When it comes to discussing the discursive significance of the 16 th century’s English poetry, it is important to understand that this poetry’s themes and motifs reflect the fact that, throughout this particular century, people’s perception of the surrounding reality and their place in it has undergone a qualitative transformation. Whereas, during the time of the Dark Ages, even the most intellectually advanced individuals never doubted the validity of a scholastic vision on the principles of the universe’s functioning, in general, and on what accounts for one’s purpose in life, in particular, the 16 th century had brought this state of affairs to an end. The reason for this is quite apparent – throughout the course of this historical period, associated with the rise of the bourgeoisie in England, the religious dogma of Christianity had effectively ceased being perceived as such was capable of helping people to address their life challenges. Hence, the clearly humanistic sounding of how the 16 th century’s English poets used to reflect upon what it means being human. In this paper, I will explore the validity of the above-stated at length, in regards to Edmund Spenser’s Amoretti (Sonnets 54, 75), Philip Sidney’s Astrophil and Stella (Sonnet 2), and Christopher Marlowe’s The Passionate Shepherd to His Love . While reviewing these poems, I will also promote the idea that they provide readers with a clue as to what it means to be endowed with the ‘Faustian’ mentality (Greenwood 2009). One of the most memorable aspects of Amoretti (Sonnet 54) is that the poem in question endorses the idea that, contrary to the scholastic paradigm, there is nothing emotionally/intellectually static about one’s existence: My love like the Spectator ydly sits Beholding me that all the pageants play, Disguising diversely, my troubled wits (1-4). Apparently, while performing in front of his ‘lady of the heart,’ Spenser was, in fact, able to adopt the existential posture of those characters he played, which in turn implies the non-existence of a ‘soul,’ in the classical sense of this word. After all, by becoming one with his onstage-characters, the poet unintentionally exposed the fallaciousness of the Christian idea that people can be endowed with the ‘soul’ only once and that there can be no qualitative changes within the process of a particular individual striving to attain self-actualization. Thus, the earlier quoted lines can be well interpreted; as such, that extrapolated Spenser’s awareness of the fact that, as time goes on, people’s sense of self-identity (soul) never ceases to remain the subject of change. According to Spenser, to be human means to be an intellectually flexible individual, capable of assessing the surrounding reality from a variety of different perspectives – a clearly humanist idea, thoroughly consistent with the spirit of the Renaissance. The way Spenser refers to the character of Spectator (the woman with whom he happened to be romantically involved) is also being consistent with the humanistic (scientifically valid) view on love, as being both: an inspiring and yet somewhat ‘sad’ emotional experience: Yet she is beholding me with the constant eye, Delights not in my merth nor rues my smart (9-10