In the later twentieth and early twenty-first centuries, a debate has rumbled over the sources and significance of Platonic and Neoplatonic motifs in Edmund Spenser’s poetry. While this debate has focused on the presence (or absence) of various aspects of Platonism and/or Neoplatonism, critics have largely ignored the hints of magic derived from Neoplatonism. Through the probable influence of John Dee, Marsilio Ficino, and Giordano Bruno as well as Spenser’s own wide-ranging and particular reading, The Faerie Queene makes it evident that the English poet found himself attracted to an ancient hope in the restoration of a Golden Age that would be inaugurated by a great monarch. However, by the end of the poem, Spenser has largely lost faith in the restoration of this Golden Age; what he has uncovered along the way forces a retreat to Christian hope in his personal salvation.

中文翻译：

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埃德蒙·斯宾塞的古老希望：仙后黄金时代之梦的兴衰

在 20 世纪后期和 21 世纪初期，一场关于埃德蒙·斯宾塞诗歌中柏拉图和新柏拉图主题的来源和意义的争论不休。虽然这场辩论集中在柏拉图主义和/或新柏拉图主义的各个方面的存在（或不存在）上，但批评者在很大程度上忽略了源自新柏拉图主义的魔法暗示。通过约翰·迪、马西里奥·菲奇诺和乔尔丹诺·布鲁诺的可能影响以及斯宾塞自己广泛而特别的阅读，《仙后》清楚地表明，这位英国诗人发现自己被一种古老的希望所吸引，希望恢复黄金时代那将由一位伟大的君主揭幕。然而，在诗的结尾，斯宾塞已经对这个黄金时代的恢复失去了信心。