Edmund Spenser 
Selected Shorter Poems 

Although known best for his sweeping allegorical epic ’The Faerie Queen, ’ Edmund Spenser wrote a number of other significant poems. His first major poetical work ’The Shepherd’s Calendar’ begins this collection of his ’Selected Shorter Poems.’ An emulation of Virgil’s ’Eclogues, ’ ’The Shepherd’s Calendar’ depicts the life of shepherd Colin Clout through the twelve months of his year. The twelve eclogues of the poem, each named after a different month, discuss abuses of the church, offer praise for Queen Elizabeth, and reveal the struggles of a lonely shepherd. Also included in this edition of Spenser’s poetry are the following poems: ’The Ruins of Time, ’ ’Prosopopoia, ’ ’Muiopotmos, ’ ’Colin Clout’s Come Home Again, ’ ’Amoretti, ’ and ’Epithalamion.’