Iambicum Trimetrum ---Sick of Living in Unreal Happy World---

An Analysis of Poetry titled  

Iambicum Trimetrum by Edmund Spencer 

Iambicum Trimetrum talks about tiredness of living in unreal happy world.

First stanza :

Unhappy state

• It means the unhappiness that he feels

the witness of my unhappy state

• It means that the people can see his unhappiness

Second stanza :

Lying restless in heavy bed

• It means that even he tries to rest or sleep he still feel so heavy or unhappy

Sitting so cheerless at the cheerful board

• It means that he even feels unhappy in a place that should make him happy

Third stanza :

My eyes can take no rest. My mouth can eat no meat. I can hear no mirth.

• It portrays that there is reason behind his unhappiness that makes him can’t live well and comfortably

Fourth stanza :

Asked why?

• This tag question implies his tiredness of his unhappiness. It shows that he wants to say about his reason and burden inside.

Fifth stanza :

Her pleasures were wont to lull me asleep. Her beauty wont to feed mine eyes. Her sweet tongue was wont to make mirth.

• It means that he wants to say that all pleasure, beauty, and all sweet good beautiful things in this world is just temporary. It won’t give him eternal happiness. And he feels so tired with secular offering that seems depressing for him.

Sixth stanza :

I nightly waste, wanting my kindly rest. I daily starve, wanting my lively food. I always die, wanting timely mirth.

• It means that he is tired of looking for real happiness where he can live well and comfortably.

Seven stanza :

And if I die, who will say : “This was Immerito”?

• Immerito means unjustifiably, undeservingly, without merit. So it means, that no one will recognize about his feeling, thought, and desire about real happiness in this immortal world. He even doesn’t deserve to get attention even if he dies away.

So, overall, in this poetry the writer wants to show his feeling about his unhappiness, he doesn’t care whether people already knew it or not because he feels so depressed of his life. He can’t even sleep well or live well. He is tired of his life. Gradually, he found out that there are some reasons of it. He found out that all the things under the sky, under the sun are immortal. There are a lot of things offered to him, secular things, but nothing can make him happy, in reality. He is just fed up with a lot of things around him. All things seem depress him. At one point, he feels so much tired of searching real happiness and he found out that his effort is all just useless. No one will care and understand. Even people will not say that he deserves to get real happiness with all his efforts.

Sometimes, as human being, people may feel the same way about real happiness. They try to look for real happiness in the life. But, they end up of finding nothing. Because everything in this world is immortal and so is happiness.

- ULTRAUTOGIA -