432. FRESHEST FLORA, the goddess of flowers.
She typified spring.
447. TO PROVE HIS SENSE, etc. To test
his perception and prove her feigned truth.
449. THO CAN SHE WEEPE, then did she weep. Can
here is the Northern dialect form for the middle English
gan, past tense of ginnen, to begin,
which was used as an auxiliary.
454. THE BLIND GOD, Cupid, Eros, or Amor, the
god of love.
478. Like other knights of romance, e.g.
Sir Galahad and Sir Gareth in Malory’s Morte
d’Arthur, iii, 65, etc., the Redcross
Knight does not yield to the temptation of the flesh,
but overcomes it.
(Canto I)
1. Tell in your own words the story of this canto.
2. Which muse does Spenser invoke? 3. Who
were the nine muses? 4. What is the difference
between pastoral and epic poetry? 5.
Illustrate by The Shepheards Calender and the
The Faerie Queene. 6. Point out imitations
of Homer, Vergil, Lucan, Statius, Ariosto, Tasso,
and Chaucer. 7. Explain the reference to the
religious questions and politics of Queen Elizabeth’s
reign. 8. Where does Spenser use classical mythology—mediaeval
legends? 9. What references to the Bible do you
find? 10. Try to make a mental picture of the
Knight—of Una—of Error—of
Archimago. 11. Is Spenser’s character drawing
objective or subjective? 12. Is the description
of the wood in vii true to nature? Could so many
trees grow together in a thick wood? 13. Study
the Rembrandt-like effects of light and shade in xiv.
14. What infernal deities are conjured up by
Archimago?
15. Paraphrase in your own language ll. 88, 106-107,
116, 267-268.
16. Explain use of of in l. 75. 17.
What part of speech is wandering l. 114? to
viewen l. 201? parse which l. 232; him
and spend l. 233; you and shew
l. 276. 18. Find examples of Euphuistic hyperbole
in iv, of alliteration in xiv. 19. Explain the
use and form of eyne, edified, afflicted,
weeds, Hebean, impe, compeld,
areeds, blazon, ycladd.
I. The Plot: Deceived by Archimago’s
phantoms, the Redcross Knight suspects the chastity
of Una, and flies at early dawn with his dwarf.
He chances to meet the Saracen Sansfoy in company
with the false Duessa. They do battle and Sansfoy
is slain. Duessa under the name of Fidessa attaches
herself to the Knight, and they ride forward.
They stop to rest under some shady trees, On breaking
a bough, the Knight discovers that the trees are two
lovers, Fradubio and Fraelissa, thus imprisoned by
the cruel enchantment of Duessa.
II. The Allegory: 1. Hypocrisy under
a pious disguise is attractive to Holiness. Truth
is also deceived by it, and shamefully slandered.
Holiness having abandoned Truth, takes up with Falsehood,
who is attended by Infidelity. Unbelief when
openly assailing Holiness is overthrown, but Falsehood
under the guise of Faith remains undiscovered.
The fate of the man (Fradubio) is set forth who halts
between two opinions,—False Religion (Duessa)
and Heathen Philosophy, or Natural Religion (Fraelissa).
