Harold M Priest - CliffsNotes on Spensers The Faerie Queene

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Diverse admirers have applied various well-meaning labels to Spenser. To some he is the poet-painter, to some the poet-musician, to some the poets poet. The first two epithets point up aspects of his genius which deserve attention. The last term, poets poet, ought to suggest that he deserves serious attention, even though on short acquaintance he impresses one as difficult to read and foreign to our customary literary diet.

Several uncommon aspects of Spensers poem present obstacles to the uninitiated reader. His vocabulary and his system of spelling are quaintly archaic, even for his time, and require becoming accustomed to. His story treats of fantastic adventures of knights and dragons in Fairy Land. The significance of the adventures is loaded with a complicated system of allegorical interpretations. And he introduces a myriad of episodes which are imitations of famous earlier works of literature.

It is perfectly possible to read The Faerie Queene for its colorful romantic action and for the sheer delight of its imagery and harmonious verse, paying no attention to the allegorical undercurrents or to the mosaic of literary adaptations; but to follow this procedure is to deprive oneself of important dimensions of the poem. It is like studying great paintings by viewing black-and-white reproductions. For this reason, explanatory notes and commentaries are indispensable to the modern reader of The Faerie Queene.

Spensers life span is almost identical with the Elizabethan Age, one of the most brilliant periods in the history of England. Born in 1552, he died in 1599. Son of a poor London family, he nevertheless received the best education England had to offer, thanks to the patronage of Robert Nowell, a wealthy Londoner. After preparing at the Merchant Taylors School under the famous humanist educator Richard Mulcaster, he studied at Pembroke College, Cambridge, 156976, where he earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees. Among the friendships he formed at the university, that of Gabriel Harvey was most influential and enduring.

Leaving Cambridge with a good record and a few published poems and translations to his credit, he entered the great world with high hopes of advancement through a public appointment. After a brief period as secretary to the Bishop of Rochester, he entered the service of the Earl of Leicester, one of the most powerful figures at Elizabeths court. His friendship with Leicesters nephew, Sir Philip Sidney, sprang from a mutual enthusiasm for literature. Sidney and Spenser, together with a small group of friends, formed an informal association called the Areopagus, for experimenting and elevating English poetry.

Spensers political alignment with the Leicester-Sidney party, opposed to Lord Burghleys faction, was to influence his personal life as well as his political thinking and his writings. The Duc dAlenon affairthe proposed wedding of the Frenchman to Queen Elizabeth, which Burghley supported and Leicester opposedwas to figure in several of Spensers works.

In 1579 Spenser published The Shepheardes Calender, a small volume of twelve pastoral poems, which immediately established his reputation as an important poet. It was perhaps the best poetry to appear in English since the death of Chaucer.

In 1580 Spenser accepted a post as secretary to Arthur Lord Grey of Wilton, who was being sent to Ireland as Lord Deputy. This move was decisive, for Spenser was to remain a resident of Ireland during the rest of his life. Lord Greys tenure was brief and violent, but the poet held him in admiration and affection, giving him prominent recognition in The Faerie Queene. Spenser held several official posts in Ireland, including Clerk of the Council of Munster and Sheriff of Cork. In 1586 he was granted the property of Kilcolman Castle and 3,000 acres of land between Limerick and Cork.

Sir Walter Raleigh visited Spenser while traveling in Ireland, and Spenser accompanied him to London in 1589. There Spenser supervised the publication of the first three books of The Faerie Queene, issued in 1590. The following year several other works were published, collected in a volume entitled Complaints Containing Sundry Small Poemes of the Worlds Vanitie. The most famous of these poems are: Prosopopoia, or Mother Hubberds Tale and Muiopotmos, or the Fate of the Butterfly, both fanciful fables with undercurrents of political satire.

After nearly two years in London, he returned to Ireland. His journey and experiences at court were recorded in a poem, Colin Clouts Come Home Again. The poets courtship and marriage to Elizabeth Boyle (1594) inspired the famous sonnet sequence Amoretti and his marriage hymn Epithalamion, which were published together in 1595. Also 1595 marked a second visit to London. In 1596 he published Four Hymns, Daphnada, and Prothalamion in addition to a second edition of The Faerie Queene, containing the first six books.

A fierce Irish rebellion in 1598 led by Tyrone ONeill forced Spenser to abandon Kilcolman Castle, which was sacked, and to take refuge in the walled city of Cork. He journeyed to London in December, 1598, with messages from the beleaguered English officials. There he died early in 1599 and was buried in Westminster Abbey close by the grave of Chaucer.

The sixteenth century is commonly designated as the high period of the Age of the Renaissance. That designation suggests mainly the extravagant productivity in art, letters, science, and philosophy. Great names are legion: for example, Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, Titian; Ariosto, Tasso, Rabelais, Montaigne, Cervantes; Sir Thomas More, Sidney, Spenser, Marlowe, Shakespeareto name a few. The century is also designated as the Age of Discovery. Following the voyages of Columbus (1492) and Vasco de Gama (1498), European sailors boldly explored new continents and new oceans; and colonies were established in strange, newly discovered territories.