And was arrayed or rather disarrayed, All in a veil of silk and silver thin, But rather shewed more white, if more might be: Nor the fine nets, which oft we woven see Her snowy breast was bare to greedy spoil Of hungry eyes which n' ote therewith be fill'd, - Few drops more clear than nectar forth distill'd, And her fair eyes sweet smiling in delight Moisten'd their fiery beams, with which she thrill'd Frail hearts, yet quenched not; like starry light, Which sparkling on the silent waves does seem more bright." The finest things in Spenser are, the character of Una, in the first book; the House of Pride; the Cave of Mammon, and the Cave of Despair; the account of Memory, of whom it is said, among other things, "The wars he well remember'd of King Nine, the description of Belphœbe; the story of Florimel and the Witch's son; the Gardens of Adonis, and the Bower of Bliss; the Mask of Cupid; and Colin Clout's vision, in the last book. But some people will say that all this may be very fine, but that they cannot understand it on account of the allegory. They are afraid of the allegory, as if they thought it would bite them: they look at it as a child looks at a painted dragon, and think it will strangle them in its shining folds. This is very idle. If they do not meddle with the allegory, the allegory will not meddle with them. Without minding it at all, the whole is as plain 'as a pike-staff. It might as well be pretended that we cannot see Poussin's pictures for the allegory, as that the allegory prevents us from understanding Spenser. For instance, when Britomart, seated amidst the young warriors, lets fall her hair and discovers her sex, is it necessary to know the part she plays in the allegory, to understand the beauty of the following stanza? "And eke that stranger knight amongst the rest Tho when as vailed was her lofty crest, Her golden locks that were in trammels gay And raught unto her heels like sunny beams Or is there any mystery in what is said of Belphœbe, that her hair was sprinkled with flowers and blossoms which had been entangled in it as she fled through the woods? Or is it necessary to have a more distinct idea of Proteus, than that which is given of him in his boat, with the frighted Florimel at his feet, while the cold icicles from his rough beard Dropped adown upon her snowy breast!" Or is it not a sufficient account of one of the seagods that pass by them, to say "That was Arion crowned : So went he playing on the watery plain." Or to take the Procession of the Passions that draw the coach of Pride, in which the figures of Idleness, of Gluttony, of Lechery, of Avarice, of Envy, and of Wrath speak, one should think, plain enough for themselves; such as this of Gluttony: "And by his side rode loathsome Gluttony, Deformed creature, on a filthy swine; His belly was up blown with luxury; And eke with fatness swollen were his eyne; For want whereof poor people oft did pine. In green vine leaves he was right fitly clad; For other clothes he could not wear for heat: And on his head an ivy garland had, From under which fast trickled down the sweat : Still as he rode, he somewhat still did eat. And in his hand did bear a bouzing can, Of which he supt so oft, that on his seat His drunken corse he scarce upholden can; In shape and size more like a monster than a man.” Or this of Lechery: "And next to him rode lustfull Lechery Was like the person's self whom he did bear: Unseemly man to please fair lady's eye : When fairer faces were bid standen by: In a green gown he clothed was full fair, And thousand other ways to bait his fleshly hooks. Inconstant man that loved all he saw, But joyed weak women's hearts to tempt and prove, If from their loyal loves he might them move." This is pretty plain-spoken. Mr. Southey says of Spenser : Yet not more sweet Than pure was he, and not more pure than wise; into On the contrary, no one was more apt to pry mysteries which do not strictly belong to the Muses. Of the same kind with the Procession of the Passions, as little obscure, and still more beautiful, is the Mask of Cupid, with his train of votaries : "The first was Fancy, like a lovely boy His garment neither was of silk nor say, Their tawny bodies in their proudest plight: |