SONNET 75EDMUND SPENSER

BY: PAUL ZIZZO AND CASSIE GREENE

EDMUND SPENSER

Edmund Spenser was born in London around 1552

He was educated at the Merchant Taylors School

He attended college at Pembroke College , in Cambridge

He was best known for writing The Faerie Queene

He died on January 13th,

1599

SONNET 75

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, that doest in vain assay A mortal thing so to immortalize,

For I myself shall like to this decay, And eek 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, Out love shall live, and later life renew.

LITERARY DEVICES USED

Personification Alliteration Metaphor

BREAKING DOWN SONNET Quatrain 1 In the First quadrant Spenser is trying to love the women,

but overtime they will drift apart and taken away from each other

“ But came the tide and made my pain his prey” The tide is the time and the making his pain his prey is

saying that he doesn’t want to waste time because time will tear them apart

Quatrain 2 The girl is saying that they will both die soon “For I myself shall like this to decay, and eek my name

be wiped out likewise” The girl is saying that everyone is going to die

eventually, so they shouldn’t care what people think

BREAKING DOWN SONNET

Quatrain 3 “ But you shall live by fame, my verse your virtues

rare shall eternize” He is that they will live on after this because he wrote

about her and they will not be forgotten Couplet Spenser is saying that she is right , and it doesn’t

matter if they eventually die, but that even after they will still love and have each other .

THEME

The theme of Sonnet 75 is that no one can live on forever, but by him writing this poem he is immortalizing their virtues. This way there love can live on forever

CLASS ACTIVITY

Independently think about the theme of this poem, and make your own title for it

Explain why you chose this title.