Literary by-paths in old England . is facts asto affirm that the poet had attained a state ofaffluence at his death ; on the other hand, it isimpossible for him to believe that death ensuedfrom actual want of bread. For, consider thefacts of the case. Spenser was now Sheriff ofthe county of Cork, and he had come to Londonas messenger of the President of Minister to theEnglish Court. If he had been in extreme mon-etary need on his arrival in London, there weremany in the capital who would at once haverelieved his wants. The scene of his death, atavern in King Street, Westminster, also tellsagai
Literary by-paths in old England . is facts asto affirm that the poet had attained a state ofaffluence at his death ; on the other hand, it isimpossible for him to believe that death ensuedfrom actual want of bread. For, consider thefacts of the case. Spenser was now Sheriff ofthe county of Cork, and he had come to Londonas messenger of the President of Minister to theEnglish Court. If he had been in extreme mon-etary need on his arrival in London, there weremany in the capital who would at once haverelieved his wants. The scene of his death, atavern in King Street, Westminster, also tellsagainst the starvation legend. King Street, thenthe only highway between the Royal Palaceof Whitehall and the Parliament House, wasa street of considerable importance, and Spen-sers presence there is explained by Stows re-mark that for the accommodation of such ascome to town in the terms, here are some good4 49 LITERARY BY-PATHS inns for their reception, and not a few tavernsfor entertainment, as is not unusual in places of m //k m m. Sixteenth Century Plan of Westminster. Showing KingStreet, where Spenser died great confluence. There are ample proofs, too,that King Street was the usual resort of thosewho were messengers to the Court, such as 50 IN OLD ENGLAND Spenser then was. Happily, then, there are nogrounds for believing that the poet died forwant of bread; it was tragedy enough thatsuch a life should have gone out at so earlyan age. There was but one burial place for Spenser —that Abbey in which the dust of Chaucer hadalready consecrated Poets Corner to be the sep-ulture of Englands sweet singers. It is saidthat Spenser asked a resting-place near that sa-cred dust, and such a wish was natural in onewho knew he was Chaucers lineal Essex defrayed the charges of the funeral,and poets bore the pall and cast upon the coffintheir elegies and the pens with which they werewritten. Although Spenser had achieved hischief work on Irish soil, it was given him torest at
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Keywords: ., bookauthorshelleyh, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1906
