XLII.

Stout Priamond, but not fo ftrong to ftrike;
Strong Diamond, but not fo ftout a Knight;
But Triamond was ftout and strong alike:
On horsebacke used Triamond to fight,
And Priamond on foote had more delight;
But horfe and foote knew Diamond to wield:
With curtaxe ufed Diamond to fmite,

And Triamond to handle fpeare and shield, But speare and curtaxe both ufd Priamond in field.

XLIII.

These three did love each other dearely well, And with fo firme affection were allyde,

As if but one foule in them all did dwell, Which did her powre into three parts divyde; Like three faire branches budding farre and wide,

That from one roote deriv❜d their vitall fap: And, like that roote that doth her life divide, Their mother was; and had full bleffed hap These three fo noble babes to bring forth at one clap.

XLIII. 3. As if but one foule in them all did dwell,] This is the moral and allegory of the fable, thus covertly mentioned by our poet according to his manner. There is but one foul in true love and friendhip. Φιλία ἐςὶ μία ψυχὴ ἐν δυοῖν σώμασιν. UPTON. at one clup.] That is,

XLIII. 9.

CHURCH.

at once. Lat. uno ictu. So Shakspeare, in K. Lear, where the king's knights are difcharged: A. i. S. iv. "What, fifty of my followers, at a clap! within a fortnight?" TODD.

XLIV.

Their mother was a Fay, and had the skill
Of fecret things, and all the powres of nature,
Which the by art could ufe unto her will,
And to her fervice bind each living creature,
Through fecret understanding of their feature.
Thereto she was right faire, whenso her face
She lift difcover, and of goodly ftature;
But fhe, as Fayes are wont, in privie place
Did spend her dayes, and lov'd in forests wyld
to space.

XLV.

There on a day a noble youthly Knight,
Seeking adventures in the falvage wood,

Did by great fortune get of her the fight,
As fhe fate careleffe by a cristall flood

XLIV. 1. Their mother was a Fay,] The Fay Agape feems imaged from the Fay Feronia in Virgil, Æn. viii. 564, who had procured for her fon three fouls; and thrice he was to be slain before destroyed.

"Nafcenti cui tres animas Feronia mater

"(Horrendum dictu) dederat."

Virgil fays moreover of the Fay Feronia, "Viridi gaudens Feronia luco." En. vii. 800. Which is exactly what Spenfer

fays of the Fay Agape,

"But fhe, as Fays are wont, in privie place

"Did spend her dayes, and lov'd in forefts wyld to space."

Compare F. Q. iii. iv. 19.

UPTON.

XLIV. 5.

feature.] Fashion,

to space.] To walk,

or roam about. Lat. Sputior. TODD.

XLV. 4. As fhe fate careleffe by a cristall flood,

Combing her golden lockes, &c.] Thus Dulcippa

is forcibly carried away by the knight of the two heads, Seven

VOL. V.

Combing her golden lockes, as feemd her

good;

And unawares upon her laying hold,

That strove in vaine him long to have withftood,

Oppreffed her, and there (as it is told)

Got these three lovely babes, that prov❜d three champions bold:

XLVI.

Which the with her long foftred in that wood, Till that to ripeneffe of mans state they grew : Then, fhewing forth fignes of their fathers blood,

They loved armes, and knighthood did enfew, Seeking adventures where they anie knew. Which when their mother faw, fhe gan to dout Their fafetie; leaft by fearching daungers

new,

And rash provoking perils all about, Their days mote be abridged through their corage ftout.

XLVII.

Therefore defirous th' end of all their dayes. To know, and them t' enlarge with long extent,

Champ. b. 2. ch. 16. "So fitting down upon a green banke under the fhaddow of a myrtle tree, the pulled a golden cawl from her head, wherein her hair was wrapped, and taking out from her cryftalline breaft an ivory comb, the began to combe her hair, &c." Milton's image of Ligea, in Comus, was drawn, and improved, from fome romantick defcription of this kind. T. WARTON.

By wondrous skill and many hidden wayes

To the Three Fatall Sifters Houfe fhe went. Farre under ground from tract of living went, Downe in the bottome of the deepe Abyffe, Where Demogorgon in dull darkneffe pent Farre from the view of gods and heavens bliss The hideous Chaos keepes, their dreadfull dwelling is.

XLVIII.

There she them found all fitting round about
The direfull Distaffe ftanding in the mid,
And with unwearied fingers drawing out
The lines of life, from living knowledge hid.
Sad Clotho held the rocke, the whiles the
thrid

By griefly Lachesis was spun with paine,
That cruell Atropos eftfoones undid,

With curfed knife cutting the twift in twaine : Moft wretched men, whofe dayes depend on thrids fo vaine !

XLIX.

She, them faluting there, by them fate still

Beholding how the thrids of life they span:

XLVII. 4. -the Three Fatall Sifters Houfe] Concerning this houfe, compare Ovid, Met. xv. 808. And Ariofto, C. xxxiv. 88. UPTON.

XLVII. 5.

from tract of living went,] Of the way or path of any living creature. So Chaucer, Troil. and Cref. iii. 786." a privy went." See Junius. UPTON.

XLVII. 9. The hideous Chaos keepes,] That is, prefides over Chaos. See F. Q. i. i. 27. CHURCH.

And when at laft fhe had beheld her fill,
Trembling in heart, and looking pale and wan,
Her cause of comming fhe to tell began.
To whom fierce Atropos; "Bold Fay, that

durft

Come fee the fecret of the life of man, Well worthie thou to be of Iove accurft, And eke thy childrens thrids to be asunder burft!"

L.

Whereat fhe fore affrayd yet her befought

To graunt her boone, and rigour to abate, That the might fee her childrens thrids forth brought,

And know the measure of their utmost date To them ordained by eternall Fate: Which Clotho graunting fhewed her the fame. That when the faw, it did her much amate To fee their thrids fo thin, as fpiders frame, And eke fo fhort, that feemd their ends out fhortly came.

LI.

She then began them humbly to intreate

To draw them longer out, and better twine,
That fo their lives might be prolonged late:

LI. 1. She then begun them humbly to intreate,

To draw them longer out,] Martial, Epigr. iv. 29. "Ultima volventes oravit penfa forores,

"Ut traherent parvâ stamina pulla morâ.". UPTON.