Edmund Spenser

Sonnet 80 (Spenser)

'''Sonnet LXXX'''
AFTER so long a race as I haue run

The six books

Spenser had just published Books I-III of *The Faerie Queene* in 1590. This is his announcement that he's taking a break before writing the second half.

Through Faery land, which those six books compile
giue leaue to rest me, being halfe fordonne,
and gather to my selfe new breath awhile.
When as a steed refreshed after toyle,
out of my prison I will breake anew:
and stoutly will that second worke assoyle,
with strong endeuour and attention dew.
Till then giue leaue to me in pleasant mew,

Pleasant mew

A **mew** is a cage for hawks during molting season. He's comparing his love poetry (*Amoretti*) to a resting place between epic flights.

to sport my muse and sing my loues sweet praise:
the contemplation of whose heauenly hew,
my spirit to an higher pitch will rayse.

Low and meane

**Mean** here means 'humble' or 'middle-style,' not petty. He's placing his love sonnets in a lower literary register than epic poetry.

But let her prayses yet be low and meane,
fit for the handmayd of the Faery Queene.

Handmayd hierarchy

Elizabeth Boyle (his beloved) is the 'handmaid' to Queen Elizabeth (the Faery Queene). This is both courtly flattery and a ranking of his poetic projects.

Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

Meta-Poetry: Spenser's Work Announcement

This sonnet is Spenser's public announcement of his writing schedule. In 1590, he published the first three books of *The Faerie Queene*, his massive epic poem. This sonnet appears in *Amoretti* (1595), the sequence written during his courtship of Elizabeth Boyle. He's literally telling readers: I'm halfway through the epic, taking a break to write love poems, then I'll finish the big project.

The "race" and "steed" metaphors aren't just decoration—they reflect Renaissance theories about poetic labor. Epic poetry was considered the highest, most exhausting form. The image of the horse "refreshed after toyle" breaking from its "prison" suggests Spenser sees love poetry as both rest and preparation, not a lesser commitment but a different kind of work.

The final couplet does real political work. By calling Elizabeth Boyle a "handmayd of the Faery Queene," Spenser flatters Queen Elizabeth I (the Faery Queene) while justifying his turn to personal love poetry. He's saying: this is minor-key work compared to my epic celebration of you. It's courtly positioning disguised as poetic humility.

The Hawk Metaphor

The "pleasant mew" in line 9 is easy to miss but reveals how Spenser thinks about genre. A mew is specifically a cage where hawks are kept during molting—when they shed old feathers and grow new ones. It's not permanent captivity; it's a necessary phase of renewal.

Spenser is saying his love sonnets aren't a distraction from serious work—they're the molting period that will make him stronger for the epic's second half. The "contemplation of whose heauenly hew" (his beloved's beauty) will "rayse" his spirit to "an higher pitch." Pitch means both a musical note and a hawk's flight height. Love poetry is training for epic flight.

This metaphor also answers Renaissance critics who saw love poetry as trivial. Spenser argues that praising Elizabeth Boyle sharpens the same skills he needs for praising Queen Elizabeth. The genres aren't opposed—they're part of one career-long project.