Edmund Spenser
Edmund
Spenser was one of
the greatest poets of the English Renaissance. He was born in London in the
year 1552 or 1553 and died in London on 13th January 1599, and
was buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. He is recognized as one of the
premier craftsmen of nascent Modern English verse, and is often considered one
of the greatest poets in the English language.
Spenser
published his first volume of poetry, The
Shepheardes Calender in 1579, dedicating it to the poet Sir Philip Sidney.
His masterpiece is the epic
poem, The Faerie Queene, which was written in honor
of Queen Elizabeth 1 and in celebration of the Tudor dynasty. The first three
books of The Faerie Queene were published in 1590, and a
second set of three books were published in 1596. Spenser originally indicated
that he intended the poem to consist of twelve books, although it remained
incomplete. Spenser published numerous relatively short poems, almost all of
which consider love or sorrow. Among these poems Complaints, Amoretti, Epithalamion and Prothalamion
etc. are worth mentioning.
Amoretti
Amoretti
is a sonnet cycle written by Edmund Spenser. It is a series of 89 love sonnets
dedicated to Elizabeth Boyle, the lady of his dreams whom he pursues and
eventually marries in 1594. The term ‘amoretti’
is literally defined as ‘little loves’ or ‘little cupids’.
The tradition of writing a
sequence of many sonnets, based on the Petrarchan
model, was initiated in English by Sir Philip Sidney in Astrophel and Stella in 1580. It is
a prolonged argument by the speaker, Astrophel, aimed at overcoming his
mistress's indifference and chastity. The same tradition was followed by
Spenser, in his Amoretti, who employs
similar arguments, though it ends with the possibility that the lovers will
unite and eventually marry.
Amoretti was first published in 1595 in London
by William Ponsonby. It was printed as part of a volume
entitled Amoretti and
Epithalamion. The volume included the sequence of 89 sonnets, and Epithalamion, a marriage
ode celebrating his marriage to Elizabeth Boyle after what appears to have been
an impassioned courtship in 1594. The volume memorializes Spenser's
courtship of Elizabeth Boyle, a young, well-born Anglo-Irish woman, and the
couple's wedding on June 11, 1594. In the sonnets of Amoretti Spenser succeeds in 'immortalizing the name of his bride
to be...' by devices of word play.
In these cycles of sonnets
Spencer chronicles the progress of his love for his beloved ‘Elizabeth Boyle’. Up
until Sonnet 63, the sonnets primarily focus on the frustration of unreturned
romantic desires. The speaker is in an almost constant state of emotional
turmoil and frustrated hopes. His beloved refuses to look favorably upon his
suit, so his reaction ranges from despairing self-deprecation to angry outburst
against her stubbornness. In Sonnet 63, the Amoretti undergoes
a drastic change in tone. The long-sought beloved has acceded to the speaker's
request, making her his fiancée. Hence the sonnets that follow Sonnet 63 celebrate
the happiness of love shared between two people - Spenser and Elizabeth, as
well as celebrating divine love. However, Sonnet 86 marks some mischief maker’s
intervention which brings misunderstanding and separation between the lovers. Sonnets
87 through 89 dwell upon the speaker's misery at being separated from his
beloved, but there is an implied expectation that they will, eventually, be
reunited. And this is followed by the Epithalamion,
where the courtship finally ends in marriage.
The frustration of unrequited
love is a common theme in the Elizabethan sonnets; however, the celebration of
successful love is largely a deviation from the typical themes. In addition, Spenser focuses on courtship
and the power dynamic in successful relationships, particularly portraying that
women want to have the authority in a romantic relationship. Moreover, he
discusses true beauty and the ways in which writing poetry can immortalize
things that otherwise cannot be immortalized.
So far structure is concerned Spenser’s
sonnet shows great originality in metre and style. Spenser follows the form of English sonnet
with certain innovations: the first line of the second quatrain rhymes with the
last line of the first stanza, and the first line of the third quatrain rhymes
with the last line of the second stanza, making a rhyme scheme of abab bcbc cdcd
ee. This variety of sonnet is named as Spenserian sonnet. The interlocking
rhyme scheme of the Spenserian sonnet provides a more distinct connectivity
between the quatrains compared to the English sonnet.
The Amoretti sonnets carry clearer note of personal feelings compared
to what can be found in the usual complementary series. Here, Spenser expresses
his thoughts with facility, grace and neatness. They avoid all obscurity and
possess a simplicity that is always enchanting. Each sonnet is an independent
poem itself, and the whole of Amoretti
seems to have lyric-oneness.
In
spite of being innovative, subtle and skillful craftsmanship, Amoretti has been largely overlooked and
unappreciated by critics, who see it as inferior to other major Renaissance
sonnet sequences in the Petrarchan tradition. In addition, it has been
overshadowed by Spenser's other famous works, most notably The Faerie Queene, his allegorical masterpiece.
