ABSTRACT
In praising Elizabeth as a queen of love, Spenser is suggesting comparison with the figure of Venus in canto x, who, like her, rules "an Island". Unlike the frankly sensuous Venus of Book III, however, the queen of this paradisal garden remains aloof and detached from the lovers who throng her temple. For it should be recalled that one of the devices which the Virgin Mary shares with Queen Elizabeth the phoenix was regarded as androgynous because of its ability to regenerate itself unassisted by a mate. If we are right in suggesting that Venus, as a personification of the principle of concord, is intended to evoke Queen Elizabeth, then it would seem reasonable to expect there to be a more specific meaning in the marriage of the Thames and the Medway than that proposed by Nelson.
