Sonnet

For the past couple days in class, we have been learning about sonnets. I’m not really into poetry but I think sonnets are very interesting. I really like the sonnet’s purpose—a medium through which skilled poets can dazzle audiences. The main subject of sonnets is love. The poet often is chasing a cruel fair—the gorgeous woman that eludes men in their quest for love. I noticed the hunter vs. hunted analogy is a common theme in sonnets as well. Both Spenser and Wyatt uses this analogy to describe their love situation. Obviously, the poets are the hunters who are hunting for the deer. At the literal level, the hunter is hunting the deer. Figuratively, the deer is the equivalent of the cruel fair. The hunting analogy holds true on so many levels, which renders it popular among sonnet writers. Just as a deer looks innocent and harmless, the cruel fair appears to be pure and innocent. Yet, the cruel fair is a professional when it comes to manipulating the emotions of others. The cruel fair also possesses the uncanny ability to evoke strong emotions in others. For example, the cruel fair often leaves the hunter exhausted and wearied because it eludes the hunter so much. Yet, something about the cruel fair makes the hunter keep on hunting for it. It’s also in the cruel fair’s nature that makes them enjoy being sought after by these hunters. It’s really a game to the deer. On the other hand, the hunter is more serious and genuine in their”love”. In essence, the hunt is more than a game to the hunter. Failure to successfully hunt means not having food that night, at least in the Elizebethan times. This shows that the hunter took hunting very seriously. If we take this analogy a step further, we can see that the deer is the hunter’s food—a source for the hunter’s weariness to be replenished. This is ironic in that the deer is what causes the weariness in the hunter initially. I found the Spenserian version of the hunting sonnet to be a lot more interesting. I personally think that the couplet in that sonnet changes the entire situation. It completely reverts the situation. Until the last two lines, it appears as though that the deer is in control as she leaves the hunter all tired and weary. But at the couplet, Spenser claims that he “won” the deer by “beguiling her goods”. This means that Spenser was pretending this entire time to fall victim to the cruel fair’s desires. In reality, he was the one in control while manipulating the emotions of the deer because the deer ends up “allowing” the hunter to finally catch her. I look forward to reading Shakespeare’s sonnets tomorrow!