Poets' Corner.

generous enough to give the proofs of their appreciation in substantial Avealth , is forcibly shoAvn by a little episode in the history of Spenser ' s great poem . Before any part of the " Faerie Queene" was published , the poet submitted a portion

of it to the famous Sir Philip Sydney for his approval , ancl Ave are told that on reading the description of " Despair , " he was so much struck by its excellence that he immediately ordered his steAvard to pay Spenser fifty pounds . He continued to read , and his delight ancl admiration increased so much that he ordered a second

gift of fifty pounds . He read on , discovering neAV charms as he proceeded , until he ordered a third and a fourth ' donation , amounting in all to the then large sum of tAvo hundred pounds , when he closed the book and directed his steAvard to pay the poet at oncelest ho should bestoAV the

, whole of his property upon the writer of such exquisite verses . When the " Faerie Queene " Avas published , Queen Elizabeth appointed Spenser Poet-Laureate , with a pension of fifty pounds a year ; but he did not receive his pension without much

difficulty , for Avhen the great Lord Burleigh , the Queen ' s Councellor , heard of it , he said it Avas far to much to be given to a mere ballad-maker . This does not say much for the Lord Burleigh ' s taste . On another occasionAvhen Spenser presented

, some poems to the Queen , she ordered him a gift of one hundred pounds , and here again Lord Burleigh interfered . " What I all this for a song ? " he exclaimed . " Then give him . AA'hat is reason , " replied the Queen . We may easily imagine Avhat the

grim Lord Burleigh AVOUM think a reasonable reAvard for a poet . Spenser did not receive anything ; ancl Avhen he had Avaited long , and Avas suffering from the sickness of hope deferred , he Avrote a memorial to the Queen in these Avords :

I was promised on a time To have reason for my rhyme ; From that time unto this season , I have had nor rhyme nor reason , This procured him immediate payment , He got a giant of some lands in the count

y of Cork , Ireland , which had been taken from the Earl of Desmond , Avho had taken up arms against the Government . Here he lived for many years , aud descriptions

of the beautiful scenery by which he wag surrounded frequently occur in his poems . But rebellion broke out again , and Spenser Avas obliged to fly instantly for his life , The people set fire to his castle , aud onl y too late it was discovered that he had left

behind his infant child , Avho perished in the flames . Spenser made his Avay to England , where he arrived poor aud broken in spirit , and soon after , on the 16 th of January , 1598 , he died in an obscure lodging in King Street , Westminster . Such a short account of the history of a

genius . The next monument AA'hich attracts , our attention is that of Ben Jonson . He Avas a great dramatist , as every one must have heard , and Avas contemporary with Shakespeare . The . inscription upon his monument is very remarkable for its

pithiness , consisting of only the words , " 0 rare Ben Jonson /" We must pass over a feAV names of inferior note in order to direct your notice to that old ancl mouldez-ing monument , Avhich you might otherwise pass by

without heeding . It is battered , chipped , ancl defaced , yet it marks the last resting place of Geoffery Chaucer , Avho has been called the father of English poetry . Our young friends would , Ave fear , find it very difficult to read any of Chaucer ' s writings . The language that we use now differs very much from that Avhicb was in use when

Chaucer liA'ed and wrote . Then it Avas indeed , a strange medly of Saxon , Norman , Latin , and Celtic Avords , rude and irregular . To him Ave owe the first great improvement in it . He not only improved the language he found in use , but he enriched it by the great number of

continental words Avhich he introduced in his poetry , ancl by giving them a fixed ond definite meaning and use , made them part and parcel of the English we use to-day . He actually remodelled our language , and the great improvements he began were

continued by others , until we find it iu Shakespeare ' s time capable of giving worthy expression to the most sublime thoughts of the poet , the abstruse reasonings of the philosopher and the divine , and the broadest farce of the humourist . Chaucer

Avas born in London in the year 1328 , and at eighteen years of age he had composed his first poem . He was introduced