Poem 2
EArly
before
the
worlds
light
giuing
lampe,
His
golden
beame
vpon
the
hils
doth
spred,
Hauing
disperst
the
nights
vnchearefull
dampe,
Doe
ye
awake
and
with
fresh
lusty
hed,
Go
to
the
bowre
of
my
beloued
loue,
My
truest
turtle
doue
Bid
her
awake;
for
Hymen
is
awake,
And
long
since
ready
forth
his
maske
to
moue,
With
his
bright
Tead
that
flames
with
many
a
flake,
And
many
a
bachelor
to
waite
on
him,
In
theyr
fresh
garments
trim.
Bid
her
awake
therefore
and
soone
her
dight,
For
lo
the
wished
day
is
come
at
last,
That
shall
for
al
the
paynes
and
sorrowes
past,
Pay
to
her
vsury
of
long
delight,
And
whylest
she
doth
her
dight,
Doe
ye
to
her
of
ioy
and
solace
sing,
That
all
the
woods
may
answer
and
your
eccho
ring.
Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser (born 1552/53, London, England—died January 13, 1599, London) English poet whose long allegorical poem The Faerie Queene is one of the greatest in the English language. It was written in what came to be called the Spenserian stanza. In 1598 rebels attacked and burned Kilcolman Castle, forcing Spenser and his family to flee to Cork. In December he returned to England, where he delivered a report on the Irish crisis at Whitehall on Christmas Eve. Three weeks later, on 13 January 1599, he died, perhaps of illness brought on by exhaustion. He was buried soon after in the south transept of Westminster Abbey in the Poets’ Corner.