V. iv. 1 l. 3. Had neede haue] Had neede of 16(11)-12-13.
V. iv. 22 l. 2. pinnoed] pinniond 16(11)-12-13.
V. iv. 36 l. 8. Ere long their Queene her selfe, halfe like a man] selfe halfe, 1596: self, arm’d 1609. 1609 may be right; ‘halfe’ in 1596 may have been repeated by parablepsy from ‘selfe’: the punctuation of 1596 points to that.
V. iv. 37 l. 1. neare] newe conj. Church. 3 so few] to feare conj. Collier. Imperfect rhymes are not rare in F. Q., but scarcely in this form; here there is no assonance. Nor does this seem to be one of the ‘substitutions’ discussed in Introduction, p. viii. Of conjectures, Church’s is the best.
V. iv. 37 l. 6. there] their 16(11)-12-13.
V. iv. 39 l. 3. So cruell doale amongst her maides diuide] ... doile ... dauide 1596. There are two words ‘dole’ in Spenser, (a) portion, (b) mourning. This is (a): for the phrase cf. Shakespeare, 2 Hen. IV, 1. i. 169, ‘That in the dole of blows your son might drop.’ Spenser does not elsewhere use ‘dole’ in sense (a); in sense (b) it is common in F. Q., and is spelt ‘dole’ or ‘doole’. The spelling ‘doile’ (Fr. deuil) belonged rather to sense (b), but no sixteenth century instance is quoted in N. E. D. It is not impossible that Spenser wrote ‘doile’ in sense (a), intending a play upon the two meanings. But more probably ‘a’ and ‘i’ have simply been interchanged, as 1609 takes it. (1596 generally has ‘deuide’; but ‘diuide’ also occurs.)
V. iv. 48 l. 7. yesterday] yeester day 1596. Morris keeps ‘yeester’; but Spenser has ‘yester’ elsewhere, and a misprint is probable. The latter part of this canto, as these notes show, is unusually full of such difficulties.
V. v. 18 l. 4. to’a] The apostrophation shows synezesis, though the vowel is not omitted.
V. v. 38 l. 8. And, though (vnlike)] And, though vnlike 1596. The meaning is, ‘And even if (as is unlikely) they should last, &c.’
V. vi. 5 ll. 6, 7.