She was a woman in her freshest age,
     Of wondrous beauty, and of bountie rare,
     With goodly grace and comely personage,
     That was on earth not easie to compare;
     Full of great loue, but Cupids wanton snare
     As hell she hated, chast in worke and will;
     Her necke and breasts were euer open bare,
     That ay thereof her babes might sucke their fill;
     The rest was all in yellow robes arayed still.

     A multitude of babes about her hong,
     Playing their sports, that ioyd her to behold,
     Whom still she fed, whiles they were weake & young,
     But thrust them forth still, as they wexed old:
     And on her head she wore a tyre of gold,
     Adornd with gemmes and owches wondrous faire,
     Whose passing price vneath was to be told;
     And by her side there sate a gentle paire
     Of turtle doues, she sitting in an yuorie chaire.
 

    Charissa, or Charity, is a commanding figure in yellow, with with a crown of gold about her head, encrusted with jewels.  She appears with her neck and breasts open, while her children are hung around her, some feeding off her breasts.  Charissa is married, and she symbolizes the sanctity and holiness of marriage.  She is the sexual image of the three sisters, and appears to Red Cross Knight only after he has been tormented by Penance, Remorse, and Repentance.  At Una's request, she shows Red Cross the joys of goodness, love, and good doings, and also the wrongs of wrath and hatred.  She teaches him the path to heaven.