One Day I Wrote Her Name Upon the Strand Analysis Essay

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One Day I wrote Her Name Upon The Strand This sonnet is a lyric poem because it tells about the poet’s personal experience and emotions. It's rhyme scheme is ABAB, BCBC, CDCD, EE. The sonnet centers on the immortality of spiritual love, as the speaker is trying to immortalize something which is mortal; his wife or the love of his life. Edmund Spenser uses figurative language to evoke not only imagery but also an emotional response from the readers. Spenser starts the poem in a narrative way "One day I …" to tell an intense incident that could have happened any summer day at the seaside: the couple is along the seaside, the man is trying to write the lady's name on the sand, but waves come and wash it away. Then he writes again, but all in vain. The lady persuades him to give up and says that as time passes, she will also die just as the name wiped out by tide. But the man holds a different point of view: He believes his verses will make her immortal and that their love will stay alive forever and she will be famous "you shall live by fame". Despite the fact of the poet's beloved discouraging him, he never did give up but instead he proved his point by immortalizing his love towards his wife through his words. Technically, Spencer's poetry is at a very high level. The sonnet is full of symbolism. The sea indicates to the distance that is between the lover and his beloved which is causing pain to the lover. The writing on the sand refers to the lover’s insistence on making a worldly impact on his beloved. The waves are a constant reminder of the cruelty of love, haunting again and again and it also may refer to time. By washing away the name of the beloved. The sea-side or beach also symbolizes a peaceful, comfortable place where the lover completely expresses himself. Personification is an important element in the sonnet. The sea
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