Guyon findes in a deluedelve,
sunning his
hore:
Is by him tempted, &and led downe,
To see his secrete store.
[1]
well expert in perilous wauewave,
That to
his course hath bent,
When foggy mistes, or cloudy tempests hauehave
The faithfull light of that faire lampe ,
And couercover’d heauenheaven with hideous dreriment,
VponUpon his firmes his
eye,
The of his long experiment,
And to them does the steddy helme apply,
Bidding his winged vessell fairely forward
fly.
[2]
Late left beyond that Ydle lake,
proceedes
Yet on his way, of none accompanyde;
Long
ſosoSo long
he yode, yet no aduentureadventure found,
Which fame of her shrill trompet worthy reedes:
For still he traueildtraveild through wide wastfull
ground,
That nought but desert
shewed all around.
[3]
At last he came vntounto a gloomy glade,
Couer’dCover’d with boughes &and shrubs from heauensheavens light,
Whereas he sitting found
in secret shade
An vncouthuncouth, saluagesalvage, and vnciuileuncivile wight,
Of griesly hew, and fowle ill fauourfavour’d sight;
[4]
His yron cote all ,
Was with gold,
Whose glistring glosse darkned with filthy dust,
Well yetit appeared, to hauehave beene of old
A worke of rich entayle,
and curious mould,
WouenWoven with antickes and wyld
ymagery:
And in his lap a masse of coyne he told,
And turned
vpſide downeupſide downevpside downeupside downe
vpſidowneupſidownevpsidowneupsidowne, to
AndA
couetouscovetous desire with his huge threasury.
[5]
And round about him
layhim lay lay on eueryevery side
Great heapes of gold, that :
Some others were new driuendriven, and distent
Into great , and to wedges square;
Some in round plates withouten :
But most were stampt, and in their metal bare
The antique shapes of kings and straung &and rare.
[6]
Soone as he Guyon saw, in great affright
And haste he rose, for to remoueremove aside
Those pretious hils from straungers enuiousenvious sight,
And downe them poured through an hole full wide,
Into the hollow earth, them there to hide.
But Guyon
lightly to him leaping, stayd
His hand, that trembled, as one terrifyde;
And though him selfe were at the sight dismayd,
Yet him perforce restraynd, and to him
doubtfull sayd.
[7]
What art thou man, (if man at all thou
art)
That here in desert hast thine habitaunce,
And these rich hilsheapes of welth doest hide apart
From the worldes eye, and from her ?
Thereat with staring eyes
fixed ,
In great disdaine, he answerd, Hardy Elfe,
That darest vew my direfull countenaunce,
I read thee rash, and
heedlesse of thy selfe,
To trouble my still seate, and heapes of
pretious .
[8]
,
That of my plenty poure out vntounto all,
And vntounto none my graces do enuyeenvye:
Riches, renowme, and ,
Honour, estate, and all this worldes good,
[9]
Wherefore if me thou deigne to ,
At thy commaund lo all bee;
Or if to thy great mind, or greedy vew
All these may not suffise, there shall to thee
Ten times so much be .
Mammon (said he) thy godheads vaunt is vaine,
And idle offers of thy golden fee;
To them, that couetcovet such eye-glutting gaine,
Proffer thy giftes, and fitter seruauntsservaunts entertaine.
[10]
Me ill befitsbeſitsbesits, that in armes,
And honours suit my do spend,
VntoUnto thy , and
pleasing charmes,
With which weake men thou , to attend:
Regard of worldly mucke doth fowly ,
And low abase the high spright,
That ioyesjoyes for and kingdomes to
contend;
Faire shields, gay steedes, bright armes be my
delight:
Those be the riches fit for an aduent’rousadvent’rous knight.
[11]
Vaine glorious Elfe (saide he) doest not
thou weet,
That money can thy wantes at will supply?
Sheilds, steeds, and armes, and all things for thee
meet
It can purvay ;
And crownes and kingdomeskingdoweskingdomes to thee multiply.
Doe not create, create, &and throw the crowne
Sometimes to him, that low in dust doth ly?
And him that raignd, into his rowme thrust downe,
And whom I lust, do heape with glory and renowne?
[12]
All otherwise (saide he) I riches read,
And deeme them ;
First got with guile, and then preseru’dpreserv’d with dread,
And after spent with pride and lauishnesselavishnesse,
LeauingLeaving behind them griefe and heauinesseheavinesse.
Infinite mischiefes of them doe arize,
Strife, and debate, bloodshed, and bitternesse,
Outrageous wrong, and hellish couetizecovetize,
[13]
Ne thine be kingdomes, ne the scepters
thine;
But realmes and rulers thou doest both confound,
And loyall truth to treason doest incline;
Witnesse the guiltlesse blood pourd oft on ground,
The crowned often slaine, the slayer cround,
The sacred Diademe in peeces rent,
And purple robe gored with many a wound;
So mak’st thou kings, &and gaynest wrongfull gouernmẽtgouernmentgovernmẽtgovernment.
[14]
Long were to tell the troublous stormes,
that tosse
The priuateprivate state, and make the life vnsweetunsweet:
Who swelling sayles in
doth fleet,
Doth not, I weene, so many euilsevils meet.
Then Mammon
wexing wroth, And why then, sayd,
[15]
(quoth he) through fowle intemperaunce,
Frayle men are oft captiu’dcaptiv’d to couetisecovetise:
But would they thinke, with how small allowaunce
VntroubledUntroubled Nature doth her selfe suffise,
Such superfluities they would despise,
Which with sad cares our natiuenative
ioyesjoyes:
At the well head the purest streames arise:
But mucky filth his braunching armes annoyes,
And with vncomelyuncomely weedes the gentle wauewave
accloyes.
[16]
The antique world, in his first flowring
youth,
Fownd no defect in his Creators grace,
But with glad thankes, and
truth,
The guifts of souerainesoveraine bounty did embrace:
Like Angels life was then mens happy cace;
[17]
Then gan a cursed hand the quiet
Of his great Grandmother
with steele to wound,
Therein he fownd
Fountaines of gold and siluersilver to abownd,
Then auariceavarice gan
inspire
His greedy flames, and kindled life-deuouringdevouring fire.
[18]
Sonne (said he then) lett be thy bitter
scorne,
And leaueleave the rudenesse of thatof antique age
To them, that liu’dliv’d therin in state forlorne;
Thou that doest liuelive in later times, must wage
Thy workes for wealth, and .
If then thee list my offred grace to vseuse,
Take what thou please of all this surplusage;
If thee list not, leaueleave
hauehave thou to refuse:
[19]
Ne wote I, but thou didst these goods bereauebereave
From rightfull owner by vnrighteousunrighteous
lott,
Or that bloodguiltnesse or guile them blott.
But safe I hauehave them kept in secret mew,
From heuenshevens sight, and powre of al which thẽthem poursew.
[20]
So by and byby and by.
[21]
they came into a larger space,
That stretcht it selfe into an ample playne,
Through which a beaten did trace,
That streight did lead to
griesly rayne:
The one in hand an yron whip did strayne,
The other brandished a bloody knife,
And both did gnash their teeth, &and both did threten
life.
[22]
On in one consort
there sate,
Cruell ReuengeRevenge, and rancorous Despight,
Disloyall Treason, and hart-burning Hate,
But gnawing Gealosy out of their sight
Sitting alone, his bitter lips did bight,
And trembling Feare still to and fro did fly,
And found no place, wher safe he shroud him might,
did in
darknes lye,lye.
And
ſ⁀hameshame
Shame his vglyugly face did hide from liuingliving eye.
[23]
And ouerover them sad with grim hew,
Did alwaies sore, beating his yron wings;
Whiles sad ,
sitting on a clifte,
A song of bale and bitter sorrow sings,
That hart of flint a sonderasonder could hauehave rifte:
Which hauinghaving ended, after him she flyeth swifte.
[24]
All these before the gates of Pluto lay,
By whom they passing, spake vntounto them nought.
But th’Elfin knight with wonder all the way
At last him to a litle dore he brought,
That to the gate of Hell, which ,
Was next adioyningadjoyning, ne them parted oughtnought:
BetwixtBetwtxtBetwixt them both was but a litle stride,
That did the house of Richesse from
hellmouth diuidedivide.
[25]
Before the dore sat selfe-consuming
Care,
Day and night keeping wary watch and ward,
For feare least Force or Fraud should vnawareunaware
Breake in, and spoile
the treasure there in gard:
Ne would he suffer Sleepe once thether-ward
Approch, albe his drowsy den were next;
Therefore his house is vntounto his annext;
Here Sleep, ther Richesse, &and Helgate thẽthem both betwext.
[26]
as Mammon there arriudarrivd, the dore
To him did open, and affoorded way;
Him followed eke Sir Guyon
euermoreevermore,
Ne darkenesse him, ne daunger might
dismay.
Soone as he entred was, the dore streight way
Did shutt, and from behind it forth there lept
An vglyugly feend, more fowle 1590.bk2.II.vii.26.7. then: thanthenthan
,
The which with monstrous behind him stept,
And euerever as he went, dew watch vponupon him kept.
[27]
Well hoped hee, ere long that hardy
guest,
Should be his pray. And therefore still on hye
He ouerover him did hold his cruell clawes,
Threatning with greedy gripe to doe him dye
And rend in peeces with his rauenousravenous pawes,
If euerever he transgrest the fatall .
[28]
That houses forme within was rude and
strong,
Lyke an huge cauecave, hewne out of rocky clifte,
with massy gold
,
That heauyheavy
they did seeme to
threatt;
[30]
In all that rowme was nothing to be
seene,
But huge great yron chests and coffers strong,
All bard with double bends, that none could weene
Them to efforce by violence or wrong:
On eueryevery side they placed were along.
[31]
They forward passe, ne Guyon yet spoke word,
And shewd of richesse such exceeding store,
As eie of man did neuernever see before,
Ne euerever could within one place be fownd,
Though all the wealth, which is, or was of yore,
Could gathered be through all the world arownd,
And that aboueabove were added to that vnderunder grownd.
[32]
The charge thereof vntounto a couetouscovetous Spright
Commaunded was, who
thereby did attend,
And warily awaited day and night,
From other couetouscovetous feends it to defend,
Who it to rob and ransacke did intend.
Then
MammonHammon turning to that warriour, said;
Loe here the worldes blis, loe here the end,
To which al men doe ayme, rich to be made:
Such grace now to be happy, is before thee
laid.
[33]
Certes (sayd he) I thine offred grace,
To them, that list, these base regardes I lend:
But I in armes, and in atchieuementsatchievements
brauebrave,
Do rather choose my flitting houres to spend,
[34]
Thereat the feend his gnashing teeth did
grate,
And grieu’dgriev’d, so long to lacke his ;
For well he weened, that
so glorious bayte
Would tempt his guest, to :
Had he so doen, he had him snatcht away,
But whenas
Mammon saw his purpose mist,
Him to entrap vnwaresunwares another way he wist.
[35]
Thence forward he him ledd, and shortly
brought
Therein an hundred raunges weren pight,
And hundred fournaces all burning bright;
By eueryevery fournace many feendes did byde,
Deformed creatures, horrible in sight,
And eueryevery feend his busie paines applyde,
To melt the golden metall, ready to be .
[36]
great bellowes gathered filling ayre,
And with forst wind the fewell did inflame;
Another did the dying
bronds repayre
With yrondyingyron tongs, and sprinckled ofte the same
With liquid waueswaves, fiers to tame,
Who maystring them, renewd his former heat;
Some stird the molten owre with ladles great;
And eueryevery one did swincke, and eueryevery one did sweat.
[37]
But when an earthly wight they present
saw,
Glistring in armes and battailous aray,
From their whot work they did themseluesthemselves withdraw
To wonder at the sight: for till that day,
They neuernever creature saw, that cam that way.
Their eyes
sparckling with feruentfervent fyre,
And vglyugly shapes did nigh the man dismay,
That were it not for shame, he would retyre,
him thus bespake their souerainesoveraine Lord &and syre.
[38]
Behold, thou Faeries sonne, with mortall
eye,
That liuingliving eye before did neuernever see:
The thing, that thou didst crauecrave so earnestly,
To weet, whence all the wealth late shewd by mee,
Proceeded, lo now is reuealdreveald to thee.
Here is the fountaine of the worldes good:
Now therefore, if thou wilt enriched bee,
AuiseAvise thee well, and chaunge thy
wilfull mood,
Least thou perhaps hereafter wish, and be
withstood.
[39]
Suffise it then, thou Money God (qd.quoth hee)
That all thine ydle offers I refuse.
All that I need I hauehave; what needeth mee
To couetcovet more, then I
hauehave cause to vseuse?
With such vaine shewes thy worldlinges vyle abuse:
But giuegive me leaueleave to follow mine emprise.
Mammon was much displeasd, yet n’oteno’te he chuse,
But beare the rigour of his bold mesprise,
And thence him forward ledd, him further to
entise.
[40]
The gate was open, but therein did wayt
A
sturdie villein,
stryding stiffe and bold,
As highest God defy he would;
Yet had both life and sence, and well could weld
That cursed weapon, when his cruell foes he
queld.
[41]
Disdayne he called was, and
did disdayne
To be so cald, and who so did him call:
Sterne was histo looke, and full of stomacke
vayne,
His portaunce terrible,
and stature tall,
Far passing th’hight of men terrestriall;
Like an huge Gyant of ,
That made him scorne all creatures great and small,
And with his pride all others powre deface:
More fitt emongst black fiendes, 1590.bk2.II.vii.41.9. then: thanthenthan men to hauehave his place.
[42]
Soone as those armes he did
espye,
That with their brightnesse made that darknes light,
His harmefull club he gan to hye,
And threaten batteill to the Faery knight;
[43]
And the fiers Carle
commaunding to forbeare,
He brought him in. The rowme was large and wyde,
As it some or solemne Temple weare:
Many great golden pillours did vpbeareupbeare
The massy roofe, and riches huge sustayne,
And eueryevery pillour decked was full
deare
[44]
A route of people there assembled were,
Of eueryevery sort and nation vnderunder skye,
Which with great vproreuprore
to draw nere
To th’vpperupper part, where was aduauncedadvaunced hye
[45]
Her face right wondrous faire did seeme to
bee,
That her broad beauties beam great brightnes threw
Through the dim shade, that all men might it see:
Yet was not that same her owne natiuenative hew,
But wrought by art and counterfetted shew,
Thereby more louerslovers
vntounto her to call;
Nath’lesse most heuenlyhevenly faire in deed and vew
She by creation was, till she did fall,
ThẽceforthThenceforthThencforth she sought for helps to cloke her
crime withall.crimewithall.
[46]
in glistring glory she did sitt,
She held a great gold chaine ylincked well,
Whose vpperupper end to highest heuenheven was knitt,
And lower part did reach to lowest Hell,
And all that preace did rownd about her swell,
To catchen hold of that long chaine, thereby
To climbe aloft, and others to excell:
That was Ambition, rash desire to sty,
And eueryevery linck thereof a step of .
[47]
thought to raise themseluesthemselves to high degree,
By riches and vnrighteousunrighteous reward,
Some by close shouldring, some by flatteree;
Others through friendes, others for base regard;
And all by wrong waies for themseluesthemselves prepard.
Those that were vpup
themseluesthemselves, kept others low,
Those that were low themseluesthemselves, held others hard,
Ne suffred them to ryse or greater grow,
But eueryevery one did striuestrive his fellow downe to throw.
[48]
Which whenas Guyon saw, he gan inquire,
What meant that preace about that Ladies throne,
And what she was that did so high
aſpyre.aspyre.
aſpyre,aspyre,
aſpireaspire
Him Mammon
answered, That goodly one,
Whom all that folke with such contention,
Doe flock about, my deare my daughter is,
Honour and dignitie from her alone,
DeriuedDerived are, and all this worldes blis
For which ye men doe striuestrive: few gett, but many mis.
[49]
And fayre she rightly hight,
But that this darksom neather world her light
Doth dim with horror and deformity,
Worthie of heuenheven and hye felicitie,
From whence
hauehave her for enuyenvy thrust:
But sith thou hast found fauourfavour in mine eye,
Thy spouse I will her make, if that thou lust,
That she may thee aduanceadvance for
iustjust.
[50]
MammonMammom (said the gentle knight)
For so great grace and offred high estate,
But I, that am fraile flesh and earthly wight,
VnworthyUnworthy match for such immortall matemate,mate
My selfe well wote, ,
And were I not, yet is my trouth yplight,
And louelove
auowdavowd to other Lady late,
That to remoueremove the same I hauehave no might:
To chaunge louelove causelesse is reproch to warlike knight.knight
[51]
Mammon
emmouedemmoved was with inward wrath;
Yet ,
him forth thence ledd
Through griesly shadowes by a beaten path,
Into a gardin goodly garnished
With hearbs &and fruits, whose kinds mote not be redd.
Not such, as earth out of her fruitfull woomb
Throwes forth to men sweet and well savored,
[52]
mournfull Cypresse grew in greatest
store,
And trees of bitter , and
sad,
Dead sleeping Poppy, and black ,
Cold ,
and mad,
Mortall , and
Cicuta bad,
[53]
The this hight;
And in the midst thereof a siluersilver seat,
With a thick Arber goodly ouerdightoverdight,
In which she often vsdusd from open heat
Her selfe to shroud, and pleasures to .
Next thereunto did grow a goodly tree,
With braunches broad dispredd and body great,great.great,
Clothed with leauesleaves, that none the wood mote see
And loaden all with fruit as thick as it
might bee.
[54]
Their fruit were glistring bright,
That goodly was their glory to behold,
On earth like neuernever grew, ne liuingliving wight
Like euerever saw, but they from hence were sold;
And planted there, did bring forth fruit of gold
[56]
The warlike Elfe, much wondred at this
tree,
So fayre and great, that shadowed all the ground,
And his broad braunches, laden with rich fee,
Did stretch themseluesthemselves
without the vtmostutmost bound
Of this great gardin, compast with a mound,
Which ouerover-hanging, they themseluesthemselves did steepe,
In a blacke flood which flow’d about it round,
That is the riuerriver of deepe,
In which full many soules do endlesse wayle
and weepe.
[57]
Which to behold, he clomb vpup to the bancke,
And looking downe, saw many damned wightes,
In those sad waueswaves, which direfull deadly stancke,
Plonged continually of
cruell Sprightes,
That with their piteous cryes, and yelling shrightes,
They made the further shore resounden wide:
Emongst the rest of those same ruefull sightes,
One cursed creature, he by chaunce espide,
That drenched lay full deepe, vnderunder the Garden side.
[58]
Deepe was he drenched to the vpmostupmost chin,
Yet gaped still as couetingcoveting to drinke,
Of the cold liquour
which he waded in,
And stretching forth his hand, did often thinke
To reach the fruit which grew vponupon the brincke:
But both the fruit from hand, and flood from mouth
Did fly abacke, and made him vainely swincke:
The whiles he steru’dsterv’d with hunger, and with drouth
He daily dyde, yet neuernever throughly dyen couth.
[59]
The knight him seeing labour so in
vaine,
Askt who he was, and what he thereby:
Who groning deepe, thus answerd him againe;
Most cursed of all creatures vnderunder skye,
[60]
thou greedy Tantalus (quoth he)
Abide the fortune of thy present fate,
And vntounto all that liuelive in high degree,
Ensample be of mind more temperateintemperate,
To teach them how to vseuse their present state.
[61]
He lookt a litle further, and espyde
Another wretch, whose carcas deepe was drent
Within the riuerriver, which the same did hyde:
[62]
The knight him calling, asked who he
was,
Who lifting vpup his head, him answerd thus:
[63]
Infinite moe, tormented in like paine
He there beheld, too long here to be told:
Ne Mammon
would there let him long remayne,
For terrour of the tortures manifold,
In which the damned soules he did behold,
But roughly him bespake. Thou fearefull foole
[64]
All which he did, to do him deadly fall,
In
through sinfull bayt,
To which if he inclyned had at all,
That dreadfull feend, which did behinde him wayt,
Would him hauehave rent in thousand peeces strayt:
But he was wary wise in all his way,
And well perceiuedperceived his deceiptfull sleight,
Ne suffred lust his
safety to betray;
So goodly did of histhe pray.
[65]
And now he has so long remained theare,
That vitall powres gan wexe both weake and wan,
For want of food, and sleepe, which two vpbeareupbeare,
Like mightie pillours, this frayle life of man,
That none without the same enduren can.
For now were full outwrought,
Since he this hardy enterprize began:
For thy great Mammon fayrely he besought,
Into the world to guyde him backe, as he him
brought.
[66]
The God, though loth, yet was constraynd
t’obay,
So backe againe, him brought to liuingliving light.
As ouercomeovercome with too exceeding might,
The life did flit away out of her nest,
And all his sences were with deadly fit
opprest.
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