pencer is perhaps best known for ‘The Faerie Queene’, an epic poem celebrating the Tudors, in particular Elizabeth I. Spencer was born in London, but lived in Ireland for much of his life in the service of the Queen.
The language of his poetry is purposely archaic, echoing that of Chaucer’s. Spencer’s influence can be found in many later writers, including Wordsworth, Keats, Byron and Tennyson.
My Love Is Like To Ice (published 1595)
My love is like to ice, and I to fire:
How comes it then that this her cold so great
Is not dissolved through my so hot desire,
But harder grows the more I her entreat?
Or how comes it that my exceeding heat
Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold,
But that I burn much more in boiling sweat,
And feel my flames augmented manifold?
What more miraculous thing may be told,
That fire, which all things melts, should harden. ice,
And ice, which is congeal's with senseless cold,
Should kindle fire by wonderful device?
Such is the power of love in gentle mind,
That it can alter all the course of kind.
Renaissance Period – 1485-1660
Elizabethan Period – 1558-1603
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
hakespeare is possibly the most well known writers of English Literature. His work exemplifies the Renaissance period. Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Shakespeare moved to London where he became known as an actor, playwright and poet. His identity has been a controversial point for many years, some people believing that the name Shakespeare refers to a group rather than an individual.
Sonnet 130 (published 1609 as part of a collection of sonnets)