Edmund Spenser

Amoretti, and Epithalamion (Dodo Press) Edmund Spenser

Edmund Spenser (c.1552-1599) was an important English poet best known for The Faerie Queene (1590, 1596), an epic poem celebrating, through fantastical allegory, the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English verse in its infancy. He used a distinctive verse form, called the Spenserian stanza, in several works, including The Faerie Queene. His Epithalamion (1595) is the most admired of its type in the English language. It was written for his wedding to his young bride, Elizabeth Boyle. Through his poetry he hoped to secure a place at court, which he visited in Walter Raleigh's company to deliver The Faerie Queene. However, he boldly antagonized the queen's principal secretary, Lord Burghley, and all he received in recognition of his work was a pension in 1591. His other works include: The Shepheardes Calender (1579), Complaints (1591), Daphnaïda (1594), Astrophel (1595), Amoretti (1595), Fovvre Hymnes (1596) and Prothalamion (1596).