ere needes me, whiles the famous auncestries
8 Of my most dreaded Soueraigne I recount,
By which all earthly Princes she doth farre surmount.

1 Who now shall give to me words and sound
2 Equal to this haughty enterprise?

haughty > lofty, noble

3 Or who shall lend me wings, with which from ground
4 My lowly verse may loftily arise,
5 And lift itself to the highest skies?
6 More ample spirit than hitherto was wont

wont > accustomed

7 Here needs me, while the famous ancestries

needs me > I need

8 Of my most dreaded sovereign I recount,

dreaded > revered

9 By which all earthly princes she does far surmount.

By > [By virtue of]
surmount > surpass

210.2

Ne vnder Sunne, that shines so wide and faire,
2 Whence all that liues, does borrow life and light,
Liues ought, that to her linage may compaire,
4 Which though from earth it be deriued right,
Yet doth it selfe stretch forth to heauens hight,
6 And all the world with wonder ouerspred;
A labour huge, exceeding farre my might:
8 How shall fraile pen, with feare disparaged,
Conceiue such soueraine glory, and great bountihed?

1 Not under sun, that shines so wide and fair,
2 Whence all that lives does borrow life and light,
3 Lives aught that to her lineage may compare,

aught > anything at all

4 Which though from earth it be derived right,
5 Yet does itself stretch forth to heaven's height,
6 And all the world with wonder overspread;
7 A labour huge, exceeding far my might:
8 How shall frail pen, with fear disparaged,

disparaged > cast down

9 Conceive such sovereign glory, and great bountihead?

bountihead > bounteousness

210.3

Argument worthy of _M{oe}onian_ quill,
2 Or rather worthy of great _Ph{oe}bus_ rote,
Whereon the ruines of great _Ossa_ hill,
4 And triumphes of _Phlegr{ae}an Ioue_ he wrote,
That all the Gods admird his loftie note.
6 But if some relish of that heauenly lay
His learned daughters would to me report,
8 To decke my song withall, I would assay,
Thy name, {o^} soueraine Queene, to blazon farre away.

1 Argument worthy of Maeonian quill,

Argument > Subject-matter
Maeonian > (Homer is said to have come from Maeonia, part of Lydia,
and is also known as "Maeonides")
quill > pen

2 Or rather worthy of great Phoebus' rote,

rote > {A medieval musical instrument, probably resemblin