Edmund Spenser, Amoretti Sonnet 34

Edmund Spenser's Sonnet 34 from the Amoretti is told from the perspective of a first-person speaker, describing with rich imagery and metaphor the state of the narrator's soul. The poem does not describe an actual event occurring in time, and therefore the narrator does not give any indication of a specific time or place. The imagery is of a ship at sea in stormy weather, which serves as a metaphor for the human soul, not as an actual physical setting. However, the melancholy yet optimistic tone of the poem is clearly conveyed through this imagery.

The extended metaphor begins with the speaker praising divine guidance: "Lyke as a ship that through the Ocean wyde, by conduct of some star doth make her way." The symbol of a star guiding the wayward seaman is repeated later in the sonnet in lines 10-12: "My Helice the lodestar of my lyfe / will shine again, and looke on me at last, / with louely light to cleare my cloudy grief." However, a storm obscures the sky with clouds, symbolizing mental darkness and confusion: "a storme hath dimd her trusty guyde." The storm causes the speaker to "wander now in darknesse and dismay, / through hidden perils round about me plast." The speaker nevertheless remains full of hope and faith: "Yet hope I well, that when this storme is past / My Helice the lodestar of my lyfe / will shine again, and looke on me at last, / with louely light to cleare my cloudy grief." Until the storm passes, however, the speaker is doomed to "wander carefull comfortlesse, / in secret sorow and sad pensiuenesse." Furthermore, Helice also symbolizes the beloved, a romantic love interest the speaker is currently apart from.

Spenser employs a variety of poetic devices to convey the underlying meaning and tone of the poem. First, a sonnet is traditionally a form of love poetry, which is why Helice probably refers to a human being as well as to a star. As a sonnet, this poem is structured with fourteen lines and a distinct rhyming scheme: ABABBCBCCDCEE. As with most sonnets, the final two lines of the poem rhyme distinctly from the rest. Meter is steady, with ten beats/syllables per line. The poetic structure helps solidify the meaning and tone of Spenser's sonnet, underscoring its universal, romantic import.