Iambicum Trimetrum

Though modern criticism refers to sentimentality pejoratively, as a marker of self-indulgence at the expense of conveying true feelings, more neutrally, it is a device that privileges emotion over rationality. Influenced by Italian Renaissance poets, Spenser has taken some thematic conventions from the Petrarchan sonnet and uses them to convey the feeling of being bereft after a romantic failure.

In “Iambicum Trimetrum,” the speaker is so saddened that he has fallen into a state of anhedonia—the inability to feel pleasure—and merely awaits his death. Meanwhile, he directs his muse to convey his message of longing to a former lover whose life goes on, indifferent to his suffering. His frustrated love is “waking,” “raging,” and “lamenting” (Lines 10-12). The speaker’s use of gerunds gives the reader the sense that these actions are perpetual—reflections of his turbulent and obsessive state. He fantasizes that she might be in a similar state, “cheerless at the cheerful board” (Line 5) or “alone careless on her heavenly virginals” (Line 6)—that is, playing her harpsichord. His real and palpable misery can only be assuaged by “her pleasures,” “her beauty,” and “her sweet tongue” (Lines 13-15). The repetitive use of the possessive pronoun reinforces the unique singularity of the beloved to the speaker, as though he cannot imagine that anyone else could ever give him pleasure, possess similar beauty, or speak in dulcet tones. His fixation on his former lover reflects the obsessive tendencies of lovers. So overwhelmed by emotion, they lose the good sense that reminds us that there are others to love and behold, others whom we will find beautiful and pleasant.