Edmund Spencer’s sonnet is a beautiful and clear exploration of the fickle nature of life and of love. Through a dialogue between two lovers, the poet throws open questions about the meaning of immortality.
“One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand” is an attractive example of a sonnet. It is, as sonnets traditionally are, a love poem; it recounts the exchange between the narrator and a woman he loves. We learn that the speaker tried to write his lover’s name in the sand but that the tide washed it away. Almost straight away, we are aware of sand being used both literally and metaphorically within the poem. The opening two lines read: “One day I wrote her name upon the strand, / But came the waves and washed it away” (Spenser). Sand is often used as a metaphor for fluidity and for baroness. In this context, the fluidity is the more explicit meaning as the narrator then goes on to explain how the lover’s name was continually washed away by the tide.
We then learn that the woman had said to the narrator that there is little point in trying to immortalise her name when she will one day die, as will her name. However, he still wishes to immortalise her and, therefore, speaks of writing a poem for her so that she will live on forever in verse: “My verse your virtues rare shall eternise” (Spenser).
While the narrator clearly believes himself in love with his lover, the use of sand in the poem implies that their love is more an intense lust rather than true love. Nevertheless, his desire to immortalise her seems genuine. The woman tries to comfort him when he fails to keep her name written in the sand, and suggests that treasuring memories is the only way to immortality.
In this clear, attractive sonnet, Spencer invites readers to consider the short time for which we are on earth and whether anything can be everlasting.
Works Cited
Spencer, E. “One Day I Wrote her Name Upon the Strand.” Bartleby. 2012. Web. 17 March
2012. http://www.bartleby.com/40/81.html
