Summary
The poem now relates how Belphoebe, who recently saved the
poor squire Timias, came to be such a fine example of
virginity and chastity. She was born from a woman named
Chrysogonee, under the most unusual circumstances--
Chrysogonee never knew man, but she was impregnated by the rays
of the sun as she slept by a lake. Worried that her
conception would bring her disgrace, she fled into the
wilderness. It happened at the time that Venus had gone
looking for her son, Cupid, who had run off. Everywhere
the goddess looked, Cupid had already been and left many
in misery with his arrows of love. Finally, Venus finds
the goddess Diana in the forest, resting after a hunt;
Diana agrees to help her look for Cupid. As they search,
they suddenly come across Chrysogonee, who has just given
birth to twins in the same manner she conceived them--while
asleep. The goddesses decide to each take one child (both
are girls) and raise her. Diana calls her baby Belphoebe
and takes her off to the forest to raise her in the ways of
chastity; but Venus takes the other, naming her Amoretta,
and takes her to the Garden of Adonis.
The Garden is a mythical place; it is "the first seminarie
[seed plot] / Of all things, that are borne to live and
die (III.vi.30)." There, the forms of all living things
grow. They take on matter from the pit of Chaos and then
leave through one gate of the Garden to enter Earth. When
their time in the world is over, they come back through the
other gate, shed their matter, and, after a certain time, are
reincarnated with new substance. Time is the only enemy of
the Garden; otherwise, all things are happy. It was there
that Venus brought Amoretta, and raised her "to be
th'ensample of true love alone (III.vi.52)."
The poem now returns to the plight of Florimell, who is
still fleeing, though she is no longer chased. Having worn
out her horse, she stops at a nearby house, where an old
hag takes pity on her and lets her stay for a time. The
old woman, however, has a lazy son, who is filled with lust
for Florimell as soon as he lays eyes on her. When she
suddenly leaves, he is torn apart by desire and goes into a
fit. His old mother (who, it turns out, is a witch) now
resents Florimell; she conjures up a beast to chase after
the maid. The animal nearly catches up to her, but she
outruns it on her horse until she reaches the seashore.
There, to save herself, she is forced to abandon her horse
and jump into an old fisherman's boat. She pushes off from
the shore while the fisherman sleeps. The thwarted beast
then attacks the horse and kills it.
Just at that time, the good Sir Satyrane happens by; he
sees the dead horse and Florimell's golden girdle (left
behind in her haste) and fears the worst. He overcomes the
beast by tying it up with the girdle, but at that moment, a
"mighty Giauntesse" rides by with a squire held captive on
her lap, being chased by a knight. She knocks down Sir
Satyrane, but when the other knight approaches, she tosses
away the squire and flees. The squire explains the
situation to Satyrane--the giantess was Argante, daughter
of the Titans, a monstrous embodiment of lust who delights
in sinning against nature.
Commentary
The principal point of interest in these two cantos is the
Garden of Adonis. This passage is the best example of
Spenser's wide diversity of sources; he draws on everything
from Homer to Chaucer to The Romance of the Rose in
constructing this remarkable Paradise. The theme of an
idyllic garden, of course, has its origin in the Garden of
Eden--but as a part of the fanciful land of The Faerie
Queene, the Garden of Adonis is not particularly
grounded in Christian theology. The philosophical ideas
expressed in the passage are mostly Platonic or neo-Platonic:
the relation between form and matter, the
reincarnation of beings, the cyclical nature of life. Of
course, at the least reincarnation was incompatible with
mainstream Christian thought in Spenser's time; the Garden
is not so much an expression of the poet's beliefs as it is
an elegant creation for its own sake.
There is no allegory here--in general, the meaning of the
place is presented straightforwardly. The association of
the Garden with Venus immediately gives it a mythical
quality, and the poet treats the philosophical ideas as he
has treated the classical myths: useful in creating an
imaginative setting but only because the Christian truth
is another layer deep. The Christian meaning of the Garden
of Adonis naturally relates to the theme of Book III,
chastity. The important element is the healthy sexuality
of the place, where "each paramour his leman [lover]
knowes, / Each bird his mate, ne any does envie / Their
goodly meriment, and gay felicite (III.vi.41)." Spenser is
by no means in favor of a sterile chastity when he
champions that virtue; though those in the Garden may have
too much pleasure, it is a productive pleasure, which keeps
the wheel of life turning and does not promote jealousy or
lust. We have seen, and will continue to see, many worse
uses of sexuality in Book III, by way of contrast.
