Analysis of The Faerie Queene: Book I, Canto I
Edmund Spenser 1552 (London) – 1599 (London)
THE FIRST BOOKE OF THE FAERIE QUEENE
Contayning
THE LEGENDE OF THE KNIGHT OF THE
RED CROSSE, OR OF HOLINESSEProemi
Lo I the man, whose Muse whilome did maske,
As time her taught in lowly Shepheards weeds,
Am now enforst a far unfitter taske,
For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,
And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;
Whose prayses having slept in silence long,
Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds
To blazon broad emongst her learned throng:
Fierce warres and faithful loves shall moralize my song.
Helpe then, O holy Virgin chiefe of nine,
Thy weaker Novice to performe thy will,
Lay forth out of thine everlasting scryne
The antique rolles, which there lye hidden still,
Of Faerie knights and fairest Tanaquill,
Whom that most noble Briton Prince so long
Sought through the world, and suffered so much ill,
That I must rue his undeserved wrong:
O helpe thou my weake wit, and sharpen my dull tong.
And thou most dreaded impe of highest Jove,
Faire Venus sonne, that with thy cruell dart
At that good knight so cunningly didst rove,
That glorious fire it kindled in his hart,
Lay now thy deadly Heben bow apart,
And with thy mother milde come to mine ayde:
Come both, and with you bring triumphant Mart,
In loves and gentle jollities arrayd,
After his murdrous spoiles and bloudy rage allayd.
iv
And with them eke, O Goddesse heavenly bright,
Mirrour of grace and Majestie divine,
Great Lady of the greatest Isle, whose light
Like Phoebus lampe throughout the world doth shine,
Shed thy faire beames into my feeble eyne,
And raise my thoughts too humble and too vile,
To thinke of that true glorious type of thine,
The argument of mine afflicted stile:
The which to heare, vouchsafe, O dearest dred a-while.
Scheme | ABXXBCBCCBCBB ADADDBDBB EFEFFFFFFE GAGAAHAHH |
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Poetic Form | |
Metre | 0111011 1 0110110 11111 110111111 110101011 1110111 110111111 0111010101 111010101 111101011 1111011 11010111011 1111010111 110101111 111110101 0011111101 1110101 1111010111 1101010111 11111011 111111010111 0111011101 110111111 11111111 110010110011 111101101 0111011111 1101110101 0101011 101110111 1 0111111001 1110101 1101010111 1101010111 1111011101 0111110011 11111100111 0100110101 01111110101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 1,794 |
Words | 310 |
Sentences | 5 |
Stanzas | 4 |
Stanza Lengths | 13, 9, 10, 9 |
Lines Amount | 41 |
Letters per line (avg) | 34 |
Words per line (avg) | 7 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 346 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 76 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:33 min read
- 108 Views
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