Amoretti by Edmund Spencer
Translated in English to “little love poems,” Spenser’s Amoretti is perhaps one of his best works. A sequence of 89 sonnets in total, Amoretti is written in Petrarchan form which, like all sonnets is comprised of 14 lines, divided into two parts: the octave and the sestet. The Petrarchan sonnet typically assumes the rhyme scheme a b b a a b b a in its octave, and the sestet tends to take on various different forms. How does S. uses this form or vary it?
Amoretti was written in 1594, but was not published until the next year. While in form and meter, Spenser’s Amoretti assumed all the characteristics of a sonnet, his sonnet’s content was drastically different. While most authors, including Sidney and Petrarch himself, wrote about women whom they felt enamored with, but did not actually know, but admired obsessively from afar, Spenser wrote his verses about a woman whom he truly adored and pursued in real life, Elizabeth Boyle, his eventual wife.
The sonnets 1, 74, and 75, all reflect aspects of literary self-consciousness in Spencer’s writing. Simply put this concept is “writing about writing” or making references to the impact or effects that one composers writing will have in the context of their text. Spencer does this dutifully and consistently in each of the sonnets analyzed below stating that with his writing, his ideas and feelings towards his love will last forever, since literature does not fade as does life.
Sonnet 1 of Amoretti:
Happy ye leaves when as those lilly hands,
Which hold my life in their dead doing might,
Shall handle you and hold in loves soft bands,
Lyke captives trembling at the victors sight.
And happy lines, on which with starry light,
Those lamping eyes will deigne sometimes to look
And reade the sorrowes of my dying spright,
Written with teares in harts close bleeding book.
And happy rymes bath’d in the sacred brooke
Of Helicon whence she derived is,
When ye behold that Angels blessed looke,
My soules long lacked foode, my heavens blis.
Leaves,lines,and rymes, seeke her to please alone,
Whom if ye please, I care for other none.
Over View: Sonnet one is the first of the Amoretti sonnets written by Spenser in 1595. Spenser dedicated his poems in the Amoretti series to his new wife, Elizabeth. The audience of this first sonnet is the poem itself, in this way it is a poem alluding to all of his poems he wrote about his wife. Each quatrain focuses on a different part of the poem: quatrain one is about the pages, quatrain two addresses the lines, and quatrain three is the rhymes. Sonnet one ends with a couplet that wraps up the points made in each of the quatrains. Like many of Spenser’s sonnets, we see evidence of literary self-consciousness in Sonnet one. Sonnet one displays literary self-consciousness in terms of his lover being a part of each sector of his poetry. Spenser knows that his poems are written for the purpose of his lover to read and enjoy them, he also knows that she will do just that.
The first quatrain addresses the pages of the poem. “Leaves” in the first line is Spenser’s name for pages of a poem. He explains that the pages of his poetry are only happy when the woman he loves is holding them. In line two,”Which hold my life in their dead doing might”, states that this woman holds his life in her hands therefore she has the power to “kill” him. A metaphor that Spenser describes is his lover holding the poem in her hands captive, just as he is captive by her love. He claims that the pages are happy to be embraced by his lover. In this same way Spenser is happy when his lover embraces him.
The second quatrain describes the lines of the poem. In this quatrain, Spenser says that the lines will be happy when his lover’s “starry light” and “lamping eyes” read them. “Starry light” is another way of saying that someone has a innocent and hopeful view of love. The “lamping eyes will deigne sometimes to look” explains that any excitement in her eyes while reading his poem will tell him whether the play is worth being looked at or not. The last two lines explains what his lover will be reading from his poetry,for instance, his sorrows deep inside. On line eight, Spenser writes, “Written with teares in harts close bleeding book.” This line portrays how sincere his poetry is and how every emotion or feeling he has for her is evident in the lines of the poems he writes. The whole second quatrain paints a very vivid picture of how heartfelt his poetry is, therefore how heartfelt his love is for her.
The last quatrain focuses on the rhymes within a poem. The “sacred brooke of Helicon” refers to the scared rivers of the Helicon mountains. In Greek mythology, Helicon Mountain was a place favored by gods and goddesses. Some of those goddess were known as muses for literature and other art forms. When Spenser says that his lover is derived from Helicon, he is comparing her to one of the Greek god muses. He says that the rhymes are happy when his lover is the muse. He goes on to say that when his lover looks at the rhymes in his poem this is considered his bliss.
The two lines at the end are the couplet of the poem. In this couplet Spenser wraps up everything he has written in the quatrains above. Spenser states that as long as his lover is happy from his poem, he too is happy. Nothing else matters to him but making his wife happy from his poetry. Sonnet one of The Amoretti is in a way written to describe all the sonnets to follow and explain the significance of each part within the sonnets.
Sonnet 74
Most happy letter fram’d by skilful trade,
With which that happy name was first desynd:
The which three times thrise happy hath me made,
With guifts of body, fortune and of mine. (lines 1-4)
The first my being to me gave by kind,
From mothers womb deriv’d by dew descent,
The second is my sovereigne Queene most kind,
That honour and large richnesse to me lent. (5-8)
The third my love, my lives last ornament,
By whom my spirit out of dust was raysed:
To speake her prayse and glory excellent,
Of all alive most worthy to be praysed. (9-12)
Ye three Elizabeths for ever live,
That three such graces did unto me give. (13-4)
Analysis:
Spencer drafted this sonnet to pay homage to the Elizabeth’s in his life. This name is not revealed until the last two lines of the sonnet, known as the couplet. He does this beautifully within the three quatrains and couplet structure of his sonnet. This sonnet illustrates Spencer’s theme of literary self-consciousness when he states that the Elizabeth’s will live forever with his writing, even after their death.
The first quatrain begins with the line “Most happy letter fram’d by skilful trade” which is regarded as a song of praise and joy (Brookshire). The opening lines reference a particular name which is constructed with skill, and it has three important meanings in his life. The name has made him blissful in both body, fortune, and mind. The name has not yet been revealed to us, but we known of which the three examples it will pose importance to Spencer.
The second quatrain deals with the first and second meanings of the name, as referenced in the first quatrain. The first meaning is representative of the happiness of his body, his mother gave birth to his body and shares the special name he refers to. The second meaning is of his fortune, which is given to him by his kind Queen who provides him with honor and riches for the creation of his poetry (Brookshire). This is the first time a reader may infer that the name he is speaking of is Elizabeth, due to the historical context of when the sonnet was written i.e. when Queen Elizabeth was in power.
The third and final quatrain illustrates the third and final meaning of the name he is so enamored with. He was courting a woman named Elizabeth Boyle at the time of composition of this sonnet (Brookshire). Sonnets are traditionally love poems addressed to the woman the composer was in love with at the time, so it is fitting that he makes a reference to his Elizabeth as well as the others. He writes that his love has raised his spirits out of the dust and he must speak her praise and glory, she is the most worthy woman alive who should be praised.
The final couplet that ties up the meaning of the sonnet allows for the revealing of the name he finds so important, a necessary and much anticipated conclusion. He reveals that the name he has written his poem to is Elizabeth and the glory and graces of her name will live for more in the context of his sonnets. This is representative of the literary self-consciousness Spencer often references in his compositions. He is aware that he is writing about writing and that while doing this, his ideas will be concrete and immortal even when the subjects of his sonnets are not.
Sonnet 75
One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away;
Agayne I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tyde, and made my paynes his pray.
Vayne man, sayd she, that doest in vaine assay,
A mortall thing so to immortalize,
For I my selve shall lyke to this decay,
And eek my name bee wyped out lykewize.
Not so, (quod I) let baser things devise
To dy in dust, but you shall live by fame;
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,
And in the hevens wryte your glorious name.
Where whenas death shall all the world subdew,
Our love shall live, and later life renew.
Here is an audio recording of Sonnet 75:
Audio Productions (2013, February 1). Edmund Spenser ‘One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand’. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://youtu.be/iIdql9_1_2g
Over view:
The first quatrain in the sonnet starts with a man writing his beloveds name in the sand. Each time he writes her name the waves come and wash it away. Since the man tried to write her name in the sand it shows his desperate need to have his love remembered.
In the second quatrain the woman whom he loves tells him that no human can be immortalized due to time. She tells him he is being vain in trying to make something last forever that is not meant to. She will be removed from this earth and forgotten just as her name is removed from the sand. In this quatrain it also shows the awareness of death in the time period in which this poem was written. In the sixteenth century the awareness of death became more known and had more focus than usual.
In the third quatrain the man tells her she will be immortalized due to the fact that she will live on through his poems and verses. He uses the argument that worldly things die but she will not, using this argument he places her above worldly things saying she will last forever. This quatrain brings about the notion of eternal love. This quatrain shows that he will always love her because he eternalized their love through writing this poem that will last forever. Their love will triumph death because it is in writing for anyone to see and read and learn about when they want to read it.
The ending couplet ends with the man saying that even after the world ends their love shall live on forever and never end. As said before he made their love everlasting through writing this poem.
This poem has a reassuring tone because the man says their love will last forever and truly believes this based off his writing. The poem is also pleasant and calm sounding when reading it. Saying that love will last forever and exceed time is a happy and reassuring notion. The poem is also a part of lyric poetry. It focuses on personal and emotional feelings. In this poem is expresses the man’s feelings on their love lasting forever and the woman’s feelings on how it wont last past them.
Reference List
Amoretti by Edmund Spencer. Photograph. Luminarium.org. Web. 2 Dec. 2013. <https://sites.udel.edu/britlitwiki/files//2018/06/amoretti-1.jpg>.
Brookshire, Sophia. “Analysis of Edmund Spenser’s “Amoretti: Sonnet 74″” Yahoo Contributor Network. Yahoo, 13 Jan. 2011. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. <http://voices.yahoo.com/analysis-edmund-spensers-amoretti-7607362.html?cat=4>.
Ferguson, M., Salter, M., & Stallworthy, J. (2005). Edmund Spenser. Retrieved from http://www.wwnorton.com/college/english/nap/sonnet75_edmund.htm
Audio Productions (2013, February 1). Edmund Spenser ‘One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand’. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from http://youtu.be/iIdql9_1_2g
Brookshire, Sophia. “Analysis on Edmund Spenser’s “Amoretti:Sonnet 1” ”Yahoo Voices.12 Dec. 2010. <http://voices.yahoo.com/analysis-edmund-spensers-amoretti-7391024.html?cat=4>