Symbolism in Sonnet 67, 75 and 79 by Edmund Spencer

The Sonnets by Edmund Spenser are composite of intriguing aspects with special sequential poetic features called Amoretti. In his sonnet writing, Spenser depicts a male lover who successfully wins the affection of his female admiration. Unlike other love poetry where reluctant female characters unsuccessfully heed to selfish and sexism male lovers, Spenser's sequences of sonnets are winning true love endeavors. The special perception of the valuable aspects of the beloved female characters takes on the lady's mind, spirit, and soul to signify deep, sincere and pure love in a Renaissance Christianized perspective. The sonnets insinuate that the female beloved reciprocates the love they are offered by the male lover because they realize ifs genuineness and sincerity. The poems apply different literary devices, poetic stylistic techniques, and language styles to deliver the author's intentions and point of view to the audience. The use of alliteration, symbolism, metaphoric illustration, irony, sarcasm, and irony contribute to the in-text concept of the poems. In the majority of the sonnets, Spencer uses symbolism to signify the male and female characters in the love poetry. This paper will discuss the literary application of symbolism in sonnet 67, 75, and 79 which are among the first eighty five sonnets written showing the courtship of Elizabeth Boyle in-depth implication for the audiences understanding of the author's perception when he uses different symbolic representation to signify different things in the love poems in the texts. In the sonnet 67, the speaker uses the theme of hunting in a metaphoric representation of women in the sixteenth century that symbolized them to a deer, while the man is the hunter chasing the woman. From the inspirations from Rima Petrarch's work, the efforts of Spencer in the sonnet 67 is directed by the man's role in wooing a woman but, the difference in the two poetic approached Spencer's speaker efforts are rewarding with reciprocated love.

Consequently, in sonnet 67, the narrator uses symbolism to signify his character with the images of predator to show his struggle to get his prey when he says "Lyke as a huntsman after weary chace," (line 1) and later states "so after long pursuit and vain assay," (line 5). In this symbolic representation, the narrator characterizes himself as a hunter or predator who is fighting to catch his target. Using this imagery illustration the author is able to show the audience that his mission to win the heart of his beloved woman. When he says that the pursuit was long and helpless he uses the symbolic representation of time spent to win the heart of his beloved. Unlike other poetry, the male lover's struggle and efforts bare fruits and in the seventh line the narrator says "gentle deare" showing that the beloved female gave in to his persuasion. In the proceeding lines, the narrator boasts of their shared love and compassionate companionship. Spencer's reference to his lover as 'dear' rather than deer in the hunting scenario signifies the symbolic representation of his concern for her. The second half of the poem contains a high illustration of metaphoric thinking, where the author turns the act around to symbolic show the woman's control of the situation when she returns the affection and allows her suitor to court her without playing the hard to get role portrayed in a majority of poetry. This symbolic element of the sonnet gives it a uniqueness that the objectivity of describing the love story between the lover and the beloved shows the development of the fruitful love life. Using the literal understanding of sonnet 67, the symbolism applied by Spencer shows a real-life experience. The hunter started with an active chase of the deer, when he realizes that he was sick tired of the fruitless chase he sits down to take a rest under the shade with his dogs insinuating the signs of giving up in the chase, but, luck is on his side because when the deer realize that the hunter is not chasing after her anymore she comes back. This symbolic dramatization of the love story where a suitor tries to woo a woman who is trying to pretend hard to get after he feels like he has exhausted all options he gives the chase and when the woman realizes that she might lose her lover she retreats and the chase switches. The sonnet Spencer symbolically uses the animal characters to show feminine timidity and the man's efforts and persistence as the hunter with his pack of dogs to symbolically mean that he has his likes to help him convince the woman of his persuasive intentions.

Sonnet 75 is a dialogue between the lover and his beloved woman. In the act presented in the poem, the poet-speaker tries to symbolize his feelings for his lady beloved to be immortal and undying. Spencer uses symbolism to show the unreal thought of eternal love when the lover attempts to write his beloved woman's name on the sand. His efforts to have the name embossed on the sand are getting wiped with a single sweep by the ocean tides when the waves erase his writings leaving no trace of his evidence of love. On the beloved woman's response in the dialog, she tells the narrator that he is foolish because of the temporal nature of his gesture. She tells him that her life will pass just like the writings he had on the sand. The symbolic illustration of the dramatized scenario shows that the love the man feels for his beloved blinds him from thinking on the reality of life and insinuates that he can maintain the relationship for eternity. Yet, the one with a clear and real thought is the woman when she uses symbolism she is able to show the reality of mortality of life. She has a clear vision of the true aspects of life. When the man writes the name of the beloved on the sand was an imagery illustration of his illusion that his love for her was eternal and unending, yet one wave was enough to wipe it in totality. The use of the coastline scenario helps Spencer to symbolize the perceptions of the speakers in contrast with reality. The wave from the ocean symbolizes the challenges and shortcoming that may happen in a couple's life that would change their perception of love they share. Using this metaphoric dramatization the author is able to use symbolism on the reality of love life, illustrating that at the beginning the lovers think what they share is immortal and cannot be killed by anything though, a single wave of mishaps changes their perception of each other entirely. This start of events uses the characters of the sonnet as the lee sides of the reality of life, the man is a symbolic representation of illusion perspective of life where lovers think that the inapprehensive view of life is immortal while the woman is the symbolic representation of the reality of life and interpersonal relationship of any human being where nothing is permanent and illustrious.

Sonnet 75 uses objectification to distinguish between the physical and spiritual nature of man's perception of life. The author uses symbolism to separate the physical aspects of the human perspective. The lover says that the physical element of their lives would end but their instinct and feelings of love would never end. He remarks that the physical things will perish but their feelings are exceeding death and grow continuously. In response, the woman scolds the lover for trying to do the impossible by immortalizing mortal things that are not eternal as irrational to signify the symbolism of the feelings and reality. Spencer uses the idea of love to show the important elements of life without flattering the other. The use of real-life items to symbolize the happenings and the thoughts of the poet gives sonnet 75 showing the metaphoric thought of Spencer's representation of his feelings with the things that happen real-time in their lives. Using the symbols of love, ocean, death or mortality and immortality elements are incorporated as imagery representation of the true and false position of the authors though. The dialogue between the lovers shows one side of the truth while the other one shows the illusion of false thinking. Using the sonnet the readers see the instance of the author on the resist of obsessive thoughts of love and the wakeup call of reality.

Literary analysis of the symbolism applied in the development of the characters and the themes of the sonnet gives this section of the amoretti special representation of imagery and metaphor to represent the author's mindset in relation to the reality of his illusions. When the poet thinks of the things in his life with symbolic representation he is able to both, directly and indirectly, show the audience the contrast of his thinking to real life experiences. Use of symbolism also makes the audience identify with the author's thoughts hundreds of years after the original text was published. The effective representation of the things presented helps the piece of literature to remain relevant through contemporary times and represent the dynamic of a love relationship with the conventional version to glow in the change of settings. Reading through the text it is clear for the audience the kind of relationship that was between the two lovers. Spencer addresses his deep emotions and cherishes of his love by using symbolic representation to show that it was endless. The formal and contextual structure brings out the indirect representation of the inner thought with imagery illustrations with other more sensible things in life. The integration of the formal structure with rhyme and other poet stylish techniques presents the contextual understanding of the main message and in-text meaning of the author's intentions.

The sonnet cycle used in sonnet 75 presents the symbolism of reality and illusion elements of love. He tries, again and again, to maintain his position in expressing his love for his beloved women but the name he writes is washed away by the tides. The impossible task gets critics by his lover but he does not give it up arguing "see shall like to this decay" (line 7) ..." my verse your virtues rare shall eternize,/and in the heavens write your glorious name." (lines 11-12). To symbolize that physical death could not destroy his feelings for her. In this Amoretti sonnet, the argument between the two lovers shows the contrast of life where one party is deep in love with the other but the counterpart takes it for granted. Using a metaphoric understanding of the situation, the audience gets the two sides of life where some people are dedicated to making things they value so much to last forever but the people they entrust their secret with are tirelessly discouraging their effort or trying to revoke their position with negative posterities. Reading the sonnet opens the audience's insightful understanding of the principles of love to be a two-way traffic. When one parson's effort does not value by the other their actions are drained to waste just like the symbolic representation of the name written on the sand by the man and because of the women's unsupportiveness, the washed away writings become a repetitive sequence. Spencer uses this foolish act to symbolize the simple things people in love do to make their love relationship special and long-lasting, but, the scolds from the woman metaphor represent the doubts and uncertainties that discourage couples from valuing the simple things that make their relationship unique. Although the writing of the name on the sand at the shore was not expected to stand a change when the tides washed through the coastline, though, support from the beloved would help the couple preserve the things that matter to any of them as a perfect reminder of their significance in the relationship.

Sonnet 79 starts with a persuasive and praising note to...