The Sonnet in England – Edmund Spenser and Philip Sidney
The sonnet, a 14-line poetic form originating in Italy, was introduced to England in the early 16th century and flourished during the Renaissance. Two of the most influential figures in the development of the English sonnet were Sir Philip Sidney and Edmund Spenser, both of whom contributed significantly to the evolution of the form, blending Petrarchan conventions with distinctly English innovations.
Philip Sidney and Astrophil and Stella
Sir Philip Sidney (1554–1586) was a courtier, soldier, and poet whose sonnet sequence Astrophil and Stella (written in the 1580s, published posthumously in 1591) marked a turning point in English poetry. Comprising 108 sonnets and 11 songs, the sequence explores the unrequited love of Astrophil ("star-lover") for Stella ("star").
Sidney primarily used the Petrarchan sonnet structure (an octave followed by a sestet, often with a volta, or turn, in thought) but infused it with a more conversational, psychologically complex tone. Unlike the idealized love of Petrarchan tradition, Sidney’s work reflects frustration, self-doubt, and irony. For example, Sonnet 1 begins with the famous line: "Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show," where Astrophil struggles to express his emotions authentically. Sidney’s wit and metrical skill helped establish the sonnet as a vehicle for personal and intellectual exploration.
Edmund Spenser and the Amoretti
Edmund Spenser (1552–1599), best known for The Faerie Queene, also made significant contributions to the sonnet tradition with his sequence Amoretti (1595). Unlike Sidney’s tormented lover, Spenser’s sonnets celebrate a more hopeful, reciprocal love, likely inspired by his courtship of his wife, Elizabeth Boyle.
Spenser employed his own Spenserian sonnet form, a variation of the English (Shakespearean) sonnet. While retaining the 14-line structure and three quatrains followed by a couplet, Spenser linked the quatrains with interlocking rhymes (abab bcbc cdcd ee), creating a flowing, musical effect. Sonnet 75 ("One day I wrote her name upon the strand") exemplifies this, blending themes of love, mortality, and poetic immortality. The waves erase the lover’s name, but the poet declares: "My verse your virtues rare shall eternize."
Comparison and Legacy
While Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella is dramatic and introspective, Spenser’s Amoretti is more harmonious and celebratory. Sidney’s influence lay in his emotional depth and rhetorical brilliance, paving the way for Shakespeare’s darker sonnets. Spenser, meanwhile, refined the sonnet’s structure, influencing later poets with his intricate rhyme schemes and idealized love themes.
Together, Sidney and Spenser helped establish the sonnet as a dominant form in English literature, adapting Italian models to express Renaissance humanism, personal emotion, and linguistic artistry. Their works remain foundational texts in the study of English poetry.