wits he had met, and the fair ladies he had seen in the
great London world; and dedicated this exquisite diary
to the friend who had introduced him into that
brilliant circle. It would seem that Raleigh had
accused him of indolence. That ever-restless schemer
could not appreciate the poet's dreaminess. 'That you
may see,' writes Spenser, 'that I am not alwaies ydle
as yee think, though not greatly well occupied, nor
altogither undutifull, though not precisely officious,
I make you present of this simple pastorall, unworthie
of your higher conceipt for the meanesse of the stile,
but agreeing with the truth in circumstance and matter.
The which I humbly beseech you to accept in part of
paiment of the infinite debt in which I acknowledge
myselfe bounden unto you for your singular favours and
sundrie good turnes shewed to me at my late being in
England, &c.'
The conclusion of this poem commemorates, as we
have seen, Spenser's enduring affection for that
Rosalind who so many years before had turned away her
ears from his suit. It must have been some twelve
months after those lines were penned, that the writer
conceived an ardent attachment for one Elizabeth. The
active research of Dr. Grosart has discovered that this
lady belonged to the Boyle family--a family already of
importance and destined to be famous. The family seat
was at Kilcoran, near Youghal, and so we understand
Spenser's singing of 'The sea that neighbours to her
near.' Thus she lived in the same county with her
poet. The whole course of the wooing and the winning