Pyrochles gan reply the fecond tyme,

And to him faid; "Now, felon, fure I read, How that thou art partaker of his cryme: Therefore by Termagaunt thou shalt be dead."

With that, his hand, more fad than lomp of lead,

Uplifting high, he weened with Morddure, His owne good fword Morddure, to cleave his head.

The faithfull fteele fuch treafon no'uld endure, But, fwarving from the marke, his Lordes life did affure.

XXXI.

Yet was the force fo furious and so fell,

That horfe and man it made to reele afyde:

XXIX. 7. upreare,] So all the editions. The rhyme requires, and I should fuppofe Spenser gave, upheave. CHURCH.

XXX. 4. Therefore by Termagaunt] In the 33d. stanza, the oath is, By Mahoune. They are generally joined together in the old romances. Termagaunt is the god of the Saracens, and Mahound is Mahomet. See the note on F. Q. vi. vii. 47. "And oftentimes by Termagant and Mahound fwore." TODD. XXX. 5. more fad] More heavy. See

the note on fad, F. Q. i. iii. 10. TODD.

Nath'leffe the Prince would not forfake his

fell,

(For well of yore he learned had to ryde,) But full of anger fiersly to him cryde; "False traitour, mifcreaunt, thou broken haft The law of armes, to ftrike foe undefide: But thou thy treafons fruit, I hope, fhalt tafte

Right fowre, and feele the law, the which thou haft defaft."

XXXII.

With that his balefull fpeare he fiercely bent Against the Pagans breft, and therewith thought

His curfed life out of her lodg have rent: But, ere the point arrived where it ought, That feven-fold fhield, which he from Guyon brought,

He caft between to ward the bitter ftownd: Through all thofe foldes the steelehead paffage wrought,

And through his fhoulder perft; wherwith to ground

He groveling fell, all gored in his gushing wound.

XXXIII.

Which when his brother faw, fraught with

great griefe

And wrath, he to him leaped furiously,

66

And fowly faide; " By Mahoune, curfed

thiefe,

That direfull ftroke thou dearely fhalt aby." Then, hurling up his harmefull blade on hy, Smote him fo hugely on his haughtie crest, That from his faddle forced him to fly: Els mote it needes downe to his manly brest Have cleft his head in twaine, and life thence difpoffeft.

XXXIV..

Now was the Prince in daungerous distreffe, Wanting his fword, when he on foot should fight:

His fingle speare could doe him small redreffe

Against two foes of fo exceeding might,
The leaft of which was match for any
Knight.

And now the other, whom he earft did daunt,
Had reard himselfe againe to cruel fight

Three times more furious and more puiffaunt, Unmindfull of his wound, of his fate ignoraunt.

XXXV.

So both attonce him charge on either fyde With hideous strokes and importable powre,

XXXV. 2, and importable powre,] Power not to be borne, as Mr. Upton obferves; who adds, that importable is ufed by Chaucer. I must also remark, that the accent is here placed on the first fyllable of importable. The pronunciation of insupportable, with the accent on the second fyllable, F. Q. i, vii. 11. is analogous to the example before us. TODD.

That forced him his ground to traverse wyde, And wifely watch to ward that deadly stowre: For on his fhield, as thicke as ftormie fhowre, Their ftrokes did raine; yet did he never quaile,

Ne backward fhrinke; but as a ftedfaft

towre,

Whom foe with double battry doth affaile, Them on her bulwarke beares, and bids them nought availe.

XXXVI.

So ftoutly he withstood their strong affay;
Till that at laft, when he advantage spyde,
His poynant speare he thrust with puisfant
fway

At proud Cymochles, whiles his fhield was wyde,

That through his thigh the mortall steele did gryde:

XXXV. 5. For on his field,] This emendation, made by the first folio, is admitted into all fubfequent editions, except that of 1751, which reads, with Spenfer's own editions, "For in his fhield." TODD.

XXXV. 7. but as a ftedfaft towre,] I have obferved, in another place, that Milton probably remembered Dante's "Sta, come torre ferma," Purgat. C. v. 14, when he faid that Satan "stood like a tower," Par. L. B. i. 591. Spenfer's fimile, in the prefent paffage, might not have been forgotten; although indeed Milton has drawn a picture, unrivalled and proudly eminent. TODD.

XXXVI. 5.

did gryde:] Cut or pierce. See the note on gride, Shep. Cal. Feb. TODD.

He, fwarving with the force, within his flesh Did breake the launce, and let the head abyde:

Out of the wound the red blood flowed fresh, That underneath his feet foone made a purple

plesh.

XXXVII.

Horribly then he gan to rage and rayle, Curfing his gods, and himfelfe damning deepe:

Als when his brother faw the red blood rayle Adowne fo faft, and all his armour steepe, For very felneffe lowd he gan to weepe,

XXXVII. 2.

Macbeth anticipates

himfelfe damning deepe:] Thus

Curfes, not loud, but deep." TODD. XXXVII. 3. the red blood rayle,] So Spenfer's own editions read, to which the edition of 1751, and Mr. Upton, adhere. The reft read trayle; which I reject, not only as being an unauthorised, but also as a very mean, expreffion. To rail is often used by Spenfer for to flow. See the note on F. Q. i. vi. 43. The rhymes here are indeed the fame in found, but not in sense; a practice not infrequent in the Italian poets, and in the Faerie Queene. It is my duty refpectfully to notice the improper introduction of this paffage into Dr. Johnson's Dictionary, as an illuftration of the verb trail; for certainly trail here is not Spenfer's word. TODD.

XXXVII. 4. and all his armour Steepe,] Obferve again the attention of Milton to his master; for he fays that, from the wound of Satan,

"A ftream of nectarous humour iffuing flow'd

"Sanguine, fuch as celeftial Spirits may bleed,
"And all his armour ftain'd." TODD.

XXXVII. 5. For very felneffe lowd he gan to weepe,] He gan to cry aloud for very fierceneffe. The rhyme, Mr. Upton obferves, muft excufe the catachreftical ufe of weepe: Arpaions & uažev, Il. y. 364. TODD.