This is my own translation of a snippet from the Mutabilitie Cantos, Edmund Spenser's Elizabethan epic. Here we have a parade of the months and Western zodiac signs, each sign with the month when it's in season personified. Astromythology is also woven within the mix as many of the signs are the same as their counterparts in classical mythology. There will be commentaries on each sign and tricky words, myths, and so forth, month by month. Victorian illustrations from Chambers' Book of Days, inspired by the poem, accompany my version. The poem starts in March because then comes Aries season and opens the zodiac:
These, marching softly, thus in order went,
And after them, the Months all riding came;
First, sturdy March with brows full sternly bent,
And armed strongly, rode upon a Ram,
The same which over Hellespontus swam:
Yet in his hand a spade he also hent,
And in a bag all sorts of seeds, the same
Which on the earth he strewed as he went,
And filled her womb with fruitful hope of nourishment.
March is armed because he personifies the month sacred to Ares/Mars, the god of warfare.
With that out of the way, the Ram which March rides is said to be "the same which over Hellespontus swam." The ram Chrysomallos, that became the Zodiac sign Aries, actually flew over the strait currently known as the Dardanelles (Spenser says "swam" to rhyme with "Ram") in order to save the royal children Phrixus and Helle from their cruel stepmother, who wanted to sacrifice them to Zeus. As they flew on the ram's back over that strait, however, a storm picked up and Princess Helle, still a child, fell off the ram and dashed herself to pieces against a rocky shoal on the coast, giving the strait the name Hellespontus.
March is portrayed as a sower of seeds because both nature and humans sow plant seeds at this time of year.
The womb of the Earth is a metaphor to refer to the soil as an incubator of plant life.
Next came fresh April full of lustyhead,
And wanton as a kid whose horn new buds:
Upon a Bull he rode, the same which led
Europa floating through the Argolic floods:
His horns were gilded all with golden studs
And garnished with garlands goodly dight
Of all the fairest flowers and freshest buds
Which the earth brings forth, and wet he seemed in sight
With waves, through which he waded for his love's delight.
Lustyhead is obviously lust, the sexy kind of lust as in the deadly sin, and "wanton" here means randy or horny, like a goat-kid all hormonal when his horns are sprouting. The season of love for most species is springtime, which may be why April is portrayed as being so horny here.
The Bull of Taurus which April rides is surely Zeus in one of his many beastly guises, since he is "the same which led Europa floating through the Argolic floods," ie Zeus as the Albino Bull of Taurus carried the Phoenician Princess Europa, his umpteenth ladylove, from the coast of her homeland across the Aegean to Crete, which gave the naming to the European continent, as seen on the Greek and European Constitution 2-euro coins and in this fountain in Halmstad, Sweden. To hammer home the point, the Bull is not only decked with the flower wreaths and garlands of Taurus season which Europa put on it, but also wet with seawater, having waded (or rather swum) across the waves "for his love's delight."
Then came fair May, the fairest maid on ground,
Decked all with dainties of her season's pride,
And throwing flowers out of her lap around:
Upon two brothers' shoulders she did ride,
The Twins of Leda; which on either side
Supported her like to their sovereign Queen.
Lord! how all creatures laughed, when her they spied,
And leapt and danced, as they had ravished been!
And Cupid 'self about her fluttered all in green.
Fair May is, unsurprisingly, the smurfette in this parade of mostly male months. Maybe (pun intended) this is because she is portrayed as a May Queen, the young girl crowned beauty queen and personification of Springtime in the traditional rural British May Day (1st of May) pageants which evolved from the Celtic Beltane celebration. A May Queen is typically given a wreath and bouquet of wildflowers of the season for a crown and sceptre, respectively.
The twin brothers who support May are "the Twins of Leda," ie none other than Castor and Pollux, the Gemini Twins, AKA the Diouskouroi (meaning Zeus' Boys, even though Zeus only sired Pollux, and Castor was sired by Queen Leda's human husband!). They hatched from an egg which Leda laid after having intercourse with Zeus as a swan (and oui, swans have penises, which are corkscrew-shaped: dare to google "swan penis!"). The Gemini Twins appear rather gentlemanly, making a throne with their arms (ruled by Gemini, btw) for May to ride in, which in Spanish is known as "la sillita de la reina", the little chair of the Queen.
All living things are in ecstasy upon seeing May, because the season of love which had begun with April and Taurus continues, as if they had been "ravished." I don't read this as "raped" as much as "possessed." And of course, if it is the season for hormones to go wild, Cupid belongs here rather than in February...
And after her, came jolly June, arrayed
All in green leaves, as he a Player were;
Yet in his time, he wrought as well as played,
That by his plough-irons might right well appear:
Upon a Crab he rode, that him did bear
With crooked crawling steps and uncouth pace,
And backwards went, as bargemen wont to fare
Bending their force contrary to their face,
Like that ungracious crew which feigns demurest grace.
A Player, here, refers to a comedic actor. Remember the Ember Island Players?
If fair May is a May Queen, jolly June is characterised as a Green Man or Woodwose, a personification of the summer whom players/comedians dressed and performed as for midsummer fairs. The Green Man, or Woodwose, was allegedly a faun-like humanoid who lived in the woods and was one with the plant life of the place, hence the green costume and wreath of greenery with lots of leaves.
Nothing is said about the monster Crab which jolly June rides being the Lernaean Crab which was cast into the skies as the sign of Cancer, but still, due to the month accompanying it and their place in the parade, the identification with Cancer is crystal clear.
Bargemen refers here to ferrymen or boatmen, here those who drive their boats backwards, and "that ungracious crew which feigns demurest grace" refers to those old buzzkills the Puritans, whom Spenser rightfully paints here as hypocrites.
Then came hot July boiling like to fire,
That all his garments he had cast away:
Upon a Lion raging yet with ire
He boldly rode and made him to obey:
It was the beast that whilome did foray
The Nemaean forest, till the Amphytrionide
Him slew, and with his hide did himself array;
Behind his back a scythe, and by his side
Under his belt he bore a sickle circling wide.
As fitting for the season, hot July is shirtless. (Dare I say naked or in underwear? Elizabethans had little to no underwear, but there should be a modicum of decency involved in any parade).
July is apparently so hot (and even more so in his scant clothing) that he has contrived to tame the Nemean Lion, which became the sign of Leo. Sure enough, it's Leo season. The Amphytrionide is the hero Hercules, referred to by a patronym to fit the syllable count, and the "hide" of the Nemean Lion refers to the hooded pelt of the beast which Hercules skinned with its own nails and wore ever since the Nemean Lion was slain, becoming his mark of identity.
Sure enough, July carries those reaper's blades. The better to put them to good use when it gets cooler...
The sixth was August, being rich arrayed
In garment all of gold down to the ground:
Yet rode he not, but led a lovely Maid
Forth by the lily hand, she who was crowned
With ears of grain, and full her hand was found;
That was the righteous Virgin, which of old
Lived here on earth, and plenty made abound;
But, after wrong was loved and justice sold,
She left this unrighteous world and was to heaven extolled.
August is arrayed all in cloth of gold to reflect the golden fields of grain and the gold of the summer sun. He appears as quite the gentleman, walking on foot to lead the Virgo Virgin by the hand as if walking his daughter's best friend down the aisle at her wedding.
There are several interpretations of who this Virgo Virgin might be, but Spenser identifies her with the Titaness of Justice, Astraea, who lived among the humans throughout the Golden Age, until Pandora opened her box and the decadence of humanity drove Astraea either to Olympus or to become the constellation Virgo, her scales becoming Libra. Others say Virgo is Persephone, hence why she appears in the summer sky and disappears under ground in autumn; and indeed, though her backstory identifies her as Astraea, Spenser portrays the Virgo Virgin with a wreath and sheaf of wheat, looking very like Persephone.
Next to him, September marched eke on foot;
Yet was he heavy laden with the spoil
Of harvest's riches, which he made his loot,
And him enriched with bounty of the soil:
In his one hand, as fit for harvest's toil,
He held a knife-hook; and in the other hand
A pair of Scales, with which he did assoil
Both more and less, where it in doubt did stand,
And equal gave to each as justice duly scanned.
"Eke" means "also" or "as well." Like August, September walks on foot.
Of course September has to hold a pair of Scales, as his equinox opens Libra season. To "assoil" means to weigh. The emphasis on equality reminds us that, at this time of year, there is an equal amount of day hours and night hours.
Then came October full of merry glee:
For, yet his noodle was totty of the must,
Which he was treading in the wine-vats, see,
And of the joyous oil, whose gentle gust
Made him so frolick and so full of lust:
Upon a dreadful Scorpion he did ride,
The same which by Diana's doom unjust
Slew great Orion: and eke by his side
He had his ploughing-share, and coulter ready tied.
The must here refers to non-alcoholic grape juice, which October has obtained by treading on the grapes. This time of year is traditional grape-picking and grape-treading season; though Britain has no endemic grape or wine culture whatsoever, this may have be an influence from France, a much more wine-rich country across the Channel, where this month-star-sign cycle appears to hail from. If October's "noodle is totty of the must," if his head is tipsy just from grape juice, he must have a pretty weak head indeed!
According to one myth, the one told here by Spenser, the monster Scorpion of Scorpio, which October rides here, envenomed and killed Orion on the orders of Artemis (referred to here by her Latin name Diana; Spenser, like many other early modern literati, uses the Latin names for the gods, as we shall also see later). However something that strikes me is Orion's death being perceived as a "doom unjust" by Spenser, when actually in most versions Orion forced himself upon the Pleiades, the nymphs of Artemis, and any helpless wild beastie that crossed his path, and was therefore worthy of his smiting by venom.
"Gentle gust" refers to the pleasant flavour of wine, or rather here of grape juice.
A coulter is a hunting knife (hence why a villainess in Philip Pullman's epic saga is called Mrs. Marisa Coulter). In Sweden, the moose hunt takes place during October, while in Britain, the traditional fox hunt begins in late October.
Next was November, he full gross and fat,
As fed with lard, and that right well might seem;
For, he had been a-fatting hogs of late,
That yet his brows with sweat, did reek and steam,
And yet the season was full sharp and breem;
In planting eke he took no small delight:
Whereon he rode, not easy was to deem;
For it a dreadful Centaur was in sight,
The seed of Saturn and fair Nais, Chiron hight.
Hogs are pigs, which are sent into the woods to feast on acorns (and, in France, chestnuts) during this time of year, in preparation for winter. Lard is pork fat. Surely, given his girth, November has been butchering and devouring pigs as much as fattening them!
Breem means "piercing," maybe the piercing autumn air?
The centaur Chiron, the most likely candidate for Sagittarius, was the son of the Titan Kronos and the nymph Phyllira (referred to by Spenser by their Latin names, Saturn and Nais respectively). He was the wise and worldly mentor to all heroes and demigods worthy of notice in Greek antiquity, though a Hydra-envenomed arrow to the leg racked him with excruciating pain, leading him to sacrifice his immortality, after which he became the constellation of Sagittarius. Here, he must have a rather sore back from carrying the weight of obese November upon his equine flanks!
And after him, came next the chill December:
Yet he through merry feasting which he made,
And great bonfires, did not the cold remember;
His Saviour's birth his mind so much did glad:
Upon a shaggy-bearded Goat he rode,
The same wherewith Dan Jove in tender years,
They say, was nourished by the Idaean maid;
And in his hand a broad deep bowl he bears;
Of which, he freely drinks a health to all his peers.
Apparently, Elizabethans lit bonfires for Christmas!
There are several origin stories for Capricorn, but the one given by Spenser is the one of the Nanny Goat Amalthea, kept by nymphs of Mount Ida on Crete ("Idaean maids"), who suckled and raised the baby Zeus (referred to here by his Latin name "Dan Jove"), who was hidden away, and whose horn, torn off by the suckling Olympian with already super strength, became the first cornucopia.
Is that deep bowl of mulled wine, eggnog, or another festive punch? So it appears...
Then came old January, wrapped well
In many weeds to keep the cold away;
Yet did he quake and quiver like to quell,
And blow his nails to warm them if he may:
For, they were numbed with holding all the day
A hatchet keen, with which he felled wood,
And from the trees did lop the needlesse spray:
Upon an huge great Earth-pot Stein he stood;
From whose wide mouth, there flowed forth the Roman flood.
In midwinter it is best, in Britain, to wear many layers of clothing against the cold: "weeds" here does not refer to noisome plants at all, as you may have guessed, but to "garments, clothes." Read it as "layers."
Notice the many Qs with which Spenser describes the cold-induced shivers of Aquarius season in Britain: "quake and quiver like to quell..." And that in spite of all the layers (should have added some more?)!
If he blows his nails, January has no gloves on! What a stupid oversight! Or maybe it's so cold that his fingers freeze in spite of the gloves (what a hyperbole!)
Yes, Aquarius in this poem is an oversized beer Stein. Which January is sitting on and which moves, I presume, hopping about like Mrs. Potts and Chip in Beauty and the Beast. You can't have him on foot and leading the cupbearer Ganymede (the most likely candidate for Aquarius) with a pitcher, or in this case a stein, in hand in this case... because August is already doing that with the Virgo Virgin. So Spenser got creative and my sign got, as you see, to be the massive Aquarius Stein. The "Roman flood" which flows forth from it is the mythical river Eridanus, where Phaethon fell and which is actually a constellation pretty close to Aquarius on the night sky.
And lastly, came cold February, sitting
In an old wagon, for he could not ride;
Drawn of two Fishes for the season fitting,
Which through the flood before did softly slide
And swim away: yet had he by his side
His plough and harness fit to till the ground,
And tools to prune the trees, before the pride
Of hasting Prime did make them burgeon round:
So passed the twelve Months forth, and their due places found.
If liquid were not constantly gushing out of the Aquarius Stein, the two Pisces Fishes that pull the wagon of cold February would not be able to move. Speaking of which, there is as little backstory given for these Fishes as for the Crab of Cancer we saw jolly June riding. Spenser doesn't tell us if they're Aphrodite and Cupid as fish or the two monster fish that towed Aphrodite to land on Cyprus.
February brings pruning tools before "hasting Prime," ie Springtime ("primavera" in Spanish) makes the treetops "burgeon," or bud, grow buds and shoots.
Interesting that the sequence is linear: "So passed the twelve Months forth, and their due places found," it ends. Cold February and his Fishes do not tail sturdy March and his Ram... however, the zodiacal year in real life is a cycle, isn't it? If I were Spenser, I'd picture myself these months and mythological zodiac signs more on a carousel or merry-go-round than in a parade...
