ABSTRACT
Francis Beaumont (1584-1616) the dramatist and collaborator with Fletcher, left Oxford without a degree to study law at the Inner Temple. His acquaintance included Jonson and Drayton. The piece below, if it is indeed by Beaumont, is either precocious or, despite its sense, written after Spenser's death. Though not properly speaking obituary at all, it is printed among a series of epitaphs by Beaumont's first editor, who I cannot but feel was guided by a sound sense of tone.
