Parformed shulde be ful sotilly,

As ye shul here it after openly,

Home goth this cherl, that highte 118) Claudius;
This false juge,, that highte Appius,

(So was his name, for it is no fable,

But knowen for an historial 119) thing notable;
The sentence 120) of it soth 121) is out of doute)
This false juge goth now fast aboute

To hasten his delit all that he may.
And so befell, sone after on a day.

This false juge, as telleth us the storie,

As he was wont, sat in his consistorie 122),
And yaf his domes 123) upon sundry 124) cas,
This false cherl came forth a ful gret pas,

And saide: Lord, if that it be your will,

As 125) doth me right upon this pitous 126) bill,
In which I plaine 127) upon Virginius;

And if that he wol sayn it is not thus

I wol it preve 128), and finden good witnesse
That soth 129) is that my bille wol expresse.

I

The juge answerd: Of this in his absence

may not yeve diffinitif sentence.

Let don him call, and I wol gladly here:

Thou shalt have right and no wrong as now here:

Virginius came to wete 130) the juges will,

And right anon was red this cursed bill;
The sentence of it was as ye shul here.

To you my Lord Sire Appius so dere
Sheweth your poure 131) servant Claudius
How that a knight called Virgimus
Agein the lawe, agein all equitee,

Holdeth, expresse agein the will of me,

My servant which that is my thral 132) by right,
Which from min hous was stolen on a night

118) highte, unstreitig unser: heissen.

119) historial histo

122)

rical. 120) sentence sense, meaning. 121) soth certain. consistorie court of justice. 123) dome judgment, opinion. 12+) sundry several. 125) as also.. passion. 127) plaine to complain. by trial.

poure poor.

129) soth true, certain.
132) thral slave.

126) pitous exciting com 128) prove to demonstrate 130) wete to know. 131)

While that she was ful yong; I wol it preve
By witnesse, Lord, so that it you not greve 133):
She n'is 134) his doughter nought, what so he say;
Wherefore to you, my Lord the juge, I pray;
Yelde 135) me my thral, if that it be your will.
Lo, this was all the sentence (36) of his bill.
Virginius, gan 137) upon the cherl behold;
But hastily er he his tale told,

And wold han preved it as shuld a knight,
And eke by witnessing of many a wight
That all was false that said his adversary,
This cursed juge wolde nothing tary 138),
Ne here a word more of Virginius,
But yave his jugement, and saide thus:

I deme 139) anon this cherl his servant have;
Thou shalt no lenger in thin hous hire save;
Go bring hire forth, and put hire in our ward:
The cherl shal have his thral; thus I award.

And whan this worthy knight Virginius,
Thurgh 140) sentence of this justice Appius,
Muste by force his dere doughter yeven
Unto the juge, in lecherie to liven,.

He goth him home, and set him in his hall,
And let anon his dere doughter call;
And with a face ded as ashen 141) cold
Upon hire humble face he gan behold,
With fadres pitee stiking 1+2) thurgh his herte,
Al wold he from his purpos not converte.

Doughter, quod he, Virginia by thy name,
Ther ben 143) two waies, other deth or shame,
That thou must suffre, alas that I was bore!
For never thou deservedest wherfore

To dien with a swerd or with a knif.

O dere doughter, ender 1**) of my lif!

Which I have fostred 1+5) up with swiche plesance

133) to greve to hurt, to grieve. 134) n'is is not. Yelde to yield, to give. 136) sentence sense, meaning. gan began. 138) tary vermuthlich für tarry, to wait for. deme to judge. 140) thurgh through. 141) ashen ashes. stike to stick, pierce. 143) ben are. die du endigst. 45) fostred nourished.

135)

137)

139)

142)

14+) ender, vielleicht:

That thou were never out of my remembrance;
O doughter! which that +6) art my laste wo 147)
And in my lif my laste joye also;

O gemme of chastitee! in patience

Take thou thy deth, for this is my sentence;
For love and not for hate thou must be ded;
My pitous hond 148) must smiten of thin hed.
Alas that ever Appius thee say! 149)

Thus hath he falsely juged thee to-day.
And told hire all the cas, as ye before
Han herd; it nedeth 15) not to tell it more.
O mercy, dere father! quod this maid.
And with that word she both hire armes laid
About his necke, as she was wont to do,
(The teres brast 151) out of hire eyen two)
And said: O goode father! shal I die?
Is ther no grace? is ther no remedie?

No certes, dere doughter min! quod he.
Than yeve me leiser 152); father min, quod she,
My deth for to complaine a titel space;
For parde 153) Jepte 154) yave his doughter grace
For to complaine or 155) he hire slow 156) alas.
And God it wot nothing was hire trespas,

But for she ran hire father first to see,

To welcome him with gret solempnitee.

And with that word she fell áswoune 157) anon,
And after, whan hire swouning was agon 158),
She riseth up, and to hire, father said;

Blessed be God that I shal die a maid!

Yeve me my deth or that I have a shame:

*

Doth 159) with your child your wille a Goddes name.
And with that word she praied him ful oft

That with his swerd he wolde smite bire soft;

row.

146) which that instead of which only.
148) hond hand. 149) say saw.

sor

147) wo
150) nedeth not is

not necessary. 151) brast to break, broke. 152) leiser leisure. 153 parde pardieux, a common french oath, which most of the personages in Chaucer express very frequently in English with as little ceremony as the Greeks used their vn Lia, and with as little meaning too. 154) Jepte Jephta, s. Buch der Richter, Kap. 11. v. 50. u. ff. 155) or ere, before. 1) slow slew. 157) aswoune in a swoon. 156) agon gone, past. 159) doth do ye.

A

1

And with that word aswoune again she fell.

"

Hire father, with ful sorweful 160) herte and will,
Hire hed of smote, and by the top it hent 161),
And to the juge he gan it to present,

As he sat yet in dome in consistorie.

And whan the juge it saw, as saith the storie,
He bad to take him and anhang 162) him fast:
But right anon a thousand peple in thrast 163)
To save the knight for routh 164) and for pitee,
For knowen was the false iniquitee.

The peple anon had suspect in this thing,
By maner of the cherles chalenging,
That it was by the assent of Appius;

They wisten 165) wel that he was lecherous:
For which unto this Appius they gon,
And caste him in a prison right anon,
Whereas he slow 156) himself; and Claudius,
That servant was unto this Appius,
Was demed for to hange upon a tree,
But that Virginius of his pitee

So prayed for him that he was exiled,

And elles 167) certes had he ben begiled 168):

The remenant 169) were anhanged, more and lesse,
That were consentant 170y of this cursednesse.

Here men may see how sin hath his merite:

Beth 171) ware, for no man wot whom God wol smite

In no degree, ne in which maner wise

The worme of conscience may agrise 172)

Of wicked lif, though it so privee be

That no man wote therof sauf 173) God and he;

For be le lewed 1) man or elles lered 175)

He n'ot 176) how sone that he shal been afered 177):
Therefore I rede 178) you this conseil take

Forsaketh sinne or sinne you forsake.

160) sorwe sorrow. 161) hente to take hold of, to catch. 162) anhang to hang up.' 163) thrast of threste, to thrust. 164) routh compassion. 165) wis to know. 166) slow slew. 167) elles else. 168) begiled beguiled. 169) remenant remaining part. 170) consentant consenting. 171) beth be ye. agrise to make to shudder. 173) sauf safe. 174) lewed ignorant. 175) lered, part, to learn. 176) n'ot ne wot, know not. 177) afered afraid. 176) rede to advise.

172)

17

SPENSER.

EDMUND SPENSER wurde (nach der gewöhnlichen, aber gewifs ganz unrichtigen Angabe) im Jahre 1510 zu London geboren. Er studierte im Pembroke - College zu Cambridge, und begab sich darauf, weil er sich in seiner Hoffnung, an diesem Orte eine Collegiatenstelle zu erhalten, getäuscht sah, auf das Gut eines seiner Freunde in Yorkshire. Hier war es vermuthlich, wo er das Frauenzimmer kennen lernte, dessen er so oft in seinem Schäfer-Kalender (Shepherd's Calendar) unter dem Namen Rosalinde erwähnt.

Das an

geführte Werk besteht aus 12 Eklogen, und ist dem Sir Philip Sidney, dem Mäzen seiner Zeit, zugeschrieben. Diesen vortrefflichen Mann hatte Spenser schon früher, und der gewöhnlichen Erzählung nach, auf eine Art kennen gelernt, welche für den jungen Dichter sehr ehrenvoll war. Dieser nämlich überreichte dem Sir Philip Sidney einige Proben vom gten Gesang der Fairy Queen, die er eben damals zu schreiben anfing. Sidney erstaunte über die Schönheit des Gedichts, vorzüglich über die Beschreibung der Verzweiflung. Als er einige Strophen gelesen hatte, befahl. er seinem Haushofmeister, dem Überbringer des Gedichts 50 Ì. auszuzahlen. Nachdem er hierauf etwas weiter gelesen hatte, befahl er die Summe zu verdoppeln. Als der Haushofmeister einigen Anstand nahm, die Befehle seines Herrn zu vollziehen, erhöhte Sidney das Geschenk auf 2001. und hiefs denselben diese Summe sogleich auszahler, damit er nicht in Versuchung geriethe, sein Vermögen wegzugeben. Vor der Zeit an stand unser Spenser mit Sir Sidney in genauer Verbindung, wurde durch ihn bei Hofe empfohlen, und, jedoch eine Zeitlang ohne Gehalt, zu einem der Hofdichter der Königin Elisabeth ernannt. Vielleicht hätte er bei Hofe mehr Glück gemacht, wenn nicht der Lord-Schatzmeister Burleigh sein Feind gewesen, sein Gönner dagegen. so oft durch Geschäfte vom Hofe entfernt worden wäre. 1579 wurde Spenser von dem Grafen von Leicester in auswärtigen Geschäften versandt; man weifs indessen nicht, von welcher Art dieselben gewesen sind. Hierauf erhielt er die Stelle eines Sekretärs bei dem zum Deputirten von Irland ernannten Lord Grey von Walton. Dass der Dichter

G