Thus finely did he his falfe nets difpred,

With which he many weake harts had fubdewd had ylike misled:

Of yore, and many

What wonder then if the were likewife carried?

X.

No fort fo fenfible, no wals fo ftrong,
But that continuall battery will rive,
Or daily fiege, through difpurvayaunce long
And lacke of reskewes, will to parley drive;
And peece, that unto parley eare will give,
Will fhortly yield itselfe, and will be made
The vaffall of the victors will bylive:
That ftratageme had oftentimes affayd
This crafty paramoure, and now it plaine dif-
play'd:

XI.

For through his traines he her intrapped hath,
That the her love and hart hath wholy fold
To him without regard of gaine, or fcath,
Or care of credite, or of husband old,

explanations, or any other he fhall think fit, from thefe hints given, to make for himself. UPTON.

X. 1.

fenfible,] So Spenfer's own editions and the two first folios read. The folio of 1679, Hughes, and the edition of 1751, read fenfible. CHURCH.

Mr. Upton, and Tonfon's edition in 1758, give the original and genuine reading alfo, fenfible. TODD.

X. 5. peece,] Caftle, as in F. Q. ii. xi. 14. See alfo Speed's Hift. of Gr. Brit. fol. p. 1169. "The Fleete thus encreased, they landed in Portugall, euen vnder shot of the Caftle of Peniche-Of this Towne, and Peece, Conde de Fuentes had the command." Some editions corruptly read peace.

TODD..

Whom the hath vow'd to dub a fayre cuc

quóld.

Nought wants but time and place, which shortly shee

Devized hath, and to her Lover told.

It pleased well: So well they both agree; So readie rype to ill ill wemens counfels bee!

XII.

Darke was the evening, fit for lovers ftealth. When chaunft Malbecco bufie be elsewhere, She to his closet went, where all his wealth Lay hid; thereof the countleffe fummes did

reare,

The which she meant away with her to beare;
The reft the fyr'd, for fport or for defpight:
As Hellene, when fhe faw aloft appeare
The Troiane flames and reach to hevens
hight,

XII. 1.

-Stealth.] All the editions

here place a comma only. CHURCH.

XII. 5.

to beare;] The edition of

1751 here places a full point. All the editions a full stop at the end of the ftanza. CHURCH.

The Troiane flames &c.]

XII. 7. As Hellene, when fhe faw aloft appeare Neither the poets, nor historians, are at all agreed concerning Helen's conduct and behaviour at the fiege of Troy. Menelaus (in Homer, Od. .) plainly fays the endeavoured by her artifice to ruin the Greeks, infpired by fome evil demon. Virgil calls her the common pest of Troy and Greece; and, as deservedly odious to both, makes her hide herself, and fly to the altars for refuge, Æn. ii. 571. And introduces Deiphobus relating how Helen betrayed him to her husband, and giving a fignal to the Greeks, En. vi. 511.

Did clap her hands, and ioyed at that doleful

fight;

XIII.

The fecond Hellene, fayre Dame Hellenore, The whiles her husband ran with fory hafte To quench the flames which she had tyn'd before,

Laught at his foolish labour spent in wafte, And ran into her Lovers armes right fast; Where ftreight embraced the to him did cry And call alowd for helpe, ere helpe were paft; For lo! that Gueft did beare her forcibly, And meant to ravish her, that rather had to dy!

XIV.

The wretched man hearing her call for ayd,
And ready feeing him with her to fly,
In his difquiet mind was much dismayd:
But when againe he backeward caft his eye,
And faw the wicked fire fo furiously

Confume his hart, and fcorch his idoles face,
He was therewith diftreffed diverfely,

"Flammam media ipfa tenebat

"Ingentem, et fumma Danaos ex arce vocabat." Our poet adds that the rejoiced to fee Troy in flames, as if, through female petulancy, he loved mischief for mifchief's fake. UPTON.

XIII. 8.

did beare &c.] So Spenfer's own editions, and thofe of 1751, Upton, and Church, read. The "would beare &c."

reft read,

TODD.

that rather had to dy !] Quæ

XIII. 9. mallet mori, ironically. UPTON.

Ne wift he how to turne, nor to what place: Was never wretched man in fuch a wofull cace. XV.

Ay when to him fhe cryde, to her he turnd, And left the fire; Love Money overcame : But, when he marked how his money burnd, He left his wife; Money did Love disclame : Both was he loth to loose his loved dame, And loth to leave his liefest pelfe behinde; Yet, fith he no'te fave both, he fay'd that fame

Which was the dearest to his dounghill minde, The god of his defire, the ioy of mifers blinde.

XVI.

Thus whileft all things in troublous uprore were, And all men bufie to fuppreffe the flame, The loving couple neede no refkew feare, But leafure had and liberty to frame

Their purpoft flight, free from all mens reclame;

And Night, the patroneffe of love-ftealth fayre,

Gave them fafe conduct till to end they came: So beene they gone yfere, a wanton payre Of lovers loosely knit, where lift them to repayre.

XVII.

Soone as the cruell flames yflaked were,
Malbecco, feeing how his loffe did lye,

Out of the flames which he had quencht

whylere,

Into huge waves of griefe and gealofye
Full deepe emplonged was, and drowned nye
Twixt inward doole and felonous defpight:
He rav'd, he wept, he stampt, he lowd did
cry;

And all the paffions, that in man may light, Did him attonce oppreffe, and vex his caytive fpright.

XVIII.

Long thus he chawd the cud of inward griefe,
And did confume his gall with anguish fore:
Still when he mufed on his late mischiefe,
Then ftill the fmart thereof increased more,
And feemd more grievous then it was before:
At laft when forrow he faw booted nought,
Ne griefe might not his Love to him restore,
He
gan devife how her he reskew mought;
Ten thousand wayes he caft in his confused
thought.

XIX.

At laft refolving, like a pilgrim pore,

To fearch her forth wherefo fhe might be fond,

And bearing with him treasure in close store,

XVIII 4. Then still &c.] So the fecond and all the later editions read. The firft," So ftill &c." CHURCH.