His friend Essex and many another were ready to
minister to his necessities if he needed their
ministry. Jonson's story is that he 'refused twenty
pieces sent him by my lord Essex, and said he was sure
he had no time to spend them.' This story, if it is
anything more than a mere vulgar rumour, so far as it
shows anything, shows that he was in no such very
extreme need of succour. Had his destitution been so
complete, he would have accepted the pieces for his
family, even though 'he had no time to spend them
himself.' It must be remembered that he was still in
receipt of a pension from the crown; a pension of no
very considerable amount, perhaps, but still large
enough to satisfy the pangs of hunger. But numerous
passages might be quoted to show that he died in
somewhat straitened circumstances.
It was said, some thirty-four years after
Spenser's death, that in his hurried flight from
Ireland the remaining six books of the _Faerie Queene_
were lost. But it is very unlikely that those books
were ever completed.{6} Perhaps some fragments of them
may have perished in the flames at Kilcolman--certainly
only two cantos have reached us. These were first
printed in 1611, when the first six books were
republished. The general testimony of his
contemporaries is that his song was broken off in the
midst.
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