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

CANTO X.] THE FAERIE QUEEN. 469
"And it was seated in an island strong,
(^CANTO X.- Abounding all with delices 7 most rare,
And wall'd by nature'gainst invaders' wrong,
Scudamour doth his conquest telt That none might have access, nor inward fare,8
Of virtuous Amoret: But by one way that passage did prepare.
Great Venus' Temple is describ'd; It was a bridge y-built in goodly wise
And lovers' lifeforth set. With curious corbs 9 and pendants graven fair,
And archid all with porches did arise
"TRUE he it said, whatever man it said, On stately pillars fram'd after the Doric guise:
That love with gall and honey doth abound:
But if the one be with the other weigh'd, And for defence thereof on th' other end
For every dram of honey therein found There reared was a castle fair and strong,
A pound of gall doth over it redound; That warded all which in or out did wend,
That I too true by trial have approv'd; And nkd both the bridge's s along
or since the day that first with deadly ound'Gainst all that would it fain 10 to force or wrong:
My heart was lanc'd, and learned to have lov'd,And therein wonnid 11 twenty valiant knights;
I never joyed hour, but still with care was mov'd. Alltwenty ried inwar's experiencelong;
Whose office was against all manner wights 12
"And yet such grace is giv'n them from above, By all means to maintain that castle's ancient
That all the cares and evil which they meet rights.
May naught at all their settled minds remove, Before that castle was a open plain,
But seem,'gainst common sense, to them most B t c w p
But seem,'gainst common sense, to them ost And in the midst thereof a pillar plac'd;
sweebo t; i thi mrydmu et. On which this shield, of many sought in vain,
As boasting in their martyrdom unmeet.
THE SHIELD OF LOVE, whose guerdonme hath
So all that ever yet I have endur'd
I count as naught, and tread down under feet grac'd,
I count as naught, and tread down under feet, Was hang'd on high, with golden ribands lac'd;
SinceofmyloveatlengthrestassurAnd in the marble stone was written this,
That to disloyalty she will not be allur'd. With golden letters goodly well enchasd;
"Long were to tell the travail and long toil Blessed the man that well can use this bliss:
Through which the Shield of Love I late have Whose ever be the shield, fair Amoret be his.
won, " Which when I read, my heart did inly yearn,
And purchasid this peerless beauty's spoil; And pant with hope of that adventure's hap:
That harder may be ended than begun: Nor staySd further news thereof to learn,
But since ye so desire, your will be done. But with my spear upon the shield did rap
Then hark, ye gentle knights and ladies free, That all the castle ingd with the cl
My hard mnishaps that ye may learn to shun; Straight forth issied a knight all arm'd to proof,
For though sweet love to conquer glorious be, And bravely mounted to his most mishap:
Yet is the pain thereof much greater than the Who, stayin not to uestion from aloof,
fee. Ran fierce at me, that fire glanc'd from his
"What time the fame of this renowned prize horse's hoof.
Flew first abroad, and all men's ears possest; "Whom boldly I encounter'd (as I cold)
I,having arms then taken, gan advise 2 And by good fortune shortly him unseated.
To win me honour by some noble gest,3 Eftsoons outsprang two more of equal mould;
And purchase me some place amongst the best. But I them both with equal hap defeated:
I boldly thought (so young men's thoughts are So all the twenty I likewise entreated,
bold), And left them groaning there upon the plain.
That this same brave emprise for me did rest, Then, pressin to the pillar, I repeated
And that both shield and she whom I behold The read 13 thereof for guerdon of my ain,
Might be my lucky lot; since all by lot we hold. And, taking down the shield, with me did it
"So on that hard adventure forth I went, retain.
And to the place of peril shortly came: " So forth without impediment I past,
That was a temple fair and anci6nt, Till to the bridge's outer gate I came;
Which of great mother Venus bare the name, The which I found sure lock'd and chained fast.
And far renownid through exceeding fame; I knock'd, but no man answer'd me by name;
Much more than that which was in Paphos built, I call'd, but no man answer'd to my claim: 14
Or that in Cyprus,4 both long since 5 this same, Yet I pers6ver'd still to knock and call;
Though all the pillars of the one were gilt, Till at the last I spied within the same
And all the other's pavement were with ivory Where one stood peeping through a crevice small,
spilt.6 To whom I call'd aloud, half angry therewithal.
1 Chaucer has putinto the mouth of Rigour, in " The of Venus stood at Paphos, a town on the west coast of
Court of Love," the statement that women "be bound the island of Cyprus. 5 After.
by nature to deceive, and spin, and weep, and sugar 6 Inlaid. 7 Delights. 8 Pass, go.
strew on gall;" page 205. 9 Corbels. 10 Desire. 11 Dwelt.
2 Bethink myself. 12 Manner of persons. 13 Motto, inscription.
3 Achievement. 14 Call; the literal meaning of "claim," from Latin,
4 The two were really the same; the famous temple " clamo."