In Sonnet 1 of Edmund Spenser's Amoretti, what is the function of the use of personification in describing the "leaves," that is pages with poems?

In sonnet 1 of Edmund Spenser’s sixteenth-century sonnet
sequence titled Amoretti, the speaker addresses the “happy leaves”
(or pages) of a book as if they were living things. This use of personification is part
of the wit of the poem. Instead of treating the pages of the book as mere physical
objects, the speaker addresses them as if they were capable of responding and feeling.
In the strict sense, of course, they cannot, but by speaking as he does, the speaker
already characterizes himself as an imaginative fellow. He even seems somewhat fanciful,
and perhaps Spenser is already implying that we should not take this speaker completely
seriously. He seems to rely more on his imagination than on anything resembling clear,
logical reasoning (let alone deep religious belief), and therefore perhaps Spenser is
already suggesting that this speaker is not thinking entirely clearly or
responsibly.

Partly his use of personification is simply a
standard poetic practice of this period; perhaps the speaker believes that such
personification makes him seem cleverer than he would seem if his phrasing were more
prosaic. Perhaps, too, he personifies the pages because he wishes he were in their
place: being touched, physically, by the hands of the woman he desires. The pages, in
this sense, become his alter ego; they will experience in fact what he can experience
only in fantasy.

For very well edited version of
Amoretti, please see

Larsen, Kenneth
J., ed. Edmund Spenser’s Amoretti and Epithalamion: A Critical
Edition. Tempe, AZ: Medieval & Renaissance Texts & Studies,
1997.