Interpretation
of the Allegory
4.
4.
Spenser - Faerie Queene - 1
gutenberg.
net
Title: Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Book I
Author: Edmund Spenser
Release Date: March 7, 2005 [eBook #15272]
Language: English
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPENSER'S THE FAERIE QUEENE, BOOK
I***
E-text prepared by Charles Franks, Keith Edkins, and the Project Gutenberg
Online Distributed Proofreading Team
SPENSER'S
THE FAERIE QUEENE
BOOK I
EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
GEORGE ARMSTRONG WAUCHOPE, M. A. , Ph. D.
Professor of English in the South Carolina College
_Velut inter ignes luna minores_
New York
The Macmillan Company
London: Macmillan & Co. , Ltd.
1921
Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1903.
CONTENTS
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 Learning
3.
Interpretation of the Allegory
4. The Spenserian Stanza
5. Versification
6. Diction and Style
IV. Chronological Table of Events
THE FAERIE QUEENE. BOOK I:
Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh
Sonnet to Sir Walter Raleigh
Dedication to Queen Elizabeth
Canto I
Canto II
Canto III
Canto IV
Canto V
Canto VI
Canto VII
Canto VIII
Canto IX
Canto X
Canto XI
Canto XII
NOTES
GLOSSARY
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION
I. THE AGE WHICH PRODUCED THE _FAERIE QUEENE_
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 and the works of English authors. This close
connection between purely external events and literary masterpieces is
especially marked in a study of the Elizabethan Age. To understand the
marvelous outburst of song, the incomparable drama, and the stately prose
of this period, one must enter deeply into the political, social, and
religious life of the times.
The _Faerie Queene_ was the product of certain definite conditions which
existed in England toward the close of the sixteenth century. The first of
these national conditions was the movement known as the _revival of
chivalry_; the second was the _spirit of nationality_ fostered by the
English Reformation; and the third was that phase of the English
Renaissance commonly called the _revival of learning_.
The closing decade of Queen Elizabeth's reign was marked by a strong
reaction toward romanticism. The feudal system with its many imperfections
had become a memory, and had been idealized by the people. The nation felt
pride in its new aristocracy, sprung largely from the middle class, and
based rather on worth than ancestry. The bitterness of the Wars of the
Roses was forgotten, and was succeeded by an era of reconciliation and good
feeling.
Title: Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Book I
Author: Edmund Spenser
Release Date: March 7, 2005 [eBook #15272]
Language: English
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SPENSER'S THE FAERIE QUEENE, BOOK
I***
E-text prepared by Charles Franks, Keith Edkins, and the Project Gutenberg
Online Distributed Proofreading Team
SPENSER'S
THE FAERIE QUEENE
BOOK I
EDITED WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES
BY
GEORGE ARMSTRONG WAUCHOPE, M. A. , Ph. D.
Professor of English in the South Carolina College
_Velut inter ignes luna minores_
New York
The Macmillan Company
London: Macmillan & Co. , Ltd.
1921
Set up and electrotyped. Published September, 1903.
CONTENTS
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 Learning
3.
Interpretation of the Allegory
4. The Spenserian Stanza
5. Versification
6. Diction and Style
IV. Chronological Table of Events
THE FAERIE QUEENE. BOOK I:
Letter to Sir Walter Raleigh
Sonnet to Sir Walter Raleigh
Dedication to Queen Elizabeth
Canto I
Canto II
Canto III
Canto IV
Canto V
Canto VI
Canto VII
Canto VIII
Canto IX
Canto X
Canto XI
Canto XII
NOTES
GLOSSARY
* * * * *
INTRODUCTION
I. THE AGE WHICH PRODUCED THE _FAERIE QUEENE_
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 and the works of English authors. This close
connection between purely external events and literary masterpieces is
especially marked in a study of the Elizabethan Age. To understand the
marvelous outburst of song, the incomparable drama, and the stately prose
of this period, one must enter deeply into the political, social, and
religious life of the times.
The _Faerie Queene_ was the product of certain definite conditions which
existed in England toward the close of the sixteenth century. The first of
these national conditions was the movement known as the _revival of
chivalry_; the second was the _spirit of nationality_ fostered by the
English Reformation; and the third was that phase of the English
Renaissance commonly called the _revival of learning_.
The closing decade of Queen Elizabeth's reign was marked by a strong
reaction toward romanticism. The feudal system with its many imperfections
had become a memory, and had been idealized by the people. The nation felt
pride in its new aristocracy, sprung largely from the middle class, and
based rather on worth than ancestry. The bitterness of the Wars of the
Roses was forgotten, and was succeeded by an era of reconciliation and good
feeling.
