Spenser's poetry, likewise, is more Romantic in the sense that it is looking towards a nostalgic past rather than towards an uncertain future, than that of many of his contemporaries. Spenser was a close friend and an associate of the poets Sir Philip Sidney and Sir Walter Raleigh, both of whom, in addition to being poets, were wild, adventuresome, Renaissance men. His other close contemporaries include Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, both of whom, in one way or another, were writing in response to the massive change in thought and outlook resulting from the Renaissance.