Samarkand state university

The Shepheardes Calender

The Shepheardes Calender was published in 1579 and was Spenser’s first major work. Spenser wrote it in emulation of Virgil’s first work, the Eclogues. The series of pastorals introduces Colin Clout, a folk character originated by John Skelton, and depicts his life as a shepherd through the twelve months of the year.

Spenser purposefully used archaic spellings in the work and the writing to suggest a connection to medieval literature, and to Geoffrey Chaucer in particular. It is in this work that the term sarcasm is first recorded in English, too.

While all twelve eclogues come together to form the full work and year, each month can also stand alone as a separate poem. The months are all written in a different form and Spenser uses rhyme differently in each month.

The Faerie Queene

The Faerie Queene is Spenser’s masterpiece. The first three books of this epic poem were published in 1590, and the second set of three books were published in 1596, although Spenser did indicate that he originally intended the work to be twelve books long, so the work we see today is incomplete.The Faerie Queene is one of the longest works in the English language and is the work in which Spenser invented the verse form known as the Spenserian stanza.

The 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 (or, later, criticism) of Queen Elizabeth I.

• Spenser presented the first three books of The Faerie Queene to Elizabeth I in 1589, probably sponsored by Sir Walter Raleigh. The poem was a clear effort to gain court favour, and as a reward Elizabeth granted Spenser a pension for life amounting to £50 a year.

Summary of The Faerie Queene

• In The Faerie Queene, Spenser creates an allegory: The characters of his far-off, fanciful “Faerie Land” are meant to have a symbolic meaning in the real world. In Books I and III, the poet follows the journeys of two knights, Redcrosse and Britomart, and in doing so he examines the two virtues he considers most important to Christian life—Holiness and Chastity. Redcrosse, the knight of Holiness, is much like the Apostle Peter: In his eagerness to serve his Lord, he gets himself into unforeseen trouble that he is not yet virtuous enough to handle. His quest is to be united with Una, who signifies Truth—Holiness cannot be attained without knowledge of Christian truth. In his immature state, he mistakes falsehood for truth by following the deceitful witch Duessa. He pays for this mistake with suffering, but in the end, this suffering makes way for his recovery in the House of Holiness, aided by Faith, Hope, and Charity. With newfound strength and the grace of God, he is able to conquer the dragon that represents all the evil in the world.