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Who does the shepherdess Elisa represent in The Shepheardes Calender?
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Edmund Spenser
Edmund Spenser, oil painting by an unknown artist; in the collection of Pembroke College, Cambridge, England.
In Edmund Spenser's The Shepheardes Calender, the shepherdess Elisa is a representation of Queen Elizabeth I herself.1
She is featured in the eclogue titled "Aprill," which serves as an encomiumāa formal expression of high praiseādedicated to the monarch.21