In
"February" (Story of the Oak and Briar) he speaks of "colours meete to
clothe a mayden queene." The whole of "April" is in her honor:
Of fair Eliza be your silver song,
That blessed wight,
The floure of virgins, may she flourish long,
In princely plight.
In "September" "he discourseth at large upon the loose living of Popish
prelates," an historical trait of the new but cautious reformation of the
Marian Church, under Elizabeth. Whether a courtier like Spenser could
expect the world to believe in the motto with which he concludes the
epilogue, "Merce non mercede," is doubtful, but the words are significant;
and it is not to his discredit that he strove for both.
HIS GREATEST WORK.--We now approach _The Faerie Queene_, the greatest of
Spenser's works, the most remarkable poem of that age, and one of the
greatest landmarks in English literature and English history. It was not
published in full until nearly all the great events of Elizabeth's reign
had transpired, and it is replete with the history of nearly half a
century in the most wonderful period of English history.
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