Send some poetry to a friend - the love thought that counts!
 
Poems for the People   -  Poems by the People

Amoretti LXXV; One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand
by Edmund Spenser

English poet. Best known for The Faerie Queene (written from 1580, published 1589 and 1596); his first important work is the Shepheardes Calender (1579). Other works include Colin Clouts Come Home Again (printed 1595), Amoretti and Epithalamion (1595), Fowre Hymnes (1596). Spencer invented his own verse form for The Faerie Queene which has since been imitated by others, notably Byron in Childe Harolde.


Amoretti LXXV; One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand
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 "thou 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," quoth 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, whenas death shall all the world subdue,
Our love shall live, and later life renew."


pipHome | Top | All Poems | About | FAQ | Your Privacy | Contact Us

All poetry is copyright by the individual authors.
All other material on this web site, unless otherwise noted, is
Copyright 1998-2021 by Ron Carnell and Passions in Poetry.
- netpoets 2.9.1 -