Book Description

Excerpt from The Works of Edmund Spenser, Vol. 2 of 8: With the Principal Illustrations of Various Commentators IT is a misfortune, as Mr. Waller Obferves, which attends the writers of Englilh poetry, that they can hardly expect their works {hould laft long in a tongue which is daily changing; that, whilft they are new, envy is apt to prevail againft them; and, as that wears off, our language itl'elf fails. Our poets, therefore, he lays, {hould imitate judicious ftatuaries, that choole the molt durable materials; and {hould carve in Latin or Greek, if they'.would have their labours prel'erved-for ever, Notwithftanding the dil'advantage he has men tioned, we have two ancient Englifli poets, Chaucer and Sp'enfer, who may, perhaps, be reckoned as exceptions to this remark: T hele feem to have taken deep root, like old Britiih oaks, and to flouriih in defiance of all the injuries of time and weather. The former is, indeed, much more Obfolete in his ite than the latter; but it is owing to an extra ordinary native ftrength in both that they have been able thus far to furvive amidit the changes of our tongue, and feem rather likely, among the curious at leaft, to preferve the knowledge of our ancient language, than to be in danger Of being deftroyed with it, and buried under its ruins. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.