

If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun Ĭoral is far more red, than her lips red: In this piece, the speaker takes a realistic tone and satirizes the tradition of praising the beauty of one’s affection by comparing it to beautiful things, typically in a hyperbolic manner. Sonnet 130’ is one of William Shakespeare’s most famous sonnets.
#LONG SONNET SEQUENCES VICOTIRAN ERA HOW TO#
There are tricks, entrapments, and numerous reminders about how to live a morally righteous life. These lines from Book I follow the Redcrosse Knight and the woman he loves, Una, as they travel to fight Errour, a monster. His angry steede did chide his foming bitt,Īs much disdayning to the curbe to yield:įull iolly knight he seemd, and faire did sitt,Īs one for knightly giusts and fierce encounters fitt. Yet armes till that time did he neuer wield: The cruell markes of many’ a bloudy fielde Wherein old dints of deepe wounds did remaine, Y cladd in mightie armes and siluer shielde,

Here are a few lines:Ī Gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine, The poem follows knights, examines virtues, and uses allegory intensely. It was published in 1590 and is the source of what is known today as the Spenserian stanza. It is over 36,000 lines and over 4,000 stanzas long. ‘The Faerie Queene’ is one of the best-loved English-language epic poems ever written. He is known for his novel The Unfortunate Traveller and for pamphlets like Pierce Penniless.Įxamples of Elizabethan Era Poetry The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser

The Elizabethan Era was an incredibly important period in English literature.
