Season 4 Podcast 170 Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, Book I, Canto 10 Pt I Episode 28 “The House of Holiness.”

Season 4 Podcast 170 Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queen, Book I, Canto 10 Pt I Episode 28 “The House of Holiness.” In last week’s episode The Redcross Knight barely escaped despair. If Una had not interfered and shamed the Redcross Knight for listening to the oily arguments of despair, he would have taken his own life. That ended Canto 9. This is the beginning of Canto 10. Una takes the Redcross Knight to the House of Holiness to purge him of his sins. Remember that the evil witch Duessa took the Redcross Knight to the House of Pride which would have destroyed him had the Dwarf not discovered that the dungeons of the house of pride were filled with the corpses of the dead who had been murdered in the House of Pride. The Redcross Knight and the Dwarf flee the House of Pride only to be followed by Duessa who then seduces the Redcross Knight and then throws him in the dungeon in the castle of Orgoglio the giant where he was imprisoned for three months before being rescued by Prince Arthur. In the following Stanza Spencer summarizes Canto 10. CANTO X Her faithfull knight faire Una brings to house of Holinesse, Where he is taught repentance, and the way to heavenly blesse. Canto 10, where the Redcross Knight is taken to the House of Holiness is absolutely beautiful and is at the heart of the story of the Redcross Knight. Una who represents truth takes the Redcross Knight who represents holiness to the House of Holiness to purge him of his sins. In his youth he was deceived by Duessa who led him off the straight and narrow path to the House of Pride. In Stanza 1 Spencer raises a key question. It is this: Can any person who puts his trust in the arm of flesh withstand the temptations of Satan. The answer is no. They will eventually yield to temptation as happened to the Redcross Knight. All good comes from God and only through the grace of Christ can we withstand the wiles of the devil. WHAT man is he, that boasts of fleshly might And vaine assurance of mortality, Which all so soone as it doth come to fight Against spirituall foes, yeelds by and by, Or from the field most cowardly doth fly? Ne let the man ascribe it to his skill, That thorough grace hath gained victory. If any strength we have, it is to ill, But all the good is Gods, both power and eke will. Una recognized how weak and feeble her knight had become. He had become emaciated from prolong imprisonment and was unfit to fight the dragon. That is why she brought him to the House of Holiness. But that, which lately hapned, Una saw, That this her knight was feeble, and too faint; And all his sinews woxen weake and raw, Through long enprisonment, and hard constraint, Which he endured in his late restraint, That yet he was unfit for bloudy fight: Therefore to cherish him with diets daint, She cast to bring him, where he chearen might. Till he recovered had his late decayed plight. The House of Holiness was not far away. It was renowned throughout the world for the sacred word of God and for the inhabitants who led a pure and unspotted life. It was governed by wisdom through a wise but white-haired matron who joyed only in helping wretched souls and helpless poor. She had infinite energy and never rested. She spent all of her time doing godly deeds.