Introduction: “Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire” by Edmund Spenser
“Amoretti XXX: My Love Is Like to Ice, And I To Fir”e by Edmund Spenser first appeared in 1595 in his collection of sonnets titled Amoretti and Epithalamion. Known for its contrasting imagery and passionate language, this sonnet explores the complexities of love and its transformative power. The speaker compares their love to ice, cold and distant, while they themselves burn with desire and longing. This juxtaposition highlights the internal conflict and intensity of their passion, ultimately conveying the all-consuming nature of love.
Text: “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.
Annotations: “Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire” by Edmund Spenser
| Line | Text | Annotation |
| 1 | My Love is like to ice, and I to fire: | Spenser compares his love to fire, filled with passion, while the beloved is cold and unresponsive, like ice. |
| 2 | How comes it then that this her cold so great | The poet wonders how his beloved’s coldness can be so powerful. |
| 3 | Is not dissolved through my so hot desire, | The speaker questions why his intense passion does not melt the coldness of his beloved’s heart. |
| 4 | But harder grows the more I her entreat? | Despite his pleading and desire, her coldness becomes more rigid, symbolizing emotional resistance. |
| 5 | Or how comes it that my exceeding heat | The poet again questions how his overwhelming passion continues to intensify. |
| 6 | Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold, | He wonders why her coldness doesn’t cool his burning passion, as one would expect in a natural situation. |
| 7 | But that I burn much more in boiling sweat, | His passion grows even more intense, leaving him physically and emotionally overwhelmed. |
| 8 | And feel my flames augmented manifold? | His desire continues to increase, despite her emotional coldness. |
| 9 | What more miraculous thing may be told, | The poet introduces the idea that love’s power defies natural logic, emphasizing its miraculous nature. |
| 10 | That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice, | In a paradox, the poet observes that, unlike in nature, his fiery passion strengthens his beloved’s coldness. |
| 11 | And ice, which is congeal’d with senseless cold, | The beloved’s coldness is described as “congealed,” meaning frozen and unfeeling, making her resistance seem unnatural. |
| 12 | Should kindle fire by wonderful device? | Another paradox: the beloved’s coldness intensifies the poet’s passion, contrary to natural laws. |
| 13 | Such is the power of love in gentle mind, | The poet concludes that love, especially in noble or “gentle” hearts, has the power to defy reason and nature. |
| 14 | That it can alter all the course of kind. | Love is so powerful that it can change the natural order of things, emphasizing the poem’s theme of paradox and the extraordinary nature of love. |
Literary And Poetic Devices: “Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire” by Edmund Spenser
| Device | Definition | Example | Explanation |
| Alliteration | The repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. | “My Love is like to ice” | The repetition of the “l” sound creates a sense of rhythm and emphasizes the contrast between the speaker and their love. |
| Antithesis | The juxtaposition of contrasting ideas or images. | “My Love is like to ice, and I to fire” | The contrasting images of ice and fire highlight the intense nature of the speaker’s love. |
| Chiasmus | A rhetorical device where two or more clauses are balanced against each other, with the second clause reversing the order of the first. | “But harder grows the more I her entreat” | The chiasmus emphasizes the paradox of the speaker’s love: the more he tries to win her over, the more she resists. |
| Conceit | An extended metaphor that involves an unusual or surprising comparison. | “What more miraculous thing may be told, That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice” | The conceit compares the speaker’s love to fire and the beloved to ice, creating a striking and unexpected image. |
| Enjambment | The continuation of a sentence or phrase across multiple lines of poetry. | “Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold, But that I burn much more in boiling sweat” | The enjambment creates a sense of urgency and passion. |
| Hyperbole | Exaggeration for effect. | “And feel my flames augmented manifold” | The hyperbole emphasizes the intensity of the speaker’s love and desire. |
| Imagery | The use of vivid language to create mental images. | “My Love is like to ice, and I to fire” | The imagery of ice and fire creates a powerful and contrasting picture of the speaker’s love. |
| Metaphor | A figure of speech that compares two unlike things without using “like” or “as.” | “My Love is like to ice” | The metaphor compares the beloved to ice, suggesting coldness and indifference. |
| Oxymoron | A figure of speech combining contradictory terms. | “heart-frozen cold” | The oxymoron suggests the intensity of the beloved’s coldness. |
| Paradox | A statement that seems contradictory but expresses a truth. | “But harder grows the more I her entreat” | The paradox highlights the frustrating nature of the speaker’s love. |
| Personification | Giving human qualities to non-human things. | “And feel my flames augmented manifold” | The speaker personifies his love by describing it as having a physical presence and intensity. |
| Repetition | The repeated use of words or phrases. | “And” | The repetition of the word “And” creates a sense of urgency and intensity. |
| Rhetorical Question | A question asked for effect rather than expecting an answer. | “What more miraculous thing may be told” | The rhetorical question emphasizes the extraordinary nature of the speaker’s love. |
| Simile | A figure of speech that compares two unlike things using “like” or “as.” | “My Love is like to ice” | The simile compares the beloved to ice, suggesting coldness and indifference. |
| Sonnet | A 14-line poem, usually written in iambic pentameter, with a specific rhyme scheme. | The entire poem | The sonnet form provides a structured framework for the exploration of the speaker’s love. |
| Symbolism | The use of objects or images to represent ideas or qualities. | “ice” and “fire” | The symbols of ice and fire represent the contrasting qualities of the speaker and their love. |
| Syntax | The arrangement of words in a sentence. | “But that I burn much more in boiling sweat” | The syntax creates a sense of urgency and intensity. |
| Theme | The central idea or message of a literary work. | The power of love | The theme of the poem is the transformative power of love and its ability to alter the course of nature. |
| Tone | The author’s attitude toward the subject matter. | Passionate and intense | The tone of the poem is passionate and intense, reflecting the speaker’s strong emotions. |
| Verbal Irony | A figure of speech where what is said is different from what is meant. | “But harder grows the more I her entreat” | There is a sense of verbal irony in the speaker’s complaint, as his efforts to win her over seem to have the opposite effect. |
Themes: “Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire” by Edmund Spenser
- Theme 1: The Intensity of Passion: Spenser’s sonnet explores the all-consuming nature of love through vivid imagery and contrasting elements. The speaker’s love is likened to ice, cold and distant, while they themselves burn with desire and longing. This juxtaposition highlights the internal conflict and intensity of their passion, as exemplified by the lines “But harder grows the more I her entreat” and “And feel my flames augmented manifold.” The speaker’s burning desire and the beloved’s icy resistance create a powerful tension that underscores the intensity of their love.
- Theme 2: The Paradox of Love: The sonnet delves into the paradoxical nature of love, presenting seemingly contradictory elements that coexist within the speaker’s experience. Love, which is often associated with warmth and joy, is depicted as a source of both pleasure and pain. The speaker’s love, like fire, can both consume and purify, while the beloved’s love, like ice, can both harden and invigorate. This paradox is evident in lines such as “What more miraculous thing may be told, That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice” and “Such is the power of love in gentle mind, That it can alter all the course of kind.”
- Theme 3: The Power of Love: Spenser’s sonnet emphasizes the transformative power of love, suggesting that it can alter the natural order and defy conventional expectations. The speaker’s love, like fire, is capable of melting even the coldest heart, while the beloved’s love, like ice, can ignite even the most passionate soul. This transformative power is evident in lines such as “And ice, which is congeal’d with senseless cold, Should kindle fire by wonderful device” and “That it can alter all the course of kind.” The sonnet suggests that love is a force that can transcend the limitations of human nature and create something truly extraordinary.
- Theme 4: The Struggle for Love: The sonnet explores the challenges and struggles associated with love, particularly the difficulty of overcoming obstacles and achieving fulfillment. The speaker’s love is characterized by a constant struggle to reconcile their own desires with the beloved’s resistance. This struggle is evident in lines such as “Or how comes it that my exceeding heat Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold” and “But that I burn much more in boiling sweat.” The sonnet suggests that love is a journey filled with both triumphs and setbacks, and that achieving fulfillment requires perseverance and resilience.
Literary Theories and “Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire” by Edmund Spenser
| Literary Theory | Application to “Amoretti XXX” | References from the Sonnet |
| Petrarchan Love Tradition | This sonnet follows the Petrarchan model of love, where the lover is consumed with desire for an unattainable, emotionally cold beloved. Spenser adheres to this convention while exploring the paradox of passion and resistance. | Lines 1-4: “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?” Here, the unrequited love and emotional coldness of the beloved mirror the Petrarchan tradition. |
| Psychological/ Psychoanalytic Theory | The poem explores the psychological tension and conflict within the speaker, torn between desire and frustration. The interplay between the heat of passion and the coldness of rejection can be seen as a reflection of the unconscious mind’s struggles. | Lines 7-8: “But that I burn much more in boiling sweat, / And feel my flames augmented manifold?” The speaker’s internal torment is intensified by the unfulfilled desire, indicating psychological conflict. |
| Metaphysical Poetics | The use of paradox and metaphysical conceits—such as fire hardening ice and ice kindling fire—reflects metaphysical poetry’s tendency to challenge logical and natural laws. Spenser demonstrates how love transcends the physical and natural world. | Lines 10-12: “That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice, / And ice, which is congeal’d with senseless cold, / Should kindle fire by wonderful device?” These paradoxical ideas reflect the metaphysical approach to love and emotion. |
Brief Explanation of the Theories:
- Petrarchan Love Tradition: This refers to a literary convention originating from Petrarch, in which the lover is depicted as suffering from unrequited love, usually for a distant, cold, or unattainable beloved. The lover’s passion is often juxtaposed against the beloved’s indifference.
- Psychological/Psychoanalytic Theory: This approach interprets the internal struggles of the characters, focusing on unconscious desires, conflicts, and emotions. It can explore the speaker’s mental state and how desire and rejection create psychological tension.
- Metaphysical Poetics: Metaphysical poetry is known for its intellectual complexity and use of conceits (extended metaphors). It often challenges natural or logical assumptions to make philosophical or emotional points, as Spenser does with his paradox of love’s power.
Critical Questions about “Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire” by Edmund Spenser
· How does Spenser use paradox to convey the complexities of love in the sonnet?
- Spenser uses paradox as a central device to highlight the contradictory nature of love in “Amoretti XXX”. The key paradox is the juxtaposition of fire and ice—symbols of passion and coldness—that should, by nature, extinguish each other, but in this sonnet, they intensify one another. The speaker expresses frustration that his passionate love (“fire”) does not melt his beloved’s coldness (“ice”), but instead, her coldness becomes more rigid: “Is not dissolved through my so hot desire, / But harder grows the more I her entreat?” (lines 3-4). This contradiction serves to emphasize how love defies logic and natural laws, showing the power of emotional experience to transcend physical reality. Furthermore, the paradox of “fire, which all things melts, should harden ice” (line 10) demonstrates how the speaker’s desire only strengthens the beloved’s resistance, illustrating the complexity and frustration inherent in unrequited love.
· What role does the theme of unrequited love play in the sonnet?
- Unrequited love is a dominant theme in “Amoretti XXX”, shaping the speaker’s emotional turmoil throughout the sonnet. The speaker portrays his passionate desire for a beloved who remains indifferent and emotionally cold, embodying a Petrarchan trope of unattainable love. Despite the intensity of his feelings, “I burn much more in boiling sweat”, while his beloved’s heart remains “congeal’d with senseless cold” (lines 7, 11). This unreciprocated affection creates a sense of imbalance in the relationship, with the speaker experiencing greater suffering the more he loves. The beloved’s coldness, rather than quelling the speaker’s emotions, only heightens his passion, adding to the sense of hopelessness and futility that often accompanies unrequited love.
· How does Spenser depict the power of love in altering natural laws?
- In the sonnet, Spenser explores the transformative and almost supernatural power of love, suggesting that it has the capacity to alter natural laws. Love’s ability to challenge the expected interaction between fire and ice reflects its miraculous, inexplicable nature. Spenser writes, “That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice, / And ice, which is congeal’d with senseless cold, / Should kindle fire by wonderful device?” (lines 10-12). These lines suggest that love operates outside the bounds of ordinary reason, possessing a force so strong that it defies the basic principles of physics and nature. By presenting love as capable of reversing expected outcomes, Spenser elevates it to a metaphysical or divine realm, emphasizing its power to reshape both the emotional and natural world.
· What does the sonnet suggest about the relationship between desire and resistance?
- In “Amoretti XXX”, Spenser presents a dynamic interplay between desire and resistance, illustrating how the two forces feed into one another. The speaker’s burning passion only intensifies the beloved’s coldness, while her resistance makes his desire stronger. The more he entreats her, the harder her heart becomes: “But harder grows the more I her entreat” (line 4). This suggests that the beloved’s emotional detachment and resistance provoke the speaker’s desire to new heights, creating a cycle of unfulfilled longing. The paradoxical relationship between the two—where one would expect resistance to cool desire, but instead, it inflames it—highlights the psychological complexity of love and attraction, where obstacles can often intensify emotions rather than diminish them.
Literary Works Similar to “Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire” by Edmund Spenser
- “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare: Both poems explore the transformative power of love and its ability to defy the passage of time. Shakespeare’s sonnet compares the beloved to a summer’s day, emphasizing their beauty and fleeting nature. Like Spenser’s poem, Shakespeare’s sonnet suggests that love can transcend the limitations of time and mortality.
- “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell: Marvell’s poem also explores the intensity of passion and the fleeting nature of time. He urges his mistress to seize the day and enjoy their love while they are still young, emphasizing the urgency of their desire. Like Spenser’s poem, Marvell’s poem highlights the importance of acting on one’s passions before it is too late.
- “When, in Disgrace with Fortune and Men’s Eyes” by William Shakespeare: This sonnet by Shakespeare explores the theme of self-love and the importance of finding solace within oneself. The speaker compares their own heart to a summer’s day, suggesting that they can find beauty and contentment even in the midst of adversity. Like Spenser’s poem, Shakespeare’s sonnet emphasizes the power of the human spirit to overcome challenges and find joy.
- “The Flea” by John Donne: Donne’s poem uses a unique conceit to explore the intensity of passion and the intimacy of love. He compares the speaker and his mistress to a flea that has bitten them both, suggesting that their love is as intimate and inseparable as the flea’s bite. Like Spenser’s poem, Donne’s poem highlights the passionate and intense nature of love.
- “Sonnet 73” by William Shakespeare: This sonnet by Shakespeare explores the theme of aging and the inevitability of death. The speaker compares himself to a tree that is losing its leaves and a fire that is burning out, emphasizing the passage of time and the decline of his youth. Like Spenser’s poem, Shakespeare’s sonnet reflects on the fleeting nature of life and the importance of making the most of one’s time.
Representative Quotations of “Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire” by Edmund Spenser
| Quotation | Context | Theoretical Perspective |
| “My Love is like to ice, and I to fire:” | The opening line establishes the central paradox of the sonnet, comparing the speaker’s passionate love to fire and his beloved’s indifference to ice. | Petrarchan Love Tradition: This metaphor highlights the unreciprocated love where the lover is passionate, and the beloved is cold, a common Petrarchan theme. |
| “How comes it then that this her cold so great” | The speaker questions how the beloved’s extreme coldness can remain unchanged by his burning desire. | Psychological Theory: This reflects the speaker’s inner conflict, questioning the lack of response to his emotions. |
| “Is not dissolved through my so hot desire,” | The speaker is frustrated that his intense passion is unable to melt his beloved’s coldness. | Petrarchan Love Tradition: The metaphor of passion failing to melt coldness mirrors the Petrarchan notion of unattainable love. |
| “But harder grows the more I her entreat?” | The speaker laments that the more he pleads for her love, the colder she becomes, illustrating the paradoxical effects of desire and resistance. | Psychoanalytic Theory: This line reveals the psychological struggle of unfulfilled desire, where pleading only strengthens the emotional distance. |
| “Or how comes it that my exceeding heat” | The speaker wonders how his intense love doesn’t reduce his beloved’s emotional coldness, leading to further confusion and frustration. | Metaphysical Poetics: The paradox challenges natural logic, emphasizing love’s power to defy expected outcomes. |
| “Is not allayed by her heart-frozen cold,” | He expresses frustration that her coldness doesn’t cool his passion, but instead increases it. | Psychoanalytic Theory: The tension between passion and emotional coldness reflects the psychological complexity of the lover’s state of mind. |
| “But that I burn much more in boiling sweat,” | The speaker’s desire intensifies, manifesting physically, suggesting the overwhelming nature of his passion. | Psychological Theory: The physical response to emotional torment suggests the psychological and bodily effects of unreciprocated love. |
| “And feel my flames augmented manifold?” | The speaker’s passion continues to grow despite the beloved’s resistance, creating a sense of helplessness and suffering. | Metaphysical Poetics: The paradox that his desire increases despite her coldness reinforces the idea that love defies natural laws. |
| “That fire, which all things melts, should harden ice,” | The speaker is baffled that his passion, which should melt all things, only hardens his beloved’s coldness. | Metaphysical Poetics: The use of paradox emphasizes the supernatural or extraordinary power of love to subvert natural forces. |
| “Such is the power of love in gentle mind,” | The concluding couplet reflects the transformative and powerful nature of love, which can alter the natural order of things. | Metaphysical Poetics: This line suggests that love transcends reason and natural laws, altering both the mind and the world in extraordinary ways. |
Suggested Readings: “Amoretti XXX: My Love is Like to Ice, And I To Fire” by Edmund Spenser
- Noble, Annette L. “Edmund Spenser.” The Aldine, vol. 4, no. 7, 1871, pp. 115–16. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/20636079. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
- Cooper, Tarnya, and Andrew Hadfield. “Edmund Spenser and Elizabethan Portraiture.” Renaissance Studies, vol. 27, no. 3, 2013, pp. 407–34. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/24420119. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
- Turnage, Maxine, and Edmund Spenser. “Samuel Johnson’s Criticism of the Works of Edmund Spenser.” Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, vol. 10, no. 3, 1970, pp. 557–67. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/449795. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.
- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/50271/amoretti-xxx-my-love-is-like-to-ice-and-i-to-fire
- Neely, Carol Thomas. “The Structure of English Renaissance Sonnet Sequences.” ELH, vol. 45, no. 3, 1978, pp. 359–89. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2872643. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.