The greatest poetical work in English (published 1579) since Chaucer’s Canterbury tales written some two centuries earlier - well Spenser certainly thought so and I am inclined to agree. It is a cycle of twelve pastoral poems known classically as eclogues and Spenser’s grand vision tied each one to the months of the year. Characters dip in and out of the poems whose central character Colin Clout dips out more than he dips in, but his influence if felt throughout the cycle giving the whole thing a sense of unity. Spenser had it in mind to go on to write the great English epic poem and he largely succeeded with the Faerie Queen (he never finished it, but then Chaucer didn’t finish The Canterbury Tales) and The Shepheardes Calender he saw as his apprentice work. The Latin poet Virgil had written his eclogues as his first serious attempts at poetry and Spenser always with an eye on his place in the poetical canon followed suite and told his readers that this was exactly what he was doing.

In my opinion the grand theme; the raison d’etre if you like of the poem is poetry itself; its importance, and the difficulties the poet faces in making it so. Of course the Shepheardes Calender is ostensibly about many other issues and themes and at its most simple level it is the old story of unrequited love. We meet young Colin Clout in the January eclogue and he is already suffering. He issues forth with his complaint which he compares with the miserable January weather:

"Such rage as winter's reigneth in my heart,
My life-blood freezing with unkindly cold;
Such stormy stoures do breed my baleful smart,
As if my year were waste and waxen old;
And yet, alas! but now my spring begun,
And yet, alas! it is already done.

"All so my lustful leaf is dry and sere,
My timely buds with wailing all are wasted;
The blossom which my branch of youth did bear,
With breathed sighs is blown away and blasted;
And from mine eyes the drizzling tears descend,
As on your boughs the icicles depend.”

A major theme of much Renaissance poetry is man’s complaint about the pain he suffers from his unsuccessful attempt to woo the woman of his dreams. It was the major theme of Courtly Love Poetry and as much of the poetry was written by Courtiers, or men very close to the Royal Family then the audience for Spenser’s first poem would have been very familiar with the theme and for Spenser it puts him right at the heart of poetic tradition. Spenser however was a whole lot more ambitious and he explains this in an epistle attached to the start of the poem written by one E. K. and the mystery attributed to the Calender starts there.

E. K. could have been Edward Kirke a contemporary and probable friend of Spenser, but there is much speculation that the epistle and the glosses were written in collaboration with Spenser himself. Much of what Spenser would have wanted to say is contained in this epistle. He is referred to as a ‘new poet’ who ‘still has the sounds of those ancient poets ringing in his ears’. His use of some archaic language brings ‘authority to the verse’ and of course reinforces his connections with the poets of the past particularly Chaucer. E. K. goes on to say that he has added a certain gloss (footnotes) for the exposition of old words and harder phrases. He tells us this is a story of a man who has long wandered in the ‘labyrinth of love’ and now has time as an older man to ‘mitigate and allay the heat of his passion’ and to warn the young shepherds his equals and companions of his unfortunate folly, and Colin Clout is the name under which the ‘authors name is shadowed’. Spenser published the poem under a pseudonym, but as manuscript copies of the poems would have been circulated to friends before publication it was an open secret as to identity of the author and E. K. tells us that his name will soon become well known.

The epistle provides the launching pad for Spenser to write about poetry: a theme that has occupied many poets throughout the ages; from Chaucer to Wordsworth and on up to Ted Hughes and Seamus Heaney. They wrestle with the problem of how to define poetical inspiration, where does it come from, how can it be harnessed, how can it be expressed on paper, are poets the teachers or guardians of other peoples souls? do they have a moral duty? Who should take care of the poets and in Spenser’s case particularly, who should provide the patronage or the money to allow the poet to practice his calling. These issues are touched on throughout The Calender from the moment in the first eclogue when Colin Clout throws down his shepherds pipe while suffering the pangs of love. The whole of the October Eclogue is based around the question of what makes good poetry: Cuddie a young poet expresses his woes to his elder compatriot Piers:

Piers, I have piped erst so long with pain,
That all mine oaten reeds be rent and wore,
And my poor Muse hath spent her spared store,
Yet little good hath got, and much less gain.
Such pleasance makes the grasshopper so poor,
And lig so laid, when winter doth her strain.

Spenser uses the idea of the shepherd’s songs of which Colin Clout is the revered master among his contemporaries to stand for poetry.

Spenser’s appeal for patronage would have been clear to his contemporary readers, but the political aspects of his Calender stretch much further than this. As a Courtier it was important for Spenser to seek the attention of the rising factions at Queen Elizabeth’s court, but he also had to heap praise on the queen herself and these two ideals were not always the same and so a careful line needed to be trod. The purpose of the April eclogue was to honour and praise the most Sovereign Queen Elizabeth and he does this, praising her to the skies to such an extent he imagines her as the fourth Grace taking her place amongst the saints in heaven. However Colin/Spenser does not directly sing these fourteen stanzas himself, Colin has retired from the company of other shepherds and it is left to his friend Hobbinol to recall Colins famous song while in conversation with his fellow shepherd Thenot. The big issue for Queen and country in 1579 when the poem was published was a proposal that Elizabeth might marry the Catholic French Duke of Alencon. Spenser would have been concerned not to give unwanted advice especially as a pamphlet on the subject recently published had resulted in the author and his publishers being condemned to having their right hands severed in an all too public ceremony. The political aspects of the poem have fascinated more modern critics and there has been speculation that Rosalind the lady who spurns Colin Clout’s love is also Queen Elizabeth.

The poem takes stock of the religious controversy of the Tudor Court and Elizabeth’s religious settlement in favour of the protestants hangs over some of the eclogues. The May eclogue features a debate between two pasteurs/pastors: Piers the protestant and Palinode the catholic on how the youth should be educated. In May time the sap has definitely risen and Palinode is wishing he could join in the abundant May time celebrations:

O that I were there,
To helpen the ladies their Maybush bear!

Piers reprimands Palinode saying that the frolicking shepherds are leaving their flocks unattended. It is the Shepherds job to educate the young and curb their foolish pleasures.

The poems concern is with the nature of human life and Spenser’s vision of linking the changing seasons with the life of Colin Clout from his reflections on youth in January to his thoughts on death in December is a masterstroke. Throughout the poem there is a dialogue between youth and age, town and country, protestant and catholic, bucolic life in an Arcadia of the classicists and current political machinations. Spenser’s use of the classical eclogue format placing his poem in a pastoral setting hankering after a vision of a golden age contrasts with the realities of modern (Tudor) life.

The poem after repeated readings seems to have a life of its own; always a sign of a great work of art and this is because of: the variety of the eclogues themselves, the lively debates, the characters of the shepherds, that appear and reappear throughout the seasons, the stories within stories and of course some sublime versifying by Spenser. But let me take you through some of my favourite months. February is described by E. K. in his gloss as a moral tale. It takes the form of a debate between Thenot an old shepherd (90 years old he claims) and Cuddie a young man who is not prepared to listen to any advice; he has the knowledge of Youth. Thenot tells a delightful story of two trees on top of a hill; an ancient grand old oak tree that is now suffering from disease and a young Briar tree that is fighting the oak for light and water. The Briar tree complains vociferously to the goodman farmer who is seduced by the succulent young foliage and flowers and runs home to get his axe. After a struggle he chops down the oak tree with disastrous results, but young Cuddie has the last word saying he has wasted his day listening to old Thenot. Spenser tells the story in ten syllable rhyming couplets. The August eclogue features a song competition between Willie and Perigot. Willie says he is sorrowful because he has learned a new dance and it is not a good one; he is referring to his new love which has misled himself and his children. They agree that the competition should take the form of Willie inventing the first line and Perigot supplying the next. The whole thing develops into a call and response idiom that reaches back to old folk songs or troubadours lays:

……………………….
PER. As the bonilass passed by,
WIL. Hey, ho, bonilass!
PER. She rov'd at me with glancing eye,
WIL. As clear as the crystal glass:
PER. All as the sunny beam so bright,
WIL. Hey, ho, the sun-beam!
PER. Glanceth from Phœbus' face forthright,
WIL. So love into thy heart did stream:
PER. Or as the thunder cleaves the clouds,
WIL. Hey, ho, the thunder!
PER. Wherein the lightsome levin shrouds,
WIL. So cleaves thy soul asunder:
PER. Or as Dame Cynthia's silver ray,
WIL. Hey, ho, the moonlight!
PER. Upon the glittering wave doth play,
WIL. Such play is a piteous plight.
PER. The glance into my heart did glide,
WIL. Hey, ho, the glider!
PER. Therewith my soul was sharply gryde,
WIL. Such wounds soon waxen wider.
……………………………………

Cuddie decides that honours are even but ends with a song that he has learned from Colin Clout. It is Colin in the depths of despair still pining for his beloved Rosalind.

Colin himself returns for the November eclogue and it is an elegy to love. He forsees his death and is reflecting on his misery, and he makes a song about the death of Dido and her lover Lobbin, but his song/poem has a turn around when he lights on the idea that death is perhaps not the end. Here are two verses from the middle of the poem:

O trustless state of earthly things, and slipper hope
Of mortal men, that swink and sweat for nought,
And, shooting wide, doth miss the marked scope;
Now have I learn'd (a lesson dearly bought)
That n'is on earth assurance to be sought;
For what might be in earthly mould,
That did her buried body hold?
O heavy herse!
Yet saw I on the bier when it was brought;
O careful verse!

"But maugre Death, and dreaded Sisters' deadly spite,
And gates of hell, and fiery Furies' force,
She hath the bonds broke of eternal night,
Her soul unbodied of the burdenous corse.
Why then weeps Lobbin so without remorse?
O Lobb! thy loss no longer lament;
Dido is dead, but into heaven hent.
O happy herse!
Cease now, my Muse, now cease thy sorrows' source,
O joyful verse!

In the December eclogue Colin faces his own death and sums up his life in relation to the seasons. There is remorse but no bitterness in his final verse I think:

"Adieu, delights, that lulled me asleep;
Adieu, my dear, whose love I bought so dear;
Adieu, my little lambs and loved sheep;
Adieu, ye woods, that oft my witness were:
Adieu, good Hobbinol, that was so true,
Tell Rosalind, her Colin bids her adieu.”

Edmund Spenser is not an easy poet to read and for the modern reader he demands some work to appreciate his verse. His use of allegory in the Callender is not so difficult to work out; the shepherds could be pastors, politicians, poets or other leaders while the flock are the uneducated masses that need to be led. What is difficult is Spenser’s use of archaic language and the footnotes or glosses supplied by E. K. raise more questions than they give answers. It would also be useful to have an understanding of why Spenser chose to use a pastoral setting for his poem and so an acquaintance with the classics would be an advantage. Having said all that there is some sublime poetry here and the sounds the words make, the stories they tell and the variety of voices used will entrance any reader willing to meet it half way. Spenser was correct in believing he had written a masterpiece 5 stars. ( )