137. CASSIOPEIAS CHAIRE, a circumpolar constellation having a fancied resemblance to a chair.
139. ONE KNOCKED AT THE DORE, Kirkrapine, the plunderer of the Church. Spenser represents in him the peculiar vices of the Irish clergy and laity.
166. STAY HIM TO ADVIZE, stop to reflect.
172. HIM BOOTETH NOT RESIST, it does him no good to resist. This whole passage refers, perhaps, to Henry VIII's suppression of the monasteries and convents in 1538-39.
185. THAT LONG WANDRING GREEKE. Ulysses, or Odysseus, the hero of Homer's _Odyssey_, who wandered ten years and refused immortality from the goddess Calypso in order that he might return to Penelope.
xxii. Note the rhymes _deare_, _heare_, and _teare_ (air). This 16th century pronunciation still survives in South Carolina. See Ellis's _Early English Pronunciation_, III, 868. This stanza reads like the description of an Irish wake.
238. OR OUGHT HAVE DONE, or have done something to displease you.
239. THAT SHOULD AS DEATH, etc., that should settle like death, etc.
248. AND CHOSE IN FAERY COURT. See Spenser's letter to Sir W. Raleigh, p. 6.
250. HER KINDLY SKILL, her natural power.
276. FIERCE ORIONS HOUND, Sirius, the Dog-star, the brightest of the fixed stars. The constellation Orion was named from a giant hunter who was beloved by Aurora and slain by Diana.
279. AND NEREUS CROWNES WITH CUPS, and Nereus drinks bumpers in his honor. Nereus was a sea-god, son of Ocean and Earth.
282. FROM GROUND, from the land.
297. SANS LOY symbolizes the pagan lawlessness in Ireland. There is also a wider reference to the struggles between the Turks and the allied Christian powers, which had been going on since the siege of Vienna in 1529.
309. VAINLY CROSSED SHIELD, Archimago's false cross lacked the protecting power of St. George's charmed true cross.
321. LETHE LAKE, a lake or river of Hades, whose water brought oblivion or forgetfulness to all who drank of it.
322. Refers to the ancient custom of sacrificing an enemy on the funeral altar to appease the shade of the dead.
323. THE BLACKE INFERNALL FURIES, the Erinyes, or goddesses of vengeance, who dwelt in Erebus. They were robed in black, bloody garments befitting their gloomy character.
325. In romance it was customary for the victor to unlace the helmet of the knight whom he had unhorsed before slaying him. Friends and relatives were sometimes discovered by this precaution.
342. NE EVER WONT IN FIELD, etc., was never accustomed to fight in the battle-field or in the lists of the tournament.
xliii. Contrast Sansloy's rude treatment of Una with the chivalrous respect and courtesy always shown by a true knight to woman.
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
(Canto III)
1. What moral reflections does the poet make in the introductory stanza? Note the reference to the Queen. 2. What do you learn of the laws, customs, and sentiments of chivalry in this canto? 3. Give an account of Una's meeting with the Lion. 4. Explain the allegory of the incident of the Lion. 5. Describe the character, appearance, and actions of Corceca, and explain the allegory. 6. Note the use of the stars to indicate time. 7. Under what circumstances does Una meet Archimago? 8. Explain the allegory in ix. 9. Note the Euphuistic balance in xxvii. 10. What figure do you find in xxxi? Note the Homeric style. 11. Describe the fight between Archimago and Sansloy, and explain the double allegory. 12. What is the moral interpretation of xli-xlii?
13. Explain the Latinisms in ll. 37 and 377. 14. How are the adjectives used in l. 57? 15. Note change of pronouns in vii from third person to first. 16. Explain tense of _shold pas_ in l. 83. 17. Note confusion of pronouns in xxii and xxxv. 18. Examine the _nominative absolute_ construction in st. xiv and xxxix. 19. Explain the ambiguous construction in l. 165. 20. Parse _her_ in l. 262. 21. Note careless use of relative in l. 288.
CANTO IV
I. _The Plot:_ In this and the following canto the adventures of the Redcross Knight are continued from Canto II. Guided by Duessa, he enters the House of Pride. There he sees Lucifera, the Queen of Pride, attended by her sinful court. Her six Counselors are described in detail, with an account of a pleasure trip taken by the Queen and her court. Sansjoy unexpectedly arrives and challenges the Knight to mortal combat for the shield of Sansfoy. That night Duessa holds a secret conference with the Saracen knight.
II. _The Allegory:_ 1. The Christian Soldier, under the influence of false ideals (Duessa), is exposed to the temptations of the Seven Deadly Sins, chief among which is Pride. In the midst of these sinful pleasures, he is assailed by Joylessness, on whose side is Falsehood secretly.
2. The religious and political allegory is here vague and somewhat discontinuous. There is a hint, however, of the attempts of Mary Queen of Scots to bring England back to Romanism. The pride and corruption of the false church and its clergy are set forth. There is also a suggestion of the perilous position of the English in Ireland.
20. OF EACH DEGREE AND PLACE, of every rank and order of society.
21. HAVING SCAPED HARD, having escaped with difficulty.
24. LAZARS. Leprosy was a common disease in England even as late as the sixteenth century.
49. MALVENÙ, ill-come, as opposed to _Bienvenu_, welcome.
73. LIKE PHOEBUS FAIREST CHILDE, Phaethon, the son of Helios. He was killed by a thunderbolt from the hand of Zeus, as a result of his reckless driving of the chariot of the sun.
86. A DREADFULL DRAGON, Fallen Pride.
94. This genealogy of Pride is invented by the poet in accord with the Christian doctrine concerning this sin.
107. SIX WIZARDS OLD, the remaining six of the Seven Deadly Sins, Wrath, Envy, Lechery, Gluttony, Avarice, and Idleness. See Chaucer's _Parson's Tale_ for a sermon on these mortal sins, Gower's _Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins_, and Laugland's _Piers Plowman_.
145. COCHE. Spenser imitates Ovid and Homer in this description of Juno's chariot. The peacock was sacred to the goddess, who transferred to its tail the hundred eyes of the monster Argus. See Ovid's _Metamorphoses_, i, 625 _seq_.
157. WITH LIKE CONDITIONS, etc. The behests were of a kind similar to the nature of the six Sins.
174. HE CHALENGED ESSOYNE, he claimed exemption.
185. LIKE A CRANE. This refers to Aristotle's story of a man who wished that his neck were as long as a crane's, that he might the longer enjoy the swallowing of his food. _Nic. Ethics_, iii, 13.
205. A DRY DROPSIE, a dropsy causing thirst.
236. UPON A CAMELL, etc. The reference is to a story in Herodotus' _History_ (iii, 102 _seq_.), in which the Indians are described as carrying off on camels gold dust hoarded by enormous ants.
252. UNTO HIM SELFE UNKNOWNE, i.e. being ignorant of his own wretchedness.
309. UNTHRIFTY SCATH, wicked damage, or mischief that thrives not.
313. THE SWELLING SPLENE. The spleen was the seat of anger.
314. SAINT FRAUNCES FIRE, St. Anthony's fire, or erysipelas. Diseases were named from those who were supposed to be able to heal them.
335. WITH PLEASAUNCE, etc. Fed with enjoyment of the fields, the fresh air of which they went to breathe.
437. AND HELPLESSE HAP, etc. It does no good to bemoan unavoidable chance.
440. PAY HIS DEWTIES LAST, pay his last duty to the shade of the slain man by sacrificing his murderer.
443. ODDES OF ARMES, chances of mishap in arms due to some advantage of one's antagonist.
QUESTIONS AND TOPICS
(Canto IV)
1. What are the moral reflections in stanza i? 2. What suggestion of the condition of the English roads do you find in st. ii? 3. _But few returned_, l. 21. What became of the rest? 4. Give a description of the House of Pride. Note resemblance to a typical Elizabethan hall. 5. Explain the allegory of the House, noting the association of ugliness and beauty. 6. How is expectation aroused in vi? 7. Describe the dramatic appearance and character of Pride. Cf. description of Satan on his throne in _Paradise Lost_, iii. 8. What do you learn in this canto of Elizabethan or chivalric manners and customs? 9. Describe the procession at the court of Pride. 10. What satire of the Romish priesthood in xviii-xx? 11. Note examples of Spenser's humor in xiv and xvi. 12. Point out the classical influence (Dionysus and Silenus) in the description of Gluttony. 13. Subject of the interview between Duessa and Sansjoy. 14. Point out the archaisms in l. 10; alliteration in xxxix and l; the Latinisms in xlvi and xlvii. 15. In what case is _way_ in l. 17? 16. Explain the meaning and historical significance of _lazar_, l. 24, and _diall_, l. 36. 17. Explain the references of the pronouns in l. 55, and ll. 418-419. 18. Note the Euphuistic balance and antithesis in xxix and xlv. 19. Explain the suffix in _marchen_ in l. 325. 20. Note the double negative in iv, xlix. 21. Paraphrase in your own words ll. 239, 243, 360, 437.
CANTO V
I. _The Plot_: (a continuation of Canto IV). The Knight fights in the lists with Sansjoy and defeats him, but is prevented by Duessa's magic from slaying him. Duessa descends to Erebus and obtains the aid of Night, who conveys the wounded Saracen in her chariot to Æsculapius to be healed of his wounds. The tortures of some of the souls in Erebus are described, particularly the cause of Æsculapius' punishment. A roll of the prisoners whom the dwarf discovers in Pride's dungeon is given. The Knight flees with the dwarf from her house.