史宾塞: 仙后/SPENSER: Faerie Queene (The) (selections)

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  SPENSER: Faerie Queene (The) (selections)
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史宾塞: 仙后 / SPENSER: Faerie Queene (The) (selections)
[ 读物介绍 ]
EdmundSpenserSelectionsfromTHEFAERIE QUEENEReadby John Moffatt TheFaerie Queene, the triumphant culmination of Edmund Spenser’s poetic work,dates from the 1590s. It belongs, therefore, to the late Elizabethan age, andis indeed a celebration of both the great queen herself and of ‘Glory ingeneral’. Thepoem is a kind of allegorical epic, planned and executed on a hugescale,although never finished. Spenser is a conscious imitator of hispredecessors- Ariosto, the early 16th century Italian author of Orlando Furioso, and (forexample) Virgil - and he seeks to create an English epic, which will ‘overgo’these earlier models. The six Books (each divided into twelve cantos) areintended to represent certain qualities, expressed in the adventures of twelveknights who must each undertake a particular mission on the successive days ofthe queen’s annual feast. These exploits are all essentially allegorical, sothat The Faerie Queene may be read on two levels, the simpler being one ofchivalrous enterprise, and the more complex embodying a variety of ideas orqualities which were important to the writer and to the courtly values of theage. Spenser employs a medieval setting for the more picturesque carrying outof this intention. BookI explores the question of religious truth: Spenser here promotes the AnglicanChurch, symbolized by the Redcrosse Knight of Holiness, who fights on behalf ofhis lady, Una. Book II advances the cause of Temperance, or moderation: amongsthis deeds, Sir Guyon must destroy the Bower of Bliss, where sensuality reignssupreme. Book III develops the idea of Chastity through the characters ofBritomart and Belphoebe, while Book IV focuses on Friendship in the persons ofScudamour and Amoret, amongst others. Book V narrates the achievements ofArthegall, the Knight of Justice. Spenser hereincludesinterpretation of topical events such as the execution of MaryQueenof Scots and the recent troubles in Ireland under the governorship of Lord Greyof Wilton. Book VI recounts the adventures of Sir Calidore, who personifiesCourtesy. WhileThe Faerie Queene is a representation of ‘Gloriana’ - and ‘Glory’ -PrinceArthur, borrowed from the ‘matter of Britain’, featuresintermittentlyas the symbol of what Spenser calls ‘magnificence’, but what we might term ‘magnanimity’or even the Chaucerian ‘gentillesse’. Spenser makes life difficult for hisreaders by plunging into the action without introduction, a device true to theepic tradition (‘in medias res’) but somewhat confusing in a complex allegory.Perhaps this is not very important: what is memorable about The Faerie Queeneis primarily the exquisiteness of Spenser’s language and his ability to conjurescenes, which are both picturesque (even grotesque, on occasion) and movinglybased on a strongly-felt moral vision. The self-conscious archaism of the style(vaguely Chaucerian) often succeeds splendidly, even if at times it may jar. Ofspecial interest is the brilliant control and manipulation of the‘Spenserianstanza’, devised for this poem: Spenser adds a ninth, longer line to thepreceding eight. We therefore have eight pentameters and one hexameter (or‘alexandrine’). This last line is used to sum up, crystallize or counterpointwhat has gone before. Keats was much later to make splendid use of the stanzain his The Eve of St. Agnes. EdmundSpenser, born into a relatively modest family, was nevertheless probablyconnected to the Spensers of Althorp. Educated at Merchant Taylors’ School andCambridge, he soon became a friend of Sir Philip Sidney and obtained employmentas secretary to Lord Grey of Wilton. Spenser went with Grey to Ireland,eventually acquiring Kilcolman Castle in Co. Cork where he busied himself withThe Faerie Queene. He married Elizabeth Boyle in 1594; the exquisite Epithalamionwas composed for their wedding. The Irish troubles of 1598 saw the destructionof his home and his return to London, where he died a poor man in 1599. NOTESON THE SELECTIONBookI, Cantos 1 - 3Holiness(the Redcrosse Knight) encounters evil, or error, in various forms. His ladyUna’s parents, representing mankind, are in thrall to ‘the dragon, that oldserpent, which is the devil’ (Revelation xx 2). In Canto I the Knight kills themonster Error, but the wizard then tricks him Archimago into thinking his ladyunchaste: the pair is therefore parted, and Cantos II and III recount theirseparate adventures. CantoIXIncludesthe brilliant episode of the Cave of Despair, in which the Knightisexposed to the persuasive, self-destructive allure of Despair - which is, ofcourse, intrinsically sinful. Because the Knight is by now weakened by pain andremorse, the idea of yielding to suicide has a certain appeal... CantosXI and XIIProvidethe climax of Book I. In defeating the Dragon - a conflict described withalmost grotesque vividness by Spenser - the Knight earns the right to wed hislady. BookII, Canto VIIMammonleads Sir Guyon into the cave, which bears his name. Here the knight sees asuccession of figures that are eaten up by the excess of their passionateobsessions. CantoIXSirGuyon and Prince Arthur must rescue Alma (the Soul) from the sensual desires,which dwell in her body, here represented by a castle, at the top of which is aturret housing the Mind. Three great chambers lie within this turret: theybelong to Imagination, Judgment and Memory. CantoXIISirGuyon, now guided by the Palmer (or Pilgrim), is led to the Bower ofBliss.In another of the great set-piece episodes of ‘The Faerie Queene’, Sir Guyonmust resist the temptations laid out before him, then bind Acrasia, who rulesthis realm, and finally destroy the Bower. BookIII, Canto VISpenserintroduces a female knight, Britomart. She is disguised, and is thus thought bythose who encounter her to be a man. Her task is to guide the noble Scudamourto a true understanding of Love and Chastity. As part of this process, Spenserdescribes to us the Garden of Adonis. This belongs to Venus, Goddess of Love,and is named after her lover. Within the Garden lie the seedbeds of all livingthings: from this stock nature is constantly replenished. CantoXIIFeaturesanother of Spenser’s pageant or masque episodes. Here Britomart witnesses theMasque of Cupid, a procession in which ‘love’s spoyles are exprest’: in otherwords, the destructive effects of unconsidered and uncontrolled physicalpassion are displayed. At the rear of his procession rides Cupid himself;delighting in the sin and misery he breeds. BookIV, Canto VIBritomartseems to have abducted Scudamour’s beloved Amoret. In his rage Scudamour meetsArthegall: uniting, they successively encounter Britomart in deadly fight.Scudamour is unhorsed, but Arthegall eventually succeeds in overcomingBritomart. When he strikes off her helm he discovers Britomart’s true nature;the pair immediately recognize each other, as their true loves, leavingScudamour still mourning the disappearance of Amoret. BookV, Canto IITheGiant presumes to set the world to rights, thus blasphemously attempting tousurp the power of God. Spenser here alludes to civil disobedience, glancingespecially at troubles in Ireland, and so defending the status quo. Arthegallexposes the fallacies in the Giant’s intentions; then Talus theIronMan casts down and destroys the foolish Giant, before sternly rebuking thediscontented people of that land. BookVI, Canto XSirCalidore, the champion of Courtesy, pauses in his quest of the Blatant Beast tosample a life of pastoral ease. Spenser here indulges a favorite convention,introducing Colin Clout the shepherd and praising the simple life. Sir Calidoreis privileged to witness the Dance of the Three Muses upon the Hill of theGraces. BookVII, Canto VIIInanother beautiful pageant, Spenser shows us the passage of the seasons. TheMasque of the Seasons and the Months demonstrates the unavoidable power ofMutability: all that lives must change, and die. CantoVIIIIn‘Nature’s Reply to Mutability’ the poet recalls to himself the solace of eternity:all earthly things are transitory, but God and His heaven shall live forever. Notesby Perry Keenlyside. Asone that inly mourn’d; so was she sad,Andheavy sate upon her palfrey slow;Seemèdin heart some hidden care she had;Andby her in a line a milk-white lamb she lad.BOOKI, CANTO I, VERSE IV Andhe himself, long gazing thereupon,Atlast fell humbly down upon his knew,Andof his wonder made religion,Weeningsome heavenly goddess he did see.BOOKIV, CANTO VI, VERSE XXII JOHNMAFFATJohnMoffat’s distinguished theater career encompasses two hundred roles across theUK, forty-two major London productions and two Broadway appearances. He playedMalvolio in Twelfth Night at the Open Air Theatre, Regents Park, appeared inIngmar Bergman’s production of Hedda Gabler and in Married Love directed byJoan Plowright. Film credits include Prick Up Your Ears, and he has been seenon UK television in productions as varied as Love in a Cold Climate andMaigret.