“Linguistic freak”
Almost beyond question, the metaphorical image from the book that is most often quoted or referenced by reviewers and critics is the admittedly notorious description of one of the most famous works in the history of English literature. That work is Edmund Spenser’s masterwork, the epic work of verse known throughout history and around the globe as The Faerie Queene. The author is quite clearly being provocative with his pronouncement that he considers it to be a “linguistic freak.”
“The surface dazzle of mystery”
At one point the author’s critique of Spenser’s language is directed toward a particularly idiosyncratic and exceptionally literary point of contention. The criticism focuses on the usage of a single word which introduces into the poem a jarring displacement of gendered rhyme. It is so jarring to his critical eye that it is as suddenly at the very end an entirely different voice suddenly took over the narration simply for the purpose of introducing a little bit of mystery intended only to dazzle.
The Rewrite
The author takes it upon himself to retranslate Spenser original texts as the basic premise of his work. This often allows for a greater clarity of language that many modern readers will likely find the most useful aspect of the book as the updated versions often more clearly delineate the metaphors:
”And t’ envy her that in such glory reign’ d.
Eftsoones she cast by Force and tortious Might,
Her to displace, and to her self t’have gain’ d
The Kingdom of the Night, and Waters by her wain’ d.”
is rewritten by the author as
“So envy
and ambition raged in her, till she dethroned
the proper queen of night, and arrogated
to herself the darkness and the tides.”
Defining the Purpose
The purpose of the author writing this book—and in the process rewriting Spenser’s verse—is explicitly stated. Explicitly stated, but still depending upon the use of metaphorical imagery to establish his premise:
“Poetry is a complex instrument, and a poet like Spenser knows how to play it to the full, and any response needs to take account of all that. The most adequate, fully engaged response, I would argue, is another poem that picks up all the carefully distributed threads of Spenser’s utterance and gives them radically altered in many ways, but recognizably chiming with the original, and adding new meaning.”
Modernizing the Vernacular
The most startling example of how the author reinterprets the original language of Spenser to present his work within a modern vernacular is truly spectacular when set in comparison to the original. That he succeeds in the quest for “radically altered” Spenserian verse is beyond question whereas room for debate may exist on the question of recognizable chiming. That new meaning is created is made jarring clear with an addition that should make jaws of conservative scholars around the world drop open:
“I will rehearse that whylom I heard say,
How she at first her self began to rear,
‘Gainst all the Gods, and th’Empire sought from them to bear.”
becomes
“I’ve heard how this Mutability one time
rose against all the gods at once,
to disempire them. So let me tell you.”
