Xxi. Spenser[37] At Different Periods

(a) Shep. Kal. (strict stanza):

Thou bar|ren ground, | whom win|ter's wrath | has wasted, Art made | a mir|ror to | behold | my plight: Whilome | thy fresh | spring flower'd, | and af|ter hasted Thy sum|mer proud, | with daf|fodil|lies dight; And now | is come | thy win|ter's storm|y state, Thy man|tle marr'd | wherein | thou mask|edst late.

(Regular iambs throughout. One double rhyme.)

(b) Shep. Kal. (equivalenced octosyllable--Christabel or Genesis and Exodus metre):

His harm|ful hat|chĕt hĕ hēnt | in hand, (Alas! | that it | so read|y̆ shŏuld stānd!) And to | the field | alone | he speedeth, (Aye lit|tle help | to harm | there needeth!) Anger | nould let | him speak |tŏ thĕ trēe, Enaun|tĕr hĭs rāge | mought cool|ed bee; But to | thĕ rŏot bēnt | his sturd|y stroke, And made | măny̆ wōunds | in the | waste oak. The ax|e's edge | did oft turne | again, As half | unwill|ĭng tŏ cūt | the grain. Seemed | the sense|less ir|on did fear, Or to | wrong ho|ly eld | dĭd fŏrbēar-- For it | had been | an an|cient tree, Sacred | with ma|ny̆ ă mȳs|tery, And of|ten crossèd | with the pries|tès cruise And of|ten hal|lowed with ho|ly wa|ter dews.

(Observe that this last is the only distinct, if not the only possible, decasyllabic couplet, while it can become an Alexandrine by valuing "hal|lowèd" |; and that "priestès" is the only attempt at valued Chaucerian e.)

(c) Shep. Kal. (equivalenced stanza):

Bring hi|thĕr thĕ pīnk and pur|ple col|umbine, With gil|lyflowers; Bring cor|ona|tions | and sops | in wine, Worn of | părămōurs: Strow me | the ground | with daf|fadown | dillies, And cow|slips and | kingcups | and lov|ed lil|liès: The pret|ty paunce, And the chev|isaunce, Shall match | with the fair | flow'r delice.

It may be just desirable to remind the student that a final "-ion" is commonly dissyllabic in the sixteenth and earlier seventeenth centuries. "Worn of par|amours" is possible.

(d) "Spenserian" stanza (occasional, but mostly slight, equivalence. Pause in ll. 1-8 at discretion; in 9 usually at middle, but, as in the following, not always):

So pass|eth, in | the pass|ing of | a day Of mor|tal life, | the leaf, | the bud, | the flower; No more | doth flour|ish af|ter first | decay That erst | was sought | to deck | both bed | and bower Of ma|ny̆ ă lā|dy̆ ănd mā|ny̆ ă pār|amour! Gather, | therefore, | the rose | while yet | is prime, For soon | comes age | that will | her pride | deflower: Gather | the rose | of love | whilst yet | is time, Whilst lov|ing thou | mayst lov|èd be | with e|qual crime.

(e) Mother Hubberd's Tale (antithetic and stopped heroic couplet):

Full litt|le know|est thou | that hast | not tried, What hell | it is, | in su|ing long | to bide: To lose | good days | that might | be bet|ter spent; To waste | long nights | in pen|sive dis|content; To speed | to-day, | to be | put back | to-morrow; To feed | on hope, | to pine | with fear | and sorrow; To have | thy Prin|ce's grace, | yet want | her Peer's; To have | thy ask|ing, yet | wait ma|ny years; To fret | thy soul | with cross|es and | with cares; To eat | thy heart | through com|fortless | despairs; To fawn, | to crouch, | to wait, | to ride, | to run, To spend, | to give, | to want, | to be | undone.

(f) Epithalamion (elaborate quasi-Pindaric stanza concerted in different line length, but almost strictly iambic; "the," etc., before a vowel being probably elided):

Open | the tem|ple gates | unto | my Love, Open | them wide | that she | may en|ter in, And all | the posts | adorn | as doth | behove, And all | the pil|lars deck | with gar|lands trim, For to | receive | this Saint | with hon|our due, That com|eth in | to you. With trem|bling steps, | and hum|ble rev|erence, She com|eth in, | before | th' Almight|y's view: Of her, | ye vir|gins, learn | obe|dience, When so | ye come, | into | those ho|ly places, To hum|ble your | proud faces: Bring her | up to | th' High Al|tar, that | she may The sa|cred ce|remo|nies there | partake The which | do end|less ma|trimo|ny make; And let | the roar|ing or|gans loud|ly play The prai|ses of | the Lord | in live|ly notes, The whiles | with hol|low throats The cho|risters | the joy|ous an|them sing, That all | the woods | may an|swer, and | their ech|o ring!