Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote her Name

Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote her Name

by Edmund Spenser

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,
But came the waves and washed it away:
Again I wrote it with a second hand,
But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.
“Vain man,” said she, “that dost in vain assay,
A mortal thing so to immortalize;
For I myself shall like to this decay,
And eke my name be wiped out likewise.”
Not so,” (quod I) “let baser things devise
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,
And in the heavens write your glorious name:
Where whenas death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew.”

Summary of Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote her Name

  • Popularity of “Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote her Name”: Written by Spencer, a great English poet, and writer, “Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote her Name” is a love sonnet. It shows the feelings, desires, and emotions of the two lovers. Also, it highlights the importance of written work that makes people immortal. This poem touches the pinnacle of success on account of its factual description of love and mortality.
  • “Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote her Name” As a Representative of Love: The sonnet beautifully captures a sweet dialogue between two lovers. It begins when the speaker informs the readers about his upsetting situation. He says he has written his beloved’s name on sand twice, but the waves have erased it. Seeing this, his beloved mocks him and tells him he is making futile efforts to make something last forever. She further sheds light on the bitter reality of life, saying that every living object has to taste death, including her. Therefore, everything about her will vanish as soon as death takes her in its arms. Hearing this, the speaker says that less noble things disappear from the face of the earth. However, his love is noble to him and deserves to last long. Therefore, he will make his lady live through his loving words.
  • Major Themes in “Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote her Name”: The major themes of this sonnet are the power of writing, love, and death. Although this is a love poem, it introduces the bitter reality of life. It presents two lovers one of whom desires to make his love mortal. On the other hand, the lady finds it impossible. She knows the law of nature that one day she will die, and everything related to her will lose its charm. But her lover negates this notion and informs her how she will live forever in his verses. He plans to preserve her incredible goodness in his works. Thus, their love will remain untouched when death overpowers the entire world.

Analysis of Literary Devices Used in Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote her Name

literary devices are tools that writers use to give deep meanings to their simple poems. Spencer has also used literary devices in this sonnet, whose analysis is as follows.

  1. Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /e/ in “One day I wrote her name upon the strand” and the sound of /o/ in “A mortal thing so to immortalize.”
  2. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line in quick succession, such as the sound of /l/ in “Our love shall live, and later life renew.”
  3. Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line, such as the sound of /l/ in “For I myself shall like to this decay” and the sound of /r/ in “My verse your vertues rare shall eternize.”
  4. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought in verse that does not come to an end at a line break; rather, it rolls over to the next line. For example;

Not so,” (quod I) “let baser things devise
To die in dust, but you shall live by fame.”

  1. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. Spencer used imagery in this poem, such as “One day I wrote her name upon the strand”, “And eke my name be wiped out likewise” and “To die in dust, but you shall live by fame.”
  2. Metaphor: It is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between objects that are different in nature. The poet has used love as an extended metaphor to show how it changes the lives of those who made it their center of attraction
  3. Symbolism: Symbolism uses symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them symbolic meanings that are different from the literal ones. The poem uses symbolism such as death, love, fear, sadness, and reality.

Analysis of Poetic Devices Used in Amoretti LXXV: One Day I Wrote her Name

Poetic and literary devices are the same, but a few are used only in poetry. Here is an analysis of some of the poetic devices used in this poem.

  1. Couplet: There are two constructive lines of verse in a couplet, usually in the same meter and joined by rhyme. This sonnet ends with a couplet, which usually reveals the central idea of the poem, such as;

Where whenas death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew.”

  1. End Rhyme: End rhyme is used to make the stanza melodious. William Blake used end rhyme in this poem, such as; “strand/hand”, “fame/name” and “prey/decay.”
  2. Petrarchan sonnet: A sonnet is a fourteen-lined poem usually written in iambic pentameter. This is a Petrarchan sonnet consisting of three quatrains and one couplet.
  3. Quatrain: A quatrain is a four-lined stanza borrowed from Persian poetry. Here each stanza is quatrain as the first one and the second one.
  4. Rhyme Scheme: The poem follows ABABBCBC in its octave and CDCDEE in the sestet.

Quotes to be Used

The following lines are useful when praising the efforts of the writers who make their subjects immortal.

“To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:
My verse your vertues rare shall eternize,
And in the heavens write your glorious name.”