The Shorter Poems

by Edmund Spenser

  380 golden girt: said of Hippolyta in Seneca, Hercules Furens, 543.

  384–5 Hebes… Paramoure: Hebe, daughter of Hera and Zeus, was given as a bride to Hercules after his apotheosis (Hesiod, Theogony, 950–95; Homer, Odyssey, 11. 601–4). She was often allegorized as the perpetual life, or fame, accruing to heroism (Boccaccio, Genealogia, 9. 2.) Cf. HL, 283; Epith, 405 and notes.

  386–9 Ledaes… orient: Castor and Pollux, the Dioscuri, were twin sons of Leda but only Pollux was born immortal. On Castor’s death Pollux was granted permission to share immortality with his brother by the expedient of their spending alternate days in Hades and on Olympus. Cf. Virgil, Aeneid, 6. 121–2; Ovid, Fasti, 5. 693–720; Proth, 42–4, 173 and notes.

  389 orient: ascending or rising.

  391 Orpheus… Eurydice: cf. SC, October, [28] and note.

  394 Pierian… sisters: the Muses, alluding to their haunt of Pieria in Thessaly. Cf. Virgil, Eclogues, 8. 63.

  395 impacable: that cannot be pacified, implacable.

  399 Nectar… Ambrosia: divine food and drink. Cf. SC, November, [195].

  402 numbers: metre.

  407–13 Poetry’s superiority to architecture is noted by Du Bellay, La Defence et Illustration de la Langue Francoyse, 2. 5.

  408 aspired: lifted up, elevated.

  408–14 Pyramides… wonder: the Pyramids, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus were among the seven wonders of the ancient world. ‘Brasen Pillours’ and ‘Shrines’ may allude to two others, the temple of Artemis at Ephesus and the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. Cf. lines 491–546 below; RR, 15–28 and notes.

  410 fired: destroyed by fire.

  411 metall… desired: gold. Cf. VB, 34.

  413 mortal… giue: for a provocative reply cf. Amor, 75. 5–8.

  416 Marcellus: several temples were struck by lightning when the Roman consul Marcellus (271–208 BC) attempted to dedicate a temple inappropriately to two gods (cf. Plutarch, Life of Marcellus, 28).

  417 Lisippus: Lysippus, ancient Greek sculptor, famed for a colossal statue of Hercules at Sicyon, and numerous depictions of Alexander the Great.

  418 Edmond… gaine: Camden deplores Henry VIII’s suppression of the monastery at Bury St Edmunds for material gain (Britain, 461).

  421–4 fame… away: adapting Virgil’s description of rumour at Aeneid, 4. 173–7.

  426 Pegasus: the winged horse commonly employed as a symbol of poetic inspiration. Its hoof struck Mount Helicon thereby producing the spring Hippocrene frequented by the Muses. Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 5. 250–68.

  428–9 Lethe… Thetis: Thetis bathed her son Achilles in the River Styx, but the mistake is ironically appropriate since Lethe is the river of oblivion. Cf. SC, March, [97].

  430 blinde bard: Homer.

  431 Castalie: a fountain on Mount Parnassus. Cf. Boccaccio, Genealogia, 10. 27; SC, November, [30] and note.

  432 Easterne Conquerour: Alexander the Great. Cf. Du Bellay, La Defence et Illustration de la Langue Francoyse, 2. 5; SC, October, [65] and note.

  436 Melibœ… Poet: Sir Francis Walsingham, the Secretary of State, died in Aprill 1590 and Thomas Watson published his commemorative Meliboeus in Latin together with an English version, An Eglogue upon the death of the Right Honourable Sir Francis Walsingham. Spenser included a dedicatory sonnet to Walsingham in FQ (1590) comparing him to Maecenas. He complimented Watson on his Amyntas at FQ, 3. 6. 45. Watson urged Spenser to console the Queen for Walsingham’s death (An Eglogue, 371-410).

  442–4 two… Salomon: ‘There be two things that grieve mine heart… a man of war that suffereth poverty; and men of understanding that are not set by’ (Ecclesiasticus 26: 28). The book was commonly attributed to Solomon.

  447 he… will: probably Lord Burghley, cf. headnote. The Textual Apparatus lists a series of revisions made to lines 447–55 in the folio edition of 1611 in order to eliminate personal allusions to Burghley.

  452–5 Reversing the fable of the oak and the briar at SC, Februarie, 102-238.

  457 ouerkest: overcast (in the sense of obscuring perception).

  458 see… confusion: realize that they are on the road to destruction.

  460 infest: molest, harass.

  477–90 Cf. VW, 1–14.

  485 muzing at: pondering or reflecting upon.

  doubtfull: ambiguous, cryptic.

  488 demonstration: illustration, manifestation.

  490 Pageants: the following visions may preserve material from Spenser’s lost ‘Dreames’. Cf. SC, November, [195] and note. E. K. refers to Spenser’s ‘Pageaunts’ (possibly a separate work) at June, [25].

  491 Image: combining allusions to the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, one of four wonders of the ancient world alluded to in pageants 1–4, with reminiscences of the colossal idol set up in Daniel 3: 1–11.

  496 Assyrian tyrant: Nebuchadnezzar II who captured Jerusalem in 586 BC.

  497 holie brethren: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego defied the king and were miraculously preserved in the fiery furnace (cf. Daniel 3: 12–30).

  498 staid: stood.

  499 brickle: brittle, weak. For the idol’s feet of clay cf. Daniel 2: 33–5.

  504 dearelie: deeply, grievously.

  505 Towre: possibly resembling the Pharos lighthouse at Alexandria.

  508 sandie ground: cf. Matthew 7: 26–7; FQ, 1. 4. 5 (the House of Pride).

  509 great Towre: the Tower of Babel (cf. Genesis 11: 4–9).

  511 Ninus: Nimus, founder of Nineveh, was frequently confused with Nimrod who built Babel. Cf. FQ, 2. 9. 21.

  514 flit: in the sense of vanish away or perish.

  517 dust: ‘dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return’ (Genesis 3: 19).

  519 Paradize: combining allusions to the hanging gardens of Babylon, and accounts of the ‘fools’ paradise’. Cf. VB, 155–68.

  523–5 Merlin… Belphœbe: no such incident occurs in extant versions of FQ, but cf. the ‘earthly Paradize’ to which Belphoebe takes Timias, Prince Arthur’s squire (3. 5. 39–40).

  525 staine: obscure its lustre, eclipse.

  533–9 Giaunt… boast: combining allusions to the Colossus of Rhodes, popularly believed to have straddled the harbour entrance (as at lines 540–

  41), with the biblical Goliath (cf. 1 Samuel 17: 4–51).

  547 Bridge: recalling Xerxes’ bridge over the Hellespont which collapsed in a storm (cf. Herodotus, 7. 33–5; Lucan, Pharsalia, 672–7).

  551 Traian: the Emperor Trajan’s bridge over the Danube (cf. Dio Cassius, History, 68. 13).

  553 equall vewing: i.e. to the impartial observer.

  561 two Beares: the Earls of Leicester and Warwick, from the white bear on the Dudley family crest. Cf. SC, October, 48, [47] and note to line 616 below.

  575–88 Cf. VB, 1–14 and notes.

  577 bereaued quight: utterly bereft of power.

  580–81 voyce… appalled: with Apocalyptic overtones (cf. Revelation 8: 13).

  583 vanitie… minde: cf. Ecclesiastes 1: 14.

  590 Swan: Sir Philip Sidney. Cf. SC, October, [90] and note.

  593 Strimonian: the swans of River Strymon in Thrace lament the death of the poet Bion at Moschus, Idylls, 3. 14–18.

  598 fit: playing on the dual senses of musical ‘fit’ (or strain) and of paroxysm. The swan’s song heralds its death throes.

  601 signe: the constellation Cygnus.

  604–8 Harpe… lead: Orpheus’ harp continues to sound after his death as it floats midstream at Ovid, Metamorphoses, 11. 50–53.

  603 Lee: a tributary of the Thames (cf. Proth, 38). If no specific reference is intended ‘lee’ may simply mean meadow (lea).

  607 Dan: a title of honour employed by Chaucer.

  609 Philisides: star-lover, Sidney’s pastoral persona in Arcadia.

  611 diuin’d: made divine.

  612 heauenly noyse: suggesting apotheosis, cf. Revelation 19: 6–7; FQ, 1. 12. 39.

  613 strings… wind: like an Aeolian harp, blending nat
ure and art.

  615 signe: the constellation Lyra (for the stellification of Orpheus’ harp cf. Comes, Mythologiae, 7. 14).

  616 Harpe… Beare: suggesting the celestial reunion of Sidney and Leicester (figured here as the constellation of the Great Bear). Cf. note to line 561 above.

  618 Coffer: possibly Sidney’s coffin, or his ship, The Black Pinnace, in which his remains were brought home for burial. At lines 621–8 it recalls Noah’s ark (and the ark of the covenant), an emblem of salvation.

  629 starre: possibly the constellation Argo, the stellified ship which contained the Golden Fleece (‘heauenly treasures’). Philisides or Astrophil, the star-lover, has himself become a star.

  631–44 These lines employ the imagery of the mystical union of the soul (the virgin) with Christ (the bridegroom). Cf. Song of Songs, passim; Revelation 19: 7–9.

  633 be red: be taken.

  646–51 Knight… gras: the death of the knight-poet Sidney at Zutphen.

  646 winged steed: Pegasus. Cf. note to line 426 above.

  647 Medusaes blood: cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 4. 765–86.

  648 Perseus… seed: Perseus was the son of Zeus by Danaë.

  649 Andromeda: cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 4. 670–764.

  657 heauen… bore: alluding to the constellations of Pegasus and Perseus.

  659–72 Cf. TW, sonnet 3; VB, 29–42.

  659 Arke… golde: vessel or urn, recalling the ark of the covenant which held the ‘testimony’ of God (Exodus 25: 10–16).

  661 ashes… hold: Sidney’s remains.

  663 glorifie: praise.

  665 Whether… those: which of those.

  666 wing footed: Ovid’s ‘alipes’ (cf. Metamorphoses, 4. 756; 11. 312).

  Mercurie: appropriate both as the god who leads souls to the underworld and the patron of eloquence and learning.

  680 faire Ladie: Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke.

  684–6 Cf. HB, 43–9.

  The Teares of the Muses

  The poem borrows its title and format from Smithus, vel Lachrymae Musarum (1578), Gabriel Harvey’s elegy on the death of Sir Thomas Smith which is praised in the gloss to the September eclogue of The Shepheardes Calender [ 176]. The six-line stanza, rhyming ababcc, is identical to that of the Januarye and December eclogues, and is therefore associated with Spenserian moods of dejection and complaint. The Muses are represented in traditional fashion not merely as patrons of the arts but as the supreme repositories and conduits of ‘Sapience’ (135), anticipating the importance of that theme in An Hymne of Heavenly Beautie [cf. Bennett (1932)]. Their lament encompasses not just the decline in aristocratic patronage and the denial of poets’ honourable ‘meed’ (453) or financial ‘fee’ (471) but, as in Du Bellay’s La Musagnoeomachie, the apparent triumph of ‘vgly Barbarisme’ (187) and ‘ignorance, the enemie of grace’ (497). Viewed from this perspective the lamentable state of the arts functions as an index of the degeneration of the race (436) for which a ‘discipline of vice’ (336) has supplanted ‘heauenlie discipline’ (518). Both society and the arts are perceived to lack ‘due Decorum’ (214), and heroic verse is deemed impossible in a land unfit for heroes (439–50). The decline of poetry is both cause and symptom of the prevalent malaise. Images of alienation and exile, akin to those regularly associated with Colin Clout, are frequent, and the Muses’ vocabulary is infused with echoes of biblical lament.

  The starkness of the presentation, which some critics deem inapplicable to the cultural landscape of the 1590s, has given rise to the suggestion that the poem must date from an earlier decade. The internal evidence is inconclusive, however, and the conventions of the form demand stylistic hyperbole and artistic hauteur: the ‘true’ devotees of the Muses were traditionally regarded as few and exclusive [cf. Snare (1969)]. The conspicuous praise of Queen Elizabeth, from whom Spenser had recently received an annual pension of fifty pounds, as both poet and patron (571–82) is doubtless intended to arouse a desire for emulation among her courtiers while obliquely castigating the current lack of courtly patronage also deplored in Colin Clouts Come Home Againe [cf. Fox (1995)].

  Like Colin Clout, the Muses end by breaking their ‘learned instruments’ in frustration (599), but the poem itself is carefully structured as a counter example to the culture of decay. With the exception of Euterpe, each of the Muses utters nine stanzas of complaint and the narrator begins with nine stanzas of introduction, the number nine being commonly regarded as symbolic of the soul and intellect [cf. Fowler (1964), 274]. Euterpe’s additional stanza allows for a clear break at line 300, the exact centre of the poem, with five speakers accommodated in each half. As ‘Eulogies turne into Elegies’ (372) the structural coherence of the form lends ironic authority to the vision of decline. Cf. Roche (1989b); Stein (1934).

  Dedication To the right honorable…

  Ladie Strange: Alice Spencer, daughter of Sir John Spencer of Althorp and wife to Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange, fifth Earl of Derby. She is celebrated in CCH as ‘sweet Amaryllis’ (540, 564–71). Milton’s Arcades was written for her and A Maske presented at Ludlow Castle for her stepson (and son-in-law), the Earl of Bridgewater.

  8 bands of affinitie: for Spenser’s claims of kinship to the Spencers of Althorp cf. the dedications to MHT and Muiop; CCH, 536–9; Proth, 130–31.

  The Teares of the Muses

  1 Sisters nine: the portrayal of the Muses is indebted to Ausonius, De Musarum Inventis, attributed to Virgil in the Dumaeus edition of 1542 which Spenser used for VG. Cf. SC, Aprill, [100]; November, [53] and notes. The Muses’ order of appearance follows that of Ausonius.

  2 Apolloes: for Apollo as father of the Muses cf. SC, Aprill, [41]; June, 66 and note; Snare (1969), 49.

  5 Helicone: for Helicon as a spring rather than a mountain cf. SC, Aprill, [42] and note.

  7 Phœbus… sonne: Phaeton, son of Apollo, attempted to drive the chariot of the sun and was destroyed by Zeus in order to save the world from incineration. Cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 2. 1–328; VG, 197–200. The myth is used as an exemplum of pride at FQ, 1. 4. 9.

  8 Ythundered: (was) killed by a thunderbolt.

  10 compasse… path: beyond the appointed pathway traced by the Zodiac.

  13–15 Calliope… Palici: the mythology is confused. Calliope mourned for her poet son Orpheus. The nymph Thalia (distinct from the Muse of the same name) was the mother of the Palici, two minor rural deities. Cf. Macrobius, Saturnalia, 5. 19. 15–31 (commenting on Virgil, Aeneid, 9. 585).

  16 fatall Sisters: the three Fates. Cf. SC, November, [148].

  28 consorts: harmony of several voices (here of the elements).

  54a Clio: properly the Muse of history, but as the recorder of heroic deeds her province overlaps with that of Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry.

  57–8 Castalie… Parnasse: cf. SC, Aprill, [42]; November, [30] and notes.

  70 type: acme or summit.

  72 Despise… Sapience: ‘whoso despiseth wisdom… is miserable… and their works unprofitable’ (Wisdom 3: 11). For sapience cf. HHB, 183-287.

  73 sectaries: adherents, followers.

  75–8 Cf. RT, 452–3 and note.

  75 Impes: shoots or saplings.

  77 vnderkeep: suppress.

  89 God… praised: cf. Proverbs 8: 22–31.

  94 Armes: heraldic coats of arms.

  112 humour: moisture.

  114a Melpomene: the Muse of tragedy. Cf. Horace, Odes, 1. 24. 2–4.

  115–16 powre… dryde: cf. Jeremiah 9: 1.

  117–19 brasen… sides: cf. Virgil, Aeneid, 6. 625–7; Ovid, Tristia, 1. 5. 53-4.

  126 vassals… sin: cf. John 8: 34; Ephesians 2: 3; 2 Peter 2: 19.

  127–30 A classical topos, cf. Virgil, Georgics, 2. 490–92.

  128 understanding: ‘Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding’ (Proverbs 4: 7).

  130 freakes: capricious changes.

  133 patience: ability to endure suffering (Latin patientia).
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  134 throwes: thrustings. Cf. FQ, 2. 5. 9.

  142 helme… sway: a common Spenserian image, cf. FQ, 2. 7. 1.

  143 euent: fate.

  144 intendiment: understanding.

  145–6 foolish… riches: cf. Proverbs 3: 13–15; Wisdom 8: 5.

  152 buskin: cf. SC, October, [113] and note.

  160 Trophees: triumphal memorials often decked, as the following line suggests, with the spoils of victory.

  164 Megera: Megaera, one of the three Furies.

  Persephone: queen of the underworld. Cf. SC, November, [164] and note.

  173 next in rew: next in line, but playing on ‘rue’, grief.

  174a Thalia: the Muse of comedy. In Letters Harvey reminds Spenser of his ‘Nine Comoedies… to which you giue the names of the Nine Muses’ and compares them favourably with those of Ariosto (cf. Prose, 471).

  176 sock: cf. SC, October, [113] and note.

  180 Graces: cf. SC, Aprill, [109] and note.

  184 roome: place.

  187–8 Influenced by Erasmus’s colloquy, Conflictus Thaliae et Barbariae.

  188–90 Ignorance… bredd: ‘The Ignorance of mortals, which is the Night of the mind, is the parent and nurse of nearly all the calamities that afflict human beings’ (Comes, Mythologiae, 3. 12). Cf. Lotspeich (1942), 72.

  192 Scene: stage (Latin scaena).

  disguize: disfigure.

  194 vulgare entertaine: cf. ‘odi profanum vulgus et arceo [I hate the profane mob and keep aloof from them]’, Horace, Odes, 3. 1.1.

  197 Counterfesaunce: counterfeiting (i.e. dramatic personation).

  198 Delight… Laughter: Sidney advises that ‘the end of the comicall part bee not upon such scornefull matters as stirreth laughter onely, but mixt with it, that delightful teaching which is the end of Poesie’ (Apology for Poetry, ECE, 1. 200).

  202 limned: portrayed, depicted.

  205–6 Nature… imitate: the popular notion of drama as an imitation of life (or mimesis) found in Aristotle’s Poetics and Donatus’ commentary on Terence.

  206 mock: in the combined senses of ridicule and imitate.

  207 kindly… shade: good natured, or lifelike, counterfeiting or imitation by way of mimicry or play-acting.

  208 Willy: unidentified, but possibly Sidney who died in 1586. His ‘Lady of May’ might qualify him for honourable mention by Thalia.