Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire
by Edmund Spenser
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’d 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.
Summary of Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire
- Popularity of “Amoretti XXX”: Written by Edmund Spenser, a great English poet and writer, “ Amoretti XXX” is an absorbing love sonnet. It was published in 1595. The poem describes the speaker’s fiery passion for his beloved. However, it also shows how his lady fails to respond to him in a loving way. The poem gained immense popularity on account of its theme of marriage and courtship.
- “Amoretti XXX” As a Representative of Love: This sonnet centers on love. It begins when the speaker describes his passion for a lady that does not respond to his love. He compares himself to the fire and the lady to the ice to show the nature of their strange relationship. Despite the lady’s resistance, the speaker’s love for her grows every day. When he asks her for love, she becomes even colder. He wonders why his own burning desires lessen through contact with her cold heart. He adds anything more miraculous than the fact that his desires which should melt while meeting the frozen heart, get more intense. Surprisingly, her ice makes his heart burns even hotter. He concludes love possesses a miraculous power that can make elements go against the natural law.
- Major Themes in “Amoretti XXX”: The power of love, marriage, and amazement are the poem’s major themes. Throughout the poem, the speaker battles with huge frustrations that his passionate love makes her lover even colder toward him. Casting his love as fire and her response as ice, he tries to make us feel what happens when two people having different desires live together. To the speaker, their contrastive approach toward love is a testament to love’s power. In the end, he argues although love is miraculous that, it can alter the laws of nature, like fire melting the ice.
Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire
literary devices are modes that represent the writer’s ideas, feelings, and emotions. It is through these devices the writers make their few words appealing to the readers. Spencer has used some literary devices in this poem to make it appealing. The analysis of some of the literary devices used in this poem is as follows.
- Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /o/ in “Is not dissolved through my so hot desire” and the sound of /e/ in “That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice.”
- Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /m/ in “What more miraculous thing” and the sound of /h/ in “by her heart-frozen cold.”
- Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /r/ in “But harder grows the more I her entreat” and the sound of /n/ in “And feel my flames augmented manifold.”
- Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;
“How comes it then that this her cold so great
Is not dissolved through my so hot desire,”
- Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Spencer has used imagery in this poem such as; “My Love is like to ice, and I to fire”, “That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice” and “Should kindle fire by wonderful device.”
- Rhetorical Question: Rhetorical question is a question that is not asked in order to receive an answer; it is just posed to make the point clear. Spencer has posed rhetorical questions at many places in the poem to put emphasize on his point such as, “But harder grows the more I her entreat?” and “Should kindle fire by wonderful device?”
- Simile: It is a device Used to compare something with something else to make the meanings clear to the readers. Spencer used this device in the poem’s opening line, such as; “My Love is like to ice, and I to fire.”
Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire
Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.
- Couplet: There are two constructive lines of verse in a couplet, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme. This sonnet ends with a couplet, which usually reveals the poem’s central idea.
- End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. William Blake used end rhyme in this poem, such as; “mind/kind”, “told/cold” and “fire/desire.”
- Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. There are three quatrains in this poem.
- Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows ABAB rhyme in three quatrains. However, the couplet follows the AA rhyme scheme.
- Sonnet: A sonnet is a fourteen-lined poem usually written in iambic pentameter. This Spencerian sonnet consists of three quatrains and a couplet.
Quote to be Used
The following lines are used by someone expressing amazement over the strange attitude of his lady.
“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.”
