Apelles Song - John Lyly

John Lyly: (1553 or 1554 – November 1606) was an English writer, poet, dramatist, and courtier, best known during his lifetime for his books Euphues: The Anatomy of Wit (1578) and Euphues and His England (1580), and perhaps best remembered now for his plays. Lyly's mannered literary style, originating in his first books, is known as euphuism.

John Lyly’s “Apelles Song” is one of the important poems written by him. It is a sonnet written after the English sonnet form which was shaped and made famous by Shakespeare. There are three quatrains and one couplet in this sonnet which describes the futility of love. The poet strongly feels that paying love on fellow human beings is though good, yet it is a waste when it is paid on persons who do not deserve for it. The poet invokes an image of Cupid to explain the power of love in “Apelles Song”.

John Lyly in this sonnet “Apelles Song” wonders at the beauty of his lady love. To describe her beauty he invokes the Lord of Love, Cupid in this poem. The poet also realizes that beauty and love and concern cannot be found in a single person especially in a woman. If a woman is so beautiful then she will be so proud and sometimes she may be cruel and she may not show love and concern on fellow human beings.

The lady of this poem is so beautiful and so she readily rejects the love proposal of the speaker of the poem. Therefore, the poet or the speaker imaginatively brings out a ‘scene of Cupid and the Lady’ playing cards’ in this poem to explain how cruel the lady is while rejecting the love proposal of even the God of Love, Cupid. The imagination of the poet by making Cupid, Himself lost the game is an apt one which reflects the metaphysical conceit.

The poet brings out a scene in this poem by making his love, Lady Campaspe and Cupid playing a card game. Cupid willingly stakes all his belongings in the card game just to get a kiss from the lady. First he puts his quivers, bow and arrows as stakes. He loses them as the lady wins the game. Then he puts doves and team of sparrows which were given to him by his mother. Alas, once again, he loses them too. By the time, the spirit of the game and his desire to get a kiss from the lady are burning inside him. Hence, at this stage, Cupid is ready to put whatever be the possession of him as stakes.

Now Cupid is ready to put even the parts of his body which he got from a special boon. He stakes the coral colour of his lips, the rose colour growing on his cheeks, the crystal of his brow and the dimple of his chin in order to win the lady.

“ The coral of his lip, the rose

Growing on’s cheek (but none knows how);

With these, the crystal of his brow,

And then the dimple on his chin;”

Much to his dismay, he loses them too. He now looks very pity. Still, with a flickering hope of winning the love of the lady and getting a kiss from her, Cupid finally stakes his two eyes. The lady wins them too and Cupid is turned to blind. The Lady has won the game and Cupid has lost everything and finally he turns into a blind person. Cupid’s blindness symbolically tells a lesson, ‘love is blind’.

Now the poet or the speaker of the poem makes a rhetorical question within himself. He asks himself what will happen to him if he proposes the lady, because even the God, Cupid Himself has turned into blind and lost everything when trying to win the heart of the lady. The poet being an ordinary person is afraid to express his love for the lady. He thinks that the consequence may be unimaginable, if he opens his heart to the lady. He thinks that he could not bear the adversity that may befall on him.

“O Love! Has she done this to thee?

What shall, alas! Become of me?”

 

Now the poet understands that beauty and love cannot go hand in hand. So he realizes that it is good for him to put his love on God than on any human being like the beautiful lady. The poet or the speaker of the poem goes away silently with this revelation.  The poem is an example for English sonnet variety. The first three quatrains tell about the card game and its result. The next couplet is the revelation of the poet. The rhyme scheme is ‘ab ab’.  Thus, in this sonnet, John Lyly highlights the power of human love and beauty by making them to stand on the opposite poles.