Great troupes of people traveild thitherward
Both day and night, of each degree and place,
But few returned, having scaped hard,
With balefull beggerie, or foule disgrace,
Which ever after in most wretched case,
Like loathsome lazars, by the hedges lay.
Thither Duessa bad him bend his pace:
For she is wearie of the toilesome way,
And also nigh consumed is the lingring day.
The literal action of this stanza mainly rests on the observations made, presumably by the Redcrosse Knight, as he approaches the House of Pride. A large number of people make their way to the palace. Yet few return and those who do are seen beggin wretchedly among the hedges. Duessa leads the Redcrosse Knight there pleading weariness.
The glaringly obvious metaphor that only becomes clearer in subsequent passages is the seemingly beautiful House of Pride's representation of sin and evil. This stanza provides the first clues to this as "great troupes of people...of each degree and place" travel there. The allegorical significance of the first two lines indicates that all people, regardless of rank, are susceptible to the sin and evil represented by the House of Pride.
The next four lines describe the state of those few who have returned from the House of Pride. Spenser provides two alliterations in these lines, describing these people as "baleful beggars" and "loathsome lazars." These alliterations intensify the wretchedness of these characters and the lines that contain them become parallel due to the similar placement of the alliterations. The simile that compares them to lepers(lazars) particularly emphasizes their sinful, outcast state as lepers were perhaps the most reviled sort of folk and it was widely believed that lepers were what they were due to their sins.
The final three lines serve as a justification for Duessa bringing the Redcrosse Knight to the House of Pride. It cites her weariness and the time of day. The endings of the couplet at the end rhyming way and day have a drawn-out sound that likens the phonetics to Duessa's weariness. It brings together the perfect sensibility of stopping at such a beautiful house at this time and covers Duessa nicely.
Both day and night, of each degree and place,
But few returned, having scaped hard,
With balefull beggerie, or foule disgrace,
Which ever after in most wretched case,
Like loathsome lazars, by the hedges lay.
Thither Duessa bad him bend his pace:
For she is wearie of the toilesome way,
And also nigh consumed is the lingring day.
The literal action of this stanza mainly rests on the observations made, presumably by the Redcrosse Knight, as he approaches the House of Pride. A large number of people make their way to the palace. Yet few return and those who do are seen beggin wretchedly among the hedges. Duessa leads the Redcrosse Knight there pleading weariness.
The glaringly obvious metaphor that only becomes clearer in subsequent passages is the seemingly beautiful House of Pride's representation of sin and evil. This stanza provides the first clues to this as "great troupes of people...of each degree and place" travel there. The allegorical significance of the first two lines indicates that all people, regardless of rank, are susceptible to the sin and evil represented by the House of Pride.
The next four lines describe the state of those few who have returned from the House of Pride. Spenser provides two alliterations in these lines, describing these people as "baleful beggars" and "loathsome lazars." These alliterations intensify the wretchedness of these characters and the lines that contain them become parallel due to the similar placement of the alliterations. The simile that compares them to lepers(lazars) particularly emphasizes their sinful, outcast state as lepers were perhaps the most reviled sort of folk and it was widely believed that lepers were what they were due to their sins.
The final three lines serve as a justification for Duessa bringing the Redcrosse Knight to the House of Pride. It cites her weariness and the time of day. The endings of the couplet at the end rhyming way and day have a drawn-out sound that likens the phonetics to Duessa's weariness. It brings together the perfect sensibility of stopping at such a beautiful house at this time and covers Duessa nicely.
posted by Nathan at 9:04 PM
1 Comments:
Nate,
All in all, I think you've done an excellent job here. You touched on a lot of different techniques that Spenser uses to get his point across and you're definitely using the terms and ideas we've developed in class. One thing I would like to see in the future is more of a connection between the devices you identify and your overall argument; for instance, what is it about the alliteration that intensifies the wretchedness of the people being described? That's a spot in which your post definitely could have been clearer. Also, I think your prose could stand to be tightened up a fair bit; some of your paragraphs feel a bit rambling, so make sure that each paragraph has a strong topic sentence and sticks to that topic throughout. All in all, though, good job.
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