No More Learning

Spenser lived in the afterglow of the great age of chivalry. The passing
glories of knighthood in its flower impressed his imagination like a
gorgeous dream, and he was thus inspired to catch and crystallize into
permanent art its romantic spirit and heroic deeds. Into the framework of
his romance of chivalry he inserted a veiled picture of the struggles and
sufferings of his own people in Ireland. The _Faerie Queene_ might almost
be called the epic of the English conquest of Ireland. The poet himself and
many of his friends were in that unhappy island as representatives of the
queen's government, trying to pacify the natives, and establish law and
order out of discontent and anarchy. Spenser's poem was written for the
most part amidst all these scenes of misery and disorder, and the courage,
justice, and energy shown by his countrymen were aptly portrayed under the
allegory of a mighty spiritual warfare of the knights of old against the
power of evil.

Spenser's essay on _A View of the Present State of Ireland_ shows that, far
from shutting himself up in a fool's paradise of fancy, he was fully awake
to the social and political condition of that turbulent island, and that it
furnished him with concrete examples of those vices and virtues, bold
encounters and hair-breadth escapes, strange wanderings and deeds of
violence, with which he has crowded the allegory of the _Faerie Queene_.

II. THE AUTHOR OF THE _FAERIE QUEENE_

Edmund Spenser was born in London near the Tower in the year 1552. His
parents were poor, though they were probably connected with the Lancashire
branch of the old family of Le Despensers, "an house of ancient fame," from
which the Northampton Spencers were also descended. The poet's familiarity
with the rural life and dialect of the north country supports the theory
that as a boy he spent some time in Lancashire. Beyond two or three facts,
nothing is known with certainty of his early years. He himself tells us
that his mother's name was Elizabeth, and that London was his "most kindly
nurse. " His name is mentioned as one of six poor pupils of the Merchant
Taylors' School, who received assistance from a generous country squire.

At the age of seventeen, Master Edmund became a student in Pembroke Hall,
one of the colleges of the great University of Cambridge.
His position was
that of a sizar, or paid scholar, who was exempt from the payment of
tuition fees and earned his way by serving in the dining hall or performing
other menial duties. His poverty, however, did not prevent him from forming
many helpful friendships with his fellow-students. Among his most valued
friends he numbered Launcelot Andrews, afterward Bishop of Winchester,
Edward Kirke, a young man of Spenser's own age, who soon after edited his
friend's first important poem, the _Shepheards Calender_, with elaborate
notes, and most important of all, the famous classical scholar, a fellow of
Pembroke, Gabriel Harvey, who was a few years older than Spenser, and was
later immortalized as the Hobbinoll of the _Faerie Queene_. It was by
Harvey that the poet was introduced to Sir Philip Sidney, the most
accomplished gentleman in England, and a favorite of Queen Elizabeth.

Spenser's residence in Cambridge extended over seven years, during which he
received the usual degrees of bachelor and master of arts. 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.