this thesis is a study of a small collection of spenser's poems which was published in london in 1596. the title of the collection is the fowre hymnes and it is one of the most confusing of spenser's poetic works. in fact, none of the critics seem to know why this work was written or what is actually in it. the letter of dedication also presents some problems. my purpose in this thesis is to discuss these problems and to offer a textual analysis of each of the printed poems. once this has been done, i will make some general comments about the collection as a whole. i will begin by explaining who the poet's patrons were and what they were like in actual life. this is important to our study because it helps us understand the letter of dedication and the contents of the poems themselves. unfortunately, there is little information on either of the ladies to whom the hymnes are dedicated and it is consequently necessary to study their male relations in order to determine what their position was in life.