Introduction
Edmund Spenser has been a source of inspiration for, not all the poets, but the
poets of 17th, 18th and 19th
centuries. Edmund Spenser was given the title of Poets' Poet by an essayist,
Charles Lamb. He is also regarded as the Second Father of English Poetry, right
after Geffrey Chaucer. His work remained untouched by common people as his
poetry was understandable only by scholars who were proficient in Greek and Latin
could grasp the scholarly ideas in his poetry.
Influences
With invention of the printing press, the barren desert of literature was quenched by the sudden flow of books and education from one part of Europe to another. The seeming-less spread of education made the general public aware of the teachings of The Salt of Earth and people began to understand the loftiness of Spenser's poetry. During the above mentioned centuries, a host of poets followed him and composed their poetry in respect of his renowned compositions.
Complexity
Spenser's poetry was only a food for royal people and scholars. His poetry was an unsolved Rubik's cube for a layman. His compositions remained untouched for a long period of time. To get a basic idea of his compositions, a person was required to have a sound knowledge of classical mythology (Greek and Roman mythologies) and works of Aristotle and Homer. As soon as printing press became widespread, education flourished by leap and bounds. Consequently, Spenser's work was being understood by almost every learned person, paving the way for influence.
Abraham Cowley
The schoolboy who wrote an epic at the age of ten years, published his first volumes of essays, "Political Blossoms" in 1633 when he was just fifteen. He took to writing under the influence of Edmund Spenser and his Faerie Queene. He asserts the source of influence as thus,
My Mother only read highly valued books. When I came to my mother's room, there were only Spenser's books.
John Milton
The poet of the seventeenth century is the one among the most influential personalities in English Literature. His Paradise Lost has gained an everlasting currency. The legendary poet followed Spenser too. He entitled Spenser next level poet. Milton appreciates Spenser as, "Our sage and serious poet Spenser, whom I dare be known to think a better teacher than Scotus or Aquinas*".
Dryden
Spenser's Faerie
Queene influenced a poet after his age, Dryden to write Annus Mirabilis. He
admires Spenser as his master in these words:
No man was ever born with a greater genius or more knowledge to support it.
In these lines, Dryden conveys the fact of Spenser, being well versed and well knowledgeable at the same time. Spenser was the master of Greek mythology and he skillfully allegorised 6 virtues by Aristotle with Greek gods and goddesses in his Faerie Queene.
Treatment of English Language
Just like Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser did not follow the traditional diction of English Language, yet he used a mixed version of Medieval and Elizabethan English. His prime focus was on melodious aspects of the poetry. For instance, in very first Canto of Faerie Queene, he uses the word 'prey' for 'pray' just for the sake of melody. That is why Ben Johnson criticized him, "Spenser writ no language". Although his language is confusing, yet his treatment of English Grammar removed the obstacles of constancy in a language, which provoked a number of linguistics to follow his adoption.
Spenserian Stanza
Spenser introduced a new stanza in his Faerie Queene of 9 lines with a rhyme scheme of ababbcbcc, of iambic pentametre in first 8 lines and the last line of iambic-hexametre, or more specifically known as Alexandrian mono-stitch. This style of poetical verse was used and utilized by Percy Bysshe Shelley, Byron and Keats.
Conclusion
Spenser is rendered as Poet's Poet because of his influential writing style but
he is not The Prince of Poets, but The Prince of Poets of his age.
* two famous Roman Catholic priests
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