Edmund Spenser was an extraordinary writer. He was known as the poet’s poet. He made significant contributions to world literature. He was the one who introduced the Spenserian stanza. His magnum opus, ‘The Faerie Queene’ was considered as the finest and the greatest English poem of the Renaissance.
The first three books of ‘The Faerie Queene’ were published together in 1590. The next set of three books was published in 1596. Spenser’s first poem, ‘The Shepheardes Calender’, was considered as a great work of poetry. Published in 1579, the calendar has 12 eclogues, one for each month of the year. The poem was well received. ‘Complaints’, ‘Amoretti’, ‘Epithalamion’ and ‘Prothalamion’ are some of his other works.
Spenser was born in 1552 in London and he attended the Merchant Taylors’ School. He was awarded the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1573. Despite a forced absence from college the following year due to an epidemic, Spenser was conferred the Master of Arts degree in 1576.
The great poet passed away in 1599.
