Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Book I

The study of the _Faerie Queene_ should be preceded by a review of the great age in which it was written. An intimate relation exists between the history of the English nation a...

What man is he, that boasts of fleshly might And vaine assurance of mortality, Which all so soone as it doth come to fight Against spirituall foes, yeelds by and by, Or from the...

328. THE HOUSLING FIRE, the sacramental fire. Spenser seems here to have in mind, not the Christian _housel_ or Eucharist, but the Roman marriage rites with their symbolic fire...

A GENTLE Knight° was pricking on the plaine, Ycladd in mightie armes and silver shielde, Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine, The cruel markes of many'a bloudy fielde;...

High time now gan it wex for Una faire To thinke of those her captive Parents deare, And their forwasted kingdome to repaire: Whereto whenas they now approched neare, With harti...

O goodly golden chaine,° wherewith yfere The vertues linked are in lovely wize: And noble mindes of yore allyed were, In brave poursuit of chevalrous emprize, That none did othe...

THE noble hart, that harbours vertuous thought, And is with child of glorious great intent, Can never rest, untill it forth have brought Th' eternall brood of glorie excellent....

What man so wise, what earthly wit so ware, As to discry the crafty cunning traine, By which deceipt doth maske in visour faire, And cast her colours dyed deepe in graine, To se...

Young knight whatever that dost armes professe, And through long labours huntest after fame, Beware of fraud, beware of ficklenesse, In choice, and change of thy deare loved Dam...

Ay me, how many perils doe enfold The righteous man, to make him daily fall, Were not that heavenly grace doth him uphold, And stedfast truth acquite him out of all. Her love is...

As when a ship, that flyes faire under saile, An hidden rocke escaped hath unwares, That lay in waite her wrack for to bewaile, The Marriner yet halfe amazed stares At perill pa...

By this the Northerne wagoner° had set His sevenfold teme° behind the stedfast starre,° That was in Ocean waves yet never wet, But firme is fixt, and sendeth light from farre To...

BEHOLD I see the haven nigh at hand, To which I meane my wearie course to bend; Vere the maine shete,° and beare up with the land, The which afore is fairely to be kend, And see...

Nought is there under heav'ns wide hollownesse, That moves more deare compassion of mind, Then beautie brought t' unworthy wretchednesse Through envies snares, or fortunes freak...

I. _The Plot:_ At the bidding of Gloriana, the Redcross Knight undertakes to deliver Una's parents from a dragon who holds them captive. He sets out upon his quest attended by a...

I. _The Plot_: Deceived by Archimago's phantoms, the Redcross Knight suspects the chastity of Una, and flies at early dawn with his dwarf. He chances to meet the Saracen Sansfoy...

I. _The Plot:_ (Continuation of Canto V). Duessa pursues the Redcross Knight, and overtakes him sitting by an enchanted fountain, weary and disarmed. He is beguiled into drinkin...

I. _The Plot_: The Redcross Knight reaches the Brazen Tower in which Una's parents, the King and Queen of Eden, are besieged by the Dragon. The monster is described. The first d...

I. _The Plot:_ Una wandering in quest of her Knight is guarded by a Lion. With difficulty they gain entrance to the cottage of Corceca and her daughter Abessa, the paramour of K...

I. _The Plot_: (a continuation of Canto IV). The Knight fights in the lists with Sansjoy and defeats him, but is prevented by Duessa's magic from slaying him. Duessa descends to...

I. _The Plot:_ In this and the following canto the adventures of the Redcross Knight are continued from Canto II. Guided by Duessa, he enters the House of Pride. There he sees L...

I. _The Plot:_ Prince Arthur tells Una of his vision of the Faerie Queene and of his quest for her. After exchanging presents with the Redcross Knight, he bids farewell to Una a...

I. _The Plot:_ Prince Arthur and Una are conducted by the Dwarf to Orgoglio's Castle. At the blast of the Squire's horn the Giant comes forth attended by Duessa mounted on the s...

I. _The Plot_: (Continuation of Canto III). Una is delivered from Sansloy by a band of Satyrs. She remains with them as their teacher. There a knight of the wild-wood, Sir Satyr...

428. THAT MIGHTY MONARCH, Alexander the Great (B.C. 366-323), king of Macedon. While consulting the oracle of Jupiter Ammon in the Libyan desert he was saluted by the priests as...

381. PHISON AND EUPHRATES, etc., three of the four rivers that watered Eden, the Hiddekel being omitted. See _Genesis_, ii, 11-14. In this stanza the poet strangely mixes Christ...

I. _The Plot:_ The Redcross Knight is conducted by Una to the House of Holiness, where they are welcomed by Dame Coelia and graciously entertained. The Knight is instructed by F...

318. SEVEN BEAD-MEN, seven men of prayer, corresponding to the Seven Deadly Sins of the House of Pride. They represent good works: (1) entertainment of strangers; (2) food to th...

308. A JACOBS STAFFE. According to Nares, "A pilgrim's staff; either from the frequent pilgrimages to St. James of Comfortella (in Galicia), or because the apostle St. James is...

1. Give an account of Prince Arthur's vision of the Faerie Queene. 2. Interpret his search for her as an allegory of the young man's quest after his ideal. 3. Observe in xvii an...

I. _The Plot_: The death of the dragon is announced by the watchman on the tower of the city, and Una's parents, the King and Queen, accompanied by a great throng, come forth re...

1. Describe the three days' fight between the Knight and the Dragon. 2. What advantages does each gain? 3. Study the Dragon as a type of the conventional monster of romance, con...

585. CHAUNGELINGS. The belief in the power of fairies to substitute their elf-children for human babies is frequently referred to in writers of Spenser's time. In the _Seven Cha...

Alcina in Ariosto's _Orlando Furioso_, vii, 73. Rogero has been fascinated by her false beauty, and her real foulness is exposed by means of a magic ring. The stripping of Duess...

1. What moral reflections does the poet make in the introductory stanza? Note the reference to the Queen. 2. What do you learn of the laws, customs, and sentiments of chivalry i...

INTRODUCTION: I. The Age which produced the Faerie Queene II. The Author of the Faerie Queene III. Study of the Faerie Queene: 1. A Romantic Epic 2. Influence of the New Learnin...