kyndly

Updated: May 25, 2025

Spenser's beautiful allusion in the Prothalamion to "mery London my most kyndly nurse" and to the "sweet Thames" whom he invites to "run softely till I end my song" is among the few tributes of personal affection paid by our poets to the great city. And it is still true to-day that the tutelary genius of London is none of the great poets: it is Samuel Johnson.

John Cann Bailey - Dr. Johnson and His Circle