POETRY-1 (ENG403)

LECTURE – 13

Edmund Spenser

• Greatest poet of The English Renaissance• Humanist• Patriotic• Skillful• Lover of Physical Beauty

SPENSER’S INDIVIDUALITY

• Spensarian Stanza• Archaic Language• Original Spelling• Punctuation• Rhymes• Etymologies• Musical effects

The Faerie Queene

Purpose of Writing The Faerie Queene• How a Virtuous Man should Live

• Six books (1599)• It is an allegory

THE FAERIE QUEENE AS AN ALLEGORY

• The Red Cross Knight: Holliness• Lady Una: Truth, True Religion• Portrayal of Roman Catholic Church as a

Villain

INVOCATION

• Introduction

• Clio, the Goddess of History• Cupid, God of Love• Venus, the Goddess of Beauty• Mars, the God of War• The Queen

EPIC• An epic is long narrative poem about a hero

containing the following elements: o “in media res”o an invocation to the museo Battleso Supernatural elementso Journeyso Descent to the Underworldo Epic Similes

LONG NARRATIVE POEM

• Long• Narration• Story• Contains Books & Parts

ABOUT A GREAT SOLDIER/HERO

• a great leader who is identified strongly with a particular people or society.

• “larger-than-life”

• and embodies loyalty, valor/ courage, sense of justice, dignity, persistence, and many other traits of his culture and time.

• Prince Arthur

“IN MEDIA RES”

• literally meaning

“in the middle of things”

• The epic begins in media res and then flashes back to events that took place before the narrator’s current time setting

• The Faerie Queene begins in the middle.

INVOCATION TO THE MUSE

• Seek help from god or goddesses

• Spenser invokes the Muse

BATTLE/ DEEDS OF VALOUR

• does great deeds in battle or undertakes an extraordinary journey or quest.

• The knight undertakes the journey and has to fight against the monster, the magician.

SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS

• gods or other supernatural or fantastic beings take part in the action of the story.

• Inclusion of spirits

JOURNEYS

• The setting is broad and often includes supernatural realms, especially the land of the dead.

• Journey

• Underworld journey

EPIC SIMILES

• Elaborately extended comparisons relating heroic events to simple, everyday events using like, as, so, and just as

• The Simile of the river Nile.

LITERARY DEVICE

• Epithet: a descriptive phrase that presents a particular trait of a person or thing. It can be a quick aid to characterization.

• Transferred Epithet: when the characteristic feature of one thing is attributed to the other.

• Weary night

EPIC & ROMANCE

• Difference between Epic and Romanceo Heroo Importance of Heroo Structure

EPIC & ROMANCE

• The Epic Action• Epic Similes• Supernatural Machinery• The Hero• A Hybrid Epic• A Romantic Epic

ELEMENTS OF THE RENAISSANCE

• Spirit of Adventure• Love for Beauty• Love for Richness & Magnificence• Revival of Old Classical Literature

o Aristotle, Plato, Virgil, Ariosto & Tasso • Classical mythology• Seriousness, moral earnestness• Tradition to Write in Epic form

ELEMENTS OF THE REFORMATION

• Religious Movement• Revolt Against the Authority of Church• Protestants rose against Roman Catholic Church• Platonic, Epicurean but Protestant

RECAP OF LECTURE 13

• The Faerie Queene• Invocation• Epic• Epic Conventions• Romance & Epic• Elements of the Renaissance• Elements of the Reformation