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

TIU RUINS OF TIZME. 587
Of golden-girt Almena, for great merit,' O fortunate young man! whose-virtue found
Out of the dust, to which the CEtaean wood 0o brave a trump, thy noble.acts to-sound'
Had him consum'd, and spent his vital spirit,
To highest heav'n, where now he doth inherit Therefore in this half happy I do read 8
All happiness in Hebe's silver bow'r, Good elibee,9 that hath a poet got
To sing his living praises being dead,
Chosen to be her dearest paramour. Deserving never heretobefogot,
Deserving never here tobe forgot,
"So rais'd they eke fair Leda's warlike twins, In spite of envy that his deeds would spot:
And interchanged life unto them lent, Since whose decease learning lies unregarded,
That, when th' one dies, the other then begins And men of arms do wander unrewarded.
To shew in heav'n his brightness orient;
And they, for pity of the sad waimnt 2 "Those two be those two: great calamities
Which Orpheus for Eurydic6 did make,
Wmhich Orpheus for Eurydic6 did make, That long ago did grieve the noble sprite
Her back again to life sent for his sake. Of Solomon with great indignities;
Who whilom was alive the wisest wight:
" So happy are they, and so fortunate, But now his wisdom is disproved quite;'Whom the Pierian sacred Sisterslove, For he, that now wields all things at his will,
That, freed from bands of implacable Fate, Scorns th' one and th' other in his deeper skill
And pow'r of death, they live for ay above, "0 grief of griefs! 0 gall of all goodhearts!
hO grief of griefs! O gall of all goodhearts!
Where mortal wreaks z their bliss may not re- To see that virtue should despised be. To see that virtue should despised be
move: Of him that first was rais'd for virtuous parts,
But with the gods, for former virtue's meed, And now, broad spreading like an aged tree,
On nectar and ambrosiadofeed. nd now, broad spreadming lke an aged tree,
On nectar and ambrosia do feed.
Lets none shoot up that nigh him planted be.
"For deeds do die, however nobly done, O let the man, of whom the Muse is scorn'd,
And thoughts of men do as themselves decay: Nor alive nor dead be of the Muse adorn'd! 10
But wise words, taught in numbers for to run,
"O vile world's trust! that with such vain
Recorded by the Muses, live for ay;illusion
Nor may with storming showers.be wash'd
Hath so wise men bewitch'd and overkest,ni
away; That they see not the way of their confusion:
Nor bitter-breathing winds, with harmful blast,
-,,, 0, O vainness! to be added to the rest,
Nor age, nor envy, shall them ever waste.
Nor age, nor en, That do my soul with inward grief infest:
"In vain do earthly princes then, in vain, Let them behold the piteous fall of me,
Seek with pyramides to heav'n aspir'd, And in my case their own ensample see.
Or huge colosses built with.costly pain,And whoso else that sits in highest seat
Or.brazen pillars, never to be fird, Of this world's glory, worshipped of all,
Or shrines made. of the-metal most desird, Nor feareth change of time, nor fortune'sthreat.
To make their memories for ever live: Let him behold the horror of my fall,
For how can mortal immortality give? And his end unto remembrnce call;
"Such one Mausolus 4 made, the world's great That ef like ruin he may warned be,
wonder, And in himself be mov'd to pity me."
But now no remnant doth thereof remain: Thus having ended all her piteous plaint,
Such one Marcellus, but was tornwiththunder: With doleful shrieks she vanished away,
Such one Lysippus, but is worn with rain: That I, through inward sorrow waxen faint,
Such one King Edmund, but was rent for gain. And all astonished with deep dismay
All such vain monuments of earthly mass, For her departure, had no word to say;
Devour'd of Time, in time to naught do pass. But sat long time insenseless sad affright,
"But Fame with golden wings aloft doth fly, Looking still, if I might of her have sight.
Above the reach of ruinous decay, Which when I missed, having looked long,
And with brave plumes doth beat the azure sky, My thought returned grieved home again,
Admir'd of base-born men from far away: Renewing her complaint, with passion strong,
Then whoso will with virtuous deeds assay For ruth of that same woman's piteous pain;
To mount to heav'n, on Pegasus must ride, Whose words recording in my troubled brain,
And with sweet poets' verse be glorified. I felt such anguish wound my feeble heart,
"For not to have been dipt in Lethe Lake That frozen horror ran through ev'ry part.
Could save the son of Thetis 5 from to die; So inly grieving in my groaning breast,
But that blind Bard 6 did him immortal make And deeply musing at her doubtful speech,
With verses dipt in dew of Castalie: Whose meaning much I labour'd forth to wrest,
Which made the Eastern conqueror 7 to cry, Being above my slender reason's reach;
1 Castor and Pollux. 2 Lamentation. Melibee. See note 3, page 532. The poet referred to
3 Revenges, violences. is Thomas Watson.
4 Not Mausolus, but Artemisia, his widow.:See 1o These bitter lines are pointed against Burleigh, who
note 4, page 129. on more than one occasion had put forth his influence
5 Achilles. to the disadvantage of the poet; and not least con6 Homer. spicuously in regard to the first three books of "'The
7 Alexander, the conqueror of the East. Faerie Queen," which had been publishedthe yearbefore
8 Declare. the volume wherein "The Ruins of Time" appeared.
9 Sir Francis Walshingham, who had died in 1590, is See note 1, page 444. 11 Overcast.