'The Faerie Queene' reviewed by W. Shakespeare
What spiteful Muse it was who rashly urgèd
This undertaking on poor Edmund Spenser
I cannot say. In verse obscure and turgid,
No tale was ever drearier or denser.
The author owneth that his dull intention’s
To wrap ‘in allegorical devices’
A list of cloudy virtues - their declension’s
A prospect that but meagrely entices.
‘Tis said Elizabeth was mighty pleased
(But none can name for me the fool who said it),
And Spenser by a pension was much eased,
E’en though Her Majesty hath never read it.
Yet do I thank thee, Edmund; while no Orpheus,
Thy song hath brought me to the arms of Morpheus.
|