Ahh, Poetry... (part 2)

Sonnet 75
(Edmund Spencer)

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. 

So, basically, this poem is about a lover who out of affection for his wife/girlfriend, writes her name in the sand. But then, as is wont to happen to anything made out of sand, the tide comes in, and it is washed away. The lover writes his loved one's name again, and the same thing happens. At this point, the loved one points out that it is silly for the lover to try to keep writing her name over and over. She then directs the conversation to a more somber theme when she points out that just as her name is washed away, so too will her mortal body grow old and die. The lover responds by saying that he will write a poem about her which will eternize their love (which of course he does, although ironically enough we still don't know the woman's name). 


For several years now, I have enjoyed this poem, but it wasn't until recently that it became more dear to me.  It happened that I had (miraculously) arrived early for mass and was preparing in the chapel when this poem came to mind. It struck me then that it is a reflection of Christ's love for us (albeit an insufficient one). 


The whole premise of the poem starts out with a lover showing affection for his loved one. He is there figuring out a way to show his love for her that will stand the test of time and eternity. Christ is that Lover proving his boundless love for the Church. He, the Word, writes his eternal love for us through his death on the cross. This verse, written by the Word of God, will live on throughout all time and eternity for all generations to see ( 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). Whereas the sonnet became the monument of  a lover's affection for his wife; the cross, formerly a symbol of death, now becomes a monument and reminder of the Lover's affection for his bride the Church.