"From The Amoretti" By Edmund Spenser

"Literature is Mirror of yourself, You can find your

 emotional connection within the any literary works" 

Introduction:

From the Amoretti is written by Edmund Spenser who was an English poet and was known for his well-written poem 'Fairy queen" This sonnet was written in 16th century which included 89 sonnet. The Amoretti (meaning little love poems) is a sequence of 89 sonnets written in the tradition of the Petrarchan sonnets, a popular form for poets of the Renaissance period. Spenser’s sequence has been largely neglected in modern times

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,

But came the waves and washed it away:

Again I write it with a second hand,

But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.

Vain man, said she, that doest in vain assay,

A mortal thing so to immortalize,

For I myself shall like to this decay,

And seek 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 virtues rare shall eternize,

And in the heavens write your glorious name.

Where when as death shall all the world subdue,

Our love shall live, and later life renew.

Explanation of Poem:

This sonnet seems to be about the author’s attempts to immortalize his wife or the love of his life. Spenser starts the poem with a quatrain recalling an incident that could have happened any summer day at the seaside. He writes his love’s name in the sand at the beach, but the ocean’s waves wipe it away, just as time will destroy all manmade things. The next quatrain describes the woman’s reaction to the man’s charming attempt to immortalize her. She claims that the man’s attempts were in vain and that no mortal being can be immortalized due to the cruelness of time. The next quatrain represents a turning point in the poem and the author reveals that his wife will be eternally remembered in his poems and his verse. The final couplet at the end, “Where when as Death shall all the world subdue, Out love shall live, and later life renew,” summarizes the theme of the poem by comparing the eternalness of love and death to the brevity of life and humanity.

Spenser uses the rhyme scheme of this poem to create a contrast between earthly ideas and objects that will eventually be destroyed and heavenly ones that will last forever. The first two quatrains focus on the author’s vain attempts to write his wife’s name. Time and nature are shown to destroy the author’s manmade works and his attempts are thwarted. The author then switches gears and shows how he immortalized his wife in the very poem he is writing. Spenser uses a very melodic rhythm and iambic pentameter to create a calm and pleasant sounding poem. His frequent use of alliteration such as, “die in dust” and, “verse in virtue” helps to paint the complete picture of the poem and tie the themes of the poem together.

Stanza wise explanation:

In the first few lines the poet talks about the efforts that he took to immortalize name of his beloved 

. One day I wrote her name upon the strand,

But came the waves and washed it away:

Again I write it with a second hand,

But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.

One fine day he started writing his beloveds name upon the strand but waves become his enemy as it washed away his beloveds name.

Still after the first failure he did not give up and again try to write her name but once again the tide came and washed it away, this pain has very well expressed in the line by the poet which is..
"BUT CAME THE TIDE 
AND MADE MY PAINS HIS PREY"

In next lines the poet talks about efforts to mortal name of his beloved. His beloved may be is watching him from somewhere at expressed her sorrow all her lovers failure.

The poet here expressed his feelings because he is scared now as the way nature wiped out his beloveds name his fear is that his name also can be "wiped out like wise"

To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:

My verse, your virtues rare shall eternize,

And in the heavens write your glorious name.

Where when as death shall all the world subdue,

Our love shall live, and later life renew.

In the last few lines of the poem poet expresses his fear and still will continue to immortalize the name of his beloved he consoles his beloved by saying that " she may die in dust ' but she will live by fame" she would be in the memory by her virtues and she would live in verses even after death. When death will subdue entire world there love shall live this how the poet describes the unstoppable efforts of a lover to immortalize the name of his beloved.