ABSTRACT
That Arthur and Guyon turn to Eumnestes for the substance of their knowledge in the turret also says something about the nature of Spenser's fiction. We may see the first of the chambers as the particular province of the poet, and Sidney is there to back us up. Likewise the second chamber, with its depiction of institutions and of contemporary knowledge, has its bearing on the calling of the public poet. But Spenser chooses to emphasize not Imagination but Memory, not Phantastes but Mnemosyne. In so doing, he stresses his claims as epic and dynastie poet.
