Regarding it, the following details may be noted:
1. It is, according to Legouis, "the first conscious artistry sounded by an English poet."
2. In writing it, Spenser makes free imitations of Bion, Theocritus, Virgil, and especially Marthuanus and Marot.
3. In it matter is not so important as form.
4. In it a close "parallel was made between poetry, music, and painting." (Legouis)
5. In it Spenser uses five different forms of stanzas in heroic or ten-syllable lines.
6. There are three principal themes in it:
(i) love-a result of his failed love.
(ii) poetry-as per new poetry. (iii) religion-as prevailed then.
7. There are twelve Eclogues corresponding to each month in the year.
8. There is at once unity and variety in the poem.
9. The poem is a pastoral arising out of his love for Rosalind.
10. It has an autobiographical element in the character of the shepherd, Colin Clout.
11. "...Songs are the gems of the Calendar" (Legouis)
12. "For the first time an English poet seemed to triumph over his European rivals." (Legouis)
13. "From the moment of its publication, Spenser was acknowledged national poet." (Legouis)
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