EDMUND SPENSER.

71. His Position.- For more than one hundred and fifty years no poet worthy to bear the mantle of Chaucer had appeared in England. But, as we have seen, mighty movements had been going on in Europe, the revival of letters, great inventions and discoveries, and the widespread religious movement known as the Reformation. It was an age of great thoughts and aspirations and of marvellous achievement. The time had at length come, under the prosperous and illustrious reign of Elizabeth, for English greatness to mirror itself in literature. A group of great writers arose. To Edmund Spenser belongs the honor of having been the first genius to reflect the greatness of his age and country in an imperishable poem, and to add new lustre to a splendid period in English history.

72. Few Biographical Details. As with Chaucer, we have to lament the meagreness of detail connected with the life of Spenser. The year 1552, which is determined by an incidental and not wholly conclusive reference in one of his sonnets, is commonly accepted as the year of his birth. The place of his birth, not otherwise known, is likewise determined by a passage in his "Prothalamion," a poem written near the close of his life:

"At length they all to merry London came,
To merry London, my most kindly nurse,
That to me gave this life's first native source,
Though from another place I take my name,
An house of ancient fame."

73. At Cambridge.- Nothing is known of his parents; but, as he was a charity student, it is to be inferred that they were in humble circumstances. He received his preparatory training at the Merchant Taylor School, and at the age of

seventeen entered Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, where he earned his board by acting as sizar or waiter. He took the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1572, and that of Master of Arts four years later. The particulars of his life at Cambridge are, for the most part, matters of mere conjecture. We may safely infer from his broad scholarship that he was a diligent student. His writings show an intimate acquaintance, not only with classical antiquity, but also with the great writers — Chaucer, Dante, Tasso, Ariosto, Marot of the dawning modern era. 74. "The Shepherd's Calendar."- A friendship with Gabriel Harvey, a fellow of Pembroke Hall, and an enthusiastic writer and educator, was not without influence upon his poetical career. Harvey encouraged Spenser in his early literary efforts; but it is fortunate that his advice failed to turn the poet's genius to the drama. After leaving the university, Spenser spent a year or two in the north of England (it is impossible to be more definite), where he wrote his first important work, "The Shepherd's Calendar." It was inspired by a deep but unfortunate affection for a country lass, who appears in the poem under the anagrammatic name of Rosalinde. Her identity, a puzzle to critics, remained for a long time undetermined; but an American writer, with great ingenuity, has shown almost beyond question that the young lady was Rose Daniel, sister to the poet of that name.1

75. Residence in Ireland. Upon the advice of Harvey, Spenser went to London. He met Sir Philip Sidney, by whom he was introduced at court, and put in the way of preferment. He fell in readily with court life, wore a pointed beard and fashionable mustache, and acquired a light tone in speaking of women a levity that soon gave place to a truly chivalrous regard. In 1580 he was appointed secretary to Lord Grey, deputy to Ireland, and accompanied that official through the bloody scenes connected with the suppression of Desmond's rebellion. The duties assigned him were ably performed; and. in recognition of his services, he received in 1586, as a grant, Kilcolman Castle and three thousand acres of land in the

I. See Atlantic Monthly, November, 1858.

county of Cork. Here he afterward made his home, occasionally visiting London to seek preferment or to publish some new work. Though his home was not without the attraction of beautiful surroundings, he looked upon his life there as a sort of banishment. In one of his poems he speaks of

"My luckless lot,

That banisht had myself, like wight forlore,
Into that waste, where I was quite forgot."

76. Visit of Raleigh.- In 1589 he was visited by Sir Walter Raleigh, to whom he read the first three books of the Faery Queene." Seated in the midst of an attractive landscape, the poet and the hero make a pleasing picture as they discuss the merits of a work: that is to begin a new era in English literature. Raleigh was so delighted with the poem that he urged the author to take it to London-advice that was eagerly followed. The poet was granted an audience by Elizábeth, and favored with the patronage of several noble ladies; but further than a pension of fifty pounds, which does not appear to have been regularly paid, he received no substantial recognition.

77. Disappointment at Court. This result was a disappointment to Spenser, who had hoped that his literary fame would lead to higher political preferment. In "Colin Clout's Come Home Again," a poem in which the incidents of this visit are embodied, he speaks of the court in a tone of disappointment and bitterness. In a prefatory letter addressed to Raleigh, who figures in the poem under the title of "Shepherd of the Ocean," Spenser says that the work agrees "with the truth in circumstance and matter”; and from this declaration it may be inferred that his portrayal of court life was drawn, not from imagination, but from experience: ·

"For, sooth to say, it is no sort of life

For shepherd fit to lead in that same place,

Where each one seeks with malice, and with strife,

To thrust down other in foul disgrace,

Himself to raise: and he doth soonest rise

That best can handle his deceitful wit

In subtle shifts."

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78. Beginning of the "Faery Queene."- The first three books of the "Faery Queene" were published in 1590, and were received with an outburst of applause. Spenser took rank as the first of living poets. "The admiration of this great poem," says Hallam, was unanimous and enthusiastic. No academy had been trained to carp at his genius with minute cavilling; no recent popularity, no traditional fame (for Chaucer was rather venerated than much in the hands of the reader) interfered with the immediate recognition of his supremacy. The 'Faery Queene' became at once the delight of every accomplished gentleman, the model of every poet, and the solace of every scholar." Spenser remained in London about a year in the enjoyment of his newly won reputation and in the pursuit of preferment. But in the latter he was disappointed, and returned to Ireland, as we have seen, with a feeling of resentment toward the manners and morals of the court.

79. Marriage.- In 1594 he married a lady by the name of Elizabeth her family name remaining uncertain. In his Amoretti, or Sonnets," he describes the beginning and progress of his affection. These sonnets are interesting, not only for their purity and delicacy of feeling, but also for the light they throw on the poet's life. Whatever may have been the real character of the Irish maiden he celebrates, in the poems she is idealized into great beauty. It was only after a protracted suit that the poet met with encouragement and was able to say,

"After long storms' and tempests' sad assay,
Which hardly I endured heretofore,

In dread of death, and dangerous dismay,
With which my silly bark was tossed sore;

I do at length descry the happy shore,

In which I hope ere long for to arrive:

Fair soil it seems from far, and fraught with store
Of all that dear and dainty is alive."