Shepherd's Calender
Passage “Thus is my sommer worne away and wasted, Thus is my harvest hastened all to rathe: The care that budded faire, is burnt and blasted, And all my hoped gaine is turnd to scathe. Of all the seede, that in my youth was sowne, Was nought but brakes and brambles to be mowne. (p 207: lines 97-102) Summary My interpretation of this passage is that Spenser is tying the poem together in an ending that is symbolic to the ending of a year, and that ultimately, the process of aging which leads to the end of life. I this passage from The Shepherd’s Calendar as symbolic to the passing of one’s youth compared to the passing of the year with respect to the changing seasons. In this particular passage, the line, “thus my summer is worne away and wasted” (97) , I think Spenser is comparing the summer to his youth, the ‘prime’ of his life, if you will, and like the summer, the poet’s youth is being worn away and wasted. The summer with its heat and the conditions, which cause fruit to ripen, “the care that budded fiare, is burnt and blasted” (99) , that literally means the summer heat leads to the ripening of the fruit, which leads to harvesting in the fall. Symbolically, I think Spenser is comparing this stage of his life in which there is the greatest level of passion (or love) present and as a young man, he is feeling the highest level of passion he will experience, in other words, the poet is at his prime.