‘Great Lady of the greatest Isle, whose light Like Phoebus lampe throughout the world doth shine’The Faerie Queene was one of the most influential poems in the English language. Dedicating his work to Elizabeth I, Spenser brilliantly united Arthurian romance and Italian renaissance epic to celebrate the glory of the Virgin Queen. Each book of the poem recounts the quest of a knight to achieve a virtue: the Red Crosse Knight of Holinesse, who must slay a dragon and free himself from the witch Duessa; Sir Guyon, Knight of Temperance, who escapes the Cave of Mammon and destroys Acrasia’s Bowre of Bliss; and the lady-knight Britomart’s search for her Sir Artegall, revealed to her in an enchanted mirror. Although composed as a moral and political allegory, The Faerie Queene’s magical atmosphere captivated the imaginations of later poets from Milton to the Victorians.
This edition includes the letter to Raleigh, in which Spenser declares his intentions for his poem, the commendatory verses by Spenser’s contemporaries and his dedicatory sonnets to the Elizabethan court, and is supplemented by a table of dates and a glossary For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Faerie Queene

Arts & Photography

Spenser, Edmund

History & Criticism

Penguin Classics

Although he is most famous for The Faerie Queene, this volume demonstrates that for these poems alone Spenser should still be ranked as one of England's foremost poets. Spenser's shorter poems reveal his generic and stylistic versatility, his remarkable linguistic skill and his mastery of complex metrical forms. The range of this volume allows him to emerge fully in the varied and conflicting personae he adopted, as satirist and eulogist, elegist and lover, polemicist and prophet. The volume includes The Shepeardes Calender, Complaints, and A Theatre for Wordlings. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

The Shorter Poems (Penguin Classics)

Literature & Fiction

Dramas & Plays

Poetical Works

Poetry

Oxford Univ. Pr.

This complete edition of Spenser's poetry includes the Correspondence of Spenser and Harvey, printed from the original editions of 1580, a substantial introduction, and a glossary.

The Poetical Works (Oxford Standard Authors)

Oxford University Press

Spencer's Faerie Queene Volume I: Books I-III

Faerie Queene (|c OET |t Oxford English Texts)

A view of the present state of Ireland;

Travel

Europe

Clarendon P.

The Faerie Queene: Book 2

Education & Teaching

Schools & Teaching

Book 1 presents a powerful allegory of the trials of good against evil. The Red Cross Knight with his companion, Una, sets out on a quest to rid the land of the dragon. The Knight is to become Saint George adn his betrothal to Una signigies the union of the newly established Church with the faithful. But Spencer's tale moves beyond the allegory reflecting his experience of human frailty in an imaginative romantic narrative that draws on the quest plots of medieval literature and Italian romances. His unique diction with its newly-coined words and rich description adds to the antique flavour of The Legende of the Knight of the Red Crosse.

The Faerie Queene, Book 1

A scholarly edition of The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser. The edition presents an authoritative text, together with an introduction, commentary notes, and scholarly apparatus.

Spenser's Faerie Queene: Volume I