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470. THAT SAME MIGHTY MAN OF GOD, Moses. See Exodus, xiv, 16, xxiv, and xxxiv.

471. THAT BLOOD-RED BILLOWES, of the Red Sea.

478. THAT SACRED HILL, the mount of Olives.

483. THAT PLEASAUNT MOUNT, mount Parnassus, the seat of the nine Muses (l. 485), the patronesses of the arts and of learning. Sacred and profane literature are beautifully blended in the thoughts of the contemplative man.

489. A GOODLY CITIE, the Celestial City, Heaven. The description is suggested by that in Revelation, xxi, 10 seq.

515. THAT GREAT CLEOPOLIS, London, “the city of glory.”

519. PANTHEA, probably Westminster Abbey, in which Elizabeth’s ancestors were buried.

524. FOR EARTHLY FRAME, for an earthly structure.

549. SAINT GEORGE OF MERY ENGLAND. St. George became the patron Saint of England in 1344, when Edward III consecrated to him the Order of the Garter. Church and Percival say that merry means pleasant and referred originally to the country, not the people. Cf. Mereweather.

lxii. Observe that lines 1, 2, 5, 6 are spoken by the Knight, the rest by Contemplation.

565. BEQUEATHED CARE, the charge intrusted to thee (by Una).

579. AND MANY BLOODY BATTAILES, etc., and fought many bloody pitched battles.

585. CHAUNGELINGS. The belief in the power of fairies to substitute their elf-children for human babies is frequently referred to in writers of Spenser’s time. In the Seven Champions the witch Kalyb steals away St. George, the son of Lord Albert of Coventry, soon after his birth.

591. GEORGOS, from the Greek [Greek: georgos], an earth tiller, farmer. Spenser borrows the story in this stanza from that of Tages, son of Earth, who was similarly found and brought up. Ovid’s Metamorphoses, xv, 553.

QUESTIONS AND TOPICS

(Canto X)

1. Observe that stanza i contains the moral of Canto IX. 2. What was Una’s purpose in bringing the Knight to the House of Holiness? 3. Why should Faith and Hope be represented as betrothed virgins, and Charity a matron? 4. Who were Zeal, Reverence, Obedience, Patience, and Mercy, with the symbolism of each? 5. Who was the door-keeper? Explain the allegory. 6. Find and explain the biblical allusions in this Canto, which shows the influence of the Bible to a remarkable extent. 7. In what was the Knight instructed by Faith (xix seq.)? 8. Compare the mood of the Knight in xxi with that in Canto IX, li. 9. How did the two situations affect Una? 10. Note the teachings in xxiii (prayer), xxiv (absolution), and xxv (mortification of the flesh). 11. Observe that Faith teaches the Knight his relations to God; Charity, those to his fellow-men. 12. Explain the lyric note in l. 378. 13. Give an account of the knight’s visit to the Hill of Contemplation. Explain the allegory. 14. Find a stanza complimentary to Queen Elizabeth. 16. What prophecy was made of the Knight?