Spenser's Imitations from Ariosto

The influence of the Orlando Furioso on Spenser's Faery Queen has long been recognized. Warton, in his excellent Observations , devoted a section to it, and others have here and there remarked upon the affinity of the two poems. I cannot find, however, that any writer has yet given the subject more than casual attention. The reasons for this neglect are, of course, not far to seek. Men read and study the Faery Queen , and men read and study the Orlando Furioso , but few care to read and study them side by side, with the obligation of going through the Morgante Maggiore , the Orlando Innamorato, Rinaldo , and the Oerusalemme Liberata , for casual reference and general illustration. The Faery Queen , as it stands, is nearly twice as long as the Odyssey , the Orlando Furioso is longer than the Faery Queen , and the others are of varying, but always substantial bulk—a rather formidable array. Moreover, despite vast differences of spirit and method, these poems deal with the same subject-matter, romantic chivalry; and too steady converse with romantic chivalry is, to say the least, not stimulating. In view of such conditions and of the work already done by Warton, critics may very probably have felt that further labor in this field would hardly be worth while.