# Sonnet XV explained — The Faerie Queene

> Chapter companion for The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser.

## What happens

The poet addresses the Countess of Pembroke, honoring her as the living image of a heroic spirit (likely Sir Philip Sidney) whose virtues have earned immortal bliss. He credits this spirit with first elevating his Muse and urges the Countess to accept this token for his sake and her own.

## Themes in this chapter

### Virtue and Vice

The sonnet praises the 'brave vertues' of the heroic spirit and the Countess's own virtues, emphasizing virtue as the path to immortal merit and heavenly bliss.

### Religion and Morality

References to 'hevenlie blis,' 'everlasting praies,' and 'heavenlie grace' frame virtue and remembrance within a divine, moral order.

## Key lines

> Remembraunce of that most Heroicke spirit, The hevens pride, the glory of our daies, Which now triumpheth, through immortall merit Of his brave vertues, crown’d with lasting baies Of hevenlie blis and everlasting praies;

The memory of that most heroic spirit, who was heaven's pride and the glory of our times, now triumphs through his immortal merit, crowned with eternal laurels of heavenly bliss and endless praise.

_The poet invokes the deceased hero (likely Sir Philip Sidney) as a celestial figure whose virtues have earned him eternal reward._

> Who first my Muse did lift out of the flore, To sing his sweet delights in lowlie laies;

It was he who first raised my Muse from the ground to sing of his sweet pleasures in humble songs.

_The poet credits the heroic spirit with inspiring his early poetic work, lifting him from obscurity._

> Bids me, most noble Lady, to adore His goodly image, living evermore In the divine resemblaunce of your face;

He commands me, most noble Lady, to worship his fair image, which lives eternally in the divine likeness of your face.

_The poet sees the Countess as the living reflection of the hero's virtues and beauty, blending remembrance with adoration._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters/sonnet-xv
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_faerie_queene_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_faerie_queene_se/chapters