The Shorter Poems Book

I have a love/hate relationship with Edmund Spenser. I think he is one of the most beautiful and talented and creative writers in the large pantheon of English Literature, however, he can be so difficult and dense and frustrating! That said, his poetry is more than worth working through but its great having someone to instruct you through the process. The Sheapherdes Calender is trying to get through but it's very foundational if anyone plans to read more Spenser. It's a good read once you get the hang of the language and conventions. Prosopopoia is a classic, the fable is fabulous and entertaining. Muiopotmos is easily my favourite Spenser poem, it tells the story of the tragic death of the heroic butterfly Clarion at the hands of the malignant spider Aragnoll. It's fabulously epic! Then of course you can't skip Epithalamion and Prothalamion, two of the most celebrated poems Spenser wrote. Love is always popular.

This is a great collection of all of Spenser's shorter poems, which means everything he wrote except The Faerie Queene. Any Spenser fan would enjoy this.