That when the knight he spide, he gan aduance xi With huge force and insupportable mayne, And towardes him with dreadfull fury praunce; Who haplesse, and eke hopelesse,[237] all in vaine Did to him pace, sad battaile to darrayne, Disarmd, disgrast, and inwardly dismayde, And eke so faint in euery ioynt and vaine, Through that fraile fountaine, which him feeble made, That scarsely could he weeld his bootlesse single blade. The Geaunt strooke so maynly mercilesse, xii That could haue ouerthrowne a stony towre, And were not heauenly grace, that him did blesse, He had beene pouldred all, as thin as flowre: But he was wary of that deadly stowre, And lightly lept from vnderneath the blow: Yet so exceeding was the villeins powre, That with the wind it did him ouerthrow, And all his sences stound[238], that still he lay full low. As when that diuelish yron Engin wrought xiii In deepest Hell, and framd by _Furies_ skill, With windy Nitre and quick Sulphur fraught, And ramd with bullet[239] round, ordaind to kill, Conceiueth fire, the heauens it doth fill With thundring noyse, and all the ayre doth choke, That none can breath, nor see, nor heare at will, Through smouldry cloud of duskish stincking smoke[240], That th’onely breath him daunts, who hath escapt the stroke. So daunted when the Geaunt saw the knight,[241] xiv His heauie hand he heaued vp on hye, And him to dust thought to haue battred quight, Vntill _Duessa_ loud to him gan crye; O great _Orgoglio_, greatest vnder skye, O hold thy mortall hand for Ladies sake, Hold for my sake, and do him not to dye, But vanquisht thine eternall bondslaue make, And me thy worthy meed vnto thy Leman take. He hearkned, and did stay from further harmes, xv To gayne so goodly guerdon, as she spake: So willingly she came into his armes, Who her as willingly to grace did take, And was possessed of his new found make. Then vp he tooke the slombred sencelesse corse, And ere he could out of his swowne awake, Him to his castle brought with hastie forse, And in a Dongeon deepe him threw without remorse. From that day forth _Duessa_ was his deare, xvi And highly honourd in his haughtie eye, He gaue her gold and purple pall to weare, And triple crowne set on her head full hye, And her endowd with royall maiestye: Then for to make her dreaded more of men, And peoples harts with awfull terrour tye, A monstrous beast ybred in filthy fen He chose, which he had kept long time in darksome den.