introduced by a _proem_, a group of between
four and eleven stanzas preceding the argument of Canto i.

Twelve cantos comprise a _book_. Book VII is incomplete.

Spenser's stated plan was to write twelve books, one on each of
the twelve moral or private virtues; it is not known whether he
composed any more of _The Faerie Queene_ than has survived. _The
Faerie Queene_ was to have been followed by another epic poem of
twelve more books, one on each of the political or public
virtues. No trace of this work has ever been found.

THE SHADOW TEXT

The Shadow Text is intended as no more than a lowly companion to
the original. It makes no attempt to preserve metre or rhyme,
but renders a prosaic version, unifying the spelling in order to
make the meaning easier to understand.

I have altered the punctuation for the shadow version, though not
without trepidation. My aim has been to make crystal clear the
mechanical sense expressed by each stanza, but quite often this
is impossible. For one thing, the original pointing, rather than
being used strictly logically, may also influence the rhythm or
emphasis of the words when spoken (and _The Faerie Queene_ is a
poem which should be read aloud--although perhaps not in its
entirety!--to be fully appreciated). For another, the
functions of the punctuation marks themselves have undergone
change since Spenser's day. The semicolon, for example, is found
in _FQ_ introducing direct speech, where today a comma or a colon
would be used. Again, the comma is often required to carry long
parentheses, themselves sprinkled with commas; these passages can
become very confusing, especially where Spenser has also adopted
a contorted and latinistic word-order.

Then there are problems introduced by deliberately ambiguous
pointing. Spenser's immense command of the language, and his
quicksilver gift for wordplay and puns, allow him, when he
chooses, to pack great complexities of meaning into a line or
even a single word, and in this his punctuation is frequently his
accomplice.

A famous example comes right at the beginning of Book I:

But on his brest a bloudie Crosse he bore,
The deare remembrance of his dying Lord,
For whose sweete sake that glorious badge he wore,
And dead as liuing euer him ador'd:

Is the meaning of line 4: "dead, as living, ever him adored", or:
"dead, as living ever, him adored"? In fact, both meanings are
probably intended