at poet until Edmund
Spenser was born in London in 1552. Spenser, who became the greatest
non-dramatic poet of the Elizabethan age, was twelve years older than
Shakespeare.

His parents were poor, but fortunately in Elizabethan times, as well
as in our own days, there were generous men who found their chief
pleasure in aiding others. Such a man assisted Spenser in going to
Cambridge. Spenser's benefactor was sufficiently wise not to give the
student enough to dwarf the growth of self-reliance. We know that
Spenser was a sizar at Cambridge, that is, one of those students who,
to quote Macaulay, "had to perform some menial services. They swept
the court; they carried up the dinner to the fellows' table, and
changed the plate and poured out the ale of the rulers of society." We
know further that Spenser was handicapped by ill health during a part
of his course, for we find records of allowances paid "Spenser
_aegrotanti_."

After leaving Cambridge Spenser went to the north of England, probably
in the capacity of tutor. While there, he fell in love with a young
woman whom he calls Rosalind. This event colored his after life.
Although she refused him, she had penetration enough to see in what
his greatness consisted, and her opinion spurred him to develop his
abilities as a poet. He was about twenty-five years old when he fell
in love with Rosalind; and he remained single until he was forty-two,
when he married an Irish maiden named Elizabeth. In honor of that
event, he composed the _Epithalamion_, the noblest marriage song in
any literature. So strong are early impressions that even in its lines
he seems to be thinking of Rosalind and fancying that she is his
bride.

After returning from the north, he spent some time with Sir Philip
Sidney, who helped fashion Spenser's ideals of a chivalrous gentleman.
Sidney's influence is seen in Spenser's greatest work, the _Faerie
Queene_. Sir Walter Raleigh was another friend who left his imprint on
Spenser.

In 1579, Spenser published the _Shepherd's Calendar_. This is a
pastoral poem, consisting of twelve different parts, one part being
assigned to each of the twelve months. Although inferior to the
_Faerie Queene_, the _Shepherd's Calendar_ remains one of the greatest
pastoral poems in the English language.

In 1580 he was appointed secretary to Lord Gray, Lord Lieutenant of
Ireland. In one capacity or another, in the service of the crown,
Spenser passed in Ireland almost th