Edmund Spenser

Sonnet 29 (Spenser)

'''Sonnet XXIX'''
See how the stubborne damzell doth depraue
my simple meaning with disdaynfull scorne:
and by the bay which I vnto her gaue,
accoumpts my selfe her captiue quite forlorne.
The bay (quoth she) is of the victours borne,
yielded them by the vanquisht as theyr meeds,
and they therewith doe poetes heads adorne,
to sing the glory of their famous deedes.
But sith she will the conquest challeng needs
let her accept me as her faithfull thrall,
that her great triumph which my skill exceeds,
I may in trump of fame blaze ouer all.
Then would I decke her head with glorious bayes,
and fill the world with her victorious prayse.
<Publ. 1595>

deprave = misinterpret

Not 'corrupt'—the older meaning is 'twist' or 'misunderstand.' She's deliberately misreading his gift.

See how the stubborn damsel doth deprave
my simple meaning with disdainful scorn:
and by the bay which I unto her gave,

bay = laurel crown

Bay laurel wreaths crowned military victors and poets in classical Rome. He gave her a loaded symbol.

accompts my self her captive quite forlorn.
The bay (quoth she) is of the victors borne,

meeds = rewards

She's lecturing him on symbolism: laurel is what defeated enemies give to conquerors, not what lovers give freely.

yielded them by the vanquished as their meeds,
and they therewith do poets' heads adorn,
to sing the glory of their famous deeds.
But sith she will the conquest challenge needs

sith = since

The turn: 'Fine, if you insist you've conquered me, then accept the responsibilities of victory.'

let her accept me as her faithfull thrall,
that her great triumph which my skill exceeds,

trump = trumpet

Not the card suit—a trumpet for proclamations. He'll be her herald, announcing her triumph everywhere.

I may in trump of fame blaze over all.
Then would I deck her head with glorious bays,
and fill the world with her victorious praise.
Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

The Gift That Backfired

Spenser gave his beloved a laurel crown (the bay), probably thinking it was romantic—poets wear laurels, so he's crowning her as his poetic inspiration. She throws it back in his face with a history lesson. Deprave here means 'misinterpret' (from Latin *depravare*, to distort), and she's doing it on purpose.

Her counter-argument is clever: in classical tradition, laurel wreaths were meeds (rewards) that the vanquished gave to victors. By giving her the bay, he's already admitted defeat. She's not his muse—she's his conqueror, and he's her captive quite forlorn. The gift proved her point.

The volta at line 9 ("But sith"—since) is Spenser's judo move. Fine, you want to be the victor? Then I'm your faithfull thrall (bonded servant), and you have obligations. A conqueror must let their poet sing their glory. If she accepts the conquest, she must accept him as her official trumpeter, blazing her triumph across the world. He turns her own argument into a marriage proposal disguised as surrender.

Amoretti Context

This is Sonnet 29 from *Amoretti* (1595), Spenser's courtship sequence to Elizabeth Boyle, whom he married in 1594. The sequence shows an actual relationship progressing—unusual for Renaissance sonnets, which typically obsess over unattainable women.

The stubborne damzell is probably Elizabeth herself, and the argument feels real. She's not playing coy; she's genuinely calling out his poetic moves. This is a woman who reads his symbolism and argues back. The sequence's power comes from this: she's a person, not a Petrarchan abstraction.

Spenser uses the laurel motif throughout *Amoretti*. Here he literalizes it—he actually gave her a crown, and she actually rejected it with a lecture on classical symbolism. The joke is that they're both right: he's conquered (by love) and she's conquered (by his poetry). The final couplet imagines their compromise: he'll crown her with glorious bayes and fill the world with her praise. Which is exactly what *Amoretti* does.