And after thys farther forth me brought
Dame Countenaunce into a goodly Hall,
Of jasper stones it was wonderly wrought:
The wyndowes cleare depured all of crystall,60
And in the roufe on hye over all
Of golde was made a ryght crafty vyne;
In stede of grapes the rubies there did shyne.
The flore was paved with berall clarified,
With pillers made of stones precious,65
Like a place of pleasure so gayely glorified,
It myght be called a palaice glorious,
So muche delectable and solacious;[641]
The hall was hanged hye and circuler
With cloth of arras in the rychest maner.70
That treated well of a ful noble story,
Of the doubty waye to the Tower Perillous;[642]
Howe a noble knyght should wynne the victory
Of many a serpente fowle and odious.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES:
[626] Nichols' Illustrations of Literature, vol viii. p. 344.
[627] [dwell.]
[628] [dark.]
[629] [from gargoyle the spout of a gutter.]
[630] Greyhounds, Lions, Dragons, were at that time the royal supporters.