tels of warres and mortall fight.
ixAnd each to deadly shame would driue his foe:The cruell steele so greedily doth bightIn tender flesh, that streames of bloud down flow,With which the armes, that earst so bright did showInto a pure vermillion now are dyde:Great ruth in all the gazers harts did grow,Seeing the gored woundes to gape so wyde,That victory they dare not wish to either side.
xHis suddein eye, flaming with wrathfull fyre,Vpon his brothers shield, which hong thereby:Therewith redoubled was his raging yre,[Fol. E1r; p. 63] And said, Ah wretched sonne of wofull syre,Doest thou sit wayling by black Stygian lake,Whilest here thy shield is hangd for victors hyre,And sluggish german doest thy forces slake,To after-send his foe, that him may ouertake?
xiAnd soone redeeme from his long wandring woe;Goe guiltie ghost, to him my message make,That I his shield haue quit from dying foe.Therewith vpon his crest he stroke him so,That twise he reeled, readie twise to fall;End of the doubtfull battell deemed thoThe lookers on, and lowd to him gan callThe false Duessa, Thine the shield, and I, and all.
xiiOut of his swowning dreame he gan awake,And quickning faith, that earst was woxen weake,The creeping deadly cold away did shake:Tho mou'd with wrath, and shame, and Ladies sake,Of all attonce he cast auengd to bee,And with so'exceeding furie at him strake,That forced him to stoupe vpon his kneeHad he not stouped so, he should haue clouen bee.
xiiiThy selfe thy message doe to german deare,Alone he wandring thee too long doth want:Goe say, his foe thy shield with his doth beare.Therewith his heauie hand he high gan reare,Him to haue slaine; when loe a darkesome clowdVpon him fell: he no where doth appeare,But vanisht is. The Elfe him cals alowd,But answer none receiues: the darknes him does shrowd.
xivAnd to him running said, O prowest knight,That euer Ladie to her loue did chose,Let now abate the terror of your might,And quench the flame of furious despight,And bloudie vengeance; lo th'infernall powresCouering your foe with cloud of deadly night,Haue borne him hence to Plutoes balefull bowres.The conquest yours, I yours, the shield, and glory yours.
xvHe sought all round about, his thirstie bladeTo bath in bloud of faithlesse enemy;Who all that while lay hid in secret shade:He standes amazed, how he thence should fade.At last the trumpets, Triumph sound on hie,And running Heralds humble homage made,Greeting him goodly with new victorie,And to him brought the shield, the cause of enmitie.
xviAnd falling her before on lowly knee,To her makes present of his seruice seene:Which she accepts, with thankes, and goodly gree,Greatly aduauncing his gay cheualree.So marcheth home, and by her takes the knight,Whom all the people follow with great glee,Shouting, and clapping all their hands on hight,That all the aire it fils, and flyes to heauen bright.
xviiWhere many skilfull leaches him abide,To salue his hurts, that yet still freshly bled.In wine and oyle they wash his woundes wide,[Fol. E2r; p. 65] And softly can embalme on euery side.And all the while, most heauenly melodyAbout the bed sweet musicke did diuide,Him to beguile of griefe and agony:And all the while Duessa wept full bitterly.
xviiiBy muddy shore of broad seuen-mouthed Nile,Vnweeting of the perillous wandring wayes,Doth meet a cruell craftie Crocodile,Which in false griefe hyding his harmefull guile,Doth weepe full sore, and sheddeth tender teares:The foolish man, that pitties all this whileHis mournefull plight, is swallowd vp vnwares,Forgetfull of his owne, that mindes anothers cares.
xixThat shyning lampes in Ioues high house were light:Then forth she rose, ne lenger would abide,But comes vnto the place, where th'Hethen knightIn slombring swownd nigh voyd of vitall spright,Lay couer'd with inchaunted cloud all day:Whom when she found, as she him left in plight,To wayle his woefull case she would not stay,But to the easterne coast of heauen makes speedy way.
xxThat Phœbus chearefull face durst neuer vew,And in a foule blacke pitchie mantle clad,She findes forth comming from her darkesome mew,Where she all day did hide her hated hew.Before the dore her yron charet stood,Alreadie harnessed for iourney new;And coleblacke steedes yborne of hellish brood,That on their rustie bits did champ, as they were wood.
xxiAdornd with gold and iewels shining cleare,She greatly grew amazed at the sight,And th'vnacquainted light began to feare:For neuer did such brightnesse there appeare,And would haue backe retyred to her caue,Vntill the witches speech she gan to heare,Saying, yet ô thou dreaded Dame, I craueAbide, till I haue told the message, which I haue.
xxiiO thou most auncient Grandmother of all,More old then Ioue, whom thou at first didst breede,Or that great house of Gods cælestiall,Which wast begot in Dæmogorgons hall,And sawst the secrets of the world vnmade,Why suffredst thou thy Nephewes deare to fallWith Elfin sword, most shamefully betrade?Lo where the stout Sansioy doth sleepe in deadly shade.
xxiiiThe bold Sansfoy shrinke vnderneath his speare;And now the pray of fowles in field he lyes,Nor wayld of friends, nor laid on groning beare,That whylome was to me too dearely deare.O what of Gods then boots it to be borne,If old Aveugles sonnes so euill heare?Or who shall not great Nightes children scorne,When two or three her Nephewes are so fowle forlorne?
xxivGo gather vp the reliques of thy race,Or else goe them auenge, and let be seene,That dreaded Night in brightest day hath place,[Fol. E3r; p. 67] And can the children of faire light deface.Her feeling speeches some compassion mouedIn hart, and chaunge in that great mothers face:Yet pittie in her hart was neuer prouedTill then: for euermore she hated, neuer loued.
xxvThe fall of famous children borne of mee,And good successes, which their foes ensew:But who can turne the streame of destinee,Or breake the chayne of strong necessitee,Which fast is tyde to Ioues eternall seat?The sonnes of Day he fauoureth, I see,And by my ruines thinkes to make them great:To make one great by others losse, is bad excheat.
xxviFor some shall pay the price of others guilt:And he the man that made Sansfoy to fall,Shall with his owne bloud price that he hath spilt.But what art thou, that telst of Nephews kilt?I that do seeme not I, Duessa am,(Quoth she) how euer now in garments gilt,And gorgeous gold arayd I to thee came;Duessa I, the daughter of Deceipt and Shame.
xxviiThe wicked witch, saying; In that faire faceThe false resemblance of Deceipt, I wistDid closely lurke; yet so true-seeming graceIt carried, that I scarse in darkesome placeCould it discerne, though I the mother beeOf falshood, and root of Duessaes race.O welcome child, whom I haue longd to see,And how haue seene vnwares. Lo now I go with thee.
xxviiiAnd with her beares the fowle welfauourd witch:Through mirkesome aire her readie way she makes.Her twyfold Teme, of which two blacke as pitch,And two were browne, yet each to each vnlich,Did softly swim away, ne euer stampe,Vnlesse she chaunst their stubborne mouths to twitch;Then foming tarre, their bridles they would champe,And trampling the fine element, would fiercely rampe.
xxixVnto the place, whereas the Paynim lay,Deuoid of outward sense, and natiue strength,Couerd with charmed cloud from vew of day,And sight of men, since his late luckelesse fray.His cruell wounds with cruddy bloud congealed,They binden vp so wisely, as they may,And handle softly, till they can be healed:So lay him in her charet, close in night concealed.
xxxThe wakefull dogs did neuer cease to bay,As giuing warning of th'vnwonted sound,With which her yron wheeles did them affray,And her darke griesly looke them much dismay;The messenger of death, the ghastly OwleWith drearie shriekes did also her bewray;And hungry Wolues continually did howle,At her abhorred face, so filthy and so fowle.
xxxiAnd brought the heauie corse with easie paceTo yawning gulfe of deepe Auernus hole.By that same hole an entrance darke and bace[Fol. E4r; p. 69] With smoake and sulphure hiding all the place,Descends to hell: there creature neuer past,That backe returned without heauenly grace;But dreadfull Furies, which their chaines haue brast,And damned sprights sent forth to make ill men aghast.
xxxiiTheir mournefull charet, fild with rusty blood,And downe to Plutoes house are come biliue:Which passing through, on euery side them stoodThe trembling ghosts with sad amazed mood,Chattring their yron teeth, and staring wideWith stonie eyes; and all the hellish broodOf feends infernall flockt on euery side,To gaze on earthly wight, that with the Night durst ride.
xxxiiiWhere many soules sit wailing woefully,And come to fiery flood of Phlegeton,Whereas the damned ghosts in torments fry,And with sharpe shrilling shriekes doe bootlesse cry,Cursing high Ioue, the which them thither sent.The house of endlesse paine is built thereby,In which ten thousand sorts of punishmentThe cursed creatures doe eternally torment.
xxxivHis three deformed heads did lay along,Curled with thousand adders venemous,And lilled forth his bloudie flaming tong:At them he gan to reare his bristles strong,And felly gnarre, vntill dayes enemyDid him appease; then downe his taile he hongAnd suffered them to passen quietly:For she in hell and heauen had power equally.
xxxvFor daring tempt the Queene of heauen to sin;And Sisyphus an huge round stone did reeleAgainst an hill, ne might from labour lin;There thirstie Tantalus hong by the chin;And Tityus fed a vulture on his maw;Typhœus ioynts were stretched on a gin,Theseus condemned to endlesse slouth by law,And fifty sisters water in leake vessels draw.
xxxviLeaue off their worke, vnmindfull of their smart,To gaze on them; who forth by them doe pace,Till they be come vnto the furthest part:Where was a Caue ywrought by wondrous art,Deepe, darke, vneasie, dolefull, comfortlesse,In which sad {AE}sculapius farre a partEmprisond was in chaines remedilesse,For that Hippolytus rent corse he did redresse.
xxxviiThat wont in charet chace the foming Bore;He all his Peeres in beautie did surpas,But Ladies loue as losse of time forbore:His wanton stepdame loued him the more,But when she saw her offred sweets refusedHer loue she turnd to hate, and him beforeHis father fierce of treason false accused,And with her gealous termes his open eares abused.
xxxviiiSome cursed vengeance on his sonne to cast:From surging gulf two monsters straight were brought,With dread whereof his chasing steedes aghast,[Fol. E5r; p. 71] Both charet swift and huntsman ouercast.His goodly corps on ragged clifts yrent,Was quite dismembred, and his members chastScattered on euery mountaine, as he went,That of Hippolytus was left no moniment.
xxxixHer wicked dayes with wretched knife did end,In death auowing th'innocence of her sonne.Which hearing his rash Syre, began to rendHis haire, and hastie tongue, that did offend:Tho gathering vp the relicks of his smartBy Dianes meanes, who was Hippolyts frend,Them brought to {AE}sculape, that by his artDid heale them all againe, and ioyned euery part.
xlWhen Ioue auizd, that could the dead reuiue,And fates expired could renew againe,Of endlesse life he might him not depriue,But vnto hell did thrust him downe aliue,With flashing thunderbolt ywounded sore:Where long remaining, he did alwaies striueHimselfe with salues to health for to restore,And slake the heauenly fire, that raged euermore.
xliFrom her high wearie waine, and in her armesTo {AE}sculapius brought the wounded knight:Whom hauing softly disarayd of armes,Tho gan to him discouer all his harmes,Beseeching him with prayer, and with praise,If either salues, or oyles, or herbes, or charmesA fordonne wight from dore of death mote raise,He would at her request prolong her nephews daies.
xliiTo dare the thing, which daily yet I rew,And the old cause of my continued paineWith like attempt to like end to renew.Is not enough, that thrust from heauen dewHere endlesse penance for one fault I pay,But that redoubled crime with vengeance newThou biddest me to eeke? Can Night defrayThe wrath of thundring Ioue, that rules both night and day?
xliiiFrom hope of heauen hath thee excluded quight,Why fearest thou, that canst not hope for thing,And fearest not, that more thee hurten might,Now in the powre of euerlasting Night?Goe to then, ô thou farre renowmed sonneOf great Apollo, shew thy famous mightIn medicine, that else hath to thee wonneGreat paines, & greater praise, both neuer to be donne.
xlivHis cunning hand gan to his wounds to lay,And all things else, the which his art did teach:Which hauing seene, from thence arose awayThe mother of dread darknesse, and let stayAueugles sonne there in the leaches cure,And backe returning tooke her wonted way,To runne her timely race, whilst Phœbus pureIn westerne waues his wearie wagon did recure.
xlvReturnd to stately pallace of dame Pride;Where when she came, she found the Faery knightDeparted thence, albe his woundes wide[Fol. E6r; p. 73] Not throughly heald, vnreadie were to ride.Good cause he had to hasten thence away;For on a day his wary Dwarfe had spide,Where in a dongeon deepe huge numbers layOf caytiue wretched thrals, that wayled night and day.
xlviOf whom he learned had in secret wiseThe hidden cause of their captiuitie,How mortgaging their liues to Couetise,Through wastfull Pride, and wanton Riotise,There were by law of that proud TytannesseProuokt with {W}rath, and Enuies false surmise,Condemned to that Dongeon mercilesse,Where they should liue in woe, & die in wretchednesse.
xlviiThat would compell all nations to adore,And him as onely God to call vpon,Till through celestiall doome throwne out of dore,Into an Oxe he was transform'd of yore:There also was king Cræsus, that enhaunstHis heart too high through his great riches store;And proud Antiochus, the which aduaunstHis cursed hand gainst God, and on his altars daunst.
xlviiiThat first the world with sword and fire warrayd;And after him old Ninus farre did pasIn princely pompe, of all the world obayd;There also was that mightie Monarch laydLow vnder all, yet aboue all in pride,That name of natiue syre did fowle vpbrayd,And would as Ammons sonne be magnifide,Till scornd of God and man a shamefull death he dide.
xlixLike carkases of beasts in butchers stall.And in another corner wide were strowneThe antique ruines of the Romaines fall:Great Romulus the Grandsyre of them all,Proud Tarquin, and too lordly Lentulus,Stout Scipio, and stubborne Hanniball,Ambitious Sylla, and sterne Marius,High Cæsar, great Pompey, and fierce Antonius.
lProud wemen, vaine, forgetfull of their yoke:The bold Semiramis, whose sides transfixtWith sonnes owne blade, her fowle reproches spoke;Faire Sthenobœa, that her selfe did chokeWith wilfull cord, for wanting of her will;High minded Cleopatra, that with strokeOf Aspes sting her selfe did stoutly kill:And thousands moe the like, that did that dongeon fill.
liWhich thither were assembled day by day,From all the world after their wofull falles,Through wicked pride, and wasted wealthes decay.But most of all, which in that Dongeon layFell from high Princes courts, or Ladies bowres,Where they in idle pompe, or wanton play,Consumed had their goods, and thriftlesse howres,And lastly throwne themselues into these heauy stowres.
liiAnd made ensample of their mournefull sightVnto his maister, he no lenger wouldThere dwell in perill of like painefull plight,[Fol. E7r; p. 75] But early rose, and ere that dawning lightDiscouered had the world to heauen wyde,He by a priuie Posterne tooke his flight,That of no enuious eyes he mote be spyde:For doubtlesse death ensewd, if any him descryde.
liiiFor many corses, like a great Lay-stallOf murdred men which therein strowed lay,Without remorse, or decent funerall:Which all through the great Princesse pride did fallAnd came to shamefull end. And them besideForth ryding vnderneath the castell wall,A donghill of dead carkases he spide,The dreadfull spectacle of that sad house of Pride.
