Edmund Spenser, The Fowre Hymnes

Tamsin Theresa Badcoe (University of Bristol)

Ed. by J A Roe, University of York
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1596

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Poetry (any)

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The volume containing Edmund Spenser’s

Fowre Hymnes

was first printed in quarto in 1596, and included within it a second edition of the poet’s elegy

Daphnaïda

, which was first published separately in 1591. If we are to believe the dedicatory letter addressed by Spenser to Lady Margaret, Countess of Cumberland, and Lady Mary, Countess of Warwick, the first two hymns, written in praise of “naturall loue and beautie” respectively, were made in “the greener times” of the poet’s youth; the second two hymns, of “heauenly and celestiall” matters, were intended “by way of retraction” to “reforme” the poet’s earlier, more earthly work. The dedication raises questions concerning the dates of composition and possible revision of the first two hymns, for which there are…

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2263 words

Citation: Badcoe, Tamsin Theresa. "The Fowre Hymnes". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 29 September 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=16048, accessed 03 December 2024.]

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Edmund Spenser, The Fowre Hymnes

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