For whatsoever from one place doth fall, Is with the tide unto an other brought: For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.― Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
Edmund Spenser’s poetic excellence needs no introduction. His style of writing motivates and entertains people even now. If poetry is to be valued by its power of lifting us into a world of dream and happiness, a world free from tyranny of reality, the Spenser’s poems are the solution. Indeed, Edmund Spenser has rightly been named the ‘poet’s poet’.
His love poems have a
special quality in them. They transport readers into a world of magic where
shapes appear quickly and disappear from the scene as instantly as its
appearance. It takes readers into a dreamy, magical atmosphere.
Spenser was well
acquainted with classical mythology also. It is seen in his writings that he
often takes an old myth and, transforms into a new one. He improvises on it through
a new style and application. For instance, the legends of Titans and their war
against Joves gave Spenser his Goddess Mutability.
Edmund Spenser’s
writing references do not end here. Spenser has maintained his relation to the
medieval era as well through his poetry’s diction. Critique Ben Johnson
commented that Spenser invented a new language. The multitude of old words adds
to the resourcefulness of his vocabulary and, helps to give him a strangeness
of diction which correspond to the rare ideas popping out of his mind. Such
words helped him give rhythm and melody to many of his otherwise difficult
stanzas. Such usage of words added a special flavor of chivalry.
Moreover, Spenser was a
great admirer of Aristotle. Although basically a puritan, he has been seen borrowing
instances from scholastic theology. This can be clearly explained from the fact
that Aristotle was a part of the Scholastic authority himself.
One can only help but
wonder as to the workings of such great minds as Spenser. To be an equal is
almost impossible; hence, we all bow down and pay respect to this great writer
of poems.