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Cover of The Shepheard's Calender: Twelve Aeglogues Proportionable to the Twelve Monethes

The Shepheard's Calender: Twelve Aeglogues Proportionable to the Twelve Monethes

by Edmund Spenser (1551–1599)

  • Free to read
  • 2 hours to read
  • 23 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"The Shepheard's Calender: Twelve Aeglogues Proportionable to the Twelve…" by Edmund Spenser is a pastoral poem published in 1579. Spenser's first major work follows the shepherd Colin Clout through twelve months, each eclogue exploring love, faith, and rural life. Written in deliberately archaic language to evoke Chaucer, the poem addresses church abuses, celebrates Queen Elizabeth, and chronicles Colin's heartbreak over Rosalind. With innovative forms for each month and mysterious commentary by "E.K.," this influential work established Spenser's reputation and shaped English poetry.

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  • English poetry · Early modern, 1500-1700

Read the opening

To His Book

Go, little Book! thyself present,
As child whose parent is unkent,
To him that is the President
Of Nobleness and Chivalry:
And if that Envy bark at thee,
As sure it will, for succour flee
Under the shadow of his wing.
And, asked who thee forth did bring,
A shepheard's swain, say, did thee sing,
All as his straying flock he fed:
And, when his Honour has thee read,
Crave pardon for thy hardyhed.
But, if that any ask thy name,
Say, thou wert base-begot with blame;
Forthy thereof thou takest shame.
And, when thou art past jeopardy,
Come tell me what was said of me,
And I will send more after thee.

Keep reading The Shepheard's Calender: Twelve Aeglogues Proportionable to the Twelve Monethes →

Contents

  1. To His Book
  2. Immerito
  3. Embleme
  4. Colin Clout
  5. Emblemes
  6. Cuddie. Thenot
  7. Emblemes
  8. Willy. Thomalin
  9. Emblemes
  10. Thenot. Hobbinol
  11. Emblemes
  12. Palinode. Piers
  13. Piers, His Embleme
  14. Hobbinol. Colin Clout
  15. Emblemes
  16. Emblemes
  17. Willie. Perigot. Cuddie
  18. Hobbinol. Diggon Davie
  19. Piers. Cuddie
  20. Thenot. Colin
  21. Epilogue
  22. Notes
  23. Glossary

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About this edition

This free edition of The Shepheard's Calender: Twelve Aeglogues Proportionable to the Twelve Monethes by Edmund Spenser comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #42607, released 2013-04-27. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Poetry, British Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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