Complete Works of Edmund Spenser

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by Edmund Spenser


  And records of antiquitie appeare, 85

  To which no wit of man may comen neare;

  Helpe me to tell the names of all those floods,

  And all those nymphes, which then assembled were

  To that great banquet of the watry gods,

  And all their sundry kinds, and all their hid abodes. 90

  XI

  First came great Neptune with his three-forkt mace,

  That rules the seas, and makes them rise or fall;

  His dewy lockes did drop with brine apace,

  Under his diademe imperiall:

  And by his side his queene with coronall, 95

  Faire Amphitrite, most divinely faire,

  Whose yvorie shoulders weren covered all,

  As with a robe, with her owne silver haire,

  And deckt with pearles, which th’ Indian seas for her prepaire.

  XII

  These marched farre afore the other crew; 100

  And all the way before them as they went,

  Triton his trompet shrill before them blew,

  For goodly triumph and great jollyment,

  That made the rockes to roare, as they were rent.

  And after them the royall issue came, 105

  Which of them sprung by lineall descent:

  First the sea-gods, which to themselves doe clame

  The powre to rule the billowes, and the waves to tame:

  XIII

  Phorcys, the father of that fatall brood,

  By whom those old heroes wonne such fame; 110

  And Glaucus, that wise southsayes understood;

  And tragicke Inoes sonne, the which became

  A god of seas through his mad mothers blame,

  Now hight Palemon, and is saylers frend;

  Great Brontes, and Astræus, that did shame 115

  Himselfe with incest of his kin unkend;

  And huge Orion, that doth tempests still portend;

  XIV

  The rich Cteatus, and Eurytus long;

  Neleus and Pelias, lovely brethren both;

  Mightie Chrysaor, and Caïcus strong; 120

  Eurypulus, that calmes the waters wroth;

  And faire Euphœmus, that upon them goth

  As on the ground, without dismay or dread;

  Fierce Eryx, and Alebius that know’th

  The waters depth, and doth their bottome tread; 125

  And sad Asopus, comely with his hoarie head.

  XV

  There also some most famous founders were

  Of puissant nations, which the world possest;

  Yet sonnes of Neptune, now assembled here:

  Ancient Ogyges, even th’ auncientest, 130

  And Inachus renowmd above the rest;

  Phœnix, and Aon, and Pelasgus old,

  Great Belus, Phœax, and Agenor best;

  And mightie Albion, father of the bold

  And warlike people which the Britaine Islands hold. 135

  XVI

  For Albion the sonne of Neptune was,

  Who, for the proofe of his great puissance,

  Out of his Albion did on dry-foot pas

  Into old Gall, that now is cleeped France,

  To fight with Hercules, that did advance 140

  To vanquish all the world with matchlesse might,

  And there his mortall part by great mischance

  Was slaine: but that which is th’ immortall spright

  Lives still, and to this feast with Neptunes seed was dight.

  XVII

  But what doe I their names seeke to reherse, 145

  Which all the world have with their issue fild?

  How can they all in this so narrow verse

  Contayned be, and in small compasse hild?

  Let them record them, that are better skild,

  And know the moniments of passed age: 150

  Onely what needeth shall be here fulfild,

  T’ expresse some part of that great equipage,

  Which from great Neptune do derive their parentage.

  XVIII

  Next came the aged Ocean, and his dame,

  Old Tethys, th’ oldest two of all the rest, 155

  For all the rest of those two parents came,

  Which afterward both sea and land possest:

  Of all which Nereus, th’ eldest and the best,

  Did first proceed, then which none more upright,

  Ne more sincere in word and deed profest; 160

  Most voide of guile, most free from fowle despight,

  Doing him selfe, and teaching others to doe right.

  XIX

  Thereto he was expert in prophecies,

  And could the ledden of the gods unfold,

  Through which, when Paris brought his famous prise, 165

  The faire Tindarid lasse, he him fortold,

  That her all Greece with many a champion bold

  Should fetch againe, and finally destroy

  Proud Priams towne. So wise is Nereus old,

  And so well skild; nathlesse he takes great joy 170

  Oft-times amongst the wanton nymphs to sport and toy.

  XX

  And after him the famous rivers came,

  Which doe the earth enrich and beautifie:

  The fertile Nile, which creatures new doth frame;

  Long Rhodanus, whose sourse springs from the skie; 175

  Faire Ister, flowing from the mountaines hie;

  Divine Scamander, purpled yet with blood

  Of Greekes and Trojans, which therein did die;

  Pactolus glistring with his golden flood,

  And Tygris fierce, whose streames of none may be withstood; 180

  XXI

  Great Ganges, and immortall Euphrates,

  Deepe Indus, and Mæander intricate,

  Slow Peneus, and tempestuous Phasides,

  Swift Rhene, and Alpheus still immaculate;

  Ooraxes, feared for great Cyrus fate; 185

  Tybris, renowmed for the Romaines fame;

  Rich Oranochy, though but knowen late;

  And that huge river, which doth beare his name

  Of warlike Amazons, which doe possesse the same.

  XXII

  Joy on those warlike women, which so long 190

  Can from all men so rich a kingdome hold!

  And shame on you, O men, which boast your strong

  And valiant hearts, in thoughts lesse hard and bold,

  Yet quaile in conquest of that land of gold!

  But this to you, O Britons, most pertaines, 195

  To whom the right hereof it selfe hath sold;

  The which, for sparing litle cost or paines,

  Loose so immortall glory, and so endlesse gaines.

  XXIII

  Then was there heard a most celestiall sound

  Of dainty musicke, which did next ensew 200

  Before the spouse: that was Arion crownd;

  Who, playing on his harpe, unto him drew

  The eares and hearts of all that goodly crew,

  That even yet the dolphin, which him bore

  Through the Agæan seas from pirates vew, 205

  Stood still by him astonisht at his lore,

  And all the raging seas for joy forgot to rore.

  XXIV

  So went he playing on the watery plaine.

  Soone after whom the lovely bridegroome came,

  The noble Thamis, with all his goodly traine; 210

  But him before there went, as best became,

  His auncient parents, namely th’ auncient Thame:

  But much more aged was his wife then he,

  The Ouze, whom men doe Isis rightly name;

  Full weake and crooked creature seemed shee, 215

  And almost blind through eld, that scarce her way could see.

  XXV

  Therefore on either side she was sustained

  Of two smal grooms, which by their names were hight

  The Churne and Charwell, two s
mall streames, which pained

  Them selves her footing to direct aright, 220

  Which fayled oft through faint and feeble plight:

  But Thame was stronger, and of better stay;

  Yet seem’d full aged by his outward sight,

  With head all hoary, and his beard all gray,

  Deawed with silver drops, that trickled downe alway. 225

  XXVI

  And eke he somewhat seem’d to stoupe afore

  With bowed backe, by reason of the lode

  And auncient heavy burden which he bore

  Of that faire city, wherein make abode

  So many learned impes, that shoote abrode, 230

  And with their braunches spred all Britany,

  No lesse then do her elder sisters broode.

  Joy to you both, ye double noursery

  Of arts! but, Oxford, thine doth Thame most glorify.

  XXVII

  But he their sonne full fresh and jolly was, 235

  All decked in a robe of watchet hew,

  On which the waves, glittering like christall glas,

  So cunningly enwoven were, that few

  Could weenen whether they were false or trew.

  And on his head like to a coronet 240

  He wore, that seemed strange to common vew,

  In which were many towres and castels set,

  That it encompast round as with a golden fret.

  XXVIII

  Like as the mother of the gods, they say,

  In her great iron charet wonts to ride, 245

  When to Joves pallace she doth take her way,

  Old Cybele, arayd with pompous pride,

  Wearing a diademe embattild wide

  With hundred turrets, like a turribant.

  With such an one was Thamis beautifide; 250

  That was to weet the famous Troynovant,

  In which her kingdomes throne is chiefly resiant.

  XXIX

  And round about him many a pretty page

  Attended duely, ready to obay;

  All little rivers, which owe vassallage 255

  To him, as to their lord, and tribute pay:

  The chaulky Kenet, and the Thetis gray,

  The morish Cole, and the soft sliding Breane,

  The wanton Lee, that oft doth loose his way,

  And the still Darent, in whose waters cleane 260

  Ten thousand fishes play, and decke his pleasant streame.

  XXX

  Then came his neighbour flouds, which nigh him dwell,

  And water all the English soile throughout;

  They all on him this day attended well,

  And with meet service waited him about; 265

  Ne none disdained low to him to lout:

  No, not the stately Severne grudg’d at all,

  Ne storming Humber, though he looked stout;

  But both him honor’d as their principall,

  And let their swelling waters low before him fall. 270

  XXXI

  There was the speedy Tamar, which devides

  The Cornish and the Devonish confines;

  Through both whose borders swiftly downe it glides,

  And meeting Plim, to Plimmouth thence declines:

  And Dart, nigh chockt with sands of tinny mines. 275

  But Avon marched in more stately path,

  Proud of his adamants, with which he shines

  And glisters wide, as als’ of wondrous Bath,

  And Bristow faire, which on his waves he builded hath.

  XXXII

  And there came Stoure with terrible aspect, 280

  Bearing his sixe deformed heads on hye,

  That doth his course through Blandford plains direct,

  And washeth Winborne meades in season drye.

  Next him went Wylibourne with passage slye,

  That of his wylinesse his name doth take, 285

  And of him selfe doth name the shire thereby:

  And Mole, that like a nousling mole doth make

  His way still under ground, till Thamis he overtake.

  XXXIII

  Then came the Rother, decked all with woods

  Like a wood god, and flowing fast to Rhy: 290

  And Sture, that parteth with his pleasant floods

  The easterne Saxons from the southerne ny,

  And Clare and Harwitch both doth beautify:

  Him follow’d Yar, soft washing Norwitch wall,

  And with him brought a present joyfully 295

  Of his owne fish unto their festivall,

  Whose like none else could shew, the which they ruffins call.

  XXXIV

  Next these the plenteous Ouse came far from land,

  By many a city, and by many a towne,

  And many rivers taking under hand 300

  Into his waters, as he passeth downe,

  The Cle, the Were, the Grant, the Sture, the Rowne,

  Thence doth by Huntingdon and Cambridge flit,

  My mother Cambridge, whom as with a crowne

  He doth adorne, and is adorn’d of it 305

  With many a gentle muse, and many a learned wit.

  XXXV

  And after him the fatall Welland went,

  That if old sawes prove true (which God forbid)

  Shall drowne all Holland with his excrement,

  And shall see Stamford, though now homely hid, 310

  Then shine in learning, more then ever did

  Cambridge or Oxford, Englands goodly beames.

  And next to him the Nene downe softly slid;

  And bounteous Trent, that in him selfe enseames

  Both thirty sorts of fish and thirty sundry streames. 315

  XXXVI

  Next these came Tyne, along whose stony bancke

  That Romaine monarch built a brasen wall,

  Which mote the feebled Britons strongly flancke

  Against the Picts, that swarmed over all,

  Which yet thereof Gualsever they doe call: 320

  And Twede, the limit betwixt Logris land

  And Albany: and Eden, though but small,

  Yet often stainde with bloud of many a band

  Of Scots and English both, that tyned on his strand.

  XXXVII

  Then came those sixe sad brethren, like forlorne, 325

  That whilome were (as antique fathers tell)

  Sixe valiant knights, of one faire nymphe yborne,

  Which did in noble deedes of armes excell,

  And wonned there where now Yorke people dwell:

  Still Ure, swift Werfe, and Oze the most of might, 330

  High Swale, unquiet Nide, and troublous Skell;

  All whom a Scythian king, that Humber hight,

  Slew cruelly, and in the river drowned quight.

  XXXVIII

  But past not long, ere Brutus warlicke sonne,

  Locrinus, them aveng’d, and the same date, 335

  Which the proud Humber unto them had donne,

  By equall dome repayd on his owne pate:

  For in the selfe same river, where he late

  Had drenched them, he drowned him againe;

  And nam’d the river of his wretched fate; 340

  Whose bad condition yet it doth retaine,

  Oft tossed with his stormes, which therein still remaine.

  XXXIX

  These after, came the stony shallow Lone,

  That to old Loncaster his name doth lend;

  And following Dee, which Britons long ygone 345

  Did call divine, that doth by Chester tend;

  And Conway, which out of his streame doth send

  Plenty of pearles to decke his dames withall;

  And Lindus, that his pikes doth most commend,

  Of which the auncient Lincolne men doe call: 350

  All these together marched toward Proteus hall.

  XL

  Ne thence the Irishe rivers absent were:

  Sith no lesse famous then the rest
they bee,

  And joyne in neighbourhood of kingdome nere,

  Why should they not likewise in love agree, 355

  And joy likewise this solemne day to see?

  They saw it all, and present were in place;

  Though I them all, according their degree,

  Cannot recount, nor tell their hidden race,

  Nor read the salvage cuntreis thorough which they pace. 360

  XLI

  There was the Liffy rolling downe the lea,

  The sandy Slane, the stony Aubrian,

  The spacious Shenan spreading like a sea,

  The pleasant Boyne, the fishy fruitfull Ban,

  Swift Awniduff, which of the English man 365

  Is cal’de Blackewater, and the Liffar deep,

  Sad Trowis, that once his people overran,

  Strong Allo tombling from Slewlogher steep,

  And Mulla mine, whose waves I whilom taught to weep.

  XLII

  And there the three renowmed brethren were, 370

  Which that great gyant Blomius begot

  Of the faire nimph Rheusa wandring there.

  One day, as she to shunne the season whot,

  Under Slewbloome in shady grove was got,

  This gyant found her, and by force deflowr’d; 375

  Whereof conceiving, she in time forth brought

  These three faire sons, which, being thence forth powrd,

  In three great rivers ran, and many countreis scowrd.

  XLIII

  The first, the gentle Shure, that, making way

  By sweet Clonmell, adornes rich Waterford; 380

  The next, the stubborne Newre, whose waters gray

  By faire Kilkenny and Rosseponte boord;

  The third, the goodly Barow, which doth hoord

  Great heapes of salmons in his deepe bosome:

  All which long sundred, doe at last accord 385

  To joyne in one, ere to the sea they come,

  So, flowing all from one, all one at last become.

  XLIV

  There also was the wide embayed Mayre,

  The pleasaunt Bandon, crownd with many a wood,

  The spreading Lee, that like an island fayre 390

  Encloseth Corke with his devided flood;

  And balefull Oure, late staind with English blood:

  With many more, whose names no tongue can tell.

  All which that day in order seemly good

  Did on the Thamis attend, and waited well 395

  To doe their duefull service, as to them befell.

  XLV

  Then came the bride, the lovely Medua came,

  Clad in a vesture of unknowen geare,

  And uncouth fashion, yet her well became;

  That seem’d like silver, sprinckled here and theare 400

  With glittering spangs, that did like starres appeare,

  And wav’d upon, like water chamelot,

  To hide the metall, which yet every where

  Bewrayd it selfe, to let men plainely wot,

 

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