BA III/Special English/Semester V/Poetry/Spenser

 

(E-content developed by Dr N. A. Jarandikar)

Sweet Warrior by Edmund Spenser

Poem:

SWEET warrior! when shall I have peace with you
High time it is this war now ended were
Which I no longer can endure to sue,
Ne your incessant batt’ry more to bear:
So weak my powers, so sore my wounds, appear,	5
That wonder is how I should live a jot,
Seeing my heart through-lanced everywhere
With thousand arrows, which your eyes have shot:
Yet shoot ye sharply still, and spare me not,
But glory think to make these cruel stours,	10
Ye cruel one! what glory can be got,
In slaying him that would live gladly yours!
Make peace therefore, and grant me timely grace,
That all my wounds will heal in little space.

Sweet Warrior by Edmund Spenser

About the poet: Edmund Spenser (एडमंड स्पेन्सर) is an important English poet. He belonged to the 16^th century England. At that time, Queen Elizabeth was ruling over England. So the period in history is known as the Elizabethan period (एलीझाबेदन पिरीयड). Edmund Spenser, William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe (ख्रिस्टोफर मार्लो), Ben Jonson, and Philip Sidney are the major writers of the Elizabethan period.

Edmund Spenser is considered as the first important poet of the modern English language. Spenserian stanza (स्पेन्सेरीयन स्टँझा) (स्टँझा: कडवे) and Spenserian sonnet (स्पेन्सेरीयन सॉनेट) (सॉनेट: सुनीत/१४ ओळींची कविता) are the unique gifts given by Spenser to the English language. The Faerie Queene (फेअरी क्वीन) is his longer poem dedicated to Queen Elizabeth. Amoretti (अॅमोरेटी) is his famous sonnet sequence and Epithalamion (एपिथॅलेमिअन) is an ode (ओड: कवितेचा एक प्रकार). Spenser’s both these works are addressed to his beloved and wife Elizabeth Boyle (एलिझाबेथ बॉइल).   

About the poem: “Sweet Warrior” is a poem written by Edmund Spenser. The poem is written in a sonnet form. The poem is a part of the sonnet sequence Amoretti. The poem is 57^th sonnet in the collection. The poem is addressed to his beloved Elizabeth Boyle.

The speaker in the poem addresses his beloved as “Sweet warrior” (वॉरियर: योद्धा). The speaker requests the beloved to stop the war of love. He appeals her that it is the high time to end this war. Due to continuous fight with her, his powers have become weak, and his wounds (वुन्ड्स: जखमा) have become very painful. His heart (हार्ट: हृदय) has been pierced (पिअर्स्ड: भेदणे) by thousand arrows (अॅरोज: बाण) that have been shot through her eyes. And yet she is not ready to stop this war. So according to him his beloved is very cruel (क्रुएल: निष्ठुर). He asks her “What joy do you get in defeating him”. He repeatedly asks her to stop this war so that his wounds will be healed (हील: जखम भरून येणे).

Thus in the poem, the beloved is a warrior and the lover is a defeated soldier (डिफिटेड सोल्जर: पराभूत सैनिक). The speaker is asking her not to play with him the cruel games of love. His appeal is to accept his love.

Form of the poem: There are fourteen lines in the poem, so the poem “Sweet Warrior” is a sonnet. In the Spenserian sonnet 14 lines are divided into three stanzas (08lines each) followed by a couplet (two lines). Love is a major theme of a sonnet form.

Question Bank:

1.   The poem “Sweet Warrior” is written by _____.

2.   The poem “Sweet Warrior” is in the form of _____.

3.   The poem “Sweet Warrior” is addressed to _____.

4.   The poem “Sweet Warrior” is taken from the collection _____.

5.   Edmund Spenser is ______.

6.   In the poem, _____ is addressed as “a sweet warrior”.

7.   The speaker/poet appeals his beloved _____.

8.   The speaker’s heart is torn due to thousand arrows shot through _____.

9.   According to the speaker, his beloved is _____.

10.                The speaker asks the beloved to _____ so that all his wounds will heal.

 

(Answers: 01. Edmund Spenser; 02. sonnet/Spenserian sonnet; 03. a beloved/ Elizabeth Boyle; 04. Amoretti; 05. an Elizabethan poet; 06. the beloved; 07.to end the war; 08. The beloved’s eyes; 09. Cruel; 10. make peace)