Edmund Spenser

Edmund Spenser (London, c. 1552 – London, 13 January 1599) was an English poet of the Elizabethan age. He wrote in English at a time when the language was still shaping its modern literary forms, and he is regarded as one of the early craftsmen of modern English verse and one of the great poets in that language. His best-known work, The Faerie Queene, is an allegorical epic that celebrates the Tudor dynasty and Queen Elizabeth I.

Born in East Smithfield, east London, Spenser came from an obscure family; he was probably the son of a journeyman clothmaker. He was educated at the Merchant Taylors' School and, as a sizar, at Pembroke College, Cambridge. There he befriended Gabriel Harvey, whom he later consulted on literary matters despite their differing views on poetry. In 1579 he published The Shepheardes Calender and married his first wife, Machabyas Childe.

In 1580 he went to Ireland in the service of the newly appointed Lord Deputy, Arthur Grey. Serving under Grey, he took part with Walter Raleigh in the siege of Smerwick. When Grey was recalled to England, Spenser remained in Ireland, where he gained official posts and land in the Munster Plantation. Between 1587 and 1589 he settled at Kilcolman, in North Cork, where local tradition says he wrote part of his epic.

In 1590 he published the first three books of The Faerie Queene and travelled to London to promote them. The success brought him a life pension from the Crown. His next book, Mother Hubberd's Tale, contained a satirical portrait of William Cecil, the queen's principal secretary, which closed the door on a court post, and he went back to Ireland. In 1594 his first wife died, and he married Elizabeth Boyle, to whom he addressed the sonnets of Amoretti and the wedding poem Epithalamion.

His style blends the Petrarchan tradition with a subtle, sometimes mocking humour. His most lasting formal contribution is the Spenserian stanza, a nine-line form with the rhyme scheme ABABBCBCC, used in The Faerie Queene. The poem was left unfinished: it was planned in twelve books, but only six were published. In 1596 he wrote in prose A View of the Present State of Ireland, a dialogue arguing that Irish language and customs must be destroyed, if necessary by force. It circulated in manuscript and was not printed until well after his death, probably because of its inflammatory content.

In 1598, during the Nine Years' War, he was driven from his home by Irish forces under Hugh O'Neill, and his castle at Kilcolman was burned. The following year he moved to London, where he died. Ben Jonson claimed he died 'for want of bread', a statement often regarded as doubtful. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, near Chaucer, and other poets reportedly threw pens and verses into his grave, an act that gave rise to the tradition of Poets' Corner.

His legacy is above all formal and poetic. He is remembered as one of the first major writers to shape English verse for the modern age, and his stanza and his blend of musicality and allegory became a model for later poets. Historians also examine his role in English policy in Ireland, an aspect discussed alongside his work today.