Customer Reviews

Faerie Queene

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This is a difficult poem. It's interesting how archaic Spenser's language seems, considering that he was a contemporary of the much more modern-sounding Shakespeare. Of course, there is a deliberately nostalgic tone to the "Fairie Queene," which harkens back to an idealized medieval past. The influence of Middle English poetry -- particularly Chaucer and "Sir Gawaine and the Green Knight" -- is palpable.

I shall try it again in time. The lushness of Spenser's language is at times delightful, and it's also illuminating to see the way pagan and Christian imagery vie for power in the narrative. The structure seems a bit rambling; compared to the precision of (for instance) "Paradise Lost," "The Fairie Queene" requires rather more patience of the reader.

Edmund Spencer's Faerie Queene is a dense and compelling moral pageant. Unfortunately, it's also written in middle english with layers of metaphor so thick you couldn't peel them off with a snowplow. It's a good book for anyone who likes learning new languages, and a fine read if you enjoy writing from that era, but don't go about it if you don't have the patience for it and a set of Cliff's Notes near at hand. (pause) Did they even do Cliff's Notes for Faerie Queene? (shrug) No matter. Read it anyway.