Spenser's "Inward Ey": Poetics, Lexicography, and the Motivations for Edmund Spenser's Linguistic Idealism Lawrence Revard Washington University in St
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Washington University in St. Louis Washington University Open Scholarship All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) January 2011 Spenser's "Inward Ey": Poetics, Lexicography, and the Motivations for Edmund Spenser's Linguistic Idealism Lawrence Revard Washington University in St. Louis Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd Recommended Citation Revard, Lawrence, "Spenser's "Inward Ey": Poetics, Lexicography, and the Motivations for Edmund Spenser's Linguistic Idealism" (2011). All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). 293. https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/etd/293 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS Department of English & American Literature Dissertation Examination Committee: Joseph Loewenstein, Chair Robert Henke Dillon Johnston David Lawton Jessica Rosenfeld Gerhild Williams SPENSER’S “INWARD EY”: POETICS, LEXICOGRAPHY, AND THE MOTIVES FOR EDMUND SPENSER’S LINGUSITIC IDEALISM by Lawrence B. Revard A dissertation presented to the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Washington University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2011 Saint Louis, Missouri ! Copyright by Lawrence B. Revard 2011 ! Acknowledgments I am grateful for the guidance of many characters and mentors: the shrugging disapproval of Brian Taylor (may he rest easy now), the cool unconcern of Clayton Zimmerman, the Christian compassion of Linda Clader, the Stevens-esque wisdom of Robert Rehder, the recommendation (and poetry) of Jorie Graham, the stoicism (and poetry) of James Galvin, the good and ill humors of my students, the generous and sustained financial help of Washington University and its English Department, the timely appearance of a helpful Jessica Rosenfeld after the untimely flight of the equally helpful Lara Bovilsky, the delightful strength of Gerhild Williams, the warmth of Kathy Schneider, the direction of Joseph Loewenstein, the banter of my Tuesday night drinking friends, the angelic cheer of Zainab Hassan, the masochistic example of Christine Marshall, the occasional praise of Andrew Mulvania and Jeff Pethybridge, the unbelievably beautiful poetry of Jay Hopler, the Italian of the ferocious Annelise Brody, the decent artistic fellowship of Brad Lawrence, the sharp sight of Anne Cotterill, the capacious historical insight of Rafia Zafar, the optimistic philpoeticism of Guinn Batten and Dillon Johnston, and the loving support and intellectual company of my brilliant parents, Carter Curtis Revard and Stella Hill Purce Revard. Each of those players, and others whom I like much less and feel no desire to name save in dark incantations at darker hours, has helped to make me the impoverished fool presenting this thesis. Special thanks go to my dog, Blanca, for her loyalty during the time I spent working on a degree rather than taking her for trips to the mountains or the seashore. It is probably true that I would have been better off going to such places with her. (I am sorry, girl—please find it in your joyous heart to forgive me.) Lastly, I need to express my sincerest gratitude to Raven Shanks for inspiration itself. A conversation with her about The Fowre Hymnes got me started on the first chapter. The thought of her kept me steady through the ensuing years, helping me write consoling poems and see Spenser’s and my own world with painful precision. Really, everything I have done since I met her has been touched by a persistent wish that she might be proud of me and call me friend. This work has been made possible by such a wish. Her help and character remind me of a very lovely sestet from the thirteenth sonnet of Petrarch’s Canzoniere: Da lei ti vèn l’amoroso pensero Che, mentre ‘l segui, al sommo ben t’invia, Poco prezando quel ch’ogni uom desia; Da lei vien l’animosa leggiadria Ch’al ciel ti scorge per destro sentero; Sí ch’i’ vo giá de la speranza altèro. -LR, May 2011 ! ii! Table of Contents Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... ii ! Introduction: With and Without Dictionaries: Explaining Spenser’s Motives for his Idiosyncratic Ideas of Language ........................................................................................................................ 2 1. Richard Waswo........................................................................................................... 9 2. Judith Anderson and Daniel Fried ............................................................................ 15 3. Paula Blank and Andrew Hadfield ........................................................................... 22 4. Works Cited & Consulted......................................................................................... 30 Chapter 1: “Menaging the mouthes of stubborn steedes”: Spenser’s Conceptualizations of Writing, Speech, and Mind.............................................................................................................. 33 1. Finding Buried “Threasure”: Historical Context for An Intellectual Dispute .......... 33 2. The Writing on the Soul............................................................................................ 44 3. “You stop my toung”: The “Platonic Coloring” of Spenser’s Work........................ 53 4. Good Reading Leads to Good Selfhood ................................................................... 69 5. Naming Pastorella..................................................................................................... 82 6. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 96 7. Works Cited & Consulted......................................................................................... 99 Chapter 2: Consulting Spenser’s References: The Significance of the Lexicography of Dominico Mirabellio and Ambrogio Calepino to Spenser’s Views of Language........................... 103 1. Problems with Lexicography .................................................................................. 104 2. Ambrogio Calepino’s Barks and Bites ................................................................... 111 3. Dominico Nanni Mirabellio and the figure of Mirabella........................................ 130 4. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 143 5. Works Cited & Consulted....................................................................................... 146 Chapter 3: Relational Meaning, Authorial Intention, and the Poetic Diction of The Shepheardes Calender.......................................................................................................................... 149 1. Reading E.K.’s (and Spenser’s) Prefatory Argument About Diction As Implicitly Dependent on Ideas of Relational Meaning................................................................ 155 2. Relational Meaning Understood as a Key Part of the Idea of Poetic Vocation and Diction in The Shepheardes Calender ........................................................................ 192 3. Works Cited & Consulted....................................................................................... 244 ! ! iii! Chapter 4: Finding Spenser’s Good Bitch: How the Figure of Samient in Book 5 Anticipates Critiques of Humanist Notions of Learning and Language in Book 6 and Complicates Comparisons to A View of the Present State of Ireland................................................. 249 1. Spenser’s Intentions in his Thinking About and Figuring of Language................. 253 2. What Book 6 Intimates About Education, Language, Virtue, and Poetry.............. 268 3. The Intentions Behind A View of the Present State of Ireland ............................... 293 4. Finding Samient, “Mayden Messenger” and Good Bitch....................................... 303 5. Conclusion: Understanding Both Spenser’s Linguistic Idealism and Didacticism 317 6.Works Cited & Consulted........................................................................................ 326 ! iv! ! “Casella mio, per tornar altra volta là dov’ io son, fo io questo vïaggo;” diss’ io, “ma a te com’è tanta ora tolta?” Ed elli a me: “Nessun m’è fatto oltraggio, se quei che leva quando e cui li piace, più volte m’ ha negato esto passaggio; chè di giusto voler lo suo si face: veramente da tre mesi elli ha tolto chi ha voluto intrar, con tutta pace. Ond’ io, ch’era ora alla marina volto dove l’acqua di Tevero s’insala, benignamente fu’ da lui ricolto. A quella foce ha elli or dritta l’ala, però che semre quivi si ricoglie quale verso Acheronte non si cala.” E io: “Se nuova legge non ti toglie memoria o uso all’ amoroso canto che mi solea quetar tutte mie voglie, di ciò ti piaccia consolare alquanto l’anima mia, che, con la mia persona venendo qui, è affannata tanto!” “Amor che ne la mente mi ragiona” cominciò elli allor sì dolcemente, che la dolcezza ancor dentro mi sona. Lo mio maestro e io e quella gente ch’eran con lui parevan sì contenti come a nessun toccasse altro la mente. —Dante Alighieri, Purgatorio 2.91-117 ! ! ! ! ! 1! ! Introduction: With and Without Dictionaries: Explaining Spenser’s Motives for his Idiosyncratic