The Hunt

(Edmund Spenser 1552-1599)

Today I would like to propose another Elizabethan poet, Edmund Spenser. The poem I have chosen is Sonnet LXVII. The sonnet belongs to the sequence entitled Amoretti, in which Spenser tells the story of his love for Elizabeth Boyle, from his initial courtship to her final acceptance of his love. In this sonnet Spenser tells us that, being tired of his long courtship, he was losing hope of winning her love when, unexpectedly, the lady suddenly accepted him. The events are told through images of a deer that he is hunting. The deer is a symbol for his coveted lady. When the poet/huntsman loses all hope of concluding a successful hunt, the deer appears to him and lets itself be caught. The general tone of the sonnet is not one of chase and frenzied hunt, but one of calm and peace. 

The love that Spenser celebrates in his Amoretti is different from the typical love described in the more conventional sonnets of the time. Spenser in fact does not describe passionate or ardent love, but a chaste and pure one, which culminates in a pure ethereal love. 

Like as a huntsman after weary chase, 

Seeing the game from him escap'd away, 

Sits down to rest him in some shady place, 

With panting hounds beguiled of their prey: 

So after long pursuit and vain assay, 

When I all weary had the chase forsook, 

The gentle deer return'd the self-same way, 

Thinking to quench her thirst at the next brook. 

There she beholding me with milder look, 

Sought not to fly, but fearless still did bide: 

Till I in hand her yet half trembling took, 

And with her own goodwill her firmly tied. 

Strange thing, me seem'd, to see a beast so wild, 

So goodly won, with her own will beguil'd.

The Choice

Digression today...but not really. Writing about Shakespeare's love sonnets and his fractious feelings, I thought of one of my own poems; a short poem on choice. What rationale does one follow when one chooses a partner? Is there a right and wrong? What is right? What is accepted? Do you choose what brings physical happiness? What brings you emotional happiness? What is sure to make everyone around you, family and friends, happy? To you I leave the answer.

So close was love

Like breeze of voice

Breathing softly

Softly teasing

So close were we

With chance of choice

Choosing wisely

Wisely cheated

WITH FALSE COMPARE

Today I will lighten the tone by discussing Sonnet 130 in which Shakespeare mocks the Petrarchan tradition of overly sugary romantic love and ideal beauty. Contrary to this Elizabethan ethereal high flown poetry of idyllic beauty, here Shakespeare exaggerates a negative imagery to portray the physical and behavioural flaws of his lover. 

Instead of criticising his lover’s imperfections, he praises them. He accepts that she isn't an idyllic beauty, but a real woman with all her human imperfections. Her eyes are dull, her lips are are dim, her breasts are dark, her hair is wiry black and her complexion is pale. As for her gait, she is heavy on her feet and to add insult to injury, she has bad breath.

However, whatever she looks or acts like, she still remains his true love. In the final couplet of this unique poem, Shakespeare declares that he believes his woman to be as special as any other of those women who are falsely praised by bombastic Petrarchan idolatry. 

My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damask'd, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground:
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.

THE DARK LADY

Today we look at Shakespeare and his Dark Lady, the woman described in his sonnets, from 127 to 154. She was so called because she seems to have had black hair and a dark complexion. I have chosen to start with Sonnet 151, the poem that best portrays the comparison between Shakespeare’s love for the Fair Youth and that for the Dark Lady. The poet illustrates this by comparing the feelings of the soul with the desires of the flesh.

Shakespeare starts by referring to love as being too young. Love here is seen as sexual love; as lust. He equates this love to conscience, since conscience and the soul are the same. He then reiterates by asking rhetorically: "Yet who knows not conscience is born of love?". In other words, it is obvious that "conscience" is triggered off by love. Therefore, he tells the “gentle cheater” not to criticise him for his mistake, because her “sweet self” may be guilty of the same faults. Shakespeare then focuses on the relationship between body and soul, and between himself and the dark lady.  She betrays him and so he betrays his soul for his rebellious body. His soul tells his body that it can triumph in love, and so his physical urge does not wait, but at the sound of her name rises up and points to her as its prize. The sexually charged connotative image of rising up and pointing to her is evidently meant to highlight the physical urge (penile erection), juxtaposed with the soul. Because of her betrayal, he betrays his "nobler part" which is his soul. Basically, the poet is saying that his physical body ("gross body") betrays his soul, every time he lets himself be seduced by her. The poet realises that his flesh is proud of having her and of being ‘at her service’. The image is again a sexually constructed picture of the consummation of the sexual act from start to finish, completing the business and falling down beside her afterwards. He tells her not to take it for granted that his conscience is in any way less because she makes his flesh rise and fall for her love.  

The dichotomy between the brazen physical act, which he links here to this relationship with the woman, is in stark contrast to the ethereal love and superior feelings Shakespeare expresses for the Fair Youth in the sonnet sequence dedicated to him. It is as though the poet is angry that nature had given the youth that little ‘extra’ (a penis) which has now forced the poet to live in this schizophrenic state torn between sex and love;  body and soul. 

Love is too young to know what conscience is,

Yet who knows not conscience is born of love?

Then, gentle cheater, urge not my amiss,

Lest guilty of my faults thy sweet self prove:

For, thou betraying me, I do betray

My nobler part to my gross body's treason;

My soul doth tell my body that he may

Triumph in love; flesh stays no farther reason,

But rising at thy name doth point out thee,

As his triumphant prize. Proud of this pride,

He is contented thy poor drudge to be,

To stand in thy affairs, fall by thy side.

No want of conscience hold it that I call

Her love, for whose dear love I rise and fall.

NO COMPARISON

Today I shall briefly present perhaps the most well known sonnet written by Shakespeare to the Fair Youth, Sonnet 18. Tomorrow I shall shift my attention to the poet's infatuation for a woman. Remember that the first 126 sonnets are dedicated to a young man, while sonnets 127 to 152 are dedicated to a mysterious dark lady. 

I am sure you have all come across the line "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?" It has become a classic. This is a simple but very powerful love poem. Apart from its mellifluous simplicity, its strength lies in the eternalising not only of love, but of the physical lover.

In this sonnet Shakespeare simply states that he could compare his friend to a beautiful summer’s day, but actually knows that his Fair Youth is much more perfect. In summer we often get bad days with rough winds that ruin the blossoms. Summer is also short and ends quickly. It is not always mild and lovely, like his friend, who is always so. It also gets too hot or too stormy in summer and everything beautiful ends, either by chance or simply due to the course of nature. But the beauty and brightness of his friend will never fade. More importantly, he shall live forever, because he has been immortalised here in these lines. As long as people live and have eyes to see, this poem will keep him alive.

Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

And summer’s lease hath all too short a date;

Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,

And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;

And every fair from fair sometime declines,

By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm'd;

But thy eternal summer shall not fade,

Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;

Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,

When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:

So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,

So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

SELF SACRIFICE

Self-sacrifice by Stanislav Bogdanov

Sonnet 36 is one of my personal favourites because it portrays the power of love through self-sacrifice. This sonnet is perhaps the most revealing of Shakespeare’s intense love for his mysterious Fair Youth.

Shakespeare is here advocating a separation; a breakup for the lover's sake. He wants to protect his young friend from the gossipy claws of the Elizabethan society, a society that would frown upon their relationship. The poet does not want to tarnish the youth’s good name if his feelings for him become public. There must have been a triggering specific incident that put the two men in the limelight, risking a damaging scandal. Shakespeare does not seem worried about his own reputation. His only concern is to protect the reputation of his beloved friend, who is still young and untarnished. Although the two evidently love each other, Shakespeare decides that the best thing to do is to separate and not see each other any more.  Separation, he feels is the only way to protect his friend’s honour:

I may not ever-more acknowledge thee,

Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame… 

Shakespeare seems to blame himself for the unfortunate situation and reluctantly decides that the two must not be seen together in public.

He starts the poem with a very powerful line that focuses on two essential core aspects, the breakup and the oneness of their love. It is a paradox, in that separation (“twain”) is juxtaposed with the inseparable (“undivided” and “one”).

Let me confess that we two must be twain,

Although our undivided loves are one:

Shakespeare continues this narrative by accepting to bear the brunt of their disgrace in order to save his friend from being stained by scandal (“blot”). He says that despite the wicked forces that compel them to separate, their love will always endure. Sadly, their separation will deprive them of sharing those magical moments together.

So shall those blots that do with me remain,

Without thy help, by me be borne alone.

In our two loves there is but one respect,

Though in our lives a separable spite,

Which though it alter not love's sole effect,

Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love's delight.

In the final sestet of this sonnet Shakespeare takes the blame and reiterates that he cannot publicly greet his lover, as he doesn’t want to undermine the youth’s reputation by bringing shame on him. He halfheartedly asks the young man to ignore him, should they meet in public. The poet cannot let his friend risk losing his good name. However, Shakespeare ends the sonnet with a powerful final couplet emphasising that his love is so deep that he is one with his lover, as is the young man’s own good name is one with his. 

The desperate measure that Shakespeare has taken to defend the good name and reputation of his lover is the epitome of self-sacrifice in the name of true love. It is overwhelming.

Listen to Sir John Gielgud  read this sonnet here. 

Let me confess that we two must be twain,

Although our undivided loves are one:

So shall those blots that do with me remain,

Without thy help, by me be borne alone.

In our two loves there is but one respect,

Though in our lives a separable spite,

Which though it alter not love's sole effect,

Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love's delight.

I may not evermore acknowledge thee,

Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame,

Nor thou with public kindness honour me,

Unless thou take that honour from thy name:

But do not so, I love thee in such sort,

As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.

THY SENSUAL FAULT

I shall continue to touch on some of Shakespeare's Fair Youth sonnet sequence, with sonnet 35. Here Shakespeare is addressing his young friend and refers to a sin he committed against him; a sin the poet struggles to forgive.

He tells the youth not to upset himself because of this bad deed. He reminds him that bad things are everywhere… Roses have thorns; clear fountains have mud; both the sun and moon are shadowed by clouds and eclipses; and horrible disease is found in the sweetest flowers.

No more be grieved at that which thou hast done.

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.

The poet tries to console the youth by telling him that all men do bad things. He actually admits to having done them himself. The poet talks of sinning. He says he is guilty of sin because he authorised his friend's trespass. The religious connotation here with the use of words like sin and trespass (reminiscent of the Lord’s Prayer) mix the sacred with the profane. Shakespeare admits he knows that he is corrupting the Fair Youth as well, and forgives his “sins” out of love. As a prosecutor, he strives for reason.

All men make faults, and even I in this,

Authórizing thy trespass with compare,

Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,

Excusing these sins more than these sins are.

Shakespeare highlights the sensual by referring to the sins of his young friend as being physical urges. He says that he looks at these sensual sins and tries to defend him, to protect him, and in so doing he is obviously working against himself. The poet feels that he is torn between love and hate, but he cannot resist helping that “sweet thief” who bitterly robbed him of his peace of mind.  

For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense—

Thy adverse party is thy advocate—

And 'gainst myself a lawful plea commence.

Such civil war is in my love and hate

That I an áccessory needs must be

To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me.

This sonnet reiterates Shakespeare’s fraught feelings towards love. He paradoxically acts as a hypothetical lawyer to defend the one he loves and who has betrayed his trust. The poet uses an array legal imagery by choosing connotative words in this regard, like “adverse party”, “advocate”, “lawful” plea” and “accessary”.  Shakespeare defends his friend even though he himself is the injured party. This extended metaphorical picture also helps to shed light on the poet’s tormented understanding of love, with all its irrationality and enigmatic forces. “Such civil war is in my love and hate”, reveals the intricacy of the painful emotions he has felt, and his painful struggle in dealing with them.

• 

No more be grieved at that which thou hast done.

Roses have thorns, and silver fountains mud;

Clouds and eclipses stain both moon and sun,

And loathsome canker lives in sweetest bud.

All men make faults, and even I in this,

Authórizing thy trespass with compare,

Myself corrupting, salving thy amiss,

Excusing these sins more than these sins are.

For to thy sensual fault I bring in sense—

Thy adverse party is thy advocate—

And 'gainst myself a lawful plea commence.

Such civil war is in my love and hate

That I an áccessory needs must be

To that sweet thief which sourly robs from me.