Shakespeare’s sonnets: Sonnets 153 and 154
(“Cupid lay by his brand and fell asleep” and
“The little Love-god, lying once asleep”) WIL-
LIAM SHAKESPEARE (1599) These two SONNETs form
the bridge between the rest of the SONNET SEQUENCE
and the narrative poem A LOVER’S COMPLAINT. Both con-
cern Cupid and Diana, the god of love and the virgin
goddess of the hunt. In Sonnet 153, Cupid sets down
his torch (replaced in modern times by a bow and
arrow), which is snatched up by a virgin nymph after
he falls asleep. She attempts to quench it, but only suc-
ceeds in turning the water into a boiling fountain. In
Sonnet 154, Cupid falls asleep, leaving his torch
unguarded, and as a group of nymphs pass by, the
most beautiful one takes it. She attempts to extinguish
it in a nearby well, with the same results as before.
Both sonnets leave the speaker with a message: Water
cannot quench love.
These are the only sonnets to use mythological allu-
sions, but they are thematically consistent with the
others in their defense of human desire. A number of
critics have also noted the use of hot springs as a cure
(ineffective) for venereal diseases in the 16th century,
lending an additional air of speculation about the
speaker’s parting from the DARK LADY.
Both sonnets follow the ENGLISH SONNET form, but
Sonnet 153 follows the ITALIAN (PETRARCHAN) SONNET
narrative form, while Sonnet 154 matches semantics
with form. Bawdy references abound. The torches are
clearly phallic symbols, while the well and fountain are
vaginal images. Love and disease are also linked. Besides
the “inevitability” of venereal disease, love itself is a sick-
ness that overtakes reason and action, forcing humans
to act (and react) in curious manners. Overall, the uni-
versality of love and sexuality are clearly displayed.
See also SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM; SHAKESPEARE’S SON-
NETS (OVERVIEW).
FURTHER READING
Hutton, James. “Analogues of Shakespeare’s Sonnets 153–
154: Contributions to the History of a Theme.” Modern
Philology 38, no. 4 (1941): 385–403.
SHEPHEARDES CALENDER, THE (OVER-
VIEW) EDMUND SPENSER (1579) The Shepheardes
Calender was fi rst published, anonymously, in 1579; it
was republished fi ve times between 1579 and 1597,
with EDMUND SPENSER named as author. The Shep-
heardes Calender is a collection of 12 ECLOGUEs, or con-
versations among shepherds (PASTORAL dialogue
poems), dedicated to Sir PHILIP SIDNEY, later earning
Spenser a mention in Sidney’s DEFENSE OF POESY (1595).
Though steeped in the CLASSICAL TRADITION and point-
edly linked to the work of VIRGIL and Mantuan (1447–
1516), Spenser’s Calender also recalls the medieval
calendar tradition through its incorporation of illustra-
tive woodcuts. Moreover, Spenser deliberately used
archaic language in order to point to a connection with
an English poetic tradition, specifi cally recalling the
work of GEOFFREY CHAUCER.
Spenser’s eclogues are rhetorically complex and, in
typical Spenserian style, exhibit archaic phrasing and a
complex rhyme scheme. The pastoral genre gave critical
writers of the city a chance to praise the quality of the
simple life. The main character is Colin Clout, a charac-
ter originally found in the works of JOHN SKELTON, who
is introduced in January. Each eclogue traces another of
his adventures, the primary being the pursuit of his
lady-love, Rosalind. Each eclogue represents a month of
the year, and as a whole they form a “calendar,” sym-
bolic of an entire human life. A woodcut and an EMBLEM
that reveals the speaker’s attitude precedes each eclogue.
They can be grouped commonly into themes (e.g., love,
religion, politics, etc.); indeed, the work’s fi rst publisher,
identifi ed only as “E.K.,” divided the eclogues into
smaller series of “plaintive” (four), “moral” (fi ve), and
“recreative” (three). Spenser incorporates multiple
modes of the pastoral into his work, including debate,
singing matches, love complaints, and ELEGY, with inci-
dental personal and political allusions.
Overall, the Shepheardes Calender is read mainly as a
political allegory, published just in time to be a
response to Queen ELIZABETH I’s proposed marriage to
the duc d’Alençon, a young, Catholic Frenchman. Its
originally anonymous publication supports this, for a
general anti-Catholic work would have been embraced,
but a work specifi cally criticizing the queen would
have been punishable. Through it, Spenser also seeks
to recover a native English voice and to secure
En gland’s primacy by warning his queen against the
dangers of a French alliance.SHEPHEARDES CALENDER, THE 401