And happy lines, on which with starry light,
Those lamping eyes will deigne sometimes to look
And reade the sorrowes of my dying spright,
Written with teares in harts close bleeding book.
These lines are taken from "Sonnet-I", the first sonnet of Spenser's sonnet sequence, Amoretti". In these lines the speaker, in the role of a lover, personifies the "lines" and addresses them in a very sublime tone. Here he praises the beauty of the eyes of his lady and suggests the secret pangs of his heart.
The speaker addresses the 'lines' and says that the lines will be happy when his beloved's shining eyes will sometimes unwillingly look at them and read the sorrows of his dying spirit which are written with tears in the secret corner of his bleeding heart. It is clearly evident in these lines that the poet has lowered himself down to win the heart of his beloved. Expressing love in this humble manner was the Elizabethan tradition. Similarly, appreciation of the beauty of the lady was the Elizabethan tradition. Here the poet's praise of his beloved's bright eyes follows the tradition of the age. These lines also suggest the intense passion of the speaker. His dying spirit, tears and secretly bleeding heart indicate pure emotion of a real platonic lover.
