Edmund Spenser, whose touching tribute to his former teacher is often quoted.

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Dear Dr. Boli: What’s all this I hear about “Dan Chaucer, well of English undefyled”? I thought his name was Jeff. —Sincerely, W. W. Skeat.

Dear Sir: You are thinking of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer, who died in 1400. Daniel Chaucer taught creative writing at the Merchant Taylors’ School in London in the middle 1500s. He was reputed to be rather pedantic on questions of English usage.

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This article is printed in honor of the four hundredth birthday of Dr. Boli’s folio copy of Spenser’s works. When a book reaches the four-century mark, Dr. Boli believes it has earned a birthday tribute.