Then when he saw no entrance to him graunted,
Roaring yet lowder that all harts it daunted,
Upon those gates with force he fiercely newe,
And, rending them in pieces, felly slewe 1370
Those warders strange, and all that els he met
But th’Ape still flying he no where might get: 
From rowme to rowme, from beame to beame he fled,
All breathles, and for feare now almost ded: 
Yet him at last the Lyon spide, and caught, 1375
And forth with shame unto his iudgement brought. 
Then all the beasts he causd’ assembled bee,
To heare their doome, and sad ensample see: 
The Foxe, first author of that treacherie
He did uncase, and then away let flie. 1380
     [Uncase, strip of his disguise.]
But th’Apes long taile (which then he had) he quight
Cut off, and both eares pared of their hight;
Since which, all Apes but halfe their eares have left,
And of their tailes are utterlie bereft.

So Mother Hubberd her discourse did end:  1385
Which pardon me if I amisse have pend,
For weake was my remembrance it to hold,
And bad her tongue that it so bluntly tolde.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTES: 

MOTHER HUBBERDS TALE.  This charming little poem, Spenser’s only successful effort at satire, is stated by the author to have been composed in the raw conceit of his youth.  There is internal evidence, however, that some of the happiest passages were added at the date of its publication, at which time the whole was probably retouched.  Although Mother Hubberds Tale is in its plan an imitation of the satires of Reynard the Fox; the treatment of the subject is quite original.  For the combination of elegance with simplicity, this poem will stand a comparison with Goethe’s celebrated translation of the Reineke.  C.

Ver.  I.—­It was the month, &c.  August.

Ver. 453.—­Diriges, dirges.  The office for the dead received this name from the antiphon with which the first nocturne in the mattens commenced, taken from Psalm v. 8, “Dirige, Domine Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam.”  Way’s Promptorium Parvulorum. C.

Ver. 519.—­Scarse can a bishoprick, &c.  This is probably an allusion to the frequent alienations of the lands and manors of bishoprics in Elizabeth’s time.  TODD.

Ver. 562.—­The ordinarie. An ordinary is a judge having jurisdiction in ecclesiastical matters.  In England, it is usually the bishop of the diocese.  H.

Ver. 623, 624.—­The Queen was so much pleased with the results of the Portugal expedition of 1589, that she honored the commanders, and Sir Walter Raleigh among the rest, with a gold chain.  C.

Ver. 717.—­The brave courtier, &c.  This description is perhaps intended for Sir Philip Sidney.  C.