SOURCE: "To Sound Her Praises: Introduction," in Spenser's Faerie Queene and the Cult of Elizabeth, Barnes & Noble Books, 1983, pp. 1-28.

In the following excerpt from a study of The Faerie Queene in relation to the cult of Elizabeth, Wells analyzes Spenser's use of allegory to honor Queen Elizabeth.

1. the Poetry of Praise

Spenser had completed six books of The Faerie Queene when he published the Amoretti in 1595. The apologetic tone of sonnet no. 33 suggests that he probably knew that his original plans for a poem consisting of twelve books devoted to the 'priuate morali vertues', to be followed by another twelve devoted to the 'polliticke vertues',² would never be realized. But more important than what this sonnet tells us of Spenser's state of mind is what it says concerning the purpose of his epic. As a poetic tribute to Elizabeth, The Faerie Queene was intended to 'enlarge her...