Venus in Spenser's An Hymne in Honovr of Beavtie

Bibliographic Entry

Plaisance, Christopher A. "Venus in Spenser's An Hymne in Honovr of Beavtie." Journal of the Western Mystery Tradition 26, no. 3 (2014).

Abstract

This is a paper in the history of Western esotericism which examines the figure of Venus in Edmund Spenser's (c. 1552–1599) An Hymne in Honovr of Beavtie published in his Fowre Hymnes. My aim in writing this paper is to provide a specific exegesis of the second hymn, dedicated by Beauty — to inquire into the identity and nature of the hymn's subject, and to elucidate the philosophical and theological background that informs Spenser's conception of Venus within the hymn.

Keywords

Western esotericism, Spenser, Neoplatonism, Ficino, Venus