''Complaints'' is a poetry collection by
Edmund Spenser, published in 1591. It contains nine poems. Its publisher,
William Ponsonby, added an introduction of his own.
''The Ruins of Time''
The poem is narrated by Verulame, female spirit of
Verulamium
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
, and praises the late
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, though perhaps in an ironic tone.
''The Teares of the Muses''
![The Teares of the Muses](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/The_Teares_of_the_Muses.jpg)
This poem was dedicated to
Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby
Alice Spencer, Countess of Derby (4 May 1559 – 23 January 1637) was an English noblewoman from the Spencer family and noted patron of the arts. Poet Edmund Spenser represented her as "Amaryllis" in his eclogue ''Colin Clouts Come Home Againe' ...
. It was composed around 1580. We hear from the
Muses in order:
Clio
In Greek mythology, Clio ( , ; el, Κλειώ), also spelled Kleio, is the muse of history, or in a few mythological accounts, the muse of lyre playing.
Etymology
Clio's name is etymologically derived from the Greek root κλέω/κλεί ...
,
Melpomene,
Thalia
Thalia, Thalía, Thaleia or Thalian may refer to:
People
* Thalia (given name), including a list of people with the name
* Thalía (born 1971), Mexican singer and actress
Mythological and fictional characters
* Thalia (Grace), one of the three ...
,
Euterpe,
Terpsichore
In Greek mythology, Terpsichore (; grc-gre, Τερψιχόρη, "delight in dancing") is one of the nine Muses and goddess of dance and chorus. She lends her name to the word "terpsichorean" which means "of or relating to dance".
Appearance
...
,
Erato,
Calliope
In Greek mythology, Calliope ( ; grc, Καλλιόπη, Kalliópē, beautiful-voiced) is the Muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry; so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muse ...
,
Urania
Urania ( ; grc, , Ouranía; modern Greek shortened name ''Ránia''; meaning "heavenly" or "of heaven") was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy, and in later times, of Christian poetry. Urania is the goddess of astronomy and stars, he ...
, and
Polyhymnia. The order is traditional, following a Latin
mnemonic
A mnemonic ( ) device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding.
Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and imag ...
poem ''De musarum inventis'', and had been adopted by the earlier English writer
Gabriel Harvey
Gabriel Harvey (c. 1552/3 – 1631) was an English writer. Harvey was a notable scholar, whose reputation suffered from his quarrel with Thomas Nashe. Henry Morley, writing in the ''Fortnightly Review'' (March 1869), has argued that Harvey's Lati ...
in his ''Smithus''.
The poem is concerned with the state of contemporary literature, but also mourns the death of the poet
Richard Willes
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...
in about 1579. It was suggested by
William Warburton
William Warburton (24 December 16987 June 1779) was an English writer, literary critic and churchman, Bishop of Gloucester from 1759 until his death. He edited editions of the works of his friend Alexander Pope, and of William Shakespeare.
Li ...
in the 18th century that the lines from Shakespeare's ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'' on the nine Muses mourning ''the death/ of Learning, first in beggary'' refer to this poem.
''Virgils Gnat''
A translation of ''
Culex
''Culex'' is a genus of mosquitoes, several species of which serve as vectors of one or more important diseases of birds, humans, and other animals. The diseases they vector include arbovirus infections such as West Nile virus, Japanese encep ...
'', an
epyllion
A sleeping Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus is the topic of an elaborate ecphrasis">Theseus.html" ;"title="Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus">Ariadne's abandonment by Theseus is the topic of an elaborate ecphrasis in Catullus 64, the most famous e ...
traditionally attributed to
Virgil
Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...
, it is a
beast fable
An animal tale or beast fable generally consists of a short story or poem in which animals talk. They may exhibit other anthropomorphic qualities as well, such as living in a human-like society. It is a traditional form of allegorical writing.
An ...
, and was dedicated to
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, who had died in 1588.
''Prosopoeia, or Mother Hubberds Tale''
This work was dedicated to
Anne Spencer, Baroness Mounteagle
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
.
The 1591 version is a revision of the original. Its inclusion was taken at the time to be the reason ''Complaints'' was rapidly banned. The beast fable aspect was understood as an evident allegory of the position at court of
Lord Burleigh
William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (13 September 15204 August 1598) was an English statesman, the chief adviser of Queen Elizabeth I for most of her reign, twice Secretary of State (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and Lord High Treasurer from 1 ...
, in the character of the Fox.
Richard Verstegan
Richard Rowlands, born Richard Verstegan (c. 1550 – 1640), was an Anglo-Dutch antiquary, publisher, humorist and translator. Verstegan was born in East London the son of a cooper; his grandfather, Theodore Roland Verstegen, was a refugee f ...
, the Catholic historian, cited the work in his ''A Declaration of the True Causes of the Great Troubles'' (1592), treating it as if factual on Burghley. Other Catholics,
Thomas Lodge
Thomas Lodge (c. 1558September 1625) was an English writer and medical practitioner whose life spanned the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods.
Biography
Thomas Lodge was born about 1558 in West Ham, the second son of Sir Thomas Lodge, Lo ...
in his dialogue ''Catharos'', and
Sir Thomas Tresham in correspondence, also paid close attention to its content. The Fox has also been read as a credible satire on Adam Loftus, Archbishop of Dublin and Lord Chancellor of Ireland, an ally of Burleigh.
''The Ruines of Rome''
Based on ''Les Antiquitez de Rome'' (1558) by
Joachim du Bellay
Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of the Pléiade. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as an a ...
.
''Muiopotmos: or The Fate of the Butterflie''
''Muiopotmos'' was dedicated to
Elizabeth Spencer, Baroness Hunsdon
Elizabeth Spencer, Baroness Hunsdon (29 June 1552 – 25 February 1618) was an English noblewoman, scholar, and patron of the arts. She was the inspiration for Edmund Spenser's ''Muiopotmos'', was commemorated in one of the poet's dedicatory sonn ...
.
It is a tightly-structured poem in which the butterfly Clarion is killed by the spider Aragnoll.
''Visions of the Worlds Vanitie''
''The Visions of Bellay''
Some of the sonnets in this section, and the final ''Visions of Petrarch'', had earlier versions in ''A theatre wherein be represented as wel the miseries & calamities that follow the voluptuous worldlings'' (1569) translated by Spenser (and others) from the original by
Jan van der Noot
Jonker Jan van der Noot (1539–1595) was a Netherlandish writer who is regarded as the first Renaissance poet in Dutch.
Life
Jan van der Noot was born to a noble family in Brecht, in the Duchy of Brabant, about halfway between Antwerp and Breda. ...
.
''The Visions of Petrarch''
This work, with the preceding one, is a rewriting of Spenser's first published work, on the theme of
Roman liberty
Republicanism is a political ideology centered on citizenship in a state (polity), state organized as a republic. Historically, it emphasises the idea of self-rule and ranges from the rule of a representative minority or oligarchy to popular ...
and its end. It is not completely clear that authorship lies with Spenser The origins of this poem lay in a version via
Clément Marot
Clément Marot (23 November 1496 – 12 September 1544) was a French Renaissance poet.
Biography
Youth
Marot was born at Cahors, the capital of the province of Quercy, some time during the winter of 1496–1497. His father, Jean Marot (c.& ...
's French of ''Standomi un giorno solo a la fenestra'', which is ''
canzone
Literally "song" in Italian, a ''canzone'' (, plural: ''canzoni''; cognate with English ''to chant'') is an Italian or Provençal song or ballad. It is also used to describe a type of lyric which resembles a madrigal. Sometimes a composition w ...
'' 323 by
Petrarch
Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists.
Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...
. The ''canzone'', in a mixed form as first translated, was then adapted to the
sonnet sequence A sonnet sequence is a group of sonnets thematically unified to create a long work, although generally, unlike the stanza, each sonnet so connected can also be read as a meaningful separate unit.
The sonnet sequence was a very popular genre during ...
form, with seven sonnets, by the addition of some couplets and other changes. The result is a more rounded "complaint".
Notes
External links
Texts at spenserians.cath.vt.edu:
''Ruines of Time''''The Tears of the Muses''''Virgil's Gnat''''Prosopopoia: or Mother Hubberds Tale''''Ruines of Rome: by Bellay''''Muiopotmos, or the Fate of the Butterflie''''Visions of the Worlds Vanitie''''The Visions of Bellay''''The Visions of Petrarch. Formerly translated.''
{{Edmund Spenser
1591 books
Poetry by Edmund Spenser
English poetry collections