.

Thus it cannot be overemphasized that, where ambiguity is
occasioned by the punctuation of the original, the Shadow Text
can do no more than propose what seems to me the more or most
likely interpretation. Sometimes (as in the case cited above) I
suggest alternatives, but the pointing of the original poem
should always be given precedence in case of doubt.

The Glossary does not seek to interpret the poem. From time to
time it hints at what lies behind the bare words in order to aid
understanding, but its sole purpose is to make the _language_
more accessible to the modern reader. Interpretation is left to
the teacher, and to the large and growing body of criticism
devoted to _The Faerie Queene_.

THE NUMBERING SYSTEM

In the Glossary and Textual Appendix, references to parts of the
poem are given in the condensed form BCN.SN, where B = book
number (from 1 to 7), CN = canto number (from 01 to 12; canto 00
is the proem), and SN = stanza number (from 1 to a maximum of 87;
stanza 0 is the argument).

If a line within a stanza needs to be specified, it is preceded
by a colon. Ranges of cantos, stanzas, or lines are indicated by
a dash.

For example:

401.31 Book IV, Canto i, stanza 31
611.11:3 Book VI, Canto xi, stanza 11, line 3
503.2-9 Book V, Canto iii, stanzas 2 to 9
503-4 Book V, Cantos iii-iv
207.0 Book II, Canto vii, Argument
100.3 Book I, Proem, stanza 3
500.1:2-4 Book V, Proem, stanza 1, lines 2-4

In addition, a line of the Introductory Matter is specified by
its number, preceded by a colon and a capital "I". For example,
"I:123" refers to line 123 in the Introductory Matter.

HOW THE GLOSSARY WORKS

Entries relating to each line of Shadow Text are shown below that
line. In cases where a glossed word appears more than once in a
line, plus signs are used if necessary to highlight the
particular word being glossed. For example, in the line:

Till some end they find, +or+ in or out,

it is the first "or" which is glossed.

Editorial policy in the Glossary is as follows. Words which
appear in modern concise dictionaries and whose meanings are
unchanged are rarely glossed. The reader is expected to
understand words such as "quoth", "hither", and "aught" in their
_modern_ senses. Where an apparently modern form has a different
contextual meaning, it is glossed; and where the modern sense is
also to be understood, th