fidessa

Updated: May 21, 2025

SECTION LXXIX. Sixth side. Falsehood. An old woman leaning on a crutch; and inscribed in the copy, "FALSITAS IN ME SEMPER EST." The Fidessa of Spenser, the great enemy of Una, or Truth, is far more subtly conceived, probably not without special reference to the Papal deceits. In her true form she is a loathsome hag, but in her outward aspect, SECTION LXXX. Seventh side. Injustice.

John Ruskin - Stones of Venice [introductions]

Poet, of whom almost nothing is known, pub. in 1596 a collection of 62 sonnets under the title of Fidessa, of which some are excellent. Dramatist, novelist, and poet, s. of a tradesman, b. and ed. in Limerick, he went in 1823 to London, where most of his literary work was produced.

John W. (John William) Cousin - A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature