The
_Shepheards
Calender_ was published in the winter of 1579 with a
grateful and complimentary dedication to Sidney.
grateful and complimentary dedication to Sidney.
Spenser - Faerie Queene - 1
He became one of
the most learned of English poets, and we may infer that while at this seat
of learning he laid the foundations for his wide scholarship in the
diligent study of the Greek and Latin classics, the philosophy of Plato and
Aristotle, the pastoral poetry of Theocritus and Vergil, and the great
mediaeval epics of Italian literature. On account of some misunderstanding
with the master and tutors of his college, Spenser failed to receive the
appointment to a fellowship, and left the University in 1576, at the age of
twenty-four. His failure to attain the highest scholastic recognition was
due, it is supposed, to his being involved in some of the dangerous
controversies which were ripe in Cambridge at that time "with daily
spawning of new opinions and heresies in divinity, in philosophy, in
humanity, and in manners. "
On leaving the University, Spenser resided for about a year with relatives
in Lancashire, where he found employment. During this time he had an
unrequited love affair with an unknown beauty whom he celebrated in the
_Shepheards Calender_ under the name of Rosalind, "the widow's daughter of
the glen. " A rival, Menalchas, was more successful in finding favor with
his fair neighbor. Although he had before this turned his attention to
poetry by translating the sonnets of Petrarch and Du Bellay (published in
1569), it was while here in the North country that he first showed his high
poetic gifts in original composition.
After a visit to Sir Philip Sidney at Penshurst, Spenser went down to
London with his friend in 1578, and was presented to Sidney's great uncle,
the Earl of Leicester. He thus at once had an opportunity for advancement
through the influence of powerful patrons, a necessity with poor young
authors in that age. An immediate result of his acquaintance with Sidney,
with whom he was now on relations of intimate friendship, was an
introduction into the best society of the metropolis. This period of
association with many of the most distinguished and cultivated men in
England, together with the succession of brilliant pageants, masks, and
processions, which he witnessed at court and at Lord Leicester's mansion,
must have done much to refine his tastes and broaden his outlook on the
world.
In personal appearance Spenser was a fine type of a sixteenth century
gentleman. The grace and dignity of his bearing was enhanced by a face of
tender and thoughtful expression in which warmth of feeling was subdued by
the informing spirit of refinement, truthfulness, simplicity, and nobility.
He possessed a fine dome-like forehead, curling hair, brown eyes, full
sensuous lips, and a nose that was straight and strongly moulded. His long
spare face was adorned with a full mustache and a closely cropped Van Dyke
beard.
The _Shepheards Calender_ was published in the winter of 1579 with a
grateful and complimentary dedication to Sidney. It is an academic exercise
consisting of a series of twelve pastoral poems in imitation of the
eclogues of Vergil and Theocritus. The poem is cast in the form of
dialogues between shepherds, who converse on such subjects as love,
religion, and old age. In three eclogues the poet attacks with Puritan zeal
the pomp and sloth of the worldly clergy, and one is devoted to the courtly
praise of the queen. It was at once recognized as the most notable poem
that had appeared since the death of Chaucer, and placed Spenser
immediately at the head of living English poets.
In 1580 Spenser went over to Ireland as private secretary to Lord Grey of
Wilton, the Artegall of the Legend of Justice in the _Faerie Queene_. After
the recall of his patron he remained in that turbulent island in various
civil positions for the rest of his life, with the exception of two or
three visits and a last sad flight to England. For seven years he was clerk
of the Court of Chancery in Dublin, and then was appointed clerk to the
Council of Munster. In 1586 he was granted the forfeited estate of the Earl
of Desmond in Cork County, and two years later took up his residence in
Kilcolman Castle, which was beautifully situated on a lake with a distant
view of mountains. In the disturbed political condition of the country,
life here seemed a sort of exile to the poet, but its very loneliness and
danger gave the stimulus needed for the development of his peculiar genius.
"Here," says Mr. Stopford Brooke, "at the foot of the Galtees, and bordered
to the north by the wild country, the scenery of which is frequently
painted in the _Faerie Queene_ and in whose woods and savage places such
adventures constantly took place in the service of Elizabeth as are
recorded in the _Faerie Queene_, the first three books of that great poem
were finished. " Spenser had spent the first three years of his residence at
Kilcolman at work on this masterpiece, which had been begun in England,
under the encouragement of Sidney, probably before 1580. The knightly
Sidney died heroically at the battle of Zutphen, in 1586, and Spenser
voiced the lament of all England in the beautiful pastoral elegy
_Astrophel_ which he composed in memory of "the most noble and valorous
knight. "
Soon after coming to Ireland, Spenser made the acquaintance of Sir Walter
Raleigh, which erelong ripened into intimate friendship. A memorable visit
from Raleigh, who was now a neighbor of the poet's, having also received a
part of the forfeited Desmond estate, led to the publication of the _Faerie
Queene_.
the most learned of English poets, and we may infer that while at this seat
of learning he laid the foundations for his wide scholarship in the
diligent study of the Greek and Latin classics, the philosophy of Plato and
Aristotle, the pastoral poetry of Theocritus and Vergil, and the great
mediaeval epics of Italian literature. On account of some misunderstanding
with the master and tutors of his college, Spenser failed to receive the
appointment to a fellowship, and left the University in 1576, at the age of
twenty-four. His failure to attain the highest scholastic recognition was
due, it is supposed, to his being involved in some of the dangerous
controversies which were ripe in Cambridge at that time "with daily
spawning of new opinions and heresies in divinity, in philosophy, in
humanity, and in manners. "
On leaving the University, Spenser resided for about a year with relatives
in Lancashire, where he found employment. During this time he had an
unrequited love affair with an unknown beauty whom he celebrated in the
_Shepheards Calender_ under the name of Rosalind, "the widow's daughter of
the glen. " A rival, Menalchas, was more successful in finding favor with
his fair neighbor. Although he had before this turned his attention to
poetry by translating the sonnets of Petrarch and Du Bellay (published in
1569), it was while here in the North country that he first showed his high
poetic gifts in original composition.
After a visit to Sir Philip Sidney at Penshurst, Spenser went down to
London with his friend in 1578, and was presented to Sidney's great uncle,
the Earl of Leicester. He thus at once had an opportunity for advancement
through the influence of powerful patrons, a necessity with poor young
authors in that age. An immediate result of his acquaintance with Sidney,
with whom he was now on relations of intimate friendship, was an
introduction into the best society of the metropolis. This period of
association with many of the most distinguished and cultivated men in
England, together with the succession of brilliant pageants, masks, and
processions, which he witnessed at court and at Lord Leicester's mansion,
must have done much to refine his tastes and broaden his outlook on the
world.
In personal appearance Spenser was a fine type of a sixteenth century
gentleman. The grace and dignity of his bearing was enhanced by a face of
tender and thoughtful expression in which warmth of feeling was subdued by
the informing spirit of refinement, truthfulness, simplicity, and nobility.
He possessed a fine dome-like forehead, curling hair, brown eyes, full
sensuous lips, and a nose that was straight and strongly moulded. His long
spare face was adorned with a full mustache and a closely cropped Van Dyke
beard.
The _Shepheards Calender_ was published in the winter of 1579 with a
grateful and complimentary dedication to Sidney. It is an academic exercise
consisting of a series of twelve pastoral poems in imitation of the
eclogues of Vergil and Theocritus. The poem is cast in the form of
dialogues between shepherds, who converse on such subjects as love,
religion, and old age. In three eclogues the poet attacks with Puritan zeal
the pomp and sloth of the worldly clergy, and one is devoted to the courtly
praise of the queen. It was at once recognized as the most notable poem
that had appeared since the death of Chaucer, and placed Spenser
immediately at the head of living English poets.
In 1580 Spenser went over to Ireland as private secretary to Lord Grey of
Wilton, the Artegall of the Legend of Justice in the _Faerie Queene_. After
the recall of his patron he remained in that turbulent island in various
civil positions for the rest of his life, with the exception of two or
three visits and a last sad flight to England. For seven years he was clerk
of the Court of Chancery in Dublin, and then was appointed clerk to the
Council of Munster. In 1586 he was granted the forfeited estate of the Earl
of Desmond in Cork County, and two years later took up his residence in
Kilcolman Castle, which was beautifully situated on a lake with a distant
view of mountains. In the disturbed political condition of the country,
life here seemed a sort of exile to the poet, but its very loneliness and
danger gave the stimulus needed for the development of his peculiar genius.
"Here," says Mr. Stopford Brooke, "at the foot of the Galtees, and bordered
to the north by the wild country, the scenery of which is frequently
painted in the _Faerie Queene_ and in whose woods and savage places such
adventures constantly took place in the service of Elizabeth as are
recorded in the _Faerie Queene_, the first three books of that great poem
were finished. " Spenser had spent the first three years of his residence at
Kilcolman at work on this masterpiece, which had been begun in England,
under the encouragement of Sidney, probably before 1580. The knightly
Sidney died heroically at the battle of Zutphen, in 1586, and Spenser
voiced the lament of all England in the beautiful pastoral elegy
_Astrophel_ which he composed in memory of "the most noble and valorous
knight. "
Soon after coming to Ireland, Spenser made the acquaintance of Sir Walter
Raleigh, which erelong ripened into intimate friendship. A memorable visit
from Raleigh, who was now a neighbor of the poet's, having also received a
part of the forfeited Desmond estate, led to the publication of the _Faerie
Queene_.
