Spenser's The Faerie Queene Part 35

185. And greedy gulfe does gape, etc., i.e. the greedy waters gape as if they would devour the land.

187. the bl.u.s.tring brethren, the winds.

228. his wide devouring oven, the furnace of his maw, or belly.

235. that great Champion, Hercules. The charmed garment steeped in the blood of the Centaur Nessus, whom Hercules had slain, was given him by his wife Dejanira in order to win back his love. Instead of acting as a philter, the poison-robe burned the flesh from his body. Ovid's Metamorphoses, ix, 105.

xxviii. Observe the correspondence between the adjectives in l. 244 and the nouns in l. 245. The sense is: "He was so faint," etc.

261. The well of life. This incident is borrowed from Bevis of Hampton. The allegory is based on John, iv, 14, and Revelation, xxii, 1.

267. Silo, the healing Pool of Siloam, John, ix, 7. Jordan, by bathing in which Naaman was healed of leprosy, II Kings, v, 10.

268. Bath, in Somersets.h.i.+re, a town famous from the earliest times for its medicinal baths. Spau, a town in Belgium noted for its healthful waters, now a generic name for German watering-places.

269. Cephise, the river Cephissus in Botia whose waters possessed the power of bleaching the fleece of sheep. Cf. Isaiah, i, 18. Hebrus, a river in Thrace, here mentioned because it awaked to music the head and lyre of the dead Orpheus, as he floated down its stream. Ovid's Metamorphoses, xi, 50.

295. to move, moving. This is a French idiom.

300. As Eagle fresh out of the Ocean wave, etc. There was an ancient belief, that once in ten years the eagle would soar into the empyrean, and plunging thence into the sea, would molt his plumage and renew his youth with a fresh supply of feathers.

312. his bright deaw-burning blade, his bright blade flas.h.i.+ng with the "holy water dew" in which it had been hardened (l. 317).

322. Ne molten mettall in his blood embrew, i.e. nor sword bathe itself in his (the dragon's) blood.

335. With sharpe intended sting, with sharp, outstretched sting.

366. the griped gage, the pledge (s.h.i.+eld) seized (by the dragon).

386. missed not his minisht might, felt not the loss of its diminished strength; i.e. though cut off, the paw still held to the s.h.i.+eld.

xliv. In comparing the fire-spewing dragon to a volcano, Spenser follows Vergil's aeneid, iii, 571, and Ta.s.so's Jerusalem Delivered, iv, 8.

406. a goodly tree. Cf. Genesis, ii, 9, and Revelation, xxii, 2.

409. over all were red, everywhere were spoken of.

414. Cf. Genesis, iii, 2. Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden lest they should eat and live forever.

434. deadly made, a creature of death, i.e. h.e.l.l-born.

469. An imitation of an incident in the Seven Champions in which a winged serpent attempts to swallow St. George; i, 1.

477. And back retyrd, and as it was withdrawn. A Gallicism.

490. which she misdeem'd, in which she was mistaken. Una feared that the dragon was not dead.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

(Canto XI)

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, contrasting his brutal nature with the intellectuality and strategy of the Knight. 4. Study the battle as an allegory of the victory of mind over matter, of virtue over vice, of Protestantism over Romanism. 5. By what devices does Spenser obtain the effects of terror? Mystery and terror are prime elements in romance. 6. Find examples of another romantic characteristic, exaggeration. 7. Do you think that in his use of hyperbole and impossibilities Spenser shows that he was deficient in a sense of humor? 8. Observe the lyric note in iii and liv. 9. How does the poet impress the reader with the size of the Dragon? 10. Which Muse does he invoke? 11. Spenser's poetry is richly sensuous: find pa.s.sages in which he appeals to the sense of sight (iv, viii, xiv), of sound (iv, ix), of touch (x, xi, vii), of smell (xiii), of taste (xiii), of pain (x.x.xvii, xxvi, xxii), of motion (x, xv, xviii). 12. Where do you find an allegory of baptism? Of regeneration? Of the resurrection of Christ (the three days)? 13. a.n.a.lyze the descriptions of the coming of darkness and of dawn.

CANTO XII

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 rejoicing at their deliverance. The Knight and Una are conducted with great honors into the palace. On the eve of their betrothal, Archimago suddenly appears as Duessa's messenger and claims the Knight. Their wicked attempt is frustrated, and the pair are happily betrothed. After a long time spent in Una's society, the Knight sets out to engage in the further service of the Faerie Queene.

II. The Allegory: Holiness, by conquering the devil, frees the whole human race from the tyranny of sin. It is embarra.s.sed by the unexpected appearance of the consequences of its past sins, but makes a manly confession. In spite of hypocritical intrigues (Archimago) and false slanders (Duessa), Holiness is united to Truth, thus forming a perfect character. The champion of the church militant responds cheerfully to the calls of duty and honor.

2. Reformed England, having destroyed the brutal power of Rome, is firmly united to the truth in spite of the intrigues of the Pope to win it back to allegiance. It then goes forth against the King of Spain in obedience to the command of Queen Elizabeth.

3. vere the maine shete, s.h.i.+ft the mainsail, beare up with the land, direct the s.h.i.+p toward land.

25. out of hond, at once.

43. Of tall young men. An allusion to Queen Elizabeth's Pensioners, a band of the tallest and handsomest young men, of the best families and fortunes, that could be found (Warton). All hable armes to sownd, all proper to wield armes.

57. to the Maydens, to the accompaniment of the maidens' timbrels.

71. in her self-resemblance well beseene, looking well in her resemblance to her proper self, i.e. a king's daughter.

73. the raskall many, the crowd of common people.

116. of great name, of great celebrity, i.e. value.

117. fitting purpose frame, held fitting conversation.

xiv. Kitchin and Percival think this whole pa.s.sage a clever compliment to the parsimony of the Queen's court.

161. that proud Paynim king, probably a reference to Philip of Spain.

168. Nor doen undo, nor undo what has been done.

173. In sort as, even as.

205. all were she, although she had been. In place, in various places.

313. bait. In Spenser's time bear-baiting was a favorite pastime of the people and received royal patronage.

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 and water.

347. trinall triplicities, the threefold three orders of the celestial hierarchy according to the scholastic theologians. They were as follows: (1) Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; (2) Dominations, Virtues, Powers; (3) Princedoms, Archangels, and Angels. Cf. Dante's Paradiso, xxviii, Ta.s.so's Jerusalem Delivered, xviii, 96, and Milton's Paradise Lost, v, 748.

375. her tackles spent, her worn-out rigging.