Poem 21
ANd
thou
great
Iuno,
which
with
awful
might
the
lawes
of
wedlock
still
dost
patronize,
And
the
religion
of
the
faith
first
plight
With
sacred
rites
hast
taught
to
solemnize:
and
eeke
for
comfort
often
called
art
Of
women
in
their
smart,
Eternally
bind
thou
this
louely
band,
And
all
thy
blessings
vnto
vs
impart.
And
thou
glad
Genius,
in
whose
gentle
hand,
The
bridale
bowre
and
geniall
bed
remaine,
Without
blemish
or
staine.
And
the
sweet
pleasures
of
theyr
loues
delight
With
secret
ayde
doest
succour
and
supply,
Till
they
bring
forth
the
fruitfull
progeny,
Send
vs
the
timely
fruit
of
this
same
night.
And
thou
fayre
Hebe,
and
thou
Hymen
free,
Grant
that
it
may
so
be.
Til
which
we
cease
your
further
prayse
to
sing,
Ne
any
woods
shal
answer,
nor
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.