SOURCE: "The Pagan Renaissance" in "The Renaissance," Book II of History of English Literature, Henry Holt and Company, 1889, pp. 289-321.

In the following excerpt from his survey of English literature, Taine gives an overview of Spenser and The Faerie Queene in the context of the English Renaissance.

Spenser belonged to an ancient family, allied to great houses; was a friend of Sidney and Raleigh, the two most accomplished knights of the age—a knight himself, at least in heart; who had found in his connections, his friendships, his studies, his life, everything calculated to lead him to ideal poetry. We find him at Cambridge, where he imbues himself with the noblest ancient philosophies; in a northern country, where he passes through a deep and unfortunate passion; at Penshurst, in the castle and in the society where the Arcadia was produced; with Sidney, in whom survived entire the romantic...