Edmund spenser

Edmund spenser was an English poet best known for the faerie Queene an epic poem. He is recognised as one of the premier craftmen of nascent modern english verse and is often considered one of the greatest poet in the English language

1. Edmund Spenser Presented by : Dhruvita Dhameliya Roll no : 06 Subject : History of English Literature from - 1350 to 1900 Topic : Edmund Spenser’s life and work Submitted to : S. B. Gardi Department of English, MKBU

2. Points to ponder: Spenser's life Spenser's works Spenser's achivement Spenser's Death

3. E dmund Spenser The exact dates and location of Spenser's life are not precisely known but it is believed that he was born in East Smithfield, London around the year 1552. He was educated in the classics at merchant Taylor school, in a humanist environment where music and dramatic performance were encouraged. At the age of 16 or 17 Spenser left merchant Taylor's to attend Pembroke college, Cambridge in 1569. Spenser was awarded a B.A in 1573 and an M.A in 1576. Spenser published his first poetic work : The shepheardes Calender, ten years later , he then began work on The faerie Queene which was published in 1590 .

4. Spen ser's work : 1 ) The shepheardes Calender (1579) 2) The Faerie Queene 3) Epithalamion 4) Amoretti 5) prothalamion

5. Th e shepheardes Calender: Spen ser's first major poem, published in 1579. Dedicated to sir Philip Sidney. The Shepheardes Calender is written in the form of pastoral Eclouges. Written in 12 Eclouges dedicated to each month of year. Main theme : Love , poetry and religion. The poems are peopled by shepherds who represents Spenser and his friends. Spenser appears as Collin clout , whose love affair and rejection by Rosalinde centralise poem artistically.

6. The faerie Queene Spenser 's skillful blending of religious and historical allegory with chivalric romance. The Faerie Queene is an English epic poem by Edmund Spenser. Book 1 to 3 were first published in 1590, then republished in 1596 together with books 4 to 6. The Faerie Queene notable for its form : at over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 stanzas.it is one of the longest poems in the English language, it is also the work in which Spenser invented the verse form known as the spenserian Stanza.

7. The Faerie Queene : On a literal level, th e poem follows several knights as a means to examine different virtues and though the text is primarily an allegorical work. It can be read on several levels of allegory including as praise of Queen Elizabeth - 1 Political allegory Religious and moral allegory

8. Spenserian Stanza : Spenser's greatest contribution was the spenserian stanza which firmly established itself as a metre of all kin ds of narrative or reflective poetry. The spenserian stanza is a fixed verse form. Each stanza contains nine lines in total eight lines in iambic pentameter followed by a single ‘ Alexandrine’ line in Iambic hexameter. The rhyme scheme of these lines is ‘ ABABBCBCC’. This excercised the deepest ‘ fascination on romantic poets and was used admirable by, Thomas in ‘ The castle of indolence’ , Keats in the ‘ Eve of St.Agnes’ ,Shelley in ‘ Revolt of Islam’ and Byron in ‘Childe Harold’s pilgrimage’

9. Achivement : Spenser was called “ The Poet’s poet by Charles Lamb. Alexander pope compared Spenser to ‘ a mistress, whose faults we see, but love her with them all’. Spenser's poetry is characterised by sensuousness and spelndid imagination, perfect melody. John Milton in his Areopagitica mentions “ Our sage and serious poet Spenser,whom I dare be known to think a better teacher than scotus or Aquinas”

10. Continue …. According to Long, “ it is Spenser’s idealism, his love of beauty and his exquisite melody which have caused him to be known as ‘ The poet's poet’. John Dryden, ‘Dedication to the Aeneid no man was ever born with greater genius or had more knowledge to support it’. Leigh Hunt, ‘imagination and fancy I think that if he had not been a great poet he would have been a great painter’.

11. Death of Spenser H e died in 13 January 1599 age of forty six his coffin carried to his grave besides Chaucer in the ‘ poet’s corner of the Westminster Abbey, who threw many pens and pieces of Poetry into his grave with tears.

12. Citation : “Edmund Spenser.” Biography, biography.yourdictionary.com/edmund-spenser. “Edmund Spenser.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/edmund-spenser. “The Faerie Queene and Last Years of Edmund Spenser.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., www.britannica.com/biography/Edmund-Spenser/The-Faerie-Queene-and-last-years.