The Faerie Queene · Chapter
Sonnet III explained
The poet dedicates the work to the Earl of Oxford, presenting his unripe poetic fruit and seeking protection from envy.
What happens
The poet dedicates the work to the Earl of Oxford, presenting his unripe poetic fruit and seeking protection from envy. He praises the Earl's noble ancestry and his love for the Heliconian muses.
Key passages
“Receive, most Noble Lord, in gentle gree, The unripe fruit of an unready wit; Which by thy countenaunce doth crave to bee Defended from foule Envies poisnous bit.”
Accept, most noble lord, with kind favor, this immature work of an unprepared mind, which seeks through your approval to be protected from the poisonous bite of foul envy.
The poet humbly offers his work and asks for the Earl's patronage to shield it from criticism.
“Sith th’antique glory of thine auncestry Under a shady vele is therein writ, And eke thine owne long living memory, Succeeding them in true nobility.”
Since the ancient glory of your lineage is written there under a shadowy veil, as well as your own enduring memory, following them in true nobility.
The poem alludes to the Earl's noble ancestry and his own virtuous reputation.