The fourth appointed by his office
"The fourth appointed by his office was,
Poore prisoners to relieue with gratious ayd,
And captiues to redeeme with price of bras,
From Turkes and Sarazins, which them had stays."
(Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, Book 1, 10.40)
Can you paraphrase these lines?
Top answer
The person described here is one of the seven bead-men These seven do good deeds, as Spenser says here. Eftsoones unto an holy hospitall, That was foreby the way, she did him bring, In which seven bead-men , that had vowed all Their life to service of high heavens King, Did spend their daies in doing godly thing: 320 Their gates to all were open evermore, That by the wearie way were traveiling, And one sate wayting ever them before, To call in commers by, that needy were and pore. Here's my attempt at paraphrasing your verse.
- The person described here is one of the seven bead-men These seven do good deeds, as Spenser says here.
- Eftsoones unto an holy hospitall, That was foreby the way, she did him bring, In which seven bead-men , that had vowed all Their life to service of high heavens King, Did spend their daies in doing godly thing: 320 Their gates to all were open evermore, That by the wearie way were traveiling, And one sate wayting ever them before, To call in commers by, that needy were and pore.
- Here's my attempt at paraphrasing your verse.
- I could be wrong.
- " Clive
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0alibey1917And captiues to redeeme with price of bras,
From Turkes and Sarazins, which them had stays."
I suppose the "bras"/"stays" pun, which is quite amusing to modern eyes, could not have been intentional at that time?
0alibey1917Can you paraphrase these lines?
You are testing English Forward, aren't you? Only the moldiest of scholars can read that raw. It was deliberately archaic even back in 1590 when it was written, and the letters "j" and "v" were not in his alphabet, they being rendered as "i" and "u", respectively. The hard "j" is rendered soft "g". There is more. Bu
0alibey1917fourth appointed by his office
seven bead-men (Bead is an allusion to the Catholic rosary, a chain of beads to be manipulated in prayers) seven men of prayer, corresponding to the Seven Deadly Sins of the House of Pride. They represent good works: (1) entertainment of strangers; (2) food to the needy; (3) clothing to the naked
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