Edmund Spenser
The Faerie Queene (London, 1590)
Newberry Library (Case 4A 923, vol. 1)
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In his monumental poem The Faerie Queene, Edmund Spenser weaves together Arthurian legend with classical models into a song of praise to Elizabeth as a divine ruler. Spenser grew up in London and was educated at Cambridge. However, he wrote his poem while living in Ireland, where he was a government official. Sir Walter Raleigh took Spenser to visit the court some time around 1590. There Spenser read his poem to the queen, who liked it so much she gave him a pension.

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