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Early renaissance poetry (compiled by Dr Mngadi)

University of Johannesburg
University of Johannesburg

This document summarizes 4 poems from the Early Renaissance period: 1) Two poems by Thomas Wyatt from the 16th century describing the pains of love. 2) A poem by Queen Elizabeth I responding to a request from her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots. 3) A poem by Sir Walter Ralegh having a vision of past poets upon seeing the Fairy Queen. 4) An excerpt from the beginning of Edmund Spenser's epic poem The Faerie Queene from the 16th century, considered a masterpiece of English literature.

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EARLY RENAISSANCE POETRY: THE POEMS Source Text: Ferguson, Margaret, et al (eds). The Norton Anthology of Poetry.Fifth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. 1 Thomas Wyatt 1503 1542 The Long Love That in My Thought Doth Harbor1 The long love, that in my thought doth harbour,enduring/lodge And in mine heart doth keep his residence, Into my face presseth with bold pretence, And therein campeth, spreading his banner.2 She that me learneth to love and suffer, teaches And wills that my trust and lusts negligence Be reined3 by reason, shame and reverence, With his hardinesstaketh displeasure.boldness Wherewithal, unto the heart's4 forest he fleeth, Leaving his enterprise with pain and cry; And there him hideth and not appeareth. What may I do when my master feareth But in the field with him to live and die? For good is the life, ending faithfully. E. MS. Whoso List5 to Hunt Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind, female deer But as for me, alas, I may no more: The vain travail hath wearied me so sore. I am of them that farthest cometh behind; Yet may I by no means my wearied mind Draw from the deer; but as she fleeth afore, Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore, 1 Translated from Petrarch, Rime 140. Cf. The translation by Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, Love, That Doth Reign and Live within My Thought. 2 Raising the flag, i.e. taking up a position for battle and, figuratively, blushing. 3 Checked; with a probable pun on reigned. 4 With a pun on heart and hart (as deer). 5 Whoever likes.
Since in a net I seek to hold the wind. Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt, As well as I may spend his time in vain: And, graven in diamonds, in letters plain There is written her fair neck round about: Noli me tangere,6 for Caesar's I am; And wild for to hold, though I seem tame. E. MS. My Galley7 My galley charged with forgetfulnessloaded Thorough sharp seas in winter nights doth passthrough 'Tween rock and rock; and eke mine enemy, alas,also That is my lord,8 steereth with cruelness; And every oar a thought in readiness, As though that death were light in such a case. An endless wind doth tear the sail apace Of forced sighs and trusty fearfulness. A rain of tears, a cloud of dark disdain, Hath done the wearied cords9 great hinderance; Wreathed with error and eke with ignorance. The stars10 be hid that led me to this pain; Drowned is reason that should me consort, accompany And I remain despairing of the port. E. MS. 6 Touch me not (Latin). The phrase (in Italian in Petrarch) has roots in both Petrarchs sonnet Rime 190 Wyatts main source and in the Bible (see especially the Catholic Bible, the Vulgate: John 20: 17 and Matthew 22: 21). Renaissance commentators on Petrarch maintained that the deer in Caesars royal forest wore collars bearing a similar inscription, to prevent anyone from hunting the animals. The allusion raises questions about Wyatts relation to King Henry VIII (Caesar, line 13). Wyatt was accused during his lifetime of having been the lover of Anne Boleyn, who became Henry VIIIs second wife and a major cause of his break with the Catholic Church. 7 It is difficult to say with certainty when Wyatt intended an ed ending to be pronounced as a second syllable and when not. Hence no attempt has been made to mark syllable endings with an accent in any of Wyatts poems (although in this particular poem such endings may occur in lines 1, 8, 11, and 13). Wyatts poem is based on Petrarchs Rime 189 8 i.e., the god of love. 9 The worn lines of the sail, with a possible pun on the Latin for heart (cor, cordis). 10 I.e., the ladys eyes.
II Queen Elizabeth 1 [The Doubt of Future Foes Exiles My Present Joy]11 The doubt of future foes exiles my present joy, And wit me warns to shun such snares as threaten mine annoy;12 For falsehood now doth flow, and subjects' faith doth ebb, Which should not be if reason ruled or wisdom weaved the web. But clouds of joys untried do cloak aspiring minds, Which turn to rain of late repent by changed course of winds. The top of hope supposed the root upreared shall be,13 And fruitless all their grafted guile,14 as shortly ye shall see. The dazzled eyes with pride, which great ambition blinds, Shall be unsealed by worthy wights15 whose foresight falsehood finds. The daughter of debate that discord aye doth sow Shall reap no gain where former rule still peace hath taught to know. No foreign banished wight16 shall anchor in this port; Our realm brooks not seditious sects, let them elsewhere resort. My rusty sword through rest shall first his edge employ To poll their tops17 that seek such change or gape for future joy. 11 This poem is written in poulters measure alternating lines of six and seven beats . . . a popular form at this time. . . . It appears to answer a sonnet written by Elizabeths cousin Mary Stuart, queen of Scotland, in which Mary, who had fled to England from imprisonment in Scotland in 1568, asks to see Elizabeth. Until her execution in 1587, Mary was a constant threat, the impetus of many plots to depose Elizabeth and seat herself on the English throne. The daughter of debate in line 11 and the foreign banished wight in line 13 apparently refer to Mary. Versions of this poem appear in six manuscripts and two early printed texts, including George PuttenhamsArt of English Poetry (1589). Our text follows that of Bodleian MS. Rawlinson, thought to have been compiled around 1570. 12 I.e., cause me discomfort or trouble. 13 Variations on this line include: The top of hope suppressed the root upreared *i.e., exalted+ shall be and The top of hope supposed the root of ruth *sorrow+ will be. 14 The image of grafting, or inserting a shoot into the root stock of another tree or plant, suggests that conspirators have attempted to plant their own seditious thoughts in the minds of others. 15 People.Unsealed: unsewn or unopened, as the eyes of a hawk in the sport of hawking. 16 I.e., no person exiled to a foreign land. 17 I.e., cut off their heads.
III Sir Walter Ralegh Ca. 1552 1618 A Vision upon the Fairy Queen18 Methought I saw the grave where Laura19 lay, Within that temple where the vestal flame20 Was wont to burn; and, passing by that way,accustomed To see that buried dust of living fame, Whose tomb fair Love, and fairer Virtue kept: All suddenly I saw the Fairy Queen; At whose approach the soul of Petrarch wept, And, from thenceforth, those Graces21 were not seen: For they this queen attended; in whose stead Oblivion laid him down on Laura's hearse: tomb Hereat the hardest stones were seen to bleed, And groans of buried ghosts the heavens did pierce: Where Homer's spright22 did tremble all for grief, And cursed the access of that celestial thief. 1590 18 This poem appeared in both the 1590 and the 1596 editions of Edmund Spensers epic poem The Faerie Queene. 19 The woman to whom the Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374) addressed his sonnet sequence; with a pun on laurel, a symbol of poetic achievement. 20 The sacred fire, guarded by virgin priestesses, in the temple of Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth; thus an allusion to Lauras chastity and purity. 21 I.e., Love and Virtue. 22 Ghost of the ancient Greek poet credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey.
1V Edmund Spenser 1552 1599 FROM THE FAERIE QUEENE The First Booke Contayning The Legende of the Knight of the Red Crosse, Or Of Holinesse23 1 Lo I the man, whose Muse24 whilome did maske, formerly As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,25 Am now enforst a far unfittertaske, For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,26 And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;noble Whose prayses having slept in silence long, Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds27 23 In a letter to the English poet Sir Walter Ralegh (ca. 1552-1618) published with the first edition, Spenser declares that his principal intention in writing the poem is to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline. Thus he sets forth a plan to write twelve books, each one having a hero distinguished for one of the private virtues; twelve books on the public virtues will follow. The six books that Spenser completed (the first three published in 1590, the remaining three published in 1596) present the virtues of Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Justice, and Courtesy. In addition, two cantos on Mutability (the principle of constant change in nature) were published in 1609 after Spensers death, although no known authority exists for their division and numbering, or for the running title, The Seventh Booke. The title of the poem contains a dual reference to its character, Gloriana, the Fairy Queen, who bids the poems heroes to set out on particular adventures, and to Queen Elizabeth 1 (1533-1603), Englands ruler from 1558 until 1603, or for almost all of Spensers life; as an Allegory, or darke conceit (again, a claim that Spenser makes in the letter to Ralegh), the poem mirrors Elizabeth not only in the figure of Gloriana but also in several other characters. In addition to various modes of allegory, the poem draws on many Renaissance genres, some of the most important being the courtesy book, the romance, and the epic. 24 One of the nine Greek sister goddesses believed to be sources of inspiration for the arts. 25 Garments; i.e., the poets who before wrote humble pastoral poetry. Lines 1-4 imitate verses prefixed to Renaissance editions of the ancient Roman poet Virgils epic poem the Aeneid and signal Spensers imitation of Virgil, who began his poetic career with pastoral poetry and moved on to the epic, a move that Spenser copied (with the 1579 publication of The SheperardesCalender, followed by the 1590 publication of The Faerie Queene). Spensers organization of each book into twelve cantos also imitates the twelve books of Virgils Aeneid. 26 Or pipes, a symbol of pastoral poetry.Trumpets: a symbol of epic poetry.
To blazon28 broad emongst her learned throng: Fierce warres and faithfull loves shall moralize my song. 2 Helpe then, O holy Virgin chiefe of nine, Thy weaker Novice to performe thy will,too weak Lay forth out of thine everlasting scryne coffer or shrine The antique rolles, which there lye hidden still, Of Faerie knights and fairest Tanaquill,29 Whom that most noble Briton Prince30 so long Sought through the world, and suffered so much ill, That I must rue his undeserv竪d wrong: O helpe thou my weake wit, and sharpen my dull tong. 3 And thou most dreaded impe31 of highest Jove, Faire Venus sonne, that with thy cruell dart At that good knight so cunningly didst rove, shoot That glorious fire it kindled in his hart, heart Lay now thy deadly Heben bow apart,ebony And with thy mother milde come to mine ayde: Come both, and with you bring triumphant Mart, Mars In loves and gentle jollities arrayd, After his murdrousspoiles and bloudy rage allayd. 4 And with them eke, O Goddesse heavenly bright,also Mirrour of grace and Majestie divine, Great Lady of the greatest Isle, whose light Like Phoebus lampe32 throughout the world doth shine, Shed thy faire beames into my feeble eyne, And raise my thoughts too humble and too vile, To thinke of that true glorious type of thine, The argument of mine afflicted stile:33 subject The which to heare, vouchsafe, O dearest dred34 a-while. 27 Commands and instructs. Sacred Muse: perhaps Clio, the Muse of history, often said to be the eldest of the nine Muses; or perhaps Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry; the holy Virgin chiefe of nine (line 10) also seems to refer to one of these two Muses. 28 To proclaim (from blaze, to announce by blowing a trumpet). 29 The wife of Tarquin, the first Etruscan king of Rome; noted for her chastity; i.e., a reference to Gloriana. 30 I.e., Arthur, first mentioned in canto 9. 31 Offspring, i.e., Cupid, Roman god of love, whose arrows (cruel dart, line 21) caused their victims to fall in love; he was the son of Venus, goddess of love and beauty. Mars, god of war and lover of Venus, was often said to be Cupids father, but Spenser stresses the line of descent from Jove, Venuss father and ruler of the gods. 32 The sun; Phoebus Apollo was the Roman god of the sun; Spenser is comparing Apollo to Queen Elizabeth, the Goddesse of line 28. 33 Humble pen; also, stile may refer to the poem itself.
1590 FROM AMORETTI Sonnet 54 Of this worlds Theatre in which we stay, My love lyke the Specttorydly sits Beholding me that all the pageants play,roles Disguysingdiversly my troubled wits. Sometimes I joy when glad occasion fits, And mask35 in myrthlyke to a Comedy: Soone after when my joy to sorrow flits, I waile and make my woes a Tragedy. Yet she beholding me with constant eye, Delights not in my merth nor rues my smart: pities / hurt But when I laugh she mocks, and when I cry She laughes, and hardens evermore her hart. heart What then can move her? if nor merth nor mone, moan She is no woman, but a senceless stone. Sonnet 75 One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and wash竪d 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, attempt A mortall thing so to immortalize, For I myselve shall lyke to this decay, And eek my name beewyp竪d out lykewize. Not so (quod I), let baser things devize To dy in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, And in the hevenswryte your glorious name. Where whenas Death shall all the world subdew, Out love shall live, and later life renew. 34 Object of awe and fear. Vouchsafe: bestow (i.e., confer your ear upon my poem). 35 Cover (or mask) his emotions; also, act in a masque, a short, allegorical drama.
V Sir Philip Sidney 1554 1586 FROM ASTROPHIL AND STELLA Sonnet 31 With how sad steps, Oh Moon, thou climb'st the skies, How silently, and with how wan a face! pale What, may it be that even in heavnlyplace That busy archer36 his sharp arrows tries? Sure, if that long-with-love-acquainted eyes Can judge of love, thou feel'st a lover's case; I read it in thy looks: thy languished grace, To me that feel the like, thy state descries. reveals Then, even of fellowship, Oh Moon, tell me, Is constant love deemed there but want of wit? Are beauties there as proud as here they be? Do they above love to be loved, and yet Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess? Do they call virtue there ungratefulness?37 Sonnet 52 A strife is grown between Virtue and Love, While each pretends that Stella must be his:claims Her eyes, her lips, her all, saith Love, do this, Since they do wear his badge,38 most firmly prove. But Virtue thus that title doth disprove: That Stella (O dear name) that Stella is That virtuous soul, sure heir of heav'nly bliss, Not this fair outside, which our hearts doth move. And therefore, though her beauty and her grace Be Love's indeed, in Stella's self he may By no pretense claim any manner place. kind of Well, Love, since this demur our suit will stay, objection / detain Let Virtue have that Stella's self; yet thus, That Virtue but that body grant to us. 36 I.e., Cupid. 37 I.e., do they give the name of virtue to ungratefulness? 38 Clothing or device worn to identify someones (here Cupids) servants.
Early renaissance poetry (compiled by Dr Mngadi)

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Early renaissance poetry (compiled by Dr Mngadi)

  • 1. EARLY RENAISSANCE POETRY: THE POEMS Source Text: Ferguson, Margaret, et al (eds). The Norton Anthology of Poetry.Fifth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton, 2005. 1 Thomas Wyatt 1503 1542 The Long Love That in My Thought Doth Harbor1 The long love, that in my thought doth harbour,enduring/lodge And in mine heart doth keep his residence, Into my face presseth with bold pretence, And therein campeth, spreading his banner.2 She that me learneth to love and suffer, teaches And wills that my trust and lusts negligence Be reined3 by reason, shame and reverence, With his hardinesstaketh displeasure.boldness Wherewithal, unto the heart's4 forest he fleeth, Leaving his enterprise with pain and cry; And there him hideth and not appeareth. What may I do when my master feareth But in the field with him to live and die? For good is the life, ending faithfully. E. MS. Whoso List5 to Hunt Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind, female deer But as for me, alas, I may no more: The vain travail hath wearied me so sore. I am of them that farthest cometh behind; Yet may I by no means my wearied mind Draw from the deer; but as she fleeth afore, Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore, 1 Translated from Petrarch, Rime 140. Cf. The translation by Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, Love, That Doth Reign and Live within My Thought. 2 Raising the flag, i.e. taking up a position for battle and, figuratively, blushing. 3 Checked; with a probable pun on reigned. 4 With a pun on heart and hart (as deer). 5 Whoever likes.
  • 2. Since in a net I seek to hold the wind. Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt, As well as I may spend his time in vain: And, graven in diamonds, in letters plain There is written her fair neck round about: Noli me tangere,6 for Caesar's I am; And wild for to hold, though I seem tame. E. MS. My Galley7 My galley charged with forgetfulnessloaded Thorough sharp seas in winter nights doth passthrough 'Tween rock and rock; and eke mine enemy, alas,also That is my lord,8 steereth with cruelness; And every oar a thought in readiness, As though that death were light in such a case. An endless wind doth tear the sail apace Of forced sighs and trusty fearfulness. A rain of tears, a cloud of dark disdain, Hath done the wearied cords9 great hinderance; Wreathed with error and eke with ignorance. The stars10 be hid that led me to this pain; Drowned is reason that should me consort, accompany And I remain despairing of the port. E. MS. 6 Touch me not (Latin). The phrase (in Italian in Petrarch) has roots in both Petrarchs sonnet Rime 190 Wyatts main source and in the Bible (see especially the Catholic Bible, the Vulgate: John 20: 17 and Matthew 22: 21). Renaissance commentators on Petrarch maintained that the deer in Caesars royal forest wore collars bearing a similar inscription, to prevent anyone from hunting the animals. The allusion raises questions about Wyatts relation to King Henry VIII (Caesar, line 13). Wyatt was accused during his lifetime of having been the lover of Anne Boleyn, who became Henry VIIIs second wife and a major cause of his break with the Catholic Church. 7 It is difficult to say with certainty when Wyatt intended an ed ending to be pronounced as a second syllable and when not. Hence no attempt has been made to mark syllable endings with an accent in any of Wyatts poems (although in this particular poem such endings may occur in lines 1, 8, 11, and 13). Wyatts poem is based on Petrarchs Rime 189 8 i.e., the god of love. 9 The worn lines of the sail, with a possible pun on the Latin for heart (cor, cordis). 10 I.e., the ladys eyes.
  • 3. II Queen Elizabeth 1 [The Doubt of Future Foes Exiles My Present Joy]11 The doubt of future foes exiles my present joy, And wit me warns to shun such snares as threaten mine annoy;12 For falsehood now doth flow, and subjects' faith doth ebb, Which should not be if reason ruled or wisdom weaved the web. But clouds of joys untried do cloak aspiring minds, Which turn to rain of late repent by changed course of winds. The top of hope supposed the root upreared shall be,13 And fruitless all their grafted guile,14 as shortly ye shall see. The dazzled eyes with pride, which great ambition blinds, Shall be unsealed by worthy wights15 whose foresight falsehood finds. The daughter of debate that discord aye doth sow Shall reap no gain where former rule still peace hath taught to know. No foreign banished wight16 shall anchor in this port; Our realm brooks not seditious sects, let them elsewhere resort. My rusty sword through rest shall first his edge employ To poll their tops17 that seek such change or gape for future joy. 11 This poem is written in poulters measure alternating lines of six and seven beats . . . a popular form at this time. . . . It appears to answer a sonnet written by Elizabeths cousin Mary Stuart, queen of Scotland, in which Mary, who had fled to England from imprisonment in Scotland in 1568, asks to see Elizabeth. Until her execution in 1587, Mary was a constant threat, the impetus of many plots to depose Elizabeth and seat herself on the English throne. The daughter of debate in line 11 and the foreign banished wight in line 13 apparently refer to Mary. Versions of this poem appear in six manuscripts and two early printed texts, including George PuttenhamsArt of English Poetry (1589). Our text follows that of Bodleian MS. Rawlinson, thought to have been compiled around 1570. 12 I.e., cause me discomfort or trouble. 13 Variations on this line include: The top of hope suppressed the root upreared *i.e., exalted+ shall be and The top of hope supposed the root of ruth *sorrow+ will be. 14 The image of grafting, or inserting a shoot into the root stock of another tree or plant, suggests that conspirators have attempted to plant their own seditious thoughts in the minds of others. 15 People.Unsealed: unsewn or unopened, as the eyes of a hawk in the sport of hawking. 16 I.e., no person exiled to a foreign land. 17 I.e., cut off their heads.
  • 4. III Sir Walter Ralegh Ca. 1552 1618 A Vision upon the Fairy Queen18 Methought I saw the grave where Laura19 lay, Within that temple where the vestal flame20 Was wont to burn; and, passing by that way,accustomed To see that buried dust of living fame, Whose tomb fair Love, and fairer Virtue kept: All suddenly I saw the Fairy Queen; At whose approach the soul of Petrarch wept, And, from thenceforth, those Graces21 were not seen: For they this queen attended; in whose stead Oblivion laid him down on Laura's hearse: tomb Hereat the hardest stones were seen to bleed, And groans of buried ghosts the heavens did pierce: Where Homer's spright22 did tremble all for grief, And cursed the access of that celestial thief. 1590 18 This poem appeared in both the 1590 and the 1596 editions of Edmund Spensers epic poem The Faerie Queene. 19 The woman to whom the Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374) addressed his sonnet sequence; with a pun on laurel, a symbol of poetic achievement. 20 The sacred fire, guarded by virgin priestesses, in the temple of Vesta, Roman goddess of the hearth; thus an allusion to Lauras chastity and purity. 21 I.e., Love and Virtue. 22 Ghost of the ancient Greek poet credited with composing the Iliad and the Odyssey.
  • 5. 1V Edmund Spenser 1552 1599 FROM THE FAERIE QUEENE The First Booke Contayning The Legende of the Knight of the Red Crosse, Or Of Holinesse23 1 Lo I the man, whose Muse24 whilome did maske, formerly As time her taught, in lowly Shepheards weeds,25 Am now enforst a far unfittertaske, For trumpets sterne to chaunge mine Oaten reeds,26 And sing of Knights and Ladies gentle deeds;noble Whose prayses having slept in silence long, Me, all too meane, the sacred Muse areeds27 23 In a letter to the English poet Sir Walter Ralegh (ca. 1552-1618) published with the first edition, Spenser declares that his principal intention in writing the poem is to fashion a gentleman or noble person in virtuous and gentle discipline. Thus he sets forth a plan to write twelve books, each one having a hero distinguished for one of the private virtues; twelve books on the public virtues will follow. The six books that Spenser completed (the first three published in 1590, the remaining three published in 1596) present the virtues of Holiness, Temperance, Chastity, Friendship, Justice, and Courtesy. In addition, two cantos on Mutability (the principle of constant change in nature) were published in 1609 after Spensers death, although no known authority exists for their division and numbering, or for the running title, The Seventh Booke. The title of the poem contains a dual reference to its character, Gloriana, the Fairy Queen, who bids the poems heroes to set out on particular adventures, and to Queen Elizabeth 1 (1533-1603), Englands ruler from 1558 until 1603, or for almost all of Spensers life; as an Allegory, or darke conceit (again, a claim that Spenser makes in the letter to Ralegh), the poem mirrors Elizabeth not only in the figure of Gloriana but also in several other characters. In addition to various modes of allegory, the poem draws on many Renaissance genres, some of the most important being the courtesy book, the romance, and the epic. 24 One of the nine Greek sister goddesses believed to be sources of inspiration for the arts. 25 Garments; i.e., the poets who before wrote humble pastoral poetry. Lines 1-4 imitate verses prefixed to Renaissance editions of the ancient Roman poet Virgils epic poem the Aeneid and signal Spensers imitation of Virgil, who began his poetic career with pastoral poetry and moved on to the epic, a move that Spenser copied (with the 1579 publication of The SheperardesCalender, followed by the 1590 publication of The Faerie Queene). Spensers organization of each book into twelve cantos also imitates the twelve books of Virgils Aeneid. 26 Or pipes, a symbol of pastoral poetry.Trumpets: a symbol of epic poetry.
  • 6. To blazon28 broad emongst her learned throng: Fierce warres and faithfull loves shall moralize my song. 2 Helpe then, O holy Virgin chiefe of nine, Thy weaker Novice to performe thy will,too weak Lay forth out of thine everlasting scryne coffer or shrine The antique rolles, which there lye hidden still, Of Faerie knights and fairest Tanaquill,29 Whom that most noble Briton Prince30 so long Sought through the world, and suffered so much ill, That I must rue his undeserv竪d wrong: O helpe thou my weake wit, and sharpen my dull tong. 3 And thou most dreaded impe31 of highest Jove, Faire Venus sonne, that with thy cruell dart At that good knight so cunningly didst rove, shoot That glorious fire it kindled in his hart, heart Lay now thy deadly Heben bow apart,ebony And with thy mother milde come to mine ayde: Come both, and with you bring triumphant Mart, Mars In loves and gentle jollities arrayd, After his murdrousspoiles and bloudy rage allayd. 4 And with them eke, O Goddesse heavenly bright,also Mirrour of grace and Majestie divine, Great Lady of the greatest Isle, whose light Like Phoebus lampe32 throughout the world doth shine, Shed thy faire beames into my feeble eyne, And raise my thoughts too humble and too vile, To thinke of that true glorious type of thine, The argument of mine afflicted stile:33 subject The which to heare, vouchsafe, O dearest dred34 a-while. 27 Commands and instructs. Sacred Muse: perhaps Clio, the Muse of history, often said to be the eldest of the nine Muses; or perhaps Calliope, the Muse of epic poetry; the holy Virgin chiefe of nine (line 10) also seems to refer to one of these two Muses. 28 To proclaim (from blaze, to announce by blowing a trumpet). 29 The wife of Tarquin, the first Etruscan king of Rome; noted for her chastity; i.e., a reference to Gloriana. 30 I.e., Arthur, first mentioned in canto 9. 31 Offspring, i.e., Cupid, Roman god of love, whose arrows (cruel dart, line 21) caused their victims to fall in love; he was the son of Venus, goddess of love and beauty. Mars, god of war and lover of Venus, was often said to be Cupids father, but Spenser stresses the line of descent from Jove, Venuss father and ruler of the gods. 32 The sun; Phoebus Apollo was the Roman god of the sun; Spenser is comparing Apollo to Queen Elizabeth, the Goddesse of line 28. 33 Humble pen; also, stile may refer to the poem itself.
  • 7. 1590 FROM AMORETTI Sonnet 54 Of this worlds Theatre in which we stay, My love lyke the Specttorydly sits Beholding me that all the pageants play,roles Disguysingdiversly my troubled wits. Sometimes I joy when glad occasion fits, And mask35 in myrthlyke to a Comedy: Soone after when my joy to sorrow flits, I waile and make my woes a Tragedy. Yet she beholding me with constant eye, Delights not in my merth nor rues my smart: pities / hurt But when I laugh she mocks, and when I cry She laughes, and hardens evermore her hart. heart What then can move her? if nor merth nor mone, moan She is no woman, but a senceless stone. Sonnet 75 One day I wrote her name upon the strand, But came the waves and wash竪d 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, attempt A mortall thing so to immortalize, For I myselve shall lyke to this decay, And eek my name beewyp竪d out lykewize. Not so (quod I), let baser things devize To dy in dust, but you shall live by fame: My verse your vertues rare shall eternize, And in the hevenswryte your glorious name. Where whenas Death shall all the world subdew, Out love shall live, and later life renew. 34 Object of awe and fear. Vouchsafe: bestow (i.e., confer your ear upon my poem). 35 Cover (or mask) his emotions; also, act in a masque, a short, allegorical drama.
  • 8. V Sir Philip Sidney 1554 1586 FROM ASTROPHIL AND STELLA Sonnet 31 With how sad steps, Oh Moon, thou climb'st the skies, How silently, and with how wan a face! pale What, may it be that even in heavnlyplace That busy archer36 his sharp arrows tries? Sure, if that long-with-love-acquainted eyes Can judge of love, thou feel'st a lover's case; I read it in thy looks: thy languished grace, To me that feel the like, thy state descries. reveals Then, even of fellowship, Oh Moon, tell me, Is constant love deemed there but want of wit? Are beauties there as proud as here they be? Do they above love to be loved, and yet Those lovers scorn whom that love doth possess? Do they call virtue there ungratefulness?37 Sonnet 52 A strife is grown between Virtue and Love, While each pretends that Stella must be his:claims Her eyes, her lips, her all, saith Love, do this, Since they do wear his badge,38 most firmly prove. But Virtue thus that title doth disprove: That Stella (O dear name) that Stella is That virtuous soul, sure heir of heav'nly bliss, Not this fair outside, which our hearts doth move. And therefore, though her beauty and her grace Be Love's indeed, in Stella's self he may By no pretense claim any manner place. kind of Well, Love, since this demur our suit will stay, objection / detain Let Virtue have that Stella's self; yet thus, That Virtue but that body grant to us. 36 I.e., Cupid. 37 I.e., do they give the name of virtue to ungratefulness? 38 Clothing or device worn to identify someones (here Cupids) servants.