 | Poems descriptive, dramatic, legendary and contemplative |  |
IV.—SPENSER.
It was for Spenser, by his quaint device,To spiritualize the passionate, and subdue
The wild, coarse temper of the British Muse,
By meet diversion from the absolute:
To lift the fancy, and, where still the song
Proclaim'd a wild humanity, to sway
Soothingly soft, and, by fantastic wiles,
Persuade the passions to a milder clime!
His was the song of chivalry, and wrought
For like results upon society;
Artful in high degree, with plan obscure,
That mystified to lure; and, by its spells,
Making the heart forgetful of itself,
To follow out and trace its labyrinths,
In that forgetfulness made visible!
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How proper and how exquisite his lay—
How quaintly rich his masking—with what art
He fashions fairy realms and paints their queen,
How purely—with how delicate a skill—
It needs not, since his song is with us still!
| Poems descriptive, dramatic, legendary and contemplative | |