Edmund Spenser Spenserian Sonnets

Edmund Spenser Spenser was born in 1552, and educated in London at the Merchant Taylors' School. He went to Ireland in the 1570s, during the Elizabethan re- conquest of the country, to acquire land and wealth there.

Edmund Spenser Continued From 1579 to 1580, he served with the English forces during the second of the Desmond Rebellions, and afterwards was awarded lands in Cork that had been confiscated from the rebels in the Munster Plantation. Amongst his acquaintances in the area was Walter Raleigh who, like Spenser, had been granted land in Munster.

Edmund Spenser Continued In the early 1590s he wrote a prose pamphlet titled, A View on the Present State of Ireland. This piece has become quite famous since it was published in the mid seventeenth century, although it was not published in Spenser's lifetime, being thought too inflammatory.

Edmund Spenser Continued The pamphlet argued Ireland would never be totally 'pacified' until its indigenous language and customs had been destroyed, if necessary by violence. He recommended using scorched earth tactics, such as he had seen used in the Desmond Rebellions, to create famine.

Edmund Spenser Continued Although it has been highly regarded as a polemical piece of prose and valued as a historical source on 16th century Ireland, the "View" is seen today as genocidal in intent. He also siphoned Ireland's Celtic tradition for poetic source material.

Edmund Spenser Continued Appropriately, Spenser was driven from his home by Irish rebels during the Nine Years War in He died in 1599.

Spenser’s Poetry The first poem to earn Spenser notability was a collection of eclogues called The Shepheardes Calendar, written from the point of view of various shepherds throughout the months of the year. The poem is an allegory symbolizing the state of humanity.

Spenser’s Poetry Continued The diversity of forms and meters, ranging from accentual-syllabic to purely accentual, and including such departures as the sestina in "August," gave Spenser's contemporaries a clue to the range of his powers and won him praise in his day.

Spenser’s Poetry Continued The Faerie Queene is his major contribution to English poetry. The poem is a long, dense allegory, in the epic form, of Christian virtues, tied into England's mythology of King Arthur. Spenser intended to complete twelve books of the poem, but managed only six before his death.

Spenser’s Poetry Continued The work remains the longest epic poem in the English language, and has inspired writers from John Milton and John Keats through James Joyce and Ezra Pound. He devised a verse form for The Faerie Queene that has come to be known as the "Spenserian stanza," and which has since been applied in poetry by the likes of William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Alfred Lord Tennyson.

Spenser’s Poetry Continued The language of his poetry is purposely archaic. It reminds readers of earlier works as The Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucer, whom Spenser greatly admired. Spenser's Epithalamion is the most admired of its type in the English language. It was written for his wedding to his young bride, Elizabeth Boyle. Spenser is often overshadowed by William Shakespeare.

Sonnet 30 (Fire And Ice) My love is like to ice, and I to fire: how comes it then that this her cold so great is not dissolv'd through my so hot desire, but harder grows, the more I her entreat? Or how comes it that my exceeding heat is not delayed by her heart frozen cold, but that I burn much more in boiling sweat, and feel my flames augmented manifold? What more miraculous thing may be told that fire, which all thing melts, should harden ice: and ice which is congealed with senseless cold, should kindle fire by wonderful device? Such is the pow'r of love in gentle mind that it can alter all the course of kind.

Sonnet 30 Chart Part of PoemMajor Idea 1 st QuatrainThe one I love is like ice, while I burn. My burning doesn’t melt her. Instead, the more I plead, the colder she becomes. 2 nd Quatrain 3 rd Quatrain Couplet

Sonnet 75 One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and washed it away: Again I wrote it with a second hand, But came the tide, and made my pains his prey. Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay A mortal thing so to immortalize, For I myself shall like to this decay, And eek my name be wiped out likewise. Not so (quoth I), let baser things devise To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your virtues rare shall eternize, And in the heavens write your glorious name. Where whenas Death shall all the world subdue, Out love shall live, and later life renew.

Sonnet 75 Chart Part of PoemMajor Ideas 1 st Quatrain 2 nd Quatrain 3 rd Quatrain Couplet

Sonnet 75 Analysis What distinguishes Spenser's poem from earlier poetry is the personal note it strikes. The poet places himself in the centre of the poem, telling us about his personal situation, emotions and convictions. Such poetry, which expresses the poet's emotions, is called lyric. Lyric poetry became very popular in Spenser's time, the Renaissance, because people began to be interested in the individual. In de Middle Ages man was seen as a part of a community. In the sixteenth century he came to be seen as an individual, unlike every other man. This individualism is reflected in Elizabethan poetry, of which Edmund Spenser is one of the greatest representatives.

Sonnet 75 Analysis continued In this sonnet, addressed to his wife, Spenser claims to give her immortality in his verse. He does so by starting from a very ordinary, very charming incident that may occur any day in summer by the seaside. The situation is therefore a general one, but Spenser handles it in such a way as to make it intimately personal. His imagination creates a picture of tender young love through the conversation between his lady and himself, absorbed in each other, against the background of the eternal sea. He would like to preserve this experience for ever, but the waves wipe out her name just as cruel time destroys every man-made thing. Nevertheless he feels confident that he is able to immortalize his love by a different kind of writing, his poetry, no matter how short life on earth may be. At the same time the writing of the lady's name, which is the central image of the poem, is transferred from earth to heaven. Love, poetry and religious belief are closely associated.

Sonnet 75 Analysis continued Technically, Spenser's poetry is at a very high level. He uses simple words so skilfully that they create a complete, harmonious picture. After the action of the first quatrain he switches to the dialogue in the second and third, to conclude with the couplet which summarizes the theme of the sonnet. Spenser's perfect handling of vowels and the wavelike rhythm of his poem can only be appreciated when the sonnet is read aloud so as to bring out its melody. His frequent use of alliteration binds the poem together.