 Seventeenth-century philologists such as Davenant considered Spenser's use of "obsolete language" as the "most vulgar accusation that is laid to his charge".Scholars have recently observed that the classical tradition tucked within "The Faerie Queene" is related to the problem of his diction because it "involves the principles of imitation and decorum".Despite these initial criticisms, Spenser is "now recognized as a conscious literary artist" and his language is deemed "the only fitting vehicle for his tone of thought and feelings".