Spenser's The Faerie Queene Part 29

204. O what of G.o.ds, etc., O what is it to be born of G.o.ds, if old Aveugle's (the father of the three Saracens) sons are so ill treated.

219. and good successes, etc., and good results which follow their foes.

221. or breake the chayne, refers to Jove's proposition to fasten a golden chain to the earth by which to test his strength. Homer's Iliad, viii, 19. Cf. Milton's Paradise Lost, ii, 1051.

225. bad excheat, bad gain by exchange. Escheat is an old legal term, meaning any lands or goods which fall to the lord of a fief by forfeiture. Cf. "rob Peter to pay Paul."

229. shall with his owne bloud, etc., shall pay the price of the blood that he has spilt with his own.

263. Here Spenser imitates Homer's Odyssey, xvi, 163.

267. the ghastly Owle. The poet follows the Latin rather than the Greek poets, who regard the owl as the bird of wisdom.

273. of deep Avernus hole. Avernus in the poets is a cavern (in an ancient crater), supposed to be the entrance to the infernal regions. Cf. Vergil's aeneid, vi, 237. In Strabo's Geography it is a lake in Campania.

298. Cerberus, the dog which guarded the lower regions. This stanza is an imitation of Vergil's aeneid, vi, 417 seq. In Dante's Inferno Vergil appeases him by casting handfuls of earth into his maw.

x.x.xv. In this stanza we see the influence of Homer and Vergil. Ixion, the king of Lapithae, was chained by order of Zeus to a fiery-winged wheel for aspiring to the love of the G.o.ddess Hera (Juno). Sisyphus had to roll a huge stone forever up a hill for betraying the designs of the G.o.ds. Tantalus, for divulging the secrets of Zeus, was condemned to stand tormented by thirst in a lake. t.i.tyus, for an a.s.sault on Artemis, was pinioned to the ground with two vultures plucking at his vitals. Typhoeus, a hundred-headed giant, was slain by Zeus' thunderbolt, and buried under aetna. The gin on which he was tortured was probably the rack of the Middle Ages. Cf. the bed of Procrustes. Theseus, for attempting to carry off Persephone, was fixed to a rock in Tartarus. The "fifty sisters" are the fifty Danaides, who, for slaying their husbands, were condemned to pour water forever into a vessel full of holes.

322. sad Aesculapius, the G.o.d of medicine, slain by Zeus for arresting death and diseases.

354. And fates expired, and the threads of life which the fates (Parcae) had severed.

387. Great paines, and greater praise, etc. His praise, like his pain, is to be eternal.

xlvii. This list of the thralls of Pride is in imitation of a similar one in Chaucer's Monk's Tale, which was based on Boccaccio's De Casibus Ill.u.s.trium Virorum.

415. proud king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar. See Daniel, iii and iv.

420. king Croesus, the last king of Lydia, who was overthrown by Cyrus in B.C. 646. Herodotus, i, 26.

422. proud Antiochus, Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria, who captured Jerusalem twice, and defiled G.o.d's altar. He died raving mad B.C. 164. Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, xiii, 5-9.

424. great Nimrod, "the mighty hunter" (Genesis, x, 8), whose game, according to Spenser, was man. Josephus tells us that through pride he built the tower of Babel.

426. old Ninus, the legendary founder of Nineveh, and put to death by his wife, Semiramis.

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 "Ammons Sonne." He died either of poison (Plutarch) or of excessive drink (Diodorus).

437. Great Romulus, legendary founder of Rome (B.C. 753). See Livy, i, 16.

438. Proud Tarquin, Tarquinius Superbus, the last king of Rome. He was banished B.C. 510.

438. too lordly Lentulus, surnamed Sura, member of a haughty patrician family, who conspired with Catiline, and was strangled B.C. 62.

439. Stout Scipio, Cornelius Scipio Africa.n.u.s (B.C. 287?-183?), the conqueror of Hannibal, and self-exiled from Rome. Livy speaks of his inordinate pride, x.x.xviii, 50.

439. stubborne Hanniball (B.C. 247-183), the great Carthaginian general, who died by poison to avoid falling into the hands of the Romans.

440. Ambitious Sylla (B.C. 138-78), Cornelius Sulla, the Dictator, who died a loathsome death.

440. sterne Marius (B.C. 157-86), after being seven times consul, he was obliged to take refuge from his rival Sulla amid the ruins of Carthage.

441. High Caesar, Caius Julius Caesar (B.C. 100-44), who was murdered by Brutus and other conspirators.

441. great Pompey. Cn. Pompeius Magnus (B.C. 106-48). After his defeat at Pharsalia, he fled to Egypt, where he was murdered.

441. fierce Antonius, Marcus (B.C. 83-30), the great triumvir, who after his defeat at Actium killed himself in Egypt.

444. The bold Semiramis, the legendary queen of a.s.syria.

446. Faire Sthen.o.boea, the wife of Proteus, who on account of her unrequited love for Bellerophon, died by hemlock. Aristophanes' Frogs, 1049 seq.

448. High minded Cleopatra (B.C. 69-30), the beautiful queen of Egypt, who is said by Plutarch to have died in the manner mentioned.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

(Canto V)

1. How did Redcross spend the night before the fight with Sansjoy?

2. Study in detail the fine description of Duessa's descent to Erebus.

3. What elements of beauty are seen in the description of dawn and sunrise in ii? and compare Psalms, xix, 5. 4. What arbitrary cla.s.sification of musicians does Spenser make in iii? 5. Who is the far renowmed Queene in v? 6. Describe the joust between the Knight and Sansjoy. 7. Where do you learn of the laws governing such contests? 8. Observe the dramatic way in which Duessa saves Sansjoy. 9. What dramatic stroke in xxvii? 10. Describe Night and her team. 11. Give an account of her descent to Erebus with Sansjoy. 12. What were some of the tortures of the d.a.m.ned? 13. What effect is produced in x.x.x and how? 14. Point out some instances in which Spenser has imitated Homer-Vergil.

15. Where does he follow the Latin rather than the Greek poets?

16. Why did aesculapius hesitate to heal Sansjoy? 17. Whom did the dwarf see in the dungeons of Pride? 18. Why did the Knight flee from the House of Pride?

19. Examine the following grammatical forms: maken, l. 22; woundes, l. 400. 20. What figure of speech is employed in xviii? 21. What ill.u.s.tration is used in viii? 22. Find example of balanced structure in vii; alliteration in viii, xv, xviii. 23. Scan l. 23. 24. Note nom. abs. construction in xlv.

25. Paraphrase the involved constructions in xlii, xix, viii, x.x.xvi.

CANTO VI

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 Satyrane, discovers her, and by his a.s.sistance, Una succeeds in making her way out of the forest to the plain. On the way they meet Archimago, disguised as a pilgrim, and he deceives them and leads them to Sansloy. While Sir Satyrane and Sansloy are engaged in a b.l.o.o.d.y battle, Una flees. She is pursued by Archimago but makes her escape.

II. The Allegory: 1. Truth is saved from destruction by Lawless Violence (Sansloy) by the aid of Barbarism or Savage Instinct, which terrorizes Lawlessness but offers natural homage to Truth. Truth finds a temporary home among Ignorant and Rude Folk (Satyrs) and in return imparts divine truth to their unregenerate minds. Natural Heroism or Manly Courage (Sir Satyrane) sides with Truth and defends it against Lawlessness.

2. The religious allegory signifies the extension of Protestantism through the outlying rural districts of England and in Ireland. Upton thinks that Sir Satyrane represents "Sir John Perrot, whose behaviour, though honest, was too coa.r.s.e and rude for a court. 'Twas well known that he was a son of Henry VIII." Holinshed says that as Lord President of Munster, Sir John secured such peace and security that a man might travel in Ireland with a white stick only in his hand.

16. from one to other Ynd, from the East to the West Indies.

61. A troupe of Faunes and Satyres. The Fauns were the wood-G.o.ds of the Romans, the Satyrs the wood-G.o.ds of the Greeks. They were half human, half goat, and represented the luxuriant powers of nature.

63. old Sylva.n.u.s, the Roman G.o.d of fields and woods, young and fond of animal pleasures. Spenser represents him as a feeble but sensuous old man.

90. With chaunge of feare, from the wolf to the lion.