The Canterbury tales and Faerie queene &c., &c., &c., ed. for popular perusal with current illustrations and explanatory notes, by D. Laing Purves.

546 THE FAERIE QUEEN. [BOOK VII.
The younger thrust the elder from his right: Since thou hast seen her dreadful pow'r below,
Since which thou, Jove, injuriously hast held'Mongst wretched men (dismay'd with her af.
The heaven's rule from Titan's sons by might; fright),
And them to hellish dungeons down hast fell'd: To bandy crowns, and kingdoms to bestow:
Witness, ye heav'ns, the truth of all that I have And sure thy worth no less than hers doth seem
tell'd." 1 to show.
Whilst she thus spake, the gods, that gave good " But wot thou this, thou hardy Titaness,. ear That not the worth of any living wight
To her bold words, and marked well her grace May challenge aught in heaven's interess';9
(Being of stature tall as any there Much less the title of old Titan's right:
Of all the gods, and beautiful of face For we by conquest of our sov'reign might,
As any of the goddesses in place), And by eternal doom of Fates' decree,
Stood all astonied; like a sort 2 f steers, Have won the empire of the heavens bright;'Mongst whom some beast of strange and foreign Which to ourselves we hold, and to whom we
race Shall worthy deem partakers of our bliss to be..Unwares is chanc'd, far straying from his peers: " Then cease thy idle claim, thou foolish girl;
So did their ghastly gaze bewray their hidden And seek by grace and goodness to obtain
fears. That place, from which by folly Titan fell:
Till, having paus'd a while, Jove thus bespake; Thereto 10 thou may'stperhaps, if so thou fain,'
" Will never mortal thoughts cease to aspire Have Jove thy gracious lord and sovereiwn."
In this bold sort to heaven claim to make, So having said, she thus to him replied,
Andtouch celestial seats with earthly mire? " Cease, Saturn's son, to seek by profferL vain
I would have thought that bold Procrustes' hire, Of idle hopes t' allure me to thy side,
Or Typhon's fall, or proud Ision's pain, For to betray my right before I have it tried.
Or great Prometheus tasting of our ire,3 " But thee, O Jove, no equal 12 judge I deem
Would have suffic'd the rest for to restrain, Of my desert, or of my dueful right;
And warn'd all men by their example to refrain: That in thine own behalf may'st partial seem:
"But now this off-scum of that cursed fry But to the highest him,ithat is behight 13
Dares to renew the like bold enterprise, Father of Gods and men by equal might,
And challenge th' heritage of this our sky; To wit, the God of Nature, I appeal."
Whom what should hinder, but that we likewise Thereat Jove waxed wroth, and in his sprite
Should handle as the rest of her allies, Did inly grudge, yet did it well conceal;
Andthunder-driveto hell?" Withthathe shook And bade Dan Phoebus scribe her appellation 14
His nectar-dewed locks, with which the skies seal.
And all the world beneath for terror quook, Eftsoons the time and place appointed were,
And eft 4 his burning levin-brand 5 in hand he Where all, both heav'nly pow'rs and earthly
took. wights,
But when he looked on her lovely face, Before great Nature's presence should appear,
In which fair beams of beauty did appear For trial of their titles and best rights;
That could the greatest wrath soon turn to grace That was, to wit, upon the highest heights
<(Such sway doth beauty ev'n in heaven bear), Of Arlo-hill 15 (who knows not Arlo-hill?)
He stay'd his hand; and, having chang'd his That is the highest head, in all men's sights,
cheer,6 Of my old Father Mole, whom shepherd's quill
He thus again in milder wise began; Renownid hath with hymns fit for a rural skill.
"But ah! if gods should strive with flesh y-fere,7 And, were it not ill fitting for this file 16'Then shortly should the progeny of man To sing of hills and woods'mongst wars and
Be rooted out, if Jove should do still what he knights,
can! I would abate the sternness of my style,
"But thee, fair Titan's child, I rather ween'Mongst these stern stounds 7 to mingle soft
Through some vain error, or inducement light, delights:
To see that mortal eyes have never seen; And tell how Arlo, through Diana's spites
Or through ensample of thy sister's might, (Being of old the best and fairest hill
Bellona, whose great glory thou dost spite,8 That was in all this Holy Island's 18 heights),
1 Told. 2 Herd. 6 Countenance. 7 Together.
3 Typhon (rather, Typhoeus) and Prometheus, are 10, be e. d9 Interest
correctly enough reckoned among those who aspired esides. esire.
to the sovereignty of heaven; and though Ixion was not 12 Impartial. 3 Called. 14 Appeal
a Titan, but only king of the Lapithae-not a rival, but 15 Now named Galty More, the loftiest summit in the
only a treacherous guest, of Zeus-his introduction in eastern range of the Ballyhoura hills, called the mounsuch company may be excused, in despite of mytho- tains of Mole in the passage before us, and in " Colin
chronological record. But Procrustes —the Attican Clout's Come Home Again." A defile of Galty More,
robber-chief whose exacting'bed is even yet famous, it is said, is still known as the "Glen of Aharlow."
and of whom Theseus rid the country-belongs to a Arlo is also mentioned by Spenser in his "View of the
totally distinct categoryand periodfrom thosein which Present State of Ireland;" so that the name is not
he is here mentioned. merely a poetic fiction.
4 Then, also. 16 Record, narrative. 17 Alarms, assaults.
5 Thunder-bolt. 1 Ireland's.