5 All… frayle: a biblical topos. Cf. Isaiah 40: 6–8; 1 Peter 1: 24.
6 vaine bubble: cf. SC, Februarie, 87.
7 deuouring tyme: cf. Ovid, ‘tempus edax rerum’, time devours all (Metamorphoses 15. 234).
11–12 Cf. 1 Corinthians 10: 12.
Sonnet LIX
1 Thrise happie: a common formula of benediction.
3–4 better… worse: neither will she be enticed into deviation by hopes of better fortune nor frightened into it by the prospect of worse. Overt praise of the lady’s emotional independence insinuates a reminiscence of the marriage vows ‘for better or for worse’.
5–8 Cf. Amor, 34 and 56. 9–12.
11 stay: support, but continuing the nautical metaphor by playing upon the sense of ‘stay’ as a rope supporting the mast.
Sonnet LX
Cf. Desportes, Cléonice, 4.
1–4 Each planet has its own ‘year’ or period of revolution about the sun. Ptolemy established that of Mars as seventy-nine earth years. Spenser’s ‘three score’ is inaccurate; four score may have been intended or the mistake may have arisen from a desire to co-ordinate the astronomical period with the number of the sonnet.
2 point: determine, fix.
his sundry: its distinct or specific (i.e. peculiar to itself).
3 her: their.
4 Mars: chosen for its association with the god of war and appropriate to the amatory ‘battle’ fought out in the sequence.
spheare: planetary orbit.
5 winged God: Cupid (love).
planet cleare: shining planet, Venus as the bright ‘evening star’.
6 one yeare: the actual revolution of Venus is somewhat shorter.
8 fourty: perhaps autobiographical – or just a conveniently round figure. Cf. Cheney (1983).
outwent: passed through, went through.
9 louers books: reckoning the time expended in love is a Petrarchan topos (cf. Rime Sparse, 79, 212).
11 languishment: affliction, suffering.
13 short: shorten.
wayes: pathways through the heavens.
Sonnet LXI
1–2 image… Idoll: as the ‘image’ of its creator, the lady’s beauty should direct the lover’s thoughts towards God, but sensual lovers make an ‘idol’ of the flesh. The suggestion of idolatry evokes the ambivalence of the speaker’s feelings, as developed at line 13. The validity of the worship of saints and images was a matter of fierce religious controversy.
3 dare not: an imperative apparently directed to the self.
6 brood: parentage.
Angels: cf. Amor, 1. 11 and note. Ficino asserts that sensual and spiritual love ‘struggle with each other in man: the former banishes him down to the animal and voluptuous life; the latter raises him on high to the angelic and contemplative life’ (Commentary, 7. 1).
7 vpbrought: reared, brought up.
8 each… guifts: a clever variation of the Pandora (‘all gifts’) image. Cf. note to Amor, 24. 8.
12 bold: boldly, rashly.
13 formes… worshipt: intentionally ambivalent and alluding either to physically beautiful shapes or to the glorious spiritual essences which such shapes were held to embody. Cf. Ficino, Commentary, 7. 1.
Sonnet LXII
1–14 A crucial sonnet of change and renewal as the fusion of seasonal and religious vocabularies suggests. It is positioned at the very centre of the volume, counting all of the stanzas of the ‘Anacreontics’ and Epithalamion continuously with the sonnets.
2 new begins: on 25 March or Lady Day, the feast of the Annunciation. It marked the conception of Christ and was often regarded as the day of creation. The competing claims of the two new year’s days (1 January and 25 March) are discussed by E. K. in the ‘Generall argument’ to SC.
5 which… vew: who perceive this change of weather.
10 glooming: dark, gloomy.
gladsome: cheering, uplifting.
11 blend: conceal, obscure.
12 caulmes: calms.
Sonnet LXIII
1 tempests… assay: storms’ distressing onslaughts or trials.
3 in… dismay: in fear of death and dismayed by dangers.
4 sore: severely, grievously.
6 in which: on or at which.
7 far: afar, far off.
8 of… alyue: of all that is precious and valuable in life.
10 sweet a rest: according to Camden, the name Elizabeth signified ‘Peace of the Lord, or quiet rest of the Lord’, from the Hebrew ‘eli-sabbath’ (Remains Concerning Britain (1674), 102). The etymology was used as a compliment to Queen Elizabeth, and Elizabeth Boyle is here offered a private share in her public glory.
11 depriue: remove, take away.
13–14 All… blisse: cf. Amor, 25. 9–14.
Sonnet LXIIII
The kiss represents the most intimate contact with the lady that the speaker has enjoyed. In Castiglione it is argued that a kiss should be permitted only in Platonic relationships ‘for as a kiss is a union of body and soul, there is a risk that the sensual lover may incline more to the body than the soul’. Its spiritual significance is expounded with reference to Song of Songs 1: 2 (Courtier, 336–7). Cf. Sidney, Astrophil and Stella, 79–82.
2 gardin… flowres: for the lady as a fragrant garden cf. Song of Songs 4: 12–16. Each of the flowers and fruits mentioned by Spenser is emblematic of both sensual and spiritual love, thereby capturing the fusion of eroticism and spirituality apparent in the Hebrew. Cf. Amor, 26 and note.
5 Gillyflowers: cf. SC, Aprill, 137 and note.
7 Bellamoures: meaning ‘fair loves’ but the flower is unidentified.
8 Pincks: sweet-smelling plants with white, pink or crimson flowers.
10 Cullambynes: with a pun on the Latin collum (‘neck’) and columba (‘dove’), an emblem of love. Cf. SC, Aprill, 136 and note.
12 Iessemynes: jasmines.
Sonnet LXV
From this point onwards the sequence echoes the Anglican marriage service, as the constricting ‘bonds’ of earlier sonnets are converted into the self-imposed ‘bands’ (5) of mutual love. Cf. Amor, 68; Prescott (1985).
4 bond: bound.
10 league: union, alliance.
11 mutuall… will: according to the prayer book marriage was ordained ‘for the mutuall societie, helpe, and comforte, that the one ought to have of the other’. Ficino observes that ‘whenever two people are brought together in mutual affection… they mutually exchange identities… in such a way that each receives the other in return’ (Commentary, 2. 8).
13 brasen: strong. Brass was emblematic of strength.
14 pleasure: cf. Amor, 76; HL, 273–86 and notes.
Sonnet LXVI
3 disparagement: disgrace of an unworthy marriage.
5 paragon: playing on the dual senses of ‘exemplar’ and ‘consort’.
9 gate: get.
10 sorted: consorted, allied yourself.
11 dilate: diffuse, spread wide.
13 light: cf. Amor, 8. 13; 9. 13–14 and notes.
enlumind: thrown light upon, illuminated.
14 reflex: reflection.
Sonnet LXVII
A provocative variation on Petrarch, Rime Sparse, 190 where the hind rejects her pursuer in favour of God who has set her ‘free’. In Spenser, marriage reconciles physical and spiritual love to such an extent that freedom may be sacrificed (12–14): the hounds are ‘beguiled’ of their prey, but the lady is ‘beguyld’ by love and surrenders voluntarily. Cf. Prescott (1985). In Virgil’s parodic anti-epithalamium Damon comments satirically that ‘the timid deer shall come with hounds to drink’ (Eclogues, 8. 28). In Spenser the impossible has occurred. Cf. Tasso, Rime, 2. 429 (no. 1).
4 beguiled: cheated, disappointed.
7–8 deare… brooke: cf. Psalms 42: 1.
9–10 beholding… bide: cf. Proverbs 5: 19.
12 goodwill: freewill, an essential prerequisite for marriage.
fyrmely tyde: St Paul advised wives to �
�submit’ to their husbands (Ephesians 5: 22).
13 wyld: cf. Daph, 121 and note.
14 beguyld: entrapped, won over.
Sonnet LXVIII
For this sonnet cf. John 13: 31–5 where the ‘glorified’ Christ commands his followers to ‘love one another’.
1 Lord… lyfe: cf. Acts 3: 13–15; FQ, 2. 7. 62.
this day: Easter Sunday. The feast is significant to the progress towards mutuality in love. Ficino observes that ‘there is only one death in mutual love, but there are two resurrections, for a lover dies within himself the moment he forgets about himself, but he returns to life immediately in his loved one as soon as the loved one embraces him in loving contemplation’ (Commentary, 2. 8).
2 triumph… sin: cf. 1 Corinthians 15: 55–7; Romans 6: 9; Prescott (1990).
3 harrowd hell: the apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus records Christ’s descent to hell between Good Friday and Easter Sunday to liberate the souls of the just.
4 captiuity… captiue: cf. Ephesians 4: 8; Prescott (1990).
7 blood… sin: cf. Revelation 1: 5; 7: 14.
9 weighing worthily: valuing properly.
11 all… buy: cf. 1 Corinthians 6: 20.
14 lesson… taught: cf. John 15: 12; Kaske (1977).
Sonnet LXIX
Written in the manner of a triumph of love. Cf. Du Bellay, L’Olive, 34; Desportes, Cléonice, 11 .
2 wize: manner.
3 enrold: inscribed, registered.
4 valarous emprize: courageous enterprise.
8 honour… chastity: i.e. their love does not derogate from her virtue.
9–12 For this topos cf. Amor, 27. 10–14.
12 wonderment: object of wonder.
13–14 Recalling Amor, 25. 11–14.
13 purchase: attainment, acquisition. Cf. Acts 20: 28.
Sonnet LXX
The second spring poem, cf. Amor, 19. Cf. Song of Songs 2: 11–13.
1 king: Cupid. Cf. Amor, 19. 3.
2 cote armour: vest of richly embroidered material worn by knights over their armour and also worn by heralds.
8 forelock: opportunity was iconographically depicted with a long forelock which had to be grasped while occasion offered. Cf. FQ, 2. 4. 4.
11 misseth… make: has failed to acquire a mate or partner.
12 amearst: punished.
13–14 Summarizing the ‘carpe diem’ theme implicit in the whole sonnet.
13 prime: spring, period of maximum sexual vigour and energy.
Sonnet LXXI
1 drawen work: embroidery (drawn-thread work).
2 Bee: symbolizing the sweet and bitter aspects of love, the honey and the sting. The spider and bee were traditional opponents.
3 Spyder: at Amor, 23. 7 the speaker ‘weaves’ his suit to the lady but now she weaves the spider-speaker into her own web.
4 close awayt: hidden ambush.
8 remoue: depart, escape.
9 about: often emended to ‘above’ to preserve the rhyme scheme.
10 woodbynd… Eglantine: honeysuckle and wild rose respectively, both emblematic of love. Cf. SC, Maye, 13.
Sonnet LXXII
Castiglione notes that ‘those who reach this stage of love are like fledgelings which on their feeble wings can lift themselves a little in flight but dare not stray far from the nest or trust themselves to the winds of the open sky’ (Courtier, 339). St Paul notes that marriage acts as a spiritual distraction (1 Corinthians 7: 32–4). Cf. Tasso, Rime, 2. 98 (no. 67).
4 clogd: burdened or impeded, as by fetters or clogs (wooden blocks).
10 mantleth: spreads its wings. Since only perched hawks were said to mantle their wings the image complements that of the opening lines.
Sonnet LXXIII
Cf. Tasso, Rime, 2. 319 (no. 222).
1 care: sorrow, distress.
6–8 desired… feed: the imagery of taste indicates the persistence of sensual appetite. Cf. ‘Desire still cries, “give me some food” ’ (Sidney, Astrophil and Stella, 71).
9 bright: radiant, beautiful.
10 encage: confine, enfold. Cf. Amor, 65. 7–8.
Sonnet LXXIIII
1 skilfull trade: artful practice (of letters or writing).
2 desynd: signified.
3 three… thrise: corresponding to the number of letters in her name. Cf. note to Amor, 63. 10.
4 body… mind: Plato discriminates between the claims of body, soul and wealth, placing those of wealth last (cf. Letters, 8. 355b).
5 kind: birth.
7 kind: gracious (but also rightful).
8 honour… richesse: referring to Spenser’s reception by the Queen, his annual pension, and the granting of an estate at Kilcolman in Munster.
lent: bestowed, granted.
9 liues: life’s.
10 spirit… raysed: cf. HL, 176–9.
13 three Elizabeths: this is the sole occasion upon which Spenser refers to the names of his mother and his second wife.
14 graces: playing on ‘Graces’, the three classical deities. Cf. SC, Aprill, [109]; Amor, 40. 4 and notes.
Sonnet LXXV
1 strand: sandy beach, shore.
3 wrote… hand: wrote it out a second time.
9 For poetic immortality cf. RT, 344–455; Amor, 27. 11–14.
14 later… renew: i.e. give them poetic immortality.
Sonnet LXXVI
The sensual imagery of this and the following sonnet captures the ambivalence of a love both spiritual and sensual, such as is described at Song of Songs 4: 10–15; 7: 3–6. As the goal is marriage, and not a Platonic relationship, the claims of sensuality cannot be denied. The reference to the ‘bowre of blisse’ (3) recalls the dangers of sexual desire (cf. FQ, 2. 12. 42–87), but that to ‘pleasure’ (3) recalls the lawful enjoyment of the Gardens of Adonis, devoted to fertility and procreation (cf. FQ, 3. 6. 50–51). Cf. note to Amor, 65. 14; Tasso, Rime, 3. 133 (no. 94).
3 paradice: ‘a Garden of pleasure’ (SC, June, [10]). Cf. HL, 273–86.
4 harbour: dwelling, bower.
5 How… rauisht: cf. Song of Songs 4: 9.
6 rashly: imprudently, impulsively.
7 insight: vision. As at Amor, 72 contemplation may actually frustrate Neoplatonic ascent contrary to more pious expectations.
9 paps: breasts, nipples.
May: traditionally associated with love. Cf. SC, Maye, 1–2, [1].
11 loosely: lasciviously, without restraint.
Sonnet LXXVII
Employing the ‘banquet of sense’ motif and suggesting, through the ambivalent imagery of apples, the dual nature of the speaker’s love. His very ‘thoughts’ (14) are bodily.
2 yvory: cf. Song of Songs 5: 14. But in Virgil false dreams proceed from the underworld through ivory gates (Aeneid, 6. 895–6).
3 iuncats: delicacies, confectionery.
4 pompous: magnificent, splendid.
6 vnualewd: inestimable.
7–8 Hercules… Atalanta: as one of his twelve labours Hercules stole the golden apples of the Hesperides by defeating the attendant dragon. Atalanta vowed to marry any man who could defeat her in a race, but Hippomenes gained victory by casting three golden apples (sometimes identified with the apples of the Hesperides) in her path. The apples were often related to the apple of Genesis and taken to signify sinful baits. Cf. FQ, 2. 7. 54; Comes, Mythologiae, 7. 7. Cf. Tasso, Rime, 3. 133 (no. 94).
11 paradice: Petrarch’s Laura ‘was surely born in Paradise’ (Rime Sparse, 126. 55). Both the evil Bowre of Blisse and the creative Gardens of Adonis are described as paradisal (cf. FQ, 2. 12. 58; 3. 6. 29).
14 thoughts… fedd: in Castiglione it is the sensual lover whose thoughts demand the ‘delicious food’ of the body (Courtier, 338).
Sonnet LXXVIII
This is directly related to the preceding sonnet in that, according to Castiglione, the sensual lover cannot bear the lady’s absence and craves physical sustenance because he is unable to contemplate the image of pure beauty in his soul (Cou
rtier, 338). Cf. Petrarch, Rime Sparse, 126, 127.
2 fawne… hynd: cf. Horace, Odes, 1. 23 where the lady is the fawn. The reversal of imagery bears an ironic relationship to that of Amor, 67.
5 synd: marked (with her footprints).
6 bowre: abode or bedchamber.
8 aspect: appearance (i.e. the remembrance of her presence).
12 fed… vayne: cf. Amor, 77. 14; HHB, 288–94 and notes.
14 thoughts… mee: the Platonic lover should ‘turn his desire completely away from the body to beauty alone’ and contemplate it without fear of loss. Cf. Castiglione, Courtier, 338.
Sonnet LXXIX
Cf. Tasso, Rime, 3. 142 (no. 102).
1 credit: either believe or lend validity to.
4–9 vertuous… beautie: cf. Amor, 7. 2 and note.
9–10 argue… seed: cf. Amor, 61. 6 and note.
11–12 deriu’d… proceed: the Neoplatonic doctrine succinctly expounded.
Cf. HHB, 8–14.
14 vntymely fade: unseasonably wither.
Sonnet LXXX
1–2 After… compile: since Amor was entered in the Stationers’ Register on 19 November 1594 this would imply that FQ, 4–6 were already completed by this time although not published until 1596.
2 compile: fabricate, constitute.
3 fordonne: exhausted, worn out.
4 new breath: both physical breath and poetic inspiration.
5–8 The mood strongly contrasts with Amor, 33. As the consummation of his private love approaches, he appears to gain enthusiasm for his public duty. For the imagery of the steed cf. Virgil, Aeneid, 11. 492–9.
6 prison: stall or stable.
7 stoutly: vigorously, energetically.
assoyle: assail (in the sense of endeavour).
8 strong endeuour: strenuous effort.
attention: concentration.
9 mew: cage, but wittily playing on ‘mews’ (stables). His ‘steed’ is the winged horse Pegasus.
The Shorter Poems Page 84