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Iambicum Trimetrum
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Literary Devices
English Prosody
Prosody is the study of how language sounds, particularly in verse. As in linguistics, the study of prosody in poetry examines language syllabically and looks for alliterative patterns, particularly consonance and assonance—or the repetitions of consonant and vowel sounds, respectively.
In addition to anaphora, Spenser employs the repetition of sounds in various lines. This repetition, too, sometimes occurs successively, as in “fast flying” (Line 2) and “fly forth” (Line 3). In other instances, there is the proximity of repetition, as in the phrases “my mouth can eat no meat” (Line 8) and “lamenting love marreth the musical” (Line 12). The intention of this is to have a sweetening effect on the ear. Though literacy was more widespread in Spenser’s time, “Iambicum Trimetrum” would still have been read or recited aloud. There are many in our present day who argue that poetry should generally be read aloud to hear how the poet linked words and sounds for a harmonious effect.
Lyric
When regarding poetry in the context of song, the lyric is frequently mentioned. In Spenser’s time, the lyric—a form of poetry addressed to a reader that depicts the speaker’s feelings—was a marginalized form of poetry, such that Spenser’s contemporary Sir Philip Sidney defended the form in his Defence of Poesy (1595), hailing its powers of expression.
Now, nearly all forms of poetry are characterized as lyrical due to the efforts of Spenser, Sidney, and their contemporaries to laud the form. Not only does “Iambicum Trimetrum” emphasize the musicality of language through anaphora and alliteration, the poem is also a direct address to an imaginary sympathizer and messenger—a “witness” (Line 1) to the poet’s “unhappy state” (Line 1). The reader, too, is in the position to bear witness to the poet’s words and to identify with his experience.
Blank Verse
“Iambicum Trimetrum” uses unrhymed iambic meter. Unrhymed iambic pentameter was the most prevalent form of meter during the English Renaissance, employed particularly by William Shakespeare. In this poem, Spenser tampers with the form by employing more syllables in each line.
Spenser used the influences of Classical and earlier Renaissance poets to explore varieties of form, including ottava rima and rhyme royal, a poetic form employed by Geoffrey Chaucer and supposedly recognized by James I. English blank verse first came to England when the Earl of Surrey translated Books 2 and 4 of the Aeneid into blank verse, which had already appeared in Italian literature as early as the 13th century.
Though unrhymed, lines of blank verse have the effect of producing a consistent rhythm within lines that are typically of similar length without constraining poets with couplets. It allows for a greater freedom of expression without losing the musicality of the language.
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By Edmund Spenser
