ONE DAY I WROTE
ONE DAY I WROTE HER NAME UPON THE STRAND FROM THE AMORETTI – SONNET LINE EXPLANATION
One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away:
Agayne I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tyde, and made my paynes his pray.
“Vayne man,” sayd she, “that doest in vaine assay,
A mortall thing so to immortalize,
For I my selve shall lyke to this decay,
And eek my name bee wyped out lykewize.”
“Not so,” quod I, “let baser things devize
To dy in dust, but you shall live by fame:
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,
And in the hevens wryte your glorious name.
Where whenas death shall all the world subdew,
Our love shall live, and later life renew.”
Lines 1-4
1. / the poet Spenser. her name: the name of his ladylove who v as his second wife, Elizabeth Boyle. the strand: the sandy sea beach.
2. came the waves: the waves rolled in on the sandy beach where the name of the poet’s beloved was written. washed it away: wiped the name away.
3. Agayne: modern form = Again. with a second hand:a second time. Least discouraged with the waves’ destructive action, the poet wrote his beloved’s name a second time in order to preserve her name on the elements.
4. But came the tyde the tide came to wash away the poet’s beloved’s name. made my paynes his pray: preyed on my labour of writing my beloved’s name on the strand. The tide here has been compared to a bird of prey. Just as a bird of prey swoops upon its prey and seizes it away, so also the tide swooped upon the sea-beach and swept away the name of the beloved. In other words, the pain Spenser took in writing the name was turned into naught by the tide (i.e. tidal waves rushing on the sea-shore).
Lines 5-8
5. Vayne vain having too high an opinion of one’s abilities. Vayne man: a man who has a very high opinion of his abilities (here the poet who makes futile efforts to preserve his lady’s name on the elemetnts). sayd said. she the poet’s ladylove. doest: does. vaine = vain. Vayne man… assay: The lady menas to say that the man who tries, in vain, to preserve his ladylove’s name by writing it on the sea-beach must be a conceited and foolish man, because the sea-waves will soon appear to erase it. assay attempt.
6. A mortall thing: referring either to the lady or to her name. mortall = mortal. immortalize give endless life or fame to somebody or something.
7. I my selve I myself (Spenser’s beloved herself). shall lyke (= like) to this decay: The lady herself shall decay like the writing on the beach.
8. And eek my name bee wyped out lykewize: The lady’s name will be washed away from the beach of man’s memory, just as her name written by the poet on the sea-beach is washed away. eek: also. bee be. wyped wiped. lykewize = likewise.
Lines 9-12
9. Not so: The poet does not subscribe to the lady’s contention that she is subject to decay. baser things: mean earthly things. devize manage.
9. dy = die.
9-10. let baser things…dust: the mean earthly things decay and come to dust.
10. but you shall live by fame: The poet tells his beloved that she is not, unlike base earthly things, subject to decay and death, because she shall live for ever by being celebrated in his verse. by fame: by being celebrated in his verse.
11. vertues rare rare vertues: rare excellences. vertues virtues. eternize make eternal, immortalize.
N.B. Spenser believes firmly in the power of his verse to confer immortality on his ladylove. This belief was quite conventional with the Elizabethans and was handed down to them by Horace and Ovid, and not original. In many sonnets Shakespeare promises to renew his love’s life by conferring immortality on him through writing about him as he is now (at his prime). In sonnet 15 he says,
“And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I ingraft you new.”
12. And in the hevens wryte your glorious name: immortalize his ladylove’s name for all time to come; heaven stands for eternity, your glorious name: The ladylove’s name made glorious by his verse. hevens = heavens. wryte = write.
Lines 13-14
13. whenas = while, subdew = subdue overpower, conquer. death death is personified here. There is a military metaphor in subdew. Just as a general defeats his enemies, so also death overpowers all earthly things.
14. Our love shall live: Theit love is immortal. The flame of their love will go on burning for ever. Death canno lay its icy hand on their love. The final couplet is a wonderful blend of pessimism and optimism. Pessimism inheres the poet’s apprehension that death shall subdue all the worldly things, and optimism that their love is not destined to pass away but will remain fresh and new for ever. later life renew their love will be freshened and enlivened in later life. The same optimistic concept of love informs the following lines from Shakespeare’s sonnet 116:
“Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.”
Explanations with Comment
• Explanation No. 1:
“”Not so, quod I, ‘let baser things devize
To dy in dust, but you shall live in fame.”
These lines are taken from Edmund Spenser’s sonnet beginning One day I wrot her name upon the strand (Sonnet No. 75 in the sonnet sequence called Amoretti). Keet to preserve his ladylove’s name on the mighty elements the poet writes her name the sandy sea-shore twice. But his efforts prove futile, because the sea-waves rolled in each time to wash away the ladylove’s name on the shore. The ladylove does no favour the poet’s fruitless attempt to preserve her and her name; rather she is critical of his efforts. She observes that any attempt to eternise mortal things like herself and her name is bound to fail. She herself is subject to decay and death, and like her own name washed away by the waves, she will be swept away from the world in no time. The poet does not accept her contention. He remarks that mean earthly things may come to decay, and ultimately turn to dust, but she will defy decay and death by being celebrated in his verse.
Comment:
These lines sound the Horatian and Ovidian theme of immortality conferred through poetry-the theme which was commonly treated by many sonneteers of the time. Shakespeare also promises the object of love immortality through his verse. The concluding couplet of sonnet 19 declares the immortality assured through poetry.
“Yet do thy worst, old Time: despite thy wrong,
My love shall in my verse ever live young.”
Explanation No. 2:
“My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,
And in the hevens wryte your glorious name.
Where whenas death shall all the world subdew,
Our love shall live, and later life renew.”
This extract is taken from Edmund Spenser’s sonnet beginning One day I wrote her name upon the strand (Sonnet No. 75 in Spenser’s sonnet series Amoretti). The poet’s ladylove is sceptic about his power to immortalize her virtues and name. She is of the opinion that every mortal effort to immortalize a mortal thing like herself is bound to prove futile. She is subject to decay and death, and like her own name written on the sea-beach, she will also be washed away from the shore of this world. The poet dismisses her pessimistic idea and holds that baser worldly things may decay and come to dust, but she is destined to live an eternal life because of the poet’s verse celebrating her beauty and excellences. His verse will make her name shine gloriously in the firmament of eternity. Though death may subjugate all the worldly things, and reduce them to naught, it cannot lay its icy hand on their love (i.e. the love between the poet and his second wife Elizabeth Boyle) as eternized by his verse. The poet declares emphatically that their love will live for ever and in later life it will be freshened and enlivened.
Comment:
Spenser here harps on the conventional theme of verse conferring immortality on the object of love the theme that goes as far back as Horace and Ovid. Almost the same theme is sounded in Shakespeare’s sonnet 19:
“Yet do thy worst, old Time; despite thy wrong.
My love shall in my verse ever live young.”
