Monasticism and Idleness in Spenser’s Late Poetry

Spenser’s late poetry—especially Colin Clouts Come Home Againe and book 6 of The Faerie Queene—represents the associated concepts of monasticism and idleness in surprisingly positive ways. This article argues that these positive representations criticize a dominant Tudor discourse of industry; help to redefine the meaning of spiritual and intellectual labor, including that of poetry itself; and emphasize the importance of empathy as a literary and human value.