hen but
approaching its noon, when he, one of its brightest
suns, set. This day may be said to have fully broken
in the year 1590, when the first instalment of the
great work of Spenser's life made its appearance.

The three books were dedicated to the Queen. They
were followed in the original edition--are preceded in
later editions--first, by the letter to Raleigh above
mentioned; then by six poetical pieces of a
commendatory sort, written by friends of the poet--by
Raleigh who writes two of the pieces, by Harvey who now
praises and well-wishes the poem he had discountenanced
some years before, by 'R.S.,' by 'H.B.,' by 'W.L.;'
lastly, by seventeen sonnets addressed by the poet to
various illustrious personages; to Sir Christopher
Hatton, to Lord Burghley, to the Earl of Essex, Lord
Charles Howard, Lord Grey of Wilton, Lord Buckhurst,
Sir Francis Walsingham, Sir John Norris, Knight, lord
president of Munster, Sir Walter Raleigh, the Countess
of Pembroke, and others. The excellence of the poem
was at once generally perceived and acknowledged.
Spenser had already, as we have seen, gained great
applause by his _Shepheardes Calendar_, published some
ten years before the coming out of his greater work.
During these ten years he had resided out of England,
as has been seen; but it is not likely his reputation
had been languishing during his absence. Webbe in his
_Discourse of English Poetrie_, 1586, had contended
'that Spenser may well wear the garlande, and step
before the best of all English poets.' The
_Shepheardes Calendar_ had been reprinted in 1581 and
in 1586; probably enough, other works of his had been
circulating in manuscript; the hopes of the country had
been directed towards him; he was known to be engaged
in the composition of a great poem. No doubt he found
himself famous when he reached England on the visit
suggested by Raleigh; he found a most eager expectant
audience; and when at last his _Faerie Queene_
appeared, it was received with the utmost delight and
admiration. He was spoken of in the same year with its
appearance as the new laureate.{1} In the spring of
the following year he received a pension from the crown
of 50_l_. per annum. Probably, however, then, as in
later days, the most ardent appreciators of of Spenser
were the men of the same craft with himself--the men
who too, though in a different degree, or in a
different kind, possessed the 'vision and the faculty
divine.'