WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The Poetry Fix: Prologue to the Legend of the Knight of the Red Cross

Episode Date: February 2, 2026

Today, Erika Kyba introduces you to Spencer's Faerie Queene. In this episode, we read the Prologue to the Legend of the Knight of the Red Cross (narrated by the lovely Sophia Kyba), and discuss Spencer's intriguing choice of Greek gods to invoke as his muses.

Welcome to The Poetry Fix on Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM. I'm your host, Erica Kaiba, bringing you your weekly fix of poetry from across time. Today we're beginning a little journey into Spencer's Fairy Queen. If you listen to the Gizmars series on this show, you'll have an idea of how much whimsy to expect from this epic poem. I'm talking Arthurian legends, curses, vicious beasts, true love, princes, princesses, and fairies. Beyond the exciting magical character of the epic, Spencer has a very clearly allegorical, project going on throughout the narrative, making clear commentaries on virtue and vice through his characters. And you can get that sense from the prologue as the poet announces that

fierce wars and faithful loves shall moralize my song. War and love are fun to read about generally, but these intense human experiences also have a very moral side to them, and that's what Spencer wants his readers to think about. Now, in an epic poem, we always, always begin with an invocation to the muse, which sets the tone for the writer's entire poetic project, the gods that the poet invokes matter quite a lot. What we see Spencer do, after he invokes his poetic muse, is to call to Cupid, basically telling him to lay down his bow and lay off the mischief and come to the poet's aid. He also asks Cupid to bring Venus, his mother, and Mars, who is often imagined as Venus's lover. So Spencer calls upon the goddess of love, the god of war, and their unruly son who

causes romantic infatuation to christen his poem. What does that tell us about the adventure that's going to follow? In the most obvious sense, this is a poem about love and war, so Spencer has invoked the right gods to help him write it. But if we look deeper at the way that Spencer describes them, we find that he isn't just asking this trio to lend him a little creative help. He deliberately asks Cupid to lay his deadly heban bow apart, and he describes Mars as clothed in love and gentle jollities, after his murderous rage and bloody spoils. These two gods in particular have a lot of destructive potential, if they are not well-ordered, and that's the tension that we're going to see in the story that follows. With all that said,

Let's dive in. The Fairy Queen, prologue to the Legend of the Night of the Red Cross by Edmund Spencer, narrated by Sophia Kaiba. Lo-eyed the man, whose muse Wilhelm did mask, as time her taught in lowly shepherd's weeds, am now enforced a far unfitter task for trumpets stern to change mine Oten reeds, and sing of knights and ladies' gentle deeds, whose praises having slept in silence long,

Me all too mean the sacred muse a reeds To blazon broad amongst her learned throng Fierce wars and faithful loves shall moralize my song Help then O holy virgin chief of nine Thy weaker novice to perform thy will Lay forth out of thine everlasting scrine The antique rolls which there lie hidden still Of fairy knights and fairest Tanaquil

Whom that most noble Britain prince So long sought through the world and suffered so much ill, that I must rue his undeserved wrong. O help thou my weak wit, and sharpen my dull tongue, And thou most dreaded imp of highest jove, Fervina's son, that with thy cruel dart, at that good night so cunningly didst throw, that glorious fire it kindled in his heart, Lay now thy deadly heban bow apart, and with thy mother mild, come to mine aid,

both, and with you bring triumphant mart, in loves and gentle jollities arrayed, after his murderous spoils and bloody rage allayed, and with them eke, O goddess heavenly bright, mirror of grace and majesty divine, great lady of the greatest isle, whose light like Phoebus lamp throughout the world doth shine, shed thy fair beams into my feeble ein, and raise my thoughts too humble and too vile, to think of that true glorious type. of thine, the argument of mine afflicted style, the witch to hear, vouchsafe, oh dearest dread a while. You've been listening to The Poetry Fix with Erica Kaiba. If you enjoyed this episode, consider following The Poetry Fix on Spotify, YouTube, or Apple Podcasts. And if you have any poems you

want to see in a future episode, email your suggestions to the Poetry Fix at gmail.com. Join me next week, and we'll be diving straight into the legend of the night of the Red Cross.