“Astrophel” and Spenser’s 1595 Quarto

Abstract

Edmund Spenser’s “Astrophel” tends to be regarded as a minor poem that is inadequate as an elegy for Sidney and is further overshadowed by “Colin Clouts Come Home Againe.” Originally, both poems were published in the same volume in 1595, along with works by four other poets. Nonetheless, modern readings of “Astrophel” have been substantially shaped by modern editing practice, which has separated it from the rest of the volume’s contents. This article examines the original published context of “Astrophel” in detail and argues that all of the contents of the 1595 quarto — including those not written by Spenser himself — were intended to (and should) be read as a unit.