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Cant V FAERIE QVEENE 171
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Eternall God in his almighty powre,
To make ensample of his heauenly grace,
In Paradize whilome did plant this flowre,
Whence he it fetcht out of her natiue place,
And did in stocke of earthly flesh enrace,
lhat mortall men her glory should admire
In gentle Ladies brest, and bounteous race
Of woman kind it fairest flowre doth spire,
And beareth fruit of honour and all chast desire
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Faire ympes of beautie, whose bright shining
beames
Adorne the world with like to heauenly light,
And to your willes both royalties and Realmes
Subdew, through conquest of your wondrous
might,
With this faire flowre your goodly girlonds
dight,
Of chastity and vertue virginall,
That shall embellish more your beautie bright,
Andcrowneyour heades withheauenly coronall,
Such as the Angels weare before Godstribunall
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To youre faire selues a faire ensample frame,
Of this faire virgin, this Belphosbe faire,
To whom in perfect loue, and spotlesse fame
Of chastitie, none humg may compaire
Ne poysnous Enuy mstly can empaire
The prayse of her fresh flownng Maidenhead ,
For thy she standeth on the highest staire
Of th'honorable stage of womanhead,
That Ladies all may follow her ensample dead
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In so great prayse of stedfast chastity,
Nathlesse she was so curteous and kind,
Tempred with grace, and goodly modesty,
That seemed those two vertues stroue to find
The higher phce in her Heroick mind
So striuing each did other more augment,
And both encreast the prayse of woman kind,
And both encreast her beautie excellent,
So all did make in her a perfect complement
Cant. VI.
The birth of faire Belphosbe and
OjAmoret is told
The Gardins of Adonis fraught
With pleasures manifold
1
Well may I weene, faire Ladies, all this while
Ye wonder, how this noble Damozell
So great perfections did in her compile,
Sith that in saluage forests she did dwell,
So farre from court and royall Citadell,
The great schoolmistresse of all curtesy
Seemeth that such wild woods should farexpell
All ciuill vsage and gentility,
And gentle sprite deforme with rude rusticity
But to this faire Belphosbe in her berth
The heauens so fauourable were and free,
Looking with myld aspect vpon the earth,
In itiHoroscope of her natiuitee,
That all the gifts of grace and chastitee
On her they poured forth of plenteous home ,
loue laught on Venus from his soueraigne see,
And Phoebus with faire beames did her adorne,
And all the Graces rockt her cradle being borne
Her berth was of the wombe of Morning dew,
And her conception of the loyous Prime,
And all her whole creation did her shew
Pure and vnspotted from all loathly crime,
That is ingenerate in fleshly slime
So was this virgin borne, so was she bred,
So was she trayned vp from time to time,
In all chast vertue, and true bounti hed
Till to her dew perfection she was ripened
Her mother was the faire Chrysogonee,
The daughter of Amphisa, who by race
A Faerie was, yborne of high degree,
She bore Belphosbe, she bore in like cace
Faire Amoretia in the second place
These two were twmnes, and twixt them two
did share
The heritage of all celestiall grace
That all the rest it seem'd they robbed bare
Of bountie, and of beautie, and all vertues
rare