The frame thereof seemd partly circulare,
And part triangulare, O worke divine;
These two the first and last proportions are,
The one imperfect, mortall, foeminine;
Th' other immortall, perfect, masculine,
And twixt them both a quadrate was the base
Proportioned equally by seven and nine;
Nine was the circle set in heavens place,
All which compacted made a goodly diapase.
—The Faerie Queene,ii. ix. 22
To offer one more interpretation of the meaning of Spenser's cryptic “House of Alma” may appear like the gratuitous opening of an old wound. I do so only in the fond belief that my proposed therapy will produce a lasting cure, since it satisfies the twin requirements of entire self-consistency and consistency with the Aristotelian ethics which dominate both the canto and book of which this stanza is a part.