GENERIC INQUIRY: ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SONNET FORM

Here is some basic historical information on the development of the sonnet form, supplementing the discussion in the Norton
Introduction.
I. Italian Origin and Earl D!"!l#$%!nt
The origin of the sonnet is traced back to Giacomo da Lentino (fl. 121512!!", #ho #rote poems structured #ith the rh$me scheme
abababab cdecde. %t #as Guittone d&'re((o (12!)12*+" #ho introduced the abbaabba octave, #hich became the established form
through its preference b$ ,ante (Vita Nuova, " and -etrarch (Canzonere, ". The influence of ,ante and -etrarch also established the
sonnet as a love poem, though treating philosophical ideas in its use of -latonic love themes. %t is also in the earl$ 1+th centur$ that
#e find the earliest theoretical discussion of the sonnet as a specific t$pe of poetr$, 'ntonio da Tempo&s Summa Artis Rithimici
(1!!2".
Here is -etrarch&s Sonnetto in Vita 91 (in the original %talian and in a modern .nglish translation/ The Canzonere, trans. 0ark 0usa
1%ndiana 2-, 1**34". 's #e #ill see, this sonnet pla$s an important role in the introduction of the sonnet form to .nglish poetr$ over
2)) $ears later5
Sonnetto in Vita 91 &Canzonere '()*
'mor, che nel penser mio vivre et regna
e 6l suo seggio maggior nel mio cor tene,
talor armato ne la fronte vene/
ivi si loca et ivi pon sua insegna.
7uella ch& amare et sofferir ne 6nsegna
e vol che 6l gran desio, l&accesa spene
ragion, vergogna, et reveren(a affrene,
di nostro ardir fra se stessa si sdegna.
8nde 'mor paventoso fugge al core,
lasciando ogni sua impresa, et piange et trema/
ivi s&asconde et non appar pi9 fore.
:he poss& io far, temendo il mio signore,
se non star seco infin a l&ora estrema;
:h< bel fin fa chi ben amando more.
Love, #ho lives and reigns #ithin m$ thought
and holds the highest seat inside m$ heart
at times appears all armed upon m$ face,
and there he camps, and there he sets his banner.
The one #ho teaches us patience and love
and #ants m$ great desire, m$ burning hope
to be controlled b$ reason, shame, and reverence,
is angr$ at our boldness=more than she sho#s.
'nd so Love full of fear flees to m$ heart,
abandoning his plans, and #eeps and trembles/
and there he hides and never comes outside.
>hat can % do, if m$ o#n lord is frightened
e?cept sta$ #ith him till the final hour;
>ho loves #ell d$ing comes to a good end.
II. Origin+ #, t-! Engli+- S#nn!t
@ir Thomas >$att the .lder (15)!15+2", a foreign diplomat in the court of Henr$ A%%%, introduced the %talian sonnetto form to
.ngland b$ translating man$ of -etrarch&s poems. Here is his translation of -etrarch&s Sonnetto in Vita 915
The Long Love That in My Thought Doth Harbor
The long love that in m$ thought doth harbor,
'nd in m$ heart doth keep his residence,
%nto m$ face presseth #ith bold pretense
'nd therein campeth, spreading his banner.
@he that me learneth to love and suffer
'nd #ills that m$ trust and lust&s negligence
Be reined b$ reason, shame,C and reverence modesty
>ith his hardiness taketh displeasure.
>here#ithal unto the heart&s forest he fleeth,
Leaving his enterprise #ith pain and cr$,
'nd there him hideth, and not appeareth.
>hat ma$ % do, #hen m$ master feareth,
But in the field #ith him to live and die;
Dor good is the life ending faithfull$.

Here is -etrarch&s poem again, translated b$ a $oung friend of >$att&s, Henr$ Ho#ard, .arl of @urre$ (151E15+E". @urre$ is credited
#ith establishing the rh$me scheme that #e call the F.nglishG sonnet form5 three Huatrains follo#ed b$ a couplet, rh$ming abab
cdcd efef gg.
Love, That Doth Reign and Live Within My Thought
Love, that doth reign and live #ithin m$ thought,
'nd built his seat #ithin m$ captive breast,
:lad in the arms #herein #ith me he fought,
8ft in m$ face he doth his banner rest.
But she that taught me love and suffer pain,
0$ doubtful hope and eke m$ hot desire
>ith shamefast look to shado# and refrain,
Her smiling grace converteth straight to ire.
'nd co#ard Love, then, to the heart apace
Taketh his flight, #here he doth lurk and plain,C com!ain
His purpose lost, and dare not sho# his face.
Dor m$ lord&s guilt thus faultless bide % pain,
Iet from m$ lord shall not m$ foot remove5
@#eet is the death that taketh end b$ love.
%n addition to the %talian and .nglish forms, .dmund @penser (155215**" introduced a third form, the rh$me scheme of #hich
borro#s from both the %talian and .nglish forms5 abab bcbc cdcd ee. Here is the Sonnet 1 from @penser&s sonnet c$cle, Amoretti
(15*5"5

Dinall$, here is a modern use of the @penserian form b$ the
'merican #riter Jichard >ilbur (1*21"5

INTERPRETATION OF EDMUND SPENCER'S SONNET 37
The Spenserian sonnet is a unique art form in and of itself. Perhaps its distinctiveness can be attributed to its
interlocking rhyme scheme and overall structure. Even so, these technical aspects are not as important as the
effects that they render. As with most poetry, Edmund Spensers Sonnet !" shows how such elements pervade
even the most abstract and profound poetic content by harboring abstract words and concepts in a meaningful
formation. #n analy$ing Edmund Spenser%s sonnet !", we can speculate how its separate assets facilitate the
interpretation process. Specifically, we will interpret the words and their literal meanings, language, sentence
structure, logic, overall structure, and genre of Sonnet !".
Sonnet 1
Happ$ $e leaves #hen as those lill$ hands,
#hich hold m$ life in their dead doing might,
@hall handle $ou and hold in loves soft bands,
L$ke captives trembling at the victors sight.
'nd happ$ lines, on #hich #ith starr$ light,
Those lamping e$es #ill deigne sometimes to look
'nd reade the sorro#es of m$ d$ing spright,C sirit
>ritten #ith teares in harts closeC bleeding book. secret
'nd happ$ r$mes bathed in the sacred brooke,
8f Helicon #hence she deriv<d is,
>hen $e behold that 'ngels blessed looke,
0$ soules long lack<d foode, m$ heavens blis.
Leaves, lines, and r$mes, seeke her to please alone,
>hom if $e please, % care for other none.
Praie in Su!!er
8bscurel$ $et most surel$ called to prasie,
's sometimes summer calls us all, % said
The hills are heavens full of branching #a$s
>here starnosed moles fl$ overhead the dead/
% said the trees are mines in air, % said
@ee ho# the sparro# burro#s in the sk$K
'nd then % #ondered #h$ this mad instead
-erverts our praise to uncreation, #h$
@uch savor&s in this #renching things a#r$.
,oes sense so stale that it must needs derange
The #orld to kno# it; To a praiseful e$e
@hould it not be enough of fresh and strange
That trees gro# green, and moles can course in cla$,
'nd sparro#s s#eep the ceiling of our da$;
Accordingly, we will begin our interpretation by establishing the sonnets fundamental structure. This poem is
clearly divided into four stan$as& three quatrains and a rhymed couplet. This layout is most obviously revealed
through the poem%s punctuation, and more subtlety e'pressed in its sentence structure, metrical foot and
shifting content. As indicated by the capitali$ation of select words and punctuation, each quatrain consists of a
long and complete sentence. The first two quatrains contain colons at the end of the second line and end in
questions marks. (owever, the last quatrain does not contain a colon, and ends in a period. Similarly, the
couplet is another complete thought that culminates with a period. This division by punctuation outlines the
poems content and where it pivots.
#nterestingly, the changes in punctuation reflect the structural division of the Spenserian sonnet%s precursor, the
Petrarchan sonnet. #n the Pertarchan sonnet, the octave presents the problem for which the sestet offers the
solution. #f we combine the first two quatrains of sonnet !", we create an octave, which, as the question marks
imply, lacks resolution. )onversely, the periods that terminate the third quatrain and the couplet suggest that
these stan$as function as the Petrarchan sestet& as the response to the octave%s questions. *ne might argue
that the author%s original punctuation may have been altered, and therefore is not an accurate indication of the
poem%s structural setup. (owever, this structural division holds true even when we go beyond the artificial
confines of punctuation and begin to look at sentence structure and, more importantly, the words that enable
us to interpret the te't.
This division of the Spenserian sonnet will be e'plained in more depth when we work our way down to the
literal interpretation of this poem. +or now, we will continue discussing the poem%s structure in terms of
observable denotations within the te't. Thus, we will address the element of meter. ,ike most sonnets, Sonnet
!" is in iambic pentameter. (owever, there are three instances where this pattern is disrupted. The first occurs
in the opening line of the poem, which contains an e'tra syllable. This is common in many opening lines of
poetry and is not significant to our understanding of the poems content. )onversely, the other two metrical
inconsistencies do interest us. These occur in the third line of the first quatrain and the third line of the third
quatrain. #n the first case, there are eleven syllables, whereas the later only has nine. -hen combined, they
conform to the decasyllabic division of the other lines. however, they do not within the conte't of the poem. #n
addition, these two lines demonstrate Spensers employment of hyperbaton to emphasi$e the points of
disruption. The position of these incongruent lines in concert with the previously detected shift in punctuation,
mirrors the quasi/symmetrical division of the poem%s content. The poems opening line and pivot point each
occur three lines above the 0misfit1 lines, reinforcing the octave/sestet organi$ation of the poems content.
2ow that we have identified punctuation and meter, our e'ploration of Sonnet !" will focus on the chemistry
between sentence structure and punctuation and how it impacts the literal meaning of this content. Although
the sentences are lengthy, they are fragmented by Spensers utili$ation of several commas and other forms of
punctuation 3which have already been discussed4. This comple' sentence structure is conducive to the
production of sentences that function not only to separate and organi$e thoughts, but also to elaborate on
those particular ideas. The use of colons followed by the con5unction 0and1 in the first and second quatrain
bolsters this argument. +or e'ample, the colon after the second line and the word 0and1 at the beginning of the
third line enables the narrator to comment on the lines above it. 2ow, the reader knows that in addition to the
potential traps within the girl%s hair, the hair net that covers it was donned with 0sly skill,1 thus, substantiating
the narrator%s initial suspicion and e'tending the beguiling attributes of her hair through to her actions. The
comma at the end of the third line denotes the end of this comment and the continuation of the narrators
original question& what are the girls hidden intentions in dressing her hair such that is closely resembles gold.
The sentence of the second quatrain is similarly structured, and therefore the content follows the same idea/
comment/idea formula. Specifically, the comments in this quatrain e'pound upon the concept of the eyes and
hearts of men lusting after and falling victim to the girls hair. ,ike the first stan$a, the comment that follows
the colon emphasi$es the sneakiness that laces the action being committed, which in this case pertains to the
entangling of mens eyes and hearts within the girls netted hair.
#n contrast to the first two stan$as, the sentence structure of the third quatrain does not signify that it contains
a unifying idea and the elaboration of that idea. #nstead, the long clauses separated by occasional commas
foster the occurrence of more than one separate theme. +or e'ample, the first two lines of this quatrain are
designated to warning about staring at the girls hair, while the last two lines state the consequences of doing
so. These ideas are congruent in sub5ect manner, yet the sentence structure spawns a more didactic
organi$ation of the content, i.e., a cause and effect arrangement. The rhyming couplets mimic this clause/
comma/clause sentence structure, in turn, also functioning as an information espousing structure. (owever, the
brevity of the couplets sentence in comparison to the other sentences necessitates a poignant and concise
articulation of thought. Thus, the couplets structure lends itself to the formation of an all/encompassing 0meta/
phrase1 about the poems sub5ect matter 3this is specified later in the section on content shift4.
Thus far, we have been conducting a somewhat superficial interpretation of Sonnet !" by e'amining the
concrete structures of punctuation, stan$as and sentences. (owever, understanding how these fundamental
elements function within the poem warrants a more enriched interpretation of the abstract organi$ation of the
poem as presented through its logic, and words. -e can see this as we further interpret the stan$as in terms of
language and literal meanings.
To illustrate this we will look at the first stan$a and the emphasis on the sub5ect of hair. The word 6tresses,6
which the *'ford English 7ictionary defines as 6a plait or braid of the hair of the head, usually of a woman,6
introduces this sub5ect. The narrator continues to convey his simultaneous enchantment and suspicion about
this hair. -ords such as 6gold6 and 6golden6 carry a positive connotation that highlights the narrator%s almost
hypnotic obsession with the girl%s hair. (owever, words such as 6guile,6 6sly,6 6cunningly,6 and 6scarce6
undermine this positive language, reinforcing the narrator%s reasoning in inquiring about the deceit within her
net/concealed locks.
(e continues to scrutini$e the nature of her hair in the second stan$a by asking about the specific trap that he
senses may be lurking in 6that golden snare.6 -ords such as 6frail,6 6bold,6 6caught,6 6entangle,6 6craftily,6
6enfold,6 6snare,6 further 5ustify his feelings of suspicion that we have identified in the first stan$a. (owever,
this stan$a also utili$es words that draw the poems content into the moral arena. The very definition of the
word 6frail,6 6morally weak. unable to resist temptation. habitually falling into transgression63*E74, indicates
this graduation. #ronically, this stan$a employs the word 6bold6 to describe the stare of these 6frail6 eyes. Thus,
in addition to creating a literary foil, the words 0frail1 and 0bold1 create a dichotomy in the moral language of
this stan$a. Although this elevates the content of the second stan$a above the first, the punctuation and
structure are parallel, keeping this quatrain rooted within the poem as a question& is the girls netted hair a
trap for men whom are morally weak, yet lustfully bold.
The end of the second stan$a marks the end of the poem%s question phase, lending credence to the argument
that punctuation operates as valid guide through the shift in content. These stan$as also illuminate this poem%s
division into description and comment. -e have already mentioned specific lines that function as nested
comments. however, we have not elaborated on the poems overall structure in terms of content. #n studying
the relationship between the first two stan$as and the rest of the poem, we can see that the first part describes
the girls hair, hair net, and the observer of the hair. After this, the poem focuses on commenting about
situation and establishing a reason for writing about beguiling hair in the first place.
#f we direct interpretation at logic words, this shift becomes even more apparent. 8nlike the seeking words
0-hat1 and 0#s1 of the first two quatrains, the logic phrase 0Take heed1 is definitive, presenting an overt
indication that a change has taken place. This change is solidified by the word 0therefore.1 Together, these logic
words communicate that the narrator has found both the solution to his question and the reassurance that his
suspicion is appropriate. Thus, the entire poem splits at this point. 2ow, instead of questioning the author
commands, periods supplant question marks, and sub5ective description succumbs to ob5ective comments. The
narrator no longer speculates that he might fall victim to the girl%s hair, but in the third quatrain, he firmly touts
that looking at the girl%s hair net will lead him to eternal imprisonment within its bands.
The proverbial generali$ation of the ending couplet 5ustifies the narrators conclusion and e'tracts the author%s
purpose for writing a poem about a girl%s hair. The couplet asserts that it is foolish for any free man to desire
imprisonment, no matter how appealing or 0golden1 the illegal circumstance seems to be. Although this couplet
is a sweeping statement that can e'ist apart from the sonnet, it remains embedded within the poem with words
that link back to the ideas of entrapment, desire, and hair 3words such as 6free,6 6fetters,6 6covet,6 and
6golden64.
This concept of linking words permeates the rest of the poem as well. #n fact, the rhyme scheme of the
Spenserian sonnet& A9A9 9)9) )7)7 EE& promotes the occurrence of interlocking words and sounds.
Specifically, the themes of deceit, observing, hair, concealing the secrets of this hair, and the concept of being
physically tangled in or captured are presented several times throughout Sonnet !". +or instance, words and
phrases like 0guile,1 0sly,1 0craftily,1 0guileful,1 and 0scarce be told,1 unify the poem in emphasi$ing the theme of
deceit. #n addition, the idea of watching: lusting after is reiterated by the employment of words, such as 0eyes,1
0ga$e,1 and 0stare.1 ,ikewise, words like 0tresses,1 0gold,1 and 0golden1 link back up to 0hair.1 The hiding of this
hair and: or its seductive intentions is relayed with the following words and phrases; 0attire under a net,1
0dresses,1 0guileful net,1 and 0bands.1 +inally, the idea of tangling reoccurs throughout the poem via words and
phrases like 0entangle,1 0snare,1 0caught,1 0enfold,1 0net,1 0entrapped,1 0by no means shall get out,1 0free1 3the
antonym of trapped4, and 0fetters.1
Although interlocking is inherent in the Spenserian sonnet, these e'amples also underscore the fundamental
characteristics of the genre of poetry. A poem may communicate a novels worth of material within a few lines.
Therefore, Spenser%s deliberate word selection and the linking of these words, reflects the tightness of words
and thematic concentration of almost all poems. This is evident in poems ranging from highly structured
villanelles and sonnets to less stratified free and blank verses. Therefore, interlocking is in not unique to Sonnet
!", but it is inherent to genre of poetry.
#n short, our interpretation of Sonnet !" has enabled us to see how its general and specific elements
collaborate in poignantly espousing its content. #n doing so, we have discussed and e'emplified how each of the
following elements impact Sonnet !"; skeletal structure, sentence structure, content division, logic, specific
words: language, and the genre of poetry. <oreover, we have illustrated how the mechanics of sentence
structure and overall structure guide us in interpreting more abstract components, even prior to reading the
poem. Then, we observed how this layout reacts with the content in enhancing the poems message. #n
addition, we have established that the very nature of poetry requires that all poems, including Sonnet !", force
the reader to search for specific patterns and devices. #n summation, an in/depth interpretation of Sonnet !"
necessitates a deep investigation of the components that contribute to its e'istence as a meaningful literary
entity. Thus, interpreting Sonnet !" 5ustifies the time spent reading it and gives us incite as to its value in the
literary world.
8 A Fitting Form Edna St. Vincent Millay and
Petrarchism
9y our first strange and fatal interview
9y all desires which thereof did ensue,
9y our long starving hopes, by that remorse
-hich my words% masculine, persuasive force
9egot in thee....
//=ohn 7onne, 6*n (is <istresse6
>#?t is more than likely that the brain itself, is, in origin and development only a sort of great clot of
genital fluid.... Species would have developed in accordance with... the relative discharge and retention of
the fluid... some animals profiting hardly at all... the baboon retaining nothing.... There are traces of >this
concept? in the symbolism of phallic religions, man really the phallus or spermata$oid charging, head/on,
the female chaos....
Pound, Translator's Postscript
A popular American poet, dramatist, and feminist associated with the @reenwich Aillage of the early
BCDEs and its free/love movement, Edna St. Aincent <illay 3 BFCD/BCGE4 wrote a Petrarchan sonnet
sequence, Fatal Interview, and an anti/Petrarchan sequence, Sonnets from an Ungrafted Tree, that evoke
Henaissance literary tradition as the ground for regendering poetic voice and form as female. The
epigraphs to this chapter illustrate some of the problems such work involves, even for a twentieth/
century poet. 7onne%s elegy ", the source of <illay%s Petrarchan sequence%s title, genders poetic voice as
male through its 6words% masculine, persuasive force.6 <odernists% ideas about gender, furthermore,
reinforce ancient assumptions about femininity, as the e'cerpt from E$ra Pound%s translator%s postscript to
HImy de @ourmont%s Natural Philosophy of Love amply demonstrates.
Indeterminacy and the Economy of Love in
Sonnets from the Portuguese
<y cricket chirps against thy mandolin.
(ush, call no echo up in further proof
*f desolationJ there%s a voice within
That weeps... as thou must sing... alone, aloof.
// Eli$abeth 9arrett 9rowning
)ontrasting her cricket with the beloved%s mandolin in the epigraph, the female poet of Eli$abeth 9arrett
9rowning%s sonnet sequence portrays herself as small, desolate, and unequal to the male poet whose
mandolin she 6chirps against.6 #n life, however, 9arrett 9rowning was her era%s favorite woman poet, a
person considered for poet laureate despite her seclusion in her father%s home. while Hobert, who was
most famous well after the poets% marriage and the sonnets% publication, never became quite the public
figure Alfred Tennyson, his contemporary, was. The sequence Sonnets from the Portuguese thus
dramati$es a story somewhat different from that of the two Aictorian poets whose elopement and literary
artifacts/the love sonnets and the letters//made them romantic idols in their day.
B
As this contrast
between fact and fiction suggests, respecting the fictive screen that 9arrett 9rowning%s title erects,
distinguishing biography at least in part from life enhances rather than reduces this poet%s artistry.
D
As
fiction, 9arrett 9rowning%s sonnet sequence accommodates two distinctive and sometimes even rivalrous
characters//as the punning against in the epigraph suggests//whose poetic, economic, and social statuses
differ in the sonnets% fiction from each other%s statuses and from those of the biographical figures whose
lives inspired the sonnets.
The Layrinth of Style Lady Mary !roth and
the Idea of Petrarchism
,ady <ary -roth, Henaissance courtier and niece of Sir Philip Sidney and <ary, )ountess of Pembroke,
voices the comple'ities of female self/representation in her BKDB sonnet sequence, Pamphilia to
Ampilanthus, through a Henaissance symbol of comple'ity, the labyrinth. An image of poetic skill and of
the circuitous rhetoric of self/delusion in Petrarch%s !ime sparse, a monument to craftsmanship that
befuddled 7aedalus, its architect, in chapter F of *vid%s "etamorphoses, the labyrinth symboli$ed both
conscious craft and perple'ity during the Henaissance. -roth alludes to these conte'ts as the corona of
sonnets that crowns the sequence opens; 6#n this strang labourinth how shall # turneL6 3 -roth, Poems
BD" 4. The temporal and spatial vagaries of this and the punning laour of -roth%s spelling, a pun 7ubrow
too notes 3BGD4, evoke the poem itself as intricate space and Pamphilia%s thought as labyrinthine source
of mimetic writing. ,ike the ma$es of classical literature, architecture, and art familiar to Henaissance
readers of Pliny, *vid, and Airgil, -roth%s artifact represents perple'ity even as it perple'es.
-roth achieves this effect through synta' and poetic forms that mime two physical traits of labyrinths;
enclosure and comple'ity. The labyrinth and the sonnet are coupled fittingly to these ends. ,ike ma$es in
classical literature, the sonnet is identified through metapoetic tropes in English as enclosed space and
highly crafted form//as 7onne%s 6-e%ll build in sonnets pretty rooms,6 and his well wrought urn6 testify
37onne K4. -roth intensifies the confines of the sonnet through contracted synta', which elides articles
and pronouns and creates ambiguous referents, suggesting the difficulty of fitting meaning to poetic
form.
The lab$rinth as st$le in L-amphilia to 'mphilanthus.L
0oore, 0ar$. Studies in "ng!ish #iterature$ 1%&&'19&& v.!M. no 1. p1)*123. )1.)1.1**M.
'n image of poetic skill and of the circuitous rhetoric of selfdelusion in -etrarchLs Rime sarse, a
monument to craftsmanship that befuddled ,aedalus, its architect, in book M of 8vidLs
(etamorhoses, the lab$rinth s$mboli(ed both conscious craft and perple?it$ during the
Jenaissance. Lad$ 0ar$ >rothLs 1321 sonnet seHuence, -amphilia to 'mphilanthus, alludes to
these conte?ts #ith the opening of the corona that cro#ns the seHuence5 N%n this strang labourinth
ho# shall % turne;N(1" The temporal and spatial vagaries of NthisN and the punning NlabourN of
>rothLs spelling evoke the poem itself as intricate space and -amphiliaLs thought as lab$rinthine
source of mimetic #riting.(2" Like the ma(es of classical literature, architecture, and art familiar to
Jenaissance readers of -lin$, 8vid, and Airgil, >rothLs artifact represents perple?it$ even as it
perple?es. >roth achieves this effect through s$nta? and poetic forms that mime t#o ph$sical traits
of lab$rinths5 enclosure and comple?it$. The lab$rinth and the sonnet are coupled fittingl$ to these
ends. Like ma(es in classical literature, the sonnet is identified through metapoetic tropes in .nglish
as enclosed space and highl$ crafted form as Oohn ,onneLs N>eLll build in sonnets prett$ rooms,N
and N#ell#rought urnN testif$.(!" >roth magnifies the confines of the sonnet through contracted
s$nta? that elides articles and pronouns and creates ambiguous referents, suggesting the
troublesome fit of meaning to poetic form. @uch trick$ s$nta? mimics lab$rinthine comple?it$/
difficult to follo# and cleverl$ #rought, it demands pause and standstill. The corona formall$
embodies enclosure through reiterative opening and closing lines, creating a closed poetic cro#n,
dramaticall$ engaging the reader in the female sense of self that >roth depicts.
>rothLs lab$rinth echoes and alludes to those of her predecessors,(+" but she also voices ne#
meanings through the figureLs influence on st$le and its relevance to gender. %n poems b$ #omen
#hether the NauthorN is the fictive poet, -amphilia, or >roth herself the tension bet#een form and
s$nta? at least suggests the difficult$ of fitting female erotic e?perience into forms created to suit
the shapes of male erotic desire. >rothLs persistent attention to gender issues in the 2rania and her
evocation in the prose romanceLs first poem of .cho a female poet and a figure for the elision of
female voice further support m$ contention that she depicts female selfrepresentation as
problematic.(5"
The lab$rinthLs enclosure, furthermore, reinforces another trait of >rothLs #ork #hat Oeffre$
0asten calls Na movement #hich is relentlessl$ private.N(3" The lack of bla(on and visual
description of the beloved help create this effect, as other readers of >roth have noted/(E" >roth
ma$ even have isolated her speaker intentionall$ through these e?clusions.(M" >hile 0asten rightl$
notes this fictional privac$, he interprets this movement as countering -etrarchismLs creation of
subPectivit$ through mirroring in the beloved and through public displa$. He suggests therefore that
>roth denies female subPectivit$. This reading, ho#ever, overlooks the modeLs simultaneousl$
public and private nature, on the one hand e?aggerating the role of public displa$, and on the other
hand ignoring the ingenious paths #omen poets found around inPunctions against public speech.
-amphiliaLs fictional privac$, in a variet$ of #a$s e?plored in this article, blurs her transgressive
e?pression of erotic desire. Dar from den$ing female subPectivit$, >roth depicts a female sense of
self through the lab$rinth presenting a self that is isolated, enclosed, difficult, and comple?.(*"
>hile scholars have noted >rothLs lab$rinth, none has considered ho# the lab$rinthLs Jenaissance
meanings #hich differ considerabl$ from its modern ones made it an image of selffashioning
especiall$ suited to a -rotestant #oman #riting -etrarchan poetr$ during the period, nor has an$one
reflected at length on the imageLs influence as st$le.(1)" >rothLs lab$rinth derives from three
sources familiar to .nglish Jenaissance readers classical descriptions, -etrarchan poetr$, and
-rotestant theolog$. ' #oman poet #hose famil$ heritage included classical reading, artistic
accomplishment, -etrarchism, and -rotestantism, but #hose life and choice of genres transgressed
Jenaissance norms for female behavior, >roth implicitl$ appealed to the lab$rinthLs other conte?ts
for meaning and authorit$.(11"
.?position of these conte?ts #ill help reconstruct the lab$rinthLs meanings during the Jenaissance.
%mportant for this argument, -enelope Jeed ,oobLs recent stud$ sho#s that the lab$rinth
represented confusion and error, but that its comple?it$ also affirmed its creatorLs skill at
representing the difficult and comple?, a meaning >rothLs corona of poems enhances. ,oob
attributes the lab$rinthLs several meanings to its threedimensional form, #hich makes possible t#o
visual positions5 inside and outside. @een from inside, the lab$rinth confuses the #anderer,(12" as it
does -amphilia in >rothLs #ork. @een from outside, the perspective the reader takes, the lab$rinth
reveals its comple?it$ and artistr$.(1!" Lab$rinthine images thus ama(e and please. ,oob traces
these effects to narrative lab$rinths of -lin$, 8vid, and Airgil, all authorities for the .nglish
Jenaissance.(1+" Dor e?ample, AirgilLs conceit about 'nchisesLs funeral games in the Aeneid
compares the Nelaborate courseN of mounted children to the :retan lab$rinth, NLa be#ildering
1double4 #ork of craft #ith a thousand #a$s.LN(15" .voking the lab$rinth as image of difficult but
achieved artistr$, >roth claims the poetic NLcraftLN of representing NLa thousand #a$s.LN
Jelated to comple?it$, -etrarchLs lab$rinths provided >roth a model for s$mboli(ing difficult self
kno#ledge and for creating lab$rinthine st$le. -oem 211 of the Rime sarse describes -etrarchLs
speaker entering the lab$rinth as he first sees Laura. The image concludes a poem #hose s$ntactic
t#ists represent the urgings of false, internal guides5
Vog!ia mi srona$ Amor mi guida et scorge$
)iacer mi tira$ *sanza mi trasorta+
Seranza mi !usinga et riconforta
et !a man destra a! corgia stanco orge$, , ,
(i!!e trecento ventisette$ a unto su !-ora rima$
i! di sesto d-ari!e$ ne! !aberinto intrai$ ne veggio ond-esca,
,esire spurs me, Love guides and escorts me,
-leasure dra#s me, Habit carries me a#a$/
Hope entices and encourages me
and reaches out his right hand to m$ #ear$ heart, . . .
8ne thousand three hundred t#ent$seven,
e?actl$ at the first hour of the si?th da$ of 'pril,
% entered the lab$rinth, nor do % see #here % ma$ get out of it.(13"
,esignating guides as emotions and desires makes N-etrarchN both lab$rinth and #anderer5 he is the
lab$rinth. Like#ise, poem 22+ describes the speakerLs life as Na long #andering in a blind
lab$rinth,N the Ncieco laberintoN suggesting that the lab$rinth is sensate,(1E" albeit blind. %n fact, the
lab$rinth is blindness. Giuseppe 0a((otta, as ,oob reminds us, sees -etrarchLs lab$rinth as
s$mboli(ing the #hole seHuenceLs artistr$. Jeiterative #anderings, o?$morons, and antitheses
Nmimic st$listicall$ the ambiguous choices #ithin the ma(e.N(1M" >rothLs lab$rinth and her themes
of blindness and lost selfkno#ledge recall -etrarch and manifest -amphiliaLs comple? subPectivit$
as a ma(e of self.
Drom sermons and emblems, >roth also might have kno#n the lab$rinth as s$mboli(ing -rotestant
in#ardness and emphasi(ing both the necessit$ and difficult$ of selfanal$sis. Huston ,iehlLs stud$
of emblems and pamphlets describes, for e?ample, Drances 7uarlesLs emblem of a #anderer guided
b$ Na #inged figure, identified as ,ivine Love, #ho directs manLs #a$.N(1*" This figure strongl$
echoes >rothLs Nthred of loveN in her coronaLs lab$rinth. ,iehl has identified 7uarlesLs probable
sources in Drench emblem books published in .nglish in 15*1 and 131+, meaning that >rothLs and
7uarlesLs threads ma$ have come from a common spool. The thread, representing precepts of faith,
guides :hristians through #hat ,iehl calls Nthe subPectivit$ of self and the endless ma(e of
consciousness.N(2)" %n ,iehlLs vie#, -rotestant emphasis on humanit$Ls fallen senses makes the
lab$rinth a spiritual knot #hose serpentine coils complicate the possibilit$ of selfkno#ledge.(21"
>roth probabl$ also dre# on more general -rotestant attitudes to in#ardness/ both :atholic and
-rotestant sources argued the necessit$ of selfkno#ledge in contrast to curious stud$ of nature,
often s$mboli(ed b$ kno#ledge of the stars.(22" Her uncle, furthermore, associated the lab$rinth
#ith the poetLs ethical role as guide.(2!" >rothLs claim in the corona poem M1 that love helps us see
Nhidenest thoughtsN suggests that -amphiliaLs Pourne$ in the lab$rinth at least in part transcends the
difficult$ of achieving selfkno#ledge (line 12".
@everal patterns relevant to >rothLs lab$rinth emerge from these cultural resonances. The
lab$rinthLs classical, -etrarchan, and -rotestant sources associate it #ith difficult kno#ing, #hich
the lab$rinth embodied structurall$ and #hich became te?tural in -etrarchLs s$nta?. Durthermore,
-etrarch and the -rotestant emblems attribute this difficult$ to human epistemological frailties. This
skepticism and the lab$rinthLs architecture, #hich disables vision, make -etrarchLs association of the
lab$rinth #ith blindness natural and metaphoricall$ suggestive. @imilarl$, the lab$rinthLs enclosure
evokes the motif of entrapment, manifested in 8vid and in -etrarch and implied in the -rotestant
soul entrapped in a desirous bod$. Dinall$, -etrarchLs s$ntactic halting and reversal models
lab$rinthine st$le. The artistr$ that classical #riters attributed to the builders of lab$rinths enriches
these ideas. Thus, both -etrarchLs and >rothLs lab$rinths represent, parado?icall$, human frailt$ and
artistic po#er, perple?it$ and the po#er to represent perple?it$.
,ra#ing on these cultural sources, >roth uses lab$rinthine themes and st$le as devices from her
seHuenceLs beginning. @onnet 1 opens the seHuence #ith conventional images that call on the
tradition of .uropean -etrarchism but #hich also allude to loss of selfkno#ledge, blindness, self
enclosure, and difficult$ all themes related to -etrarchLs lab$rinth. The poemLs s$nta?, in
particular, represents the lab$rinth5
>hen nights black mantle could most darknes prove,
'nd sleepe deaths %mage did m$ senceses hiere
Drom kno#ledg of m$ self, then thoughts did move
@#ifter then those most s#iftnes need reHuire5
%n sleepe, a :hariot dra#ne b$ #ingLd desire % sa#e5
>her sate bright Aenus 7ueene of love,
'nd att her feete her sonne, still adding fire
To burning hearts #hich she did hold above,
Butt one hart flaming more then all the rest
The goddess held, and putt itt to m$ brest,
,eare sonne, no# shutt sa$d she5 thus must #ee #inn5
Hee her oba$Ld, and martirLd m$ poore hart,
%, #aking hopLd as dreame itt #ould depart
Iett since5 8 mee5 a lover % have binn.
(lines 11+"
>hile allusions to -etrarch and ,ante implicit in the chariot of Aenus and the image of the speakerLs
heart as food serve to validate -amphiliaLs (and >rothLs" poetic credentials,(2+" LoveLs appearance
during sleep creates isolation, #hich contrasts #ith the initial e?perience of love in most -etrarchan
seHuences. %n @ir -hilip @idne$Ls and -etrarchLs second sonnets, for e?ample, love strikes through
the belovedLs sune$es, their light beams becoming arro#s. B$ contrast, encapsulating -amphiliaLs
e?perience in the dream vision isolates and encloses the e?perience of love. Durther, love itself, as
personified in Aenus and :upid rather than the sight of the beloved, creates -amphilia ne#l$, as
love poet and lover5 NIett since5 8 mee5 a lover % have binnN (line 1+".
The dream visionLs isolation introduces an element of >rothLs seHuence related to the lab$rinth
intense enclosure. The absent beloved is of course a central topic of -etrarchism, but the ph$sical
beloved, conventionall$ depicted in #a$s e?plored b$ man$ scholars, appears as image, imagined
or remembered. >rothLs absent beloved occupies a more substantial than usual gap, as noted earlier.
He never appears descriptivel$, as in the bla(ons of male sonneteers, a kind of poem that clearl$ can
be adapted to the female poetLs purposes.(25" Qor does >rothLs beloved become narrative presence,
punning name, visual icon. This absence further isolates and encloses -amphilia in her o#n
comple?it$.
>hile her treatment of the beloved distinguishes >rothLs from other -etrarchan seHuences,
-amphilia presents herself as t$pical -etrarchan poet, evoking lab$rinthine themes of blindness and
desire. Her assertion, for e?ample, that night and sleep Ndid m$ senceses hiere R Drom kno#ledg of
m$ selfN represents the unconsciousness of sleep as loss of selfkno#ledge (lines 2!". Durther, the
absence of light emphasi(ed through the ph$sicalit$ of the Nblack mantle,N and the repetition in
night and Nmost darknesN (line 1" creates a sense of epistemological peril. @pondees call attention
to these images. %n the same #a$, -etrarch associates blindness #ith desire in his sonnet 1M. The
poet assumes #hat he calls Nguisa dLorbo, sen(a luce,N the Nguise of blindness, #ithout light,N(23" to
flee the blinding sune$es of the beloved lad$, suggesting that his blindness is a kind of self
protective fiction. %ronicall$, ho#ever, his disguise of blindness cannot protect him from the lad$Ls
e$es/ further, since he has announced his disguise, he has obviated its effectiveness. -etrarch thus
presents his poet as fool tricked b$ his o#n poetic enunciation. Like#ise, @idne$ concludes the first
sonnet of 'strophel and @tella, NLDool,L said m$ muse to me5 Llook in th$ heart, and #rite,LN a self
command that creates 'strophel as NfoolN and his muse as author.(2E" -amphilia e?periences a
similar fragmentation5 NthoughtN fle# a#a$, #holl$ separated from the dreamer/ the senses #ere
NhieredN a#a$/ and Nkno#ledgN #as separated from its subPect, the self. 's simultaneous subPect
and obPect of her o#n blindness, -amphilia la$s claim to the lab$rinth of -etrarchan blindness.
The poemLs contracted s$nta? creates a lab$rinthine te?ture that supports these meanings. @onnet 1
manifests -amphiliaLs trouble kno#ing herself and the authorLs trouble containing her e?perience in
literar$ form. >rothLs intricate s$nta? is obvious. 'bsent articles and personal pronouns, for
e?ample, create gaps in meaning5 NthoughtsN in line ! must mean Nm$ thoughts,N but it also ma$
mean all thought/ like#ise, the phrase N@#ifter than those 1#ho4 most s#iftness need reHuireN lacks
the conPunctive pronoun N#hoN and inverts #ord order, complicating understanding. 'n intricate
phrase like N>hen nightLs black mantle did most darknes proveN suggests several meanings5 #hen
night could test degrees of darkness, or #hen this night proved the darkest of nights, or #hen night
proved the darkest of all things. These effects dela$ comprehension and elicit rereading, but the$
also communicate the strain of containing thoughts #ithin the sonnetLs form5 adding the elided
#ords #ould stretch lines be$ond ten beats. The sonnetLs formal restrictions thus highlight
constraint itself, difficult$ in kno#ing, #riting, and fitting the female te?tual bod$ in a #ell
#rought urn designed to hold onl$ male ashes. Lab$rinthine s$nta? represents the poetLs difficult$
and her craft.
The corona of sonnets, poems EE*), names the lab$rinth e?plicitl$/ here, spirituali(ed diction
evokes the s$mbolLs theological meanings, #hile gendered imager$ of reproduction suggests female
poetic production. The line N%n this strang labourinth ho# shall % turne;N opens and closes the
corona, #hose interlocking paths, like the repetitions, pauses, Nturnes,N and NreturnesN of the first
poem, st$listicall$ mimic the lab$rinth5
%n this strang labourinth ho# shall % turne;
>a$es are on all sids #hile the #a$ % miss5
%f to the right hand, ther, in love % burne/
Lett mee goe for#ard, therin danger is/
%f to the left, suspition hinders bliss,
Lett mee turne back, shame cries % ought returne
Qor fainte though crosses #ith m$ fortunes kiss/
@tand still is harder, although sure to mourne/
Thus lett me take the right, or left hand #a$/
Goe for#ard, or stand still, or back retire/
% must thes doubts indure #ithout alla$
8r help, butt traveile find for m$ best hire/
Iett that #hich most m$ troubled sence doth move
%s to leave all, and take the thread of love.
(-EE, lines 11+"
The phrase Nthis strang labourinthN ma$ refer to the poem itself (line 1" the most immediate NthisN
or the #ord ma$ refer to the poet, her life, her erotic e?perience, even to all of these. Brief clauses
and repetitive diction (N>a$es are . . . the #a$N 1line 24/ N%f to the right hand, ther . . . R . . . R %f to the
leftN 1lines !54/ and NLett mee goe for#ard . . . R . . . R Lett mee turne backN 1lines +34" enact
lab$rinthine turns and returns, dead ends, and restarts/ this reflects the sameness of paths #hen no
path is Nthe #a$.N .liding pronoun referents as in the phrases NQor fainte thoughN and Nbutt
traveile find for m$ best hireN (lines E, 12" elicits the NstandstillN named in line M, demanding
pause and consideration even as it reinforces the poemLs volta. The omitted #ord in the phrase,
Nshame cries % ought 1to4 returneN (line 3", like other omissions, enhances an impression of
contracted energ$, of forced containment. Durther, the phrase N@tand still is harder, although sure to
mourneN implies that standstill itself mourns (line M", apparentl$ confusing the poetic subPect and
her feelings #ith the action of negotiating the lab$rinth. This fusion of place, action, and speaker,
ho#ever, e?actl$ represents the lab$rinth as subPectivit$, as the speakerLs o#n self, a self #hose
enclosure constrains as #ell as contains.
Like the difficult s$nta?, the corona form pla$s off the lab$rinthLs classical associations #ith artistic
intricac$ #hile imitating its enclosure.(2M" The corona links individual poems together5 the first
poemLs last line becomes the second poemLs first line, and so on, concluding #ith the final poemLs
last line repeating the first poemLs first line. These echoing lines bring the corona poems into a
complete circle. Bet#een poems, reiterated opening and closing lines parallel other reversals and
imitate echoing voices in enclosed spaces, suggesting an aural image of the lab$rinth.
The corona poems continue the st$listic representation of the lab$rinth, #hile their imager$ and
diction also evoke the -rotestant spiritual ideals studied b$ ,iehl. >rothLs spiritual ideolog$
counteracts the prevailing vie# of #omen #riters as promiscuous b$ displa$ing a #oman #riting an
ideal of chaste conduct. %f, as Heather ,ubro# suggests, spirituali(ing erotic desire creates a
-etrarchan counterdiscourse, the lab$rinth poems enact this counterdiscourse more seriousl$ than
other segments of >rothLs seHuence. -oem EM, for e?ample, echoes the parallel in the coronaLs first
sonnet bet#een s$nta? and the lab$rinthLs structure, but it also depicts a suprarational, spiritual love
that transcends logical categories and structures, including those of gender5
%s to leave all, and take the thread of love
>hich line straite leads unto the soules content
>her cho$se delights #ith pleasures #ings doe move,
'nd idle phantLsie never roome had lent,
>hen chaste thoughts guide us then o#r minds ar bent
To take that good #hich ills from us remove,
Light of true love, brings fruite #hich none repent
Butt constant lovers seek, and #ish to prove/
Love is the shining starr of blessings light/
The fervent fire of (eale, the roote of peace,
The lasting lampe fed #ith the o$le of right/
%mage of fa$th and #ombe for Po$es increase.
Love is true vertu, and his ends delight/
His flames ar Po$es, his bands true lovers might.
(lines 11+"
>hile the first stan(a suggests a sensor$ feast, diction proves this to be a mental meal in #hich
Ncho$se delightsN and Npleasures #ingsN (line !", connoting sensor$ Po$s, are internali(ed through
the terms NphantLsieN and Nsoules contentN (lines +, 2". Lest the Huestionable Nfantas$N suggest mere
idle pleasure, the second stan(a reali(es spiritual and moral values through Nchaste thoughtsN (line
5". %t further allies the no# redeemed delight of love to constanc$ through its reference to Nconstant
loversN (line M", alluding to -amphiliaLs ke$ virtue in the sonnets and prose romance.
0ost important for this argument, >rothLs diction invests this ideal of chaste, constant love #ith the
theological s$mbolism of the inner light, N1l4ight of true love . . . R . . . R . . . the shining starr of
blessings lightN (lines E*", #hich other language in the sonnet also evokes5 NThe fervent fire of
(eale . . . R The lasting lampe fed #ith the o$le of rightN (lines 1)11". The -uritan revival associates
N(ealeN #ith -rotestant reform and prophec$,(2*" #hile the lamp images the inner light, the
subPectivit$ and moral fervor of the -rotestant relationship #ith God, a beacon inside the lab$rinth
of self. The parado? of light #ithin an internal lab$rinthine darkness underscores the spiritual
Hualifies implied here, suggesting po#ers that transcend ph$sical light and human perception. The
stars add Qeoplatonic nuances to the -rotestant diction, reinforcing transcendence through their
beaut$, distance, and inscrutabilit$ as #ell as their associations #ith ideal forms.
@$nta? mirrors the #a$ divine love and inner light transcend categories of logic and grammar,
representing both the lab$rinthLs difficult$ and a form of transcendence5 for e?ample, the phrase,
N1l4ight of true loveN (line E", modifies the preceding and subseHuent phrases, Nthat goodN and
NfruiteN (lines 3, E". This doubling of referents signals the #a$ N1l4ight of true loveN combines and
includes opposites, refusing to conform to logical, grammatical categories.
@eeking authorit$ for and spirituali(ing female poetic desire, the image of the #omb in N#ombe for
Po$es increaseN fuses -rotestant theolog$ and female reproductivit$ (line 12". -arallelism associates
the #omb s$ntacticall$ #ith N1t4he fervent fire of (eale,N and N1t4he lasting lampe fed #ith the o$le
of right,N impl$ing balance and eHuivalence, associating spiritualit$ #ith female reproductivit$ and,
ultimatel$, #ith poetic production. ' dark inner space associated through -etrarch and the
-rotestant emblems #ith the self, the lab$rinth becomes a #omb for poetic production. The #ombLs
femininit$ is complemented b$ the masculinit$ of love, #hich >roth personifies throughout the
lab$rinth as male.
't other times, ho#ever, the se?es combine and e?change roles in the lab$rinth in #a$s that revalue
both se?es5 the masculine figure of love can give birth and nurture, as in poem M!, #here he gives
NbirthN to NPust desireN (line 2", is N1b4reeding s#eet flameN (line !", and can Nfoster all delights
aboveN (line M"/ the female figure of the poet can produce a poem that envisions an ideal of NPust
desire,N as in poem M!, or Nchaste artN (line M", as in poem M1. N1O4ust desireN and the poetic speech
that embodies it contradict accepted ph$sical, artistic, and cultural limitations of femininit$. The
capabilities of -amphilia and Love suggest that gender roles ma$ transcend or contradict ph$sical
se? in the lab$rinth. The lab$rinth thus becomes an ideal of female poetic freedom, a place #here
spiritual kno#ledge undercuts the eHuation of female speech #ith promiscuit$.
The corona also links spiritualit$ #ith kno#ledge and art, even promising a kind of Hualified self
kno#ledge. -oem M1 makes this especiall$ e?plicit. There love becomes the tutor of the soul
through his Nchaste art,N seemingl$ transcending the difficult$ of selfkno#ledge apparent
else#here in >rothLs #ork5
'nd burne, $ett burning $ou #ill love the smart,
>hen $ou shall feele the #ieght of true desire,
@oe pleasing, as $ou #ould nott #ish $our part
8f burden sho#ld bee missing from that fire/
Butt faithful and unfained heate aspire
>hich sinne abolisheth, and doth impart
@aulves to all feare, #ith vertues #hich inspire
@oules #ith devine love, #hich sho#es his chaste art,
'nd guide hee is to Po$ings/ open e$es
Hee hath to hapines, and best can learne
2s means ho# to deserve, this hee descries,
>ho blind $ett doth our hidenest thoughts deserne,
Thus #ee ma$ gaine since living in blest love
Hee ma$ our proffit, and o#r Tuter prove.
(lines 11+"
The poem opens #ith a conventional -etrarchan parado?, but its aim is spiritual transcendence
Ntrue desireN (line 2", NvertuesN (line E", Ndevine love,N and Nchaste artN (line M". :learl$ this inspirer
of divine love, #ho #orks through Nchaste artN and #hose Nheate ... R ... sinne abolisheth,N is not the
secular :upid of love emblems (lines 53". %nstead, >roth creates a figure #hose Nopen e$esN can
descr$ and discern despite his blindness (line *". Love no# becomes a figure of kno#ledge that
transcends human senses, and thus the limits of human perception apparent else#here in the
seHuence, providing him, like Oohn 0iltonLs poetic speaker in )aradise #ost, #ith sight of Nthings
invisible to mortal sight.N(!)" 8ne obPect of loveLs sight is ourselves, Nour hidenest thoughtsN (line
12". %n discerning our hidden thoughts, love can teach us ourselves, as if desire itself #ere a vehicle
of selfkno#ledge. Love, as inspirer of divine love, and kno#er of our Nhidenest thoughts,N hence
becomes our NTuterN and NprofittN (line 1+", #ith implied pun on Nprophet,N a spelling that appears
in the 1321 printed te?t.(!1" LoveLs seeing and discerning, as #ell as his capacit$ to inspire love of
God, make it natural that the final form of his transcendence is as teacher, purve$or of kno#ledge.
This role suits the personification of love, as he pla$s a fictive role in righting the speakerLs self
ignorance. The #a$ NtutorN and NprophetN suggest both secular and religious kno#ledge furthers the
theolog$ >roth is creating5 love NprofitsN us b$ saving our souls through selfkno#ledge, and hence
he prophesies our salvation.
Love produces this revelation through the inspiration of N1s4oules #ith devine love, #hich sho#es
his chaste artN (line M", but loveLs Nchaste artN implicitl$ supports a claim to chastit$ despite the
public speech of both actual and fictive female poet. 7uatrain 2Ls spirituali(ed diction effects the
transformation of erotic to spiritual love in the phrase Nheate aspireN (line 5". N1H4eate,N connoting
ph$sical desire, is transformed b$ the #ord NaspireN into subliming spiritual fire/ like#ise, fire, the
element that burns us #ith desire, also Ninspire1s4N us (line E", thus bringing about the creation of
Nchaste art.N The transformation through fire turns the volatile stuff of passion to art and spirit/ as
breath and inspired aether, spirit epitomi(es this metamorphosis.
Transforming heat to Nchaste art,N this poemLs lab$rinthine s$nta? manifests the spiritual parado?es
it utters. Dor e?ample, inverting the subPect and verb in the phrase N1#4hich sinne abolishethN (line
3", >roth creates t#o related but grammaticall$ opposite meanings5 Nunfained heateN ma$ abolish
sin (line 5", or sin ma$ abolish it, but in either case the$ abolish each other. N1'4nd dothe impart R
@aulves to all feareN is a coordinate predicate #ith NaspireN and N1#4hich sinne abolishethN (lines 3
E, 5, 3", but it lacks a parallel/ therefore, the subPect, Nheate,N participates in different but
simultaneous events it enacts different things at the same time. @imilarl$, the subordinate clause
N#hich sho#es his chaste artN ma$ modif$ Ndevine loveN (line M", #hich it immediatel$ follo#s, or
NvertuesN or N1s4aulves,N #hich appear in the preceding line. .liding articles and leaving out the
probable direct obPect in the phrase Nbest can learne R 2s 1the4 means ho# to deserve 1happiness4N
creates a difficult$ that causes pause (lines 1)1". These no# familiar ambiguities, enlisted here in
the service of spiritual parado?, depict the difficult$ of communicating spiritual truths that
transcend categories such as those #e devise to limit the effect of modifiers. -unctuated in modern
usage, man$ of >rothLs clauses #ould be nonrestrictive, mutuall$ inclusive.
>hile these readings sho# ho# the corona of poems argues for the concept of Nchaste artN authored
b$ a #oman, spirituali(ed through -rotestant ideolog$, and representing the difficult$, value, and
spiritual necessit$ of female selfkno#ledge, >roth never asserts that the ideali(ed love she
describes in the corona releases her from the lab$rinth. %f her ideal of chaste art authori(es her
#riting, it does not transform the e?perience of love. True to her central s$mbol and to the coronaLs
circular form, the last line of the corona leads us back into the lab$rinth.
>hile the speaker finds no e?it from the lab$rinth, its achievement imbues the ending of the sonnet
seHuence #ith a tone of calm resignation, of achieved form, perhaps of achieved kno#ledge5
0$ muse no# hap$, la$ th$ self to rest,
@leepe in the Huiett of a faithfull love,
>rite $ou noe more, butt lett these phantLsies move
@ome other harts, #ake nott to ne# unrest,
Leave the discource of Aenus, and her sunn
o $oung beeginers ...
'nd thus leave off, #hatLs past sho#es $ou can love,
Qo# lett $our constanc$ $our honor prove,
-amphilia.
(-1)!, lines 11+"
%n esche#ing the follies of Aenus and the poetic role of lover acHuired in sonnet 1, -amphilia passes
into silence, but her tone of resignation suggests both lack and fullness/ it represents the absence of
desire. >rothLs seHuence resolves the issues of selfkno#ledge that it e?plores, if onl$ through the
intervention of a spiritual guide. -amphilia marks her increased #isdom b$ recogni(ing ho# loveLs
NphantLsiesN lead to Nne# unrest,N and b$ deciding, therefore, to Nleave the discource of AenusN
(lines !, +, 1)". >hile the poem does not clima? in spiritual revelation like -etrarchLs concluding
can(ona, it accepts the self and its poetic accomplishment. .ven as -amphilia disavo#s poetr$
through silence, the sonnet reasserts the poetLs role b$ addressing an audience of future love poets,
suggesting -amphiliaLs, and thereb$ >rothLs, poetic progen$. 'lluding to silence, the poem thereb$
evokes its o#n silenced but still echoing voice.
The lab$rinth and the corona, selfenclosed figure and circular poetic form, help address issues of
#omanLs publication b$ creating a fictionali(ed privac$. The obPect of desire, though the pronouns
N#eN and NusN occur here, is the ideal of love itself rather than a human beloved Nthe soules
contentN and the N1l4ight of true love,N as the coronaLs second sonnet puts it (lines 2, E". 'n idea, a
thought, takes part in its thinkerLs o#n subPectivit$/ the poemLs enclosure and the lab$rinthLs privac$
admit no real Nother.N %solation, ho#ever, ma$ also create selfsufficienc$. Like constanc$, a virtue
#hich, as Qaomi 0iller notes, assures the continuit$ of -amphiliaLs discourse,(!2" isolation assures
integrit$ of self and hence frees -amphilia from constructions of femininit$, the dress of mirrors in
#hich -etrarchism and its visual idealism #ould dress her.
>rothLs lab$rinth of st$le also sheds light on -etrarchism as a public and private language.
-etrarchism is a dialogue of one divided among selves a reflection of interior parts and a public
displa$. @o, the first #ord of -etrarchLs sonnet 1 in his !33poem Rime sarse is NAoi,N a plural
N$ou,N and #hen @idne$Ls 'strophil Huotes his museLs comment NLDoolL... LLook in th$ heart, and
#riteLN he displa$s simultaneous roles as speaker and spoken, e$e and heart, subPect and obPect.
Like the dramatic monologue that :atherine Belse$ sees as an earmark of the ne#l$ developing
modern subPect, -etrarchism fragments and displa$s the self in poems meant to be circulated.
%solation enables the female poet to la$ claim to a speaking part in the -etrarchan drama of self
kno#ledge, creating her as subPect, not obPect, of speech, vision, and desire.
Dinall$, >rothLs lab$rinth of st$le illuminates a fertile contradiction bet#een Jenaissance theolog$
and cultural constraints on #omen. >hile the culture controlled and inhibited a #omanLs sense of
self b$ defining her as o#ned b$ another and prohibiting her access to Npublic languageN a
primar$ aspect of subPectivit$ as :atherine Belse$, @tephen Greenblatt, and others have sho#n(!!"
selfkno#ledge is urged as a theological necessit$. ' theolog$ of selfkno#ledge, further, implies
the e?istence and value of a self. ' #oman creating a poetic lab$rinth in a -etrarchan sonnet
seHuence speaks from the ver$ center of this contradiction, transforming public selfanal$sis and
erotic desire into a spirituall$ respectable search for selfkno#ledge. >rothLs lab$rinthine st$le
dramati(es this search, engaging her reader in the ver$ process she represents in this difficult but
accomplished #ork of art.
NOTES
1 Lad$ 0ar$ >roth, poem EE of N-amphilia to 'mphilanthusN5 ' @onnet @eHuence, in The -oems
of Lad$ 0ar$ >roth, ed. Oosephine Joberts (Baton Jouge5 Louisiana @tate 2niv. -ress, 1*M!", pp.
12EM, line 1. @ubseHuent Huotations are from this edition and #ill be cited parentheticall$ in the
te?t. Joberts has designated each poem in the seHuence #ith a capital - and a number in brackets/
this is in addition to occasional numberings and short titles supplied b$ >roth. % #ill refer to all
poems according to JobertsLs enumeration.
2 Heather ,ubro# notes this pun in .choes of ,esire5 .nglish -etrarchism and %ts
:ounterdiscourses (%thaca5 :ornell 2niv. -ress, 1**5", p. 152.
! Oohn ,onne, NThe :anoni(ation,N in Oohn ,onneLs -oetr$, ed. and sel. '. L. :lements (Qe# Iork5
>. >. Qorton, 1*33", p. 3.
+ % e?plore the lab$rinthLs interte?tual meanings later.
5 Oohn Hollander describes m$ths lost to modern audiences (The Digure of .cho5 ' 0ode of
'llusion in 0ilton and 'fter 1Berkele$5 2niv. of :alifornia -ress, 1*M14, pp. E*". %n George
Thornle$Ls .li(abethan translation of a thirdcentur$ romance, .cho, a poet n$mph in love #ith
virginit$, becomes the obPect of -anLs affection (pp. EM". George @and$sLs seventeenthcentur$
#ork makes .cho daughter of air and language (p. *", further linking her to poetr$.
3 Oeffre$ 0asten, NL@hall % turne blabb;L5 :irculation, Gender, and @ubPectivit$ in 0ar$ >rothLs
@onnets,N in Jeading 0ar$ >roth5 Jepresenting 'lternatives in .arl$ 0odern .ngland, ed. Qaomi
O. 0iller and Gar$ >aller (Sno?ville5 2niv. of Tennessee -ress, 1**1", pp. 3EME, 3*.
E Bla(on often accompanies silencing and obPectif$ing the usuall$ female beloved, and is
conventional in Jenaissance seHuences. -rudence ma$ have dictated >rothLs descriptive reticence
if, for e?ample, her illicit relationship #ith her -embroke cousin inspired the seHuence but e?tant
descriptions of -etrarchan beloveds def$ identification from visual clues alone due to their
conventionalit$. @ee these femaleauthored bla(ons for e?amples5 sonnet E in Gaspara @tampa,
Jime Gaspara @tampa5 @elected -oems, ed. and trans. Laura 'nna @tortoni and 0ar$ -rentice Lillie
(Qe# Iork5 %thaca -ress, 1**+", p. 1!/ and sonnets 2 and 11 in Louise Labe, N@onnets,N (.uvres
-oetiHues, precedees des J$mes de -ernette du Guillet ... (-aris5 .dition Gallimard, 1*M!", pp. 11),
11M. Both @tampa and Labe describe handsome blond lovers, regendered simulacra of Laura. These
e?amples suggest that >roth too could have relied on the modeLs conventionalit$ to conceal her
loverLs identit$ had she so desired. Dor background on subPectivit$ and obPectification in
-etrarchism, see the follo#ing sources. 0illerLs book :hanging the @ubPect5 0ar$ >roth and
Digurations of Gender in .arl$ 0odern .ngland (Le?ington5 2niv. -ress of Sentuck$, 1**3"
smartl$ summari(es -etrarchismLs and the l$ricLs effects on female obPectification (pp. 2*+)".
,ubro# points out misprisions about -etrarchism relevant to #omen -etrarchists and silence
especiall$. %nfluential older essa$s on subPectivit$ and obPectification in -etrarchism include Jobert
0. ,urling, %ntroduction to -etrarchLs L$ric -oems5 NThe Jime @parseN and 8ther L$rics, trans. and
ed. ,urling (:ambridge 0'5 Harvard 2niv. -ress, 1*E3", pp. 1!!/ Oohn Dreccero, NThe Dig Tree
and the Laurel5 -etrarchLs -oetics,N in -etrarch, ed. Harold Bloom, 0odern :ritical Aie#s (Qe#
Iork5 :helsea House -ublishers, 1*M*", pp. +!55/ Giuseppe 0a((otta, NThe :an(oniere and the
Language of the @elf,N in -etrarch, pp. 5EEM/ and Qanc$ O. Aickers, N,iana ,escribed5 @cattered
>oman and @cattered Jh$me,N CritI M, 2 (>inter 1*M1"5 235E*.
M The e?clusion of si? poems, including one bla(onlike poem, from >rothLs published sonnets
supports this reading (Joberts, introduction to -oems, pp. !M1, 32". The poem Joberts designates
as D5, #hich appears in the Dolger manuscript of -amphilia to 'mphilanthus, mentions NT#o
sparckling e$es ... gainers of m$ loss R >hile lovebegetting lips the$r gaine did crossN (p. 1+5, lines
*1)".
* 0illerLs #ork supports m$ vie#/ as #ith other female poets in the -etrarchan vein, >roth can
Ne?pose the difficulties of attempting to voice divided selvesN and Nrepresent ... female subPectivit$
in multiple termsN (:hanging, p. 1M". 8n >rothLs subPectivit$ in the poems, also see ,ubro#/
0asten/ 0iller, NJe#riting L$ric Dictions5 The Jole of the Lad$ in Lad$ 0ar$ >rothLs -amphilia to
'mphilanthus,N in The Jenaissance .nglish#oman in -rint5 :ounterbalancing the :anon, ed. 'nne
0. Haselkorn and Bett$ @. Travitsk$ ('mherst5 2niv. of 0assachusetts -ress, 1**)", pp. 2*5!1)/
Qona Dienberg, N0ar$ >roth and the %nvention of Demale -oetic @ubPectivit$,N in Jeading 0ar$
>roth, pp. 1E5*)/ and others. @tudies about or including >roth are ,ubro#/ 0iller and >aller/
Haselkorn and Travitsk$, pp. 2E3!23 (#hich includes 0illerLs NJe#riting L$ric DictionsN"/ Barbara
Le#alski, >riting >omen in Oacobean .ngland (:ambridge 0'5 Harvard 2niv. -ress, 1**!", pp.
2+!!)M/ 0ar$ .llen Lamb, Gender and 'uthorship in the @idne$ :ircle (0adison5 2niv. of
>isconsin -ress, 1**)", pp. 1+2*!/ 'nn Josalind Oones, NDeminine -astoral as Heroic 0art$rdom5
Gaspara @tampa and 0ar$ >roth,N in The :urrenc$ of .ros5 >omenLs Love L$ric in .urope, 15+)
132) (Bloomington5 %ndiana 2niv. -ress, 1**)", pp. 11M5+/ and Louise @chleiner, Tudor and @tuart
>omen >riters (Bloomington5 %ndiana 2niv. -ress, 1**+", pp. 1)E+*. The source on >rothLs life
remains JobertsLs introduction to -oems/ also see 0argaret -. Hanna$, -hilipLs -hoeni?5 0ar$
@idne$, :ountess of -embroke (Qe# Iork5 8?ford 2niv. -ress, 1**)".
1) ,ubro# notes that the poems mime the lab$rinth through Nknott$ s$nta?N and a sense of
Nps$chic entrapment,N but she does not e?plore this idea in detail (pp. 1!+5". 0iller notes the
s$mbolLs relationship to an Nemergent female subPectivit$N but does not develop the s$mbolLs
Jenaissance meanings in detail or its relationship to s$nta? (NJe#riting L$ric Dictions,N p. +!".
Jobin Darabaugh (N'riadne, Aenus, and the Lab$rinth5 :lassical @ources and the Thread of
%nstruction in 0ar$ >rothLs >orks,N ."/) *3, 2 1'pril 1**E45 2)+221" also treats the lab$rinth,
but focuses on >rothLs revisionar$ allusions to 'riadne, rather than on lab$rinthine st$le.
11 The transgression to #hich % refer is her affair #ith her -embroke cousin, Lord Herbert, to #hom
she bore t#o illegitimate children. >hile most #riters on >roth address her selfauthori(ation,
Lamb gives an e?tensive account of ho# >rothLs circumstances ma$ have enabled her to #rite (pp.
1+M52". 'lso see Hanna$, NIour vertuous and learned 'untL5 The :ountess of -embroke as a
0entor to 0ar$ >roth,N in Jeading 0ar$ >roth, pp. 15!+.
12 -enelope Jeed ,oob, The %dea of the Lab$rinth from :lassical 'ntiHuit$ Through the 0iddle
'ges (%thaca5 :ornell 2niv. -ress, 1**)", pp. 1 and 1E!M. ,oob notes this doubleness on page 1
and traces it throughout chap. 1.
1! ,iscussing ,oob, 0iller also notes this dual perspective/ it sho#s Nthe #oman poetLs abilit$ to
vie# the pattern #holeN (NJe#riting L$ric Dictions,N p. +!". Darabaugh refers to ,oob and other
sources (pp. 2)M*".
1+ @ee ,oob on -lin$ (p. 2)" and on 8vid and ,aedalus (pp. !3E".
15 ,oob, pp. 232E.
13 -etrarch, poem 211 of The Rime Sarse, in -etrarchLs L$ric -oems5 NThe Jime @parseN and
8ther L$rics, pp. !3+5, lines 11+. @ubseHuent references are to poems b$ number onl$/ the %talian
and ,urlingLs .nglish translations are on facing pages in each case.
1E -etrarch, poem 22+, line +.
1M 0a((otta, p. EM/ Huote from ,oob, p. 131.
1* Huston ,iehl, N%nto the 0a(e of @elf5 The -rotestant Transformation of the %mage of the
Lab$rinth,N .(RS 13, 2 (Dall 1*M3"5 2M1!)1, 2M2.
2) ,iehl, p. 2M*.
21 ,iehlLs essa$ notes the associations of the serpent and the lab$rinth and their relevance to s$nta?
(p. 2*!", especiall$ in )aradise #ost.
22 @ee Ho#ard @chult(, 0ilton and Dorbidden Sno#ledge (Qe# Iork5 0odern Language
'ssociation of 'merica, 1*55", and Lee '. Oacobus, @udden 'pprehension, 'spects of Sno#ledge
in N-aradise LostN (The Hague5 0outon, 1*E3", books on Oohn 0ilton that describe concepts of
kno#ledge prevalent throughout the Jenaissance. @chult( points out that the influential Bernard of
:lairvau? believed that Nman achieved the highest #isdom, kno#ledge of himself, b$ discovering
his o#n impotence, learning humilit$, and thus kno#ing GodN (p. *"/ and that N1i4n contrast to self
kno#ledge, astronom$ became a favorite s$mbol of idle curiosit$, the stars being the obPects most
obviousl$ remote from manN (p. 5". Oacobus sho#s that 'ugustine and :alvin sa# selfkno#ledge
as one path to kno#ledge of God (pp. 22!".
2! Dulke Greville, A 0edication to Sir )hi!i Sidney, Huoted in >illiam :raft, Lab$rinth of ,esire5
%nvention and :ulture in the >ork of @ir -hilip @idne$ (Qe#ark5 2niv. of ,ela#are -ress, 1**+",
frontispiece. 's :raft points out, Greville uses the lab$rinth to s$mboli(e the perple?ed self.
2+ Le#alski (p. 252", Joberts (p. M5 n", and ,ubro# (p. 1!M" cite these echoes. ,ubro# also notes
that the poem has not received the attention