Sonnet 67

Sonnet 67

Edmund Spenser

1 Like as a huntsman after weary chase,

2 Seeing the game from him escap'd away,

3 Sits down to rest him in some shady place,

4 With panting hounds beguiled of their prey:

5 So after long pursuit and vain assay,

6 When I all weary had the chase forsook,

7 The gentle deer return'd the self-same way,

8 Thinking to quench her thirst at the next brook.

9 There she beholding me with milder look,

10 Sought not to fly, but fearless still did bide:

11 Till I in hand her yet half trembling took,

12 And with her own goodwill her firmly tied.

13 Strange thing, me seem'd, to see a beast so wild,

14 So goodly won, with her own will beguil'd.

In class, we discussed sonnets which are 14 line poems that focus on the subject of love. Therefore, “Sonnet 67” by Edmund Spenser deals with love specifically pertaining to the “cruel fair” lady and her desperate suitor. In this particular sonnet, the suitor is the huntsman who is going through a “weary chase” (1). The “cruel fair” lady is the “gentle deer” who is elusively escaping the huntsman (7). The sonnet starts out with presenting the suitor as a desperate and almost pitiful suitor. It can be inferred that he was relentlessly chasing the deer since the chase turned weary for him. Then the sonnet mentions the word “game” to describe this chase in the view of the deer and huntsman (2). For the “cruel fair” lady, the chase is an activity of amusement while the suitor views the chase as a procedure for gaining an end. These sharply contrasting views emphasize the fickle nature of women and the constancy of men. Then, the speaker emphasizes the cold nature of the lady by describing that she “escaped away” (2). Her quick escape reveals that she is elusive, fearless, and cunning. Next, the suitor appears to have given up the chase when he rests on some “shady place” (3). The suitor is tired out by the fickle nature of the woman that he gives up. He describes the long pursuit as a “vain assay” which he uses to justify his decision to quit. (5) In response, the lady returns and drinks from the “next brook” to look at the suitor with “milder look” (8-9). She deliberately looks at the suitor to question why he is not continuing the pursuit and to give a hint that she is willing to accept him. Her action reiterates her cunning and cold nature since she is willing to approach him when he is not trying. As a result, the desperate suitor gains hope and “half trembling” takes the lady (11). The speaker then uses the phrase “firmly tied” which closely relates to the concept of marriage (12). Hence, the speaker is stating that the lady and suitor are now united as wife and husband. The suitor was eventually successful in gaining the affection of the “cruel fair” lady. At the end of the sonnet, the speaker exclaims that it is strange that the “beast so wild” is “beguiled” by her own will (13-14). In other words, he is questioning how a cunning and fierce lady could be tricked by her own will and led to marriage. The lady was tricked by her own mind which the speaker finds greatly ironic. She was the one who used the suitor for entertainment but at the end she was the one who became the suitor’s prize. Therefore, the speaker might be alluding that fickle women can trick themselves by focusing on the chase rather than the sincere feelings of the suitor. This point can closely relate to our current society where people often fall in love with the idea of being in love rather than focus on the sincere feelings towards someone.