Spenser’s Faerie Queene Translation

Original:

That detestable sight him much amazde,
To see th’ unkindly Impes, of heaven accurst,
Devoure their dam; on whom while so he gazd,
Having all satisfide their bloudy thurst,
Their bellies swolne he saw with fulnesse burst,
And bowels gushing forth: well worthy end
Of such as drunke her life, the which them nurst;
Now needeth him no lenger labour spend,
His foes have slaine themselves, with whom he should contend.

(Spenser, The Faerie Queene 226-234)

Word-by-word translation into modern American English:

That detestable sight him much amazed,
To see the unkindly imps, of heaven accursed,
Devour their dame; on whom while so he gazed,
Having all satisfied their bloody thirst,
Their bellies swollen he saw with fullness burst,
And bowels gushing forth: well worthy end
Of such as drunk her life, the which them nursed;
Now need him no longer labor spend,
His foes have slain themselves, with whom he should contend.

Explanation:
Here, I went word by word and translated those that changed in spelling and pronunciation. I chose to leave the archaic grammatical structure to keep it epic and preserve the flow. This way, the modern reader does not have to sound the words out in their head but can still bask in the offbeat pronoun placement and rhyming scheme. After all, it is a choice, too, for a translator to trust the decisions of the original and let well alone.

Convenience translation:

That detestable sight amazed him,
To see the nasty imps, cursed by heaven,
Devour their mother. While he watched,
All having satisfied their bloody thirst,
Their swollen bellies burst with fullness,
And guts gushed out: a worthy end
For those who drank the life of she who nursed them.
Now he need no long labor,
His foes had slain themselves.

Explanation:
I took more liberties with this translation, with the end goal of modern readability and grammar. Rhyme was de-prioritized in favor of a more comfortable read. I switched some words for more colloquial versions, such as “bowels” to “guts.” I also cut some words, such as the ending “with whom he should contend,” which to me seems a bulky rhyming tool with no significant addition in content.