sonnet 34

Edmund Spenser's Amoretti chronicles his courtship with his wife Elizabeth Boyle. It was originally published in 1595 and loosely follows the Petrarchan sonnet model. Petrarch wrote his sonnets about women that he would never be able to obtain, while Spenser wrote about a single woman whom he did marry. Sonnet 34 appears to describe a break in Spenser's relationship with Elizabeth; it seems like they had a fight and Spenser is biding his time until she forgives him. Spenser uses the analogy of a ship losing its way during a storm to convey the separation between him and Elizabeth. It is also an adaptation of Petrarch's "Rima 189"
Lyke as a ship that through the Ocean wyde,

By conduct of some star doth make her way,

Whenas a storme hath dimd her trusty guyde,

Out of her course doth wander far astray: (lines 1-4)

A ship traveling through a large ocean with no land in sight uses the stars to guide its way, but when stormy clouds block the star's light the ship will stray far from its course.

The "her" mentioned in this stanza is referring to the ship; in the English language most (if not all) modes of transportation are described with feminine pronouns. In this analogy, Spenser would be the ship that has gone off course, because his beloved's light is no longer shining on him. A storm is a clever way to describe an argument, because arguments can be described as being dark, angry, heated, wet (meaning crying), and other such adjectives. Astrology plays a big part in this poem and in navigation. Before the time of GPS's all you had to guide your way were compasses and the constellations. The brightest star is the North Star; however, he is not referring to that star in this poem. Instead he is referring to Ursa Major (a.k.a. Great Bear), which contains the Big Dipper.

So I whose star, that wont* with her bright ray

Me to direct, with cloudes is overcast,

Doe wander now in darknesse and dismay,

Through hidden perils round about me plast**.