Edmund Spenser was born in 1552 and this was clear from one of his sonnets. From another passage, in his “Prothalamion”, it is deduced that he was born in London. His parentage is unknown. He was educated at the Merchant Taylor’s School(founded in 1560) and at Cambridge. He left Cambridge in 1576. He probably spent the time in the North of England. He comes into view in London during 1579 as a member of famous literary circle surrounding Sir Philip Sidney and his uncle the Earl of Leicester. Sidney patronized Spenser. He introduced Spenser to the Queen, encouraging him in his imitation of the classical meters. In 1580, Sidney’s patronage bore fruit. Spenser was appointed secretary to Lord Grey de Wilton. He remained in London for 18 years, serving the English Govt. In 1589, he visited London to publish the first 3 books of, “The Faerie Queene”. He married an Irish woman in 1594. He died in London in 1599, “for lack of bread”, according to the statement of Ben Jonson.

Poems – His poems include:

1)”The Shepheards Calendar”(1579) – The title of the poem is adopted from a popular compilation of the day.
The content of the poem is a series of 12 eclogues, one for each month of the year. Each eclogue is in dialogue form in which the stock pastoral characters, such as Cuddie, Colin Clout and Perigot, take part.
The style of the poem is deliberately archaic, in keeping with the rustic characters, Spenser adopting the dialect and alliteration of the Midlands and North.
2)”The Ruins of Time”, “The Tears of the Muses”, “Mother Hubberd’s Tale” and “The Ruins of Rome” – This is a volume of miscellaneous poems. They appeared in 1591.
3)”Amoretti” – It was published in 1595. It consists of 88 petrarchan sonnets celebrating the progress of his love.
4)”Epithalamion” – It is a magnificient ode, rapturously jubilant, written in honor of his marriage.
5)”Colin Clout’s come home Again” – It is somewhat wordy. It contained some interesting personal details.
6)”Four Hymns” and “Prothalamion” – It appeared in 1596.
Spenser’s shorter poems illustrate his lyrical ability. His style is too diffuse and ornate to be intensely passionate. Especially in the odes, he can build up sonorous and commanding measures which by their weight and splendor delight both mind and ear.

Prose –
1)”A View of the Present State of Ireland”(1594) – It is a longish prose work. It is a kind of State paper done in the form of a dialogue. It gives Spenser’s views on the settlement of the Irish question.
The style of the pamphlet is quite and undistinguished.
2)”The Faerie Queene” – It is by far the most important of Spenser’s works.
a)Dates of Composition –
This work appeared in installments.
In 1589, Spenser crossed to London and published the first 3 books.
In 1596, the second 3 followed.
After his death, 2 cantos and 2 old stanzas of Book VII appeared.
It was reported that more of the work perished in manuscript during the fire at Kilkolman, but it is not certain.
b)The Plot –
The construction of the plot is so obscure that he was compelled to write a preface, in the form of a letter to his friend Sir Walter Ralegh, explaining the scheme underlying the whole. There were to be 12 books, each book to deal with the adventures of a particular knight, who was to represent some virtue.
The plot is exceedingly leisurely and elaborate; it contains incident and digression; and by 5th book it is palpably weakening. As far as plot is concerned, only half of the story is finished.
c)Allegory –
With its 12 divisions, each of which bears many smaller branches, the allegory is the most complex in the language.
Through the story, 3 strands keep running, twisting and untwisting in a manner both baffling and delightful.
1) There are the usual characters, poorly developed, of the Arthurian and classical romance, such as Arthur, Merlin, Saracens, fauns, and satyrs.
2) There are the allegorized moral and religious virtues, with their counterparts in the vices: Una(Truth), Guyon(Temperance), Duessa(Deceit), Orgoglio(Pride).
3) Lastly, there is the strongly Elizabethan political-historical-reigiouselement, also strongly allegorized.
Ex- Gloriana is Elizabeth, Duessa may be Mary, Queen of Scots, Archimago may be the Pope, and Artegal(Justice) is said to be Lord Grey.

d)Style –
The style has its weakness : it is diffuse, and in sharpness of attack; and it is misty and unsubstantial. But for beautylong and richly wrought, for subtle and substantial melody, for graphic word-pictures, and for depth and magical colour of atmosphere the poem stands supreme in English. Its imitators, good and bad, are legion. Milton, Keats, and Tennyson are among the best of them, and its influence is still powerful.
e) The Technique – To the formal part of the poem, Spenser devoted the intelligence and care of the great artist.
1) First, he elaborated an archaic diction. When the occasion demanded it, he invented words or word-forms.
Ex- he uses ‘blend’ for blind
he uses ‘kest’ for cast
he uses ‘vilde’ fro vile
2)He introduced the Spenserian stanza and it had ever since has been one of the most important measures in the language. Longer than the usual stanza, but shorter than the sonnet, as a unit it is just long enough to give an easy pace to the slowly pacing narrative.
3)The alliteration, vowel-music, and cadence are cunningly fashioned, adroitly developed, and sumptuously appropriate.