Book 7, Canto 8 Summary

In this brief portion, the poet decides to forswear earthly vanities, since Change does hold sway over them for the time being, but he focuses instead on a time when there will be no more Change because Mutability does not rule the heavens.

Book 7, Canto 8 Analysis

The Mutability Cantos serve as an intriguing commentary on Spenser's worldview. Since the world at this time is based on immutability and permanence (geocentric, Chain of Being, etc.), it is difficult to accept the changes that occur daily within God's supposedly ever-fixed creation. This is the poet's way of blending these two conflicting views in a way that he can live with.

Often thought to be Book 7 of Spenser's work, a section dedicated to Constancy, there are only two cantos and the beginning of a third available. The cantos are not even the first in...