Point of View

The poem is written in first person. The speaker here can be associated with Spenser, who dedicated the poem to his wife as a memory of their courtship. First person point-of-view is a standard feature of poems and an almost universal one in sonnets, where it creates a sense of intimacy and connection between speaker and audience.

However, the poem is unusual in that it is written, not in the present tense, but in the past. Usually sonnets are written in the present tense, which gives the reader the sense that they are part of the speaker’s reflections and emotions as they unfold. This sonnet, however, is not reflective but narrative. It depicts events that have happened in the past, reporting them like a story rather than inviting the reader to join in a reflective process.

This narrative point-of-view creates room for the speaker...