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Edmund Spenser
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Died: January 13, 1599, in Westminster, London, England
Edmund Spenser was an English poet who lived during the Renaissance period in England and is best know for his work the Faerie Queene.
He was the oldest of three children born to John, a clothes maker, and Elizabeth. The family may have been from Lancashire. He studied Greek, Latin, Hebrew, French, English, music and acting under Richard Mulcaster, a controversial headmaster thought women should also be educated, although he was not allowed to do so. Spenser also attended Pembroke Hall, Cambridge.
Spenser contributed to the translations of Petrarch and Du Bellay that were published in an anti-Catholic anthology by Dutch Calvinist, Jan van der Noodt. He also wrote Hymne in Honor of Love and Beautie which were published in 1596.
Throughout his early career, Spenser secured patronage positions, starting with a secretary position with John Young the Bishop of Rochester in 1578 and advancing to secretary to Lord Grey de Wilton, the lord deputy of Ireland.
In 1579, he married Maccabeus Chylde. This same year, he started writing The Faerie Queene and published some works based on his alter ego, Colin Clout.
Later in 1580 he moved to Ireland on a semi-permanent basis until 1598. He held several positions in Ireland, eventually becoming the deputy to the clerk of the council of Munster. He leased the castle Kilcolman in Cork in 1588. The castle was burned during Tyrone's Rebellion in 1598 and Spenser returned to England later that year.
The Faerie Queene was a chivalric romance that incorporated historical allegory. The construction of the work was unique, and was later named the Spenserian stanza. The work was intended to include twelve books, but only six were completed. The character of Gloriana represents Queen Elizabeth I, who is protected by twelve knights.
Spenser died penniless at Westminster and was buried next to Chaucer in Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. One of his works, A View on the Present State of Ireland (1633), was published posthumously.
The Faerie Queen
English poet who was the first great
writer of the Elizabethan age. Often called “the Poet’s Poet,” he developed
the nine-line Spenserian stanza (an ababbcbcc rhyme scheme) which was widely imitated by
poets in later times.
