Iambicum Trimetrum

“Iambicum Trimetrum” is an example of idiosyncratic prosody. Written in 1579 as an experiment shared in a letter with Spenser’s friend from Pembroke and literary co-conspirator, Gabriel Harvey, it is a 21-line lamentation of lost love. The lines of verse vary from iambic hexameter—a form that Spenser popularized with his unique sonnets—and the rare iambic heptameter, or “fourteener,” a line consisting of fourteen syllables. 

First published in 1580 and later reprinted as “An Elegie in Trimeter Iambickes,” it is an elegy, as it is a poem of mourning. It also qualifies as a lyric poem because it evokes feeling—in this case, feelings of sadness and hopelessness. The narrator’s only hope is that his verse will carry his message of lament to his lost beloved, who is referred to only as “she” (Line 3). The poet’s use of verse as the mediator between him and his lost love evokes the power of art to convey emotions and, inevitably, to outlast the speaker.

The poet’s use of the lyric—a form employed by ancient poets, such as Sappho and Longinus, who also composed poems about love—is a reflection of his training in the classics. Spenser’s training in Latin is especially apparent in his choice of title and in the poem’s final word, “Immerito,” a pen name of Spenser’s, which translates roughly to “unjustifiable.