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Steven Biasca

Mr. Woolard

English-AP Literature 1

14 October 2010

“One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon The Strand”

The one thing that many seek to hold onto in life is their undying love for someone.

Although there are many ways of doing so, people often turn to poetry to preserve their genuine

feelings for their beloved. In the poem, “One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon The Strand,”

Edmund Spenser employs rhyme scheme, personification, and imagery to illustrate how love can

essentially be immortalized through poetry.

In the poem, the rhyme scheme (ABABBCBCCDCDEE) mirrors the motion or

movement of the ocean that comes and washes away the lover’s name written in the sand. The

speaker claims, “But came the waves and washed it [her name] away,” (2). The tide may leave

momentarily, but it will eventually come back and return once again, the same way that the

rhyme scheme flows and transitions from one end rhyme to another. This parallel of the ebb and

flow of the sea alludes to how the waves tend to wash things away. However, in this case, the

tide not only washes away the name of the woman, but also the speaker’s, “pains,” (4). The

speaker states that the tides, “Made my pains his prey,” (4). Such a statement is rather ambiguous

as it is unclear to the reader what exactly his “pains” truly are and from where they specifically

originated. The “pains” being washed away may refer to his self-doubts about actually being able

to preserve his love for his beloved. He may feel as if he is incapable of immortalizing his love

for her; which is what the tides may be preying upon. However, this situation may be interpreted

differently. In another case, the speaker’s “pains” may possibly be from the idea that one day he
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may truly lose the one person he loves ever so dearly. Thus the pain that the tides wash away

may stem from the fact that he does not want to ever let go of her; which is hwy he lets the tides

expunge his mind of such thoughts. Therefore, throughout the poem, the coming and going of the

waves and tides, as well as the rhyme scheme’s matching characteristics, demonstrate how things

may pass with time.

In addition, the personification of the tide and ocean also compliments the idea that love

can be immortalized particularly through poetry. For example, the tide is portrayed as a predator,

though one that cannot feast upon his true love for the woman in the poem. He makes it

extremely clear that his love for her will assuredly be the one single thing that will never go

away. For instance, he tells the woman, “My verse your virtues rare shall eternize, / And in the

heavens write your glorious name,” (11-12). Through the personification of his “verse,” or

poetry, he illustrates how, even after their lives are practically over, the idea of his love for her

will still remain alive. It is the one thing that will never fade away, for it will be kept preserved,

“in the heavens,” or after their death. In addition, the speaker also utilizes personification in the

end to demonstrate his immortalization of love. He leaves the reader and the woman with one

last idea: “Our love shall live, and later life renew,” (14). Through his “verse” he plans to

preserve his undying love for this woman, and even when everything else in life ahs come to a

complete end, such as death, his love for her will still be alive. However, the profound sense of

sincerity does not stop there, for he asserts that his love will also “renew” itself when they

themselves reunite in the “heavens,” after their own death. Although the speaker demonstrates a

bold confidence in his plan, the woman initially presents a contrasting idea. It is essential to note

the nuance that develops between the man and woman. From the start, the woman attributes the

man’s actions as being foolish, claiming, “Vain man…that dost in vain assay,” (5). She believes
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that it is foolish to try and immortalize such a thing as love, since she, like everything else in the

world, will eventually fade away. Later the poem shifts away from such a notion and proposes a

contrasting approach to both love and life. In the latter half of the poem, the man believes that it

is entirely possible to keep his love for her alive forever, especially by immortalizing it through

poetic means.

Furthermore, the speaker utilizes imagery to demonstrate how love can be preserved

primarily through poetry. For example, the speaker lucidly describes the setting when he claims,

“But came the waves and washed it [the woman’s name] away,” (2). Such a description clearly

creates a tranquil ocean and beach, where the water serenely washes away the name in the sand.

Though the woman believes that she and their love will be just like that name, the man believes

differently and instead the image of the sea is used as a contrast as to what he believes their love

will be like. The poem also incorporates imagery when the woman claims, “I myself shall, like to

this [name], decay,” (7). Here the woman is portrayed as doubtful, mortal. The vivid imagery in

this line presents the reader with a scene where she believes that she too will eventually fade

away. However, the man refuses to accept such an idea and responds by saying, “Let the baser

things devise / to die in dust, but you shall live by fame,” (9-10). These imperative lines create an

image of unimportant things slowly withering away, almost suggesting a sense of dry deadness.

But such an image once again contrasts with the man’s view of love, for she will “live by fame.”

The latter part of this line conjures an image of nobility and notoriety, which essentially

characterizes how she will be forever remembered. Though most interesting is imagery utilized

in the last two lines, in which the man states, “Where whenas death shall all the world subdue /

Our love shall live, and later life renew,” (13-14). There is a blatant contrast between an entire

world consumed by death itself and a picturesque scene where love fares on, bringing new life to
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the beloved who has really never been lost nor forgotten.

Through various literary devices, Edmund Spenser presents the reader with a situation

that many face sometime in life. Through the experiences of the speaker, Spenser demonstrates

how one may attempt to hold onto love for as long as they possibly can –which for some may be

forever. Clearly the idea of preserving love for eternity is such a profound notion that it may

seem foolish to some, but to others it may be deemed as a means for existence.