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The proem begins with confusion – “bad vibes” – on earth and in heaven.  The compounding series of descriptions in passive voice in the first stanza even seems ...

Time to get those rivers married! Finishing up the Hesiodic catalogue, Spenser/the narrator told us that all the rivers ‘that day in order seemly good / Did on ...

Continuing with our Hesiodic catalogue of rivers, we came up against questions of aging and time: the Scamander is ‘purpled yet with blood / Of Greeks and Troja...

Spenser simply cannot believe that he has left poor Florimell languishing for so long in Proteus’ dungeon! Trapped by both manmade and natural restraints&...

Here at the threshold of the Temple of Venus, we begin with a negation: ‘Not that same famous temple of Diane, […] Nor that, […] Nor all’. John reminded us of M...

Braggadocio & co. fight amongst themselves. There appears to be no discernible motive for this combat, which proceeds in a strange but orderly fashion. An e...

We remarked upon the distinct presence of the narrator’s voice in this canto, which opens with a description of three kinds of love: 1. “deare affection vnto ki...

Meanwhile, Arthur and his ladies are back on the road. Sclaunder can’t help following them and railing ‘till she had all her poyson spent’ (xxxv) and ‘Till she ...

O Spenserians! I bet you thought I forgot about you! Never fear– the latest (ish) from the FQ awaits… Arthur goes out riding and finds two ladies, w...

Key words: excruciation, overextension, iconoclasm/Catholicism TL/DR: Spenser constantly allows the form, paths, and emotions of his poem and its characters to ...