Iambicum Trimetrum

Prosody is the study of how language sounds, particularly in verse. As in linguistics, the study of prosody in poetry examines language syllabically and looks for alliterative patterns, particularly consonance and assonance—or the repetitions of consonant and vowel sounds, respectively.

In addition to anaphora, Spenser employs the repetition of sounds in various lines. This repetition, too, sometimes occurs successively, as in “fast flying” (Line 2) and “fly forth” (Line 3). In other instances, there is the proximity of repetition, as in the phrases “my mouth can eat no meat” (Line 8) and “lamenting love marreth the musical” (Line 12). The intention of this is to have a sweetening effect on the ear. Though literacy was more widespread in Spenser’s time, “Iambicum Trimetrum” would still have been read or recited aloud. There are many in our present day who argue that poetry should generally be read aloud to hear how the poet linked words and sounds for a harmonious effect.

When regarding poetry in the context of song, the lyric is frequently mentioned. In Spenser’s time, the lyric—a form of poetry addressed to a reader that depicts the speaker’s feelings—was a marginalized form of poetry, such that Spenser’s contemporary Sir Philip Sidney defended the form in his Defence of Poesy (1595), hailing its powers of expression.