Shepheardes Calender, The

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | 700+ words | Copyright

Shepheardes Calender, The, the earliest important work of Spenser (1579), dedicated to Sidney. It was illustrated by woodcuts and had accompanying glosses by one ‘E.K.’ (see Kirke, E.).

It consists of 12 eclogues, one for each month of the year, written in different metres, and modelled on the eclogues of Theocritus, Virgil, and more modern writers, such as Mantuan and Marot. They take the form of dialogues among shepherds, except the first and last, which are complaints by ‘Colin Clout’, the author himself. Four of them deal with love, one is in praise of Elisa (Queen Elizabeth), one a lament for a ‘mayden of greate bloud’, four deal allegorically with matters of religion or conduct, one describes a singing-match, and one laments the contempt in which poetry is held.

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Shepheardes Calender, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Shepheardes Calender, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ShepheardesCalenderThe.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Shepheardes Calender, The." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-ShepheardesCalenderThe.html

Learn more about citation styles