The Faerie Queene

by Edmund Spenser

  Geralds of Desmond, was recalled by Elizabeth before he had accomplished his aim of subduing Ireland. This stanza is Spenser’s praise for the former governor. Upton (Var., p. 266) quotes from Spenser’s View of the Present State of Ireland:

  I remember that in the late government of the good Lord Grey, when after long travail, and many perillous assays, he had brought all things almost to that pass that it was even made ready for reformation, and might have been brought to what her majesty would; like complaint was made against him, that he was a bloody man, and regarded not the life of her subjects… Whom, who that well knew, knew to be most gentle, affable, loving, and temperate… Therefore most untruly and maliciously do these evil tongues backbite and slander the sacred ashes of that most just and honourable personage, whose least virtue, and of many that abounded in his heroic spirit, they were never able to aspire unto.

  28 4 Hags: Envy and Detraction. 28 6 to that: in addition to that

  28 9 cases: garments.

  29 Detraction (backbiting, wilfully malicious disparagement of another) is usually a daughter of Envy and visually represented by a woman with a ‘spear strung with the row of doughnut-like ears’, into which she has injected her poisonous slander (Tuve, Allegorical Imagery, p. 188). See 34-5.

  29 5 arew: in a row.

  30 2 ouer taught: overgrown (literally, over-reached). 30 3 puttocks: kite, buzzard.

  30 5 the other: Envy is derived from Met. 2.768 ff, which is quoted by Boccaccio in his chapter on Envy (Cen. 1.18), See also I.4.30-32.

  31 4 Whose sight to her is greatest crosse: cf. Iago’s comment on Cassio:

  ‘He hath a daily beauty in his life that makes me ugly’ (Othello, J.I.I9)-35 2 eeke: increase. 35 8 i.e., Envy hurts only herself.

  35 9 perplext: troubled.

  36 4 Aspis: asp.

  36 8 kasings: lies.

  37 7 Blatant beast: the main enemy of courtesy in Book VI.

  38 5 scryde: descried, perceived.

  39 4 cf. the fury Allecto throwing a snake into the bosom of Amata (Aen.7.346).

  40 4 blent: blemished.

  40 9 traynes: wiles.

  41 7 hundred tongues: see VI.12.33. In VI.1.9 and 12.27.1 the Blatant Beast has a thousand tongues.

  42–3Gough (Var., p. 268) sees an allusion to David’s flight from Jerusalem, cursed and stoned by Shimei (2 Samuel 16.5-13). Like Talus, AbishaJ is rebuked by bis master David for wanting to avenge the insult. Gough’s suggestion is supported by the feet that Shimei calls David ‘a bloody man’, a phrase that Spenser uses twice to describe the detraction of Lord Grey. See note to 27.1.

  BOOK VI

  HEADNOTE

  Spenser’s virtue of courtesy has been the subject of much speculation because it does not appear in any standard enumeration of the virtues. The difficulty arises in part because of Spenser’s statement in the Letter to Ralegh that his poem is based on the ‘twehie priuate morall verities, as Aristotle hath deuised’, for no such virtue appears in the Nicoma-chean Ethics. Attempts to make Spenser’s courtesy conform to Aristotle’s gentleness or truthfulness (Ethics 4.5-7) have been unconvincing; see notes to Letter to Ralegh, Var., pp. 325-45. A more fruitful source for the virtue is the so-called courtesy book of the sixteenth century, which took various forms, ranging from manuals of etiquette or expertise to philosophic discussions of the nature of love and beauty. These books, produced with abandon in the second half of the sixteenth century, share Spenser’s avowed purpose: ‘to fashion a gentleman or noble person in vertuous and gentle discipline’. The most inflmtitial of the courtesy books in England were Sir Thomas Elyot, The Govemour (1531), Baldesar Casdglione, 77 Cortegimo (1528; translated by Sir Thomas Hoby, 1561) and Stefano Guazzo, La civile conversatione (1574; translated by George Pettie and Bartholomew Young, 1581-49. The standard work on the courtesy books is Ruth Kelso, The Doctrine of the English Gentleman in the Sixteenth Century, University of Illinois Studies in Language and Literature 14,1929,1-2. A concise summary of Spenser’s relation to courtesy books may be found in Humphrey Tonkin, Spenser’s Courteous Pastoral (Oxford, 1972), pp. 163-72.

  One of the persistent questions that runs through all the attempts to define Spenser’s courtesy is the false issue of whether Spenser is democratic or aristocratic in his attitude toward courtesy: is it a virtue restricted to the nobility and gentry, or is it a virtue attainable by all men? There can be no question that Spenser believed in monarchy and its attendant hierarchy as the truest form of government. Elizabeth is the revered patron of his poem.’ He derives the word courtesy from court: ‘Of Court it seemes, men Courtesie doe call’ (VI.1.1.1), and makes Elizabeth’s court both the source and end of courtesy (Proem. 7). Pastorella and the savage man are discovered to have royal lineage, and Calidore instantly recognizes the nobility of Tristram even in toe woods: blood will tell. On the other hand, Spenser always insists on (lie virtuous actions of these characters; his courtesy is linked to late classical definitions of nobility and its offspring, the Middle English gentilesse. True nobility is not derived from lineage but from virtuous action because all men have God as their first father, who calls them to a heavenly crown. Boethius, Consolation of Philosophy 3. Metre 6, makes the classic statement:

  The whole race of men on this earth springs from one stock. There is one Father of all things; One alone provides for all. He gave Phoebus his rays, the moon its horns. To the earth He gave men, to the sky the stars. He clothed with bodies the souls He brought from heaven. Thus, all men come from noble origin. Why then boast of your ancestors: If you consider your beginning, and God your Maker, no one is base unless he deserts his birthright and makes himself a slave to vice [translated by Richard Green].

  The same idea is found in Dante, Convivio 4.20, Purgatorio 7.121 ff, Roman de la Rose, 6579-92, 18607-896, Chaucer, ‘Wife of Bath’s Tale’, 1109 ff and Ballade of Gentilesse, and in the enormously influential Somme le rot (translated by Caxton, i486; see Tuve, Allegorical Imagery, pp. 41 ff). If one must speak of a conflict between aristocracy and democracy in Spenser, one must realize that Spenser’s allegiance to aristocracy was rooted in that greatest of kingdoms, the democracy of God’s creation, which exists in the virtuous actions of all men. Prince and peasant had the same option of being good or bad, but the prince had the heavier obligation to virtue because of his position in the earthly hierarchy. Spenser makes this point repeatedly in the stanzas that begin cantos 1-3. Spenser’s courtesy emphasizes the community of virtue within the hierarchically ordered society of his time. Courtesy becomes in this book the social manifestation of holiness, the virtue of Book I.

  PROEM

  2 2 imps: the Muses, whose home was Mount Parnassus.

  2 5 well: flow.

  2 8 -9 Spenser is following Ariosto’s boast that he is attempting something that no other poet has attempted (OP 1.2). Milton imitates both poets in claiming that his poem ‘pursues Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhyme’ (PL 1.15-16).

  4 See headnote.

  4 7 ff The lament for the lost simplicity of ancient times recalls the proem to Book V.

  5 5 See 1 Corinthians 13.12: ‘For now we see through a glass darkly.’

  5 8 -9 The idea that virtue is not simply a form of social activity but a state of mind or condition of the soul is very important throughout Book VI.

  7 4 -5 See Ecdesiastes 1.7: ‘All the rivers go into the sea, yet the sea is not full: for the rivers go unto the place whence they return, and go.’

  CANTO 1

  Arg. 1 Maleffort: French: ‘evil attempt’.

  1 3 well beseemeth: it is appropriate.

  1 6 ciuill conuersation: civilized relationships. The phrase means more than the modern meanings of these words imply. Perhaps an allusion to Stefano Guazzo’s La civile conversatione (1574), a courtesy book of enormous popularity. See Tonkin, Spenser’s Courteous Pastoral, p. 169.

  1 7 redound: abound, overflow.

  1 9 paragon: example or model of excellence.

  2 2 Calidore: Gr
eek: ‘beauty, gift’. The hero of this book has been identi- fied with Sir Philip Sidney and with Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. See Var., pp. 349-64. 2 5 guize: appearance.

  2 8 affray: attack.

  3 The courtesy hooks placed great emphasis on attaining public recognition of one’s virtues.

  3 7 embase: humble.

  3 8 leasing: falsehood.

  4 2 sore bestad: beset by difficulty, hard-pressed.

  4 4 Artegall: Arthegall, the hero of Book V, had just returned from freeing Irena from the power of Grantorto.

  4 7 rad: knew, recognized.

  4 9 breathen liuing spright: i.e., of all knights living. ‘Breathen’ is an obsolete third person plural form of’ breathe’; its implied subject is’ all knights’.

  6 2 trace: track, path.

  7–8Blattant Beast: Latin: blatire, ‘to babble’. The Blatant Beast is generally interpreted as slander or detraction, although Ben Jonson reported that Spenser in a letter to Ralegh had identified the Beast with the Puritans (Var., p. 382). Obviously the Blatant Beast does not refer only to Puritans, or to all Puritans. The pursuit of the beast by the knight represents the efforts of courtesy to overcome slander. Since the impulse behind slander or detraction is malice (wishing evil to another person), courtesy must try to grapple with malice, the sin opposed to Christian charity. Spenser gives two genealogies for his beast: here he is begotten by Cerberus and Chimera; in VI.6.9 ff he is begotten by Typhaon and Echidna. Hesiod, Theogony, 306 ff, makes Typhaon and Echidna the parents of Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the gates of hell, and of Chimera, a fire-breathing goat with lion’s head and serpent’s body. Echidna and Typhaon also begot the Hydra and Geryon’s dog Orthrus, who coupled with Echidna and begot the Sphinx and the Nemean lion. See V.10.10 and 11.23. Later sources are cited in Var., pp. 382-8.

  8 4 Stygian fen: the Styx was a river flowing through Hades.

  9 Arthegall’s encounter with the Blatant Beast is generally understood aa a reference to the accusations made against Lord Grey de Wilton for his handling of the Irish situation. See V.12.27–43and notes.

  10 9 seuerall: in different directions.

  1.1 Upton (Far., p. 189) points out that Calidore’s first adventure is like the first adventure of Cervantes’s Don Quixote.

  11 8 staide: waited, delayed.

  11 9 losde: loosed.

  12 2 bay: situation of a hunted animal (e.g., ‘at bay”).

  13 For analogues to Briana’s custom of shaving beards see Vat., pp. 365-71. Spenser was probably most influenced by the French romance Perlesvaus, Malory 1.24 and OP 37, 42.

  13 7 streight: narrow or confined place, such as a mountain pass or a narrow pathway.

  14 6 Briana: possibly Greek: ‘strong’.

  15 1 Crudor: Latin: cmdus, ‘cruel’. 15 7 Seneschall: steward.

  15 8 Maleffort: French: ‘evil attempt’.

  17 4 lest: listen.

  17 6 Hayling: dragging, pulling.

  18 4 reft: stolen.

  18 7 misgotten weft: stolen prize. See note to V.3.27.5 for the precise legal meaning of’waif.

  19 2 towardes make: move in his direction,

  20 2 importune: severe; persistent 20 4 recuile: recoil.

  20 6 forbore: endured; stood up to.

  20 8 come to ward: begin to shield himself, take the defensive.

  22 9 ward: guard.

  23 4 euen in the Porch: i.e., just as he reached the porch.

  24 5 bryzes: gadflies.

  25 4 vnmand: unprotected.

  25 5 spoile: rob, despoil, ravish.

  25 8 thy right: i.e., what you deserve.

  26 3 afford: grant, attribute. 28 4 Abett: support. aby: pay for.

  28 s Cowherd: coward.

  30 3 threatned: i.c, threatening to Calidore.

  30 S indignifyde: dishonoured.

  31 9 basenet: steel headpiece.

  32 7 afore: in front. 34 2 sound: swoon.

  34 4 sleeping: unconscious.

  35 2 lustlesse wise: i.e., listlessly, wearily.

  35 7 hiskishnesse: sluggishness.

  36 3 practicke: experienced. 36 4 pasting well: extremely.

  37 5 potshares: broken pieces of earthenware, potsherds.

  37 9 riuen: cut.

  38 8 formerlie: first (i.e., before Crudor could strike).

  39 9 lot: destiny.

  40 9 yeame: earn.

  41 8 still chaunging new: always changing anew.

  42 1 -2 See James 2.13 and Matthew 5.7.

  43 2 heasts: orders.

  43 7 fere: companion; partner.

  43 8 composition: sum of money paid in settlement.

  43 9 release: withdraw.

  45 2 affect: feeling, emotion.

  47 2 hyre: payment.

  CANTO 2

  1–2See headnote.

  1 7 reproue: accuse.

  2 9 thewes: manners, customs.

  3 3 eyes: some editors emend to ems for sake of the rhyme. 5 7 Lincolne greene: bright green cloth made at Lincoln. belayd: decorated.

  5 8 aglets: metallic tips of cords or laces.

  6 1 cordwayne: cordovan, Spanish leather.

  6 2 Pinckt: ornamented with figures cut in such a way that the gold lining showed through, paled: marked with vertical stripes.

  6 3 guize: fashion.

  7–8The problem is that a woodsman should not attack a knight, and vice versa.

  7 3 embrewed: stained.

  7 9 wroken: avenged.

  8 5 long: belong.

  9 6 raine: domain.

  9 7 enraunging: rambling in.

  10 6 needs mote so: i.c, as she necessarily did.

  119 as… pertaine: i.e., treating me like a child.

  12 6 requite: avenge.

  13 4 wroke: inflicted.

  13 9 hire: reward.

  14 4 quite dame: acquit, declare free.

  15 9 discouer: reveal.

  16 3 foreby: near.

  17 5 let: hindrance.

  18 8 ill apayd: ill pleased.

  19 7 aby: abide, submit to.

  20 2 quarrey: prey.

  21 2 chauff: rage.

  1 1 good Poet: Chaucer. See headnote. 1 6–9Bhattacherje (Far, p. 330) cites Castiglione as source. 3 8 chine: back.

  3 9 The meaning of these names has not been established, but see Tonkin, Spenser’s Courteous Pastoral, p. 66, and Williams, Flower on a Lowly Stalk, p. 69.

  4 2 Beare: bier.

  21 4 ban: curse.

  21 5 wracke: vengeance.

  23 8 hault: haughty.

  24 3 coy: shy, modest.

  25 1 stout: brave.

  25 4 Latonaes sonne: Apollo.

  25 S Cyritfm5.’ahillonDelos(seeII.i2.i3).Apolloissupposedtohaveenjoyed chasing nymphs on Delos.

  26 7 weale: wealth, prosperity.

  28–32Spenser’s version of the early life of Sir Tristram follows closely Malory, 8.1, but Spenser changes the mother’s name from Elizabeth to Emiline.

  29 5 dread: fear.

  29 9 doubtfull humor: i.e., suspicion.

  30 1 red: learned.

  30 7 read: counsel.

  31 4 feres.: companions. -

  31 5 thewes: customs. leres: lessons.

  32 1 mantleth: stretches wings.

  32 2 accoasting: skimming along the ground.

  35 5 dubbed: made a knight.

  36 1 treated to and fro: i.e., conversed about various subjects. 36 3 Chyld: knight.

  38 9 payne: labour, quest.

  40 9 vermeill: red.

  42 2 empeach: hinder, prevent.

  42 3 arayd: afflicted.

  42 9 sight: sighed.

  43 6 reaue: steal.

  43 8 greaue: grove, thicket

  44 8 athwart: transversely. targe: shield.

  45 5 best ad: beset.

  46 6 recur’d: recovered.

  48 2 beare: i.e., bier, a stretcher. Calidore is using his shield to carry off a wounded man.

  48 5 parted: divided in parts, shared.
/>
  CANTO 3

  I I good Poet: Chaucer. see headnote.

  I 6–9Bhattacherje (Var., p. 330) cites Castiglione as source.

  3 8 chine: back.

  3 9 The meaning of these names has not been established, but see Tonkin, Spencer’s Courteous pastorol, p. 66, and williams, Flower on a Lowely stalk, p. 69.

  4.2 Beare: bier.

  5 2 tickle: unreliable, changeable.

  5 3 aymed: intended.

  5 7 Keasars: emperors.

  6 5 geare: matter.

  7 2 affy: betroth.

  7 6 -9 Spenser is not claiming that Aladine is of mean or humble birth, merely that he is not a ‘great pere’ as is Frisdlla’s father. Aladine is, nevertheless, of gentle origin.

  7 7 liuelood: livelihood, prosperity.

  10 5 steepe: soak.

  11 8 blam’d: dishonoured.

  11 9 tendered: cherished, cared for.

  13 5 Titans: the sun’s.

  14 2 passe: passage.

  14 6 of course: i.e., ordinary, usual.

  16 6 wite: blame.

  16 8 counter-cast: trick.

  18 Calidore’s ‘white lie’ has been the occasion of much tongue-clacking among the critics, but Judson (Var., p. 341) cites Guazzo: ‘I denie not, but that it is commendable to coyne a lye at some time, and in some place, so that it tende to some honest ende.’ See also Charles E. Mounts, MLQ 7, 1946, 43-53, on ‘virtuous duplicity’.

  20 ff Spenser now places Calidore in a situation that parallels the Aladme-Priscilla episode. The purpose is to contrast courtesy with rudeness.

  22 9 debate: contest.

  23 5 distinct: marked.

  23 7 lust: pleasure.

  24 S misfare: misfortune.

  26 Calidore does not appear again until canto 9.

  26 9 lites: lungs.

  27 1 Calepine, whose adventures make up the action of this book until

  Calidore returns in canto 9, seems to be related by his name to Calidore: Greek: kale, ‘beautiful’. See Hankins, Source and Meaning, pp. 177-9-For other possible derivations see Cheney, Spenser’s Image of Nature, pp. 201–3and Tonkin, Spenser’s Courteous Pastoral, p. 66.

  28 2 reuoke: call back.

  28 6 footing: walking.

  29 1 waine: wagon.

  29 2 Inne: house of the zodiac.

  29 s trace: walk.

  30 ff The Turpine episode is modelled on die PinabeHo episode in OP 22.104 £