"Divine Tobacco"
Into the woods thenceforth in hast she went,
To seeke for hearbes, that mote him remedy;
For she of hearbes had great intendiment,
Taught of the Nymphe, which from her infancy
Her nourced had in trew Nobility;
There, whether it diuine Tobacco were,
Or Panachaea, or Polygony,
She found, and brought it to her patient deare
Who al this while lay bleeding out his hartbloud neare.
In this passage from Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene," the noble Belphoebe demonstrates her healing skills, cultivated since childhood under the tutelage of a Nymph. Timias, gravely wounded in battle, lies close to death, and Belphoebe's swift search for medicinal herbs underscores her resourcefulness and care. Her knowledge is so profound that she seeks "whether it diuine Tobacco were, / Or Panachaea, or Polygony," ancient remedies believed to have miraculous properties. This act not only highlights her virtuous nature but also reflects the Renaissance fascination with the natural world's potential to heal. The emphasis on Belphoebe's noble education and her tender ministrations to Timias enriches her character, illustrating the intertwining of love, nobility, and the pastoral ideal inherent in the poem.
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