The Faerie Queene

by Edmund Spenser

  The procession (11-51) is composed of four sub-processions: (a) Neptune and Amphitrite, preceded by Triton (n-12), are followed by the sea gods (13-14) and the founders of nations (15-16); (b) Ocean and Tethys, preceded by Nereus (18-19) and followed by the rivers of the world (20-21); (c) Arion (23) leads the bridegroom Thames with his parents Tame and Isis and their ‘grooms’ (24-6), his tributaries (29), his ‘neighbour floods’ (30-39) and the Irish rivers (40-44); (d) the procession of the bride Medway attended by her two pages and handmaids (45-7) and followed by the fifty Nereids (48-51). For interpretations see Roche, Kindly Flame, pp. 167-84; Alastair Fowler, Spenser and the Numbers of Time, pp. 171-5,182-91; and Harry Berger, jr, Texas Studies in Language and Literature 10,1968, 5-25.

  10 1 sacred imp: Clio, Muse of history, invoked here as in VII.6.37, to provide ‘historical’ accuracy.

  11 1 Neptune: ruler of the oceans.

  11 6 Amphitrite: daughter of Nereus and wife of Neptune.

  11 8 siluer haire: silver was the colour associated with sea goddesses from the time of Homer (Il.1.538).

  12 3 Triton: sea god, half man, half fish, son of Neptune, for whom he blows a horn to arouse or calm the sea.

  13 1 Phorcys: Phorcus was father of the Graeae, the Gorgons, the Dragon of the Hesperides and many others dted by Hesiod, Theogpny, 270-336. The heroes of line 2 are Perseus, who slew the gorgon Medusa, Hercules, who slew the Dragon of the Hesperides, and Ulysses, who put out the one eye of the cydops Polyphemus (Phorcus’ grandson).

  13 3 Glaucus: for his transformation into a sea god see Met. 13.904 ff His prophetic power is treated by Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 1.131a

  13 4 tragicke Inoes son :Melicerta, son of Athamas and Ino, became a sea god when his mad father drove him and Ino into the sea, at which time he took the name Pakemon (Met. 4.416 ff). Natalis Comes, 8.4, states that Palaemon presides over sailors.

  13 7 Brontes and Astrceus: Cydops. Astraeus unknowingly defiled his sister Aldppe and out of grief drowned himself.

  13 9 Orion: a mighty hunter, now the constellation whose rising brings rain.

  14 1 Cteatus and Eurytus: both sons of Neptune. Cteatus is called ‘rich’ probably because of the etymology of the name. (Greek: ‘possession, wealth’).

  14 2 Neleus and Pelias: twin sons of Neptune and the nymph Tyro. Neleus was the father of Nestor, and Pelias sent his kinsman Jason on the quest for the Golden Fleece. 14 3 Chrysaor: along with Pegasus, Chrysaor sprang from the blood of Medusa, fathered by Neptune (Met. 4.792-803).

  14 3 Calais: river in Mysia (Met. 2.243; 12.111; 13.278).

  14 4 Eurypulus: son of Neptune who gave the Argonaut Euphemus a lump of earth as a pledge of possession of Cyrene (Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica 4.1551 ff).

  14 5 Euphcemus: one of the Argonauts, who ran so fast that he could go over water without getting wet.

  14 7 Eryx … Akbius: neither of these sea gods has been identified, but see the Eryx, king of Sicily, mentioned in Aen. 1.570 and 5 passim.

  14 9 Asopus: river god whose daughter Aegina was seduced by Jove and bore Aeacus, who was to become one of the three judges of the underworld.

  15–16The founders of nations (except for Inachus and Albion) are all named in Natalis Comes, 2.8.

  15 4 Ogyges: first ruler of Thebes. Boeotia was called Ogygia after him.

  15 5 Incubus: the founder of Argos.

  15 6 Phtenix: son of Agenor and founder of Phoenicia.

  Aon: son of Neptune after whom Boeotia is named Aonia.

  Peksgus: ancestor of the Pelasgians, the earliest inhabitants of Greece.

  The Peloponnesus was called Pelasgia after him. 15 7 Belus: the founder of Babylon.

  Phceax: ancestor of the Phaeacians, the early inhabitants of Corcyra

  (Corfu).

  Agenor: son of Neptune and founder of Sidon in Phoenicia.

  15 8 Albion: son of Neptune and mythical founder of Britain.

  16 The story of Albion’s walking dryshod to France (Britain then being connected to the Continent) to’fight Hercules, who slew him, is told by Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca 5.24.2 ff and by the sixteenth-century chroniclers. Spenser may have got his story from Holiushed, Chronicles (second edition, 1587) 1.3.

  16 9 was dight: was come.

  17 4 hild: held.

  17 6 times: some editors emend to age for the sake of rhyme.

  18 Spenser probably took the information about Ocean, Tethys and Nereus from Natalis Comes, 8.a, who quotes Hesiod, Theogony 332 ff.

  19 2 ledden: language.

  19 4 Tindaridlasse: Helen of Troy, daughter of Leda, the wife of Tyndareus.

  20 3 Nile: see I.1.21 and 111.6.8.6–9and notes.

  20 4 Rhodanus: the Rhone, long because it rises in the Alps and runs through

  France.

  20 5 Ister: lower part of Danube.

  20 6 Scamander: river of Troy.

  20 8 Pactolus: river with bed of golden sand in Lydia. See IV.6.20.

  20 9 Tygris: great river in Mesopotamia.

  21 1 Ganges: chief river in India.

  Euphrates: chief river of Syria.

  21 2 Indus: river forming western boundary of India.

  Masander: river with many windings, near Miletus.

  21 3 Peneus: river flowing through valley of Tempe in Thessaly, whose river-god was the father of Cyrene and Daphne.

  Phasides: Phasis, river in Colchis, flowing into Euxine Sea.

  21 4 Rhene: the Rhine of Germany.

  Alpheus: supposed to flow from the Peloponnesus through the sea to Sicily without any mingling of salt from ocean water.

  21 5 Ooraxes: Cyrus crossed the river Araxes to do battle with Comyrus, in which encounter he was slain.

  21 6 Tybris: the Tiber of Rome.

  21 7 Oranochy: Orinoco, discovered in 1531-2 by Ordaz and explored by Ralegh in 1595.

  21 8 huge Riuer: the Amazon, discovered by Orellano in 1540; seeing armed women on its banks, he named the river after them. Ralegh describes both these rivers in The Discoveries of Guiana (1596). See also II. Proem. 2.

  22 Spenser is urging the British to follow the constant advice of Ralegh to colonize in South America, but that advice was not taken. Ralegh made his first voyage to Guiana in 1595, but in spite of his more than moderate success the Queen was not persuaded to allow further attempts.

  23 3 Arion: see Ovid, Fasti 2.83 ff. Arion, captured by cruel pirates, leaped into the sea with his crown and lyre, on which he played so sweetly that he charmed a dolphin who carried him to safety. See Amoretti 38. 24–39Spenser’s description of the English rivers is derived mainly from two sources: (a) Holinshed, Chronicles (1578), 1.11-16, entitled “The Description of Britain’, actually written by William Harrison, and (b) William Camden’s Britannia, first edition 1586.

  24–5The rivers Thame and Isis (the Thames above Oxford) come together near Dorchester (Oxfordshire) to form the Thames, the union represented in the orthography of the Latin Tamesis (i.e., Thames + Isis). In actuality the Thame is the lesser of the two rivers, but Spenser may be reversing feet to suit the greater importance of the Thame in the word ‘Thames’. In a letter to Gabriel Harvey, 2 April 1580, Spenser speaks of a work, now lost, called Epithalamion Thamesis, in which he was probably following the tradition begun by the Latin poems of Leland and Camden (see note to 8.4). Isis is joined by the Churne and, at Oxford, by the Cherwell.

  26 4 that faire City: Oxford.

  26 5 impes: i.e., scholars.

  26 6 Britany: Britain.

  26 7 elder sisters broode: Cambridge University. As a Cantabrigian Spenser gives priority of founding to his own university.

  27 2 watchet hew: pale blue.

  27 9 fret: interlaced net; ornament.

  28 4 Cybele: the great mother of gods, and goddess of civilization, tradition- ally pictured wearing a turreted crown.

  28 6 Turribant: turban.

  28 7–6Troynouant: i.e., London. See notes to m.3.22 and 9.44. The old maps that Spenser used identified large
cities by groups of towers clustered as if in a crown. See the maps of Christopher Saxton, published in 1579.

  29 5 Kenet: the Kennet ioins the Thames at Reading.

  Thetis gray: modern Wey meets the Thames at Weybridge.

  29 6 morish Cole: The marshy Colne meets the Thames at Staines.

  Breane: probably modern Brent; meets the Thames near Syon House.

  29 7 Lee: meets the Thames at Blackwall after an irregular course.

  29 8 Darent: flows through Kent to Thames near Dartford.

  30 6 Seuerne: the Severn, one of Britain’s major rivers, flowing from central Wales to the Bristol Channel.

  30 7 Humber: flows by Hull to the North Sea.

  31 1 Tamar: divides Cornwall and Devonshire. It does not meet the Plim, as Spenser says, but he may have mistaken the Tavy or Plymouth Bay on Saxton’s map.

  31 5 Dart: rising in Dartmoor, it carried away tin ore from the stanneries on its course, which nearly choked it.

  31 6 Auon: the Avon flows through Bath and Bristol near which, Camden states, are hills full of Bristol diamonds.

  32 1 Stoure: the Dorset Stour, which springs from six heads, now all within Stourton Park. Spenser may be playing with the name of the river and the common noun ‘stoure’ meaning variously ‘struggle’, ‘agony’, ‘paroxysm’.

  32 3–4Blandford plains: probably the region below Blandford where the valley spreads into a plain towards Wimborne Minster (Winborne).

  32 5 Wylibourne: the modern Wylye, meeting the Avon at Salisbury.

  32 6 Again Spenser puns on the name.

  32 7 Wiltshire is named after Wilton, named from the Wylye. Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke, lived in Wilton House on its banks.

  32 8 Mole: flows from north of Dorking, Surrey, joining the Thames opposite Hampton Court The story of its course underground is derived from Camden.

  33 1 Rother: separates Sussex from Kent. The river rises near the Ashdown Forest in Sussex, now heathland.

  33 2 Rhy: Rye in Sussex.

  33 3 Sture: the Stour, separating Essex from Suffolk, flows by Clare and Harwich.

  33 6 Yar: the Yare, in Norfolk, which flows near Norwich.

  33 9 Ruffins: a kind of perch abundant in the Yare.

  34 1 Ouse: the Great Ouse, which empties into the Wash.

  34 5 These are tributaries of the Ouse. Cle is the modern Ouzel or Lovat. Were is the modern Tove. Grant is the Granta or Cam of Cambridge. The Sture has left nothing more than the name of Stourbridge Fair, held yearly below Cambridge, ‘the most famous mart in England’, as Harrison says (Var., p. a$8).

  34 7 My mother Cambridge: Spenser matriculated at Pembroke Hall on 20 May 1569. He took his B A degree in January 1573, and his MA in June 1576.

  35 I Welland: river of Lincolnshire which Spenser says will flood Holland, the maritime part of Lincolnshire. The prediction comes in one of the so-called prophecies of Merlin (‘old sawes”) that studies at that time taking place at Oxford (Vada Bourn) would, by the end of the century, take place at Stamford (Vada Saxi). Camden records that a university was founded at Stamford during the reign of Edward III (1333). Many northern students left Oxford, but were called back by Royal proclamation. Spenser connects the two stories, not found together in other writers.

  35 7 New: the Nene has its source above Northampton and it flows into the Wash.

  35 8–9Trent: etymology rather than nature is responsible for the thirty kinds offish and streams (French: trente, thirty). The river was famous for its variety and plenty offish.

  36 1–5Tyne: part of the course of the Tyne runs parallel to the wall built by the Roman Severus from the Solway Firth to Tynemoutb,

  36 5 Gualseuer: wall of Severus; see preceding note.

  36 6 Twede: Tweed, the border between Logris land (England) and Albany (Scotland), so called because it was the portion given to Albanact, youngest son of Brute. See II.10.14.

  36 7 Eden: in Westmorland, often the scene of border battles between Scots and English.

  37 The ‘sixe sad brethren’ are tributaries of the Ouse in Yorkshire. They are the Swale and the Ure, which unite to form the Ouse, the Skell, a tributary of the Ure, the Nidd, and the Wharfe. The Ouse flows into the Humber mentioned in stanza 30.7.

  38 1 Brutus: the legendary founder of Britain. For the reign of Brutus see IL10.9-14.

  39 1 Lone: the Lune, which has its mouth just below Lancaster.

  39 3 Dee: the name is derived by Spenser from the Latin divus, holy.

  39 S Conway: in North Wales, which according to Camden produces pearls.

  39 7 Lindus: modern Witham of Lincolnshire, famed for its pike. It flows through Lincoln and is ostensibly the source of the name.

  41 1 Liffy: the river that flows through Dublin.

  41 2 Slane: the very sandy river Slaney that reaches the sea below Wexford.

  Aubrian: the Owenbrin in Connaught? the Breanach between Cork and Kerry? the Urrin in Wexford?

  41 3 Shenan: the Shannon in Limerick opens into a great estuary.

  41 4 Boyne: flows from Kildare to Drogheda.

  Ban: the Bann in Wexford joins the Slaney.

  41 5 Awniduff: the northern Blackwater that flows between the counties of Armagh and Tyrone.

  41 6 Liffar: the Foyle at Lifford in Donegal.

  41 7 Trowis: Drowes, flowing between Donegal and Leitrim into Donegal Bay. 41 8 Allo: the Blackwater, or Broadwater, so called in Colin Clouts Come Home Again, 123.

  41 9 Mulla: the Awbeg, which rises to the north of Kilcolman, Spenser’s home, joins the Bregog to the south, and empties into the Blackwater. See Colin Clouts Come Home Again, 88-155, and VII.6.38-55. 4a 1 three renowmed brethren: the Suir, the Nore and the Barrow, described in 43-

  42 2–9This topographical myth, which is Spenser’s invention, derives from the fact that the three rivers rise in the Slieve Bloom Mountains (Gyant Blomius) after rainfall (Nimph Rheusa, from Greek: ‘flowing water’).

  44 1 Mayre: the Kenmare, south-west of Kerry.

  44 2 Bandon: flows through County Cork into the sea at Kinsale.

  44 3 Lee: the Lee expands greatly below Cork but in Spenser’s time was wide enough to embrace the whole city.

  44 5 Oure: the Avonbeg in County Wicklow. Near Glenmalure the English were defeated in 1580 while under the command of Lord Grey, to whom Spenser was secretary.

  45 6 water Chamelot: rich cloth with watered appearance.

  46 7 humour: moisture.

  47 2 Theise: Teise meets the Medway at Yalding.

  Crane: the Beult, which meets the Medway almost at the same point as the Teise.

  47 9 Donne… Frith: it is not dear which small streams Spenser means. The Frith may be the Shode, a brook just above Yalding. He may have known the streams from his acquaintance with the area surrounding Penshurst, the home of the Sidneys on the Medway above Tonbridge.

  48–51The Nereids are the fifty daughters of Nereus (see stanza 18) and Doris. Hesiod, Theogony, 240-64, is the first to name them, but Spenser invents two (Phao and Poris, stanza 49. 5-6). Vat., pp. 274-5, suggests two sources for Spenser’s list: the Latin translation of Hesiod by Boninus Mombritius, published first in Ferrara, 1474, and reprinted into the later sixteenth century; and the mythological commentary of Natalis Comes, 8.6. Neither gives Spenser’s list exactly. Whatever the source, Spenser seems to be at his usual work of etymologizing in applying epithets to these nymphs.

  CANTO 12

  2 2 Venus was born from the foam of the sea according to Met. 4.537, following earlier tradition.

  2 4 fry: offspring.

  4 9 disauentrous: unfortunate.

  6–11These stanzas comprise a formal complaint made by Florimell imprisoned. See Britomart’s complaint, III.4.8-10.

  9 8 art one: at once.

  11 2 points: appoints.

  12 4 misfare: affliction, sorrow.

  14 5 former charge: see III.4.25-7.

  14 7 targe: shield.

  14 9 forthinke: to think better of.

&nbs
p; 22 2 mister: kind of.

  25 4 Leaches: doctors.

  26 5 shrieue: shrive.

  28 4 Old Proteus’ prophecy is told in III.4.25.

  31 8 repleuie: recover cattle or goods. Cymodoce is using precise legal terminology. See V.3.27.5.

  34 5 refection: refreshment.

  34 6 tine: wrath.

  35 9 Spenser relates the marriage of Florimell and Marinell in V.3.

  BOOK V

  HEADNOTE

  Justice is cited by Plato, Republic 4.6 ff, as one of the four virtues essential to the good society; the other three are prudence, temperance, and fortitude. The same four virtues are mentioned in the Book of Wisdom 8.7. Bloomfield, The Seven Deadly Sins, p. 66, asserts that St Ambrose was the first to call them ‘virtutes cardinales’. Very early they became the four virtues of the classical philosophers; later, ranged with the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity (1 Corinthians 13) they were set in opposition to the seven deadly sins. Tuve, Allegorical Imagery, p. 57 ff, states that the development of the medieval tradition did not depend directly on Plato, Aristotle, or the Bible, but on Cicero, Macrobius, and Martin of Braga (often cited as Seneca). These writers, who analysed the virtues before the rediscovery of Aristotle’s Ethics, were responsible for the development of moral theory, the most important text being Cicero’s rhetorical treatise De inventione 2.53-4.

  Spenser treats two of the cardinal virtues, temperance and justice, which are related to each other as the individual is to society: what temperance (the proper ordering of the body) is to the individual, justice (the proper giving of what is due to each member of society) is to the body politic. Theologically justice is the virtue most appropriate for kings. The development of law during the Middle Ages and Renaissance was built on the analogy of God and king: the king was to administer God’s law on earth, and this right administration was, by definition, justice. More than any other virtue, justice related God to history.