The first time I read this poem in high school (and admittedly I haven’t read any of the surrounding sonnets that would possibly acquaint me with the name Elizabeth), I was struck by the fact that Spenser promises to immortalize her name in his verse without actually saying her name…
Maybe he chose to withhold her name, in that careful Reformational reticence that was developing, and distance himself from Dante and Petrarch’s “medieval forthrightness,” where they name and frankly extol their lady loves.
Oh, that's an interesting thought, re her name. It's also interesting that we can speculate about the real-life identity of Sidney's "Stella" (especially if we speculate that "Astrophil," the star-lover, is Sidney himself), but we know who Spenser's lady is --- maybe mostly because the other poem published in the same volume as the Amoretti was his "Epithalamion," which is kind of a giveaway.
I never cared much for the "Amoretti," so haven't read them since grad school; I doubt I even read them all, since I found them slow going (and I was a lazy student). Unlike Sidney's and Shakespeare's, they seemed to me rather staid. But "Epithalamion" is one of my favorite poems. I was introduced to it by a philologist and old-school humanist who joined the faculty of Brigham Young University in his later years. He prepared us for the poem by reviewing the Greek and Latin poems that Spenser presumably had in mind as he wrote. Then we spent several weeks working line by line through the poem itself. For me, "Epithalamion" has the energy and variety and emotional engagement that "The Faery Queen" has in its more appealing passages, but that the sonnets, in my reading of them, lack.
My experience was rather the opposite. I never have liked "The Faery Queen" much, though I should give it another try now that I like Spenser. A friend said I should try "The Shepherde's Calendar," which I did and really liked, so then I read "Amoretti" and was quite taken with them. "Epithalamion" I already knew from Ralph Vaughan Williams' setting but had not read much of, just referring to the text in a few places while listening to the recording; it's now my favorite by Spenser. (I remember, when I was a groomsman for a Catholic friend who married an Episcopalian woman, chatting with the priest, who said it was a shame no one had set "Epithalamion," so I was able to spread the joy by telling her about RVW's setting. --Sadly, when we had our American wedding, also an Episcopalian service, they had a very small selection of music, and certainly not RVW's setting of the poem. And my best man, being Catholic, was amused at our having a woman priest, but especially by the fact that she had the same name as his mother, so saying "Mother [name redacted]" was unnatural the first time he said it. But yes, there are Episcopalian Mongols. Now you know.) And after I came to enjoy Spenser, that left Pope as the only English poet I dislike. I suspect that is because his sense of humor is so much like mine that we would hate each other in person.
My other favorite from the Amoretti is his Easter poem, "Most Glorious Lord of Life," which I actually first encountered as a choral anthem, in a setting by William H. Harris: https://youtu.be/w1FvSE6-xyU?si=6N6LfuUSKvYoSYco
The first time I read this poem in high school (and admittedly I haven’t read any of the surrounding sonnets that would possibly acquaint me with the name Elizabeth), I was struck by the fact that Spenser promises to immortalize her name in his verse without actually saying her name…
Maybe he chose to withhold her name, in that careful Reformational reticence that was developing, and distance himself from Dante and Petrarch’s “medieval forthrightness,” where they name and frankly extol their lady loves.
Super interesting, thanks Sally!
Oh, that's an interesting thought, re her name. It's also interesting that we can speculate about the real-life identity of Sidney's "Stella" (especially if we speculate that "Astrophil," the star-lover, is Sidney himself), but we know who Spenser's lady is --- maybe mostly because the other poem published in the same volume as the Amoretti was his "Epithalamion," which is kind of a giveaway.
I never cared much for the "Amoretti," so haven't read them since grad school; I doubt I even read them all, since I found them slow going (and I was a lazy student). Unlike Sidney's and Shakespeare's, they seemed to me rather staid. But "Epithalamion" is one of my favorite poems. I was introduced to it by a philologist and old-school humanist who joined the faculty of Brigham Young University in his later years. He prepared us for the poem by reviewing the Greek and Latin poems that Spenser presumably had in mind as he wrote. Then we spent several weeks working line by line through the poem itself. For me, "Epithalamion" has the energy and variety and emotional engagement that "The Faery Queen" has in its more appealing passages, but that the sonnets, in my reading of them, lack.
My experience was rather the opposite. I never have liked "The Faery Queen" much, though I should give it another try now that I like Spenser. A friend said I should try "The Shepherde's Calendar," which I did and really liked, so then I read "Amoretti" and was quite taken with them. "Epithalamion" I already knew from Ralph Vaughan Williams' setting but had not read much of, just referring to the text in a few places while listening to the recording; it's now my favorite by Spenser. (I remember, when I was a groomsman for a Catholic friend who married an Episcopalian woman, chatting with the priest, who said it was a shame no one had set "Epithalamion," so I was able to spread the joy by telling her about RVW's setting. --Sadly, when we had our American wedding, also an Episcopalian service, they had a very small selection of music, and certainly not RVW's setting of the poem. And my best man, being Catholic, was amused at our having a woman priest, but especially by the fact that she had the same name as his mother, so saying "Mother [name redacted]" was unnatural the first time he said it. But yes, there are Episcopalian Mongols. Now you know.) And after I came to enjoy Spenser, that left Pope as the only English poet I dislike. I suspect that is because his sense of humor is so much like mine that we would hate each other in person.
My other favorite from the Amoretti is his Easter poem, "Most Glorious Lord of Life," which I actually first encountered as a choral anthem, in a setting by William H. Harris: https://youtu.be/w1FvSE6-xyU?si=6N6LfuUSKvYoSYco