The Fowre Hymnes - 1907 Author:Edmund Spenser Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: AN HYMNE 1N HONOUR OF BEAUT1E. Ah ! whither, Love! wilt thou now carrie mee ? What wontlesse fury dost thou now inspire Into my feeble breast, too full of the... more »e? Whylest seeking to aslake thy raging fyre, Thou in me kindlest much more great desyre, And up aloft above my strength doest rayse The wondrous matter of my fyre to prayse. That as I earst, in praise of thine owne name, So now in honour of thy Mother deare, An honourable Hymne I eke should frame, n And, with the brightnesse of her beautie cleare, The ravisht harts of gazefull men might reare To admiration of that heavenly light, From whence proceeds such soule-enchaunting might. Therto do thou, great Goddesse! Queene of Beauty, Mother of love, and of all worlds delight, Without whose soverayne grace and kindly dewty Nothing on earth seemes fayre to fleshly sight, Doe thou vouchsafe with thy love-kindling light T' illuminate my dim and dulled eyne, 2i And beautifie this sacred hymne of thyne: That both to thee, to whom I meane it most, And eke to her, whose faire immortall beame Hath darted fyre into my feeble ghost, That now it wasted is with woes extreame, It may so please, that she at length will streame Some deaw of grace into my withered hart, After long sorrow and consuming smart. What Time This Worlds Great Work-maister Did Cast To make al things such as we now behold, 30 It seemes that he before his eyes had plast A goodly Paterne, to whose perfect mould He fashiond them as comely as he could, That now so faire and seemely they appeare, As nought may be amended any wheare. ,-— That wondrous Paterne, wheresoere it bee, Whether in earth layd up in secret store, Or else in heaven, that no man may it see With sinfull eyes, for feare it to deflore, Is p...« less