Here are the first four lines of the poem: This poem also follows the pattern of the standard Spenserian sonnet and iambic pentameter. The speaker is an actor in these lines, playing out different roles for his uninterested beloved. In it, Spenser uses the theatre as a way of describing himself as a lover. This is another popular poem from Amoretti. It follows the pattern of ABAB BCBC DCDC EE.Įxample #2 Sonnet 54: Of this worlds theatre in which we stay by Edmund Spenser The speaker believes that his lover will live forever because they are immortalized in his writing.Ī reader can take note of how the rhyme scheme functions in the lines of this poem. This is a theme that was used by Shakespeare within his Fair Youth Sonnets. She is not one of the “baser things” that is going to “die in dust”. He replies, telling her that mortality is not for her. My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,Īnd in the heavens write your glorious name.
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame: Take a look at the third quatrain that carries his response: He tries multiple times until his lover tells him to stop, there’s no way to make make “a mortal thing” immortal. As one might expect the tide comes up and washes the name away. The first lines make use of a memorable image of the speaker writing his beloved’s name in the sand of a beach. In the lines he addresses his lover, telling her that because of the nature of their love, it will live on forever. In it, Spenser uses lyrical language to create a conversation between the speaker and his lover. ‘Sonnet 75’ is one of the most popular sonnets in this series.
The volume was published in 1595 and includes in total 89 sonnets and a series of shorter poems known as Anacreontics and Epithalamion. This Spenserian sonnet is one of several that are included in Amoretti, a series of sonnets that are focused on Spenser’s relationship and marriage to Elizabeth Boyle. Spenser’s sonnets do not necessarily pose and then answer a question, as can be seen in the second example below.Įxamples of Spenserian Sonnets Example #1 Sonnet 75: One day I wrote her name upon the strand by Edmund Spenser Spenser chose to structure the sonnet in this way so that there was less of an emphasis on the problem/solution, question/argument format. The couplets that make up this entire form are its most prominent feature. This pattern is comparable to a Shakespearean sonnet and a Petrarchan sonnet although there is a distinct difference in the repetition of the “C” rhyme. They follow a rhyme scheme of ABAB BCBC CDCD EE. The poems contain three quatrains, as do Shakespearean sonnets, and one final couplet. The sonnets are fourteen lines long, as are all traditional sonnets and are contained within a single block of text.
This poem is considered to be one of the best ever written in the English language and Spenser ranks among the best poets of all time.Īlthough Spenser is best-known for The Faerie Queene, he also wrote numerous sonnets, pioneering a new form that is now synonymous with his name. The story follows knights that represent different virtues.
It was meant to be twelve books long, although Edward Spenser only managed to publish six during his lifetime. This complex, engaging, and the sometimes strange poem is a celebration of the Tudor Dynasty generally and Elizabeth I specifically. Today, he is best known for his epic, allegorical poem The Faerie Queene. Spenser was born in either 1552 or 1553 in London, England.