Astrophel (Edmund Spenser)
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''Astrophel: A Pastorall Elegy upon the Death of the Most Noble and Valorous Knight, Sir Philip Sidney'' is a poem by the English poet
Edmund Spenser Edmund Spenser (; 1552/1553 – 13 January 1599) was an English poet best known for ''The Faerie Queene'', an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty and Elizabeth I. He is recognized as one of the premier craftsmen of ...
. It is Spenser's tribute to the memory of Sir
Philip Sidney Philip, also Phillip, is a male given name, derived from the Greek language, Greek (''Philippos'', lit. "horse-loving" or "fond of horses"), from a compound of (''philos'', "dear", "loved", "loving") and (''hippos'', "horse"). Prominent Philip ...
, who had died in 1586, and was dedicated "To the most beautiful and vertuous Ladie, the Countesse of Essex", Frances Walsingham, Sidney's widow.


History of writing and publication

''Astrophel'' was published in 1595 by William Ponsonby in a volume called ''
Colin Clouts Come Home Againe ''Colin Clouts Come Home Againe'' (also known as ''Colin Clouts Come Home Again'') is a pastoral poem by the England, English poet Edmund Spenser and published in 1595. It has been the focus of little critical attention in comparison with the poe ...
''. It includes other poems besides Spenser's: two elegies, "The Mourning Muse of Thestylis" and "A Pastorall Aeglogue Vpon the Death of Sir Philip Sidney Knight", which are attributed to "L.B.", generally assumed to be
Lodowick Bryskett Lodowick Bryskett (1547–1612 ca., fl. 1571–1611), was a poet, translator, diplomat and Irish official. He served as Special Ambassador from England to Tuscany in 1600-01. Life He is stated to have been the son of ‘a natural (born) Italian', ...
, and which show him to be a more than competent poet; one by
Mathew Roydon Mathew Roydon (sometimes spelled Matthew) (died 1622) was an English poet associated with the School of Night group of poets and writers. Life The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' identified him tentatively as the son of Owen Roydon who co- ...
; an epitaph by
Walter Raleigh Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...
; the volume concluding with another epitaph by Fulke Greville or
Edward Dyer Sir Edward Dyer (October 1543 – May 1607) was an English courtier and poet. Life The son of Sir Thomas Dyer, Kt., he was born at Sharpham Park, Glastonbury, Somerset. He was educated, according to Anthony Wood, either at Balliol Col ...
. The date of when ''Astrophel'' was written is unknown. It is assumed to be one of the latest formal elegies on Sidney, composed some time between 1591 (Complaints) and late 1595 (Colin Clout), but nothing in Spenser’s Astrophel indicates where it was written. However, given the close links between Spenser's elegies and Bryskett's, a third elegy in the volume, it seems likely that Astrophel was written in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, some time between 1591 and Spenser’s return to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in the winter of 1595-96. The exact reason why Spenser delayed in publishing an elegy for Sidney is unknown. However, in his letter to the Countess of Pembroke which prefaces "Ruines of Time" in '' Complaints'', he speaks of the deaths of Sidney and his two uncles, saying that since his arrival in England his friends have upbraided him "for that I have not shewed any thankful remembrance towards him or any of them; but suffer their names to sleep in silence and forgetfulness".


Sources

''Astrophel'' appears as a complex and integrated poem, with a number of European and Classical sources, including Ronsard and
Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
. Perhaps its most significant debt is to
Moschus Moschus ( el, Μόσχος), ancient Greek bucolic poet and student of the Alexandrian grammarian Aristarchus of Samothrace, was born at Syracuse and flourished about 150 BC. Aside from his poetry, he was known for his grammatical work, nothing o ...
' lament for Bion, enabling Spenser to emphasize his own role as the funeral poet speaking for grieving nation. Though the extreme sensuousness of Ronsard's poem may have made it an inappropriate model for celebrating the heroic Sidney, Spenser's transformation of it is thorough. The second source of the poem are the actual events leading up to Sidney's death in the Battle of Zutphen. The
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, are transformed into "a forest wide and waste", the Spaniards, who shot him, into "the British nation", and the Dutch among whom Sidney died into "a sort of shepherds". The period between Sidney's wounding and death is imaged in the ten stanzas between Astrophel's wounding and death.


Form

The poem consists of 3 prefatory
stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...
s, 33 stanzas of elegy, and 3 describing the grief of Astrophel's fellow shepherds, in sixains rhyming ababcc. The concluding lines prepare the reader for another elegy, "The Dolefull Lay of Clorinda", presumably written by the
Countess of Pembroke {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Countess of Pembroke is a title that has been borne by several women throughout history, including: * Isabel de Clare, 4th Countess of Pembroke (1172–1220), wife of William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, and Count ...
.


"The Doleful Lay of Clorinda" controversy

The 1595 edition separates the "Doleful Lay" from the rest of ''Astrophel'' without change in title or author but with a page break and borders. In 1855 these lines were attributed to
Mary Sidney Mary Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (born Sidney, 27 October 1561 – 25 September 1621) was among the first Englishwomen to gain notice for her poetry and her literary patronage. By the age of 39, she was listed with her brother Philip Sidney ...
by footnote. However, stylistic evidence and the close links between the two poems convince some critics to attribute the poem to Spenser. Evidence of Mary Sidney's authorship includes her 1594 letter to Philip Sidney's friend Sir Edward Wotton, asking for his copy of a poem of mourning that she had written long ago and now needed; Spenser's parallel treatment of Lodowick Bryskett as "Thestylis" and the countess as "Clorinda"; the parallel separation of "Clorinda" from "Astrophel" and from "The Mourning Muse of Thestylis" by the use of borders and introductory stanzas in the first publication of the "Doleful Lay"; Spenser's own references to the countess in ''Astrophel'' and in "The Ruines of Time" (1591); and stylistic similarities to the Countess' other works.Coren, Pamela, "Edmund Spenser, Mary Sidney, and the Doleful Lay". SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900, Vol. 42, 2002.


Critics

Spenser's work has been criticised for concentrating too heavily on literary conventions to the exclusion of wider contextual issues. Also a broader criticism of Astrophel has been that it is cold and conventional, that the quality of inspiration could not be summoned at the moment, or it was from a lack of material with which to round out an adequate poem. It has also been suggested that the poem is mediocre and lacking the simplicity belonging to the expression of true feeling because Spenser was sincerely mourning Sidney's death. Therefore, Spenser was too emotionally attached to the subject matter to write a good poem (Child 535).


Editions


1595 edition of Colin Clouts Come Home Againe containing “Astrophel”Spenser Complete Works: 1893 Variorum EditionThe complete poetical works of Edmund Spenser 1908 ed.


Notes


Sources

* Coren, Pamela, "Edmund Spenser, Mary Sidney, and the Doleful Lay". SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900, Vol. 42, 2002. * Hadfield, Andrew, "Edmund Spenser: A Life". Oxford University Press, 2014. * Hamilton A.C., "The Spenser encyclopaedia". Routledge, 2006. * Jones, H.S.V., "A Spenser Handbook " Appleton-century-crofts, inc., 1958. * O'Connell, Michael. "Astrophel: Spenser's Double Elegy". SEL: Studies in English Literature 1500–1900. Vol. 11, No. 1, The English Renaissance.1971. * Maley, Willy. “Spenser's Life.” The Oxford Dictionary of Edmund Spenser. Richard A. McCabe ed. 1st Ed. 2010. * McCabe, Richard A. A Critical Companion to Spenser Studies. Edited by Bart van Es. Palgrave MacMillan, 2006. * Spenser, Edmund. "The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser". Child, Francis ed. vol. III. Boston, 1855. * Spenser, Edmund. "Complete Works of Edmund Spenser: A Variorum Edition".John Wesley Hales ed. MacMillan, 1893. * Waller.G. "Edmund Spenser — A Literary Life". Palgrave Macmillan, 1994.


External links




The Doleful Lay of Clorinda
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astrophel, A Poetry by Edmund Spenser