Edmund Spenser (1552~1599), a famous poet in the English Renaissance. He was born in London into a family of cloth merchants. In his early years, he was educated at a sewing and merchant school, and later studied at Cambridge University, where he was exposed to French and Italian literature and was influenced by humanistic ideas. In 1576 he received his Master of Arts degree.

In 1579, Spencer published the pastoral poem "The Shepherd's Calendar", which was a success and gradually received great attention. In 1580, he was sent to Ireland to hold an official position, settled in the quiet Gilcolmont, and wrote the first three volumes of the famous poem "The Faerie Queene". Sir Walter Reilly, who came to visit, greatly appreciated this work and encouraged him to publish it. Spencer accepted his friend's suggestion and returned to London the next year, preparing to read these three volumes of poems to Elizabeth and then publish them. He originally thought that these poems praising the Queen would open the way for him to enter the court, but the reward given to him by the Queen was very meager, and he returned to Ireland in disappointment. Soon, he wrote the poem "Colleen Kraut Returns Home Again" using the pastoral style of "The Shepherd's Calendar", describing various situations of his arrival in London.

In the following years, Spencer was busy with love and marriage, and continued to write poetry. He came to London again in 1596, published the last three volumes of "The Faerie Queene", and wrote four poems including "Ode to Heavenly Love" and "Ode to Heavenly Beauty". In 1598, shortly after Spencer returned from London, an uprising broke out among the Irish people against the English enslavers. Spencer's Gilcolmont private residence was burned down, and one of his children was also buried in the fire. He had to flee to London with his family. At this time, some of his friends in London had been deposed for crimes, and some had died. Spencer, who was mentally and physically haggard, fell into a situation where he had no way to appeal. He died in extreme hardship in 1599.

"The Shepherd's Calendar" was the first work that made Spenser famous. This idyll consists of 12 pastorals, each titled after a month of the year. This work mainly describes love and the natural scenery of the countryside, but also touches on religious, political and moral issues. In his works, the poet praises Queen Elizabeth as an upright and benevolent monarch, affirms his own ideals about society and ethics, and describes real life in the form of ideal whitewashing. The shepherds described by the poet understand history, literature and ancient Greek and Roman mythology, unlike real herdsmen.

Spenser wrote a large number of lyric poems throughout his life, among which the sonnet group "Love Poems" (1591~1595) is the most outstanding. There are 89 poems in this group of poems, which are used to praise a woman named Elizabeth. Who exactly this woman refers to is unknown. He also wrote two marriage odes, "After-Wedding Song" (1591~1595) and "Pre-Wedding Song" (1596). The former describes the poet's own love life, while the latter is a congratulatory poem written for the marriage of the two daughters of the Earl of Leicester. These lyric poems blend scenes and have beautiful rhythm.

The long poem "The Faerie Queene" (1589, 1596) is Spenser's most important and most accomplished work, and it is also the first national epic of the British bourgeoisie. Together with Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" and Dante's "Divine Comedy", it is known as the three major fables in world literature. This long poem was originally planned to be written in 12 volumes, but only 6 volumes were completed. The long poem begins with the scene of a festive banquet at the court of the Fairy Queen Gloriana, and then describes the palace warriors' battles with monsters and wizards. In the name of describing the Fairy Queen, the work praises Queen Elizabeth and promotes the qualities that bourgeois newcomers should possess. In the six completed stories, the samurai protagonists are all written as symbols of certain moral qualities. For example, Prince Arthur is written as the incarnation of the highest human character, the Red Cross Knight is a sacred symbol, Bugintoma is a model of chastity, Kalido is a model of courtesy, and so on.

"The Faerie Queene" expresses the author's humanistic ideals and summarizes the characteristics of the Renaissance. In art, it inherited the legendary literature of knights and was also influenced by the artistic style of the Italian poet Ariosto during the Renaissance, which provided the highest example of poetry creation skills in Britain at that time.

The poetic style of this work is perfect, the language is beautiful, and the music is full of beauty. It was later called "Spenserian style" and had a major influence on the formation of British poetry rhythm. Spenser was once known as the "poet's poet" and his works had a good effect on all poetry creation at that time. Later poets, especially the romantic poets Byron and Shelley in the early 19th century, also learned a lot from his creations.