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Questions and Answers
What is the title of the volume in which Amoretti was first published in 1595?
Who published Amoretti in 1595?
In which year did Edmund Spenser marry Elizabeth Boyle?
What is the title of the poem that celebrates Spenser's marriage?
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How many complete copies of Amoretti and Epithalamion remain today?
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What is the name of the scholar who considered Spenser's sonnets to be inferior?
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What is the name of the epic allegorical masterpiece written by Edmund Spenser?
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In which library is one of the remaining complete copies of Amoretti and Epithalamion stored?
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How many sonnets are included in the sequence of Amoretti?
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What is the name of the tradition from which Amoretti draws heavily?
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What period does Sonnets 76-89 correspond to?
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Which feast day does Sonnet 82 correspond to?
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What is the dominant emotion expressed in the sonnets preceding Pentecost?
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How does Spenser adapt Petrarchan models?
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What is the characteristic of Spenser's use of Petrarchan paradox?
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What is the ultimate preoccupation and goal of Amoretti?
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How does Spenser's work differ from other Renaissance sonneteers?
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What is the result of examining the underlying structure of the sequence and its religious parallels?
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What is the significance of Spenser's use of scriptural loci?
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Why is Spenser considered one of the most important sixteenth-century sonneteers?
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What is a common feature of traditional Petrarchan love poetry?
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What is a characteristic of Spenser's Amoretti that differs from traditional Petrarchan love poetry?
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What is the outcome of the love affair between Spenser and Elizabeth Boyle?
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What is the significance of the scriptural readings prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer in relation to Spenser's Amoretti?
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What is the exception in the sequence of correspondences between Spenser's sonnets and the daily scripture readings?
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What is the likely explanation for the lack of correspondence between Sonnets 28-33 and the daily scripture readings?
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What is the significance of Sonnet 53 in relation to the sequence of correspondences?
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How does Spenser's Amoretti resolve the conflict between spiritual and physical love?
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What is the significance of the number of sonnets in Spenser's Amoretti?
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What is the characteristic of the love situation in traditional Petrarchan love poetry that Spenser revises in his Amoretti?
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Study Notes
Amoretti by Edmund Spenser
- Amoretti is a sonnet cycle written by Edmund Spenser in the 16th century, describing his courtship and marriage to Elizabeth Boyle.
- The cycle was first published in 1595 in London by William Ponsonby as part of a volume entitled Amoretti and Epithalamion.
- The volume included 89 sonnets, along with a series of short poems called Anacreontics and Epithalamion, a public poetic celebration of marriage.
- Only six complete copies of the original publication remain today.
Theme and Structure
- The sonnets chronicle the progress of Spenser's love for Elizabeth Boyle and record his marriage to her.
- Spenser innovatively dedicates the entire sequence to a woman he could honorably win, breaking with conventional love poetry.
Petrarchan Tradition and Influence
- The sonnets draw heavily on authors of the Petrarchan tradition, including Torquato Tasso and Petrarch himself.
- Spenser uses established topoi and conceits, but also revises the tradition by moving away from the constant transformation and self-absorption of the Petrarchan love situation.
- He represents the Protestant conception of marriage, celebrating it as a sanctuary in which two people can find peace and rest in a mutual love covenant.
Scriptural Influences
- The 89 sonnets were written to correspond with scriptural readings prescribed by the Book of Common Prayer for specific dates in 1594.
- Spenser generally made use of daily psalms or New Testament readings, often drawing upon the Gospel or Epistle for Sundays or feast days.
- The sequence of correspondences to daily scripture readings is not perfectly consecutive or uninterrupted, with some exceptions.
Unique Features
- Amoretti breaks with conventional love poetry by dedicating an entire sequence to a woman Spenser could honorably win.
- The sequence celebrates the Protestant conception of marriage as a sanctuary for mutual love.
- Spenser's use of Petrarchan models and connections to scripture themes and imagery creates a unique poetic and personal harmony.
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Description
Amoretti is a sonnet cycle written by Edmund Spenser in the 16th century, describing his courtship and marriage to Elizabeth Boyle. It was first published in 1595 in London. The volume includes 89 sonnets, Anacreontics, and Epithalamion, a poetic celebration of marriage.
