The Shorter Poems

  It would therefore appear that a poem originally composed during the crisis of the French match was cleverly revised for publication in 1591. That it retained its power to occasion such a vigorous reaction bears testimony to Spenser’s skill in analysing not merely the personalities but the very power structures of the Elizabethan regime. His rhyming couplets serve as a potent vehicle for the distillation of rich social detail and, in places, anticipate the rhythmic poise and balance of the Augustans. The work is noteworthy for its variety of styles, ranging from the plain (305-24) to the grand (1257–70), and for its complex interplay of voices as the unnamed narrator retells the tale of Mother Hubberd and linguistically ‘personates’ all of the other characters through the rehearsal of her ‘bad’ and blunt language (1388). The celebrated portrait of the perfect courtier eloquently delineates the ideal from which the court is seen to have derogated and supplies the value-system against which the ‘beasts’ are judged (717–93). Cf. Atchity (1973); T. M. Greene (1963); Greenlaw (1932); B. Harris (1941); Judson (1948); Oakeshott (1971); Stein (1934); Van der Berg (1978).

  Dedication To the right Honourable…

  Ladie… Mountegle: Anne Spencer, daughter of Sir John Spencer of Althorp, celebrated as Charillis at CCH, 536–63. She married first William Stanley, Lord Mountegle (died 1581), second Henry, Lord Compton (died 1589) and third Robert Sackville (died 1609), second Earl of Dorset and eldest son of Lord Buckhurst, one of the dedicatees of FQ.

  4 that House: the Spencers of Althorp with whom Spenser claims kinship in the dedications to TM, Muiop, and at CCH, 536–9 and Proth, 130–31.

  11 personated: represented allegorically or by fictitious personae.

  Prosopopoia

  1–8 month… death: in August the sun, and the dog-star Syrius, leave the sign of Leo and enter that of Virgo. The influence of Syrius was held to occasion the sickness of the ‘dog-days’. Cf. SC, Julye, 21–4, [21].

  1 righteous Maide: Astraea, goddess of justice, identified with the constellation Virgo. Cf. Comes, Mythologiae, 2. 2; VG, 359–60; Daph, 218 and notes.

  2 vpbraide: condemnation, censure.

  6 chafed: vexed.

  10 did to die: caused to die.

  15 griefe: pain, affliction.

  19 wise: manner.

  21–32 The motif of storytelling as a distraction from sickness or plague recalls the opening of Boccaccio’s Decameron.

  22 forgoe: forsake.

  23 deceaue: beguile.

  24 reaue: take away, remove.

  26 idle stound: indolent period.

  27 cast in course: determined, undertook.

  waste: wile away, occupy.

  35 seem’d: beseemed, befitted.

  40 diseased: disquieted, troubled.

  41 Ile… say: I’ll write in such terms as she used in telling the same story, i.e. the style will be appropriately colloquial.

  45 ciuill: civilized.

  47 hard estate: straitened circumstances, lowly condition.

  48 lyeke: like.

  49 vnhappie: mischievously (prone to occasion mischief).

  50 fellowes: companions, comrades.

  fitted: well-matched, suited.

  53 Gossip: friend, crony.

  54 tide: tied.

  55 trustely complaine: lament in confidence.

  72 awhape: confound, amaze.

  78 beard… swept: cf. SC, September, 123 and note.

  80 about to throwe: turn about at once, go directly on the other tack.

  84 vncouth wize: unfamiliar or unaccustomed manner.

  85 Lymiter: mendicant friar licensed to beg within certain limits.

  86 Gipsen: gypsy.

  94 like: please.

  96 expell: reject, refuse.

  100 disaduentrous: unfortunate, disastrous.

  fortuneless: unprofitable, unrewarding.

  109 heauens windowes: a biblical formula, cf. Genesis 7: 11.

  110 habiliments: clothing, apparel.

  112 wey: weigh (in the sense of consider).

  113 aduise: deliberate.

  114 Sir Reynold: in imitation of Renard the Fox.

  119 occasion: opportunity.

  121 anie: any one.

  124 anon: straightaway, forthwith.

  125 motioned: broached, brought forward.

  128 miswend: go astray, come to grief.

  135–50 The fox’s appeal to the communal life of the Golden Age was a staple of political radicalism from John Ball in the reign of Richard II to the Levellers. Cf. the arguments of the ‘egalitarian’ giant at FQ, 5. 2. 32–8. Biblical authority was found in Acts 4: 34–7; 5: 1–10. Supporters of the established order argued that the right to private property was consistent with the principles of natural law and it was endorsed in the thirty-eighth article of the Anglican Church.

  137 chalenge to: claim for, demand for.

  139 in… mugger: privately, secretly.

  142 ylike… bought: redeemed at the same high price (by Christ).

  143 partition: division.

  147 liuelode: livelihood.

  151 golden… Saturne: cf. Ovid, Metamorphoses, 1. 89–112.

  154 plot: plan, project.

  157 droyle: toil, drudge.

  163 swinke… sweate: cf. SC, Aprill, 99.

  171 state: condition, circumstances.

  173 ordinaunce: device, contrivance.

  176 aduizement: reflection, consideration.

  178 complot: conspiracy, covert plan.

  186–8 pasport… eare: under the terms of the 1572 ‘Act for the Punishment of Vagabonds’ (14 Elizabeth c. 5) vagrants needed a licence or warrant from the appropriate local authorities to secure safe passage. Among the penalties for default was burning with a hot iron through ‘the grystle of the ryght eare’.

  192 defie: disdain.

  197 Souldiers: a common abuse of the day.

  198 ciuile: civil in the sense of publicly acceptable.

  201 occasion: necessity or opportunity.

  203 ended: concluded upon, determined.

  209–12 Scotch… Portugese: cf. note to line 677 below.

  213 heeling: heel-piece of a stocking.

  217 bat: staff or stick.

  221 mysterie: occupation, profession.

  230 yeoman: a freeholder, cultivating his own land.

  231 gay: bright and ostentatious, showy. Cf. James 2: 3.

  241 straine: exert, force.

  244 loosly: at random, at will.

  245 enquire of custome: make the customary polite inquiry.

  248 good: goods, possessions.

  256 abate: bring down, depress.

  264 thetch: thatch.

  268 balke: lay out of the way.

  269 slipt… handsomly: dexterously declined the task.

  275 painfull: laborious.

  280 ghostly father: father confessor.

  287 paine: exertion, troublesome toil.

  288 sustaine: bear, support.

  290 keep: keeping.

  294 coste: side (coast).

  296 Belwether: leading sheep of the flock with a bell about its neck.

  298 endeuourment: endeavour, industry.

  301 accompt: account.

  315 treason: treachery (with political implications for the allegory).

  323 acquite themselues: give satisfactory account of themselves.

  324 flatly… abord: completely at sea, wholly confounded. Cf. RR, 185.

  328 doubting: suspecting.

  329 bad: bade, commanded.

  330 meaning: purpose, intention.

  332 afterclaps: unexpected strokes or consequences.

  preuent: anticipate, forestall.

  338 complement: fulfilment, completion.

  340 Carried: transported, borne.

  342 fortunes… tosse: ‘to toss about in the changing currents of fortune’.

  344 Abusing: deceiving.

  354 cassocke: close-fitting ecclesiastical tunic.

  sidelong: long, hanging far down. Cf. VB, 115.
/>
  356 state: condition.

  357 pas: passport, warrant.

  358 Clerkes booke-redd: the 1572 ‘Act for the Punishment of Vagabonds’ (14 Elizabeth c. 5) embraced ‘all Scollers of the Universities of Oxeforde or Cambridge’ who begged without authority.

  361 formall: precise, prim (with the implication of being a priest only in outward form or demeanour). The ensuing portrait summarizes contemporary complaints about unworthy, illiterate clergy.

  371 squib: man, fellow.

  372 snib: reprove, rebuke.

  382 euidence: document.

  will: last testament.

  385–91 Parodying the views of those who regarded an ignorant clergy as politically advantageous.

  390 Sir: cf. SC, Maye, 309 and note.

  393 read Homelies: the Elizabethan Book of Homilies was issued in its final form in 1571. Puritans complained that it degraded the office of preaching into an office of reading.

  394–5 done… please: cf. SC, Maye, 39–44.

  400 booties boad: unprofitably dwell or abide.

  406 haue… troad: have not yet (chosen) the course of any (particular) pathway, i.e. have not yet chosen their way of life.

  412 bondmen: bondsmen (in the sense of debtors).

  419–24 Cf. SC, Maye, 120–25.

  420 grow… prize: ‘advance by degrees to a significant office’.

  421 Commissaries: ecclesiastical officers exercising jurisdiction as representatives of a bishop or deputizing for him in his absence.

  422 Principalls: heads of religious houses.

  Prebendaries: stipendiary canons of a cathedral.

  424 spite… neare: ‘whatever spiteful men may say’ [Renwick (1928), 237].

  431–6 Distorting Christ’s injunction to ‘feed his sheep’ (John 21: 15–17).

  432 hath… threat: i.e. a grievous penalty is threatened for failure.

  438 bread… place: the manna of the Old Testament and the Eucharistic bread of the New Testament were associated by Christ (cf. John 6: 31–5).

  439 he… rod: Aaron’s rod ‘brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms’ (Numbers 17: 8), but the priest displays his ignorance in misattributing the following quotation to Aaron.

  440 All… God: cf. Isaiah 54: 13.

  441 That same: the bread of life.

  raught: stretched out, given.

  443 Shepheard: ‘I am the good shepherd’ (John 10: 11, 14). The priest abuses Christ’s declaration in order to abnegate responsibility for his flock.

  447–58 The priest exploits the Reformers’ abolition of Roman Catholic rituals and hostility to the doctrine of salvation through ‘works’ (rather than faith) as a pretext for spiritual indolence. Cf. SC, Maye, 149–57.

  451 Anthemes: antiphonal chant or song.

  452 penie Masses: masses said for a penny’s fee.

  Complynes: the last service of the day completing the canonical hours.

  453 Dirges: offices of the dead (so called from the anthem beginning ‘Dirige, Domine Deus meus’, from Psalms 5: 8).

  Trentals: set of thirty requiem masses.

  shrifts: confessions (or possibly penances).

  454 memories: services of commemoration, especially for the dead.

  458 motion: impulse.

  459–74 The priest exploits genuine Anglican arguments for the use of clerical vestments as a pretext for ostentation. The passage need not indicate Spenser’s sympathy with the Puritans in the vestiarian controversy. Cf. SC, Julye, [173] and note.

  460 twist: thread.

  463 Aarons: cf. Exodus 28: 1–43.

  469 Lord of hoasts: the Lord of Sabaoth (cf. Romans 9: 28–9; James 5: 4–8; FQ, 7. 8. 2).

  474 heare: hair.

  477 wilfull: in the sense of perverse or obstinate.

  478 free libertie: cf. ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free’ (Galatians 5: 1). The Reformers asserted the clergy’s right to marry but the priest exploits this liberty as a pretext for sensual indulgence.

  479 ghostly: dealing with religious matters, spiritual (an ironic usage).

  482 Benefice: a church living.

  484 thereout: upon that matter, concerning that.

  486 Beneficiall: a benefice or a letter of presentation to one.

  491 zealous: a term frequently associated with Puritans.

  497 Radegund: St Radigund’s devotion to virginity was such that she refused to consummate her marriage. She was noted for miraculous cures.

  499 curtesie: curtsy, obeisance.

  501 or: ere.

  506 companie: play the obsequious companion.

  507 beetle stock: hammer handle, a common figure for dullness and lack of personal initiative or independence.

  509 mock… Benefice: gain a benefice by buffoonery.

  510 coniure by deuice: conjure up by magic.

  511 cast a figure: calculate (a horoscope) astrologically.

  512 schoole-trick: a mere academic exercise.

  516–20 For these abuses cf. SC, September, 122–35 and note.

  517 Beneuolence: an enforced contribution, ironically named.

  gage: pledge.

  518 Primitias: first year’s income.

  519 forpas… by: escape them, slip past them.

  520 gelt: mulcted, curtailed.

  523 compound… penie: come to a better financial arrangement.

  527 cope… thee: make a bargain with you.

  540 peeces riuen: by the patron’s exploitation of the revenues.

  542 Common place: common theme or topos.

  543 shriuing: confession.

  545 by my hallidome: by my holiness (a familiar oath).

  547 discipline: teaching, instruction.

  561 constraind: enforced, drawn upon themselves.

  562 Ordinarie: bishop of the diocese or his deputy.

  565 Pursiuants: warrant officers.

  569 Visitation: official visit of inspection by the bishop or archdeacon.

  cyted: summoned.

  571 composition: financial arrangement or deal.

  572 light condition: easy terms.

  579 for… tourne: to suit their purposes.

  587 requite: salute in return. Cf. FQ, 1. 9. 49.

  611 portracture: image, representation.

  622 Lyon: alluding to Queen Elizabeth I (‘she’ of line 629). The lion figured prominently on the royal arms.

  624 Enchaste: bound or enclosed, i.e. the queen employs her favour as a strategy of control.

  626 buxome: compliant, submissive.

  628 late chayne: may refer either to the Earl of Leicester’s marriage to Lettice Knollys (1578) or to the Earl of Essex’s clandestine marriage to Frances Walsingham, widow of Sir Philip Sidney (1590).

  629 she: the lion is female here and at line 901 but male at line 953 in the more politically sensitive context of the final episode.

  636 cost: expense, outlay.

  639 gainfull: profitable.

  656 aguize: attire, dress.

  658 successe: fortune, outcome.

  665 Magnifico: cf. ‘like Magnificoes, not a beck but glorious in shew’ (Gabriel Harvey, Letters, in Prose, 467).

  667 counterfesaunce: dissimulation, counterfeiting.

  668 credite: (false) repute, cf. line 689.

  countenaunce: semblance.

  670 basen wide: as wide as a basin, a common phrase.

  671 what… wight: what sort of person.

  672 accoustrements: apparel, outfits.

  673 queint deuises: strange or bizarre designs.

  677 Alla Turchesca: after the Turkish fashion. Adoption of foreign fashions was a prevalent courtly abuse. Castiglione complains that ‘there are also those who dress in the manner of Turks’ (Courtier, 134).

  680 strangenesse: distance, aloofness.

  681 secrete: covert, underhand.

  state: rank, status.

  682 hire: bribe.

  683 couerture: deceitful strategy.

  698 read: foretel
l, predict.

  700 iuggle: cheat, beguile.

  701 legier demaine: sleight-of-hand, trickery.

  709 other… wits: other vain wits like himself.

  714 gybe… fleare: jeer and sneer.

  716 ill… spill: spoil with an ill interpretation (or intention).

  717–93 For the ideal courtier cf. Castiglione, Courtier, 61–4 (martial and physical exercise), 88–92 (learning and literature), 94–5 (music), 125 (service of the prince), 126–7 (conversation and demeanour).

  742 ring… beare: to ride at the ring, i.e. to carry off on the point of a lance a metal ring suspended on a post.

  745 enlarge… breath: develop his breathing.

  747 Eughen: made of yew.

  749 gowned beast: caparisoned horse.

  750–51 Persian… foe: a garbled allusion. Cyrus the Great defeated the king of Babylon who controlled Assyria (Herodotus, History, 1. 188–91). Athenaeus records that ‘the Persian king was never seen on foot outside the palace’ (Deipnosophistae, xii. 514c).

  754 recoyle: retire.

  756 toyled: exhausted by toil, weary.

  759 pause: rest.

  770 vpshot: mark (a metaphor from archery).

  775 his grace: his prince’s favour.

  778 In… personage: in whatever service he is pleased to employ his person.

  781 amenaunce: conduct, bearing.

  784 Courting: his presence in court, or his role as a courtier.

  applie: devote, employ.

  785 enterdeale: negotiation, intercourse.

  796 descrie: discover or disclose.

  802 mumming: disguising (as in a mummers’ play).

  803 balliards: billiards.

  804 misseeming: misbecoming, inappropriate to.

  807 Ne… scorne: nor, in order to please them, would he think it beneath him sometimes.

  808 Pandares: possibly glancing at Simier’s role in promoting the d’Alençon match. The Queen called Simier her ‘monkey’.

  809–20 For the courtly abuse of poetry cf. CCH, 775–94.

  822 relieu’d: relieved his penury with money.

  826 charmes: songs, poems.

  827 strong conceipts: forceful fancies or images.

  833 Sectaries: adherents, devotees.

  835 mewd: confined, cooped up.

  842 progression: step by step, stage by stage.

  843 professe: acknowledge their faith in, preach.

  849 He… choyce: he did not care.