The proem begins with confusion – “bad vibes” – on earth and in heaven. The compounding series of descriptions in passive voice in the first stanza even seems confused itself. Are the disorders on earth and in heaven congruous, or does one cause the other? Which way does the cause run?
We paused at the idea of “the world … runne quite out of square” (1.7). The world naturally turns in a circle, so the “square” order is externally imposed. A circle inside a square historically symbolized God enclosing humanity. We also recalled the square of magically transformed friendship in the Cambell-Cambina/Triamond-Canacee marriages in Book IV. Must justice be externally imposed? We also noted an emphasis on naming, another form of external order.
We also wondered whether the narrator’s complaint is urgently clear-sighted or just a reflexive commonplace complaint. How should we hear fluctuations in tone like the humor in “fleecy Ram” (5.6)? Is the poem mesmerized by the prospect of an apocalypse of ancient origin (as in 8), or is this just brushed off as an almost comical confusion?
Artegall is an “instrument” (11.9) of justice, rather than being justice. Does justice rely on an instrument? What does this representation have to do with origin and causation? How does emblem-rich justice relate to emblem-poor friendship? The proem seems to reflect a dissatisfaction with friendship as an insufficiently coherent public virtue – and looks to justice to put things in order.