Sweet Sultan.—Spenser's "Faerie Queen" is not to be had in nineteenth-century English, but it is easy to read and understand in its original form; and in the "Globe Edition" published by Macmillan & Co. at 3s. 6d., there is a glossary to explain the obscure words. You can also get some of the books with valuable notes in the Clarendon Press edition, published at 2s. 6d. the volume.
A. D. S.—We give the whole poem of which you quote two lines:—
To Day.
So here hath been dawning
Another blue day:
Think wilt thou let it
Slip useless away?
Out of Eternity
This new day is born,
Into Eternity
At night will return.
Behold it aforetime
No eye ever did:
So soon it forever
From all eyes is hid.
Here hath been dawning
Another blue day:
Think wilt thou let it
Slip useless away?
It is one of the few poems by Thomas Carlyle, and is to be found in his "Miscellaneous Essays."
A Lover of Nature.—Your verses are correct in metre and rhyme. We cannot say that they are particularly original, for the same thought has been frequently expressed already; and there is nothing very poetical in them. But to write poetry is a difficult art. Many thanks for your kind little letter. We may add that we are pleased to know the beauty of June gives rise to the thoughts you embody in your lines.
"One Who Knows" writes to correct a statement in a recent answer. "B. M." is the daughter of the late Dr. Miller of Rothesay, and her married name is Macandrew. Erin kindly adds that her Christian name is Barbara.