University of Baltimore, in October 1922. Subsequently I published a general study in French (Edmund Spenser, Librairie Bl Paris, 1923 1). Ample space was given in both to an account of the poet's life and a translations of the most famous passages i This study, moreover, had the advantag complete and followed the logical sequence than the lectures. But it was written for Fre who possessed no book in their own langua devoted to Spenser and had no means of a poems, other than the originals themselves After some hesitation, it has seemed pr to offer the English reader a full transla French volume, but only those excerpts v already made for the purposes of lectu American audience. My chief aim in these Lectures has b attention to what I consider the great glories of Spenser's poetry and at the sa 1 My thanks are due to MM. Bloud et Gay, wh allowed me to make free use of those passages v in the French volume and the Lectures. examine certain claims made for him with less justification. My personal views are most clearly illustrated in Chapter V. of the present volume. Professor W. L. Renwick's admirable book (Edmund Spenser, an Essay on Renaissance Poetry, 1925) had not yet appeared when mine was written. It contains the best study of Spenser's relations to European poetry so far written. Professor Renwick's scope is much wider than my own, but our aims are different enough to make me hope that the following pages may still have some interest and value for the reader, even after the publication of so remarkable an essay. E. L. |