lunedì 27 marzo 2017

Edmund Spenser's 'The Faerie Queene'.



 The noblest mind the best contentment has.
         
           The Faerie Queene, Book I, Canto I, St. 35.





Elizabeth I, The Rainbow Portrait (1600) attribuito a Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1561-1636)
nella collezione del marchese di Salisbury, in mostra a Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire



Quest'oggi vi porto con me nel mondo epico - cavalleresco che animava la letteratura medievale Franca, prima, e poi la nostra, durante l'Umanesimo - Rinascimento, celebrata dall'Ariosto, dal Tasso, dal Boiardo.
Mancava al seppur ampio retroterra letterario anglosassone un poema che avesse contenuti allegorico didascalici - analogamente alla nostra Comedia che segna l'apice e della nostra storia letteraria e dell'intero repertorio medioevale proprio per le letture che di essa possono essere effettuate, ossia quella analogica, quella metaforica e quella anagogica - e che fosse contestualizzato pretestuosamente nell'epoca in cui fosse ambientato ... questo fino al XVI secolo, quando il grande e celebrato poeta Edmund Spencer diede, anche se incompleto, al mondo letterario inglese la composizione poetica di cui essa fino ad allora difettava: sto parlando di The Faerie Queene, tradotto nella nostra lingua ne 'La Regina delle Fate'.





~oO EDMUND SPENSER Oo



Nacque Spenser a Londra intorno all'anno 1552, secondo quanto appare più attendibile dai dati ricavati dalla sua stessa opera. 
Suo padre, John, era un modesto mercante di tessuti originario del Lancashire, e mandò il figlio alla scuola dei Merchant Taylors, da poco fondata dopo la quale, nel 1569, frequentò il Pembroke College di Cambridge dove si legò d'amicizia col dotto e pedante Gabriel Harvey e con altri intellettuali. Si dedicò agli studi classici e moderni entrando in contatto con il platonismo, nelle opere originali e attraverso gli interpreti italiani, con Dante, Virgilio e con la poesia francese e italiana. Lasciata l'università di Cambridge nel 1576 Spenser si recò nel paterno Lancashire dove s'innamorò d'una certa Rosalind, che alcuni vogliono identificare in quella o questa dama, mentre altri la considerano la convenzionale allegoria letteraria di moda al tempo. L'anno seguente lo troviamo a Londra dove l'amico Harvey lo presenta al potente Conte di Leicester, favorito della regina, a servizio del quale viene assunto nel 1578: era questi il nipote di Sir Philip Sidney, il perfetto cortigiano, l'ideale di ogni cavaliere. Per Sidney sente devota amicizia basata sull'identità di ideali artistici e morali e specialmente sulla comunanza delle idee politiche e religiose e come lui si rivela un tenace protestante tinto di misticismo platonico, accanito nemico dei cattolici, esaltatore della patria inglese da pochi anni divenuta indipendente da ogni autorità religiosa non nazionale.
Dopo aver dato avvio alla sua produzione letteraria nel 1579 con The Shepheards Calendar, il Calendario del Pastore, dedicata appunto a Sidney e composto di dodici egloghe pastorali, diviene segretario di Lord Grey, governatore d'Irlanda, nel 1580, ed in Irlanda lo seguì stabilendovisi come funzionario governativo; nel 1586 si trasferì nella tenuta di Kilcolman presso Cork, dove trascorse quasi tutto il resto della sua vita fino a quando, nel 1597, il castello di cui gli era stato fatto dono venne distrutto nel corso di una violenta rivolta irlandese e, rientrato a Londra nel 1598, vi morì nel 1599.
La sua morte segnò l'interruzione al settimo libro di quello che doveva divenire un poema nazionale, il poema di una vita, che lo tenne impegnato per un ventennio e che rimase incompiuto, un poema che nei suoi progetti doveva constare di dodici libri a cui cominciò con il mettere mano nel 1579 quando ancora si trovava in Irlanda, ma con la mente e con il cuore alla Corte di Londra, col pensiero rivolto alla sua Regina alla quale dedicò la sua più grande opera.






~oO THE FAERIE QUEENE Oo~

TO 
THE MOST HIGH
And
MAGNIFICENT
EMPRESSE RENOVV-
MED FOR PIETIE, VER-
TUE, AND ALL GRATIOVS
GOVERNMENT ELISABETH BY
THE GRACE OF GOOD QUEENE
OF ENGLAND, FRANVCE AND
IRELAND AND OF VIRGI-
NIA, DEFENDOVR OF THE
FAITH & c. HER MOST
HVMBLE SERVANVT
EDMVND SPENSER
DOTH IN ALL HV-
MILITIE DEDI-
CATE, PRE-
SENT
AND CONSECRATE THESE
HIS LABOVRS TO LIVE
WITH THE ETERNI-
TIE OF HER
FAME.



Prince Arthur and the Fairy Queen, 1788, by Johann Heinrich Füssli 



ALL'ECCELSA
POSSENTE

MAGNIFICA
IMPERATRICE
ELISABETTA,
CELEBRE PER MISERICORDIA,
VIRTU' E CAPACITA' DI GOVERNO,
PER GRAZIA DI DIO REGINA
D'INGHILTERRA, FRANCIA E IRLANDA
E DELLA VIRGINIA,
DIFENSORE DELLA FEDE
IL SUO SERVO PIU' DEVOTO,
EDMUND SPENSER,
IN TUTTA UMILTA' DEDICA
DONA E CONSACRA
QUESTE SUE FATICHE,
AFFINCHE' VIVANO
NELL'ETERNITA'
DELLA SUA
FAMA.


Anche se incompiuta rimane questa la sua più grande opera in quanto rappresenta il tentativo di riunire in sé tutte le correnti di pensiero del tempo: la tradizione allegorica medievale, l'epica classica, l'umanesimo rinascimentale, il neoplatonismo, l'epica italiana, il folclore inglese, il pensiero politico. Nel suo progetto, come già detto sopra, l'opera doveva constare di 12 libri, ciascuno di 12 canti, ma Spenser ne portò a termine solo i primi 6 ed alcuni frammenti del settimo. Se è vero che il suo modello era l'Orlando furioso di Ariosto, va detto che del nostro perde l'elemento ironico, poiché la narrazione si fa solenne ed il tono in cui la trama procede ci fa piuttosto pensare alla Gerusalemme Liberata del Tasso, ed è altesì vero che Spenser continua con il suo poema la tradizione allegorica medievale celebrando in ogni libro, attraverso le avventure di un cavaliere, una delle virtù definite da Aristotele nella sua Etica Nicomachea:

la Santità, emblematicamente impersonata dal Cavaliere dalla Rossa Croce (Libro I), che come ben comprendiamo sta a rappresentare il santo patrono d'Inghilterra, San Giorgio, ovvero l'intero popolo inglese di fede protestante; 

la Temperanza, nella figura di Guyon (Libro II), il cavaliere che impara la saggezza del detto classico ' Evitare gli eccessi';

la Castità, nelle vesti di Britomart, il cavaliere donna che, nell'allegoria di Spenser, suggerisce l'immagine della Regina Vergine, Elisabetta I d'Inghilterra in quanto 
simboleggia la Britannia, protagonista del Libro III che conclude la prima parte di The Faerie Queene; 

l'Amiciziasimboleggiata da Camblet e Telamond (Libro IV);

la Giustizia, impersonata dal cavaliere Arthegall il cui nome significa "uguale ad Artù", che sposerà Britomart secondo la profezia di Merlino (Libro V);

la Cortesiarappresentata dal cavaliere Calidore (Libro VI).


Una di George Percy Jacomb-Hood (1857-1929).
Nel poema epico 'The Faerie Queene', Una è la personificazione della Verità e della "Vera Chiesa", ella viaggia con il Cavaliere dalla Rossa Croce e sconfigge Duessa (che rappresenta il "Falso" - vale a dire la chiesa cattolica di Roma).




Britomart di Walter Crane.
Britomart è una figura allegorica del Vergine Cavaliere della Castità, che rappresenta la virtù inglese - in particolare, il potere militare inglese - attraverso una etimologia popolare che associa Brit-, come britannico, con Martis, qui pensato come "di Marte", il romano dio della guerra.




La Regina delle Fate rappresenta idealmente la Gloria e di fatto la Regina Vergine, Elisabetta I
Come egli scrisse a sir Walter Raleigh, 
"il fine ultimo di tutto il libro è quello di formare un gentiluomo con una virtuosa e nobile disciplina".

Il poema presenta una struttura decisamente complessa il che, unito all'incompiutezza dell'opera, crea talora difficoltà d'interpretazione, ma nei momenti più felici Spenser si mostra poeta estremamente musicale: la sua strofa, da lui denominata "spenseriana", è un talmente efficace mezzo di perfezione melodica che gli fece meritare, da parte del critico Charles Lamb, la definizione di "poeta dei poeti" e dimostra la sua abilità nel saper fruire delle risorse poetiche della sua propria lingua; Spenser si qualifica così quale fonte d'ispirazione, anche se in modi diversi, per autori romantici quali Milton, Keats e Wordsworth essendo divenuto il suo poema, già da manoscritto, prima ancora di venire pubblicato, riconosciuto come uno dei poemi più influenti appartenenti al patrimonio letterario-linguistico inglese.

Poteva My little old world prescindere almeno dal menzionare un siffatto capolavoro ?
Spero piuttosto con ciò di avervi fatto cosa gradita !

Sempre più vivamente ed affettuosamente vi ringrazio e vi auguro ogni bene,

a presto  💕










BIBLIOGRAFIA:

Andrew Hadfield, Edmund Spenser: A Life, OUP, Oxford, 2014;

LA REGINA DELLE FATE di Edmund Spenser, Testo inglese a fronte a cura di Thomas P. Roche, jr, Bompiani, Milano, 2012.



CITAZIONI:

1 - LA REGINA DELLE FATE di Edmund Spenser, Testo inglese a fronte a cura di Thomas P. Roche, jr, Bompiani, Milano, 2012, Introduzione al Libro I, pag. 3. 










 The noblest mind the best contentment has.
         
           The Faerie Queene, Book I, Canto I, St. 35.



- picture 1 - Elizabeth I, The Rainbow Portrait (1600) attribuited to Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger (1561–1636) in the collection of the Marquess of Salisbury, on display at Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire




Today I'm taking you along with me to the epic world - that animated the French medieval chivalric literature, first, and then the Italian one, during the Humanism - Renaissance, celebrated by Ariosto, Tasso, Boiardo.

It lacked to the even wide Anglo-Saxon literary background a poem that contained allegorical and didactic elements - similarly to our Divina Comedia which marks the pinnacle of our entire medieval repertoire and of our literary history because of the readings that of it they can be made, ie the analog, the metaphorical and the anagogical - and that it were contextualized in the era during which it was written ... this until the sixteenth century, when the great and celebrated poet Edmund Spencer gave, even if incomplete, to the English literary world, the poetic composition of which it hitherto missed: I'm talking about The Faerie Queene.




~oO EDMUND SPENSER Oo


Spenser was born in London around the year 1552, as it appears from the most reliable data derived from his own works.




- picture 2 -  Portrait of Edmund Spenser by unknown author



His father, John, was a modest original cloth merchant coming from Lancashire, and sent him to the school of Merchant Taylors, recently founded, after which, in 1569, he attended Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he tied a friendship bond with the learned and pedantic Gabriel Harvey and other intellectuals. He devoted himself to classical and modern studies coming into contact with the Platonism, in original and Italians workd through its interpreters, with Dante, Virgil and the French and Italian poetry. After leaving the University of Cambridge in 1576 Spenser went to the father's Lancashire where he fell in love with a certain Rosalind, whom some want to identify with this or that lady, while others consider her the conventional literary allegory according to the fashion of the time. The following year we find him in London where his friend Harvey introduces him to the powerful Earl of Leicester, the Queen's favorite, for whose service he was hired in 1578: he was the nephew of Sir Philip Sidney, the perfect courtier, the 'ideal of every courtier. For Sidney he feels a devoted friendship based on the identity of artistic and moral ideals, and especially on the commonality of political and religious beliefs, and as he, he reveals a tenacious protestant stained of Platonic mysticism, relentless enemy of Catholics, magnifier of the English homeland, just for a few years became independent from every non-national religious authorities.

After having started his literary production in 1579 with The Shepheards Calendar, dedicated to Sidney, which consists of twelve pastoral eclogues, became secretary to Lord Grey, Governor of Ireland, in 1580, and followed to Ireland where he established himself as a government official; in 1586 he moved to the Kilcolman estate near Cork, where he spent most of the rest of his life until, in 1597, the castle which he received as a present was destroyed during a violent Irish uprising and, back in London in 1598, he died there in 1599.

His death marked the break of the seventh book of what was to become a national poem, the poem of life, which kept him busy for two decades, also if it remained unfinished, a poem in his projects which was to consist of twelve books that he began in 1579 when he was still in Ireland, but with his mind and heart to the Court of London, with his thought turned to his Queen to whom he dedicated his greatest work.





~oO THE FAERIE QUEENE Oo~

TO 
THE MOST HIGH
And
MAGNIFICENT
EMPRESSE RENOVV-
MED FOR PIETIE, VER-
TUE, AND ALL GRATIOVS
GOVERNMENT ELISABETH BY
THE GRACE OF GOOD QUEENE
OF ENGLAND, FRANVCE AND
IRELAND AND OF VIRGI-
NIA, DEFENDOVR OF THE
FAITH & c. HER MOST
HVMBLE SERVANVT
EDMVND SPENSER
DOTH IN ALL HV-
MILITIE DEDI-
CATE, PRE-
SENT
AND CONSECRATE THESE
HIS LABOVRS TO LIVE
WITH THE ETERNI-
TIE OF HER
FAME.



- picture 3 - Prince Arthur and the Fairy Queen, 1788, by Johann Heinrich Füssli 



Although it remains unfinished it represents his greatest work as an attempt to join together all the currents of thought of the time: the allegorical medieval tradition, the classical epic, the Renaissance humanism, the neo-Platonism, the Italian epic, the English folklore and the political thought. In his project, as mentioned above, the work was to consist of 12 books, each of 12 songs, but Spenser accomplished only the first 6 and some fragments of the 7th book. If it is true that his model was the Orlando Furioso of Ariosto, it must be said that of it he loses the ironic element, since the narrative is solemn and the tone in which the plot proceeds makes us rather think of the Gerusalemme Liberata of Tasso, and it is also true that Spenser, with its masterpiece, continues the allegorical medieval tradition celebrating in every book, through the adventures of a knight, one of the virtues defined by Aristotle in his Nicomachean Ethics:

Sanctity, symbolically embodied by the Redcrosse Knight (Book I) who, as we do well understand, represents the patron saint of England, St George, that is the entire English people of Protestant faith;

Temperance, in the figure of Guyon (Book II), the knight who learns the wisdom of the classic saying “Nothing in excess”;

Chastity, in the guise of Britomart (Book III), the knight woman who, in Spenser's allegory, connotes the Virgin Queen, Elizabeth I of England, given it symbolizes Britain, is the protagonist of the Book III that concludes the first part of The Faerie Queene;

Friendship, symbolized by Camblet and Telamond (Book IV);

Justice, personified by Knight Arthegall whose name means "equal to Arthur", who will marry Britomart according to Merlin's prophecy (Book V);

Courtesy, represented by the Knight Calidore (Book VI).



- picture 4 - Una by George Percy Jacomb-Hood (1857-1929). In the epic poem 'The Faerie Queene', Una is the personification of Truth and of the "True Church", she travels with the Redcrosse Knight and defeats Duessa (who represents the "false" - i.e. Catholic- church).



- picture 5 - Britomart by Walter Crane. Britomart is an allegorical figure of the virgin Knight of Chastity, representing English virtue - in particular, English military power - through a folk etymology that associated Brit-, as in Briton, with Martis, here thought of as "of Mars", the Roman war god.



The Fairy Queen ideally represents the Glory and in fact the Virgin Queen Elizabeth I.
As he wrote to Sir Walter Raleigh,
"The ultimate purpose of the whole book is to form a gentleman with a virtuous and noble discipline".

The poem has a very complex structure which, coupled with its incompleteness, sometimes creates difficulties of interpretation, but in his happiest moments Spenser shows extremely musical poetical virtues: his stanza, which he called "Spenserian", is a so effective mean of a melodic perfection that made him deserve, by the critic Charles Lamb, the definition of "poet amongst the poets" and demonstrates his skill in being able to benefit from the resources of his own poetic language; Spenser qualifies himself as a source of inspiration, even if in different ways, for romantic composers such as Milton, Keats and Wordsworth having become his poem, already as a manuscript - that is prior to being published - recognized as one of the most influential poems belonging to the iterary and linguistic English heritage.

Could My little old world disregard such a masterpiece?
I hope rather with this to have done something you loved !

More and more strongly and affectionately I thank you and wish you all my best,

see you soon 💕










BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Andrew Hadfield, Edmund Spenser: A Life, OUP, Oxford, 2014;

LA REGINA DELLE FATE di Edmund Spenser, Testo inglese a fronte a cura di Thomas P. Roche, jr, Bompiani, Milano, 2012.



QUOTATIONS:

1 - LA REGINA DELLE FATE di Edmund Spenser, Testo inglese a fronte a cura di Thomas P. Roche, jr, Bompiani, Milano, 2012, Introduction at the Book I p. 3. 




LINKING WITH:





46 commenti:

  1. Thank you for enlightening my morning by sharing such beautiful images as well as information about Edmund Spenser. It was a delight to visit you today.

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Harvest Moon by Hand
      and I'm so grateful to you, dear friend, for filling my heart with joy with your so nice words !

      Wishing you a most wonderful day, today,
      I'm sending blessings on your Spring days to come ♡❤♡

      Elimina
  2. So interesting. I wonder if the queen ever read the work. I can scarcely imagine dedicating twenty years to writing anything. That is, unless my blog counts of course. I can see myself sticking with that.
    Lovely to visit you this morning, have a beautiful week Daniela,
    Andrea

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Andrea
      darling friend, thank you for gracing my blog today !

      First of all, today we really haven't all the time to write they had once, often the lords who where the great writer''s patrons thought about mantaining them, and it is needed so much passion and constancy ... really !
      Yes, Queen Elizabeth I read the poem when it was published, and appreciated it so much, but Spenser never lived at Court, he would have loved to, but too many intrigues made him feel not at ease.

      Wishing you the best remainder of your week
      I'm sending blessings across the many miles ♥∗✿∗♥

      Elimina
  3. What a lovely post. So much talent in so many through the ages.

    Have a fabulous day, my friend. ♥♥♥

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Sandee
      thanks most sincerely for stopping by and for commenting, I'm so glad you enjoyed it !

      May your day be filled with joy,
      sweetest friend of mine ❥

      Elimina
  4. Cara Dany,
    quanto sei brava a riportare fatti e storie !!! Una cosa che non ho mai saputo fare è riassumere ....
    Comunque sto leggendo per i ciechi "La stirpe del leone" e ho sorriso nel leggere Pembroke.... Periodo tra il XII e il XIII secolo in Inghilterra... bello mi piace come mi piace sempre leggere le tue storie. Grazie!!
    Ti auguro tanta serenità e chissà come dev'esser bello vedere rinascere il tuo giardino. Un abbraccio Woody

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ WOODY
      grazie a te, cara, le tue parole di apprezzamento illuminano di gioia questa mia giornata !

      Dolce amica mia, immagino la soddisfazione che può donare al cuore leggere per i non vedenti, ti ammiro davvero molto per quanto ti prodighi per gli altri !

      Ti invio un abbraccio dal profondo del cuore
      augurandoti giorni sereni scaldati dal timido sole primaverile ಌ•❤•ಌ

      Elimina
  5. Ciao Dany
    I am embarrassed to say I never heard of Edmund Spenser or his epic poem! It was so interesting to learn of his life and works and affection for the Faerie Queen.
    Have a wonderful week my friend!
    Ciao, Pat

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Pat
      ciao carissima !!!
      You truly haven't to feel embarassed, indeed, I'm glad you've found such an interest for something you didn't know before, it means that you enjoyd my post, did you ?!?

      Wishing you a most lovely remainder of your week in your stunning Colorado,
      I'm sending hugs and ever much love to you ♡ஐ♡

      Elimina
  6. querida Daniela:
    seu blog sempre com histórias interessantes !!
    a delicadeza de sua alma está em seu blog.
    grande abraço e boa semana !
    http://elianeapkroker.blogspot.com.br/

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Kr.Eliane
      mui querida amiga,
      eu estou perto de ti com o coração e com a mente !

      Boa semana para você também, mui obrigada, muitos beijinhos ✿⊱╮

      Elimina
  7. It a beautiful poem, Dany, but I will admit, that it took me 3 or 4 readings before I began to understand what he was trying to say. Truly a very interesting man, and obviously a deep thinker. I love the idea of a "poem of life."

    Thank you for sharing , sweet friend, and I wish you a beautiful week.

    Sending you hugs from across the ocean. xo.

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Lisa
      it means so much to me to read that you've enjoyed it, truly, wonderful friend of mine !

      May your week too be as Beautiful as you, Dearie,
      I heartily thank you ღ❀ღ

      Elimina
  8. Hello, Dany! Another fascinating post. I remember reading a part of the Faerie Queene in college decades ago but now I understand so much more behind it! As always, you intrigue and delight.

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Jeanie
      we are taught such a lots of important things which belong to our culture too soon for us, I mean, at an age at which we still cannot understand their real meaning, and it's really such a pity, for us it is a so hard work, and for our culture is something almost useless, alas !

      Sending blessings to you,
      wondrous friend,
      thanks most sincerely for your words of heartfelt appreciation filling my heart with such a deep joy ♥♡♥

      Elimina
  9. Dearest Daniela, such a fascinating and informative post, my cherished friend, and the music and images are wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing, and I hope you have a great week.

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Linda
      it is I who want thank you, Sweetie, again and again !

      May the sun of joy always shine for you, cherished friend ⊰✽*✽⊱

      Elimina
  10. Dany, your posts always transport me to another world. And the work and research you put into them amazes me constantly. I hope you have a lovely week sweet lady. Mimi xxx

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Mimi
      I thank you from the bottom of my heart, thank you for gracing my blog today both with your so important presence here and your so beautiful words, you truly made my day, lovable lady !

      Trusting you're having a most pleasant of weeks,
      I'm sending my dearest love to you,
      with utmost gratitude ༺♡❀♡༻

      Elimina
  11. When seeing the pictures of what the people wore back in the 1500's and medieval times it just amazes me, the amount of fabric it took to make these clothes and all the details in them!! I also like the stories behind the paintings. I had never heard of him or his stories so this has been another enlightening post my friend :)
    Wishing you the most wonderful week of spring!!

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Conniecrafter
      I'm always in such high spirits when I see your smile here, you bring your inner joy to ~ My little old world ~ and I'm so grateful to you for this !

      I sincerely thank you for your words of amusement, as well, given they truly filled my heart with gladness !

      Hope your week is off to a lovely start,
      I'm sending hugs and ever much love on your days to come,
      enjoy your Spring you too, Dearie *•♥♥•*

      Elimina
  12. Grazie, cara amica romantica, per avermi portata in questo adorabile viaggio epico! è sempre un vero piacere leggere ed ammirare i tuoi post
    Bacioni Alessandra

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Alessandra
      grazie a te, mia dolce, è sempre motivo di una tale soddisfazione per me leggere i tuoi commenti, ti sono sinceramente riconoscente per la tua preziosa presenza.

      E che tu possa trascorrere la tua serata avvolta da infinita serenità,
      te lo auguro di vero cuore ❥

      Elimina
  13. Thank you for this few minutes of lovely music, beautiful images, and encouraging content!

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Michele Morin
      it is I who wish to thank you for your so lovely and welcome presence here, blessed be, my friend !

      May you enjoy a pleasant remainder of your week,
      filled with gladness and peace ❀≼♥≽❀

      Elimina
  14. How you are able to seek out such amazing hidden stories, never ceases to amaze me! Thank you for sharing this story today. I have never heard of this "poem of life", what work must have went into the many books it involved! Enjoyed your hard work of putting this story together for us today dear Dany, may the Lord's richest blessings be with you :) Happy Spring too!

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ SpicingUpIdaho
      your words of praise leave me speechless, darling Marilyn, you're too generous with me !

      So very pleased to have read your enjoyment,
      I'm sending blessings of joy to you,
      may your Spring be as Beautiful as you,
      •♥•♥• Dear, Dearest friend •♥•♥•

      Elimina
  15. Grazie cara Daniela, di averci donato questo post.
    Letto tutto d'un fiato: è così piacevole apprendere cose nuove o comunque non approfondite così sapientemente.
    Un grande abbraccio Susanna

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Susanna
      anche tu mia cara, sempre così tanto generosa con me !!!

      Ringraziandoti dal profondo del cuore ti auguro una deliziosa e tranquilla serata,
      un bacione ♡ஐ♡

      Elimina
  16. So interesting. I am pretty sure I have not read him, at least not the Fairy Queen, and I've read Dante, and Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics. So someday I will have to. Great article, Dany on his significance and his influences. xoxo Su

    RispondiElimina
    Risposte
    1. @ Su
      if you've read Dante and Aristotle, you cannot miss to read this masterpiece, even it's quite hard to understand since it's written in the English of the XVIth century, I think a little difficult to you English speaking too, also your language has developed and changed so much since then !

      Wishing you a most lovely remainder of your day,
      I'm thanking you most sincerely, precious friend of mine,
      your words of appreciation touch my heart in the deep ಌ•❤•ಌ

      Elimina
  17. I can't think of the elegant words I want to praise you with for educating us on this subject,that I might not ever have heard of in my lifetime


    Janice

    RispondiElimina
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    1. @ Janice
      Dearest One, actually your comment leave me speechless, I've never read something so precious addressed to me, too beautiful to me, I feel embarrassed ...
      I value such an appreciation so much, I don't know if I deserve such esteem !

      So grateful for your amazing words,
      touching my heart in the very deep,
      I'm heartily wishing you a most lovely weekend ahead,
      sending blessings to you ✿⊱╮

      Elimina
  18. cara dany fai affiorire in me i ricordi della letteratura inglese studiata alle scuole tanti anni fa...
    sempre un tuffo nel passato, nell'arte, nella letteratura e nella storia costellata di successi e grande bellezza..
    ti auguro un buon weekend di primavera
    daniela

    RispondiElimina
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    1. @ daniela
      è sempre talmente dilettevole e gratificante accoglierti qui, ogni volta le tue parole sono motivo di grande gioia per me, mia cara, te ne sono sinceramente e profondamente grata !

      Contraccambio di cuore il tuo augurio per il weekend,
      che sia illuminato dal sole della letizia e della serenità anche per te ⊰✽*✽⊱

      Elimina
  19. Una lettura che mi ha catturato! una vera e propria lezione di Letteratura ... senza il pericolo di annoiarsi!
    Lieto fine settimana ,
    Franca

    RispondiElimina
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    1. @ Franca
      è sempre qualcosa di delizioso averti qui, le tue parole sempre così delicate e intrise di vivo entusiasmo allietano il mio cuore !

      Ti abbraccio con tanta gioia augurandoti una serena giornata,
      dolcissima amica dall'animo gentile,
      grazie per ciò che sempre mi doni ༺♡❀♡༻

      Elimina
  20. Very interesting post! I liked The Rainbow Portrait of Elizabeth I and was surprised that it looked a bit sensual.

    RispondiElimina
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    1. @ Linda
      Dear, I also love that portrait since I've always rejected the austere image that History has always presented of Her, so cold and aloof of temper, only taken from politics as if She lived in a world of her own, rejecting even love ... actually, as soon as She became queen, she fell deeply in love with Robert Dudley but he was already wed and when his wife died in mysterious circumstances he seemed to be implicated ... many were the courtiers who were attired by Her Majesty, the fact that She didn't get married doesn't mean that she didn't fell in love, even if almost all the portraits of Hers depict such an austere woman, icy and rather indifferent ... actually I don't think she was so, so as they wanted us to believe Her to be !

      I'm sincerely feeling enraptured by your words of amusement and interest, thank you, sweetest friend of mine !

      Sending blessings of joy on your weekend
      may it be filled with gladness and wonder ❥

      Elimina
  21. Your delightful offerings are always something I love, Dany dear! Many blessings on your weekend, dear friend!

    RispondiElimina
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    1. @ June
      I'm feeling so light-hearted after reading your beautiful words of enjoyment, dear, dearest, precious friend of mine, I heartily thank you !

      Thinking of you with so much love,
      ♥♡♥ blessed be ♥♡♥

      Elimina
  22. So nice to visit you again! I was reading a bit about Queen Elizabeth the last few months as I get hooked on topics and cant stop reading... I appreciated this article dear Dany! It also saddened me that she did not marry her young love... but perhaps His-tory knew best!

    RispondiElimina
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    1. @ JES the Pilgrim
      how absolutely delightful of you to come and visit me here with such an enthusiasm, I thank you wholeheartedly !

      At first she was too busy with her political role - the Spanish Invincible Armada was giving serious problems to England - but when she thought about her mother's death she was going on saying that she would have never got married.
      Robert Dudley was truly in love with her, and the Queen reciprocated his love, they met in private - was She truly a Virgin Queen ?!? - and as you probably know, he finally pretended a relationship with the queen's cousin, which definitely put Her Majesty in such and angry spirit, for he waqs her favorite and had to be Hers only !
      Their relationship had survived almost 50 years of trials and tribulations, and when he died in 1588 Elizabeth was lost without him.

      I'd love to dedicate a post of mine to this topic ... and I have to thank you for letting me think about it too, precious friend !

      Wishing you a lovely new week,
      with utmost gratitude ಌ•❤•ಌ

      Elimina
  23. Hello, Dany! I enjoy your stories, the photos and lovely post. I was not familiar with Edmund Spenser and his poem the Faerie Queene. Thanks for sharing. Have a happy day and weekend!

    RispondiElimina
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    1. @ eileeninmd
      it is I who wish to thank you, you're such an adorable friend, Dearie !

      Sending blessings on your new week,
      thinking of you with so much love ♥∗✿*✿∗♥

      Elimina

I THANK YOU WHOLEHEARTEDLY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS AND WORDS, SO PRECIOUS TO ME.