Introduction

Edmund Spenser (/ˈspɛnsər/; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an

English poet best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and
fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He
is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of nascent Modern
English verse, and is often considered one of the greatest poets in the
English language.
Edmund Spenser, the man who blended renaissance and
reformation perfectly is the master of Elizabethan poetry. He has
penned so many sonnet sequences that are still remembered as the
noblest of all. . Renaissance brought in a lot of interesting features to
poetry such as innovative taste in music, rich imagination, fine
expression, moral chastity, strong patriotic feelings and reincarnation
of beauty.
Edmund Spenser as a Poet

Edmund Spenser was the true child of Renaissance

Renaissance basically occurred with a transformation in culture, arts
and literature. Reformation on the other hand tended to converting
people to a new holy religion, Protestantism. Many poets were deeply
inspired by Renaissance in the 16th and 17th century. However,
Edmund Spenser was the true child of Renaissance

Spenserian Poetry incorporates thematic writing and stupendous

stylistics. His works, Epithalamion and Prothalamion are
eminent pieces of love poems. Fairie Queene, six separate books with
the main theme in the seventh book, stands as one of the best
allegorical pieces from the era of renaissance until now. The concept of
Fairie Queene, in deeper sense reveals the conflict between
Catholicism and Protestantism. Spenser, a protestant himself was
always against the two-facedness of Catholic Papacy. Spenser penned
the Shepherd’s calendar, which is essentially a verse of careful
combination of rustic and archaic words, a project that was wholly
dedicated to Sir. Phillip Sidney. The poem covered 12 pastoral verses
or eclogues each corresponding to a month of the year.

Spenser never encouraged the effect of mysticism and all that he

wanted is intellect to rule his thoughts and works. Renaissance, once
again, was the cause of his liberation of thought. Spenser employs just
the right blend of rhythm and words inviting readers across the globe.

In Spenserian poetry, serious lack of unity persists. Alongside,

disjoint verses and characters, Spenser also wanted to prioritize
poetry over fields like philosophy, religion, arts and science which is a
practically impossible idea. Sometimes, Spenser’s thoughtlessness also
accounts to his vague writing.

Brushing aside the negatives, we can find a lot of readers who research
sincerely on Spenserian beauty in writing. As an innovation in literary
writing, renaissance and Edmund Spenser paired to perfect the
horizon of English Literature in England.
Chief characteristics about Spenser’s poetry
 The first really commanding figure in the Elizabethan period,
and one of the chief of all English poets, is Edmund Spenser.

 Spenser was called a Poet's Poet and was admired by William

Wordsworth, John Keats, Lord Byron and Alfred Lord Tennyson,
among others.
 The language of his poetry is purposely archaic, reminiscent of
earlier works such as The Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer
and Il Canzoniere of Francesco Petrarca, whom Spenser greatly
admired.

 Spenser's Epithalamion is the most admired of its type in the

English language. It was written for his wedding to his young
bride, Elizabeth Boyle.
 The poem consists of 365 long lines, corresponding to the days of
the year; 68 short lines, representing the sum of the 52 weeks, 12
months, and 4 seasons of the annual cycle; and 24 stanzas,
corresponding to the diurnal and sidereal hours.

 Spenser's masterpiece is the huge epic poem The Faerie

Queene. The first three books of The Faerie Queene were
published in 1590, and a second set of three books were
published in 1596.
 This extended epic poem deals with the adventures of knights,
dragons, ladies in distress, etc. yet it is also an extended allegory
about the moral life and what makes for a life of virtue.
 Spenser originally indicated that he intended the poem to be
twelve books long, so there is some argument about whether the
version we have is in any real sense complete.

Learned and Well Versed in Literature 

Spenser is a learned man, well-versed in literature and Mythology of
ancient Greece and Rome, as well as in literature of his own age.
Spenser has read widely of ancient literature and in his own works
reference to Ovid, Homer, Aristo, Ronsard, Petrarch, Tasso, etc. are
frequent. No one, therefore, can hope to understand and enjoy the
poetry of Spenser who is not familiar with 
(1) the classical mythology 
(2) classical literature 
(3) pastoral tradition of Greece and Rome, and 
(4) the philosophy of Aristotle and Plato. 

In other words, Spenser is not for the common man; he is for the
learned few. He is really a poet’s poet, and not a poet for all and
sundry. 

Noble Conception of Poetry 

Spenser gave to the poets, not only of his own age, but of all ages, a
high and noble conception of their calling. Together with Plato, Ovid,
and Horace he believed that the poet was a creator like God, and so
shared some of his immortality. The poet should work with faith and
devotion because he was sure to be rewarded with immortal fame. 

He believed that poetry was a divine gift bestowed upon a few

favoured mortals. It could not be had by labour or learning, but was
the result of celestial inspirations. Poetry was the language of the gods,
and men could not be its interpreters unless ‘they were
consecrated from their birth and dedicated to this
ministry’ (Renwick). It is this high sense of his vocation which
differentiates Spenser from other poets, and makes him the leader,
and the prince of poets. Spenser was truly an inspired poet, and a
source of inspiration for others. 
A Patriotic Poet 

The age of Spenser was an age of intense patriotism. In war, traffic and
exploration, England could already hold her own with the nations of
the world. But she lagged far behind in the domain of poetry. Chaucer,
no doubt, had written great poetry, but he could not equal the
performance of the great conventional poets, both ancient and
modern. This was Spenser’s mission and he performed it successfully.
He set out to endow England with poetry great in kind, in style, in
thought. He showed the world that Modern England was capable of
poetry as great as that of any other age and country, that he had her
share of poetic power, of art and learning. 

Structure of the Spenserian Stanza and Sonnet 

Spenser used a distinctive verse form, called the Spenserian stanza, in

several works, including The Faerie Queene. The stanza's main meter
is iambic pentameter with a final line in iambic hexameter (having six
feet or stresses, known as an Alexandrine), and the rhyme scheme is
ababbcbcc. 

The Spenserian sonnet is based on a fusion of elements of both the

Petrarchan sonnet and the Shakespearean sonnet. It is similar to the
Shakespearean sonnet in the sense that its set up is based more on the
3 quatrains and a couplet, a system set up by Shakespeare; however it
is more like the Petrarchan tradition in the fact that the conclusion
follows from the argument or issue set up in the earlier quatrains. 

Services to English Versification 

Spenser’s services to English style, diction and versification are

innumerable. He demonstrated that the English language was as
capable of subtlety and emotion as any that boasted of their
magnificence. In his age the English language and grammar was still
in a flux and as Renwick points out, ‘He treated the English
language as if it belonged to him and not he to it’. 
He coined new words, imported many from France and Italy, and
saved many an obsolete word from oblivion. In order to further
increase the vocabulary, he used terms of hunting and hawking, of
seamanship, of art, of archery, of armory, and of law and philosophy. 

Ben Jonson objected to Spenser’s language when he said he ‘writ no

language’. The purists like the learned Ben, have called his language
a ‘gallimaufry of hotchpotch of all other speeches’. 

But much of this criticism is not based on facts, and so is wholly

unjustified. Aristotle permitted the use of an unfamiliar vocabulary,
alteration and coinage of words for achieving a lofty style. The only
condition, he put emphasis on, was the careful observation of the rules
of decorum. Spenser is true to this long critical tradition. 

He made English language very flexible, effective and forceful. 

He interchanged parts of speech, made one word do the service of

another, freely dropped prepositions and thus imparted to the English
language a rare flexibility and beauty. He is truly the poet-maker, one
who inspired others to achieve greatness in the field. 

Spenser’s greatest contribution to English versification is the

Spenserian stanza. It has been admired by countless critics and
imitated by all poets, both great and small, since its introduction. ‘The
services’, says J.R. Lowell, ‘which Spenser did to our literature
by his exquisite sense of harmony is incalculable’. 

He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of Modern English

verse in its infancy, and one of the greatest poets in the English
language.