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Four Hymns

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By: (1552-1599)

Four Hymns by Edmund Spenser is a collection of beautiful and intricate poems that explore the themes of nature, beauty, and spirituality. Spenser's lyrical language and vivid imagery bring to life the beauty of the natural world and the divine presence within it. The poems are rich in symbolism and metaphor, inviting readers to ponder deeper meanings and connections between the physical and spiritual realms. Each hymn is a spiritual meditation that celebrates the wonders of creation and expresses a profound reverence for the natural world. Spenser's skillful use of language and his deep understanding of theology make Four Hymns a powerful and moving read for anyone interested in poetry, spirituality, and the beauty of the natural world.

Book Description:
Spenser explains in the dedication of this volume that the hymns to love and to beauty were written early in his career and their "heavenly" counterparts much later, in response to the dissatisfaction that one of the author's patrons expressed toward the earlier poems, although to a modern sensibility those are in no way offensive except perhaps in focusing upon the sublunary world. However that may be, all four poems are idealistic, expressing the neo-Platonic philosophy that was growing in popularity in Elizabethan England. According to this doctrine, the soul is primary and shapes the body that clothes it. The material world is only a pale reflection of the ideal world, and mortals gradually, through growth from infancy to old age, unfold, or "dilate," the many-dimensioned wholeness of their being as it exists in eternity. Life on earth, a journey to heaven, is conceived of as the pursuit of beauty, the proper object of earthly love, and the quest of love leads the soul back to the source of love and beauty, God. The structure of The Faerie Queene rests upon this concept. - Summary by T. A. Copeland


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