The Faerie Queene

by Edmund Spenser

  12 Was neuer so great ioyance since the day,

  That all the gods whylome assembled were,

  On Hœtnus hill in their diuine array,

  To celebrate the solemne bridall cheare,

  Twixt Peleus, and dame Thetis pointed there;

  Where Phoebus self, that god of Poets hight,

  They say did sing the spousall hymne full cleere,

  That all the gods were rauisht with delight

  Of his celestiall song, & Musicks wondrous might.

  13 This great Grandmother of all creatures bred

  Great Nature, euer young yet full of eld,

  Still moouing, yet vnmoued from her sted;

  Vnseene of any, yet of all beheld;

  Thus sitting in her throne as I haue teld,

  Before her came dame Mutabilitie;

  And being lowe before her presence feld,

  With meek obaysance and humilitie,

  Thus gan her plaintif Plea, with words to amplifie;

  14 To thee ô greatest goddesse, onely great,

  An humble suppliant loe, I lowely fly

  Seeking for Right, which I of thee entreat;

  Who Right to all dost deale indifferently,

  Damning all Wrong and tortious Iniurie,

  Which any of thy creatures doe to other

  (Oppressing them with power, vnequally)

  Sith of them all thou art the equall mother,

  And knittest each to’each, as brother vnto brother.

  15 To thee therefore of this same Ioue I plaine,

  And of his fellow gods that faine to be,

  That challenge to themselues the whole worlds raign;

  Of which, the greatest part is due to me,

  And heauen it selfe by heritage in Fee:

  For, heauen and earth I both alike do deeme,

  Sith heauen and earth are both alike to thee;

  And, gods no more then men thou doest esteeme:

  For, euen the gods to thee, as men to gods do seeme.

  16 Then weigh, ô soueraigne goddesse, by what right

  These gods do claime the worlds whole souerainty;

  And that is onely dew vnto thy might

  Arrogate to themselues ambitiously:

  As for the gods owne principality,

  Which Ioue vsurpes vniustly; that to be

  My heritage, Ioue’s self cannot deny,

  From my great Grandsire Titan, vnto mee,

  Deriv’d by dew descent; as is well knowen to thee.

  17 Yet mauger Ioue, and all his gods beside,

  I doe possesse the worlds most regiment;

  As, if ye please it into parts diuide,

  And euery parts inholders to conuent,

  Shall to your eyes appeare incontinent.

  And first, the Earth (great mother of vs all)

  That only seems vnmov’d and permanent,

  And vnto Mutability not thrall;

  Yet is she chang’d in part, and eeke in generall.

  18 For, all that from her springs, and is ybredde,

  How-euer feyre it flourish for a time,

  Yet see we soone decay; and, being dead,

  To turne again vnto their earthly slime:

  Yet, out of their decay and mortall crime,

  We daily see new creatures to arize;

  And of their Winter spring another Prime,

  Vnlike in forme, and chang’d by strange disguise:

  So turne they still about, and change in restlesse wise.

  19 As for her tenants; that is, man and beasts,

  The beasts we daily see massacred dy,

  As thralls and vassalls vnto mens beheasts:

  And men themselues doe change continually,

  From youth to eld, from wealth to pouerty,

  From good to bad, from bad to worst of all.

  Ne doe their bodies only flit and fly:

  But eeke their minds (which they immortall call)

  Still change and vary thoughts, as new occasions fall.

  20 Ne is the water in more constant case;

  Whether those same on high, or these belowe.

  For, th’Ocean moueth stil, from place to place;

  And euery Riuer still doth ebbe and flowe:

  Ne any Lake, that seems most still and slowe,

  Ne Poole so small, that can his smoothnesse holde,

  When any winde doth vnder heauen blowe;

  With which, the clouds are also tost and roll’d;

  Now like great Hills; &, streight, like sluces, them vnfold.

  21 So likewise are all watry h’uing wights

  Still tost, and turned, with continuall change,

  Neuer abyding in their stedfast plights.

  The fish, still floting, doc at randon range,

  And neuer rest; but euermore exchange

  Their dwelling places, as the streames them carrie:

  Ne haue the watry foules a certaine grange,

  Wherein to rest, ne in one stead do tarry;

  But flitting still doe flie, and still their places vary.

  22 Next is the Ayre: which who feeles not by sense

  (For, of all sense it is the middle meane)

  To flit still? and, with subtill influence

  Of his thin spirit, all creatures to maintaine,

  In state of life? O weake life! that does leane

  On thing so tickle as th’vnsteady ayre;

  Which euery howre is chang’d, and altred cleane

  With euery blast that bloweth fowle or faire:

  The faire doth it prolong; the fowle doth it impaire.

  23 Therein the changes infinite beholde,

  Which to her creatures euery minute chaunce;

  Now, boyling hot: streight, friezing deadly cold:

  Now, faire sun-shine, that makes all skip and daunce:

  Streight, bitter storms and balefull countenance,

  That makes them all to shiuer and to shake:

  Rayne, hayle, and snowe do pay them sad penance,

  And dreadfull thunder-claps (that make them quake)

  With flames & flashing lights that thousand changes make.

  24 Last is the fire: which, though it liue for euer,

  Ne can be quenched quite; yet, euery day,

  Wee see his parts, so soone as they do seuer,

  To lose their heat, and shortly to decay;

  So, makes himself his owne consuming pray.

  Ne any liuing creatures doth he breed:

  But all, that are of others bredd, doth slay;

  And, with their death, his cruell life dooth feed;

  Nought leauing, but their barren ashes, without seede.

  25 Thus, all these fower (the which the ground-work bee

  Of all the world, and of all liuing wights)

  To thousand sorts of Change we subiect see:

  Yet are they chang’d (by other wondrous slights)

  Into themselues, and lose their natiue mights;

  The Fire to Aire, and th’Ayre to Water sheere,

  And Water into Earth: yet Water fights

  With Fire, and Aire with Earth approaching neere:

  Yet all are in one body, and as one appeare.

  26 So, in them all raignes Mutabilitie;

  How-euer these, that Gods themselues do’call,

  Of them doe claime the rule and souerainty:

  As, Vesta, of the fire æthereall;

  Vulcan, of this, with vs so vsuall;

  Ops, of the earth; and Iuno of the Ayre;

  Neptune, of Seas; and Nymphes, of Riuers all.

  For, all those Riuers to me subiect are:

  And all the rest, which they vsurp, be all my share.

  27 Which to approuen true, as I haue told,

  Vouchsafe, ô goddesse, to thy presence call

  The rest which doe the world in being hold:

  As, times and seasons of the yeare that fall:

  Of all the which, demand in generall,

  Or iudge thy selfe, by
verdit of thine eye,

  Whether to me they are not subiect alL

  Nature did yeeld thereto; and by-and-by,

  Bade Order call them all, before her Maiesty.

  28 So, forth issew’d the Seasons of the yeare;

  First, lusty Spring, all dight in leaues of flowres

  That freshly budded and new bloosmes did beare

  (In which a thousand birds had built their bowres

  That sweetly sung, to call forth Paramours):

  And in his hand a iauelin he did beare,

  And on his head (as fit for warlike stoures)

  A guilt engrauen morion he did weare;

  That as some did him loue, so others did him feare.

  29 Then came the iolly Sommer, being dight

  In a thin silken cassock coloured greene,

  That was vnlyned all, to be more light:

  And on his head a girlond well beseene

  He wore, from which as he had chauffed been

  The sweat did drop; and in his hand he bore

  A boawe and shaftes, as he in forrest greene

  Had hunted late the Libbard or the Bore,

  And now would bathe his limbes, with labor heated sore.

  30 Then came the Autumne all in yellow clad,

  As though he ioyed in his plentious store,

  Laden with fruits that made him laugh, full glad

  That he had banisht hunger, which to-fore

  Had by the belly oft him pinched sore.

  Vpon his head a wreath that was enrold

  With eares of corne, of euery sort he bore:

  And in his hand a sickle he did holde,

  To reape the ripened fruits the which the earth had yold.

  31 Lastly, came Winter cloathed all in frize,

  Chattering his teeth for cold that did him chill,

  Whil’st on his hoary beard his breath did freese;

  And the dull drops that from his purpled bill

  As from a limbeck did adown distill.

  In his right hand a tipped staffe he held,

  With which his feeble steps he stayed still:

  For, he was faint with cold, and weak with eld;

  That scarse his loosed limbes he hable was to weld.

  32 These, marching softly, thus in order went,

  And after them, the Monthes all riding came;

  First, sturdy March with brows full sternly bent,

  And armed strongly, rode vpon a Ram,

  The same which ouer Hellespontus swam:

  Yet in his hand a spade he also hent,

  And in a bag all sorts of seeds ysame,

  Which on the earth he strowed as he went,

  And fild her womb with fruitfull hope of nourishment

  33 Next came fresh Aprill full of lustyhed,

  And wanton as a Kid whose home new buds:

  Vpon a Bull he rode, the same which led

  Europa floting through th’Argolick fluds:

  His hornes were gilden all with golden studs

  And garnished with garlonds goodly dight

  Of all the fairest flowres and freshest buds

  Which th’earth brings forth, and wet he seem’d in sight

  With waues, through which he waded for his loues delight.

  34 Then came faire May, the fayrest mayd on ground,

  Deckt all with dainties of her seasons pryde,

  And throwing flowres out of her lap around:

  Vpon two brethrens shoulders she did ride,

  The twinnes of Leda; which on eyther side

  Supported her like to their soueraine Queene.

  Lord! how all creatures laught, when her they spide,

  And leapt and daunc’t as they had rauisht beene!

  And Cupid selfe about her fluttred all in greene.

  35 And after her, came iolly Iune, arrayd

  All in greene leaues, as he a Player were;

  Yet in his time, he wrought as well as playd,

  That by his plough-yrons mote right well appeare:

  Vpon a Crab he rode, that him did beare

  With crooked crawling steps an vncouth pase,

  And backward yode, as Bargemen wont to fare

  Bending their force contrary to their face,

  Like that vngracious crew which faines demurest grace.

  36 Then came hot Iuly boyling like to fire,

  That all his garments he had cast away:

  Vpon a Lyon raging yet with ire

  He boldly rode and made him to obay:

  It was the beast that whylome did fbrray

  The Nemæan forrest, till th’Amphytrionide

  Him slew, and with his hide did him array;

  Behinde his back a sithe, and by his side

  Vnder his belt he bore a sickle circling wide.

  37 The sixt was August, being rich arrayd

  In garment all of gold downe to the ground:

  Yet rode he not, but led a louely Mayd

  Forth by the lilly hand, the which was cround

  With eares of come, and full her hand was found;

  That was the righteous Virgin, which of old

  Liv’d here on earth, and plenty made abound;

  But, after Wrong was lov’d and Iustice solde,

  She left th’vnrighteous world and was to heauen extold.

  38 Next him, September marched eeke on foote;

  Yet was he heauy laden with the spoyle

  Of haruests riches, which he made his boot,

  And him enricht with bounty of the soyle:

  In his one hand, as fit for haruests toyle,

  He held a knife-hook; and in th’other hand

  A paire of waights, with which he did assoyle

  Both more and lesse, where it in doubt did stand,

  And equall gaue to each as Iustice duly scann’d.

  39 Then came October full of merry glee:

  For, yet his noule was totty of the must,

  Which he was treading in the wine-fats see,

  And of the ioyous oyle, whose gentle gust

  Made him so frollick and so full of lust:

  Vpon a dreadfull Scorpion he did ride,

  The same which by Dianaes doom vniust

  Slew great Orion: and eeke by his side

  He had his ploughing share, and coulter ready tyde.

  40 Next was Nouember, he full grosse and fat,

  As fed with lard, and that right well might seeme;

  For, he had been a fatting hogs of late,

  That yet his browes with sweat, did reek and steem,

  And yet the season was full sharp and breem;

  In planting eeke he took no small delight:

  Whereon he rode, not easie was to deeme;

  For it a dreadfull Centaure was in sight,

  The seed of Saturne, and faire Nais, Chiron hight

  41 And after him, came next the chill December:

  Yet he through merry feasting which he made,

  And great bonfires, did not the cold remember;

  His Sauiours birth his mind so much did glad:

  Vpon a shaggy-bearded Goat he rode,

  The same wherewith Dan Ioue in tender yeares,

  They say, was nourisht by th’Idæan mayd;

  And in his hand a broad deepe boawle he beares;

  Of which, he freely drinks an health to all his peeres.

  42 Then came old Ianuary, wrapped well

  In many weeds to keep the cold away;

  Yet did he quake and quiuer like to quell,

  And blowe his nayles to warme them if he may:

  For, they were numbd with holding all the day

  An hatchet keene, with which he felled wood,

  And from the trees did lop the needlesse spray:

  Vpon an huge great Earth-pot steane he stood;

  From whose wide mouth, there flowed forth the Romane

  [floud.

  43 And lastly, came cold February, sitting

  In an old wagon, for he could not ride;
<
br />   Drawne of two fishes for the season fitting,

  Which through the flood before did softly slyde

  And swim away: yet had he by his side

  His plough and harnesse fit to till the ground,

  And tooles to prune the trees, before the pride

  Of hasting Prime did make them burgein round:

  So past the twelue Months forth, & their dew places found.

  44 And after these, there came the Day, and Night,

  Riding together both with equall pase,

  Th’one on a Palfrey blacke, the other white;

  But Night had couered her vncomely face

  With a blacke veile, and held in hand a mace,

  On top whereof the moon and stars were pight,

  And sleep and darknesse round about did trace:

  But Day did beare, vpon his scepters hight,

  The goodly Sun, encompast all with beames bright.

  45 Then came the Howres, faire daughters of high Ioue,

  And timely Night, the which were all endewed

  With wondrous beauty fit to kindle loue;

  But they were Virgins all, and loue eschewed,

  That might forslack the charge to them fore-shewed

  By mighty Ioue’, who did them Porters make

  Of heauens gate (whence all the gods issued)

  Which they did dayly watch, and nightly wake

  By euen turnes, ne euer did their charge forsake.

  46 And after all came Life, and lastly Death;

  Death with most grim and griesly visage seene,

  Yet is he nought but parting of the breath;

  Ne ought to see, but like a shade to weene,

  Vnbodied, vnsoul’d, vnheard, vnseene.

  But Life was like a faire young lusty boy,

  Such as they faine Dan Cupid to haue beene,

  Full of delightfull health and liuely ioy,

  Deckt all with flowres, and wings of gold fit to employ.

  47 When these were past, thus gan the Titanesse;

  Lo, mighty mother, now be iudge and say,

  Whether in all thy creatures more or lesse

  CHANGE doth not raign & beare the greatest sway:

  For, who sees not, that Time on all doth pray?

  But Times do change and moue continually.

  So nothing here long standeth in one stay:

  Wherefore, this lower world who can deny

  But to be subiect still to Mutabilitie?

  48 Then thus gan Ioue; Right true it is, that these

  And all things else that vnder heauen dwell

  Are chaung’d of Time, who doth them all disseise

  Of being: But, who is it (to me tell)

  That Time himselfe doth moue and still compell

  To keepe his course? Is not that namely wee

  Which poure that vertue from our heauenly cell,

  That moues them all, and makes them changed be?