the 4, 5, and 6 bookes, vj_d_.
This second instalment--which was to be the last--of
his great poem was duly published in that year. The
_View of the Present State of Ireland_ was not
registered till April 1598, and then only
conditionally. It was not actually printed till 1633.
During his stay in England he wrote the _Hymns to
Heavenly Love and Heavenly Beauty_, and the
_Prothalamion_, which were to be his last works.
More than four years had elapsed since Spenser had
last visited London. During that period certain
memorable works had been produced; the intellectual
power of that day had expressed itself in no mean
manner. When he arrived in London towards the close of
the year 1595, he would find Shakspere splendidly
fulfilling the promise of his earlier days; he would
find Ben Jonson just becoming known to fame; he would
find Bacon already drawing to him the eyes of his time.
Spenser probably spent the whole of the year 1596, and
part of 1597, in England. In 1597 appeared, as has
already been said, the first part of Hooker's
_Ecclesiastical Polity_, and Bacon's _Essays_, and also
Jonson's _Every Man in His Own Humour_.
The reigning favourite at this time was the Earl
of Essex. In 1596 his successful descent upon Cadiz
raised him to the zenith of his fame. With this
nobleman Spenser was on terms of intimacy.
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