Pastoral poetry as a genre is a proving ground for poets preparing to launch themselves into the world of epics. Also it is used as a platform to comment on contemporary politics and issues. In Spenser's the Shepheardes Calender these two facets of pastoral poetry are bound inexorably together. By mere definition an epic is about the nation and the nation about politics. In the period of the publication of the Shepheardes Calender Spenser's nation …showed first 75 words of 1619 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1619 total…Great Britain: Macmillian Press Ltd. 1994. Page 1 Bibliography (Words Cited) 1. Freeman, Rosemary. Edmund Spenser. Great Britain: The Curwen Press. 1957. 2. Hamilton, A.C. Spenser A Collection of Critical Essays. "The Argument of Spenser's Shepheardes Calender". Ed. Harry Berger, Jr. United States of America: Prentice-Hall, Inc. 1968 3. King, Andrew. Lectures. UCC, November 2004 4. Spenser, Edmund. The Shepheardes Calender. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1579. 5. Walker, Gary. Edmund Spenser A Literary Life. Ed. Richard Dutton. Great Britain: Macmillian Press Ltd. 1994.