EDMUND SPENSER as THE POETS’ POET

EDMUND SPENSER AS THE POETS POET

Dr. George Kolanchery

Asst. Prof. of English, Dept. of English Studies

Bayan University College, Oman

(Aff. to Purdue University, Indiana, USA)

&

Ms. Yevette Mathew

Lecturer of English, Majan College

Sultanate of Oman.

Abstract

Edmund Spenser is characterized by Charles Lamb as the Poets Poet, while all the

Elizabethans acclaimed him as the Prince of Poets. This is because Spensers poetic faculty

was unique; in the sense that it had excelled the poetic faculty of every other poet of England and

has been held in reverence and imitated by the fraternity of poets. Fluency is a quality found in

the poetry of Spenser. There are many poetic forms available to a writer. Stanza forms vary

from the quatrains of ballads to the longer stanzas used by Spenser. This paper examines the

factors that contributed the title the Poets Poet to Spenser.

Key Words: Spenser, Poets poet, Spensers Greatness

Volume II, Issue IX, January 2015 - ISSN 2321-7065

http://www.ijellh.com 428

Introduction

Charles Lamb calls Edmund Spenser the Poets Poet. At the same time, all the Elizabethans

recognized him as the Prince of Poets. This is because Spensers poetic faculty was unique; in

the sense that it had excelled the poetic faculty of every other poet of England and has been held

in reverence and imitated by the fraternity of poets. He established his greatness as a poet with

the publication of his Shepherds Calendar. It was in Spenser that they looked for the

fulfillment of the dreams in the field of the poetry. There are so many factors that make Spenser

great.

A Poet Out Of Space

It has been remarked that Spenser is as much out of space as Shakespeare out of time. This

remark refers to the wide influence that Spenser had on the poets of his time and of the posterity.

J.R. Lowell, estimating his influence on poets, says, Spensers mere manner had not so many

imitations as Miltons but no other of our poets has given an impulse and in the right direction

also to so many and so diverse minds; above all no other has given so many young souls a

consciousness of their wings and a delight in the use of them

Throughout the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries a number of poets followed him

called him their master and exalted him as their guide and mentor. Compton Ricket remarks,

Spenser has been happily called the Poets Poet. In his own day, he influenced a large

number of verse writers of more or less power. Cowley and Dryden at a later period testified to

his in opening influence as a literary artist; Milton paid him warm tribute; and even Pope whose

poetic faculty is a different in kind from that of the Elizabethans, admitted to his compelling

magic. The indebtedness of Keats and Tennyson is easily comprehensible, but the most

significant testimony to the greatness of this romantic Puritan lies in the power he wields over

versifiers as alien in imaginative vision. The younger generation of the romantics adopted his

stanza for their powerful expression. Thus we see that he is the Poets poet in the true sense,

for he is the fountain-head of all those Excellencies and beauties which are scattered in the works

of subsequent poets.



Spensers Noble Conception of His Vocation

Spenser gave a high and noble conception of his calling to the poets of his time and of all ages.

He inculcated the belief in the immortality of poetry. Together with Plato, Ovid and Horrace, he

believed that the poet was a creator like God and so shared some of his immortality. Powerful

empire and great and noble civilization are destroyed and forgotten but art and poetry remain in

all their strength and brightness. This faith in the performance of poetry and immortality of

poets he recovers in a very powerful language.

For deeds do die, however, nobly done

And thoughts of men do as they decay

But wise words taught in number for to run

Recorded by the tenses live forever.

Poetry, he affirmed, represents the power of God and men could not be its interpreter unless

they were consecrated from their birth and dedicated to this ministry. It is this high sense of

his vocation that makes him the leader and the prince of poets.

Spensers Services to English Poetry

The age of Spenser was the age of intense patriotism. Under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth,

England had emerged a powerful nation. It had already crushed the Spanish Armada. In war,

traffic and exploration, England could hold her own self with the nations of the world. But she

lagged behind in the domain of poetry. People of England were animated by the purest form of

nationality which was a common characteristic of our older poets. Chaucer had, no doubt,

written great poetry but it could not do with the great work of the continental poets. Now it was

the mission of Spenser to glorify his country to elevate England into a queen, an empress of the

heart. He set out to endow England poetry as great as that of the continental poets. He showed

the world that modern England was capable of poetry as great as that of any other age and

country, that he had her share of poetic power, of art and learning. It was a tremendous work

that he accomplished and it brought an enviable credit to him. By making a sedulous study of

the classics, he could pat England on a high pedestal in the realm of poetry. This made England

to lead among other nations and earned him the title of the Prince of Poets. Spensers The

Faerie Queene remains outstanding of its own kind without any comparison.



Spensers Service to English Language

Spenser rendered invaluable service to English language as well and thereby enhanced its power

of expression. He was a great craftsman and knew that only by mastering his craft that a poet

can be great. He made it well-known over the continent that English language was no more a

lisping child; it was capable of powerful utterances of subtlety and devotion. He treated English

language as if it belonged to him and therefore took every care to make it fearless and powerful

language. He felicitated the work of the coming poets by giving them a great language. Not only

language, he invented a particular stanzaic form which became a rich legacy for the posterity. It

is known as Spenserian stanza. Lowell rightly remarks The service which Spenser did to our

literature by his exquisite sense is incalculable.

Summing Up

Thus, Spenser rendered a very great service to English poetry. On account of the manifold

services that he contributed to English poetry, he earned the title of being Poets Poet.

Spenser like Shakespeare still stands up sharply and distinctly against the skies and continues to

attract and inspire those who have wings of poesy with his rich sense of sensuous loveliness.



Bibliography

Burgess, Anthony: English Literature: A Survey for Students, Pearson Education Ltd, England,

2003.

Carter, Ronald, and McRae, John: Literature in English: Britain and Ireland, Pearson Education

Ltd, England, 2004.

Gill, Richard: Mastering English Literature, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2006.

Kennedy, X.J., Gioia, Dana: LITERATURE-An Intro to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing,

Pearson Education Ltd, England, 2007.

Bio-Note: Dr. George Kolanchery, Asst. Professor of English, currently works at Bayan College (Aff. to

Purdue University, USA), Oman. He is the Chairperson of College Research Committee and Coordinator

of Curriculum Development. He also works as Reviewer for ELT Journals.

Ms. Yevette Mathew, Lecturer of English, presently works at Majan College, Oman. She has been an

ELT professional for more than 15 years. Her area of interest is English Language Teaching

Methodology.



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EDMUND SPENSER as THE POETS’ POET