The Stately Unicorn (Emblem 14)

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The Stately Unicorn (Emblem 14)

Poem #80

Original Source

Hester Pulter, Poems breathed forth by the nobel Hadassas, University of Leeds Library, Brotherton Collection, MS Lt q 32

Versions

  • Facsimile of manuscript: Photographs provided by University of Leeds, Brotherton Collection

  • Transcription of manuscript: By Leah Knight and Wendy Wall.
  • Elemental edition: By Leah Knight and Wendy Wall.
  • Amplified edition: By Bruce Boehrer.

How to cite these versions

Conventions for these editions

The Pulter Project: Poet in the Making

  • Created by Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
  • Encoded by Katherine Poland, Matthew Taylor, Elizabeth Chou, and Emily Andrey, Northwestern University
  • Website designed by Sergei Kalugin, Northwestern University
  • IT project consultation by Josh Honn, Northwestern University
  • Project sponsored by Northwestern University, Brock University, and University of Leeds
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X (Close panel)Notes: Transcription

 Editorial note

In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.
Line number 1

 Physical note

preceding poem occupies first third of page, followed by blank third; poem begins in bottom third
Line number 2

 Physical note

appears written over earlier word, possibly “more”
Line number 20

 Physical note

“b” possibly written over other letters
Sorry, but there are no notes associated with any currently displayed witness.
X (Close panel)Transcription
Transcription

Facsimile Image Placeholder

Facsimile Image Placeholder

Facsimile Image Placeholder
[Emblem 14]
The Stately Unicorn
(Emblem 14)
Emblem 14 (Untitled)
In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
I’ve chosen to preserve Pulter’s spelling and capitalization, while expanding superscripts and contractions and lightly modernizing punctuation.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
Even the most powerful creatures are subject to seduction. This emblem unites the legendary unicorn (whose ability to purify poisonous waters grants him tremendous authority) with the biblical figures of the physically powerful Samson and wise Solomon, as creatures who risk becoming enslaved by the worldly allurements signified, quite conventionally, by women. Using these stories, the speaker feels empowered to address an imagined public audience of “gallants,” warning them of the danger of submitting to lust, fancy, or even alluring maidens.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
Over time, the unicorn has served as a—perhaps the—quintessential bestiary beast, one existing only in the pages of the bestiaries and related works. Pulter’s fourteenth emblem falls into the latter category. It takes as its point of departure a common piece of bestiary lore: that when the otherwise-elusive unicorn encounters a female virgin, “it leaps into her lap and embraces her, and goes to sleep there,” and so is taken.
Gloss Note
Bestiary, ed. Richard Barber (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993), 36.
1
As fanciful as this tale may sound to modern ears, Pulter then applies it to a still more curious purpose, associating it with the biblical histories of Samson and Solomon as an example of perfidious feminine seduction. Never mind that the stories in question draw on very different literary sources. Never mind that the unicorn’s maiden coexists uneasily with malign temptress-figures like Samson’s Dalila and Solomon’s wives. And never mind that the unicorn, who is not even human, seems a poor cautionary figure for “Youthfull Gallants” ensnared by feminine wiles. In fact, Pulter pursues a different logic here, a logic of metaphorical and typological association that trumps all these issues. Again the bestiaries offer guidance, commonly noting that “Our Lord Jesus Christ is the spiritual unicorn of whom it is said: ‘My beloved is like the son of the unicorns’ [Song of Songs 2.9].”
Gloss Note
Bestiary 36-7.
2
This connection established, it becomes easy to relate the unicorn to Samson and Solomon, both of whom were understood from classical times forward to be Old Testament anticipations of Christ.
Gloss Note
Saint Caesarius of Arles, Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. (Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964), vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9. Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, v. 9 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 10.22, p. 403.
3
On this logic, Samson, betrayed into slavery by Dalila, and Solomon, betrayed into idolatry by his wives, both prefigure the unicorn Jesus, consigned to the cross by the first and worst of all feminine betrayals—Eve’s. To be sure, Samson and Solomon collude in their downfall by yielding to what Milton would call “uxoriousness”—the fault of overvaluing the feminine—but in the case of the unicorn/Christ, masculinity evades even this secondary level of responsibility, which is relayed instead onto Adam. Woman remains the root of all evil, and the emblem develops out of a hermeneutics as conservative as its gender politics.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
1
14
Physical Note
preceding poem occupies first third of page, followed by blank third; poem begins in bottom third
In
Affrica about the ffountain’s brink
In Africa, about the fountain’s
Gloss Note
edge
brink
In
Gloss Note
The earliest accounts of the unicorn associate it with India (see e.g. Ctesias’ Indica). However, by the 1500s, travelers had begun placing it in Africa—especially Ethiopia—as well.
Affrica
about the Fountain’s brink
2
Where Beast Aſſemble,
Physical Note
appears written over earlier word, possibly “more”
None
p:ſumes to drink
Where beasts assemble, none presumes to drink
Where Beasts Assemble, None presumes to drink
3
Untill they See the Stately Unicorn
Until they see the stately
Gloss Note
A mythical animal whose single horn was reputed to possess medicinal or magical properties, especially in purifying poisons; according to legend, only a virgin could capture it.
unicorn
,
Untill they see the stately Unicorn,
4
Who Stirs the Poyſonous Waters w:th his Horn
Who stirs the poisonous waters with his horn;
Who stirs the Poysonous Waters with his Horn.
5
Then with Extended Jaws they drink their ffill
Then, with extended jaws, they drink their fill:
Then with extended Jaws
Gloss Note
Jan van Linschoten attributes this behavior to the rhinoceros, which he notes “some think . . . the right Unicorne, because there as yet hath no other been founde” (Discourse of Voyages into ye Easte and West Indies [London, 1598], 1.47, p. 88). The second of the so-called Unicorn Tapestries, woven in the Low Countries between 1495 and 1505 and currently housed in the Met Cloisters, depicts this activity (see image in the headnote for this edition).
they drink their Fill
.
6
Thus hee the fforrest Governeth at his Will
Thus he the forest governeth at his will.
Thus
Gloss Note
The three key figures in this emblem—the unicorn, Samson, and Solomon—all serve as models of governance or leadership, qualities compromised in each case by an abdication of reason in the face of feminine wiles.
hee the Forrest Governeth
at his Will.
Hee

Facsimile Image Placeholder

Facsimile Image Placeholder

Facsimile Image Placeholder
7
Hee Scorns all Huntsmen, who can never take
He scorns all huntsmen, who can never take
Hee Scorns all Huntsmen, who can never take
8
This Gallant Beast till they a Mayden make
This
Gloss Note
brave, gorgeous
gallant
beast, till they a maiden make
Gloss Note
According to a wholly separate tradition repeated by Shakespeare, the unicorn could also be “betrayed with trees” (Julius Caesar 2.1)—i.e. captured by being induced to run its horn into a tree-trunk.
This Gallant Beast
till they a Mayden make
9
To Sit where hee doth haunt, him to allure
To sit where he doth haunt, him to allure;
To Sit where hee doth haunt, him to allure,
10
ffor in her lap hee’l lie and Sleep Secure
For in her lap he’ll lie and sleep secure.
For in her lap hee’l lie and sleep secure.
11
Thus hee that Scorn’d his Potents Enemie
Thus he that scorned his
Gloss Note
most potent, strongest
potentest
enemy
Thus hee that Scorn’d his Potent’st Enemie
12
Is now inſlav’d by A Virgins Eye
Is now enslavéd by a virgin’s eye.
Is now inslav’d by A Virgins Eye.
13
Soe Sampſon though Enabled from above
So
Gloss Note
See Judges 13-16; a biblical Nazrite who possessed Herculean strength, he killed one thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of an ass; Delilah seduced and betrayed him by revealing the source of his strength (his hair). After being captured and blinded by his enemies, he was put to work in a mill before later regaining his strength.
Samson
, though enabled from above,
Soe Sampson though Enabled from above
14
ffound Death, and Ruin, from his Wanton Love
Found death and ruin from his wanton love;
Found Death and Ruin from his Wanton Love.
15
Hee that a Thouſand Slaughterd with a Jaw
He that a thousand slaughtered with a jaw,
Hee that a Thousand Slaughterd with a
Gloss Note
Notably among his exploits, Samson slew a thousand Philistines using the jawbone of an ass as a club (Judges 15.19). As to his similarity to Christ, Caesarius of Arles (468-542) observes, “What was the meaning of Samson? If I say he signified Christ, it seems to me that I speak the truth. . . . Inasmuch as Samson performed virtues and miracles he prefigured Christ, the head of the Church. When he acted prudently, he was an image of those who live justly in the Church” (Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. [Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964], vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9).
Jaw
,
16
Beeing Blind and Captive, in A Mill did draw
Being blind and captive in a mill did
Gloss Note
work to move objects
draw
.
Beeing Blind and Captive, in A Mill did draw.
17
Soe Solloman allur’d by various Love
So
Gloss Note
see Kings 11:1-4; biblical king of Israel whose numerous foreign wives turned his heart toward idolatry (the worship of material beings made of earthly elements, or “dust”)
Solomon
, allured by various
Gloss Note
loves
love
,
Gloss Note
For Origen, “Solomon was an image of the Saviour” (Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, vol. 9 [New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912], 10.22, p. 403). Saint Augustine declares that whereas “[t]he name of Solomon is interpreted to mean peacemaker: now Christ is the True Peacemaker, of whom the Apostle says, ‘He is our Peace, who has made both one.’ Ephesians 2:4 . . . [T]herefore, He is the true Solomon; for that Solomon was the figure of this Peace maker, when he built the temple” (Exposition on Psalm 127, 1, in Philip Schaff, ed. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, trans. J. E. Tweed [Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1888], first series, vol. 8).
Soe Solloman
allur’d by various Love
18
Did leave the True and Glorious God above
Did leave the true and glorious God above
Did Leave the True and Glorious God above
19
To Worſhip thoſe whoſe ffabrick is of Dust
To worship those whose fabric is of
Gloss Note
earth
dust
;
To Worship those whose Fabricke is of Dust;
20
The Wiſest King was thus inſlavd
Physical Note
“b” possibly written over other letters
by
Lust
The wisest king was thus enslaved by lust.
The Wisest King was thus inslav’d by Lust.
21
The Strongest and the Wiſest thus you See
The strongest and the wisest thus you see,
The Strongest and the Wisest thus you see
22
ffoold by their stre^nght and Wiſdome often bee
Fooled by their strength and wisdom often be.
Fool’d by their strength and Wisdome often bee.
23
Then let all Youthfull Gallants warning take
Then let all youthful
Gloss Note
amorous men
gallants
warning take:
Then let all Youthfull Gallants warning take
24
To chooſe by Reaſon not for ffancies Sake.
To choose by reason, not
Gloss Note
for a whim; for an amorous inclination or love
for fancy’s sake
.
Gloss Note
Sexual infatuation was understood as madness and therefore the opposite of reason. See Shakespeare: “Love is merely madness” (As You Like It 3.2).
To choose by Reason
, not for
Gloss Note
“Fancy” appears here in the sense of “to take a fancy to; to entertain a liking for; to be pleased with; to like . . . (in early use often=to be or fall in love with)” (OED “Fancy” v. II.8.a).
Fancies sake
.
horizontal straight line
X (Close panel)Notes: Elemental Edition

 Editorial note

The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.

 Headnote

Even the most powerful creatures are subject to seduction. This emblem unites the legendary unicorn (whose ability to purify poisonous waters grants him tremendous authority) with the biblical figures of the physically powerful Samson and wise Solomon, as creatures who risk becoming enslaved by the worldly allurements signified, quite conventionally, by women. Using these stories, the speaker feels empowered to address an imagined public audience of “gallants,” warning them of the danger of submitting to lust, fancy, or even alluring maidens.
Line number 1

 Gloss note

edge
Line number 3

 Gloss note

A mythical animal whose single horn was reputed to possess medicinal or magical properties, especially in purifying poisons; according to legend, only a virgin could capture it.
Line number 8

 Gloss note

brave, gorgeous
Line number 11

 Gloss note

most potent, strongest
Line number 13

 Gloss note

See Judges 13-16; a biblical Nazrite who possessed Herculean strength, he killed one thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of an ass; Delilah seduced and betrayed him by revealing the source of his strength (his hair). After being captured and blinded by his enemies, he was put to work in a mill before later regaining his strength.
Line number 16

 Gloss note

work to move objects
Line number 17

 Gloss note

see Kings 11:1-4; biblical king of Israel whose numerous foreign wives turned his heart toward idolatry (the worship of material beings made of earthly elements, or “dust”)
Line number 17

 Gloss note

loves
Line number 19

 Gloss note

earth
Line number 23

 Gloss note

amorous men
Line number 24

 Gloss note

for a whim; for an amorous inclination or love
Sorry, but there are no notes associated with any currently displayed witness.
X (Close panel)Elemental Edition
Elemental Edition

Facsimile Image Placeholder

Facsimile Image Placeholder

Facsimile Image Placeholder
[Emblem 14]
The Stately Unicorn
(Emblem 14)
Emblem 14 (Untitled)
In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
I’ve chosen to preserve Pulter’s spelling and capitalization, while expanding superscripts and contractions and lightly modernizing punctuation.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
Even the most powerful creatures are subject to seduction. This emblem unites the legendary unicorn (whose ability to purify poisonous waters grants him tremendous authority) with the biblical figures of the physically powerful Samson and wise Solomon, as creatures who risk becoming enslaved by the worldly allurements signified, quite conventionally, by women. Using these stories, the speaker feels empowered to address an imagined public audience of “gallants,” warning them of the danger of submitting to lust, fancy, or even alluring maidens.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
Over time, the unicorn has served as a—perhaps the—quintessential bestiary beast, one existing only in the pages of the bestiaries and related works. Pulter’s fourteenth emblem falls into the latter category. It takes as its point of departure a common piece of bestiary lore: that when the otherwise-elusive unicorn encounters a female virgin, “it leaps into her lap and embraces her, and goes to sleep there,” and so is taken.
Gloss Note
Bestiary, ed. Richard Barber (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993), 36.
1
As fanciful as this tale may sound to modern ears, Pulter then applies it to a still more curious purpose, associating it with the biblical histories of Samson and Solomon as an example of perfidious feminine seduction. Never mind that the stories in question draw on very different literary sources. Never mind that the unicorn’s maiden coexists uneasily with malign temptress-figures like Samson’s Dalila and Solomon’s wives. And never mind that the unicorn, who is not even human, seems a poor cautionary figure for “Youthfull Gallants” ensnared by feminine wiles. In fact, Pulter pursues a different logic here, a logic of metaphorical and typological association that trumps all these issues. Again the bestiaries offer guidance, commonly noting that “Our Lord Jesus Christ is the spiritual unicorn of whom it is said: ‘My beloved is like the son of the unicorns’ [Song of Songs 2.9].”
Gloss Note
Bestiary 36-7.
2
This connection established, it becomes easy to relate the unicorn to Samson and Solomon, both of whom were understood from classical times forward to be Old Testament anticipations of Christ.
Gloss Note
Saint Caesarius of Arles, Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. (Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964), vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9. Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, v. 9 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 10.22, p. 403.
3
On this logic, Samson, betrayed into slavery by Dalila, and Solomon, betrayed into idolatry by his wives, both prefigure the unicorn Jesus, consigned to the cross by the first and worst of all feminine betrayals—Eve’s. To be sure, Samson and Solomon collude in their downfall by yielding to what Milton would call “uxoriousness”—the fault of overvaluing the feminine—but in the case of the unicorn/Christ, masculinity evades even this secondary level of responsibility, which is relayed instead onto Adam. Woman remains the root of all evil, and the emblem develops out of a hermeneutics as conservative as its gender politics.

— Leah Knight and Wendy Wall
1
14
Physical Note
preceding poem occupies first third of page, followed by blank third; poem begins in bottom third
In
Affrica about the ffountain’s brink
In Africa, about the fountain’s
Gloss Note
edge
brink
In
Gloss Note
The earliest accounts of the unicorn associate it with India (see e.g. Ctesias’ Indica). However, by the 1500s, travelers had begun placing it in Africa—especially Ethiopia—as well.
Affrica
about the Fountain’s brink
2
Where Beast Aſſemble,
Physical Note
appears written over earlier word, possibly “more”
None
p:ſumes to drink
Where beasts assemble, none presumes to drink
Where Beasts Assemble, None presumes to drink
3
Untill they See the Stately Unicorn
Until they see the stately
Gloss Note
A mythical animal whose single horn was reputed to possess medicinal or magical properties, especially in purifying poisons; according to legend, only a virgin could capture it.
unicorn
,
Untill they see the stately Unicorn,
4
Who Stirs the Poyſonous Waters w:th his Horn
Who stirs the poisonous waters with his horn;
Who stirs the Poysonous Waters with his Horn.
5
Then with Extended Jaws they drink their ffill
Then, with extended jaws, they drink their fill:
Then with extended Jaws
Gloss Note
Jan van Linschoten attributes this behavior to the rhinoceros, which he notes “some think . . . the right Unicorne, because there as yet hath no other been founde” (Discourse of Voyages into ye Easte and West Indies [London, 1598], 1.47, p. 88). The second of the so-called Unicorn Tapestries, woven in the Low Countries between 1495 and 1505 and currently housed in the Met Cloisters, depicts this activity (see image in the headnote for this edition).
they drink their Fill
.
6
Thus hee the fforrest Governeth at his Will
Thus he the forest governeth at his will.
Thus
Gloss Note
The three key figures in this emblem—the unicorn, Samson, and Solomon—all serve as models of governance or leadership, qualities compromised in each case by an abdication of reason in the face of feminine wiles.
hee the Forrest Governeth
at his Will.
Hee

Facsimile Image Placeholder

Facsimile Image Placeholder

Facsimile Image Placeholder
7
Hee Scorns all Huntsmen, who can never take
He scorns all huntsmen, who can never take
Hee Scorns all Huntsmen, who can never take
8
This Gallant Beast till they a Mayden make
This
Gloss Note
brave, gorgeous
gallant
beast, till they a maiden make
Gloss Note
According to a wholly separate tradition repeated by Shakespeare, the unicorn could also be “betrayed with trees” (Julius Caesar 2.1)—i.e. captured by being induced to run its horn into a tree-trunk.
This Gallant Beast
till they a Mayden make
9
To Sit where hee doth haunt, him to allure
To sit where he doth haunt, him to allure;
To Sit where hee doth haunt, him to allure,
10
ffor in her lap hee’l lie and Sleep Secure
For in her lap he’ll lie and sleep secure.
For in her lap hee’l lie and sleep secure.
11
Thus hee that Scorn’d his Potents Enemie
Thus he that scorned his
Gloss Note
most potent, strongest
potentest
enemy
Thus hee that Scorn’d his Potent’st Enemie
12
Is now inſlav’d by A Virgins Eye
Is now enslavéd by a virgin’s eye.
Is now inslav’d by A Virgins Eye.
13
Soe Sampſon though Enabled from above
So
Gloss Note
See Judges 13-16; a biblical Nazrite who possessed Herculean strength, he killed one thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of an ass; Delilah seduced and betrayed him by revealing the source of his strength (his hair). After being captured and blinded by his enemies, he was put to work in a mill before later regaining his strength.
Samson
, though enabled from above,
Soe Sampson though Enabled from above
14
ffound Death, and Ruin, from his Wanton Love
Found death and ruin from his wanton love;
Found Death and Ruin from his Wanton Love.
15
Hee that a Thouſand Slaughterd with a Jaw
He that a thousand slaughtered with a jaw,
Hee that a Thousand Slaughterd with a
Gloss Note
Notably among his exploits, Samson slew a thousand Philistines using the jawbone of an ass as a club (Judges 15.19). As to his similarity to Christ, Caesarius of Arles (468-542) observes, “What was the meaning of Samson? If I say he signified Christ, it seems to me that I speak the truth. . . . Inasmuch as Samson performed virtues and miracles he prefigured Christ, the head of the Church. When he acted prudently, he was an image of those who live justly in the Church” (Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. [Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964], vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9).
Jaw
,
16
Beeing Blind and Captive, in A Mill did draw
Being blind and captive in a mill did
Gloss Note
work to move objects
draw
.
Beeing Blind and Captive, in A Mill did draw.
17
Soe Solloman allur’d by various Love
So
Gloss Note
see Kings 11:1-4; biblical king of Israel whose numerous foreign wives turned his heart toward idolatry (the worship of material beings made of earthly elements, or “dust”)
Solomon
, allured by various
Gloss Note
loves
love
,
Gloss Note
For Origen, “Solomon was an image of the Saviour” (Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, vol. 9 [New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912], 10.22, p. 403). Saint Augustine declares that whereas “[t]he name of Solomon is interpreted to mean peacemaker: now Christ is the True Peacemaker, of whom the Apostle says, ‘He is our Peace, who has made both one.’ Ephesians 2:4 . . . [T]herefore, He is the true Solomon; for that Solomon was the figure of this Peace maker, when he built the temple” (Exposition on Psalm 127, 1, in Philip Schaff, ed. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, trans. J. E. Tweed [Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1888], first series, vol. 8).
Soe Solloman
allur’d by various Love
18
Did leave the True and Glorious God above
Did leave the true and glorious God above
Did Leave the True and Glorious God above
19
To Worſhip thoſe whoſe ffabrick is of Dust
To worship those whose fabric is of
Gloss Note
earth
dust
;
To Worship those whose Fabricke is of Dust;
20
The Wiſest King was thus inſlavd
Physical Note
“b” possibly written over other letters
by
Lust
The wisest king was thus enslaved by lust.
The Wisest King was thus inslav’d by Lust.
21
The Strongest and the Wiſest thus you See
The strongest and the wisest thus you see,
The Strongest and the Wisest thus you see
22
ffoold by their stre^nght and Wiſdome often bee
Fooled by their strength and wisdom often be.
Fool’d by their strength and Wisdome often bee.
23
Then let all Youthfull Gallants warning take
Then let all youthful
Gloss Note
amorous men
gallants
warning take:
Then let all Youthfull Gallants warning take
24
To chooſe by Reaſon not for ffancies Sake.
To choose by reason, not
Gloss Note
for a whim; for an amorous inclination or love
for fancy’s sake
.
Gloss Note
Sexual infatuation was understood as madness and therefore the opposite of reason. See Shakespeare: “Love is merely madness” (As You Like It 3.2).
To choose by Reason
, not for
Gloss Note
“Fancy” appears here in the sense of “to take a fancy to; to entertain a liking for; to be pleased with; to like . . . (in early use often=to be or fall in love with)” (OED “Fancy” v. II.8.a).
Fancies sake
.
horizontal straight line
X (Close panel)Notes: Amplified Edition

 Editorial note

I’ve chosen to preserve Pulter’s spelling and capitalization, while expanding superscripts and contractions and lightly modernizing punctuation.

 Headnote

Over time, the unicorn has served as a—perhaps the—quintessential bestiary beast, one existing only in the pages of the bestiaries and related works. Pulter’s fourteenth emblem falls into the latter category. It takes as its point of departure a common piece of bestiary lore: that when the otherwise-elusive unicorn encounters a female virgin, “it leaps into her lap and embraces her, and goes to sleep there,” and so is taken.
Gloss Note
Bestiary, ed. Richard Barber (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993), 36.
1
As fanciful as this tale may sound to modern ears, Pulter then applies it to a still more curious purpose, associating it with the biblical histories of Samson and Solomon as an example of perfidious feminine seduction. Never mind that the stories in question draw on very different literary sources. Never mind that the unicorn’s maiden coexists uneasily with malign temptress-figures like Samson’s Dalila and Solomon’s wives. And never mind that the unicorn, who is not even human, seems a poor cautionary figure for “Youthfull Gallants” ensnared by feminine wiles. In fact, Pulter pursues a different logic here, a logic of metaphorical and typological association that trumps all these issues. Again the bestiaries offer guidance, commonly noting that “Our Lord Jesus Christ is the spiritual unicorn of whom it is said: ‘My beloved is like the son of the unicorns’ [Song of Songs 2.9].”
Gloss Note
Bestiary 36-7.
2
This connection established, it becomes easy to relate the unicorn to Samson and Solomon, both of whom were understood from classical times forward to be Old Testament anticipations of Christ.
Gloss Note
Saint Caesarius of Arles, Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. (Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964), vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9. Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, v. 9 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 10.22, p. 403.
3
On this logic, Samson, betrayed into slavery by Dalila, and Solomon, betrayed into idolatry by his wives, both prefigure the unicorn Jesus, consigned to the cross by the first and worst of all feminine betrayals—Eve’s. To be sure, Samson and Solomon collude in their downfall by yielding to what Milton would call “uxoriousness”—the fault of overvaluing the feminine—but in the case of the unicorn/Christ, masculinity evades even this secondary level of responsibility, which is relayed instead onto Adam. Woman remains the root of all evil, and the emblem develops out of a hermeneutics as conservative as its gender politics.
Line number 1

 Gloss note

The earliest accounts of the unicorn associate it with India (see e.g. Ctesias’ Indica). However, by the 1500s, travelers had begun placing it in Africa—especially Ethiopia—as well.
Line number 5

 Gloss note

Jan van Linschoten attributes this behavior to the rhinoceros, which he notes “some think . . . the right Unicorne, because there as yet hath no other been founde” (Discourse of Voyages into ye Easte and West Indies [London, 1598], 1.47, p. 88). The second of the so-called Unicorn Tapestries, woven in the Low Countries between 1495 and 1505 and currently housed in the Met Cloisters, depicts this activity (see image in the headnote for this edition).
Line number 6

 Gloss note

The three key figures in this emblem—the unicorn, Samson, and Solomon—all serve as models of governance or leadership, qualities compromised in each case by an abdication of reason in the face of feminine wiles.
Line number 8

 Gloss note

According to a wholly separate tradition repeated by Shakespeare, the unicorn could also be “betrayed with trees” (Julius Caesar 2.1)—i.e. captured by being induced to run its horn into a tree-trunk.
Line number 15

 Gloss note

Notably among his exploits, Samson slew a thousand Philistines using the jawbone of an ass as a club (Judges 15.19). As to his similarity to Christ, Caesarius of Arles (468-542) observes, “What was the meaning of Samson? If I say he signified Christ, it seems to me that I speak the truth. . . . Inasmuch as Samson performed virtues and miracles he prefigured Christ, the head of the Church. When he acted prudently, he was an image of those who live justly in the Church” (Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. [Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964], vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9).
Line number 17

 Gloss note

For Origen, “Solomon was an image of the Saviour” (Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, vol. 9 [New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912], 10.22, p. 403). Saint Augustine declares that whereas “[t]he name of Solomon is interpreted to mean peacemaker: now Christ is the True Peacemaker, of whom the Apostle says, ‘He is our Peace, who has made both one.’ Ephesians 2:4 . . . [T]herefore, He is the true Solomon; for that Solomon was the figure of this Peace maker, when he built the temple” (Exposition on Psalm 127, 1, in Philip Schaff, ed. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, trans. J. E. Tweed [Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1888], first series, vol. 8).
Line number 24

 Gloss note

Sexual infatuation was understood as madness and therefore the opposite of reason. See Shakespeare: “Love is merely madness” (As You Like It 3.2).
Line number 24

 Gloss note

“Fancy” appears here in the sense of “to take a fancy to; to entertain a liking for; to be pleased with; to like . . . (in early use often=to be or fall in love with)” (OED “Fancy” v. II.8.a).
Sorry, but there are no notes associated with any currently displayed witness.
X (Close panel)Amplified Edition
Amplified Edition

Facsimile Image Placeholder

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Facsimile Image Placeholder
[Emblem 14]
The Stately Unicorn
(Emblem 14)
Emblem 14 (Untitled)
In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.

— Bruce Boehrer
The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.

— Bruce Boehrer
I’ve chosen to preserve Pulter’s spelling and capitalization, while expanding superscripts and contractions and lightly modernizing punctuation.

— Bruce Boehrer
Even the most powerful creatures are subject to seduction. This emblem unites the legendary unicorn (whose ability to purify poisonous waters grants him tremendous authority) with the biblical figures of the physically powerful Samson and wise Solomon, as creatures who risk becoming enslaved by the worldly allurements signified, quite conventionally, by women. Using these stories, the speaker feels empowered to address an imagined public audience of “gallants,” warning them of the danger of submitting to lust, fancy, or even alluring maidens.

— Bruce Boehrer
Over time, the unicorn has served as a—perhaps the—quintessential bestiary beast, one existing only in the pages of the bestiaries and related works. Pulter’s fourteenth emblem falls into the latter category. It takes as its point of departure a common piece of bestiary lore: that when the otherwise-elusive unicorn encounters a female virgin, “it leaps into her lap and embraces her, and goes to sleep there,” and so is taken.
Gloss Note
Bestiary, ed. Richard Barber (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993), 36.
1
As fanciful as this tale may sound to modern ears, Pulter then applies it to a still more curious purpose, associating it with the biblical histories of Samson and Solomon as an example of perfidious feminine seduction. Never mind that the stories in question draw on very different literary sources. Never mind that the unicorn’s maiden coexists uneasily with malign temptress-figures like Samson’s Dalila and Solomon’s wives. And never mind that the unicorn, who is not even human, seems a poor cautionary figure for “Youthfull Gallants” ensnared by feminine wiles. In fact, Pulter pursues a different logic here, a logic of metaphorical and typological association that trumps all these issues. Again the bestiaries offer guidance, commonly noting that “Our Lord Jesus Christ is the spiritual unicorn of whom it is said: ‘My beloved is like the son of the unicorns’ [Song of Songs 2.9].”
Gloss Note
Bestiary 36-7.
2
This connection established, it becomes easy to relate the unicorn to Samson and Solomon, both of whom were understood from classical times forward to be Old Testament anticipations of Christ.
Gloss Note
Saint Caesarius of Arles, Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. (Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964), vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9. Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, v. 9 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 10.22, p. 403.
3
On this logic, Samson, betrayed into slavery by Dalila, and Solomon, betrayed into idolatry by his wives, both prefigure the unicorn Jesus, consigned to the cross by the first and worst of all feminine betrayals—Eve’s. To be sure, Samson and Solomon collude in their downfall by yielding to what Milton would call “uxoriousness”—the fault of overvaluing the feminine—but in the case of the unicorn/Christ, masculinity evades even this secondary level of responsibility, which is relayed instead onto Adam. Woman remains the root of all evil, and the emblem develops out of a hermeneutics as conservative as its gender politics.

— Bruce Boehrer
1
14
Physical Note
preceding poem occupies first third of page, followed by blank third; poem begins in bottom third
In
Affrica about the ffountain’s brink
In Africa, about the fountain’s
Gloss Note
edge
brink
In
Gloss Note
The earliest accounts of the unicorn associate it with India (see e.g. Ctesias’ Indica). However, by the 1500s, travelers had begun placing it in Africa—especially Ethiopia—as well.
Affrica
about the Fountain’s brink
2
Where Beast Aſſemble,
Physical Note
appears written over earlier word, possibly “more”
None
p:ſumes to drink
Where beasts assemble, none presumes to drink
Where Beasts Assemble, None presumes to drink
3
Untill they See the Stately Unicorn
Until they see the stately
Gloss Note
A mythical animal whose single horn was reputed to possess medicinal or magical properties, especially in purifying poisons; according to legend, only a virgin could capture it.
unicorn
,
Untill they see the stately Unicorn,
4
Who Stirs the Poyſonous Waters w:th his Horn
Who stirs the poisonous waters with his horn;
Who stirs the Poysonous Waters with his Horn.
5
Then with Extended Jaws they drink their ffill
Then, with extended jaws, they drink their fill:
Then with extended Jaws
Gloss Note
Jan van Linschoten attributes this behavior to the rhinoceros, which he notes “some think . . . the right Unicorne, because there as yet hath no other been founde” (Discourse of Voyages into ye Easte and West Indies [London, 1598], 1.47, p. 88). The second of the so-called Unicorn Tapestries, woven in the Low Countries between 1495 and 1505 and currently housed in the Met Cloisters, depicts this activity (see image in the headnote for this edition).
they drink their Fill
.
6
Thus hee the fforrest Governeth at his Will
Thus he the forest governeth at his will.
Thus
Gloss Note
The three key figures in this emblem—the unicorn, Samson, and Solomon—all serve as models of governance or leadership, qualities compromised in each case by an abdication of reason in the face of feminine wiles.
hee the Forrest Governeth
at his Will.
Hee

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Facsimile Image Placeholder
7
Hee Scorns all Huntsmen, who can never take
He scorns all huntsmen, who can never take
Hee Scorns all Huntsmen, who can never take
8
This Gallant Beast till they a Mayden make
This
Gloss Note
brave, gorgeous
gallant
beast, till they a maiden make
Gloss Note
According to a wholly separate tradition repeated by Shakespeare, the unicorn could also be “betrayed with trees” (Julius Caesar 2.1)—i.e. captured by being induced to run its horn into a tree-trunk.
This Gallant Beast
till they a Mayden make
9
To Sit where hee doth haunt, him to allure
To sit where he doth haunt, him to allure;
To Sit where hee doth haunt, him to allure,
10
ffor in her lap hee’l lie and Sleep Secure
For in her lap he’ll lie and sleep secure.
For in her lap hee’l lie and sleep secure.
11
Thus hee that Scorn’d his Potents Enemie
Thus he that scorned his
Gloss Note
most potent, strongest
potentest
enemy
Thus hee that Scorn’d his Potent’st Enemie
12
Is now inſlav’d by A Virgins Eye
Is now enslavéd by a virgin’s eye.
Is now inslav’d by A Virgins Eye.
13
Soe Sampſon though Enabled from above
So
Gloss Note
See Judges 13-16; a biblical Nazrite who possessed Herculean strength, he killed one thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of an ass; Delilah seduced and betrayed him by revealing the source of his strength (his hair). After being captured and blinded by his enemies, he was put to work in a mill before later regaining his strength.
Samson
, though enabled from above,
Soe Sampson though Enabled from above
14
ffound Death, and Ruin, from his Wanton Love
Found death and ruin from his wanton love;
Found Death and Ruin from his Wanton Love.
15
Hee that a Thouſand Slaughterd with a Jaw
He that a thousand slaughtered with a jaw,
Hee that a Thousand Slaughterd with a
Gloss Note
Notably among his exploits, Samson slew a thousand Philistines using the jawbone of an ass as a club (Judges 15.19). As to his similarity to Christ, Caesarius of Arles (468-542) observes, “What was the meaning of Samson? If I say he signified Christ, it seems to me that I speak the truth. . . . Inasmuch as Samson performed virtues and miracles he prefigured Christ, the head of the Church. When he acted prudently, he was an image of those who live justly in the Church” (Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. [Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964], vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9).
Jaw
,
16
Beeing Blind and Captive, in A Mill did draw
Being blind and captive in a mill did
Gloss Note
work to move objects
draw
.
Beeing Blind and Captive, in A Mill did draw.
17
Soe Solloman allur’d by various Love
So
Gloss Note
see Kings 11:1-4; biblical king of Israel whose numerous foreign wives turned his heart toward idolatry (the worship of material beings made of earthly elements, or “dust”)
Solomon
, allured by various
Gloss Note
loves
love
,
Gloss Note
For Origen, “Solomon was an image of the Saviour” (Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, vol. 9 [New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912], 10.22, p. 403). Saint Augustine declares that whereas “[t]he name of Solomon is interpreted to mean peacemaker: now Christ is the True Peacemaker, of whom the Apostle says, ‘He is our Peace, who has made both one.’ Ephesians 2:4 . . . [T]herefore, He is the true Solomon; for that Solomon was the figure of this Peace maker, when he built the temple” (Exposition on Psalm 127, 1, in Philip Schaff, ed. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, trans. J. E. Tweed [Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1888], first series, vol. 8).
Soe Solloman
allur’d by various Love
18
Did leave the True and Glorious God above
Did leave the true and glorious God above
Did Leave the True and Glorious God above
19
To Worſhip thoſe whoſe ffabrick is of Dust
To worship those whose fabric is of
Gloss Note
earth
dust
;
To Worship those whose Fabricke is of Dust;
20
The Wiſest King was thus inſlavd
Physical Note
“b” possibly written over other letters
by
Lust
The wisest king was thus enslaved by lust.
The Wisest King was thus inslav’d by Lust.
21
The Strongest and the Wiſest thus you See
The strongest and the wisest thus you see,
The Strongest and the Wisest thus you see
22
ffoold by their stre^nght and Wiſdome often bee
Fooled by their strength and wisdom often be.
Fool’d by their strength and Wisdome often bee.
23
Then let all Youthfull Gallants warning take
Then let all youthful
Gloss Note
amorous men
gallants
warning take:
Then let all Youthfull Gallants warning take
24
To chooſe by Reaſon not for ffancies Sake.
To choose by reason, not
Gloss Note
for a whim; for an amorous inclination or love
for fancy’s sake
.
Gloss Note
Sexual infatuation was understood as madness and therefore the opposite of reason. See Shakespeare: “Love is merely madness” (As You Like It 3.2).
To choose by Reason
, not for
Gloss Note
“Fancy” appears here in the sense of “to take a fancy to; to entertain a liking for; to be pleased with; to like . . . (in early use often=to be or fall in love with)” (OED “Fancy” v. II.8.a).
Fancies sake
.
horizontal straight line
X (Close panel) All Notes
Transcription

 Editorial note

In these transcriptions we preserve as many details of the original material, textual, and graphic properties of Hester Pulter’s manuscript verse as we have found practical. Whenever possible, for instance, original spelling, punctuation, capitalization, lineation, insertions, deletions, alterations, spacing between words and lines, and indentation are all maintained; abbreviations and brevigraphs are not expanded; and superscript and subscript representations are retained. See full conventions for the transcriptions here.
Elemental Edition

 Editorial note

The aim of the elemental edition is to make the poems accessible to the largest variety of readers, which involves modernizing spelling and punctuation as well as adding basic glosses. Spelling and punctuation reflect current standard American usage; punctuation highlights syntax which might otherwise be obscure. Outmoded but still familiar word forms (“thou,” “‘tis,” “hold’st”) are not modernized, and we do not modernize grammar when the sense remains legible. After a brief headnote aimed at offering a “way in” to the poem’s unique qualities and connections with other verse by Pulter or her contemporaries, the edition features a minimum of notes and interpretative framing to allow more immediate engagement with the poem. Glosses clarify synonyms or showcase various possible meanings in Pulter’s time. Other notes identify named people and places or clarify obscure material. We rely (without citation) primarily on the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the Oxford Reference database, and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. When we rely on Alice Eardley’s edition of Pulter’s work, we cite her text generally (“Eardley”); other sources are cited in full. The result is an edition we consider a springboard for further work on Pulter’s poetry. See full conventions for this edition here.
Amplified Edition

 Editorial note

I’ve chosen to preserve Pulter’s spelling and capitalization, while expanding superscripts and contractions and lightly modernizing punctuation.
Elemental Edition

 Headnote

Even the most powerful creatures are subject to seduction. This emblem unites the legendary unicorn (whose ability to purify poisonous waters grants him tremendous authority) with the biblical figures of the physically powerful Samson and wise Solomon, as creatures who risk becoming enslaved by the worldly allurements signified, quite conventionally, by women. Using these stories, the speaker feels empowered to address an imagined public audience of “gallants,” warning them of the danger of submitting to lust, fancy, or even alluring maidens.
Amplified Edition

 Headnote

Over time, the unicorn has served as a—perhaps the—quintessential bestiary beast, one existing only in the pages of the bestiaries and related works. Pulter’s fourteenth emblem falls into the latter category. It takes as its point of departure a common piece of bestiary lore: that when the otherwise-elusive unicorn encounters a female virgin, “it leaps into her lap and embraces her, and goes to sleep there,” and so is taken.
Gloss Note
Bestiary, ed. Richard Barber (Woodbridge: Boydell, 1993), 36.
1
As fanciful as this tale may sound to modern ears, Pulter then applies it to a still more curious purpose, associating it with the biblical histories of Samson and Solomon as an example of perfidious feminine seduction. Never mind that the stories in question draw on very different literary sources. Never mind that the unicorn’s maiden coexists uneasily with malign temptress-figures like Samson’s Dalila and Solomon’s wives. And never mind that the unicorn, who is not even human, seems a poor cautionary figure for “Youthfull Gallants” ensnared by feminine wiles. In fact, Pulter pursues a different logic here, a logic of metaphorical and typological association that trumps all these issues. Again the bestiaries offer guidance, commonly noting that “Our Lord Jesus Christ is the spiritual unicorn of whom it is said: ‘My beloved is like the son of the unicorns’ [Song of Songs 2.9].”
Gloss Note
Bestiary 36-7.
2
This connection established, it becomes easy to relate the unicorn to Samson and Solomon, both of whom were understood from classical times forward to be Old Testament anticipations of Christ.
Gloss Note
Saint Caesarius of Arles, Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. (Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964), vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9. Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, v. 9 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912), 10.22, p. 403.
3
On this logic, Samson, betrayed into slavery by Dalila, and Solomon, betrayed into idolatry by his wives, both prefigure the unicorn Jesus, consigned to the cross by the first and worst of all feminine betrayals—Eve’s. To be sure, Samson and Solomon collude in their downfall by yielding to what Milton would call “uxoriousness”—the fault of overvaluing the feminine—but in the case of the unicorn/Christ, masculinity evades even this secondary level of responsibility, which is relayed instead onto Adam. Woman remains the root of all evil, and the emblem develops out of a hermeneutics as conservative as its gender politics.
Transcription
Line number 1

 Physical note

preceding poem occupies first third of page, followed by blank third; poem begins in bottom third
Elemental Edition
Line number 1

 Gloss note

edge
Amplified Edition
Line number 1

 Gloss note

The earliest accounts of the unicorn associate it with India (see e.g. Ctesias’ Indica). However, by the 1500s, travelers had begun placing it in Africa—especially Ethiopia—as well.
Transcription
Line number 2

 Physical note

appears written over earlier word, possibly “more”
Elemental Edition
Line number 3

 Gloss note

A mythical animal whose single horn was reputed to possess medicinal or magical properties, especially in purifying poisons; according to legend, only a virgin could capture it.
Amplified Edition
Line number 5

 Gloss note

Jan van Linschoten attributes this behavior to the rhinoceros, which he notes “some think . . . the right Unicorne, because there as yet hath no other been founde” (Discourse of Voyages into ye Easte and West Indies [London, 1598], 1.47, p. 88). The second of the so-called Unicorn Tapestries, woven in the Low Countries between 1495 and 1505 and currently housed in the Met Cloisters, depicts this activity (see image in the headnote for this edition).
Amplified Edition
Line number 6

 Gloss note

The three key figures in this emblem—the unicorn, Samson, and Solomon—all serve as models of governance or leadership, qualities compromised in each case by an abdication of reason in the face of feminine wiles.
Elemental Edition
Line number 8

 Gloss note

brave, gorgeous
Amplified Edition
Line number 8

 Gloss note

According to a wholly separate tradition repeated by Shakespeare, the unicorn could also be “betrayed with trees” (Julius Caesar 2.1)—i.e. captured by being induced to run its horn into a tree-trunk.
Elemental Edition
Line number 11

 Gloss note

most potent, strongest
Elemental Edition
Line number 13

 Gloss note

See Judges 13-16; a biblical Nazrite who possessed Herculean strength, he killed one thousand Philistines with the jaw bone of an ass; Delilah seduced and betrayed him by revealing the source of his strength (his hair). After being captured and blinded by his enemies, he was put to work in a mill before later regaining his strength.
Amplified Edition
Line number 15

 Gloss note

Notably among his exploits, Samson slew a thousand Philistines using the jawbone of an ass as a club (Judges 15.19). As to his similarity to Christ, Caesarius of Arles (468-542) observes, “What was the meaning of Samson? If I say he signified Christ, it seems to me that I speak the truth. . . . Inasmuch as Samson performed virtues and miracles he prefigured Christ, the head of the Church. When he acted prudently, he was an image of those who live justly in the Church” (Sermons, trans. Sister Mary Magdeleine Mueller, 3 vols. [Washington, DC: Catholic UP, 1964], vol. 2, sermon 118, pp.182-9).
Elemental Edition
Line number 16

 Gloss note

work to move objects
Elemental Edition
Line number 17

 Gloss note

see Kings 11:1-4; biblical king of Israel whose numerous foreign wives turned his heart toward idolatry (the worship of material beings made of earthly elements, or “dust”)
Elemental Edition
Line number 17

 Gloss note

loves
Amplified Edition
Line number 17

 Gloss note

For Origen, “Solomon was an image of the Saviour” (Origen, Commentary on John, in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. Allan Menzies, vol. 9 [New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1912], 10.22, p. 403). Saint Augustine declares that whereas “[t]he name of Solomon is interpreted to mean peacemaker: now Christ is the True Peacemaker, of whom the Apostle says, ‘He is our Peace, who has made both one.’ Ephesians 2:4 . . . [T]herefore, He is the true Solomon; for that Solomon was the figure of this Peace maker, when he built the temple” (Exposition on Psalm 127, 1, in Philip Schaff, ed. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, trans. J. E. Tweed [Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing, 1888], first series, vol. 8).
Elemental Edition
Line number 19

 Gloss note

earth
Transcription
Line number 20

 Physical note

“b” possibly written over other letters
Elemental Edition
Line number 23

 Gloss note

amorous men
Elemental Edition
Line number 24

 Gloss note

for a whim; for an amorous inclination or love
Amplified Edition
Line number 24

 Gloss note

Sexual infatuation was understood as madness and therefore the opposite of reason. See Shakespeare: “Love is merely madness” (As You Like It 3.2).
Amplified Edition
Line number 24

 Gloss note

“Fancy” appears here in the sense of “to take a fancy to; to entertain a liking for; to be pleased with; to like . . . (in early use often=to be or fall in love with)” (OED “Fancy” v. II.8.a).
Sorry, but there are no notes associated with any currently displayed witness.
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image