The Poetical Works of - OUDL Home

XXX
INTRODUCTION
a diatnbe against the neglect of hterature in general and the stinginess
of Elizabeth and Burghley in particular But apart from the fact that
Burghley had good reason to dislike him, this criticism is beside the mark
For why should the man of letters, and above all the poet, expect to
receive rewards from a world that has little in common with his peculiar
gifts, and to receive them in the form of an appointment which can only
divert him from following the true bent of his genius As a matter of
fact, Spenser was treated far better than many poets have been £50 a year
may seem a meagre price for an immortal poem, but the present age can
hardly be expected to pay what is, after all, the debt of posterity Moreover,
it must not be forgotten that £50 represents at least £400 of our
money to-day This, as a free gift from the crown to a man who had
already been presented with a gentleman's estate in Ireland, and was
m no need of court and, was, at least, a pleasant recognition of his genius
Spenser realized fully enough that the court was no place for a poet to
thrive, and that the better side of his nature could only find its realization
in retirement with the Muses Part of the satire in Mother Hubberds Tale
is implicitly directed at the poet for going to court, and though to the
end of his life there were moments in which he reflected with bitterness
upon his unrealized ambitions, it is clear that he became more and more
reconciled to his lot The tone in which Colin Clout explains the reasons
for his return 1 is very different from the invective of Mother Hubberds
Tale, and the words by which Melibee almost persuades the heroic
Sir Cahdore to be a shepherd, give voice to what was surely the poet's
settled mood
The time was once, in my first prime of yeares,
When pride of youth forth pricked my desire,
When I disdam'd among my equall peares
To follow sheepe, and shepheards base attire
For further fortune then I would inquire
And leauing home, to roiall court I sought,
Where I did sell my selfe for yearely hire,
And in the Princes gardm daily wrought
There I beheld such vameness as I neuer thought
With sight whereof soone cloyd, and long deluded
With idle hopes, which them doe entertaine,
After I had ten yeares my selfe excluded
From natiue home, and spent my youth in vame,
I gan my follies to my selfe to plame,
And this sweet peace, whose lacke did then appeare
Tho backe returning to my sheepe againe,
I from thenceforth have learn d to loue more deare
This lowly quiet life, which I inhente here (vi IX 24, 25 )
In London, surrounded by those who enjoyed princely favour and were
playing for big stakes, the lesson was harder to learn, but even there the
1 Colin Clouts Come Home Againe, 660-822