13 Ways of Looking at a Spenserian Stanza
1. Book One, Canto One, Stanza 14 – The Redcross
Knight looks into the Cave of Error.
What does he see?
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
(1.1.14)
2. Darkness and the Impenetrable Stanza
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
(1.1.14)
3. The Gestalt (or inkblot) of Literary
Meaning
3.
3.
3.3.
4. Horizontal Reading – Iambic Pentameter
Line (plus one Iambic Hexameter at the end)
1
/
2
/
3
/
4
/
44
/
5
But full | of fire | and gree | dy har | diment,
The youth | full knight | could not | for ought | be staide,
But forth | vnto | the dark | some hole | he went,
And look | ed in: | his glis | tring ar | mor made
A lit | le gloom | ing light, | much like | a shade,
By which | he saw | the vg | ly mon | ster plaine,
Halfe like | a ser | pent horr | ibly | displaide,
But th'o | ther halfe | did wo | mans shape | retaine,
1
/
2
/
3
/
4
/
5
/
6
/
Most loth | som, fil | thie, foule, | and full | of vile | disdaine.
5. Vertical Reading – A Nine Line Stanza
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
6. More Vertical Reading – Spenserian Rhyme Scheme
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
a
b
a
b
b
c
b
c
c
7. Reading In Color – Why That Scheme Matters
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
8. Why That Scheme Matters – Two Quatrains and
One Alexandrine (an iambic hexamater line), or Two
Big Ideas plus One Epigrammatic Closure
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
1/4
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
1/4
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
A
9. Another Way it Matters – 3 Tercets (3x3 = 9), or
Three Movements
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
1-3
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
4-6
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
7-9
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
10. Something Lingering Inside Why That Matters –
Two Couplets, Or The Thing and Stuff About the
Thing
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made couplet
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine, couplet
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
11. The Green Thing: Spenser’s B-Line and the AllImportant Line 5
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
<Empson: “soft bump” >
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
<Empson: “dying fall” >
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
12. What Happens When You Take All of That Into
Account - “Endlesse Worke”
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
13. Poetry Into Narrative – The Stanza in Context
Yea but (quoth she) the perill of this place
I better wot then you, though now too late
To wish you backe returne with foule disgrace,
Yet wisedome warnes, whilest foot is in the gate,
To stay the steppe, ere forced to retrate.
This is the wandring wood, this Errours den,
A monster vile, whom God and man does hate:
Therefore I read beware. Fly fly (quoth then
The fearefull Dwarfe:) this is no place for liuing men.
But full of fire and greedy hardiment,
The youthfull knight could not for ought be staide,
But forth vnto the darksome hole he went,
And looked in: his glistring armor made
A litle glooming light, much like a shade,
By which he saw the vgly monster plaine,
Halfe like a serpent horribly displaide,
But th'other halfe did womans shape retaine,
Most lothsom, filthie, foule, and full of vile disdaine.
And as she lay vpon the durtie ground,
Her huge long taile her den all ouerspred,
Yet was in knots and many boughtes vpwound,
Pointed with mortall sting. Of her there bred
A thousand yong ones, which she dayly fed,
Sucking vpon her poisonous dugs, each one
Of sundry shapes, yet all ill fauored:
Soone as that vncouth light vpon them shone,
Into her mouth they crept, and suddain all were gone.
Their dam vpstart, out of her den effraide,
And rushed forth, hurling her hideous taile
About her cursed head, whose folds displaid
Were stretcht now forth at length without entraile.
She lookt about, and seeing one in mayle
Armed to point, sought backe to turne againe;
For light she hated as the deadly bale,
Ay wont in desert darknesse to remaine,
Where plaine none might her see, nor she see any plaine.