1. POETRY-1 (ENG403)
LECTURE – 13

2. Edmund Spenser Greatest poet of The English Renaissance Humanist
Patriotic
Skillful
Lover of Physical Beauty

3. SPENSER’S INDIVIDUALITY
Spensarian Stanza
Archaic Language
Original Spelling
Punctuation
Rhymes
Etymologies
Musical effects

4. The Faerie Queene Purpose of Writing The Faerie Queene
How a Virtuous Man should Live
Six books (1599)
It is an allegory

5. THE FAERIE QUEENE AS AN ALLEGORY
The Red Cross Knight: Holliness
Lady Una: Truth, True Religion
Portrayal of Roman Catholic Church as a Villain

6. INVOCATION Introduction Clio, the Goddess of History
Cupid, God of Love
Venus, the Goddess of Beauty
Mars, the God of War
The Queen

7. EPIC
An epic is long narrative poem about a hero containing the following elements:
“in media res”
an invocation to the muse
Battles
Supernatural elements
Journeys
Descent to the Underworld
Epic Similes

8. LONG NARRATIVE POEM
Long
Narration
Story
Contains Books & Parts

9. 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

10. “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.

11. INVOCATION TO THE MUSE Seek help from god or goddesses
Spenser invokes the Muse

12. 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.

13. SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS
gods or other supernatural or fantastic beings take part in the action of the story.
Inclusion of spirits

14. JOURNEYS
The setting is broad and often includes supernatural realms, especially the land of the dead.
Journey
Underworld journey

15. 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.

16. 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

17. EPIC & ROMANCE Difference between Epic and Romance Hero
Importance of Hero
Structure

18. EPIC & ROMANCE The Epic Action Epic Similes Supernatural Machinery
The Hero
A Hybrid Epic
A Romantic Epic

19. ELEMENTS OF THE RENAISSANCE
Spirit of Adventure
Love for Beauty
Love for Richness & Magnificence
Revival of Old Classical Literature
Aristotle, Plato, Virgil, Ariosto & Tasso
Classical mythology
Seriousness, moral earnestness
Tradition to Write in Epic form

20. ELEMENTS OF THE REFORMATION
Religious Movement
Revolt Against the Authority of Church
Protestants rose against Roman Catholic Church
Platonic, Epicurean but Protestant

21. RECAP OF LECTURE 13 The Faerie Queene Invocation Epic Epic Conventions
Romance & Epic
Elements of the Renaissance
Elements of the Reformation