Like as an hind forth singled from the herd,
That hath escap茅d from a ravenous beast,
Yet flies away of her own feet afeard,
And every leaf, that shaketh with the least
Murmur of wind, her terror hath increased;
So fled fair Florimell from her vain fear,
Long after she from peril was released:
Each shade she saw, and each noise she did hear,
Did seem to be the same, which she escaped whilere.
All that same evening she in flying spent,
And all that night her course continu茅d:
Nor did she let dull sleep once to relent,
Nor weariness to slack her haste, but fled
Ever alike, as if her former dread
Were hard behind, her ready to arrest:
And her white palfrey having conquer茅d
The mastering reins out of her weary wrest,
Perforce her carried, wherever he thought best.
—Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene: Book III, canto VII, stanzas I and II
Painting by Washington Allston, 1819: Flight of Florimell
How did you find that painting? That’s cool that you did though. It’s rare that someone paints a poem.
Wikipedia, of course! I saw it in the article about Spenser and I thought “Hey, I was just reading about that.” So I thought it would make a nice blog post.
What is the history behind this painting?
All I know about the painting is on this page:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_Allston_002.jpg
It was painted by Washington Allston in 1819.