Amoretti LXVIII

Reading Spenser's Faerie Queene this semester, and wanted to branch out a bit on the side. His sonnet cycle, Amoretti, is not considered one of the masterpieces of English love poetry, but I've enjoyed what I've come across thus far. This one especially. I love that he bases their love in the Resurrection of Christ. Reminds me of Dante and Donne.

Most glorious Lord of life, that on this day, 

Didst make thy triumph over death and sin: 

And having harrow'd hell, didst bring away 

Captivity thence captive, us to win: 

This joyous day, dear Lord, with joy begin, 

And grant that we for whom thou diddest die, 

Being with thy dear blood clean wash'd from sin, 

May live for ever in felicity. 

And that thy love we weighing worthily, 

May likewise love thee for the same again: 

And for thy sake, that all like dear didst buy, 

With love may one another entertain. 

So let us love, dear love, like as we ought, 

Love is the lesson which the Lord us taught.

The lovely thing about Spenser's cycle is that, unlike Dante in particular, his love becomes attainable. It's a unique choice in the context of courtly love & Petrarch, in which the object of love was always something that remained at a distance, ending in sadness. But Spenser is writing about his wife. I like to think we have Protestantism to thank for this - the relationship between mankind and God became much more personal in the wake of Lutheran and Reformed theology.