“One Day I Wrote Her Name” is a sonnet that explores the theme of the enduring power of love and the ability of poetry to immortalize the beloved. The poem is structured as a Petrarchan sonnet, consisting of an octave (eight lines) followed by a sestet (six lines).

In the octave, the speaker begins by describing how he once wrote the name of his beloved on the sand. He remarks, “One day I wrote her name upon the strand, / But came the waves and washed it away.” Here, the act of writing the beloved’s name on the sand symbolizes the transient nature of earthly things and how they can be easily erased or forgotten.

However, the speaker then declares that his love for the beloved is far more enduring than any physical inscription. He asserts, “But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.” The “tide” represents the passage of time, which can erode or diminish earthly things. Despite this, the speaker’s love remains steadfast and unaffected by the passing of time.

In the sestet, the speaker shifts his focus to the power of poetry to preserve and immortalize love. He proclaims, “That as I wrote, with tears thereon besprent, / Mine eyes upon the waves when back they rolled / Gave tears to wash the writing there.” The act of shedding tears to wash away the name on the sand demonstrates the speaker’s deep emotional attachment and the significance he attributes to his beloved.

The poem concludes with the assertion that the beloved’s name is now inscribed not on the transitory sand but in the speaker’s heart and in the eternal realm of poetry. The speaker states, “Nor ought the waves of Tyne can wash away / That wI[r]iting of the love that thus was made.” Here, the waves of Tyne symbolize the passage of time and the challenges of life, unable to erase or diminish the enduring love captured in the poem.

“One Day I Wrote Her Name” celebrates the enduring power of love and the ability of poetry to immortalize the beloved. It emphasizes the resilience of true love against the transitory nature of earthly existence and affirms the eternal nature of emotions and poetic expression. The poem reflects Edmund Spenser’s skillful use of language and imagery, capturing the complexities of human emotions and the transcendence of love through poetry.