The Faerie Queene (41 page)

Thou then shalt make, t'increase thy louers pray.

Long time ye both in armes shall beare great sway,

Till thy wombes burden thee from them do call,

And his last fate him from thee take away,

Too rathe cut off by practise criminall

Of secret foes, that him shall make in mischiefe fall.

29
With thee yet shall he leaue for memory

Of his late puissaunce, his Image dead,

That liuing him in all actiuity

To thee shall represent. He from the head

Of his coosin
Constantius
without dread

Shall take the crowne, that was his fathers right,

And therewith crowne himselfe in th'others stead:

Then shall he issew forth with dreadfull might,

Against his Saxon foes in bloudy field to fight,

30
Like as a Lyon, that in drowsie caue

Hath long time slept, himselfe so shall he shake,

And comming forth, shall spred his banner braue

Ouer the troubled South, that it shall make

The warlike
Mertians
for feare to quake:

Thrise shall he fight with them, and twise shall win,

But the third time shall faire accordaunce make:

And if he then with victorie can lin,

He shall his dayes with peace bring to his earthly In.

31
His sonne, hight
Vortipore,
shall him succeede

In kingdome, but not in felicity;

Yet shall he long time warre with happy speed,

And with great honour many battels try:

But at the last to th'importunity

Of froward fortune shall be forst to yield.

But his sonne
Malgo
shall full mightily

Auenge his fathers losse, with speare and shield,

And his proud foes discomfit in victorious field.

32
Behold the man, and tell me
Britomart,

If ay more goodly creature thou didst see;

How like a Gyaunt in each manly part

Beares he himselfe with portly maiestee,

That one of th'old
Heroes
seemes to bee:

He the six Islands, comprouinciall

In auncient times vnto great Britainee,

Shall to the same reduce, and to him call

Their sundry kings to do their homage seuerall.

33
All which his sonne
Careticus
awhile

Shall well defend, and
Saxons
powre suppresse,

Vntill a straunger king from vnknowne soyle

Arriuing, him with multitude oppresse;

Great
Gormond,
hauing with huge mightinesse

Ireland subdewd, and therein fixt his throne,

Like a swift Otter, fell through emptinesse,

Shall ouerswim the sea with many one

Of his Norueyses, to assist the Britons fone.

34
He in his furie all shall ouerrunne,

And holy Church with faithlesse hands deface,

That thy sad people vtterly fordonne,

Shall to the vtmost mountaines fly apace:

Was neuer so great wast in any place,

Nor so fowle outrage doen by liuing men:

For all thy Cities they shall sacke and race,

And the greene grasse, that groweth, they shall bren,

That euen the wild beast shall dy in starued den.

35
Whiles thus thy Britons do in languour pine,

Proud
Etheldred
shall from the North arise,

Seruing th'ambitious will of
Augustine,

And passing
Dee
with hardy enterprise,

Shall backe repulse the valiaunt
Brockwell
twise,

And
Bangor
with massacred Martyrs fill;

But the third time shall rew his foolhardise:

For
Cadwan
pittying his peoples ill,

Shall stoutly him defeat, and thousand
Saxons
kill.

36
But after him,
Cadwallin
mightily

On his sonne
Edwin
all those wrongs shall wreake;

Ne shall auaile the wicked sorcery

Of false
Pellite,
his purposes to breake,

But him shall slay, and on a gallowes bleake

Shall giue th'enchaunter his vnhappy hire

Then shall the Britons, late dismayd and weake,

From their long vassalage gin to respire,

And on their Paynim foes auenge their ranckled ire.

37
Ne shall he yet his wrath so mitigate,

Till both the sonnes of
Edwin
he haue slaine,

Offricke
and
Osricke,
twinnes vnfortunate,

Both slaine in battell vpon Layburne plaine,

Together with the king of
Louthiane,

Hight
Adin,
and the king of
Orkeny,

Both ioynt partakers of their fatall paine:

But
Penda,
fearefull of like desteny,

Shall yield him selfe his liegeman, and sweare fealty.

38
Him shall he make his fatall Instrument,

T'afflict the other
Saxons
vnsubdewd;

He marching forth with fury insolent

Against the good king
Oswald,
who indewd

With heauenly powre, and by Angels reskewd,

All holding crosses in their hands on hye,

Shall him defeate withouten bloud imbrewd:

Of which, that field for endlesse memory,

Shall
Heuenfield
be cald to all posterity.

39
Whereat
Cadwallin
wroth, shall forth issew,

And an huge hoste into Northumber lead,

With which he godly
Oswald
shall subdew,

And crowne with martyrdome his sacred head.

Whose brother
Oswin,
daunted with like dread,

With price of siluer shall his kingdome buy,

And
Penda,
seeking him adowne to tread,

Shall tread adowne, and do him fowly dye,

But shall with gifts his Lord
Cadwallin
pacify.

40
Then shall
Cadwallin
dye, and then the raine

Of
Britons
eke with him attonce shall dye;

Ne shall the good
Cadwallader
with paine,

Or powre, be hable it to remedy,

When the full time prefixt by destiny,

Shalbe expird of
Britons
regiment.

For heauen it selfe shall their successe enuy,

And them with plagues and murrins pestilent

Consume, till all their warlike puissaunce be spent.

41
Yet after all these sorrowes, and huge hills

Of dying people, during eight yeares space,

Cadwallader
not yielding to his ills,

From
Armoricke,
where long in wretched cace

He liu'd, returning to his natiue place,

Shalbe by vision staid from his intent:

For th'heauens haue decreed, to displace

The
Britons,
for their sinnes dew punishment,

And to the
Saxons
ouer-giue their gouernment.

42
Then woe, and woe, and euerlasting woe,

Be to the Briton babe, that shalbe borne,

To liue in thraldome of his fathers foe;

Late King, now captiue, late Lord, now forlorne,

The worlds reproch, the cruell victours scorne,

Banisht from Princely bowre to wastfull wood:

O who shall helpe me to lament, and mourne

The royall seed, the antique
Troian
blood,

Whose Empire lenger here, then'euer any stood.

43
The Damzell was full deepe empassioned,

Both for his griefe, and for her peoples sake,

Whose future woes so plaine he fashioned,

And sighing sore, at length him thus bespake;

Ah but will heauens fury neuer slake,

Nor vengeaunce huge relent it selfe at last?

Will not long misery late mercy make,

But shall their name for euer be defast,

And quite from of the earth their memory be rast?

44
Nay but the terme (said he) is limited,

That in this thraldome
Britons
shall abide,

And the iust reuolution measured,

That they as Straungers shalbe notifide.

For twise foure hundreth yeares shalbe supplide,

Ere they to former rule restor'd shalbee,

And their importune fates all satisfide:

Yet during this their most obscuritee,

Their beames shall oft breake forth, that men them faire may

[see.

45
For
Rhodoricke,
whose surname shalbe Great,

Shall of him selfe a braue ensample shew,

That Saxon kings his friendship shall intreat;

And
Howell Dha
shall goodly well indew

The saluage minds with skill of iust and trew;

Then
Griffith Conan
also shall vp reare

His dreaded head, and the old sparkes renew

Of natiue courage, that his foes shall feare,

Least backe againe the kingdome he from them should beare.

46
Ne shall the Saxons selues all peaceably

Enioy the crowne, which they from Britons wonne

First ill, and after ruled wickedly:

For ere two hundred yeares be full outronne,

There shall a Rauen far from rising Sunne,

With his wide wings vpon them fiercely fly,

And bid his faithlesse chickens ouerronne

The fruitfull plaines, and with fell cruelty,

In their auenge, tread downe the victours surquedry.

47
Yet shall a third both these, and thine subdew;

There shall a Lyon from the sea-bord wood

Of Neustria
come roring, with a crew

Of hungry whelpes, his battailous bold brood,

Whose clawes were newly dipt in cruddy blood,

That from the Daniske Tyrants head shall rend

Th'vsurped crowne, as if that he were wood,

And the spoile of the countrey conquered

Emongst bis young ones shall diuide with bountyhed.

48
Tho when the terme is full accomplishid,

There shall a sparke of fire, which hath long-while

Bene in his ashes raked vp, and hid,

Be freshly kindled in the fruitfull Ile

Of
Mona
, where it lurked in exile;

Which shall breake forth into bright burning flame,

And reach into the house, that beares the stile

Of royall maiesty and soueraigne name;

So shall the Briton bloud their crowne againe reclame.

49
Thenceforth eternall vnion shall be made

Betweene the nations different afore,

And sacred Peace shall louingly perswade

The warlike minds, to learne her goodly lore,

And ciuile armes to exercise no more:

Then shall a royall virgin raine, which shall

Stretch her white rod ouer the
Belgicke
shore,

And the great Castle smite so sore with all,

That it shall make him shake, and shortly learne to fall.

50
But yet the end is not. There
Merlin
stayd,

As ouercomen of the spirites powre,

Or other ghastly spectacle dismayd,

That secretly he saw, yet note discoure:

Which suddein fit, and halfe extatick stoure

When the two fearefull women saw, they grew

Greatly confused in behauioure;

At last the fury past, to former hew

Hee turnd againe, and chearefull looks as earst did shew.

51
Then, when them selues they well instructed had

Of all, that needed them to be inquird,

They both concerning hope of comfort glad,

With lighter hearts vnto their home retird;

Where they in secret counsell close conspird,

How to effect so hard an enterprize,

And to possesse the purpose they desird:

Now this, now that twixt them they did deuise,

And diuerse plots did frame, to maske in strange disguise.

52
At last the Nourse in her foolhardy wit

Conceiu'd a bold deuise, and thus bespake;

Daughter, I deeme that counsell aye most fit,

That of the time doth dew aduauntage take;

Ye see that good king
Vther
now doth make

Strong warre vpon the Paynim brethren, hight

Octa
and
Oza,
whom he lately brake

Beside
Cayr Verolame,
in victorious fight,

That now all
Britanie
doth burne in armes bright.

53
That therefore nought our passage may empeach,

Let vs in feigned armes our selues disguize,

And our weake hands (whom need new strength shall teach)

The dreadfull speare and shield to exercize:

Ne certes daughter that same warlike wize

I weene, would you misseeme; for ye bene tall,

And large of limbe, t'atchieue an hard emprize,

Ne ought ye want, but skill, which practize small

Will bring, and shortly make you a mayd Martiall.

54
And sooth, it ought your courage much inflame,

To heare so often, in that royall hous,

From whence to none inferiour ye came:

Bards tell of many women valorous

Which haue full many feats aduenturous

Performd, in paragone of proudest men:

The bold
Bunduca,
whose victorious

Exploits made
Rome
to quake, stout
Guendolen,

Renowmed
Martia,
and redoubted
Emmilen.

55
And that, which more then all the rest may sway,

Late dayes ensample, which these eyes beheld,

In the last field before
Meneuia

Which
Vther
with those forrein Pagans held,

I saw a
Saxon
Virgin, the which feld

Great
Vlfin
thrise vpon the bloudy plaine,